Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 870

The two Horus are not a threat; the real danger lies with the other emperor. Strangely, that emperor doesn't seem to have much psionic energy around him, which makes Guilliman cautious.

The Wolf God was unaware of Guilliman's concerns. Guilliman's words were like a sharp sword piercing his heart. The Wolf God couldn't help but smile bitterly. He pulled the Emperor behind him, protecting the still mad Emperor, and then stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Horus.

"Tools?" He smiled bitterly. "At least now I know that my true feeling is to defeat you, you hypocrite, Guilliman—I knew I was right about you."

Golden light erupted from the Wolf God! Then, a powerful blue light pressed down on the entire space, and countless blue monsters, each larger than a Warhound Titan, slowly walked towards them from all directions of the void—the Wolf God suddenly realized that those monsters were all human, or at least had been human.

【Guilliman】Standing amidst his blue-clad warriors, he drew his sword expressionlessly.

I will make you realize your mistake.

He said calmly.

....................................

【past】

[You're wrong, Mortarian.]

【Guilliman】stood calmly amidst the mess, like 99,999 bombs filled with mud and garbage exploding in an underground labyrinth. The place was horribly filthy, but 【Guilliman】shone brightly, his blue helmet gleaming, spotless.

[He, or Her, or fate, the final victor is me. You have not been told the whole truth, the future, and the past; therefore, you are destined to lose.]

Beside [Killiman]'s feet, a man covered in blood lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily. Countless deadly scars were faintly visible behind his shattered armor.

[What he wants is not merely to overthrow him, nor merely to restrain Tzeentch, but to ensure, afterwards, the establishment of a monarch of a great empire—and you are merely a useful revolutionary, a tool for overthrowing tyranny and fueled by rage, not the emperor of a nation.]

[Guilliman] crouched down, another short sword tucked at his waist, also from [Magnus]—[Motalian] thought mischievously, how did [Guilliman] use that bright and majestic expression to personally pull out his brother's spinal cord?

[But I just feel sorry for you, my brother. Our father was truly too cruel in this respect, treating both of us as tools.]

[Killiman] reached out his hand to [Motalian].

But I won't.

The Primarch spoke earnestly, his face seemingly radiant, but Mortarion knew that anyone who actually believed him would be in deep trouble; the last unfortunate soul to believe Guilliman was Luo Jia.

[Let's build a new nation together, my brother. I believe in your abilities; you've always been the strongest among us.]

[You see, we have a fairly good understanding between us, you and me, our deserving father, and Magnus who willingly sacrificed himself—haven't we successfully bound Tzeentch to the throne?]

How could he refuse now? Mortarian looked at Guilliman's other hand hanging near the short sword at his waist, as if he would suddenly pounce and stab Mortarian right through.

Even though Mortarion boasted that his psionic abilities were greater than Magnus's, he was still unable to withstand a blow from Magnus's Spinal Sword while severely injured.

Mortarion narrowed his eyes, and after a full three seconds, the Primarch dropped his playful expression, gave a polite, fake smile, and extended his hand to Guilliman.

This expression signifies a partial victory for Guilliman.

It was as if the act of [Guilliman] taking advantage of [Motalian]'s weakness to stab him in the back had never happened.

I have only one request.

Mortarian's voice was hoarse. He knew he still had leverage in the deal. If he insisted on not cooperating with Guilliman, the Death Guards outside the palace would be more than enough to give Guilliman a hard time. After all, Herrera and Karas were not to be underestimated.

Just as Guilliman said, Mortarion might not be good at being a dignified monarch, but he certainly excels at overthrowing an empire or making its rulers unhappy.

If Mortarion does not cooperate, Guilliman's plan to quickly reclaim the Empire will be thwarted. As a result, other Primarchs and Legions will also become disloyal, and Guilliman will face a mess that will last for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

However, if the Mortarion agrees to join forces with Guilliman, then the two most powerful legions within the Empire will unite, and other Primarchs and Legions will have to think twice about their own strength.

[You can simply ask directly.]

[Killiman] smiled, and the smile on his lips grew wider and wider.

He certainly knew that Mortalian knew more, and Mortalian also knew that Guilliman knew some of the information. The fact that Mortalian was willing to reluctantly negotiate with him proved one thing—

This proves that [Motalian] knew of the existence of another destiny.

The First Rebel knew that another destiny would eventually arrive, but Guilliman was not yet aware of what Mortalian wanted that would make him cooperate with Guilliman.

