"Your Black Rage? Horus' reflection in your essence?"
Alexander raised his eyebrows slightly, half-understanding, half-confused.
"The Black Rage is the echo of my dying moments. Many things will become clear once you and Mephiston go to Sheath Wing Fortress," Sanguinius said softly.
At this point, Sanguinius' voice paused slightly, and a hint of hesitation entered his gaze as he looked at Alexander.
".." Alexander subtly took another step back.
This time, Alexander was certain that Sanguinius' gaze was fixed on him with a purpose.
Sanguinius cleared his throat and whispered, "Lend me the anywhere door for a moment..."
The air instantly fell silent. Alexander and Sanguinius stared at each other, both standing awkwardly on the city wall.
"..No way." Alexander covered his four-dimensional pocket, saying unhappily, "I might lend you something else, but you're asking for my most expensive item!"
"Baal's void powers have been depleted, but I can't just leave Baal II and Baal Prime unattended, can I?" A hint of bitterness crossed Sanguinius' face.
"Can't you just fly out yourself or cast a Warp spell to teleport?" Alexander eyed Sanguinius with suspicion.
Even the Lion King, that old man, could teleport people across planets, and you, Sanguinius, still need to borrow my anywhere door??
Moreover, Alexander had heard from Mephiston that the Warp storm engulfing all of Baal was possibly conjured by Sanguinius himself.
"Lack of ships? Ninth Legion, you should wait for the Thirteenth Legion; normally speaking..."
According to Alexander's memories from his previous life, due to the opening of the Great Rift, there was a time difference of about two hundred years between the vicinity of Baal and the Imperial Holy Lands.
By the time the Battle of Baal ended, Guilliman had already been resurrected and completed the Unbowed Crusade, coming to support Baal.
However, it was also fortunate that the Great Rift brought about this time difference, otherwise the Regent might have only arrived to collect the Blood Angels' corpses.
"I have readjusted the time around Baal. Baal is now on the correct timeline; the situation you remember will not occur."
"Guilliman knows too little about the Warp. I don't trust him to meet our father alone... I worry he might become a vessel for the Human Emperor's divine descent."
Alexander nodded in agreement; this was indeed the case in the normal timeline.
"But if you can adjust the timeline, do you still need to borrow my anywhere door?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"Help a brother out. I'll give you feathers as rent," Sanguinius said in a lowered voice.
Alexander's expression was a little strange.
But he considered it for a moment; there was no immediate need for the anywhere door.
Even if an emergency arose and he needed it, Alexander's current savings were enough to exchange for an emergency one.
Lending it to Sanguinius temporarily to earn some extra cash was acceptable.
Alexander hesitated for a moment, then reached into his four-dimensional pocket and took out the anywhere door.
"Pay up," Alexander extended his hand.
Upon hearing this, Sanguinius gently shook his wings, and more than a dozen feathers, shimmering with a faint golden glow, fell from his body and, controlled by his psychic power, landed in Alexander's hand.
"Your hair loss is a bit severe. You're not going bald, are you?" Alexander said, subtly tucking the feathers into his four-dimensional pocket.
Sanguinius' expression remained unchanged, his gaze fixed on the distance.
Rhino transports and storm raven gunships roared on the horizon; a group of Blood Angels were returning from the front lines of the Tyranids clean-up.
"They brought back some Tyranids carcasses. Additionally, we found several biomass pools and collected some biomass."
A smile appeared on Sanguinius' lips as he said,
"I estimate it should be — — — — — —"
Before Sanguinius had finished speaking, he realized Alexander had vanished from his side.
Then he watched as Alexander, wearing a Superpower Hat, suddenly appeared in the desert outside Angel Keep, next to the recently stopped transports...
Sanguinius couldn't help but shake his head with a smile—
The biting pain caused Sanguinius' expression to change slightly.
Beneath his adamantium armor, the hideous wound seemed to writhe; the blasphemous evil power of the Four Gods and Horus continuously eroded Sanguinius' body and soul.
But Sanguinius snorted softly, suppressing the pain.
In the past, Horus was infused with the power of the Four Gods, and the damage from his attack even transcended the limits of time, remaining on Sanguinius' body for a long time.
This damage was even conceptual; as long as Sanguinius existed, this wound would constantly seek him out, attempting to tear apart Sanguinius' spirit and flesh.
Most of his power was used to conjure the Warp storm to shield the Four Gods' sight and correct the time around Baal, leaving Sanguinius almost too weak to even fly with difficulty.
Sanguinius guessed that Alexander's items should contain something that could heal this wound, but Baal was, after all, a barren planet and could not provide Alexander with enough supplies.
Compared to that, Ultramar was much wealthier!
"I can't drag this out too long... I need to get Guilliman involved quickly."
