Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

For all those who actually participated in it, the Ullanor War was a very strange war.

At least in Guilliman's opinion, this war was indeed very: intriguing.

The clues had already been revealed before he and his legion arrived at the battlefield: Guilliman clearly remembered that when he and his main fleet stayed at the orbital space station of Avalon for recuperation and supplies, Morgan, who was already on the front line, sent him a strategic star map drawn by the Night Lords, so that he could plan the battle plan of the legion in advance.

The Primarch did so, but the more detailed the planning, the more doubts he had in his heart. At the beginning, this doubt could be ignored, but in the later period, it was completely uncontrollable: especially when Guilliman arrived at the battlefield and let his legion take over the main front of the Far East Star Field and launch a devastating offensive against the Orc Empire, the questions that had only echoed in his heart finally slipped out from his lips involuntarily.

"Why..."

"Why... no surprises?"

In the strategic command room on the highest floor of the Macragge's Glory, the kings of the Five Hundred Worlds were sending more troops to the front. At the same time, he muttered to himself in the air: This is what bothered Guilliman, or in other words, the bright prospects on the strategic star map.

Since the beginning of the war, every offensive, every victory, and even the cost behind every advancement of the Greenskin Empire was exactly the same as the first plan Guilliman made on his way here: there were no surprises or setbacks, and there were no plans that had to be rewritten temporarily, but only the never-ending advancement of the front line on the star map.

This was too smooth.

The Primarch bent his fingers and pressed against his tightly pursed lips. His eyes kept jumping between the star maps, trying his best to find any omissions. At the same time, he was also giving different orders to the fourteen senior officers standing beside him one by one, and he had to listen to the chaotic reports, and took out a pen, with a simple and sad mood, signed one death notice after another.

That's a four-digit price.

It's painful, but not surprising.

Guilliman glanced at it. This was what he had expected before the war, and it was also the reason why Ullanor made him so strange: everything developed as he expected, which made the Primarch feel uneasy.

There must be something wrong.

To be honest, the strength of the Ullanor Orc Empire is not weak. After all, it spans the two star regions of Misty and Far East. The number of greenskin troops may be more than the total number of troops that can be mobilized by the mortal auxiliary army in the entire galaxy. Not only are there many strong men and fleets, but war machines such as Battle Moon or Goofy King Kong are also prevalent on every battlefield.

Of course, when its army advanced on the greenskin land, the price paid by the Empire was also staggering. The Ultramarines' casualties had reached four figures, Phoenix had lost several beloved captains, the White Scars and the Night Lords had injuries, and even the Dawnbreakers had lost a main company. The casualties of the mortal army were countless: but these numbers could not make people feel stressed.

Because, after the Eastern Front Legion paid so many casualties, their results were also exceptionally brilliant, far exceeding the initial expectations: they not only repelled the overall offensive of the Ullanor Empire, but also almost completely wiped out the invading greenskin fleet, and even counterattacked to the homeland of the Orc Empire. The land of several star regions was re-covered by the flag of the double-headed eagle, and news of victory came from every front.

The casualties were huge, but far from the number Guilliman had in mind: he originally thought that an opponent like the Ullanor Empire must have countless back-ups, and countless dazzling unexpected situations would occur, making people feel the terrible power of the "strongest enemy of the Great Crusade" in the words of the Imperial Propaganda Department.

But the facts are quite the opposite.

They did suffer heavy losses, but this was entirely because the size of the Ullanor Orc Empire determined that if they wanted to capture it, they would have to pay so many casualties: even the death toll of more than 10,000 Astartes, if spread across the battlefield across several star regions, would not seem so extreme.

To put it bluntly: since so many victories have been won, it is normal for more people to die.

As for the crisis that Guilliman had originally expected, which required several legions to join forces to hold on, the powerful opponent that required the use of the secret weapons within the Empire, and the tragic battle situation that required the Primarchs to personally stand at the forefront and even lose half of the members of the legion, it never happened.

The Ullanor War was like a large-scale grid game, with each victory marked with corresponding casualties, but the final victory was extremely far away from them, and many lives had to be sacrificed before reaching there.

It was long.

But not difficult.

Or... not hopeless?

Guilliman moved his lips, thinking about the right adjective.

