Chapter 27: The Divine Emperor Arrives: I Have Never Wanted to Kill Someone So Much
A year?
Erebus felt cheated.
After Lorgar had unified Colchis and taken the last bastion of dissent — the city of Jahewara — without shedding blood, Erebus had waited for the Emperor's arrival.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Four years passed.
Four entire years.
The explanation was both simple and infuriating. Colchis required four years and three months to complete a full orbit of its sun. One Colchisan year equaled nearly four standard Terran years.
So when the Emperor had said "one year," He had meant a Terran year.
Deception. Absolute deception.
Do you know what Erebus accomplished in those four years?
Everything.
The former Dark Apostles were reorganized and renamed the Order of All Saints. On the surface, it was a doctrinal enforcement body meant to safeguard the faith of Colchis. In truth, Erebus had replicated a structure that would one day resemble the Inquisition itself.
Three branches were established. One dedicated to combating daemonic manifestations. One tasked with rooting out heresy within humanity. One prepared for the inevitable encounter with alien species.
At present, only the anti-daemonic and anti-heretical branches were active. Colchis had not yet encountered any xenos worthy of attention.
Nearly one third of the two thousand Word Bearers and clergy who had witnessed Lorgar being beaten senseless by the Bloodthirster were quietly purged. The incident required containment. Memory could be dangerous.
The survivors — more than a thousand — were reorganized into the Brotherhood of the Dark Emperor, an elite militant body subordinate to the anti-daemonic order.
Officially, the Order of All Saints and the Church of the Divine Emperor were separate institutions.
In reality, they were two heads of the same hydra.
There was, however, a problem.
The Grand Preceptor of the Order of All Saints was Kor Phaeron.
This was unacceptable.
It had been Lorgar's decision.
"Kor Phaeron has never bent to corruption," Lorgar had said. "He proved his loyalty in battle."
Erebus understood exactly what that meant.
Lorgar felt guilty.
And when Lorgar felt guilty, he made concessions.
To ensure Kor Phaeron did not quietly reshape the Order into something… unsupervised, Erebus created an internal oversight body — the Order of Scrutiny — under Garrulek's command.
If Kor Phaeron was the visible authority, Erebus would be the invisible one.
As for Erebus himself, he had somehow become responsible for planetary administration.
He reviewed agricultural production reports.
Urban sanitation plans.
Trade distribution schedules.
Civic tithe compliance.
He had become, inexplicably, a bureaucrat.
Meanwhile, Lorgar spent his nights writing scripture.
During these four years, Erebus noticed something unsettling. He had grown stronger. Sharper. His memory had improved dramatically — texts once read were never forgotten. His mind moved faster than before.
Lorgar, delighted by this development, increasingly handed him more responsibilities without hesitation.
The fool even claimed he was preparing a "surprise" for the Emperor.
Whether it would be a surprise or a disaster remained to be seen.
Across the capital, banners now flew bearing a new sigil — the emblem of the Sisters Militant.
Yes.
Erebus and Lorgar had acted decisively. They established an order of militant women devoted entirely to the Emperor. Each candidate was selected following rigorous purification and investigation. Faith. Discipline. Absolute loyalty.
Life on Colchis had improved markedly since the foundation of the Imperial Cult, especially after Lorgar personally led the Great Purification, rooting out hidden heretics within the old faiths and hanging them publicly.
Ironically, they had much to thank the daemons for.
If not for the captured Warp entities interrogated after the Bloodthirster incident, they would never have known how deeply corruption had infiltrated the clergy.
They no longer summoned greater daemons. That lesson had been learned.
But lesser entities previously bound were retained — including Shaeluna, who had become something of an unwilling consultant.
Through Shaeluna they learned a troubling truth.
Word had spread in the Warp.
Lorgar and Erebus were known as deceivers. Summoners who trapped more than they bargained with. Daemons had grown wary of Colchis.
As a result, sacrificial rituals often resulted in nothing.
Silence.
Even the Warp did not trust them.
There was one exception to the planet's general prosperity.
Lorgar himself.
Since his humiliation at the hands of the Bloodthirster, he had trained relentlessly. He practiced martial forms daily. He honed his psychic discipline. More than once he encountered seductive whispers and tempting illusions within the immaterium.
Each time, he rejected them.
Yet whenever he attempted to summon daemons for controlled study, none answered.
It was almost insulting.
On the day of the Emperor's arrival, while the entire planet prepared in nervous anticipation, Erebus lay comfortably upon his bed, intending to take a nap.
"Erebus!"
He opened one eye.
"Erebus!"
Lorgar's head appeared at the doorway, eyes burning with intensity.
"There is something descending from the sky!"
Erebus sat upright instantly.
He understood at once.
The Emperor had arrived.
He rose, donned his silver armor, and took up the crozius Lorgar had gifted him.
"Remember the plan," Erebus said sharply. "As we practiced."
Lorgar nodded gravely.
Above Colchis, a grand Imperial transport descended toward the capital.
Within stood the Emperor of Mankind.
Beside Him was Magnus the Red, Primarch of the XV Legion, clad in white and crimson robes.
Magnus sensed something was wrong.
The Emperor was not pleased.
The psychic atmosphere of Colchis pressed heavily upon the Master of Mankind. Faith. Worship. Reverence directed openly at Him.
This was precisely what He had forbidden.
Worse still, His name was being uttered alongside another — the Lord of Excess — though that particular thread had already been violently severed.
And there was another presence.
Erebus.
An anomaly.
Obscured.
Difficult to perceive fully.
That troubled Him more than the chanting.
"Father," Magnus ventured cautiously.
The Emperor glanced at him.
"They cheer for you."
As the transport descended toward the great plaza, the sound became clear.
"Golden God!"
"Golden God!"
"Our Father has come!"
"The God-Emperor walks among us!"
The silence within the vessel became suffocating. Even the Custodian Guard remained utterly motionless.
The Emperor rose.
When the ramp descended and the light of Colchis fell upon Him, He stepped forward.
Before Him stood Lorgar.
And Erebus.
And hundreds of thousands of kneeling citizens.
"Kneel!" Erebus commanded.
The entire plaza dropped as one.
"Rise!"
They lifted their heads in perfect unison.
"Great Golden God! We are your faithful!"
"Great Golden God! We are your servants!"
"We shall purge all heresy in your name!"
"Silence!"
The chanting stopped instantly.
Magnus' shoulders trembled.
He was dangerously close to laughing.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the veins standing out along his father's temple. He immediately began recalling the most tragic events of his life to suppress the urge.
"Great God-Emperor!" Erebus declared solemnly. "Command us! Tell us where the enemy lies, and we shall march!"
"Your name shall be praised across the stars!"
Magnus made a small choking sound.
The Emperor glanced at him.
Magnus stared forward rigidly. He valued his continued existence.
Then the Emperor turned His gaze fully upon Erebus.
"Erebus," He said calmly.
The voice was controlled.
Measured.
Terrifying.
Erebus felt a chill run down his spine.
For the first time since founding the faith—
He wondered if he had made a catastrophic miscalculation.
This is on me, he thought.
I am about to die.