Valentino, a Hive World of the Imperium of Man, Tithe Grade: Solutus Prima.
It was a planet no different from any other Hive World in the Imperium. The upper hive remained the domain of nobles and those of high standing, the mid-hive was still the gathering place for the majority of the planet's population, and the underhive was the territory of scavengers and criminal gangs.
Within a state-sanctioned Ecclesiarchy cathedral in Valentino's mid-hive, a handsome man with golden hair knelt on one knee. His features had reached a pinnacle of perfection, such that almost anyone who beheld his face would involuntarily feel a sense of goodwill.
The Ecclesiarch priest of this cathedral was nearby, devoutly praying before an effigy of the Emperor, while pilgrims cautiously glanced at the golden-haired man from the corners of their eyes.
Their gazes did not fixate on him, but constantly compared his face with the golden-haired figures in the stained-glass windows above.
Ultimately, they reached a conclusion.
This man was the spitting image of the radiant saint in the stained glass.
"The Emperor watches over you."
As the priest's voice echoed, Sanguinius slowly raised his head. For him, his current life felt like a dream, for just a few months ago, he was merely an ordinary resident of the mid-hive.
One day, a few months prior, he had just woken up when he saw a tall, hooded figure standing beside his bed.
He could barely make out the golden light beneath the hood, but as he tried to ask the person's identity, the figure forcefully slapped a blood-red bead into his chest with a powerful hand.
As he felt his lungs almost burst from the impact, the person left him a golden longsword and uttered a name he had never heard before.
"I am Nils. He chose you."
Months flew by like arrows. His body grew taller and stronger, and his once dark black hair transformed into a dazzling mane of gold. His original features underwent subtle changes, becoming even more handsome and approachable than before.
What concerned him even more was the near-superhuman development of his physique. His limbs possessed immense strength, and even his movements had become so swift that ordinary people could barely catch a blur.
Things that were incomprehensible to ordinary people became clear to him in a mere instant. Moreover, as if someone were pouring memories into his brain, combat techniques he had never seen before spontaneously appeared in his mind.
His height had already surpassed two meters and was still growing towards three meters or even more.
And notably, he had not seen the red bead since that day, not even within his body.
During this time, neither the medicae sisters nor the alchemists of the Adeptus Mechanicus could explain the changes in his body. It was not an influence rooted in genetics, at least according to their observations.
He had perused countless ancient texts but still found no record of the name Nils. However, his inquiries led him to another blind spot.
He increasingly resembled the demigod who existed only in legends. The incredibly devout and respectful priest beside him was the best evidence of this.
In the priest's words, appearance could not determine a person's identity; only the soul could.
Furthermore, he did not know why the priest, who had perfectly good eyes the day before they met, was blind in both eyes the next day.
This was clearly a change caused by the vanished bead that the person named Nils had slammed into his chest. Therefore, for the past few months, he had come to the Ecclesiarchy cathedral almost every day to pray, hoping that the divine God-Emperor would give him an answer.
But the Emperor's response to him was only silence.
"I still have not heard the words of the Emperor."
"The Emperor has already orchestrated the fate of every individual. Although you have not heard the Emperor's voice today, please remember that the Emperor watches over each of His subjects."
After a wry smile, Sanguinius bowed to the priest and then turned to walk towards the cathedral's main doors.
He ran a tavern in Valentino. Unlike other establishments that sold ale or other privately brewed drinks, his tavern only offered alluring wines.
It wasn't that he disliked ale, but for him, wine always exuded a strange attraction.
He loved the aroma of wine and its bittersweet taste.
"Sanguinius, aren't you going to open for business yet?"
Just as he stepped out of the cathedral doors, a familiar voice halted his departing steps.
Sanguinius turned his head towards the source of the voice, and his eyes fell upon an aged but still vigorous figure, who was now approaching him step by step.
"Inquisitor Valerius, I thought you would be immersed in your endless work again today, as usual."
"Old age catches up, some tasks have been handed over to my successors, and I now have time for a daily tipple."
Sanguinius looked at the inquisitor he called Valerius with a smile. As far as he knew, this old man belonged to the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition.
On Valentino, this Valerius was almost a legendary figure. One had to know that there were hidden cultists on this planet.
Just recently, news had spread that this old man before him had once again eradicated a large cultist cell and had crushed the skull of a heretic bishop with his bare hand.
