Horus’s Death

No amount of words could match the shock of seeing it laid bare.

As an outsider, and with the aid of the Webway, Uslan had successfully gathered numerous historical scenes from the Great Heresy onward.

Before this moment, however, they had merely been descriptions in intelligence reports—hollow accounts lacking any sense of reality.

Even Guilliman and Sanguinius had not known, until today, exactly why Horus had fallen.

Their guess had been that Horus resented being excluded from the Emperor’s central authority, and resented even more that the Emperor favored mortals over him. Coupled with the Warp’s Chaos temptations, it had driven Horus into rebellion.

Horus had been the first-found son. The Emperor had kept him by his side, teaching and guiding him, carefully nurturing him for nearly thirty years. He had even called Horus his Sagittarius, placing expectations and affection upon him far beyond those he showed his other sons.

It could be said that the Wolf Lord had been the Emperor’s most cherished child. Correspondingly, the Wolf Lord’s love and reverence for the Emperor had surpassed that of his other brothers. His betrayal had been utterly incomprehensible.

Yet the images Uslan showed now revealed that Eugene Temba, the mortal governor of Davin, had wounded Horus with the Anathame blade, infused with the Warp’s evil power through Chaos corruption, causing his fall.

"There was a flaw in Horus’s heart. He was not perfect. He had his own hatred and greed, and that laid the seeds for his fall and the Warp’s corruption."

"In my view, however, the greater responsibility lay with his foolish sons. After Horus was wounded and fell into a coma, they listened to the instigation of a Word Bearer named Erebus and sent him into the temple on Davin," Uslan said.

He had seen that scene before, but he had had no way to tell humanity about it, much less make them believe him.

The same had been true of Fulgrim. Uslan had seen what would happen and wanted to warn the Phoenician, but by the time he arrived, Fulgrim had already fallen.

"So Horus was the first to confront Chaos directly, was he?" Lox said.

To be honest, he could not imagine how the Wolf Lord’s Mournival could have believed the persuasion of a damned Word Bearer. Their father was unconscious and on the verge of dying from his wounds, while a priest from another Legion claimed that a witch-doctor temple with miraculous effects could save him.

And then Abaddon, Loken, Torgaddon, and Little Horus Aximand had actually handed Horus over to Erebus?!

After the Battle of Calth, the Ultramarines had interrogated those prisoners of war, along with the crazed cultists.

They had learned that the masterminds behind this heart-wrenching betrayal had been Kor Phaeron, foster father of the primarch Lorgar, and Erebus, the Legion’s chief chaplain.

The former had been reduced to ashes when Lox rammed him with his ship during Macragge’s Honour’s pursuit. He had now officially been declared dead.

The latter, however, had long since fled and vanished without a trace. The Ultramarines had been relentlessly tracking Erebus, hoping that one day they could grind that heinous villain’s bones to dust.

"Our beloved elder brother, Horus the Wolf God, is already dead," Guilliman said.

He had once hated Horus for betraying and destroying the Emperor’s dream of renewal, and for dragging his Five Hundred Worlds into the fires of galactic war. But now, it seemed Horus had been a victim as well.

"Before he was carried into that temple, he was still our most beloved brother. But after he emerged, that Horus was already dead. In his place stood a completely corrupted puppet, whose body was controlled by the Warp’s evil gods!"

"Horus was the first victim. He fell on the front line against Chaos, and those damned things went on to violate his body, manipulating him like a marionette and making him stab our father in the back."

Guilliman, Lox, and Sanguinius were all filled with righteous fury. Their resentment toward Horus instantly shifted to the Warp.

Because the Horus who had set the galaxy ablaze was now merely a monster bearing Horus’s name.

"Forgive my discourtesy, Seer."

The Lord of Macragge stepped down from his throne and came before Uslan.

He was immensely tall. Even the slender Eldar seer only reached his chest and abdomen.

"You are a worthy figure. Before you brought us this news, I looked down on you because you were xenos. That was my arrogance."

"But you brought us the truth—the truth of Horus’s fall. Horus is dead. The Warp defiled his existence and his ideals, and we shall avenge him."

"We will avenge our first martyred brother. We are all sons of vengeance, and you are the apostle who brought us this message."

Uslan felt as though he might cry. He understood the essence of the primarchs before him. If the primarchs could realize what their essence truly was, they would surpass demigods and become true gods.

And through his efforts, such beings had finally recognized the necessity of unity.

They were thanking him.

An intense sense of pride and glory surged through Uslan. His breathing quickened, but he suppressed it through sheer will, keeping his heart clear and calm.

Because of the Hungry Lady’s existence, the Eldar were deeply wary of intense emotional fluctuations, as they increased the risk of drawing the evil god’s gaze.

Pride was the Hungry Lady’s domain, and that was especially true for the Eldar.

Tears already glimmered in the sensitive Eldar’s eyes. They were tears of joy, born from the overwhelming excitement of seeing the first light of hope.

"Do not thank me. I do not care for such illusory things. The only thing I care about is whether the material universe can unite and fight our great enemy together."

"To achieve that goal, I do not fear even death. The cause I have striven for half my life has finally glimpsed the dawn of success. Forgive me, I have lost my composure."

Uslan wiped away the tears in his eyes and once again became the Eldar seer who held every card in hand.

"Things will get better, Seer."

Lox patted Uslan on the shoulder in comfort.

Uslan had profoundly influenced and inspired him.

Ever since awakening on Isstvan V, he had planned to return to Terra first. After taking one final look at humanity’s homeworld, he would flee with the Red Alert and those lost technologies to some place free of danger, where humanity could take root anew.

But after witnessing humanity’s struggle and unyielding spirit on Calth, Amatara, and other worlds, he had chosen to remain on Macragge, doing everything he could to help Guilliman defeat the traitors and secure his realm.

But after meeting Uslan, he had finally realized who his enemy was and what he ought to do. It was as though a man without any long-term plan had finally found a guiding ideology.

The common enemy of the material universe’s many races was the Warp. To achieve the great goal of defeating Chaos, an alliance was essential.

With humanity at its core, they would form a united front against the Warp, drawing in every life-form that hated the Warp.

"I propose that today, representatives of the Eldar and humanity forge an alliance, making a good beginning for the future," Lox suggested.

He extended his hand first, and Uslan immediately followed.

Guilliman hesitated for a moment before placing his massive power-armored hand over theirs.

"Put yours underneath!"

Lox pulled his hand back out. Damn it, if Guilliman’s hand was on top, only one hand could be seen.

Everyone turned their eyes toward Sanguinius. The Angel had yet to state his position.

"I…"

Sanguinius raised his Blade Encarmine before him, gently cut his palm, and squeezed out a drop of glowing angelic blood.

"I will avenge my dear friend. What the Warp took from Horus, I will take back for him."

Then the Angel’s bloodied hand joined theirs, completing the alliance.

Lox’s heart surged with emotion. What an important moment this was.

Yet he vaguely felt something missing. Was someone absent?

Suddenly, he came back to himself.

Where was the Lion of Caliban?

"Fuck, where is Lion? Where the hell did Lion go?"