Cawl eventually agreed to the spar, a First Blood duel.
Mainly, the situation at hand was no longer up to Cawl to decide. Not to mention that Alexander, Guilliman, and Sanguinius all approved of the duel,
Cawl couldn't even control the Primaris.
They were warriors of the Imperium, loyal to the Emperor, loyal to Roboute Guilliman, loyal to their respective gene-fathers, but not loyal to Belisarius Cawl.
Many even harbored resentment towards Cawl, as Cawl often used kidnapping tactics when creating the Primaris.
Kharn somewhat helplessly accepted the challenge. Alexander could faintly hear the Butcher's Nails in his head buzzing,
Clearly, the Primaris' challenge and hostility had slightly awakened Kharn's anger and bloodlust.
Alexander had suggested removing the Butcher's Nails from Kharn's head. Combining Cawl's technology, Alexander's tools, and the power of the Erosion and Destruction and Malicious Art domains, it might be possible to safely and cheaply remove the Butcher's Nails.
But Kharn himself refused Alexander's suggestion, so Alexander didn't bring it up again.
Seth, on the other hand, seemed eager to face the Primaris' challenge. He couldn't wait to thoroughly beat those red-armored Ultramarines right now.
A brief argument erupted among the Primaris, discussing who should fight.
Finally, a warrior in purple armor and a warrior in bright red armor entered the arena.
Their Power Armor was as new as if freshly forged, gleaming with dazzling light, and as young as the warriors themselves.
Seth, dressed in his old, dark red Power Armor, like dried blood, entered the arena, wielding his ferocious Chainsword.
Kharn silently followed behind Seth. His Power Armor was hidden in the blood-red darkness of his cloak, and this cloak, which was the demon Raum possessing Kharn, concealed his identity.
His bare arm was slightly exposed from under the cloak, wrapped in chains that were tightly bound to an axe whose form was obscured by a mist of blood.
"Aren't you using flaying knives anymore?" Kharn asked, looking at the relic Chainsword, Gorechild, in Seth's hand.
Seth gave Kharn a strange look, then replied, "That's an old tradition. We generally don't use them anymore."
Using barbed flaying knives was an old Flesh Tearers tradition, inherited from the first Chapter Master, Amit, but that thing was too demanding in terms of skill, and it gradually fell out of use.
"I understand, I can't use that thing either." Kharn nodded in agreement, then his gaze fell on the Chainsword in Seth's hand: "Have you considered binding your sword to your arm with chains? It's very practical."
Seth was surprised again. He noticed Kharn's arm wrapped in chains and asked, "Are you a Black Templar?"
Binding weapons to one's arm with chains was a Black Templars custom.
Kharn laughed at the remark, "A Black Templar learned that trick from me."
Sigismund imitated Kharn's habit of wrapping his weapon to his arm with chains, which later became a Black Templars tradition.
"Let the four warriors begin." Sanguinius' clear voice rang out from the high platform: "In the name of blood, in the name of new strength and old glory, you shall begin a First Blood duel. Whoever draws the first drop of their opponent's blood shall claim victory."
After Sanguinius' command, the battle did not immediately erupt.
The Primaris warrior in purple Power Armor gently performed an aquila salute towards Kharn and Seth.
The two noticed that this Primaris was the same warrior who had been at the forefront in the previous battle against the servitors.
This purple-armored Primaris warrior elegantly pointed his weapon towards the ground, saluting his opponents with the posture of an Ancient Terra knight.
His chosen weapon was a finely crafted Power Court Blade, a slender, beautiful, and deadly blade that required extremely high skill to wield.
"Imperial Fists, Son of Dorn, Thor." The elegant purple-armored warrior introduced himself to the two.
"..Son of Dorn?" Kharn's tone was a bit strange.
"I am proud of it." Thor, the purple-armored warrior who called himself a Son of Dorn and Imperial Fists, smiled.
Kharn didn't know how to comment. His intuition, his sight, his senses all told him,
This was absolutely an Emperor's Children, a Son of Fulgrim.
Roboute Guilliman actually intended to put the Emperor's Children into the Imperial Fists.
Kharn was bewildered, his head, pierced by the Butcher's Nails, felt like it was burning.
"Are you truly a Son of Dorn?" Kharn couldn't help but ask again.
"I am a Son of Rogal Dorn." The purple-armored warrior, Thor, said firmly.
At least in terms of stubbornness, he was indeed very much like Dorn.
"Blood Angels, Son of Sanguinius, Rall." The warrior in crimson Power Armor said with a tone of intense pride.
"Idiot." Seth spat, "You don't understand what a Blood Angels is at all."
The warrior in bright red Power Armor immediately flushed, gritting his teeth and saying, "It's honor and virtue!"
Seth scoffed disdainfully,
"It's blood and fury, idiot."
"Honor and virtue without blood and fury are meaningless."
