The words of the Thunder Shield Guard made the atmosphere on-site tense.
Captain Malachai's emotions were like a rollercoaster—he had just been lifted by the promise of aid from the Primarch, filling this grieving warrior with renewed hope.
His gaze toward the Shield Guard was full of gratitude.
Yet what the Shield Guard said next caused his heart to tighten again.
In his understanding, the Custodes were sacred and inviolable—there had never been a case of anyone daring to treat these guardians of the Emperor in such a manner.
This could very well lead to a confrontation, and he began to worry for these warriors of the Savior.
Malachai took a few steps closer to the Shield Guard, then obediently stood there like a statue.
He dared not speak, nor ask any questions.
They were not qualified to intervene in a conflict between a Primarch and the Custodes.
Custodian Tylys' gaze held a trace of disbelief—more than that, it held anger. She had never been treated this way before.
What infuriated her the most was that this meant the people before her were ignoring the Emperor's voice, defying His will!
What blasphemy and treachery this was.
Her icy gaze locked onto the Shield Guard:
"You should revere the Emperor's voice, remain loyal to the Emperor. Retract your blasphemous words immediately and accept punishment.
You must obey the Emperor's will!"
Had these not been the Savior's personal guards, she would have already acted to purge these traitors.
As for the Savior who issued this order...
The Custodes commanders in this area would go seek him out and question whether he still held loyalty—whether he still bore reverence for the Emperor.
He would have to answer for this!
The Shield Guard maintained silence, pausing briefly before speaking:
"Custodian, if you still hold loyalty to the God-Emperor, please cooperate with the Savior's will.
And remember, no one other than the Savior has the authority to command us."
Saying such words to a Custodian was indeed an act of high treason.
But in the minds of the Thunder Shield Guards...
They were the most loyal servants of the Golden Sun and the Savior, with absolute obedience to the Savior.
Under the Savior's command, they would dare to draw blades against anyone.
In fact, the Thunder Shield Guards were created to rival the Custodes. If they cowered under the Custodes' pressure, then they had no reason to exist.
"You... heretics who defy the Emperor's will!"
Such blatant treason ignited Tylys' fury. This was open heresy and rebellion. She ignited her power field blade and struck at the Shield Guard.
Clang!
The Shield Guard raised his shield to block the strike, the massive impact forcing him backward, the expertly crafted shield now bearing a deep dent.
Then he drew his power sword and clashed with the Custodian.
However, the Custodian's superior gene strength and equipment gave her an advantage, making it difficult for the Shield Guard to hold his ground.
Seeing this, the Thunder Shield Guards resorted to their favored tactic: mobbing the enemy. Two more warriors joined the fight.
This left the Custodian struggling to defend herself.
Soon after, the last two Thunder Shield Guards joined in, turning the battle into a gang beating of the Custodian.
This act of disloyalty and rebellion left everyone on the scene stunned.
A Custodian, a sacred defender, was being beaten. Was this even possible? Were they even allowed to witness such a scene?
Many chose to close their eyes, unwilling to watch such blasphemy unfold.
"By the Emperor, what am I even witnessing...!"
Malachai murmured in awe. The Savior's personal guards were beating up a Custodian—what an astonishing sight!
The Custodian who had pressured the White Sanctum into issuing the Exterminatus order was now eating dirt. This left Malachai and his warriors thrilled.
If it weren't so inappropriate, they would have applauded on the spot.
The Silent Sister was frantically signing, expressing her own shock.
Yet no one dared to intervene in this battle.
The Savior held great renown in the Imperium. He had aided in the return of the Ultramarines' Primarch, played a crucial role in the Battle of Luna, and defended Holy Terra itself.
Not to mention, this figure had also reclaimed the Charalton region and personally slain a daemon demigod, instilling fear in the Warp's creatures.
The Silent Sister knew even more.
This Savior not only maintained strong ties with the Regent but also had a good relationship with the Ecclesiarch.
The Forge World of Kaul under his command had become one of the most important sanctuaries in the Mechanicus, rivaling Mars in sanctity.
In fact, while the other great powers of the Imperium outwardly showed little concern for the Savior, they were all secretly watching him with dread.
They were deeply alarmed by his growing power.
Those High Lords who had been terrified by the Holy Terra Jubilee had quietly instructed their trusted subordinates:
If possible, avoid provoking this figure.
