Emperor's Bane

Chapter 666: All the talents have arrived
"It is said that their entire camp refuses to use any servitor units."

“It’s hard to imagine the bloat and waste of human resources this would cause.”

"Honestly, brother, such an order is really not something that the Soul Drinker can give..."

"Okay, Fabius, shut up."

"You have one night to speak to all of Ullanor about your brilliant mind or your noble values. Go to your battle-brothers and primarchs as your audience. I only hope you will spare my ears: I have several duels to fight tonight."

"Oh, of course, I know."

Fabius, the chief pharmacist of the Emperor's Children Legion: a villain who might become famous in the galaxy under the title of Bile in the future, is now closing his mouth and putting on a nonchalant look, looking at everything on the surface with contempt, and then giving them a stingy evaluation in his heart.

There is no doubt that Fabius's behavior is annoying, but that has nothing to do with Akudona. The second captain of the Emperor's Sons is just thankful for the clarity of his ears: Emperor and Fulgrim, what he needs most now is this moment of peace.

Calm his brain: he's been exhausted these days.

Akudona tightened his helmet. He did not want his battle brothers behind him and the primarchs in front of him to see his embarrassment at this moment, even though his embarrassment came from these people: from his suddenly ambitious gene-father, and his useless blood brothers.

Looking up, the court swordsman glanced at the famous Gorgon Ferrus, who was walking not far ahead, arm in arm with the genetic father who was almost missing his mother: the relationship between these two primarchs was perhaps more famous than their respective achievements, and at least Fulgrim was never afraid to leave a message confirming his close relationship with Ferrus on any occasion.

Whenever the two legions had any joint operations, Ferrus and Fulgrim would leave their offspring and occupy a shuttle alone, and this time was no exception: as a result, Akudona, who usually followed the Primarch, had to endure the nagging from Fabius all the way.

Why hadn't he noticed before that the chief pharmacist was such a talkative person?

Akudona glanced at Fabius who was walking side by side with him. This intelligent man with beautiful silver hair was staring at a team of Guards and Sisters of Silence who happened to pass by them. His eyes were fixed on the strong muscles of the Guards, and the greed in his pupils was almost undisguised.

"Our Emperor has poured all his heart and soul into this creation: it is simply perfect."

Fabius muttered to himself, considering the distance between them and the Guards was so close that the Golden Guards would most likely hear the Chief Apothecary's whispers. Akudona felt that this was the reason why Fabius's offensive look did not incur the wrath of the Guards.

But the anger did not disappear, it just moved to Akudona's heart: especially when the court swordsman looked back and saw his fighting brothers, all smiling and looking at the scenery on the surface of Ullanor, belittling the decoration styles of other legions.

This bunch of useless trash.

The court swordsman sighed: among the people present, he seemed to be the only one who was worried.

This was natural: as Fulgrim's most trusted son, Akudona knew better than anyone the current turmoil within the Emperor's Children Legion, and the new life goals of their Gene-Father.

To establish a perfect country of Far Veins in the depths of the Maelstrom, which had been in chaos for tens of millions of years? Even for Fulgrim, this was an arrogant idea. When the Phoenix revealed his new dream to his descendants, there was no objection in the entire Legion, unsurprisingly.

The Emperor's Children unanimously approved the Primarch's delusion with the usual cheers and praise.

As for pessimists who were worried about this grand undertaking, there were even people who opposed this idea from the bottom of their hearts. There was Akudona among them. However, facing the gaze of the Primarch, none of them could say a word of rejection. The most they could do was to remain silent amid the cheers of the crowd.

And this momentary weakness will require a long time to remedy in the future.

Although Phoenix has no intention of starting his plan right away, he has asked Akudona to carefully observe every battle brother in the legion and look for professionals who can play a role in the future governance of the country: they can't always rely on mortals for everything, right?
That went against Fulgrim's philosophy.

And Akudona never thought that this simple order would make him so irritated: the court swordsman seized the entire roster of officers of the Third Legion and went back and forth for many field inspections, but in the end he could only circle a few names.

What's more, whether these selected candidates are really capable of taking on the great cause in Fulgrim's mind remains to be determined: it is no problem to let them be governors to maintain the rule, but Phoenix's expectations for his descendants are far more than just a governor.

This seems understandable. After all, governing these mortals has never been part of the perfect philosophy of the Emperor's Children Legion: even brothers like Vespasian or Tarvitz, who are worthy of expectation in terms of personality, have their professional abilities questionable, not to mention those peacocks who are obsessed with swordsmanship or glory.

Why hadn't he noticed such a huge shortcoming in their legion before?
Akudona groaned in pain, his silence ignored by everyone: only Fabius turned his reluctant gaze back to the court swordsman after the squad of guards walked away: the chief pharmacist sensitively noticed the low pressure all over their champion's body.

"What's wrong with you, Akudona?"

"nothing."

Akudona took off his helmet, took a deep breath of the rotten air on Ullanor, and forced a smile to Fabius: the court swordsman was not a fragile person. The sadness in his heart lasted less than a second before he crushed it without hesitation.

Anyway, there was no rush, so there was no need for him to be sad about it now. He should just enjoy the current grand event in Ullanor: just as he had told Fabius before, there were several duels waiting for him by the campfire in the distance.

"I just wonder how powerful Abaddon is that they talk about."

When this matter was mentioned, a light flashed in Akudona's pupils again.

"Abaddon?"

Fabius knew the name.

"What's up with him?"