[Upon your death, all ownership and command of the Empire will be transferred to me. If I die at that time, it will pass to my deputies Karas, Herrera, Vox, or whoever I ultimately designate.]

Mortarian's hand froze in mid-air, his expression calm yet slightly provocative.

I accept.

【Guilliman】smiled and, without any hesitation, grasped 【Motalian】's hand, the shackles of contract and domination lighting up.

Mortalian's eyes widened slightly, unable to understand why Guilliman had agreed so quickly. Was it because Guilliman was so arrogant that he wouldn't die, or did Guilliman believe that "after he dies, who cares what happens next?"

..............................

He now thinks that Guilliman is the kind of person who doesn't care what happens after he dies—or that his initial demands and interest were a good deal for Guilliman, so Guilliman agreed without hesitation.

It turned out that Guilliman's deal was extremely worthwhile. Thousands of years later, Mortarion plotted countless assassinations against Guilliman, all of which ended in failure. Guilliman, aside from being sarcastic and disgusting to Mortarion, did not even resort to torture.

【Motalian】felt the earth with his face, anxiously calling for another warp to come quickly—come and share the pain together.

Above him, in the starry sky, the fierce battlefield didn't appear to be a battle at all. Instead, it looked more like two great rivers of different densities and colors colliding, crashing against each other and trying to assimilate each other.

Because of the presence of the two Star Gods, the warp over there seems unwilling to come over, although the High Heavens on the Mortalian side seem to be trying their best to squeeze in.

As long as their fates intersect... [Motalian] recalls his conversation with [Number One].

....................................

[I think we need to communicate.]

The blond-haired [Number One] stood in the very center of his dark green conference room, gazing at [Motalian] like a wild beast.

Mortarian shrugged. "Why doesn't Number One go find Guilliman? On the surface, Guilliman is the one the Emperor often seeks out. Number One has chosen the wrong person to be jealous of. What is there to be jealous of about Mortarian? The Emperor only talks to him nonsense."

Besides [Luojia], [Number One] is also an anomaly among the Primarchs—because he clearly has great faith in and loyalty to [The Emperor].

Perhaps even more loyal than [Luojia], [Motalian] is uncertain, otherwise why didn't [Guilliman] corrupt [Number One] as well? Instead, he only corrupted [Luojia].

This proves that [Number One]'s loyalty far surpasses that of [Luojia].

How much do you know?

His beast-like eyes gleamed.

I know nothing.

[Motalian] frankly admitted that all three of his lieutenants had now sided with Chaos.

[You know about another kind of fate.]

The beast stated definitively. [Motalian]'s breath hitched briefly, then quickly returned to normal.

[how?]

The leader of the rebels said indifferently,

[Does the Emperor go crazy and say this to everyone? I thought he was more stable at other times.]

[No,]

The expelled "Number One" spoke slowly and deliberately.

[That wasn't madness, but rather because his authority and soul were being dominated by another being—let's leave that aside for now, how much do you know about that?]

[How much? I only know there's some other fate or something—but is it true? Do you really believe what he said in that state?]

【Motalian】squinted.

[Number One] took a deep breath and paced anxiously in the meeting room, while the leader of the rebels stood still with a calm and composed expression, waiting for the lion to figure things out on its own.

Five minutes later, the lion stopped and looked at the leader of the rebellion with a serious expression.

[I don't completely trust you, but I still believe that informing you was his intention—though I don't understand why he would do such a thing, telling a disloyal heir imperial secrets.]

These words hurt me deeply.

The first traitor innocently spread his hands, ["I am indeed dissatisfied with his madness, but it hasn't reached the point of disloyalty."]

Lies, let me emphasize again: Mortalian's lieutenants have all completed the Chaos transformation.

[You'd better really be,]

The lion narrowed its eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately, as if reciting a royal decree.

[Listen carefully, Mortarion—the chaos is not entirely unconnected, and the being whom my lord warns of also has a fatal flaw, but that weakness does not reside in Him—the beginning and the end are intertwined, the start is a reversal of the end, and your goals should not be similar to those of others.]

【Motalian】blinked his eyes.

[That's it?]

[That's all.]

Why didn't he just tell me?

[...because...he wanted me to hear these things too.]

"Number One" said, his eyes gleaming—a look that Mortalian found repulsive, suggesting there were other plans and that they were merely part of a larger scheme.

But Mortarian knew that Number One would never guess his and Guilliman's betrayal plan. If he had known, Mortarian would be facing swords and bullets, not just a few harsh words.

