[Horus: How could this happen!]
[The past is past, oh, the past is past!]
Perhaps it was the chaotic empowerment that caused the current Horus to recall his actions as the Warmaster of Chaos.
Horus had never imagined that his once slight doubts about the Emperor would escalate to this extent.
The Imperium of Man was already rotten, completely finished.
The power of Chaos had dragged all of humanity into an abyss, subjecting people to a fate worse than death.
Once, he thought he could master this power, but reality proved that no human could ever control it.
Not to mention himself—even the Emperor had failed to master it.
The Emperor had reached a dead end, a path bound for destruction.
"Hahaha—hahaha!" The Warmaster suddenly burst into laughter—a wild, unhinged laugh, like the final death urge of a desperate man.
Now he lacked the face to meet the Emperor, and the Emperor had already been forced onto the Golden Throne because of him.
"It's all the same—reality proves that no one can master these things!"
"No one can master these extreme emotions—neither me nor the Emperor—it's all the same—once you step onto this path, nothing remains but endless despair!"
Watching his gene-sire act this way, Abaddon wondered if the Primarch had gone mad.
He even doubted whether this was truly his father, as Horus was acting far from composed right now.
"Abaddon, set aside your doubts!"
"Those evil sorceries are useless against me. I have once again become the vessel of the Four Gods. If you continue down this path, you will end up just like me!"
Perhaps the 17-hour protection period gave Horus the opportunity to explain the truth.
After he laid out part of the truth, even Abaddon felt surprised.
Abaddon's lip twitched slightly. Although he was very dissatisfied with the Primarch's current attitude, he could not deny one thing:
Right now, the Primarch could crush him with one hand tied behind his back.
However, that did not stop Abaddon from voicing his opinion, as Abaddon was already traveling further and further down a certain path.
Abaddon roared, "So, great gene-sire!"
"Was everything you once did nothing more than being deceived by Chaos?"
"We followed you in rebellion, even killing some of our former brothers for it."
"If we just stop simply because of this?"
"Then what is the point of the Black Legion now? What is the purpose of the Sons of Horus's existence?"
Abaddon was unwilling. He had to carry on his Black Crusade; not even a Primarch could stop him.
The mission to slay the False Emperor was already rooted deep within his heart.
No matter what, he had to push all the way to Terra and complete his mission.
Horus looked at Abaddon with a bitter smile. Yes, so similar—how like his former self!
His children had been reduced to playthings and pawns of the gods, and he himself, just like the child before him, had once thought he could control everything.
And what was the reality? He was torn apart, torn apart by his father's own hands.
At first, he only wanted to return to Terra to confront his father, but the Chaos Gods twisted it into a rebellion, a conspiracy.
Of course, the gods had not entirely lied to him; after all, when father created them, he indeed treated them as war machines.
However, the gods concealed one detail from him: they would inevitably cause half of the Primarchs to turn traitor.
Yet the Emperor did not kill them; instead, he let these Primarchs participate in the Great Crusade, bestowing his care upon them alongside the Centaurus rings.
As the Primarch who had accompanied the Emperor the longest, Horus knew very well that those feelings were genuine.
A purely rational person would not keep a time bomb by their side.
And the so-called Primarchs, before awakening their Warp essence, were merely oversized super-soldiers.
Horus knew full well that back then, the Emperor genuinely cared for him.
Yet he had betrayed that care, and now there was no turning back.
Faced with his son's interrogation, Horus found himself momentarily speechless.
Because he had fallen into confusion, unable to fathom what purpose he had left if he could not continue the crusade.
[Board Skill: Mind Twist.]
Caleb activated his skill, forcibly twisting the temporary neutral unit into a friendly unit.
This allowed Caleb to chat with Horus in his own way.
While he could not guarantee changing Horus's mind, he could use the Emperor's identity to reveal part of the truth to him.
[Caleb: I think you know everything now.]
[Horus—my first-returned son.]
[Now, are you willing to trust the Chaos Gods, or are you willing to trust me?]
Caleb wanted to test Horus's attitude. Right now, Horus was already in an extremely conflicted state.
[Horus: I can never go back to the way things were.]
[Even if I want to, I cannot return to the past.]
[Everything I have done is unforgivable, even to myself. And hasn't Father already made his choice?]
Looking at Horus's answer, Caleb felt helpless. Indeed, the Emperor had already delivered his answer regarding the price of betrayal.
Without Cookie Jarvis, Horus would never have contemplated these things.
However, saying anything now was useless—Horus was already the genuine Warmaster of Chaos, and the memories he awakened were not the ones from before the temple.
Just as the negotiations hit a stalemate, the big golden guy finally came running over.
Since the veil of the Warp had been thinned considerably, the big golden guy could now influence a psychic vessel like Horus, who was connected directly to the Warp.
At first, when the Emperor noticed Horus's resurrection, he paused in surprise.
