Fatherly Love, Filial Piety

Watching the enemy mothership sprout twisted tentacles, all of Blackwatch chose to retreat and return to the coalition forces, launching a pincer attack against the enemies who had already boarded.

Guilliman, fighting on the front lines, had long been surrounded by the bulk of the World Eaters and Chaos cultists. He was only able to maneuver thanks to the protection of his Primarch guard, but it was also thanks to Guilliman drawing nearly half the enemy fire that the remaining soldiers could stabilize the defensive line.

Bloodthirsty desires began to affect the Ultramarines. Unlike Blackwatch, they did not possess extreme resistance to the Warp, and the corruption from Khorne had already interfered with their combat capabilities.

Macragge's Honour had drawn massive fire just moments ago, and most of the enemies had boarded the flagship. Only they and a portion of the Blackwatch soldiers remained, but they had to hold their ground to allow the rest of the crew to operate the ship and maintain fire suppression.

Remembering Hogg's words, Guilliman found Lynn the moment frenzied soldiers appeared within the legion. As a core member, Lynn had long since learned the characteristics of Chaos from Hogg; the Eldar and Ultramarines who lacked sufficient resistance were kept in the rear.

Soldiers already interfered with by Chaos corruption were brought out, and the accompanying Blacklight Cultists began performing rites on the spot. Illusory tentacles were summoned, and the nauseating sensation dispelled the bloodthirsty rage.

The recovered Ultramarines and Eldar provided fire support together, while the sufficiently resilient Blackwatch held the front line. However, manpower was still insufficient, and both sides engaged in a brutal tug-of-war within the ship.

The World Eaters who had boarded were true experts; the towering Chaos warriors displayed astonishing skill, cleaving a besieged Blackwatch shield guard with a single axe blow.

Without the protection of the meat shields, the mortals were quickly picked off. The stretched-to-the-limit defensive line began to collapse, and on the distant battlefield, the Astra Militarum and Chaos cultists engaged in one-for-one slaughter in the corridors.

Just then, the main force of Blackwatch returned to join the battlefield, and the enemies, caught in a pincer attack, fell into a frenzy.

Guilliman, waiting for reinforcements, roared, "For humanity, kill these xenos!"

"Kill the xeno scum!!!"

"Waaaagh!"

Cleaving an enemy before him with a sword, Guilliman, surrounded by the corpses of xenos, led his guard into the fray. Unless it was a Greater Daemon, nothing in the material universe could withstand the power of a Primarch.

Finally, under the sustained attacks from both sides, the enemies who had breached the ship were eliminated, but the casualties on their own side remained heavy.

Numerous Astra Militarum units were wiped out in their entirety; after all, in such narrow ship corridors, the fearless Chaos cultists and World Eaters were simply too overwhelming for mortals.

"Hogg, where are you?" Guilliman called out to his brother on the channel, but received no reply.

First Captain Rossmanderson stepped out from the reinforcement team and reported, "Lord Guilliman, my father is still on the enemy mothership. He told us to wait for the opportunity to retreat to the planet's surface."

At this moment, Hogg, having returned to his original size, had become the flesh-and-blood core of this Gloriana Class warship. Most of the enemies on board had died in the massive strike he had just unleashed. For the sake of the upcoming plan, Hogg needed more energy.

Remotely controlling the position of Blacklight to lure the remaining Chaos fleet, Hogg acted like an angler as the distance closed, using Blacklight as bait to pull the enemy's main force toward him.

As a bootleg C'tan, Hogg possessed the ability to warp the material universe. Although he could not extinguish a sun like a full-fledged C'tan, as long as the distance was close enough, violent electromagnetic forces would tear apart the remaining ships, and the explosion of the mothership, packed with nuclear warheads, would be enough to rip open the encirclement.

The moment the Chaos forces appeared, Hogg understood that Khorne's target was him. He wanted to prevent Hogg from changing Angron's fate, but the cost of breaking through the veil in 30K was too high, so he had simply pulled a group of subordinates from the future to besiege him.

He had to be quick; as long as he was fast enough, he could save Angron and completely tear apart destiny. Just as he was about to lure the remaining ships in, a series of footsteps echoed from the mothership occupied by Hogg. A squad of surviving World Eaters appeared before him.

Although these World Eaters bore the marks of Chaos, they were far calmer, not like the bloodthirsty madmen completely controlled by the Butcher's Nails. A Chaos warrior with one arm exposed stepped out from the group and gave Hogg a silent salute. This made Hogg feel very strange.

"Who are you? I have never seen World Eaters as calm as you!"

The silent warrior removed his helmet. His head, implanted with the Butcher's Nails, was hideous, yet he revealed a twisted smile:

"Respected unknown Primarch, thank you for letting us see a glimmer of hope. I beg you to kill that wretch Angron; he must never fall into the hands of the Blood God again."

The warrior knelt on one knee, and the World Eaters behind him followed suit, removing their helmets one by one. Without exception, all had the Butcher's Nails implanted, the living devices causing them pain and twisting their wills.

"Uh, shouldn't we be saving Angron?"

"My lord, it is meaningless. Our pathetic father does not deserve to live. He betrayed us and became a true clown in the future. We are the future War Hounds."

"Are you Kharn?" The unique attire and such 'filial' words reminded Hogg of a name.

"Yes, my lord. We do not have much time. When you occupied the entire ship, we gained a moment of clarity, but His gaze remains. We will soon become bloodthirsty madmen again. We will help you tear a hole and buy you time."

Looking at the group of World Eaters before him, Hogg was somewhat skeptical, but if they could truly lure more ships, it would undoubtedly greatly reduce the subsequent resistance.

"I accept your request. I will do my best to save my brother, but I need you to gather the remaining ships, pull them as close as possible, and then overload the energy furnace to detonate the nuclear warheads." A spare detonator was handed to Kharn by a tentacle.

"As you wish, my lord!!" Kharn picked up the detonator from the ground and led the remaining World Eaters toward the bridge; after all, as he had said, time was running out.

Sensing the distance of Blacklight, Hogg retrieved an assault pod from his pocket dimension. His tentacles began to retract, and his power claws carved a massive hole in the adjacent deck. Adjusting the angle, he launched the pod, which struck the already battered Blacklight as it passed by.

The pursuing World Eaters' ships received orders to approach the mothership. Just as they had once responded to the call of their gene-father, the remaining World Eaters' ships gathered alongside their former mothership, Conqueror.

Following the pre-set countdown, Hogg pulled out a detonator and silently calculated the time. If Kharn and his men did not succeed, he would trigger a secondary detonation.

Caressing the bridge of Conqueror, beside the mistress who had long since merged with the ship, he whispered, "It is time to end all of this. Let this be nothing more than a dull and bumpy dream!"

The torture of the Butcher's Nails intensified as Hogg departed, and chaotic thoughts disrupted Kharn's actions, but the Eaters of the World, having caught their breath, would not submit to fate.

"Angron, you piece of trash, go eat shit!!!"

The button was pressed. The overloaded energy furnace and the nuclear warheads detonated simultaneously, and the violent flash and explosion carried everything nearby toward destruction.

Putting down the detonator, Hogg severed the flesh-and-blood connection he had maintained with Conqueror.