Sanguinius spread his vast, filthy wings. They were so evil they inspired terror.
His body fused divine corruption, angelic grace, and the violence of destruction.
The kind, merciful angel he had once been was drowned in filth. Compassion and empathy had become the trampling of life.
That made him even stronger, until he had become the mightiest Primarch beneath Horus and the Savior.
His attacks could threaten both their lives.
"Stop that Primarch!" the Greater Daemons of Hell roared, blocking the path before the Chaos Throne.
They used their daemonic bodies to build a wall of flesh, trying to halt that evil Great Angel.
Even at the cost of their lives, they would never allow anyone to harm the Savior upon the throne.
That was an inviolable divine decree sent down by the Lord of Hell.
"I'll burn you to ash!"
The Greater Daemon of Hell at the very front opened the enormous maw in its abdomen and spat magma at Sanguinius, a substance hot enough to melt alloys.
Yet the Great Angel's black wings suddenly folded before him. The magma struck them as though it had crashed into an unbreakable shield.
It had no effect at all.
The scorching heat only dyed the Great Angel's wings an even more sinister color.
Pfft!
A black shadow flashed past. The dark spear Sanguinius hurled pierced through the Greater Daemon's heart.
The agony in its heart made it let out a wail, but the Greater Daemon's voice quickly ceased. Its burning head had already fallen.
At some point, the Great Angel had appeared before that Greater Daemon and cut off its head with the Moon-Silver Blade.
An elegant and cruel slaughter.
Soon, the Greater Daemons of Hell surrounded Sanguinius. There were thirteen of them in all.
Their bodies were even taller, nearly burying the Great Angel beneath them. Giant axes, long spears, chains, and warhammers fell from different angles.
It was a terrifying assault even a Primarch would struggle to withstand.
Yet Sanguinius did not block. He simply killed his way out, as though he had rehearsed it countless times.
No attack could land on him, and no Greater Daemon could evade his blows.
It was like some kind of dance or opera, but with every step, a Greater Daemon of Hell fell. Magma and foul blood flowed along the collapsing corpses.
In only a few breaths, Sanguinius broke through the encirclement and charged toward the Chaos Throne.
"The Dark Emperor above! The False Emperor's hound has reached his end. Our Dark Great Angel will drive his blade into his heart!"
A dark sorcerer watching the scene could not help but smile.
That Savior, the Emperor of the Imperium, still remained utterly motionless, completely restrained by the high-dimensional war created by the authorities of the Dark Emperor and the Chaos Gods.
He could not move or defend himself. He could only receive every attack with his body of flesh and blood.
And he absolutely could not withstand that evil blade. The Dark Great Angel was already close at hand.
Ah—
Sanguinius was covered in magma and pus-blood. Even his hair had turned dark red.
He tore away the daemonic wing of the last Greater Daemon guard with all his strength, then nailed the remaining half of the dark spear into the creature's skull.
Twenty-six Greater Daemons of Hell had been wiped out to the last.
The Great Angel picked up the Moon-Silver Blade from the blood and filth, then abruptly spread his wings and flew out of the crater formed by the battle, landing on the platform before the Chaos Throne.
He stared at the Savior and slowly raised the blade.
That blade seemed to have gathered the ultimate evil of the Empyrean. Once it pierced the Savior's heart, it would not only kill the body of the Emperor of the Imperium, but also grievously wound his soul.
It would cause his rank of existence to fall completely, while the Chaos Gods greedily devoured all the authority that leaked out.
Deadly danger and evil came crashing down.
Eden sensed the threat. Every hair on his body stood on end. It was the instinctive vigilance of the flesh.
He slowly raised his head and met Sanguinius's gaze before the throne.
"Brother, can we reconcile?" Eden said after a brief silence.
He was also someone who knew when to adapt, and more importantly, the one before him was the Great Angel, the Primarch who had once been the kindest of them all, a man who would avoid civilians even in a duel, preferring to suffer more harm himself.
Perhaps there was still room to save him. Perhaps he could still return to the Imperium.
Of course, Eden was not merely talking. He also quietly used the authority he had previously gained, the power capable of absorbing negative emotions.
He hoped he could call back Sanguinius's consciousness and help him break free of the Chaos Gods' control.
The Great Angel was different from the other fallen Primarchs. He had not thrown himself into the arms of the Chaos Gods, becoming their Chosen or servant. He was merely being forcibly controlled.
"Eden, Fa... Father... my gene-sons..." Sanguinius seemed to sense something and uttered blurred, broken words.
At that moment, a struggling expression appeared on his face, and two trails of bloody tears fell down that beautiful countenance.
This Great Angel, the incarnation of light and beauty, the symbol of hope and nobility, was in pain and grief.
He was ashamed of his own fall, filled with remorse because he could not save his father, and blamed himself even more for the Red Thirst and Black Rage suffered by his sons.
Sanguinius had always been so kind. He could feel the emotions of others and grieve for their suffering.
