Chapter 1170, Farewell, Master of the Mark

"Before that, I must praise you, Ryan, my child." Malcador's old face was still full of ridicule and sneer, as if everything in the world were idiots, and only he was smart: "He will contradict, A child who can question and be rebellious is a qualified child. If you are really like Ruth, drooling and telling me that you are happy to be a tool, you are happy to be his lackey, then there is no need for me to show up, no need. I will teach you, or maybe you are just a stinking stone in the latrine in Dorne and have not learned to respect your elders, so I will not teach you."

Ryan: "…………"

The primarch thought to himself that his father really liked sarcasm.

Ryan vaguely remembered that Dorn, the original body of the Imperial Fist, once had a good relationship with Malcador and was a good partner in domestic and military affairs. However, the two gradually developed rifts - Dorn still emphasized honor, persistence, and courage. and faith, but Malcador thinks these are not worth mentioning. Malcador is indifferent to fame and fortune, and has a mocking attitude towards the so-called courage, glory, faith and the like. Even the primarchs will do this. Obsessed with the countless victories, illustrious military exploits and great glory of the Great Crusade, he scorned it.

In the eyes of Malcador, Dorne is a fool, and most of the original bodies are fools. Apart from Russ, only Khan, Guilliman and a few others can be recognized by Malcador to a certain extent. Even though Liman is the most moderate person, there is also a huge irreconcilable gap between the political opinions of both parties.

He knows better than anyone else that gods (or original bodies) gain power first, and then learn to control it. It is obviously impossible for mortals to match gods, but mortals know how to use the greatest restraint to control every bit of power they gain. .

It is precisely because of this that Malcador can bear the resentment of almost the entire universe, bear the misunderstanding of anyone, bear the sins and disasters caused by the execution of the entire imperial bureaucracy, and even the accusations of the Emperor himself. Malcador is not a god. , but his self-discipline, self-knowledge, introspection, and self-confidence are the key to resisting the corruption of Chaos. The Patriarch has time and again turned the tide and supported the building before it collapsed. During the Great Crusade, the empire could lose one, two, or even Half of the original body can lose one, two or even half of its legions, but the empire cannot leave Malcador for even one day. Countless appointment and dismissal documents are waiting for him to sign, countless personnel deployments are waiting for his nod, and countless worlds are waiting for him. He leads a team of bureaucracy to manage it, and countless secret contracts and agreements await his review.

This is Malcador, a being that even the Emperor calls "my best friend" and "my confidant".

"My children, my daughter-in-law, you all know it in your heart." Malcador gently tapped the ground of platform nine and three-quarters with the golden double-headed eagle scepter. He smiled and said: "What Tzeentch said It’s not a lie. There is no need for the Lord of Changes to lie. What He said is true. Many times, you do lack freedom. We must first admit this. Am I right?”

"......As you said, father." Ryan lowered his head.

"Your responsibility is too heavy. You have known this from the beginning." Makado laughed sarcastically, and the palmer cast his gaze into the distance: "Over the years, I have been secretly observing the outside world through you. It can be said that , from the first time you go to the battlefield, you have both a sense of urgency and a sense of mission. In your teens or twenties, you should be a Primarch expressing yourself, young and energetic, wearing bright clothes and angry horses, When you are happy in life, you can't do this from the beginning, because you are the original body, and you have been burdened with too much from the beginning, let alone what happens later."

Ryan lowered his head.

Lidya Su, who was sitting next to Ryan, suddenly felt heart-wrenching pain in her heart.

Yes, from very early on, Lidya Su had a feeling that Ryan was always burdened with extremely heavy responsibilities and obligations that were far beyond what he should bear at his age. He often pretended to be relaxed, but...female The knight could only stretch out his hand and squeeze Ryan's cold hand.

"I will tell you today, what is freedom? What is freedom?" Macado looked at his son and narrowed his eyes slightly: "The so-called freedom is actually divided into two types. The first type, we call it It's 'liberty' and the second one, we call it 'freedom'."

