The Thousand Sons—and Magnus himself—had agreed to a meeting, but only if it took place on Prospero.
Bruce and the others were not surprised by the reply. If anything, it confirmed one thing from the side.
Something was off.
Magnus definitely had something to hide.
Otherwise, why keep dodging everyone like this—especially when the summons had come from Horus himself, the Warmaster?
At this point, even the most optimistic interpretation had to be set aside. If Magnus had truly become entangled with Chaos, then killing him might be the only option left.
"So this is Prospero…" Bruce looked out over the world below, a little disappointed. "It's not really what I imagined."
This was his first time visiting another primarch's homeworld.
If Nostramo was a world of endless night, where sunlight was a luxury enjoyed by only a handful of people, then Prospero was a world with a very different kind of charm. Most of the planet was desert, yes—but the cities built around its oases and water sources had a distinct elegance to them. And those pyramid-like towers rising everywhere made Bruce keep picturing a certain pharaoh catgirl swaying her hips.
"You expected something else?" Curze asked. Though it wasn't her first time visiting Prospero, she had never had any fondness for the place.
"This is a city for the few, not the many. Don't tell me you think just anyone can live in Tizca. Mag's people wouldn't even bother laughing. Either you have psychic talent, or you're exceptionally learned. If you have neither, you don't get to live in the ivory tower."
On this world, knowledge and psychic ability stood above all else. And in that sense, its competition was brutally ruthless. Every Prosperine spent their lives chasing those two things.
And yet, genius always found shortcuts.
Then there was the rigid class structure—academic cliques, endless hierarchy, circles within circles. Plenty of talented people could spend their whole lives here and still never rise higher than their teachers.
"I thought there'd be strange temples everywhere," Bruce said. "But aside from the architectural style, it's basically still a modern city."
What he had wanted to see was something closer to a true ancient-Egyptian-style metropolis.
Instead, apart from the pure white pyramids satisfying his fantasy a little, the place was still full of technological traces. Prosperines weren't all bookworms or eerie sorcerers muttering in the dark. Plenty of them looked exactly like polished elite professionals.
Curze snorted. "Temples? If you wanted that, you should've gone to Colchis. You'd have seen all kinds of interesting shrines there."
"Maybe next time," Bruce said. "I'll even take a commemorative photo in front of the ruins of the Perfect City."
"Tch. You really know how to pick a fight. Good thing Lorgar isn't here," Curze muttered.
Horus, however, was in no mood for jokes.
"Magnus has definitely broken the ban," she said with a sigh.
Unlike Curze, who was looking over the place with sharp suspicion, and Bruce, who was half here to watch the show, Horus felt a deeply complicated heaviness in her chest.
She had hoped that the Council of Nikaea would at least make Magnus restrain himself a little. But judging from the atmosphere of his homeworld—judging from what was happening right in front of them—had the ban really changed anything at all?
Psychics were everywhere. Some openly worked sorcery in public. There were even people using daemons as labor.
If anything like this had happened on any other Imperial world, it would already have been marked for immediate purgation.
And Magnus had allowed it to become normal. Worse, it had become part of the planet's civilization.
"Do we call in the Justaerin immediately, Father?" Abaddon asked, anger plain on his face. "This is far beyond simple disobedience. The Thousand Sons need to understand that some things are absolute taboos."
These damn sorcerers. What were they thinking? They'd reduced the Imperial Truth to a joke.
If this continued, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"No," Horus said. "Let the First Company remain on standby. This isn't the time to tear everything apart."
She thought for a moment, then added, "I need to see Magnus first. Only then will I know whether he's merely foolish—or truly beyond saving."
There was a voice inside her that urged immediate force—knock Magnus flat and make him admit his fault—but reason told her that violence alone would never solve the real problem.
Only dialogue could.
"Sevatar," Curze said, contacting the Night Lords back aboard the Remilia. "Have the Atramentar ready. If necessary, they'll drop straight in."
"Yes," came Sevatar's heavy reply. He was probably already sealed inside a drop pod.
"The only way to deal with someone like him is to be even less reasonable," Curze said coldly. "Magnus is exactly the sort of idiot who reads books with his ass. He's crammed his head full of knowledge and never once stopped to ask which parts were right, and which parts were poison."
