"I'm back! I'll make the enemies of the Imperium pay! I will revitalize my Raven Guard once more and make those Chaos scum suffer," Corax said, eyes gleaming with shadowed light.
Fulgrim was already dead, so he couldn't take revenge on him—he'd shift that hatred onto Chaos as a whole instead.
He had heard much from Guilliman lately; Chaos forces were ravenously devouring the Imperium Nihilus. It was the perfect chance to show his mettle.
"With you, this war becomes much easier. Corax, welcome back to the Imperium. I'll announce your return immediately—prepare to rejoin your Legion," Guilliman smiled.
Among loyalist brothers, only the missing Wolf King, Leman Russ, had yet to return—besides the already-exploded Ferrus Manus.
"Hahaha! And me—the master of the White Scars. Together we'll make the Imperium's enemies taste pain," Jaghatai clapped his brother's shoulder.
With his ferocious raptor cosmic beast, he couldn't wait to test how strong he'd become.
Few traitor Primarchs remained. They had to crush at least one soon.
"Agreed, brothers. I'll command from Holy Terra and provide logistics. Press the attack with confidence," Guilliman smiled.
Both Primarchs nodded. Guilliman was the best at governance and development.
Having him oversee the Imperium's logistics from Terra was most fitting—especially with the former Imperial Chancellor assisting, and Terra's institutions at his back.
"Rhodes, will you join this war?" Corax asked, turning to him.
The Raven Lord wished to fight alongside the new Primarch who had saved him.
"I can supply special King Joes, Knight armors, and some capsule monsters, but I can't join this campaign. I must remain on Holy Terra," Rhodes said.
He had to stay and, at the moment of Chaos godshard extraction, send it into a pocket dimension.
They could not allow Terra to slip into the warp and permit a Chaos God's true form to descend. The Emperor could not stand against that.
The capsule monster technology had been fully cracked. Rhodes spent vast system coins to summon more low-tier monsters from the basic shop.
These mooks hadn't been enhanced—just sealed into capsules, ready for use—fitting support for the Imperium Nihilus front.
Though dangerous on the surface, Chaos would not gain the upper hand against the Imperium's current power.
The daemons' only advantage was numbers; they could tear open warp rifts to spew endless hordes.
"Rhodes must remain on Terra for critical work. This war is in your hands," Guilliman said.
…
After some additional cordialities, the two newly returned Primarchs used the Aeldari webway and reached their Legion homeworlds within days. Rhodes gifted each of them a Queen of Glory–class battleship with FTL drives, plus other FTL-equipped Imperial battleships.
Their return stirred the Imperium again, raising morale.
The White Scars and Raven Guard were ecstatic. With a Primarch, a Legion is transformed—even just sitting among them, a gene-father makes them fight like lions.
And now, the new-era Primarchs had gigantism and terrifying power—battle strength at unimaginable levels.
All other Legions sent congratulations—Rogal Dorn, Sanguinius, Lion El'Jonson, Horus out campaigning, and Lorgar serving as Pontiff all sent their regards.
Only the Space Wolves felt sour.
Why had all the other Primarchs returned, but not their Wolf Father?
The Space Wolves were dejected. Some proposed to Chapter Master Logan to send a large fleet into the Eye of Terror to search for Leman Russ.
But Logan and Bjorn vetoed it. If the Great Wolf were truly in the Eye, he'd have known about recent events and returned decades or even centuries ago.
"Then, Lord Bjorn, Lord Logan, how can we win our father back?" a Wolf Lord asked.
"The Wolf Time has not yet come; hence Father has not returned. That is normal," Bjorn said.
He too was anxious, but after ten thousand years, what's a little more?
Freed from a Dreadnought and given a super-beast body, his lifespan was now tens of thousands of years—he could wait.
But just because Bjorn could wait didn't mean the pack could.
"Lord Bjorn, Lord Logan, we all know every Primarch's return was tied to Lord Rhodes.
Could we petition Lord Rhodes to help find our Wolf Father?" a Wolf Lord suggested.
Rhodes had brought the greatest changes to the Imperium, and most Primarch returns were linked to him.
So many Wolf Lords believed that if Leman Russ were to return, it would be through Rhodes's aid.
Logan, the Great Wolf, nodded. With the Primarchs returning, every Legion had welcomed back its gene-father—except the Space Wolves. It stung. He wanted to step down to Wolf Guard and fight under his father once more.
