Death’s Cycle

Lox was so horrified by the scene before him that he could not speak. Within the burning throne room, Horus killed Sanguinius with his massive, vicious Horus Talon.

It was a slaughter. Horus’s gigantic Terminator armor gleamed with a black-gold luster, while the two Eye of Horus gems on his chest and abdomen radiated coldness and brutality.

Things resembling neural cables connected his brain to his power armor, and the pelt of a dark brown giant wolf stretched across his back, making him seem like a naked god of slaughter.

Then Horus casually tossed his brother to the ground. Sanguinius’s wings sank into his own blood, and he seemed to glance toward the corner.

What kind of look was that?

With that single glance, Lox’s heart nearly stopped. Nothing remained in Horus’s once-amber eyes but the radiance of Chaos. Four forces seemed to swirl within the endless darkness—the source that had brought about Horus’s fall.

Yes, Horus had discovered them. He had discovered Lox and Curze in the corner.

Yet just as the Wolf Lord walked toward them, everything before their eyes returned to chaos, and Lox found himself back in the hall of the Vengeful Spirit where he had first arrived.

Its splendor had been defiled by severed human limbs and blood. Eerie Warp ghostfire still lingered on the floor, countless Space Marine corpses piled into mountains, and foul air rushed into their faces.

Broken power swords and shattered armor littered the ground. Countless brave warriors had fought to the death, filling this bottomless meat grinder with their bones and blood.

Only this time, Sanguinius and Horus’s battle had moved to another chamber. The Great Angel had learned his lesson and deliberately kept his distance, using the Spear of Telesto to harry his foe.

Yet the fatal blow still came once again. Horus shattered the Spear of Telesto with his Worldbreaker warhammer. That glorious weapon, personally forged by the Emperor and bestowed upon the Warmaster after the victory in the Ullanor campaign, became the instrument used to murder his blood brother.

Sanguinius’s flesh shattered beneath Worldbreaker’s crushing strike, in a far more gruesome manner than the slaughter inflicted by the Horus Talon moments before.

Lox watched helplessly as the sacred angel became a pool of bloody pulp. Horus, shrouded in darkness, tirelessly swung his warhammer, grinding Sanguinius apart bit by bit.

That thing was not Horus at all. It was a monster wearing Horus’s skin!

Even Curze, who usually reveled in spectacle, was left dumbfounded by the sight. He had indeed considered killing Sanguinius, but that would have been a clash of ideals. He wanted to prove that he was right about whether the future could be changed, not indulge in this pure violence and slaughter.

The Night Haunter possessed his own warped sense of justice. He did not actually like simple violence.

When Sanguinius died again, everything here reset once more. Lox witnessed the Great Angel and the Wolf Lord battle again and again, but without exception, every ending concluded with Sanguinius’s horrific death.

"Is this the future Sanguinius saw? What exactly had he been carrying and enduring…?"

Lox had heard Sanguinius speak of the cruel future he had foreseen, but hearing about it could never compare to witnessing it firsthand. In this mysterious place reached through the Davin temple portal, they seemed to be truly seeing Sanguinius’s prophecy.

Everything seemed trapped in an unsolvable cycle. Lox watched Sanguinius resist again and again. The Great Angel constantly analyzed the movements of the monster called Horus, studying how to defeat and kill him. He was steadily improving, but it was still not enough.

Sanguinius died so many times that even Lox felt mentally numb. Horus was invincible. He was no longer some so-called primarch. No primarch could slaughter his own brother as easily as killing a chicken.

Lox had also tried activating Veronica, as well as having Curze inside the Iron Men help Sanguinius. Even if they could add the slightest weight to Sanguinius’s side of the scales, it would be worthwhile.

But there was no doubt that it was futile. They simply could not reach either of them.

Sanguinius saw Lox and Konrad as well, but he could not spare even a shred of attention to speak with them. Every ounce of his focus had been utterly drained in his struggle against Horus. Sanguinius had never fought so desperately, all so that he could survive one more second beneath his opponent’s hands.