He became more and more certain that his doubts were true. After all, although the corresponding memories had been deleted long ago, the Lord of Macragge did participate in the war against the Randan Empire. Deep in his heart, there was still resistance and fear of that great war. Guilliman knew that it was the true battle of the empire's destiny.

Even if we leave out Randan, there are some memorable moments in Guilliman's more than 100-year Great Crusade career: the territories of some alien kingdoms and even the human pocket empire may be far less than that of Ullanor, but the pressure they bring to the Primarch and the Legion is truly huge.

The kind of powerful enemy that must be exhausted by all means, gamble all determination, pay the price of the evaporation of the entire company or even the entire regiment, and even in the end even the Primarch himself must be in danger, and even need two or three Emperor's children to join forces to fight: this is the standard of the strongest enemy in Guilliman's mind, and it is also what he expected the Ullanor Empire to look like.

After all, Randan used to be like this.

Moreover, it's not just Randan. In the smoke of the Great Crusade, there have never been many terrible opponents like this: every Primarch of the gene has encountered at least several or even dozens of life-and-death crises during the Great Crusade. Those powerful enemies that require several Primarchs to join forces to cut off their heads may only occupy a star zone or even a galaxy-sized land, but their sense of oppression is better than Ullanor.

Compared to them, the Orc Empire is too bland, even the race itself is too bland: the Human Empire has been fighting these warlike lunatics for more than a hundred years, and is well aware of all the methods of the greenskins. Even if there are some new things occasionally, there is no such elusive mystery.

They are bland.

No... can't be called bland.

But something: not quite right?

"Hiss..."

Guilliman took a deep breath, and the second death notice came. The Primarch quickly signed his name, mourned for his dead children for a few seconds, and asked himself in his mind.

"So, what's wrong?"

——————

[It's very simple. ]

[It's a sense of contrast. ]

[It's the title of the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade in the eyes of the Emperor and the world, which does not match the actual performance of the Ullanor Orc Empire, and even contradicts each other, resulting in this extremely extreme sense of contrast. 】

【When you subconsciously think that you are facing the strongest enemy in the Great Crusade, but the actual war process is so smooth: in contrast, anyone will feel that everything is wrong, not just you, but also Jaghatai and Fulgrim. 】

"... Is it that simple?"

【What else? 】

Morgan turned her head, raised her snow-white chin, and smiled at her brother: Among all the Primarchs, Guilliman was not the tallest one, so the top of Morgan's hair could brush his jawbone, which gave the original species an experience they had never had before.

It was an itchy feeling brought by the soft hair brushing, coupled with the natural and friendly smile of the blood relative, which was enough to eliminate the mental fatigue brought by the war: before Guilliman reacted, his frown had actually been relaxed.

The Lord of Macragge longed for brotherly affection more than he thought: for example, in his subconscious, Guilliman actually regretted that Conrad did not join the Ullanor War. Now that he thought about it, the two of them had not seen each other for a long time.

However, it was also a good thing to meet Sevatar.

After all, many internal and external affairs of the Night Lords were actually handled by this Prince of Crows: Guilliman had heard of Sevatar's strong position in the Nightbat Council, and he still had a good impression of this Astartes warrior with peculiar skills.

They had cooperated with each other. Regarding the signing of the cooperative development agreement on adamantium and other mineral resources, Sevatar had communicated directly with Guilliman several times, which was enough to impress the Macragge people: the other two who impressed him so deeply were Ahriman and Dantioch.

In Guilliman's mind, the existence of these [outsiders] was the best proof of the close unity of the three kings in the Far East.

They were an unbreakable alliance.

Thinking of this, Guilliman looked at Morgan with a much gentler look.

The two of them walked side by side in the corridor of the Aurora, which was full of humanistic atmosphere. This real space city actually fascinated Guilliman because it reminded him of Macragge: Guilliman always believed that although he and Morgan might have some contradictions on some minor issues, they were essentially the same kind of people.

Appearance can be concealed, words can be altered, and even personality can be manipulated, but the things done and the contributions made by a person to society can never be easily changed: no matter what the outside world thinks of the Spider Queen, just seeing the inner qualities of the Aurora and the growing prosperity of the Far East Frontier, Guilliman dared to boldly cooperate with Morgan in depth.

