Sitting on the throne, Robert Kiliman showed a trace of melancholy and sadness.

He silently sighed, closed his eyes, and displayed unimaginable pain.

"Why the long face? Cheer up, you've managed to get up after ten thousand years of sleep, what else could be wrong?"

Duanmu Huai sat beside him, tasting Makulag's special pastries with a grin, while Kiliman responded with a bitter smile and shook his head.

"Ten millennia have passed, look at what they have become, and the same goes for us — blind faith, ignorance, suffering, decay. All in the name of a deity, ironically, this 'deity' has always despised the title."

"Sometimes it doesn't matter what you think, it's how others see you that counts. Perhaps you haven't realized that now, in the eyes of the Limit Warriors, you're no different from a deity."

Kiliman silently stood up, looking at the battle flags and paintings on the wall with a pained expression.

"We failed, Father. He betrayed his sons, and we betrayed him. Our arrogance and vanity have created today's empire; we have betrayed humanity — didn't Horus declare his intent to become a god and used that as an excuse to start a rebellion? Wouldn't today's appearance of the empire incite his mocking laughter?"

"I don't know about Horus, but I know Rogal must be having a good laugh; after all, his Word Bearer is now the official text of the state religion."

Duanmu Huai silently delivered a figurative stab to Kiliman's back.

"Also, your Astarte Scriptures are on the required reading list for Star Warriors, what do you think about that?"

"Absurd."

At this moment, Kiliman finally broke down.

"Why am I still alive! I gave everything to my Father, to the Empire. Look what they've done to our dreams! On the bloated, corrupt corpse of the Empire, there's no longer a shadow of reason or hope, only fear, hatred, and ignorance keep this corpse barely alive! Even if we were to all perish in the flames of Horus' ambition, it would be better than witnessing all this!"

Duanmu Huai remained silent; he understood Kiliman's meaning, but this didn't represent the despair of this Primordial; on the contrary, his anger burned with the brilliance of hope.

Kiliman turned to Duanmu Huai, slowly asking.

"Who exactly are you."

"I thought I had explained this to you already."

Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

"I am the Great Judge of the Tribunal, Duanmu Huai. What other answer do you want?"

"You should know that's not what I mean."

Kiliman stared at Duanmu Huai, his memory seemed to remain ten millennia ago, precisely because of this, the man in front of him who hadn't changed at all in his memory aroused more of Kiliman's suspicion.

"So what do you want to know?"

"All of this."

Kiliman stared at Duanmu Huai.

"In the beginning, I suggested the Empire establish the Tribunal, just hoping to give the Grey Knights a place, a dedicated anti-demon unit for the Empire. But now, I understand this doesn't seem so simple."

Kiliman wasn't an idiot. After awakening, he absorbed a lot of knowledge about this era, and naturally, he learned about the Tribunal's deeds.

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked you for royalties yet... oh well, it doesn't matter."

Duanmu Huai swallowed the osmanthus cake in his hand with one gulp, then stood up, walked over to Kiliman's side, and extended his hand.

"Come, hold it."

"...…"

Staring at Duanmu Huai's outstretched palm, Kiliman paused for a moment in silence, then stretched out his hand, grabbing it.

In the next moment, Kiliman felt everything in front of him change.

The original magnificent throne hall disappeared, replaced by a vast metal square and cathedral suspended in the endless starry sky. In front of him was a gigantic star, countless rays of light flowing towards it like rivers, then disappearing within.

"Welcome to the Tribunal, or should I say, my divine realm."

Duanmu Huai clapped his hands, while Kiliman turned to him, looking at him incredulously.

"You are... a god?"

"Is that strange? Isn't that old salted meat the same? I'm just standing on the side of humanity, I think you never considered that."

"I don't understand...…"

"Alright, I can explain a bit, but I'm not sure how much you will understand... since my eloquence isn't the best... well, let's take it as it comes."

Saying this, Duanmu Huai began to explain to Kiliman about his situation, including the distant future, the situation of the Tribunal, the power as the God of Destruction, and the various effects that the Power of Destruction could bring.....

"So, the power used by the Tribunal to kill demons actually comes from you?"

"That's right."

Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers, pointing to the galaxy around the star.

"Strictly speaking, it's not killing but after they eliminate the demons, my God of Destruction's power forcibly takes them to my divine realm, then burns them up here. In this way, it's impossible for them to continue reincarnating in subspace. From this perspective, it's equivalent to killing the demons."

