Emperor's Bane

Chapter 946 The Lion's Decision

Chapter 946 The Lion's Decision (Part 2)
"As for Horus."

When the name was mentioned, the lion fell into an eerie silence.

Horus, the god of wolves.

Even for someone like Zhuang Sen, this name contains too many concepts.

It's not that the Lord of Caliban would be swayed by the Warmaster's former prestige: by Johnsen's standards, Horus was far from being his relative, and his status in the Lion's heart was not as high as Guilliman's.

Guilliman is a standard.

Although the Makulaq people are really too bad as relatives and brothers.

However, Zhuang Sen doesn't need to worry about those who are not even as good as him, for the sake of so-called blood ties.

Even so, Johnson had to admit that the name Horus truly represented something.

In his heart, the name of the Wolf God was always associated with the glory and prosperity of the Great Expedition.

He is the most dazzling star, he is the second only to the emperor and the banner, he is the war general that even Zhuang Sen would silently acknowledge in his heart: he rose to power in the golden age of fighting against the injustice of human destiny, a beautiful era that is not far from now, yet makes people feel that it is impossible to go back to.

He was the founder of that era.

It is a symbol.

Today, however, it is also a destroyer.

This is utterly ridiculous.

Even if it's Zhuang Sen, even if it's Zhuang Sen.

Whenever he thought about how it was the name of the Wolf Shepherd that tore apart the last ray of light of the Great Expedition, he felt a pang of regret.

Besides the obvious anger, he also felt a sense of desolation stemming from absurdity and powerlessness.

……

Fate was for them, for the empire, and for humanity.

That's all a bit too cruel.

……

"To be honest, I can really understand why Zhan Shuai did this."

Having suppressed his various thoughts, the Lord of Caliban would not sigh before his sons.

"The Emperor has indeed been gone for far too long. No matter what I say to outsiders, I sometimes worry about it in my heart."

"Even though I don't doubt the Emperor's strength, objective reality prevails over subjective impressions."

"Horus's condition is only worse than mine."

Therefore, his actions are understandable.

"..."

At this point, the Primarch paused for a moment.

"But it's only understandable."

Zhuang Sen shook his head.

"But it is not something that can be forgiven."

"No matter how many legitimate reasons he has, his behavior is clearly wrong."

"A criminal may have a thousand reasons for his or her crime, but that cannot cover up the fact that he has broken the law."

"Horus's actions are undeniable: he personally destroyed the greatest achievement of the Great Crusade, causing the blood of countless martyrs to flow in vain; his rebellion destroyed the magnificent order left by the Emperor, and brought war back to the galaxy; his actions have endangered the empire we have worked so hard to build, and are an unforgivable act of treason."

At this point, the Lion King paused slightly, his gaze calmly sweeping over his three offspring.

In their eyes, Zhuang Sen had gained recognition.

Therefore, Horus must be punished.

"But we are not qualified to punish him: because I cannot be sure whether his current behavior constitutes a real rebellion."

"We must find the Emperor first."

"Then let the Emperor make his judgment."

"If Horus is truly as innocent as he claims, then he will accept the Emperor's judgment."

"The same applies to Terra."

A sharp glint flashed in Zhuang Sen's eyes.

"At that time, who will oppose the emperor?"

"Whoever is our enemy."

"..."

The three dark angels remained silent for a moment.

After Zhuang Sen expressed his views, they all needed some time to digest the Primarch's ideas.

"In other words, sir."

Astland was the first to speak.

"So, according to you, at this stage, we still can't identify our true enemy?"

"After all, Terra and Warmaster have different versions of events, and both of their arguments have flaws in their evidence."

Cosway gave his opinion.

"Putting everything else aside, just looking at the alignments and actions of the various Primarchs, the situation is quite interesting."

"Neither Chagatai Khan nor Lord Saint Gilles is an unreasonable person. Their support for Horus proves that the warlord's viewpoint is sound."

"That's absolutely right."

Zhuang Sen nodded.

Outsiders may not know, but the lion of Caliban actually deeply respected Chagatai Khan and regarded him as one of his own kind.

