Chapter 478: Luo Jia: Who? Airebas? Get Out!

"Lucius is dead, and you're badly wounded," Lu Se said to Airebas, his voice flat and slow.

On the Abyss-class battleship Blessed Lady, demons were continuously filling and repairing Airebas's body, healing the wounds left by Khaen and Kosorax.

This made the "Lu Se" standing before Airebas feel a flicker of curiosity—wondering how Airebas had sunk to such a pitiful state.

The "Lu Se" before Airebas looked like a patchwork of corpse fragments, countless worms crawling between the pieces, using their bodies to stitch the remains into a rough humanoid shape resembling Lu Se.

A long-bodied centipede was inserted into the "Lu Se"'s head, half its body crammed inside his skull, the other half extending like an antenna into the warp.

This was the technique of Nurgle's Chosen, Tiphon, allowing Lu Se to secretly converse with Airebas from the other end of the galaxy through this corpse.

Lu Se and Tiphon had formed a certain bond ten thousand years ago; Lu Se seemed to trust Tiphon deeply.

But Airebas did not trust him—Tiphon was a man who betrayed even his own Primarch; who could trust such a one?

Unlike Airebas, who had always maintained an excellent relationship with his own Primarch.

Lu Se's face twisted into a grotesque, deformed, and ugly expression, staring curiously at Airebas, as if trying to understand how he had come to this.

Though Airebas's own strength was poor, and in a one-on-one duel on an arena or battlefield, Lu Se could strip the skin from Airebas's face in about half a second.

But Airebas's true danger lay not in his personal power—he was once favored by the gods, the chief instrument through which the gods enacted their will on mortals, granted immense divine boons, and possessed vast knowledge of demonology, along with a vast collection of ancient relics.

Together, these made killing Airebas far from easy.

Airebas felt rage and shame—he did not wish to recount his failure.

"Some unforeseen circumstances," he replied vaguely.

This made Lu Se frown slightly: "Are you hiding something from me, Airebas? I need to know about the enemy."

Lu Se's words caused Airebas's expression to twitch unpleasantly.

This man, father to Laien, had endured the trauma of Laien and Caliban's destruction, ten thousand years of imprisonment by the Dark Angels, and the corruption of Chaos energies—his mind was no longer quite sane, yet he still retained some of his former Dark Angel's sharp insight.

Airebas had to summon the same cunning he once used to deceive Horus, carefully deceiving Lu Se without triggering his sensitivities.

To avoid arousing Lu Se's suspicion, Airebas adopted a sincere tone: "My friend, what I must tell you is profoundly shocking."

"Sarokin has returned."

"Oh!" Lu Se raised his eyebrows slightly: "The Banshee? Did Saint Dora-Meng resurrect him?"

This brought Lu Se a small surge of joy—if Saint Dora-Meng could resurrect Sarokin from ten thousand years ago, surely he could resurrect Laien too.

"Khaen has, in some measure, been blessed by the Emperor—his blood now burns with the Emperor's flame."

"Now, Khaen is the Primarch-Enhanced, Blessed, Khorne-Daemon, Emperor-Triple-Chosen Khaen."

"Huh?" Lu Se, hearing Airebas's stream of nonsense, shook his head: "The Emperor blessed Khaen? That man's secrets outweigh those of the entire First Legion combined—he does anything, no surprise."

But he sensed Airebas was still hiding something.

Because Airebas bore a grotesque wound that did not match Khaen's style.

If it had been Khaen, such a wound—cut from Airebas's face to his chest at point-blank range—would have been a killing blow.

"Kosorax? Just a minor Chaos Lord betrayed me," Airebas said, his face contorted.

Being nearly assassinated by Sarokin wasn't shameful—Ferrus Manus had been shot in the head by him before.

Nearly being cleaved to death by Khaen wasn't shameful either—he'd survived it before, and even Sigismund had nearly been killed by Khaen.

What was truly shameful was Kosorax's axe blow—him, the Hand of Fate, who had once been wounded only by figures like Horus and Khaen, now laid low by a Chaos Lord who was merely a former lieutenant of the World Eaters.

"Who is Kosorax?" Lu Se asked, puzzled.

As a half-Legion Lord, he had no interest in some obscure lieutenant of the World Eaters.

"... e is an extremely terrifying man," Airebas said after a few seconds of silence, choosing to glorify Kosorax rather than diminish himself.

For if he belittled Kosorax, being wounded by him would make him look even more ridiculous.

But if he elevated Kosorax, being struck by an axe would seem less humiliating.

