Constantin's speech in the tavern grew increasingly captivating. The patrons, swayed by his words, were either joyful or sorrowful, unable to control themselves.
With the Horus Heresy, the glory of the Great Crusade ended. The future the Emperor sought for humanity also collapsed; severely wounded, he sat on the Golden Throne, maintaining the seal and the Astronomican, never speaking again. The galaxy became a ruin, littered with the corpses left by the rebellion.
Former brothers were now sworn enemies, fighting to the death.
In the years that followed, the loyal Primarchs departed one by one, either disappearing or being wounded and entering stasis fields. That precious dream, a future filled with infinite light, thus perished. The silent king sat alone on his throne, beginning his long journey of suffering.
"Sacrifice is the cornerstone of the Imperium, the blood of martyrs is the Imperium's fire, and only death is the end of duty. Without the Primarchs, without the Emperor, humanity plunged into a long dark age. Countless warriors threw themselves into battle, dying nameless deaths, spilling their blood and the enemy's across innumerable battlefields."
"Humanity constantly sacrifices itself; sacrifice allows the human lineage to continue, generation after generation after generation. People do not fight for any great ideal, because sacrifice itself is greater than any ideal. Individual lives are meaningless; the ashes of the dead fill every inch of history's gears."
"In the face of unimaginable dark terrors, men and women loved with difficulty, raising their children as best they could. When despair came, they clung tightly to each other, bearing all that was unbearable."
Constantin's description brought tears to everyone's eyes.
Just as he had said at the beginning.
Even those who prided themselves on being strong grieved for the Imperium's past.
From the glorious crusade to the end of glory, and then slowly into the dark age.
All of it was so desolate.
What a pity. They were just one step away from salvation.
But failed due to human nature. Those who had sworn to give humanity a bright future became the greatest destroyers. They believed that the Imperium they had created should be ruled by them.
Lucifer wiped the wine glass, silently listening to Constantin's story.
Such a magnificent epic of ages, even he felt a certain longing for it.
It was an experience he had never known.
Many people considered Morningstar Lucifer a great figure.
Such a thought merely stemmed from a lack of understanding of the celestial realms.
Imagine how many mythological stories have appeared in human history.
And he was merely one of those remembered in the present.
Just like those celebrities, when they become popular, everyone thinks their future is limitless.
But a few years later, who still remembers them?
The magnificent history of the Imperium was a life he had never fantasized about.
But on second thought, he dismissed the idea.
From the description of the Great Crusade, religious symbols like him were the first targets to be overthrown.
Constantine continued to describe to the world the history he had learned from his journey through the Imperium. The Horus Heresy, the Emperor ascending the Golden Throne, and the Primarchs withdrawing from the stage of history. The Imperium of Man continued its historical inertia, achieving a period of glory.
However, decline was inevitable. The mortals of the Terra Council could not escape their own limitations; greed and selfishness were dragging humanity into the abyss.
The first event to expose the Imperium's weakness was the War of the Beast. The orks, once eradicated by the Imperium, rose again, sparking a war that nearly destroyed the Imperium of Man.
The Imperial Fists Chapter, responsible for guarding Terra, encountered a surprise attack by an ork moon while annihilating the Kroxigor, resulting in the annihilation of their naval fleet, with only the Captain of the Second Wall Company—Sunlight—surviving.
He issued the High Wall Protocol, demanding the Imperial Fists successor chapters to gather and confront the rising orks. The Terra Council, however, was furious, demanding Koorland disband the assembled Space Marines. The assembled Astartes had already threatened their status.
Even with the ork battle moon hovering over Terra, they insisted on protecting their own interests, refusing to allow the Space Marines to gather.
Koorland resorted to threats, and with the combined efforts of several High Lords who were wholeheartedly dedicated to humanity, he managed to ensure that the High Wall Protocol did not tear the Imperium apart and cause a civil war.
Koorland was appointed Imperial Commander, responsible for annihilating the rising orks.
However, the Mechanicus, the Ecclesiarchy, and other lords repeatedly sabotaged the plan for their own benefit, leading to many unnecessary sacrifices.
Koorland eventually died in the Second War for Ullanor and was replaced by Maximus Thane as Imperial Commander.
