Double Surprise

Magnus's eyes snapped open, and he crushed the data-slate in his hand.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Even if the Adeptus Custodes came, they'd be here to escort me to the throne."

Magnus's gaze was incredibly resolute; the prophecy could not be wrong.

Someone must have misinterpreted the Emperor's intentions, it had to be!

With this thought, Magnus closed his eyes again and began to meditate. He wanted to deepen his understanding of Psykers, to offer this precious knowledge to the Emperor!

Let the Emperor know that his choice was the right one!

Little did he know, his actions had enraged certain beings.

In a dim, twisted corner of the Warp, an aura of chaos and the unknown permeated the surroundings.

A colossal mountain of flesh, covered in plague and rot, stood before an equally massive cauldron bubbling with an astonishingly delicious stew.

Seeing his nemesis's scheme fail, ■■■■ gleefully splashed the delicious broth around.

For his own plan had succeeded!

■■■■ was watching his masterpiece.

On Devon Planet.

The air was thick with poisonous green gas, and visibility was less than ten meters.

Astartes of the Sons of Horus continued to unleash Bolter Rounds, their war cries and the roars of Plague Zombies echoing through the mist.

"Roar~"

Horus's keen hearing immediately pinpointed the source of the sound. He dodged the zombie's attack with a flash and tore it in half with a single claw.

However, the zombie, now only a torso, continued to crawl towards Horus.

Squelch!

Horus stomped, crushing the zombie's head completely, finally stilling its movements.

"Is this all you've got, Eugene Tamba? You think these filthy, ugly walking corpses of yours can stop me!"

Rustling sounds came from all around as dozens of zombies in tattered Power Armour roared and charged.

Horus's eyes turned red as he recognized the markings on the zombies' Power Armour. "Damn you, Eugene Tamba!"

"You dare insult my beloved sons!"

"I will make you pay!"

He said, wielding his massive power sword with hatred, slashing at his former children.

Squelch~

He decapitated them with a single stroke, their bodies remaining upright, dazed.

Just as a wave of sadness washed over Horus.

Suddenly.

A smaller, grotesque figure lunged from the corpse of a zombie.

"Hahaha~ Die, Sons of the Emperor!"

Madness gleamed in Eugene Tamba's eyes. Horus reacted instantly, swinging his sword back and cleaving the man in two.

The bizarre dagger flew directly towards Horus.

Horus raised his hand to block, but instead of sparks, his vambrace rapidly began to corrupt.

To Horus's astonished gaze, the dagger easily sliced through his arm.

"Eugene Tamba, repent for the Imperium!"

Horus cast a cold glance at his attacker before quickly rejoining the fray.

Little did he know, the wound was already festering and rotting...

On the Hrafnkel.

"You've got quite a lot of pustules! How can you stand it?"

Francis asked, looking at the symptoms of the Soul Drinker before him. "Do you like to discover weaknesses by eating your opponent's flesh and blood during battle?"

"You're a miracle doctor! Primarch, save me!" The Soul Drinker warrior was beside himself with excitement.

Even though his Primarch's healing process was agonizing, it was still better than turning into an abomination!

After all, even when they were on Terra, no physicians or apothecaries could save them.

"Go to Conference Room Two and have Salpador perform surgery on you."

"Next!"

"What huge chicken wings!"

"Primarch, those are my mutations."

"Three hands?"

"Octopus tentacles?"

"Another face grew on your stomach?"

"That's nothing, it's just scales and feathers."

"..."

Francis's eyes were opened today. He always thought flesh mutations were just so-so.

But seeing these bizarre things with his own eyes was truly quite stimulating!

Suddenly.

Francis felt like something was looking at him. He turned around but found nothing.

Immediately after, the ground vibrated violently, and the frequency of the vibrations only grew.

Even stranger, some weird illusions began to appear around him.

As for why Francis knew they were illusions, it was because he saw his own toolbox waving at him.

"Hey, bro~!"

Buzz buzz buzz~

"Sixth Brother, what's going on?"

Just as Francis was trying to contact Leman Russ, a group of Adeptus Custodes rushed to his side, surrounding him.

"We ran into the aftermath of a Warp Storm. The Navigator couldn't take it and fainted."

"We had no choice but to jump out of the Warp randomly, following the direction of the energy flow!"

Although the Adeptus Custodes' voices were loud, the sounds of massive machinery colliding within the battleship made it difficult for Francis to hear clearly. "What?"

Rumble rumble~

Suddenly.

The entire Hrafnkel went dark, and then the entire hull seemed to roll violently, throwing everyone around like crazy.

Then, with a thud!

The hull felt like it had been directly dropped.

Drip drip~

After an unknown amount of time, the hull finally stabilized completely.

Francis, using his super vision, found Leman Russ. "Sixth Brother, where did we end up!"

"I'm not sure either. The hull is quite severely damaged right now, and it'll probably take a while to repair." Leman Russ was still methodically arranging for the crew to carry out emergency repairs.

"Then I'll go out and take a look around. See where we are?"

"Maybe we'll find a colony world, and we can repair faster." With that, Francis quickly slipped out.

Leman Russ was already swamped with work and didn't have the energy to stop him.

Stepping out of the Hrafnkel, they seemed to have crashed into a deep valley.

The surroundings were lush and green, filled with giant fruit trees, showing no signs of artificiality.

With every step Francis took, heavy footsteps echoed behind him.

He looked back, and besides the Adeptus Custodes, who else could it be but the Soul Drinkers?

"Seriously, can you guys make less noise? If this is the enemy's lair, we'll be surrounded!"

Francis was speechless. Why were they so stubborn, like knights with one-track minds?

Under Francis's direction, the Adeptus Custodes and Soul Drinkers spread out, forming a wide net as they advanced into the depths of the forest.

Before long, Francis found something interesting.

"Woof woof woof!"

A creature with a large mouth, resembling a fluffy poodle, was barking furiously at Francis.

"Roaring Squig?"

Francis's expression turned strange. Normally, these little guys would be kept by the Orks.

The Roaring Squig's eyes gleamed with excitement. It wagged its tail frantically and bit down on Francis's Power Armour, almost chipping its teeth.

"Aowww~"

It rolled on the ground in pain, yelping.

As expected, hearing its pet's cries, an Ogre Ork with huge green muscles came running over, muttering curses.

The moment he saw Francis, he cheered ecstatically, grabbed the large club on his back, and swung it fiercely at Francis.

In the blink of an eye.

The Ork had already fallen to the ground. The Roaring Squig nuzzled the Ork's toes, but received no response at all.

Francis quickly collected the Ork's blood and materials, then several people nearby gathered around.

"Remember to stay away from me later. This should be Ork territory."

"I'll scout ahead."

Before they could say anything, Francis took off his Power Armour and drank the Ork's blood from earlier in one gulp.

The sticky and foul-smelling taste was so nostalgic!

A wave of genetic information appeared in Francis's mind.

"Ork Gene, Stig"

"Likes watching Roaring Squigs bite other Orks' toes."

"Born on an unnamed planet."

"Identity: Ork Boy"

"..."

Immediately, Francis's arms surged violently, transforming into Ork arms.

Francis bit off another piece of fresh Ork flesh and blood. He saw his other body parts also violently change into Ork features at the same time.

The Roaring Squig, which had been whimpering moments ago, smelled its master's scent again, tilting its head and staring blankly at Francis.

As for the others, they immediately assumed combat stances. "Who are you!"