Within the Warp, Fulgrim's palm stung from the scorching pride of Fulgrim, and a strong aversion prevented him from entering this pure body, as yet untainted by corruption.
As Fulgrim expected, no matter how humble and polite his clone pretended to be, he was, in essence, just as extremely proud as Fulgrim.
What surprised Fulgrim was that Fulgrim was too proud—so proud that he looked down on Fulgrim, detested Fulgrim, and would rather die than share a body with Fulgrim.
Fulgrim believed that Fulgrim's corruption stemmed from his imperfection, while he himself was destined to be perfect. How could someone destined for flawless perfection share a body with a defiled, flawed failure? Fulgrim was unworthy.
Furthermore, Fulgrim not only believed that Fulgrim's corruption was due to his imperfection, but also that it was due to his lack of pride.
How could a truly proud man allow a mere demon to occupy his body? Allow a mere demon to dictate to him? Allow a mere demon to control him into killing Ferrus?
Fulgrim was still not perfect enough, not proud enough.
Fulgrim's nose was slightly upturned, his face contorted in disgust, his thin lips pursed, appearing extremely sharp, and in his violet eyes, looking at Fulgrim, there was only extreme contempt.
It was like an elegant noble despising a lowly prostitute, like a lofty emperor looking down upon a beggar by the roadside.
He was so proud that he even disdained his own imperfect self.
Fulgrim let out a sharp shriek; he was hurt by that gaze. Uncontrollable anger surged within him. He no longer yearned to seize this body, but instead wanted to directly tear apart the body of this ridiculous clone.
But... he felt the gaze of Slaanesh. The Lord of Hunger was increasingly favoring that clone. The more proud Fulgrim was, the more the Lord of Hunger would salivate, and the less Fulgrim would be allowed to destroy him.
Fulgrim gritted his teeth, forced to temporarily sink back into the tides of the Warp. He had already sensed that Sanguinius was looking at him.
+ You will die here! +
Fulgrim shrieked in a furious curse, and then his voice rapidly vanished from Fulgrim's ear.
"I will not die; I am destined to be perfect. I will not die here!" Fulgrim's face was twisted and ferocious.
How could he die here? He was destined to be perfect, destined to be flawless. Even Sanguinius was unworthy of killing him.
He firmly believed this, but reality seemed to contradict him.
Sanguinius' spear became increasingly lethal, increasingly dangerous. Gradually, Fulgrim was unable to resist.
Sanguinius moved his spear, instantly knocking aside the forgebreaker in Fulgrim's hand, its sharp tip aimed directly at Fulgrim's throat.
"I will not die! And you are unworthy of killing me!" Fulgrim shrieked until the very last moment.
Sanguinius' spear stopped at Fulgrim's throat, a little blood trickling down the tip, but ultimately it did not pierce Fulgrim's throat.
"You are right, he will not fall for now," Sanguinius said softly, as if speaking to an invisible person.
Sanguinius gently retracted the spearhead. He could feel that the Lord of Hunger was getting a bit restless. If Sanguinius had pushed the spearhead forward just a little more, the Lord of Hunger would have been unable to resist intervening to save Fulgrim.
"Depending on future circumstances, his probability of falling is roughly fifty-fifty, but until that moment arrives, he will remain pure." A figure suddenly teleported beside Sanguinius.
The figure appeared mortal, wearing a glove on his hand, and holding Trazyn the Infinite, who had just inexplicably disappeared, in his hand.
"This is not because he is so loyal, but simply because his pride is more extreme than Fulgrim's was back then," Sanguinius said in a gentle, helpless tone.
"I am not proud; I merely crave perfection." Fulgrim gently rubbed the wound on his throat. The Primarch's superhuman healing ability quickly mended his injury.
The Primarch's keen senses and intellect quickly made him understand that everything Sanguinius had done was a test, forcing Fulgrim to make a decision between life and death.
Fulgrim felt a slight dissatisfaction with such a test, but at the same time, he felt a little proud for having passed Sanguinius' trial.
However, all these emotions were hidden behind Fulgrim's humble, gentle smile.
He turned his gaze to the seemingly mortal being: "You must be Saint Doraemon. I have heard of your deeds twenty-two times among the stars."
"I do not question your judgment; I will never fall. I pursue only the pinnacle of perfection, and the path to perfection does not tolerate falling."
Alexander showed no extra reaction to Fulgrim's words, merely stating in a calm tone: "Malcador once said that the pursuit of perfection is destined to be a tragedy, destined to slide towards an imperfect ending, and the more obsessively you pursue perfection, the greater the backlash will be."
