The sacred silence was utterly shattered by a small, golden head.
A pair of pure, unblemished golden eyes, tinged with a hint of timid curiosity, peeked out from behind the throne of light and thorns upon which Leticia sat.
She studied the tall figure clad in massive blue armor standing at the center of the hall, her tiny brow furrowing slightly as if trying hard to comprehend the state of this being before her.
A moment later, she gently tugged at the hem of Leticia's garment.
A soft, feather-light voice, clear as a bell, rang out in the hall, reaching the ears of everyone present.
"Sister, who is this uncle who looks so sad?"
These words acted like an invisible command.
Instantly, they wrenched all focus, all presence, all will in the grand hall away from the god-like declaration, forcibly converging it upon that small, golden figure.
Robert Guilliman's gaze, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, snapped away from Leticia's face and fixed upon the Blonde Girl!
First glance.
His Primarch mind, operating with efficiency surpassing that of a superluminal computer, instantly completed its scan and analysis.
Appearance: Human juvenile, female, no obvious signs of genetic modification, vital signs stable.
Psychic signature: Extremely faint, but purity... incalculable.
Threat level: Zero.
This was the rational, Imperial Regent's assessment.
However.
Within the next Planck time unit after reaching this conclusion.
A tremor, indescribable by any language, originating from the deepest recesses of his genetic code, dormant for ten thousand years, awoke without warning in a cataclysmic surge!
It was not a psychic assault.
The anti-psychic contamination runes inscribed upon his power armor by Mars's most elite Tech-Priests remained utterly inert.
It was not emotional manipulation.
His heart, tempered by the cruelest wars of Terra and ten millennia of solitude into something harder than diamond, generated no extraneous emotion.
It was a... resonance.
A resonance of bloodline, the most primal, most fundamental kind, born between 'child' and 'father', 'creation' and'source'!
[ALERT! UNKNOWN BIO-FIELD INTERFERENCE! SOURCE... SELF!]
On Guilliman's tactical display, the runes representing his physiological status instantly shifted from steady green to a madly flashing crimson.
His heartbeat, that heart modified to be immensely powerful for void warfare, for the first time, escaped the absolute control of his will and began to pound violently, uncontrollably!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each beat was like a battering ram slamming against his ribs.
He tried to categorize this absurd sensation.
A trick of Chaos God Tzeentch?
An illusion of Slaanesh?
Some never-before-seen xenos weapon capable of directly affecting a Primarch's physiological functions?
His mind frantically searched through all known threat models, attempting to find a reasonable, logical explanation for this bizarre event.
Yet all logic, all reason, screamed the same answer.
[ERROR].
[UNIDENTIFIED].
[THREAT SOURCE: DEEP WITHIN OWN GENETIC CHAIN].
The Blonde Girl seemed frightened by his suddenly scorching gaze.
She shrank back slightly, most of her body hiding behind Leticia, leaving only a pair of golden eyes peeking out, watching him with a trace of unease.
It was this motion.
A purely childlike action, full of dependence and a search for shelter.
That caused the aura she had been containing like an inward-flowing stream to scatter a wisp, like dandelion seeds in the wind.
A wisp of aura, faint yet incredibly distinct, pure as the moment of the universe's birth... a divine aura.
In that instant.
Robert Guilliman's world lost all sound and color.
His proud logical mind, capable of orchestrating the tactics of an entire Expeditionary Fleet, completely shattered.
His will, sufficient to withstand any physical or psychic impact, was ground to dust.
Familiar!
Too familiar!
This aura...
This supreme will that seemed capable of encompassing the entire universe, creating billions of stars, being both origin and end!
He had felt its majesty before the Golden Throne on Terra.
He had recalled its vastness in countless dreams.
This was the root of his existence, and that of all his brothers!
The source of their genes!
The father of their... souls!
It could not be wrong!
Though it had become so faint.
Though it had become so pure.
Though... it even carried a hint of a feminine, gentle quality belonging to 'creation' and 'life'.
But that essence!
That unique soul imprint, transcending the entire cosmos!
It could not be wrong!!!
[This is impossible!!!]
Within Guilliman's heart, the most violent, most insane storm since his awakening from ten millennia of slumber raged.
Reason shrieked.
"This is a trap! The most malicious trap aimed at you, at the entire Imperium! Kill her! Now! Immediately! Before your will is utterly destroyed!"
Instinct, however, roared.
"It is Father! That is Father! He has returned! He has returned in a new form! Go to Him! Protect Him! This is your only duty as a son!"
Two diametrically opposed commands, both originating from the deepest part of his soul, like two Space Marine fleets armed with Exterminatus orders, waged the cruelest, most desperate war within his mental world!
BOOM——!!!
Robert Guilliman's mountainous frame abruptly took a step backward.
His heavy power-armored boots scraped across the jade-like floor, producing a piercing shriek filled with metallic lament!
Within the hall, everyone's breath caught.
The amused expression on Angronia's face froze; for the first time, a trace of genuine shock appeared in her amber eyes.
The proud curve of Fogremia's lips vanished; her violet eyes widened slightly, her scrutinizing gaze transforming into pure disbelief.
Sanguinia's snow-white wings unconsciously unfurled; the compassion in her sky-blue eyes was replaced by a more complex, more violent shock.
Their 'brother'.
That Robert Guilliman who was always calm, always restrained, always placing reason and duty above all else.
That Imperial Regent who, even at the most desperate hour of the Siege of Terra, could still coldly calculate troop strength and plan defenses.
Had, at this moment, lost his composure.
Completely, lost his composure.
He raised his hand, that massive gauntlet encased in blue power armor, trembling, pointing towards the throne.
No, not towards Leticia.
But towards that little one hiding behind Leticia, only a pair of golden eyes visible.
Everyone could see that his steel-forged body was trembling violently, with a frequency almost imperceptible yet unmistakably clear.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something.
An interrogation?
A roar?
Or... a call?
But his throat, that vocal system capable of issuing commands majesty enough to silence an entire Legion, seemed burnt out at this moment.
He could produce no sound.
Not a single word.
The resonance of bloodline, the collapse of reason, the sudden breaching of ten thousand years of solitude...
This impact, exceeding all his cognition and capacity to endure, rendered this demigod of the Imperium, in this moment, like a lost child.
Amidst this silence, threatening to solidify into eternity.
Leticia moved.
Without any visible change in expression, she drew the slightly frightened little one completely into her embrace, shielding her behind herself.
A simple action, yet brimming with indisputable possession and protection.
This action also severed Guilliman's gaze, a gaze that seemed capable of burning through one's very soul, mixed with endless, complex emotions.
Leticia raised her eyes. Her pure black pupils calmly met Guilliman's will, which had spiraled completely out of control.
Her voice, cool and even, like the sharpest scalpel, precisely cut into the heart of the chaotic psychic storm raging within Guilliman.
"Regent."
"Now do you understand..."
"Why we say the old era must end?"
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