Emperor's Bane

Chapter 649: Debut (Part )

"Sanguinius, my brother."

"It's been a long time since we last met."

When their respective flagships arrived in Ullanor's low-Earth orbit one after another and the shuttles they were on landed almost at the same time, allowing the blood brothers to look at each other, the two Primarchs were strangely silent for a moment, and then quickly put on smiles.

Magnus was the first to speak. The king of Prospero was dressed in a golden-red coat covered with gorgeous embroidery, his arms were bare, and his bridging muscles were covered with jewel-encrusted wrist guards. The genetic father of the Thousand Sons had also specially used the feathers of giant birds of prey unique to his home planet to weave a wing-like cloak, which looked slightly similar to the angelic demeanor of Sanguinius from a distance.

Seeing this scene, the upright Archangel Baal couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.

But his smile remained: no one could accuse it of making everyone happy.

"Magnus, brother."

The angel opened his arms, showing sincere joy on his face, and embraced Magnus. He kissed the Scarlet King on both cheeks. The passionate affection between the Primarchs made every onlooker intoxicated. If they only watched this brief scene, everyone would believe that there was the purest blood relationship between the Emperor's children.

But after a moment, the atmosphere here returned to normal, because the smile on Sanguinius's face was no longer so strong, and it easily returned to its usual gentleness: just when Magnus wanted to take advantage of his height, put his arm around his brother's shoulders, and reminisce about their shared glorious years, the angel took a half step back imperceptibly, and turned to introduce his descendants to Magnus.

He made way for the Scarlet King to walk side by side with him and remain close in front of everyone, but the angel's tiny move quickly changed the atmosphere between the two people to a public place. Some requests that were originally lingering in Magnus' heart and were almost spoken out by his impulsive nature had to be swallowed back into the Primarch's stomach temporarily.

Never mind, there’s still time for that: it’s still a long way to go to Nikaea.

The Father of a Thousand Sons did not care much about this; his face was still radiant from the long-awaited reunion with one of his best brothers, and he did not find anything strange about Sanguinius's behavior: in his impression anyway, Sanguinius was always a little tense in front of outsiders, which could be considered a not-so-small flaw of the Archangel.

Then, Magnus also took the opportunity to push forward the servants behind him. Their names were very unfamiliar to the angels, and there was no glory or past achievements between the lines: this situation was not difficult to understand. After all, the Scarlet King and the Thousand Sons Legion had disappeared from the public eye for nearly twenty years, and they had never been keen on contributing to the Great Crusade.

So, no one remembers them.

No one has the time to help them.

The angel shook his head inwardly, and then noticed something strange.

"Where's Ahriman? Didn't you always keep him with you?"

"He's at Morgan's."

Magnus smiled, like a father discussing his accomplished son.

"Ahriman has made a career for himself among our sisters. He is in charge of the Think Tank Academy on Avalon and works all day to improve the think tank system. Now his students are spread all over the legions. Even the younger think tanks in your legion are most likely his former students."

"He hopes that I can understand and support the business he has created, so that he can stay in the Far East for a long time, because he can't find anyone who can take over his business. How can I not support him? Sanguinius, his efforts and sweat make me proud."

"I see."

The angel nodded.

"No wonder whenever I overhear the conversations of my think tanks, I always hear this strange word "Principal". I wonder who it is. But I remember that your Ahriman is actually more famous in the arena, right? Even the champion swordsmen under my command consider it an honor to have a real sword duel with him in the arena."

"It's just a heresy."

Magnus shook his head in disdain.

"It's just his hobby."

"But then again, brother."

The Scarlet King blinked, a trace of worry flashing across his cheek, causing Magnus to quicken his pace, and the Archangel naturally followed in silence: the two Primarchs' attempt to talk in private did not escape the eyes of the two Primarch guards behind them, and after leaving a considerable distance for the Gene-Fathers, these armed servants began to look at each other.

Magnus's guards were wrapped in completely airtight armor, seemingly silent like dead bodies, but in fact, the communication and exchanges between each other had already been boiling in the subspace through psychic energy. They discussed these disturbing warriors under the angels, who had pale skin and sharp eyes. The one called Amit was still maintaining a ferociousness ready to tear the person in front of him to pieces at all times.

It was really strange, compared to the art and beauty that were most sought after in the Ninth Legion on a daily basis, the Archangel seemed to want to show more of the bravery of his soldiers on this occasion in Ullanor: he didn't care what others thought, he just wanted to give his best officers a stage to receive glory in front of everyone, even if this would cause the Ninth Legion to suffer a little criticism in the future.

