The image on the screen froze on Loken's ash-covered face as he raised his sword and roared amidst the ruins, then slowly faded out, leaving only a suffocating darkness and the echoing screams of hundreds of millions of living beings dissolving in the virus.
However, the expected exclamations or riots did not break out within the Throne Room.
A deathly silence enveloped the place, but this silence did not stem from shock; rather, it came from the heavy sense of 'the other shoe finally dropping.'
Having spent countless days and nights watching—seeing Fulgrim pick up the daemon blade, seeing Angron tortured by the nails, seeing Horus's another 'treatment' on Davin... everyone present already had a preconceived notion in their hearts.
They knew that betrayal would eventually come.
But when this moment truly unfolded before their eyes in such a tragic and bottomless manner, the impact still felt like a blunt knife cutting flesh, a pain reaching the very marrow of their bones.
Horus Lupercal remained slumped in his chair, but the look in his eyes had changed.
The previous fear and resistance slowly receded, replaced by an extremely complex and heartbreaking sorrow.
He looked at Garviel Loken on the screen, who, even facing a desperate situation and his father's betrayal, was still organizing defenses and shouting 'For the Emperor!'
"That is my son..."
Horus's voice was low and raspy, as if he were talking to himself, yet also as if he were boasting to those around him.
"Look, Dorn, Guilliman. Look at him. Even if I... even if that monster of the future ordered his Death, he still did not yield."
"He inherited the best parts of me."
Horus smiled bitterly.
"He inherited the pride of the Luna Wolves. He did not blindly follow the fallen version of me; he chose to uphold the truth."
"Did I kill him? In that future?"
Horus shook his head, a hint of twisted gratification appearing in his tone.
"No, I am proud of him. Compared to those who only know how to flatter and fall alongside me... Loken, you were right."
On the other side, Fulgrim was staring intently at Saul Tarvitz on the screen.
This Phoenix who pursued perfection now looked at his filth-stained, armor-shattered scion and actually felt that he was more dazzling than his own gold-inlaid and jade-encrusted plate.
"Perfection—it is perfect loyalty."
Fulgrim turned his head and looked at Tarvitz, who was standing not far away in reality.
His gaze softened, no longer that of a superior scrutinizing a subordinate, but the look of a father watching a child who had grown up.
"Tarvitz," Fulgrim called out softly.
Tarvitz's whole body jolted, and he immediately stood at attention: "Primarch!"
"The future me... that shell possessed by a daemon will hate you, will want to kill you."
Fulgrim pointed at the screen.
"But I am telling you now, as your father, as Fulgrim... I am happy for you."
"You did not follow me into that cesspool. You preserved the final dignity of the Emperor's Children."
Fulgrim took a deep breath.
"If that day truly comes, please... do not show me any mercy. Just as you did on the screen."
Even the gloomy Mortarion, as he watched Garro on the screen piloting a starship and risking his life to break through and bring the truth back to Terra, had an inexplicable light flickering in his eyes beneath his hood.
"He betrayed the Legion."
Mortarion's voice was still cold and hard, but those familiar with him could hear the difference.
"But he did not betray his oath."
"He is better than that bastard Typhon."
Mortarion snorted coldly.
"At least he is making decisions based on his own will, rather than licking Nurgle's toes like a dog."
When they saw that Angron did not follow Horus's arrangements but instead directly performed a drop for ground combat,
Russ suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed loudly, pointing at Angron with admiration in his eyes.
"I knew it! I knew a madman like you wouldn't obediently follow orders!"
"You saved them, Angron."
Dorn turned around and spoke in an unusually serious and earnest tone. This made everyone freeze in surprise.
"Though your original intention was slaughter, from a tactical standpoint,"
Dorn analyzed, "if you hadn't charged down and forced Horus to stop the bombardment and commit ground troops, Loken, Tarvitz, and the others would have been turned to ash by the second or third wave of bombing."
"You gave them a chance. A chance to die like warriors, rather than being poisoned like insects."
Dorn looked at Angron.
"In this darkest hour, your uncontrollable rage instead became a glimmer of hope for the loyalists."
Sanguinius also nodded, looking at Angron with eyes full of compassion:
"Brother, you hate the Empire, you hate our Father."
"But deep in your heart, you are still a gladiator. You cannot tolerate such a dishonorable massacre."
"Even after falling, you are still subconsciously upholding the dignity of a warrior."
Facing his brothers' 'praise,' the real-life Angron stopped struggling.
He panted heavily, the Butcher's Nails throbbing frantically at the back of his head.
He looked at the future version of himself on the screen, wielding a chainaxe and charging toward his own scions.
"Because they are worth it."
Angron suddenly spoke, his voice low as if he were chewing on steel.
"Look at those brats... the one named Ehrlen."
Angron pointed at the Captain on the screen leading a counter-charge with the loyalist World Eaters.
"They didn't cry for their parents in that damned gas. They picked up their weapons. They charged at me."
"They wanted to kill me."
Angron's mouth split open, revealing a wild laugh that looked worse than crying, yet was incredibly genuine.
"Good! Very good! These are World Eaters! These are my sons!"
"Compared to those weaklings hiding on the ships who only know how to follow Horus's orders... this group of rebellious sons who want to cut off my head are the ones worthy of dying under my axe!"
"That coward Horus wanted to rob them of their Deaths with gas?"
"No!"
"I will personally send them to their ends!"
"This is my final... mercy to them!"
Angron's logic was still twisted, but at this moment, everyone felt a tragic resonance belonging to warriors.
In a corner of the Throne Room, Garro tightly gripped his power sword.
His gaze was fixed on the eisenstein on the screen, which was struggling through the Warp storm.
"It must be delivered..."
Garro prayed in his heart, cold sweat soaking his back.
"Future me... you must survive."
"No matter the cost, no matter what horrors you must face... you must bring the news back to Terra."
"If you fail, Terra will be defenseless. The Emperor will know nothing."
Beside him, Saul Tarvitz appeared more calm, or rather, it was a serenity born of accepting Death.
He watched himself on the screen staying on the surface, organizing the defense, and watching Garro's ship depart.
"Go, Garro."
Tarvitz whispered, as if conversing with his future comrade across time and space.
"Leave this place to us; we will hold them back."
"We will make Horus bleed every last drop here."
"As long as you can deliver the news... our Deaths will have meaning."
**[Other Universes: The Ultimate Scrutiny of Humanity and Darkness]**
Marvel Universe
"This is no longer a war."
Captain took a deep breath. "This is just a tragedy, a tragedy orchestrated by a dark god. There's no drama of greed and no debate over ideologies."
"This is just a tragedy, a tragedy of fathers and sons killing each other."
Tony stared at Garro and the eisenstein on the screen.
"That man named Garro."
"In that desperate situation, he made the most rational judgment."
"He gave up the chance to be a hero and die on the ground, choosing instead to be a messenger. That requires even greater courage."
"I hope he succeeds."
Dr. Banner took off his glasses.
"Otherwise, the Earth of that Universe... will face a catastrophe beyond our imagination."
DC Universe
Batman watched the footage of Tarvitz organizing the defense on the screen, remaining silent for a long time.
"In the deepest darkness, one often sees the brightest light."
Bruce said in a low voice, "This group of betrayed warriors, they did not collapse, they did not surrender. In a desperate situation where Death was certain, they burst forth with an incredible will."
"This is humanity."
Superman's eyes held respect. "Whether it's on Krypton, on Earth, or in that distant Warhammer Universe. There are always some who are willing to burn themselves for their beliefs."