"How is this possible... Lord Sanguinius is actually a girl?!"
"Could the teachings of the Imperial Creed be wrong all along?"
"Aah~ So that's how it is! Does that mean we can all call ourselves daughters of the Emperor now?"
Celestine felt this was entirely novel, while various speculations about the Emperor's actions began forming in her mind.
She was convinced that after being betrayed by his sons, the Emperor simply decided he only wanted to raise daughters.
Therefore, it was completely reasonable that all the resurrected and returning Primarchs had turned into girls.
[The Emperor: Just destroy it all... I'm used to it. While raising daughters is great, that is DEFINITELY not the reason!]
The corpse on the Golden Throne could only vent internally. In his current state, he truly felt exhausted.
Every time Caleb pulled off some mystical, nonsensical maneuver, the Emperor had to endorse it and pretend to act as if he had known all along and that everything was proceeding according to plan.
Only Malcador knew the truth about this—and Malcador's attitude toward the whole thing was complete indifference, letting whatever happens happen.
"Ahahaha!"
Facing Celestine's wildly imaginative question, Sanguinius felt completely out of moves for the first time.
What kind of magical creatures were women anyway? Why did their thought processes feel so wildly different from his other brothers?
Alright, fine. Although this girl could fight pretty well, her combat capabilities were still a far cry from his own.
"Let's put that aside for now. We need to clear out the traitors on this planet immediately!"
"Celestine, give me a quick debrief on the situation here!"
"My main target this time is the Blackstone Fortress. Where has that giant fortress reached?"
Faced with Sanguinius's question, Celestine shook her head.
It wasn't that she didn't want to answer, but she genuinely had no idea what kind of enemy they were up against.
"I don't know! I was already killing traitors the moment I woke up!"
"Maybe you should ask Katarina. She might know more about this."
---
"Hey, hey, hey! On what grounds are you denying me entry?!"
"We are in a post-battle state right now, and I am exercising my authority to conduct an investigation!"
"Your Lord General has been acting extremely strange lately. I need to take a good look at what on earth is going on with him!"
Katarina had intended to enter the Lord General's quarters, only to be blocked by the guards at the door.
These guards were merely Kasrkin elite troops, yet their gear was top-notch, even equipped with individual psych-shield generators.
Each of them wore personal power armor similar to that of the Sisters of Battle. Although their overall combat capability was far inferior to an Astartes, among mortal forces, they were already the absolute elite under the Lord General's command.
"We are deeply sorry, Grand Inquisitor!"
"A top-secret operational meeting is currently taking place inside. Our General will meet with you personally shortly. Please wait a moment."
With that, the two guards blocked the Grand Inquisitor outside once more.
They had no choice either. After all, their General had explicitly ordered that no unauthorized personnel were allowed entry during the meeting.
Evidently, the Grand Inquisitor had been categorized as "unauthorized personnel."
It seemed she might only get in through some other identity.
"Damn it!"
The monocle-wearing Grand Inquisitor stamped her feet in rage.
This was the first time she had been turned away at the door—and while using her authority as a Grand Inquisitor, no less!
Honestly, if the situation weren't so dire, she would have loved to issue an Exterminatus on this planet.
However, that wasn't her style. Besides, she had been dumped here inexplicably by the Emperor, and right now, her Inquisition fleet didn't even carry a single Vortex Torpedo!
---
Minutes and seconds ticked by—and Kuchi Jarvis, who was pretending to hold a meeting, sensed the arrival of his opportunity.
Two wills felt it: their objective had arrived.
This was the exact opportunity they needed—Archmagos Cawl of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
"He's here. How interesting!"
Kuchi Jarvis's thoughts merged at this moment. For this demon, solving the current predicament truly required relying on Cawl.
In his eyes, Cawl represented infinite change. As long as that guy touched the Blackstone, the entire mission would be complete.
"In that case, let me grant Sanguinius one final Rubric Spell!"
---
Caleb , who was still on the frontline playing with mini-figures and arranging battle formations, suddenly felt a surge of dread.
He had just been controlling a swarm of Titans to bombard the enemy lines—when he suddenly felt like something back at his home base was about to explode!
[Caleb: Sanguinius—Someone is casting a Rubric Spell!]
Get in there and check right now! That guy is a genuine demon!
[Sanguinius: Holy shit—Why didn't you say so earlier!]
