Then, He Closed His Eyes (3)

"What!?"

Sexdu's body jolted.

The Primarch had argued with the Emperor?

"Impossible."

"The Emperor would never quarrel with his own son over something so trivial. Don't try to fool me."

Sexdu's expression was stern.

The Emperor was not the type to get caught up in petty emotional matters, much less make such an emotional critique of a Primarch's choices.

They were all his tools.

At least, that's what the Adeptus Custodes always said.

"Even if I dared to lie to you, I wouldn't dare spread rumors about the Emperor, Sexdu!"

"It's the absolute truth."

"If you don't believe me, ask the Custodes when they arrive," Yulia chuckled softly. "You served with them in the honor guard for so long. If you don't trust me, surely you trust them?"

Hearing her words, Sexdu fell silent for a moment.

"...I haven't been part of the honor guard for a long time, Yulia."

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

"...Sorry, Sexdu. I didn't mean to."

Her voice dropped several notches as she whispered.

"It's fine."

"It's all in the past anyway."

Sexdu offered a smile in return.

He had indeed been a member of the honor guard once.

After the Proxima Centauri Uprising and the disappearance of the ship carrying the Gene-seed, the Third Legion's numbers plummeted, making it impossible for them to stand as an independent force. They were pulled from the front lines.

Fortunately, they all hailed from ancient noble families of Terra and were well-versed in courtly etiquette. The Emperor assigned them to serve alongside the Adeptus Custodes as his ceremonial honor guard.

Master of Ceremonies Sexdu was one of them.

As a Space Marine of the Third Legion, who pursued perfection in all things, he performed his duties in the honor guard flawlessly.

There, he earned the meticulous guidance of his mentor, the Legion Master of the Third Legion.

He was his elder brother's close friend.

After his brother fell in battle, this Legion Master had imparted his knowledge of etiquette, combat, and tactics without holding anything back.

And Sexdu lived up to the expectation.

Under his guidance, he progressed rapidly, growing from an ordinary scout into a company commander capable of standing on his own.

Even many of the Adeptus Custodes, who had once looked down on Space Marines, gradually became close friends with whom he could talk about anything.

Everything was heading in a good direction.

Even if rebuilding the Third Legion remained an uphill battle, even if his brothers and sisters had all died.

There was still hope for the future.

Things would get better.

Sexdu believed that firmly.

But fate—damn it all—was just that kind of twisted bastard.

It always struck the deadliest blow just when hope was about to bloom.

Sexdu remembered it was a calm day.

A respected Imperial Army commander had excitedly found them, telling him that the next batch of Gene-seed cultivated at the Lunar Laboratory was about to arrive.

The Third Legion would soon be rebuilt!

He remembered how ecstatic he had been.

He remembered how the Custodes and his battle-brothers had showered them with praise, blessing the glorious Third Legion's rebirth from the ashes.

After a long wait, they had finally reaped the ripe fruit.

Overjoyed, he and the Legion Master followed the commander's lead and boarded the massive transport ship laden with Gene-seed.

Then, he saw the poison mist and the flames.

"Hey, hey, spacing out again!?"

Sexdu heard Yulia's shout in his ear.

"It's time. Time to board the Landing craft."

"Cheer up. We're about to meet the Primarch—that's something to be happy about."

"I really wonder what kind of person he'll be."

More and more Space Marines of the Third Legion gathered in the hall, trickling in one after another.

They too would soon join him, heading down to the surface of Chemos to meet their Primarch.

"Relax, Sexdu."

"No matter what outcome awaits you, your actions have proven you are the noblest Space Marine in my eyes, and the most devout servant of the Emperor."

The Adeptus Custodes walked past him, gently patting his ceramite pauldron.

It was the Shield-Captain who had escorted them here.

He whispered softly into Sexdu's ear.

".Thank you."

Sexdu replied, squeezing into the Landing craft alongside the other warriors of the Third Legion.

Landing craft. Yes, a Landing craft.

Back then, they had boarded one just like this, climbing onto that transport ship laden with Gene-seed.

But what welcomed them was no flowers or applause.

It was a rebellion, erupting from within.

In an instant, guns roared and shouts rose to the heavens.

The Imperial Army commander who had led them there had long been a member of the Lunar Gene-Cult!

He had betrayed the Imperium long ago, and betrayed them too!

The landing Space Marines were immediately split and surrounded. Countless modified cultists, wielding biological weapons, surged toward them like a tidal wave, accompanied by all manner of vicious, grotesque gene-forged monsters.

They even released an insidious viral fog to contaminate every last one of the Space Marines!

