"
The scions of Sanguinius are nothing more than this." The daemon Prince Marthus taunted, his twisted Caliban Greatsword fiercely slashing at Seth.
Seth's Chainsword, Bloodreaver, was held horizontally, firmly blocking Marthus' strike.
The Chainsword vibrated, causing Seth's hand to ache, but he did not retreat a single step.
He slightly opened his blood-stained mouth, revealing sharp fangs pressing against his lower lip, releasing some of the crimson Bloodthirst accumulated within him to gain powerful strength.
But this was not enough.
The Flesh Tearers are different from the Blood Knights; Blood Knights suffer from such severe crimson Bloodthirst that their flesh has become twisted, and through this, they gain unparalleled power from the Bloodthirst.
The Flesh Tearers' Bloodthirst is not actually severe; what is truly severe for them is the Black Rage.
Over ten millennia, the Black Rage has consumed countless Flesh Tearers, leading to the Flesh Tearers consistently being able to field only four companies, yet having numerous Death Company marines.
In the past, Seth had always relied on his own will to resist the Black Rage, to resist that dark fury, preventing himself from succumbing to it.
Even after Sanguinius' return, when the Black Rage changed, Seth instinctively resisted it due to the instincts accumulated over long years.
But at this very moment, to confront the daemon Prince who was shaming the name of Sanguinius, he began to awaken the fury hidden within his blood and flesh, flowing within his soul.
Seth felt that fury emanating from a distant past, clearer than ever before, from the moment of Sanguinius' death, spreading through time to the past, present, and future.
In Seth's eyes, that sorrowful moment appeared, and he saw the figure of Horus.
Horus Lupercal roared, his claws gripping Sanguinius' throat, and the Archangel's crimson blood flowed down his arm.
Sanguinius looked gently at his brother, at his brother's body filled with Warp energies, and saw the blasphemous Four Gods watching this moment from the shadows.
The Blood God cackled with bloodlust, the Lord of Change chuckled at the arrival of the fated moment, Nurgle sighed softly at the passing of life, and the Dark Prince reveled in the beauty of the Archangel's dying moments.
Sanguinius could perceive Their presence, could hear Their whispers.
They said: Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne.
They said: Only Holy Tzeentch, do not be confused.
They said: All things decay, all life endures.
They said: You will sleep with me.
The Gods tempted Sanguinius, offering him one last chance.
If Sanguinius was willing to serve, the Gods would save him; otherwise, They would only gnaw at his soul and feast on his flesh.
Sanguinius could feel the immense weight of the Gods, their unparalleled power.
With just a whisper, the Gods would grant Sanguinius what They had granted Horus.
But Sanguinius' only answer was rage—fiery rage, golden rage, the rage of a man.
He showed Them the resistance of humanity, to the very end.
In the past, when facing this moment, Seth had only felt dark fury, a rage filled with boundless hatred and utter irrationality, a rage born from the endless curses of billions upon this moment.
But at this moment, Seth felt his soul merge with Sanguinius', feeling Sanguinius' rage at that instant.
That noble rage, rage against the Gods, rage against fate, rage against the curses borne by his sons and humanity.
But amidst the rage, Sanguinius was also filled with hope, certain that even if he died, his sons and humanity would not be consumed by darkness and chaos.
Sanguinius knew the destiny that awaited him; he had experienced this execution countless times in his prophecies.
But he still came, driven by rage.
The essence of rage is defiance—defiance against fate and chaos, the hope that humanity will eventually defeat the Gods, and contempt for the dark power of the Four Gods.
The Archangel came in rage, gladly embracing death, yet fearless.
A flash of fiery golden rage crossed Seth's eyes; the figure of the daemon Prince before him overlapped with Horus and the Dark Gods.
"Horus!!! Face me!!!" Seth roared.
A scorching rage erupted from him, and the Bloodreaver swung, making it difficult for Marthus to resist; his Caliban Greatsword nearly slipped from his grasp.
At this moment, a golden Archangel's figure faintly overlapped with Seth, its wings gently enveloping Seth.
But this Archangel was not here to bless anyone.
It was here to make the enemies of humanity feel its rage.
Marthus, in a daze, thought he was facing Sanguinius himself and froze in place.
Just then, another power, colder and darker than the scorching rage of Sanguinius emanating from Seth, surged from the Warp.
That power was cold, dark, and utterly different from Sanguinius' power; if Sanguinius was like a scorching, clean desert, that power was like a cold, dim dense forest.
