Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 441 The Wolf God's Oath

When Rogal Dorn arrived at the Ullanor War Zone, Loken believed that Horus must have realized something.

When they were discussing the final offensive in the strategic hall, Horus thanked Dorn for his assistance in addition to the battle itself, and asked Rogal Dorn why he suddenly thought of taking three great companies to participate in the affairs of Ullanor, which had already been won.

"It's not that I don't want you to come, my brother," Horus smiled, his hands gently clasped together, and his left thumb rubbed the base of his right thumb, "It's just that I think the Imperial Fists may have more important things to do. There is only one last battle left here, why bother to bring your respectable army all the way here?"

Rogal Dorn glanced at Horus and sat down with him: "The Imperial Fists will not tarnish the honor of the Shadow Moon Wolf, Horus."

"I didn't mention this!" Horus spread his hands exaggeratedly as usual, making a look of a little grievance. Dorn continued to stare at him until the smile on Horus's face faded bit by bit.

"You can't tell me." Horus responded to Dorn's gaze in a low voice.

"I don't have permission."

Horus lowered his head silently. The joy brought by the recent battles disappeared. The worries and concerns that often spread in his heart surged again, like the sound of burning flames in his ears. He immediately realized that the sound was the echo of the flame of the black sun that echoed in his dream.

"Is it what I thought?" Horus asked, "I can only think of that possibility."

Dorn frowned: "In order to avoid misunderstandings and speculations caused by excessive blanks between languages, I hope you can fully point out what you are thinking."

Horus exhaled lightly, and was about to let Loken, Aximander, Erebus and some clerks in charge of paperwork on duty today leave, when the person standing next to Dorn took off his gray hood.

The face of the person who appeared made Horus' expression tense instantly.

"Malcador?" Horus blurted out in surprise, "You are here too?"

The Imperial Chancellor raised his head: "That's the possibility you thought of, Horus Lupercal. It's time for you to take on your duties. Complete your battle, Horus, and after that, you will get your crown."

Horus seemed to be struck by a lightning bolt. Perhaps even if the real lightning struck the tall body of this leader, it would not bring such a long period of silence.

He stood up, took a deep breath, and said seriously: "I will be ready, Regent."

He rarely showed respect to Malcador. No, the object of his respect at this time was not the Imperial Chancellor himself, but the person who was conveyed by the Chancellor.

Malcador nodded slightly: "He will be happy to see that you are ready, and you will see him at the ceremony later. But before that, the last feint you agreed on will be changed to Dorn's responsibility."

Dorn turned his head, a little surprised by Malcador's sudden transfer order, but it did not cause too many waves on his rock-like face.

"Then you need to tell me about the strategy you previously worked out with the Emperor, Horus," he said.

"No, wait a minute," Horus said uneasily, walking around the table and taking a step forward, his eyes wandering between Dorn and Malcador, "Why can't the Emperor come? Is this his order?"

"I think this is indeed the order of the Emperor himself," Dorn said, his voice unexpectedly not as hard as his appearance, if there was some comfort in it, Loken hoped that he had not heard it wrong, "Trust your father, Horus, he has plans for each of us."

"I'm just worried..." Horus swallowed the few words he had not finished, "I think, maybe I should go see him after a while."

"At least one day later," Malcador reminded, "your father has his own things to do."

Horus' lips moved, and Loken believed that he must have a sentence that was about to come out of his tongue.

"I see." He looked at the Chancellor solemnly, "Go and achieve your purpose here, Malcador. If you need a ship to get to the Emperor's flagship, I will provide it."

Then, Horus turned his face away from Malcador and gestured to Dorn, inviting him to stay for a while and continue to discuss the new combat mission.

"Loken, come here, now that our comrades have been replaced by the Imperial Fists, your company can also be added to the attack on the Urag Tower," Horus cheered up, "Miss Mesati, you can continue to use your recorder. The rest... forget it, who can't wait to go out and rest, just leave here, and those who want to stay can also ask the servitor to bring some more drinks."

——

Loken was more vigilant when he approached the corner of the corridor, which helped him avoid Torgaddon's boring attack. To be precise, when Loken saw the legendary warrior Sigismund of the Imperial Fists and their other captain, he held back and didn't give Torgaddon a sincere greeting like a shoulder throw as they usually did.

"This is the first captain Sigismund," Abaddon introduced, "and the third captain Alfred."

"I've heard of you, Gavial Loken," Sigismund said, "The Council of Four Kings thinks highly of you."

