In the dim hall, the morning sun shone through stained-glass windows depicting ancient myths, casting light upon the inscribed tablets bearing the names of the deceased.
The maintenance workers of the emotionless holy relics appeared even colder, like frost. They had finished calibrating the Mechanical Throne's system, and Zeke and four others were seated upon it.
As the neural link was inserted into the back of Zeke's head, he instantly lost all sensation of his surroundings.
He could only hear the knights exiting the hall and the slow closing of the grand door, which was even more imposing than a knight's armor.
Cold, bone-chilling cold enveloped Zeke. This was a sensation he had never experienced since arriving in the Warhammer world, as he was the high king's eldest son and enjoyed the best treatment.
If even he felt cold, then there was truly no hope.
Zeke felt as if he was immersed in a freezing ocean, and then, without knowing what happened, these sensations vanished from him.
Zeke was a little bewildered, as he had learned from others that in such a situation, his spirit would tremble like a blade of grass by the sea.
But no, this was all wrong. The initial feeling when it appeared was correct, but why did it feel completely different now?
Now, let alone Zeke, even the machine spirits and ancestral consciousnesses on the Mechanical Throne were a little confused. Countless consciousnesses wanted to flood into Zeke's mind.
But after much effort, these consciousnesses and machine spirits found that they simply couldn't enter.
In their eyes, Zeke was like an impregnable existence that simply wouldn't allow them to enter his mind or his consciousness.
Just as these ancestral consciousnesses were about to exert more effort to complete the ritual, a cold snort seemed to echo from the void.
"Scram!"
In a daze, Zeke heard that single word. He heard clearly that it was a very pleasant female voice.
He felt a slight familiarity, but only a little, as he truly had no strong impression.
The ancestral consciousnesses and machine spirits, who had intended to enter Zeke's consciousness, were directly shaken by this response.
Then they gave up on entering Zeke's consciousness and instead appeared before him.
A group of epic consciousnesses from the Yaeger family's past appeared before Zeke. These were their ritualistic forms; their true selves had long since perished.
They circled Zeke several times before one consciousness finally spoke.
"Boy, are you truly a descendant and heir of our family? That voice that suddenly appeared just now almost shattered all our consciousnesses. If he hadn't stopped, you probably wouldn't be able to see us now, would you?"
An older consciousness spoke, and Zeke recognized him at a glance. This was an epic figure from the family.
In the battle against the orks, this family epic could have retreated, but he didn't. Instead, he led his gun line in battle against the orks on the planet until the very last moment.
His sole purpose in fighting was to buy time, allowing the people on that planet to evacuate as much as possible.
Thanks to his efforts, one-third of the people on that planet successfully evacuated.
He himself and his knight titan were toppled by an ork gargant and then submerged by a sea of orks.
He died in that battle. He was a truly deserving family epic, for his efforts saved tens of billions of Imperial citizens.
He truly upheld the spirit of a knight's protection.
Zeke's consciousness performed an Aquila salute to him, executing the ritual flawlessly, and then spoke.
"Ancestor, I'm not sure what the reason is. This is my first time participating in the Ascension Ceremony, as you all know."
"If even the ancestors aren't clear about the reason, then it's even less likely for a child like me to know."
Zeke's words were very reasonable. The ancestral consciousnesses and machine spirits exchanged glances and acknowledged this statement.
But the problem was that they couldn't enter Zeke's consciousness. If they couldn't read his memories, how could they interrogate him? How could they determine if he was a qualified titan pilot?
Well, the process of the Ascension Ceremony was stuck right there. They were a little bewildered.
But the next instant, as if some power had struck, these ancestral consciousnesses instantly acknowledged Zeke.
Or rather, it shouldn't be acknowledgment, but rather submission at Zeke's feet.
The machine spirits lowered their formerly proud heads, expressing their highest reverence to Zeke.
No one, no consciousness, dared to appear before him anymore.
It was only because Zeke was currently in his sea of consciousness that he wasn't aware of what was happening in the outside world. If he could see, he would notice that his STC template was emitting a faint glow.
In the ethereal realm, he could hear a female voice once again echo in his ears.
No one can maintain an arrogant attitude in front of the Terran Dominion's Emperor. Before the Emperor, they can only kneel, prostrate themselves, and choose to surrender.
Zeke was still bewildered, unsure of what had happened to the machine spirits and ancestral consciousnesses, when far away, countless worlds away, within the administrative hall of the Terran Dominion.
Weiss was controlling the machine spirits before Zeke through the Dominion's psychic legions and the Ascendant Artifacts.
If not for the vast number of worlds separating them, the power from the Terran Dominion would have completely cleansed those machine spirits, making them understand what was great and what was small.
Even with this level of power, it was enough.
Those machine spirits knelt before Zeke, offering their loyalty.
"Governor Weiss, those heretics who dared to offend the Emperor have now received their deserved punishment. The Dominion is still too far from that world; we still need time to protect the Emperor."
Weiss nodded.
On her exquisitely beautiful face, no other emotion could be seen, only devotion. Yes, devotion.
Weiss, Governor of the Solar Sector of the Terran Dominion, or rather, since the Emperor's departure, she had been one of the primary leaders of the entire Terran Dominion.
The reason this Governor became the Dominion's Governor was due to an agreement signed between the Emperor and herself.
She agreed to serve as Governor for the Dominion for 1000 years.
However, after that agreement was signed, 20,000 years have passed, and the Governor is still here.
"Issue orders to completely drain the Warp of this universe to acquire enough energy for us to continue jumping through universes."
"We need to reach the Emperor's side as soon as possible. The Emperor lacks protection, and now he seems to have lost all his power for some unknown reason.
And he is apparently only protected by 500 inferior, even less than ordinary, assault troops.
This is absolutely unacceptable!"
Weiss's heroic voice echoed in the ears of the surrounding Terran Dominion scientists, governors, marshals, generals, and admirals.
Their expressions hardened, and they once again went out to prepare to activate the plan.
The Emperor had lost his great power.
And he was only protected by 500 assault troops.
Furthermore, these 500 assault troops weren't even using the most advanced technology!
This was simply outrageous!
Among the generals, marshals, and numerous scientists, the commander of the Custodes had the most anxious expression.
Assault troops protecting the Emperor's safety?
Isn't that ridiculous?
At least it should be their Custodes.
It absolutely had to be their Custodes!
Since the Dominion's establishment, their Custodes seemed to have always lacked a sense of presence.
The Dominion must accelerate, accelerate to reach the Emperor's side and protect His safety.