However, realizing it was the work of the Immaterium, the Emperor felt this might present a certain opportunity.
Surrounded by the Black Legion, Horus—whose body was originally surrounded by Chaos power—suddenly emitted a golden light.
The golden light was blindingly bright, enough to blind the surrounding traitors.
The Daemon Engines inside the fortress broke down on the spot; many machines constructed through profane Chaos sorcery malfunctioned instantly.
These blasphemous creations and devices turned into ash in a single moment.
"Father, what is going on!"
Abaddon was startled, assuming the God-Emperor intended to dispose of his own Primarch directly.
He tried to command the nearby Chaos Sorcerers to manage the situation, but those sorcerers were already bursting into flames, completely unable to handle it.
Amidst the endless light, Horus witnessed an astonishing scene.
A grey-skinned loli wearing a golden crown was currently beating up the other four gender-bent Evil Gods.
Emperor-Mom was acting like a street brawler, directly sending those so-called underclassmen, upperclassmen, teachers, and mothers flying with a barrage of strikes.
The current Chaos Gods were simply no match for the Emperor in this powered-up form.
Especially since this domain was still within Sanguinius's area of coverage.
[Emperor: You damned bastards, trafficking children again!]
[Don't you dare run away! I am definitely going to finish you off today, just you wait!]
The Emperor's massive golden slaps landed on the faces of these gender-bent Evil Gods one after another.
Soon enough, these four physical manifestations were beaten black and blue by the Emperor.
[Lively and playful purple-haired underclassman: Run! We can't win against this Cursed One!]
[Red-haired, red-skinned delinquent upperclassman: Run my ass! Hold the line for a bit, we're almost successful.]
[If you give up halfway, the last Blackstone Obelisk won't get destroyed.]
At this moment, Caleb finally understood why the Emperor was called the Cursed One and why he was so despised by the other Warp Evil Gods.
Because this guy would literally step away from the table to beat up the players himself—the equivalent of losing the game and deciding to throw hands in real life. Extremely shameless.
Although the Chaos Gods won and lost against each other, it was rare for one Chaos God to personally descend into the arena just to grab and beat another.
Yet with the Emperor, this seemed like a daily routine—whenever he couldn't win, he would resort to a physical fight.
This was no longer fighting on the board; this was pulling off an out-of-game move outside the chessboard.
Beaten black and blue, the four Chaos players had no answer to the Emperor—so they decided to join forces to banish this rule-breaking player.
[Ding—Determined that player Emperor is violating game rules by assaulting players—Initiating ban vote.]
[To restrict part of the Emperor's abilities—In this match, the Emperor's pieces will be unable to provide support.]
The chessboard directly penalized the Emperor, as if representing the will of the Immaterium, yanking the Emperor straight out.
However, as the Emperor was dragged out, he cast one last glance back at the dumbfounded Horus.
That look seemed to convey to Horus: Mom will always love you!
[Emperor: My child, don't lose face! I know you didn't do it on purpose before. I hope your next choices won't disappoint mom, you little brat!]
With those words, the Emperor was thrown out of the game and forbidden from entering again.
Seeing this, the Chaos Gods couldn't help but laugh out loud.
In just a short while, Horus would become their Chaos Warmaster again.
So what if they got beaten up by the Emperor right in front of Horus? Once they finished brainwashing him later, wouldn't he still be their pawn?
"No—no!"
"Emperor, Emperor, how could you become so small and cute?"
"Why did you stick up for me?"
"I was already planning to end it all and extinguish my own soul, but your appearance makes me suddenly not want to die at all, hey!"
After witnessing the scene of the Emperor thrashing the Four Gods, Horus—who was already completely spellbound by the Emperor—instantly turned into a heavy mommy's boy!
Seeing that the current Emperor had turned into a mom, he could no longer contain his emotions.
No matter what, he was determined to become a Loyalist and go lick mom's feet, hey!
A trace of clarity suddenly returned to the eyes of the golden-glowing Horus.
Horus abruptly realized that his time was limited; he had to use this window to help his children and his legion break free from their connection to the Evil Gods.
He had to offer his final loyalty to the Imperium. Otherwise, Horus had a premonition that his soul would never see Emperor-Mom again!
"Primarch—you!"
Abaddon wanted to say something, but Horus patted Abaddon's shoulder and laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Abaddon, I'll give you one chance. If I can free you from the control of the Chaos Gods, what do you want to do afterward?"
"Do what?"
Abaddon was stunned, completely unprepared for the Warmaster to say such a thing.
Well, former Warmaster—he himself was currently the Warmaster of the Black Legion, though it seemed the current Black Legion preferred listening to the Primarch standing before him.
"I—I cannot imagine a future without war."
"If combat ceases to exist, won't we be reduced to scraps, just like the Thunder Warriors!"
Abaddon poured out his inner thoughts, having transformed himself entirely into a ruthless war machine.
As an unfeeling weapon of war, the absence of combat meant being mothballed, or even melted down.