"His strength: We all know that Sigismund was the most outstanding battle-brother in the entire Battle of Ullanor, and he told us that he actually lost to Dantioch of the Iron Warriors in a fair one-on-one duel."

"Really?"

Fabius was a little unconvinced.

"I have heard of Dantioch, but not of his martial fame."

Is he so strong?
"Me too, and Dantioch told all of us that his martial arts, which could rival Sigismund's, were all gifted and cultivated by Abaddon. Ahriman, the Swordmaster of the Thousand Sons, also confirmed this himself. With the words of these two battle brothers, how could I not look forward to Abaddon's power?"

"After all, he is one of the three heroes of the Great Crusade, isn't he?"

Fabius laughed.

"What you said aroused my curiosity. Even you, Akudona, didn't make it into the Three Great Crusades. What a prestigious title that would be. But do you really think Sigismund is better than you?"

"Not necessarily now: he will definitely be able to surpass all of us in the future."

"What about Radolon? Why is he also known as one of the Three Great Crusades?"

The question silenced Akudona.

He thought for a while before answering Fabius with a frown.

------

"I do not know either."

Midnight Haunter slumped beside the Roman stone column without standing, hiding most of his body in the shadows. His slender face looked even paler because of the gradually sinking sunset of Ullanor. His arm exposed outside his robe stretched out to one side, groped again and again, and then, like a magic trick, he brought a glass of strong liquor to the Corax brothers standing next to him.

"Wine? Where did it come from?"

The Raven King took it suspiciously, and then recalled Leman Russ's previous miserable state and the reason why he was so miserable: Facing Corax's inquiring eyes, Conrad just spread his arms and repeated the previous words, and did not forget to get himself a glass of wine. "Don't look at me, I said."

"I do not know either."

Midnight Haunter felt somewhat helpless.

"That's right. Although I was certain decades ago that Morgan had the habit of brewing wine in private, I still don't know where our sister hid the wine she brewed over the years. Fortunately, she is willing to take it out for emergency use."

“It’s not enough.”

The Raven King glanced at the fine wine in the glass, but did not rush to drink it in one gulp. Instead, he instinctively cast his gaze further away: standing on the top of the towering stairs of Camelot Palace, coupled with the Primarch's innate excellent vision, Corax could easily take in most of the bonfire party scene in his pupils.

He saw that as night fell in Ullanor, the feast of victory was slowly beginning. Pale white fireworks rose one after another like pillars, and the highest ones had touched the limit of the sky. Amid the crackling sound of burning wood, the soldiers' victory songs could be heard faintly, and the earliest group of banquet participants had arrived at their positions.

But they would soon discover that there was only water or drinks in their cups: the alcohol would have to wait a while longer before it could be urgently allocated from several neighboring legion camps.

"But even so: there will be many mortals who cannot drink wine that satisfies them."

"Why worry about this?"

Conrad rolled his eyes at his brother: Corax was always like this, taking on problems beyond his scope without authorization, then worrying and blaming himself for it, and regarding his rightful rights as the tyranny of an oppressor.

"Don't worry, brother. These mortals under Morgan's command are more sensible than you think. Most of them won't drink alcohol tonight because tomorrow they will have training and rehearsal. Besides, compared to the champions of various legions gathering here and the competitions between them, what does a little alcohol mean?"

“But you still dunked a bucket.”

"She gave this to me."

The Night Lord stiffened his neck: He seemed to care a lot about this matter.

"Besides, I didn't keep this barrel of wine for myself."

"For Sevatar again?"

"... and Shen."

Conrad's tone was a little frivolous, which made Corax laugh.

"What about the two of them: Are they preparing for the real sword duel later?"

"Of course. What do you mean? Don't the guys under your command plan to give it a try?"

"I'm sorry, Conrad: I don't have many warriors of outstanding martial arts under my command."

"..."

For some reason, Corax could clearly feel that there was a hint of contempt in the look his brother Conrad gave him.

He seemed to want to say something else, but a new burst of noise in the distance interrupted the Midnight Lord's thoughts.

"Look, here they come."

Conrad stretched his neck and recited the names one by one.

"The leader was Horus: he actually brought Abaddon here."

"Then there's Vulkan, Fulgrim, and Ferrus: Why are the two of them still stuck together? Dorn is here too? The one next to him is Sigismund. Wait? What is Sigismund holding?"

"Let me see."

Corax narrowed his eyes.

"Sigismund? He seems to be holding Dorn's own sword."

"Interesting, I didn't know our Stone brothers were so competitive."

"And then who?"

"Um... Mortarion?"

"Mortarion? Seriously?"

Even the Midnight Haunter opened his eyes wide in surprise.

"He can actually come to attend the banquet hosted by Morgan?"

"Maybe there is another purpose."

The Crow King tilted his head.

"I always feel that Mortarion's aura is not as... vicious as last time."

"None of my business."

Conrad grinned.

"He is Morgan's problem: he will always be Morgan's problem."

"What do you mean?"

"They are destined to be together: how are the boys here preparing?"

"Let me see."

"Bayar, Kahn, Ahriman, Sevatar, Koswayn, Amit, Alajos and Astelan, Hector, Lana, Orfeo and Auguston..."

Corax whispered the names one by one, and he did not notice that when the names of these warriors who were famous throughout the galaxy flowed through his mouth one by one, the corners of his mouth that had been suppressed for many years actually smiled unconsciously: that was the purest joy, without any distractions.

Look at these names: what could be more representative of the power of the empire?
This evening is going to be great.

Just like: the future of the empire.

(End of this chapter)