He spearheaded and launched the Third War for Ullanor, resolving the imminent ork crisis.
Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum, Vangorich, grew weary of the incompetence and infighting of the Terra Lords.
He orchestrated assassinations, replacing all the High Lords with puppets, and established a dictatorial rule.
A hundred years later, Grand Master Vangorich went mad from the immense imperial bureaucracy, and Maximus Thane returned to kill him, ending the dictatorship.
Vangorich's tragedy proved that mortals could not govern such a vast realm.
After the War of the Beast, the Imperium's brief era of prosperity also ended. The traitors who had fled into the Eye of Terror after the failure of the Horus Heresy had also accumulated strength over a long period.
Under the command of the gods, they launched another Black Crusade against the Imperium. Thereafter, Black Crusades erupted periodically.
Greatly weakening and endangering the foundations of the Imperium.
Abaddon continuously spread fear and despair throughout the galaxy.
After the War of the Beast was resolved, the Twin Imperium crisis emerged. The Council of El'U'Mar in the Segmentum Pacificus declared independence due to political disputes. This secession crisis lasted for a millennium, causing countless conflicts and wars.
After the secession crisis ended. The 361st High Lord of the Administratum, Vandire, overthrew the Ecclesiarch Paulis III, becoming the High Lord of both the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy, thus becoming the most powerful Imperial official and ushering in a dark era of bloody rule, also known as the Age of Apostasy. The Age of Apostasy was the most brutal massacre and upheaval after the Horus Heresy, with the highest number of casualties.
Its devastation was second only to the Horus Heresy, and in some aspects, even surpassed it.
Vandire established a vast spy system, throwing all who dared to defy him into prisons, where they were subjected to torture and torment.
During that period, even casually mentioning Vandire's name was forbidden.
Criticizing his policies would even lead to a visit from the Officio Assassinorum, bringing 'warmth'.
Some planets were subjected to extermination orders and massacres simply for slighting his delegation, which was sent to publicize his achievements, resulting in billions of people being executed.
Some worlds even erected massive pyres, executing countless so-called heretics in the name of religion.
Vandire did not care about the future of the Imperium or all of humanity.
All he wanted was more power. The Imperium's resources were squandered by him at will.
Years of accumulated wealth were depleted by him.
Many advanced technologies were destroyed under false pretenses and lost in internal strife.
Countless prosperous worlds declined under the ravages of this madman, and countless people grew dissatisfied with the Imperium's brutal rule, sowing the seeds for future rebellions.
Through the efforts of various factions, Vandire was ultimately killed by the Emperor's Daughter—the predecessor of the Battle Sisters, the Brides of the Emperor—whom he himself had supported.
After Vandire was dealt with, the Imperium never recovered to its former glory. The aftermath of the bloody rule continued to poison humanity. The traitorous Bishop Bucaris ignited a highly malicious separatist rebellion.
Utilizing rampant warp storms, he deceived his followers and established his small kingdom.
He even waged war against the Space Wolves of Fenris, laying siege to the Fang for three years.
Due to his brutal rule, Bucaris was eventually torn apart by the rebelling populace.
Saint Balius of the Ecclesiarchy, who rose to power by successfully purging Vandire's cronies from the Age of Apostasy, enjoyed immense prestige.
He had a dedicated purification force to exterminate those he deemed heretical enemies.
After a warp storm, he declared thirty space marine Chapters lacking in faith and potentially corrupted. Thus, these guilty Chapters had to choose one of two options.
Death or entering the Eye of Terror for a Penitent Crusade.
All Chapters chose the latter.
Later generations recorded this crusade as the Abyssal Crusade.
It proved to be a colossal disaster.
It delivered a large number of troops and supplies to Chaos.
It also weakened the overall strength of the Imperium.
Every Chapter that participated in this crusade met with ill fortune. The Iron Dragons Chapter was transformed into the Gray Death Plague Warband. The Sentinels Chapter was corrupted into the Slaanesh warband of the Sacred host, who indulged in cannibalism. The Stalwart Brotherhood was corrupted into the Lava Hounds warband while fighting daemon Engines.
