Emperor's Bane

Chapter 621 Comrade Zhuang Sen is at the Front

When Morgan's message came, Sanguinius was soaring in the sky. He breathed the thin air with the smell of blood and stench. The breath of war lingered in it, dripping down along the sweat oozing from the Primarch's forehead and falling into the raging fire of Ullanor.

Burning, rising, and ceasing to exist.

The angel endured everything silently, overflowing fatigue occupied his perfect face, but did not destroy his dignity: the pale golden eyebrows were frowned high, like a broken catalpa bow, the porcelain white cheeks were scratched by scars, and the squeezing of muscles made him spit out sweet and fishy blood.

The scars of Ullanor were left on Sanguinius' cheeks and wings.

Ten million people would die to smooth over these imperfections.

But the angel himself didn't care. What really worried him were other things, including but not limited to the chaos of the battle, the increasing casualties of the legion, each primarch fighting on his own and being completely out of contact with anyone, and most importantly: the fact that he had to fly in this damn sky for many reasons, such as boosting morale and facilitating combat command.

Frankly speaking, even angels prefer the feeling of being down to earth. After all, considering his status and weight, the pair of wings behind him are too thin, and the feeling of flying is not always pleasant: being able to break free from the constraints of gravity is a gift from fate to Sanguinius, but this gift is not what Sanguinius himself wants.

He's just going to make good use of it.

There was no need to observe the air currents or consider the wind direction. When the angel soared high in the sky, he was not supported by any laws of physics. The Primarch was suspended in an atmosphere that even fighter planes could not reach at will. The most intense battlefield in Ullanor was taken into his sight: thousands of soldiers were running or fighting on the iron-gray land, steel and flesh wreckage could be seen everywhere, and the stench of corpses and the smell of burning were so overbearing even at an altitude of several thousand meters, staining Sanguinius's white wings with scorch marks. The velvety white feathers curled up together in darkness like a dead baby, corroding the chains and icons used to decorate the archangel.

But the angel ignored all this, his eyes were focused on the entire legion. He flew high enough, high enough to gather every Blood Angel warrior under his wings, high enough to promptly discover any Blood Angel company in crisis, and then swoop down to repel the god of death for his bloodlines.

Ever since he set foot on the scorched land of Ullanor, the Archangel has been repeating the same things: take off, soar, observe, attack, and then return to the iron-gray sky amid the cheers of his descendants.

He didn't care about the situation on the front line, because he knew that Ullanor's victory was a foregone conclusion. He also didn't care about where the most boastful goals were, because he never cared about the competitiveness between brothers.

In the Archangel's view, the greatest honor in this war is that his offspring can return to the Blood and Tears with the least blood: he is sure that not many of his brothers will agree with this idea, but he is also glad that he is holding this honor in his hands.

The Ninth Legion did not participate in the fighting on the front line of Ullanor, which made people like Amit feel a little disappointed, but Sanguinius was very satisfied with it. He had more time to soar in the sky. In addition to taking care of his own legion, he could also spare the energy to observe other troops on the battlefield.

There are not many opportunities like this.

You know, the Ullanor battlefield is now home to almost all of the human empire's advanced combat units. Although some legions have only sent out two or three companies to deal with the issue, a closer look at their performance on the battlefield is enough to give you a glimpse of the whole picture.

Sanguinius first passed over the legions he was familiar with, such as the Luna Wolves and the Imperial Fists, and then, with these legions as the center, he glanced at the Astartes who were fighting fiercely: he was tactful enough not to look at the Imperial Guards.

The first legion the Archangel noticed was the Word Bearers, for these warriors seemed to enjoy the slaughter the most of all the legions, which was somewhat inconsistent with their previous image: they reminded Sanguinius of the Night Lords and Ghouls of the past.

The Archangel knew that after the City of Perfection, the former Legion of Believers had become the Great Crusade today: Lorgar's descendants' contributions to the Empire had become qualified and even excellent, but some new and disturbing bloody rumors began to gather around the Seventeenth Legion.

At first, they were just some insignificant battlefield rumors. Although they sounded bloody and terrifying, there was nothing wrong with them except that they had a bad influence. But then, a series of words related to "purity", "faith" and "purified land" began to spread to the ears of outsiders, and along with them came some words that made people's scalps numb...

Number of missing persons...

The Word Bearers had no explanation for this, because their fanatical attitude and brilliant achievements were enough to cover up Holy Terra's concerns that some remote worlds were too silent.

They are unclean heretics.

Luo Jia's envoy explained in this way and did not receive any further questions.

The Archangel also shook his head. He didn't care about these rumors. His sights then moved to the smaller teams: the silent Alpha Legion didn't attract any attention from the Archangel at all. The Thousand Sons and Iron Warriors received the same treatment.