"I'm honored." Loken said seriously.

"Okay, tell me what Lord Horus and Lord Dorne were talking about?" Torgadon patted Loken on the shoulder, "I'm also curious about what secret mission the Imperial Fists have here, Sigis. Mond refused to say a word. I thought they were half buried in the ground of Terra, focusing only on the castle of Terra."

"That is a necessary defense," Sigismund said. "The safety of the Throne World will always be considered first. This is the core of the stability of the empire's territory."

"I thought the core of stability was the military," Abaddon said.

"The army will retire one day. When Ullanor is eaten by us, and it may take more than ten years to clean up the Milky Way, the Great Crusade will be almost over." Togaton laughed, "All the territory in the world belongs to the Emperor. The hand of the Emperor controls millions of worlds under his rule. It was an era of peace. Do you know what words the Memoirs use every day?"

"The Golden Age," Loken said, remembering the records Mesati had last shared with him.

"The army will not retire." Sigismund's eyes passed over the faces of the three Luna Wolves in turn. "We are born for fighting, and the purpose of fighting is to expand territory and protect territory. As long as the stars As long as the enemy remains, the war will never stop."

Torgadun lightly bumped Sigismund's shoulder with his fist: "You can be more optimistic, Sigi. People must have a dream. If Akulduna is here, I guarantee that he will accompany us to talk. Which pub should I go to eat baked beans with tomato sauce on Sunday after I retire?”

"What are baked beans with tomato sauce?" asked Third Company Commander Alfred.

Togaton choked and realized that explaining a dish to two people who had never escaped from the ice and snow and the barren material environment of Terra would be a difficult way to set up a battle.

"But the intensity of the war will be reduced," another person said, his voice was beautiful and soft, but what really attracted several people present was the identity of the visitor.

"We will no longer have opponents capable of exerting our capabilities as we do now," Erebus said. "The wars we have to go through will become limited. This is a phenomenon that the stability and prosperity of the Empire will inevitably bring about."

"What, you're disappointed that there's nothing more to burn?" Togaton raised his eyebrows, "There's no reason to rain down fire from the sky everywhere?"

"I never said that." Erebus replied politely, putting himself in a vulnerable position.

Togaton shrugged unhappily.

Loken knew that their conflict had been going on for some time, and Torgadon insisted that Erebus was an unlikeable man. "He has no interest in cleansing or destruction," Torgadon said. "When those fanatical Word Bearers chopped orcs until their eyes lit up, Erebus was not even happy. I doubt how much he believed what he said."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Loken asked back at the time, "Halhabat needs a rational leader."

"Do you know what this means? It means that every killing order he issued was out of reason rather than fanaticism," Togaton whispered, "But a truly outstanding rational person should be like you , contradicting his father every day, worrying that he would make mistakes, instead of -" he lowered his voice, "use his life to please the original body."

At that time, Loken gave a disapproving answer, "Maybe he is just loyal to Lorgar's orders." He said, but since then, he has always paid attention to Erebus' actions consciously or unconsciously.

Sigismund looked at Erebus. "The war will continue throughout the history of mankind, just as it has done before. But the flames of war will be limited, burning only on the edge of darkness. But in your eyes it will be different. One untaught psyker is enough to bring about an annihilation ." he whispered.

Loken suspected that this was something the Word Bearers had done in the past before the Imperial Fists.

"We have ways to assess risk, Imperial Fists, we smell the heretics."

"All based on the guarantee given to you by the Primarch Lorgar Aurelion."

"It is also based on Lord Aurelion's wishes," Erebus smiled, "for the Emperor."

"The Primarch should not be your excuse," Sigismund said sharply. Alfred looked at the first company commander in surprise. Apparently Sigismund's persistence was too much for him. Said Rare, "The merits earned through massacre should not be the reason for your promotion."

"Let's get the first half of this discussion done first," Abaddon said. "I mean, get the overall victory first."

Aribas paused and replied: "There is no doubt in this."

"So..." Loken slowly said an attention-grabbing word, waiting for others to ask.

"Oh, by the way, so what were Lord Horus and Lord Dorn talking about?" Torgadon took back the hand on Loken's shoulder and patted his head, "They are going to cultivate the Emperor in Ullanor. Is it the Imperial Palace? Just like Master Perturabo went to Nicaea to build a big theater? I heard that a think tank conference is going to be held there, and the Thousand Dust Suns are preparing lessons in the library and large classrooms every day..."

