Abaddon watched the golden figure emerge from the smoke and dust, radiating a pressure and familiarity that made even his soul tremble. His crimson eye revealed an unconcealable shock born from the depths of his genes!
"No... impossible..." For the first time, Abaddon's voice lost its arrogant certainty of control, leaving only hoarse disbelief. "You are...? No... this isn't real... Who are you?!!!"
The Black Legion Terminators charging alongside Abaddon were all the Legion's most elite and ancient warriors.
The gene-seed flowing within them resonated irresistibly with the primarch's pressure emanating from the figure before them!
It was a sense of connection born of bloodline, carved into their bones!
They "recognized" the source of that power!
"Father...?" A Terminator unconsciously whispered beneath his helmet, unable to believe his own words.
Like a stone cast into a placid lake, that voice instantly sent silent ripples through the Terminator squad.
The hands gripping their weapons trembled ever so slightly, and their charge faltered.
Abaddon suddenly turned, his crimson eye sweeping across the warriors behind him who had fallen into brief confusion. His gaze brimmed with offended fury and the icy chill of betrayal.
He forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his heart, as well as the genetic connection that had also been stirred—the one he had deliberately twisted and buried—and roared with all his will. His voice became sharp and grating beneath that warped resolve:
"Attack! You fools! That is not our gene-father! This is a vile Imperial conspiracy! A counterfeit imitation! A... woman!!" He pointed at Horus, his tone thick with deliberate contempt. "How could she possibly be mentioned in the same breath as the great Horus?! She is blasphemy! A trick meant to toy with men's hearts! Crush them!!"
"Counterfeit... imitation..." Those words were like cold venom injected into the