Mortarion said nothing. He merely buried his nose in his fanged ghost mask, hunched his neck, and drew a long, deep breath.
Amid the black smoke curling around and obscuring his vision, Death Mortarion's figure was hazy.
This was madness.
Mortarion thought to himself. He slowly stepped forward and indifferently watched Death Mortarion issue orders to the Death Guard—while his own troops had long since been sent back by Mortarion, since there might have been more "spiritual Ultramarines" among them than in the Death Guard.
Mortarion had simply allowed them to return to Barbarus on another timeline and let the Legion tear itself apart from within.
He stood listlessly, slightly behind and beside Death, listening absentmindedly to Death's orders. Then the entire ship began to shake violently. The engines warmed up, and after a huge, muffled buzz, it surged toward the front lines.
They were still some distance from the front, at least farther than the Ultramarines currently holding the line. But judging by the speed at which the Outsider was rushing toward them, the two sides would likely meet within half a day.
Throughout it all, Death Mortarion treated the Traitor Primarch as though he were dead. He merely kept his head down, reviewing document after document submitted by the Death Guard and signing order after order.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Traitor Primarch caught phrases among those papers like "full mobilization" and "unsealing containment devices."
But he still had no interest. He languidly inhaled his poison gas until Karras, clutching a stack of documents, kicked the door open with a bang and stormed furiously toward Death Mortarion.
At the sight of Karras's momentum, both Mortarions shuddered at once.
Fortunately, the sharp-tongued Karras did not spare the Traitor Primarch even a glance. He merely rushed over,