As the saying goes, when you’re out in the world your identity is whatever you give yourself; this whole ‘House heavy’ persona was just a layer of skin that Heydrich had temporarily constructed using the power of the Path of Enigmata.
When necessary, it could be discarded entirely—after all…
Heydrich knew full well that, although he was an ordinary human, judging by his performance there was still that one teeny-tiny billion-point difference between him and an ordinary human.
What’s more, in the current situation, if he couldn’t command the room and scare off these Khorne cultists, Heydrich figured he really might get dragged down to his death.
As for the matter of identity, Heydrich knew he was a human.
But he also knew one other thing: namely, that if you don’t want others to treat you as a god, then please don’t go doing things that not even a god could do.
So since the things he was doing no longer matched this identity of his, this thing was going to have to be thrown away sooner or later.
The identity of Alpharius was likewise one of the means he had prepared in advance, and so as Heydrich’s words fell.
Everyone simply felt a flow of light shimmer before their eyes, and a figure even a bit taller than a typical can appeared before them all.
Then, almost instantly, the three Space Marines from the Deathwatch Black Shields saluted Heydrich.
This made the latter freeze for a moment, and then he instinctively lowered his head to look.
At this point he discovered that the paint scheme on his body now bore, plain as day, a white lightning eagle.
The Alpha Legion scheme he had originally fabricated had at some unknown point already been overwritten, and the white lightning-eagle emblem dead center on his breastplate remained piercingly clear even under the under-hive’s dim light.
That was an honor that could only be earned during the era of the Unification Wars, a mark that had already been remembered long before the Great Crusade even began; living examples of such an existence could now be counted on one’s fingers.
“How did my disguise turn into a Unification-era old codger?
No, wait….
hold on, could it be that earlier I….fuck!!!”
In that very instant Heydrich understood what had happened: namely, that earlier, in order to slip away, he’d hoodwinked this Alpharius.
But evidently the other party had actually believed it, and so under the influence of the Path of Enigmata, along with that peculiar little bit of ‘I-reckon-so’ power unique to Warhammer.
It had now undergone a marvelous transformation with him, adding some special tags onto this identity of his.
Alpharius the ten-thousand-year-old codger—now that was a bit of a small headache.
“GTMD Tzeentch—forget it, not a big problem.”
In any case things had already come to this, and Heydrich figured he had no other option but to accept it.
“Right now the disciples of the Blood God and the Lord of Plague are at war with one another, and Hive City Kuent is in dire peril.”
Anyway, since his identity was already like this, Heydrich had no intention of begging off.
Having this planet truly devoured by Chaos would do him no good whatsoever; the Warp was so dangerous, staying in the physical universe was just fine.
So Heydrich had to figure out a way to resolve this—for instance, he already had some plans in mind right now.
As for those Khorne cultists who had retreated, they did not close back in.
Evidently, compared to the now-undermanned Imperium, those Nurgle cultists were the most dangerous thing to the Khorne cultists.
Don’t be fooled into thinking the likes of the Black Legion always operate with the major factions all acting together.
But for one thing, there’s a Chaos Warmaster there, and for another, much of the time it’s a matter of the Four Gods joining forces.
“What are you all doing here?”
Looking over the group of people who immediately dropped to one knee and saluted him, Heydrich didn’t expose anything, but instead asked in a flat, noncommittal tone at this moment.
“The Sector Governor forced House Miltel to commit its entire strength and enter the lower-hive to resist the rebellion, but before long they were wiped out to the last man.”
“…..”
Hearing this, even Heydrich was rendered speechless—those Slaanesh creatures really are too unreliable.
“So the Inquisitor felt something was off, and had us come down to investigate.
As a result we discovered that two companies of a warband had arrived here, and House Miltel had no such backing.”
“How are they doing now?”
Hearing this, Heydrich asked with a bit of curiosity too.
Although those Slaanesh creatures are habitually useless, this couldn’t really be blamed on them.
Two companies of World Eaters—that was already more than enough to overturn an entire planet.
But fortunately Nurgle had broken out on the hive’s wastelands, and right now they were locked in battle with Nurgle’s main force.
Except, just as Heydrich’s words fell, Akel’s expression turned exceedingly strange.
“They’re castrating the Slaanesh cultists.”
“…….”
In that instant Heydrich too was rendered speechless—evidently this still seemed, somehow, to be his fault.
“Come with me.
Given the current situation of Hive City Kuent, there’s no way to resist these cultists no matter what; even those Genestealers don’t have enough strength.”
Hearing this, Heydrich was rather speechless.
He could already picture a group of Slaanesh cultists wailing shrilly.
Making that bunch that pursues sensory stimulation unable to feel pleasure for the rest of their lives—that really was one of the most fitting approaches.
It’s just that, although there were quite a few Genestealers in Hive City Kuent now, they fundamentally couldn’t amount to anything.
At least in the face of Chaos corruption like this, they didn’t count for shit.
Now that combat strength was a bit insufficient, Heydrich intended to use his ace in the hole.
So at this moment he led several people deeper into the under-hive, and the others didn’t dare say a word more, but instead immediately followed along at this time.
“You…..you really are…..”
At this point, if you asked who was the most dumbfounded, it would be Irena.
Irena had sensed Heydrich’s abnormality; she had originally assumed this guy was some abhuman species.
Or else the sort of God-chosen commissar type, but….
Why was he a ten-thousand-year-old codger—this was an existence from the era when the Emperor still walked among men.
“Have you….have you….ever seen His Majesty?”
At this moment Irena fell silent for a while, and though she knew she was being a bit impolite, at this time she couldn’t help but speak.
Hearing this, Heydrich’s brow twitched, but because he was wearing a helmet no one could see his expression.
Yet it had to be said that the Astartes helmet was truly handy—this way he could spare himself a great deal of the effort of managing his expressions.
“I have seen the true face hidden beneath the thousand faces—a middle-aged Asiatic man with a face full of worry and sorrow.”
“Huh?”
Upon hearing Heydrich’s words, Irena was a bit dazed—wasn’t this a touch blasphemous?
The Emperor she had imagined was a holy and great sovereign, but what kind of assessment was this?
A middle-aged man with a sorrowful, frowning face?
“Isn’t he the god who led mankind out from the darkness and the old undertakings?”
Hearing this, Heydrich’s footsteps paused, and then he glanced back at the Word Bearer behind him who was staring at him with eyes of extreme adoration, and a touch of mischief crept onto his face.
“You need only remember that a true god forever maintains humility, and only those blasphemous false things would proclaim themselves to be gods!!!”
“Gwah, so that’s how it is.
Those fellows who call themselves gods are all blasphemous and filthy heretics; a true god would never consider himself a god, because they know there are many things they cannot do!!!”
It’s just that, as Heydrich’s words fell, before Irena could even react, that Word Bearer suddenly went ‘boki.’
____
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Walnut-chan for more chapters!🔥👻
🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
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