"Nameless one, I already know the answer. Help me. Defeat him and protect the innocent people."
When Mortarion saw Datch and Ferrus appear, a look of joy appeared on his face, and an inexplicable sense of relief welled up in his heart.
Ferrus activated the massive warhammer in his hand. The arc-shaped force field covering the enormous hammerhead roared as he asked with a laugh, "Don't you want to take revenge yourself?"
Mortarion tightly gripped his massive scythe and stared intently at Necare while remaining wary of a sudden attack.
"Hatred must not rule the people."
The Primarch stopped and shifted his gaze from Necare to the virus torpedo beside the platform throne. Its red countdown was still ticking away second by second.
"Compared to those people's lives, my dignity and pride are nothing much."
Mortarion's change of heart also meant a change in fate.
When he put the people of Barbarus first and no longer clung to personal revenge,
his fate would naturally become different from that of his previous life, in which he harbored anger and resentment because the Emperor had stolen his credit.
They would not have appealed to Chaos in order to vent their dissatisfaction.
Therefore, his choice changed the predetermined fate.
Deep in the Warp, a desperate roar echoed through the decaying garden and shook the entire space.
Filthy daemons huddled under withered trees, hid in dirty puddles, and freely swam through rivers filled with pus and plague.
When their "benevolent father" screamed like an idiot whose toes had been stepped on, they trembled with fear and anxiety.
Even if the father's personality was mild, he was still ultimately a powerful Chaos God.
If his anger exploded even a little, it would be enough to destroy them.
It was no wonder Nurgle had been able to break through the defense line.
The carefully cultivated SSR card had been stolen by someone.
Anyone would be tense in such a situation!
The other three gods were also in a bad mood. The nameless one had completely ruined the established past.
Even Tzeentch, who had always monitored the future and manipulated fate, was now at a loss regarding the future.
In Chaos, it had become impossible even to foresee the future. Everything had become unknown.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Ferrus swung his massive hammer and charged toward the alien warlord Necare.
The warhammer struck Necare's scythe with a dull sound. Sparks flew and illuminated the dim cliff platform.
Cursed flames rose and resisted Necare's psychic power.
Terrifying flames surged across the surrounding area, burning away every corrupted thing nearby.
The scorching heat distorted the view of the battlefield.
"Son, you have become weak and despicable."
Necare roared at Mortarion. "How could you ask someone for help? It seems you have forgotten my teachings."
"Old man, the times have changed." Mortarion appeared on the battlefield from the side and swung his scythe downward, forcing Necare to dodge. "Feel the despair of my brother's and my combined power."
"Shameless coward!" Necare roared repeatedly and used his scythe to deflect the attacks of the two Primarchs.
However, even when fighting a Primarch, Necare was already giving his all just to barely hold on. He was only buying time.
Now that the two Primarchs had joined forces, Necare could not possibly stand against them. His force were defeated and routed in the blink of an eye.
Caught between the two Primarchs, Necare staggered backward, looking completely exhausted.
He blocked Ferrus's warhammer, but could not avoid Mortarion's scythe.
Barely escaping the scythe Mortarion swung down from above, he was blocked by Ferrus's iron fist and forced to continuously retreat.
Clash...
The sound of weapons colliding rang out again.
Ferrus knocked Necare's scythe out of his hand with a single blow.
The black weapon engraved with runes spun through the air and then fell into the toxic fog below the cliff.
Necare also lost his balance due to inertia.
Mortarion did not miss this great opening and, without hesitation, swung his scythe horizontally.
The sharp blade sliced through the air with an ear-splitting sound and sank into Necare's abdomen.
In an instant, blood and pus gushed out and splattered across the stone slabs with a hissing corrosive sound.
Necare's intestines, full of maggots and pus, slid out from the wound, leaving a steaming yellow-green trail on the ground.
Necare let out a beast-like roar filled with pain and bent over, trying to push his entrails back in.
Ferrus gave him no chance and seized the opportunity to charge.