Where Horus still hoped to pull Magnus back from the edge, Curze had already made up her mind. To her, Prospero had let psychic power seep into every part of its existence. The whole world had gone too far.
If Magnus and Prospero truly wanted saving, the only way was to cut their reliance on psychic power at the root. Otherwise, when the Emperor himself one day came to demonstrate what violating the Imperial Truth meant—
Well. Lorgar's perfect city had already become sand.
If Magnus didn't want his libraries, academies, and schools reduced to ash as well, then he'd better pray Horus slapped some sense into him first.
As Warmaster, that was her duty.
The transport continued descending, then finally touched down at the designated landing zone.
Bruce and the others all glanced meaningfully at Little Horus.
You go first.
"Me…?" Little Horus still hadn't fully adjusted to his current role.
"Yes, you," Horus said quickly, nodding. "You're standing in for me, remember?"
"Yes, Father."
Little Horus took a deep breath and pushed open the hatch.
The moment it opened, a warm breeze carrying the scent of grass swept into the cabin.
Beyond the city stretched burning desert, and by all rights the wind on Prospero should have been scorching hot. Instead, it was cool and comfortable, almost like a sea breeze.
Another product of psychic power.
Long before Magnus formally rejoined the Imperium, he had used sorcery to alter Prospero's climate—even the motion of the planet itself. It was proof of what a truly powerful psyker could do.
After all, the Emperor himself had once compressed an entire star into a gift for Sanguinius.
Magnus, as his son and the most psychically gifted primarch, reshaping a world was hardly anything extraordinary.
"Magnus didn't come to greet us," Bruce observed as he followed Little Horus out as the second 'primarch.' "Looks like he really is afraid."
Because to welcome Warmaster Horus, Prospero had already arranged the highest possible ceremonial reception.
The civilians had been gathered in a grand square ringed by nine rune-inscribed obelisks. The Thousand Sons had assembled in perfect formations. Even the Silver Towers that served as the city's defensive core had released psychic fireworks into the sky in celebration.
Whatever else could be said, Prospero had lowered itself as far as it could. Apart from Magnus not personally appearing, there was almost nothing one could fault.
It was much the same as when Bruce had once hosted the Lion on Nostramo.
When the host smiled, exposed their belly, and practically begged peace, you couldn't very well respond with a slap.
"Warmaster Horus! Prospero welcomes your arrival!"
Ahzek Ahriman, acting as the representative, stepped forward and bowed to the "Warmaster."
Though there was some politeness in it, the respect in his tone toward Horus was still genuine enough.
That was just how great Horus's personal charisma was.
"Lord Curze, welcome as well. I hope Prospero offers you a different experience."
Then Ahriman turned and spoke to Bruce in the same courteous tone.
Bruce said nothing. He only stared at Ahriman.
It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to look intimidating. Something simply felt wrong.
Was this really Ahriman? Bruce didn't remember him being like this.
"Fake," Curze said at once. "Just a puppet."
She saw through the disguise in a single glance and found the whole thing laughable.
It was one thing for Magnus not to come in person. But even the representative he'd sent was more than half a fraud.
Only the Thousand Sons standing in formation around the square—and the civilians of Prospero—were real. If not for that, Curze would already have blown up.
Damned sorcerers. Still using psychic tricks to fool people, as if she were an idiot.
"Where is my brother Magnus?" Bruce asked, looking toward the glowing pyramid in the distance. "Why isn't he here?"
"Lord Curze, please forgive him," Ahriman replied smoothly. "Because of the ban, Father requires some time to settle himself. I'll bring you to see him shortly."
"All right," Bruce said, then lifted his lightning claw and lightly tapped Ahriman's shoulder guard.
But the smile on his face was sharp.
"Just make sure that when we get there, it isn't another empty shell waiting for us."
"I know a thing or two about the art of working with hollow skins. And if Prospero doesn't mind, I'd be happy to leave behind some examples as part of a cultural exchange."
"I think your psychic streetlamps would look a lot better with a few academic bureaucrats' heads hanging from them. Don't you agree?"
For the first time, the remotely-controlled Ahriman fell silent.
Was this really the primarch of the Night Lords?
How was his verbal aggression this absurdly strong?
At this point, he sounded less like Curze and more like a Space Wolf in disguise.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 147)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin