Isstvan System

Tagus.

In the desolate desert of this planet, the black spire still stands amidst the howling winds.

The sculptor, now a figure of flesh and blood, sat in a pool of blood, never raising his head again after issuing his stern accusations.

That's right, he can see prophecies of the future, and he can even see clearly what is happening in the Webway.

He could even see the outcome if the Webway Project hadn't ended in destruction.

With the valiant efforts of the Adeptus Custodes Claws, represented by the Imperial Talons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus, and with the support of the Salamanders Legion, they were ultimately able to protect the Webway, and the damage caused by the Fool of Lorgar was not irreparable.

However, the dream that could solve all Warp travel problems within the Imperium through the Webway is like the Great Crusade being able to save all humanity in the galaxy.

It only exists in dreams.

"I can see it! You know you can't repair that ancient Xenos creation! Even if those Warp things don't mess with your new toys, with the current Imperium's territory and heavy taxes, even if you add ten times that amount, you still can't do it!"

His artificial connection to the old, abandoned Webway is nothing more than a poor imitation of the real Webway!

The Webway is more complex than any human creation, and even the once-powerful ancient Aeldari Empire could not claim to have fully mastered it.

Using existing Webway infrastructure for travel is not difficult, but building a new section on top of the existing Webway is impossible for the current Imperium of Man.

Even if we had the technology, we couldn't do it, just like how the current Imperium can't replicate the Mount Array.

The Mount Array is such a massive and complex project that it requires the efforts of countless engineering professionals, supplemented by planetary-scale mineral smelting and processing, and then assembled and docked in a precise and error-free overall engineering control field to achieve the final seamless giant starship.

Even if one link is missing, the whole work cannot be completed.

"You know you can't do it, right?" Curze continued, head bowed. "If you could, you wouldn't keep everything from us. You know the doubts, including Horus's, about your return to Terra and your withdrawal from worldly affairs, but you just can't tell us!"

If Magnus had known about the Emperor's plans and risks beforehand, how could he have caused the tragedy of Prospero being burned down?

If Lorgar had known in advance that the Emperor was building the Webway, how could she have listened to others' slander and exposed him?

"You're guilty!!!"

Curze's expression was ferocious, and he became more and more agitated as he spoke.

Everyone else thought he was crazy or too stupid to understand the Emperor's profound plans.

"But I'm right, and you know that yourself!!!"

"You knew all along that the Webway Project wouldn't be built because of the Tithe you plundered from the entire galaxy, and that the future of humanity couldn't be placed on such a fragile and pathetic creation!"

"You understand, you know the risks he faces—but you!"

Why did you do this?!

The flesh-and-blood icon did not answer Curze.

He knew that the other party would definitely not answer his question.

This is a question that is destined to have no answer.

But the other party's silence is also a kind of answer.

Curze didn't want to dwell on this issue for too long.

Since the other party won't answer anyway, I'll just pretend I never asked.

Having been the Emperor's son for so long, Curze had gotten used to the situation where no one would answer his questions.

That's what Emperor are like.

"Actually, those demonic apostles also came to me," Curze continued. "Guess what they said?"

The method and conditions the other party used to persuade Curze to join were actually very simple—aren't you currently troubled by illusions? Just bring along something called the "Butcher's Nails," and your mind will only think about killing, and you'll no longer have headaches!

Genius!

Curze even genuinely admired the guy for coming up with such a ridiculous idea.

"I killed him, and some of the materials are on you."

"Those Chaos Cultist may not know that I can always see what the final outcome will be."

"By the way, aren't you interested in where the things on your body come from?"

Curze sat in the pool of blood, gently arching his body forward, tenderly stroking the seams of the blood and flesh statue made up of messy human tissue.

"Most warlords are warlords, and they kill hundreds of millions of humans for reasons that are hard to understand, just like my Primarch brothers."

"There was also a small number of politicians who were habitual liars, and I killed them as a warning to others."

"A murderer, Wizard who studies forbidden knowledge, and a slave owner who refuses to change his ways."

As he spoke, the usually gentle Curze suddenly erupted in anger.

His pale fingers pierced deep into the flesh.

"None of them are innocent, and neither are you!!!"

"You are their sum total! The Emperor! Just like your title!!!"

"How many people have lost their lives in your madness and so-called ideals? When have you ever considered this?"