Marthus was completely stunned; the power of Sanguinius emanating from Seth had only made him pause, but that other power made Marthus feel fear.
He instinctively turned his head to look behind him.
And then Zabriel, at some unknown point, stood behind Marthus.
Screech!!!!
The air was cold and heavy, and a gurgling sound of water could be heard; the lightless dense forest and the ship's interior overlapped, seeping into this world from beneath reality.
A massive stone lay before Erebus and the door to the bridge.
It was merely a stone; logically, it should not have been able to block Erebus.
But Erebus was completely rigid, not daring to take another step forward.
This was because upon the massive stone, The King of the Forest, clad in dark green power armor, lay in deep slumber with his eyes closed.
All of this happened too coincidentally, so much so that Erebus' mind completely burned out, utterly unable to comprehend what was happening before his eyes.
Even Be'lakor, who was fighting Nobita, paused for a moment, letting out a bewildered gasp: "Huh?"
And Luther had completely forgotten everything else, directly abandoning Be'lakor, his teammate, and Nobita, his enemy, and trembled as he took two or three steps towards the massive stone.
"Lion… my brother, my son, my Primarch…"
Luther's face crumbled, his eyes showing madness; chaotic Warp energy surged uncontrollably from him, transforming into four writhing, shadowy figures with bared fangs and claws.
These were the Chaos boons that had originally resided within Luther; previously, Luther had suppressed them with ancient knowledge passed down on Caliban and his own will, but the moment he saw that figure, Luther's sanity completely collapsed, and endless regret, guilt, and madness filled his heart, causing the Gods' boons to completely lose control.
"Lion, I confess to you, please forgive me," Luther croaked.
Lying on the massive stone was Lion El'Jonson, the Primarch of the First Legion, the Dark Angels, the Emperor's eldest son, the Lion.
"Ah!!!" Erebus let out a terrified shriek; he had finally reacted from his stupor.
With fear, he reached out to protect his head, screaming, "Is my head still there?! Is my head still on?!"
Erebus was terrified that Lion El'Jonson on the massive stone would stand up and punch his head off.
But after a brief moment, Erebus realized that Lion El'Jonson had not stood up, nor had he punched his head to pieces.
He slowly raised his head, looking bewildered, a little timid, a little scared.
Then Erebus noticed that Lion El'Jonson's eyes were tightly closed, seemingly unaware of anything in the outside world.
He was in slumber, in a deep sleep, and there was a horrifying wound on his body, slowly healing.
Erebus was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood the situation.
Lion was gravely wounded and near death, constantly healing himself in a long slumber, not yet recovered.
This was not what Erebus knew!
Didn't Luther say he hadn't killed Lion?!
The wound on Lion's body was clearly meant to kill him!
Luther evidently noticed this as well; he was thunderstruck, trembling as he looked at his hands.
In his own memory, he clearly hadn't killed Lion, hadn't inflicted such a severe wound on him?!
Could it be… could he really have been controlled by Chaos, harming Lion without his knowledge?!
But for Erebus, this was incredibly good news.
A slumbering, defenseless Primarch—wasn't this just a fat piece of meat delivered to his doorstep?!
Indeed, fate was still on his side!!!
Erebus gripped the ritual dagger in his hand, stepped onto the massive stone, and was about to use the ritual dagger to corrupt Lion.
The ritual dagger had the power to corrupt the greatest heroes; he believed he could use this dagger to corrupt Lion, just as he had corrupted Horus in the past.
Erebus scrambled onto the massive stone; he saw the tightly furrowed brows, looking at Lion's already aged face.
Even a Primarch couldn't withstand the passage of time; this was the consequence of not accepting the Gods' blessings, of not integrating into Chaos.
But it didn't matter; the hand of fate would now offer another Primarch to the Gods, allowing Lion to merge into the great tide of Chaos.
The ritual dagger in Erebus' hand plunged down—
Crack!!!!
A petri dish was thrown from Nobita's hand, shooting between Lion and Erebus' dagger.
The ritual dagger fiercely struck the petri dish, which shattered with a crash, exploding into glass fragments, and the bacteria within burst out.
They splattered onto Lion's face.
Those bacteria merged into Lion's body, and a sudden surge of cold killing intent erupted from within Lion.
Erebus shrieked in terror, hastily rolling off Lion's body, falling from the massive stone and crashing to the ground.
"Ding ding ding ding! 'Bacteria that can wake people from sleep for one hour'!" Nobita shouted.