[Three Days Later] [On the Endurance]
Vorx stared at the Dreadnought in front of him, a familiar model with the Primarch's mistletoe tied to its back.
"I will never trust you, Karas Typhon."
Vox said, staring at the fearless man who seemed dead since he came back.
"Even if you were chosen by the Primarch, I would not believe you."
Vox clenched his hand, the wound that Malcador had cut three days ago aching slightly.
"The supreme leader of the Death Guard is Garro."
Vox finished his announcement and stood there, waiting for Karas's response.
"… "
"good."
His quick surrender even gave Vox pause, Karas Typhon said.
Vox took a deep breath, as if he was struggling with his thoughts.
"Karas Typhon,"
His voice softened.
"What did you see, and what did Lord Mortarion tell you?"
Karas was silent. Vox seemed to think that the Dreadnought was trembling.
"…after that day,"
Karas's muffled voice sounded,
"I've been thinking a lot, Vox."
Vox shifted his feet uneasily. He didn't think this was a good start, but for some strange reason, he continued to listen.
"… I am a loser and a traitor."
Karas said
"Hades was right. He saw through me before anyone else—before we first met."
"Barbarus?"
Vox asked in a low voice, and Karas confirmed his question.
"He's right."
Calas Typhon said gloomily,
"If you wish to repent,"
Vox said, "You can speak directly at Lord Hades' grave—it must be after the funeral. You can't go out now."
After learning the news from Malcador, while waiting for the voyage to retrieve the Primarch,
The Death Guard is preparing to hold a memorial service for Hades - the Death Guard has never had a tradition of mourning the dead, but Hades may be the exception.
They invited Malcador, Angron and Guilliman, with Malcador refusing the Death Guard and the two Primarchs agreeing.
"I know,"
Karas Typhon answered, lowering his voice as if he didn't want to disturb the memorial service in the hall below deck.
"I just... I just don't understand..."
"I don't understand why Mortarion hasn't shot me yet."
Karas was silent, his soul trembling before his conscience, burning before the fact that he was a rotten man. He realized in despair that he did not deserve such treatment in any way. He was like a bastard who had just been released from prison and wanted to serve his parents, only to find out that the parents who were waiting for him to be released from prison had already died.
He couldn't accept it all, but he forced himself to accept it all. If he continued to collapse in the face of the heavy facts, he would still be the scum that no one could save.
Fortunately, Carastiphon is not a weak person, nor is he someone who is afraid to face reality. Even though he may have been one in the past, he is not like that now.
He figured it out.
After a long while, Karas' tone became the same as that of the ruffian on Barbaros.
"Forget it - I have to pay my debts and I have to pay my lives. Mortarion wants me to work for him, so I accept it."
"—Anyway, as long as he's not dead."
No one saw Karas collapse in the illusion, and Karas Typhon would not let others see that side of him.
Karas' tone became indifferent.
"You just said I could go spit on Hades's grave before I left, Vox?"
The smoke cleared from the dreadnought's shell, and Vox sheathed his gun.
"Watch your words, Karas."
Vox said,
"Even though you are now the Death Guard's hope of finding the Legion Master, I hope you realize that if you continue to do this - you will not end well."
Callas smiled.
"Little one,"
He said, and began to tease Vox expertly,
"Do you know what Hades said to me that year?"
"He said that if I died, he would definitely come to my grave for a spring outing and eat my offerings as snacks."
Hades also said this to Mortarion, and Mortarion's response to it was casual.
The story of these three people spread in the village of Barbaryus like some kind of heroic tale.
The wizard with strange blood and the abominable revenant found the real god of death in the castle of the alien lord.
So, in terms of seniority and qualifications, Carastiphon can indeed use his previous stories with the legion leader and commander to suppress Vox.
And in fact, he did so.
"Even if you have been in the company of two great men, it only makes you more insignificant."
Vox said calmly that he was no longer the immature young man that Karas remembered.
Sure enough, Karaston stayed.
After a while, he continued nonchalantly,
"Whatever. I can't spit in my current state. I just want to go see him. It's nothing to do with anything else. It's just memories."
"Does this answer satisfy you, Vox?"
Vox stared at Karas closely.
"Of course you can, but we will be watching you, and you can't be in sight of others."
The Karas engine whistled twice.
"Thank you for your understanding, Captain of the Death Guard."
He said provocatively
"Also, as someone who can retrieve Mortarion, can I make a small request of my own?"
Vox held the sickle in silence, motioning Karas to continue.
"I want some roasted horse meat,"
Karas said.
"It's not too late to pay back the debts we owed."
—————
Angron felt... something he didn't know how to describe.
He rarely felt this kind of emotion since he came out of the Maelstrom. Even when facing chaos, he had never been so conflicted.
This thing is... amazing.
He was going to attend Hades' memorial service. In front of Angron, Guilliman, dressed in a formal suit, had a heavy and sad face. Lady Euden beside Guilliman also had a sad look on her face.
Behind Angron, the expressionless Kahn also exuded a sincere sadness.
They walked along the corridors of the Endurance, where a sense of silent grief permeated the air.
It's all very sad -
Premise Angron didn't know Hades was still alive.
After receiving the invitation from the Death Guard, Angron immediately contacted Malcador.
The old man who was immersed in the psychic power to find Mortarion spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"I received it too. I won't go."
Angron paused. "…But Hades is not dead. You have to tell them that. This is ridiculous. We can't—"
"No time."
Malcador interrupted Angron neatly, and the old man said slowly,
"It will take time to explain this, and I think that the Death Guard would be better suited to survive in this galaxy if they thought Hades was dead."
"You can't do this, this is wrong—"
"What if I said Hades probably liked this, too?"
This was a lie, and Malcador simply didn't want to deal with it.
Now that doing something has no effect, it is better not to do it and do something else meaningful, such as thinking about how to rescue Mortarion who is trapped in the warp.
Angron paused.
"Wait, Hades? You're actually pretty familiar with him, Malcador?"
“… cooked?”
Malcador asked slowly,
"You bent one-fifth of the head of my scepter. What do you think of this relationship?"
"Angron, let them mourn. I think Hades is lonely now too."
Malcador thought,
"Besides... maybe he died soon? He would need a funeral and a memorial service anyway."
Malcador hung up the communication, it was broken... The old man thought, he should go.
Great, no more!
(End of this chapter)