Fabius Bile's clone of Fulgrim was in the final period before his fall.
It could be said that his pride and complacency had already swelled to their utmost limits, to the point where he looked down on everything.
The Phoenix Lord held himself and the Third Legion to the harshest standards, striving for perfection in every respect.
Naturally, that included loyalty.
Though Fulgrim never said it aloud, he had always believed himself to be the Emperor's most loyal son.
Otherwise, why would the Emperor allow only the Third Legion to bear the aquila, and permit them to bear the name "Emperor's Children"?
The Third Legion's unique privileges stemmed from the fact that they were the most perfect, favored so greatly by the Emperor.
Yet Leman Russ, tempered by the Great Crusade and the Great Heresy, had witnessed the choices made by every one of his primarch brothers. He had long seen through Fulgrim's hypocritical nature.
Fulgrim considered himself the most loyal primarch only because he believed himself the best in every regard—and loyalty naturally counted among those qualities.
He believed all of it was simply his due, requiring no reason.
Fulgrim's loyalty was like a splendid ornament floating on the surface: exceedingly beautiful to behold, yet utterly impractical when put to the test.
At its core, it was merely that Fulgrim's arrogance had become so absurdly excessive that it blinded him.
Now, as Leman Russ whispered those dreadful truths into Fulgrim's ear, a faint crack began to form within the proud Phoenix.
Fulgrim knew that his Chief Apothecary, Fabius, had secretly been studying xenos genes and technology, attempting to incorporate them into the Emperor's Children's gene-seed and make them even more perfect.
But Fulgrim did not care.
Compared to greater perfection, he felt even some risk was a price worth