Horus deflected Abaddon's attack once more, then kicked him to the ground.
He shook the blood from his Lightning Claw and gazed coldly at Abaddon, who lay on the floor coughing up blood.
"Ha, cough, cough..."
Abaddon spat out the blood in his mouth and staggered to his feet, bracing himself against a nearby Flesh-Machine.
"My dear father, do you truly believe that what you do must be just?"
"Look at humanity under the Corpse-Emperor's name. Ignorant, depraved, even cowardly. They lost the courage they had ten thousand years ago long ago."
"Ignorant Ministorum Priests and vicious Planetary Nobles exploit everyone in the Corpse-Emperor's name, while the rotten institutions on Terra drive planet after planet mad every moment."
"You think killing me will make the Black Legion fall apart. But the truth is, they gathered of their own accord, joining me out of hatred for the Imperium and the Corpse-Emperor."
But Horus remained unmoved, watching Abaddon in silence.
"True, the Horus Heresy ten thousand years ago killed the Great Crusade."
"But if everyone gives up hope, then the Great Crusade will have failed completely, and the Emperor's final wishes will be utterly extinguished."
"If seeing humanity's ugliness is enough to drive you to despair, then you are nothing but a coward."
Abaddon sneered.
"Not necessarily."
The next instant, Abaddon's right index finger moved, pressing some unknown switch.
Horus lunged at Abaddon like a thunderbolt, but Abaddon flickered and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Horus looked around. Abaddon's presence had disappeared completely. In fury, he smashed a console with his claw and roared.
He scanned his surroundings. The Daemon Sword lay on the floor, giving off black mist.
Frowning deeply, Horus took out a small sphere and tossed it over. The Tesseract Labyrinth activated, sealing the Daemon Sword within.