Emperor's Bane

Chapter 690 for the Emperor
This warmaster crown bestowed upon him by the Emperor himself was truly extraordinary.

It's...amazing.

After hesitating for a moment, the Wolf God found this barely appropriate adjective in his mind: Even for a Primarch, it is not easy to make such a judgment immediately.

After all: the treasures bestowed by the Emperor naturally possess profound connotations that match his wisdom and thinking. If you don't savor them carefully, you won't be able to guess the reason, and you will unfortunately miss the kindness hidden in them by the Lord of Mankind.

At least that's what Horus thought.

But even so, the Wolf Shepherd God had to admit one problem: the symbol of supreme power on his head from now on did make his soul feel uneasy.

It was marvelous: but too marvelous.

From the very beginning, this magnificent solid gold crown was firmly embedded in Horus' forehead, telling of the glory and power of the Wolf God at the moment: this treasure of the Emperor was almost connected to his eldest son, leaving a faint red mark in just a moment, making the wearer feel instinctively uncomfortable. The Primarch even doubted whether he would be able to take it off in the future.

He couldn't help feeling a little annoyed: then he noticed that the crown seemed to be embedded even tighter.

"..."

Never mind: maybe my father had other intentions.

Horus comforted himself, but there was not much relaxation in his sea-blue eyes: the wolf god forced himself to raise his head, because his genetic father had come to him.

After bestowing the title of Warmaster to Horus in full view of everyone, the Lord of Mankind could not wait to personally break the sacred shell of monarchy and subjection. He did not even wait for the Primarchs around him and the dignitaries who came to witness the ceremony to leave. He took a step forward, swept down the steps, and personally helped up his son, his Sagittarius.

The deep affection between father and son is vividly expressed on paper in just this moment.

+ Rise up, my Warmaster: let me see you now. +
Without waiting for Horus's hesitation, the Emperor grasped his son's arm, helped him up without saying a word, and pulled him in front of him: Now, the father and son were so close that the Lord of Mankind only had to raise his arm slightly to put his hand on Horus' shoulder. With this as the center, he surrounded his first son and looked at the majestic procession of the new warmaster with relish.

The endless pride that only exists between a father and his son continued to gush out from the heart of the Lord of Humanity at this moment, painting his face with pure joy. He circled around his child, looking left and right, revealing a bit of curiosity.

Although Horus only had a circle of golden olive leaves on his head compared to a minute ago, in the eyes of the Emperor, his favorite son was already very different: there had been a qualitative leap in his every aspect.

It was as if Horus in the previous second was still a child who needed to take shelter from the wind and rain under the wings of the Emperor, but at this moment, he had become independent and could soar in the sky: he could be called an adult.

After all, he had just experienced a coming-of-age ceremony that was prepared just for him, perhaps the most grand and luxurious in the history of all mankind and even the entire galaxy: the Emperor mobilized millions of warriors and champions to let them witness with their own eyes what his offspring would look like when he grew up.

+You know what, my Horus. +
The Lord of Mankind stood back before the Wolf God with an unsatisfied look on his face. He looked at his son, who had long since recovered his composure, and nodded proudly at his calmness: in the eyes of the Emperor, Horus at this moment was full of merits, or merits that could be improved in the future.

The smile on the Primarch's face was equally joyful, because when his father gently patted his shoulder, Horus could truly feel that every touch of the Emperor was from the heart, and the friendship between them was as hot as a blazing flame.

My father's voice is like the sound of nature.

＋I have dreamed of this scene for a long time: my child, my first son, you have finally become strong and wise enough, brave and determined enough, and you can finally leave my arms. Use your own strength to create your own legend and defend our common cause. ＋
+...+
The Lord of Mankind paused, and there was a slight tremor of emotion in his voice.

＋You have finally grown up. ＋
＋My Horus. ＋
＋This all happened... so fast...＋
＋But it's just right, every development is so wonderful, I think I will never encounter such a wonderful thing again, but fortunately, we will at least always have each other's blood relationship, right? ＋
"Yes, Father."

The Wolf Shepherd God didn't even notice how scary his grin was. He twitched his nose, swallowed the tears behind his eyes, nodded, and squeezed so hard that his spine complained of pain.

But Horus did not care about these. He answered his father word by word in a very resonant and powerful voice that could only be heard between a father and son, with absolute certainty.

At this moment, all worries and power were thrown behind.

Compared to the Emperor, they are nothing.

Everything in the world is worthless.

"I can finally respond to your expectations."

"I can finally give my all to our common cause."

Horus clenched his fists: he swore on his life that these were not empty words.

He was ever willing to be the first martyr for the Emperor and His Great Cause.

+No, my Horus: You do this all the time, don't you? +
“I always feel like I’m not doing enough.”