"Although liberty and freedom are both called freedom, their meanings are quite different. Liberty refers to the freedom from being dominated by others, and from being affected by subordination and slavery. Liberty does not mean 'doing whatever you want', but freedom from the control of others." Malcador first stretched out his finger and wrote on the table with his spiritual power: "This is very simple. Why do humans resist Chaos? Why do the Eternals support the Emperor to unify Terra? Why does Angron raise an army to resist the slave masters? Nothing He, they just want freedom, to get back their own control and autonomy in life, this is freedom."

"Yeah." Both Ryan and Lidya Su nodded.

"Similar to it but with a completely different core, it is 'freedom'. What is freedom?" Makado smiled: "The meaning of freedom is also very simple, that is, getting rid of the shackles of fate, getting rid of the dominance of necessity, and having your own choices. The power, this is freedom.”

"Freedom is considered to be the understanding and control of necessity, but in practice, its endings are often absurd. For example, is Angron free? If he is, then he arrived in Nukelia and was spiritualized. He was attacked by tribesmen, was seriously wounded, was captured and turned into a gladiator, and was eventually installed with the Butcher's Nail. This can all be considered fate. He was obviously not free, but Angron resisted. He resisted with his free will. This is obviously He is free, but what are the consequences of his resistance?”

"My brother was taken away by his father. This is not freedom." Ryan nodded, thoughtfully.

"Yes, this is destiny again, but this is the result of Angron's own choice. When he chose to reluctantly serve the emperor, he was free, but soon he was no longer free. He chose At the moment of betrayal, he was free, but as he fell into Chaos, he became an unfree existence and a toy of Khorne. For the same reason, the World Eaters Chapters were unwilling to accept the Emperor's Control and self-choice to install the Butcher’s Nail are obviously the control of free will, but we all know what the Butcher’s Nail is, is it still considered free to install that kind of thing?” Makado smiled.

Ryan smiled bitterly. What is the Butcher's Nail? In the simplest summary, it means cutting off half of the brain and carrying out biomechanical implant modification. The recipient of the modification will then lose all sources of happiness and excitement, and can only survive in battles and massacres. Being able to obtain and secrete a trace of happiness is a dark technology specially used to create gladiators.

"Beyond the lie called freedom, there are endless shackles, Ryan." Macado then pointed at Sulia: "You chose to marry Sulia, you chose to accept the canonization of the Eldar God, and you chose to become the king. It is your free will decision, and no one can interfere with you. But as you make the decision, everything changes. You are no longer free, but are burdened with deeper responsibilities and deeper shackles. Maybe you haven’t regretted it, but you must have thought about it more than once, why do you get more tired and harder as you pursue freedom?”

"Everything is as my father said, but I don't regret my choice to marry Sulia at all." A trace of warmth rose in Ryan's heart. He took Sulia's hand and looked at his wife with a smile. .

"It's good that you have your own ideas." Machado continued: "But with such deconstruction, we have to return to two paths. One is the determinism of all things. This is also very simple. That is what we The cause of everything can be found from any event. Since there is a cause, then everything happening becomes inevitable. The more you pursue freedom, the less free you will be."

"If you want to fight against the Final Moment, you need to control the country quickly and form an army. Therefore, it is inevitable that you become the king, and it is inevitable that you marry Sulia."

"And your path, from my sacrifice to the Emperor's attempt to create a primarch, is inevitable."

"The attempt to create the Primarch can be summed up in the confrontation between humans, Eldar and Chaos. This is also inevitable."

"Then this problem is over, because we can trace it back to the origin of chaos, to the battle in heaven between the ancient saints and the Necrontyr, to the birth of all spirits, and to the Big Bang." Malcador grinned: “In this case, the movement of everything is fixed, so what’s the point of our lives?”

"This is wrong." Ryan shook his head: "Otherwise, wouldn't all the sacrifices we have made, all the sacrifices you have made, father, and the sacrifices of all mankind and even the entire universe, be meaningless?"

"That's right!" Malcador had a teachable expression on his face, and the palmer nodded gently: "The thing that resists determinism is free will. People firmly believe that through their own efforts, they can reverse cause and effect and can make decisions spontaneously. Events happen and choices are made that set in motion a whole new chain of cause and effect, and everyone can make a decision but is also responsible for their own decisions.”

