Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

"Three Articles of Agreement."

Until he finished his long-awaited meeting with the Father of Genes and reluctantly walked out of the Tower of Babel behind him, Horus was still muttering this word, which was somewhat offensive to a Primarch.

He was sensitive to the fact that this word seemed to be the reason why the Emperor summoned him specifically, and it was the only core of this conversation between father and son: although the Wolf God did not want to admit this, now that he thought about it carefully, in the previous conversation, the Emperor did mention this [Three Articles of Agreement] many times.

This is his wish, isn't it?

The Wolf God shook his head. No matter what he thought about this kind of three articles of agreement in his heart, when he realized that the Emperor wanted him to accept this clause, the Wolf God had made up his mind to accept it: the Son of the First Return would not disobey the will of the Lord of Mankind, no matter what this will was.

Since he could accept that his father was about to leave their common cause and return to the humble mortals, what was the point of a few clauses?

Moreover, he actually liked some of the suggestions: Horus was not sure whether the three articles of agreement were entirely from Morgan's hand, or whether there were people like Guilliman who intervened in it, but in any case, there were many contents that really pierced into the heart of the Wolf God.

Perhaps in their opinion, especially in the opinion of Guilliman (if he really participated in this conspiracy), Horus would be there to complain and cry bitterly for the loss of a considerable part of the power of the Warmaster.

But they were wrong. The Wolf God was never a mediocre person who put secular power as the primary goal. His vision and state of mind were much broader than his brothers imagined.

As for the Warmaster?

From the moment the Emperor promised Horus that he would put the crown of the Warmaster on his head, all of Horus' ambitions for this position and this honor disappeared. When he really held the crown in his hand, the Wolf God realized that this thing was actually just that.

Nothing worth showing off: I don't know why Jonson was so greedy that he even tried to win over Guilliman, whom he originally looked down upon.

What Horus really wanted was to experience the Emperor's trust in him again and confirm his value in his father's heart: What could be more proof of the Lord of Mankind's trust than the Emperor personally granting him the position of Warmaster? Compared with this priceless father-son relationship, all the honors in the world are nothing but passing clouds.

When he left the tower, they no longer had any appeal to him.

"Hu... Ha..."

Horus took a deep breath. He had never loved the air filled with the sour smell of metal on Ullanor as much as he did now, and the sun slapping his cheeks crookedly: the day in the sky was so thin that even if the shepherd wolf god looked directly at its outline, he didn't have to squint his eyes.

Then the Primarch noticed how long he had spent in this tower: Horus remembered that when he entered, the sun of Ullanor was still hanging high above his head, just a little to the west, and now it was weaving an embroidered garment of sunset under the mountains.

Thanks to the celestial orbit of this world, which is no different from that of Holy Terra, it makes the glory of the Wolf God more real: perhaps he should turn around now and pray to the Emperor to hand over this world to him, as a great ritual world in the Kingdom of the Wolf.

But Horus knew that this was almost impossible. Not to mention how presumptuous it was to assign the entire glorious land of the Great Crusade to the jurisdiction of a Primarch, he was not the first choice just in terms of distance.

This was chosen by Malcador himself. It was one of the eastern gateways of the entire Solar Segment and Holy Terra in the future. The three Primarch realms closest to Ullanor were the Fenris Governorate of Leman Russ in the north, the Prospero Realm of Magnus in the northeast, and the Perfect Court of Fulgrim in the east. Horus's jurisdiction was squeezed to the outer layer.

He knew that this was a trick used by the mortals on Terra to exclude him. They wanted him to stay away from Terra: Malcador was even unwilling to assign Horus's home planet, Cthonia, which witnessed his reunion with the Emperor, to the jurisdiction of the Wolf Realm. The Sigillite arrogantly asked the Wolf God to choose a new home planet and capital for him and his Luna Wolves in the Savage Lands of the northern Milky Way.

As for the original territory of the Solar Segment?

Confiscated it all as a transfer.

"Tsk..."

This old bastard.

If it weren't for his father's sake...

The Wolf God frowned and decided not to think about these annoying things. He turned and looked at the tower behind him for the last time, but he couldn't see the balcony where he talked with the Emperor. All he could see were the disappointing eyes of the Guards, full of alienation and vigilance.

Horus snorted. He was used to ignoring the group of useless flatterers around the Emperor: they had the honor of being created by the Lord of Mankind himself, and mastered the countless skills and abilities he gave them, but the only job they could do was to act as bodyguards for his Gene Father, and they were not even competent for this job.

Horus thought of Goron, and then of Ullanor: These golden wastes had put his genetic father in crisis twice, and one of them even required the Wolf God himself to save him, God knows. How many times had the Custodes tarnished their honor in places that Horus could not see before.

