Seth's words made Alexander's mouth twitch.
He felt that if Seth continued to make such profound statements, his own mouth would lose its meaning.
However, Seth at least knew to keep his voice low, only letting those very close to him hear, and not challenging Guilliman's authority at such a time.
In reality, if the two Primarchs didn't have superhuman hearing, only Alexander and Khârn would have heard.
But unfortunately, Primarchs all possess superhuman hearing; a smile flitted across Sanguinius' lips, while Guilliman remained expressionless.
"What will be revealed next will dispel all your doubts," Guilliman emphasized with solemn words.
The heavy doors behind him rumbled open, revealing an oval-shaped space beyond.
Alexander saw figures within.
At least a hundred towering figures stood in the recessed area in the middle of the oval space, like gladiators waiting for a performance in an arena.
Guilliman strode in, as if awaiting the Emperor's Ascension Day gift he had waited ten thousand years for; the Imperial delegation, led by Alexander and Sanguinius, followed closely behind.
Upon entering, Alexander and the others heard a sharp, stirring horn blast, dazzlingly unique and captivating.
Alexander's mouth twitched slightly; the rhythm of this horn segment was clearly from the "Doraemon Song," which Alexander had previously used as a hymn.
A light illuminated the front of the delegation, and a gravity platform descended from the sky; the Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, with his colossal, beast-like physique, large enough to meet a Primarch's gaze, emerged from it.
He had just raised his metal arms from beneath his robes, like a conductor signaling the opening.
Exaggerated, magnificent, and imbued with Belisarius Cawl's unique style.
"Welcome, esteemed dignitaries of the Imperium!"
Cawl switched his vocal cords, making his voice warm and gentle, quite suitable for an orator. It felt as if he had sampled Guilliman's voice data and was intentionally imitating Guilliman when speaking.
Ordinary people often viewed the Archmagos of Mars with stereotypes, often thinking them mechanical, cold, and rationally cruel.
In fact, many Adeptus Mechanicus members did pursue becoming more machine-like.
But Cawl was different; in the past, Cawl was actually a minority. He firmly believed the Emperor was the Omnissiah, and since the Omnissiah appeared in human form, then humanity was the most perfect state among all machines, beings, and spirits.
Therefore, Cawl always refused mechanical modifications, priding himself on maintaining his human body.
It was only to span the long ten thousand years and complete the tasks entrusted to him by Guilliman and the Emperor that he was forced to transform himself into this terrifying, non-human appearance.
But even so, Cawl's strong, overbearing, and highly self-aware soul still allowed him to maintain flexible and human emotions within his mechanical body.
For example, intense pride and a love for exaggeration. Well, surely keeping a secret for ten thousand years was a bit painful for Cawl.
"And an even warmer welcome to you, my comrade, offspring of the Omnissiah and perfect creation, Lord Roboute Guilliman!"
Cawl raised his voice a notch and bowed to Guilliman, emphasizing the words "my comrade."
"And equally welcome to you, Lord Roboute Guilliman's brother, also an offspring of the Omnissiah and perfect creation, Lord Sanguinius."
Cawl bowed to Sanguinius with the same precise arc, then bowed more deeply to Alexander:
"An especially warm welcome and praise for your visit, original power of the universe, the original power flowing within all beings, machines, and spirits, not a god yet not diminishing your greatness, praise Saint Doraemon!"
Cawl spoke in an almost flamboyant tone, but as he saw Alexander's mortal body, a fleeting sorrow crossed his sole remaining eye.
Every time he saw original power's nearly identical mortal body, Cawl's non-existent heart would feel a pang of agony.
Both the Omnissiah and original power chose human forms, proving Cawl's view from ten thousand years ago was correct: the human body was perfect.
Yet Cawl himself, to complete his mission, was forced to huddle in this pathetic mechanical body. This was truly…
Cawl took a deep breath, manipulating the hormone regulation equipment within him to suppress his inner sorrow, allowing his attention to refocus on his mission.
Ten thousand years of work had concluded.
He felt it necessary to display his creation in a glorious manner to this world, to Lord Guilliman, and to original power.
Belisarius Cawl abruptly turned around, pointing his metal arm behind him at the hundred Astartes standing in the arena.
Bright, pale light illuminated the hundred Astartes.
They wore power armor, with various color schemes, blue or red, yellow or purple; their gene-seed seemed to come from different Legions.
They appeared to have undergone considerable training, standing in the arena in perfect formation, like a military parade.
And if there was anything else they had in common, it was their excessive height.
For Astartes, they were somewhat overly tall.
Seth himself was a tall Astartes, but placed before this group of Astartes displayed by Cawl, he was still slightly shorter.
This situation made Seth somewhat agitated.
