"Traitor!!"
In the gladiatorial cage, Sol roared, swinging his training sword at Alkenes. The sword strike was incredibly fierce, aimed directly at Alkenes' throat.
Alkenes, the last Phoenix Guard, also met the attack with his sword, and the clash of blades sounded like an urgent symphony.
"I never betrayed anyone," Alkenes said in a low voice, his teeth sharp like a shark's.
This was the only change in him over the ten millennia since his fall. But this wasn't some Chaos corruption; rather, Alkenes had filed his teeth down himself to slightly integrate into the Emperor's Children after the rebellion.
"Never betrayed? Then what did you do on Istvaan III ten thousand years ago?" Sol had seen fragmented scenes of Istvaan III from his gene-seed memories.
He turned and swung his sword, drawing an incredibly elegant arc in the air.
Alkenes took a step back, then blocked Sol's blade with his own sword.
"I never betrayed the Legion or the Primarch," Alkenes emphasized. "Everything I did was based on loyalty to the Legion and the Primarch."
"What about the Emperor?! What about your brothers?!" Sol pressed his sword heavily against Alkenes.
"I admit that was one of many promises I broke," Alkenes' face darkened. "But you don't understand, Sol, you don't understand what Fulgrim meant to us."
"Before the Primarch's return, our Legion was already in name only. While hundreds of thousands of Luna Wolves warriors gained honor across the galaxy, we were suffering terribly from a wasting disease. While the Imperial Fists built magnificent fortifications, we couldn't even undertake an Expedition independently. While countless Ultramarines carved out territories, we were left with only two hundred men."
"It was Fulgrim's return that saved us. He brought the Legion back from the brink of destruction, reborn from the ashes. We bathed in his light, followed in his footsteps, and transformed from the most obscure Legion into the most glorious."
"Fulgrim is the Legion, and the Legion is Fulgrim."
Alkenes' expression became pained, and he whispered:
"I never believed in the Chaos Gods, and I was never interested in the Warmaster's rebellion."
"Sol, I merely chose to be loyal to the Primarch, between the Emperor and the Primarch."
"But—but I have to admit, it was a mistake."
"I didn't expect it to turn out that way. He once saved us, but in the end, he sent us into the abyss of corruption and depravity."
"Pathetic Alkenes, ridiculous Alkenes, pitiful Alkenes." A sharp mocking voice echoed from the depths of Sol's consciousness.
It was Lucius's voice, taunting Alkenes.
"He deserves to die, you don't even deserve to die." Another voice, a more steady one, spoke.
Sol grew agitated by Lucius's voice. He swung his sword, parrying Alkenes' blade, but Alkenes seized the opportunity to press forward, forcing Sol to retreat repeatedly.
Sol had to admit, Alkenes' swordsmanship was extraordinary.
In the memories Tarvitz had genetically passed on to him, Alkenes, though not the top swordsman among the Emperor's Children, was certainly among the foremost.
And over these ten millennia, Alkenes had not succumbed to indulgence and neglected his martial arts; instead, he had become even more proficient in swordsmanship.
This was perhaps why the Sons of the Phoenix Chapter was so convinced by Alkenes.
Before Sol's return, Alkenes had been training the Sons of the Phoenix Chapter as an instructor.
Sol felt an inexplicable annoyance watching his brothers show respect to Alkenes.
This was actually very strange; Sol himself had been taught by Khârn back then, and Alkenes could not possibly have betrayed more deeply than Khârn.
But Sol just felt agitated, felt it was unbearable.
"How could the Phoenix have become like that? I still dare not recall those memories!"
Alkenes' voice trembled as he spoke:
"That bastard Lucius subdued us. He brought a group of people to the Primarch... to the Primarch... that strong Lucius, that bastard—"
"Poor Alkenes, only able to watch our game with the Primarch from afar, watching the Primarch show an expression of enjoyment." Lucius's mocking voice echoed in Sol's mind again: "It's like an impotent husband peeking from inside a closet..."
"Shut up!!!" Sol roared, his sword strikes suddenly becoming ferocious, forcing Alkenes back for a moment.
"...Let me finish!" Alkenes thought Sol was talking about him.
He hesitated, skipping over that part of the content, as he himself wasn't very willing to recall those things.
"I watched the Legion gradually fall into depravity. I tried many times to reverse all of this. I tried to find the Primarch to discipline them, but... but the Primarch's level of depravity far exceeded the sum of the entire Legion's."
"I gradually despaired, even joining the Phoenix Conclave formed by that charlatan Eidolon, simply because he promised to make the Emperor's Children great again."