The only thing these guys are good at may be to rely on their noble status to raise their nostrils to the sky in front of these frontline soldiers who are truly fighting bloody battles: Horus couldn't help but smile because of the vicious speculation in his heart. , he turned around, stepped forward, and shook off the footsteps of the Imperial Guards with long strides, trying to get rid of this prisoner-like treatment.

Fortunately, before he had gone very far, he met another unlucky guy halfway through the prisoner's dilemma who was just as trapped in the prisoner's dilemma as he was.

"Alfaris, brother."

Horus grinned, quickly adjusted his emotions, and wanted to show a sincere smile in front of his brother: Alpharius was standing not far away from him, and he was surrounded by people. Encircle the Forbidden Army.

It looks like Alpha has been here for a while.

"I hope you have not stayed in this place too long, my brother Alpharius."

Horus embraced Alpha, noticing once again how small his brother was: the horns on Alpharius's helmet did not even touch the Wolf God's forehead, which was unimaginable for a Primarch. And he was almost as tall as his descendants.

The Wolf Shepherd originally thought that Morgan was the shortest among their brothers: he heard that Vulcan once made a pair of armor for Morgan according to his own size, but it turned out that the armor could fit the entire Spider Queen into it. Even the silver hair on the top of his head was invisible.

Can't even jump out.

To compensate for this, the Fire Dragon Lord allowed their sister to sit on his shoulders for a full two hours: Morgan was said to be content with this novel perspective.

But even so, the Spider Queen seems to be taller than Alpharius, even if she is only the best among the dwarves.

Horus tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth. He didn't want Alpharius to notice that he was thinking about something impolite in his heart: the Hydra lord's mind was frighteningly sharp. Fortunately, he was thinking about something else now. matter.

"Have you been waiting here for a long time?"

Wolf Shepherd asked the question first.

"It's not that long: five hours, maybe."

Alpha is still a little dissatisfied.

"I only wish the Emperor could spend as long chatting with me as he does with you."

Horus did not respond. He was laughing out loud with pride in his heart.

"Five hours?"

"Thank you for your hard work, brother."

"nothing."

Hydra spread his hands.

"As soon as I commanded my legion to handle the matter of relocating the camp, the Custodes came to me with the emperor's order. Fortunately, the remaining time was enough for me to complete the work: my legion had completely left the sight of the Imperial Fists. Now stationed next to the Night Lord, I hope the result of this treatment will satisfy Dorne."

"Um...cough..."

Horus coughed and kept calculating in his mind: He did not want to see the confrontation between Dorn and Alpharius continue like this. After all, they were blood brothers who were very close to him. Moreover, both men have excellent personal abilities, and their internal fighting is not a good thing for Horus.

"You know."

The faun organizes language.

"Donne is by no means a bad person. He is the most trustworthy brother. I assure you that there is no malice in his words: he is just a bit stubborn and stubborn. And he is by no means a personal attack on your life experience, but A more difficult to understand... uh..."

"bona fide?"

Hydra added with a smile.

"Yes! Yes, yes: kindness."

"His anger was kind."

When he said this word, Horus felt that his teeth were sore.

"In short, you should learn to trust our brother Dorn: I will find a time for you to get together again in the future, or arrange a fight side by side for you? I believe that when you two see the advantages of each other, , a little unpleasantness today will become a joke after the foundation of friendship."

"I don't think so."

Hydra's eyebrows lowered.

"Horus: I hear Dorn is about to be appointed by the Emperor as his Praetorian Guard of Terra."

"That's right: this was something that was decided before you came back."

"Yeah, what a pity."

Alpharius nodded. He glanced vaguely at the surrounding guards, and then motioned Horus to get closer to him, so that the voice of the Hydra could reach the ears of the Wolf God: his accent was like ice. Lengqing stabbed Horus's spine for no reason.

"Listen to me, Brother Horus: I will speak of these speculations only once."

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"Don't you think it's safe to appoint Dorne's legion as the Praetorian Guard of Terra?"

"What's the meaning?"

Horus frowned, confused by Alpharius's words: The Wolf God might have doubted whether he was worthy of being the Warmaster, and also doubted whether Sanguinius, Jonson or even Guilliman was better than him. Is he more suitable for this position? But he never doubted the Emperor's order to appoint Dorne as a Guard of Terra.

Among the Primarchs, no one doubted this order, not even in the entire Empire: when the choice of Warmaster was still hidden in the clouds, Dorne was already the Tyrant in everyone's hearts. Call the guard.

After all, even Perturabo had already acquiesced to this fact: he even took the initiative to advise the Emperor, believing that Dorn was the most capable person to serve as the Guard of Terra.

"Just speculation."

Alpharius's voice dropped even lower.

