Chapter 433: A Father

The brown-haired boy urged Zhou Yun to make his own decision, which only deepened Zhou Yun's suspicions.

The words of this yellow-furred creature could not be fully trusted.

"You're actually this kind? I thought you'd embrace the style of humanity's greatest tyrant?" Zhou Yun asked with half-joking tone.

The brown-haired boy seemed to sense Zhou Yun's doubt and smiled as he explained:

"I won't force you, because I want the situation in the Warp to become 2vs1vs1vs1vs1 after your ascension."

"That way, we'll always hold absolute advantage against any god in the Warp."

"If I forced you to become the Lord of Malevolent Arts, I know your temperament—you'd constantly sneak attacks on me, worse than the Four Gods."

"You guessed right—if you dare force me to become a god, I guarantee the gods will gain an ally when they fight you," Zhou Yun replied with a smile.

The brown-haired boy let out a bitter laugh: "If you're still willing to protect humanity by then, I don't mind."

"Don't think too poorly of me—if you become that tall one, I'd be glad to assist you and follow you."

"I'll consider it," Zhou Yun said, glancing at the Dragon's Dream before him.

The Emperor's plan did have merit; had Zhou Yun not possessed his fourth-dimensional pocket, it would have been a sound choice.

The Emperor bears the pressure of ascension while Zhou Yun becomes a being nearly equal to the Lord of Malevolent Arts—humanity with two gods would be enough to resist the other four, who are not united.

But now the problem is, even if Zhou Yun agreed, he still lacked the necessary offerings for ascension—the sacrifice of an entire civilization.

There is no civilization in the galaxy capable of rivaling the ancient ones, the Eldar, or humanity.

Zhou Yun favored another plan instead.

The Emperor's prophecy foretold that Angron would guide the future's path, along with the four individuals tied to the galaxy's fate.

Zhou Yun hoped to find a way to save this galaxy through his fourth-dimensional pocket by studying them, rather than relying on the Warp or ascension.

"Walk with two legs," the brown-haired boy murmured. "I'll think of a way to secure offerings—perhaps the ancient ones still have one more slot to squeeze out, as an offering to trigger a god's birth."

"The ancient ones can still squeeze out another slot?" Zhou Yun blinked. "Are the ancient ones some kind of Warp bus?"

Theoretically, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Khorne were born from the War in Heaven and the ancient ones themselves.

Yet the ancient ones vanished tens of millions of years ago—yet the Emperor still believes they can spawn another god.

"It's only speculation. Vashthor believes he can do it and has been collecting relics left behind by the ancient ones—so perhaps they left something usable as an offering."

"They were too powerful. Perhaps no race in the galaxy's future will ever surpass them. That was a pastoral age we can never return to."

"The ancient ones' coins never run out," Zhou Yun couldn't help but sigh.

"Compared to other races, humans have looted too few ancient coins. The Eldar need no mention—but the Orks, Necrons, Tau, and all those other freaks—didn't any of them loot ancient coins heavily?"

The brown-haired boy's face was filled with regret over how few ancient coins had been looted.

Zhou Yun was about to speak when a sharp, agonized wail suddenly pierced his ear.

It was the scream of a machine-soul—a machine-soul of unmatched power, stronger than the combined souls of a thousand warships.

The brown-haired boy beside Zhou Yun's expression darkened slightly.

Zhou Yun swiftly withdrew his will from the dream and returned to his body.

Then he heard Wuwula let out a terrified, furious, disbelieving roar.

"My lord! Saint Dora and Omnissiah above!"

Zhou Yun ignored the panicked Wuwula and rushed to the window of the hyper-megatower, looking up at the sky.

Fire—blazing, searing fire—was burning.

The iron ring encircling Mars was burning, illuminating half the heavens.

A lion's roar echoed beside Leina; countless demons surged like a tide from the shadows, led by a demon prince with wings, clad in black power armor edged in red, bearing the head of a giant lion.

This demon prince bore strange patterns and symbols: lions, wings, swords, and the Roman numeral I.

Yet beyond these decorations, the demon prince's body was covered in the marks of the Four Gods and blasphemous eight-pointed stars.

The beast let out a terrifying roar and swung a greatsword—normally requiring two hands—with one hand, slashing violently toward Leina.

Leina instantly channeled her psychic power into a savage psychic warhammer, smashing through demons in its path and colliding with the lion-headed demon prince.

