Chapter 30:
Apotheosis "Sanguinius. It should have been him. He has the vision and strength to carry us to victory, and the wisdom to rule once victory is won. For all his aloof coolness, he alone has the emperor's soul in his blood. Each of us carries part of our father within us, whether it is his hunger for battle, his psychic talent or his determination to succeed. Sanguinius holds it all. It should have been his..."
- Horus Lupercal The Godhand was no more.
I had seen to it. This world, this Earth, which I had grown to love as my own, and which I would
christen as Holy Terra? This universe would know of peace. This crystal sphere? The plane I had won by conquest. There was only one stitching around my soul that had persisted, but it would not last. It would come undone, and it would come undone because I was not
satisfied with this.
The Heart of Darkness had to answer for every crime. What it had done to every person on this planet. The Sword of Justice was hungry, and it would collect on that life. Just as it had collected on the lives of
every monster. I would not be denied, and I would meet the Abyss. I would become the bane of every demon lord.
The Hero of Many Faces. Then I would return, but not as myself.
No, I would be The God Emperor of Mankind.
This I had woven. The choices I had made would be what led to my damnation, but there was a
chance. It was with that
grievous miracle. I would leave my Golden Throne, and I would save all of them. The Imperium of Man was not lost. The road I would need to tread had revealed itself, and at the end of it? There was a home. A
house I could call my own. There were people I loved who were still waiting for The Crow, The Knight Commander, and The Emperor!
They were waiting for Arlan Vorlesh, and I would be there to greet those children who meant
everything to me. Whether I had to face a dozen demon lords! A hundred of them! A
thousand of them! The Abyss could throw every obstacle it had at my doorstep. There was nothing that could stop the
anathema. What I had become? It would lead to
transience.
This world would not be the same. It will not be eternal. That
stasis which had entrapped it? It will be no more, and it will be no more because that is what I have chosen!
In the grim darkness of the far future?
There was only hope.