"Think about it: when our respective legions were on the front lines of the Great Crusade, when all of our realms were fragmented into wild corners of the galaxy, only Dorn's Imperial Fists could hold their own for a long time. There is Terra, and only the military zone of Dorne is the primarch country closest to Holy Terra.”

"Terra is at his vanguard."

"He is so close to the heart of the empire, so close to our emperor. He has decades or even longer to take over the entire throne world as his own bit by bit: enclosing the palace with his own high walls. , transform Holy Terra into what he wants, and adjust the center of the empire at will according to his own will, and no other legion can even restrain him. "

"But Dorne..."

"That's right!"

Alpharius waved his hand.

"He is loyal, he is determined, and he is enthusiastic. It seems that except for the shortcoming of speaking out, he has nothing to blame. And even this shortcoming is passed down in our mouths and has become a symbol of his ancient heart: You don't Do you think this is too suspicious?"

“How can anyone be perfect?”

"Dorn also has flaws."

Horus tried hard to correct, but he didn't notice that his tone was wavering.

"Really?"

Alpharius just smiled.

"Frank? Or stubborn?"

"Seriously, are these two shortcomings really considered shortcomings? They are neutral terms."

"..."

"Think about it, Horus: Is Dorne really so perfect? ​​So perfect that we let the entire Holy Terra and his legion be alone together, and no one would be wary of it. "

"Guilliman is far away, but we have to be on guard against him at all times. Dorn is right in front of us, but no one doubts him: we have not even doubted why he wears golden armor so similar to the Emperor. , the color of the Imperial Fist is not golden.”

"Or, if our father lived in seclusion in the palace of Terra from now on and was completely submerged by the walls of Dorne, so that people could only see Dorne standing on the high wall: then after decades of transformation And control, do you think the Empire still cares about who the golden armor standing on the high wall of Terra belongs to?"

"The Emperor? Or Dorne?"

"Who cares?"

"Anyway: they're all golden."

"At that time: who knows who the voices and commands transmitted from Terra are from?"

"..."

Horus's eyes widened.

Hydra's words were like a dagger, cutting a black hole in the heart of the Wolf Shepherd God, and then instilling ideas that Horus had never thought of: Or perhaps such ideas, perhaps long ago It was lurking in Horus's heart, but he had never noticed it before.

"A...Alfaris!"

Horus couldn't help but adjust his tone to a cruel attitude.

"Stop talking! I won't allow you to criticize our brother like this in front of others!"

"It would be fine if I heard it, but do you know how much trouble it will cause you and Dorn if these words from your mouth are spread? The relationship between you will be irreparable! Dorn will not tolerate it You are so critical of his army!"

"Don't worry, Horus."

Hydra smiled and patted his brother on the shoulder.

"I've said it all, this is just a guess on my part: I'm not stupid enough to tell others this kind of baseless reasoning."

"But you are different, Brother Horus. I trust you, so I dare to tell you: because I know that you are noble and smart enough to listen to my thoughts rationally, instead of blindly covering your ears and shaking your head in denial. ”

"Facts have proved that I did not trust the wrong person"

Alpharius's words made Horus feel warm for no reason, so the Wolf Shepherd cleared his throat, intending to end the topic.

"Thanks for the reminder, Alpha."

"But no matter what: we should end arbitrary speculation about Dorn. He is already the de facto Praetorian of Terra. His achievements and abilities have won the trust of everyone, including the Emperor. I will I will arrange for you to cooperate with him as soon as possible. I believe that after you witness what he has done, you will trust Donne as much as I do."

"It better be so."

Hydra nodded. He really did not continue to struggle with this topic, and the reality did not give him time to continue to struggle: not far away, the Forbidden Army had turned their dissatisfaction into reality, and they were about to get two genes. Before the eyes of the Primarch.

Hydra could only smile and then quickly left with the group of servants.

Horus was left silent, distraught by his words.

The Wolf God stood there, indulging in his thoughts. The Imperial Guards behind him did not interrupt the original body's thinking, because their duties only ended here: the descendants of Horus were rushing not far from the front. Come, the distant shouts brought the Wolf Shepherd back to reality.

"What a crazy thought..."

Horus smiled helplessly, and had to admit that Alpharius's random speculation just now had indeed awakened him to some extent: How come he had never thought about Dorne's behavior from this perspective before?

It’s scary to think about it...

"Tsk..."

Forget it, what are you thinking about?

That's Dorne. Any groundless slander against the Master of the Imperial Fist is a fantasy: the eyes from the entire galaxy have been checking the loyalty and impeccability of the Master of the Imperial Fist over and over again for so many years. Could it be said that Are all of them looking at it wrong?

Including the Emperor?

What a joke!

The Shepherd God shook his head and felt that this idea should be swept away as rubbish: it must be that Alpharius has just returned and does not know his blood brothers very well. In his long wandering life, he has developed the habit of feeding on the weak and distrusting others. This is why he has such a wrong understanding of Donne, right?