"But the problem arises. Since you make your own decisions, you naturally have to take responsibility for your own decisions. With the chain of responsibilities, laws, morals, and ethics begin to appear. Then it is inevitable that emotions will arise, hatred will spread, and mortals will fight against each other. Intense emotions mapped and intensified the mutation of subspace, leading to the birth of chaos, and also led to endless exploitation and enslavement, hatred and massacre among mortals."

Ryan and Lidya Su looked at each other and nodded in approval.

“As hatred increases, its roots can no longer be traced. The hatred bred and generated by class, race, country and culture will only overflow more and more, and gradually evolve into loss. The war of control spreads hatred to every mortal individual." Malcador looked into the distance: "Chaos was born from this. Obviously they are the source of all evil, but so far no one has been found that can completely defeat him. Our method.”

"Not even the truth of the empire?" Ryan said in confusion.

"Imperial Truth... Do you know that with the spread of Imperial Truth during the Great Crusade, a new materialistic Chaos God is being nurtured in the warp? If this continues, a new Chaos God will appear, and the Emperor He is the mortal spokesperson of this new god." Malcador showed his withered yellow teeth: "This is not good, not good at all."

"Why is it bad?" Sulia was still confused: "If you do this, won't the emperor gain enough power to deal with the four gods of chaos?"

"The nature has changed, from a war between mortals and Chaos to a war between Chaos and Chaos." Malcador shook his head: "The Emperor's method was just to make the map smaller, make everything pure, and roughly divide everything Becoming 'us' and 'the enemy', the chain of hatred and war will continue to be staged, never-ending, but if the Webway Project can succeed, its scale will be controlled, but essentially nothing will change."

"And this is why the Eternals left the Emperor one after another. They found that they had been deceived, and the Emperor did not completely solve Chaos. On the contrary, he roughly brought everything into his own order and control. After gathering the power of mankind, he also used the shackles called order and rules to kill the countless possibilities that humans should have. Therefore, the disappointed and angry immortals left one after another. Only I understand him, and I understand the emperor. Emperor."

"Primarchs are born to be weapons, born to be tools, born to kill and rule." Malcador said warmly: "But the emperor is not, I am not, and mortals are not. Primarchs must be brave and fearless. Mortals He is not a born warrior, but the Emperor still did this. As his only confidant and best friend, I, Malcador, am willing to dedicate everything to him, even if I use up my spiritual energy to maintain the Golden Throne, even if it takes me All the power of the immortal is just to let him arrange his funeral."

"That's a far cry. Now you understand that all so-called freedom is a false proposition." Macado then smiled and said: "Then the question is, what is true freedom? How do we end the chain of hatred? How do we achieve it? One's own freedom, how to transcend human beings in the midst of negation and affirmation, this ultimate question involving the origin of the universe, I leave it to you."

"What should I do?" Ryan said subconsciously.

"Silly boy." Malcador smiled kindly: "You have to find the answer yourself, because this is a question that neither the Emperor nor I can answer."

"You want to leave the question to me that neither you nor the Emperor can answer?" Ryan said with some anger and displeasure: "How could I know? I am only fifty years old this year, what about you? You have lived for seven thousand years. , the emperor is more than 48,000 years old, and you are throwing this question at me now that you can’t figure out?!”

"Because you are our child." Malcador suddenly stretched out his withered and wrinkled hand, held down Ryan's head, and gently rubbed his long black hair. His affectionate and kind eyes stared closely at Ryan, as if he wanted to imprint everything about him deeply in his mind: "Isn't this what a father must do to pass on his life's ideals and wishes to the next generation? Do you have any expectations?"

Ryan paused, and the original body was about to say something, but he found that Malcador's figure was gradually fading.

The last strength left in Ryan's body was being exhausted. Malcador himself also discovered this. At this time, the palmer lost all ridicule and cynicism, and he revealed his mortal face, which was a simple, dying man. old man.

He is the founder of the bureaucracy of the Human Galactic Empire. He is the most powerful person under the Emperor. He is the strongest psyker in the Empire besides the Emperor. He is a hero personally judged by the Emperor, but he has already Most people forget.

There was nothing divine about his appearance, unlike the Emperor and the Primarchs who were so captivating and worshipful at first sight.

Because this is a human face, a mortal face. There is not even a little bit of divinity in him. Without his golden double-headed eagle scepter, most people would not be able to distinguish him from an ordinary old bureaucrat. differentiate.

"I really have a lot to say to you, child, but I don't have time." Malcador helplessly watched himself disappearing: "Your existence is the result of the efforts of the immortals and me to create the original body. My genes and the Emperor's genes were saved from the dark power to form you."

"The immortal gene in your body has been completely lost due to Tzeentch's previous destruction and sharing with Sulia." Malcador's chest shot out a golden light and poured it into Ryan's body: "Now, let me restore it, but , this is the last time.”

"Father!" Llane finally burst into tears. The Primarch tried to reach out his hand, but he couldn't catch anything.

"Find the meaning of your own battle, find a way to end all this chain of hatred, and solve the ultimate proposition of the universe. There is still hope, Ryan." Malcador's figure turned into light: "Please, please, my son."

"What you lose is just the shackles called freedom. What you will gain is the whole world! Child!"

The last imprint of the palmer in the universe disappeared. The hero's light dissipated with the wind of chaos in the subspace, and there was no longer any echo. Platform nine and three-quarters had been disillusioned, and what was left was a large area. nothingness.

All the confusion on Ryan's face disappeared, and the original body pulled Sulia, who was already in tears, to kneel down.

"Thank you, father!"

The majestic spiritual energy of the Gray Knight's original body burned again, more vigorously than ever before. In addition to the usual sky blue and silver flames, it also added the light of golden flames.

From then on, Ryan was no longer confused.

"The hymn of the foster father is the hymn of mortals." Sulia wiped her tears gently, and the female knight stretched out her hand sentimentally: "He is a hero, a real hero."

Ryan stretched out his hand to wipe away his tears. The original body opened his hands and he silently recited an ancient song.

"The Emperor's hand is the hand of protection." Sky blue and silver flames lit up.

"The father's hand is the nurturing hand." The golden flame lit up.

"When hands are joined together, the door opens."

A portal back to the mortal world appeared in the chaos of the warp.

"Thanks to Tzeentch and the other three gods of chaos, the source of the several elven gods they gave to Morgul is enough, and there is even more." Ryan shed tears and smiled forcefully at Sulia. Said: "Well...it's time to go back and continue to fulfill our own mission, the mission we chose, to save the world and stop Archaon and the End of Time!"

"Well!" Lidya Su held Ryan's hand.

.........I am farewell forever, the dividing line between the palm printrs......

Brittany, Palace of Fontainebleau.

It has been more than two months since his father and mother disappeared. Devon Hill has never hated his weakness and incompetence as much as he does today. The eldest son of the Sun King is training hard under the guidance of the Green Knight and receiving various courses. He sat in court and listened to how Uncle Laun and Grandpa Francois handled internal affairs, just to be able to persevere earlier.

After finally completing the entire course, Devon Hill had just dismounted and was about to take a breather. At this time, a gust of wind blew, and Devon Hill suddenly felt his head being gently caressed.

The proud baron usually hated others touching his head. Except for his father, two mothers, and Uncle Angron, Devonshire would get angry if anyone touched his head.

But why does this feel so warm and sad?

The son shed tears under the strange gaze of Twilight sisters. He stretched out his hand, but didn't catch anything.

Something turned into the wind and left forever.

forever.

Updated. Since then, the role of the Imperial Prime Minister Malcador, who is one of the guides and sources of strength for the protagonist, has ended. For this hero, I have tried my best to use my pen and ink to describe his greatness. But I always feel that there are still some places that have not been fully written, but I think that shortcomings are also a kind of beauty, just like the countless regrets in the Warhammer story.

Hope you all like it.