Emperor's Bane

Chapter 869: Terra Crisis - Debut
"This isn't my first time back to Terra."

“But it was definitely the weirdest one.”

"No legions, no cheers, no exploits or ceremonies to show off."

"Not even a guard."

#Brisk laughter#
“But these are not the most important.”

"the most important is……"

"This time: no Emperor."

"Without my father."

“There is no identity that belongs to me either.”

"I seem to be the guest: though I remember that I am the host."

In the Wolf Shepherd God's short life of less than two hundred years, the importance of Terra and the solar system is self-evident.

For the Empire's warmaster, this is the palace of power he has always dreamed of.

Although the Emperor's heir seems to have mastered everything in the galaxy, as long as the banner of the Luna Wolf is not flying in the Supreme Hall in front of the Imperial Palace, the Warmaster's throne of power will always be missing the most crucial piece and unable to suppress the undercurrent of the Empire.

For the Primarch of the Legion, this was a source of threat that kept him awake at night.

No matter how powerful the XVI Legion and the Wolf Realm become, as long as Terra is still firmly in the hands of the Sigillite and his mortal followers, Horus will always be passive, condescending before Terra and becoming the most rebellious subject of the High Lords.

For the Emperor's eldest son, the importance of Holy Terra has long been beyond description in any words.

In other words, the special position of the human motherland in Horus' heart can be summarized in the simplest words.

This is where the Emperor should appear: this is also where he is most likely to appear.

that's enough.

That simple sentence was enough for Horus to wave the scepter in his hand, throwing the already precarious Milky Way into the most chaotic vortex, drifting towards a distant turbulence that no one could determine: and he himself and his brother were on the first ship of the new era.

Its name: Spirit of Vengeance.

------

The voyage from Alicia to Holy Terra took about a month and a half.

This is unusual.

At least in Horus' opinion, this speed was hardly satisfactory.

During the thirty years that the Wolf God often boasted about, he traveled to various places in the Solar Segmentum dozens of times. Even during the subsequent Great Crusade, the Warmaster returned to Terra many times at the order of the Emperor, and naturally passed by the gate of the Solar Segmentum on the way.

Therefore, even though Horus had been stationed in the northern part of the Milky Way since the Council of Nikea and had never set foot in the Solar Segment again, his understanding of this land was no less than anyone else: he could clearly feel that his brother Leman Russ was deliberately taking a detour.

But the Wolf King did this not to delay time nor to express any dissatisfaction with Horus.

The Warmaster could vaguely guess that Leman Russ wanted to avoid Betanjamon, which was on their path.

This... is very interesting.

Why the Wolf King did this has become a very ambiguous topic.

Indeed, the Betangamon system is perhaps the most important gateway to Holy Terra. As a stronghold of defense jointly managed by the High Lords' Council, the Imperial Fists and the Space Wolves, the deployment of military forces and the distribution of fortresses here are highly confidential: if the Wolf King wants to hide something, the Warmaster will not be surprised by this.

But Horus' instinct told him that this was not what Leman Russ was worried about: even if they really had to pass over Betangamon, the Wolf King had plenty of ways to restrict the Warmaster, so there was no need to take a long detour for this.

So, ruling out this possibility...

When they left Alicia, bypassed Betanjamon, and passed through Palamar and Head of Vol'don, two star regions controlled by the Mechanicum, the Wolf God only took a brief moment to think, and then he thought of the rumor that had been buried deep in his mind.

"Magnus..."

The Warmaster muttered.

He was also a little unsure.

After all, after Nikaea, the location of Magnus's imprisonment, like what crime he had committed, was a vortex of vague rumors: there were at least three digits of genuine candidates for the place of imprisonment, and Betanjamon was not at the top of them.

The Emperor wouldn't be so arrogant as to imprison such a powerful Primarch on the most important gateway world of Terra, right?
This is too risky.

But if it were true, then Leman Russ's caution was understandable.

In the last few days before they arrived in the solar system, confusions like these plagued the Empire's Warmaster: if he had not taken a lot of time to chat with his brothers and other distinguished guests, the Warmaster's situation would probably have been even worse.

But the Warmaster is still the Warmaster: his worries about Magnus troubled the Wolf God for a few days, but that was all.

On the eve of their arrival in the solar system, Horus had already thought it through: it was useless to worry about the fate of Magnus. If they could not solve the problem before them, then the fate of these still active Primarchs would probably not be better than that of Magnus before.

Of course: this is a worst-case scenario.

The worst-case scenario that is unlikely to happen.

When no one was around, Horus would comfort himself in this way.

But such opportunities don't come often.

Horus is not idle.

As the absolute core figure on the Spirit of Vengeance, even though this ancient Queen of Glory-class battleship is currently carrying eight primarchs and eight legion envoys, Horus' position remains unshakable.

It's also tiring.

He is the master, the only bond that unites these guests who come from all over the world and are loyal to different thrones and flags. This is both power and glory, but also a huge burden.