This was also his responsibility, he ignored Alpharius' sensitive heart.

He will have to correct himself in the future.

Horus raised his head, refilled his heart with action, then held his head high and faced his heirs, throwing the silence just now into the wind: he still had too many things to do. If we solve them one by one, how can we have the energy to deal with these random speculations?

Everyone knows that the probability that these speculations are correct is less than one in 100 million.

but……

——————

Sure enough, I still care about it.

——————

When the Wolf God led his Council of Four Kings back to the camp, anyone could see that he was deeply worried: the iconic smile on Horus's face was still there, but it was like a clear sky in winter. , does not make people feel any warmth from the heart.

To Loken at least, the change in temperature was obvious: reporting to the Primarch just now might not be a good idea.

However, the captain of the 10th Company has never been a person who seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages. Therefore, the original body took a fancy to him, and he also vowed not to let his genetic father down: after Abaddon and others had With a look of admiration, Loken resolutely pushed open the heavy iron door that was filled with low air pressure.

As soon as he walked in, he met Horus' heavy eyes.

"Loken."

The Wolf God saw the person coming clearly, and he was one of his most capable heirs: after these years of training, Loken's ability has been recognized by the original body, and Horus was unwilling to submit to him. In his heart, revealed by outsiders, he has placed Loken's status among Torgadon and Aceimander, second only to Ezekiel and Sejanus in the legion.

If it comes to brains, Ezekiel can't lose another one.

"Are you here to report?"

"Yes, my lord."

Loken stood up straight: as the temporary head of the entire Luna Wolf camp who was personally identified by Horus when he went to meet the Emperor, Loken was obliged to report the past few hours to his father as soon as possible. He was already familiar with all the big and small things that happened here.

After all, Horus had put Loken in charge several times: in the Primarch's mind, this was one of his wisest attempts.

"Is there something big going on?"

"Actually, it's nothing."

Loken coughed awkwardly.

"There are mainly two things: one is a narrator named Mesati. She is in our camp now. I hope you can arrange time to meet her. She wants to have a private interview with you. Interview."

"Private interview?"

The Wolf Shepherd raised his eyebrows: Loken already dared to bother him with such a thing?

"That's right, Father."

The Tenth Company Commander lowered his voice: he could clearly see the Wolf Shepherd's displeasure.

"Miss Mesati's articles are very influential in some universes in the Kingdom of Wolf, and she herself is your fanatical admirer."

"Um……"

The Primarch squinted his eyes and thought for a moment.

"Okay: go ahead and discuss my next itinerary with Sejanus."

"What about the second thing?"

"The second thing is about the application for a large-scale outing of our mortal auxiliary army: you told me when you arrived in Ullanor that once our mortal army has a collective travel record of more than ten thousand people, it needs to be reported. "

"Ten thousand people."

Horus sat up straight.

"How many are out now?"

Loken flipped through the file and spit out a number that made Horus sweat.

"How many?!"

One-third of his mortal soldiers have been traveling collectively in the past few hours?

"What did they go to do?"

"Uh...that's it..."

Loken spoke intermittently, not seeming to want to say what he was going to say next.

"Most of them have asked for leave to go to the Blood Angel camp: it is said that the Ninth Legion is conducting physical health checks for all mortal auxiliaries free of charge, including blood tests and motor function, all for free, and even Is there a special lottery?”

"lottery?"

Horus laughed directly.

"So: they are actually here to participate in the lottery of the 9th Legion."

"That's right: only those who have completed a full medical examination can go to the lottery."

"What are the prizes?"

"Well: the first prize is a ticket to the bonfire party at the Dawnbreaker camp: it is said that many primarchs will attend the party."

"Who are the attendees?"

"Let me see: Morgan, Sanguinius, Konrad, Corax, Jonson, Leman Russ and Guilliman, Angron, Vulkan and..."

"Stop."

"What's wrong, father?"

"Nothing...Lorcan..."

"Do you think I should also go for a physical examination?"

Lorcan was silent.

"In fact, father."

"Morgan sent the invitation three hours ago."

"She also said that if you decide to attend this party, please remember to bring Abaddon with you."

"Ezekyle? Why?"

"Because..."

Lorcan bit the corner of his mouth, looking like he was trying hard to suppress his smile.

"Because she said: Many warriors, including Akudona, Bayar, Alajos, Koswein, Sevata, and Orfeo, are very curious about how powerful Abaddon, one of the three great warriors of the Great Crusade, is."

"Tell Morgan for me."

"I will definitely keep the appointment: I will do it."

——————

I don't know if it's an illusion.

Lokken seemed to hear the laughter of Horus in the air.