"Your expedition has no end! Your Webway Project is a bottomless pit that will never succeed! You say everything is for humanity, but what are you really talking about?"

"What exactly do you want to do?!"

In his rage, he wanted to completely destroy the blood and flesh statue before him, but for the sake of the question in his heart that he was waiting for an answer to, he raised his claw-like hand into the air, but ultimately stopped and did not strike.

The entire tower was deathly silent, save for the faint breathing of Curze.

Curze stopped, and after the frenzy, only pale tears remained on his face.

"Tell me why you did this. Why?"

He pleaded earnestly.

However, the blood and flesh statue remained silent, never answering even a single question.

Curze was unaware of the passage of time; he was simply waiting.

Wait.

—Until the very end.

The Emperor spoke.

"The Primarch still hasn't appeared?"

The Night Lords, who was waiting outside the tower, never saw Curze appear.

After he had taken the spoils of war from the heinous criminals he had collected from various planets a few days earlier, he locked himself in the black spire that the Night Lords had hastily built.

According to the Primarch himself, he was doing this so that he could communicate with the Emperor.

But what kind of communication isn't through the Astropath, but through the corpses of dead sinners?

Sevitar didn't know, and he wouldn't ask.

As the nominal company commander and de facto Company Commander of the Night Lords, he never had any problem understanding Curze's attitude.

Just then, not far from the black spire, Sevitar, sitting on the Stormbird at the landing point, was sending a worried inquiry through the communication device.

The reason he's on the plane instead of waiting by the spire is, of course, so that if Curze really goes crazy, he can escape as quickly as possible.

For safety reasons, they mainly relied on oracles to detect the Primarch from a distance.

"He's still in the secret room, and hasn't done anything?"

"No, my lord," came the reply through the communication system. "The Primarch has been moving slightly, he—"

"—He's gone!!!"

The bird diviner's terrified screams could be heard over the communication channel.

"What?"

"My Lord, the Primarch's signal has been lost in the Augur Array! There's no signal from him throughout the entire Spire—"

"No! It happened again! That's strange. Was that just my imagination? Or is the instrument malfunctioning?"

"Forget about all that," Sevitar said impatiently. "What's the situation now?"

"Ah, my lord Primarch is coming out of the tower! He's about to emerge!"

Is it finally over?

Sevitar looked up at the planet's desolate, dust-covered surface.

It seemed that beside that tiny black spire in the distance, which was as small as a dot, an even smaller entity emerged.

However, the other party soon arrived in front of Sevitar.

"Grown ups."

Sevitar greeted him respectfully, trying to gauge the other's state out of the corner of his eye.

Curze seems to have become much more clear-headed now, but the contemplation and worry between his brows have not diminished in the slightest.

"Inform the Night Lords that we are preparing to depart, Sevitar."

"Where are we going, sir? Where are we headed?"

"You're not going anywhere," Curze said after glancing at the other person. "With the Warp Storm raging, the future of the Legion is in your hands."

"What?! Sir, what are you going to do—"

"I may not be coming back. Don't wait for me. Take your legion and do whatever you want, Sevitar."

"Then—" In desperation, Sevitar immediately knelt down, his face pleading, "My lord, could you tell us where you are going? Perhaps we can go with you!"

"No, this is my own business."

As for the destination, Curze hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, he still spoke up.

"Istvan III".

The Night Lords of the Eighth Legion and his Primarch Curze, have withdrawn from the Great Crusade today. Reason: Unknown.

The whereabouts of Sevitar, the current legion Night Lords, are unknown.

The Cygnus System.

Kasgar, who had just escaped from the Warp, was still somewhat disoriented.

Just as Kasgar had feared in the worst, the tragedy that no one wanted to see finally came to pass as the Horus Heresy progressed.

The Thousand Sons Legion was so deeply corrupted that, as pawns of the Lord of Change, they no longer understood what they were doing—just as Ahriman, when casting the Rubric Sorcery, could not have imagined its power to destroy an entire rebel legion.

The blow to the rebel legions was just as great as the blow the Codex Astartes dealt to the Loyalist legions!

The tragedy has now occurred—except that Horus has been empowered on Istvan III instead of Davin.

And!

The most crucial point is that Horus is now a god.

This is probably the most unexpected and fruitful outcome that Kasgar has achieved in the two hundred years of this Great Crusade.

After being successfully influenced by the Centaur gold ring for thirty years, Horus is now practically inhuman!

