"So, you finished saying goodbye to that round-headed tanuki?" Curze asked, arms folded as she looked up at Bruce.
"Sigh! My brother… sob sob sob…"
Bruce had a sack slung over his back and looked utterly miserable.
"You're clearly smiling…"
"Because I thought of something happy. That doesn't conflict with being sad."
And it was true. After looting so many handy little gadgets, how could he not be happy? Still, parting with Doraemon really did make him feel miserable.
Every time he thought about how Doraemon would now get to laze around in the Scarlet Devil Mansion while he himself had to go fight and scrape for his life at the front, Bruce was consumed with envy.
How was that fair?
"Let me make this clear first. If you don't come back on time, I'll kill it. I mean it," Curze warned with a grim expression.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not the kind of person who just runs away whenever he feels like it," Bruce said helplessly as he dropped to one knee.
He stated his position again.
"This expedition is about proving that your visions can be changed, not about getting away from you. Don't get the priorities backwards."
Bruce wasn't stupid. In the Eighth Legion, he was permanently the number-one figure beneath the primarch. His status and authority were sky-high.
But if he went to the First Legion, that would be an entirely different matter. Even if Lion liked him, what about everyone else?
Sooner or later, he'd die in some battlefield incident, probably with bullets in his back. With how obsessive the Dark Angels were, they were absolutely capable of something like that.
"Good." Curze nodded in satisfaction and clapped her hands.
Two Blackguards carried over a box and set it in front of Bruce. At Curze's signal, the box was opened.
Inside lay a pair of exquisitely crafted lightning claws.
"Th-This wouldn't happen to be the gift Captain Sevatar mentioned, would it?" Bruce stared at Pardon and Mercy, along with several distinctively styled throwing knives called Widowmakers, and was left completely stunned.
He could at least imagine being given the first two, but he had never expected the knives too. Seriously—was this really okay?
A normal Astartes wielding a primarch's weapons?
Bruce was still reeling when he instinctively glanced around for Sevatar, only to find her currently pressing chest-to-chest with Camilla. Or rather, to be more precise, it was more like large chest against smaller chest.
So this was how women argued? They just rammed their breasts into each other?
Though, from the looks of it, Captain Sevatar seemed to be at a disadvantage.
"What? You're not satisfied?" Curze asked, her face darkening.
"No, no… it's just, if I use your weapons, then what are you going to use?"
"I don't need these useless weapons anymore. My blood is a weapon. Besides, I can forge weapons like these whenever I like."
"You don't need to worry. I had Pardon and Mercy specifically modified. When you don't need them, the claws can fold up and retract, so they won't interfere with your bolter. Their size has also been adjusted to fit you perfectly."
"As for the Widowmakers, though, you'll probably need to spend some time practicing."
"Thank you."
In the end, those two words were all Bruce could say.
There was no question—this was Curze's favor toward him. Otherwise, why would she go to such lengths to have the weapons extensively modified just to give them to him?
At this point, he simply had no choice but to use them to tear Erebus apart.
"You can get lost now. Just remember to come back once the mission is done." Curze cast one last look at Bruce, then turned to leave.
"Uh…"
Watching her somewhat lonely back, Bruce suddenly felt a pang in his chest.
Because under normal circumstances, he was always the one carrying this Legion Mistress on his back. But this time, she was walking away alone.
"Um… Father!"
After a moment's thought, Bruce finally took the Night Crown off his head and asked, "How about you wear this instead?"
"Get lost!"
Curze stopped in her tracks and glared viciously back at him.
Bruce jumped and hurriedly jammed the crown back onto his head.
In truth, the Night Crown only held symbolic significance. Its specialness came from the primarch herself. Between someone wearing the Night Crown and Curze in person, every Night Lord knew perfectly well whom they would obey.
Still, Curze's lonely-looking back did not remain lonely for long. She walked over to Sevatar and issued an order.
Once Bruce saw that she was being carried off by Sevatar, he finally relaxed. He immediately ordered the Blackguards to store the weapons properly and then made his way toward another gathering spot where several captains were assembled.
Six thousand Astartes obviously could not all be commanded by Krulu alone. Divided up, that meant six captains.
And when Bruce saw which six they were—
"?!"
The moment their eyes met, the captains could no longer suppress their excitement.
If just moments ago they had been privately plotting how to get rid of this parachuted-in superior, now they had transformed into Bruce's most loyal battle-brothers.
"Why is it you people?!"
Bruce was astonished.
These were the same ones he had seen in that secret chamber before. He hadn't expected them to still be alive.
Sevatar had actually tolerated the factional split inside the Legion? Incredible.
"Acting Commander! We're here to follow you!"
"We've taken your teachings to heart!"
"Wow! It's the Acting Commander! I-I'm your fan!"
"Acting Commander! Um… I heard that taking part in the expedition means special campaign paint jobs. Is that true?"
"Rest assured, Acting Commander! If it's your order, even death won't make us hesitate!"
"It's my honor to fight by your side!"
Faced with such overwhelming enthusiasm, Bruce became embarrassed.
Since he had no proper gifts prepared, he rummaged around and ended up distributing several armbands in Remilia-themed colors. At the same time, he promised that later he would commission a batch of boxed gifts as campaign rewards—with hidden limited editions guaranteed.
That gesture completely won over the Night Lords. They immediately put the armbands on and, with their right arms thrust skyward, proudly showed them off to the people aboard the Nightfall.
Look! Limited edition! An absolute exclusive that no one who stayed behind would ever get!
"Lo-yal-ty!"
Damn it, what kind of bizarre stitched-together nonsense was this…
Bruce was utterly speechless as he watched these captains act like lunatics.
"Oh? Looks like you already know each other. That saves me the trouble of introducing everyone," Krulu said as she walked over, nodding in satisfaction.
"Captain Krulu!"
The captains instantly turned and raised their arms diagonally upward toward her as well.
"Lo-yal-ty!"
"Well? Not bad for a unit slogan, right? Loyal to the Legion! Loyal to the Primarch!" Krulu asked with a smile.
"…"
So that was what this was.
"Very good," Bruce replied with a polite yet painfully awkward smile.
After a few more brief pleasantries, Bruce, Krulu, and the various captains boarded transports and returned to their respective ships and positions.
Along the way, Bruce also conveniently rejected Lion's invitation once again.
The Invincible Reason? No thank you. He truly did not dare go aboard.
Once the fleet completed its final round of reorganization and received the last shipment of supplies, the Invincible Reason took the lead. Accompanied by one of Lion's campaign speeches, the joint fleet officially set out.
Forty warships, guided by Navigators, made for the Mandeville Point. Moments later, their Geller Fields fully charged, and the fleet slipped seamlessly into the warp.
"Father, the expeditionary fleet has entered the warp," Sevatar reported to Curze.
"I know."
Curze lounged back in her chair, one hand absentmindedly stroking Doraemon's head.
"So… shall we begin the purge?"
"Mhm. Go ahead," Curze said indifferently. "It's time to cut away the tumors attached to the Legion."
"Yes."
Sevatar accepted the order calmly—
even though what was about to follow would claim tens of billions of lives.
Abhumans, xenos, heretek factions, pirates, and all the other things that had come to exist in symbiosis with the Night Lords—these were what Curze and Sevatar intended to wipe out next.
Only then could the Eighth Legion truly be reborn.
In the future, the Eighth Legion would become the Imperium's true executioners.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin