Chapter 248: Warmaster! Why?!

Before Ge Lei Fa Si's eyes surfaced the lingering memories within this corpse's brain,

her viewpoint slowly aligned with the eyes this corpse had in life.

Ge Lei Fa Si saw herself standing behind a red-armored Terminator Sorcerer,

clearly this was the Black Legion commander Abaddon had dispatched to this fortress; Ge Lei Fa Si swiftly observed the surroundings through the corpse's memories and confirmed that this squad was primarily led by Word Bearers,

most Word Bearers within the Black Legion were traitors through and through, having betrayed not only their faith in Hua Di Huang but also the blasphemous faith of the daemon Primarch Lorgar,

some acted out of hatred for the Imperium, others out of pure greed, having chosen to serve the Great Despoiler Abaddon,

based on this Word Bearer's corpse, Ge Lei Fa Si quickly confirmed the composition of this warband

Veterans of the Long War!

This entire squad of Word Bearers were all traitors who had survived the Horus Heresy ten thousand years ago, former members of the Word Bearers Legion.

For the vast majority of Imperial citizens, the glory of the Great Crusade and the horror of the Horus Heresy were merely past history, even ancient myths,

but the flow of time within the Warp is bizarre and unfathomable; many of those Chaos Astartes who had lived through the Heresy were still alive, still clinging to their vengeance against the Imperium, yearning to overthrow it, to destroy it, to avenge the Heresy's failure.

Abaddon had actually dispatched an entire squad of Veterans of the Long War to intercept the expedition—whatever holy relic was Belisarius Cawl protecting, it had truly drawn Abaddon's attention

"Warmaster!"

A startled cry rang out; the leading Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer strode abruptly to the door,

the great doors swung open with a crash, and the wind and snow outside surged into the fortress in mighty waves, the cold wind threading ceaselessly between the slender Aeldari structures,

a Chaos Lord stepped forth from the blizzard—clad in pitch-black Terminator power armor, his chest carved with the sigil of a single eye of Horus merged with the eight-pointed star of Chaos, a talon on his left hand, and in his right a pale-blue longsword bristling with screaming faces,

his crimson topknot streamed in the wind, and the favor of the Chaos Gods had taken shape as four layers of grim, malevolent power coiled about him, making him seem a vessel of the gods' might within the material universe,

Ezekyle Abaddon, the Great Despoiler Abaddon, Warmaster of Chaos Abaddon

On Cadia, Ge Lei Fa Si had once seen this former First Captain of the Sons of Horus, the architect of thirteen Black Crusades,

and now seeing him again, even if only within a memory, Ge Lei Fa Si still found his presence terrifyingly imposing,

twenty-two Chosen ringed him, stepping into the fortress in his wake, among them a savage, twisted, massive Helbrute,

the Helbrute resembled the Imperium's Dreadnought but was far more horrifying, a complete embodiment of terror; the Chaos Astartet interred within had fused with the metal, his soul tormented within for what seemed an eternity.

Ge Lei Fa Si felt his scalp prickle—Abaddon had actually arrived on Krasec this early; this wasn't like his style at all

"Warmaster! How have you come?!" the Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer also hurried forward, voicing the same doubt as Ge Lei Fa Si.

"A Dark God has a gift for you," Abaddon said slowly.

The Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer was first stunned, then confused, and finally delight flashed in his eyes,

he seemed to believe that a Dark God was about to bless him,

the other traitors following this Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer also raised their spirits in joy,

they were one step closer to vengeance.

Ge Lei Fa Si could feel it—the wrath and hatred suppressed within this memory,

fire rained from the heavens, the grand Sanctum became rubble, holy statues shattered, devout believers were dying, the Son of God knelt in the rubble and suffered humiliation,

God commanded another Son of God to rain destruction upon the Perfect City that had faithfully served Him,

like the brimstone fire poured upon Sodom in Terra's ancient legends,

but Sodom was steeped in sin—what crime had they committed?

Is piety itself a sin?

Fire burned through the city; on that day, ten thousand Word Bearers swore together in their hearts,

no matter how long it took, no matter the price, they would avenge their shattered faith,

they would make Terra, make Macragge, shatter like the Perfect City

"Which great god?" the Word Bearer could not help but step forward.

"Why, the Emperor, of course."

A mocking grin suddenly split Abaddon's lips:

"Dark enough for you?"

The Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer's expression froze, and for a moment he could not react,

but the twenty-two Chosen at Abaddon's side suddenly moved,

the crack of sonic booms rang through the fortress; these twenty-two Astartes were swifter than the cold wind blowing in from outside,

even that massive Helbrute was far faster than an ordinary Astartes,

their figures seemed to flicker; each time they appeared, a Word Bearer fell,

especially that Helbrute, which became little short of a gale—only the clatter and clang of impacts could be heard, and wherever it swept past, naught remained but corpses.

"Warmaster?! Why?!!" the Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer let out a wail.

