"Oh?
"My former brothers. What brings you here? Have you come to kneel and beg?"
Horus sat upon his throne, a dark crown upon his head.
He looked down at Sanguinius, radiating the bearing of a king, as though he were receiving ministers who had come to bow before him.
"Where is the Savior? Is he so frightened that he dares not face me?
"Is that little coward trembling on his throne like a spiteful little imp?"
He began the classic pre-battle exchange of insults first, mercilessly mocking the Savior, the Emperor of the Imperium.
"Your opponents are us.
"Ten thousand years of sorrow and hatred began with your betrayal.
"You tore the Imperium apart and destroyed countless lives. Now the time of reckoning has come."
Sanguinius tightened his grip on the Moon Silver Blade, battle fury surging in his heart.
Ten thousand years ago, he had been cruelly slain by the traitor before him. Now they would fight again, as though by unavoidable fate.
Sanguinius still remembered how helpless and cold he had felt when Horus's claw tore through his body. That agonizing memory had even cursed his sons with the Black Rage.
But this time was different. He looked toward Guilliman and his other Primarch brothers, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
This time, he would stand united with his brothers and fight shoulder to shoulder.
"Horus, you have nowhere left to run."
Golden wrath shimmered in Sanguinius's eyes, and his wings were dyed in a layer of golden light. He descended like an angel of gold, arcs of electricity flashing around him.
The already mighty Great Angel had grown even stronger after his resurrection.
He swore, "In Father's place, we will judge you, shameful traitor!"
"Bastard. Maggot puppet. You're nothing but a rotten lump of meat in the cesspit of Chaos.
"There's no need for Brother Eden to act. I can deal with you myself!"
Before the Dark Emperor could even speak, Guilliman took up the role of trash-talker. He could not stand hearing anyone insult his good brother.
Horus's expression darkened, and under the red light, his face looked even more savage.
The black armor over his daemonic body writhed like a living thing. It was profoundly evil, and his presence made the air around him seem to freeze.
"You… are not worthy to be my opponents. You are nowhere near enough."
Facing the encirclement of Sanguinius, Guilliman, and the others, the Chaos traitor, the Dark Emperor, showed little worry. There was even a trace of contempt in his eyes.
In his view, his only worthy opponents were the Emperor of old and the Savior on the throne. The other Primarchs were no longer worth mentioning.
Even if the loyalist Primarchs surrounded and attacked him together, they could not change the outcome. They were not his match.
"Enough of your filthy tricks.
"You are nothing but a coward borrowing the power of the gods. I will tear out your throat and drain your foul blood dry!"
Lion El'Jonson spoke coldly.
He stared at Horus like a lion about to hunt.
This was also the duel he had always desired.
"Ha. This thing merely licked the evil gods' hooks, took Their rewards, and then came swaggering before us.
"I imagine he usually acts like a eunuch clown in court, desperately begging for the evil gods' favor."
Jaghatai Khan rested the White Tiger Glaive on his shoulder and mocked Horus without restraint.
This rough man from the steppes of Chogoris might look reckless, but he was in fact a cultured man, even versed in the calligraphy of ancient Terra.
So when he cursed, he cursed viciously.
"You…"
Horus's gaze sharpened, and a nameless anger rose in his heart.
His power had indeed been granted by the Chaos Gods. Even if he had only submitted temporarily for the sake of his own interests, that submission had continued.
Originally, he had planned to win this battle, destroy the Savior, establish the Dark Imperium, seize enough domain power, and then break completely with the Chaos Gods.
Now, being mocked and humiliated so nakedly by the Primarchs still stung.
"Hahahaha! Is this bastard's ass rotten too? I heard the evil gods favored him hard, and now he dares call himself the Dark Emperor?
"What a joke."
Yet before Horus could respond, Rogal Dorn immediately followed up with another brutal barrage, leaving him no chance to counterattack.
After his return, Dorn had specifically studied trash-talking techniques from his elder brother and taken extensive notes.
According to his elder brother, the key to trash talk was not to care what the other side said. Never give them a chance to speak. Find the weakness and hammer it relentlessly. Everyone fought their own battle.
"Dark Emperor?
"He is nothing but a pathetic traitor. A loyal dog at the feet of the Chaos Gods!"
"Look at you, wagging your tail and begging. Father pulled you out of the mud and gave you His greatest trust, and you turned out to be an ungrateful wolf, biting Him in return!"
At the same time, Mortarion, his burning moth-wings fluttering, also joined in with passionate intensity. His tone was righteous, full of hatred for evil.
