Emperor's Bane

Chapter 595 Interlude: Swordsman and Pharmacist

"In fact, my two swords and I both feel that my shoulder is much better now, Brother Fabius, and the previous rehabilitation training has been fine. So, when can I return to the legion?"

"Not yet, Akudona: at least not this month."

When Fabius heard the most powerful sword-wielding champion in the legion asking him a question, he turned around quickly, and his originally flowing silver hair suddenly turned an unhealthy white under the cold light of the pharmacy.

Like a body beside a fire.

“Not even this month?”

Acudona sat on the operating table, his sword-like brows tightly furrowed. On the one hand, it was because of the bad news from Fabius, and on the other hand, it was because the smell of the chief pharmacist's studio was really not very good: considering that there were euthanasia rooms and crematoriums next door, it always gave people a chill down the spine.

Akudona moved his injured arm. The victory of the Battle of Gardenar seemed like yesterday. He should have died in that battle, in the reactor explosion that destroyed all the Gardenar people: if his Primarch had not descended from the sky at the last moment, fought alone into the enemy group, and would rather risk his own life to rescue one of his favorite court swordsmen.

Akudona will never forget that moment.
He swore: Never forget it.

------

"You seem to have chosen for yourself an unkillable opponent, boy?"

The Primarch's voice was perfect, so perfect that it sounded like the Imperial Skyhawk on the breastplate. There was no way Akudona would have heard it wrong in his life. But it was this perfect voice that caused the strongest champion swordsman in the entire Emperor's Children Legion to fall into great sorrow: because his genetic father must not be here at this time.

"grown ups!"

Akudona opened his mouth, only to find that his voice was terribly hoarse.

"Why are you here!"

He asked desperately, but he did not dare to stop the sharp blade in his hand for the slightest, because the last elite guards of the Gardenar people were launching a relentless charge against them with a crazy attitude. Even Akudona could only resist desperately to barely save his own head.

Behind these last elite Gardenar soldiers was an overload reactor that had already entered the countdown: the huge overload energy was enough to destroy everything here, including Akudona who was dragged here.

Even: Primarchs.

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you, my Akudona."

Fulgrim chuckled, as if this was not a battlefield of life and death.

"Why are you here, trapped in the enemy's siege, instead of staying with your second company? Do you want to be a hero and save the situation single-handedly? You've really gone too far this time."

Only then did Akudona see what kind of Asura hell was behind the Primarch. Hundreds of Gardinar's elite soldiers fell in the ruins where the Primarch passed, but there was no sign of a single Phoenix Guard. Apparently, just like Akudona, Fulgrim had also come here alone.

The Phoenix Lord joined the battle and turned the situation around in the blink of an eye: hundreds of Gardinar's elite soldiers fell in unison in a sword dance that only Akudona could barely see, with only a shallow blood mark on their necks. The originally tense battle ended in an instant.

“But it seems that there is still not enough time.”

"Your fault, Akudona."

Before the court swordsman could catch his breath, he heard the Primarch muttering to himself. The reactor hidden in the deepest part of the tower had entered the countdown of the last few seconds, and they were still a long distance away from the nearest escape exit: even the fastest Astartes would not be able to escape before the explosion.

But the original body is different.

The Phoenix Lord did not give his most beloved offspring time to react. After making sure that there were no pursuers behind him, Fulgrim quickly grabbed the iron halo component of Akudona and ran towards the broken window in two steps. The distance of several thousand meters passed in a flash. Akudona's iron boots were dragged in the air and sometimes rubbed against the ground, making a harsh sound.

When the father and son were still forty or fifty meters away from the window, the reactor finally couldn't bear the pressure: first a faint white light quickly lit up the concrete base, and the insignificant sparks triggered a violent shock wave that echoed in the energy pile, urging the invisible god of death to chase them up, and everything fell apart and annihilated wherever it went: a mushroom cloud that had not yet formed was about to swallow the two of them.

Only at this moment did a trace of anxiety appear on Fulgrim's face. He clenched his teeth and protected Akudona to his chest. When the rolling air waves and shock waves were about to swallow them both, the Primarch leaped over the last fifty meters and flew directly into the air outside the tower with his offspring.

Until this moment, Akudona's mind was still stuck on the fight with the enemy. He had no idea how he and the Primarch were able to fly into the air in just the blink of an eye: the speed of the phoenix exceeded the reaction limit of the court swordsman.

The following scene was as blurry as a nightmare of high fever, alternating in constant rotation and impact: Akudona only remembered that they fell from a terrifying height, the glare of the explosion was as dazzling as a solar eclipse, and he only remembered that his gene father adjusted his position in mid-air to protect him, and the moment when the ends of the Phoenix Lord's originally flawless silver hair were burned black and curled by the high temperature.

It brushed across Akudona's face: so clear, so unforgettable.

Afterwards, the father and son fell heavily on the ruins full of debris. Fulgrim adjusted himself to the bottom in advance and bore most of the impact: but before Akudona could recover from his fear and sadness, the Primarch had already dusted himself off as if nothing had happened, stood up again, turned around and helped his son up.

"You've got me into a lot of trouble this time, Akudona."

Phoenix smiled.

"But thanks to you, the dilemma in Ferrus was finally resolved."

"grown ups……"

With the help of the Primarch, the court warrior stood up unsteadily. He murmured like a child who had made a mistake, but he could not speak. Even if he was not as versatile as other children of the Emperor, Akudona could understand what was going on.

In order to save his life from his reckless action, his genetic father risked his own life to penetrate deep into the enemy's heart, and then rescued Akudona from the fatal explosion: for a long time to come, the charred ends of his hair will tell the story.

Let me ask: What does it mean to any Astartes warrior that the Primarch came to rescue him at the risk of his own life?
Akudona choked up. He had never felt speaking so difficult.

"You don't have to do this, sir..."

"No need to do anything?"

Phoenix smiled, but the ashes and charcoal all over his body could not hide his beautiful face.

"I know what you are thinking, my proudest Akudona."

The Primarch squatted down and supported his bloody child. Although the roar of war still echoed around them, and although bullets occasionally grazed their hair, these sharp sounds were ignored: at this moment, Akudona could only hear Fulgrim's low words in his heart.

And love.

"You know what, Akudona?"

Phoenix's gaze became long.

"The first time I saw my Third Legion, there were only two hundred of you left. Two hundred soldiers represented all the companies. Some were even the last man in their company, standing proudly in front of me holding the flag. At that moment I knew that you were the heirs worthy of my life and everything for."

"At that moment, I made a vow in my heart: I will do my best to strengthen our Third Legion. I will protect the only two hundred soldiers in front of me, the two hundred soldiers led by you. I will swear with my life that they will never leave me again."

"Can……"

"But I can't do that."

The Primarch patted the swordsman's breastplate, signaling him to continue listening to him.

"In fact, most of the two hundred warriors are gone now. I can't take care of all of you in the war, but when I can save you, I will come at all costs: you and the others as well."

At this moment, a trace of sadness flashed in the eyes of the Phoenix Lord.

"Perhaps, I cannot allow every one of you to see the day when the Great Crusade succeeds: just like none of us can achieve true perfection like the Lord of Mankind."

"But at least: I can try."

"Is not it?"

Phoenix tilted his head, his voice actually holding a hint of playfulness, and when the Primarch asked his offspring with his eyes wide open, the only one who answered him was Akudona's face which was a little distorted due to excessive excitement.

"Sir...I..."

The court swordsman stuttered, trying to form a sentence, but unfortunately, he was destined not to have this opportunity: just as Akudona opened his lips, on a distant battlefield, the angry roar of Ferrus Manus, Lord of the Iron Fist, shook the entire universe, followed by the charge horn of the Tenth Legion.

"what……"

Of course Fulgrim heard it too: there was a hint of ambiguity in the Primarch's laughter.

"Ferus knows your movements: he knows mine, too."

"Obviously, my fiery brother has misunderstood the situation here."

The Phoenix Lord licked his lips: Ferrus's rage clearly delighted him.

"Come on, Akudona."

The Primarch patted his scion's shoulder.

"Let's fight our way out together, reunite with my brother, and give him a surprise."

"Yes, my lord."

Akudona was finally able to squeeze out a complete sentence from his mouth, and just as he clenched his saber with trembling hands, Fulgrim, who was originally walking in front, suddenly remembered something and turned around abruptly.

"Wait, my child!"

"What! Sir!"

Akudona looked up and found that Fulgrim had a tense face and was carefully wiping every speck of dust and blood off his armor. His expression was as if he was facing a great enemy, and his voice revealed real worry and panic.

"Can you pat my cape for me? It looks like it's covered in dust."

"...Understood, sir."

"Thank you, Akudona."

Fulgrim smiled once again, brushing off the dust carefully while directing his offspring to pay attention to places that are easy to overlook: he turned a deaf ear to the flying shrapnel and the sound of the enemy's army mobilizing in the distance.

After all, Ferrus's eyes are much more important than these vulgar people.

------

"Akudona?"

"Akudona!"

"Ah...ah? What's wrong?"

The court swordsman was stunned for a moment, then he realized that he had been distracted in the conversation with the legion's chief pharmacist. He smiled apologetically, and Fabius just waved his hand and repeated the results of his previous examination of Akudona. Akudona frowned again.

"But I think I have recovered my fighting strength, Fabius: two days ago, I had a real sword duel with the other brothers in the arena, you know, Eidolon, Vespasian and Julius-Caesaron, the three of them together, just like before."

(Eidolon, Vespasian, Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children Legion, equivalent to the Four Heroes of the Ultramarines, Julius Caesarron, Captain of the First Company of the Emperor's Children Legion.)
“And then you win: again.”

Before Akudona could finish his words, Fabius nodded as if he was used to it.

"But this time it's different, Brother Akudona. Don't forget that the Primarch was watching the whole thing from the sidelines. In fact, the Primarch came to me personally afterwards and asked me to let you recuperate for at least another month."

"……All right."

Hearing that it was Phoenix's order, Akudona finally sighed helplessly.

"My victory this time was only a dozen seconds slower than the last time."

"Because Eidolon is improving."

"And in the Primarch's opinion, you are still unable to display your perfect strength."

"Just a little bit."

"But you know, this is what Fulgrim cares about most."

Fabius smiled and continued to work on his task, using a syringe gun, a scalpel and other medical tools that Akudona couldn't name on the body of a recently deceased Emperor's son. Although he knew that this was an act that his warrior brother had agreed to before he died, the court swordsman still felt very uncomfortable after witnessing it with his own eyes.

He knew that this act was of course extremely sacred, because it would help prevent the return of the blight that had swept through the legion and almost brought the entire Third Legion to its doom: but Akudona always felt that Fabius was a little too...

Crazy?
His passion for his work evidently outweighed his respect for his brother's remains.

But it seems... not?

Akudona couldn't understand it, he had never been good at reading people's minds, but his deputy Solomon Dmitri was very good at it, and was also good at commanding troops: Akudona thought that his command ability was only half of Dmitri's.

He could only understand that this was Fabius's persistent attitude towards preventing the blight: after all, this old comrade was also one of the two hundred imperial swordsmen, and he and Akudona had witnessed the power of the blight with their own eyes.

The court swordsman shook his head and sighed. He turned over and walked down from the operating table. He stopped beside Fabius' workbench and watched for a while, but soon lost interest and shifted his gaze to places with more life atmosphere: This corner only occupies a small part of the pharmacy, but it is the only place in this huge room where Akudona feels he can breathe.

Only here did he feel that Fabius was still a living person, rather than a machine fanatically devoted to medicine: he could glimpse some of the legion's chief pharmacist's personal interests, such as a very useful hair growth potion (Akudona secretly stuffed it under his cloak), and the photos that covered half of the wall.

"Ok?"

Akudona frowned.

"Fabius?"

"what happened?"

Fabius did not raise his head,

"When did you become interested in little mortal girls?"

“…Ah! You mean that?”

The pharmacist raised his head, and there was finally some ups and downs in his voice. He quickly walked to Akudona's side, and with a new enthusiasm that was completely different from before, he held the photo in his hand: the photo showed a little girl with pink hair and red eyes.

"Don't you know her?"

"...who?"

