A silence fell within the room, and their discussion briefly paused.
Dante deliberately made a sound, both to express his shock at what he had heard and to remind Alexander and Sanguinius to discuss such explosive topics out of his earshot.
He was just a regular security guard, re-hired after retirement, who wanted to write 'The Story of How, as the Son of a Salt Seller, He Was Guided by Sanguinius to Become the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels and Lead the Chapter for a Thousand Years'.
"Before I went to Sheath Wing Fortress, you said you wanted to talk about Guilliman when I returned." After a brief moment, the voice from inside the room spoke.
Dante, outside the door, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He remembered Mephiston saying that the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Robert Guilliman, was also about to be resurrected.
It was reasonable for Sanguinius and Lord Alexander to discuss this matter, and it shouldn't involve anything Dante couldn't hear.
"I'm considering how to bring Robert Guilliman back into the fold," Sanguinius' voice echoed from within the room.
Although the term 'bring into the fold' wasn't ideal, Sanguinius surely meant re-establishing a connection with Robert Guilliman. As the only two Primarchs to return to the Imperium, this was clearly necessary.
Dante nodded, thinking.
"Ultramar is almost the wealthiest region in the entire galaxy, with the greatest war potential. I witnessed this during the Second Empire era."
"If it wasn't Horus who was corrupted back then, but Guilliman, then the Great Heresy might have been even more tragic."
Sanguinius sighed with emotion.
Hearing the terms Second Empire and Guilliman's rebellion, Dante's expression twitched slightly.
When he was still a new recruit, he had seen Sanguinius' memories in the Blood Coffin and learned about the Second Empire, so he was somewhat mentally prepared now.
"No, if it was Guilliman waiting for you and the Emperor on the Macragge's Honour, then you probably wouldn't even have had the chance to manifest your Warp essence," Alexander's voice came, tinged with a slight smile.
"Don't say that, if he had rebelled, he would at least have been blessed by the Four Gods, right?"
Sanguinius hesitated for a moment, then said:
"But the Emperor might not have made it to the Golden Throne."
A moment later, a burst of cheerful laughter erupted in the Red Great Hall.
"But you know Guilliman's organizational abilities. Although Great Ultramar has been disbanded for ten thousand years, if Guilliman wished, he could easily re-establish the Five Hundred Worlds of old."
"And Baal III is too barren to develop a force capable of opposing the Emperor."
Listening to Sanguinius' words, Dante outside the door couldn't help but nod repeatedly.
Baal III was indeed too barren. If one were to oppose the Emperor... Wait? Oppose the Emperor?
Dante froze in place.
"After my resurrection, I further realized the Emperor's problem."
Sanguinius' voice slowly began:
"He is deeply intertwined with the entire human race. Humanity and the Emperor are tightly bound, from existence to soul."
"Humans cannot separate from the Emperor, and the Emperor cannot escape humanity. He is already a collection of an entire civilization and racial will, an Alaya, the King of All Ancient Ages... This connection is even deeper than that between the Dark Prince and the Aeldari."
"Ten thousand years, a million worlds, the spirits of all humanity are fused within the Emperor. Even He, even my Father, may not be able to maintain His sanity."
"And I must say, in the 40th Millennium, humanity's collective emotions are filled with self-destructive tendencies. This tendency affects the Emperor, and the Emperor precisely has the ability to destroy everyone with Him."
Dante held his breath, unable to believe what he was hearing, but the discussion in the room did not stop because of it.
"The Dark King." Alexander's voice rang out: "When the Emperor was still young, He was destined to become the Dark King."
"When His uncle was killed by Him, he once whispered to Him: 'The Dark King awaits you, Your Majesty.'"
"He must have thought the Dark King was a great enemy He would encounter in the future, but the truth is that He Himself was the fated Dark King."
"How is His condition?" A slight ripple appeared in Sanguinius' voice: "My Father."
Alexander seemed to ponder for a moment,
"The last time I saw Him, to be honest, it wasn't good... It was almost like He had senile dementia."
"..I hope He can hold on a little longer."
Sanguinius sighed softly:
"We must get Ultramar and Guilliman. I already have an idea."
"Oh?" A hint of curiosity rose in Alexander's voice: "What is your plan?"
Dante's forehead outside the door was already covered in sweat.
The Emperor, King of All Ancient Ages, humanity's self-destructive tendencies, the Dark King—these topics made Dante's head throb.
Someone once said that Dante, who had ruled the Blood Angels Chapter for a thousand years, was almost the most powerful person in the entire Imperium.
But now, Dante felt like a clueless new recruit, forced to accept knowledge he didn't want to know.
However, now, finally, those terrifying dark topics, full of danger, should have been discussed completely.
"The plan is simple."
"We go to Ultramar."
Sanguinius said with a clear voice:
"Then you stab Guilliman to death."
"Ah?" Dante couldn't help but exclaim,
The confusion in his eyes grew more and more.
He felt that perhaps coming to be part of the Saint Blood Guard was a mistake.
Standing at the door, listening to one Primarch talk about assassinating another Primarch...
Alexander in the room also raised his eyebrows slightly, then understood Sanguinius' meaning.
In the past, Fulgrim had almost killed Guilliman, and the wounds he inflicted carried a chaotic poison from the Warp, a fatal toxin that was almost impossible to remove.
The Static Field then trapped Guilliman on the border between life and death.
Archmagos Belisarius Cawl forged a machine called the Fate Armor to heal Guilliman.
But for Guilliman to be fully resurrected, he had to be truly killed and the chaotic poison on him had to be removed.
In the original history, this task was performed by Yvraine, the chosen of the Aeldari God of Death.
She killed Guilliman with the Aeldari artifact, the old crone sword, and guided the cycle of life and death by Ynnead, the Aeldari God of Death, allowing Guilliman to resurrect with the help of the Fate Armor.
But now, Alexander could also accomplish this.
The Emperor had divided the authority of the Human God of Death, casting it upon Alexander.
After partially awakening his Warp essence, Alexander could actually act on behalf of the Human God of Death.
His killing of Guilliman could also achieve a similar effect...
And in this process, Alexander could take the opportunity to corrupt Guilliman through death.
Hmm, hopefully, for the Ultramarines, his killing of Guilliman as a human would be more acceptable than Yvraine, the xenos witch.
"But before we go to Ultramar to kill Guilliman, we still have one problem to solve."
Sanguinius spoke softly:
"What if the Three Gods besides Khorne become aware of my resurrection and target us?"
".." Alexander blinked, somewhat confused: "They don't know?"
"They actually don't know?"