These genestealer, who considered themselves Luna Wolves, were covered in strange feathers, their bodies grew larger, and their chitinous carapaces became more like Power Armor.
"Loken!!!" A roar and a howl came from in front of Loken.
Loken barely made out Abaddon's form, seeing sharp claws slashing towards him.
But Loken caught the blow with his own claws.
"Betrayal! Why did you betray me!" Abaddon shrieked and roared, questioning Loken.
Loken felt a momentary daze; ten thousand years ago, on Istvaan III, he had once questioned Abaddon in the same way.
Now, it was Abaddon questioning him.
"There was no betrayal, everything ended long ago."
Loken replied with sadness:
"We are merely echoes from ten thousand years ago. I am already dead, and perhaps you are too."
"You're insane!" Abaddon roared, thrusting his claws at Loken. His speed was much faster than Loken's.
But Loken saw this world more clearly than Abaddon. He anticipated Abaddon's attack and parried his claws.
Then Loken launched a swift attack from the left towards Abaddon, but it was a feint, and Abaddon did not notice.
A wound was carved onto Abaddon's alien face. He let out a low growl, and just as he was about to continue attacking Loken, he heard the Warmaster's command in his mind.
Abaddon abruptly turned his head, only to see the Psyker Ogryn murmuring something, strange Psyker light emanating around him.
The Warmaster realized this Ogryn was performing some Warp spell and had to be stopped!
Abaddon swung his arm heavily, and the thick chitinous carapace slammed into Loken's chest. Loken grunted in pain, falling backward onto the ground.
And Abaddon roared, charging almost like a war engine towards Mephiston, who was concentrating on chanting the spell.
However, just then, Alexander's figure suddenly appeared before Abaddon's eyes.
He wore a strange tanuki mask, and a tanuki tail was behind him.
"Immerse yourself in the illusion of the tanuki suit!"
Abaddon's gaze met his for a moment, and then he saw...
He saw the Warmaster fall on the Vengeful Spirit, saw himself inherit the title of Warmaster, saw himself make a deal with the Four Gods, and saw himself launch one Black Expedition after another over ten thousand years, finally shattering Cadia.
Loken's claws slashed down, and Abaddon's head flew into the air, falling to the ground, dead.
Not just Abaddon, the other GSCs around them also seemed to be caught in another illusion, all frozen in place.
Loken couldn't help but look at Alexander, who was wearing the tanuki mask and tail. It seemed he had done all of this.
[Item Name: tanuki suit]
[Origin: 22nd Century Earth — Future Department Store]
[Production Time: 281.M3]
[Function: A tanuki tail and a tanuki mask. After wearing both items, the user can emit brainwaves to influence them to create various illusions according to the user's thoughts.]
[Value: 7,200,000]
Although expensive, the illusions it generated controlled the GSCs present almost instantly.
These genestealer, already trapped in illusions, were naturally easily controlled by the new illusion.
Alexander abruptly moved his head, looking at the genestealer Horus.
His brainwaves instantly wove an illusion that pierced into the genestealer Horus' mind.
However, the genestealer Horus roared, pushing through the illusion released by Alexander and charging towards Mephiston.
He could sense that Alexander and Mephiston did not intend to kill him directly,
but rather intended to trap him in some way, and the key was clearly Mephiston, disguised as a Psyker Ogryn.
However, Loken shifted his body, using his somewhat flimsy blade to block Horus' claws.
"Loken!!!" the genestealer Horus let out a roar.
"Warmaster, please, stop."
Loken barely fended off the genestealer Horus' claws, saying in a deep voice:
"Everything ended long ago."
"No, Loken." Horus coldly swung his claws, instantly pushing Loken back, then said from above: "There is no chance to stop. I am Horus. For ten thousand years, countless people have only feared me as the embodiment of destruction."
"This fear settled, transforming into that Dark Angel, and also into me."
"This is erosion and destruction, erosion and destruction that touches nothing else."
"No." Loken said in a low voice: "I never thought of you as the embodiment of destruction."
"I still remember those glorious moments. You were once the Emperor's most outstanding Son."
"My emotions towards you should also have been projected onto you. You could not possibly only have the impulse for destruction."
Just this one sentence slowed Horus' movements. He looked at Loken with some surprise and uncertainty.
It was this momentary hesitation that Alexander seized as an opportunity.
Alexander, wearing the tanuki suit, glanced sharply at Horus. His brainwaves wove an illusion that pierced into the genestealer Horus' mind...
He saw an entire jungle of steel standing on the grand avenues laid out by the Mechanicum, saw one hundred thousand Astartes and eight million mortal auxiliary troops, saw Titans looming on the horizon, the sky devoid of clouds, only countless warships blotting out the sun.