Did he have any chance of winning? A voice sounded within Sanguinius’s heart.

"It must exist!" A cold fury began flowing through the angel’s bloodline, and that boundless rage made his sword swing faster and faster.

"It is the Black Rage."

Sanguinius had once seen this thing in his visions. After his death, the Black Rage and the Red Thirst would curse his descendants.

But now, he had no choice but to borrow the power of those two curses to fight the peerless Horus.

The Great Angel was immensely powerful, nearly unmatched even among primarchs. After mastering both the Black Rage and the Red Thirst, Sanguinius could even contend with Horus for a brief time.

The one-sided slaughter turned into a prolonged battle of attrition. Sanguinius’s fury was cold and merciless, impossible to shake. The Blade Encarmine gradually gained parity against the Worldbreaker warhammer, but it was still not enough.

Sanguinius, having reached his strongest state, was once more pierced through the chest by the Horus Talon. Their battle even destroyed nearly half the Vengeful Spirit. The collisions of energy grew ever more dazzling, yet in the end were still swallowed by darkness.

Even Lox had fallen into despair. The Great Angel after his breakthrough truly resembled a being from myth and legend. His white wings shone with dazzling golden light, and a single swing of his sword could even split the Vengeful Spirit’s deck apart.

Even if the master of humanity himself came, could he be a match for Horus?

Sanguinius revived once more. This time, the voice in the depths of his heart became clearer and louder.

Follow my guidance, and I will help you defeat Horus.

It was an endless expanse of light. It dispelled the darkness and brought warmth, as though the sun had replaced the night. When it fused into Sanguinius’s body, the Great Angel felt invincible.

Horus has received the blessing of the dark powers within the Warp. To defeat him, you must receive the same kind of blessing—the aid of the Warp’s powers of light.

The voice continued. Sanguinius instinctively found it strange. There were… powers of light within the Warp?

But the power inside him was not false. Sanguinius rose from the enormous wreckage created when his own body had smashed into it. Just moments ago, Horus’s strike had broken the battleship’s keel and sent him crashing straight down to the lowest deck.

After hesitating, Sanguinius chose to follow that voice’s guidance. He willingly fused with the suddenly appearing light. The Great Angel became even more sacred and perfect, divine radiance flowing over his body as he glittered like a flawless diamond.

He opened his eyes and raised the Blade Encarmine high, holding the Spear of Telesto in his other hand. Endless power of light flowed into them. Sanguinius suddenly hurled the Spear of Telesto, piercing Horus within the darkness.

The light tore through the darkness. Horus wailed and fell to his knees. No matter how unwilling he was, facing the godlike Great Angel, there was only one possible ending for him: death.

"Pinch me. I feel like I’m dreaming. How did Sanguinius suddenly power up? How did he just… kill Horus?"

Come on, reality was not some hot-blooded Neon anime popular in the third millennium.

Lox swallowed in disbelief, while Curze beside him obediently kicked him, sending Lox flying.

"Veronica!" Lox growled.

The thinking Iron Man immediately punched himself. The metal on his surface flowed like mercury, directing the full force of the blow onto Konrad inside him.

That savage punch nearly made Curze vomit up his bile, yet he still burst into laughter. Being able to watch Lox embarrass himself was undoubtedly worth it.

"How would I know? But if Sanguinius won, that would be a good thing." Curze’s voice quickly returned to normal. He discovered that his body’s regenerative ability was growing stronger and stronger.

"I want to be the one to destroy this damned Imperium, not the even more disgusting Chaos."

Lox had no mood to pay attention to Curze. After their careful "treatment," the Night Haunter had become less deranged, but his appetite for spectacle had only increased.

He did not know whether that was a good outcome or a bad one.

Sanguinius descended from the sky with holy light around him. There was no joy on his face at defeating the traitor, only tranquil detachment.

"I defeated the enemy. Horus has been executed. The Imperium will ultimately prevail."