Warhammer begins in 2026

With the tyranny overthrown, Barbarus finally broke free from the shackles of millennia of darkness. Huang Feng did not leave immediately, but accompanied Mortarian down the Blackrock Spire, walking across this ravaged land.

Along the way, Huang Feng truthfully told Mortalian about the entirety of the human empire, the foundation of Terra, the organization of the major legions, and the plight of humanity across the entire star system. She recounted the empire's glory and also frankly spoke of its suffering and conflicts, allowing this Primarch, who had been lonely for many years, to realize for the first time that she was not alone, and that humanity had already built a vast civilization across the starry sky.

Motari listened quietly, and the isolation and loneliness that had been building up for decades gradually began to loosen. Looking at his home planet, utterly destroyed by toxins, corruption, and darkness, and at his native people, barely clinging to life and suffering endless torment, his only obsession became increasingly clear.

He turned to look at Huang Feng, his tone sincere and earnest: "I do not seek power or glory, I only ask to save the remaining humans on this planet, to cleanse Barbarus of its poison and darkness, so that they can truly live on."

Huang Feng did not hesitate and immediately agreed to his request.

After the agreement was finalized, the Empire's support forces quickly moved into Barbarus. A large number of Mechanicus bio-sages and engineering legions descended upon the planet, bringing with them massive amounts of purification equipment, ecological restoration devices, and modification equipment, and began systematically addressing the planet's pollution, improving toxic soil, and purifying the air and water.

Mortarion's entire legion arrived in Barbarus, stationed there to pacify his people and purge any remaining aberrant evil. Mortarion's own eagle-bill purification power became the core of their strength, spreading outwards layer by layer to continuously dissolve the warp residue that permeated the planet. Combined with the technological modifications made by the Cult of Mechanics, this formed a complete system of dual purification through technology and psionic energy.

Several years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Under the Mechanicus's comprehensive transformation, the Eagle Banner's continuous purification, and the Twilight Legion's garrison and stabilization efforts, the once desolate and poisonous Barbarus is undergoing rapid transformation. Acid storms have significantly decreased, toxic fog has dissipated layer by layer, the withered land is slowly regaining its vitality, and the surviving native humans are freed from torment, able to live and multiply in peace. The entire dead planet, which has been mired in darkness for millennia, is gradually breaking free from its fate and returning to order and vitality.

Just as the purification of the entire region was about to come to an end, and Barbarus was about to completely break free from its dark destiny, a sudden change occurred.

The sky over the entire planet suddenly darkened, and a dense, putrid, and foul force tore open a rift in the warp. Countless rotting, bloated Nurgle demons poured out from the rift, and the putrid miasma instantly covered the land that had just been mostly purified. Endless plague energy and decaying evil spread rampantly, frantically eroding all the purification achievements of the past few years.

The instant the demon appeared, a figure collapsed completely into the chaos.

Typhons, the Legion's first chief veteran and Mortalian's most trusted lieutenant, publicly and utterly betrayed the Legion. He accepted Nurgle's corrupting blessing, his body mutated and decayed, abandoning humanity and the Legion, becoming a Chaos follower of Nurgle, and preparing to lead a group of bewitched warriors in a rebellion.

But this betrayal never escaped Huang Feng's prediction.

From the moment she arrived in Barbarus, she had seen through Typhon's hidden cowardice, greed, and twisted desire for power, and had already secretly laid defenses, arranging for the Imperial Guard and the Grey Knights to monitor his movements throughout.

Before Typhon could rally his forces or before the Chaos forces could establish a foothold, the long-ambushed Imperial Guard and Grey Knights launched their attack in an instant. The golden holy war blades and the evil-slaying energy erupted simultaneously, and without any unnecessary entanglement, they wiped out all the rebellious forces head-on with overwhelming suppressive power.

Typhons and all the cultist warriors who followed him in the rebellion were instantly wiped out, and the rebellion was quelled without causing any disturbance to the Legion or the planet.

With internal troubles eliminated, external enemies are now at hand.

Mortarion, wielding the Soul-Devouring Scythe, unleashed the purifying power of his eagle banner, locking onto the surging army of Nurgle demons. Across Barbarus, everyone stood in formation, their gazes resolute, facing the sudden invasion of the Chaos Plague.

The great war to eliminate the demons of chaos has officially begun.

Countless Nurgle demons roared as they swarmed to the ground, their festering bodies carrying endless plague and miasma. Wherever they passed, vegetation withered, and the earth decayed anew. Barbarus, which had just begun to recover, was once again shrouded in the corrupted warp energy. Countless smaller plague demons blanketed the area, followed closely by several enormous, bloated Nurgle Archdemons. These were the rulers of this chaotic rift, possessing thick, decaying armor and an unyielding ability to regenerate plague—the most formidable chaotic beasts to contend with.

Mortarian charged ahead, wielding his Soul-Devouring Scythe, straight into the demon horde. The purifying power of the Eagle Banner erupted from him, the pure white light that had previously lingered around him suddenly spreading, covering the entire battlefield. With each swing of his scythe, he tore through the corrupted armor of the demons, drawing upon their raging plague energy and life force. The more their corrupting power manifested, the stronger Mortarian became.

Under Mortarian's guidance, the power of the Eagle Banner rooted within him fully blossomed, simultaneously enveloping the entire legion.

This was a collective transformation for the Legion. The purifying buff of the Eagle Banner covered every warrior, thoroughly cleansing their hearts of any lurking cowardice and chaos, washing away all negative influences. From then on, every shot fired and every melee strike by the Twilight Legion carried a powerful purifying effect, specifically designed to counter the filth of the warp and demonic bodies. The Nurgle demons, previously difficult to kill and possessing regenerative abilities, experienced a significant reduction in regeneration speed after being hit by the Legion's offensive. Their corrupting essence was continuously stripped away, causing them to suffer exponentially more severe damage.