---
While Katarina was still bickering with the Imperial personnel, Sanguinius, who had been sitting quietly on the side, suddenly stood up. He grabbed Celestine and charged straight inside.
"Wait! What are you doing?! That's a high-level meeting! What do you think you're doing?!"
"You idiots, stop worrying about your damn high-level meeting! Your Lord General has turned traitor, can't you tell?!"
With Sanguinius's thunderous roar, for some strange reason, the people who had been trapped in a mental haze suddenly snapped back to reality.
In that single instant, they abruptly remembered—whether it was a Grand Inquisitor or personnel from the Imperial Creed, both had full authority to attend war council meetings!
Why on earth had they blocked them outside? What had they been thinking?
"It was a mind-twisting effect!"
The Grand Inquisitor suddenly realized that the moment she set foot here, her mind had been inexplicably manipulated.
Anyone intending to follow rules was subtly bound by those rules, forcing them to believe in non-existent Imperial laws.
Just moments ago, Katarina had genuinely believed she lacked the authority to attend the war council, which was why she stayed outside arguing. But thinking back—on what grounds was she unqualified?!
The three of them burst inside—yet what awaited them was the echo of Kuchi Jarvis's fate.
At that moment, three dice were already prepared on an ancient wooden desk.
And right then—this strange hybrid created by Caleb began another round of his gambler's gamble.
"Rubric Spell: Echo of Fate!"
As the gambler's rhapsody resounded, the surrounding space froze almost instantly, rendering everyone motionless.
The laws of physics grew chaotic—and the minds of the people nearby seemed to plunge into confusion as well.
An ordinary, unlucky soul subjected to this bizarre distorting power might have turned directly into a Chaos Spawn.
Even more surreal—the demon before them actually revealed its true form at this very moment!
Yes, the Echo of Fate had granted him the ability to manifest his true form within the materium.
At the same time, he could channel power equivalent to that of a Warp Greater Daemon.
"Splendid!"
Feeling himself restored to full capacity, a wave of exhilaration flashed through both of Kuchi Jarvis's minds.
Holding a giant axe in one hand and a staff in the other—his physical and magical attacks were both maxed out. This was the most ideal stat spread for a Chaos Daemon.
"Holy shit, what kind of monster is this?!"
"What IS that thing?! A Lord of Change or a Bloodthirster?!"
"The Inquisition has no record of a creature like this!"
As a Grand Inquisitor, Katarina naturally possessed extensive knowledge.
She had seen descriptions of daemons on ancient parchment, but the entity before her didn't seem to match any existing records in the Inquisition's archives.
"Caw-caw! Ga-ga!"
The sharp avian beak erupted into a piercing, cackling laugh, while the Bloodthirster head on the other side let out an earth-shattering roar.
All three polyhedral dice landed on 9. At the same time, the randomly generated spell materialized before the demon's eyes.
[Spell: Wish Fulfillment!]
[It can resolve your current predicament. Express your problem, and it will solve everything for you.]
Caleb hadn't expected the demon's luck to be this absurd. The last time he cast this spell, he ended up screwing himself over. Yet this time, the demon had actually rolled such an incredible effect!
[Caleb : We're done for~]
Caleb could already guess what wish the demon was about to make.
And just as he anticipated, the demon pointed a finger directly at Sanguinius and voiced his wish to the spell:
"Get rid of her for me!"
A daemon didn't need to know its target's true name; it only needed to state its problem to the spell.
And true to form, acting like Doraemon's magic pocket, the spell actually began executing the demon's command.
A flash of five-colored light swept across, and moments later, a mini-figure appeared in Kuchi Jarvis's hand.
"What's this?"
"A figurine?"
"Holy crap... is that Horus?!"
Sanguinius stared blankly at the figurine held in the demon's hand.
He had never expected that after casting such a massive spell, the creature would produce a toy.
Yet, whatever this skill summoned was guaranteed to solve the problem at hand.
And in truth, Horus was indeed more than capable of handling Sanguinius.
[Caleb : Holy shit, where's my game piece?!]
What do you mean my Horus is in that guy's hands?!
Caleb was utterly dumbfounded. The game piece sitting right next to his table had actually been stolen by this guy!
Horus was originally in a "Pending Deployment" state.
Once enough points were accumulated, he could have been deployed to any position Caleb wanted.
Logically, this was a flawless game piece. The moment Abaddon set eyes on his father, the "Ever-Victorious" Abaddon would be rendered as laughable as a clown.
