Chapter Twenty-One: The Purpose of Their Arrival

Hera Fortress, the headquarters of the Ultramarines, was also where their gene-father, Roboute Guilliman, lay in slumber. Within the fortress, in a vast hall adorned with Gothic architecture, the current Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, Calgar, personally received Wang Ming, Cawl, and their companions. Accompanying Calgar were the captain of the Ultramarines' First Company, Ageman, the Chief Librarian Tigurius, and a Grand Master of the Grey Knights.

Their gazes were filled with astonishment as they looked upon the two Primarchs before them. Though they had seen a Primarch before—Guilliman, preserved in stasis—the presence of a living Primarch was something entirely different, their awe-inspiring aura making Calgar momentarily forget the very reason he had come to meet with Cawl.

"Chapter Master Calgar," Cawl's words pulled Calgar out of his shock.

Calgar looked at Wang Ming and Fulgrim, offering them the Aquila salute. Wang Ming nodded in response, acknowledging the gesture.

"Fortunately, he hasn’t recognized Fulgrim," Wang Ming thought to himself as he looked at Calgar. If the Ultramarines discovered that the Primarch standing before them was Fulgrim, the very one who had grievously wounded Guilliman, things would become extremely troublesome.

"Archmagos Cawl, you wished to see me?" Calgar turned to Cawl, already aware for several days now that Cawl was coming to Macragge to meet with him, the current Lord of Ultramar.

"I once made a pact with the Lord of Ultramar. I have come now to fulfill that agreement," Cawl replied.

"A pact? I do not recall any agreement with the Archmagos of the Mechanicus," Calgar answered, puzzled. He could not remember having made any such promise.

While most present were bewildered, Cawl’s next words turned their confusion into utter shock.

"My agreement was not with the current Lord of Ultramar, but with the true Lord—the Primarch, Roboute Guilliman."

At these words, everyone present—except for Wang Ming, Fulgrim, Wang Xiaofa, the two Eldar, and the living saint—was struck with overwhelming astonishment.

"What is this agreement?" Calgar struggled to suppress his own shock as he questioned Cawl about the pact with Guilliman.

"The specifics of the pact can only be revealed when I and the 'cargo' stand before the Primarch himself," Cawl replied, stating that only in Guilliman’s presence could he disclose the details.

With a sharp motion, the Ultramarines in the hall simultaneously leveled their boltguns at Cawl and his companions. Anything concerning Roboute Guilliman was strictly taboo for the Ultramarines. If Cawl did not give them a satisfactory answer, they would not hesitate to open fire.

Standing beside Calgar, the First Company Captain expressed his intent to arrest Cawl and his party, and to execute the two Eldar on the spot, while the Chief Librarian tried to reason with him.

"Lower your weapons. Do you intend to murder a Primarch?" At that moment, Wang Ming spoke.

The Ultramarines, confronted with the commanding presence and voice of the Primarch before them, unconsciously lowered their weapons a little.

"We pose no threat to Roboute. In fact, our purpose here is to bring him back to life," Wang Ming stated directly, making their ultimate aim known.

His words plunged everyone present from one shock into an even deeper one.