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

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"No—no! I mean—it's good, it's good."

The Endless One instinctively grinned, patting the dust off its knees.

"The great Endless One, upon assuming office, naturally welcomes the praise of his subjects! Well done! Excellent work!"

"After that, I will personally meet with and commend General Zandreik, but right now, I have more important things to do!"

Taracin looked up at the shimmering blue Milky Way, his gaze resolute.

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What I despise...

Amidst the tense standoff, a cold voice rang out. Mortarian raised his eyes, looking at the person opposite him with a fierce expression.

Opposite him, the chief rebel simply smiled, his polite demeanor tinged with countless complex emotions, as black flames mixed with three sharp flames rose from the giant scythe in his hand.

[You should have expected this day to come, Mortarian.]

Yes, I should have thought of that sooner.

Beneath the calm words lay boundless killing intent. Death's cloak-like wings fluttered, and countless white mists surged forth, obscuring himself and concealing Karas and his other offspring.

Did Mortarian see his other self in such a sorry state? Perhaps, but what real difference would that make? No.

He only clearly understood that the chief rebel was now blocking his way.

Regardless of what the First Rebel was thinking, he did what he did—there was no reason to continue to contend with him; only blood would explain everything.

Meanwhile, Mortalian realized that the war in the rear was probably already underway, but he knew that Robert Guilliman would definitely be wary of a defection from the other side, so Death was not too worried about the war in the rear.

But what he was really worried about was...

Before him lay a star sector, seemingly unreachable—unknown even to the Primarch, where three powerful races had already been defeated in that small expanse of space.

【it's a pity,】

The brief Barbarusian phrase vanished into the mist, along with Mortarian's pale, towering figure, like fallen leaves in the autumn fog.

The chief rebel immediately looked around warily. Chaotic flames rose from beneath his feet, burning fiercely and dispelling the mist around him.

He is currently on the Mortalian territory of the Resilient, so it's best not to unleash his psionic energy too early and create his own domain.

The moment I saw you fawning over 'Guilliman'—I knew your fate was sealed!

A gigantic, spinning scythe hurtled through the air! It seemed to materialize instantly within the mist before the rebel leader! Only a few meters from his head—

The leader of the rebels suddenly raised his scythe to resist, and clang—! The crisp sound of the impact, along with sparks from the clashing scythes, landed on the leader's face.

[You understand nothing—!!!]

In a flash, the First Rebel gritted his teeth and said, as the black flames around him suddenly burst into a violent blaze. The flames instantly climbed up his hand and up the scythe, then burned along Mortarion's scythe towards Death.

The chains binding the giant scythe rattled, and the Primarch felt the grip on his hands suddenly loosen. Before the giant scythe, which was pouncing at him like a tiger with its fangs bared, could be retracted, another dense wave of energy surged from the mist—the Nether Lamp from Mortalion. The Primarch's pistol was like a small cannon.

The First Rebel suddenly waved his hand, and a visible black psionic wave shot out from under his arm. The bright energy balls seemed to have hit an invisible wall in front of the Primarch, and then hissed and dissipated in the air.

【laugh.】

A cold laugh came from the mist. The previous moves were merely a test. The First Rebel felt the mist beneath his feet moving rapidly—

The white mist was rapidly gathering, forming the tall, thin ghostly figure before him, like a monster pieced together from the shells of some kind of insect.

[The reason for your cowardice: This is why you lost your comrades, why you lost a galaxy full of hope.]

The hoarse, demonic language struck the heart of the chief rebel, who suddenly burst into laughter. He reached out and put on the demon mask, which seemed to come alive, its four fangs extending outwards, displaying a mixture of crying and laughing, joy and sorrow.

Blazing black flames erupted from behind the mask, instantly obscuring the eyes of the first rebel, Mortarian, as black blood streamed down his face.

The next moment! The slender, insect-like shadow dwelling in the white mist stabbed down towards the raging black flames!!! The leader of the rebels suddenly burst into flames, like a raging fire erupting in a storm, scythes clashing! A massive storm swirled around the two of them!!

The howling, like the wailing of ghosts, echoed in the wind.

[Heh heh heh heh—Motalian, you're nothing but a clown scavenging the spoils of victory while hiding behind the Great Beings. You've never experienced...never experienced true cruelty!!!]

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Another Fate Line

【past】

[I've never seen you wear this mask before... Mortarian, it's a cool mask.]

