Chapter 314: The Rise of the Primarch: The Gate of the Golden Throne

If there is anything in this world that remains unchanged and always remains exactly the same, it is not the church of the state religion, nor the office building of the Ministry of Political Affairs, nor the square halls of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Although the Empire is always nostalgic and generally does not renovate and rebuild those buildings that have been built long ago, with the passage of time and the coming and going of a large number of imperial officials, those buildings will always change, with new office halls, cafeterias and conferences added.

Moreover, considering that the word "peace" in the Empire can only be seen in the dictionary, those ancient buildings are likely to be invaded periodically by the Empire's enemies, the rebellion of Chaos cultists, or even the coup d'état of the planet itself, riots and gang fights that never tire of, ranging from being completely razed to the ground to having hundreds of bullet holes in the wall.

You will always need to repair those buildings, so perhaps only the spiritual ancientness will remain, but there is a place in this galaxy that is ancient, just like the empire itself, it has never changed for thousands of years, and it is also the spiritual source of the entire empire.

You guessed it, didn't you? The Emperor's palace, of course, of course it is here, when you walk under the high walls and domes here, when you walk through those magnificent halls, you will find that this damn place has been exactly the same as it was ten thousand years ago.

Ah, of course, the premise is that you have lived long enough to see what the palace looked like in the past, when it was first built and the support frame was removed. There are not many such people. To be honest, are there many old monsters over ten thousand years old in this galaxy?

But today, there is such an old monster here, Vito walks in the main hall of the palace, he walks under the magnificent palace dome.

He looked at the exquisite murals above his head and the crystal chandeliers hanging under the curved dome. The huge crystal lamps were burning with countless lights, which refracted the light to the surroundings through the surrounding crystals.

Vito walked between the high walls on both sides of the palace, which were more magnificent and gorgeous than all the imperial churches. Countless statues, murals, and reliefs constituted the main body here, as if the entire space was carved directly from a huge stone. Everything around was almost perfectly connected.

Under his feet, the purest marble floor was laid on the ground. The huge stone surface extended to the end of the palace. Behind Vito, Trajan and his guards also walked on this marble road. The heavy footsteps of the imperial guards stepped on Vito again and again.

The ancient guardian looked around. He still hadn't been here for a long time. Since the end of the Horus Rebellion, Vito had never stepped into the core area of ​​the palace, the hall of the inner palace.

But today when he came back here, he was surprised and somewhat expected that everything here was exactly the same as when he left. Every statue, every mural and relief on every wall was exactly the same. The corrosion of the years did not change or lose their former appearance. They were still the same as before.

Vito looked at everything familiar around him, listened to the echo of the footsteps of the unique star iron power armor tower of the imperial guards behind him on the ground, and the friction sound of the armor of the tall giant with every step. The sound, combined with the surrounding scene, made Vito recall many things, and many memories that had long become blurred became clear again.

Vito recalled everything at that time, Malcador, Dr. Astarte, Erda, Valdo, and that old bastard, they once walked side by side on this wide avenue together. On the day when the palace was built, the throne room with the burning star torch was completed for the first time and the door was opened. They, the unifiers of ancient Terra, walked here together.

But now, only Vito is left on this marble road, the serious voice of Waldo, the conversation between Malcador and Erda about art, culture and science and technology, the voice of Astarte and bickering, and of course, the voice of the old bastard evaluating himself with various philosophical riddles.

Those voices have disappeared, disappeared a long time ago, and now only he is the only one of the old friends who can still walk here and walk in the world.

Vito recalled everything at that time and sighed deeply, which was the sigh and sorrow of time, "Has Waldo come back? He has left. Damn it, I forgot."

"Nine thousand years, my lord, like you, Commander Waldo also left quietly not long after you left." Trajan walked behind Vito with a lion-headed power sword astride. Behind him, the royal guards in red robes walked silently in line behind them, with a fluttering golden battle flag held high in the hands of their leading warriors.

Vito looked at the guardsmen standing at the edge of the hall on both sides. The tall golden guards stood on both sides of the hall holding long halberds. They stood silently like statues standing on both sides. This reminded Vito of the Terracotta Warriors of ancient Terra, one after another, extending towards the Gate of the End at the end of the hall.

He walked past those golden armored guards. When he walked past, the guardsmen along the way would kneel on one knee to salute him. Vito looked at the guardsmen bowing their heads on both sides. Their armor was still exactly the same as it was back then, without any changes. Vito knew that the people wearing their armor were no longer the guardsmen in his memory. They were the old warriors who followed him to fight Terra in Valdo and then went to the Milky Way.

But these armors, these new generation of imperial guards wearing the same armors as them, made Vito feel like he was back in the old days, among those old friends.

"Has Valdo come back?" Vito asked with a sigh. He did not turn his head to look at Trajan, but the latter knew that this question was asked to him, and only he could give the marshal an answer.

"No, sir, unfortunately, Commander Valdo has not come back since he left. Over the years, we have heard some news suspected to be Commander Valdo, but we cannot confirm the authenticity, so we don't know where the commander is?"

Trajan said, pressing the sword on his waist. He sighed silently. How much he hoped that Lord Valdo would return to Terra with Vito. When he learned the news of Vito's return from the Emperor, he really hoped that their leader, the Marshal of the Imperial Guards, would also go with him.

That would be the greatest moment, the moment that Trajan and all the soldiers of the Imperial Guard had waited for ten thousand years. He imagined that he would lead the soldiers to swear allegiance to the two legendary leaders in the hall of the palace. He imagined that those ancient legends would become true, and the Imperial Guards would once again fight in the galaxy under their banners.