Especially since some of these Astartes even used the Blood Angels' livery.
But Seth couldn't smell anything from them… no scent of Bloodthirst, no scent of Black Rage at all.
"What has he done? What are these guys?" Seth growled in a low voice, "Is he trying to replace us with these things?"
Seth's fangs were slightly exposed.
After Sanguinius' return, Bloodthirst was suppressed, and the Black Rage underwent a subtle change.
The incidence of Black Rage itself remained almost unchanged, but warriors who fell into the Black Rage entered a peculiar state; their souls seemed to establish a connection with Sanguinius, and they seemed to transform into avatars of Sanguinius, powerful, sacred, and unstoppable.
The Black Rage was essentially Sanguinius' descendants being affected by Sanguinius' essence, the echo of Sanguinius' death, becoming a small part of the grand sacrifice of Sanguinius' death, connecting and merging with Sanguinius.
Now that Sanguinius had been resurrected, the dark and profound part of Sanguinius' essence was devoured by Alexander, and the dark part of the Black Rage also disappeared, transforming into a pure fusion and link with Sanguinius.
However, these new warriors had no scent of Black Rage, no link to Sanguinius, and no Bloodthirst!
Not just Seth, but there was also some unrest among the Ultramarines, and even among the non-Astartes mortals, panic set in.
Sanguinius, however, was relatively calm, and Alexander was the same.
They both knew what these warriors were; Alexander even anticipated their appearance.
The appearance of these warriors signified the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade, and at the same time, as the Indomitus Crusade ventured throughout the galaxy,
The Indomitus Crusade would greatly constrict the operational range of Chaos forces, including traitors like Erebus, who would be compressed into a smaller area.
Alexander could then, with the support of the Indomitus Crusade, begin to swiftly hunt Erebus, both for revenge and punishment, and to pursue the galaxy's destiny as prophesied by the Emperor.
After all, the current Erebus could move freely throughout the galaxy, a range too vast; Alexander had no interest in passively playing cat and mouse with him.
"Behold, everyone!"
Belisarius Cawl proclaimed in a magnificent voice:
"Ten thousand years ago, Lord Roboute Guilliman entrusted me with a sacred challenge: to improve the creation of the Omnissiah, to iterate upon the Death Angel he created."
"Now, I have completed this mission; standing before you are the next generation of Death Angels, the iteration of the Astartes."
"They are stronger, tougher, more agile, more loyal, and have been implanted with three new enhanced organs I designed, correcting countless flaws."
Belisarius Cawl laughed proudly at his creation:
"They are the Primaris Space Marine! Stronger, greater warriors!"
He showed no regard for the atmosphere.
A dull, death-like silence hung over the Ultramarines and the Blood Angels.
The Blood Angels were better; their emotional nature made them firmly believe their father would not abandon them.
As for the Ultramarines, their rationality made them understand that these Primaris Space Marine would eventually replace them, it was only a matter of time.
Or rather, the Primaris were forged by their gene-father's order ten thousand years ago, specifically to replace them.
Bitterness spread through the hearts of the Ultramarines, while the Blood Angels, as if for reassurance, moved slightly closer to Sanguinius.
Guilliman also subtly frowned at Cawl; Cawl's statement was somewhat politically insensitive.
Indeed, the emergence of Primaris would inevitably cause resistance among the older Space Marine, but Cawl should at least have been more circumspect.
However, Cawl's words were not without benefit; Guilliman could use Cawl's statement to position himself as a sympathizer of the old-version Space Marine, making the transition smoother.
"Cawl, more words are useless; let us demonstrate the abilities of these new warriors." Guilliman raised his voice and said, "My Legion needs the most excellent warriors, as excellent and irreplaceable as those I have now!"
What a political monster, he thought to himself as he watched Guilliman speak.
Cawl bowed deeply.
"My Lord, I know many harbor hostility towards my creations, believing them to be a defilement of the Omnissiah's work."
"But this is incorrect; they are entirely based on the Omnissiah's creation, just as an Ancient Terra Archmagos once said: 'I merely stand on the shoulders of Titans.'"
No, my dear Archmagos Cawl, that's not what they're worried about. Alexander silently scoffed in his mind, then continued to watch Cawl indulge his theatrical urges.
"You will soon know the power of these Primaris Space Marine." With that, Cawl turned and waved, and dozens of heavy combat servitors suddenly rose in the arena.
The Primaris Space Marine also put down their ranged weapons, engaging these heavy combat servitors, meticulously designed by Cawl, in close combat, which best showcased their abilities.
Alexander watched the battle with interest, and at the same time, couldn't help but ask Khârn and Seth beside him with curiosity:
"What do you think of these Primaris Space Marine?"