He was even more indignant than the loyalist Primarchs, loudly denouncing the Chaos traitor before him.
???
Horus went numb when he heard Mortarion's rebuke. His lungs nearly burst from sheer rage.
It was one thing for the other loyalist Primarchs to curse him, but you? A Chaos Primarch? The thing that used to compete with his own father for Nurgle's favor? You have the face to come out and scold me?
"You shameless traitors…"
Horus turned his gaze toward Mortarion, Fulgrim, Alpharius, and the other Chaos Primarchs beside him. His eyes filled with even greater disgust.
All of them had submitted under the Hell King's corruption, betraying the gods and betraying him, the Dark Emperor. To Horus, they were even more hateful than the loyalist Primarchs.
The Dark Emperor felt numb. So now all the Primarchs were loyal? All of them were faithful sons and dutiful ministers? And he alone was the great traitor?
"Hmph. I am no traitor. I am a man of the Imperium. I am the Emperor's son. I am a loyal Primarch!"
Mortarion said this with absolute conviction.
Then he continued his savage denunciation, becoming the vanguard and MVP of this verbal war.
"Silence!"
After being bombarded by the insults of more than ten Primarchs, Horus nearly suffered a heart attack. His fists clenched hard.
He realized he could not out-argue this many people. His fist slammed down, shattering the throne beneath him.
"Since you wish to welcome death, I shall satisfy you…"
Zzzzt—
The Dark Emperor gripped the mighty Worldbreaker and ignited his claw. Chaos daemonic energy spread across the entire area, and his aura overwhelmed every Primarch present.
He was a life-form beyond the Primarchs.
"Come, then! Face me!"
The Dark Emperor roared. He swept out a wave of Chaos daemonic energy, tearing the ground apart along its path and forcing Sanguinius and the other Primarchs to dodge.
"Horus!"
Sanguinius spread his golden wings, now wreathed in radiance, and shot into the sky before diving straight down at Horus.
The blade burning with the wrath of vengeance slashed toward the traitor's head.
At the same time, Guilliman, Mortarion, and the other Primarchs swiftly followed, launching attacks at Horus from every direction. As the Primarchs advanced, several Greater Daemons also stepped forward to join the battle.
Behind these high-ranking beings, elite Imperial warriors and the Dark Guard surged like a black tide, crashing into the opposing formation.
A fierce clash erupted inside the Chaos temple. Even the void overhead was stirred into turmoil as all manner of natural and unnatural attacks smashed against one another.
A battle involving this many Primarchs and high-ranking Chaos beings was unprecedented in the Imperium's history. From ground to sky, even on the level of souls within the warp, every combatant unleashed their full strength.
They had only one goal: kill the enemy.
A battle on this scale was far more terrifying than an Apocalypse-level war. Ordinary Space Marines could not participate at all. Here, they were no different from mortals on an apocalyptic battlefield.
At the core of the battlefield, the battle between the Dark Emperor and the Primarchs grew ever more intense. He alone withstood the attacks of five or six Primarchs and even held the advantage.
Rumble—
Their battle spread across the entire Chaos temple. One dark structure after another collapsed, the high-strength alloys crumpling like paper.
Daemonic flame burned, mist spread, towering forest trees toppled, and sorcery scattered in all directions without distinction.
"You are too weak!"
Horus blocked Guilliman's attack, then brought Worldbreaker down with unimaginable force, smashing through his breastplate.
After that, he grabbed Guilliman, slammed him to the ground, and charged forward while pinning him down, ripping open the stone floor like a plow.
Then he hurled him hard into an Emperor-class Titan engine.
The Titan was knocked over, and wreckage weighing thousands of tons buried Guilliman beneath it. The daemonic energy bursting from within caused him even more damage.
The Lord of Ultramar had, unsurprisingly, taken the worst beating.
"Roboute, are you all right?"
Lion El'Jonson rushed over, tore aside the rubble, and pulled Guilliman out, his concern obvious.
At that moment, after clashing head-on with Horus, Sanguinius retreated to their side.
Looking at his battered brother Guilliman, he too showed concern.
"Perhaps you should go heal first. I'm afraid if you keep fighting…"
The three of them had joined forces to attack Horus, yet after all this time, their armor had barely been scratched. Somehow, all the damage had been carried by this good brother of theirs, the Lord of Ultramar.
Even more absurdly, Guilliman had also stepped on every trap set by the dark sorcerers, as if he were clearing them for his brothers. Not only the Primarchs, even the Dark Emperor himself seemed a little surprised.