But that was just a beautiful wish after all. The Imperial Guards still needed to wait, waiting for the return of their leaders in the long years.

Vito noticed Trajan's regret. After a long sigh, he looked around at the Imperial Guards around him. He noticed that there were more Imperial Guards here. On both sides of the road of salvation leading to the throne room, between the mechanical servants and servo skulls that silently cleaned and maintained the surrounding statues, there were many more Imperial Guards here than he remembered.

He still remembered the scene at the end of the Webway War. Only one out of ten of the once powerful Imperial Guards remained. When the war ended, there were only less than ten Imperial Guards left, which could number more than a hundred. However, the ancient warriors who swore to defend the Emperor at all times still stood here stubbornly holding their weapons.

But here today, the Imperial Guards, who had suffered heavy casualties and only one out of ten remained, have recovered. Along the way, Vito saw a lot of Imperial Guards, and all the shield guard companies were fully staffed.

"Have you recovered your military strength?" Vito asked as he walked. Although he already had the answer in his mind, he still hoped that Trajan would tell him in person. He hoped that he would be proud again and tell himself with his head held high what they had achieved over the years.

This was indeed the case. Trajan raised his head proudly, and the Imperial Guards behind him could not help but hold their weapons tightly and proudly carry their weapons. Their current commander Trajan looked at Vito in front of him, and his heart was full of pride.

"Yes, Marshal, although our training method is destined to be unable to replenish quickly, after 10,000 years and the efforts of dozens of generations of commanders, we have finally recovered from the Webway War."

"Now, the Ten Thousand has recovered, and 10,000 guards will be waiting for your orders, Marshal Vito." Trajan hit his chest with his right fist, and the guards behind him also made the same move at the same time. They stopped as Vito stopped.

Marshal Vito stood in front of the long stairs leading to the Gate of the End. He smiled slightly at Trajan and the guards behind him. He nodded to them, "I believe you will make Valdo and all the old guards proud of Trajan, all of you."

Vito then looked at the towering gate at the top of the stairs, the golden and magnificent gate. Vito turned his head to look at Trajan, who nodded silently and then Vito walked up the stairs.

He walked up the long and magnificent staircase. On both sides of the wide staircase stood a number of Imperial Guardsmen wearing more sophisticated and gorgeous clothes and holding ancient craftsmanship spears. They stood on both sides, wearing red battle robes branded with the Emperor's double-headed sky eagle logo, and hanging high on their heads were long red tassels made of the most expensive velvet.

These warriors are taller, stronger and unstoppable than ordinary Imperial Guards. They don't need to use any weapons. Just standing here, in silence, can intimidate any disrespectful person, and when they take out their weapons, they will not let any evil spirits step over this staircase.

Vito looked at the Imperial Guards on both sides. He knew their armor style. It was the oldest Imperial Guards armor style, which originated from the three hundred Imperial Guards built by the original Emperor. They were the first generation of modified supermen who were older than the Thunder Warriors. Waldo was also born with them.

Those first generation of imperial guards were given a glorious mission, a task that only the strongest among all the imperial guards could undertake, because they were the last barrier to protect the emperor, and they were the attendants who held the throne.

Vito walked up the stairs from among them. He looked at the attendants standing on both sides of the stairs, lining up to the top of the gate. More than a hundred powerful imperial guards held long spears and nodded slightly to Vito.

The attendants standing on both sides watched Vito walk up to the top of the long steps and came to the magnificent Gate of the End. He was the first person to stand in front of the Gate of the End in thousands of years since the battle sisters in the era of the apostasy, but he was also the most qualified one among all.

Or rather, he had been standing here for a long time, but now, it was not too late. After ten thousand years of waiting, this gate welcomed its visitor. Supreme Marshal Vito Constantine stood in front of the giant gate, and the people behind the gate had been waiting for too many years.

Now, it was time for them to meet again.

Trajan walked up the stairs. He was the only one who walked up the stairs to the gate. All his guards were left below, because even among the imperial guards, only a very small number of those who were summoned or undisputed outstanding leaders could meet the emperor.

The imperial guards of the guards stood in succession. They stood at attention with their weapons in hand and looked up at the giant gate. Trajan, standing at the top of the stairs, nodded to the guards of the imperial guards guarding both sides of the gate. Suddenly, the two most powerful guards of the imperial guards guarding the gate raised their halberds.

The guards of the Imperial Guards raised their halberds high, and it seemed that they were going to chop Vito in half with one blade, but then they suddenly turned around at the same time and inserted the tips of the spears into the holes that suddenly opened on the walls on both sides of the Gate of the End behind them. It was like two keyholes. The unique spears from the Golden Tower in the hands of the guards were inserted into the keychain. With a series of rotations and mechanical operation sounds like the door lock being turned after the key was inserted, the door began to start.

Behind Vito and Trajan, hundreds of guards standing on the stairs raised their weapons at the same time, and then slammed their ends on the stairs. At the same time, the rumbling sound echoed throughout the hall. With that sound, all the guards in the inner court of the palace turned to the door and knelt.

Amid the kneeling sounds of the guards, the magnificent golden gate slowly opened, and the symbol of the Emperor's Sky Eagle was separated from the center. With the opening of the Gate of the End, the person sitting on the golden throne behind it was exposed to the eyes of the people outside the gate.

Vito's black eyes reflected the man on the throne, the man who had been sitting there for thousands of years, the man whose body had long since decayed and dried up, with only the flames of spiritual energy burning, seemed to raise his head.

"Welcome, you are finally here, my old friend."