Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 810 "Epilogue"
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"that's all?"

"The transaction is complete."

"Gah! I mean, that's it?! That's it?! My Horus Lupecal wasn't even brought back! Peturabo! What happened to your contractual spirit?!"

"Party A has the following three requirements for Horus Lupecal in this cycle of fate: First, he maintained his original intentions and aspirations; second, he did not become a vessel for the Four Gods or a chosen one; and third, he became the successor and ruler of the Empire. These three points have been fulfilled one by one through Party B's work in the newly woven tapestry of this destiny. The additional clause is to add this woven patch of destiny to the severed weave, so that destiny can flow again from Istvan III—therefore the transaction is complete."

"Although he did manage to do it... he couldn't return to the body I created for him! He even destroyed it with his own hands! Shady businessman! Liar! Despicable..."

"The completion judgment was jointly conducted by twelve beings, including the Well of Eternity, the multi-timeline universe, and the lords of the past and present of the subspace. It was fair, unbiased, and absolutely recognized."

The black-and-white plush tyrant's face remained expressionless as he slammed the thick contract document in front of him shut with a "snap" using the mechanical arm that controlled the mech.

“What’s done is done. Payment is settled, no cheating the young or old. You can add any additional terms if you want. What, do you want to start all over again?”

The short, fluffy texture of the dog's mouth perfectly concealed his sarcastic smile: "The little bit of power you secretly accumulated has already been exhausted there. I'm afraid you don't have the strength to do another deal with me now, do you? Sorry, we're a small business, we don't offer credit."

"Gulp! I'm not reconciled! There must be another way..."

"Hehehehe..."

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While the black and white Border Collie and the white pigeon sitting in the Fearless were exchanging lightning from their eyes and fighting each other from a distance (not really), the atmosphere on the other side of the Captain's office on the Destiny Steel was much better.

"What do you mean by saying Horus later became the successor to the empire?"

"Forgrim Pallas asked in a low voice."

“The records we can see now have been distorted over ten thousand years, but none of them mention how Horus became the successor to the empire. On the contrary, why do these records make me feel that nothing has changed? I urgently need a first-hand source.”

“Well, actually I’m not entirely sure what happened after that, because throughout the whole process, Perturabo had me stay on Vengeful Spirit to help him stabilize the situation, and he would come back every now and then… Of course, after we came back, I asked him about it, and then Perturabo gave me a record that supposedly came from the Grey Knights’ Demon Library on Titan…”

"Grey Knight?"

"Uh. A secret Astartes Chapter, the Grey Knights, whose chapter number is 666, that hid on Titan, which was supposedly pushed into the subspace by the power of Makado, for a thousand years or so, anyway, it survived the end of the rebellion, the Great Purge, the War of the Beasts, and other eras, and then reappeared around Saturn."

"...Excuse my frankness, but this sounds very suspicious. Makado is dead, so who knows if what they're saying is true? And is number 666 really okay? And what about the name 'Demon Library'?"

"Uh, the Demon Library means it's a library established by the Demon Tribunal of the Inquisition, containing knowledge about all demons and how to identify and deal with them..."

"It sounds really suspicious. It makes me think that their actions not only violate the laws of Nicaea, but even exceed the previous behavior of Magnus's legion... I mean, are they really on the side of the Empire?"

"...They are all extremely powerful psionicists. But it is said that no one is more loyal to the Empire than the Grey Knights..."

"...Do they really believe they're truly loyal to the Empire?!" Leman Russ raised an eyebrow. "These mystics who dabble in witchcraft are just too suspicious! If my wolf cubs saw them, they'd definitely give them a good whack!"

Ramizam paused for a strange second upon hearing this statement.

It's true that no one knows a son better than his father; judging from this, Ruth really does love his sons.

"No problem...right? Since they're known to be part of the Imperial Inquisition? Anyway, they have many secrets and library records in their monasteries on Titan—specifically, on Saturn's moon Titan. You could say that because Macado hid them for so long, their records are the most original and reliable..."