Mortalian blinked slowly, then turned his head to stare intently at Guilliman, who had just spoken, as if he had told a huge joke.

After a long silence, [Motalian] spoke again.

[Thank you for the compliment, Killieman. If you want one… I think you can have one too.]

This mask is stained with the power of three Chaos, a symbol of his sacrifice of his three closest friends—the mockery of the three Chaos laughs unabashedly on this demonic face.

Upon hearing Mortarian's words, Guilliman winked slyly, his azure eyes fixed intently on Mortarian, causing the chief rebel's neck hairs to stand on end.

【Killiman】His deep blue eyes, coupled with his genuine expression, made even looking at a dog seem affectionate—

This is also the most deceptive aspect of the cold-blooded Robert Guilliman. Mortalian reasonably suspects that some people were deceived by Guilliman's charm, while the real Guilliman is actually the most selfish person in the galaxy.

[Is it? ]

"Killiman" said softly. They were standing in the observation room on the Makurag Glory. Beyond the transparent material that ran from top to bottom, there was the beautiful Terra, which was full of power (Killiman's words).

[Perhaps the object of my loyalty is not similar to the one you are loyal to; He seems uninterested in superficial manipulation.]

[Guilliman] flashed his signature smile again, his teeth white and even, and the blue eyes in his sockets made [Motalian] feel even more uneasy, reminding the Primarch of those strangely-looking dolls.

I don't understand what you mean.

[Motalian] blinked, trying to make his tone as confused as possible while attempting not to utter a sound.

I mean,

Killieman's expression grew increasingly pleased.

[The Lord of All Changes desires a more exciting plot—He craves grander absurdity and comedy. Coincidentally, so do I. There is no more wonderful drama than making a false emperor pay the price, and no more absurd scene than a son murdering his father, or a brother killing his brother.]

...At least on the point of forcing the false emperor to abdicate and killing him, [Motalian] and [Guilliman] reached a consensus.

Or rather, a consensus has been reached with most of the Primarchs.

This is why they can now calmly keep the majority of their legions anchored in Terra's orbit without triggering a war.

Guilliman wanted the solution with minimal losses, since he would eventually succeed to the throne.

The real fighting and battles had already been resolved in the previous wars between legions.

Of course, all of this... [Motalian] turned his head and looked back at the yellowish-brown planet. [The Emperor] might know, or he might not, but whatever it was, [The Emperor] didn't care.

As long as the Legion can ensure the smooth progress of the Great Crusade, the Emperor will not get too involved in the conflicts between Primarchs. After Guilliman became Warmaster, the Emperor immediately faded from the Primarchs' sight.

His somewhat irresponsible act directly established Guilliman's absolute position among the Legions. Through command and logistics, Guilliman forced most Primarchs to submit to him.

To date, Saint Gilles, Angron, Horus, Loka, Corax, and Alpha have all pledged their loyalty to Guilliman.

Mortalian had also considered trying to win over the Primarch, but as the First Rebel, who was not favored by Terra's resources and was far behind Guilliman in political maneuvering, ultimately could not compete with Guilliman.

In winning people over, manipulating people's hearts, playing with lies and right and wrong, and resolving political affairs, [Killiman] has an overwhelming talent.

Of the remaining Primarchs, Leon and Ruth are very close, and these two Primarchs will definitely not follow them. Guilliman has already listed them as Legions that must be eradicated. Therefore, the First and Sixth Legions are not in the Terra sector at all, and are quite far away from here.

[Fogan] was categorized as a sacrifice by [Guilliman]. The cold-blooded king seemed to know that the phoenix would not choose to follow him, so he planned to use [Fogan] to win over the wavering [Fenus].

【Guilliman】and 【Fernus】have an excellent relationship, but on the matter of killing the false emperor, perhaps because of 【Fogan】's attitude, 【Fernus】chosen to remain neutral.

The most stubborn Dorne had long been removed from the game by Guilliman's machinations; Guilliman's repeated audiences made the Emperor unwilling to give Dorne any more important roles.

Meanwhile, Mortarion sent the semi-exiled Dorne to where he was supposed to go.

[Koz] had already seen through [Killiman's] methods and disappeared first.

The Khan and his army have also disappeared without a trace.