That was the Ullanor Triumph, the most glorious day of his life.
On this day, the Emperor, his father, declared that he would become Warmaster.
Beside him were his brothers, nine Primarchs standing beside him, just as full of vigor as he was.
Dorn, Angron, Fulgrim, Lorgar, Mortarion, Sanguinius, Magnus, Khan...
None of them were tainted by any defilement or decadence, only carrying the highest part of humanity, standing with Horus.
It was almost a dreamlike scene.
And standing before Horus was...
"Father..." Horus murmured softly.
Mephiston's Psyker teleportation spell was complete, and a strange Warp light instantly enveloped the genestealer Horus.
This savage beast, host to the Dark Angel, was teleported into Alexander's four-dimensional pocket.
Alexander, without much thought, chose to sell it directly.
Horus' body instantly dissolved within the four-dimensional pocket, and with it, the Dark Angel in the Warp also vanished.
The moment they disappeared into the four-dimensional pocket, the surrounding GSCs who had believed themselves to be Luna Wolves all fell like broken puppets, collapsing into the swamp.
They were merely an echo from the Warp, and the source of the echo was that Dark Angel.
The Dark Angel had been sold by Alexander, and without its source, the echo naturally dissipated in the blink of an eye, leaving only an empty alien body.
"Gavriel Loken." Alexander slightly turned his head to look at Loken.
The genestealer Loken nodded slightly: "This is good."
As his voice fell, the genestealer Loken also collapsed, falling into the swamp.
Alexander couldn't help but shake his head with a sigh.
Although he was far from the true Gavriel Loken, in spirit and behavior, he was entirely worthy of the name, but alas—
Alexander's thoughts were suddenly interrupted. A strange, sharp pain came from his head, and vaguely, he seemed to see that Dark Angel sinking into his body.
The intense pain brought dizziness. In a haze, the swamp beneath Alexander's feet seemed to turn into a mirror, reflecting the scene in the Warp.
Beneath Alexander's feet, the blue figure in the Warp became increasingly clear, slowly devouring the existence of the Dark Angel.
"Doraemon."
"Omnissiah."
"Grim Reaper."
"Ouroboros, the eternal dragon."
"Alexander."
"22nd century."
A city was reflected in Alexander's eyes, a city that was out of place in the Warhammer world, full of science fiction and light.
"I must exercise restraint, knowing why bullets and anger are unleashed."
The restaurant owner slowly put down his weapons, except for the boltgun.
At his feet lay a pile of genestealers corpses that had tried to break into the restaurant, nearly ten of them.
But the restaurant owner did not continue to fire the boltgun, because he noticed that the genestealer outside the door seemed to have lost their souls, kneeling on the ground and wailing.
The illusion had vanished, and the pain was re-exposed, tormenting them.
The newly born genestealer patriarch was also killed. The restaurant owner thought of the figure who had given him this boltgun.
"It's finally over."
He chuckled dully twice, sat down on a chair, and slowly looked at the boltgun in his hand.
He knew that he was ultimately an alien unacceptable to humans.
For him, there would only be two endings:
Either be killed by a true Son of Sanguinius,or be devoured by the illusion of the genestealer patriarch.
He didn't want either of those.
Under the torment of those illusions just now, he felt his mind had reached the brink of collapse.
However, he also had his own little stubbornness, wanting to choose a third ending.
"Focus, humility, mercy, restraint, and most importantly, forgiveness..."
"I should forgive, not forgive my enemies, but forgive myself."
He chose to forgive his life.
The restaurant owner pulled the trigger, and the roar of the boltgun echoed.
He felt his soul disintegrate from his flesh, detach from reality, and slowly fall into the surging currents of the Warp.
In a haze, he seemed to see a round hand tear through the Warp currents and gently grasp his body—
The restaurant owner suddenly opened his eyes. He found himself standing in a restaurant, almost identical to his restaurant in life, only cleaner and enveloped in a gentle light.
He reached out his hand in confusion, only to find that his third hand was gone, and even his fingers had become like those of an unmutated human.
Just as the restaurant owner was confused, he suddenly heard voices from outside the door.
"Nobita, I'm telling you, the chef at this place is really good."
"If we weren't such good friends, I wouldn't even bring you here to eat."
The moment the voices sounded, two men pushed open the door and entered the restaurant.
One of the men had long hair and brownish skin, resembling a Central Asian face from Ancient Terra.
The other man looked slightly at the restaurant owner, a faint smile on his lips:
"Long time no see, boss."
"Welcome to the 22nd century."