"And the souls of those who believe in the Tribunal will also return to the Tribunal after death?"

"I think it's quite normal."

Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not doing charity work either. They've used my strength, so naturally, they have to pay a price. Or you could say, the fact that I only collect a price after their death is already quite generous. At least I'm not like those Demons, who exploit these unfortunate souls while they're still alive."

"Then, what about their souls?"

"If they wish to continue fighting, I will arrange for them to keep fighting to eliminate the enemies of humanity. If they've had enough of all this..."

Duanmu Huai said as he pointed again at that Star.

"They would also enjoy a complete death."

"You've destroyed their souls!"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders.

"When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Indeed, while I admit many Deities choose to keep those souls in the Divine Realm to serve them, I'm not interested in that. The strength from burning their souls is more useful to me than having them serve me. Besides, they were already dead, weren't they? I think in this world, a clean and straightforward death is already a form of mercy."

"......"

Kiriman fell into silence, recalling that nightmare-like rebellion. He witnessed with his own eyes his brothers and their children falling into darkness and evil, their souls defiled, their bodies twisted. From this perspective, the eternal annihilation of the soul is indeed a form of mercy.

"Alright, don't be so tense. You see, even The Emperor hasn't objected, right?"

"I, I don't understand..."

Kiriman shook his head.

"Why would he allow such things to happen?"

"Or rather, he's quite eager for me to help him share the faith."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai's mockery, Kiriman was stunned for a moment, looking at Duanmu Huai in confusion, not understanding his meaning.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's very simple. Do you know the history of the Obsessive Sin and the Spirit race?"

"I know a little..."

"The Obsessive Sin was a deity born from the chaotic desires of the Spirit race, and when it was born, it absorbed most of the souls of the Spirit race, leaving barely one in ten alive. Why did it happen like that? Because it is the Spirit race, and the Spirit race is it, so when the Obsessive Sin fully ascended, it was when the believers gave their souls and lives to their deity."

Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

"You have to know that before this, there were a ton of Spirit race, how many? More than the Green Skins! But after the birth of the Obsessive Sin? You see now, the Spirit race is reduced to only a handful, almost becoming an endangered species in the Milky Way. Although, from my standpoint, I'd rather see these bastards extinct."

"So, what you mean is........"

Kiriman wasn't stupid. Duanmu Huai had said this much, how could he not understand the other's meaning?

"That's right, just like the relationship between the Obsessive Sin and the Spirit race, The Emperor is the same. He's on the boundary between human and Deity, and once he becomes a deity, humanity will repeat the scene of the Spirit race. Those devoted believers of The Emperor will be utterly destroyed like the Spirit race, and their souls will become the nourishment for The Emperor's divine ascent. This is also why The Emperor always denies being a god — but unfortunately, his methods aren't very clever."

"Is this why my father ordered me to destroy the Perfect City?"

"That's right. In his view, such faith was practically like dragging him onto the path of human extinction at full speed."

"But... I don't understand."

Kiriman furrowed his brows.

"Why, why doesn't he say anything? Why doesn't he tell us anything? If we knew all this..."

"Who knows? So you see, that guy is also just a person, and a riddler at that, which I despise the most. The fact is, he isn't the omniscient, omnipotent perfect god. If he were such a deity, you wouldn't be scattered across various planets, the Great Crusade wouldn't have failed, and the Imperial wouldn't have turned into this mess... So in the end, it's still because he's foolish."

Duanmu Huai pouted.

"Just like that, but anyway, without The Emperor and the Primordials, mankind has made it through these Ten Thousand Years. Moreover, for now, you don't need to worry about The Emperor becoming a deity. After all, there are still quite a few people in the Imperial who have faith in the Tribunal, at least I'm better than that guy who only eats and does nothing else. With me diverting the faith, even if something happens, humanity won't be completely extinct."

Duanmu Huai sighed silently.

He had, in fact, figured out quite a bit about certain things by now.

For instance, why there were still so many humans surviving after that disaster. Even when the Imperial was destroyed and the Black Hole Plan descended, humanity did not all perish... Well, it's no use thinking about it now.

Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers again, and then the two of them returned to Kiriman's Throne Room. Kiriman stared at Duanmu Huai, then chuckled bitterly after a moment.

"Now, I guess I have no choice?"

"Of course you have a choice."

Duanmu Huai sat back onto the sofa again, pouring himself another cup of tea.

"It's just that you've already made your choice."

Then, he stared at Kiriman and began to speak.

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