After the Emperor personally passed judgment on the Thousand Sons, Magnus accepted his decision. She agreed to remain on Prospero and surrender command of the Legion.
From that day forward, she would withdraw from the front lines of the Great Crusade for the time being, while her sons would be reassigned under the Warmaster's directive. Some would be sent to serve under other Legions, while others would be split into several companies and attached to crusading forces in need of support.
From a certain point of view, being broken up like this might not even be a bad thing for the Thousand Sons. After all, psykers were now officially permitted to operate. There were still plenty of rules and restrictions governing their use, of course, but that was still far better than the old policy of banning psychic power outright.
Magnus herself, now stripped of authority and moved to the second line, was actually quite satisfied with the situation. She found staying home to conduct research and spread knowledge far more interesting than continuing the Great Crusade.
And after everything that had happened, even Magnus's worst habits of arrogance had softened. In particular, after turning into a girl, many people privately remarked that her entire aura had changed—from an overbearing egotist into a wise and composed sage.
In a sense, the Emperor's decision and Magnus's transformation felt like a strange kind of mutual understanding. Her sons could not understand it, but Magnus herself had completely come to terms with it.
Not long after, a Custodian fleet from Holy Terra arrived at Prospero, bringing with it a group of scientists and psychic specialists personally dispatched by the Emperor.
Their arrival changed Prospero in two ways. One was institutional: new rules, new order, new oversight. The other was absolute: unquestionable authority.
The more radical branches of psychic research, and all attempts to probe the Warp too deeply, would now be subject to severe restriction. At the same time, those scientists would begin constructing a Webway connection linking Prospero directly to Terra, intended to serve as part of a contingency plan.
As for the Custodians and the Sisters of Silence, they were there to keep both Magnus and the Thousand Sons under strict watch. Most of the time they would not leave the area around the Pyramid of Light, but if they judged that anything on the planet ran counter to the Emperor's will, they would attack immediately.
The fact that the Emperor had sent the Custodes rather than another Astartes Legion was already proof enough that he still valued Magnus and was willing to give her another chance.
Otherwise, it would never have been the Custodes standing on Prospero. It would have been the Space Wolves or the Imperial Fists, and that would have been the end of it.
"They left with their tails between their legs," Bruce said, looking out through the bridge viewport at the departing fleet, unable to suppress the satisfaction in his heart.
"Newblood, control your smile. I know it's difficult, but that's an order," Curze said, her own mouth curling upward.
This clash off the battlefield had clearly ended in victory for the Legions. Even with all the Emperor's favoritism, those pampered Terran nobles had still ended up being kicked out like strays.
Trying to take over Prospero and browbeat an entire Legion? Their hunger for power was absurd to the point of comedy.
"The question is," Bruce said, turning back to the three Primarchs behind him, "what if they come back and try again someday?"
Today was the day the Custodes officially took over Prospero, and it was also one of the rare afternoons when the three sisters were gathered together for tea.
As for receiving guests, several captains had been pressed into service. Abaddon of the Sons of Horus, Sevatar of the Night Lords, and Phosis T'kar of the Thousand Sons were each acting as representatives of their Primarchs, and all three had rank enough to make the arrangement respectable.
Technically, Bruce, as acting Legion Master of the Night Lords, should have been the one representing his Legion and handling the reception work.
But if he went out to play host, who was going to make sure the three Primarchs had something to eat?
So Bruce escaped that fate. All he had to do was keep the Primarchs fed and comfortable.
"That depends on whether they have enough soldiers," Magnus replied, reading a book while eating a mugwort-flavored dumpling. "Father gave them political authority, yes, but he never gave them any military force. The only one with real force is Malcador."
"And Malcador would never side with them. If anything, when it truly matters, he'd stand with us first. If things ever spiraled out of control, it would be bad for the Imperium as a whole."
"Heh. Even if those people somehow managed to gather troops and come to Prospero, I'd throw them all back out myself," Horus declared as she ate the softest cream cake at the table and spoke the harshest words there.
Those aristocrats always assumed the tensions between Primarchs were irreconcilable. But in reality, compared to the petty squabbles between brothers, the moment some outsider tried to pressure one of their own "rivals," the Primarchs would immediately teach them what pain was.