The Anvil Brotherhood Chapter, while searching for lost ancient technology in the ruins of the ancient Aeldari empire, was captured by dark eldar raiders and tortured for years in the gladiatorial arenas of Commorragh; by the time they escaped that dark city, they had all become insane.
It was not until eight hundred years later that the surviving Spear of Macragge Chapter returned to the Imperium.
Saint Balius of the Ecclesiarchy, who had sent them to their deaths, had long since passed away and was even revered as a saint by ignorant people. The Chapter Master of the Spear of Macragge exposed Balius as a Chaos traitor, and with the support of the High Lords, had all his followers executed and their corpses thrown into a star.
Without the protection of a firewall, it is impossible to resist the whispers of Chaos in the Eye of Terror unless one possesses absolute faith and willpower.
Over twenty thousand Space Marines were corrupted.
Along with the mortal auxiliary forces and servants who served those Chapters, they were all tainted by Chaos. The Abyssal Crusade strengthened the traitor forces.
Chaos began to frequently attack the Imperium thereafter.
One chaotic event after another led the Imperium into decline.
Under the assault of xenos, Chaos, and internal strife, the Imperium's situation became increasingly critical.
Light was dragged into darkness, hope turned into despair, and the painful lessons of the past caused humanity to stagnate.
Superstition and dogma were spread like gospel, blind obedience was highly praised, while free thought was viewed with suspicion and scorn.
Harsh rule replaced the hope of enlightenment.
Its bureaucracy continuously grew, becoming bloated and inefficient.
Corrupt High Lords and numerous senators, in the name of humanity and the Emperor, indulged in power struggles.
For the survival of the species, there was no mercy.
Sacrifice and no cost too great had become the norm. The Imperium descended into darkness, swaying in the storm.
As the traitors launched the Thirteenth Crusade, the Imperium reached a true dead end. The Great Rift appeared, and warp storms raged.
Faster-than-light travel became more dangerous than ever.
Countless warp rifts spread on an unprecedented scale.
All sorts of terrifying monsters that should only exist in nightmares appeared, eroding human sanity.
Entire star sectors were ravaged by darkness.
Lurking xenos invaded the Imperium's territories en masse. Tens of billions of cultists and rogue psykers raised the banner of rebellion. The galaxy erupted in fierce warfare, with no world spared.
Constantine recounted the arrival of the dark age with a sorrowful tone. The Imperium lost all hope.
Everyone in the bar was immersed in the story.
From the glorious Great Crusade to the dark age, how heartbreaking it was.
Humanity's perseverance and efforts were so powerless in the face of cruel fate.
It was not until everyone was immersed in worry about the Imperium's dark fate that Constantine spoke.
"The Fall of Cadia plunged the Imperium of Man into an unprecedented dark age, yet the appearance of a glimmer of dawn gave desperate humanity a sliver of hope.
The great Emperor was awakened; He was deceived by His treacherous brother, Fulgrim, through despicable means, and after being severely wounded and entering stasis, He has returned."
"He returned like the sun, piercing the darkness that enveloped human civilization. He made a solemn vow to the citizens of the Imperium, swearing to do His utmost to save them.
The Indomitus Crusade, representing humanity's unyielding spirit, was launched from Macragge, and countless soldiers and Space Marines willing to sacrifice their lives for humanity and the Imperium gathered by His side."
"Epic wars erupted one after another; He brought back long-lost technologies to the Imperium, allowing the dying empire to be reborn. Enemies retreated before His wrath, and one world after another was reclaimed and joined His crusade."
"He implemented new systems, reformed the bloated and inefficient Imperial government, and pulled suffering people out of hell. New technologies, new warriors, new future."
"New glory was created after the Emperor; He abolished the existing hereditary system and liberated the productivity suppressed by chaos and superstition. He defeated the resistance of old interest groups and successfully established a brand new empire. He campaigned everywhere, destroying powerful xenos and Chaos traitors, and began to work on restoring the Great Rift that traversed the galaxy."
"The Great Rift is the darkness before dawn, and the Emperor is the morning sun that pierces this darkness. Nothing can stop His rise and growth; no matter what the enemy, their end is predetermined: failure."
"He is the destined Lord of all heavens and myriad realms, the true Emperor. One day, under His rule, humanity will truly become one. Rejoice, my compatriots, we will witness the rise of the Imperium. If you can do something, then when you leave, you can proudly tell your children that you witnessed the rise of a great monarch, and you participated in it, insignificant though it may be, you still played a part."
