Emperor's Bane

Chapter 927 Day of Slaughter

Chapter 927 Day of Slaughter (33)

"I didn't expect you to actually deploy the Abyss Fury in battle, Malochist."

"I never expected that you would actually allow me to send out the Abyss Fury, my lord."

The Twisted One's surprise was genuine.

He truly hadn't expected that the War General would tacitly allow him to send out the Shadowmoon Wolf Fleet's biggest trump card.

"..."

No, that's not entirely accurate.

It should be one of the biggest trump cards.

The Twisted One mentally corrected his mistake while maintaining rhythmic deep breathing to calm himself down: This was normal; anyone would be so nervous they couldn't breathe if they saw a Primarch charging towards them with his most powerful weapons and his most arrogant army.

Malochist was no exception: that's why he particularly admired Horus's composure.

This is the kind of war commander worth following, isn't he?
After taking a few deep breaths, the Twisted One felt his reason and thinking returning. The adrenaline in his mind was gradually flowing down his veins, and his gaze became sharp and vicious again. Looking around at the sparks flying in the void and the scattered stars, he quickly assessed the current direction of the war.

But a few seconds later, Malohrist shook his head, bored, and looked away.

There's nothing left to pay attention to.

The Space Wolves fought fiercely, living up to their title as the Emperor's executioners. If this had been an unplanned skirmish, the sons of Lemanrus would have had a chance to break through the Shadowmoon Wolves' lines. But all assumptions were meaningless; the outcome of the war was already written in black and white in their book of fate long before the Wolves fired their first cannonball.

With the Twisted One summoning the Abyssal Fury, which had been lurking in the shadows, King Fenris's wild conquest had to come to an end: the Abyssal Fury's long-planned attack pierced the last layer of shields of the Herakfin, exposing the warship's already damaged hull to the cannons of hundreds of Shadowmoon Wolves.

Leman Russ had no choice. If he did not want his legion to be destroyed today, his only option was to abandon all strategic intentions and flee the battlefield. And that's exactly what the Wolf King did: before the Abyss Fury's all-out attack tore his warship apart, Russ ordered his Queen of Glory to jump away at all costs.

He was lucky: if it had been just a few minutes later, the Abyss Fury's main beam spear would have been fully charged, and the Herakfin would have become a thing of the past.

With the departure of the Wolf King, the remaining Space Wolves seemed to have lost the courage to continue fighting. The warships surrounding the Herakfin also forcibly initiated subspace jumps one after another. Only a few ships, either unwilling to retreat or preparing to buy time for their fellow warriors to evacuate, chose to continue fighting the Shadowmoon Wolves' fleet.

But their heroic act did not last long: the Abyss Fury marched into the battlefield like a giant, and although the Queen of Glory's escape rendered its main lance useless, the Warmaster's pride easily tore the Wolf Pack's few battleships and cruisers left to cover the retreat to pieces with just the dense array of cannons on its broadside.

Malohrist witnessed firsthand how a cannonball from the Abyss Fury entered a battleship from its port side and exited from its starboard side in the blink of an eye. This swift strike cleaved the vessel, second only to the Queen of Glory, in two. Even having experienced the entire Great Crusade, the Twisted Ones had never heard of such terrifying power. Such ferocity and brutality were enough to shift the balance of the entire galaxy.

Fortunately, it was their ship.

Malohrist breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, the Twisted One didn't actually despise Lemanrus's decision to ultimately flee the battlefield. On the contrary, he felt that this was what a qualified commander should do: in the face of an unknown force that cannot be resisted, sacrificing a pawn to save the king in order to preserve strength requires far more courage than reckless action. Dying heroically is something even a brute would do, but those who dare to live and face challenges are more worthy of respect.

His warlord was right; Lemanrus was indeed not the barbarian king that the world spoke of.

He was at least a competent commander.

It's just a pity that the Wolf King's opponent this time was the best commander in the entire expedition: his defeat was not unjust.

At least, he successfully used his courage to make Malohrist make a potentially wrong judgment. After witnessing the Herakfin and how it escaped, the Twisted One immediately began to doubt himself: whether his decision to activate the Abyssal Fury was correct, since the decision had failed to kill Lemanrus.

Now that the Wolf King has escaped, Holy Terra will likely soon learn of the existence of Abyssal Fury.

