"The Emperor's future has no place for you. You've done something unforgivable. You can only embrace Chaos."
"Come. Only slaughter can bring you pleasure. Cut off the Emperor's head with your own hands, and he'll be yours completely."
"Can you feel it? The taste of betrayal."
"..."
Whispers from the Warp echoed endlessly in Horus's mind. His body trembled as he struggled to endure them, his reason still fighting to keep him in control.
Then Abaddon's furious voice came from outside the door. "Warmaster! The Word Bearers say the Soul Drinkers are spies!!"
"The taste of betrayal."
"Can you smell it? Your brother has been betraying you all along."
"He's ready to sacrifice you for the False Emperor. Betrayal! This is betrayal!"
"..."
Countless voices, male and female alike, kept whispering in Horus's ear. He clenched his fists.
"No! No! He wouldn't lie to me!"
"These are all your lies! Francis is innocent and pure!"
Horus let out a furious growl. Even the armor on his hands warped beneath his grip.
Bang, bang, bang~
"Warmaster, should we arrest them?" Abaddon kept asking.
"No. I'll ask them myself!" Horus kicked the door off its hinges. The force sent Abaddon, who had been standing outside, flying as well.
"Primarch, we've been found out." Sarpedon whispered into Francis's ear, quietly enough for only the two of them to hear.
Francis's brow furrowed. He raised his voice and scolded, "How did this happen? You managed to botch a simple experiment! Now I have to clean up your mess."
He turned to Fulgrim and continued, "Think it over first. I'll go deal with an experiment and be right back."
Before he could finish speaking, he vanished on the spot.
Fulgrim couldn't help but sigh. "Francis is a good man. He's top-notch as both a friend and a brother."
"With so many options, I really do need to think this through."
While he was pondering, the Emperor's Children's chief Apothecary, Fabius Bile, entered. He was just announcing his latest advances in optimizing Gene-seed when—
"Sniff, sniff~ sniff, sniff~"
He caught a strange scent. Following it, he soon spotted the half-finished potion and other gene-modification materials Francis had left on the table.
He hurried over, picked up the super pineal gland, and rubbed it against his face. "Ahh~ Ahh~ It's got the scent of so many kinds of Xenos in it~"
"Ahh~ Ahh~ This smells incredible! Primarch, how about giving me the notes for this experiment? Ahh~"
Fabius kept rubbing the pineal gland, thrilled beyond measure by this new modification.
"Uh, Francis made this. You can ask him for the notes. But I can't let you experiment with this thing yet."
With that, Fulgrim snatched the super pineal gland from his hands.
He still needed it, after all. He couldn't afford to lose it!
Fabius gazed longingly at his stolen treasure for a moment before finally coming to his senses. "Then I'll go ask him for the notes right away! Heh heh heh~"
Without pausing, Fabius immediately ran off in the direction Francis had gone.
???
Seeing everyone go looking for Francis, Fulgrim couldn't help admiring his brother. He certainly kept himself busy.
Sure enough.
Before long, Horus came looking too. When he saw that only Fulgrim was there, sitting with his clothes in disarray, he roared, "Where did Francis go?!"
"He said he was heading to the lab to sort out an experimental problem. Do you need him urgently?"
Looking at Fulgrim's completely clueless face, Horus said nothing and ran straight out.
Fulgrim: ???
It wasn't until Abaddon came running over, panting, that he told Fulgrim, "The entire Soul Drinkers Legion has rebelled!"
Then he continued after Horus.
At the news of Francis's rebellion, Fulgrim was left with a head full of question marks. He had no idea what was going on.
"How is this possible? The False Emperor would tolerate a heretic like that? How?"
"This can't be right! Anyone could be loyal to the False Emperor, but not Francis!"
"No way! This absolutely can't be happening!"
Fulgrim was lost. He couldn't believe that Francis had fallen to Chaos. "Did someone get it wrong?"