"When they stand in the future, in the glorious zenith of humanity, looking back at the past, he will be proud that his ancestors contributed and strived for this prosperous age."
Indeed, he was Constantine, capable of deceiving even gods.
He was definitely an excellent storyteller. The grief and tears of the War of the Beast, the Age of Apostasy, the Age of Redemption, and the Dark Age were all swept away by his impassioned ending.
Constantine raised his wine glass.
"For the God Emperor of the Imperium, cheers."
The patrons, their emotions long suppressed, also raised their glasses.
Shouting hoarsely.
"For the God Emperor of the Imperium, cheers."
They no longer felt any resistance towards Guilliman's imperial autocracy. That position offered no enjoyment.
An empire so vast was enough to crush the mind of any mortal. The fate of the first Lord of the Imperium was lamentable.
If it were them in that position, they would probably go mad within a few days. The Emperor of the Imperium was completely different from previous dictators.
It wasn't the enjoyment of power.
It was infinite responsibility and obligation.
Only with boundless love for humanity could one resolutely sit in that position. The story ended, and people left after cheering. They would tell this story to more people. The miracles under the banner of the Imperial Aquila were created by countless mortals.
It interpreted humanity's courage and resilience in darkness and despair.
And now they were in it.
A glorious era would be created by them.
Even if they were just an insignificant part.
But it was these insignificant beings who created this unimaginable glory.
Constantine sat next to the bar, placing his empty wine glass in front of Lucifer.
"Look, they can't control their tears, like children."
"A very good story, and an unimaginable miracle. To reshape the Imperium of Man in such a short time and achieve such brilliant accomplishments is truly astonishing," Lucifer murmured.
Compared to the Holy Emperor, Lucifer felt as if he, and even many characters from mythical stories, were useless. They had schemed against each other for so long, yet couldn't even unify the faith of Earth's humanity.
Meanwhile, the Emperor had already unified a vast Imperium and launched wars against other universes.
"More than astonishing, it's absolutely mind-blowing, isn't it? Have you ever seen anything so incredible?"
Lucifer shook his head.
Just as he was about to say something.
A news anchor suddenly appeared on the holographic projection screen suspended above the bar.
"The Imperium has received news from the front lines: Imperial forces have encountered unprecedented resistance in Parallel Universe 045. A being named Dream, leading numerous gods and heroes, has launched an attack on the Imperium, attempting to prevent the Imperium's salvation of humanity."
"Many superheroes previously killed by the Imperium have also appeared in this force opposing the Imperium, further proving that there is a behind-the-scenes manipulator who is 'farming' human civilization, constantly harvesting humanity by manipulating fate, time, and other means."
As the news reporter broadcasted.
Some images flashed across the screen.
Dr. Manhattan, Doctor Fate, and other individuals who had previously been killed and possessed supernatural powers, reappeared on the battlefield. They were individuals from another parallel universe.
Just like another farm. The individuals in this parallel universe had indeed died.
But this universe had long been divided into countless parallel universes by the behind-the-scenes manipulator. Those parallel universes were like mirrors, replicating their lives according to the flow of fate.
Lucifer and Constantine exchanged glances, their eyes narrowing slightly. This was undoubtedly something that severely challenged one's self-perception.
Who could accept that they were not unique, but rather assembly-line products found everywhere in a factory?
They had identical lives, and even the length of their younger siblings might be the same.
Life would instantly feel meaningless.
"Dream," Constantine said idly, "A poor New God. It seems he's doing quite well in other parallel universes, not becoming a magician's prisoner, and even becoming the leader of those rebels."
Dream, like the Highfather and Darkseid, was a member of the New Gods, belonging to the Endless family.
According to the Imperium, they were gods created by the behind-the-scenes manipulator using Warp fluctuations. There were seven members in the Endless family. They were the personifications of the seven fundamental forces of the universe itself in parallel universes.
Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and Daniel Hall.
Dream was the personification of dreams.
It was born when the first living being in the first parallel universe dreamed.
As long as someone kept dreaming, it would continue to exist.