He swung his warhammer, smashed it into the warlord's back, and knocked him to the ground.
The back plate of the armor was dented. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb, revealing the ash-white skin covered in pustules underneath.
This blow broke Necare's spine. It was a truly terrifying injury.
Necare tried to get up but could not manage it. At best he could barely use both hands to flip his body over.
At that moment, Mortarion walked over, stepped on Necare's chest, and pressed the scythe against the man's throat.
"I told you. Today is the day of your death."
Necare raised his head. Yellow-green pus dripped from the corner of his mouth. There was no color of fear in his eyes — only the unique madness of a dying man.
"It is also the end of this world at the same time."
"If you defeat me, I will deactivate the explosion. That was just a lie. If I lose, the world will perish together with me."
Mortarion felt uneasy and turned toward the virus bomb beside the throne.
He noticed that the red countdown, which had originally had about forty seconds remaining, suddenly accelerated.
The numbers rose faster than the beating of his heart. In the blink of an eye the countdown reached zero.
The virus bomb exploded. A dazzling white light was released from inside.
Like a star of light that had broken free from its shell, what crawled out from the crack carried a terrifying virus capable of destroying all organic matter.
Mortarion's pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints. Despair filled his heart.
What they worried about was not themselves, but the consequences the virus bomb would bring.
"Hahahaha!"
Seeing Mortarion's expression, Necare could not help but laugh.
A sharp, arrogant, unrestrained laugh echoed across the platform.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
The vigorously erupting white light reversed its flow. The rays of light leaking from the crack looked as if they were being pushed back by an invisible hand.
The fragments returned to the bomb like a video played in reverse, reversing the chain reaction.
In the blink of an eye, the virus bomb returned to its pre-explosion state.
The virus bomb sat quietly beside the throne as if it had never activated at all. The earlier scene had been a hallucination.
"Ah, good thing I prepared in advance."
Datch stood to the side and put the Infinity Gauntlet back into his storage.
He had used the power of the Time Stone to forcibly rewind the time of the virus bomb and return it to the state before activation.
After finishing all of this, Datch looked at Necare, who had suddenly stopped laughing.
In that instant, the other party's face was filled with shock and disbelief. He could not believe the scene before his eyes.
Datch scratched his head. "It's fine. You can keep laughing."
"That rebellious laughter just now was really cool. You can continue just like that."
Necare: ...
After you went and did all that, there's nothing left for me to laugh about.
Furthermore, reversing time seems like an unscientific and chaotic act. How on earth is that possible?
Damn it, are you cheating?
I want to report this! I want to report it all the way to the Warp! Someone is cheating in the real universe!
They must be severely punished. It cannot be tolerated.
Necare looked at the now silent virus bomb, then at the nameless man who was staring at him with an innocent expression, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Then he turned his gaze toward Mortarion and said, "Son, I was the one who raised you."
These words only further strengthened the hatred dwelling in Mortarion's eyes.
Is there a parent who wants to make an infant less than one year old drink rice water full of toxins every day?
How dare you say you raised me?
You'd better die soon.
Mortarion raised his scythe high and swung it down with force, cutting off his adoptive father's head.
Necare's head rolled across the ground, bounced twice on the stone slabs, and stopped at the edge of the cliff.
His dark red eyes were still open. The pupils were frozen in the expression of the final moment — not anger or despair, but resentment.
According to his plan, even if he could not defeat Mortarion, the adoptive son who had betrayed him, he could still take him down with him.
However, that damned nameless person had ruined it.
Mortarion walked over expressionlessly, raised his foot, and crushed Necare's skull with a single blow.
The sound of bones shattering, like crushing a dried gourd, echoed across the platform.
When he lifted his foot, it was covered in bone fragments, contaminated brain tissue, and blood.
It was over. Everything was over.
At that moment, Datch saw the golden exclamation mark above Mortarion's head disappear and immediately summoned the TARDIS.
At the edge of the platform, a blue phone box suddenly appeared. The light above its head flickered with a faint yellow glow in the toxic fog, like a warm lamp that would soon go out.