His movements grew stiff. He began to struggle. He did not wish to turn his sword against the Savior.
He did not wish to kill an Emperor of the Imperium who cherished mankind.
Eden could sense that within the evil body before him, that kind soul was struggling bitterly.
Every movement tore at his own soul. It was the most agonizing torture in the world.
Yet even so, he still had not given up. He refused to let himself fall into darkness and filth.
Just absorbing those emotions made Eden feel a pain like a blade through his heart.
How much worse must it be for Sanguinius himself, trapped in the midst of that struggle?
Eden respected the Great Angel even more, even though the other man was pointing an evil blade at him and was about to bring him a fatal threat.
But he knew Sanguinius did not want to do this, and was enduring unimaginable agony because of it.
Eden was moved. He said softly, "Sanguinius, I understand your pain, and I believe you can break free of all this..."
As he spoke, he drew as much pure power of hope as he could from the high-dimensional war.
But he did not use that power to attack or form a new defense. Instead, he poured all of it into Sanguinius's filthy daemonic body before him.
Eden believed the Great Angel could overcome the terrifying prison formed by corruption. That was a pure soul even the Chaos Gods could not corrode.
They had only imprisoned the Great Angel's pure soul and taken control of his cloned body. That was the furthest they could go.
Otherwise, the gods would long ago have transformed the resurrected Great Angel into their Chaos Chosen.
Sanguinius was perhaps one of the most divine Primarchs, not because of his strength, but because even on the edge of the abyss, he still looked up at the starlight.
Eden admitted he could not do that. Even the Emperor himself could not. When they faced the darkness, they would only kill, kill, and keep killing.
Sanguinius, however, chose to pour everything he had into saving what could be saved.
When the Great Angel had faced the terrifying form Horus took after Chaos had utterly twisted him, he had still tried to awaken his brother's humanity.
He wept and mourned during his battle with Horus, but he had never feared or wavered.
Even after the Great Angel lost the duel, even after his body was torn apart and fell, he still used the last of his strength to call Horus's name.
He hoped to call back the other man's humanity, end that terrible rebellion, and prevent even more people from dying.
He had never despaired.
Eden could sense that after the power of hope was injected into him, Sanguinius's soul struggled even more violently.
The Great Angel was gradually breaking free of the filthy prison built by the Chaos Gods, slowly reclaiming control over this corrupted cloned body.
He was even grateful to Eden, this Savior.
"Maybe we can reverse our disadvantage, gain another crucial fighter, and hold out until reinforcements arrive. Then we can completely turn this around!"
Eden looked at the scene with a trace of anticipation in his eyes.
If Sanguinius broke free and returned to the Imperium, Eden would no longer be fighting alone. The Great Angel could help him deal with the Dark Custodians and the Greater Daemons.
He could even deliver a fatal blow to Horus.
After all, this high-dimensional war could restrain Eden, and correspondingly, it also restrained Horus.
Under those circumstances, the Dark Emperor could not possibly withstand Sanguinius's attack.
Now it was up to the Great Angel. His success or failure might decide what fate this duel would meet.
Yet before Eden could be happy for long, he sensed an increasingly intense Chaos corruption.
The authority left behind by the Chaos Gods was counterattacking, tearing desperately at Sanguinius's soul. Even the power of hope Eden had poured in was being extinguished.
"No. Our strength still isn't enough!" Eden took a deep breath as that lethal aura descended once more.
He realized that the Great Angel might not be able to break free of the corruption and the filthy prison after all.
Crack!
Sanguinius trembled all over.
He gripped the Moon-Silver Blade tightly, that weapon endowed with special evil power by the Chaos Gods, crushing even his gauntlet completely.
That showed the kind of pain and struggle he was enduring.
"I am sorry. I... cannot keep holding on, and I have no way to continue fighting alongside everyone.
"I have seen the end of fate. This is the only choice."
There was a trace of guilt in Sanguinius's hoarse voice.
As the Great Angel spoke, the Moon-Silver Blade slowly moved, but the direction it moved was toward himself.
"You..." Eden realized what he intended to do, and a flash of reluctance and sorrow crossed his eyes.
Sanguinius had perhaps foreseen the end of his own fate, and so he had made his choice.
Just as he had once set foot upon the Vengeful Spirit without hesitation, going to face Horus.
The Great Angel had known he would die upon the Vengeful Spirit in an extremely miserable fashion, but he had still gone with the Emperor.
He had never feared, not even when facing his own death.
As long as it was the right choice, as long as it could bring victory and hope to mankind and others.
This time, Sanguinius made his choice again.
Facing the imprisonment and corruption of the Chaos Gods, he chose to seek death, to kill himself with that evil blade and leave not even his soul behind.
In that way, those hateful beings of the Warp would no longer be able to use his soul and body to harm mankind or his other Primarch brothers.
Sanguinius had foreseen his own death, and still walked calmly toward it.
That was the only means of resistance left to him.
The Great Angel struggled, trying to use the evil blade to pierce his own heart and complete his defiance against the Chaos Gods.
