Vance's pupils contracted violently.
His mouth opened and closed, and it took him a long time to finally force a few words past his lips.
"How... how do you know?"
The Emperor didn't answer directly.
He simply turned around, walking back to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, leaving His back to Vance as He gazed out at the desolate landscape forged by countless hive cities.
"Though I am entirely focused on my Great Work," His voice was calm, yet carried a distant, profound weight, "the anomalies appearing upon Terra do not escape my sight. Those people may be like you, but they are unworthy of my attention. Because their hearts are not pure enough. It was not until the exact moment you stepped through the Lion's Gate..." The Emperor slowly turned His head, those golden eyes falling upon Vance once more. "...that I truly confirmed it. You are the one I have been waiting for."
Vance was completely dumbfounded.
What in the world is going on?
He scratched his head, asking cautiously, "Then... is there something I need to do? And this person you've been waiting for... what does that mean?"
The Emperor looked at this human—a creature as frail as an ant, yet possessing the audacity to look Him directly in the eye. Seeing Vance's bewildered expression, the corners of His mouth curled slightly upward.
It was an incredibly faint smile. But that single smile seemed to soften the radiant light filling the entire hall.
The Emperor gave a slight shake of His head.
"You do not need to know too much just yet," His voice was calm, but carried a crushing majesty. "Though your body and soul are pure, you are far too weak. So weak that you can't even defeat a single Astartes."
Vance: "..."
Ouch. That cuts deep.
But it was the absolute truth. Right now, he was just a regular player. His physical stats were, at best, slightly above a baseline human. Going up against an Astartes? He'd need to grind a ton of money for body mods first.
The Emperor's voice continued, "As you are now, you still need to grow. Just as your teacher Darius said..." The Emperor paused, a barely perceptible glint of amusement flashing in those golden eyes, "...only when you grow to the point where you can seize control of the Imperium's direction, when you can look any Primarch in the eye and say 'no'... When that day comes, you will naturally understand."
The corner of Vance's mouth twitched.
Of course. Everything is under the Emperor's control. He heard every single word of my conversation with my teacher loud and clear. Truly worthy of being the absolute strongest psyker in human history.
But using such god-tier psychic powers just to eavesdrop... is that really appropriate? When I get back, I'm absolutely posting a thread: [SHOCKING] The Emperor of Mankind Peeps on Innocent Young Men!
Right as his thoughts were running wild, he suddenly felt the gaze locked onto him deepen. It felt exactly like getting a full-body scan from an X-ray machine.
Startled, Vance quickly reined in his mind, not daring to let his thoughts wander any further.
Seeing Vance's overly cautious demeanor, the smile on the Emperor's lips deepened slightly. He didn't comment on it. Instead, He spoke softly. "Valdor."
The instant the name was spoken, the ten-meter-tall doors to the hall slowly swung open.
Constantin Valdor strode in, dropping to one knee before the Emperor. He slammed his right fist against his breastplate, the metallic crash ringing out. "My Liege. I am here."
The Emperor's gaze shifted back to Vance. "Take him. Begin his preliminary training and cultivation."
Valdor glanced sideways at Vance before bowing his head. "Understood."
He stood up and walked over to Vance. The light piercing through his golden visor met Vance's eyes. "Follow me."
Vance followed Valdor toward the exit, but suddenly remembering something, he threw a glance over his shoulder.
The Emperor was still standing before the massive window, His back turned, gazing out over the desolate expanse of endless hive cities. The golden light bathed Him in a soft halo, making Him look truly like a god descended to the mortal plane. Yet, amidst all this sacred majesty, Vance couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of absolute, crushing loneliness.
The grand doors slowly sealed shut. The golden figure vanished from his sight.
Vance stood outside the doors, taking a deep breath to calm his wildly racing heart.
Valdor stood beside him, those eyes locked onto him. In that gaze, there was something new... deep scrutiny, and a barely perceptible trace of... curiosity.
"Let us go," Valdor said, turning and marching forward.
Vance hurried to keep up, unable to stop himself from asking, "Captain-General Valdor, what about my teacher...?"
"Rest easy," Valdor's voice floated back, still as cold and detached as ever. "He will not be harmed. The Emperor has His own arrangements."
Vance breathed a sigh of relief and didn't press the matter further. The two of them crossed the corridors of the Hall of Hegemon, delving deeper into the Imperial Palace.
--
Meanwhile, before that massive floor-to-ceiling window.
The Emperor remained perfectly still, staring out at the desolate earth composed of infinite hives. His lips parted slightly, letting out a whisper so faint it was almost completely inaudible.
"Your gift... I have received it."
A complex storm of emotions swirled deep within those golden eyes. "Though I do not know your true intentions, since you have delivered it to my doorstep, I shall gladly accept it. I will cultivate him. I will forge him into a trump card capable of countering the future crises that I cannot foresee."
His gaze sharpened into blades. "But I will never fully trust him. I will not carelessly place the hope of the Imperium of Man on anyone's shoulders. Not even my own sons. The human race cannot afford uncertainty. I will cultivate another existence specifically designed to keep him in check. To ensure that, should he ever slip beyond my control, he can be utterly destroyed."
His gaze pierced through the desolate wasteland, looking further into the endless void. Looking at the ordinary people struggling to survive in the absolute dregs of the underhives. Looking at those souls silently rotting away in the pitch-black dark.
"When have I ever not wished for all Imperial citizens to live the kind of life they enjoy on Macragge?" His voice was painfully soft, so quiet only He could hear it. "But I cannot do it. I am not a god. I cannot control every facet of power in this galaxy. I can only compromise. Compromise to exchange for the powerful leverage I need. I must use them to safeguard the destiny of the human race, to prevent our absolute extinction at the hands of those horrors lurking in the warp."
He slowly closed His eyes.
And upon that flawless, perfect face, for the very first time... a trace of bone-deep exhaustion appeared.
--
Deep within the warp, far beyond the reach of mortal eyes.
At the very fringes of the Astronomican's light, hidden in the background static of the immaterium within a nameless divine domain.
Lucian sat cross-legged in his massive virtual villa, staring at the twelve golden screens hovering before him.
He couldn't actually see what was happening inside the Imperial Palace. But he could faintly sense that some unimaginably powerful entity was murmuring something. The sensation was fuzzy and distorted, like trying to listen to someone speak through a thick wall of water.
Lucian shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "What are you mumbling about over there?"
He leaned back, sinking deep into the plush sofa. "Since you're mooching off my players, I get to mooch off your Primarchs. Law of Equivalent Exchange. Perfectly reasonable, right?"
His gaze drifted through the golden screens, landing squarely on the world of Planet Dal, currently undergoing massive reconstruction. He watched the swarm of players aggressively mining resources. He watched the golden figure standing on the bridge of the Light of Dawn, staring out into the sea of stars.
"Keep at it, Crimson Dawn," his voice echoed through the empty divine domain, laced with a profound, distant anticipation. "The Imperium and Chaos have both accepted my gifts. I look forward to seeing you all collect their returns."
--
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