Unlike the Thousand Sons, the Blood Angels also remained silent, but they communicated through their eyes. The subtle fluctuations between the pupils and the arcs of light were enough to make the brothers fighting side by side understand each other: a brave guy like Amit was mocking the Thousand Sons' superficial appearance with his snort, while a humble guy like Radon was quietly thinking in his heart, if they had a conflict with the Sons of Magnus, how long would it take them to end the battle?
"Did you notice?"

Just as Radon was figuring out how he should chop off the head of the son of Magnus in front of him, the sound of Amit's chewing teeth came from the communicator: unexpectedly calm.

"These guys, the Thousand Sons, are nothing like the Librarians we have in the Legion."

"What do you mean?"

"breath."

Amit breathed heavily.

"Don't you think the aura of the warp on these Thousand Sons is too strong? It's a hundred times stronger than our think tank. It makes me breathless. I dare not imagine what these guys do on a daily basis. Just thinking about it makes me want to use a knife."

"Stop your thoughts!"

Radolon frowned.

"I'm telling you, Amit, this is Ullanor. The Lord of Mankind and all the Primarchs are watching our every move. If you dare to cause trouble here, no matter how the Father of Genes pronounces you, I will never let your foolish behavior go."

"I know."

The sound of Amit's teeth grinding made Radon's scalp tingle. The Flesh Tearer seemed to be hiding great anger.

“That just makes me angry.”

"These idiots are venting their aura unscrupulously in front of so many people, as if they are afraid that others don't know how thoroughly they are immersed in the warp. When I think about the upcoming psyker conference, we are actually allies with this group of people in the same trench, and the result of the meeting will affect the fate of our think tank brothers in our legion, I get a headache."

"Mark my words, Radolon: Sooner or later we will be dragged down by these fools."

"..."

Radolon had nothing to say.

To some extent, he had to agree with Amit's idea: although as the legion with the most thorough implementation of psionics, it was not difficult to understand that the breath of the warp was surging in the bodies of the Thousand Sons warriors, but the breath was so thick that even warriors like Heradron and Amit, who had no psychic power at all, could actually feel it, which was a bit too terrifying.

What on earth are they doing?

A sigh was sealed in the red armor of the Blood Angels. His gradually colder gaze swept over the Sons of Magnus in front of him, and then he turned his head to look at their only hope: just like the past few decades, when faced with this sharp yet real question that he had to face but could not give an answer to, Radon, one of the three heroes of the Great Crusade, gave the same answer as an ordinary Blood Angel.

"Don't think so much."

"The Primarch must have an idea: all we have to do is implement it."

"He can't always have ideas..."

Amit was still mumbling dully, but Radolon no longer wanted to listen.

He now had only one thought in his mind.

------

"Honestly, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to get involved in this mess."

Breathing in the rusty smell that seemed to have not yet dissipated on Ullanor, Magnus's sighs were all seen by the archangel. Sanguinius remained silent. He did not ruthlessly point out to his scarlet brother that the acting skills of the Prospero people were really terrible.

Not even as good as Fulgrim.

"Me too, bro."

The angel spoke softly, and his casual tone was extremely credible. As soon as Magnus got the answer he wanted, he couldn't wait to abandon his previous exclamation, and quickly showed an excited look on his face, moving closer like a child, but he slightly detoured before the final topic.

Respectful before and after.

Sanguinius smiled and remained silent.

He listened to the Gene-Father of the Thousand Sons begin to talk at length, talking about past glories and the few times they had fought side by side: that was a long time ago, because the Thousand Sons Legion had not been active in the Great Crusade for too long, only about thirty or forty years. The angel noticed all this with a smile, seemingly content with this completely superficial way of talking, and noticed that Magnus had tried countless times to turn the topic to their blood-sworn friendship during the conversation.

This is difficult: because they have no relationship at all.

In the end, the Scarlet King took an unimagined path.

"Seriously, bro."

Magnus felt a little dry in the mouth. He had to divide his energy to deal with the cheering mortals on both sides of the main road and wave to them constantly. In this regard, he was far inferior to Sanguinius: every move of the archangel could cause violent cheers among the mortals. He only waved a few times and didn't even say hello, but he impressed the mortals more than Magnus's continuous smiles and greetings.

It's really unfair.

The Scarlet King shook his head secretly.

"I am a little surprised that you are unaware of Ahriman's affairs in the Far Eastern Frontier."

"Never mind, Magnus."

The angel winked playfully and begged for forgiveness from his brother.

"I'm not the kind of guy who likes to randomly spy on the intelligence of brother troops."

"Ah, I know, Sanguinius: you are not that fellow."

"I understand: I just thought you would be more concerned about Ahriman's movements."

"How to say?"