In an instant, psychic energy clashed with the blade; the lion-headed monster shattered Leina's psychic attack, flared its wings, and lunged straight at her face.

"Stand still!!!" Leina's savage roar deafened the air, her psychic hypnotic voice piercing the demon prince's will.

The demon prince let out a pained growl, his body freezing in place.

Leina nearly cried—her hypnotic voice had actually worked.

Because Leina could not precisely control her psychic power,

Her hypnotic voice either shattered opponents too weak to withstand it, or failed entirely against those too strong.

She never expected—this demon prince was just strong enough, just weak enough, perfectly positioned for her hypnotic voice to take effect.

"Who are you?" Leina, thrilled by her rare success, immediately cast her hypnotic voice again: "What is your purpose here?"

"I am the most fallen of the fallen angels, the demon prince Mabas, blessed by the Four Gods," the demon prince, claiming to be a fallen angel and Mabas, answered instinctively.

Fallen angels? Leina froze.

Before she could ponder further, the demon prince Mabas continued: "As for our purpose, psyker—use your psychic sight. Look at the Iron Ring."

Psychic sight? What's that? She didn't know how to do that!

Leina grew furious.

"My lord!" At that moment, the female tech-priest received external intelligence and cried out in terror: "Ships near the fourth sector of the Iron Ring have gone rogue and are crashing into the Iron Ring!"

Leina's pupils shrank sharply.

To support Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade, countless ships had been gathered near the Iron Ring.

These damned demons had somehow infiltrated every vessel through that strange shadow, taking control and ramming them into the Iron Ring.

"Is that your goal? To stop the Indomitus Crusade?" Leina demanded.

"No. Our goal is..." The demon prince Mabas shuddered violently, suddenly realizing he'd been affected by Leina's hypnotic voice: "You—you mere mortal, how dare you—"

Mabas, enraged and humiliated, flared his wings and lunged at Leina again.

Then—

"Stand still!!!" Leina growled, releasing her hypnotic voice once more, the only one that had worked.

Mabas felt dizzy, his guts twisting—he couldn't comprehend how this mortal could wield such psychic power without being corrupted or mentally broken.

"What is your goal?!" Leina roared again, her psychic energy surging through Mabas's mind.

Mabas's eyes bulged, teeth clenched, resisting Leina's psychic assault.

"Our goal is you, madam," a voice echoed from behind the demon prince Mabas.

Shadows spread again; a man in a black cloak stepped slowly from the darkness.

The moment he appeared, a psychic force stronger than Leina's surged forth, shattering her hypnotic voice holding Mabas.

"Me?" Leina said, startled.

"For a greater purpose, we require your sacrifice."

"My partner told me a story: Among the World Eaters, there was a warrior named Kaen. His fate was meant to be filled with the Blood God's wrath—but his closest friend, Anger. Tai, bound his soul, preventing his total fall."

"So my partner killed Anger. Tai, awakening his rage. I intend to do the same."

"That being is too attached to the material world. Perhaps a tragedy, a suffering, the death of someone familiar, will awaken his rage and make him accept his power."

"This is a necessary attempt."

They're targeting Zhou Yun?

Leina realized this instantly.

She remembered how Sanguinius had once privately told her:

"Treat Zhou Yun like a human—it helps him retain his sense of being human."

"Who is your partner?"

"Who are you?"

"What is this shadow?"

Leina steadied herself and cast her hypnotic voice again, seeking more valuable information.

But the man in the black cloak remained utterly unaffected by her psychic power.

"Madam, I have no desire to kill you."

"You fit my theory: Chaos itself does not corrupt. The gods' whispers are not the true source of corruption."

"It is humanity's own yearning, their desires, their dreams that corrupt them."

"Cut off your desires, and you will not be corrupted by Chaos—you can master it."

"You are a perfect example. Had it not been for the greater goal, I truly would not wish to kill you."

The figure in the black cloak sighed regretfully:

"To compensate you, I will tell you who I am."

"I am a father's child."

"I am a child's father."

"I am a knight's traitor."

"I am a traitor's knight."

"I am a brother's closest friend."

"I am a friend's brother."

"I am the fallen, the fool, the unforgivable fallen angel."

The black cloak stirred in the wind, revealing the ancient Dark Angels legion power armor from ten thousand years ago, and the great blade of Caliban.

"I am merely a penitent, seeking to atone for my sins."

(End of chapter)