Emperor's Bane

Chapter 1027 The Righteous Duo

"Ariman, Ariman!"

"What's wrong, Lord Zhuang Sen?"

"Help me draft a proclamation: I will issue orders to Avalon regarding the sudden disappearance of Saint Gilles' flagship."

"Missing?"

"But Lord Johnson: Lord Saint Gilles's flagship has already arrived at the designated starport."

"It's even a few hours faster than the scheduled time."

"..."

"Damn it!"

"That bastard was indeed prepared!"

------

finally.

No one cared why Baal's archangel arrived at the port of Gulgrad earlier than scheduled.

No one cared that the ship Saint Gilles arrived on was not the same one he had departed on.

Similarly, no one seemed to care that among the Dark Angels troops that Zhuang Sen had brought to Avalon, and among the elite troops of the Internal Affairs Department under the Dawnbreaker Legion, a group of soldiers seemed to have silently left their posts without asking permission, and returned to the barracks a few days later with resentment and regret. Their superiors and subordinate units turned a deaf ear to this.

The fast warships that were secretly mobilized, the luxurious villas that were heavily guarded, the media agencies that were meticulously monitored, and the high-ranking officers and diplomats on the Aurora who were urgently summoned and then hastily dismissed a few days later.

Their composed expressions suggested that something important had almost happened, but ultimately it had slipped through their fingers and gone as history had planned.

Perhaps it was the caution and wisdom of some people that came into play.

Or perhaps it could be said that those beasts that were originally ready to strike, at the last moment, either fearing the escalation of the situation or unable to bear it, ultimately did not choose to wield their claws.

But whatever the reason, with the transport ship carrying Saint Gilles landing in Gulgrad in a clandestine yet not entirely secretive manner, and its public appearance before various representatives on the Far Eastern frontier, the best opportunity to target this Archangel Baal has undoubtedly passed.

In the time that followed, even though Saint Gilles simply obeyed Avalon's arrangements, staying in the land of Gulgrad to enjoy the "hospitality," without making any public demands or taking any significant actions that would attract outsiders' attention, his every move still affected the nerves of the entire Avalon.

Countless people will pay attention to him: even if this visiting demigod disappears from the spotlight for just a short while, he will cause countless vortexes in the shadows.

From another perspective, this soft cage also became Saint Gilles' best protection in the Far East: even the beast hiding in the shadows, who once harbored certain thoughts about his own blood brother, had to be cautious and suppress his ulterior motives in the face of this situation.

Since that was the case, the archangel Baal conveniently forgot about what had happened before.

The ship he was on?
Isn't it always the same ship?
No one wanted to speculate about what had almost happened, not even the parties involved or the victims.

……

The same applies to Ahriman.

After all, this matter has nothing to do with him.

Even though a long time had passed, when he saw the face of the Lord of Caliban again, which showed both emotion and regret, and recalled that conversation, Ahriman couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect.

As expected of Lord Zhuang Sen: he easily devised something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

And speaking of which, the Primarch's inquiry about the [restraint] device with warp power a few days ago was actually intended for this kind of thing?

It makes sense: ordinary house arrest probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to that seemingly kind and gentle angel.

Tsk!
If I had known, I should have recommended the imported goods I got from Fabius to him.

Ahriman shook his head inwardly, and sighed with regret: opportunities to use the Primarch as experimental subjects are not many.

If he actually succeeds, even without any groundbreaking results, at least he can post a few benchmark papers in Avalon's psionic academic journals: although he certainly can't publicize the results, at least he won't have to worry about academic funding for the next quarter.

If we can actually obtain some useful data, even if it is discovered and we are retaliated against later, it will still be worth the price of admission.

Whenever he thought of this, Ahriman felt heartbroken and regretted that he hadn't been able to join in.

Ultimately, however, such regrets were merely interludes in life. The truly important issues always loomed large before Ariman: in just over ten minutes, he would have to confront them personally.

"136-6 has already given a response."

"Permission granted to dock."

"Lord Guilliman welcomes us."

The report from the servant pulled Ahriman back to reality. He subconsciously nodded to the hardworking official, then turned and walked into Zhuang Sen's office.

He needed to report this matter to the Primarch, which was Ahriman's temporary responsibility: at this summit involving two Primarchs and three Legions, Ahriman's role was that of a temporary squire of Johnson, roughly equivalent to Morgan's Rana or Johnson's Coswayne.

Clearly, this was an ill-timed arrangement.

However, Avalon is currently facing a shortage of manpower.