At this moment, those who can gather on the bridge of the Spirit of Vengeance are all dragons among men who are capable of holding great power. One of their thoughts or words is enough to decide whether the Wolf God can get the full support of tens of thousands of star systems, and whether one army and fleet after another will become the friend or enemy of the Warmaster.

Even the tiniest chip could very likely affect the future of the galaxy.

Horus couldn't afford the gamble.

The opinions of the seven Primarchs who hold absolute power are self-evident, but the remaining eight special envoys of the various legions who are not Primarchs may be even more difficult to deal with.

After all, among the Primarchs there are inevitably those who are weak-minded like Mortarion, who is easily won over with words, and those like Sanguinius who simply don't want to deal with the matter and have almost zero subjective initiative. They are not worth expecting, but they are not worth worrying about either.

But those legion envoys, who were entrusted with such important tasks by their Primarchs and could decide the direction of a legion and a country with just a few words after returning, were enough to illustrate their own abilities and status: and how difficult it was to win them over.

Among them, Morgan's Lana, Lorgar's Angelte, and Conrad's Sevatar were the three that gave Horus the most headaches.

Needless to say, although Angertai's personality is indeed pleasing, he represents a force that makes people feel uneasy: no one knows what Luo Jia is thinking in his heart after returning from the Eye of Terror.

Nor does anyone know how many blades the followers of the God-Emperor have forged within the nearly closed borders of the Word Bearers: the sheer number of the Seventeenth Legion, and their extremely critical geographical location, make them enough to be the deciding factor between the Warmaster and Terra.

Even with a conservative estimate, Lorgar has over a million troops under his command, and their border is less than two months' voyage from the nearest point in the solar system, so they can participate in the confrontation between the Warmaster and Terra at any time.

Whichever side he sides with will have an absolute advantage in possible future armed conflicts.

Therefore, Horus had to spend a lot of time on Angertai. But he did not gain much. Like his Primarch and Legion, the taciturn Angertai seemed to have a vague feeling of hiding in the shadows, making it impossible for outsiders to further explore this warrior.

The only thing the Warmaster could be sure of was one thing: that was Angletai's extraordinary strength.

Compared to ordinary Astartes, they are like two different species: it is not something that can be achieved through training and fighting.

Rather, he felt a familiar breath in the increasingly proficient psychic realm that the Wolf God had mastered: the Wolf God smelled an extremely strong smell of the Warp on Angertai, a smell so strong that it had penetrated deep into the bones of the Word Bearers.

Horus kept this in mind.

He hoped that Lorgar had simply found this obscure psychic tome in the Eye of Terror.

Compared with Anglete, the combination of Rana and Sevata is more of a headache for the Warmaster.

The two of them were safe: at least as far as the aura of the Warp was concerned, Horus did not sense anything amiss.

But what really gave him a headache was their respective identities and their performance.

The Warmaster of the Empire could swear on the father-son relationship between him and his father that Sevatar of the Eighth Legion was definitely the most troublesome Astartes he had ever seen in his life: his eloquence was as dazzling as his talent, and his courage and arrogance were even greater.

Horus never thought in his life that he would encounter such a scene: he would actually meet an Astartes who treated him equally from a soul perspective. Even Lana or Sigismund would have an instinctive fear when facing the Warmaster.

But Sevatar didn't.

Not even a little bit.

In his eyes, the Primarch seemed to be just a larger version of his fellow being.

The only feeling his soul gave to Horus was ambitious defiance.

And his words prove this.

It took only three brief exchanges of words for the sweet-mouthed Prince of Crows to make the Warmaster forever give up the possibility of getting closer to the Eighth Legion or making friends with Conrad.

But Sevatar’s greatest role is far more than that.

As the three kingships of the Far East and their fixed non-staff members, the four representatives of the First, Second, Eighth and Thirteenth Legions were naturally mixed together: Rana was the core, Koswain and Gage were silent assistants, and Sevatar was wandering on the outer layer.

In the past month and a half, the Warmaster had tried to contact this group many times. He was very sure that Lana was the core decision-maker, while Gage had the power to remain silent. As for Corswayn sent by Jonson, although it was not known how much power he was given before leaving, the Lion King's chief steward maintained a high degree of consistency with the Far East Frontier on most issues.

Costwain was very smart. He knew that the best way for them, the Astartes, to defend the interests of the legion behind them was to maintain a sense of propriety in advancing and retreating in front of the Warmaster Horus. When the three of them combined were unable to resist the Warmaster, it was naturally time for Sevatar to appear.

This was a combination that worked so well together that Horus couldn't help but wonder if they had already communicated with each other behind the scenes.

What really caught Horus's attention was Rana, Morgan's chief of guards, who maintained amazing courage and composure in the verbal confrontation with the Warmaster: the temperament that the Wolf God was proud of had no effect in front of them, and no matter how moving the promises were, they could not impress him.

However, the Empire's Warmaster was not upset by this. Instead, he developed a very good impression of the Astartes in front of him: But what was really important was that Lana and Gage both brought what the Wolf God wanted most.