"I'm… I'm fine. I can fight that bastard all day!"
Guilliman spat out a mouthful of bloody foam and forced himself upright again, his expression resolute.
He had finally arrived in time to provide support and caught up to the final battle against Chaos. How could he withdraw so easily?
Besides, Guilliman was also worried that while he went off to heal, the battlefield might shift elsewhere. By then, he might not be able to find it or arrive in time.
That lesson had been written in blood and tears. It was pure experience speaking.
So he had to stay close to his brothers Lion and Sanguinius and keep fighting until the end.
At that moment, Mortarion and the other Chaos Primarchs who had taken their place were sent flying. The Death Lord even had one of his moth-wings torn off.
It was a brutal sight.
"Quick, stop that traitor!"
Seeing Mortarion about to be pursued further and crippled like Alpharius, Sanguinius, Lion, and Guilliman immediately charged back in to block Horus.
They were using a rotation to besiege Horus. The loss of any single combatant could lead to their final defeat.
No matter what, the Dark Emperor was a being beyond the Primarchs. After clashing with him directly, Sanguinius and the others understood just how powerful he was.
Every exchange with Horus placed them under enormous pressure. At any moment, he could seize an opening and grievously wound them, or even kill them outright.
And that was with many Primarchs attacking him together.
If any one of them fought him alone, victory would be impossible. After only a few exchanges, they might be torn apart by that abhorrent daemonic body.
"No matter the price, we must destroy Horus and his pathetic throne!"
Sanguinius spread his wings again and charged forward without hesitation.
He was already prepared to fall once more. Even if he died, he would drag that traitor down with him.
"Brother Eden entrusted this battle to us. We have to win it if we are to help him."
Guilliman gritted his teeth and forcibly snapped his broken bones back into place.
He knew that his brother was facing even more terrifying enemies in the warp. They, the Primarchs, could not drag him down again.
They absolutely could not fall, and they could not allow Horus to destroy that brother's node throne.
The Lord of Ultramar picked up a broken sword from the ground and charged wildly at Horus. Even when he stepped on a sorcerous trap midway, he did not stop.
He simply bulldozed through the trap.
Lion said nothing. He only gathered every ounce of his power and all his hunting instincts, seeking a chance to deliver a fatal blow to that Primarch traitor, the Dark Emperor.
"My brothers, look at your pitiful state. You cannot stop me. You cannot stop me from destroying that coward's throne!"
Horus's claw tore through Fulgrim's serpent body, making him let out a shriek as sharp as a class bell.
He followed the sorcerer's guidance toward the Savior's re-hidden throne. As long as he destroyed that vital core node, this Chaos planet and the ancient artifact would belong to him once more.
The Dark Emperor was so powerful that even against a rotating siege, he had still grievously wounded several Primarchs, leaving them on the brink of death and unable to stand again.
He was unstoppable.
Even so, Sanguinius and the other loyal beings showed no sign of retreat. Once again, they threw themselves forward to obstruct his steps and launched fierce attacks against him.
This irritated Horus greatly.
Under the Primarchs' continuous siege, he had begun to feel a trace of fatigue, and he was growing even more furious that he could not reach the Savior's throne.
He had already realized that the Savior's reinforcements were arriving in the Solar System without end. The Chaos coalition outside New Dragon Forest was on the verge of collapse.
If Chaos could not seize New Dragon Forest in time, they would be trapped in the Solar System!
"Do you wish to be torn apart by me again?!"
Horus roared as he faced the Great Angel's relentless obstruction and attacks.
Yet Sanguinius did not retreat. His will hardened, and his attacks became even more ferocious.
"Traitor, you may kill me again, but until that moment, I will not stop judging you!"
Schk—
"Die!"
In his fury, Horus thrust his claw forward. That abhorrent talon instantly pierced Sanguinius's gilded armor and stabbed into his chest.
Just as it had ten thousand years ago.
"You will never win this battle!"
Facing such a blow, Sanguinius was not helpless as he had been before. Instead, he became even more resolute, without the slightest fear.
This time, he was not fighting alone. He was fighting alongside his Primarch brothers.
The Great Angel believed that those brothers would not let him be cruelly torn apart by this traitor as he had been ten thousand years ago.
He allowed the blade to pierce through his body, then forced himself closer, using his wings and both arms to tightly restrain Horus.
Even as Horus's struggles nearly tore his muscles apart and inflicted even more damage.
He did not let go.
(End of Chapter)
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