Old Man Yellow, I've tolerated you for a long time.

It's no wonder psionic arts are so convenient; a mage will always be a mage. In the blink of an eye, the group returned to the laboratory on Terra.

Not a single Adeptus Custodes who stepped into the illusion suffered an injury, even when facing the surging tide of the demonic army. They truly lived up to the value of being crafted by Emperor himself, and such powerful warriors made Hogg green with envy.

Magnus, still unconscious, was laid on the ground. Emperor was using his peerless Psionic Energy to sanitize him; as the filth of the Warp touched the golden energy, it ignited into flames and was thoroughly erased from the material universe, yet Magnus showed no signs of waking.

Hogg, having finished off Kairos Fateweaver, had sealed the creature within his own body. It wouldn't take long to digest, but for now, he was forced to remain in his monstrous form.

Seeing the Adeptus Custodes withdraw and Emperor checking Magnus's condition with Malcador, Hogg felt he was no longer needed and prepared to find a corner to lie down and digest his meal. After all, Kairos Fateweaver was a renowned Lord of Change; such a delicacy deserved to be savored slowly.

Just as Hogg reached out a claw to push open the heavy doors, Emperor spoke:

"You mutt, who told you that you could leave? Get back here."

The flat, emotionless tone made Hogg, who knew Emperor well, wince. Even the tail swishing behind him stiffened, and he reluctantly shuffled back in front of the two.

"Father! Did you need something from me?"

Standing ten meters tall, Hogg rubbed his four sharp claws together in front of him, his hideous, massive head contorted into a fawning expression. It had to be said, his survival instinct was incredibly strong.

Looking up and down at the creature acting as if it were sincerely admitting its faults, Emperor sighed:

"Sigh! It's clear you did a good job this time, so I won't beat you. But if I hear even a whisper of gossip about me, don't blame me for burying my own son.

Also, this is Malcador, the Sigillite of Imperium and my closest confidant. You will be under his supervision for a while; don't you dare stir up any more trouble for me."

The obedient and sensible Hogg raised four claws to swear to the heavens, "I shall be the most filial son to Father."

The old man standing to the side looked at Hogg without a word. To Malcador, Hogg was a participant in his and Emperor's plans, as well as a gift of fate.

Having simulated the future countless times, they had discovered that the dark destiny of humanity was impossible to change. It wasn't until that monster fell from the sky and polluted a continent on Terra that he realized the future had become obscured.

At first, he had proposed eliminating Hogg, just as they had done with other Outworld Wanderer sightings in the past, but Emperor had refused, choosing instead to reshape it into a Primarch.

As expected, Emperor's decision was correct. The fates of several Primarchs had been disrupted by him, muddying the waters and allowing the already exhausted Emperor a moment to breathe.

For this, Malcador was deeply grateful to Hogg; the humanity of his old friend was slowly returning, and there was finally someone else to share the burden.

"You may call me Malcador," came the aged but resonant voice.

"Oh! Of course I know you're Malcador. Not only that, I know you and my dear old dad are so close you might as well be wearing the same pair of pants. If you weren't a man, I'd have to call you Mother.

Hey! When you and Emperor first met, what did he look like? Was he super imposing? Back when I was bored, I even wrote..."

"Shut up!!"

Malcador, who had been feeling grateful, let out a roar and swung his staff. Caught off guard, Hogg was knocked flat to the ground. Just as he was wondering why he had fallen, a golden figure pounced on him and began raining down heavy blows.

Hogg, beaten time and time again, grew angry. Why was he being pummeled when he had finished off Kairos Fateweaver and prevented Magnus's corruption, all for simply blurting out the truth?

A nameless, wicked fire ignited in his heart. Old man, you forced my hand. I'll be a 'filial son' today, then. Dark red Psionic Energy coated his four sharp claws as he swung them out with force.

"You two old lovebirds, don't think I won't fight back! Taste my Supersonic Explosive Claw!"

But this action thoroughly enraged the two powerhouses. Even more brutal techniques were unleashed upon Hogg, and unable to fend off two opponents with four claws, he was pinned to the ground and pummeled.

The two supreme leaders of Imperium were administering family discipline to a Primarch. The Adeptus Custodes standing guard outside silently sealed their helmets and deactivated their audio sensors; after all, for the sake of the masters' dignity, it was better not to hear such things.

Hogg let out a continuous stream of wails, the piercing sound waking Magnus from his coma. However, the moment he recalled his experience of gorging on fruit in the illusion, a wave of nausea hit him.

Magnus, lying on the operating table, began to retch. But a Primarch's digestive system could break down even adamantium, and having already vomited once, Magnus could only heave up a pool of stomach acid.

A slender figure hiding in the corner poked its head out from the shadows. Watching this absurd scene, it pulled a camera from inside its skintight suit and began snapping photos.

"Seeing this is worth dying for!" The one sighing was none other than the infiltrating Alpha.

