Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"Removing a person's freedom to commit crimes does not mean removing all people's freedom." - "The Book of Lorgar"

Horus Luperkar was not often angry in the presence of his kin, whether with his Primarch or his offspring.

Even in the face of potential enemies, the peaceful attitude that the Shepherd God has always maintained has brought many pocket empires that have peacefully surrendered to the empire; even a few alien societies whose cultural structures are small enough to be different from humans and who are sufficiently aware of possible threats in the universe can also Choose to surrender before Horus.

This is a particularly soft ray among the thousands of rays of light in the First Returned Son. It is an inalienable and precious trait after the countless great and magnificent war victories he has brought.

But now, the Wolf God and the Lion King are standing on both sides of the altar, their eyes are connected, and their momentum is in conflict.

Leon, with his usual calmness, stood like a boulder among the steps of the altar, his height seemed to overwhelm Horus[1]. He is one of the taller ones among the Primarchs, not to mention his demeanor is often more dignified and serious than anyone else, with a straight spine, even though he was born in the wild woods - maybe it is This, on the contrary, contributed to his adherence to the honor of knighthood.

As for Horus Luperkar, his face was stern, and the burning anger in his eyes made the original contours of his face look like heavy shadows behind the blazing sun. He let out a long, trembling breath, as if he was squeezing out a stream of blood from between his teeth.

"It is you I am talking about, Horus," Leon said, his voice coming down from top to bottom, like falling gravel. "You have always placed the Emperor's order first, but the impact of the loss of the Second Legion has The logic of your behavior.”

Horus's fingers retracted inward, as if they were holding something invisible: "How can searching for a lost brother go against the Emperor's orders, Jonson! How can you question my respect for the Emperor?" What about respect and admiration? What have I done to make you doubt me in this way?”

"You made unreasonable military suggestions, Horus," Leon said. "I have long discovered that you cared too much about that Duncan and allowed him to interfere with your emotions..."

"We are a family, Leon! You have never met him, and you have just returned to us, so I understand that you don't care about his life or death...but I care! We should care too! In addition to our blood relatives Brother, who else in this universe..."

Leon's eyebrows lowered slightly, and the atmosphere in the Wandering Temple changed slightly with the change in his expression. A certain dark atmosphere quietly surged in the light.

He interrupted Horus and said softly: "I care about his life. The Second Legion is a viable force in the Imperial Crusade. This is what you told me, Horus."

"At this time, when I talk about brotherhood, do you have to talk about him from the perspective of the empire as a whole?" Horus said painfully, as if bitter and astringent juice was being squeezed in his heart, "You Do you have to be so heartless, Leon? Don’t you have any real love in your heart?”

After Leon listened to Horus's question, his eyes embedded in the snow-white rock-like face were filled with thoughts and deliberation, but there was no feeling at all.

"I don't see the reason why you question me, nor do I understand what friendship is worth talking about. How can it make you prefer to deceive yourself and think that you have lived up to the Emperor's orders."

He said, pausing for a few seconds to think and remember, then resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Let's fight."

Horus was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.

The faun growled in further aroused rage: "What the hell did Russ teach you, Leon? Fighting instead of theory?"

The Lion King's aura has become calm and indifferent. There is indeed a certain wildness of Leman Russ in him, but it is far more restrained and restrained than the Wolf King. Just like the similar blond hair on their heads, they have evolved separately. There are two forms of hair: meticulously combed and braided into messy braids.

However, no matter what, Leon did learn a way from Ruth, which was to use fists instead of tongues.

Horus came unarmed, and he had no intention of fighting at first. But he could already hear the pulse of blood rushing through his veins. His eardrums buzzed.

"If this is what you want, Leon," the Wolf God stared at him and grinned.

At this moment, a voice joined the cloud of imminent battle, lightly stirring up the stagnant atmosphere.

"Are you going to duel where His gaze is looking directly at you, my brothers? To fall into the sin of unpeace in His temple?" Lorgar's voice appeared softly. He walked to the bottom of the steps, stretched out his hand, and put it on Horus's raised arm. The other hand was still holding the black iron box, "Are you going to grab each other's throats in front of his phalanges? "

The one with the truth word immediately turned to Horus: "You are the first son and our brother, Luperkar. You should not argue about the gains and losses of words with our last son."

Horus lowered his eyes and stared at the box in Lorgar's hand, his anger flowing away like water.

"We will discuss future choices at the formal combat meeting," Wolf Shepherd said, looking away from him, "I shouldn't have brought this up with you in advance. After all, we are just here to check his phalanges. I hope that later I can convince you with military logic, Leo."