"Father gave Alexander a portion of the Death God's authority. Logically, as long as he awakens a little more of his Warp essence, my plan can be executed..."
Sanguinius clutched his chest, gently suppressing the pain, and his perfect, flawless expression returned to his face.
Then he turned to the anywhere door and softly said to it, "Baal Prime."
A cold wind blew over Sanguinius as he slowly stepped inside.
All of Baal Prime was enveloped in a cold wind. The smell of blood drifted with the wind; the scent of Tyranids, mortal, and Blood Knight blood permeated the air, wafting through this cold, dark world.
In the distant, ethereal expanse, the roars of Astartes and Tyranids could faintly be heard, intermingling and indistinguishable.
Sanguinius let out a soft sigh and stepped into this darkness.
Instantly, the light emanating from him dispelled the darkness on Baal Prime like a warm sun.
Corpses, countless corpses, piled up into mountains, and blood gathered into rivers at Sanguinius' feet.
He walked towards the end of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, where a warrior, his power armor almost shattered, clutching a toy short sword tightly in his hand, leaned against the corpse of a brother, trembling as he looked up.
"Fa-father..."
The Astartes' voice was hoarse as he looked at the scene before him in disbelief.
"Am I still worthy of returning to your side? Is this merely a dying hallucination, or have you forgiven my wretched soul..."
"..Or are you here to punish me, to punish us for the mistakes we have made?"
Sanguinius remained silent, simply walking to the Blood Knight's side.
He knelt gently in the blood, reaching out his hand towards the Blood Knight's only intact helmet...
"No, Father." The Blood Knight trembled, saying in terror, "Please, no, Father..."
Sanguinius merely shook his head gently, reaching out to remove the Blood Knight's helmet.
The Blood Knight let out a painful wail, trying to cover his face with his hands, but was astonished to find his own face reflected on Sanguinius' armor.
It was a normal face, just like a human's, without any bloody mutations.
The Blood Knight wept, touching his face in disbelief.
"Father..." The Blood Knight's voice was only a tremble: "Father, we fought to the very last moment..."
"Angron killed many of our brothers. Yor was the last one; he wielded this holy relic and fought Angron..."
"..This holy relic suddenly burst into light. Yor and Angron fought until the light on it extinguished..."
"..Then I retrieved this holy relic from his corpse... Father, have we perhaps atoned for some of our past sins?"
Sanguinius gazed at his son with tenderness and compassion.
"You have paid far more than you owed."
"In the name of the Lord of the Ninth Legion, the Son of the Human Emperor, Primarch Sanguinius, I swear to the last of the Blood Knights: the Blood Knights have atoned for their sins, sacrificing themselves in loyalty."
"I will remember with life and soul: you are my proud sons."
Alexander glanced at the city wall, at Sanguinius' figure disappearing into the anywhere door.
Through the faint thread deep within his consciousness, Alexander seemed to vaguely sense that Sanguinius' condition was not good.
His soul, flesh, and will all seemed to be plagued by some kind of wound, and this wound was subtly expanding.
Sanguinius seemed to want to hide it from Alexander for now; he hadn't realized Alexander could sense this.
In fact, Alexander's suspicion was initially vague, but from the fact that Sanguinius, who could conjure Warp storms, needed to use the anywhere door to travel between planets, Alexander confirmed his judgment.
Was it the wound left by Horus?
There is no time in the Warp, and the wound left by Horus, who was infused with the Four Gods' power, might also, to some extent, transcend the limitations of time; even the Time-Wrapping Cloth might not completely erase it.
Could the medical kit work?
Alexander glanced at the 22nd century medical item in his four-dimensional pocket; its price made Alexander's expression change slightly.
In terms of price, it was actually quite a bit more expensive than renting the Time-Wrapping Cloth once?
With that money, I might as well directly exchange for the Time-Wrapping Cloth and then run to Terra to revive the Human Emperor, letting him solve the current problems.
Although he didn't know if the Time-Wrapping Cloth would be effective on the Human Emperor's current condition, after all, he was too heavily involved with the Warp, and there is no true concept of time in the Warp.
While Alexander was pondering, Mephiston walked to his side.
"Lord, what are we going to do?" Mephiston asked with some confusion.
Alexander had only asked a Blood Angel to call him here but hadn't told Mephiston what they were going to do.
"Who is Sanguinius' purest son?" Alexander suddenly asked.
Mephiston was slightly startled, but before he could answer, Alexander began to answer his own question:
"It must be the Blood Angels, as the main chapter, right?"
"The Cryptek inherited the nobility of the old Ninth Legion."
"The Tomb Guard preserved relics from ten thousand years ago, so it's not impossible either."
"Although the Flesh Tearers suffer severely from the Black Rage and Bloodthirst... isn't that also Sanguinius' blessing?"
"What the hell is the Sanguinius of the Scythe Wings cult?"