Is it really necessary to reveal their trump card prematurely in a battle that they are almost certain to win?
Malohrist didn't know the answer, but he was terrified that his genetic father was contradicting his own ideas.

Therefore, the withdrawal of the Space Wolf did not improve the Twisted One's mood. On the contrary, he remained restless in his position, listening to Horus speaking and moving behind him: the Warmaster was calling back the servants he had previously ordered, canceling the order to wear armor, and personally contacting all levels of the ship, asking them to do their best to suppress the turmoil that had just occurred.

“At times like this, I miss my dear Azekel.”

Having done all this, Horus, clad in ceremonial armor, put his hands behind his back and slowly returned to Malohrist's side, where he and his closest lieutenant witnessed the last remaining battles on the star map: on the front lines far from the Ruby King, the Space Wolves, unwilling to retreat, decided to shed their last drop of blood on their battlefield.

The warlord didn't seem to care about this.

"If Abaddon were here, I wouldn't need to contact the captains and officers myself."

"He only needs to stand here and shout once, and the entire Glory Queen ship can hear him clearly."

The Primarch chuckled softly, while Malhohurst could only stand by awkwardly.

"It's a pity, he preferred to lead Gastalin at the forefront rather than stay by my side."

After speaking, Horus looked to one side of the star map, where Abaddon's flagship was located: fifty ships of various sizes formed the largest combat group of the Space Wolf Legion still stranded in the Giants system, while ten times that number of Shadowmoon Wolves were surrounding them. Boarding torpedoes and light spears flew wildly in the narrow space, and the vivid casualty figures told the story of their final madness.

Abaddon was there: together with Gastalin, he delivered the final blow to the Sixth Army.

Do you think he can handle it himself?

After a moment of silence, the Primarch asked his servant a question.

"I believe he'll be fine."

The Twisted One nodded.

“Abbotton has made great progress over the years.”

"That's true."

Horus responded, his gaze gradually shifting to the front of the Ruby King, a spot not far from his command center: just over ten minutes ago, his brother's warship had been there, charging towards him, trying to take his life in one fell swoop.

"You have chosen to send out the Fury of the Abyss."

The Warmaster reiterated this fact for the second time, while the Twisted One lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, my lord."

"Sorry? Why should you apologize?"

Horus looked at his offspring with some curiosity.

“I…I shouldn’t have gone against your wishes and sent out the Abyss Fury. It exposed our military secrets.”

Are you worried about this?

Zhan Shuai shook his head, his smile tinged with helplessness.

“Listen, Malochist.”

"I've given you the power to make the decision, so whatever you ultimately decide to do won't be wrong."

"Moreover, as you said, if Leman Russ were to come after me with his Dionysian spear, my life might indeed be in danger: Russ is no match for me, but that doesn't mean he's weak. On the contrary, if his courage and luck reach a certain limit, he is fully capable of threatening my life."

“I do want to fight him, or even find a chance to talk to him: but that would be very dangerous.”

"I don't deny that."

"So, I don't think you're wrong either."

“You are just doing your duty: as the Primarch’s servant, you have an obligation to keep me away from all danger.”

"So don't blame yourself for this."

"But……"

The Twisted One paused.

"The Wolf King has escaped, and he will reveal the information about the Abyss Fury to Holy Terra."

Do you think I'd be afraid of that?

Zhan Shuai chuckled.

"This is a war, Malochist."

"As for Holy Terra, Dorne, and Ruth, regardless of our assessment of them, they are indeed very powerful, noble, and resilient opponents. A war against them will only be a comprehensive confrontation, requiring everything from pre-war intelligence to the courage of the soldiers, from sufficient supplies to necessary propaganda offensives."

"I never thought that I could break through Dorne's Seventh Legion with just one or two powerful warships."

"That was an insult to my brother."

"and……"

Horus looked at his child.

"Rather than keeping the specific details of the Abyss Fury a secret for another month, I value more what kind of person my most trusted squire will be, what option he will choose in a crisis, what principles he will believe in, and what information I can glean from him, and how to nurture him as much as possible in the long run: this is far more important than a super battleship, Malohrist."

"To me, you are more important than the fury of the abyss."

"I have countless expectations for your future: the help you will give me is far greater than that of a warship."

"I will not let you down, sir."

What can the Twisted Ones say now?

He swallowed all his gratitude and tears, humbly lowered his head, and silently repeated his oath of loyalty to the war commander in his heart once more.

