[I am loyal!]
Lorgar lunged forward to grab the sword from Fulgrim's hand, which caused his head to fly off, but his body still executed the order and snatched the sword away, and the iron sword fell to the ground with a clang.
+I believe you are loyal! My brother! +
Lorga's roar was heard, and his body began to twitch. Fulgrim, who was knocked down by Lorga's body, turned his head in horror and saw behind him, the head that was thrown out was opening its mouth and eyes wide, screaming silently, and a fierce golden flame was burning on the severed head.
[-ah!!!!]
Fulgrim screamed, but Phoenix immediately stood up, stumbled over, and picked up Lorgar's head with both hands. Golden flames burned along Fulgrim's arms. Without any hesitation, Fulgrim turned around and stabbed Lorgar's twitching body with his head.
+Thank you, my brother.+
Lorgar's voice rang out again. Fulgrim, who could not understand the Word Bearers Primarch, took two steps back and stumbled to the ground.
Fugen saw that the team led by Luo Jia was also dumbfounded by what had just happened.
Lorgar, who had been twitching on the ground, stood up, groped upwards with both hands, and pulled out the head that Fulgrim had violently inserted a little bit - so that it could float again.
Then the head slowly turned back to face Fugen.
The stitches that had been stretched open by its violent screaming and tightly sewn around its eyes and mouth returned to their original positions.
Fugen collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath due to fear and intense exercise. He raised his hands, and the golden flames that had just burned him faded away.
[This is… What is this?]
Fulgrim asked. The golden flames brought him pain, but he did not reject them. He thought of what Luo Jia had just said, and an idea came to his mind -
+The power of the Emperor. +
Lorgar said he raised his hand, and his staff returned to the Primarch's hand.
+Now are you willing to believe that I am loyal? +
Fugen swallowed his saliva, he looked down at Fenus's armor, in his peripheral vision, he could still see the golden flames on his arms.
… No… No, if it was an illusion, He would have used Fenugreek to tempt him, not Lorgar.
Not to mention—such a weird Luojia!
Faenus, Horus, Sanguinius... but never Lorgar.
[You...you...what does he want me to do.]
Fulgrim stammered, but he immediately added,
[Except loyalty, everything I have has been taken away by Him. I am not sure I have what you want, and I am not sure I can do what you want me to do.]
Fugen gritted his teeth, blood oozing from his mouth.
[I...if I can help my father...I will be happy to do so.]
The dirty grey-armored giant before him seemed to sigh.
+Your existence itself is a kind of coordinate. +
Lorgar waved his scepter and the golden runes twisted down from the scepter, moving close to the ground and instantly surrounding Fulgrim. Fulgrim twitched unnaturally, but in the end he said nothing.
Lorgar bent down and pulled Fulgrim up.
The Word Bearers Primarch turned his head and looked into the distance with his eyes closed, as if he was confirming something.
+You are the chosen one,+
The Golden Speaker's tone was slightly sad.
+I'm sorry—but I think you need to know the truth. I trust your loyalty, brother—can you promise to live up to my trust? +
Fugen shrank back, his eyes hidden in his messy hair never raised, and he didn't speak in the end.
Lorgar continued to talk to himself, as if Fulgrim had acquiesced.
+He, Slaanesh, made a deal with you,+
Luo Jia said with difficulty, +It is because He hopes that there is a being similar enough to Himself, and when Hades enters the Six Desires Palace, this being will be far enough away from the palace. +
+You are His chosen bait. +
Fugen, who had been keeping his head down, began to tremble violently.
[He wants me to distract... it?]
The floating head moved up and down comically, as if nodding.
[Then why should we do as He wishes? ! ! !]
Fulgrim screamed. He rushed forward angrily and pushed Lorgar with his hand, but Lorgar did not move at all. Then, Fulgrim seemed to suddenly realize something. Phoenix cursed loudly and paced back and forth like a trapped beast.
+Because He changed His mind midway,+
Lorgar said as calmly as possible, +He hopes to sacrifice himself completely to detonate the entire High Heaven. +
Is this a lie? Maybe, maybe not - after all, no one knows what Slaanesh himself is thinking.
