Sol Tarvitz?
The name spoken by the bald, effeminate man made Sol freeze.
It was a name he had never heard, completely unfamiliar.
But for some reason, Sol felt a sense of familiarity with the name, and a strange emotion welled up within him.
He wanted to spit in the bald man's face, to accuse him of being unworthy of mentioning that name.
Why?
Why did Sol feel familiar with this name?
Although he didn't know the meaning of the name Sol Tarvitz, Sol deduced the identity of the bald, effeminate man before him.
Lucius, Slaanesh's Chosen, Lucius.
This came from Khârn's teachings.
While Khârn taught him combat, he would also occasionally drop fragmented pieces of information about the galaxy to Sol.
Now, the Four Gods each had their Chosen.
Tzeentch's Chosen, Ahriman, and Khorne's Chosen, Khârn, were both somewhat familiar to Sol. Khârn was temporarily free, not loyal to the Blood God, while Ahriman claimed he had never been loyal to that piece of shit Tzeentch.
But Khârn warned Sol not to assume the other two Chosen were decent people just because he and Ahriman seemed like it.
Although the other two Chosen, Nurgle's Chosen, Typhus, and Slaanesh's Chosen, Lucius, were inferior in strength to Ahriman and Khârn, their level of beastliness was something Khârn and Ahriman could never hope to match.
Typhus was a beast, and Lucius was even worse, a stray dog on the street, Khârn had warned Sol.
A slender, twisted longsword, like a venomous snake coiling its body, struck out with a dazzlingly elegant swordplay that made Sol dizzy.
"Tarvitz, you little beast, your blood carries the scent of Tarvitz."
Sol's cheek was grazed. If Sol had reacted even a split second slower, the Piercing Sword would have directly pierced Sol's skull, taking his life.
Lucius lightly withdrew the Piercing Sword, bringing the blade to his face with an elegant and alluring posture, sniffing the faint scent of Sol's blood on the Piercing Sword.
That twisted blade came from the temple of an unholy xenos Piercing One. It once housed a powerful Slaanesh daemon and was wielded by the Slaanesh daemon Primarch Fulgrim, later gifted to Lucius by the Primarch of the Emperor's Children. Though no daemon resided within it now, the sword itself remained dangerously lethal.
Lucius sniffed Sol's blood on the sword, a look of disgust, hatred, and anger mixed on his face.
"You are the continuation of Tarvitz's bloodline, your Gene-seed comes from Sol Tarvitz," Lucius snarled.
My Gene-seed comes from Sol Tarvitz? Sol was momentarily stunned.
He didn't know the Tarvitz that Lucius spoke of, but... Sol could indeed feel the power of the Gene-seed within him.
That seed stored the genetic memories of the previous Astartes, retaining his combat experience. Sol often drew strength, skill, and wisdom from it.
By the time Sol had memories, he had already been kidnapped by Cawl onto the Explorer King. He couldn't recall the faces of his birth parents, and his understanding of this world came entirely from hypnotic indoctrination and the influence of the Gene-seed.
"I don't know the life of that Lord Tarvitz, but if I were to say that his Gene-seed truly came from him—"
"—then I imagine he must have been a noble, humble, great, and loyal Imperial Fists warrior."
Lucius' smile froze on his face, his scarred countenance filled with confusion, as if he hadn't understood what Sol meant.
Lucius admitted that Tarvitz was indeed a dull, dry, and rock-like fellow.
But... but to say Tarvitz was an Imperial Fists? How could this kid insult him more harshly than he did? Did he also have a grudge against Tarvitz?
Then, Lucius reacted.
"You think you're an Imperial Fists?"
"Instead of being a noble son of Fulgrim, you prefer to associate with rocks?"
"Little beast, you really are a bit like Tarvitz, just as dry, boring, stupid, and a traitor to your Primarch."
But to Lucius' surprise, Sol didn't get angry; instead, he laughed.
"Traitor, thank you for your despicable slander."
"Your envious and despicable slander confirms to me that Lord Tarvitz, who passed his Gene-seed to me, must have been a loyal warrior."
Lucius' expression instantly twisted. He let out a piercing, needle-like battle cry that made Sol dizzy.
Then, the Piercing Sword, like a venomous snake, struck directly at Sol's throat.
Sol squeezed every ounce of strength from his Primaris body, all of Khârn's teachings from these past days, and all the combat memories inherited from his Gene-seed, to barely deflect that fatal strike.
Sword met sword, sparking a dazzling flash. Lucius abruptly withdrew his sword, then thrust it out again, the sharp blade piercing Sol's Power Armor and carving a hideous wound into Sol's body.
"Still just a mortal," Lucius scoffed mockingly, the Piercing Sword transforming into a thousand cold glints that simultaneously stabbed at Sol.
