"What?" Leman Russ roared in shock when he heard this. He had not made it to the Siege of Terra and knew little of its many details. He only knew that Uncle Malcador, whom he so deeply admired, had been sucked dry by the Golden Throne until nothing remained but ashes.
Nor had he wished to dwell too deeply on it. They were old memories that broke his heart and were of no use to his current mission. But with Lin Fan's explanation, his somewhat cooled heart was slowly rekindled by rage.
But Lin Fan did not notice Leman Russ's emotional shift. Pointing at what little dignity Magnus had left, he continued, "If you hadn't smashed through the Webway and caused the Throne to go out of control, how would Malcador have died? If he could have remained to supervise and reform the Imperium's administrative institutions, how could humanity possibly be suffering beneath this bloated bureaucratic machine today?"
"Lies! They're all lies!" Magnus screamed, shaking his head desperately. "The Golden Throne was a dangerous device to begin with! Malcador's death warned me! If I had followed Father's wishes, I would have become the next poor wretch drained dry by the Throne!"
"You? A naive, childish idiot like you? Do you really think you were qualified to sit upon the Throne? The Emperor and Malcador never included you in the plan from the beginning! They always doted on you as if you were a child!"
"No... That's not true... That's not true..."
"When you invaded Terra, did you see the palace beneath the ground? Hmm? That was the residence the Emperor prepared for all of you."
"I didn't see it! I didn't see it!"
"Stop running from reality! You know you were wrong, so why are you unwilling to admit it?