Bona suddenly put down his pen. He had sensed something.
Through the Warp Mirror, he saw what was happening in the real world.
An enormous fleet hung high in orbit, pouring down a torrent of fire.
Drop Pods landed across the planet's surface, and Astartes in white armor charged out, slaughtering innocent people indiscriminately with their Bolters.
People fled in panic, though some brave souls brandished weapons and charged back at the army.
But against such efficient slaughter, their resistance was pitiful.
Massive Titans advanced with ponderous steps, each capable of destroying a city with a single shot.
On the ground, the Astartes advanced steadily, efficiently slaughtering masses of unarmed people alongside the mortal troops.
Bona recognized them. They were the XVI Legion.
And amid those tightly packed ranks, Bona spotted that figure at once.
He let out an angry murmur.
"Horus..."
Bona put away his book, then stood up.
It was time for him to kill this evil traitor and put an end to that prophecy.
"Warmaster, something is wrong with these enemies."
Abaddon made his report, then looked ahead.
"What are these things?"
The planet's surface, which should have been barren, had become a world of muddy swamps and rotwood forests.
And these "rebels" charged recklessly at the Imperial Army like the living dead. Even several gunshots did nothing to them, yet a single thrust from their rotten weapons could bring down even an Astartes.
"Do not panic. Advance steadily, and call in the fleet's guns to clear away that strange vegetation," Horus commanded calmly.
More than anything, he wanted to know what had happened here.
Suddenly, he heard a shriek.
"Horus!----------"
Space tore open in front of the Imperial Army's lines, spilling torrents of shimmering light onto the planet's surface.
An enormous figure slowly stepped out of the rift.
He had cloven hooves like a goat's, with thick muscles above them.
His body was clad in heavy, decaying iron armor, and countless tiny tentacles wrapped around his powerful arms. He held a Chainsword in one hand and the Twisted Longsword in the other.
A pair of enormous bone wings grew from his back, and a tail swayed behind him.
His head, crowned with two enormous black horns, radiated light that burned like flame.
The Imperial Army troops present froze.
"By Terra, what is that thing?" an Astartes exclaimed.
The monster locked onto Horus almost instantly. Even that brief meeting of their eyes was enough for Horus to feel his overwhelming killing intent.
"Kill it!" Horus ordered.
A torrent of ammunition poured forth, but everything from the mortal soldiers' light rifle rounds to the Titans' heavy artillery shells stopped before the monster, as though time had frozen.
The monster gave a mocking laugh. Space around him instantly began to warp, and his figure suddenly blurred.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Horus, his enormous Chainsword roaring as it smashed toward Horus's head.
Horus swung his right hand up and blocked the terrifying blow. The impact drove him to his knees and cracked the earth beneath him.
But the monster thrust his other sword at him, so fast that even Horus, a Primarch, could not react.
Instinctively, he swung his Power Maul, Worldbreaker, to block the strike, but the terrifying force still sent him flying.
Only then did the surrounding Wolf Guard react, attacking the monster.
But the slight distortion in the space around him made it impossible for many of the warriors to aim properly, leaving them no choice but to charge in with their weapons raised.
With a single irritated punch, the monster sent Company Captain Abaddon flying, then swung his Chainsword faster than the Astartes could see, cutting the Wolf Guard in half at the waist.
Yet the surrounding Astartes continued to charge heedlessly, buying time for their father.
The monster seemed irritated. A mere flicker of his eyes set scores of Sons of Horus ablaze where they stood, and a sweep of his hand unleashed a vast torrent of lightning, reducing the noble Astartes to a pulp of blood and iron.
Gravity suddenly surged from nowhere, dragging many Astartes into the air before a terrifying force crushed them alive into a ball of iron.
A Titan's cannon finally unleashed a devastating shot, only for it to be stopped.
Then the monster blurred again and vanished in an instant.
A moment later, he appeared at the Titan's feet.
With agility utterly at odds with his size, the monster tore a leg straight off a Titan. The enormous machine toppled, crushing a Knight that failed to get out of the way.
The brave Knights launched a charge, advancing toward the monster with heavy strides. But before him, they moved as haltingly as old men on the verge of the grave, and his Chainsword effortlessly hacked them to pieces.
Only then did Horus stagger to his feet and see the monster wantonly slaughtering his sons.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, then shouted:
"Is slaughtering the weak all you can do, you filthy thing?!"
The monster looked over, then flung aside the Knight hanging from his Chainsword.
Horus felt that he smiled.
His bone wings began to beat, and he accelerated instantly in defiance of the laws of physics, charging right up to Horus.
Before Horus could react, he could only hastily block with Worldbreaker. The Power Maul was knocked away, and the monster immediately pinned Horus to the ground and dragged him along it, leaving a deep furrow.
When they stopped, a brutal punch slammed straight into Horus's face. He had barely begun to raise his Wolf Claw to stab the monster in the abdomen when the monster moved faster, stamping down and breaking his right hand.
Then he felt a chill in his chest. The Twisted Longsword plunged into Horus's chest cavity, and a bone-deep cold instantly spread throughout his body.
The monster raised his sword high as though displaying a trophy, with Horus dangling from its blade.
An even fiercer barrage immediately rained down around him. Even the warships in orbit began bombarding him without regard for friendly troops.
But none of it worked. This time, all the incoming fire hung frozen around him, as though time itself had stopped.
A Warp Rift suddenly opened beside the monster. He casually tossed Horus into it, then swaggered in after him.
The XVI Legion fell silent.
Thus began the most destructive and lethal rebellion in the history of the Imperium of Man, known to history as the "Horus Heresy."
And Horus Lupercal was the first Primarch loyal to the Imperium to fall.
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