In the upper hive, within the Ecclesiarchy's grand cathedral, before the shattered statue of the Emperor, Galarion had fashioned a throne from the flesh and blood of nobles. His twisted, evil face, and everything around him, was engulfed by the surging tides of the Warp!
He gazed at the star map, at the ships appearing around Roselle, and a slight curve formed on his lips: "Excellent, just like this... Come, all of you, come to the grave I have meticulously prepared for you!"
A servo-skull, warped by Chaos, slowly floated before him, playing a message: "Jackal is leading an elite squad towards the planetary orbital defense cannons. Shall we deploy forces to intercept?"
"No, of course not, why would we stop them?!"
Galarion gesticulated wildly with excitement, joy brimming in his eyes, and laughed loudly: "Just give them a little resistance, that's all. If we stop them, who will destroy the orbital cannons?"
From the beginning, Galarion never believed that the planetary orbital defense cannons alone could stop the Imperial reinforcements. They were merely an appetizer!
The truly spectacular 'show' hadn't even begun yet!
"Contact Rosales. Tell him... it's time. It's time to unleash that Daemon Engine!" Galarion's eyes gleamed with cunning light, and he said with a half-smile: "Soon, very soon... this place will become the second Cadia!"
...
In the last resistance stronghold of the Mid-Hive, the unconscious Emrys had been moved by Galahad to a safe zone—at least, the safest zone relative to the entire stronghold.
Before long, Emrys, injected with a sedative, regained consciousness, but his mind was plagued by a maddening shriek, blood burst from his eye sockets, and he couldn't help but let out a low growl.
"Indeed... you are a psyker."
Galahad observed Emrys' painful reaction, took a pendant from his person, and placed it around his neck: "This necklace can temporarily suppress your psychic abilities. If you don't want to die... never take it off here."
With the necklace on, Emrys immediately felt the severe pain disappear, and the shrieks in his mind subsided, almost negligible. He said gratefully: "Thank you, Magos Galahad. But what did you mean when you said... not to take it off here?"
Galahad, hearing this, said nothing, but sighed softly, turned to the door of the room, and pulled open the heavy curtain: "See for yourself..."
A dazzling light streamed into the room.
Through the gap created by the lifted curtain, Emrys saw the enormous rift, dozens of meters in diameter, spewing, venting, and raging with the mighty power of the destructive entities from the Warp!
"A rift has been torn in the physical universe." Galahad turned his head, saying meaningfully: "I don't know if you understand psykers, but in an environment like this, a psyker can easily lose control, become possessed by a Warp fiend, or explode, causing a second storm."
So that's it... No wonder, as soon as he woke up, he felt as if thousands of daemons' shrieks had been stuffed into his head, like a burning hot branding iron violently plunged into his brain and stirred, the pain unbearable.
"You're very lucky, young man."
Galahad sat back down in his chair, his bionic eye fixed on him, and slowly said: "If Jackal hadn't believed that you were still to live, we would probably have given up on you by now. I must say... this is both your luck and ours."
"Magos Galahad, I... don't quite understand what you mean." Emrys frowned deeply. What did he mean, it was both his luck and theirs?
"Originally, this matter shouldn't be told by me."
Galahad was silent for half a second, then said in a low voice: "But since you asked, I can roughly tell you a reason, lest you run out and try to get killed again."
He was truly afraid that Emrys, whom they had gone through so much trouble to save, would run out and seek death again. Once or twice could be luck, but what about three, four, or five times?
When he heard that Emrys had defeated a Khorne Chosen in single combat, unlike the morale-boosted Adeptus Arbites and PDF, Galahad's heart almost stopped!
A Khorne Chosen, that was a Great Daemon in training!
He truly didn't know what kind of incredible luck this boy had to actually defeat a Khorne Chosen. It was simply the Emperor's blessing!
"You... you're not going to tell me I'm your illegitimate son, are you?" Emrys' eye twitched, and this thought naturally popped into his mind.
Otherwise, why was Galahad so good to him?
"Why would you think that..." Galahad almost choked on his breath, glaring at him: "Don't talk nonsense! I have dedicated my entire life to the great Omnissiah. How could I do such a trivial thing?!"
"But Jackal said you were doing it for your senior sister..." Emrys was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly felt a chill on his neck and saw Galahad's murderous gaze, immediately closing his mouth wisely.
Galahad gritted his teeth in anger, coughed twice, and then his tone became extremely heavy: "Merlin Emrys, because you are the last descendant in this world who inherited the noble name of 'Emrys'."
"Me? A noble?"
Emrys was stunned, pointing at his own nose, looking as if Galahad was joking: "Don't... don't joke with me, Magos Galahad."
However, Galahad's meticulous expression, and his solemn, dignified, and grave demeanor, seemed to tell Emrys... that he was indeed a descendant of a noble!
Gulp!
Emrys swallowed, could it be... the yellow-skinned man, bah, the Emperor, finally couldn't stand it anymore and was planning to give him a chosen start?
"Wait... wait... I'm a little confused..." Emrys still couldn't believe it, and asked: "How do you know that I must be their descendant? What if it's just a simple coincidence of names?"
Yes, what if they found the wrong person? Wouldn't that be a huge embarrassment?
"Do you remember the medical examination I performed on you?" Galahad slowly began: "Originally, I was only suspicious, but in the later examination, I could confirm that you indeed possess the 'Emrys' bloodline. Although the concentration cannot be determined, your surname is undoubtedly real!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A violent heartbeat erupted in the somewhat silent room. Emrys took several deep breaths before he managed to calm down, and cautiously asked: "May I ask, is this 'Emrys'... powerful?"
"Why do you think we absolutely had to find you?"
Galahad chuckled lightly, and said faintly: "The reason is simple. If you die on this world, then... Lord Emrys will completely incinerate this world, burning all life to ashes. Now, do you understand your value?"
Incinerate the entire world... Emrys swallowed, secretly thinking 'good heavens', could he be from some Knightly House?