Chapter 415: lookinmysanguiniustellme！why！?

Many in this galaxy can be called protagonists.

The Emperor himself is a dragon-doom protagonist; most of the Primarchs qualify as Ma Lei leads from the start, and among ordinary Astartes, there are titans like Titus, Sicarius, and Karlaag; among mortals, figures like Old Cannon Eye Commissar, Kane the Young, and the legendary Inquisitor Eisenhorn stand out.

But if Zhou Yun had to pick one protagonist among the Chaos factions, his first thought wouldn't be Abaddon—but Abaddon's close brother, Kaelan.

Iskandar Kaelan, a member of the Prospero-descended Thousand Sons Legion, a living archetype of a Japanese light novel Ma Lei lead.

He has a shipgirl sister, a dark eldar tsundere girlfriend, his own warband, and a powerful, loyal wolf-like guardian spirit.

He even owns a set of fashionable playing cards, each card sealing a demon—among them, even the Blood God's Bloodthirster.

He amassed vast wealth through his sorcery within the Eye of Terror, a true life winner.

So how was Kaelan's life, the life winner and light novel protagonist, destroyed?

And why is Kaelan now imprisoned in the Inquisition, his limbs shattered, his psychic energy drained, his eyes gouged out?

The answer: Kaelan joined the Black Legion, swore brotherhood to Abaddon, and made his sister the Spirit of Vengeance, accompanying Abaddon from the First Black Crusade to the Twelfth, earning glorious victories.

Then, on the eve of the Thirteenth Black Crusade, Kaelan stood before the Inquisition's gates and turned himself in.

He surrendered because Abaddon ordered him to—Abaddon demanded he declare on Terra, at the heart of the Human Empire: "The Crimson Path begins. Abaddon comes to Terra to destroy the entire Empire."

Then Abaddon would ride forth upon his sister, shatter the Human Empire, and release Kaelan upon Terra's ruins to share in the triumph.

Never mind how Abaddon, in a moment of madness, gave away his strongest warrior—perhaps the second most powerful Thousand Son sorcerer—to the Empire, just to vent his mouth.

The fact that Kaelan obeyed the order itself is baffling; one can only suspect this poor child was conned into madness by Abaddon.

Zhou Yun could only sigh: better to be Abaddon's enemy than his brother.

The Human Empire, Abaddon's enemy, still exists after the Thirteenth Black Crusade—and is even thriving.

But Abaddon's brother? Abaddon's own father was slain by Abaddon's hand; his second father, Horus, was sent by him into a temple; his good friend Loken was killed by Erebus while Abaddon stood idle.

And of course, the worst was Kaelan: his dark eldar lover is dead, his guardian spirit banished back to the Warp, his painstakingly collected demon deck stolen, his own sister ridden by Abaddon across the galaxy, his limbs shattered, his psychic energy drained.

Now he only hallucinates in his prison cell: that the Black Legion's divine troops will arrive to welcome the Warmaster, that one glance from him will make Magnus kneel, that the age of Primarchs is over, and so on.

Looking at Kaelan, lying on the ground, every bone in his body broken, Zhou Yun suddenly felt a cruel urge.

"Are you Lord Kaelan?"

Zhou Yun's fingers brushed over the hot-plate script board and the robot director, his voice filled with delight:

"Are you Lord Abaddon's brother, the Blade of the Black Legion, the greatest sorcerer of the Thousand Sons, the Breaker of Kings, Black Kaelan?"

"Who are you?" Kaelan, stripped of all vision, writhed his ruined body and asked.

"I—I'm just a recruit, a recruit who admires you and Lord Abaddon! Oh! By the Warmaster's grace!" Zhou Yun stammered feigning nervousness.

He said only "recruit," not which faction's; he said only "admires," not what he admired; he said only "Warmaster," not which Warmaster.

"Recruit? Are you a warrior of the Black Legion?" Kaelan's voice betrayed a hint of joy: "Has the Warmaster come to Terra?"

"Yes, my lord, yes—the Warmaster is on Terra," Zhou Yun nodded eagerly, sincerely.

His tone was so genuine, so trustworthy, it instinctively inspired belief.

"Ahahaha! Ahahaha!"

Kaelan burst into loud laughter, his shattered chest rising and falling:

"I long warned the ignorant fools of the Empire: the Crimson Path is unstoppable, the Warmaster's footsteps are unstoppable, the Empire's fall is unstoppable."

"Recruit, tell me—where is our great Warmaster now? Has he already breached the Imperial Palace and slain the False Emperor?"

"Oh, Lord Abaddon is very near," Zhou Yun said slowly: "He's in the cell next to ours. He was captured with me."