No one wanted another Holy Terra Jubilee. They might not survive it.
Even if they united, they might be able to resist the Savior, but the result would be another Horus Heresy—or an even worse war.
It would set the galaxy ablaze and doom the Imperium's future.
In short, it was best to act like he didn't exist.
Besides, he was mostly active in the Dark Side, which was actually beneficial for the Imperium.
For the other factions, facing the Savior Primarch on one side and the Custodes on the other... both were untouchable.
The best approach was to simply watch this beating from the sidelines.
Boom!
Tylys took a heavy blow, slamming into a tree. The massive trunk could not withstand the force and collapsed, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
Cough, cough.
The Custodian, covered in dirt and grime, looked utterly disheveled—even her power blade had been knocked from her grasp.
She removed her dented helmet and threw it aside, her face full of fury:
"You disloyal traitors! Why do you not dare to face me in honorable combat?"
The Thunder Shield Guards ignored her words, silently surrounding her.
As the Savior always said, if you can gang up on someone, why foolishly engage in single combat and give the enemy a chance to win?
With the Thunder Shield Guards' power weapons sealing off all escape routes, Tylys felt a sense of despair.
She had no chance of winning.
"For the Emperor!"
The Custodian roared, making a final desperate attempt to fight back—if she were to die, she would return to the Throne, never submitting to heretics!
Yet at the last moment...
The Thunder Shield Guards seemed to receive some kind of order. They sheathed their power weapons.
The Shield Guard did not block and took a punch from Tylys squarely, stumbling back a few steps before being caught by his comrades.
His face was filled with shame:
"Lady Tylys, perhaps our conflict ends here. The Savior himself will arrive shortly—if you have any questions, you may ask him directly."
Just moments ago, the Savior had ordered them to stop the fight and had even expressed mild dissatisfaction with their performance.
"Sigh... five of you ganging up on her like this, it's a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"
That was the Savior's exact wording.
Of course, the Thunder Shield Guards were used to the Savior's somewhat... flexible standards.
They understood the hidden meaning behind his words.
That is, they were meant to be a force equivalent to the Custodes, yet there was still a considerable gap in combat ability.
The Savior was merely expressing dissatisfaction with this fact, not truly reprimanding them.
After all, it wasn't really their fault—the difference in gene modification surgeries and equipment was not something that could be bridged by mere effort.
The Shield Guard's softened stance and friendly gesture allowed Tylys to suppress her fury somewhat.
There was no other choice.
She couldn't win the fight, and the Savior himself had arrived.
She had to confront this Primarch directly—ask him face-to-face about his intentions. Was he truly trying to betray the Emperor's will?
In truth...
This Custodian had also considered another question. If the Savior really had defeated Leviathan, was there still a need to continue the Exterminatus order?
Life was the Emperor's currency, and sacrifice was the foundation of the Imperium.
But that didn't mean making excessive, unnecessary sacrifices—that would be a colossal loss for the Imperium.
As Tylys and the Thunder Shield Guards emerged from the ravaged battlefield, not far ahead, a psyker teleport beacon was flashing on the ground.
Boom!
A golden, blinding beam of light erupted from the ground, piercing the void.
With the beam, a teleport corridor opened.
A tall, radiant figure stepped forth from the corridor, wearing a golden laurel crown, radiating divine light, and bearing a pair of golden wings.
Surrounding him were numerous pure, artificial angels, playing instruments and singing hymns of praise.
At the same time, more golden beams appeared.
Thunder Shield Guards emerged from the golden light corridors—besides standard warriors, there were also Shield Terminators, Dreadnoughts, Centurions, and more.
The arrival of these forces brought an even greater sense of pressure.
The Savior descended—like a god descending from the heavens!
"By the Emperor…"
For a moment, Tylys thought she was witnessing the Emperor Himself, and she almost dropped to her knees.
It was just so similar!
But she quickly recovered, standing tall.
This Savior Primarch, even if he bore a hint of the Emperor's aura, could never be compared to the Great Emperor.
What's more, he had shown disrespect toward the Emperor's will!
Faced with the Savior's arrival, everyone reacted immediately.
"Lord Savior Primarch."
Captain Malachai led his warriors in kneeling on one knee, expressing their reverence.