As for Perturabo, who is currently stationed on Terra... Guilliman was originally very close to Perturabo. After Guilliman secured the opportunity for Perturabo to be stationed on Terra, the Primarch's loyalty has almost become Guilliman's for the taking.

But in the second month after being stationed in Terra, Gilliman was surprised to find that Peturabo had become extremely loyal to the Emperor.

Upon realizing this, Guilliman almost laughed in anger, and the cold-blooded monarch also realized the most speechless point: the Primarch, Perturabo, actually had a better impression of the Emperor who verbally humiliated and suppressed him.

In other words, as long as the other party is stronger than him, humiliation and neglect will actually strengthen his loyalty.

Therefore, at a private dinner later, Perturabo betrayed Guilliman, who had helped him defend Terra, without hesitation.

[......]

Mortalian knew that in Guilliman's plan, Peturabo was unlikely to have a good ending.

In reality, those Primarchs who genuinely pledge allegiance to the Emperor are mostly met with rejection from within the Primarch community, such as Loka, Peturabo, and Magnus.

Oh, and there's also Magnus.

Magnus was the only Primarch unaware of the true purpose of this victory celebration, and didn't even detect a hint of conspiracy.

The red-skinned Primarch was still imagining how to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Great Crusade, while also checking on the Emperor's well-being and putting in a good word for himself and Guilliman.

Guilliman didn't even hide it from Magnus like he did from Peturabo and Fuggen.

Thinking of this, Mortarion was somewhat speechless. He knew that Magnus had also pledged allegiance to Tzeentch—or perhaps Magnus knew that he had pledged allegiance to Tzeentch?

In short, one Magnus wouldn't disrupt their plans.

If Mortarian had any brotherly affection, he would almost be mourning for Magnus.

[Yes...he deserves to die.]

[Motalian] realized he had paused for too long, and he took [Killiman's] words and took a deep breath.

Now let's prepare our victory celebration banquet!

[Killiman] curled his lips.

Now, multiple legions are converging on Terra—

This is the army that [Killiman] summoned under the pretext of organizing a victory celebration banquet after the successful completion of the Great Expedition.

But their real purpose in coming here is...

[It's a pity this victory celebration won't happen. Don't you think I was too hasty, Mortarian? Perhaps we should wait until everyone is here.]

【Motalian】shaked his head.

According to the plan, Mortarion and Guilliman, along with Angron, Alpha, and Sanguires, will arrive on Terra first. At this moment, Fugen, Peturabo, and Magnus are already on Terra.

Next, the three Primarchs loyal to Guilliman launched a rebellion from within the palace, and Loka and the remaining Primarchs led their troops to meet them outside Terra.

Mortarion and Guilliman split up and headed to the inner palace of the False Emperor to kill the Emperor.

He made a pact with Guilliman that whoever killed the Emperor first would gain the throne—a kind of warp-space certification.

If the difference in strength is too great, then they will join forces first.

But now, both Primarchs, backed by Chaos, believe they possess absolute power, and when necessary, Chaos will descend to lend them a helping hand.

Mortarion knew that the three Chaos behind him were also trying to turn the tide in order to face that... Lord of Change.

A strange light flashed in the eyes of the First Rebel. He and [Guilliman] both knew that Chaos was also a great enemy of the Empire, so the plan they verbally agreed on was only the most superficial layer.

Mortarion would never submit to Chaos, which is why he chose three proxies to take over the Chaosfire, and Guilliman would never bow down to Chaos... Mortarion narrowed his eyes, wondering how Guilliman intended to deal with Tzeentch.

Otherwise, even if they kill the Emperor, the empire will fall back into the hands of the Lord of Change.

Perhaps, just as he thought... he would take advantage of the Lord of Change's hatred and mockery of the [Emperor].

The next step depends on their teamwork.

And their wariness of each other.

Let's see if they can work together to fool the Emperor and Chaos, and then see if the two Primarchs can reach an agreement on how to divide the spoils.

As long as Guilliman doesn't go too far, Mortarion is willing to make concessions to achieve a lose-lose situation for both the Emperor and Chaos.

After all, the game he really wanted to play was still in the very, very distant future.

But he miscalculated.

Robert Guilliman was far more cunning, insane, and greedy than he imagined.

The cold-blooded monarch drove wolves to devour tigers, while simultaneously plotting against all the forces that cooperated with him. Carrying a blade made from the spine of his brother, he walked alone step by step toward the throne.

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