What Four Gods Empowerment? What Emperor's Conspiracy?

I don't believe any of it!

With the Centaur gold ring, Horus became the most steadfastly Loyalist in the world!

Khorne: "Repeat after me: 'Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!' and I will let you kill at will!"

Horus: "Those days were the best time of my life. We lived together for 30 years. He was the only one who brought me out of the darkness of Khorosnia. We spent a long time together. In those 30 years, we formed an unbreakable bond, stronger than any other bond. Thirty years is not a long time. I think compared to 30,000 years, 30 years is just the time it takes for a heartbeat to pass, but I will cherish this time forever."

Four Gods: "."

Four Gods: "Actually, even if Abaddon's aptitude is a bit lacking, he's not incapable."

Abaddon, who remained humble despite Horus's severe injury and coma. "Those days were the best time of my life. We lived together for two hundred years. He was the only one who came into my life. He brought me out of the darkness of Khorosnia. We spent a long time together. In those two hundred years, a bond formed between us that was unbreakable, stronger than the bond between him and the Emperor (emphasis!). Two hundred years is not a long time. I think two hundred years is just the time it takes for a heartbeat compared to twenty thousand years, but I will cherish this time forever."

Four Gods: "."

Four Gods: "Wait, why are you doing this too?"

If you memorize the three hundred poems of the Centaur, you'll have thirty years even without Golden Ring.

In this unyielding state, the Dark Gods and Horus were locked in a strange stalemate.

The Chaos power of the Four Gods could not be infused into him, and Horus, in this Chaos state, was trapped on the Istvan III with almost all the members of the Luna Wolves, unable to move.

As time went on, even with Horus's unwavering will, there was a day when he would not be able to hold on under the force of the Four Gods.

"We must immediately proceed to the Istvan III to rescue Horus!"

Emerging from the Warp, Kasgar summarized what he had seen and said.

"Let's go back to Macragge first and gather the remaining Loyalist to head to Istvan III together."

Kasgar suggested.

Horus is now in crisis, and for this reason, it is very likely that this Istvan III is the location where the Chaos Gods have carefully laid an ambush.

The purpose was to wait here and lure the Warmaster who still controlled other legions of the Imperium, namely Fulgrim, to come and eliminate them.

As the Imperium Warmaster, the safest course of action for Fulgrim at this moment was to lead the Blood Angels back to Macragge.

After resupplying locally, they then headed to Istvan III with Ultramarines, Blood Angels, and the Sons of the Emperor, as well as other Loyalist legions that might arrive around this time.

With these large legions and a ruthless figure like Sanguinius, even the ambushes that Chaos had arranged on the planet would not be able to defeat them.

Fortunately, what they have in abundance right now is manpower.

After reuniting with Guilliman and the others, if I'm not mistaken, the Lion El'Jonson will be arriving in Macragge soon. I just don't know if there are any smugglers or anything like Curze in his cabin this time.

Although their presence wasn't strong, at this moment, with the combined forces of the Lion El'Jonson, the Angel, and Guilliman, the Second Imperium was mobilized. Even if all the rebels were present, they would only be able to barely manage.

"Quickly, inform the Angel that we must return to Macragge as soon as possible!"

"The tunnel to Macragge has been opened, and the fleet of Sanguinius has already entered."

"Alright, notify all fleet members to prepare for Warp jump."

Fortunately, even in this extremely difficult time, we still have the Pharos Beacon to guide the Emperor's Children Fleet's direction.

Thinking of this, Kasgar, sailing in a Warp tunnel constructed of beacons, couldn't help but look out the porthole at the surging Warp turbulence.

Thanks to the existence of the beacon.

Even if the external Warp Storm are huge, as long as the Pharos Beacon doesn't overload—

Just then, Kasgar suddenly felt a very strong heart palpitation!

Could it be that...?

Psychic Flame rose from Kasgar's body, and as his vision gradually opened, he saw the Pharos Beacon in the distance, like Astronomican.

However, the beacon did not seem as stable as before, but was flickering with extremely unusual fluctuations.

The Pharos Beacon is flashing.

—It seems that Chaos saw that the beacon was able to gather a large number of Loyalist together, so it thought that this was too much and could not continue, and thus launched an attack on the troops stationed in the area!

Although it is unknown whether it is the traitorous legion or the evil god's own demonic army, under the onslaught, the fall of the Pharos Beacon is only a matter of time.