"Her name is Virgo, Anya, a new type of artificial human beside Morgan, the Primarch of the Second Legion. This is what the think tank brothers in the Legion who went to Avalon to study told me. The moment I heard about her existence, I became very interested in her."

"why?"

"Why!"

Fabius' voice rose in pitch.

"This Lord of the Dawn created a new life through technology unknown to us, although we are not sure whether it is real universe technology or subspace technology. Unlike those creatures of the Mechanicus who have no self-thinking and rationality, this is an intelligent life that is no different from ordinary people at first glance. You actually still want to ask me why? Akudona?"

"If I wasn't so busy with work and we had never worked with the Second Legion, I would even want to visit Her Excellency Morgan in person and ask her how she did it all: creating new life is the most sacred cause in the universe! It is also my lifelong dream!"

"……Maybe."

Looking at Fabius's burning pupils, Akudona opened his mouth and wisely did not continue to argue. His eyes continued to wander among the remaining photos and soon locked onto the largest one: this was a full-length portrait similar to a propaganda poster, with the Queen of Avalon in military uniform surrounded by her offspring: it was such a person who guarded the Far East for the empire.

Akudona curled the corners of his mouth. He saw many familiar figures among the Dawnbreakers surrounding the Spider Queen.

"Where did you get this promotional poster, Fabius?"

"This is going to ruin some opportunities."

Fabius took it, and he stared at the poster with a strange look that Acudona couldn't describe, as if he was witnessing something new that had never appeared in the galaxy: The silence lasted for almost half a minute, and then the chief pharmacist suddenly pointed at the promotional poster and asked Acudona a puzzling question.

"Did you see anything?"

"On this?"

"Yes: do you see anything?"

"Uh... Primarchs, Astartes, and giant star maps and banners?"

"..."

"What's wrong, Fabius?"

"No...nothing..."

The pharmacist was silent.

His silence lasted until the moment Akudona took his leave and left.

------

"Hey……"

It was not until the moment when Acudona, muttering to himself, closed the door that Fabius finally collapsed, leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply: but he soon returned to the workbench.

The next moment, the chief pharmacist pulled out his syringe and quietly extracted the colorful substances from the body of the Emperor's son who had just died in front of him: he did all this like a thief.

While doing it, I sighed.

"Blight..."

Fabius gritted his teeth.

Yes: the Blight, the disease that nearly destroyed the III Legion, leaving only two hundred swordsmen, led by Akudona and Fabius, of the once mighty Proud Legion until Fulgrim's return.

Then, the Primarch saved everything with his blood and seeds, and the story had the happiest happy ending: but beneath this bright and beautiful happy ending, some things will never be revealed again.

For example, Fulgrim never actually cured the Blight, he simply used his gene-seed to make the Third Legion stronger again, and the Blight disappeared bit by bit: by killing those who were infected with the Blight, the Phoenix Lord eradicated the root cause of this terrible disease and kept it away from his beloved Third Legion completely.

So, in fact, more than two hundred swordsmen were reunited with Fulgrim: but who would remember those who died in silence?

Who will remember...

Wasn't he, Fabius, once one of those who suffered from the blight?

But he survived.

The pharmacist's brows were cold: this was a secret he had not told anyone, because he knew that once this secret was leaked, Fulgrim would definitely imprison him to death for the sake of the entire legion.

Fabius was suffering from the blight, but he refused to die on the eve of the Legion's rebirth. He came up with a new way to conceal his illness: extracting certain substances from his recently deceased brother, and distilling them to obtain a special potion to delay the blight.

This is to fight his aging.

And so it was: hidden for a full hundred years.

And it will continue to be concealed, and it will be concealed forever.

The pharmacist blinked, his brief emotional fluctuation was quickly suppressed, and his mind drifted to another matter.

Fabius solemnly picked up the Far East Frontier propaganda poster and gently stroked the area where Morgan was: specifically, he stroked the shadow behind Morgan, the shadow that looked empty.

In the coldness of the pharmacy, Fabius' voice was trembling.

is confused.

It's hopeless.

Also...exciting.

"Akudona..."

"You are my best brother."

"But...but why are you also..."

“You can’t see either: what about [Him]?”

"[He] is clearly there: right behind Morgan."

(End of this chapter)