Chapter 236 — Beneath the False Light
The golden doors continued to open slowly.
Warm light spilled across the ruined corridor outside the throne chamber, soft and welcoming despite the destruction spread throughout the Palace Spire.
It felt peaceful.
Safe.
False.
Gaius stepped forward first.
Behind him, the Ultramarines followed in disciplined formation, bolters raised carefully as they moved through drifting dust and smoke left behind by the fighting deeper within the Palace.
The chamber beyond was enormous.
Large enough for armored vehicles to move freely across its polished floor. Golden pillars stretched upward into a ceiling hidden behind radiant light. White banners hung untouched from above, perfectly clean despite the war raging outside across Varrak Prime.
At the center of the hall stood a massive staircase leading toward a throne of gold and marble.
And seated upon it,
Was a man.
At first glance, he looked completely human.
No armor.
No weapons.
Only robes of white and gold.
Warm golden light surrounded him softly, spreading through the chamber in waves that eased tension without anyone realizing it. The air itself felt calmer near him.
Safer.
Thousands of civilians filled the throne room around him.
Families sat together beneath blankets near portable heaters. Workers rested beside supply crates while volunteers distributed food and water through the crowd. Medical stations had been built carefully along the walls where wounded civilians received treatment from calm and organized attendants.
Children slept peacefully near the base of the throne stairs.
Some civilians prayed quietly.
Others simply rested.
No one screamed.
No one panicked.
Naruto floated silently for a moment, staring at the scene below.
"…this looks more like a shelter than a palace," he said quietly.
No one answered immediately.
Because he was right.
Nothing about the room matched what they had expected.
There were no torture chambers.
No piles of skulls.
No crazed cultists screaming prayers into the sky.
Instead,
There was warmth.
Order.
Hope.
And that made the situation feel worse.
The Man slowly rose from the throne.
The moment he moved, the atmosphere inside the chamber shifted.
Fear faded from civilian faces almost instantly. Some people visibly relaxed just from seeing him stand. Others lowered their heads emotionally, as though simply being near him eased pain they had carried for years.
Gaius felt it clearly.
Psychic influence.
Not violent.
Not like an attack.
It moved through the room gently, carefully, pressing against emotion rather than thought.
Comfort.
Safety.
Relief.
Like someone reaching into a drowning person's chest and promising they would survive.
Several Ultramarines reacted subtly.
One lowered his bolter slightly before correcting himself.
Another slowed for half a step.
The pressure was already reaching them.
The Man looked directly at Gaius.
"You feel nothing," he said quietly.
His voice spread through the chamber naturally.
Warm.
Calm.
Every word carried unnatural influence beneath it.
Gaius continued walking forward without slowing.
"Men of the Imperium," the man said.
He let out a soft sigh.
"Come to me, and I shall bring peace to humanity."
At once, the walls around the chamber flickered with light.
Images appeared across them.
Starving workers collapsed in overcrowded hive districts.
Riots spreading through broken streets.
Executions carried out publicly by corrupt officials.
Bodies abandoned in alleyways while gangs ruled entire sectors unchecked.
The images shifted.
Now there were organized food lines.
Orderly streets.
Armed patrols protecting civilians instead of abusing them.
Children sleeping safely beneath golden banners.
People smiling.
People living.
"I ended the riots," the Man said calmly. "I stopped the hunger. I gave them hope when the Imperium abandoned them."
The civilians around the chamber reacted immediately.
Some cried quietly.
Others bowed their heads.
One old man near the staircase whispered weakly,
"He saved us…"
Naruto stared at the images silently.
Because the worst part was obvious now.
The man speaking was not lying. At least not completely.
He really had helped these people.
Even Naruto hesitated for a moment. Everything they had seen felt wrong, unsettling in ways he could not fully explain, and yet… the man truly had brought them peace.
Gaius kept moving as he spoke.
"The Warp always offers something first."
For the first time, annoyance crossed the Man's face.
"You think Terra cares for them?" he asked. "You think suffering is alright?"
The psychic pressure inside the chamber suddenly intensified.
Several civilians smiled dreamily.
One Ultramarine stiffened slightly beside Gaius.
Another gripped his bolter harder.
The pressure was becoming heavier.
Then Gaius released Conqueror's Haki.
Invisible force exploded outward through the chamber.
BOOM.
Windows shattered instantly.
Candles burst apart.
The polished marble floor cracked beneath Gaius' boots.
The psychic pressure collapsed for one brief second,
And the illusion shattered.
The civilians screamed.
The golden walls darkened instantly into blackened stone covered in flesh-like veins pulsing beneath the surface.
The warm light turned sickly red.
The food distributed throughout the chamber rotted where it sat.
Meat blackened.
Bread dissolved into mold.
Water turned dark.
Behind the throne,
Something moved.
Huge.
Far too large for the chamber itself.
Shapes shifted within the darkness behind reality.
Too many eyes.
Too many mouths.
Something ancient watched from within the Warp tear hidden behind the illusion.
The civilians panicked immediately.
"No—!"
"What is that?!"
"That's not him!"
Fear spread through the room like fire.
The illusion snapped back into place only seconds later.
Golden light returned.
The chamber became beautiful again.
But now fear remained in the eyes of the civilians.
They had seen it.
Even if only for a moment.
The Man's expression hardened.
"You should not have shown them that."
Then he vanished.
The throne behind him shattered apart as he crossed the chamber in an instant.
He appeared in front of Gaius, his fist already reinforced with psychic force.
Gaius reacted at the same moment, crossing his arms and hardening them with Armament Haki just as the impact landed.
BOOM.
The impact between him and Gaius detonated like artillery fire.