If compared with the Imperium's research on Warp entities, it was clear that Dream was no different from a Warp entity. Take the End of the Imperium, the daemon that once gravely wounded the Emperor.
It originated from humanity's first murder.
Only when humanity was destroyed, becoming the ashes of the universe, would it meet its end.
Dream was also such a being.
Some scholars who studied Universe 02 once speculated that without the behind-the-scenes manipulator, the members of the Endless family had a certain chance to grow into new, unimaginable beings.
However, the behind-the-scenes manipulator was extremely clever, dividing these seven powers and creating countless Endless families, preventing them from truly utilizing those seven powers, cutting off their potential for growth, and making them gardeners managing the parallel universes. There was also another theory, that these seven powers were precisely the manifestation of the behind-the-scenes manipulator. The Endless family might also be fragments of it.
Just as daemons were fragments of gods. The Endless family maintained the operation of parallel universes, ensuring that each parallel universe ran according to a predetermined fate, creating enough nourishment to feed its creator, and also ensuring that the universe would not collapse due to excessive exploitation.
Destiny of the Endless family was the supreme concept of the universe, and also the eldest brother and elder of the Endless family. The Book of Destiny in his hand recorded the past, present, and future of parallel universes.
He was responsible for correcting the fate lines of the universe.
In many mythologies, there were also many gods who held the authority of fate, such as the three Norns under Odin, and other pantheons also had their own gods of fate.
However, those gods of fate could only see the direction of fate, but were powerless to change it, and their scope was extremely limited. The gods of fate born in human mythology had an observation range limited only to the maximum activity area of humans, and had no way to control the overall situation.
It was like blind men touching an elephant; the many gods of fate did indeed control fate, but they could not see the whole picture.
Destiny of the Endless, however, could see the fate of the entire parallel universe.
When other parallel universes invaded, he would immediately detect their changes to fate and intervene to stop them.
Death of the Endless family was the most powerful among them. Whether mortals, gods, or ultimate concepts like the Endless family, their existence, no matter how long, could not exceed the length of the universe.
Death awaited them at the end of all things.
Constantine had learned some secrets from the Imperial Sages.
Death might be the key to resetting parallel universes.
When a parallel universe reached its end, Death would bury all living beings and then restart the parallel universe. The power of the concept of Dream was equally formidable.
It defined reality; all gods were born within the dreams of living beings.
For this reason, Dream also wielded immense power.
Each member of the Endless family was an ultimate concept; their existence transcended all else. They were the personification of the universe's fundamental forces.
Constantine had interacted with several of them.
As the embodiment of dreams, Dream had once been imprisoned by a human magician, Roderick. The latter had intended to summon Death but accidentally summoned Dream instead.
Dream was controlled by the magician's sigils, losing its power to resist, and its artifacts—a pouch of sand, a ruby, and a helmet—were taken.
Constantine had even played with its helmet. The Endless family of this universe was also destroyed by the Imperial army when the Heavenly Realms were annihilated.
Dream was also killed. The Imperium's firewall reclaimed all human authority in the Warp.
Human dreams were fulfilled within the Holy Emperor's domain. Therefore, even without the Endless family and the gods, there would be no significant loss for humanity, nor would more Warp entities be created. The seven members of the Endless family were merely the personifications of the universe's fundamental forces; it wasn't that things couldn't function without them.
It was like the president of a country; he was important, but not indispensable.
A country could change its political system, no longer needing a president, adopting a parliamentary system, or it could choose to merge with another country, becoming a province and accepting the rule of another nation.
Nothing was immutable.
Lucifer looked at the news.
"Looks like another fierce battle. Will you go to the front lines?"
"Maybe I will. I might even see another version of myself from a parallel universe." Constantine drained his wine, laughing, "Just thinking about it makes this world seem absurd, doesn't it?
Parallel universes, infinite selves. Haha. I'm going to the battlefield and kill myself. Reality is always more absurd than any work of fiction. The multiverse has no logic at all."
"In such a world, we are all pathetic ants," Lucifer said. "Just objects of fate's mockery. If you go to the battlefield, if you get the chance, please say hello to my other self in a parallel universe for me."
Constantine smiled.
"Don't worry, if I see him, I'll definitely say hello."