The Savior had rescued Istrad, preserving the White Sanctum's three-thousand-year legacy and honor.
This figure was worthy of their respect.
Others, too, were overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of his presence and fell to their knees, offering their veneration to the Savior Primarch.
Only Custodian Tylys remained standing, her gaze filled with scrutiny and defiance.
As Eden stepped onto the field, he glanced at the five Thunder Shield Guards who had fought the Custodian, sighing with some emotion.
The Thunder Shield Guards' combat strength still fell short of the Custodes.
In a one-on-one duel,
aside from a very few exceptional individuals among the Thunder Shield Guards,
none could match a Custodian.
Roughly speaking, it took two Thunder Shield Guards working together to match a single Custodian.
Over the years, the Savior's domain had been working tirelessly to improve the Thunder Shield Guards' gene enhancement procedures, seeking further breakthroughs.
But progress had been minimal.
Eden had even gone to the Golden Throne Himself to request a copy of the Custodes' gene enhancement techniques.
It wasn't an easy thing.
The Emperor's mental state fluctuated wildly—most of the time, He was withdrawn and unresponsive.
But once that data was obtained, the Genetic Enhancement Institute realized that the Custodes' modification protocols were prohibitively demanding, costly, and had an unacceptably high casualty rate. They were not cost-effective.
The Custodes, without the full backing of the Codex Astartes and the Imperium's combined resources, had taken ten thousand years to barely restore their numbers to ten thousand warriors.
Eden couldn't afford to wait that long.
What's more, the Custodes' modification protocols were largely incompatible with the Thunder Shield Guards.
The Thunder Shield Guards' gene enhancement process was more akin to a "Blood-Soaked" version of the Astartes' procedures—though with a shorter lifespan.
Thankfully, blessings from the Savior temporarily compensated for this defect.
In the end, the bio-sages of the Genetic Enhancement Institute reached a conclusion:
Given the current circumstances, if they wanted to further improve the Thunder Shield Guards,
they might need to study the Astartes' Primogenitor technology.
Not long ago, Eden had contacted Archmagos Cawl via the Mechanical Forum, hoping to acquire that technology—but was refused.
After all, that technology had been commissioned by the Regent himself, and Cawl could not decide its fate.
For now, Eden could only hope that his good brother, Roboute Guilliman, would be willing to share that technology.
Eden had planned to discuss this critical matter with Guilliman face-to-face after he arrived at Baal—but the Regent was still en route.
No one knew when he'd get there.
"Hopefully Brother Guilliman can make it in time for the champagne…"
Such was his thought.
Currently, Baal was already planning to construct a massive memorial plaza on Baal Secundus to commemorate this unprecedented victory.
The plaza would stretch for thousands of kilometers—large enough for anyone to see the statues of the Savior and the heroes of this war from space.
Eden had initially wanted to decline the honor.
But in the end, he respected the customs of the Imperium. Besides, he couldn't stop the construction just because he didn't want his own statue—it would also prevent other warriors from receiving the honor they deserved.
Many fallen heroes would be immortalized there.
All those who had perished—so long as their names could be found—would have them etched onto the stone plaques beside the statues, remembered for eternity.
Now, he could only hope the Regent would make it in time for this commemorative event.
These thoughts flashed through Eden's mind in an instant, and he turned to face the Custodian named Tylys.
"Custodian, it seems you have some objections to my orders?"
The gaze of the Savior Primarch made Tylys' aura falter slightly—she even took a half-step back.
Truthfully, after taking a beating and witnessing the Savior's dramatic arrival, the Custodian's presence was no longer as imposing as before.
"Lord Savior Primarch, you disregard the Emperor's voice and the Emperor's will—that is a sign of disrespect toward the Emperor!"
Tylys hesitated for a moment, but still conveyed her thoughts—the position of the Custodes.
"You mean to say that protecting the Emperor's imperial worlds is wrong, disloyal, while carrying out the Exterminatus to annihilate the Imperium's worlds, slaying the Emperor's subjects whom He wishes to protect, is correct and loyal?"
Eden's tone remained gentle as he asked the question.
Tylys froze upon hearing this—this was not an easy question to answer.
The Savior should have been at the Baal frontlines, resisting the main force of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Yet, his presence here proved many things.