The entire hall shook violently.
Nearby civilians were thrown across the floor. Several slammed into pillars hard enough to break bones instantly.
One child disappeared beneath falling debris as part of the staircase collapsed.
The Ultramarines reacted immediately.
"Protect the civilians!"
Bolter fire erupted across the chamber as hidden PDF soldiers among the crowd suddenly revealed weapons and opened fire.
The civilians screamed and scattered in every direction.
The Man attacked again with terrifying speed.
Golden psychic energy wrapped around his arms as he drove both hands toward Gaius' chest.
Gaius blocked the strike with armored fists.
CRACK.
The collision shattered the marble floor beneath them.
Massive cracks spread through nearby pillars and walls.
Chunks of stone collapsed from above.
Several civilians were crushed instantly beneath falling debris.
Blood splashed across the golden floor.
Mindy stared in shock.
Not only at the sheer power displayed by Gaius and the man, but at the civilians dying around them as the battle continued.
The throne room had become a battlefield within seconds.
The Man raised one hand sharply.
Dozens of civilians suddenly froze in place.
Their eyes turned gold.
Then they rushed toward Gaius screaming in blind devotion.
"For the Savior!"
"Protect him!"
The Ultramarines hesitated for only a fraction of a second.
Only a fraction.
Then they fired.
Bolter rounds tore through the charging civilians violently.
Bodies exploded apart across the chamber.
Blood and shattered bone spread across the marble floor.
Naruto looked a little disturbed watching it unfold.
"They're killing civilians…" he said quietly.
Tanya answered immediately, her voice calm but firm.
"They stopped being civilians the moment they became its worshippers."
She could see it clearly too, they were being controlled by the enemy, moving like puppets without their own will.
Naruto looked toward her, unsettled by how easily she said it.
A child saying something like that.
He knew she wasn't ordinary. He knew Gaius' world wasn't like his own. Even with what little he understood of it, it still didn't make it easier to accept. He couldn't let the thought go.
But Tanya continued without changing her tone.
"They are being controlled."
Her eyes stayed on the battlefield.
"Not fully themselves anymore."
A brief pause.
"Perhaps death is better for them."
Nobody argued.
Not because they liked it.
But because they understood.
The civilians charging forward no longer cared about survival.
Only devotion.
Gaius drove forward through the chaos.
The Man unleashed psychic force like a tidal wave directly into him.
The air distorted visibly.
Reality itself bent around the psyker's power.
Entire sections of the chamber twisted unnaturally for brief moments before snapping back into place.
For the first time,
Gaius was pushed backward slightly.
The marble beneath his boots cracked deeply as he forced himself to hold position.
The Man raised both hands.
Golden light flooded the chamber.
Then people started dying.
Civilians across the room suddenly collapsed screaming.
Blood poured from their eyes and mouths as their bodies rapidly shriveled.
Their life force flowed visibly toward the Man.
The psychic pressure inside the chamber surged violently.
Several Ultramarines dropped briefly to one knee beneath the weight of it.
The Man's voice echoed across the hall.
"They give themselves willingly!"
Another wave of civilians collapsed dead.
Workers.
Elderly people.
Children.
Their bodies dried and twisted within seconds.
The survivors backed away in terror,
Yet some still reached desperately toward the Man.
"Save us…"
"Please…"
"The Emperor…"
Even now, even like this, they still believed in him.
That was the most horrifying part.
Gaius watched the chamber silently for one brief moment.
Then he moved.
The floor exploded behind him.
He crossed the distance instantly.
His fist slammed directly into the Man's face.
CRACK.
The impact distorted the air itself.
The Man flew backward like a missile.
Golden pillars shattered apart as his body tore through them one after another.
The entire Palace Spire shook violently.
Far below the upper hive,
streets collapsed.
Hive citizens screamed as sections of the district caved inward from the force traveling through the structure itself.
The Man slowly rose from the rubble.
Blood ran from his mouth now.
But he was smiling.
Behind him,
Reality tore open slightly.
A massive eye formed within the darkness of the Warp tear.
Watching.
Hungry.
The Man spread his arms slowly.
"You still don't understand," he said softly.
Then the dead civilians began moving again.
Broken bodies rose unnaturally from the floor.
Limbs twisted incorrectly.
Eyes glowed gold.
Some still smiled despite missing half their faces.
Then they charged.
Naruto felt a cold weight settle in his chest as he watched it unfold.
Mindy covered her mouth in shock.
Even Diana stayed silent.
Tony closed his eyes for a moment, unable to keep watching.
Saeko turned her face slightly away, her expression tightening.
Tanya, however, did not look away. Her face was hardened, her eyes steady and solemn as she watched the scene with quiet resolve.
The civilians had done nothing wrong.
Most of them probably believed they were being saved until the very end.
Now their corpses were being used like puppets.
Gaius watched them silently.
For the first time since entering the chamber, something faint shifted in his expression.
Not anger.
Not hesitation.
Pity.
These people had already lost everything long before he arrived.
He looked toward the Ultramarines.
"Bring them salvation."
The order was calm.
Immediate.
The Ultramarines opened fire again.
This time more thoroughly.
Bolter rounds tore the dead bodies apart completely, destroying them beyond recovery.
Bodies exploded across the chamber floor one after another.
No hesitation remained now.
Only grim understanding.
The members of the Multiversal Chat watched the massacre unfold in silence.
None of them liked what they were seeing.
But none of them could deny the reality either.
Leaving the bodies intact would only allow them to rise again under enemy control.
The Man watched the destruction calmly.
Then, slowly,
He smiled again.
And behind him, the Warp tear widened further.
~~~
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