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Page 476
Maybe a long time from now, maybe ten thousand years from now—but definitely not now.
Finally, in that final moment of ending and death.
Among those four chaotic faces that were smirking at him, he saw his own reflection.
......
The fortieth millennium, between thrones.
No one knows how long the final battle lasted; time had long since lost its measure for the power of the two of them.
For an ancient king, after ten thousand years of prayers and requests, His power has long surpassed the limits of human comprehension—their battle will unfold in a series across endless timelines, at different points in the past, present, and future.
He is no longer himself, but an aggregate that has absorbed the will of countless humans over the past ten thousand years.
Their yearning for the revival of humanity, their hatred for the aliens and enemies of chaos, their resentment towards the traitors to humanity, and their fervent faith in the one who sits high on the golden throne, forever guiding them with the light of the star, all materialized at this moment.
Driven by an insatiable will to survive, the Eternal King began his attack.
The tides of the subspace surged ceaselessly, and all collisions and struggles were confined to a tiny corner of spacetime.
Or perhaps, the battle was over before it even began.
When he chose to face Casgar for his last chance to step down from the Golden Throne, perhaps he already knew the final outcome of this battle.
“We can’t stop him. Retreat… Saint-Gilles-Noël.”
A radiant angel, shining brightly, blocked another eager intruder outside the shroud of golden light. Although the latter looked similar to her, only a select few in this world knew this secret.
Saint Gilles is not Saint Gillesno; Saint Gillesno is Horus.
"I--"
"I still can't accept it."
San Gileno's tone was as if he were crying. Although he understood that it was all his own choice, Horus never thought that the other would actually choose to leave him one day.
"So, what would you choose?"
Saint Gilles held his flaming longsword, burning with illusory psionic light, before him. "If you still can't let go of your obsession, I can be your opponent, brother."
"No, there's no need for that, Saint Gilles."
"I've made one mistake already, that's enough."
Horus may have known this final outcome all along, but he ultimately chose not to repeat the mistakes he made ten thousand years ago.
A child (despite having children) will finally say this final goodbye to his father.
Standing quietly to the side, this time, he will watch as an observer this battle that will also determine the ultimate fate of mankind.
Let us quietly send him off on his final journey.
......
The raging storm in the subspace gradually subsided.
"You did a good job, Casgar."
Even Casca himself didn't know how long this great battle lasted—it was as if all his actions were being aided by billions of different souls working together to help him resist the clash of forces from the other side.
It was as if countless golden centaurs, burning with the flames in their hearts, were joining forces to aid Kasgar, their combined power resisting the inescapable and irresistible final enemy.
Everything flowed smoothly and naturally.
But this still couldn't defeat the human emperor that people instinctively relied on.
Even the human emperor himself was unwilling to continue fighting, but as the King of Eternity, he could not stop His actions.
They were all unable to leave.
Like drowning people grasping at a last straw, those souls that returned to the golden throne clung to the body of the ancient king, protecting the human emperor who was linked to the symbol of human destiny.
No! Your Majesty! Please don't abandon us!
[Stop! Humanity needs an emperor. Without His power, we will face eternal darkness!]
[Your Majesty! Save our Emperor! Do not leave us in darkness!]
Those who defy the Emperor's will are enemies of humanity!
The golden light grew ever brighter as countless souls resisted their sanctuary, and the might of the ancient king instinctively resisted his own annihilation—even though he knew that continuing would be futile.
He was magnificent and towering, and every gesture he made carried an unquestionable and absolute authority, as if he could decide the life or death of the ants before him in an instant.
He wielded the golden greatsword in his hand as His judgment, and the irresistible absolute light locked onto Casca's position at that moment.
bass--!
Kasgar gripped the Ancient Staff with both hands for support, struggling to stand firm amidst the golden light.
Under this near-infinite power, Kasgar's psionic flames were squeezed into a ball. Even with the blessing of faith accumulated over millennia, Kasgar, possessing the staff of the ancient saint, was still unable to withstand it.
"enough."
Kasgar sensed another golden power helping him fight against the ancient king.
A person he had never met before.
To be precise, he was a rather ordinary-looking guy, even only the height of a mortal compared to Casca now. No one would believe that he would stand up in this final battle that would determine the fate of humanity.
But his psychic power, capable of turning the tide of battle, and the golden flames he emitted... all of this pointed to his true identity.
He nodded slightly to Kasgar, placing his hands on the ancient holy staff as well, using a golden light almost identical to that of the Eternal King to assist Kasgar in the fight.
[Emperor...]
[Your Majesty, why is this happening...?]
No, please don't leave us, my lord!
The souls cried out in bewilderment—humans are emperors, and emperors are humans, how could emperors abandon them... But if emperors really did abandon them, how could they resist the darkness of this world?
And who can guide them forward?
"Humanity will surely forge its own path."
“I am not a god, nor am I your master. Only you yourselves are in control.”
He was never a god, and he will inevitably face his own end.
If everything of humanity depends on him alone, what will become of humanity after he is gone?
Just like children will eventually
"Believe in your own strength, believe in the strength I give you."
He said.
【But--】
No, Your Majesty, I cannot...
We need you; we cannot function without you.
【My Lord...】
【I see】
The stubborn, fanatical golden souls were still praying for his guidance, but some souls, persuaded by the emperor, began to gradually peel away from the ancient king and fade away—and eventually slowly dissipated in the void, turning into dust in the universe.
