Emperor's Bane

Chapter 577 Magnus: Just Russ!
Friends who often kill people know that it is easy to kill but difficult to dismember the body.

For the soldiers of the Empire, this problem is equally tricky. It only takes one bullet to kill an enemy loyal to the Empire, but it takes more energy to wipe out the corpses from the Emperor's land: especially when you are fighting with more enemies.

As an excellent veteran employee from the World Eaters Legion who has worked diligently on the Empire's skull assembly line for more than a hundred years, Kahn has his own insights on this issue: he is always able to keep his thinking divergent in battle, fully mobilize his remaining subjective initiative, and allow the enemy's corpses to achieve reemployment after being laid off.

It can be said that his merits are immeasurable.

For example, by mixing the corpses that had not yet completely cooled down with the rubble at hand and using the viscosity of blood, a temporary defensive structure could be built, and the Astartes praised its effectiveness.

In other words, when there is no time to reload explosive bombs, many completely cold and hard corpses can be used as javelins to shoot down those Shrike Knights with ulterior motives: these simple and easy-to-understand daily life tips have long been integrated into the genetic arrays of all World Eaters.

Of course, everything has some potential negative effects: for example, when you have just led your team to capture a fortress and are piling up the enemy's corpses that have not yet cooled down, planning to launch a defensive counterattack, you find that those dead comrades have walked out of the trenches at the back, holding up the white chess pieces, and are about to talk to you about surrender.

In this case, the bodies in your hands that have just been folded and not yet stuffed together seem a little embarrassing: especially when you realize that the surrenderer and the dead person in your hands obviously know each other, and it seems that they have a good relationship.

Now, Kahn happened to encounter this problem.

Fortunately, his usual expressionless face made the surrenderer dare not say anything. After coughing heavily, Kahn asked his subordinates behind him to check whether this guy was carrying any weapons: he did not think that his behavior was an exaggeration.

You know, not long ago, when the famous Primarch Ferrus was commanding the Battle of Gardenar, he was careless and allowed the opponent's envoy to come to him without checking even though he had the upper hand. As a result, he almost capsized and was killed on the spot by the envoy who was determined to die.

However, some of the Iron Hands present were not so lucky. They were forced to undergo another flesh and blood transplant operation: but this time there was no anesthesia.

What's even more ridiculous is that this was not the only joke that Ferrus and his legion had made in the Battle of Gardenar. The primarch of the Iron Hands Legion, despite having an absolute advantage, ended up fighting the entire war in an extremely ugly and protracted manner.

It's not that Ferrus didn't take it seriously, on the contrary he took it too seriously: Gorgon had decided early on to regard the recovery of Gardenar as the final blow for his campaign for Warmaster, so this pure militant Primarch, this time, contrary to his usual practice, wanted to show off his "political acumen" in the war.

This decision is as ridiculous as Morgan wanting to physically lose weight.

So, the question is, does Ferrus really have a political mind?
Just look at his home planet, which is still unified in name only to this day, and the Iron Hands Legion, which is as broken as a Hydra and will immediately fall into internal strife or even fighting without Ferrus’ personal support.

As a result, the entire Battle of Gardenar eventually turned into a farce that was enough to make any spectator's blood pressure soar: Ferrus's hesitation, the Tenth Legion's intermittent fighting, the military strength of Gardenar that was somewhat beyond the original expectation, and Ferrus's political fantasy of "solving the problem peacefully" that always lingered in his mind, and Ferrus's... squandering of the Ultramarines company that came to support...

In short, it was fortunate that the Empire had two legions to support this battle, and they happened to be the Emperor's Children and the Iron Hands Legion, which had the best cooperation. It was also fortunate that Ferrus finally turned to the violent route at the last moment, and his military command ability has never been offline.

The storm of the Tenth Legion eventually swept across the entire Gardenar, but beneath the glory was unimaginable pain.

As a member of the World Eaters, Kharn had no idea what kind of pain the Iron Hands had suffered in this battle. After all, the XII Legion had never paid much attention to the affairs of other brother legions: generally speaking, the World Eaters were an isolated and introverted legion.

But from another piece of news, Kahn was able to get a glimpse of the situation: Ferrus, who had been confident in the position of Warmaster and was regarded as Horus' biggest competitor, directly announced after this battle that he had given up the competition for the position of Warmaster because he believed that he was not suitable for this position.

Khârn felt nothing about it, but he heard that Horus had immediately charioted to the Tenth Legion after learning that Ferrus had voluntarily given up the election for Warmaster: the Primarch of the Luna Wolves had just finished his visit to the Salamanders, and like a hound with a keen sense of smell, he was looking for any opportunity to secure his position as Warmaster.