They attempted to seize the Pharos Beacon and extinguish it, so that other Loyalist legions could not be guided by its light to Macragge.

But obviously, Danteok would not simply hand over the beacon to these filthy beasts.

You filthy beast!

You want to steal our beacon? Not so easy!

Even if it means my death, I will not let the entire beacon fall into your hands!

The Pharos Beacon is flashing more frequently.

The face of the Kasgar was ashen.

No, no!

No!!!

In this situation, only he knows what detonating the Pharos Beacon truly means.

Perhaps to others, this overloading incident was just a minor incident.

But this unusual flash will serve as the anchor point for another colossal force in the future: the Tyranids' invasion of the galaxy!

Once they learn of the flickering light from outside the Milky Way, the insect swarm's tentacles will be drawn to it, leading them into the galaxy to continue their endless, insatiable journey.

At that time, everything that exists will be devoured by the swarm of insects!

No!

Danteok!!!

It's overloaded. If it's overloaded, it'll attract all the bugs!

The Horus Heresy was merely Horus Heresy within humanity, while the Zerg fleet was designed to devour everything in its path!

Never—

Smack

Clearly, a call from Kasgar, thousands of miles away, could not possibly reach the ears of the Warsmith.

With its final, and most brilliant burst, the Pharos Beacon shone with its brightest light ever.

It exploded.

It was an extremely loud flash of light. As the Astronomican disappeared into the Warp, the last Pharos Beacon was also lost forever.

But this didn't end the misfortune that Kasgar and his crew suffered.

With the failure of the Pharos Beacon, the tunnel that had been successfully built and connected the Cygnus System and Macragge vanished instantly. Driven by the sudden Warp turbulence, the fleet that had been following the Blood Angels lost contact with them almost instantly.

"We're about to be—"

The Warp turbulence began to carry the fleet forward.

Like a small boat in a storm, with the turbulent waves crashing against the Sons of the Emperor's fleet, Kasgar could feel the struggle between various forces under the onslaught of this Psychic Power.

Some wanted to completely destroy the Sons of the Emperor's fleet here, but others thought it would be most time-efficient and labor-saving to drive these dangerous elements out and send them to other points in time via spacetime turbulence, so that the legion would disappear during the Horus Heresy.

Kasgar gripped the handrail in the cabin with difficulty. In this illusion, which resembled a council quarrel, he seemed to see a golden figure also struggling in this battle—trying to steer Kasgar and his ship back on track, unaffected by those chaotic forces, back to Macragge.

The dispute between the two sides eventually turned into a contest of strength.

Kasgar felt as if countless forces were trying to tear their ship apart in all directions—

"Ah!"

Amidst the endless arguments and struggles for power, Kasgar felt a splitting headache.

Ultimately, what seemed like an eternity, yet also a mere instant, brought the debate to a consensus.

—And so, let them fulfill their own destiny.

The hallucinations gradually began to fade. Kasgar's headache also gradually subsided and eventually disappeared completely after this moment.

He's back, back to the real world.

"That is—"

Gasping for breath, Kasgar suddenly looked up at the window, observing everything outside—dots of light twinkled quietly outside the porthole. There were no raging Warp Storm, nor any eerie arguments.

This is the real world.

It seems that their fleet, despite being on the verge of destruction during the turbulence, ultimately managed to hold on.

"All units of the Expeditionary Fleet 28 shall inspect the damage and injury of their respective ships."

Although they were thrown off from Sanguinius, they are all safe and sound so far—and the location where the Sons of the Emperor's fleet was thrown off seems to be quite significant.

Kasgar looked out the porthole at the massive Gloriana-class Battleship.

[The Vengeful Spirit]

It seems that Sanguinius' prophecy was ultimately fulfilled amidst the conflict between the Emperor and the Four Gods.

There is only one star system that can dock the Lunar Wolves flagship at this time.

[Isstvan System].

The Sons of the Emperor, too, will, in this galaxy, and in countless other timelines, simultaneously, wage their destiny in a battle for supremacy.

"Is this the result of all our hard work? Oh well, it's not unacceptable."

Kasgar chuckled and muttered to himself.

"Connect Lunar Wolves. Now."

He was exhausted, but his words remained firm.

"Tell them that Kasgar wants to contact them— Ahriman's witchcraft is evil, and he cannot save Horus!"

"Let me!"