Magnus, having emptied even his stomach acid, had nothing left to throw up. He could only watch as Emperor and Malcador delivered a mixed-martial-arts beatdown to Hogg, wanting to speak up to stop them but gagging the moment he opened his mouth.

Finally, half a Terran hour later, the noble Master of Mankind and Malcador ceased their discipline.

Having vented their frustration, the two felt refreshed. At the same time, Malcador felt his old friend's humanity had become a bit more complete, which led him to discover a blind spot.

Hogg, lying on the floor, had been beaten back to his original form, returning to his height of over two meters. The Kairos Fateweaver he had consumed had been mostly digested under the physical massage. Perhaps because his recent diet was quite nourishing, Hogg felt he had grown a bit, reaching an astonishing two point three meters.

After recovering for a while, Hogg climbed up from the floor. Feeling a bit of discomfort in his stomach, he let out a "blegh" and spat out two skulls. Shaking the slime off them, Hogg held the two skulls and walked over to stand obediently beside Magnus.

Emperor, seated in his chair, looked at the weak and powerless Magnus before shifting his gaze to Hogg.

"Hogg, what did you two do in that illusion? Why did Magnus end up like this, and why would that piece of trash suddenly target the two of you? Tell me the truth."

"Father, this is all Magnus's fault. I am a remarkably good person!" Hogg, who was busy trying to polish the bones in his hands until they were smooth, hurriedly shifted the blame.

"The sequence of events is as follows: Magnus thought I had no brain and interfered with his experiment. But who am I? I am the brilliant scientist among the Primarchs who inherited your research capabilities!

So we argued. Magnus said he discovered a magical place in the Warp filled with friendly little sprites, and his solution was told to him by the creatures inside."

Emperor, his face calm, turned to look at the trembling Magnus: "It seems I have been too indulgent with you. Did I not warn you never to trust anything from the Warp?"

Emperor's words made the already weak Magnus tremble; a massive sense of guilt swept through his heart, as if he were about to die.

"Continue."

"Later, he wanted to take me to see the illusion, but I can distinguish the disguises of demons. I discovered that this was all a conspiracy by the Chaos Gods. So, I thought of a way to lure you over.

I have to say, I am truly ingenious. I think this method should be published to every Legion, so that we can have the strongest..."

"Thud!" A staff struck Hogg's skull, producing a crisp sound and successfully interrupting his heretical thoughts. The force was just right—enough to stun him without damaging his brain.

Realizing he had almost lost control of his mouth and accidentally spoken his inner thoughts, Hogg gave Malcador a look of gratitude and continued to recount the events.

"You know my abilities; the sorcery of the Warp cannot blind my eyes. I unleashed my Psionic Energy directly, forcing everything around me to revert to its true form."

"The demon disguised as a Djinn rushed over to finish me off, but when he realized he couldn't beat me, he started calling for reinforcements. Still, given my strength, I wouldn't necessarily have lost; if you hadn't arrived, I might have devoured them all myself."

Twirling the skull of Kairos Fateweaver, Hogg put on a disloyal expression as if none of this concerned him, even fanning the flames: "Old Man Yellow, hurry up and beat Magnus up! He's a complete fool; perhaps a good thrashing will knock some sense into him?"

Ignoring Hogg's provocation, Emperor and Malcador exchanged a glance and understood exactly what had transpired.

Presumably, the portion of Hogg's memories that could not be read contained the experience of Magnus being deceived.

This guy wanted to ruin Tzeentch's scheme, but he was too cowardly to fight alone, so after calling for backup and being discovered, he was dragged into a protracted struggle. When the demon army appeared, he tried to drag Magnus away, only for them to arrive just in time.

Having figured out the sequence of events, the two tacitly chose not to expose Hogg's little tricks. After all, it's not good to beat a child too often, so they decided to indulge his fragile ego.

"Then what is going on with Magnus? His Psionic Energy is fading away."

Once Magnus regained his senses and realized he had been hoodwinked like a fool for so long—and had even eaten so many of those fruits—a wave of nausea washed over him.

Psionic Energy is a highly idealistic force; even a Primarch, after the experience of eating excrement raw and doing sit-ups in a cesspit, felt a deep sense of revulsion and disgust in his heart.

Moreover, Magnus had been saved by Hogg, the very runt he had always looked down upon, which caused him to begin denying everything he stood for.

The moment he began to deny himself, his Psionic Energy started to drain from his body, and even his skin tone began to lose its vibrant crimson hue.

Noticing something was wrong, Hogg was startled by Magnus's current state and hurriedly pulled a photograph from his Dimensional Pocket, thrusting it in front of Magnus.

Seeing the photo of himself gorging on the fruit, his face splattered with juice, Magnus recalled that slimy, disgusting sensation and began to retch again, though the drain of his Psionic Energy was successfully paused.