Horus, however, was already looking ahead.

Now, he has a more important problem.

"Do you feel something is strange?"

"Which aspect are you referring to, sir?"

"Ruth's ship."

Zhan Shuai pressed his finger to his lips.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Herakfin could achieve a subspace jump and leave in a very short time."

"But have you noticed that too many Wolfpack warships have been able to successfully jump away?"

"This is not a simple technology."

“Indeed.” Malohrist nodded.

"Perhaps the wolf king had foreseen his defeat in battle from the very beginning: so he had already made preparations for his retreat."

“I’ve heard that Lemanrus has been maintaining a high level of technological cooperation with the Far Eastern frontier. Perhaps he’s enabling them to warp away efficiently by deploying runes or rune priests on all their warships. And if my guess about Lemanrus is correct, this method could also help him quickly assemble his fleet.”

“That makes sense: I believe Morgan can do it.”

Shepherd Wolf stroked his chin.

"In other words, the Space Wolf Legion still poses a strategic threat to us."

"That depends on how many they have left."

The Twisted One narrowed his eyes, rapidly calculating the entire course of the war in his mind.

"By encircling and attacking the separated Dalian in several separate battlefields, and by ambushing the main force of the Space Wolves in the Giant Galaxy, we conservatively estimate that we have sunk half of Lemanrus's warships: although a considerable number of Wolf Pack warships have escaped, more than a hundred have chosen to stay. Even if Lemanrus can reassemble his fleet, the number of ships he can gather will not exceed one-third of the number before the start of the war."

"This number poses no threat to the main fleet you personally lead."

That's all, isn't it?

Zhan Shuai nodded thoughtfully.

"We can't keep our forces indefinitely: that would risk having small units wiped out by him."

“While collective action could indeed evade Lemanrus’s sharp teeth, the conquest and takeover would likely drag on to an unbearable degree: I don’t want to waste several months here in Fenris.”

"A somewhat troublesome multiple-choice question."

The Primarch smiled.

"It seems that my brothers Lemanrus have prepared more surprises for me than just this one."

“But that’s not the most important thing.”

Malohrist shook his head.

"The Space Wolf Legion's naval capabilities have never been taken seriously by either side in this war. What we should really be worried about is the intelligence he brings back: Lemanrus has certainly figured out the approximate number of our ships, and he must also be very impressed with Abyss Fury. Terra will find out sooner or later how much power we have brought."

"They can't guess it."

Horus shook his head firmly.

"The number of fleets I have committed to this naval battle is less than half of what I have at my disposal."

“Look into the distance, Marlost.”

"The main force of the fleet that fought the Space Wolves was not my warship. The vast majority of them were ships that chose to side with my planetary governor and fleet commander in the days before this war broke out. We were using Terra's own power to fight Terra's allies. That's why I don't care too much about their losses, and Lemanrus certainly doesn't know how many ships I have."

"He definitely can't guess correctly."

"He couldn't have imagined that more than half of the frontline patrol fleet would turn directly against us and fight him here."

"However, my lord, the Abyss Fury..."

Why are you worried about this?

"I'm worried about something else."

The Twisted One subconsciously lowered his voice.

"After all, this ship was completed so quickly thanks to the assistance of the Forging General on Mars, who provided key technical personnel and valuable blueprints. In other words, if the Holy Terra knew about our deal with Mars, they could easily break into the Forging General's treasury and build their own Abyss Fury using the same technology."

"Will not."

Zhan Shuai shook his head indifferently.

"Even if they could create it, it would be nothing compared to our Abyssal Fury."

"That is indeed true."

Malohrist smiled and nodded.

The Warmaster was not lying: even if Holy Terra could build a new Abyssal Fury, it would still be far inferior to the similar ships in Horus's possession.

As for the reason: because the Abyss Fury of the Wolf God was not entirely created by Mars.

"His body also bears the contributions of our most powerful technological allies."

Zhan Shuai raised his chin, looking extremely pleased with himself.

The Twisted One is able to understand his Primarch.

This is indeed something to be proud of.

Even Mars was unaware that after they handed over the powerful Abyssal Fury to the Warmaster, Horus did not immediately put the ship into battle. Instead, he immediately sailed it to the northernmost part of the galaxy and found a powerful ally he had made at the end of the Great Crusade: an ancient human regime called the Golden Radiance Technological Republic.