＋Very good, Horus: you have always done well.＋
＋You are always the best. ＋
＋At least in my case, my answer is clear and firm from beginning to end. ＋
+You are my greatest son, the one I am most proud of among your brothers. +
"I never doubted it, Father."

The Wolf God laughed: The same is true for his dearest genetic father.

At this moment, the Lord of Mankind and the Wolf Shepherd God both fell into a brief silence. It was not because of embarrassment or having nothing to say, but because the family affection at this moment was so strong that no words were needed to express it.

All the words that should be said, all the vows that should be made, all the moments that should be recalled, all the victories that should be celebrated together, this true father and son had already completed it a hundred years ago, thirty years after they first met, and the moment the Warmaster's crown was placed on the forehead of the Wolf God.

They reached the top of the mountains and looked around with no regrets.

Now, they only need to enjoy the wonderful silence after the completion of the building: just like a brilliant opera that has passed through a stormy climax, stirring the hearts of all the audience, and then, accompanied by the understatement of the baton, it slides into the lingering whispers like the first clear day after the rain.

it is more than words.

------

"What a beautiful sentence."

In a corner ignored by the crowd, in a silent area unheard of by the sounds of discussion, congratulations, and music, on a high platform that was so close to the Lord of Mankind and his descendants, yet eclipsed by the brilliance of the former two, the Seal Bearer sighed softly.

"It's a pity that this father and son were wasted on this thing. It's such a waste of God's gift."

Malcador shook his head repeatedly, then glanced to the side, and for a moment he seemed a little teasing.

"Honestly, Morgan: I never thought you were such an emotional person."

The seal holder bit the corner of his lips hard at the words "emotionally rich", and the sarcasm contained in them was self-evident.

"How did you arrange such a line for the Emperor that makes people sweat all over, but Horus just can't resist it, and is even unwilling to think deeply about it: as if you have witnessed this scene with your own eyes?"

After saying this, he chuckled again, mocking himself.

"More importantly, this line is so suitable for our great Lord. I have also arranged his opening remarks for the Emperor, but I have never seen him express it so fluently. Our Lord of Mankind must really like these corny words you taught him, and he likes to use them on Horus even more."

“Look at them: there’s a real spark going on between this father and son.”

"this is too scary."

Malcador shuddered.

“It’s like a ghost story.”

【…】

After a moment, a faint cold snort came from the direction of the Spider Queen.

[Master of the Seal, let me tell you what a real ghost story is. ]

Morgan put two fingers together and rubbed her temples with a slight headache. Most of her thoughts were still on the conclusion made by the Sigillite not long ago: the ominous aura that was placed on the crown of the Warmaster, which was said to be extremely similar to her psychic aura.

It’s disturbing just to think about it: after all, even the murderer cannot be identified.

There are at least... six suspects?

【…】

When on earth did she get into trouble with so many guys at the same time?
Morgan's headache only got worse.

Although Malcador said that what he said just now might be his own illusion, after all, the other two psychic masters present did not notice anything wrong: that crown had passed through the hands of the Emperor, how could the Lord of Mankind not notice something wrong with it?

If there is one.

Morgan, who had also been through the same hands, might not be as good as the six thousand year old Sigillite in terms of experience and psychic skills, but if it came to a competition of instinctive senses and acumen, the gifted Primarch would be able to suppress Malcador and have more say than him.

Even Magnus is no exception.

Therefore, although the seal holder felt such a strong touch at that time, when he found that the other two did not notice it at all, Malcador began to suspect whether he had some hallucinations: after all, he had been too busy during this period of time. Even for the immortals, it was understandable that they could not bear it mentally and had some problems.

But even so, Malcador's confession did not make Morgan feel at ease. The Spider Queen secretly remembered this matter and hung it on Horus's primary entry. She kept a close eye on the Emperor's reaction, while dealing with the new topic from Malcador somewhat helplessly.

Morgan glanced at the heart-warming father-son love a few meters away, and she didn't even bother to hide the sharpness of her expression.

【You know what, Malcador? 】

She lowered her voice.

[The script I handed over to the Emperor only involved two paragraphs: the first paragraph was the speech when he awarded the title of Warmaster to Horus, and the second paragraph was the performance and words when he conferred various titles on various Primarchs. Do you know what this means? ]

"mean……"

Malcador was stunned for a moment, and then his expression changed. "You mean..."

【Yes. 】

Morgan smiled emotionlessly.

[Those words just now, those wonderful questions and answers between father and son: they were all thought of by the Emperor himself.]

[What is happening before us, these heartfelt words, these strong emotions, these sincere words, these are not something that the Emperor could have thought of, they are 100% my father's self-expression: there is not even any performance element in it, the Emperor does this completely from the heart, he believes every word he says.]

[His firstborn son, his greatest offspring, the one of all his primarch bloodlines that he could be most proud of...]

[These are all true: these compliments were all thought up by the Emperor himself.]

How touching.