"Lord Bjorn, among us, only you have a good relationship with Lord Rhodes. He brought you to Terra and taught you how to undergo super-beast transformation. Could you ask him?" Logan said.
Bjorn was silent a moment, then nodded to the pack. Since the Great Wolf had asked, he could not refuse.
"Whelps of Fenris! I hear you.
I too long for our gene-father's return. I will seek an audience with Lord Rhodes and ask him to help find Lord Russ. If the Wolf King returns, it will be good for the Imperium," Bjorn agreed.
…
Once they decided to seek their father, the Space Wolves acted immediately. Using the newest Aeldari webway routes, Bjorn arrived on Terra in just over ten days and met Rhodes and Guilliman in person.
"Great Warmaster, great Imperial Regent—this is the request of the Space Wolves. We hope our gene-father can return," Bjorn said, kneeling and recounting the situation.
Guilliman smiled, offered a few words of encouragement, then gestured for Bjorn to sit, turning to Rhodes with an inquiring look.
All the Primarchs had been found by Rhodes directly or indirectly, with one key person involved: the Aeldari Laughing God.
Without him, Vulkan and Jaghatai might not have returned.
So to find Russ, the best approach was to seek the Laughing God's aid.
"Bjorn, I understand your petition. You may go for now. I promise you: within ten years at most, I will bring your father back," Rhodes said.
"With your assurance, I am relieved! Great Warmaster and Regent, I take my leave," Bjorn said excitedly and withdrew.
"Rhodes, do you know where Russ is? You sounded confident," Guilliman asked after Bjorn left.
Rhodes sighed helplessly. Among the Primarchs, the hardest to find was that particular 'husky.' The others had some clues—or even precise coordinates.
"I can ask the Aeldari to look around. We might also ask the Emperor. His intel isn't the same as the Imperium's. The Emperor's psychic sense covers most of the galaxy. Anywhere the Astronomican shines, he can see," Rhodes said.
"Understood. Then stall for time," Guilliman nodded.
Finding the last missing loyalist Primarch, the Wolf King, would not be easy.
Gather intel first. Perhaps Aisha would know something.
"I'll ask the Laughing God first and see if he knows anything," Rhodes said, then left the hall.
He used a special harlequin token to contact the Aeldari Laughing God.
…
"Dear Warmaster Rhodes, what does the jester owe the pleasure?" the Laughing God, Cegorach, said ingratiatingly.
"Long time no see, Laughing God. I need your help," Rhodes said.
"Name it. If I can help, I will," the Laughing God replied.
"Our Imperium's only remaining missing loyalist Primarch is the Wolf King, Leman Russ. We wish for his return. Do you know where he is, or who might have trapped him?" Rhodes asked.
The Laughing God fell silent for a moment.
"Honestly, if I knew where the Wolf King was, I would tell you. Unfortunately, after he entered the Eye ten thousand years ago, he vanished. We don't know much more than your species. But I can order my Harlequin troupes and Aeldari factions to search for his trail."
He truly didn't know, so all he could offer was to have Harlequins and Aeldari corsairs keep watch.
"Thank you. I'm not asking for a definite answer—any help is appreciated," Rhodes nodded and ended the call.
He then went to the lower levels of Terra's palace, found the Emperor on the Golden Throne, and explained everything.
"I don't know either. The new Beacon's range has grown, but I still can't probe the Eye's old boundaries," the Emperor said.
He wanted to find his most ferocious son—Leman Russ—but he didn't know where he was.
"It's said he went to find you a Tree of Life—a peculiar cosmic thing that could save you," Rhodes asked.
"There is such a rumor, but honestly, I don't even know what that 'Tree of Life' is," the Emperor said.
Before Rhodes appeared, if anyone could have saved him, it would have been the Eldar Lord and the Goddess of Life.
The Tree of Life was supposedly a relic found by the Aeldari gods, but that was just a legend—no one had seen it.
Words spoken lightly were heard keenly. Isha, aiding the Chaos godshard extraction, suddenly turned and sent Rhodes a psychic message.
"Dear, ask Aisha. Aisha knows."
Rhodes's eyes lit up. He nodded to the Emperor and took his leave.
Once away from the Throne, he used his system to contact Aisha, who was resting on the Cosmic Beast Planet.
He asked if she knew where Leman Russ was.
"You mean that wild wolf? You've come to the right person. In this whole universe, probably only I know where he is," Aisha said with a smile.