As Magnus appeared, the brilliance of psychic teleportation continually flashed aboard the Macragge's Honour.
Groups upon groups of Chaos sorcerers, as well as daemons and other members of the Thousand Sons Legion, kept appearing.
These Chaos daemons and Chaos Space Marines, upon entering the ship, immediately revealed bloodthirsty smiles, preparing to attack the other crew inside the ship, to relish mortal screams and feast on the tormented souls of the dead.
But the scene before them left all the Chaos daemons and Chaos Space Marines a bit dumbfounded!
What's going on? Weren't we promised a feast of flesh, a banquet to our content? Where are the countless mortals' wails? How come there are only a few people on this ship?
At this moment, only Rhodes, Elena, Guilliman, Mephiston, and the Custodes Ultraman remained aboard Macragge's Honour. Everyone else had been evacuated.
Even Rhodes' deputy legion commanders had been teleported to the mothership above—the Macragge's Honour was to be the battlefield for the coming showdown.
As for Horus, the ultimate ace in the hole, Rhodes hadn't had him appear yet. He was saving that as a massive surprise for Guilliman!
"That's a Custodian, isn't it?" An ancient veteran from ten thousand years ago looked excitedly at the golden-armored Custodian.
"A Custodian! That's great news!"
"No mistake! That armor, that physique, such powerful aura—haha! He's a Custodian. I can't believe these guys left the Imperial Palace on Terra."
"This is good news! We can offer this Custodian's soul to the Great Changer."
"Want to offer my soul to Chaos filth? Bring it on, traitors!" The Custodian Ultraman shook his power halberd and sneered coldly.
He could barely wait to start slaughtering. If not for Lord Rhodes' orders, he'd have transformed already.
He even wanted to enlarge himself, charge into the traitors' ranks, and slaughter them, reveling in their terror of the Custodes!
As for Magnus, he held a deep, unforgettable hatred. If Magnus had returned to Holy Terra in time, and taken the Emperor's place on the Golden Throne, the Emperor could've dealt with Horus's rebellion.
As for the feud between the Wolf King and Magnus—if the Wolf King could express his loyalty despite being used by Horus, why couldn't Magnus?
And what a mess that bastard made for the Empire and the Emperor! If it weren't for his psychic message blowing apart the Webway, the Emperor wouldn't have been forced onto the Golden Throne.
His Custodes brothers wouldn't have died in droves in the Webway War.
Magnus now sensed something amiss. On the Macragge's Honour, there were less than ten people left.
Three Primarchs, one Custodian from who knows where a powerful psyker and that was it.
This is Guilliman's flagship! Normally it requires tens of thousands to operate, and could hold up to a hundred thousand.
And he'd detected many lifeforms aboard just moments ago.
Yet upon teleporting here, they'd all vanished? How could that be?
Did a powerful psyker teleport everyone away? Magnus looked at the only strong-looking psyker present.
This person's psychic power was top-tier among humans, but nowhere near his own! Teleporting hundreds of thousands at once to other ships would be extremely difficult.
"Guilliman, you don't seem to have changed much! I heard you became the most perfect, the strongest Primarch. Did you give yourself that title?" Magnus rested his staff on his shoulder, taunting.
He could tell Guilliman had an ambush, but didn't care—his overwhelming forces would make up for anything.
"Magnus, it's been ten thousand years and you still haven't grown. Still so arrogant.
Think of how Father treated us, yet you betrayed him!" Guilliman said.
Some say Magnus's rebellion was the Empire's greatest tragedy because he was originally loyal.
Blasting open the Webway and forcing the Emperor onto the Golden Throne—all part of the Chaos Death God's plan. Magnus only wanted to help at first.
Why did the Emperor repeatedly warn you not to delve into the secrets of the Warp, yet you never listened?
The Emperor wanted you to return to Holy Terra, to take his place on the Throne.
That would have given him time to quell Horus's rebellion. If only you'd taken that path, all could have been salvaged.
But you chose the stupidest path, throwing yourself into the arms of a Chaos God!
Lorgar may have been a butcher, but you were a sage—you even invented the post of Legion Librarian!
"I don't care to explain, Guilliman! I did nothing to betray the Emperor. He betrayed me first!" Magnus roared.
"Then, Magnus, I'll give you one chance: lay down your weapon and surrender. I'll help you break from Chaos, return to the Imperium, and plead your case to Father to absolve you," Guilliman said.
If not for Horus, he would never have pleaded for Magnus.
But if Father could forgive Horus, then he should fight for the other fallen brothers, especially Magnus.
Because if he didn't fight for him, Magnus would surely die at Rhodes' hands. He did not doubt Rhodes' strength.
Magnus would be completely disgraced, never to rise again. Among all the Primarchs, Magnus and Lorgar were the most tragic!
The true villain was Fulgrim!
Rhodes glanced at Guilliman, surprised by his compassion—trying to convince Magnus to surrender.
There was a deep bond between Primarchs! Guilliman only truly hated those Primarchs who were utterly irredeemable.
Magnus and Lorgar were tragic, and the current Imperial Cult was essentially what Lorgar created—their scriptures were written by him with only minor changes.
"Hahaha! My brother, that's the funniest joke I've heard all year!
You want me to surrender to you? My Legion surrounds you, my sons surround you!
My fleet surrounds you! What right do you have to make me surrender?" Magnus laughed.
He'd expected Guilliman to curse him as a traitor, to rush at him with blade drawn, but instead, he was trying to persuade him.
"Guilliman! You or me?" Rhodes turned to Guilliman.
The implication: "You'll beat him into submission, but I'll beat him to death."
"Rhodes, give me a chance! Let's capture Magnus together, will you help me?" Guilliman asked.
To the Chaos forces, this sounded like Guilliman had no confidence in defeating Magnus and was begging the new Primarch for help.
But to Rhodes, it was something else: Guilliman wanted his help to capture Magnus, and maybe drag him back to the Imperium.
But if Magnus is willing to abandon his Chaos form, Rhodes could purify his soul!
"Rhodes! Even someone as sinful as me was given a chance by Father!
Because my rebellion led Magnus into Chaos—his betrayal was ultimately my fault.
If possible, I want to fight for a chance, just one, for our fallen brothers." At this moment, Horus, floating in space in his Dark Giant form, sent a telepathic message to Rhodes.
Rhodes shrugged helplessly. "Go beat him half to death, then we'll see if he's smart enough to surrender, or will rather die than yield."
"Thank you, Rhodes!" Guilliman nodded to Rhodes, then confidently strode to Magnus.
"What, you two don't want to come at me together? Fine, come on!
Let me expose you, you ridiculous fraud. Let me show you what a real Primarch can do." Magnus taunted.
At this, a drop of cold sweat ran down the forehead of the Tzeentch Greater Daemon nearby!
Something seemed off!
Just then, the Chaos fleet outside suddenly began exploding. At some point, a giant 80 meters tall, jet black, in mighty crimson armor, had appeared.
He formed his hands into an L-shape and fired a black-purple energy beam at the Chaos fleet.
After merging with Daram, Horus developed his special beam attack.
PS: Read atleast 125 advanced chapters at p@treon .com/AbsoluteCode