Furthermore, this wasn't some cheap clone—this was the complete, true Primarch Horus. The original Horus would undoubtedly drive Abaddon into absolute despair; there was zero doubt about that.
Yet Caleb never imagined that a piece sitting on the deployment board could actually be snatched away by another unit.
Worse yet, the unit stealing his piece was ALSO one of his own pieces. Talk about a massive boomerang coming back to hit him!
Of course—
Setting aside the randomness, Kuchi Jarvis's random skill as a Greater Daemon was likely the single most powerful ability available.
To be able to steal a piece directly from the deployment zone—that power scaling was absurdly broken.
"So that's how it is!"
"Cough... interesting little trinket."
"Does this mean if I just release this thing, the person in front of me is finished?"
Sanguinius raised his spear, desperate to finish off this bizarre demon as quickly as possible.
He had an overwhelming premonition that if the demon tossed the item in his hand, things would get extremely ugly.
Drawing the spear back over his shoulder, he hurled it with full force.
Like a cannon shell, the spear tore through the air straight toward Kuchi Jarvis.
Trailing a blinding radiant aura as it pierced space, the raw force behind the throw alone rivaled the firepower of a warship's macro-cannon.
Buzz!
Just when it seemed the spear would impale the target through and through—for reasons unknown, the razor-sharp tip came to a dead halt right in front of the Horus figurine.
"A wave of Warp energy belonging to the Four Gods forcibly twisted the spear's trajectory. At this rate, that spear wouldn't hit the demon even if it traveled for tens of thousands of years."
"Damn it! How is this even fair?!"
Sanguinius usually enjoyed joking around, but at this moment, even he was getting anxious.
This demon was far too bizarre—a stitched-together fusion of two daemons, wielding the combined powers of both.
"Go! Horus, I choose you!"
Watching the demon toss the figurine out like throwing a Poké Ball, Caleb was entirely speechless. What kind of ridiculous play is this?!
Besides, was the Horus being summoned even the real Horus anymore?
---
At that very instant—abroad the Blackstone Fortress, Abaddon suddenly felt a wave of profound restlessness wash over his mind.
It was a deeply familiar aura—the scent of his genetic father from back when he was still alive.
"How is that possible?"
Inside the Blackstone Fortress, Abaddon gazed out toward the distant planet. Across the vast depth of space, Cadia remained invisible to the naked eye.
Yet, whether it was the sorcerers inside the ship or the depths of his own heart, an inexplicable tremor echoed through them all.
It was a feeling that seemed to whisper to them: Your father has returned!
Before your father, you are still just children. The sole entity capable of truly uniting the Black Legion has returned at this very moment.
---
"What kind of ghost of a place is this—"
Horus casually caught the incoming spear. That familiar sensation—the moment he was revived, he instantly confirmed the identity of the person before him.
Sanguinius—only that universally beloved Great Angel used a weapon like this.
Even though his memories were limited to the events prior to the temple, he could still clearly perceive Sanguinius's hostility.
Horus glanced backward.
Very quickly, his eyes fell upon the strange entity composed of two fused daemons.
With a heart that remained loyal to the Emperor, Horus felt nothing but utter disgust for the demon behind him.
Without a moment's hesitation, Horus turned on his heel and plunged the spear straight through the demon, skewering it completely.
The demon's face froze in absolute shock. He had never imagined that the thing he summoned would end up stabbing HIM to death!
[Caleb : Oh right, I almost forgot!]
[That spell only said it would "solve your problem"—it NEVER said it would protect you!]
Realizing the fatal flaw in the spell, Caleb burst out laughing.
It seemed the spell's backfiring nature was still fully intact.
Once the Echo of Fate was triggered, your lifespan was practically formatted to zero.
A daemon could at least retreat to the Warp. If a regular unit possessed this skill, it would essentially be a one-time suicide unit.
And just like that, Kuchi Jarvis was inexplicably banished back to the Warp once again.
Except this time—the demon's actions earned the high praise of the Four Gods.
[Khorne: Splendid! Our shared game piece is back again.]
[Tzeentch: I feel the galaxy burning once more. I see infinite, endless change... Kuchi Jarvis has done a truly marvelous deed.]
[Slaanesh: What are you all talking about? This is clearly a public toilet. While I don't really want to use it at the same time as you guys, his vessel really is quite comfortable to use.]
[Nurgle: So, what should we put inside this public toilet this time?]
[It seems even the Cursed One has permissions for this shared piece now!]