"Have you forgotten? You already knew Ahriman when the three of us drank and chatted happily on Baal. He was the excellent warrior you mentioned at that time. At that time, the Far East Frontier had not yet been established, and our sister Morgan was still the favorite of the Caliban lion."

"How could I forget?"

The archangel laughed and waved to the crowd nearby, causing cheers that spread for several kilometers.

"However, you seem to have a little problem with our brother Jonson?"

"Just some grudges."

The Scarlet King was somewhat dissatisfied.

"It all goes back to the time when Morgan stayed in my legion. At that time, she was just a mortal in our eyes, but I could see that she was extraordinary, because I had never seen such an excellent mortal: I regarded her as an assistant and confidant that I could rely on, and Perturabo can prove this."

"So, when Jonson sent the call for the Randan War to my legion, out of loyalty and awareness for the Great Crusade as a whole, I gave my best warriors to Jonson, including Ahriman and Morgan, but except for these two, none of these warriors survived."

"I'm sorry, Magnus."

The angel nodded.

"But you are not alone: ​​the Dark Angels have suffered the heaviest losses."

"I know. I have never troubled the Calibans on this issue. What really angered me was the matter about Morgan. Jonson detained my chosen mortal assistant without asking any questions. Moreover, he became more and more adept at using him in the following decades. He dared to take Morgan with him to any dangerous battle."

"If Morgan is not our sister, but a real mortal, then I will probably permanently lose the best assistant I have ever met. How will Zhuang Sen explain it then? How will he make up for it? I think he is too lazy to think about this problem."

"He took it for granted that everyone else didn't care as much as he did."

"Don't say that to his face."

"I'm not stupid: if I really wanted to say it, I would encourage Leman Russ to say it."

The Scarlet King grinned.

"The only thing that comforts me is that Morgan has become our sister, and she and I have been able to develop the purest friendship. In addition, Ahriman has returned safely from that terrible battlefield, and he has become the heir I am most proud of. I will thank fate for its blessing at this moment, otherwise I would have lost the child who was praised by you and Chagatai Khan on Baal."

“He was really impressive.”

The angel nodded insincerely. He noticed that the figures of mortals gathered beside the main road were becoming increasingly sparse, which made the two ladies staying in the lonely tower so eye-catching: the angel waved at them deliberately, and he recognized that they were the two recorders.

Interesting: Fulgrim would have liked these guys singing his praises, but Sanguinius was wary of these outsiders.

"Look there, Magnus."

He pointed at the two ladies.

"The Thousand Sons Legion is prepared to allow the Narrator to join their fleet."

"It depends."

Magnus spread his hands.

"It depends on whether there are individuals among them who can accept psychic energy. If they cannot understand the wonders of the warp energy, then they will have a hard time living on Prospero. Although I am not opposed to explaining the mysteries of psychic energy through the pen and paper of these mortals, I also know the limit of their humble abilities."

"That's it."

The angel glanced at his brother and wisely did not continue the topic: because he noticed that Magnus's brows were now furrowed, which was understandable. After all, as they were about to walk to the parade tower, there was indeed not much private space left for them. The Scarlet King, who had been circling for such a long time but still failed to get Saint Leos inside, was now obviously a little anxious.

Anxiety was written all over his face. Although Magnus was a scholar, he was still a reckless guy at heart. He lacked real patience and rational thinking. The archangel shook his head helplessly. He opened his mouth and seemed to have just realized the hint of the Scarlet King.

That look of ignorance mixed with a hint of nostalgia was enough to amaze Morgan.

"Honestly, Magnus."

The smile on Sanguinius's face instantly snatched away the Scarlet King's soul.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten the time when I hosted you on Baal. Thank you for reminding me, brother. Those were truly memorable days. The three of us worked together to create some impressive achievements. Together, we laid the initial foundation for the think tank system."

"That's right. Morgan joined our team some time later. Since then, we have been a strong team. Even a distant brother like Chagatai has always been faithful in giving his advice. You are my most valued friend."

Magnus quickly stepped forward and eagerly grabbed the angel's olive branch.

"We have always fought side by side, side by side on various occasions, haven't we?"

"of course."

The angel smiled, and his smile was exactly the answer Magnus needed at that moment.

"so what?"

"so……"

The Scarlet King hesitated for a moment, as if he didn't want to show his powerlessness.

"So, I think when our cause is threatened by some unjustified accusations, I can still count on your help: just like I can count on Jaghatai and Morgan, and all the rationality and wisdom in the galaxy, to stand on the side of truth, right?"

"of course."

The angel did not hesitate, he uttered the answer he had prepared long ago.

"I will do what I can, Magnus: defend our common cause."

"trust me."

"I will stand on the side of reason."

Sanguinius smiled: Just like Magnus at this moment.

(End of this chapter)