If it weren't for Morgan, Conrad, and Guilliman.

Chagatai Khan would be the lion's favorite brother.

Of course, they are just brothers or comrades-in-arms.

In the hearts of the Kaliban, Chagatai Khan was not even considered a relative.

Not to mention that he is now involved in Horus's highly dubious "rebellion".

As for Saint Gillespie?

The lion was not familiar with him.

Although he heard many people say good things about the archangel, Johnson could only reluctantly label Saint Gilles as his comrade-in-arms.

This does not mean that he disrespects the archangels.

On the contrary, there were very few Primarchs who commanded the genuine respect of the Caliban: the angels were among them.

This is the charm of the Holy Son of Baal.

However, despite his respect, Johnson never had any additional expectations of Saint Gilles' abilities or qualities.

Even Johnson wasn't particularly surprised that Sanguiles would side with Horus in this impending civil war; what truly surprised him was that Feralus hadn't joined forces with Forgrim.

If the Warlord can persuade the Iron Hand, then there will be no suspense in this war.

Even if Rogdorn were to grow three heads and six arms, and double the number of his Imperial Fists, it would be unlikely that he could stop the combined forces of Shadowmoon Wolves and Iron Hand.

"..."

No, even he, with the Dark Angels Legion and all their power, could not guarantee a 100% victory over the combined forces of Horus and Feralus.

However, it would be acceptable if Morgan were included.

Regardless of the strength of the Dawnbreakers: Morgan had the ability to make Feralus withdraw from the war early on.

Johnson had witnessed Feralus's prowess firsthand, but he had even more confidence in Morgan: no matter how powerful Gorgon was, no matter how many trump cards that much-hyped technology backpack held, Feralus, who could only rely on physical means to show off, was destined to be no match for Morgan. Not only him, but most Primarchs who lacked powerful psionic abilities would not be Morgan's match.

In this respect, the one Primarch who could make Morgan even slightly wary was Leman Ruth: how ridiculous.

Once Felus is eliminated, the so-called Iron Hand Legion is not so difficult to defeat.

The Primarch shook his head, no longer thinking about these trivial matters.

Cosway's voice still faithfully echoed.

"As for Dorne and the Wolf King, although they are not perfect people, we all know that their loyalty is beyond reproach."

The Lion King's chief steward glanced at his father.

"Even Lord Lemanrus."

"Or rather, especially Lemanrus."

As Zhuang Sen leaned back on his throne, he began to sketch out a vague map of the solar system in his mind.

“I know Ruth.”

"Although he's a barbarian, he's not easy to fool."

"On the contrary, he is very cunning."

"Not to mention, his territory is sandwiched between Horus and Holy Terra. Once the war starts, he will be the first guy to fight Shadowmoon Wolves. If you do the math: he should have already fought Horus by now. I know him. His legions and territories are not strong enough. It's only a matter of time before he is defeated and annexed by Shadowmoon Wolves."

"Therefore, for him to side with Terra, he will not only have to offer words, but will also shed real blood."

"Russ, while not particularly fond of his own legion, would not allow his offspring to shed blood in vain."

"Therefore, he must have his own reasons for being willing to shed blood to stand on Terra's side."

The lion was convinced of its conclusion.

Ruth is a very rare person, and Zhuang Sen considers him to be like family.

Although there is still debate about whether his score in the family category is higher or lower than Guilliman's.

But Johnson believed he knew Ruth well enough.

He knew that Ruth wouldn't do anything foolish: especially in this lenient environment where he could think ahead and didn't need to make urgent decisions, the wolf king was still trustworthy.

"As for Dorn..."

Zhuang Sen rubbed his chin.

After a long while, he finally sighed.

“He is even more trustworthy than Ruth.”

In his opinion.

Dorn is not a relative.

But Dorn was the most reliable comrade-in-arms.

His words are as trustworthy as those of his family.

"If you ask me, although I don't trust either Terra or Warmaster, if I had to choose, I'd lean towards Terra."

"Because Dorn chose Terra."

