31. One-Day War (Complete, Combined Chapter)

Karyl lowered his head, looking down at Harkosus III.

From orbit, it appears as a green planet. The lush vegetation, with forests as its main feature, makes the entire planet look beautiful, but its eyes hold neither sorrow nor joy, as if it were observing a corpse.

Konrad Curze Curze stood beside him, inspecting his weapons. The Tech-Priest had offered him several options, including a precision-engineered Boltgun and Power Fist, but Curze didn't seem to like any of them.

He chose only one of them—a not-so-flashy but still powerful Boltgun. However, besides it, his belt and storage compartments were filled with many other gadgets.

Konrad Curze Curze ran his fingers over them, and the rounded objects collided with each other, producing a slightly dull metallic clang. The Midnight Blade moved silently in the darkness behind them, entering the drop pods or boarding the Storm Eagle, fully armed.

According to the intelligence provided by the Ultramarines, most of the Xenos still exist underground, and the Xenos on Mount Three seem to be much more primitive than those on Mount One and Mount Two. The Midnight Blade, of course, don't know the answer, but that doesn't stop them from making preparations.

Regardless of the reason, the killing will inevitably take place.

"Three minutes until the raid begins, Karyl," Konrad Curze Curze said softly after checking the last grenade off his body.

"Do you need this time to be alone?" he asked.

Karyl turned to look at him, looking somewhat surprised. "No, I don't need to be alone—but I'm curious why you think that?"

"Everyone needs time alone, especially when they urgently need to think about and solve problems," Curze replied quietly.

Now, he wears magnificent and imposing armor, his black hair clean and smooth, a far cry from the filthy appearance of the Night Haunter of Nostramo in the past. He has changed a lot, but some things have never changed.

Karyl smiled, shook his head, and said nothing.

"Are you sure?" Konrad Curze Curze asked.

"I'm sure," Karyl said. "I have plenty of time to myself, Konrad Curze. But three minutes like this, standing together calmly, overlooking the danger we're about to face. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"."

"What's wrong, Konrad Curze?"

"I'm not used to you being so blunt," Konrad Curze Curze replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

Karyl couldn't help but chuckle.

Three minutes later, a new rain of fire fell from the orbit of Harkosus III.

Some of them landed in the city as planned, helping the Ultramarines guard the deep pits where Xenos were still emerging, while others went to the forests or wilderness—ground collapses are not just a problem in cities; in those deserted places, these Xenos have also come to the surface and are gathering.

The Macragge's Honour obtained this intelligence through scanning and immediately shared it with the Nightfall and the Firm Resolve. After a brief discussion, the general direction of the strategy was quickly determined.

The War Hounds are the most numerous and are responsible for the frontal battlefield. The Midnight Blade are responsible for airdropping in from the flanks and rear of the Xenos, creating panic. Meanwhile, the Ultramarines can gather their forces and search for their Primarch underground.

This matter is of utmost importance; no one can simply stand by and watch a poisoned Primarch roam freely in the Xenos -infested underground world. Karyl, on the other hand, will be working alongside the Ultramarines.

Actually, he was already there.

--

"You don't look too good, Chapter Master Gage."

"Is it obvious?" Marius Gage retorted.

His words elicited a soft chuckle from the inquirer. Karyl approached him—his drop pod was pre-programmed to land near the city's largest rift. After landing, he entered the rift and, guided by the Ultramarines, met Marius Gage.

The latter's situation was certainly not good. Judging from his still pale face, Karyl was certain that the Chapter Master was most likely still suffering from the torment of the poison.

He approached Marius Gage, who reached out and handed him a Dataslate that had been unlocked beforehand. Karyl took it and saw a complex stream of data flash by. He pressed his thumb on it and began to swipe up and down; the reading time quickly came to an end.

Gage coughed and shook his head wearily. "That's the situation, Instructor Karyl. We found some clues, and some strange murals and altars that shouldn't be there. I won't go into the latter for now, but the former didn't lead us to him either."

"Why not just follow him from the start?" Karyl looked up and asked.

Marius Gage gave a wry smile at the question, "He had already forgotten about us, Instructor Karyl."

"I've seen your description of the symptoms in the intelligence report, but judging from your tone, there seems to be more to it?"

