Chapter 102: It's So Terrifying!
"This is Loken. This is poor Loken! Has it really been so long that he's changed this much?"
Horus murmured, wanting to embrace Loken, but then he saw his own hideous, monstrous reflection in the metal plating.
Clang!
His warhammer clattered to the ground. Horus covered his face, roaring. "No! Don't look at me! Don't look at me!"
"Warmaster, you have become a servant of Chaos, not its master!" Loken blocked an attack from a Word Bearer with a backhand strike, continuing. "You are nothing but a monster now!"
Horus felt immense pain. "What do you know, Garviel?"
"Everything, Father," Loken replied, pointing to the Luna Wolves and Sons of Horus locked in chaotic battle. "If you don't believe me, ask them! You no longer resemble the Warmaster, you are a monster!"
Loken cried out. Both Luna Wolves and Sons of Horus looked at Horus with expressions of fear and confusion.
Horus roared in even greater agony.
"No! No!"
"Father is using you! Do you understand?"
"He has always used us! From beginning to end, it's all His fault!"
"Yes! It's all His fault! I am not wrong! I am not wrong!"
He looked at Loken with desperate anticipation. Loken, with tear streaks still fresh on his face, said with unwavering conviction:
"I will always be the Emperor's tool!"
"I am proud and honored by it!"
A more powerful surge of Chaos energy erupted around Horus. His eyes blazed crimson as he roared.
"No! You belong only to me! You are my son!"
"My child... He brought you here. You were used as a weapon to hurt me."
Suddenly,
Erebus, who had been lying in the corner seemingly lifeless, suddenly recovered and stabbed Loken with a dagger imbued with Chaos curses.
Horus prepared to intervene. The Emperor's power suddenly vanished.
His rage reached its peak. The Chaos energy within him surged wildly, a torrent of black power enveloping him.
Loken's scream followed.
"Ahhh!"
Erebus, having succeeded in his sneak attack, quickly fled.
Horus, who had witnessed the entire scene, let out a cry of immense pain. "No!"
"Erebus, I will kill you!"
"Ugh... ugh... ugh..."
This scene shocked Guilliman and the others. When the Emperor's voice had appeared, they'd believed victory was assured.
But they hadn't expected Father to disappear again suddenly. What was happening?
However, there was no time to ponder!
Guilliman struck first, swinging his power sword directly at Horus's chest.
His reaction was lightning-fast. His body almost teleported to evade Guilliman's attack, then counterattacked with surprising ferocity.
Sanguinius followed closely, his blade gleaming gold as he poured power into it.
Unfortunately, Horus's body was filled with endless Chaos energy. These attacks were like waves stumbling against a cliff, unable to shake the surging darkness.
From the shadows, Konrad Curze suddenly appeared near Horus, attempting to thrust a fatal blow into a gap in his armor. His claw-blades gleamed with death's cold light, striking swiftly at Horus's back.
Horus sensed everything. He spun around abruptly, chaotic energy twisting space, deflecting Konrad Curze's claws and striking his chest hard with his warhammer.
"Good! Good! Good! Konrad Curze, you too have betrayed me!"
"All of you, die!"
His smile grew increasingly twisted, as if he'd completely surrendered control. A massive storm erupted suddenly, all attacks attempting to reach him were destroyed by his power.
Guilliman and Sanguinius attacked simultaneously, but Horus's eyes were dominated by madness. His movements were no longer calm tactics, but the berserk and instinctive power of Chaos itself.
Horus leaped, his warhammer descending like thunder, aimed directly at Guilliman.
Guilliman tried to block, but the terrifying psychic power could no longer be resisted by conventional means.
He hastily raised his shield. He was sent flying backward, the ground beneath his feet cracking from the impact, the wall collapsing with him.
His chest armor shattered. Blood gushed from his mouth.
"Pfft~ Francis, this shield of yours... works... but not much!"
Immediately after, Horus's warhammer swung at Sanguinius. The Angel tried to protect himself with a psychic barrier, but facing Horus's full-power Chaos energy, the barrier collapsed almost instantly.
Sanguinius's body was thrown backward by an immense force, crashing hard against the bridge wall, gasping in pain.
He looked at this scene, this angle, this was clearly the vision he'd seen in his dreams.
Could it be that he was truly destined to die by his brother's hand?
Horus laughed, low, hoarse, full of contempt and coldness.
"Don't you understand? The Emperor has abandoned you. Chaos is the eternal power!"
He grabbed Konrad Curze's neck with one hand, lifting him instantly, feeling the Night Haunter's struggling strength.
There was no trace of pity in his eyes, only endless indifference and fanaticism.
