Emperor's Bane

Chapter 822 How can this person be so bad!

【Okay, let me take a look. 】

【Guilliman's Lady Macbeth.】

【Jonson's Morgana Witch King.】

【Princess Medea of ​​Perturabo. 】

【Conrad's Lady Bathory.】

【Magnus's Circe Temptress.】

[Leman Russ's Hela the Death God.]

【Luo Jia's Lilith Demon. 】

【And Zenobia of Horus. 】

【…】

"..."

【Is there anything missing? 】

"And the Emperor's Catherine."

[Oh yes, and the Lord of Mankind, Catherine II.]

Morgan used her ruthless third hand to pick up the quill and quickly wrote the name on the silver recording board. After doing all this, the Spider Queen couldn't help but sigh, with a hint of emotion in her eyes.

[I never knew you had such a rich background in history and literature.]

"After all, there aren't many extra entertainment activities on the Blood and Tears on weekdays."

The archangel laughed, and a hint of warmth emerged on his face, which was beyond the limits of any artist's imagination, making him look noble for no reason: even though he just folded his wings, stood with his legs together, and sat on the ground with his back against the cold corner.

But even when sitting on the ground, Sanguinius' temperament was no different from that of a person sitting high on the throne of the entire galaxy. Even among the Primarchs, this was a unique talent: Morgan, who was also sitting next to him against the wall, looked much lazier and indolent.

However, this clear contrast in image did not allow Archangel Baal to gain the upper hand in the conversation between the siblings. After all...

"Click..."

[You look quite proud? ]

The Spider Queen had a sullen face, and her free hand moved casually, and the silver chain tied to Morgan's wrist made a crisp sound in the air: although the psychic barrier not far away blocked the sound, the archangel could feel it in time.

The reason was simple: because the other end of the chain was tied around Sanguinius' neck.

"Do you need to be on guard against me to this extent?"

The Archangel of Baal was somewhat helpless, as he had finally convinced the Spider Queen to get off his back first, although he doubted that the main reason Morgan would let go was that if she wanted to keep reaching for the Archangel's neck, she would have to keep hopping: a very socially suicidal act even for a Primarch.

Especially after Sanguinius witnessed this scene and couldn't help laughing out loud.

But the brotherly and sisterly love was better than nothing, so Morgan insisted on adding another insurance: before the angel could react, the damn silver light locked his neck and Morgan's wrists together.

When he came to his senses, the two of them were already sitting on the floor next to each other, with a silent fruit plate in the middle: the Spider Queen picked up the angel's favorite fruit as if nothing had happened, put it in her mouth and chewed it absentmindedly, while taking out her clipboard.

Next, Sanguinius, while tugging at the silver chain, bit by bit recounted his brilliant writings over the years.

Of course, it wasn't just him who had great literary talent. In the dozen or so short stories about the Nine Nicknames, Sanguinius mentioned Conrad's name a total of forty-four times: this was based on the premise that the Archangel wiped out the blood of Midnight Haunter for the sake of his accomplice.

And it's not his fault: if it weren't for the science popularization of the Midnight Haunter, who liked to visit him from time to time ever since he moved back to Baal, to watch horror science fiction movies with him, and by the way, always wanted to kidnap him to the Ghoul Star to be a free thug for his expedition, the Archangel would probably never know what Circe or Madame Bathory were until his death.

In the course of the narration, and in order to further heighten the Archangel of Baal’s awareness of these legendary women of humanity, the Midnight Haunter naturally made use of a certain female compatriot with whom both of them were very familiar: and now, in front of this female compatriot, Sanguinius revealed all of this without any guilt.

As for Conrad's fate...

Anyway, it’s not as important as his life.

Sanguinius blinked, and what little guilt he had felt vanished.

In fact, strictly speaking, even if the silver chain had locked his neck, this little force was better than nothing for the archangel. The reason why Sanguinius was so obedient was that when he was telling the first story, he inadvertently discovered that Morgan actually felt... shy because of these strange nicknames and stories made up by the archangel.

Is that shy?
The angel was not sure: but that did not prevent him from turning his originally reluctant confession into a passionate speech.

It's a wonderful feeling to make up a bunch of little stories that will make the other person socially dead right in front of the person: it's as pleasant as eating his favorite cake in front of Horus seemingly unintentionally.

The recollection of the good old days brought a smile to the Archangel's face again, and at about the same time, Morgan also wrote the last string of words on her silver plate. After she put her things away, the two Primarchs, who were about a meter apart, began to look at each other.

There was a moment's silence, then Sanguinius extended one of his fingers and touched the silver chain that hung between them.

"?"

【Don’t even think about it. 】

Morgan smiled with a forced smile, and it was obvious that she was still angry.

【Have you ever thought about how spreading these rumors among brothers would have a negative impact on my reputation? 】

"Do you care about this when you're hanging out with Guilliman?"

The angel picked up a fruit and peeled it slowly.

"But then again: do these stories have a big impact on you?"

[Of course not: What do you mean? ]

"Then is the redness on your face because you were tired just now?"

【! 】

Morgan touched her face: it was much hotter than the back of her hand.

"Actually, I understand."

At the same time, the archangel smiled just right.

"Although everyone has made that incident a good story, if someone tells me about how I knelt down and swore an oath to the Ninth Legion, I would still feel a little embarrassed. Even if it is a successful past, it will always be embarrassing when others talk about it from a respectful perspective."

"We usually call this thin-skinned."

【Shut up. 】

"But the famous Spider Queen would actually feel shy about these things."

Sanguinius took a bite of the fruit.

“Tsk tsk tsk, really…”

【…】

Morgan's brow twitched.

The next moment, the soft fruit flesh in the archangel's mouth made a sound of metal and glass when he chewed it.

"!"

How could this person be so bad!

Sanguinius widened his eyes and looked in astonishment at the Lord of Avalon who was smiling smugly. Then, the angel closed his mouth tightly and aimed at the white skirt of the Spider Queen.

"Puff!" With a slight sound, a screw was accurately stuck to the skirt.

【! 】

This time it was the Spider Queen's turn to glare and the Archangel's turn to be smug.

Morgan did not say anything. She just silently took all the red fruits that Sanguinius liked the most and stuffed them all into her mouth. She puffed out her cheeks as round as a groundhog and chewed them in a swaggering manner towards Sanguinius.

"You are so childish, Morgan."

【Um (you) um (also) um (the same). 】

The two Primarchs looked at each other again, and in a trance, they seemed to suddenly realize how childish their actions were: Sanguinius and Morgan tacitly shifted their gazes to other places, deleting the previous round of [confrontation] in their minds.

While Morgan was patting his chest and trying hard to swallow the fruit, the archangel who was fiddling with the silver chains around his neck suddenly spoke.

"Morgan."

【Um? 】

"Actually, there's something I've always wanted to ask you, and I just happened to run into you today: Do you feel like Horus has become a different person after Ullanor?"

【You just felt it? 】

The Spider Queen turned back.

"I mean, don't you think that after Horus gained psychic powers, his confidence swelled too quickly? I know that guy well. I know that Horus is a person with a lot of self-doubt. He may be able to get over the shock of the Emperor's departure for the Great Crusade, but it shouldn't be so fast."

[Need I remind you: the Emperor has been away from the Great Crusade for ten years.]

"That was not what I meant."

Sanguinius tilted his head and stroked the bright silver light with his fingers.

"You haven't had any contact with him recently, so you don't know him very well. Ever since Horus obtained the psychic power given by the Emperor, his strength has more than doubled. Even for a Primarch, this is an astonishing increase. I doubt that this rapid increase in strength in a short period of time will cause Horus' psychology to become distorted."

【What's the meaning? 】

Morgan frowned: After Sanguinius's reminder, the Spider Queen came to her senses a little.

Yes.

She didn't notice either.

The psychic power bestowed by the Emperor himself, second only to Morgan's among the living Primarchs, made Horus the undisputed strongest man in the galaxy: and this sudden surge of power was bound to bring about an excessive expansion of self-confidence and create path dependence when solving problems.

Putting aside other things, think carefully about some of the actions of the Wolf God in this expedition. Are there really no problems at all? He insisted on letting Sejanus use a diplomatic visit to contact the false emperor when the future was uncertain. Was it his pacifist mentality at work, or was it that after mastering powerful psychic powers, his inflated self-confidence made him begin to ignore danger?