"Yes." Gage pursed his lips, trying his best to remain calm.

"He didn't just forget us; he was hallucinating, believing himself to be in Macragge decades ago. That day, his father was assassinated. And the Primarch at that time—forgive my bluntness, Instructor—couldn't approach him on our own. We could only follow him, relying on his tracks and the sound of his running to track him. But that lead quickly died out. He vanished deep underground. We could still find some clues, but we could never find where he was."

Karyl nodded, then brought up another matter. He placed the Dataslate back on the table, gently but decisively. "I need a little help, Chapter Master Gage."

"Anything," Marius Gage said. He stared intently at Karyl, his tone gentle yet firm enough to split mountains. "What do you need?"

Your blood.

"How much do you want?" Gage asked.

He didn't ask Karyl why he needed his blood, or even investigate what might be hidden behind the question—after hearing Karyl's request, he did only two things.

The first thing he did was ask questions. The second thing he did was draw his combat dagger from his belt and bring it close to his cheek.

He was wearing armor, fully armed, and it wouldn't be convenient to take it off now. His face or neck was the only place where he could get blood. He traced the tip of his knife across his jaw, cheek, and the small patch of exposed neck, then he asked.

How much would you like, sir?

Karyl stared at him without answering.

For a fleeting moment, Gage felt that those eyes weren't eyes, but two vortexes. Dark vortexes filled with the remains of the dead. He stared at these vortexes, the tip of his knife resting on his left cheek, sinking in slightly.

His skin was pierced, and a drop of blood was squeezed from his vein.

"That's enough," Karyl said, bowing his head, a drop of blood hovering above his outstretched right hand.

Gage was bewildered—he stared at the blood, slowly putting his combat dagger back on his belt. He didn't understand what was happening, but that didn't stop him from observing what was about to unfold.

Is that enough?

"Yes." Karyl looked up at Gage. The blood began to swirl and congeal. It was just a drop of blood, an insignificant drop, yet it began to emit a chilling hum.

"Blood is a rather important concept in many witchcraft and mythologies, Chapter Master Gage. Of course, neither you nor I actually believe in these things, but they do exist."

Gage waited in silence.

"Blood is the source of life," Karyl continued. "Moreover, in all the occult books I've read, they all mention the same concept."

He clenched his right hand.

"The Blood of Father and Son"

The storm gathered, Gage's heart began to pound.

"It can evoke a certain connection."

The temperature dropped, the air was as cold as ice, and the place was as dark and deep as hell.

Frost began to form all around, and the Auxilia who were busy on the front lines stopped in their tracks, as if a video had been paused.

The drop of blood began to spin faster and faster, the buzzing intensifying, becoming high-pitched and shrill. Gage's hearing and sanity began to be destroyed by it; he gasped for breath, almost collapsing to the ground, but a hand helped him up.

Karyl Lohars stood beside him, his eyes pitch black, as serene as the dead.

"Get ready, Chapter Master," he whispered. "You can close your eyes now, just like taking a nap. After all, where we're going next, we won't need to keep our eyes open."

Gage did as he was told, his questions stuck in his throat. He felt as if he had entered an unknown world, his reason screaming, but the footsteps of Karyl Lohars echoed in front of him. All around was darkness, Gage knew he was stepping onto an unknown path, but he was fearless.

He simply moved forward.

He will find Roboute Guilliman.

He swore he would—

"--Where are we?" Marius Gage suddenly opened his eyes.

"Good question." Karyl nodded at him. "I'd like to know too, but I can't tell you. I saw a book about this ritual in the Emperor's library, and this is the first time I've used it. Looks like we succeeded."

Gage ran his fingers over the belt, pulled out his Boltgun, and began to look around.

He hadn't brought a helmet when he arrived, but now he could clearly feel its presence. The readings on the goggles paused silently, as if they weren't being used. Several warning runes flashed on his retina, baring their fangs and claws like roaring monsters.

Through the eyepiece, Gage saw a forest and a path through it.

He lowered his head, trying to glean more information from the soil that could help them in their current situation. But when he lowered his head, he didn't see soil; instead, he saw hundreds of millions of wriggling maggots, densely packed, some already beginning to molt, while others still retained the tender whiteness characteristic of larvae.