Perhaps what he had said earlier was true—the threat of Leviathan had been neutralized, and continuing the Exterminatus order was a mistake.
That was an irrefutable fact.
But as Custodes, they had always claimed to be the Emperor's voice—delivering His will, ordering all Imperial subjects to obey.
Even if the orders were brutal.
If Tylys were to admit the Exterminatus was a mistake, there were only two possible conclusions:
Either the Custodes had made decisions without the Emperor's orders, or the Emperor Himself had made an error in judgment.
But could the Great Emperor make a mistake?
Could she admit the Emperor had misjudged the situation, issued the wrong command, and destroyed Imperial worlds and His protected subjects for no reason?
That was impossible.
The Great Emperor could not make mistakes. He would never be wrong.
Tylys was a newer Custodian, initiated in the last ten thousand years.
She had no way of knowing whether the Emperor had truly given such orders to the Custodian High Lords—nor had she ever received any direct blessing or audience with that Great Being.
The Great Emperor had never granted her visions, dreams, or psychic communiques—no revelation of any kind.
All commands had come from her Custodian superiors.
Tylys was deeply envious of those who had received the Emperor's gaze and been given His orders—desperately yearning for that divine attention.
But no matter what, she could not blaspheme the Great Emperor. She could not accept that He could make mistakes.
Thus, the only possible error had to lie with the Custodes.
If the Emperor had not issued the command, it must have been the Custodes themselves acting in His name, making decisions on their own.
But admitting that was impossible—otherwise, the Custodes would lose their legitimacy and could no longer claim to be the Emperor's voice.
So, Tylys remained silent.
Yet under the gaze of all present, she felt as though she were on trial—surrounded by an overwhelming sense of shame and condemnation.
Eden sighed softly and continued:
"Let's be honest here—perhaps you really do receive the Emperor's orders, and you truly act for the good of the Imperium.
But after I dealt with Leviathan, continuing to execute the Exterminatus was a complete and utter mistake!
Moreover, I believe the Emperor never issued any such order to carry out an Exterminatus. You people have been acting in His name—making decisions on your own.
That is also a form of blasphemy. The Emperor Himself is still very much alive and active in the Warp!"
"You—!"
Tylys was shocked by such blasphemous words, instinctively wanting to refute them—but no words came.
The Custodes' authority was shattered.
Eden fixed his gaze on Tylys and issued his order:
"Custodian, immediately send a communication to all Custodes units in the shield perimeter—have them come here and account for this matter."
Under the intense gaze of the Savior Primarch, Tylys hesitated for a moment—but ultimately obeyed his order and sent out the communication.
Perhaps the Custodian commanders could better handle this Primarch and preserve the Custodes' authority.
Sigh~
After doing all this, Eden felt a twinge of uncertainty.
It was unlikely, but what if the Exterminatus order really was a directive from the Emperor Himself, delivered through a dream?
And he was summoning the Custodes to account for it?
That would be awkward.
The Emperor had been unusually active lately.
In the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, he felt it was necessary to go and ask directly.
Even if it truly was the Emperor's order, it had to be corrected—he believed the Emperor wouldn't be so stubborn.
Their relationship had never been one of master and servant—more like a junior to a senior. Their interactions were casual, without excessive formality.
Besides, the Emperor was currently enjoying the Savior's Super Faith Energy Discharge Package™ in the Savior's domain.
Eden stepped forward toward Tylys.
"Little Custodian, would you like to accompany me to visit the Emperor and ask Him about the truth of this matter?"
???
Tylys froze upon hearing this—utterly stunned, unable to believe what she was hearing.
The Savior Primarch… was offering to take her to meet the Great Emperor?
By the Emperor's name—how was that even possible?!
As Eden's large hand reached for her, she instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Eden's hand pressed onto Tylys' forehead, and in an instant, he activated his psychic powers—his eyes bursting with blinding, radiant light.
Along with the psychic energy, he pulled the Custodian's soul and consciousness into the Warp.
When Tylys regained awareness, she felt a familiar energy.
But compared to the energy radiating from the Imperial Palace on Terra,
this power was so vast, so sacred, so awe-inspiring.
"By the Emperor…" Tylys whispered, her trembling voice brimming with endless emotion and devotion.
She… had seen the Holy Sun!
(End of Chapter)
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