"I humbly listen to your teachings and take them as a warning," Fulgrim did not refute Alexander, but simply smiled and nodded, seemingly accepting Alexander's guidance: "If you fear my betrayal, why not let me follow you and Sanguinius, to test my loyalty and purity through tempering—"
"Good." Alexander nodded slightly, directly agreeing with Fulgrim: "The forgebreaker is also yours."
Fulgrim was stunned for a moment. He had prepared many arguments, but he didn't expect Saint Doraemon to agree so directly and simply.
It was as if he knew what Fulgrim was going to say from the very beginning.
"Gabriel, you explain to Sanguinius why the forgebreaker is in your possession," Alexander casually tossed Trazyn next to Anrakyr, while speaking to Gabriel, who was sprawled in a pit and couldn't get up.
Two Blood Ravens quickly came forward and carried Gabriel out of the pit.
The Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens no longer insisted on the narrative that it was an ancestral relic of the Blood Ravens, but instead detailed how the Blood Ravens acquired this holy artifact.
"One of our vessels encountered a Warp storm during its transit through the Warp. The entire ship was swept into orbit around a daemon world filled with various daemon engines and mechanical constructs, and was targeted by various anti-orbital defenses on the daemon world."
"To escape, they had no choice but to risk a Warp jump, and were unexpectedly transported into a fortress at the core of this daemon world."
"Our warriors, relying on their skilled stealth and infiltration techniques, successfully dispersed and hid within the fortress, lurking for several months. One of these warriors happened to climb along the electrical network into a confidential laboratory."
"This laboratory was very peculiar; it contained no war weapons, only this forgebreaker warhammer, various scattered parts, and an unfinished female robot."
"That warrior recognized the warhammer as the forgebreaker—our Blood Raven warriors are always knowledgeable about history—he triggered the alarm system inside the laboratory, and in a moment of urgency, he grabbed the forgebreaker and the unfinished female robot and fled."
"This caused a disturbance throughout the daemon world. Fortunately, those warriors were elite Blood Ravens, who, taking advantage of the chaos, cooperated with each other to help cover some warriors in reclaiming their vessel, and escaped from that daemon world with the forgebreaker."
"You mean you infiltrated Perturabo's daemon world, infiltrated a fortress he designed, went undiscovered for several months, stole the forgebreaker, and, at the cost of some warriors, successfully brought the forgebreaker back?"
Fulgrim's tone was greatly surprised:
"Are you actually the sons of Corax? I can already imagine Perturabo's twisted little expression when he discovered you had escaped."
As he spoke, Fulgrim's thin lips curled up slightly, revealing a somewhat sarcastic and playful expression.
His expression was so subtle that it instantly made everyone present feel that he was an interesting and easygoing person.
Sanguinius' eyes drooped slightly: "Even Vulkan often frightens mortals or children with his size."
"Only you, only Fulgrim, are so beloved and trusted by mortals. Even young children could laugh in front of you. How could the Fulgrim who once made a little girl laugh on his shoulders become the way he is now?"
Sanguinius' words made the smile on Fulgrim's lips recede a little: "I will not repeat the same mistakes."
"I pray it is so. Then I will truly call you brother," Sanguinius nodded slightly.
Then both of them turned their gaze to Gabriel, signaling him to continue speaking.
"Our vessel successfully brought the forgebreaker back to the All-Knowing Mystery, but this also drew the wrath of the Iron Warriors and Perturabo."
"For decades, we have been hunted. Perturabo's anger fills us with dread; his hatred for us is beyond imagination. I can still vividly recall his roaring face—"
"This?" Fulgrim raised his eyebrows slightly, as if sensing something amiss: "Are you saying that Perturabo still showed extreme anger towards you even after decades?"
This also made Sanguinius feel that something was wrong. Both Primarchs understood Perturabo.
"Perturabo is a very conflicted person. Perhaps he would show anger the moment he discovered the hammer was stolen, but he would quickly suppress it. If you had only stolen his forgebreaker, he would not harbor long-lasting hatred or anger towards you."
"Even if he truly hated and resented you, he would only say that he hunted you to make an example."
Fulgrim explained softly, his face still puzzled:
"Could it be that you are actually the sons of Dorn?"
Gabriel Angelos looked utterly bewildered.
"It's because of this," Alexander's voice suddenly rang out.
He was squatting in a corner of the reliquary, pointing to the unfinished female robot casually placed against the wall: "This is a robot Perturabo built, modeled after his sister."
Alexander's words silenced the entire reliquary for a moment.
Fulgrim made an extremely exaggerated expression, then looked at the Blood Ravens:
"Good heavens, why didn't you go steal Guilliman's mom, Yvraine?"