"Wait, if Macardo has this level of ability, why didn't he personally help Dorne and the others when Terra was besieged, instead of wasting such power on something like this? And if his motive for doing this was that he foresaw the Empire's defeat, then why didn't he warn others? Or take precautions in advance? Or even... oh wait, could it be because he knew but couldn't disobey..."

“Palas,” Magna Dorn spoke up at the opportune moment, “would you like us to hear the story of Horus first?”

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So, what does this record say?"

"Hmm... Let me see. It says that, according to records, after Expedition 63 stayed in Devon and the Warmaster recovered for several months, a fierce battle broke out on Istvan III and Istvan V... Subsequently, the Horus Rebellion broke out in full force..."

"This place is no different from what we know."

"Records mention that the recovered war general seemed to have some memory problems, but his strength and ferocious warlike nature had only increased..."

"There doesn't seem to be anything particularly wrong with this."

"Hmm... Let me flip through it, and it matches up pretty much. Strange, then how come... Oh, there's a bookmark here."

Lamizain turned to the page marked with the bookmark in the ancient parchment manuscript and began to read the inscription.

"...Euphrates, who was once revered as a living saint by the Church of the Holy Word, the predecessor of the state religion, disappeared in the chaos of war. Some say she died on her way to escape Istvan III, while others say she failed to escape the spirits of vengeance and was sacrificed to the dark gods by the Warmaster. But what is certain is that the Church of the Holy Word began to flourish after this point in time and spread throughout the human empire at a terrible speed. Even the Legion of the Word Bearers, which was the most critical of dissenting opinions, began to have related secret beliefs."

He turned a page, “...until the Siege of Terra entered its final, most intense stalemate, an unexpected situation arose. No one knows exactly what happened in too many places before, but finally, an elite squad, composed of Sigismund and others from the Imperial Fist, escorted a key figure in a way that is now impossible to verify, breaking through the spacetime blockade imposed by the Vengeful Spirits and Warmaster Horus, piloting a flying vehicle towards the Vengeful Spirits, “like a star of hope, or a flying eight-winged archangel, piercing the sky and soaring into the heavens”—this is the account of eyewitnesses on the ground at the time. Then, here is a testimony from a member of this squad who survived to the post-war period…this was an Astartes strategist who carried out the escort mission with his companions.”

"Hmm... They claimed that when they arrived, the rebel warlords had become incredibly powerful, the Imperial Guard and other loyal legions had suffered heavy losses, and Saint Gilles had also tragically perished..."

“Nothing seems to have changed?! What’s going on?! Has everything we’ve done been in vain?! I don’t believe it!” “Palas,” Ruth said, patting him on the shoulder.

“But there’s one thing,” Ramizane frowned, “According to this think tank’s records, when they arrived, the Vengeful Spirits were in a bizarre and twisted state, and even the combined efforts of several think tanks couldn’t stop them… Interesting, does that mean this team is likely composed of the future Supreme Marshal of the Black Templar and a bunch of think tanks? That’s dark humor…”

He paused for a moment, then continued reading, “When they arrived, it was ‘no different from the palaces of the most treacherous demon lords in the warp,’ he claimed that some of the portholes there offered views of the four-colored demon realms, to the point that ‘anyone not of strong mind would go insane and turn into a Chaos Egg at the mere sight of it,’ wow.”

"and then?"

"Then the people they were escorting... displayed miraculous power. According to records, they witnessed Euphrates Kilo 'pacify' the berserk machine spirit of the vengeful soul. The ship, which had almost become demonized, then opened a path for them to the final battleground."

"Then, they arrived at the bridge of the Vengeful Spirits and witnessed the duel between Horus, who had become some kind of indescribable higher being, and the Emperor... But the heavily wounded Emperor did not refer to Horus as Horus, but as 'Samus'...?"

They exchanged a glance. "And then?"

“Next,” Ramizan turned another page, “it says that even someone as powerful as Sigismund couldn’t get close to the scene of the duel between the two sides, but Euphrates Kira raised the Imperial Eagle in his hand, and a glowing white dove appeared above his head…?”