Morgan's expedition, while not draining the entire bloodline of the Dawnbreaker Legion, left behind a relatively small number of elites, which, in peacetime, could only barely support the basic structure.

If any unexpected situation arises, then we'll have to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, there is probably no bigger black swan in the world than the sudden arrival of an archangel.

Receiving Saint Gilles requires manpower, as does secretly monitoring the defenses between Saint Gilles and the Blood Angels. Dealing with external reactions and espionage also requires manpower, not to mention that Zhuang Sen happened to be on a visit abroad at this time, so even more manpower is needed to replace him.

However, the elite legions capable of hosting these major events are never many, no matter the era.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Ahriman was temporarily assigned to his current position due to the sudden appointment by the Lord of Caliban just before his departure.

He adapted... well, not badly.

Compared to Magnus, whom he had previously served, Johnson was not an unacceptable superior.

Being around him requires a strong heart: you never know what crazy plans a lion is thinking.

A Primarch is being placed under house arrest?
snort!
If this had happened decades ago, he would indeed have been surprised.

As he was thinking, Aliman pushed open the door.

He noticed Zhuang Sen frowning at the stack of documents he was looking at.

"grown ups."

Ahriman offered a reminder.

"We'll be setting off in fifteen minutes."

"You should prepare first."

"Ok, I know."

Zhuang Sen nodded solemnly: but judging from his unchanged attire and the disheveled hair from long hours of work, Ahriman didn't think the lion had taken his words to heart.

Oh well: it was just a private meeting anyway.

He comforted himself inwardly.

As a member of the Dawnbreakers, he knew that Lord Guilliman didn't actually care that much about his attire: Lord Morgan had spoken to him on several occasions in his everyday clothes, or even in his furry pajamas.

More than that, he was curious about what was making Zhuang Sen frown.

"Want to know?"

The Lord of Caliban saw through this idea and then handed over the document directly.

"It's actually nothing."

As Ariman accepted the cup somewhat awkwardly, Zhuang Sen silently picked up his hot tea.

“Saint-Gilles just wrote me another letter.”

The Primarch shook his head, his tone full of impatience.

“Since he came to Gulgrad, Saint Gilles has written me a letter every single day without fail.”

"The requests were made again and again, one after another."

"They just won't say what they came here for."

"Absolutely no clues?"

As he looked around, Ahriman asked a question.

"You can't say there isn't any."

Zhuang Sen raised his head and looked at Qianzi.

"Ariman: Do you know why I insisted on including you in the diplomatic corps for this negotiation?"

"Why, sir?"

"Because Saint Gilles repeatedly mentioned your name, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in his various requests."

"Without a doubt: he wants to see you, Ahriman."

"So, I took you away."

The lion stroked its chin, a hint of smugness in its eyes.

“I don’t intend to let him see you so easily until I reach a compromise with Guilliman and figure out what Saint Gilles’ purpose is. Ahriman: it’s good for us to keep him in the Far East.”

Ahriman nodded, accepting the outcome.

But he was still very confused.

"Lord Saint-Gilles wishes to see me?"

"But... I don't have any connection with him, do I?"

"I know."

Johnson confirmed this.

"This is the Ariman I personally approved."

“If you are not entirely trustworthy with me, you should be in solitary confinement right now.”

"..."

"However, on the other hand, the Ministry of the Interior did bring me the latest information on Barr."

"According to them, the Ninth Legion has a very tight blockade of its territory. Even the sentries that were set up beforehand can rarely send out any messages. They can only barely glean some scattered fragments of information. And all of these messages point to the Ninth Legion, which seems to be experiencing a kind of physical mutation genetic disease called Blood Thirst."

"I think this is precisely why the angel came to find you."

"After all, Ahriman, you have... a great deal of authority in the field of these physical mutation-related genetic diseases."

At this point, even Zhuang Sen's gaze towards Aliman became somewhat less confident.

"..."

"Thank you for your compliment, sir."

The former Qianzi, who was also the last person in the galaxy to have experienced the flesh-and-blood mutation, nodded numbly.

I don't know if they've long been indifferent or have simply gotten used to it.

"So what are your plans next?"

"I'm also thinking about this issue."

Zhuang Sen stood up and quickly tidied up the documents he would need later while answering Aliman.

“Initially, I tried to use polite methods to get Saint-Gilles to stay in the Far East for a while.”

"But unfortunately, the welcoming force I sent out just missed Saint Gilles's ship."

"And now, the entire galaxy knows he's in the Far East."