“But I know very well that Dorn will not be deceived, and he will not compromise his principles for personal gain.”

"If Horus is right: then I can't figure out why Dorn would support Terra instead of him."

"So what you mean is..."

Astland nodded; he didn't seem to have any objections to the Wolf King and Dorne, the two Primarchs.

Even by the notoriously harsh standards of this Terran veteran, Wolf King was only unreliable, while Dorn was an impeccably perfect being.

As for personality?

A true warrior wouldn't care about that.
"Is Holy Terra more likely to become our ally in the future than Horus?"

That's too absolute.

Arachios shook his head.

"I'll say it again: without the Emperor, neither Terra nor the Warmaster is trustworthy."

"The only people we can trust are Luther and the Far East."

"I have no objection to this."

Astland nodded in agreement.

"Given Luther's personality, since he didn't choose either Terra or the Warmaster in this conflict, he must feel that neither side is entirely reliable: Luther is closest to the eye of the storm, and his observations of both sides in the war would only be more detailed than ours."

"It's also possible that he doesn't want to make a decision."

Coswayne added.

"After all, Lord Luther has never considered himself the leader of the First Legion: he is probably waiting for news from the Primarch."

"What about the Far East?"

"And what about Morgan and Guilliman?"

As soon as Arachios asked the question, even the atmosphere in the throne room became a little more relaxed.

"The Far East can always be trusted."

“At least Avalon is absolutely trustworthy.”

Coswayne's voice was firm and resolute.

“Our diplomatic envoys and staff in Avalon recently made contact with us.”

"The situation in Avalon remains stable: the Dawnbreaker Legion remains a trustworthy ally."

"No surprises whatsoever."

Jonson simply nodded.

"However, sir."

But the Lion King steward immediately changed the subject.

"Although the overall situation in Avalon has not changed, based on reports from our envoys abroad and the accurate information we have gathered in the surrounding star systems in recent days, there is one thing you must know."

This serious tone instantly drew the attention of the other three people in the room.

“Speak, Akao.”

"Is such that."

The Lion King Steward adjusted his approach.

"Almost all intelligence indicates that, almost at the same time that the Warmaster and Holy Terra officially went to war, Lady Morgan of Avalon very strangely summoned almost all the major forces of the Dawnbreaker Legion and declared that she would lead them on an important expedition. However, she did not reveal the final destination of this expedition to anyone, nor did she take away even a single ship."

"..."

The Lion King's brows almost furrowed.

"You mean..."

"Yes."

"We can be almost certain that Lord Morgan is not currently stationed at the Far East frontier."

"Not only that, she also took away all the main forces that the Dawnbreaker Legion was proud of: approximately 120,000 Dawnbreakers participated in this expedition."

"However, apart from that, they did not take any extra military forces with them: especially the Second Legion's most famous fleet and mortal auxiliary forces. Before this, they would not miss any expedition, but this time, they were all left in Avalon by Lord Morgan. Only the Dawnbreakers truly participated in the expedition."

"That's a bit strange."

Astland shook his head.

"Given Lady Morgan's personality, would she really allow the Dawnbreakers to bear all the casualties of a single expedition?"

"And that's not all the strange things."

At this point, even Coswayne's own tone became somewhat uncertain.

"Not only Lord Morgan, but Lord Conrad also decided around the same time to lead the Midnight Lords on another expedition to the Ghoul Stars. However, he did not take the main force of the legion with him. The core force of the Eighth Legion, led by Severta, remained in Nostramore, and most of the fleet also remained."

Did they set off at almost the same time?

"They were only a few months apart, but they did all set off after the Terra crisis."

"When they leave, it's almost a certainty that the Warlord and Terra will go to war."

"They couldn't possibly not see that."

"In other words, they believe the objectives of the expedition are more... important than the actual war."

Arachios offered his perspective.

"Perhaps so."

Astland nodded.

"But I'm more concerned about another question: Who's in charge of Avalon now?"

"It's Lord Rana, and there are about 20,000 Dawnbreakers who didn't participate in the expedition."

"Can they manage it all?"

"Just barely."