"We are first and foremost the Blood Sons of Sanguinius. The holy blood has blessed us, leaving no emptiness in our souls, only yearning and fury."
"Only those who can master this yearning and fury are angels, worthy of virtue and honor, otherwise they are just... Hmph..."
Seth did not elaborate further, as doing so would involve some secrets of the Blood Angels.
The Primaris named Rall, full of disbelief, immediately retorted, "I've never heard such a thing!"
"So you're just an Ultramarines, the red-painted kind." Seth's tone slightly rose as he said.
He was disdainful of these two Primaris, especially the red one.
Primaris Blood Angels Rall gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at Seth, but the purple-armored warrior Thor, who considered himself a Son of Dorn, reached out and stopped Rall.
He nodded politely to Seth and Kharn.
"Seth, don't get angry with them." Kharn whispered, "Since they introduced themselves to us, let's introduce ourselves to them too."
Seth glanced at Kharn, then turned to the two Primaris in front of him and said, "Flesh Tearers Chapter Master, Gabriel Seth."
Upon hearing this, the purple-armored warrior Thor looked at Kharn — — — — — —
"I am but an unknown individual." Kharn's voice suddenly reached Thor, and the scent of blood rushed to his face even faster.
Thor watched, astonished and bewildered, as Primaris Blood Angels Rall was already sent flying, his chest cut open by a Chainsword, blood gushing out. The Larraman's Organ failed to provide the expected hemostasis, and the Primaris' unique Belisarius' Furnace also failed to function. Rall just fell down inexplicably.
This sudden scene caused a stir in the hall.
Mortals were bewildered, Primaris were astonished, and the Old Astartes marveled.
Then Kharn's axe changed direction, and the roaring Chainaxe violently hacked towards Thor.
Thor almost forgot to breathe. This axe, pouring down like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, directly shattered all the techniques instilled in his mind.
The Omophagea, which granted Thor multi-threaded thinking, frantically operated, trying to find a technique to counter this axe.
But the result was that Thor's instincts reacted first.
The genetic memory flowing between Thor's blood and flesh, stored within his gene-seed, came into play.
The combat memories within the gene-seed urged him to raise his arm.
He elegantly and skillfully wielded his court sword, clashing it against Kharn's axe.
Immediately, sparks flew, and sword and axe clashed in unison.
The Primaris cheered, and the Old Astartes also marveled at Thor's reaction speed.
Kharn couldn't help but laugh,
"Lucky day today."
"Seeing the shadows of many old acquaintances."
Then Kharn exerted a little force on the axe in his hand, and the court sword in Thor's hand snapped.
Kharn's axe rotated at an entirely unconventional angle, slicing through Thor's Power Armor and causing his chest to spray blood.
Thor clutched his chest, retreated several steps, and raised his broken sword to indicate his defeat.
"That was a sneak attack!" Primaris Blood Angels Rall shouted with some indignation.
He clutched his constantly bleeding chest, staring fixedly at Kharn.
In his opinion, what Kharn had just done was no different from a sneak attack.
"Lord Sanguinius already announced the start of the battle. Are you questioning a Primarch?" Seth, who had been powerfully observing and hadn't had a chance to act, coldly snorted and retorted.
"I just wanted to remind you not to be too rigid." Kharn nodded and said, "And I only acted after introducing myself."
"It's just that the sound reaching your ears wasn't as fast as my axe."
"You..." Rall immediately turned red with anger.
Thor shook his head at Rall again, stopping him from continuing.
"Impressive teaching, admirable martial arts." Thor nodded respectfully to Kharn.
"I thought someone like you would be more proud." Kharn slightly raised his head.
"I am indeed proud." Thor replied, "But pride is not defended by words."
"Even more alike." Kharn mumbled. Thor seemed to remind him of someone in his memories, a loyalist on Istvaan, only Thor was much more naive than that person.
Not just Kharn, Guilliman's expression was also a bit strange.
If it was just the paint scheme, that sword Thor instinctively swung just now was absolutely the style of the Emperor's Children, a posture taught by Fulgrim.
Where did that Cawl guy get the Emperor's Children's gene-seed from?
Judging by the instinctive reaction shown by that Primaris just now, this gene-seed definitely came from the Emperor's Children of the Great Crusade era, containing the combat memories of the Emperor's Children.
"Cawl!" Alexander slightly raised his voice, shouting at Cawl, "It seems my guards' suspicions about the Primaris are justified."
"If you don't bring out something truly formidable, I'm going to accuse you of dereliction of duty."
Sanguinius had just sent Alexander a Psyker communication, hoping Alexander would do this.
Sanguinius not only wanted the Old Astartes to break the Primaris' pride, but also hoped the Old Astartes could see the Primaris' strength.
Thor had achieved a little just now, but it wasn't enough.
Belisarius Cawl's body stiffened, his gaze turning to the darkness beside him.
A figure in the darkness vaguely nodded to Cawl.