Emperor Kong Reports for Duty

Emperor Kong reporting for duty.

Just as wearing a helmet on the battlefield is said to hasten one's death, Guilliman's chronic tardiness is etched into his very bones—it is practically a law of the cosmic will.

Hogg, knowing this fellow was unreliable, chose to lead the Ultramarines personally this time. Surely, traveling together would prevent any delays!

Yet, it was as if a curse hung over them. The fleet traversing the Webway suffered one mishap after another; if it wasn't a Warp Storm, it was a fractured Webway, and on one occasion, they were nearly rammed to death by a pod of Void Whale.

Void Whale are not pack animals—who the hell has ever heard of a pod of them?—but looking at the transcendent behemoths behind them, each comparable to an asteroid, Cordelia, the navigator, reached her limit. At nearly twenty thousand years old, she had never encountered such an absurd situation.

The fleet was composed primarily of the Blackwatch, Ultramarines, Raven Guard, and Night Lords—four legions totaling over half a million Space Marine, accounting for more than a third of the Imperial Astartes, not to mention the countless Imperial Guard.

And that wasn't even counting the Burning Legion on the side. Such a massive force would have been enough to fight the Rangdan wars twice over, yet even so, they were nearly wiped out in a single wave.

Looking at Guilliman's innocent face, Curze, Corax, and even the Emperor felt their scalps tingle. Hogg grabbed Guilliman by the collar and pointed a finger at his nose, cursing:

"You traitorous dog, to think there was a villain in our midst! Tell me! Are you Tzeentch in disguise?"

This heavy accusation was more than even the Regent could bear. He cried out his grievances to the crowd, insisting he was a