The Lion King's chief steward glanced at the Primarch: the Primarch hadn't spoken for a long time since he revealed Lord Morgan's movements.

"According to reports from envoys abroad, Lord Rana and the Dawnbreakers are barely able to keep Avalon running, although they are indeed not very satisfied with many details, not to mention mobilizing a large army to launch an offensive: the Dawnbreakers and the Midnight Lords have chosen neutrality, presumably because they simply do not have the energy to intervene in the situation in the galaxy at present."

"Since they have all chosen neutrality, the Ultramarines have even less reason to advance westward."

“Even if they march, they will only help Horus.”

"makes sense."

Astram smiled.

"Who would forget Badab?"

“Even if Guilliman wanted to help the High Lord, he would have to rack his brains to persuade the people under his rule.” “But… is the information from Avalon accurate?”

"The authenticity can be basically guaranteed."

Coswayne nodded.

“We exchanged secret codes with our ambassadors abroad, and intelligence gathered from the surrounding world also indicates this.”

"In fact..."

The Lion King's chief steward paused for a moment.

"Our intelligence gathering process, and the results of our intelligence gathering, have been somewhat... too abundant."

I understand your concerns.

Arachios immediately understood.

“After all, strictly speaking, we are still within the sphere of influence of the Shadowmoon Wolf Legion: the northern frontier of the entire Milky Way is almost entirely under their control.”

"You suspect this might be a trick by Horus?"

"What benefits will he get?"

"I'm not sure, but the departure of Lord Morgan and the gradual descent into chaos in Avalon are probably not unfounded."

"Then what should we do?"

"Our original plan was to join forces with the Dawnbreakers first, but now it seems that the plan has run into problems from the very first step."

"We can't possibly join forces with the Ultra Warriors, can we?"

"Merge? In the case of Ultra Warriors, shouldn't it be the supervisor?"

"And they don't seem like the type to follow us into battle: I'd rather trust the Night Lords."

"Is the Eighth Legion trustworthy?"

“I’m not sure, but I’ve had contact with Sevita: he’s probably a decent guy.”

"If it were him, he would have a clear understanding of the big picture."

“We can’t make decisions based on what ifs: besides, let’s not forget that Lord Luther is also facing difficulties.”

“Of course I know. We also need to send reinforcements to Lord Luther's side. His forces are insufficient, and..."

"enough."

Seeing that his three most favored sons were about to steer the conversation in an uncontrollable direction, Zhuang Sen finally raised a hand and restrained them.

Even the most unruly Astrans chose to yield before the silent Primarch, knowing that the lion of Caliban had already made his decision, and the decision of the Father of Genesis was not to be disobeyed.

You can complain in private, but you cannot go against the will of the Primarch.

The former is just complaining.

The latter is tantamount to rebellion.

As Dark Angels specializing in internal purges, they are all too familiar with the differences.

"We now have two problems."

"The Far East, and Luther."

"Without a doubt, we must take both into consideration."

"The Caliban are the foundation of the Legion, and also the fastest way to intervene in this war."

"As long as our armies gather in Caliban, neither Terra nor the Warlord can ignore our presence."

"And the Far East is the lifeline."

"If they want to intervene in the war, the Caliban is enough."

"But if we want to truly end the war, we must put those who deserve to be tried on the gallows."

"Then we must need the strength of the Far East."

"Whether it's Horus or Terra, the two sides in the war are simply too large: whichever side we ultimately have to fight against, it will be difficult for us to completely defeat it on our own, not to mention that we may have to fight both sides at the same time."

"The situation has come to this point: the only fundamental force in the entire galaxy capable of changing the course of the war is the Far East."

"With the help of the Far East, we have enough strength to completely defeat the potential rebels."

"Therefore, the Far East must never fall."

"Not only must Avalon not fall, but Makula must not fall either."

"Without either of the two sides, the Far East does not have enough power to intervene in the war in the galaxy."

"Just like without us or Caliban, the First Legion would no longer be the First Legion."

Zhuang Sen raised his head, his voice calm and firm.

"And the needs of these two locations are different."