Kaelan's laughter died instantly.

The Inquisition representative beside Zhou Yun, Erse, couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Even Sanguinius's lips twitched into a faint smile.

"You lie to me, Inquisitor!" Kaelan snarled, enraged: "Do you think such petty tricks can shake my faith?"

"Is Abaddon's advance so unstoppable that you're already panicking?"

"Abaddon is currently riding your sister—now rotting with Nurgle's blight—somewhere, half-dead," Zhou Yun said plainly.

She was indeed rotting: the last time Zhou Yun saw Kaelan's sister, the Spirit of Vengeance, she was sprouting Nurgle's cabbage.

"How dare you insult the Warmaster!" Kaelan gritted his teeth; had his eyes not been gouged out, he would have glared at Zhou Yun with fury.

This left Zhou Yun speechless.

Kaelan's first reaction was concern that Zhou Yun had insulted Abaddon—not his sister, not the Nurgle corruption on the Spirit of Vengeance.

"Do you trust Abaddon so blindly?" Zhou Yun asked softly.

"Ignorant fools, you do not see the Warmaster's noble righteousness, you do not know his generosity, you do not comprehend his might."

Kaelan sneered:

"The Warmaster treated me as a brother, even gifted me the broken blade of Sanguinius and the crystal forged from his Death Echo—I repay him with loyalty and brotherhood."

"And the Warmaster's might is beyond your understanding. In this age where all Primarchs have vanished, who else can rival Abaddon?"

"You are all nothing but dirt and clay before Lord Abaddon."

Only then did Zhou Yun recall: Abaddon claimed all who died aboard the Spirit of Vengeance lingered as crystals, including Sanguinius.

Then Abaddon gave Kaelan those crystals, along with fragments of Sanguinius's sword, which Kaelan forged into a power sword.

Well, at least that's what Kaelan confessed to the Inquisition.

But his confession also included absurd claims: demonic Primarchs kneeling before Abaddon and Kaelan, Kaelan commanding Magnus to kneel.

Zhou Yun couldn't help turning to look at Sanguinius beside him, then at the Crimson Blade at Sanguinius's waist.

Abaddon gave you Sanguinius and Sanguinius's sword.

Then who stands beside me? Horus and his Worldbreaker?

lookinmysanguiniustellme！why！?

"If the age of Primarchs has ended, and Abaddon gave you Sanguinius's Death Echo, then what am I?"

"If my Crimson Blade had been given to you, what would be hanging at my waist?"

Sanguinius spoke slowly, stepping forward one pace.

Kaelan froze slightly; Sanguinius's clear voice made him instinctively tremble.

"Who are you?" Kaelan growled, as if sensing the truth.

"Iskandar Kaelan, son of Magnus, lift your head. Blind as you are, look at me."

Sanguinius gently unfurled his wings; darkness in the cell vanished, replaced by radiant light as bright as the sun.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Kaelan raised his head and screamed—a piercing wail. Blood streamed from his empty sockets; his ruined eyeballs seemed ignited by fire.

Kaelan saw—in the blackness, he saw:

The glorious, blinding, majestic, holy figure, the pure wings spread wide, the radiant psychic energy like a rising sun.

Pain and terror surged from within Kaelan; he felt every nerve melting beneath that light.

His eyes remained blind—but now he saw the light.

As a veteran of the Great Crusade who had once witnessed Primarchs, Kaelan recognized that radiance.

On Ullanor, as a Thousand Son, he had once gazed from afar upon that light.

Back then, he was already an Archangel; Kaelan was merely a warrior of the Thousand Sons' Jackal Academy.

"Sanguinius!"

Kaelan cried out, nearly wailing, voice trembling with pain and disbelief:

"How can you be here?! The age of Primarchs should be over! How can you stand before me?!"

"Friend, clearly, the version has been updated—and you didn't patch it," Zhou Yun said beside him, watching Kaelan with faint pity.

"But Abaddon promised me! The Warmaster promised me! How can this be?!" Kaelan roared, torn between fury, agony, and desperation.

At that moment, Sanguinius flicked his hand; fire erupted from Kaelan's eyes, and his gouged sockets suddenly glowed with light.

Kaelan stared blankly at Sanguinius—the figure stepping out from the past.

Sanguinius gently fluttered his wings, as if displaying himself to Kaelan.

Then he reached out and tapped the Crimson Blade at his waist.

"I have always been in the Warp. My blade was reclaimed by the Blood Angels long ago," he whispered softly.

Kaelan felt suffocated.

"Abaddon lied to me?"

"No… how could he?!"

"He can't have lied to me! Can he?!"

(End of Chapter)