Gage brought Guilliman's goodwill.

The Lord of Five Hundred Worlds may not actively participate in the Wolf God's grand plan, but he has shown full interest and guidance: as long as the current pace is maintained, the Warmaster at least does not have to worry about Guilliman and his deadly Ultramarines Legion becoming his enemies.

As for Rana, he simply rejected the kindness of the Wolf God and immediately took out the things Morgan gave him before leaving.

It was a commitment that Avalon would proactively conduct military contraction on its border with the Wolf Kingdom.

and a non-aggression pact.

Morgan would not join in: but she had no interest in disrupting Horus's plans either.

The moment he saw this guarantee, the Warmaster could already hear the breathing of victory in his heart.

A friendly Five Hundred Worlds, a neutral Far Eastern frontier, a Word Bearers who at least did not immediately side with Terra: the attitudes of the others no longer mattered, and although his warships had not yet reached Holy Terra, Horus had already won the struggle.

What can the Sigillite and his High Lords do against the Warmaster's legions?

Is it just relying on the Imperial Fists and Space Wolves, two legions whose combined numbers are smaller than the Luna Wolves? Moreover, in the face of the Wolf God's appeal, it is still a question as to who the latter two will side with.

After getting these two promises, dealing with other brothers and legion envoys became much easier in the eyes of the Warmaster: at this time, those who are willing to stand on the Spirit of Vengeance will at least remain neutral in future conflicts, and if the war really breaks out, the Wolf God does not have no trump cards of his own.

He has strong allies.

At least five.

The Phoenix had promised him unconditional solidarity with the Luna Wolves, and as Horus marched towards Terra, Fulgrim reiterated his assurance that the perfect Third Legion would undoubtedly be a tactical edge.

Close behind was Mortarion, with three hundred thousand indestructible and awe-inspiring Legionaries at his command. Although he was somewhat ambivalent about his Emperor, if the choice was between Terra and the Warmaster, the Lord of Death would not hesitate: he had already sworn an oath to Horus in a semi-public setting.

Compared with the first two, Alpharius was an unexpected but reasonable option. Perhaps Horus still couldn't understand his youngest brother until today, but he had no reason to reject the Hydra Legion that came to him on their own initiative.

But before this, the Warmaster had been curious about how powerful Hydra was.

The answer he got was: with the same strength as the First Legion, and with a powerful influence cultivated for nearly fifty years in the Badab region abandoned by Guilliman, a quarter of the Greater Maelstrom region would follow the banner of Hydra.

This answer satisfied Horus. Not to mention the importance of the Great Vortex, if the strength of the 20th Legion was really comparable to that of the 1st Legion, it would mean that Alpharius would have at least 400,000 troops under his command: based on his habits, the actual number would be even higher.

Following behind Alpha, the venomous snake, is the eagle soaring in the sky: Chagatai Khan's willingness to follow in his footsteps was somewhat beyond the Warmaster's expectations. He originally thought that this man from the grassland would choose to stay out of it, and would support him verbally and spiritually, but would not pick up a saber for him.

But Khan did it anyway: even though he had a lot of prerequisites.

But if they are lucky enough, the 230,000 men with white scars will become another sharp blade that the Warmaster will wield at Terra.

And most importantly, the White Scars, like the Emperor's Children and Hydra, are all located in the Great Vortex region, close to the eastern border of Terra's Sky Territory. If they really want to go to war with Terra, they can form a pincer attack with the Wolf Kingdom further north at any time and defeat their legions before the High Lords are ready.

Inflicting Sudden Death on the Enemy: Horus favors this tactic.

What he would like more is that Sanguinius would side with him on this issue.

The simple news that the Angels of the Empire chose to support him was enough to shake the remaining authority of Holy Terra: although the Warmaster could not expect Sanguinius himself and his wild army to actually step onto the battlefield for him, verbal support and neutral attitude were enough.
If he could really mobilize the other four staunch allies, find a few more partners among the remaining primarchs and legions, and ensure the neutrality of the others, then facing Dorn and Russ trapped in Terra, the Wolf God would not have any use for the legion of less than 200,000 people under Sanguinius.

It would also be a good idea to keep them in the East to form some kind of containment against Avalon ruled by Morgan.

The remaining five legions were enough to piece together a force of 1.8 million, a number that was enough to overwhelm the Imperial Fists and Space Wolves, whose combined strength was less than 600,000.

Of course, all this is based on the premise that Terra will really refuse his legitimate request.

If they really have the courage: if they really have the awareness and take responsibility for their past stupidity and greed.

If they dare to disobey the Warmaster.

So……

The wolf shepherd god smiled.

When the voice came from the communicator that they were about to leave the warp and enter Mandeville Point, the Primarch slowly stood up: the time for meditation and rest in the deserted world was long enough, it was time to return to the real world.

Terra was waiting for him.

And the fate of the galaxy is also waiting for him.

(End of this chapter)