Emperor's Bane

Chapter 120 Another Smart Man
Horus always liked to laugh.

For the Wolf God, a smile is a weapon, a tactic, an attitude, and a habit: like the war between the stars, the heirs of the legion, the pillars of Terra, in Horus In the eyes of his eyes, the smile is a natural part of his life, the invincible invisible sword in his memory, and the most exquisite half-move in his art.

When did this situation start?
I'm afraid even Horus himself doesn't know anymore.

------

After a battle, the room is somewhat messy, but you can still find a place where you can sit down and have a good chat.

The Primarch of the No. 16 Legion was a tall figure, one of the more majestic types even among the Emperor's demigods, and when he sat down he still looked larger than Morgan is too tall, like a giant who fell from the sky among the clouds, lowering his head, observing a shepherdess with difficulty.

The God of the Shepherd was wearing a set of indestructible silver-white armor, and the ferocious black wolf fur was placed on his shoulders. His head was shiny, his jaw was wide, and there were faint wrinkles on his forehead. It looks like an extremely smooth boulder washed by the waves. His skin seems to be very thin. Whenever he makes any expression, internal tissues such as cheekbones and sphenoid bones will be separated from his skin. Being highlighted makes the Shepherd God look a bit old.

And on his breastplate, there are patterns such as thunder and lightning, wolf head and scarlet eyes, etc., telling his identity as the master of the Shadow Moon Wolf Army.

Whenever Horus's smile appeared on his face, more wrinkles would appear on his cheeks, making him look older than his brother, but also more mature and stable.

In Morgan's eyes, Horus's appearance is actually not very handsome, at least in Ms. Spider's aesthetics, the facial features of the Wolf God are not as beautiful as Jonson's, and his bald head also loses too many points : Comparatively speaking, Morgan actually prefers blonde hair, and certain fragments in her genes constantly warn her about the greatness and beauty of gold.

But this did not prevent her from lamenting the unique temperament of Horus in her heart: He just sat there and smiled, and he naturally became a kind of friendly aura belonging to the superior. He was obviously just a normal greeting, greeting, Talking about the world, but the person who talks to him can instinctively feel that this is a great gift, it is the greatest demigod condescending to talk to you because of the noble kindness and open-mindedness in his heart.

You can even believe that his every word and deed really considers you wholeheartedly, and you can trust him completely, because no one in the world cares more about you than he does.

Look at Se James on the other side, a character who dares to confront the Lord of Death with silence and attitude, a character with real reason and wisdom, but his eyes looking at his genetic father, and a man who worships his father There is no difference between the innocent children in the past, but it is mixed with some affinity for close friends.

Compared to his brothers, the Shepherd God is like a real prince, a born noble heir to the empire...

……

and many more……

Something is wrong.

In the depths of her heart that both Horus and Sejame couldn't see, Morgan was also slowly frowning: After the initial almost bewitching light, the real feeling Horus gave her was actually Very strange.

She has seen half a dozen Primarchs, benign and moral or not, cowardly idiots, paranoid geniuses, man and beast in disguise, or pure Giant infants, at least they all have the same characteristic: their essence has not been hidden more, the arrogance, talent and smooth sailing that belonged to the Primarch made them disdain to hide themselves more, because these emperors The emperor's favored children have almost never encountered a moment when they need to make compromises. They don't need, don't agree with, and won't think about covering up their uniqueness.

Magnus never thought of concealing his superiority as a scholar even a little bit. What he did made the entire Thousand Sons Legion consider themselves a greater bearer of destiny. Everything about the Empire of Man.

Although Perturabo maintains indifference and toughness in words, anyone with a clear mind can see his thoughts clearly. Because of this, a kind of depression caused by grievances and neglect Gradually rise up in the Iron Warriors Legion and grow stronger.

As for Jonson and Leman Russ, who seem to be far apart, but are actually [far apart] happy friends, they seem to be more scheming and deep-thinking, and they hide their essence well, but their natural The arrogance and irascibility betrayed them mercilessly: if before, Morgan still had some hesitation about their essence, then after Duran's farce, she has completely seen that these two people wear each other. Guy in disguise.

As for Mortarion...

whispering sound.

------

As I said just now, the Primarchs always disdain to disguise their own essence, or in other words, they have never seriously pretended, because their positioning and strength determine that they do not need these [tricks of the weak].

Cover up your own strength, make yourself look humble and weak, and then use this low profile to spy on other Primarchs: Such behavior completely violates the instincts and worldview of these Emperor's favored children, as well as their The persistence of dignity and the pursuit of glory.

Therefore, when Morgan, a strong enough weak and weak enough strong, broke through the so-called dignity and honor and used such tricks on them, unless he was a truly smart person, nothing could stop him Ms. Spider's invincibility:

Once upon a time, her disguise deceived all Primarchs, because no Primarch really cared about her.

Her eyes were peeking at all the secrets at the same time, because no Primarch really feared her.

On top of this, the more important reason is that they may have never seriously observed the mortals around them, just like the sun that hangs high never really pays attention to the thousands of blades of grass irradiated by it. In self-seeking and dreaming, there seems to be no place where true friendship with mortals is used.

They are not cautious enough, open-minded enough, transparent enough...

Not smart enough.

But Horus, maybe it was an accident.

------

Morgan couldn't see through him.

For the time being, I can't see through.

Obviously, Horus is better at disguising than some of his brothers. This may be due to his nature, or it may be an instinct forced to conceal certain things.