"He is a World Eater, cunning and ambitious, equal to Guilliman."

"He deceived me, hiding malice behind his eyes, betraying me at my most vulnerable moment, ruining my plans."

"Fortunately, I am the Hand of Fate—I foresaw my destined fate—and paid this wound as the price to eliminate this great threat."

Lu Se looked skeptical, studying Airebas, but when he heard Airebas say the man was dead, he relaxed slightly.

"What about your situation?" Airebas asked in turn.

"Saint Guilliman has targeted me. I don't know why they suddenly shifted their attention from you to me."

Lu Se spoke with a tone of reproach—Airebas's role was to draw fire away from Lu Se.

"I fear not Mephiston—he has not walked as far along the warp path as I have."

"But if Saint Guilliman himself intervenes, I can barely hold out—I'd have to flee in haste."

Lu Se had received abundant blessings from the Four Gods, had learned some ancient secrets left behind on Caliban, and claimed to have fully mastered Chaos power, reaching its ultimate end—whether true or not, Lu Se indeed possessed terrifying strength, capable of even clashing with Primarchs.

But only barely—he could hold his own for a moment against the current Saint Guilliman, then flee.

"I have a way to hold Saint Guilliman back," Airebas said. "You need not worry about him."

"You?" Lu Se raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes, me," Airebas lifted his head slightly with pride. "You always say Saint Blood Angel's Primarch is flawless—but I excel at finding cracks in flawless men."

"Ten thousand years ago, on the Siggnus Cluster, I distilled the fury of countless dead Saint Blood Angels into a relic—called the Fire of Fury."

"This relic contains the power of the Blood God himself—it can infect Saint Blood Angels and awaken their rage—but that is not the point."

"I deceived Saint Guilliman: if he himself entered the Fire of Fury and accepted its power, he could save his sons, freeing them forever from the Blood Thirst."

"Of course, it was a lie—I intended to offer Saint Guilliman and his legion to the Blood God as sacrifice. But sadly, before Saint Guilliman fell for it, his apothecary, Melos—a vile, insignificant, and unworthy Saint Blood Angel—entered the Fire of Fury instead and exposed my plot."

"Though I failed to corrupt Saint Guilliman, the Blood God's power and the fury of the dead Saint Blood Angels forged a demon intrinsically linked to the Saint Blood Angels—a demon that took possession of Apothecary Melos's body, born between the material and warp realms, calling itself the Red Angel."

"This demon still exists, still inhabits Apothecary Melos's body, and has long secretly corrupted a sub-legion of the Saint Blood Angels."

Airebas smirked.

"This is Saint Guilliman's weakness—he cannot abandon his sons. He loves them too much."

"I will use this to hold Saint Guilliman back for you."

Lu Se made no comment on Airebas's deceit.

Airebas did not care about Lu Se's reaction—he pressed on: "How many Fallen Angels have you gathered so far?"

Lu Se gave a number.

"Too few," Airebas frowned. This number was negligible compared to what he needed: "What exactly are you doing, Lu Se?"

"That is none of your concern. I am the second-in-command of the Dark Angels, a half-Legion Lord—I know better than you how to rally a legion."

Lu Se sneered.

"Besides, I have unique allies... Huh?"

As Airebas was about to ask further, the corpse-form of Lu Se suddenly turned its head, as if speaking to someone beside it.

"What do you mean, a silver skeleton glowing blue and green raided my room and stole the dagger, amulet, and sword case Laien gave me?"

Then Lu Se looked at Airebas: "I have urgent business—I'm signing off."

Before Airebas could respond, the corpse shattered violently, collapsing into piles of flesh and bone on the ground.

Airebas felt slight annoyance but said nothing—he had more important matters to attend to.

The Blood God had agreed to grant Airebas more blessings and aid—but only if Airebas continued attempting to corrupt Titus—or if not Titus, then Saint Guilliman, Dante, or Karla would do.

Airebas, not being foolish, chose Titus.

Besides the Blood God, Airebas also hoped to gain the aid of another person.

He activated a spell, channeled psychic energy, and opened a communication channel.

A bald man, clad in a simple monk's robe, tall and strikingly handsome, flickered into view before Airebas.

"Father," Airebas said, adopting a look of earnest honesty.

Then the bald monk slowly lifted his head.

"Who?"

"Airebas?"

"Don't disturb my meditation."

"Get out."

The bald monk's image vanished from Airebas's sight, leaving Airebas frozen in place.

(End of Chapter)