My Life as A Death Guard
Chapter 421: Guilliman Scores Some Points
"Disconnect Junction Three. The Nineteenth Chapter will send thirty warriors to the southeast gate to evacuate civilians."
Inside the cramped flight cabin, Guilliman issued orders rapidly yet methodically, directing the Ultramarines to participate in the disaster relief effort.
And the number of Ultramarines he could immediately mobilize had already reached a level that would have made the Lord of the Red Sands stare in disbelief.
But Angron was in no mood to make one of his usual harmless jokes with Guilliman.
Since the Butcher's Nails had stopped operating, Angron had gradually recovered his abilities. By nature, he could sense the emotions of others, even soothe them and empathize with them.
Among all emotions, the ones Angron could perceive most clearly were those of his sons—the World Eaters.
The bond between father and son was always two-way. Unfortunately, before this, the link on Angron's end had been drowned out by the constant buzzing of the Nails.
On the other end, the World Eaters, feeling their Primarch's agony, had tried desperately to save their father.
With Hades' help, and through the miraculous manifestation of the Emperor's sacred little finger bone, the World Eaters had succeeded in saving their father.
But what would the cost be?
As Angron gradually recovered and re-established the connection with his sons, he would also suffer the backlash of their pain.
Angron trembled as he drew deep breaths. He felt the blazing fury, the sense of betrayal, the murderous intent raging in the heat of battle.
They scorched across his nerves like wildfire.
Despicable coward…
Angron thought. Never before had he felt himself surrounded by such clear, overwhelming rage.
And before his eyes, the emotional symphony he could now perceive was far beyond the level his abilities had once reached.
That damned coward had used sorcery to amplify all of it.
Angron tightened his grip on his chainaxes, Father of Blood and Son of Blood. His fingers twitched, itching to bring them down upon his enemy at once.
Meanwhile, Guilliman paced continuously in the narrow cabin. Several times he looked toward Angron, intending to comfort him—only to give up when he saw Angron's twitching eyelids.
Guilliman's anxious yet warm and calming emotions shone upon Angron. Under normal circumstances, Angron would certainly have thanked him for that.
But now, as Angron stared at Guilliman, he suddenly felt a surge of betrayal and deception.
Those emotions were coming from the other end of the bond.
What exactly was happening?
Angron suppressed his anger and forced himself to think.
Through his time with Hades, Angron clearly understood the possibility that he—or the other Primarchs—might one day betray or fall.
—But Guilliman could never betray.
Angron thought this even as the agony transmitted from his sons tore through him.
Because beside him, the Guilliman who was trying to comfort him—who had even lost his composure earlier—was a real and present reality.
Angron sighed. Staring at Guilliman, he spoke solemnly.
"Guilliman, this is the World Eaters' matter. You should stay on the perimeter and direct the command—"
Angron stopped.
If the enemy could blow up the spaceport where the World Eaters were docked, then there was no reason they couldn't destroy the ground beneath Guilliman's feet as well.
"—You should stay with me then, or go to the Death Guard."
Angron let out a self-mocking laugh. He imagined Mortarion standing on the ground right now, cursing the two of them as reckless idiots.
It couldn't be helped, Angron thought. He could not allow the son who had risked their lives to save their useless father to be thrown into danger again. Even if they were to die in battle, he would die alongside them.
But Guilliman…
Angron wondered—why was he being so irrational as well?
Guilliman frowned.
"I've already warned the Death Guard to remain on alert. Ultramarines have also been sent to guard their sector."
Angron waved a hand dismissively, feeling the painful howling ringing in his ears.
"With all due respect, brother, in this matter I find myself trusting the Death Guard for no particular reason."
"But…"
Angron rubbed his brow.
"I'd rather not drag them into the flames of battle."
"You can trust the Ultramarines."
Guilliman stopped pacing. His blue eyes fixed on Angron.
"I know you believe I don't understand psychic powers," Guilliman said, "but in reality, every psyker within the Realm of Ultramar has been registered and placed under surveillance. Therefore, on the day the Astronomican went out, the Ultramarines were able to contain the chaos in the shortest possible time."
"In fact, even now, I believe most planets are still trapped in the disaster of psyker uprisings."
Guilliman spread his hands.
"By controlling all psykers, Ultramar remains safe."
During the earlier argument with Mortarion, Mortarion had not explicitly said it was because of sorcery that he suggested Guilliman disrupt civilian life. And Guilliman, believing he had already controlled all psykers, had not considered the matter from the perspective of psychic influence.
Of course, Mortarion's suggestion had never been solely about sorcery in the first place.
Angron let out a bitter laugh.
"That's not what I meant—"
"—Team Zero has already been deployed."
Guilliman said seriously. Angron paused in rare confusion.
"?"
"I once made a trade with the Death Guard commander, Hades," Guilliman replied solemnly.
"The scale of the trade was small, but better than nothing."
"When the detection array at the space station registered psychic fluctuations, this group of Ultramarines Librarians equipped with black rounds had already set out."
"Then why did you—"
"Because neither of you mentioned the word 'psyker' from the beginning," Guilliman replied. "I had intended to remind you of that just now, but judging from your reaction, I believe you already realized it."
Angron took a deep breath.
"Good—good, good, good!"
The Lord of the Red Sands clenched his fist and struck his chest.
"I owe Hades another one!"
Roboute Guilliman paused for a moment and decided not to mention that this small, understaffed squad had actually been established by him personally.
. . .
After a jolt of turbulence, Angron was the first to burst out of the transport. The Primarch strode forward anxiously.
But what he saw was a wall formed by Ultramarines.
The blue-armored warriors held back the flames and explosions, advancing steadily and slowly.
After Angron exited the cabin, Guilliman followed close behind. The moment the golden-haired Primarch stepped onto the spaceport, his Chapter Master immediately approached to report the situation.
"My lord, the chaotic zone is Junction Three—the outermost part of the port. We have detected some non-human creatures, along with the presence of Space Marines."
"The three squads you deployed have already gone in, but due to signal interference we cannot contact them. Eight tech-priests are currently attempting emergency repairs, but since the port's signal array was destroyed, communications cannot be restored quickly."
Guilliman nodded.
"Have you determined the cause of the explosion?"
"No, my lord."
"Maintain surveillance of the surrounding area," Guilliman said. "If this was deliberate, they may launch another attack."
"…Their target is the World Eaters."
Angron spoke. He stared at the advancing Ultramarines.
For some reason, this didn't resemble the combat style of the Ultramarines he was familiar with.
Instead, it was more like—more like—
"This formation is something I learned from the Death Guard,"
Guilliman said as he walked to Angron's side.
"The Ultramarines once fought alongside the Death Guard. This is the formation they use when fighting psychic entities."
"However, since the Ultramarines cannot deploy anti-psyker weaponry on the same scale as the Death Guard, and since we do not frequently engage psychic enemies, the Ultramarines advance approximately 34% slower than the Death Guard."
Guilliman looked at Angron, as if asking a question.
Angron laughed softly, feeling the constant twitching of his facial muscles.
"The World Eaters cannot wait that long."
"Then we'll form a breakthrough squad first."
Guilliman said immediately. At the Primarch's command, the Team Zero he had mentioned earlier stepped forward.
This was a small experimental unit Guilliman had created in imitation of the Death Guard's Zero Company. It consisted of Librarians and veteran warriors. There were no blanks among them, since all blanks had been taken away by the Black Ships.
Angron strode forward.
At that moment, Angron thought that perhaps one day he might see traces of the World Eaters within the Ultramarines' methods of war.
This was… Roboute Guilliman, and the combat doctrine of the Ultramarines.
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