All the Primarchs, including Ramizan, couldn't help but glance at the pigeon that was still haggling.

"...Well, anyway, protected by pigeons and a halo, she walked up to both sides, then drew a sword, shouted 'Ceberus' at the blade, raised it, and plunged it into the Warmaster's enormous demonic body. Then, the body of the great traitor, who could even seriously injure an emperor, began to crumble rapidly, dissipating into withered black corpses within his armor."

Although they knew it wasn't Horus, and that those who started the rebellion deserved to die, hearing firsthand the fate of Horus's body still silenced the Primarchs for a moment.

“My data processing unit tells me there’s a greater than 90% chance this sword came from Eribas, who died in the Temple of Devon,” Magna said calmly first. “Nemesis Blade. Quite obvious.”

"So this thing is a Nemesis Blade?"

“If it’s the Blade of Nemesis, then it makes perfect sense. Even a mortal could wield it to kill a demon. The way she raised it and called out a name was to identify the target, and then this thing would kill that target. It’s an unreasonable weapon, and it obviously works against demons.” Ramizane nodded. “But how do you know that Eribas died in Devon and thus left behind this Blade of Nemesis?”

He glanced at Magna in surprise. "Although Peturabo mentioned it to me later, I don't think I've told you the specifics of our adventures over there yet, have I?"

“…I received a portion of the data packet from Peturabo. It’s for stabilizing the cosmic data here,” Magna said immediately before Ruth and Pallas could speak.

“Ah…that’s true, that’s convenient. He’s very thoughtful.” Ramizane said knowingly. “Then Dorne and Waldo arrived…wait, and then they found the Emperor’s head shattered, his eyeballs rolled out, and his injuries were beyond saving?”

They looked at each other in bewilderment.

"...Then Euphrates, using the power she possessed, finally made a deal with Dorne and Waldor. The dove landed on the Emperor and emitted a light. That light allowed the nearly dead Emperor to survive until he returned to the palace and ascended the throne that had preserved him...uh...?"

"Is this...is this right?"

"The strangest story I've ever heard—Dorn doesn't seem like the type to make this kind of deal with her at a time like this!—right?"

Magna remained suspiciously silent.

"Well, anyway, this record ends here. The next recorder... Kerrell Hindman, also known as Rastan Nemagion Veritus, High Inquisitor of the Demon Inquisition? Wait, Hindman? High Inquisitor? Oh, damn... what a hellish joke. Hindman was once the leader of those who most insisted on and preached the truth of the Empire..."

What does his record say?

"It is mentioned here that he controlled access to the Grey Knights Monastery, and for a thousand years, only he would visit there regularly to store records and knowledge... It was Euphrates Kira, the founder of the State Church and the Inquisition... Good heavens... it was she who entrusted it to him, and she told him that she had also placed the coffin, which supposedly contained the remains of Macardo, and other important items on the Titan, so that when Hindman thought the situation was so bad that the Grey Knights needed to appear before the world, then the Grey Knights would appear."

“Then,” Ramizane read solemnly, “Veritus said that Euphrates Kira once again offered to help them ignite the Star Torch in exchange for the right to join the highest decision-making circle after the Mountain Battle Group and other support fleets arrived, thus giving the Church of the Holy Word a legitimate status in the Empire and recognizing it as the Imperial State Religion. Afterwards, with the help of Veritus and his men, she successfully became the first Pope of the State Religion…”

Upon hearing this, Pallas jumped up, intending to find a history textbook about the port or a very ordinary scripture.

"...She was also one of the most powerful and prestigious lords in the Highlord Council, because mortals believed she represented the dual interests of mortals and believers. Under her rule, the reconstruction of Terra and the Empire received tremendous support through rapid reconquest and expansion policies..."

"Kira's de facto rule over Terra continued until her natural death... Good heavens, that means..."

"This is truly... Horus inherited and ruled the empire..."

"But only we know..."

They fell silent.

Finally, Pallas said.

"I want to... go back to Wanderport for a visit."

The others were watching him.

"...I just wanted to sit by the restaurant window and have some peace and quiet."

(End of this chapter)