Abaddon was slaughtering Word Bearers in the Emperor's name?

For an instant Ge Lei Fa Si even doubted that everything before his eyes was an illusion.

"You are not the Warmaster!!!"

the Word Bearers Sorcerer shrieked sharply; the experience of a Veteran of the Long War let him catch on,

he swiftly loosed a volley of howling psychic blasts at that "Abaddon,"

but the Helbrute's silhouette flashed abruptly, interposing itself before "Abaddon," its massive bulk absorbing those psychic blasts,

yet the Word Bearers Terminator Sorcerer also seized the chance, swiftly retreating to gather with the other surviving Word Bearers, rapidly waving his staff to prop up layer upon layer of thick psychic barriers, while murmuring a string of incantations,

Ge Lei Fa Si quickly deduced that the dark incantation the Terminator Sorcerer was chanting was a short-range teleportation through the Warp,

he wanted to run!!

Could it be that because the Word Bearers all escaped, the entire fortress was left with only a single corpse?

But after thinking it over carefully, Ge Lei Fa Si felt something was off again.

The Whisperer was softly chanting a spell,

In Ge Lei Fa's eyes it was very slow, but she knew this was a time displacement caused by memory,

The Whisperer only intended to quickly teleport to the snowfield outside, using the wind and snow for cover; the distance to be teleported was very far, and only a very short chant was needed

But just then, the scene before Ge Lei Fa's eyes suddenly rippled.

In an instant, the illusion cloaking those twenty-two Honor Guards and Abaddon faded by a layer,

Those Honor Guards' paint scheme instantly turned blue, and their pauldrons still bore the Ω insignia.

And Abaddon's height seemed to suddenly grow a notch, his hair changed from a skyward braid to short golden hair, his face became solemn and serious, and his power armor also became armor interwoven with blue and gold.

Ge Lei Fa was suddenly stunned — that face. That face, how could it be the same as the one in the Tribunal's records

"Aren't you curious who I am?" the man with light golden short hair standing in the center of the great hall said with a slight smile.

"No! Fulgrim has already killed you!"

That Whisperer Terminator Sorcerer cried out in terror and fury, his teleportation ritual was thus interrupted, and even as his mind wavered, his psychic shield began to flicker:

"You have already fallen for ten thousand years!"

"There are always some things in this world that will fall with the passage of time, but there are always some things that will remain."

The "Ji Li Man" whose appearance was exactly the same as the one in the Tribunal's records smiled and spoke to the Whisperer Chaplain:

"For example, although your Perfect City is gone, our Macragge is still beautiful!"

Although the Perfect City is gone, our Macragge is still beautiful!

Ge Lei Fa stared blankly and bewildered at this scene, listening to these words, her mind had never felt so sluggish,

A Primarch! A sacred Primarch stood before her eyes,

Even if it was only seen through the memory of a traitor, even if it was very likely false, Ge Lei Fa still felt an immense shock,

And those Whisperers almost instantly let out beast-like roars, rage rapidly occupying their hearts,

The psychic shield released by the Terminator Sorcerer, along with the fury in his heart, transformed into a ball of living fire and smashed toward "Ji Li Man",

Yet that flame passed straight through "Ji Li Man"'s body, clearly he had been an illusion from beginning to end,

The Dreadnought ancient warrior, having shed the illusion of a Hellbrute, slammed into that Whisperer Terminator Sorcerer like a meteorite,

Even an Astartes with powerful psychic strength and clad in Terminator power armor could not withstand the Dreadnought's ultra-high-speed charge,

That Whisperer was instantly sent flying like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the wall, his throat seized by the Dreadnought's arm,

The Whisperer whose memory Ge Lei Fa was viewing turned his head in terror,

But just then, the light and shadow before this Whisperer's eyes suddenly wavered,

A man with a brown duck-bill cap on his head, wearing raccoon-cat-shaped glasses, and with a raccoon-cat tail suddenly appeared before his eyes,

That raccoon-cat man slowly gave an Aquila salute to the Whisperer whose memory Ge Lei Fa was reading

No, not toward the Whisperer, but toward Ge Lei Fa who was peeking at him.

"Salutes to you, Inquisitor Ge Lei Fa." That raccoon-cat man pressed down his duck-bill cap and said with a smile,

As if he had guessed that it was Ge Lei Fa peeking at the memory.

Then, before Ge Lei Fa could see clearly what had happened, a bullet shot into this Whisperer's chest, fresh blood flowed out, and the memory came to an abrupt end.

Ge Lei Fa suddenly jolted awake, gasping for breath, her face full of terror.

"... Primarch." Ge Lei Fa gasped and said: "I saw Primarch Robert. Ji Li Man."

Belisarius. Cawl's remaining half-face expression shifted slightly.

"And a raccoon-cat!" Ge Lei Fa continued: "A raccoon-cat with very good shooting!"

Xiang Xiang Leina's expression also shifted slightly.

(End of this chapter)