"The situation is indeed somewhat difficult, but from another perspective, it may not be a bad opportunity."

Having packed up the last item, the Lord of Caliban looked down at the world he was about to enter.

His expression was deep and profound.

"At least, we have a greater information advantage than Guilliman in this matter."

"Although, based on what I know about him, he probably knew about Saint Gilles' arrival even earlier than I did."

"But this will only make him suspicious."

"And as long as we can grasp this doubt, we can take the initiative in our conversation and gain some advantage."

"of course."

"All of this depends on the fact that Guilliman and his Five Hundred Worlds can accept our most important conditions."

"If they can't even accept this much."

Zhuang Sen turned around and looked at Aliman.

His gaze sent a chill down the spine of the psionic master.

What a... terrifying gaze.

“You know what, Ahriman?”

Zhuang Sen slowly began to speak.

"If my brother crosses my line."

"Then, I have another purpose in bringing you along, a psionic master capable of fighting the Primarch."

"The psionic flail I asked you for: you haven't thrown it away yet, have you?"

"…Of course, sir."

After a cold sweat and silence, Ahriman nodded. He mustered his courage.

"But you must tell me first."

"What exactly is your bottom line?"

------

"Our bottom line is, of course, to consider the overall situation."

A welcoming procession of six hundred Ultramarines formed a formation in the square that would impress any witness: but compared to the several silver Stormbirds coming towards them, these battle-hardened warriors inexplicably fell behind in terms of imposing presence.

Even though they hadn't seen each other's faces yet, the serious expressions of the Ultra Warriors already spoke volumes about their tension.

Guilliman saw all of this.

Yet he maintained a dignified smile, while lowering his voice to give his heroes their final instructions.

"Did you remember what I said, Valentus?"

"Of course, my lord."

Yingjie nodded.

"Our most important negotiation goal is to abide by the contract with the Wolf God without violating the alliance with Avalon or arousing suspicion from Zhuang Sen; at the same time, we must never let the news of this contract leak out."

"In addition, we also need to find a way to get the entire Far East involved in the Galactic War as late as possible."

"We must not allow that warmonger, Zhuang Sen, to plunge the entire Avalon and the Five Hundred Worlds into war in one fell swoop."

"Yes, that's it."

Guilliman nodded.

"This is our most important objective: we must not yield an inch on this issue."

"We must maintain our independence and not let Zhuang Sen lead us by the nose in everything."

"War is a serious matter: even if one goes to war, it must be after careful consideration."

"And beyond that: wealth, resources, even land on the frontier, whatever he wants, he gets."

“It can even provide assistance in diplomacy.”

"He will need it."

"I don't understand this, sir."

Valentus frowned.

"Any problems with diplomacy?"

"of course."

Guilliman smiled smugly.

“You don’t understand Johnson: his thinking often follows an absolute military perspective.”

"For example, Valentus."

"Although Saint Gilles' sudden visit was certainly unexpected by Johnson."

“But I can bet you: when Johnson recovered from his initial shock, he definitely had ulterior motives.”

"He at least seriously considered keeping Sanguiles in the Far East, or even placing him under house arrest, in order to restrain the Blood Angels Legion and even the entire Horus faction: I even suspect that he had already taken action, but without success."

"..."

Valentus stared in astonishment.

"This...this is impossible, this is completely..."

"Outrageous, isn't it?"

Guilliman looked up at the sky again: the stormbirds were searching for a suitable landing spot.

"It seems incredible to us."

"But don't try to understand beasts with human thinking: Johnson is capable of doing such a thing."

“I can even tell you this, Valentus.”

"Do you know why that guy Zhuang Sen brought Ahriman to this meeting?"

"Because... there isn't enough manpower?"

"That is indeed one reason: but the Dark Angels are not so desperate that they cannot provide him with a deputy."

"And I guess..."

As the hatch and the ramp opened simultaneously without any mishap, Guilliman's brow twitched without warning.

"The reason he brought Ahriman with him was..."

"They must have thought about what would happen if we couldn't reach an agreement in the rest of the conversation."

"He was prepared to make a move."

"Aliman will be the sharpest knife at that time."

"..."

"Then shouldn't we take precautions in advance, sir?"

Valantus's tone became unusually serious: he knew how powerful Ahriman's energy was.

"No need."

Guilliman shook his head.

“In a one-on-one fight, I’m not afraid of Zhuang Sen: he may be a little stronger than me, but not by much.”

"Moreover, I don't think that things could escalate to the point of us going to war."