He did not wish to let his soul be tainted by filth, and still less did he wish to do anything that would harm mankind.
That violated his ideals and his father's teachings.
Eden took a deep breath and wanted to do something, but he was powerless.
He had no time and no strength left to cast out new power of hope.
More importantly, he respected Sanguinius's choice.
Perhaps only this way could that pure soul find peace instead of continuing to endure pain.
For these ten thousand years, the Great Angel might have always been trapped in that terrifying prison of filth, struggling to send a faint light toward the Imperium.
At the same time, he blamed himself for the pain suffered by mankind and by the Blood Angels.
The torment he had endured might not have been much lighter than that suffered by the Emperor upon the Golden Throne.
Today, he would finally be released.
Yet just as the evil Moon-Silver Blade was about to pierce Sanguinius's heart, it suddenly stopped.
He could no longer control his own body.
"You cannot betray me, Sanguinius. You will belong to the darkness forever. Kill the Savior!"
Horus stared ferociously toward the Chaos Throne, then suddenly cast over another surge of chaotic evil energy.
That was his own evil power, and it further reinforced the filthy prison within the Great Angel's soul.
Sanguinius's pure soul was suppressed, and his body once again fell under the control of the Chaos Gods.
"Horus!"
Eden roared.
He desperately mobilized the power of hope to stop the black evil energy, but it was still a drop in the bucket. The authority of the Chaos Gods was restraining him.
"Is this my fate? A fate I never saw? I can no longer see the future.
"No. I do not accept this..."
Sanguinius struggled with all his strength, but he still lost control over his daemonic body. He could not even hold the Moon-Silver Blade, and it fell with a clang at his feet.
Clear tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, then evaporated without a trace.
The Great Angel despaired. He could not even choose his own death.
Buzz—
The next moment, Sanguinius's expression returned to cold indifference. At some point, the Moon-Silver Blade was back in his hand.
He gripped that evil blade tightly and stabbed viciously toward the Savior's heart.
The attack was so fast that it raised a sonic boom. Even the mightiest Space Marines would have struggled to see it clearly.
The blade pierced through several psychic shields the Savior had previously constructed around the Chaos Throne in succession.
"Fuck!"
Facing that fatal attack, Eden felt his scalp nearly explode. His entire body almost jolted up from the throne.
But that was only an instinctive movement.
He was still being pinned firmly upon the Chaos Throne, just like Horus, who had been forced to stand motionless in the hall.
Pfft!
Eden watched helplessly as the blade pierced into his body. What followed was terrible corruption and agony.
The authority of the Chaos Gods gnawed madly at him, like the greediest Tyranid organisms.
He could feel his life continually draining away. The sensation was very particular, and also very unfamiliar.
A little cold.
"Damn it. My main body finally goes into battle for once..." Eden was numb.
For so many years, his main body had remained under layer after layer of protection. He had never suffered so much as a scratch on a fingernail.
This time, after he had finally gone into battle, something major had happened at once. He had taken a fatal blow.
Like a king assassinated in a tragic epic, Eden leaned powerlessly against the throne.
Blood flowed down along the throne.
He felt some regret, and there was also a trace of an indescribable expression in his eyes.
He wondered whether he could still be saved.
...
At the same time.
"No. We must stop our father!" Dante and the other elite warriors of the Blood Angels were desperately rushing over.
Their hearts were filled with extreme fear and pain. Sanguinius's struggling memories were faintly transmitted to these poor gene-sons.
The Blood Angels realized that their gene-father was walking toward sacrifice, and they wanted to save him.
Yet the moment they stepped into this grand temple hall, they received another terrifying vision.
Their gene-father, Sanguinius, had already been completely controlled by Chaos and was trying to murder the Savior.
What sorrow was this?
That was the final image transmitted from Sanguinius's memories.
After Dante received that horrifying memory, his heart nearly split apart. After that, the bond between their gene-father and them was completely severed.
He did not know what had happened. He could only race desperately toward the Chaos Throne's region. No matter the price, he had to stop all this.
This somewhat aged warrior knew that neither he nor the Blood Angels could help much. Perhaps they could not change any ending.
But they were willing to use their lives to delay things for an instant, to block the blade their gene-father thrust toward the Savior.
"Faster!" Dante charged in against the tide of daemons pouring from the rifts, his body covered in blood.
The struggle between the Savior and the Dark Emperor had caused too many rifts to appear in this region.
Filthy power twisted the entire temple. Great numbers of daemons surged out, while daemons of Hell and daemons of Chaos waged continuous battle.
They slaughtered each other.
"For the Savior! For Sanguinius!"
Dante roared, leading the Blood Angels like a blade piercing into the core region of the battlefield.
At last, they saw the Chaos Throne not far away.
It was a tragedy.
The horrific scene and the flowing blood entered the eyes of every Blood Angel, nearly driving them mad.
It exceeded even their imagination.
(End of Chapter)
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