Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 765 Interlude 3: Lupecal, Full of Question Marks
For a moment, Horus Lupecal was willing to pay any price to any god, as long as it would allow him to return to his body.

Yes, he had just figured out at least one thing: it was very likely that he was somewhere watching a real-time scene of some evil spirit, ghost, or some kind of warp being that had taken over his body—just like the one he had been told about by the beloved Emperor—using his body to wreak havoc!

He was completely powerless to do anything about it.

This is the most terrible.

The opening lightning strike began when the light curtain's field of vision changed from dark to bright.

The familiar bedroom furnishings came into view through my squinting eyes.

Could it be... that he's currently trapped inside his own body? Then wouldn't it be possible to regain control of his body or simply "wake up"...?

Then, Horus's most familiar face in the world came into view.

Then came a terrified scream.

"..."

All three animals' eyes were fixed on Horus's toes, which were unconsciously curling up.

"That wasn't my scream!... How could it be like that... I would never make that kind of expression!!!"

Horus got goosebumps as he stared at the figure on the screen that was using his own face to make expressions that were not his own and that seemed to be posing in a coquettish manner.

"And why are there other people in my bed? No, wait, why am I seeing my own face from someone else's perspective?"

The cat wagged its tail in high spirits, the wolf had a strange expression, like "I've been professionally trained," and the dove continued to coo loudly.

Horus was annoyed and had to tear off another strip of cloth to try to wrap it up like a dove mummy. Under this threat, the dove finally shut its beak.

"Is my soul not even bound to my body?!" Horus roared in fury. "What kind of damned witchcraft is this?!"

The pigeon's eyes darted around, the cat gave him a gloating look, and the gray wolf sat there seemingly serious, only his club-like tail swishing back and forth.

"So, whose eyes am I seeing right now?"

All three animals maintained a respectable silence, but fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved through a conversation between the owner of the light screen's vision and "Horus".

But for Lupecal, he would rather he hadn't heard those answers at all.

"—What do you mean by 'Perturabo, you're glad you've become human again'? What do you mean by 'So you are now Perturabo and I am now Horus'? The Primarch is the Emperor's greatest creation and offspring, how can you talk about him so casually... wait a minute."

Perhaps because he had been in this space where no one else was for too long, Horus became more likely to talk to himself and express his inner thoughts.

“Wait, does this conversation mean,” he blinked in shock, “that the person inside ‘my’ body is actually Perturabo? That always irritable, sensitive, suspicious, and difficult Perturabo? This will ruin me and Shadowmoon Wolf! Will he pull another eleven-draw kill?”

The cat arched its back toward him, while the gray wolf kept glancing sideways.

The person in charge of their perspective on the light screen asked the question, "Where did Horus go?"

"Look, there are still some people with brains... wait, that's not right."

Lupecal frowned. "If Peturabo is inside 'my' body, and I am here, obviously not inside Peturabo's body, then—who is speaking inside Peturabo's body?"

“And,” he added, “why do the two of them seem so familiar and intimate? When did Peturabo become so good-natured? And have such a close friend?”

Of course, the animals wouldn't answer his questions, so Horus confidently listed them here and answered them himself. "Ah, the gold ring," he said wistfully, "I never thought I'd see it from this angle; it looks quite worn. My father gave it to me in Ulanor, you know?"

Horus sat cross-legged beside the gray wolf, looked up at the light screen, and casually scooped up the black and white long-haired cat next to him and stroked its fur.

The black and white cat probably hesitated for two seconds between slitting Horus's throat and cutting out his heart, before reluctantly lying down and glaring at the pigeon.

“He said the ring was very ancient, cast a year before his birth, when people still believed in gods, and the place where it was cast was called Persia. He also said that in Anatolia, where he grew up, people considered the strong centaur a revered totem, and the other side of Sagittarius was the archer combined with a horse—the most powerful and unparalleled weapon of war in that era. So I accepted the ring, to command thousands of armies and legions like the archer riding his horse, galloping across the stars, and winning wars for him…”

Upon hearing this, the gray wolf finally couldn't help but roll its eyes and simultaneously stepped on the pigeon that was quietly moving away.

On the light screen, their gaze followed the person inside Peturabo's body as he moved to his finger.

“A gold ring…? A laurel wreath?” Horus frowned. “Petrulab doesn’t seem like the type to wear such jewelry. However, I’ve heard Malorhorst mention that he once had a mortal sister. Could it be a commemorative piece?”

At this point, Horus had clearly become calmer and was able to begin to analyze the situation more rationally.

—If nothing else happens that further shatters Horus's rationality.

"What is he doing?"

Horus was shocked and discovered for the first time that his brother Perturabo actually had a sweet tooth and was quite eloquent.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'my Pepe and my sweet puppy'?" Horus stiffly turned his head left and right, trying to find some creature he could communicate with, or rather, to escape what he was seeing and hearing.

"What do you mean I'm not your dog?! Terra, what have you done?! Is this some kind of witchcraft ritual, the price or part of it?! You stole the Warmaster's throne by trading power for being a dog, Perturabo! Despicable!"

The gray wolf growled at Horus in dissatisfaction.

When he heard Peturabo mention the false brotherhood, he nodded slightly, "I had underestimated him."

But then the Steel Lord who was wearing his body made the War General want to kill him.

"Is he posing?! Oh God! By Terra! I'm going to kill Perturabo! I'll kill him for this disgrace! He's posing with my face! It's disgusting! It's an insult!"

The cat and the gray wolf both looked strange, as if to say, "Haven't you ever done that yourself?"
“Wait a minute… what do you mean… ‘Old Deng stormed into the chapel and you turned him into a pigeon’?”

Horus jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth rapidly, rubbing his temples vigorously, where the veins formed by the illusory starlight were throbbing.

"Let me think... what does it mean to say that 'Old Deng's efforts caused all this... is 'Old Deng' a special term for an elderly person?"

He stopped in front of the pigeon that the gray wolf had pushed towards him.

"..."

"So, you caused all of this?"

His pine-green eyes were alert as he watched the pigeons intently observing him.

"……perhaps."

He bent down and picked it up, speaking through a hazy, booming mind, "...If I kill you, I can get out of here?"

(End of this chapter)