He could hardly imagine how much strength an old man's hand could possess to crush a person's head so easily.
"Interested in taking a stroll with an old man?"
"With pleasure."
"Then you'll have to slow down. At your current speed, this old man won't be able to keep up."
To this, Sanguinius gave no further reply, simply accompanying Valerius towards his tavern with a silent smile.
Despite his age, Valerius's legs were remarkably nimble. In Sanguinius's eyes, the old man's walking speed even surpassed that of most Enforcers belonging to the Adeptus Arbites.
Normally, a renowned inquisitor like Valerius should be investigating anything related to the warp. The fact that he was seeking him out now suggested that something critical had occurred.
"You've come to find me. Has something happened in the underhive again?"
"Your mind is sharp. The underhive has gone completely mad."
Sanguinius frowned at Valerius's words. Judging from past experience, every time the old man wiped out a gathering of heretical cults, those individuals would remain relatively quiet for a while.
But what was the situation this time? What did it mean that the underhive had gone completely mad? Had the cultists incited the scavengers to riot?
"My colleagues in the underhive have discovered something very unsettling. Those individuals have begun to conduct large-scale rituals and are starting to paint blasphemous symbols in various locations."
"It's hard not to suspect that they are preparing to summon something."
Valerius sighed. He was nearing eighty years old. An old bone like him should have retired long ago, but the pressure on Valentino forced him to continue working with this aged body.
The existence of the person beside him, who increasingly resembled that demigod, was the only absolute fighting force he could currently rely on. The last time he tasked the person with investigating a large heretical gathering in a certain part of the underhive, the person returned with the heads of eight mortal Champions of Khorne.
Honestly, when he saw those eight heads, he felt his brain begin to spin rapidly.
Because he clearly remembered that Sanguinius had only worn ordinary clothes and carried a golden longsword sanctioned by the Ecclesiarchy (a blatant lie) as a gift from the Emperor's dream when entering the underhive, not even bringing an air filter.
And from the time the person entered the underhive to the time they returned to the mid-hive, only an hour had passed. When the person returned to the mid-hive with eight heads hanging from their waist, the Ecclesiarch bishop almost wept as he prayed to the Emperor.
"Didn't you seek help from the Adeptus Astartes chapters?"
"It will take them some time to get here, and before that, Valentino could very well be turned into something inhuman by those individuals."
Sanguinius rubbed his head in some distress. Valerius's words were actually quite clear. The old man needed him to go down there again.
Compared to going down alone, every time he went with this old man, nothing good ever came of it.
The first time was a large-scale action by the heretics. As a result, he followed the Arbites and the Planetary Defense Force to suppress wave after wave of cultists before finally quelling the riot.
The second time, he almost watched a Greater Daemon of Khorne being summoned through sacrifice. If he hadn't acted quickly and beheaded the sacrificial bishop at the start, Valentino would probably have become a daemon world by now.
And now this old man intended to take him to the underhive again.
"I believe someone like you would never forsake the Emperor's call, would you?"
Sanguinius's headache-inducing gesture made Valerius smile awkwardly, then he pulled a piece of parchment from his bag.
It was a contract, a favor owed, and the conspicuous blood-drop-shaped wax seal on it made Sanguinius's eyes widen slightly.
Did this old man have connections with a Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels?
"This is considered your reward. After all, this old bone of mine probably won't have a day to use this contract."
The contract looked very old, and even the words written in ink on it had begun to fade slightly. However, the blood-drop wax seal symbolizing a Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels was still affixed to the sacred document.
As long as the wax seal remained, the Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels that signed this sacred contract would abide by the terms agreed upon within it.
"This is a contract I once signed with the Lamenters Chapter. As a reward for the extra supplies I once gave them, this contract can allow them to assist you in one operation."
Looking at the contract that Valerius had placed in his hand, he once again began to doubt Valerius's background. This was not something an ordinary inquisitor could obtain.
The Lamenters Chapter was founded during M36, the so-called Twenty-First Founding, also known as the Cursed Founding.
The Chapter Master was Malakim Phoros. It was a standard fleet-based chapter. Although the chapter's numbers were slightly less than other chapters, it was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
"By the way, which Adeptus Astartes chapter responded to your request for aid?"
His question did not receive Valerius's answer. Instead, the old man raised his chin towards the contract in his hand.
