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

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[Did you once succumb to chaos in another timeline?]

Yes.

Chaos is a scar that is difficult to wash away in one's lifetime. Once you fall into it, you will always carry its scent with you—even if you have repented, even if you have been reborn, even if you have shaved off most of your soul.

But this aura will still follow you, like a shadow.

That's right.

Horus made no attempt to conceal his crimes, even though they were of no concern to another chaotic version of Horus.

I was misled by the whispers of confusion, believing their lies, and ultimately made a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.

But this is only in my world. In my world, most of the Primarchs and Legions chose the right path; only I, and a very few others, fell.

[Is it because of following?]

Horus overlooked the offense of his other self, who was unknown in this fate line. This Horus was obviously more easygoing, while the other wolf god was because of atonement and the lack of a legion by his side.

[Following a powerful Primarch to fall, like Sangilius? Like Guilliman?]

The Wolf God sighed, shook his head, and looked up into the eyes of his other self, who was clearly quite curious about his answer.

As for Horus, he could think of reasons for making major decisions based on the choices of others; he was never the first, nor was he ever the outlier.

Being unknown is an option, a wise choice that allows one to extricate oneself and the legion from the vortex of intrigue and protect oneself.

Horus, on the other hand, was more inclined to believe this, because he was not favored by the Emperor and his return was met with the Emperor's displeasure, which made him more reclusive.

On the contrary.

The Wolf God's eyes remained unblinking, but at one moment, an extremely terrifying light flashed in them.

[I led my legions down the path of corruption, a path I chose myself. I believed most legions had betrayed me, and I was the only warlord capable of stopping them. So I took the path of gaining more power, and ultimately perished.]

[etc?!]

Horus stared in astonishment at the wolf god. If he had hair, it would probably be standing on end by now. He clearly couldn't understand the meaning of the wolf god myth.

[War General?! I mean—War General?! Wait, I mean, did you believe you could become a War General, or were you already a War General back then?!]

Horus was restless and could no longer stand. He paced around the room unconsciously. "War Master, War Master, what does this mean?"

This means that his alternate self in another destiny is stronger than Guilliman!!! Chaos above!!! Can he really surpass that Guilliman?! And if that Guilliman in that destiny becomes weaker, he would still have to surpass Sangilius, Finus, and others—is his alternate self in another destiny really that powerful?!

Horus had never imagined this so arrogantly. For him, it was already difficult enough to rival Sanguiles. Since returning to the Empire, he had always considered himself part of the Emperor's "failed child series".

I was once a war commander.

These words also made Shepherd God feel frustrated, but he adjusted his mindset in time and cheered himself up again.

Through previous conversations and observations, the Wolf God realized what his other self was like. He was both fortunate and unfortunate that he was not favored by the Emperor, and therefore did not bear such heavy and glorious responsibilities and expectations as he did.

Another self then grew freely and spontaneously, without any expectations from anyone, but with the encouragement of the [Moon Wolves] by its side.

It turned out to be like this...

The Wolf God's eyes darkened. The existence of his other self seemed to awaken him—compared to his chaotic self, the Emperor had treated him so leniently, and he hadn't even accomplished much on his home planet—especially compared to Dorn or Guilliman.

The emperor's favors... are numerous...

Shepherd God coughed, stopping himself from falling into overly chaotic thoughts again. He looked at his other self and gave an encouraging smile.

Yes, after the Emperor's visit, he considered me his eldest son, the son of the firstborn. Therefore, he valued the Shadowmoon Wolves very much. Among all the legions, the Shadowmoon Wolves under my command were the best, without exception.

—They can easily conquer planets that other legions cannot, win every battle, and win over countless human planets to their side! The Moon Wolves' abilities are beyond question; they are the best, and so am I.

Horus's words overflowed with uncontrollable pride and loyalty, but the next moment, his face turned pale again, and he became listless.

After the peak comes the fall.

He stopped and tried his best not to think about the shattered sons of Horus after he left.

[Unbelievable...it's truly unbelievable.]

Horus shook his head, his eyes shining with a light that was hard for the Wolf God to discern—a light that contained envy, as well as surprise and sympathy.

[Excuse my boldness, but being watched by the Emperor, don't you feel...pain?]

【? ! 】

Now, even without hair, you can vividly see that the Wolf God is all puffed up, with goosebumps popping out on his scalp and his eyes wide open as if he's heard the funniest thing.

This is as absurd and ridiculous as saying that the sun should never rise.

Perhaps the Wolf God had suffered from the Emperor's excessive expectations, but he would never admit it, never, never—no one should say such a thing, because compared to this insignificant pain, the Emperor's gaze was the greatest blessing.

The Wolf God should have realized that the human lords in the two destiny lines were not the same, but this question was too shocking and completely beyond his expectations.

【How could that be?! Of course—absolutely impossible!】

The Wolf God spoke loudly, and this statement didn't even require thought; it was a rebuttal from the bottom of his heart, from the very depths of his soul.

Then, he realized what was happening, and his tone abruptly changed, as if the music had been suddenly cut off.

Oh no, no no no no no, I know where the problem lies, my friend. I apologize for being presumptuous, but what I mean is that our fate lines are different, so we can't simply and crudely compare our differences. In fact, other people are very different too.

The Wolf God's tone became smooth and slick. He smiled, fine wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes, like a street-side pyramid scheme leader preparing to unleash his power.

In my view, in the eyes of all those in the Empire who possess conscience, virtue, and loyalty, the Emperor, the Lord of Humanity, is the greatest person, without exception. He is the embodiment of all human virtues, representing the aspirations of all humanity throughout tens of thousands of years of history. He is kind, radiant, and powerful; no one does not love and revere him. Anyone who sees him for the first time will be deeply awestruck, willingly kneeling before him, offering their hands in supplication, and pleading with him to accept their loyalty and sacrifice.

He is the sun that illuminates human civilization, the constant sun, the one who selflessly showers light upon the earth. His gaze spans the entire past and future, so much so that few can truly understand him, for most humans are short-sighted.

In fact,

Shepherd God took a deep breath and smiled naturally with happiness. He had regretted many things, but he never regretted being a Primarch, a son of the Emperor.

He has no regrets about this matter.

[The Emperor, I mean the Emperor I possess, is the greatest man, and in human history, there will never be another individual as great as him.]

Fortunately, Saint Gilles is not here now, otherwise the archangel might have vomited violently, even bringing up yesterday's dinner. Afterward, the archangel would have collapsed in agony in his vomit, struggling like a chicken with a knife cut in its neck, unconscious.

Shepherd's words earned him ridicule from most of his brothers.

But he was clearly sincere; of course he was sincere.

The other Horus clearly listened as well.

[This is truly unbelievable.]

Horus said, his brow furrowed, as if trying to understand the meaning of these words—could a kind and virtuous emperor possibly be like that? It was clearly unlikely.

[So……]

Horus raised his questions, from his perspective,

[So it was your emperor who fell into depravity, and you fell into depravity along with him, right—]

Before the sound of "ma" could be uttered, a fist had already reached Horus. Horus suddenly reached out and blocked the fist. The two exerted their strength, and the Wolf God's fist trembled.

The next instant, as if realizing what had happened, the Wolf Shepherd abruptly withdrew his hand and apologized as much as he could.

[I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't think of your question. I attacked instinctively—the Emperor is forever loyal and forever pure. In reality, it was me, I betrayed him.]

Any other Primarch would probably be furious at the attack of the Wolf God, but standing here is Horus, a marginal Primarch who is often ridiculed by his brothers.

Horus was more interested in the meaning of the wolf god's mythology than in the fist of the wolf god. He could hardly imagine it, of course he could not imagine it.

Whether it was a good, human-like emperor, or another version of himself who was an exceptionally brilliant Primarch and chose to betray, Horus felt dizzy.

He was momentarily at a loss for words; he had initially thought it was the emperor's corruption that had led him to follow suit—

After all, he wasn't good at starting rebellions; Horus usually preferred to follow.

On the other hand, regarding the Emperor as known by Horus, "falling into corruption" seems to be a highly probable event.