The so-called Golden Radiance Republic was a friendly regime discovered on the edge of the galaxy by the Shadowmoon Wolf Fleet during the final years of the Great Crusade. It was founded during the darkest era of human conflict and possessed values and technologies that were highly consistent with those of the human empire. Although it was inferior to the empire in areas such as biotechnology and psionic energy, it far surpassed the empire in other aspects.

Most importantly, the Golden Republic possesses several STC technologies that the Empire has none of.

Perhaps in another timeline, this powerful human nation would fight alone for ten months under the siege of three treacherous Astartes legions, ultimately perishing along with its ancient technology.

But that was just the Twisted Ones' dream. What actually happened was far less brutal: the Warmaster and the envoy of the Golden Radiance Republic hit it off almost immediately. They quickly reached an agreement on the peaceful establishment of diplomatic relations and submission. After several months of friendly visits and negotiations, the Golden Radiance Republic was finally peacefully incorporated into the Empire's territory, becoming a shining achievement of the last few years of the Great Expedition.

However, this is only a superficial explanation.

In reality, towards the end of the Great Crusade, when the various Primarchs had gradually realized what their Gene Fathers expected of them and began to convert the fruits of the Great Crusade into their own private property, the Warmaster naturally followed suit: the Golden Radiance Republic was less a friendly nation that had returned to the rule of the Human Empire and more an ally that had been incorporated into the sphere of influence of the Wolf God.

However, this did not change the friendly relationship between the Warlord and the Golden Republic. This technologically advanced nation quickly became Horus's most important ally. Thanks to the Warlord's outstanding demeanor and charm, the people of Golden Republic were also happy to contribute to the Wolf God: for example, they responded to their ally's call without hesitation and joined Horus's righteous war against Holy Terra.

Although the Golden Radiance people did not send troops, they generously contributed their exclusive technologies. The Abyssal Fury, enhanced by these ancient technologies, became the Shadowmoon Wolf's secret weapon. This also became the source of Horus's confident and carefree attitude: even if Dorn had known of the super-battleship's existence beforehand, he couldn't have devised a countermeasure in such a short time.

After all, Lemanrus hadn't even seen what the Abyss Fury looked like at full power.

This ship is equipped with no fewer than twenty dangerous technologies from the Dark Ages.

"That's where our advantage lies."

The Warlord ended the short conversation with this simple statement, because at that moment, his other armed squire, Agnes, hurriedly pushed open the door behind them. After saluting the Primarch, Agnes quickly reported on the situation at the front.

"There's been a problem at Abaddon, sir."

"What happened?"

Horus turned around.

"Here's the thing, we were dealing with the Wolf Pack's warships one by one as you had instructed, but at that moment, a new Wolf Pack fleet emerged from Mandeville Point: we have confirmed that they are the Thirteenth Company of the Sixth Legion, and these wolves launched an attack on us without hesitation."

"They are enraged. Despite knowing of Lemanrus and his legion's defeat, they refuse to withdraw from the battlefield and even engage our fleet in suicidal attacks. Company Commander Abaddon is unsure whether to deal with these exceptionally troublesome space wolves using the usual methods. He needs your advice to help him make the final decision."

"The 13th Company?"

Zhan Shuai nodded.

"I know them: Jorin and his [werewolf]?"

"I'm afraid this isn't a nickname, sir."

"……what?"

Agnes sighed.

"Company Commander Abaddon originally intended to personally lead Gastalin to repel these space wolves, but after experiencing the betrayal of their mortal fleet and learning that their genetic originals were now in an unknown state, they fell into a rage we could not imagine: almost all the space wolves in Dalian turned into real werewolves, they grew fur and claws, roared like wild beasts, devoured the flesh and blood of mortals, and fought us without any rationality."

"It's like an alien."

Agnes's involuntary sigh made Malohrist slowly raise his eyebrows.

He looked at the Primarch, who was also looking at him.

"Ok."

Horus nodded slowly.

“It seems that my brother Fenris has been hiding his Legionnaires’ disease very well: he is smarter than I thought.”

"This is an opportunity, sir."

The Twisted One immediately took a step forward.

"We can reveal the werewolf's secret; people will see Terra fighting alongside something..."

"Do not."

Horus stretched out a hand to stop him from speaking.

"It's not that bad yet."