"Are you talking about the Lamenters Chapter?"
"That's right. The High Lords of Terra need to redeploy them to another region, and on their way, they need to pass through Valentino for resupply, and while they're at it, help us deal with the underhive problem."
Sanguinius silently tucked the contract into the inner lining of his jacket, then looked around to make sure no one could hear what he was about to say before whispering his concerns to Valerius.
"Judging from what you just said, those cultists are planning to summon something particularly troublesome, so troublesome that even the Inquisition and the Sisters of Battle on this planet can't handle it?"
"Have you heard of the Lord of Skulls?"
The moment this name was uttered, he no longer wanted to continue the conversation. Perhaps ordinary people didn't know what the Lord of Skulls was, but as a dignitary of the Ecclesiarchy in a certain sense, he had the authority to access the archives recorded by the Ecclesiarchy.
The Lord of Skulls was a massive war engine under the command of the Chaos God Khorne in the warp. Only the most cunning dimensional artificers could bind the bloodthirsty daemon soul that piloted the Lord of Skulls, and the fuel that drove this giant war machine was the boiling blood of vile murderers.
These war machines, forged in the furnaces of the warp, were given a single mission from the moment of their creation: to annihilate all enemies who stood in their path.
Although the records of the Ecclesiarchy seemed to treat the Lord of Skulls as some kind of armored vehicle, in his opinion, that thing was purely a prison, a prison used to confine those bloodthirsty daemon souls.
And honestly, he didn't think this was something their planet Valentino could deal with. The Lord of Skulls was at least 10 meters tall, and if it were any taller, it could probably reach 15 meters.
This height had already reached that of a Knight Titan. If there was only one, it might be manageable with a desperate fight, but if the number of Lords of Skulls appearing on a planet reached a certain threshold, then the fate of that planet could basically be decided.
Unless forces capable of directly reversing the tide of battle joined the fight, ninety-nine percent of the planets where these Lords of Skulls appeared would become daemon worlds. After all, along with the summoning of the Lord of Skulls, other warp daemons would definitely pour into the real world.
"They're planning to summon a Lord of Skulls?"
If they were only summoning one Lord of Skulls and a daemon legion, perhaps by risking his life and cooperating with the Imperial Guard that could be gathered and the Lamenters Chapter, they could still try to some extent. Although that thing was extremely difficult to deal with, his current physical condition had already undergone a transformation, enough to support him in carrying out various aggressive strategic missions.
"You're half right. They are indeed planning to summon the Lord of Skulls, but not just one."
Alright, can I take back what I just said?
The only thought Sanguinius had left was this. What was a Lord of Skulls? That was something comparable to a Titan of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Summoning one Lord of Skulls plus a daemon legion was already enough to threaten this planet's very existence, and now they were planning to summon even more.
He had just said that once the number of these things reached a certain threshold, this planet could almost be written off.
And judging from Valentino's population density, the cultists in the underhive were definitely numerous. If they really dared to make sacrifices, summoning at least a daemon legion would be no problem, and they might even be able to pull in a Greater Daemon.
After all, last time they almost managed to bring a Greater Daemon into Valentino. Although he didn't understand why that Greater Daemon of Khorne named Ka'Bandha became as excited as a stray dog upon seeing him, one thing was certain: Ka'Bandha had definitely set his sights on him.
Perhaps the next time these cultists summoned a Greater Daemon, that entity would definitely respond first and come looking for him with great enthusiasm.
Seeing that Sanguinius was showing signs of reluctance, Valerius reached out and patted Sanguinius's shoulder, saying with a smile like a cunning old merchant, "Relax, didn't you always want to go to Baal? After this incident on Valentino is over, I'll have a way to send you there (??ω??)."
This sentence struck a chord with him. Over the past few months, his body had been undergoing constant changes. His physical characteristics increasingly resembled those of the demigod in myths, and every night in his dreams, he could always hear a voice calling him to Baal.
If he hadn't worried that Valentino would collapse due to the underhive cultists' riot after he left, he probably would have already gone to Baal under the guise of a pilgrimage to see who was calling him.
He really wanted to verify his long-held suspicion: whether that demigod from the myths had a task to entrust to him, just as the Ecclesiarch bishop had said, that everyone in the world had their own destiny and duty.
"Tell me, when are we going to the underhive?"
"If you don't mind, right now."
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