It was the World Eaters that caught Sanguinius's close attention for a few seconds. Even though Angron did not participate in the Ullanor Expedition, he still sent several companies. These thousands of warriors showed superb qualities: they were one of the legions with the fewest casualties and the most fruitful results. The Archangel only observed the war dogs' various charging tactics a few times, and he couldn't help but admire these warriors in his heart.

He observed several things in these War Hounds that his Blood Angels could learn from. The Archangel had heard that the War Hound Legion of the past was a group of bloody but noble warriors, a benchmark in the Great Crusade, and he was very happy to see that his brother Angron had successfully preserved this ancient honor for the Twelfth Legion.

They are still the benchmark.

Next to these benchmarks, the Death Guard Legion, which had thrown its entire army into the battle, seemed a little slow: Mortarion threw all the troops he led into one front. The advantage of this was that no one could stop him, but the disadvantage was that their results were not very fruitful, and it seemed that they would not be able to catch up with the first wave of offensive against the Throne of Ullanor.

However, what really slowed down the progress of the 14th Legion was another reason: Sanguinius noticed the mortal auxiliary forces surrounding the Death Guard Legion, a large number of highly mechanized solar troops, some of which had abnormally many armored vehicles, flight engines and artillery, which were obviously used to make up for the Death Guard's extremely heavy infantry-oriented combat style.

The Archangel knew that this unit was called the Barbarus Oathguard, and that it had been a dedicated solar auxiliary unit of the Death Guard Legion a hundred years ago, just like the Serfin Ascendants of the Blood Angels Legion: However, these Mortarion servants had obviously just experienced a round of crazy expansion, and although a considerable number of veterans still had excellent combat effectiveness, the large number of new recruits still slowed down the overall speed of the Fourteenth Legion.

(The name of the Sun Army of the Death Guard is Ambaxtoi. I haven't found a translation for this word, but it is said to be the retainer guards of the ancient Celtic period, so I simply call them the Oath Guards.)
However, the Lord of Death stubbornly refused to throw them away, because no matter whether they were veterans or recruits, they were all fellow countrymen from Barbarus like the Death Guard: Mortarion regarded them as part of his responsibility, and he would never take the initiative to abandon his responsibility.

Ever since the Lord of Mankind promised Mortarion a large piece of territory in the south of the Storm Segmentum, with Barbarus as its core, as a private fiefdom, although the Primarch appeared to be dismissive of the Emperor's reward, his first move after receiving the reward was to return to his hometown of Barbarus, and do his utmost to expand the ranks of auxiliary troops and bureaucrats on that land that had just regained its vitality, apparently intending to keep the [Barbarus Autonomous Region] promised to him by the Emperor in his hands as much as possible.

If possible, Mortarion would certainly do his best to govern this land.

Sanguinius was convinced of this.

Before looking elsewhere, the archangel made a small discovery: he noticed that Mortarion was not the only arrowhead in the Death Guard's formation. There was also a company at the other end of the front line, fighting its own battle in a semi-independent manner. Sanguinius soon discovered that the leader should be Mortarion's favorite Typhon.

He and his company fought very hard, and Sanguinius could also sense the flicker of psychic light in Typhon's company. Although it was very small, it was very mature. The progress of Typhon's company was almost on par with the main direction that Mortarion was in charge of. The captain seemed to be secretly competing with his genetic father.

The Archangel shook his head and smiled. He did not take the matter to heart, but instead focused his gaze on something more distant: he saw the progress of the Eastern Front Legion. Zhuangsen's progress was still on par with Horus. The two of them were almost catching up with the Emperor. Sanguinius paid attention to the details of the game and quickly withdrew before the Emperor's will noticed him.

His eyes passed over the Emperor's Children, and beside them the equally noble-dressed Agitated Palace Guards: the III Legion was perhaps the proudest army in all the Imperium, for their Astartes and mortal auxiliaries were drawn from the European nobility of Holy Terra.

Next came the Night Lords, who occupied the largest industrial base in Ullanor, where they engaged in a brutal urban meat grinder war with the orc army, with the worst casualty ratio of all the legions: Although the Eighth Legion was not well-known in normal times, everyone knew that among the wreckage and ruins, no one could match the ghoul veterans under Conrad.

These guys are amazing at fighting.

Conrad even claimed that if they were allowed to soak in a city ruin for two or three days in advance, the fifty ghoul veterans would be able to delay Dorn's one thousand best Imperial Fists and make them bleed enough before they were all killed. Even Lord Invert himself seemed to have no opinion on this rumor.

As for the Nostramo Inquisition surrounding the Eighth Legion - the name of this Sun Army is really strange - they seem to be as bloodthirsty and aggressive as their masters, maintaining amazing efficiency in cruelty. The only ones who can compare with them are the mortal auxiliary troops belonging to the Dawnbreaker Legion next to them.