In Horus's understanding,

When Guilliman and Mortarion raised the banner of rebellion, it was precisely to prevent the Emperor from falling into depravity, sacrificing the entire Empire, and ultimately leading to the destruction of humanity.

In other words, in the other destiny, the Emperor is a good person, while Horus is an extremely powerful and opinionated Primarch who even chooses to betray the Emperor.

So... could he also choose... to be the first to raise the banner of rebellion? The unknown Horus? Could you do that...?

Horus was filled with countless thoughts. He had considered betraying the tyrant Guilliman, but the gap between his reality and the advice of his close friend repeatedly suppressed his anger. Over the long years, Horus repeatedly succumbed to his nature.

[You betrayed him?]

The Wolf God choked up, finally facing the topic head-on.

He nodded heavily, offering no further explanation.

He didn't want to explain; he chose to plead guilty.

Horus swallowed.

He has so many questions now, so many, so many. For example, if he betrayed his past self, why is his other self unharmed? And why is his other self here, and why did he come looking for him? What is the other emperor like, and can he take a look?

But now, at this very moment, as [Fenus] is mobilizing troops towards the [Shadowmoon Wolf] fiefdom.

Horus Lupecal was concerned with only one issue, only the issue that he was concerned with.

[When you decide to betray, are you confident of victory? Or... do you have allies by your side?]

The Wolf God shook his head, his eyes unreadable.

I was deeply immersed in a delusion, stubbornly persisting in my ways, and unable to extricate myself, so my brothers were unwilling to follow me—and they were right.

【as well as,】

The Wolf God took another deep breath.

I believed I was capable of defeating one or two legions, but if they all united against me, even the Son of Horus would find it difficult to achieve victory.

But at the time, I believed that if I could "help" the Emperor, I would do it, even if the entire army perished with me. This was my loyalty and ambition.

Before he could finish speaking, the Wolf God looked at Horus. He hadn't even brought up the betrayal himself, yet his other self was already so interested in it...

Looking at it this way... the other self... might not be as docile as I imagine.

The Wolf God added another sentence.

[I tried to win over other legions, but in reality, the Empire was never a monolithic entity... Legions were never truly united, and you know what I mean; it was a tragedy.]

But Horus's eyes lit up again when he heard this, and he spoke with great interest—the Wolf God knew it was safe.

He knew his mission to persuade the defectors was complete.

This was far too easy, completely unexpected by Horus Lupecal himself, but that was the truth. Horus had long harbored rebellious intentions; he only needed confirmation… one example…

...One, an affirmation from himself.

[To win them over...]

Horus said instinctively, but he wouldn't discuss this topic with the Wolf God. It was too dangerous to talk about these things with a Primarch with a different stance. So he suppressed the fire surging in his heart and changed the subject.

[But I'm more curious about your emperor... what kind of being is he?]

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

[Original Fate Line]

The emperor is a bastard.

I agree.

Mortarion rolled his eyes. He was too lazy to communicate with the other version of himself, nor to pay attention to the other side. When he saw a bucket-sized pinkish-purple snake twisting and slithering over, the Primarch decisively flapped his wings and left.

[Motalian] laughed, turning his head and hissing.

[Herrera, what's wrong?]

The snake crawled over the corpses of countless Death Guards and countless Space Necromancers, straightened up in front of Mortalian, hissed and flicked its tongue, its entire upper body twisted and swelled, with strange long strips protruding on both sides, and then transformed into six arms.

A beautiful yet slender face appeared, and before its features had fully taken shape, it began to giggle.

【Motalian】remained calm; this was a common way for 【Herrera】to deliver messages.

"You should go check on the ghouls,"

Her sweet, cloying tone was like a snake's tail coiling around someone, accompanied by a playful chuckle.

"Look at those two Saints Guilliers, how well they get along. Why is your side so stiff?"

[Don't joke around, Herrera. Didn't you witness the other me mocking us? I thought you'd had enough of being turned away.]

Mortarian smiled too; he knew what Herrera was talking about—the ghoul Saint Gilles was rebellious—he was now so sure of it.