"No mistake! There's absolutely no mistake. The Soul Drinkers Legion received your orders and has already escorted the emissary to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars."
Facing the utterly meticulous Tech-Priest, Horus's expression looked as if he'd just eaten Gretchin shit.
"Francis! One day, you'll fall into my hands again."
Horus suppressed his fury, but in the end he couldn't help punching the machine.
Crash!
The ten-meter-tall machine shattered into pieces. Then he left with a dark expression.
The Tech-Priest beside him remained silent for a long while before saying, "Why get angry and smash my machine? Now I'll have to spend another ten days fixing it!"
In the Warp.
Aboard a Dictator-class battleship.
"Primarch, what do we do with this old geezer?" Sarpedon held a Multi-melta to Fabius's head, keeping his eyes fixed on him.
Fabius looked as if he were about to cry. "We're all on the same side. There's no need for weapons. I'm only here to learn gene modification from you, Primarch, as a student."
"Uh, I think you've got it wrong. We're not on the same side. We've rebelled and joined the Emperor again. We're enemies now. Anything else to say?"
Francis rubbed his chin. He found the old man rather interesting.
"...You can switch sides back and forth?" Fabius considered himself worldly and experienced, but he'd never seen someone turn traitor and then go straight again.
How was that any different from killing someone and then saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to"?
Fabius looked at the emissary on the floor, beaten into a pulp, and smelled the charred scent of protein in the air. He was certain they weren't joking.
"That's all you've got for your last words? Then we'll get started."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Multi-melta pointed at Fabius's head began to heat up. Time seemed to slow down as Fabius's mind ran through hundreds of millions of negotiations and calculations.
Bzzzz~
Just as his head started to smell like roast meat, Fabius quickly said, "I'm good with gene technology. I can be your assistant! It's not like I've actually joined Chaos. I just want to study technology."
"You know what I mean—those forbidden technologies! I'm just a pure and simple Apothecary. Why would I have any intention of rebelling? Hahaha~"
Fabius laughed awkwardly. Only once the gun barrel above his head began to cool did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Make sure he gets a good look at our gene technology."
As Francis's words faded, dozens of Soul Drinkers crowded around Fabius. They rubbed their chins and grinned at him.
"Heh heh heh~ We'll show you our treasures!"
After they dragged Fabius into the lab, Francis had someone clean up the blood and gore on the floor.
Then he went over to the Astropath and said, "Contact the Hrafnkel. Ask why I was exposed, and whether he remembers the list of rebel Primarchs I gave him."
The Astropath sent out a psychic signal, and soon made contact with the Hrafnkel.
"What list of rebel Primarchs? I don't remember that." After receiving the message, Leman Russ clutched his head in anguish. He had no memory of any such thing.
"...The Word Bearers, the Night Lords, the Iron Warriors, and half the Alpha Legion have all rebelled."
Francis had barely finished speaking when the Astropath opened his eyes and said, "The communication was cut off for some reason. We'll have to reconnect."
Francis: "..."
There was nothing he could do. He'd have to wait for communications to come back online before he could send the message through.
Fortunately, the Adeptus Mechanicus hadn't split apart yet.
As they fled, they'd happened upon a battleship Horus had sent to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars, so Francis had simply helped him get there.
As for things like illegally restoring the STC database or asking the Fabricator-General to support the Warmaster, it was better not to let them do anything that might undermine unity.
Just then, the battleship sounded an alarm.
Sarpedon hurried over and said, "We've suddenly encountered a large number of Chaos Daemons! They're heading straight for you."
"...What are the odds?" Francis shook his head, hoping he was imagining things.
When he reached the deck, he saw a Great Thunder Bull Demon King standing there, wildly waving its giant pincers. Chaos Daemons in shades of purple, pink, and black surrounded it.
"Roar, roar, roar~"
The moment Francis appeared, they charged at him even more frantically.
"No way..."
Before you continue