(This Sun Army is my original creation)
Oh, they are called the Queen's Guards.

The archangel shook his head.

Even for the Empire, this oversized mortal army was too famous: their armor was always stained with silver, and from a distance they looked like a flowing ocean of mercury. They followed closely behind the Dawnbreakers, calmly sweeping away all opponents in front of them. The Archangel carefully observed the performance of these mortals, then turned his head and paid attention to his own Solar Army.

Hmm... no match at all.

Sanguinius understood this well.

Just as the archangel was thinking about where to shift his attention next, and he was quietly wondering why there was no [emergency situation] with the Emperor, a sudden psychic fluctuation attracted his attention: even if you look at the entire galaxy, it is rare to see such a magnificent psychic power, and it is impossible to ignore it.

The teleportation array that appeared out of thin air was as big as a mountain. Sanguinius doubted whether Magnus could do the same thing. He hesitated for a moment and then flew towards the direction of the light. The 9th Legion behind him followed the Primarch's pace without hesitation, not caring about the so-called battle line and honor.

Anyway, by this time, the human empire's army was only one step away from breaking through the walls of the Ullanor Throne. Although the greenskins' resistance was still surprisingly tenacious, and they repeatedly attacked the Astartes' positions like waves, the suspense of the war had long disappeared, as well as the imperial army's tight deployment at the beginning of the landing.

Now everything is in chaos. The original routes of the legions have been torn apart, and almost every company is not in the original position. Some legions have even changed direction. They were originally at the eastern end of the battle line but unknowingly reached the western end. Fortunately, their opponents were not much better. Not only did they fail to seize this opportunity, but like the humans opposite them, they also messed up their own battle lines.

The war was brutal but also chaotic, so chaotic that even Sanguinius himself began to doubt what would happen after victory: he had no doubt that the Emperor, who had already reached the foot of the capital of Ullanor, could end the war, but the question he really had to think about was, even if the green-skinned emperor was killed in this battle, how would he deal with the terrible legacy he left behind?

Not to mention that there are still dozens or hundreds of star regions in the northern part of the Milky Way that are firmly controlled by the Ullanor Orcs. The death of the Orc Emperor will certainly cause these star regions to start killing each other, but the threat still exists. Just the total number of greenskins on the world of Ullanor under their feet far exceeds the total number of troops invested by the Empire in the Ullanor Expedition.

The outermost protective shield of Ullanor has not been broken by the Mechanicus. Are they just going to kill all the greenskins of Ullanor? And why are these greenskins still so united even though there is some confusion on the front line, but they can still compete with the human empire as a whole?

How is it done?
The archangel instinctively realized that this did not seem to be the result of physical means, so he flew to Morgan's side, intending to get the answer from the psychic queen: there were obviously more than one person who had the same concerns and ideas as him, because in mid-air, Sanguinius discovered that Fulgrim was also moving closer to Morgan.

However, he arrived first, so he heard Morgan talking to himself.

[Just as I thought...]

"What's the same?"

Sanguinius glanced at the Dawnbreaker reinforcements rushing to the front line. Eight thousand fresh troops were enough to turn the situation on the battlefield, but they did not rush to the front of the First Legion. Instead, they fought side by side with the Emperor's Children not far away: because the main force of the Dark Angels and their Primarch had rushed too deep, and even the Dawnbreakers would not be able to get there in a while.

【nothing. 】

Morgan frowned.

【It's just a small problem. 】

[Sanguinius, how long do you think this battle will last? ]

The angel thought about it.

"If you're asking one of the Emperor, Jonson or Horus how long it will take to chop off the green emperor's head, I'd say more than an hour. But what really worries me is what happens after the head is chopped off."

【That’s what I’m talking about.】

Morgan shook her head, then she pointed to a building in the distance.

【Did you see that? 】“I want to say, I didn’t see it.”

The Archangel muttered.

What came into view was the ugliest building Sanguinius had ever seen in his life: a doomsday scene so huge that it was terrifying. Even from the distance of an entire battlefield, it could be seen clearly. The twisted steel of the Orks rolled upward and extended for dozens of kilometers, as if they had fished out a brutal tower from the end of an unfathomable abyss.

At the top of the tower, as the army of the Human Empire gradually dispelled the haze around the throne of Ullanor, Sanguinius also saw the scene there clearly: countless spherical energy bodies of astonishing size were floating on the top, as if they were trapped in an invisible cage. The boiling and manic light green color made people feel uneasy, especially when the angels realized what kind of waves these energy bodies had stirred up in the sea of ​​souls.

They spread far away: farther than the archangels' perception range.

"I wonder what kind of green-skinned creatures these are that are beyond the imagination of mortals?"

【That’s right.】

Morgan nodded. She looked at the ugly creature with fascination, but soon rejected it with disdain.

