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The Great Rebellion was merely an internal rebellion within humanity, while the Zerg fleet was designed to devour everything in its path!
Never—
Snapped.
Clearly, a call from Casca, thousands of miles away, could not possibly reach the ears of the war blacksmith.
With its final, and most brilliant burst, the Pharos Beacon shone with its brightest light ever.
It exploded.
......
It was an extremely loud flash of light. As the starlight disappeared into the warp, the last Pharos beacon was also lost forever.
But this didn't end the misfortune that Casca and his crew suffered.
With the failure of the Pharos beacon, the tunnel that had been successfully built and connected the Signas system and Macragge vanished instantly. Driven by the sudden surge of warp turbulence, the fleet that had been following the Blood Angels Legion lost contact with them almost instantly.
"We're about to be—"
The subspace turbulence began to carry the fleet forward.
Like a small boat in a storm, with the turbulent waves crashing against the Emperor's son's fleet, Casgar could feel the struggle between various forces under the onslaught of this psionic power.
Some wanted to completely destroy the Emperor's Son's fleet here, but others thought it would be most time-efficient and labor-saving to drive these dangerous elements out and send them to other points in time via spacetime turbulence, so that the legion would disappear during the Great Rebellion.
Kasgar gripped the handrail in the cabin with difficulty. In this illusion, which resembled a council quarrel, he seemed to see a golden figure also struggling in this battle—trying to steer Kasgar and his ship back on track, unaffected by those chaotic forces, back to Macurag.
The dispute between the two sides eventually turned into a contest of strength.
Casca felt as if countless forces were trying to tear their ship apart in all directions—
"what!"
Amidst the endless arguments and struggles for power, Kasgar felt a splitting headache.
Ultimately, what seemed like an eternity, yet also a mere instant, brought the debate to a consensus.
—And so, let them fulfill their own destiny.
The hallucinations gradually began to fade... and Casca's headache also gradually subsided and eventually disappeared.
He's back, back to the real world.
"That is--"
Gasping for breath, Kaska suddenly looked up at the window, observing everything outside—dots of light twinkled quietly outside the porthole. There were no raging warp storms, nor any eerie arguments.
This is the real world.
It seems that their fleet, despite being on the verge of destruction during the turbulence, ultimately managed to hold on.
"All units of the 28th Expeditionary Fleet shall inspect the damage and injury of their respective ships."
Although they were thrown off from Saint Gilles, they are all safe and sound so far—and the location where the Sons of the Emperor's fleet was thrown off seems to be quite significant.
Casca looked out the porthole at the massive Queen Glory-class battleship.
【The Vengeful Spirit】
It seems that Saint Gilles' prophecy was ultimately fulfilled amidst the conflict between the emperor and the four gods.
There is only one star system that can dock the Shadow Moon Wolf flagship at this time.
【Istefan Galaxy】.
The emperor's son, too, will, in this galaxy, and in countless other timelines, simultaneously, wage their destiny in a battle for supremacy.
"Is this the result of all our hard work...? Oh well, it's not unacceptable."
Kaska chuckled and muttered to himself.
"Connect Shadowmoon Wolf. Now."
He was exhausted, but his words remained firm.
“Tell them that Kasgar wants to contact them—Ariman’s witchcraft is evil, and he cannot save Horus!”
"let me!"
Chapter 206 The Game is Settled
......
Holy Terra, Royal Palace.
The gate opened as the Marker approached, the ancient wood swirling to reveal a small antechamber. It wasn't far from the grand entrance to the Imperial Dungeons.
He stepped over the threshold and waved, and the branding in the wall lamps on the surrounding walls ignited, illuminating everything in the small room.
There was nothing here except a round table and two high-backed chairs facing each other.
On the table is an octagonal granite and white marble slab, next to a light-colored wooden box, and in this geometric space are twenty chess pieces.
Macardo leaned his scepter against the back of his chair, then sat down, carefully examining the board of twenty gray pieces, lost in thought. He then lowered his head and picked up the crystal cards placed in the center of the table—they were also blank, a fact Macardo was well aware of.
Makado put the card back, and just as he looked up, a figure sat down opposite him.
He was very tall, with a bright red cloak and hood hanging over his shoulders.
"let us start."
He arranged the chess pieces with his rough, powerful hands.
.......
They take turns activating each piece, scattering them in the true starting positions designated on the cards. Once everything is in place and each side has received ten figurines, the game solemnly begins.
“What has happened in the past cannot be changed,” he said solemnly, seemingly puzzled by Makado’s insistence on playing it out again. “We’ve done it hundreds of times.”