They intertwined and twisted, staring at Gage with their black eyes.

Gage's finger slammed into the trigger.

He almost fired—if he hadn't realized he was actually standing on thick frost, he probably would have.

"These ice"

"It's my power," Karyl replied calmly, his back to him. "I am a Psyker, Gage Chapter Master. Using psionic energy can cause various supernatural phenomena, with frost and temperature drops being among the most common."

Gage agreed with him, but remained silent. He followed Karyl, gun in hand. The forest was quiet and dark, the bark of the trees a sickly yellow, the leaves long dead, yet clinging to the bare branches, blocking out the light.

There was a rotten smell in the air, so strong it could even penetrate the filtration system of the breathing grilles. Gage felt an urge to vomit, but he resisted. They continued deeper, and the further they went, the quieter the world became, and the light almost completely disappeared.

The frost crunched under the iron boots, and Karyl Lohars' voice rang out again after a while, still calm.

With just one sentence, he calmed Gage down and helped him regain his composure.

"Think carefully, Chapter Master Gage," he said. "Do you think we're still on Harkosus III?"

"This doesn't seem like it." Gage decided to tell the truth.

He gripped his gun, scanning his surroundings warily, alert to the darkness. "The natural environment on Harkosus III could be described as beautiful, and although it may have been damaged quite a bit, it certainly wouldn't have become like this."

"That's true. So, where do you think we are now?"

". I have no idea."

"You must give an answer, Chapter Master." Karyl stopped and turned around. The eyes in the skull mask gleamed coldly, and the cloak writhed at his feet as if alive.

Gage felt a little uneasy about his request and asked, "I can only offer a guess at most, Instructor Karyl. You brought me here, and I know absolutely nothing about witchcraft."

"Then let's guess, Gage," Karyl said. "This spell is essentially just a trick, a trick to find someone. It was my power that changed it, bringing us here, but you are the true owner of that blood."

"You and Roboute Guilliman share a blood tie, an indelible fact. No matter where he is or what he's suffering, that bond will never be broken. So, speak your mind."

Marius Gage felt a sense of absurdity—if someone had told him these things before, he would have rebuked them without hesitation with Imperial Truth. But after everything he had experienced, he could no longer view Imperial Truth with normal eyes.

At this moment, he stood in this dark and decaying forest and slowly took a breath.

"We are, we are now, with Roboute Guilliman."

Gage began, glancing at Karyl, who remained silently watching without making a move, which gave him the confidence to continue.

"We are by his side, we are protecting him, we--"

Gage abruptly stopped speaking. He trembled, feeling a strange and heavy force binding his limbs and beginning to greedily draw energy into him. It had no consciousness, only instinct. Gage painfully closed his eyes, offering no resistance.

His eyes were closed, yet the world before him began to shift. The darkness dissipated, and thousands of rapid, frantic images flashed by. These images were his past memories, everything about "Marius Gage." The power continued to penetrate deeper, relentlessly, without pause, it simply continued. In intense pain and torment, Gage opened his mouth, trying to scream, but no sound came out.

The image continued to flicker until it finally stopped at a certain critical point, and the pain subsided along with it. Gage looked at the image and felt his eyes well up with tears. He saw Roboute Guilliman in his ceremonial armor, and he also saw Macragge and the Ultramarines.

They had only recently reunited, and Roboute Guilliman was giving a speech to the entire Macragge.

He announced his new identity, the name Ultramarines, and several other things. He told the people of Macragge that these giants were his sons, possessing his blood and his heart. They would stand together, side by side, to bring a better future to Macragge.

Gage was standing right beside him then. He watched the Primarch's golden hair flutter in the joyful air and listened to the music playing below. His heart skipped a beat.

He would remember that scene forever, until the day he died. He would always remember the vow he made at that moment: he would protect Macragge, he would protect...

He will protect Roboute Guilliman.

Yes, Roboute Guilliman —his Primarch, his father, his brother, his friend.

Gage finally screamed, satisfied with its power, and moved away on its own, as if it were harmless, merely a creature that fed on emotions. It did this with utter naturalness.

A strong sense of detachment followed, Gage gasped for breath like a drowning man emerging from the water. He opened his eyes, his entire face covered in sweat, and something that looked like blood or tears was flowing from his eyes.