"With Caliban in charge, Luther himself is a reliable commander, and there is no problem with him in charge. Dorn and Ruth are also trustworthy generals. No matter which side we should side with in the end, they are both capable of coordinating our army."

"Even if he were to fight both sides at the same time, Luther's military skills would be barely adequate: at least he could hold off the attacks from both sides in a defensive manner."

"What Luther's side really lacks is manpower that can be immediately deployed into battle."

"Before we set out to conquer the darkness beyond our borders, we left him with only about 100,000 troops."

"This force is simply not enough to defend the Eye of Terror, Caliban, and the vast front."

"Not to mention interfering in wars in the galaxy."

"Whether it's the Warmaster or Terra, their strength far surpasses Luther's forces."

"Therefore, Luther needs an army."

"Not a temporarily expanded army: but a battle-hardened force ready to be deployed immediately to fight in the highest dimension of the galaxy."

"And the Far East is different from the Caliban."

“Caliban is close to the center of the vortex and could be drawn into the war between the Warmaster and Terra at any time, so Luther needs powerful forces that can be used immediately.”

"The Far East is different. The war on the western side of the galaxy will not spread there in the short term. The Far East has ample time to realize its potential and mobilize for war. Therefore, the Far East will not lack troops. What they need most right now is not troops. The only thing that can trouble the Far East is Morgan's unexplained departure, which has left it leaderless and unable to fully realize its potential."

"In other words, what the Far East lacks more than military strength is a leader who can win people's hearts: someone who can fully realize its potential."

"In that case, the situation is quite simple."

"We need to consider both the Far East and Luther."

"The former lacks commanders, and the latter lacks troops."

"So……"

The lion's gaze swept over his offspring.

"Coswayne, Astran."

The two dark angels took a step forward.

Then Zhuang Sen spoke.

"If I were to place the vast majority of the fleet and 250,000 of the best dark angels under your command, could you lead them safely through the Land of Wolves and the northern part of the galaxy to Caliban?"

"I will give you most of the supplies, but the extermination order and most of the secret weapons are not included."

These words silenced all three of them.

Coswayne and Astran exchanged a glance: in the end, it was the former who stepped forward to respond.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dark angels are a force capable of changing the course of any war, my lord. Even without your command, they are invincible."

"Considering the current time, the War General should have already officially started the war with the army of Holy Terra. The main fleets of both sides are currently engaged in combat with each other on the front lines, and it is almost impossible for either side to pose any threat to this army. Even if they are hostile to us, the cost of annihilating us is something they cannot afford."

"Whether it's the Warmaster or Terra, the price of perishing together with 250,000 Dark Angels is enough for the other side to easily defeat them in the war."

“If Horus is wise enough, he will allow our fleet to pass through his territory.”

"Unless the archangels lead their army north at this time, but the possibility of this happening is infinitely close to zero."

"I think so too."

Zhuang Sen nodded.

“You lead this army back, and Luther will get the immediate combat power he needs most right now. As for what happens after you get back, the three of you can discuss it. You can listen to Luther's opinions on political matters, but Luther won't interfere too much with your choices on military matters.”

"Including you, Astram."

Zhuang Sen focused his attention on the offspring who had never really been to his liking.

"Talk to Luther more."

"He praised your excellence to me: he knows your abilities and ambitions better than anyone else."

“After you go back, Luther will definitely put more responsibilities and tasks on your shoulders.”

“This is with my permission.”

"Don't let us down."

"Trust me, sir."

Astland bent over a little too deeply.

"But please forgive me, I have another question."

"explain."

Why did you decide to leave the extermination order?

"Because of the form of war."

Zhuang Sen patiently answered his questions.

"Judging from the current situation, even if you who have returned to the Caliban are involved in the war in the future, it will most likely be a defensive operation."

"As for the Far East, if the situation really develops to the point where we need to advance towards the center of the galaxy, then it will be an offensive operation."

“An extermination order is definitely more advantageous to the latter: a successful extermination order can save the attacker a lot of time.”

"I understand."

Astland nodded.

"very good."