Lorgar let go of Horus' arm, glanced at Perturabo behind him, then raised his head slightly and looked at Leon.

"Save some respect for your brother," he said. "We are both serving the Emperor."

"You are speaking for Horus," the Lion bowed his head. "Urizen, they say that name means you are wise."

"Yes." Lorgar affirmed both questions at the same time.

"So, Aurelion, you are going to persuade me to go against the Emperor's will while you are serving him?" The Lion asked, the content of his words was far sharper than his tone, and he clearly expressed his doubts.

"Lion..." Horus became the one who was more emotional.

"Don't be sad, Horus, we will all return to Him in the end," Lorgar advised. "He left us early for humanity, so there is no need to grieve."

"For humanity?" The wolf god murmured, not convinced by Lorgar's persuasion, and the Lion was still waiting for the answer to his question.

Lorgar looked around awkwardly, and finally had to close his eyes briefly, turned sideways, and called Perturabo: "I ask you to say something, my brother."

The faint light in Perturabo's hand dimmed. He turned off the screen of the data board, raised his head, and met three pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Are you done arguing?" he asked coldly, "Can I see the remains of our brother?"

If someone pointed out his negative mood at this time, he would not deny it.

"Yes," Lorgar said first, "Please come to the altar, Primarchs, I am very sure that this is a part of him, but other than that, I can't find any other information. It's hard for me to imagine his experience..."

He came to Perturabo's side and tried to walk forward with the Iron Lord intimately. Perturabo glanced at Lorgar's face from the side and upward, and the golden scriptures were trembling slightly because of nervousness.

Perturabo acquiesced to Lorgar's behavior, and climbed to the highest step beside the altar with the Word Bearer, and then called the two Primarchs below: "Come, Lion, Horus. Mourning and service are different paths to the same end, they lead to the path of battle. But at this moment, we will focus on the former."

"Only He is above, and those below are equal," Lorgar Aurelion stood beside the Iron Lord and softly repeated the circle of golden words engraved on the edge of the iron altar.

Horus was still angry, and he stretched out a hand to the Lion, with his fingers stiffly pressed together.

The handshake that followed had nothing to do with forgiveness and pardon. It was just a temporary truce, like a collision of gun barrels with residual heat, ready to trigger the next gunshot at any time.

Then, Horus nodded to Lorgar: "Let me see him, Aurelion."

The Word Bearer placed the iron box on the upper surface of the altar and gently opened the box.

During the war, the assault team carrying out the mission had no way to find a more suitable container for the Primarch's finger bones, and Lorgar did not replace the original iron box.

He regarded it as another holy coincidence that a part of the Emperor's children was brought back by the Iron Warrior himself. Moreover, the existence of the Primarch did not need the so-called decoration of ordinary gold and silver. The simple black iron would be the best and only destination.

Perhaps Horus was not right about everything, but one of his points did make sense - the Primarchs were indeed the only ones in the galaxy who were connected by blood.

Since they were created by the hands of the Emperor, there has been a hidden connection and commonality in their bodies or souls, as if all the Primarchs came from the same mysterious source, the same burning fire.

Perhaps this is most obvious between the twin Primarchs, but this does not mean that other Primarchs do not have this kind of subtle empathy. It is higher than the fundamental principles of the material universe, lingering on the souls and wills of these flawless creations, and sometimes causes a very precious thing in the Primarch's soul to stir.

Feelings. It was their emotions that were touched.

Lion stared at the pale finger bone, and for a brief moment, he tasted blood that was not there in his mouth. A sharp pain climbed along the bone on his left ring finger, and he couldn't tell where the feeling came from.

A sharp sword reflecting sunlight sank in the lake. A transparent and bright jade shattered on the stone. In the distance, a precious thing changed its original form forever. It was unbearable and undeniable.

He suddenly retracted his gaze, and his voice became lower. "The second primarch is dead."

Horus had no energy left to refute him. He shook his head slightly, his eyes lingering on the finger bone.

"There is no solid evidence yet, brothers," Perturabo said, "At least, we have found more clues and opened up the corridors that blocked us. The roadblocks ahead cannot stop us, whether for service or revenge."

This was the report he had completed on the way here. As for why he continued to browse the information afterwards, on the one hand, it was because he did not want to get involved in the argument between Horus and Lion - he believed that they were all adults, not uncontrollable children; on the other hand, it was the quarter for regular handling of Webway affairs.