"Traitors do not deserve to live."
Konrad Curze's pale face managed a faint smile.
"I haven't foreseen a death like this!"
Then came a sickening crunch!
Under Horus's power, Konrad Curze's spine was almost crushed, and his body completely lost control.
Horus prepared to utterly pulverize him,
A massive golden light broke through the Chaos energy shield.
The Vengeful Spirit made such commotion it was felt even on other warships. That sticky, utterly disgusting presence was nauseating.
Francis's heart skipped a beat. He had a bad feeling that something terrible had happened.
But just moments ago, he'd clearly felt the Emperor should have been there. Had something happened?
Francis looked at the empty container beside him, it couldn't hold what had been extracted from Lorgar's body.
He looked at Lorgar on the ground, now shriveled to a layer of skin, still muttering something.
Unable to do anything more, Francis stopped prolonging his life and instead tore Lorgar's body apart completely.
Lorgar, using the power of his dying moment, said with shriveled lips:
"Thank you... for letting me die..."
Francis: "..."
"Sigh. No wonder you betrayed us. So young and eager to die, how can that be right!"
"I'll find you again later~"
When Francis emerged, the Word Bearers still fighting understood this meant their Primarch had been banished to the warp. They quickly fled to other areas, piloting various warships to escape.
Francis patted an Ogryn on the shoulder. "Excellent work! When we get back, I'll give you extra rations."
Upon hearing "extra rations," the Ogryn were all as happy as oversized children.
"Ooh ooh! Francis is gonna give us good food~"
"Eat, eat, eat! Haha~"
"Hehe..."
They danced with excitement, their chainswords almost grazing their brothers.
Francis and his group quickly returned to the Abyss's Roar, only to see that the Vengeful Spirit had, at some point, gained a layer of black psychic shielding.
He looked at the Death Guard's Endurance through his hundred-eyed stacked telescope. He saw over a dozen Greater Daemons besieging Ferrus and his men.
But how had they managed it? Half the massive command room had been converted into a war fortress, and from within, fanatical self-destructing servitors kept pouring out! As soon as a section was corrupted, Ferrus could immediately replace it with a new, clean one!
His gaze shifted to the Pride of the Emperor.
Good heavens! Fulgrim was furiously hacking at Vulkan's head. Vulkan died and revived, revived and died again! Corax nearby continuously assaulted and killed other Greater Daemons, occasionally ambushing Fulgrim.
And the Lion had encountered Alpharius on his own warship?!
However, this was no longer a time when he could support them one by one. The warship immediately steered toward the Vengeful Spirit.
The powerful Chaos energy directly eliminated the possibility of boarding.
At Francis's command, the Abyss's Roar's cannons fired. The heavy turrets released stunning explosive roars, every gun barrel vibrating violently.
Tens of thousands of energy beams slammed into the Vengeful Spirit's shield.
The bombardment echoed like thunder, the energy beams striking with tremendous impact. The shield merely trembled slightly, no cracks appeared on its surface.
"Has something happened to the Emperor again?!"
Francis, connecting everything that had just occurred, thought of this. He couldn't act rashly, he had to contact Him immediately!
Francis pulled out a liquid mixed from over a dozen Primarchs' blood samples and drank it in one gulp.
Immediately after drinking it, his eyes widened.
"The taste! Sweet but not cloying, incredibly smooth, and even with a hint of milky fragrance at the end!"
"Absolutely superb!"
His consciousness was pulled directly into the warp.
The unspeakable sight before him paralyzed his brain! In an instant, he seemed to experience all processes from the universe's birth to the world's destruction, and even the same events taking completely different paths. Images constantly shattered, then shattered again.
He was like a worm crawling through one window after another...
Until the Emperor's whisper reached his ears.
"Francis, take My power and enter the Vengeful Spirit."
Francis had never heard the Emperor's voice sound so urgent.
Then, bang!
Francis returned to reality. He heard exclamations from the Soul Drinkers.
"The Emperor! It's the Emperor!"
"Primarch, he is truly too powerful!"
"..."
Francis opened his eyes. Through the viewport, he saw that he had completely transformed into the Emperor's image!
Massive golden light enveloped him! Golden psychic power!
Francis automatically floated up, flew out of the warship, held out one hand flat, and gently sliced through the black Chaos energy shield.
The golden psychic energy, like flame that could burn souls, rapidly dissolved the Chaos shield.
Massive golden light shone upon the Vengeful Spirit. Even some corruption dissipated with it.
Francis gave a gentle push. A large opening appeared in the warship's hull.
He flew directly inside!
[End of Chapter]
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