Personnel scattered, equipment was insufficient, command and communication were cut off.

The battle was stacked heavily against them.

And in that critical moment, Sexdu's mentor, the Legion Master of the Third Legion, stepped forward in the midst of the crisis.

"All warriors of the Third Legion!"

"To me! Hold the Gene-seed vault!"

"Do not let these filth defile our future!"

"We—will rebuild the Third Legion once more, in the fire!"

The only memories Sexdu had left of that battle were endless slaughter and desperate defense.

In the fighting, he and his commander-mentor fought with all their might to reach the Gene-seed vault, their backs against their hope, beating back wave after wave of assaults.

"We must hold this ground!"

"This is the hope for our Third Legion's rebirth!"

Facing the endless tide of enemies, he ran out of strength time and again, nearly collapsing.

But for that faint, elusive hope, for the Third Legion that was to be reborn.

And for the Legion Master, who gave everything to slay the most dangerous gene-forged monsters and perished alongside the swarming foes.

Sexdu still fought to the very last moment.

Only when he saw the traitors annihilated by the arriving reinforcements did he finally let himself fall, collapsing into a pool of blood with peace.

He had succeeded.

Though the Legion Master and many brothers had died gloriously in battle, their sacrifice was not in vain.

They had held the entire ship's Gene-seed, held the future of the Third Legion.

When he woke, leaning on an Apothecary, he looked at the ship full of Gene-seed and laughed with joy.

Hope!

There was hope!

As long as the Gene-seed remained, the Third Legion could be rebuilt!

The Legion Master's death had not been meaningless!

But fate, as always, had a cruel joke to play.

"The time has come."

"Destroy all of this."

The roaring flames from the jet cast Sexdu's shadow, long and stretched, as he sat slumped on the ground.

It was over.

All of it, over.

The entire ship's worth of Gene-seed had long been fully contaminated, back in the lunar laboratories.

What he held fast to was not the Legion's future, but soil already rotted to its core.

What he had hoped for had never meant anything.

His mentor, his Legion Master, the rising star of their Third Legion's future—a master of both blade and strategy.

And so many good, upright comrades. All of them, dead for a reason so absurd it defied belief.

"That Vespasian, the future of our Third Legion—"

"There is no future, Sexdu."

The newly appointed commander fell silent for a moment.

"There is, no future."

He stood with his back to Sexdu, a flamethrower in hand.

"The Gene-seed repository on Luna has been completely corrupted."

"The Third Legion is finished."

"Unless—"

"Unless what?!"

"Don't stop mid-sentence, Vespasian! Unless what?"

"Unless we can find our Primarch right now."

Finding the lost Primarch—easier said than done.

The Primarchs had been swept away by the Warp Storm at birth, scattered across the universe.

Tracking them down was harder than finding a needle in an ocean.

Clang!

Sexdu, seated in the center of the landing craft deep in thought, heard the hatch open.

"We're here! The photos were real—this place is beautiful!"

"Get ready quickly, the Primarch is waiting for us!"

He heard Yulia's excited shouts nearby.

And yet, just as the Third Legion was on the verge of extinction, just as Sexdu was about to lose all hope—

They had actually found her, right here on Chemos.

Ha. Haha.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Perhaps reality was always a farce, a comedy brimming with bottomless, pitch-black humor.

One could never guess whether the next step would be better or worse.

But no matter what, the road had to be walked.

Sexdu, keep walking.

"Change of plans?"

The group, heading toward Karax's parade ground, halted.

"That's right!"

Before they could even reach the square and take their positions, a tall, resplendent figure abruptly blocked the path of the Third Legion Space Marines.

Fulgrim.

Their Primarch.

Though he didn't recognize her face, a sensation from the depths of his gene-seed let Sexdu make the judgment instantly.

That Fulgrim, who loved to make a grand show of herself—how could she ever play by the rules?

"This is your first time on Chemos, and you are our honored guests."

"What kind of host would inspect their guests right off the bat?"

She spun in place with excitement, her right hand sweeping behind her.

The ornate Chemosian ethnic dress she wore traced a graceful arc through the air.

In her hand, a Sonic Array Speaker had appeared from nowhere.

With this getup, she looked less like the Emperor's demigod progeny and more like a warm, hospitable tour guide.

"With that, we have prepared a special tour for all the brave warriors of the Third Legion—"

As she spoke, the massive screen behind Fulgrim flashed with several beautiful scenic images.

Though the intricate lace trimmings were a bit tacky, the beauty of the scenery itself remained undeniable.

"Ta-da!"

"—A one-day tour of Chemos!"