The battlefield situation has been completely reversed.

Legion warriors advanced in formation, their firepower spreading out in layers. The purifying offensive overwhelmed the entire battlefield, annihilating countless low-level plague demons. Even the heavily armored Nurgle archdemons were wounded and their very essence crumbled under the relentless purifying onslaught. Mortarion single-handedly held off several of the main archdemons, his scythe constantly draining their psionic energy and stamina, systematically depleting the plague energy upon which the archdemons depended for survival.

The battle was swift and decisive. Under the absolute control of the fully-fledged Eagle Banner, the Nurgle demons' plague offensive was completely ineffective, and all the chaotic invading forces were continuously wiped out and their formations shattered. The remaining demons were powerless to resist and could only retreat hastily back into the warp rift. In the end, they were all forcibly expelled and completely retreated into the realm of chaos, with no remaining strength to invade the material plane.

After clearing out all the demons, the Imperial engineering forces immediately moved into the Rift Zone and moved a large number of Blackstone components to complete the deployment.

The black stone array was arranged in an orderly fashion, layer upon layer, forming a stable suppressive force field that firmly sealed off the warp passages in this star sector, completely solidifying the rifts and preventing the infiltration of chaos. From this day forward, the warp disturbances in this star sector were permanently suppressed, and the Nurgle demons and all other chaotic forces would never again be able to invade Barbaros from here.

With the threat of chaos completely eradicated, the planet-wide purification project has been restarted.

With the Black Stone Barrier as a safety net, coupled with the ecological transformation by the Cult of Mechanics, the environmental restoration by the Biological Sages, and the continuous cleansing by the residual purifying energy of the Eagle Banner, Barbarus completely shed its millennia-long cycle of death and decay over several years. The highly toxic smog vanished, the acid storms ceased their rampage, the decaying soil transformed into fertile, arable land, the air became fresh, and the water sources were clean. The native human race was finally freed from generations of suffering, living and multiplying peacefully on this newborn planet.

With this, the chaotic threat of Barbalus was completely eradicated, and the basic purification and transformation of the entire planet were fully implemented.

Over the years, Huang Feng did not stay in Barbalus, and left a few years later. She only stayed with Mortalian to guard their home planet, participating in the planet's purification and transformation. Relying on the Eagle Banner's large-scale purification power and in conjunction with the Mechanicus's ecological restoration technology, they gradually smoothed out the decay, toxins, and warp residue that had accumulated in Barbalus over thousands of years.

Together, the two inspected the land, stabilized the rift barrier, and comforted the surviving people. They worked hand in hand to complete the basic purification project of the entire planet, completely ending the millennia-long suffering of this land and freeing Barbarus from the fate of death and decay. After seeing that the planet had completed its basic transformation, Huang Feng left.

The battle was completely over, the threat of chaos was eradicated, the Blackrock Barrier was fully formed, and the security situation on Barbarus was completely stable. The Imperial Guard and Grey Knights stationed there completed all their emergency stabilization, cleanup of remnants, and investigation of potential threats, confirming that there were no longer any chaotic undercurrents or distortion risks on the planet.

Subsequently, the entire group of Imperial Guards and Gray Knights withdrew from Barbarus, rejoining Huang Feng's expeditionary fleet to rest and await further orders, no longer stationed there permanently. By this time, Barbarus possessed a well-developed Blackstone subspace suppression field, a mature ecological purification system, and the newly renamed Life Guardians Legion, permanently stationed on its home planet, making it capable of independently safeguarding the stability of the star system.

Having experienced the entire chaotic bloodbath and witnessed his home planet's rebirth from death and decay, Mortarian's ideals underwent a complete transformation. The deathly silence and melancholy of the past faded away; he no longer fought merely to break free from fate and sever the darkness, but truly understood the meaning of protection.

In front of the entire army, Mortarion officially announced that the original Silent Legion would be completely renamed.

From then on, the Legion abandoned its old, dormant name and officially adopted the name – Guardians of Life.

This name signifies that they are no longer warriors trapped in despair at dusk, but guardians protecting life, cleansing away corruption, and protecting humanity's territory. The purifying power of the Eagle Banner and the soul-devouring combat techniques are no longer solely for killing and revenge, but exist to protect life, purify darkness, and maintain order. All soldiers solemnly accept their orders, their mindsets and missions transformed, bidding farewell to their former tragic fate.

With everything settled, Mortarion gazed at his revitalized homeworld, his heart filled with mixed emotions. This place had ended his painful destiny, witnessed his redemption, yet also bore the scars and memories of his life. After a brief farewell to his people, he led his legion back to Terra.

When Terra's silhouette came into view, Mortarian was completely stunned.

The magnificent star fortress, the well-organized city-state buildings, the orderly military and civilians, and the clear and clean sky—without corruption, plague, oppression, or enslavement—the entire sacred star field was peaceful, prosperous, and bright, exactly the perfect world he had dreamed of all his life.

He walked alone to the Liberation Monument in the center of Terra and stood quietly. The cold stone monument was etched with the struggles and glory of human civilization, and all around him was peace and order.

Having endured suffering, slaughter, and darkness, the Primarch's inner coldness and loneliness gradually melted away.

He silently hoped that in the future, more perfect worlds like Terra, bright, peaceful, and pure, would be born in the human realm, so that all the suffering human people would no longer have to experience the despair and torment of Barbaros.