"..."

So, you saw the result.

Morgan blinked and ended the topic with a cold snort.

[He is not bad at speaking, he just was too lazy to do so before. ]

[We are too lazy to do that. ]

【And to Horus...】

The Spider Queen straightened her head and looked in the direction of the Emperor and the Wolf God.

【Take a look.】

[For Horus, he was not even willing to let his beloved son walk to the balcony alone to accept the allegiance of the entire army: he wanted to go with him and use the majesty of his army to flatten the foundation of the warmaster.]

"Oh my god..."

Malcador looked on and saw that Morgan was right: after the touching silence between them, Goodwill would embark on the next journey, from this hall that brought him the highest honor, to the terrace overlooking the entire square, to display his Warmaster's crown to the nineteen legions and millions of mortal auxiliaries.

Tell them that from now on, he will be their commander.

He was the second person to whom they needed to give all their loyalty and honor.

There is no doubt that this is difficult: not to mention the mortal troops, there are many people in the nineteen Astartes Legions who do not want to obey the authority of the Wolf Shepherd God.

Therefore, when these potential rebels raised their heads with disdain, their gazes had to quickly sink, because they would sadly discover that next to Horus stood the only reason in the entire galaxy that could make them willing to bow their heads.

------

That is the Emperor.

Bathed in the glory of his father, bathed in the admiration of millions of warriors, bathed in the breeze of Ullanor that still carried a hint of the stench of blood, Horus had never felt that he was so close to true glory and true greatness.

Millions of warriors stood silently, thousands of flags fluttered in the wind, countless victories and legends flowed in his hands until they turned into heavy gold in his power: even in his most luxurious dreams in the past years, the Wolf God had never imagined that one day he would be able to gain the loyalty of all these warriors.

Even if it's just on the surface.

Horus narrowed his eyes slightly. The crown on his head was still heavy and rough, but he had long been submerged in genuine joy. He was like a child who had received an expensive gift. He was a little dazed in his joy. He instinctively looked to his right, towards his only support in this galaxy.

The Emperor was watching him.

The father is smiling: a simple smile is more powerful than the battle cry of a legion.

+Say something to them, kid. +
The Lord of Mankind placed one of his hands on the Warmaster's shoulder. At some point, he had taken off the laurel wreath on his forehead. This formed such a sharp contrast with the glittering golden ornament on Horus' head that although the Emperor never said a word, even the dumbest warrior realized what was happening.

They were crying silently, and millions of fearless warriors were silently bleeding in their hearts. Even though the rumors had already spread decades ago and even though the announcement just now had spread throughout Ullanor, they still had hope and were still unwilling to believe the truth.

The Emperor was leaving them.

replaced by……

"Horus."

The Warmaster whispered his name, which gave him infinite strength. He took a step forward and walked to the edge of the terrace. With his father's encouragement, he looked at so many warriors for the first time, at the people he was going to guide and protect.

He had something to say, of course he had something to say to them, and of course he knew what he should say to them.

In this sad moment, in this glorious day, when doubt and fear are growing in the hearts of millions of people, when countless loyal and brave people need new courage and a new guidance, does the Wolf Shepherd God know what they need?
They need a slogan.

A slogan that could unite everyone, that could transcend the divisions between the Legion and the world, that could encompass such a great crusade, that could summarize all the victories, bloodshed, and glory of the Empire since its founding.

Just that sentence.

Horus raised his fist.

The next moment, millions would follow his voice, his vision, and the oath he had sworn to them: their collective will would spread like a whirlwind across Ullanor, breaking through the limits of atmosphere and space, and eventually spreading to the lands of the Great Crusade.

Tell everyone his answer.

Tell Them…

Horus screamed at the top of his lungs.

“for the Emperor!!!”

The sound pierced through the fear.

The next moment, endless shouts followed, and as he had thought, there was almost no room for silence: millions of mournful warriors raised their fists in unison, following the Warmaster's first order.

“for the Emperor!!!”

The three armies were shocked and the earth shook.

Everyone was shouting, and the fanatical atmosphere seemed as if the air was burning.

But no one cares.

“for the Emperor!!!”

Just like this slogan.

For the Emperor.

for humanity.

For the Empire.

For the Great Expedition.

For all of them...

------

maybe one day.

And also for himself.

"..."

Yes, for himself...

Horus blinked, and this wonderful idea flashed through his mind.

At the same time, the wonderful crown on his head was also flashing a faint light.

------

Let me tell you something.

Because I was typing on my phone, the three commonly used words, [勇士], [庄森] and [战帅], are very close to each other in pinyin. Once I'm in a hurry, it's very easy to make mistakes.

So, don't be surprised if you see millions of Warmasters, millions of Jonsons, Horus Jonson, the Fearless Warmaster or the Warmaster of Caliban, they are just mistakes.

(End of this chapter)