Sol struggled to resist, but Lucius was too strong, so strong that Sol's scalp tingled, making it difficult to resist, and hideous bloody marks constantly appeared on his body.
Lucius was tormenting Sol, playing with him.
A bitter feeling involuntarily welled up in Sol's heart.
Khârn had also warned Sol that Lucius possessed the Lord of Hunger's blessing. As long as even a trace of pride or joy arose from killing Lucius, Lucius would possess the person who killed him, resurrecting in their body.
Forget about killing Lucius; Sol being able to resist in front of Lucius until now was already a blessing from the Emperor and Saint Doraemon.
Blood flowed from the corner of Sol's mouth. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to remain rational and unaffected by the pain.
"Don't just rely on your sword; you yourself are a powerful weapon, a weapon forged by the Emperor and Belisarius Cawl's skill. Don't waste them."
Khârn's voice seemed to echo in Sol's ear.
"Understand your enemy, win by any means necessary." This also seemed to be Khârn's voice, but more like it came from within Sol.
Understand the enemy. Lucius looked at Sol with disdain and contempt. He not only disdained Sol but also disdained death. The Lord of Hunger's blessing allowed him to act recklessly.
Reckless actions would lead to flaws...
He... he did have a flaw. Sol saw it...
Sol let go of his sword and roared, charging forward. The Piercing Sword directly penetrated his body, piercing his flesh, and a terrible pain swept through Sol's entire being.
But this suicidal attack also slowed Lucius for a moment, allowing Sol's fist to smash into Lucius' face, sending him flying.
The Piercing Sword then slipped from Sol's wound, the pain almost making Sol unable to stand.
If not for the presence of Belisarius' Forge, that blow just now would have sent Sol to wait for Saint Doraemon to resurrect him.
"You—" Sol, almost completely incapacitated, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke, almost controlled by his body's instinct: "You... you don't remember again."
"Loken's lesson when he first defeated you: Understand your enemy, win by any means necessary."
Sol didn't know why he would inexplicably say such things. Perhaps it was the genetic memories of Tarvitz within him influencing him.
"He, Lord Tarvitz, and that Lord Loken, both defeated you in this manner? Then you truly don't learn."
"Little beast, how dare you mock me like that..." Lucius' injuries were much lighter than Sol had imagined.
He twisted his head, snarling and with a hideous expression, he crawled up from the ground.
A twisted, fleshy whip extended from his armor, the whip interspersed with the growls and moans of daemons.
The whip swung, coiling around the Piercing Sword and returning it to Lucius' hand, but Sol could no longer keep up with Lucius' speed.
At this moment, Sol deeply regretted not equipping his fists with Power Fists.
"Little beast, little bastard, bastard of the False Emperor, you disgusting, ugly, annoying, lewd, shameless, ugly, stupid, damned little beast!"
Lucius' face was hideous and terrifying, baring his teeth, his tongue constantly twisting, making him exceptionally ugly and vulgar:
"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to cut you into sixty-six pieces, I'm going to dig Tarvitz's Gene-seed out of your body and tear it to shreds, then feed you all to Erebus!"
While snarling and cursing, Lucius lunged at Sol with the Piercing Sword in hand.
"Die, you piece of shit, you little beas—"
Bang!!!!
Large-caliber steel needles shot out. The aerodynamically designed needle tips cut through the air, emitting sharp whistles, like a funeral dirge.
It was still the same as before.
Feeling the flow of air, feeling the humidity, the temperature, the density of reality, the viscosity of flesh, the slight gravity from the ship's mass, the deflection force from the engine's drive...
Everything was encompassed in the ballistic calculation, as if the world was divided into two distinct halves by the bullet he was about to fire.
One side was life, the other was death.
His bullet was the small boat ferrying between life and death.
And the trigger he pulled was the oar of that boat.
But in the end, it was still the same as before.
Nothing special.
Just pull the trigger.
The death knell would toll for the Emperor's foes.
Lucius' head exploded with a boom in front of Sol, brains splattering everywhere.
His headless body slumped powerlessly, falling at Sol's feet, ugly and unsightly.
Shadows writhed. The Raven Guard, clad in black Power Armor and holding a steel needle sniper rifle, appeared silently beside Sol.
"You fought pretty well, cousin," the Raven Guard nodded and softly said to Sol, seemingly completely disregarding the corpse at Sol's feet.
Sol was first stunned, then terrified.
If the person who killed Lucius felt even a trace of joy, pride, or pleasure, Lucius would possess the person who killed him.
"Sir, that was Lucius!"
"Slaanesh's Chosen, Lucius! The person who kills him will be possessed by him! We need to find Saint Doraemon quickly!"