Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [289]

At this moment, all the Grey Knights were stunned. They had always believed their gene-father was the Emperor himself!

 Their gene-seed was sacred—yet now the Emperor said he would take them to meet their true gene-father!

Some Grey Knights couldn't accept this—they were no longer the noble sons of the Emperor.

"I know this is hard to accept! But this is a secret hidden for ten thousand years! It's time to reveal the truth," the avatar said.

"Are you really the Emperor?" Draigo asked boldly.

As Supreme Grand Master, he had served for centuries, faced countless Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes, and even banished the Pale King and Daemon-Primarch Mortarion in battle.

He knew that Chaos daemons loved to use special tricks to fool mortals—making them think they faced the true Emperor. There were countless such cases, but none had succeeded against the Grey Knights.

Because such temptations always left traces; they couldn't change their essence. When he learned of the avatar, he was suspicious, thinking it might be a daemon or Daemon Prince's trap.

But after witnessing the avatar's power, and feeling the resonance in his genes, Draigo relaxed slightly.

Still, he kept the host under close watch, ready to act at any sign of corruption.

Later, at the Cadian battlefield, he saw two Emperor-avatars fighting for the Imperium!

With the Primarchs awakening, and avatars appearing beside them, Draigo relaxed further.

Now, the Emperor himself, through the avatar, was speaking to them, which made Draigo wary again.

"I understand your worries, Draigo. Your caution is correct. If there were more like you in the Imperium, much corruption could have been avoided.

But do not doubt—I am the true Emperor. My will has descended into this vessel to speak with you remotely.

That's because I have a very important task only you can complete. Inside you is something I placed in the first Grand Master when I created the Grey Knights, passed down to each generation.

It's a soul fragment from a Primarch who chose the light, nourished by the pure and noble souls of over forty generations of Supreme Grand Masters.

This soul fragment can unleash unimaginable power. That's why, a century ago, you could banish Mortarion," the Emperor patiently explained.

"Your power cannot be faked. You truly are the Emperor's will!

 Forgive my earlier rudeness, great Emperor—I was only so wary of Chaos corruption," Draigo finally lowered his noble head and knelt before the avatar.

The Emperor's psychic power could not be faked—no daemon, not even the four Chaos Gods, could imitate it.

Every Grand Master secretly knew that, upon taking office, they would fuse with an ancient soul fragment.

This was an exceptionally powerful soul—a Grand Master's secret weapon, known only to him and the Emperor.

Generations of Grand Masters had speculated about its origin. Some thought it was Sanguinius's noble soul, others Ferrus Manus's.

Because only these two loyalists Primarchs had died, and their souls were exceptionally strong—especially Sanguinius.

Could the Grey Knights be offshoots of the Blood Angels or Iron Hands?

"Then, Draigo, obey my order!

 Come to me at once. The avatar will teleport you. Tell your men to return to Holy Terra for now!

Soon, all Grey Knights will meet their true gene-father," the Emperor said.

"Yes, great Emperor! At your command," Draigo nodded and knelt.

The Supreme Grand Master stood, relaxed his mind, and let the avatar absorb him into the green lantern.

The remaining Grey Knights obeyed the Emperor's order, returning to Holy Terra, preparing to meet their gene-father and follow his lead.

All Grey Knights realized—something big was coming. Who was their gene-father? Was it Guilliman? Were they Ultramarines after all?

Rhodes remotely retrieved the original Ace Killer via the system.

A flash of light—then the Emperor-avatar and Supreme Grand Master Draigo vanished from the ship.

On the Macragge's Honour, another flash, and the huge Emperor-avatar appeared, immediately releasing Draigo.

Draigo was startled by the group before him, even reaching for his weapon—was the Emperor summoning him to banish a daemon?

He saw the crimson figure kneeling—the demonic horns, huge wings—an abominable, mutated Daemon-Primarch: Magnus, one of the most powerful Daemon Princes described in the Grey Knights' tomes!

Standing beside him was the blue-armored giant, Roboute Guilliman. As for the others:

One was Mephiston, the Librarian of the Blood Angels, whom he had met before; another, a gold-armored Custodian.

Two others, tall and with strong soul auras, were no less than Primarchs—what a bizarre combination!

Horus stood nearby, now just two meters tall, like an ordinary bodyguard, not attracting Draigo's attention.

Magnus's identity could be revealed to the Grey Knights and the whole Imperium, thanks to the whitewashing story—but not Horus!

Horus would always remain hidden, forever guarding his beloved Imperium from the shadows.

"Lower your weapon, Grey Knight. Magnus is not your enemy," the Emperor's voice rang out.

"Great Emperor! What is going on? Why is this Chaos traitor here? And who are these two? Is that one of your Custodians?" Draigo asked.

Had he trusted the wrong person? Impossible! If even the Emperor was corrupted, the Imperium would be doomed.

"All will be explained. Magnus is not a traitor—he is your true gene-father, the father of the Grey Knights," the Emperor revealed a shocking truth that completely shattered Draigo's worldview.

Poor Draigo, he felt both his hearts couldn't take the blow.

"Great Emperor, you mean we—we Grey Knights are Magnus's sons! We are the sons of a Chaos traitor!" Draigo struggled to accept the terrifying truth.

They always believed the Emperor was their gene-father, their gene-seed sacred—yet it turned out to be a Daemon Prince!

If it were Sanguinius, Guilliman, or Ferrus Manus, he could accept it.

But—it was Magnus! Draigo's heart broke. How could he face this?

"Listen to me carefully, son of Magnus. Your father bore ten thousand years of infamy and endured the darkest task of the Imperium. This is a story worthy of song.

Let me tell you a tale—ten thousand years long.

Magnus endured humiliation, even sacrificing his homeworld and his irredeemable gene-sons to infiltrate Chaos for me, gathering intelligence.

My heroic son made the greatest sacrifice," the Emperor elegantly recounted the story.

After hearing this, Draigo's eyes widened in disbelief at the Emperor.

"Great Emperor, so—so our gene-father sacrificed so much!

 All to spy on Chaos, to gather intel on all the Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes," Draigo said, nearly unable to believe it.

If so, their Primarch, Magnus, really was a hero!

"Yes! Each Grand Master preserved a bright, good soul fragment of your father. This is his secret weapon for breaking free from Chaos.

It's a ten-thousand-year plan, an undercover career spanning millennia. Now your father has completed my mission and is returning to you," the Emperor said.

"I understand, great Emperor! Great gene-father, please forgive my earlier rudeness. You sacrificed so much for the Imperium, and I doubted you," Draigo knelt before the red daemon and said.