Slaanesh himself doesn't know.
+For His pleasure... He threw part of His authority into the Styx, giving up this aspect of His authority. +
Lorgar's sewn eyes made his face look particularly peaceful and kind.
+But this authority has not disappeared. +
Fugen looked up suddenly.
[it-]
Fulgrim was silent for a moment, but then he said angrily, "According to my inference, there is no way any subspace could survive in that black mass!"
Luo Jia raised his hand and made a religious gesture in front of himself.
+Praise the Emperor,+
The Golden Speaker said, +The power closest to Hades is the God-Emperor, our father... +
+He sent down his power, took advantage of Slaanesh's weakness, and seized some of Slaanesh's authority on the River Styx. +
Fulgrim looked at Lorgar in horror.
[He hopes... He...]
+The God-Emperor's authority conflicts with Slaanesh's authority - He cannot use them.+
Lorgar said, He touched the ground with the head of the scepter, and around Fulgrim, the golden runes began to emit dots of purple light.
Tears slowly flowed from Luojia's eyes. In front of him, Fugen fell to the ground again because of extreme fear.
+But you can, my brother.+
Fugen held his head tightly and pulled his hair neurotically, trying to use the pain to regain some of his sanity. Is this an illusion
[No... I am loyal.]
Lorgar was silent, his shadow looming over the Phoenix, who was talking madly to himself. His golden tears sparkled. As the Golden Speaker who gave alms to Him, Lorgar hoped to comfort the Phoenix.
But there is no time.
He could sense the god's impatience.
Lorgar lowered his scepter again, and golden flames suddenly ignited on the runes, surrounding Fulgrim.
The black lines on Lorgar's mouth loosened, and the Primarch opened his mouth, and in a hoarse voice, he followed the god on the throne, reciting the divine words word by word, obediently.
[Fugen,]
Lorja said, "If you really want to prove that you are loyal and pure, then give your last self."
Even if you have no value now,
[But a piece of bait doesn’t need to be of much value.]
Fugen suddenly raised his head and stared at Lorgar, who had an expressionless face, as if he was completely shattered.
[And after that,]
The Emperor said,
[Find Malcador, and I will grant you the sleep you desire. ]
Phoenix's eyes were filled with tears. He spoke tremblingly, penetrating Luo Jia's body, as if he saw the emperor behind him.
[Really, father?]
The only response he got from the other side was loneliness.
Fulgrim gasped as he fell into a cage surrounded by layers of golden flames and picked up the broken armor of Fenus on the ground at random.
He lowered his head and hid his face under his messy hair again. His pale, dry mouth moved.
Thank you for your kindness, Father.
I'm ready.
He gritted his teeth, blood oozing from his mouth. He proudly, stubbornly, and obsessively guarded his only remaining loyalty.
Did he do the right thing, Finus
Fulgrim wondered, or was it that he simply didn't want to be proven that his previous choice was wrong
Is your loyalty valuable in His sight
But in the end, Fugen was stubborn and didn't lower his head.
Maybe he just didn't want to bow his head.
Encased within this body, Slaanesh's legacy pact was ultimately never enacted - a pact that would have instantly granted the Primarch access to a vast amount of Slaanesh's power.
Among the followers left by Slaanesh, there was a plan by Fulgrim to shake their loyalty and unleash Slaanesh's psychic power in order to lure Hades back.
On the throne, the emperor's eyes were full of complexity.
In the end, Fulgrim was unwilling to surrender his loyalty to Slaanesh... The Emperor thought,
But this also means that the Emperor will invest more of his own power to make up for the missing power of Slaanesh.
Now…
The Emperor looked at the figure kneeling on the ground in a mess, holding the armor of Fenus, with a complicated expression.
... Fulgrim... Fulgrim...
The emperor thought, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
… There is no other way… Such a pure and loyal soul… should just stay.
…but…it’s hard for Lao Ma.
The golden flames burned silently.
No more, yay!
(End of this chapter)