This kind of people.

It seems that he will not be a born prince.

Morgan narrowed her eyes, and she let the corners of her mouth curl up, responding to the impeccable friendly attitude of the Wolf God, and at the same time, her heart was spinning at a high speed, thinking and analyzing: since Jonson [Exploded] After revealing her true identity, the long bad days even took Ms. Spider a few moments to enter the state of thinking and exploring.

And obviously, this time, someone also became interested in her essence. This was no longer a monotonous snooping, but an interesting mutual exploration.

------

"I've heard of your reputation a long time ago, Ms. Morgan."

"Maybe you haven't even noticed how famous your reputation is. Anyone who pays attention to this war will notice your achievements and abilities. You have made more contributions than any dark angel. "

Horus sat there, watching with satisfaction that Morgan's pupils fell into some kind of ignorant confusion in his own words.

"Before this, you never cared?"

[The days in the First Legion taught me not to care about honor, Your Excellency Horus. 】

"Indifferent to fame and wealth... This is indeed a good thing, but there is no need to be so exaggerated."

Horus smiled, and his smile seemed to have an extraordinary magic power. The wolf god spoke slowly and word by word, as if it was the truth in the galaxy.

"Actually, I'm even a little curious, Ms. Morgan, have you never received awards such as honors or honorary titles in the First Legion? In Shadow Moon Wolf, we often give honors to those mortal heroes, after all They are brothers who fought alongside us."

She hesitated for a moment, as if she was really thinking about the words of the God of Shepherd Wolf.

[What the First Legion cares about is not honor, Your Excellency, the Lion King of Caliban prefers to infiltrate every corner of the Legion with the values ​​of responsibility and devotion. 】

Horus blinked, he looked even a little pure and innocent, but in his sight, this silver-haired lady from the First Legion seemed more innocent and transparent.

Horus' smile continued.

"To tell you the truth, Ms. Morgan, I have known many ancient warriors of the First Legion. I had the honor to fight alongside these great warriors before my brother returned. I remember when these Terrans received their honor. They In fact, honor is needed, even if it is occasional."

[But the lion doesn't need it. 】

Her words were firm, causing Horus to fall into an extremely brief silence.

"My brother told you so?"

[Not only me, but everyone in the entire First Legion. 】

The God of Shepherd Wolf nodded, his pupils flashed with contemplative light.

"I hope so……"

He was silent for a moment, as if digesting the information, and then he leaned back, looking casual.

"But then again, the First Legion does need honor. They deserve any honor in the galaxy. After all, they are fighting a formidable opponent, an opponent that may have never been stronger."

"This fact alone is enough for every Dark Angel to be honored by the Emperor himself."

【It sounds good, but the lion may not like it. 】

"Yeah, but it's true, and I know... my brother takes responsibility as his honor, doesn't he?"

[It can be said so, Your Excellency. 】

"Then, I'm curious, is this war in the north of the galaxy considered an honor in my brother's eyes? After all, this is his responsibility, and it is a unique responsibility in the entire galaxy. "

【…】

This question seemed to have stumped the silver-haired lady of the First Legion. She lowered her head and fell into a long silence until Horus patted her shoulder with a smile.

"Well, this was my slip of the tongue, Ms. Morgan, and I apologize."

The God Shepherd was laughing, giving out that hearty, apologetic laugh, but there was no smile in his pupils, but a thoughtful gleam.

"I'm just a little worried. I used to have many friends and acquaintances in the First Legion, but now it's hard for me to hear about them. They are all Terrans and famous fighters. You should listen to Said their names, even fought side by side."

Afterwards, Horus spit out the names of more than a dozen big names among the Dark Angels one after another. They were all Terrans, some of them had died in battle, and the rest continued to serve in the legion.

However, in Morgan's answer, there were only battle deaths and disappearances.

"It's not a good thing to be missing in the galaxy."

When Horus said these words, the corners of his mouth did not press down.

"They seem to need a funeral, with corresponding medals and honors, and as Jonson's advisor, you should remind him to do so."

[No one can reverse the will of the lion, Lord Horus, even the veterans of Terra. 】

Horus tilted his head slightly, he nodded slowly, a satisfied smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, this sincere smile was fleeting.

"To be honest, Ms. Morgan, this war is too cruel and long. I am even worried about the real situation of the First Legion—Jonson is always so stubborn and stubborn. He doesn't seem to want to accept our help. .”

"But the emperor clearly gave him the power to issue proposals and orders to various legions as the commander-in-chief of the front line. To be honest, this is the first time such power has appeared. I never thought that the emperor would issue such an order before."

"But... why didn't Jonson make good use of it, it would make the war a lot easier, wouldn't it?"

[...I cannot give you an accurate answer, Your Excellency Horus. 】

[...Maybe just...don't want to? 】

"how you said that?"

[The war and the situation that the First Legion has not settled down, no matter how many people come, it will be useless. 】

Horus laughed out loud, looking at Morgan's ignorant and serious face, a trace of joking and complacency crossed his mind.

"The First Legion is indeed very powerful, Ms. Morgan, but they are not yet the strongest, and perhaps they are not the most trusted and relied upon."

【indeed so. 】

The corners of Horus' mouth curled up, this time with pure arrogance.

【However, if the First Legion really eliminates Ran Dan, this unprecedented opponent is enough to prove that the First Legion is the most powerful and most worthy of the emperor's trust, isn't it? 】

"..."

Horus' laughter stopped abruptly.

(End of this chapter)