"Yes, Perturabo," Horus said, using Cosonia for the first time in front of multiple brothers, his fighting spirit coldly and sharply cutting his nerves and will, "We can still hold the future in our hands."

A wisp of fragrance floated from a corner of the Wanderer's Temple, gradually filling the bright light, floating like dust. Lorgar Aurelion scooped a little natural frankincense made from plant juice from the incense boat with a small spoon, and sprinkled the pale yellow spice on the charcoal in the incense burner.

"He is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Him will be resurrected." The man with the truth said softly, his voice a little hoarse than usual, "We commemorate and celebrate his life, and ask Him to comfort our sad hearts and give us May the soul of Duncan Aho await us as we continue our service to His children through the days to come."

"Praise the Emperor." The remaining three people said one after another.

Afterwards, the man with the true word took a dish of holy oil and returned to the altar. After solemnly re-covering the black iron box, he dipped his fingers in a little fragrant holy oil and gently made the sign of the cross on the black iron box to request His blessings and spiritual nourishment.

He gently put down the reliquary, under the snow-white icon and candlestick in the center of the altar, "We pray that this place will be blessed and make it a place of remembrance, reflection, and seeking. May everyone who comes here be able to find Peace, may their lives be enriched by it."

"Praise be to the Emperor."

Lorgar knelt down, kissed the edge of the altar, then stood up again, her violet eyes returning to peace.

"I will keep this phalange here for the time being, brothers," he said. "If there are more body parts, I also hope to bring them here to preserve his integrity. Please come today On this trip, if you are interested in continuing to discuss the next tactical mission and strategic goals, please come with me to the strategy room of the Harhabat Order."

On the Law of Faith, Urizen's original strategy room should be this temple, not the secondary strategy room set up by the religious order. But Lorgar did not want a second quarrel to break out today, especially not in front of the Second Primarch's phalanges.

"Of course," said Horus, "lead us, Aurelion."

Luojia smiled, and the top of his head was dyed golden by the golden inscriptions on his skin and the bright light in the temple. "I look forward to murdering more infidels, my brother."

Leon glanced at Perturabo.

"Leon and I will follow shortly," Perturabo said, turning to face Leon El'Jonson as his brothers strode out of the sept.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about their next military move, Leon."

The Lion King didn't answer his question directly.

"This is not what you taught me," Leon narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

Leon stepped down the steps and looked back under the steps, as if to take Perturabo and the altar beside him into his eyes.

"You taught me loyalty."

He looked at the altar and said that the personal pronouns in his mouth seemed to have a clear direction.

"Be loyal to the Emperor's orders, obey the instructions of Terra, and swear allegiance before the throne. There is nothing more. Those trapped in brotherhood are inherently frivolous, and generals who form factions and selfish interests are not respected. Only trials are worth facing. Yes, only the worthy ones stand, and thus the Dark Angels are born, the First Legion, the first of all.”

Leon's confusion has been accumulating in his heart since he entered the cultural environment of human society. Different from the malicious whispers in the forest, everyone hides many different faces: they waver when they claim to never waver, they linger when they claim to never back down, they retain selfishness in their declaration of loyalty, and they are afraid when they are talking and laughing. future.

Luther couldn't answer all his questions, and he didn't like the surprise and confusion that Luther subconsciously showed when facing his questions. He quickly understood that he could not allow his heart to be explored to this extent.

At the same time, he did not want to directly ask whether he had been deceived in some way.

Perturabo pondered for a moment: "Are you puzzled by Horus's abnormal mood, Leon?"

"He is that kind of person." Questions flashed across the noble face of the Lion King, "But are there mostly emotional people among the original bodies?"

"Maybe it's because... the Emperor gave us this part." Perturabo replied, "What about you, Leon? What do you feel when you look at this reliquary?"

"I feel weird." Leon described his feelings, paused, and raised his eyebrows, "I don't understand."

Perturabo walked up to Leon and patted the lion's arm: "When he created us, he gave us the warm emotions of mankind. If someone decides to use it, it is to use the emperor's gift. Genetic origin The miraculous blood relationship between bodies is the same."

He thought for a while: "Of course, if you want to ask for some more personal insights, Lorgar is right - you have only returned to human society for more than a year. According to some recorded experiences, this is a bit short, and everything is No conclusion can be made yet, and Horus is in a state of confusion.”

"Good judgment," Leon nodded, "I understand."

"Do you understand?" Because the lion's answer was too straightforward, Perturabo suddenly became suspicious.

Leon El'Jonson nodded: "My heart is not warm. I am not one of them."