Chapter 253: Silly children, run!

The face beneath the hood, the voice, the words, and the aura upon them

That aura—undoubtedly his, the aura no Son of Horus could ever forget, the aura of their gene-father

Abaddon's gaze wavered, his expression trembling with fear and dread

His gaze upon the figure in the linen robe no longer looked upon an enemy, but rather—

Like a father

"Father… how is this possible?" Abaddon moaned

"Nothing is impossible, Ezekiel."

The figure in the linen robe spoke softly:

"Just as I could not imagine that the former Company Master of the Shadow Wolves would sink so low without even realizing it."

"No!" Abaddon's voice sharpened instantly in rebuttal: "I have not!"

"I have not followed in your footsteps, I have not fallen into the abyss of Chaos, I have not become a puppet of the Four Gods!"

The figure in the linen robe said nothing, only silently watched Abaddon

Until after several seconds he slowly spoke: "You are not the first to think so."

Abaddon gasped sharply

"I give you two choices."

The figure in the linen robe shifted slightly, revealing Zhou Yun behind him

"The first choice"

"The pocket on my friend's belly is specially prepared for people like you, lost and confused…"

Hearing the linen-robed figure's words, Zhou Yun smiled faintly and reached out to shake his four-dimensional belly pocket: "Step inside, and contemplate?"

Abaddon jerked violently, a cold sweat breaking over his entire body

He was not foolish enough to walk into the tiger's mouth

Even a hundred thousand years ago, Abaddon's feelings toward his gene-father had never reached this level

"No!"

Abaddon shouted refusal, leaping to his feet—and then—

A crimson slash appeared across his face, blood gushing forth; one of his eyes erupted in searing pain, surely blinded

Yet Abaddon swiftly swung his daemon blade Danelcon against the black blade held by the linen-robed figure

Abaddon was instantly driven back—he could feel Danelcon was slacking again

He silently cursed Danelcon's nonexistent mother

"Are you forcing me to kill you?"

The figure in the linen robe spoke slowly

"You are the one trying to kill me!" Abaddon rasped: "I do not wish to fight you."

Mainly because he couldn't win

Whether or not this man was his gene-father, his power was unquestionably immense

Abaddon could not defeat him—especially when Danelcon was merely going through the motions

Danelcon's only desire was to kill the False Emperor

He had no interest in the relics transported by Belisarius Cawl

Nor was he willing to fight a being who might be a Primarch for Abaddon's sake

The black blade dipped slightly; the linen-robed figure regarded Abaddon

"Then why don't you retreat?"

Abaddon's eyes widened in disbelief at the linen-robed figure's words—but relief flooded him all the same

A flash of teleportation light instantly engulfed Abaddon and the Gastrian Terminators who had followed him

The Chaos Warmaster unhesitatingly chose to flee via teleportation back to the Revenant Soul

His figure vanished within a few breaths, revealing just how urgently he fled

The ordinary Black Legion Astartes stared blankly at the scene

The Warmaster ran?

Chaos Warmaster Abaddon ran?

Wait—did the Warmaster just call that linen-robed figure "Father"?

A terrifying silence filled the air; the linen-robed figure gripped the black blade, silently glancing at the Black Legion warriors

"One day, Chaos Warmaster Abaddon bragged to the old Chinese doctor Fabius."

Zhou Yun spoke slowly:

"Fabius said: 'My medical technology is advanced—I can create a drug that revives the dead.'"

"Abaddon said: 'My great work shall be fulfilled—I shall march the Crimson Path from the Eye of Terror to Terra!'"

"Fabius didn't believe him and demanded proof; Abaddon panicked and immediately summoned his subordinates to discuss."

"At that moment, a sorcerer devoted to the Lord of Change spoke: 'Warmaster Abaddon, I have a plan: have Fabius bring the drug and give it to the corpse of Warmaster Horus. When Horus revives, you won't need the Crimson Path—you can simply run from the Eye of Terror to Terra.'"

All present froze, listening to Zhou Yun's words

"Pfft hahahaha…" Only Leina struggled to suppress her laughter—but finally burst out laughing

Zhou Yun looked at the Black Legion Astartes with pity

"Silly children, run!" he earnestly said, pointing toward the mountain peak with his hand, signaling them to flee that way

Along the way, Zhou Yun reclaimed the Hotspot Scoreboard & Robot Director from Saint Guilliman

Instantly, the Black Legion Astartes understood

Of course—the path down was blocked; they should climb the mountain, cross it, then find a way back to their void ships

The Warmaster fled—why should they stay here?!