"We can always reach a consensus."

"Just figure out what he really wants."

------

"What I want is the restraint and obedience of the Ultramarines."

"The entire Far East should, in the short term, at least until I agree, not get too involved in the Galactic War."

"It is long-term neutrality: it is to prevent Guilliman and his brood of behemoths from siding with Horus."

"Even if there is a treaty, he must violate it."

Do you think he will agree?

When the gates opened, Ahriman had time to ask the Lord of Caliban one last question.

"I do not know."

Zhuang Sen honestly shook his head.

“But I am very worried that Guilliman has already made peace with Horus in private.”

"He is very likely already impatient: to mobilize the entire Far East to carve out the biggest slice of the pie for himself in the upcoming galactic war."

"What I'm about to face is very likely a Macurag madman who is eager to plunge into the vortex of war."

"If things get any worse: he might already be prepared to fight me right here and now."

"hiss……"

Ahriman's breathing became heavier.

He looked around.

"Shouldn't we bring more people?"

"It's ok."

Zhuang Sen narrowed his eyes.

“When it comes to one-on-one combat, I’m not afraid of him.”

"As for troop deployment: the few dozen men I brought are enough to deal with these extreme warriors outside."

At this point, the Primarch paused for a moment.

"But the situation shouldn't be that bad."

"We should be able to reach a compromise, and even for Morgan's sake, he is unlikely to break the agreement."

“We can first test his bottom line, for example, by asking for some insignificant things: supplies, wealth, or a few border worlds with low military value.”

"They were even asked to issue a diplomatic declaration: to publicly stand with the Far Eastern frontier and never act on their own."

"In short: the situation shouldn't be too bad."

"Guilliman shouldn't be so foolish as to secretly make peace with Horus behind Morgan's back."

"That's the most he'll ever think."

"What if... he really does have it?"

"..."

The air felt a little cold.

Instead of responding to Ahriman's question, Johnson walked towards the bright sunshine outside the cabin door.

Ahriman followed closely behind.

None of them wore helmets, and the wind of the savage world swept past their eyelids. As far as the eye could see, there were silent Ultramarines and makeshift flags. At the end of a brand-new staircase, the fully armed Lord of Macragge was trying his best to smile and welcome them.

It wasn't a very formal ceremony, so the two brothers didn't stand on ceremony and tried their best to make the atmosphere more intimate.

Even so, as the expressionless Johnson and the insincere Guilliman walked toward each other down the narrow steps, the air in the entire square was still so oppressive that it was almost impossible to breathe.

One step, one step, and another.

Hundreds of hearts pounded simultaneously, whispering the distance between the two Primarchs.

They approached slowly, growing increasingly silent, their auras growing colder and heavier.

It wasn't until Ahriman, standing next to Johnson, and Valentus, standing next to Guilliman, could clearly see each other's faces.

They greeted each other with their eyes, yet without surprise and with a hint of sorrow, they saw that the other's fingers had already stealthily moved towards the weapon at his waist.

Everything is now focused on the two Primarchs.

They remained silent.

The air was so oppressive, so terrifying.

A few seconds later, as if by telepathy, the Spider Queen's two brothers simultaneously opened their arms, startling the battle-hardened warriors present.

Before they could even react...

"Leon! My beloved brother! It's been so long!"

"Robert! Brother! It's so good to see you!"

In the blink of an eye, the silence that had been frozen solid vanished: the two Primarchs embraced each other without any apparent reason, their faces radiant with joy, the demigods' faces beaming with happiness.

They embraced tightly, looking like true siblings to everyone around them in shock.

But no one could find out.

In the unseen shadows, the two Primarchs were greeting each other in voices only they could hear.

……

"Who am I talking to?"

"Johnson, Regent of Avalon."

"And you, brother: who am I talking to this time?"

Meeting Zhuang Sen's sharp gaze, even though he knew it was somewhat irrational, Guilliman hesitated for a moment before responding with a slightly provocative tone.

Guilliman: Macbeth of Mackurag

"..."

Hesitation crossed the faces of the Kaliban.

"Mai...Mai what?"

"..."

Guilliman fell silent.

For a moment, he realized that all the thoughts, opinions, crises, possibilities, and speculations he had had before, as well as his worries about Zhuang Sen himself, seemed meaningless.

Looking into those innocent eyes, untouched by the curse of knowledge.

Guilliman could only sigh.

"Um...it's nothing, bro."

"Please come with me... I'll take you to the conference room."

(End of this chapter)