Kahn remained noncommittal. He certainly respected the great Horus, but if he were asked to choose the most suitable candidate for Warmaster, it would definitely be his greater genetic father Angron: every Astartes would choose his own father, just as every Astartes believed that their Primarch was the strongest of all Primarchs.

Yes, even the Ultramarines or the Word Bearers would think so.

With equal pride, Khârn witnessed the entire process of Angron's reception of the officers, while his company was scattered around to form a barrier: the Void King fought side by side with Khârn's 4th Assault Company in this battle, and only the unfortunate Kargoth did not receive this honor, because he was thrown to guard the surrendered prisoners with the auxiliary troops behind the legion.

For an Astartes, this safe position is a humiliation and punishment.

The entire surrender ceremony took no more than five minutes. As the Shrike officers broke their swords and knelt down to show their submission to the Lord of the World Eaters, the fierce offensive of the Twelfth Legion came to an end in an instant. Kahn also reached out to wipe away the blood on the blue and white armor, not caring about the aching scars.

He paid more attention to the Primarch's attendant who was running from another direction, because his report made Angron's face change. The Void King sat there in contemplation for a while, and then waved to his most trusted officer.

Kahn stepped forward.

"Listen to me, Captain of the Fourth Company."

Angron frowned.

"My blood relative Morgan just sent me a request. She hopes that I can send a troop to support her 11th Company, which is the company led by Hector. Because we are the second closest to them, and the descendants of Magnus obviously do not intend to send troops, so we have no choice but to come."

"clear."

Kahn nodded.

"Are we going to attack somewhere?"

"No, you just go to assist in the defense. The Dawnbreakers need a large reinforcement to force the residential area in front of them to completely give up resistance. The number of troops they have is not enough to deter the enemy, so your company needs to hold the fort for now."

"I'll go right away."

Kahn was just about to leave, but Angron seemed to have thought of it again?
"correct……"

"Take along the pharmacist under your command who made a mistake, and tell him, Captain of the Fourth Company, that I will not tolerate him making the same mistake again. He'd better get the word Juexue out of his mind!"

"Your mercy, my lord."

Kahn hesitated for a moment and accepted the order reluctantly.

Afterwards, the Fourth Company Captain quickly assembled all the troops: as a force that was obviously overstrength, Kahn's Fourth Assault Company had more than a thousand soldiers, which was equivalent to the two companies of the Dawnbreakers. This indirectly reflected the good development of the World Eaters in recent years.

The number of soldiers in the XII Legion has already exceeded 100,000, and is currently advancing towards the 130,000 mark, while the Dawnbreakers have only about half of their strength, and the Ultramarines have twice as many as the World Eaters.

At the very least, as Kahn's company advanced horizontally along the line, he would find that the entire battlefield was full of World Eaters warriors, either escorting prisoners or slaughtering towns that refused to surrender: against such a scene, the residential area that was surrounded by the Dawnbreakers but not attacked was so conspicuous.

However, after Kahn's company blocked the last gap outside the city wall, the resistance's resolve collapsed, and they quickly surrendered to the Imperial army: when Kahn saw the enemy's leader, he realized why the Dawnbreaker Legion must use peaceful means to resolve this elegant place.

The surrenderer walking in the front was obviously dressed as a scientist. Through his conversation with Hector, the World Eaters learned that this man was the most important biological expert on the entire Shrike. Those giant raptors that could tear open power armor and kill Astartes warriors were the works cultivated by this man and the scientific research team behind him.

Kahn thought of his comrades who died tragically under the claws of the eagle. He hesitated whether to shoot this guy in the head, but then he remembered Angron's teachings and saw the friendly eyes of the Dawnbreakers. The World Eater finally decided to remain silent. He ruthlessly crushed the desire for killing in his heart.

Also remaining silent was Ahriman, who came to [monitor] the Dawnbreaker, but when Kahn stayed to assist in the defense, Ahriman had to turn around and leave: after all, he also had things to do in the Thousand Sons Legion.

As he left, Ahriman could hear Hector behind him, trying to keep a gracious smile, extending an invitation to the trembling biologist: an invitation that came directly from Morgan. "Well, sir."

Dawnbreaker bent down, trying to make himself appear more approachable.

"Are you interested in learning about our Avalon's technical immigration policy?"

……

Following the guidance of his heart, Ahriman advanced on the chaotic battlefield. When the war reached its end, it was even more chaotic than at the beginning. Even the Primarchs could not accurately determine the position of each company in the mixed front.

The distance from the residential area to the library was not far, but it took Ahriman at least half an hour: he was forced to be involved in three battles, and successively rescued sixteen World Eaters, four Dawnbreakers and even three Space Wolves, as well as six thousand mortal auxiliary troops who were caught in a bitter battle.