Not to mention that Horus had also opened up multiple fronts at the same time: he was implementing drastic reforms within the Luna Wolves Legion, promoting mortals to form a new Society of Mourning; he was also establishing a Federal District of Law outside to confront the Council of High Lords of Terra head-on; at the same time he was extending his tentacles to Morgan and others, trying to re-establish his core position among the Primarchs.

But don't forget, when Horus was carrying out so many operations at the same time: he was also remotely controlling and commanding the entire Wolf Kingdom's conquest of the vast area in the north of the galaxy. If everything was connected together, it would be a workload enough to make Morgan feel despair.

It's not that these are all wrong, but they are a bit too arrogant: whether it is changing the deep-rooted traditions within the Legion, struggling with Holy Terra in the field of consciousness, commanding a war that spans two star fields at the same time, or establishing and adjusting connections with digital Primarchs at the same time, these are huge projects that require full concentration, and the Wolf God has the confidence to manipulate them all at the same time.

Was it the sense of responsibility of the Great Crusade Warmaster, or was it the excessive self-confidence brought about by the sudden surge in power? They all thought that Horus had changed after gaining the Emperor's recognition, but was this change a true spiritual cleansing, or was it a false propaganda that was reluctantly established?

“Chagatai is also worried about this issue.”

The Archangel sighed.

"He told me that Horus's change was definitely from the heart, but whether his heart was firm was another question."

"It's like announcing a policy: let all citizens understand and agree with it from the bottom of their hearts, then announce it, or just implement it without paying any attention to the true feelings of the people. On the surface, they both have the same effect."

"But it's actually quite different: Horus may have this problem right now."

[You mean to say that Horus's current generosity, calmness, pursuit of peace and letting go of his obsession with the Emperor are very likely to be fake: he doesn't really think so in his heart, but in order not to disappoint the Emperor or others, he deceives himself and says that he has become such a person, and forces himself to show it.]

"That's what I'm here for."

The archangel nodded, feeling a slight itch on his neck.

"I want to determine what is in Horus' heart right now..."

"boom--"

The air suddenly became quiet, and the two Primarchs stared intently at the broken silver chain in Morgan's hand, while at the other end, Sanguinius' fingers were still there.

The Spider Queen's eyes widened. She saw it clearly: Sanguinius, who seemed powerless in front of the silver chain, just scratched his neck instinctively and broke the steel ring tied there into pieces.

"Feel sorry."

The Archangel smiled.

"I forgot to control my strength."

【…】

"What are you looking at me for: you don't really think this thing can trap me?"

【hiss……】

Morgan took a deep breath.

Then she tapped the ground.

"Hey! Morgan!"

Just as Sanguinius was about to reach out his hand, he discovered a circle of light had appeared under the Spider Queen's buttocks: in the blink of an eye, the Lord of Avalon had escaped.

"Is it necessary to be so afraid of me?"

The voices of Horus and Fulgrim's discussion were getting closer and closer, marking the psychic barrier that was dissipating as its masters left.

Just as the archangel was mumbling in frustration, he suddenly saw a crack opening up in front of him, right next to the fruit plate on the ground: the Spider Queen's slender arm stretched out from it.

"Ok?"

Sanguinius raised his brow.

"Why, you still want to eat..."

Just as the Archangel of Baal was about to push the fruit plate to Morgan's hand, he found that the Spider Queen's fingers had quickly touched the edge of the fruit plate, and then Morgan grabbed it without hesitation.

Lift it high.

"Snapped!"

The sound of the fruit plate smashing to pieces on the ground and the gurgling of the fruits startled the two brothers in the distance. Just as they hurried over here, the archangel was staring in amazement at the disappearance of the crack.

"..."

How could this person be so bad!

------

I haven't been in a very good state these past two days, so I'll write two pictures first to make a transition. I'll start pushing the storyline tomorrow, and will push through the Federation of Kings and Nemesis Blade. After I finish pushing through them, I'll almost be heading for the Great Rebellion.

Ah, the end is waving at me.

(End of this chapter)