She would not let him down.

A person who creates a peaceful world will not be a bad person in his bones.

"And her words are naturally credible."

Guilliman muttered softly.

The Primarch smiled and brought the topic back to the war at hand.

"So what you mean is: Ullanor is not the so-called strongest enemy at all?"

[Guilliman, you and your legion have been involved in this war for almost a few months: after experiencing the war with the so-called Ullanor Empire, don't you already have the answer in your heart? 】

Morgan's smile was a kind of bewitching power in Guilliman's eyes, and the bloody smell on her body proved this point: the Spider Queen rarely wore armor, which was a war art with silver-white as the main color, black and gold as the pattern, and red as the embellishment. It was not as bloated as the armor of other primarchs, and obviously sacrificed defense in exchange for agility.

(Just refer to the armor of the battle sister)

But even so, the bloodstains that were not wiped off in time also showed that Morgan did lead the charge in this Ullanor War, and the Dawnbreakers did suffer certain losses: one main company had to retreat and rest, and another five companies could not attack again in a short time, and almost 3,000 troops were lost, accounting for one-sixth of the Dawnbreaker expeditionary force.

As for the 150,000 Ultramarines under Guilliman, although they have lost 8,000 to 9,000 people, five times more reinforcements are on the way, and another five times more recruits are being recruited: Lord Macragge has already come to a conclusion in his heart. Even if his 150,000 troops are annihilated on the battlefield of Ullanor, it will not be a devastating blow to his legion.

At most, it will be a serious injury.

And now it seems that he will only lose half of his troops before victory.

Well, it is almost equivalent to the total number of families of the entire Dawnbreaker Legion.

Seeing this, Guilliman glanced at Morgan with some uneasiness. Of course, he listened to his blood relative's words, but he instinctively resisted Morgan's answer: although he knew that this answer must be correct.

Because as Morgan said, after several months of observation and personal experience, Guilliman actually understood what the so-called Ullanor War was all about, he just still didn't want to admit it.

After all...

"The Emperor told me personally that Ullanor is the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade..."

[Look. ]

Morgan spread his hands.

[That's the problem. ]

[My dear Robert: Why do you believe in that old man so blindly? ]

"..."

It took Guilliman five seconds to realize who the "old man" Morgan was referring to.

What surprised him even more was that he found that he was not surprised at all by such a blasphemous name.

"But...Morgan..."

[Robert, my Robert. ]

Morgan waved his hand, not giving Guilliman time to organize his words.

[Sometimes I'm really curious, why don't you think about it from another perspective: Take the case of Ullanor as an example. If you didn't take the Emperor's words as the truth, and didn't think from the bottom of your heart that Ullanor was the so-called strongest enemy of the Great Crusade, then wouldn't your confusion now be solved? 】

【The Emperor is deceiving us, telling an insignificant lie. Ullanor is not the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade. It is just a somewhat tricky opponent, a giant monster that requires multiple legions to solve, a trouble but not a nightmare: Isn't everything in front of us natural? 】

"..."

Guilliman had to admit that Morgan was right.

He couldn't even refute it.

"But... why did the Emperor lie to us?"

The Primarch was puzzled.

"What good does this do him?"

【The answer to this question is useless to you now. 】

【You are not Horus. 】

"..."

Morgan blinked, she did not continue to attack Guilliman, because the Macragge people were confused enough now, let him slow down today: and for the Spider Queen's purpose, shaking the Emperor's sanctity in Guilliman's heart was already a gratifying progress, she didn't need to completely smash the golden statue of the Lord of Mankind.

Let Guilliman explore it himself, the effect will be better than her words.

After all, the side quest that was secretly put in the gift box by the Emperor and regarded by Morgan as something that can be easily completed is to allow Guilliman to think more independently: then breaking the Emperor's statue in his heart is naturally the first step of this plan.

Even the only step.

With Guilliman's character, when the last bit of divinity in the Lord of Humanity's heart was quietly removed by Morgan, many things he could figure out by himself: Compared with these, Morgan is more worried about whether Guilliman and the commander-in-chief she invited can get along well?

Hmm...

It's really a worrying problem.