Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 515 He is not a god
Several hours later, on the bridge of the Faggot, Chen Xi looked out the porthole and gazed at the planet below, which was now a sea of ​​fire.

"How do you feel about returning to the battlefield in a real sense?" Chen Xi heard footsteps behind him, but did not turn around.

“War has never changed.” Hathor responded to Chen Xi’s question, walked to his side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him: “I never imagined that ten thousand years later, war and enemies in the empire would have become like this.”

Hathor had now reverted to his administrative secretary attire, his words filled with感慨 and a hint of regret.

With a touch of melancholy, she asked Chen Xi, "If he had made a different choice ten thousand years ago, would the empire be different today?"

Although Hathor was not Horus himself, seeing the Empire in such a state ten thousand years later, especially the existence of those fallen Space Marines, filled her with extraordinary sadness and regret.

She regretted her depravity and betrayal ten thousand years ago, which ultimately led to all of this.

This made her wonder if the empire would have been different if Horus had made a different choice ten thousand years ago.

“No, because that is the fate of mankind.” However, Chen Xi shook his head, denying Hathor’s conjecture.

"What did you say?" Hasor's eyes widened immediately; Chen Xi's words struck her like a thunderbolt.

Hathor has always believed that the Empire is in its current state entirely because of Horus's corruption and betrayal.

That's why she wondered if the empire would have been different if Horus hadn't betrayed humanity and the emperor, but Chen Xi said it was humanity's destiny.

This made her unable to imagine that if this was the fate of humanity, then what was the purpose of everything they did ten thousand years ago?
Chen Xi glanced at Hathor, then raised a soundproof force field on the bridge. He then used psionic magic to seal off the surroundings, making it impossible for anyone to see through him, before explaining the reason to Hathor: "Eight most powerful gods will be born in the warp, each representing a different domain. The four Chaos Gods are only four of them. The Great Rebellion ten thousand years ago was actually a ritual, an ascension ritual that was destined to give birth to a fifth god."

What Chen Xi said was the most core thing in this world, and the secrets involved were probably known to very few people in this galaxy: "The birth of these eight true gods transcends the concepts of time and space. That is, the moment they are born, they will be born on all timelines of the past, future and present."

To give a simple example, Slaanesh was born at the time of the Eldar empire's destruction, but he also witnessed the Heavenly War between the Old Ones and the Star Gods tens of millions of years ago when the Eldar were just born.

Similarly, after the great rebellion ten thousand years ago, the Dark Lord was destined to be born, but the Emperor postponed His birth at the cost of ascending the Golden Throne.

The war ten thousand years ago was a ritual of ascension to godhood. Between the Emperor and Horus, one was destined to be promoted to the Dark Lord.

It started with Horus, until the Emperor also chose to embark on this path, a path that was destined for him from the beginning.

"You mean, no matter what choice Horus made ten thousand years ago, a Dark Lord would inevitably be born between him and the Emperor?" Hathor seemed somewhat confused by Chen Xi's words. "It's not that a Dark Lord would be born between Horus and the Emperor, but rather that the ritual ten thousand years ago would give birth to a Dark Lord—not Horus, not the Emperor, but someone else." Chen Xi shook his head and explained, "The birth of the Dark Lord is predetermined; it only affects who ultimately becomes Him and when He is born."

The Emperor originated from the sacrifices of humanity's earliest immortal shamans. Some say he is the aggregate of those shamans' souls in the warp, while others say he comes from a higher dimension. In any case, he is destined to rise up in humanity's Old Night era, leading humanity out of the shadows of the Old Night and reunifying the galaxy.

But fate dictates that the Emperor will ultimately face betrayal from his sons—not Horus, but someone else, perhaps Guilliman, perhaps Saint Gilles, perhaps Rogdorn, or even those two brothers who have vanished from your memory.

At this point, Chen Xi added, "Even in some timelines, the Primarch and the Emperor may not necessarily be male."

When the Emperor was creating the Primarchs, Macardo suggested that he set the gender of some of them to female, but the Emperor thought he was just joking.

"...This joke is not funny." For Hathor, who is now a woman, this is not a joke.

“Yes, this is no joke, whether for Macado or for the Primarchs.” Chen Xi didn’t delve deeper into the topic, but simply summarized, “In short, the great rebellion ten thousand years ago was inevitable. The four Chaos Gods have returned to their rightful places, and they need to seize more in the real world.”

For them, the resurgence of humanity is undoubtedly a huge opportunity.

Horus's fall and betrayal were merely the result of the deliberate seduction of the four Chaos Gods. Even if he hadn't made that choice, other Primarchs would have been tempted, and the Great Rebellion would have been inevitable.

Hearing this, Hathor could only sigh; she remembered perfectly well what kind of people her brothers were.

Although their fall from grace might not cause such great destruction, Hathor had no doubt that they would fall.

"Alas..." Hathor sighed, seemingly lamenting the great rebellion ten thousand years ago, or perhaps lamenting the fate of humanity.

However, she suddenly thought of something and asked Chen Xi, "Ten thousand years ago, the fate of mankind was controlled by the Four Chaos Gods. Now that the human empire is without the leadership of the Emperor and the Primarch, do we really have any hope of fighting against the Four Chaos Gods?"

This is Hathor's biggest concern right now.

Although she already knew that her brothers would return in twenty years, ten thousand years ago, even with all eighteen brothers and the emperor present, they were unable to fight against the four Chaos Gods, which ultimately led to the Great Rebellion. Now, can they really stand against the threat of Chaos?
However, when faced with this question, Chen Xi laughed as if he had heard a joke. After laughing, he said to Hathor in a joking tone, "The emperor who walked the world ten thousand years ago was not a god at that time."

Ten thousand years later, the emperor sits on his golden throne and declares that he is not a god.

(End of this chapter)