Finally, Ahriman met his old acquaintance on Avalon on a battlefield littered with the carcasses of fighter planes and birds of prey: it was a mixed armored brigade of the Queen's Guards, with whom Ahriman had fought many times. The commanders of heavy vehicles such as Storm Lords, Poison Blades, Shadow Swords and Modified Brutal Blades, after a few words, planned a correct route for Ahriman.

Afterwards, he boarded a Thunderbolt heavy fighter belonging to the Queen's Guard and successfully arrived at the location of the Thousand Sons Legion: thanks to the higher field of vision, Ahriman could see all the details in front of the library clearly. The pilot of the fighter was also Ahriman's comrade-in-arms, and he obeyed his small requests.

In the sky, Ahriman was first surprised at the number of battle brothers left in front of the library. There were so few of them, it seemed like less than two or three hundred people. Fortunately, their genetic father Magnus was also among them.

But soon, Ahriman realized Magnus' plan: the Primarch put most of the Legion's strength into the library to rescue the classics. He was confident that with only these two or three hundred troops, he could stop the aggressive Space Wolves Legion.

Based on numbers alone, Ahriman didn't think this would be a good idea.

Because farther away, at least two thousand Space Wolves were searching for the fleeing Shrike nobles, and were rolling towards the great library occupied by the Thousand Sons Legion, obviously wanting to go in and search it thoroughly: but Magnus and his descendants had long regarded this sacred place as their own forbidden delicacy, and they were destined not to agree to any of the wolves' demands.

It's crazy: they were comrades not long ago, why are they enemies now?
Ahriman had no time to be surprised, as he urged his mortal friend to put him down, and reached the array of the Thousand Sons before it was too late: Magnus ignored him, as he was kneeling before a dozen Thousand Sons warriors, all of whom Ahriman recognized as members of the School of the Sky Owl.

"What happened, my Lord?"

Ahriman was somewhat surprised, for he found that most of these warriors lying down were already dead, and the remaining few souls had also suffered heavy injuries: Magnus watched all this with a grim face, and he nodded solemnly to Ahriman.

"It's Leman Russ: my brother who is always on the verge of madness."

"Obviously, when he realized that some of the nobles of Shrike had escaped from his battle axe, my brother let out a roar from his soul, and a huge force swept across the vast ocean: these warriors of the Sky Owl School were performing mind reading or psychic communication at the time, and their unfortunate souls were shattered alive by Leman Russ's roar."

Having said that, a hint of contempt appeared on Magnus' face.

"That Leman Russ, he always claimed that he had no psychic powers, and told me nonsense about the magical natural power of Fenris, but this tragedy is a strong proof: this wild wolf is also a spiritual creature through and through, and he has been miserably deceiving himself all along!"

"..."

no……

Ahriman was silent. He glanced at his brothers who had died tragically: Is now the time to consider the nature of these Primarchs?

Just as he was muttering to himself, he noticed Magnus looking at him curiously.

"But you, Ahriman: you seemed to feel nothing at all from the roar, nor to be affected in the least?"

“Maybe I’m too far away.”

Ahriman was fooling around casually. Of course he heard the roar and even predicted its arrival in advance, but the roar of the Wolf King did not have much impact on Ahriman: the reason was quite funny, because in the sixty years that Ahriman had been on the Far Eastern border, he had already experienced countless things that were more terrifying than the wrath of the Wolf King.

If the true Queen of Psychic gets angry, she cannot be matched by a mediocre psychic creature like Leman Russ.

"Maybe."

Magnus nodded, believing the idea for the time being, and then shifted his attention to more urgent matters: the wave of wolves was already approaching, and Magnus' presence did not stop the reckless butchers under Leman Russ from charging. Instead, they rushed towards the direction of the Primarch more excitedly, seemingly intending to confront the descendants of the All-Father.

"What a bunch of lunatics..."

Ahriman shook his head, not sure if he was mocking the Space Wolves in front of him, or worried about the Thousand Sons who dared to use one-tenth of their strength to stop the wolves' charge: or was it Magnus and Leman Russ who caused all this with their own hands?
None of them are innocent.

"Go, Ahriman, and stand with your brothers: we have a score to settle with Leman Russ, and I hope there will not be much bloodshed today."

"grown ups……"

Before setting off, Ahriman looked at his Primarch with some concern.

"That's Leman Russ, the Emperor's military police..."

"Please, Ahriman."

The Great Wizard laughed.

"Are you worried that I won't be a match for that mad dog?"

"Don't worry, my child."

Magnus slowly adjusted his armor, combed his scattered red hair back, and then leisurely began to stretch his muscles: Ahriman could hear the Primarch's back creaking, which was the sound of the spine being readjusted, and the muscles in his arms were also calling for a hearty battle.

"I just need to move my fingers a little bit."

"My wolf brother will never be able to stand up straight in front of me again."

"Oh...you know what, Ahriman."

"I even began to pity him."

"I hope he won't run away howling in the face of real power."

(End of this chapter)