He opened the minimap and checked the location of the next mission.
"Huh, it seems there's no information at all about this planet."
"In the original story, did the Primarch lose to Detroit?"
Looking at the completely unfamiliar planet name, an uneasy feeling welled up in Datch's heart.
He had thoroughly investigated everything and was certain that none of the known Primarch information mentioned this planet.
"Is the target of this operation Primarchs Two and Eleven?"
Datch furrowed his brows as a certain possibility floated into his mind.
At present, only the biographical information of Numbers Two and Eleven was missing.
If there really was a Primarch on Detroit, it would only be these two.
"Are you leaving already?" Ferrus saw the summoning of the TARDIS and guessed that the nameless one was about to depart, yet still asked.
"Well, the mission here is complete." Datch pushed open the door of the phone box, and a clean room with a futuristic atmosphere appeared.
Hearing their conversation, Mortarion turned around and looked toward Datch and Ferrus. A sense of unease assailed him.
He had not yet been able to accept the harsh reality that someone important to him was leaving his side.
"You're leaving??"
"Manage Barbarus well." Datch stood in the doorway with one hand on the doorframe. "Do not forget your choice. Always put the people first."
"I will govern Barbarus well." Mortarion took a step forward and said in a pleading tone. "Can't you stay here? The people of Barbarus need you."
"We still have our mission." Ferrus walked over and lightly patted Mortarion's shoulder. "Parting is only natural. Good things must always come to an end."
"But I still don't want you to leave," Mortarion said, recalling the past.
It was precisely because of the encouragement from the nameless one and Ferrus that he had been able to truly overcome hatred and experience the beauty of the world.
"Don't worry. We will meet again someday," Ferrus said with a smile.
Now that you have been discovered, none of your memories remain, but I am still me.
"Really?" Mortarion's eyes lit up, and his dejection eased a little.
"Certainly, Mortarion. We will meet again. I look forward to the day when you walk with me and we work together to create a better universe."
After telling Mortarion that, Datch turned around and entered the phone box.
He tapped the coordinates of the next task on the console with his finger.
After giving Mortarion a final farewell, Ferrus also entered.
The door of the TARDIS phone box closed quietly. Datch immediately ordered it to pass through.
Intense light erupted from the surrounding space, distorting the fabric of space-time.
A rift opened, and from it countless rays of light were released, revealing countless fragments of time.
Clearly, this was the entrance to the river of time.
Simply entrusting oneself to the flow of time would allow one to arrive at any era.
The blue phone box disappeared into it and then — vanished without a trace.
The light receded. The crack closed.
When Calas Typhon led the Death Guard up onto the platform,
the only one remaining on the platform was Mortarion. At his feet lay a headless corpse, and on the edge of the cliff the head had been crushed to pieces.
"Where is the nameless one?" Typhon asked while looking around.
"He is already gone." Mortarion's voice was so soft it seemed as if it would be blown away by the wind. "To save other worlds as desperate as Barbarus."
A color of disappointment flashed in Typhon's eyes for an instant. The warriors behind him were the same.
As they spent a great deal of time with the Nameless One, they all became accustomed to the sense of security the other party gave them.
Mortarion keenly sensed it and turned toward his brothers.
"Cheer up."
His voice was louder, stronger, and more resolute than before.
"The nameless one said that we will meet again in the future, and when that time comes, he hopes that we will walk with him."
Hearing those words, Typhon and the others raised their faces. The color that had been lost returned to their eyes.
They secretly resolved to work even harder and create the future the nameless ones yearned for.
Necare had lost his life in battle. The last alien warlord had been completely destroyed.
On Barbarus, Mortarion established a unified government, enacted an equal and just system, and built entirely new cities throughout the world.
Thus Barbarus entered a period of rapid development. Industrial production and agricultural production continuously increased.
After satisfying the materials necessary for his own survival, Mortarion resolved to reclaim the glory of humanity's ancestors and organized a fleet to explore space.