[You should know that even among the green-skinned orcs, there are a group of people similar to psychics, so these beasts also have psychic technology: and the tower we are currently seeing is an incredible psychic building. The emperor of Ullanor uses the energy in that tower to control his people. ]

"That's it."

Sanguinius quickly accepted this incredible answer.

Anyway, it's green skin...

"In other words, if we can destroy this tower, the entire Ullanor Greenskin Empire will be out of control?"

Fulgrim hurried over and was able to hear Morgan's conclusion: the war-minded Phoenix immediately thought of the best way to end the war.

"That tower doesn't seem far from the palace of Ullanor. I think the Beheaders should be able to accomplish this feat easily. You should inform the Emperor or Jonson, and Horus Morgan of this news."

【I have already done so.】

The Primarch twirled her fingers, her attention still focused on the tower in the distance.

[Moreover, the situation may be better than we thought: you all know that the psychic power of the greenskins actually has a strong backlash, and the vast majority of greenskins, including Emperor Ullanor himself, I suspect, should not have such strong control and vigilance over psychic power. ]

"what do you mean……"

Phoenix and the angel narrowed their eyes, and the same thought came to their minds.

【Yes. 】

Morgan laughed.

[Think about it, if there are tens of trillions of people whose minds are completely controlled by a super alpha psychic, and now this psychic is killed: then what kind of impact will his psychic scream before his death have on these guys controlled by him? ]

[I believe that the two of you here have probably seen similar tragedies many times.]

"Not just a few times."

Fulgrim's eyebrow twitched.

"The Galaxy is scary, Morgan."

(In Beast Wars, the Empire used a similar method to kill the beasts.)
So, the situation is clear.

While Morgan was sending his new discovery to the three guys on the front line at the same time, he was also looking around the greenskin palace and tower.

[Killing the greenskin emperor can gain the glory of Ullanor, but destroying the tower can completely end the war: considering the mobility of the two primarch brothers on the front line, no one can take both into account at the same time. ]

【It depends on how you choose. 】

Sanguinius remained noncommittal.

“I don’t think this is an option…”

#Roaring sound#

Before he finished speaking, a roar shook the entire Ullanor battlefield and almost shattered the eardrums of the three Primarchs: following the sound, they saw that the palace of Ullanor was shaking. That was the result of the army's march. Hundreds of millions of greenskins laughed bloodthirsty laughter and followed their emperor into the battlefield.

Due to the distance, the Primarchs could not see the specific composition of this army, but just the tip of the iceberg was enough to make them break out in a cold sweat: they clearly saw a large group of incredibly strong greenskin warlords, each of whom was at least twice as tall as the Emperor, and their number was enough to form an army.

A real army.

But these behemoths were obviously not the ultimate killer weapon of the Ullanor orcs, because surrounded by them was a monster that made everyone feel dazzled: Morgan initially thought it was a Titan, a war dog or a pillager, but a second later he found out that he was wrong.

The reason is simple: because whether it is a war dog or a predator...

But they are not this big.

"That's their...Emperor?"

Phoenix's voice was a little out of tune, as if he was whispering to himself.

"Now, I am a little worried about Horus and the Emperor..."

[Half and half...]

Morgan licked her dry lips: She was not worried about the old bastard Emperor, but it was unknown whether Horus was really a match for this mountain-like green-skinned emperor: Just as Morgan was hesitating, the sound of Sanguinius's wings flapping rang in her ears.

"I'll go take a look first."

The archangel put away his previous cynicism and quickly became serious. He nodded to his two relatives and prepared to set off: but before that, Morgan threw a silver accessory to her angel relative.

[Take it, I can use this thing to locate your exact location, and then teleport myself and my troops there. ]

"I'll go too."

Fenghuang narrowed his eyes, and the relaxed look on his face disappeared.

"Notify us if something is wrong: do not try to hold out like Horus, Sanguinius."

"I will."

The archangel did not refuse. He quickly flapped his wings and flew towards the direction of the green-skinned emperor, leaving behind the Blood Angel who had just arrived in front of Morgan and watched their genetic father suddenly fly away, with an expression of disbelief and confusion on his face.

"You feel……"

Fulgrim hesitated.

"Is that thing worthy of the Emperor's... seriousness?"

[…Have you ever participated in the Randan War? ]

Morgan's rhetorical question made the Gene Father of the Emperor's Children freeze in place. He thought about it seriously and felt a little confused.

"what?"

[No... nothing...]

"Well: did you tell Jonson about this change in the Green Emperor?"

【He is not blind.】

"And do you think Jonson will rescue our father: like Sanguinius did?"

【…】

【He is not stupid. 】

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Supplement: I was so excited while writing that I didn't notice that the socket was not turned on, so my phone ran out of battery, and today's second chapter failed before it was even started. So I am catching up with it, and I will probably finish it in the second half of the night. You can read it tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)