"Damn it, he was the one who personally destroyed our Phoenix Guard."
"I drifted through ten thousand years in a daze, until I saw him on Fabius's ship."
Alkenes' tone suddenly became excited:
"Sol Tarvitz, he really is different. I saw the glory of the Primarch of old in him."
"Although he is a clone, he is a true Emperor's Son. He can truly lead us back to being that glorious Legion."
"Believe me, Sol, with him, I can rectify the mistakes I once made..."
"Then why do you hesitate to act? Why have you disappeared without a trace?" Sol countered, feeling more that it was the Emperor's Son named Tarvitz within him who was questioning.
"...The moment I saw Fulgrim, that bastard Trazyn suddenly appeared..." Alkenes' expression instantly crumbled.
Just then, outside the gladiatorial cage, a Sons of the Phoenix wearing Phobos-pattern Terminators power armor opened the cage and looked at Alkenes and Sol.
"My Lords, the Primarch is going to the Macragge's Honour to participate in a war council. He wishes for you both to serve as his guards."
Alkenes slightly lowered his sword, signaling Sol to stop.
Sol didn't pursue further. He returned his training sword to the weapon rack.
"Good, you can also see how the other Primarchs feel about our gene-father."
"You'll find that he is very welcomed and trusted among the Primarchs."
"My gene-father is 罗格.多恩," Sol said coldly.
"Does Dorn know you're his son?" Alkenes was amused by Sol's attitude and couldn't help but say.
Although Sol was sharp-tongued, he didn't refuse Fulgrim's command for him to serve as a guard. He indeed wanted to see how the other Primarchs viewed Fulgrim.
"Perhaps my hatred and anger have clouded my judgment, and yours too."
"If the loyal Primarchs believe he is loyal, I am willing to accept and believe him."
Tarvitz's voice echoed in Sol's head, the clearest it had ever been.
Sol could feel that Tarvitz also harbored a certain degree of expectation for Fulgrim, a faint, elusive hope.
He hated Fulgrim so deeply precisely because he had once loved Fulgrim so deeply.
Fulgrim was waiting for Sol and Alkenes in front of the anywhere door assigned to him.
The clone Primarch saw Sol approaching, and the corners of his mouth curved upward slightly, seemingly very satisfied.
The moment he saw that face, Sol's heart pounded a few times.
For some reason, when he saw Fulgrim's satisfied expression, a sense of pride inexplicably rose within Sol.
He quickly felt shame and guilt for this inexplicable pride.
Fulgrim seemed to sense Sol's thoughts, and the smile on his lips deepened.
He nodded gently at Sol, signaling Sol to follow behind him.
For some reason, Sol instinctively obeyed Fulgrim's command.
The three of them passed through the anywhere door, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived in 罗伯特.Guilliman's rather spartan office on the Macragge's Honour.
罗伯特.Guilliman was hunched over his desk, his head buried in thick documents. Sol immediately noticed that the Primarch's originally golden hair was streaked with some white.
Yvraine, the leader of the Death Guard, was sitting on Guilliman's desk, her hair untied, a cascade of silver-gold hair reaching down to the tabletop. She sat with her long legs fully extended, tapping the ground rhythmically with her heel, while helping Guilliman with documents, looking every bit like a secretary.
Upon seeing Fulgrim, Yvraine put down the documents in her hand, nodded to Fulgrim, then leaned over and whispered a few words to the Regent before leaving the office.
"Playing with the pointy-eared daemon again, Guilliman!"
Fulgrim's lips curved into a faint smile:
"Look at you, spending all day with the pointy-eared daemon, your hair's gone white. I know an excellent old Chinese doctor, shall I ask him to check your health?"
Fulgrim's words made Sol's expression suddenly stiffen.
He knew that Lord Guilliman and Yvraine were together to handle state affairs and documents, which was why he had worked himself to the point of having white hair.
But coming from Fulgrim's mouth, why did it sound so strange?
Guilliman looked up, staring at Fulgrim with a grim expression:
"Clone, have you betrayed the Imperium today?"
Hearing this, Fulgrim's slightly playful smile deepened: "That depends on which Imperium you're talking about?"
"Our Father's, or..."
Guilliman's expression became even gloomier.
In Sol's mind, Lucius laughed very loudly, and Tarvitz let out a desperate sigh.
Alkenes was a bit restless. He moved slightly closer to Sol and whispered, "Don't worry, the Primarch just doesn't get along with Guilliman. He has a very good relationship with Sanguinius and Lion."
Just then, the anywhere door opened again, and a bright light suddenly illuminated the entire room.
"Sanguinius-chan! You look so much more radiant!"