They developed and colonized the entire planet of Barbarus and recovered technologies lost in the Dark Age.
They also organized caravans using newly developed Warp spaceships, traveled to other star systems, made contact with other lost human civilizations, and established exchange and trade.
One day, a merchant ship that had traveled to other star systems for trade brought back an important message.
In the process of trading, they had encountered an envoy group calling itself the "Imperium of Man."
With the information the merchant ship brought back, Mortarion was able to verify what Ferrus had said.
He was one of the twenty Primarchs the Emperor had created for the Great Crusade, but due to a certain accident they had been scattered to various places throughout the galaxy.
While beginning a grand expedition, the Emperor was also searching for his sons.
It seemed he would soon meet this Master of Mankind.
Mortarion set about organizing an elected council to maintain Barbarus and ensure the welfare of the residents while he was on missions in other regions of the galaxy.
Mortarion's speculation was correct.
Before long, Barbarus received guests.
A fleet flying the double-headed eagle emblem tore through the veil of reality and appeared at the Mandeville Point of the Barbarus system.
Leading the way was a massive golden ship. Its hull was decorated with an enormous double-headed eagle emblem that shone dazzlingly in the starlight.
It was the Emperor's flagship, the Emperor's Dream.
The Emperor stood on the bridge, his chest pounding.
During this period I have spent time with Sixteen and Six.
In the end, these two had been completely brainwashed by that damned nameless man.
It is always the Nameless One who teach them how to do things and what they should do.
Damn it. If it weren't for the urgency of the Great Crusade, I would have wanted to make those two unfilial sons suffer terribly for their actions.
He desperately needed a son who had not been confused or deceived by strangers in order to prove his own fatherly love.
May Number Six and Number Sixteen realize their mistakes and truly return to their original place.
Hehe, then that will be the end of it.
You are all too attached to that nameless one, but I love my other sons as well. Why are you crying?
Today you two will ignore me, but tomorrow you will desperately try to attract my attention.
However, although the Emperor's chest swelled with expectation, the moment the Emperor's Dream entered planetary orbit, that expectation was quietly shattered.
Above the massive port floating in planetary orbit, a statue thousands of meters tall rose, looking down upon the entire galaxy.
That image was of the nameless person whom Number Six and Number Sixteen had mentioned countless times.
The Emperor's heart immediately sank.
This man keeps stubbornly clinging.
Damn it, that nameless one again, that nameless one again.
Once is an accident. The second time is also an accident. But this time is the third.
Did that damned nameless man deliberately try to show off my son with pride?
Why? Why did you do this to me? Why did you take my sons?
At that moment, the Imperial Dream received a communication.
When the connection was completed, Mortarion's figure appeared on the projection screen. His appearance was perfect and charming, instantly calling forth favorable emotions. The Emperor's mood improved a little upon seeing Mortarion, because he was the Emperor's greatest masterpiece.
Mortarion stared at the father he had never met, and complex emotions crossed his chest.
Previously, he would have been very moved.
If he had learned that the other party was about to begin a grand expedition to conquer the entire galaxy and lead human civilization to new heights, he would surely have shed tears.
But now, his heart belonged to the nameless ones.
I am sorry, Father. My heart is far too small. It can only hold the wishes of the nameless people.
"In the name of the nameless one, Master of the Imperium of Man, my father, I welcome you." Mortarion bowed his head to the Emperor and spoke in a respectful tone.
Emperor: ...
Nameless one, I will never forget the grudge of having my child taken from me. I swear I will never again fly under the same sky as you.
…
Perhaps it was due to their unified nature. By possessing the 42K timeline, the Emperor could recognize past thoughts.
The moment he learned the other party's thoughts, the one seated upon the Golden Throne immediately lost his composure, and his lips spasmed violently.
Was the past version of myself really such an abstract existence?
Did they swear to become mortal enemies with the nameless ones?
Who gave you the courage? Was it the Fish Lion of the 3K era?
In this moment, he truly wanted to time-travel, bury the past Emperor in the ground, and make him cosplay as ginseng.