"Number One," who prides himself on knowing about the other plans, is nothing more than a victim of another plan. Mortalian maliciously thought that the Emperor has countless plans, and he only reveals a part of each plan to his offspring, which is enough to manipulate them completely.

"It doesn't matter," Mortarian narrowed his eyes. He was certain he would witness the Emperor's defeat.

What is Guilliman doing?

After a brief silence, [Number One] spoke again. The lion had clearly sensed something was amiss, but [Motalian] assured him it was just a scent. [Guilliman] had kept it a closely guarded secret, and this lion, who thought he had the real big plan, would ultimately die by [Guilliman]'s sword.

However, Guilliman probably wouldn't know about Number One's plans. Mortalian pondered that the Emperor's plans were interconnected, and it was hard to say which ones would come to fruition and which ones wouldn't.

But at least for now, Number One must not discover his plans with [Guilliman], and [Motalian] guarantees that [The Emperor] will absolutely not let [Number One] know the true content of his current plans.

In short, the current plan is for Guilliman and Mortarion to join forces to overthrow the Emperor.

But on a deeper level, in the unspoken agreement between the two Primarchs, the Emperor tacitly approved their actions, intending to restrain Tzeentch—

This guy who seems to have an unfair advantage in life is imprisoned on the golden throne, and his fate is not allowed to be manipulated.

The Emperor also prepared a reward for these two Primarchs—the Emperor who was overthrown or killed, and an entire Empire.

And this matter has actually been accomplished. The Emperor went so far as to use two anchor points of destiny to achieve it. One is the rebellion of Terra's Macado a hundred years ago—which is actually a projection of the past onto Terra in a higher dimension of the fact that Tzeentch came to Terra and was imprisoned a hundred years later.

This is why Guilliman and Mortarion tacitly agreed that the Emperor actually wanted them to go to Terra to launch a coup, and that the Emperor would use his own fate and that of the entire Empire as bait to pin Tzeentch down.

He handed over two aspects of this plan to Guilliman and Mortarion respectively—Guilliman's side, Tzeentch would probably also make this connection, but this was the game between Guilliman, Tzeentch, and the Emperor.

Mortarian didn't know the whole story, but he knew that Guilliman would eventually win because that guy was such a good actor that almost no one but Mortarian could see through that disgusting fellow.

[Answer my question, Mortalian, what is Guilliman doing?]

[Number One] spoke again, pulling [Motalian] back to reality and drawing him out of his current plan and into a grander one.

[Naturally, it's to prepare a surprise for our father... what else could it be? Lion, ever since Guilliman became War Master, your animosity towards him has become increasingly obvious. You could have just suggested it to him directly... Guilliman isn't wrong; he's always been the same. It can't be that he suddenly changed after becoming War Master. The one who's wrong is you; you're too obsessed with the War Master title.]

[Motalian] said hesitantly and modestly, and sure enough, he saw [Number One] suddenly freeze, his face turning white and then green.

Now they can keep Killieman's little tricks hidden.

[Motalian] thought casually.

But where will the lion lead him after telling him all this?

..............................

Another Fate

With a swift stroke of his sword, Horus's left arm was severed. Behind Guilliman, on the throne he hadn't paid any attention to, a touch of pink and purple tinged the blue feathers.

Chapter 872 [314] Provocation

The arm with half a forearm attached between the arm guards spun in the air, its cut surface smooth and carrying a slightly fishy smell.

The vast blue night sank down.

Horus's pupils contracted as he was repelled by Guilliman's spiritual pressure. His claw, which had been thrusting at Guilliman, was easily severed by the sword.

The once rock-solid armor became as soft and fragile as a mushroom under the psionic strikes of [Guilliman].

But Guilliman's offensive had not stopped. In an instant, time seemed to stand still. Horus was struck to the ground and slowly fell backward, but Guilliman in front of him seemed to be a person moving normally in slow motion. The cold-blooded king raised his sword, the blade sharp, and aimed it straight at Horus's throat.

Is this the end?

Horus thought that he had little to complain about. This outcome seemed to have been foreseen ten thousand years ago. He did not regret it, nor did he feel that he had acted rashly—the fate of his other brothers, who had disappeared or were asleep, was far more absurd than his own.

Horus heard the exclamation of another wolf god behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a burst of golden light as the wolf god swung his warhammer in, trying to stop Guilliman's sword. But Horus knew that the warhammer could not stop Guilliman's sword for him; it was too late.

until--