The result was exactly the same as in the past.
Makado's offensive was swift and fierce. With the help of the Great Tempest card, he was able to preemptively isolate the opponent's pieces in this battle, as well as in countless previous battles, creating local situations where he outnumbered the opponent.
They have gained every advantage and initiative.
The game continued as it had always been.
Makado tried to change the course of his moves, attempting to reclaim the pieces that had previously blocked him, but each time his opponent flipped a card or made a cunning next move, the pieces returned to the positions they had occupied many times before.
As the game progressed, even when his side was almost about to deliver the decisive blow to secure victory, his opponent always managed to slip away from his seemingly invincible hand through various unexpected means.
Makado now has no choice but to attack.
Despite having the initiative and the advantage in attack, he now only had one option left: to attack.
The other party put pressure on him accordingly.
"I'll win in the next step."
The man announced, throwing the word "Salvation" in front of Macardo. He looked at the portrait painted on the colored crystal, and there was no doubt that it was Robert Guilliman.
"But that's in the next round."
Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst; the outcome of the entire battle will be decided in this single round.
.......
“We have conducted this kind of simulation many times, and the outcome is always the same.”
"But I still don't understand—what is the point of all this?"
Makado suppressed his urge to pick up a chess piece and asked him a question.
Their game simulations have been performed countless times, and they have played countless games together.
It seems that he had long anticipated the final battle between the two sides, and judging from the countless changes in the game, he had foreseen the occurrence of the great rebellion.
However... he did not nip all the sparks of rebellion in the bud, thus minimizing the possibility of a major rebellion from the very beginning.
Why didn't you do that?
“Because…” He seemed to have anticipated Makado’s question, and he replied, “Because all of this was bound to happen.”
"Because... it's an inevitable fate that half of the Primarchs must join the rebels?"
Makado had a vague premonition of this.
It was as if everything was already decided from the very beginning, the moment the Primarch Project was implemented: half of the Primarchs would inevitably stand against the Lords of Man and become an inevitable obstacle to the future of the Imperium of Man.
No matter how hard you struggle, it won't make a difference, because that's the fate of humanity.
His fate.
"No, it's not such a metaphysical concept."
He sighed, as if he wanted to say a lot, but then stopped himself from expressing himself.
“Just like Magnus’s passionate speech at the Nicaea Conference,” he said, “can you feel his confidence and enthusiasm, just as we did when we first embarked on our exploration of the warp with such hope?”
"I......"
"There is no need to be ashamed of this, you who hold the seal."
"People always stumble in the same places, no matter how many lessons have been learned or how many admonitions and warnings have been given."
"The biggest lesson we, you, me, Magnus and Luojia, and many others have learned in this world is that we never learn from the past."
What has been will be again;
What has been done will be done again.
.......
Makado seemed to understand what the other person was saying.
He struggled to lift the chess piece in his hand, and then...
But as he turned his attention back to placing the piece on the board that could checkmate his opponent, another piece occupied the space he was about to capture.
A court jester (fool).
The role of the court jester was to remind the king and queen that they were not immortal and that they were not superior to ordinary people. In later interpretations, their existence was to speak the truth to power and to rebel against authority.
Most importantly—exposing tyranny.
"Hope remains."
Makado choked up at that moment, unable to express himself. And opposite him, the man, whose face rarely showed a smile, finally smiled again.
"...Who are you talking to, sir?"
A woman's voice struck the windowpane like a hammer blow, shattering the wall of concentration that Macardo had erected around himself. He looked toward the door with a start, where an official stood, her fingers crumpling her white robe into a ball, staring at him fearfully.
"...How long have you been here?"
“A few minutes, sir,” the official told him. “The Star Speaker sent me to deliver a message.”
"Then why were you staring at me like that? What did you see?"
“You, sir, are playing chess with yourself. You flip the cards, move the pieces, your face… contorts.” She gripped her robe tighter, her eyes fixed on the table.
Malcardo hesitated, following her gaze to the pieces placed at the endgame—the spot where the jester had been was now occupied by another piece, uniquely golden, shaped like a crown.
Next to it was the last crystal card—its image was an eagle tearing open a viper's throat.
With trembling fingers, Makado slowly picked up the card.
Makado's fingers could feel that the card was thicker than before.
He tried rubbing the card with his hand for a while until he shifted it and revealed the last card that was face down underneath.
Makado examined the card closely with his aged and wrinkled face, as if it had never appeared in the game.
【world】
Its design is a phoenix rising from the ashes.
......
Istvan III.
Choir City.
"Quick! Quick!"