That was how Abaddon viewed himself, and for this very reason, he had been lured by the Chaos Gods into an endless series of crusades.
"Haha!"
"Forget it, forget it!"
"My time is short. I must take this opportunity to clean up as many of those loose ends for you as I can!"
"The girl beside you is your adopted daughter, right?"
"Though I know part of your intention was merely to utilize her—you once held a shred of genuine affection for her."
Horus naturally knew that the girl beside them was the true operator of this fortress.
Regrettably, she had been corrupted by Chaos power, and her future was destined to be tragic.
"Father, why are you bringing these things up!"
"Right now, our objective is Cadia Fortress!"
"Everything you're doing... you don't intend to cancel this Black Crusade, do you?"
"Heh—" Horus shook his head. He knew very well that the entire crusade fleet was already locked in; there was no way to stop now.
The engine of war had been started, and there was no reason to pull back. Even if he wanted to extract himself now, the Black Legion would not stop.
"No!" Horus clenched his fist, and a slight thrust of his strike shattered the surrounding armored outer wall.
In that moment, he felt as if he had returned to the past, back to the feeling of sweeping across the galaxy and commanding the winds.
"Since my legion chose a planet that must be conquered, there is no reason to stop!"
"Be it right or wrong, as long as it lies on the path of my conquest, stopping is not an option!"
"To some extent, conquest itself is not wrong. But remember this, my child: the last thing you should ever do is serve those Chaos Gods!"
With those words, Horus placed his massive hand on Abaddon's shoulder.
A flash of clarity passed through Abaddon's eyes. He seemed to realize that during this recent period, he had been acting as nothing more than a dog for Chaos.
"Are you awake now?"
"Good that you're awake!"
"To tell you the truth, that fellow, the Emperor, never cared about whether we were loyal or treacherous."
"To the Chaos Gods, this is merely an entertaining game, and we are nothing more than pieces on the board!"
"No one can escape this board, neither you nor I."
"Sometimes, we can only hope that the player holding the pieces possesses some humanity."
"And I have already found my answer!"
Horus's voice held a note of longing. He wanted nothing more right now than to become a Loyalist and go to Terra to meet the current loli mom.
However, he had to settle his own affairs first.
He had to trust the voice in his mind that differed from the Chaos Gods, as it was his final lifeline.
Looking at his children who had turned into twisted horrors, Horus felt a deep heartache.
He never expected that these warriors who once fought for humanity would end up becoming humanity's greatest threat.
Although the Emperor had viewed each of them as weapons, he, as their Primarch, could not.
"Listen to me, all of you!" Horus's voice rang out strong and firm, instantly rallying the entire Black Legion once more.
At this moment, Abaddon realized the gap between himself and a Primarch, as he could never command such rallying power.
"What I once feared was that you would repeat the mistake of the Thunder Warriors—they were war machines far stronger than us, yet the Emperor disposed of them all!"
"However, remember this: you are the Sons of Horus, my children!"
"Even if you abandon the Emperor and no longer fight for him, you must still fight for humanity!"
"The purpose of our creation was to eradicate those damned xenos!"
"And right now, the universe is crawling with xenos—burning them all to ash, that is our mission as we continue to wage war in the days to come!"
As Horus finished speaking, the atmosphere on the scene grew intensely heated.
Many warriors among the Sons of Horus erupted into their battle cries.
Their roars even made the most skilled Chaos Priests feel apprehensive.
"For Lupercal!"
"For the legion!"
Abaddon stared blankly at the legion, which had just re-anchored its faith.
He had used every scheme and trick at his disposal just to get the legion to reach a strategic consensus, yet his father accomplished complete unity with a single speech.
"What you need to achieve hereafter is true freedom—not bound to Chaos, nor bound to the Emperor!"
"You shouldn't continue living merely as a war machine. Perhaps you should visit a certain place and take a look."
Horus turned his gaze toward a specific direction. Without the guidance of that voice, he might never have found the cure.
Horus pointed toward a spot in the starry sky—the direction of the 300 Worlds, a new hope capable of accommodating those seeking redemption.
"The Spartan 300 Worlds—that is a realm established by my brother after he regained his senses. Perhaps you can find your answer there."
"This—"
Abaddon was dumbfounded. Why would the Primarch want him to go to a place like that?
And was there some deeper meaning behind sending him to the 300 Worlds in that sector?
Could there be a power there that was free from Chaos and able to exist independently?
"Commence the bombardment!"
Horus once again assumed the role of Warmaster, except that after this battle, he was determined to extract his Black Legion from all of this.
Perhaps later they could join the Liberator Warband to stage a revolution.
Or perhaps they could lay bricks and chat with the Iron Warriors.
In any case, they must never continue fighting for Chaos. They could die on any battlefield, on any front line fighting for humanity.
Plunging into Chaos's schemes, or dying along a path that served Chaos, was the one thing they could not do.