Without hesitation, the Black Legion turned and sprinted toward the peak of the Old Hag's Mountain

The Battle Sisters, Cadia 184th Regiment, and Knight Houses moved to pursue—but Zhou Yun waved them off, signaling patience

The Cadia 184th Regiment halted first; they were old acquaintances of Zhou Yun and knew his ways

The Battle Sisters also stopped, for Saint Celestine stood before them

Belisarius Cawl likewise emitted a string of binary prayers, signaling the Knights not to pursue

Only Greifax cast Zhou Yun a skeptical, scrutinizing glance—then unhesitatingly moved to follow the Black Legion—

THUD!!

Belisarius Cawl's axe-hilt slammed hard against Greifax's occiput; his millennium-refined physique and vast biological knowledge allowed the Archmagos to knock Greifax unconscious with a single swift blow

Zhou Yun couldn't help raising his thumb toward Archmagos Belisarius Cawl; Cawl tilted his mechanical body slightly and bowed in return

For some reason, the Archmagos's body trembled faintly—was it the frost of Kelasusi affecting his systems?

Before Zhou Yun could ponder further, Saint Guilliman stepped before him

Zhou Yun stared at the face hidden beneath the linen robe: a bald, stern visage, like an ancient general—that was Horus's face, molded from Zhou Yun's own clay

"My essence contains the myriad emotions mortals have held toward Horus over ten thousand years, and the echo of Horus killing me."

"Moreover, the scar Horus left on me still remains upon my chest; together, these allow me to mimic Horus's aura perfectly."

"It also helps that you've used my face—and my brother's—too often; the gods of the Warp have grown indifferent to them."

"But this illusion lasts only five minutes—beyond that, the gods will see through it"

As Saint Guilliman spoke softly, he handed the black blade to Zhou Yun

"War trophy. This blade's machine-spirit holds fragments of Sigmund's consciousness. His fury and hatred toward Abaddon remain so strong, even after ten thousand years. You decide whether to sell it."

"If you gather over half of these black blades, perhaps Sigmund's consciousness can be revived."

Zhou Yun nodded slightly, shoved the black blade into his four-dimensional pocket, and glanced at its price

The price was indeed high—but not so high that Zhou Yun must sell it now; keeping it as a collection was fine, especially since it contained a fragment of Sigmund's original black blade, its machine-spirit still holding traces of his will

As for gathering over half the black blades to revive Sigmund's will—that would require cooperation from the Black Templars

"Can't kill him?" Zhou Yun said with regret—he meant Abaddon

"The gods have other plans for him; they won't let him die here. Attempting to kill him would draw their attention."

Saint Guilliman shook his head

"By the way, these gods include five others—also Danelcon. Even my father dares not underestimate it. This daemon blade, born from humanity's first murder, is humanity's natural enemy—even to me."

"As long as it doesn't want Abaddon dead, I cannot kill him within five minutes."

"But I transferred a tiny portion of the wound Horus left on me onto Abaddon. Combined with my psychic power and the physical wound, Abaddon will never fully heal for a very long time."

Zhou Yun nodded slightly—this had been their prearranged plan

To remove that wound now would require the consent of all Four Gods

And the Four Gods were not united—especially since Abaddon's value had declined after the Great Rift opened

By the time the Four Gods reached consensus and realized the wound was the same one Horus had once left on Saint Guilliman, Zhou Yun and his allies would already have reached Macragge

Moreover, Abaddon's wound was an extension of Saint Guilliman's own wound; on the Warp level, they were one and the same

When the Four Gods attempted to remove the wound, Saint Guilliman would have the chance to have his own wound removed as well

Healing Abaddon would mean giving Saint Guilliman a chance to heal—what would the Four Gods choose?

Saint Guilliman silently timed it in his mind, then looked at Zhou Yun: "Time is short—I'll retreat into your four-dimensional pocket."

Zhou Yun nodded slightly, shook his four-dimensional pocket, and allowed Saint Guilliman to slip inside

At that moment, battle erupted atop the mountain peak

Zhou Yun looked out and saw the retreating black legion collide head-on with the Spirit Clan's Death God Army descending the mountain.

A smile tugged involuntarily at his lips.

(End of Chapter)