Dust to dust, dust to dust.
Countless golden specks of light began to drift from the ancient king's body into the starry sky, the brilliant points of light shimmering in the lightless universe, silently completing this final farewell.
Casca felt the pressure on him lessening and disappearing.
As the golden soul dissipated, countless new flames began to ignite behind him.
Those were the sparks ignited in the hearts of countless people who refused to accept defeat.
The eternally burning flame ignites in the heart of every unyielding person, and will never be extinguished.
Perhaps the life of a human emperor will come to an end, but the fate of humanity must not end there.
Whether the emperor on the golden throne is a great emperor, or a decaying corpse—or even a corpse—they will not yield to the enemies of mankind!
The countless psionic flames coalesced into a single entity, and guided by the staff in Kasgar's hand, they once again clashed with the irresistible Absolute Emperor.
However, this time, what vanished like snowflakes after being splashed with boiling water was the golden emperor shining in the sky.
Seeing this, he nodded with satisfaction.
"Casca, and many more of our fellow humans."
"Let's keep going."
Along with the eternally majestic king of the sky, he himself vanished with the wind.
Finally, he will find his "liberation".
He closed his eyes, his body becoming ethereal as the King of Ages dissipated, until finally, just as he had hoped ten thousand years ago, he vanished completely into this vast and boundless sea of stars.
As he vanished, only a golden centaur, its hooves clattering softly, followed the distant light.
Nothing else was left.
Only the golden throne still radiates its dazzling light.
......
The human empire then entered a new era.
According to the Empire's official account, after the Chaos Enemy was completely annihilated and the Xenomorph Enemy was rendered insignificant, the great Emperor of Man ultimately chose to use all his power, even his life, to repair the Golden Throne, so that Mankind would no longer need to enter the Warp to travel directly to every star system via the Web.
Almost at the same time that the final battle ended, Lemanus, who brought the healing artifact from outside the galaxy, returned to the human empire once again.
However, after learning that the Emperor had chosen to leave, that the Golden Throne had been restored, the network had been reopened, and the Emperor's dream had been realized, he left Holy Terra in silence.
According to the records, he returned to Fenris once and held a feast with the new wolf cubs before disappearing again—while in the records of the Space Wolf, he will return again at the next Wolf Moment.
By the way, he didn't bring Bjorn this time either.
With the help of the Harmonyless Engine, the Golden Throne and the network city of Karasta have been successfully connected. From now on, not only humans can freely enter and exit the network, but even star fortresses the size of the Mountain Array can enter through the massive network entrance, which can even accommodate planets, via the orbital portal.
Moreover, with the development of the Harmonyless Engine, more and more network entrances connecting various planets in the Milky Way have been discovered or opened. Countless planets that were originally scattered like pearls in the Milky Way have been connected together under the guidance of the network, becoming increasingly interconnected.
In the late fortieth millennium, the situation where "emperors were far away and the heavens were high" between the various star systems finally came to an end.
All of this is thanks to the eventual opening of the Internet.
Humanity will not forget his sacrifice.
He will be the first and last human emperor—and from that moment on, the new High Lord Council, formed by the Casgar, will officially begin.
The new Highlord Council removed the Star Language Court and the Navigator Family, whose usefulness had diminished, and unified all military forces under the position of [Sun Lord].
This nominal Sun Lord, who is actually the Regent, will sweep away the corruption and inefficiency of the former High Lord Council and unite the originally loose human empire into one through the power of the Web.
At the same time, the entire human empire will once again face a real opportunity for transformation.
With the Network Project linking numerous planets, the original planetary governorships are no longer adequate, and various human worlds are undergoing complete transformation, modeled after Guilliman's Altera 500. Although warfare has largely disappeared in the galaxy, these construction projects still require a large number of Astartes warriors.
Uh, beat...beat ashes?
This obviously includes the Iron Empire, located in the heart of the human empire, and their Primarch Peturabo.
At the end of the fortieth millennium, the Iron Empire and Peturabo, through negotiations with the Sun Lord Kasgar, chose to return to the Empire of Man and carried out large-scale renovations and repairs to the human world based on their theories.
Almost at that time, the Primarch of the Seventh Legion, Rogdorn, who had lost an arm, was found in an unknown world discovered during the opening of the Webway.
According to Dorn, Perturabo's designs were a complete mess, filled with his meaningless personal hobbies and self-expression, and could only be described as empty beyond excessive embellishment.
This naturally sparked conflict between the two Primarchs, and even between two Legion-sized Astartes—but fortunately, with the intervention of many Primarchs and the Casgar, Perturabo eventually gave up the idea of returning to establish his own Iron Empire.
Imperial Fist and Iron Warrior, these two Astartes will continue to contribute to the construction of the human empire.
The human empire currently has millions of worlds, enough to keep them scattered across the globe.
......
Also at the end of the fortieth millennium, Kolacox, the Raven King, who had roamed the warp for countless years, returned to the Imperium. His brief return also brought another piece of good news to the Imperium of Man—the Red Sand Republic and the Primarch Angron, which had long been separated from Man, finally returned to the Imperium with Kolacox's persuasion and help.
The World Eaters maintain their legion size and, just as Angron hoped, continue to seek out potential acts of oppression throughout the galaxy.
The same was true for Angron—his mental state improved after the start of the Webway Project.
Now he will lead his warriors to continue piloting the Rebels through the galaxy, searching for the cries of anguish and extending a helping hand to those who are oppressed.