Only then did he realize that he was kneeling on the ground, and the forest was gone. He was kneeling on a grassy field, and not far away, a giant lay on the ground with his eyes closed.

"You did it, Gage." Karyl's voice came from above him, but he remained calm, as if he had foreseen this.

But for some reason, Marius Gage could detect a hidden emotion in his voice, an emotion that shouldn't be present in Karyl Lohars.

Gage looked up, as if to ask a question, but Karyl, as if having foreseen it, lowered his head and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Rest for a while, take a deep breath, Gage. The power that trick summoned didn't come without a price. I paid the vast majority of it for you, but you still endured unimaginable torment. Take a deep breath, you'll recover."

But what about him?

Gage asked silently—Where is Roboute Guilliman?

He turned his head and looked in the direction of his Primarch. Astartes' eyesight was so excellent that he could clearly see Roboute Guilliman's face.

His face was withered, his cheeks gaunt and clenched, his blond hair faded to an almost pure, pale white. His skin, however, had turned a decaying yellow, repulsive and terrifying.

"I will take him back," Karyl said calmly, sounding less like a promise and more like a statement of fact.

Gage tried to answer, but exhaustion overwhelmed him before he could speak. He collapsed to the ground, his form gradually dissipating, returning to where he belonged.

Karyl strode forward, and black flames leaped from the void, climbing up his body and burning fiercely.

He spoke calmly, "Do you really want just one of them?"

No one answered; only the grass swayed in the breeze.

"Konrad Curze Curze, Angron, and now Roboute Guilliman. Are they important to you?"

Still no response.

"I'm here to take him away," Karyl said. "I don't care what price you paid, or what Tzeentch used to entice you into his plans. I just want to tell you one thing: I'm taking him with me."

"So, you're not going to let him decide for himself?" a voice suddenly rang out.

The voice was ancient and deep, gentle, carrying the fragrance of trees, grass, and earth. But it was also sinister, hoarse, like the last breath of a terminally ill person, carrying an unbearable stench of decay.

Karyl laughed—what else could he say? He wasn't surprised. Once, twice, three times. It was always them, always them. If he were just an ordinary person, he might never have been able to find even a trace of any of them in his entire life, but he was not an ordinary person, nor were the Primarch.

So sooner or later, they will come looking for them.

They will always come, like the devils behind the door. If you keep knocking on the gates of hell, they will definitely come for you.

But Roboute Guilliman never knocked on the door.

"Decid what?" Karyl retorted. "You've crossed the line."

The voice laughed and actually began to introduce itself.

"Nurgle, if you don't know how to address me, you can use this name. But, God of Vengeance and Hatred, you are wrong about one thing. I have not overstepped my bounds, nor have we. They belong to us. Didn't the Fire Thief tell you that?"

"He stole power from us and bound it within the small cage he built himself. These children could have possessed more beautiful and outstanding forms, but he kidnapped them with his terrible and greedy ambition."

"I have not overstepped my bounds, God of Vengeance and Hatred. And if you return to us, you will understand that everything I have said is true. Yes, I paid a price for crossing the line, but a price I didn't have to pay, just like you. And this time, what price will you pay?"

"So you should ask the person Deceit you. For example, what exactly was hidden in your agreement that allowed you to barely stay in that fragile world."

"I am not a god," Karyl said coldly, offering no further response to Nurgle's long-winded explanation.

"You will be," Nurgle chuckled, whispering to him through the swaying of the grass.

"My cunning friend or foe invited me a long time ago. He told me the whole plan, and what might happen next, including your arrival. So, I'm not really surprised. You want him back, don't you?"

"We're taking him back."

"A tiny difference in wording. You seem to be using this to mock me, to think I only see him as a tool? Fine, bring it on."

The Nurgle sounds gradually faded away, replaced by a foul-smelling wind.

Karyl calmly raised his right hand and grasped a leaf that had drifted in from afar. It was both vibrant and decaying, riddled with holes and incredibly fragile. Through the holes, Karyl could just make out the figure of Roboute Guilliman.

"Come on," Nurgle whispered. "Let him choose for himself."

Without hesitation, Karyl crushed the leaf.

Update complete. This section will end tomorrow.