His words struck a chord with many of the warriors.
More and more voices chimed in.
“The Chapter Master is right! The Codex really has weighed us down in many battles!”
“We’ve suffered too many unnecessary sacrifices just to rigidly obey dogmas!”
“The Primarch has returned! His will is our new compass! To disobey the Primarch now—is that not violating the true spirit of the Codex?!”
Yet a group of Chaplains and veteran Sergeants led by Leandros still stood stubbornly in place, their faces etched with agony and turmoil.
Leandros rasped, “Chapter Master…
we…
we cannot accept this…
We cannot simply abandon the beliefs we have held our entire lives!
“Please forgive our ignorance!”
Seeing that verbal persuasion could not fully quell the internal resistance,
Calgar had no choice but to report the situation truthfully to Guilliman, who was in the middle of planning the Crusade.
“Father, that is the situation.
“Chaplain Leandros and a few brothers… they are unwilling to accept the new orders,” Calgar said, somewhat uneasily.
Guilliman looked up from the hololith star map, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh? Unwilling to listen to their father?”
“Yes,” Calgar nodded.
“They are currently kneeling on the plaza outside your hall, claiming they cannot abandon what they have stood for.”
To Calgar’s surprise, Guilliman did not fly into a rage.
Instead, he burst out laughing:
“Hahahahaha!
Excellent!
Excellent!
“To still have your own thoughts, to even disobey my will—that shows your minds haven’t been completely fossilized by that wretched book!
“To still be able to think for yourselves… that is a good thing!”
“Ah? Father, you… you aren’t angry?”
Calgar froze.
Even he was feeling annoyed with those stubborn fools.
“What is there to be angry about?”
Guilliman spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“When children grow up, isn’t it perfectly normal for them to have their own opinions? And a parent’s duty is to handle their ‘education.'”
“‘Education’…?” Calgar asked, somewhat puzzled.
“Precisely—education, guidance,” Guilliman smiled, giving examples.
“Things like emotional counseling, heart-to-heart talks, helping them untie their inner knots.”
Enlightenment dawned on Calgar, quickly followed by an odd pang of envy—he hadn’t even enjoyed a private heart-to-heart with his gene-sire yet!
“Of course. I am certainly going to have a good ‘chat’ with them.”
Guilliman confirmed Calgar’s assumption, but then shifted the topic, a smile creeping across his face that sent a chill down Calgar’s spine:
“However, my son, the emotional guidance and heart-to-heart chats I just mentioned… those are usually a mother’s job.”
As he spoke, he unbuckled a clasp on the side of his power armor’s waist and pulled out a highly resilient strap made of high-strength composite material…
A web belt?
Or rather, something that looked suspiciously like a custom-made belt?
“In ancient Terra, fathers in a certain ancient civilization possessed a sacred and highly effective educational ritual.”
Guilliman weighed the belt in his hand.
He then folded it over, grabbed both ends tightly, and snapped it taut with a hard yank!
*SNAP!* The sound was crisp and powerful.
Guilliman nodded with satisfaction.
Having this lashed across one’s back would surely leave a lasting impression.
His smile turned increasingly “kind”:
“It allows a child to swiftly appreciate the crushing weight of a father’s love.”
Calgar looked at the belt glinting with a cold sheen, then looked at Guilliman’s fists the size of serving platters and his towering frame, feeling a violent chill run through his body.
(What kind of ‘guidance’ is this?! This is completely different from the heart-to-heart I imagined!)
“I… I see…” Calgar’s voice was a bit dry.
“Father, you too have mastered such a… ‘sacred’ ritual?”
“Of course!”
Guilliman chuckled loudly, flexing his wrists.
“Not only have I mastered it, but back on Earth… er, I mean, a long time ago, I experienced it firsthand many times! The results are outstanding!”
He waved a massive hand, gripping that resilient alloy belt as he strode purposefully toward the hall’s exit.
“Let us go, my son!
“Your father is going to let your brothers feel this ten-thousand-years-overdue paternal love for themselves!”
Calgar trailed closely behind.
When he looked once more at the kneeling brothers who had annoyed him earlier, there was only deep sympathy left in his eyes…
along with a tiny hint of schadenfreude.
(May the Emperor… no, may Father’s ‘education’ guide them back to the right path…)
He silently signed the Aquila.
Heavy, measured footsteps echoed across the plaza, each tread hammering against the hearts of Leandros and the others.
Through tear-filled vision, he saw that colossal figure marching toward him.
Unlike his terrifying, bloodthirsty stature as a god of war on the battlefield,
Guilliman bore a gentle smile upon his face.
Under the sunlight of Macragge’s star, his deep blue eyes resembled the purest ocean, radiating a comforting warmth.
The sunlight outlined his imposing form in gold, radiant and majestic.
*So this is the gene-sire…*
Leandros could clearly feel the gene-seed within his body burning and trembling—a resonance and quiver stemming from the deepest depths of his bloodline.
An indescribable, almost instinctive loyalty surged from his heart, threatening to overwhelm him.
Yet his decades-and-centuries-long devotion to the Codex Astartes acted like a heavy set of shackles, inflicting immense pain and inner turmoil.
“I hear,”
Guilliman spoke gently, his voice like a gentle breeze sweeping over the plaza,
“that you are unwilling to obey my current commands, and wish to continue adhering to the Codex Astartes instead. Is that so?”
“No! We never meant to disobey your commands!”
Leandros and several others blurted out in defense, panic lacing their voices.
“It is just…
we cannot abandon the Codex!
“Father, we have absolutely no intention of betraying you!
“Our loyalty to you is as clear as the Astronomican!”
Guilliman pressed his hands down softly, signaling for them not to get agitated.
“I understand.
I understand how you feel.
“I believe my children are all good sons who want to listen to me. It is merely that this Codex Astartes has influenced you for far too long and far too deeply.”
His tone was filled with tolerance.
“I can understand your devotion.
“After all, I penned this Codex with my own hands back then.
“If fault must be assigned, then it lies solely with me, not with my children.”
“Gene-sire…”
Leandros choked back a sob instantly, feeling utterly worthless.
Their father was actually taking the blame upon himself rather than laying even a fraction of fault on them!
What magnanimity!
What greatness!
And yet here he was, stubbornly defying his father’s decision…
He felt like a complete failure, unworthy of serving as a Chaplain of the Ultramarines.