The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Soshjan faced the mysteriously appearing Inquisitor, contemplating various possibilities, while the other party merely watched him in silence, creating an odd stalemate.

After an unknown amount of time, Soshjan slowly said:

"Are you Inquisitor Klaydeus?"

The other party chuckled, took a step forward, and entered the top-secret archive room.

"Should an Inquisitor appear in the Mountain Array?"

After entering, the person glanced at the files and then at the booklet in Soshjan's hand.

"Finished reading?"

Soshjan turned around, placed the booklet back in its original spot, and then the bookshelf returned to its original state.

"Who do you represent?"

This sentence made the mysterious Inquisitor emit a somewhat strange laugh.

"Do I necessarily have to represent something?"

"There are no outsiders here, so let's skip the charade and get straight to the point."

"It seems that after experiencing so much, you have begun to try to get to the truth of the matter, although you are only reaching into a murky pool, blindly trying to fish out a needle. Just call me Li."

"Li."

Thinking about this name, Soshjan walked out of the hidden room and into the spacious hall.

"Who do you represent?"

"Hehe, Soshjan, do I really have to represent someone?"

"Then what is your purpose in finding me?"

"To understand your position."

The two found a desk and chairs in a corner, then sat down, facing each other.

"What position?"

"Do you still want to continue down the path they have arranged for you?"

Soshjan was silent for a moment, then held up three fingers.

"First, three questions. First, who exactly do 'they' refer to? Second, what exactly does the so-called 'path' refer to? Third, still the same question, who do you represent?"

Li chuckled twice, then nodded.

"Okay, first, 'they' refers to Saul, Kayan, Sevatar, and a series of people you have encountered. These are all people left behind by Macado to carry out the plan. Second, it refers to Gray Matter, which you should know better than I do. Third, I represent the Mother."

"Mother?"

Soshjan narrowed his eyes.

"Whose mother?"

"My mother."

Soshjan thought for a while, but couldn't think of who it was, then changed the subject.

"Everything I do follows the Primarch's will, not the path arranged by anyone."

"Then if I bluntly say that everything you know is false, all lies, and you have always been arranged to move forward by others, what would you choose?"

"Whether it is or isn't, I will naturally judge."

"It's just a hypothetical."

"I don't like being tested."

"What if I said I was here to help you?"

Soshjan scoffed.

"Many people say they want to help me. If you really want to help me, then tell me, who is your mother? Who is your father?"

Li fell silent, his fingers occasionally tapping lightly on the wooden table.

Suddenly, he sighed softly.

"It doesn't matter if I tell you, my mother is the Mother of Humanity, and my father is the Father of Humanity."

"Ha, it sounds like you are a god."

The other party's purple eyes stared at Soshjan, then shook his head.

"I am a mortal, but my brothers are indeed gods, and they will never know that they have a mortal brother."

Soshjan frowned.

"I hope you can explain more clearly."

"My gene-father and gene-mother are the same as the Primarchs, do you believe this?"

Soshjan was stunned for a moment, then fell into deep thought, and finally asked softly:

"If that's the case, you should also be a Primarch? Who are you?"

"I am who I am, Li, but I am not a Primarch, I am just a mortal, the son of man."

"Then what's her name?"

"Mother, like father, has had many names, but she still likes the name Erda the most."

"Erda."

For some reason, the boatman rowing the boat for the Bewilderment suddenly appeared in Soshjan's mind. That seemed to be a woman, could it be——

"Erda is the Primarchs' mother?"

"Mother's genes combined with Father's genes to give birth to the Primarchs."

"But whywhy does the Empire have no records, such an important person, never recorded in any history or classics, not even mentioned in Dorn's diary?"

Li sighed softly and scratched his face wrapped in bandages.

"This matter is a bit complicated. Father was wholeheartedly preparing for the Great Crusade, and Mother seemed to have some family conflicts with Father. She may have had some misunderstanding or misunderstanding of Father's ideals, so she tried to save all the brothers, creating a warp rift when they were still infants and scattering the Primarchs throughout the galaxy——"

"Ah? This——"

Soshjan knew that the Primarchs were scattered throughout the galaxy, but there were many theories about this, some said that a warp storm suddenly descended on Terra, and some said that the Emperor did it intentionally, but it turned out to be like this——

The Primarchs, still infants, were thrown by their biological mother into the perilous galaxy!

No wonder there are no records of this, and there are no records of this theoretical Empress of the Empire. This is undoubtedly a family scandal.

Even Soshjan, who had experienced so many events, couldn't help but have his brain a little stuck after learning the truth——

The key is that the actions of that Primarch-Mother looked a bit like a housewife throwing things around after a couple's quarrel, and what she threw were not pots and pans, but her own sons.

In a sense, Erda's conflict with the Emperor is the root cause of the entire Great Heresy. (Primarch——refers to the victim of the original family experience)

It took a long time to digest this information, Soshjan hesitated for a moment, and asked:

"Then how is she now?"

Li shook his head.

"Mother was killed by Erebus when the rebels attacked Terra."

"Ah, then why did you say——"

The other party then asked:

"Where is the Emperor now?"

"On the Throne."

"Have you been to the Lightning Stone?"

"I've been there."

"Who's inside?"

Soshjan was speechless, then reacted.

"Are you saying that Erda is like the Emperor——"

"Father and Mother are both immortals, and they are extremely special immortals. They possess immeasurable power. Death is not the ultimate for them, it may even be liberation——"

Soshjan nodded thoughtfully.

"I see... But if that's the case, how could Erebus kill her?"

"Because Mother had already foreseen Father's fall. No matter what, she still loved Father, so she planned to continue to accompany him in another form. Erebus was just a means she used to transform her own existence."

"So that's how it is... I understand."

"No, there are still many things you don't understand, but let's put those aside for now and go back to the original question, Soshjan, are you still planning to continue down the path they have arranged?"

After thinking for a while, Soshjan replied seriously:

"As long as it benefits the Empire and humanity, whether it is an arranged path or not, I will continue to walk it. This is the oath I took when I became an Astartes."

Li chuckled.

"What about your wife?"

Faced with the other party's question, Soshjan was speechless and could only remain silent.