"You're off topic." Loken couldn't help but remind him.

"Why do you think we are here to build buildings?" Sigismund asked in confusion.

"Is not it?"

Sigismund didn't answer, which made Togaton reveal a mysterious and understanding smile.

"You're not really here to practice the palace, are you?" he asked.

"Lord Dorn and Lord Horus didn't mention it," Loken couldn't help interrupting Torgaddon, otherwise he felt that he would never find the right time to speak, "They were just talking about the next battle, we need to attack the fortress planet of Urag together."

"So you should be prepared," Horus Lupercal said, coming from behind, his left hand around Loken's shoulder, and his right hand patting Torgaddon and Abaddon in turn, "Instead of gathering in the corridor to gossip about me, warriors."

Rogal Dorn, who came with him, was silent for a second, hesitantly put his hand on Sigismund's shoulder.

"I see, Wolf God." Abaddon said seriously, looking like he was considering saluting the Wolf God.

"Oh," Horus smiled, "Go to the battlefield and tell me this, Ezekiel."

——

"How long will it take?" Malcador asked, looking down at the chess piece in front of him.

"Ten years," the man across from him replied. "For the first five years, I need you to continue to check and monitor me, and to wake me up when you are unsure of my status. After that, if necessary, I will go to the galactic border to use my power; otherwise, I will enter the throne room."

"Don't you think-" Malcador couldn't help but raise his eyes and put down the chess piece in his hand. He almost crushed it.

Across from him, the Emperor sat there, wearing a rough gray robe, his dark skin still haggard from fighting a part of himself, and those dark eyes, Malcador saw them so bright, the stubborn and eager expectation for the future illuminated the Emperor's eyes like a fire, and Malcador felt so exhausted.

"Too early?" The Emperor asked, pushing a chess piece to the center of the chessboard, "Too risky?"

Malcador knocked the chess piece on the table angrily.

"You came to me with a question to seek my answer, Malcador, and I will give it to you." The Emperor smiled.

"I just... don't understand."

"What?"

"I don't understand how you dare do this." Malcador swallowed, "I don't understand how long you have been planning this, and how much of it I don't know. You can't even keep your head straight, think about how I felt when I saw you yesterday!"

"You're afraid."

"Maybe."

"Afraid of what?"

The Emperor leaned forward, approaching Malcador, forcing him to look directly at him. His tall shadow hid Malcador's hand from his eyes.

"Your disappointment," Malcador said.

"Not my failure?"

"No," Malcador muttered.

The Emperor sat back up.

"I have seen my failure," he whispered, still looking at Malcador, "I was not disappointed then. On the contrary, I was glad that I had seen it before I set out on this journey."

"What do you mean?" Malcador asked, unable to help himself.

The Emperor shook his head slightly, his eyes moving to the door, "Come in, Horus."

Horus stepped into the room, his eyes quickly scanning Malcador and the chess pieces on their table, finally resting on his beloved father. The Emperor turned to meet the eyes of his First Son.

Malcador waited for Horus to come to him to ask about the Emperor's condition. He was aware of the unexpected events in the Draconis Sector. It was a miracle for the Primarch that Horus Lupercal had made it to the end of the battle to investigate.

But Horus stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and pulled out a red wax seal with a thin strip of paper from his waist, and presented it to the Emperor with both hands. The tail of the wolfskin cloak spread out on the ground like a heavy banner.

"Father," he said. "I pledge my vows to you in battle."

The Emperor took the paper.

"My son," he sighed. "I bear witness to your oath."

Horus drew his sword from his waist and handed it to the Emperor. The Emperor held the blade horizontally to Horus' neck, unfolded the paper, and read the words written by Horus himself.

"Horus Lupercal: Are you willing to fight to the death for those who betray my glory, to hold your sword for those who are not as strong as you, to sacrifice yourself for the bright future of mankind, and to fight for the eternal struggle for those who struggle to survive in the dark galaxy?"

"I do, I swear to do so. Where your glory is, my eyes are there; where you go, I will go; the direction of your sword is the only way for my soul. So it is today, and so it will be every day."

Horus grabbed the blade raised by the Emperor and cut it from the shoulder to the blade. Blood flowed from his palm. He took his oath and soaked it with blood.

The Emperor fixed the wax seal on his breastplate for him. Horus stood up.

"Thank you, father," he said loudly, smiling brightly, "I have another battle to fight. I will leave in a week."

The wolf shepherd returned the sword to its sheath and turned to leave.