A vortex coalesced on the command deck.
Star-Stealer Harkon drew a deep breath, his expression solemn as he slowly approached the vortex. Stopping before it, he planted his spear and dropped to one knee.
Everyone else on the command deck did the same, kneeling with their heads bowed and chests lowered.
Great Ravager Abaddon stepped out of the vortex.
Harkon quietly studied the Warmaster's face.
The Warmaster had previously been severely wounded during the Battle of Cadia, and rumors afterward claimed that he had become strange.
But later, other rumors said that the Warmaster had already brought the surging power of Chaos within him under control. The blessings the gods had forcibly bestowed upon him after his grave injury had been fully transformed into a part of his own strength.
The Warmaster had not become tremendously more powerful. Rather, his will had endured tempering and training, becoming tougher and more tenacious than before.
If Lu Jin had known of Abaddon's changes, he would not have been surprised in the slightest.
Astartes Abaddon was indeed able to retain relative freedom on the level of self-will before Chaos. Just as he had repeatedly declared, he was not a toy or puppet of the Chaos Gods, but an independent being filled with vengeance, intent on destroying the Imperium of Man and completing his father's unfinished work.
A cold gleam flashed.
In a daze, Harkon raised his spear to block.
The legendary Hell Spear spun through the air and embedded itself in the deck some distance away.
The Warmaster remained in his sword-swinging posture, the blade pressed against Harkon's throat.
"Failure."
Harkon raised his head and saw the Warmaster's cold eyes lowered upon him. There was no expression on his face as a merciless judgment slipped from between his lips.
The Warmaster was a