Wait, I Have to Fight a Primarch?

After dealing with Erebus and his remaining followers, Lorgar began preparing to build a force of his own.

The Emperor would not arrive for another six months or so. Lorgar needed to use that time to gather people loyal to him.

He also explored his body, learning to wield the power it held.

Sure enough, during his training, Lorgar mastered a psychic ability: he could look into a person's soul and tell whether they had been corrupted.

He also found the ideal candidate to command his First Company.

The boy was only sixteen and served in the personal guard. He was an outstanding fighter with a generous heart.

Lorgar had someone follow him. When he saw that the boy supported several younger brothers and sisters on his own, he made up his mind.

After Lorgar examined his soul, the boy would gradually become his trusted confidant and replace that bastard Kor Phaeron as captain of the Word Bearers' First Company.

Lorgar considered the Emperor's arrival and Horus's betrayal.

The Emperor would find him around the year 857 of the 30th millennium, while Horus's rebellion would begin around the year 4 of the 31st millennium.

The Great Crusade had begun in the year 798 of the 30th millennium. So far, barely a quarter of it had passed.

He still had plenty of time to build his strength and prepare for Horus's possible rebellion.

But there were several major events ahead that he would have to get involved in.

The most important was Angron. Given what the Emperor was like, it was hardly surprising that Angron had been driven to rebel. As someone from another world, Lorgar had to give him a hand if he could.

The nearest major event was the Rangdan Xenocides in the year 890. Space Marines would die in droves; rumor had it that an entire Legion would be wiped out.

Lorgar had no intention of getting mixed up in that mess. Let them fight it out. The Word Bearers would focus on swelling their ranks.

When he finished thinking, a frail boy with a resolute gaze stood before him.

"You're Hercules?" Lorgar bent down and asked with a smile.

"Your Grace..." Hercules lowered his head, afraid to meet Lorgar's eyes.

"I hear you support your younger brothers and sisters all by yourself," Lorgar said slowly.

"Would you like to work for me? In return, your family will live well."

Lorgar did not beat around the bush. He told Hercules outright that he wanted the boy in his service.

As the man in charge of the entire planet, he had no need to talk in circles. Besides, he had looked into Hercules's circumstances. The boy needed this opportunity.

"Yes, my lord! I'd give my life for you!" Hercules answered at once.

Why had he been allowed to join the personal guard at only sixteen? Because he was fearless and willing to fight. And why was he unafraid of death? Because of the family depending on him.

Tying their interests together was the surest way to win his loyalty.

Of course, once the boy became a Space Marine, that would no longer be much of a concern.

Next, Lorgar would have the personal guard carry out a purge and settle accounts with the Covenant Church once and for all.

The night of bloodshed had begun!

If Lorgar had lacked overwhelming power, he might have taken a longer view or built his strength in secret while removing his enemies one by one.

But with his formidable strength and intellect, he arrived at the perfect answer.

Whatever their excuses, I'll beat them all down first.

Bang!

Lorgar stormed the Covenant Church's main cathedral with a band of soldiers. Swinging a massive Mace, he charged at the head of the force. Every believer who blocked his path burst into a cloud of blood.

He did not even need to use his weapon. By charging straight through them, he annihilated an army of more than a thousand believers.

Over a hundred thousand believers fled to the southern end of the planet and seized a City. They declared Lorgar a heretic, accused him of killing Priests Erebus and Kor Phaeron, and proclaimed him a sinner against the Covenant Church whom anyone had the right to kill.

Almost no one on Colchis paid them any attention. Lorgar controlled the major cities, while some outlying regions were so poor that news from outside never reached them. Hardly anyone cared what the rebels said.

It was several days before Lorgar responded.

"They dare rebel now? These aren't ordinary traitors anymore. We need to hit them hard!"

After giving that simple order, Lorgar took several thousand people to the City.

The City the rebels had captured was Khisra, a fortified stronghold surrounded by walls dozens of meters high and a broad moat. More than a hundred thousand troops were stationed inside, with plenty of weapons and equipment.

Any ordinary commander would have struggled to take such a city. But Lorgar was a Primarch.

The thousands who had come with him were ready to die. Lorgar had no need for them on the battlefield, though. They only had to cheer him on from the rear while he got some practice on his own.

As a dark mass of armed Covenant believers crowded the walls, Lorgar charged like a burning meteor.

He moved like lightning. The instant he broke into a run, a sonic boom cracked through the air.

A dense rain of sharp arrows fell toward him, but they might as well have been toys.

They struck Lorgar with crisp clicks and bounced harmlessly away, unable to leave even a white mark on his steel-hard skin.

Lorgar moved at a staggering speed. Within what seemed like nanoseconds, he reached the foot of the wall.

Such was the force behind his strides that every step left a deep footprint in the ground.

At the base of the wall, Lorgar raised his Staff high. It gleamed with a mysterious light beneath the sun.

Lorgar brought the Staff down mercilessly against the wall. The instant it struck, time itself seemed to freeze.

Boom! With an earthshaking crash, a section of wall dozens of meters high, dozens thick, and a hundred meters long shattered as though explosives had detonated within it.

Broken masonry and dust flew everywhere, forming an enormous cloud in the space of a few breaths.

Lorgar had not even used his formidable psychic powers. His strength and speed alone had been enough to demolish the entire section of wall.

As the wall collapsed, countless Covenant Church believers fell screaming. Lorgar did not stop. He charged onward until the entire city was in his hands.