The Primarch looked in another direction.

"As for me, I will take Arachos and a small number of elite legion troops to Avalon to see what's going on with Morgan. If all else fails, I will temporarily take over her management of the Far East frontier for a while, at least to prepare the Far East frontier for participation in the war. After all, Guilliman is really untrustworthy, and given his personality, if Morgan hadn't given him prior instructions, Guilliman would never have interfered in the management of the Far East frontier."

"We cannot place all the blame on Rana."

"And if things really don't go right, I can just pull out a new legion on the Far Eastern frontier, and then use the remaining Dawnbreakers and the veterans I brought as the backbone, along with the Eighth Legion and those Dawnbreaker warriors, to form a new expeditionary force to head towards the center of the galaxy."

"Hopefully the situation isn't that bad."

Amid the Primarch's sighs, the three Dark Angels remained silent.

After thinking for a moment, they all felt that there was nothing wrong with Zhuang Sen's decision.

That being the case...

"Should we go and relay the orders now, sir?"

"The Lion King Steward asked."

If this is the Primarch's final decision, then they need to start preparing now: both the diversion of the fleet and the allocation of resources will take a long time.

But the Primitive's response was surprising.

"No, no, don't rush it."

Zhuang Sen shook his head, seemingly deep in thought.

"While I do want to do it, there's one last thing I need to confirm."

"As for you..."

The Primarch paused for a moment.

"Alright, you can go down first."

"The fleet diversion can be carried out, but there's no need to do it so quickly."

"I will give you a definite answer tomorrow."

"tomorrow?"

The three dark angels looked at each other in bewilderment.

This kind of procrastination is unlike Zhuang Sen's usual style.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"No, there are just some things to do."

Zhuang Sen slowly stood up.

"Before issuing the final order, there is one more very important thing I need to do."

Under the watchful eyes of three dark angels, their genetic father addressed them with a solemn expression.

"Now."

"I need to go to sleep."

"..."

"what?"

Even the usually composed Cosway couldn't help but voice his inner thoughts.

"Sleep...sleep?"

"Yes, get a good night's sleep."

Zhuang Sen remained serious, as if he were discussing a matter of life and death.

"Listen up, everyone."

“I know Morgan.”

"My sister is the most reliable person in the galaxy."

“Under normal circumstances, she would never make any mistakes that we could see at a glance.”

"If you see loopholes in her behavior, that can only mean one thing."

"You haven't found her remedy yet."

"That's how it is now, everyone."

"Morgan's situation is really strange."

"She couldn't possibly be unaware of the powder keg that the galaxy was in, yet she chose to lead the main force of the legion away at this time, which means that, at least in Morgan's view, the goal of her expedition was far more important than the war in the galaxy."

What do you think it could be?

The dark angels looked at each other in bewilderment.

The answer isn't hard to guess.

"You mean..."

Arachios stepped forward.

"Lord Morgan has located the Emperor."

“I was a little hesitant at first.”

Zhuang Sen nodded.

“But since Conrad has chosen to cooperate with her, it must be a done deal.”

"Conrad is actually a fairly reliable person when it comes to crucial moments."

"In that case, things become simple."

"Morgan's decision to embark on this expedition at this time must be the result of careful consideration, and she must also be taking into account the chaos that would ensue in Avalon after she leaves."

"Since she didn't choose either Guilliman or Conrad to take her place, but only chose Rana, whose abilities were barely up to par, it proves that Morgan actually had someone else in mind. That person is most likely me, who will return from the darkness beyond the realm, and Rana is just a transitional option before that."

"So, if my reasoning is correct."

Zhuang Sen tapped his temple.

“After I fall asleep, my Avalon sisters will find me in their own way.”

"We will exchange intelligence to let me know exactly what the situation is now."

"Only then can I make a formal decision."

"So, my warriors."

Come see me again tomorrow.

The Primarch smiled at his offspring.

"We'll know when that time comes."

"In this war, the Emperor wants to see which side our blade will ultimately be pointed at."

"And once this was confirmed..."

"I will make those true traitors pay the price."