Even Mortarion, who hated psychic powers more than anyone, and the Fourteenth Legion under him, would come to Magnus's aid the instant they heard some band of mortal nobles had tried to bully her.
"If that's the case..." Bruce suddenly thought of the Lion. "Then since Malcador already informed the Emperor about the Legions' positive genetic changes, doesn't that mean Lion doesn't need to continue all the way to Terra? Couldn't we just call her back here instead?"
This tea party's greatest flaw, in his opinion, was the Lion's absence. Somehow, not having to prepare one extra portion of food made everything feel off.
"Tch." Curze clicked her tongue in obvious displeasure, then shot him a sidelong glance. "Well, well. And here I thought certain people weren't concerned about their little lion cub at all."
"I wouldn't call it concern," Bruce answered, staying strictly practical. "I'm just thinking that if we could call her back, then we could move on to the next phase of the plan."
There might have been the slightest sliver of selfishness there. He really didn't like the thought of the Lion being stuck eating copied, prepackaged food day after day.
But if she came back, and the three Legions assembled into one massive combined fleet, then they could finally go and beat the living hell out of Lorgar.
Three Legions against the Word Bearers? That would be easier than killing an ant.
Magnus set down her book and glanced at the other two Primarchs. Then, very sensibly, she raised a hand and silently prepared herself to grab her cake and flee if necessary.
"Should I leave?" she asked.
After all, the Emperor had already made his intentions clear. Magnus's task now was to assist him in constructing the Webway and, when necessary, to share the burden of the Golden Throne with Malcador whenever the Emperor had to leave Terra.
So any other schemes, plots, or plans going forward were no longer really her business. Knowing them would just be a burden.
Or rather, a curse of knowledge.
"No."
Curze waved dismissively, then smiled in a way that showed just a little too much satisfaction.
"And if our plans ever leak, you'll be the first one under suspicion."
Magnus's mouth twitched. She suddenly looked like she wanted to die, but wasn't sure how.
Fine. She was smart enough to understand what her sister meant. Once you had heard the secret, there was no walking away from it without paying some kind of price.
But she really didn't have much left to offer.
The Fifteenth Legion had already surrendered most of its former territories to the Emperor. Apart from Prospero, there was little left to strip away.
Surely Curze wasn't about to start stripping pieces off her personally? That would be horrifying.
"Bruce, I asked Malcador about that," Horus said.
She had been serious up until now, but at the mention of the Lion she became more formal still.
"He said the First Legion has a more important task awaiting it. There's no need to interrupt its course for Terra."
"And besides, the Invincible Reason carries one of those Anywhere Doors. Malcador and Father are both very interested in that technology. To make sure nothing goes wrong, Lion still needs to complete the trip in person."
"So she's still going," Bruce said, surprised. "Did you at least pass the message on to her?"
There had to be a very serious reason for giving the First Legion something "more important" to do.
Something at that level could only mean one thing: it was a matter of enormous consequence.
"Hah." Curze sighed in exaggerated annoyance, then shot him a venomously sweet look. "Oh dear. And here I was under the impression that certain people had already told their dear little lion about all of this during their nightly chats."
Bruce froze, then smiled awkwardly.
Damn it. I'm this old and you still eavesdrop on my calls?
What a family.
"Don't misunderstand," Curze added. "I do not have some strange hobby of monitoring you. Sevatar told me."
"That's even worse!" Bruce protested. The thought of a certain Night Lords lady-in-waiting using time stop to secretly watch him while he handled personal matters sent a chill down his spine.
Absolutely not.
That was unacceptable.
"Bruce calls Lion 'little lion'?" Horus repeated under her breath, imagining the scene.
She bit down on her spoon without thinking.
Crack.
The spoon snapped in half.
Everyone at the table turned to stare at her as her cheeks flushed red.
"Sorry..." Horus muttered, her rabbit ears drooping slightly. "I didn't control my strength."
"It's fine. Happens to me sometimes too," Bruce said, tossing his own spoon in a neat arc toward Horus's side of the table.
The spoon would have landed perfectly—
—but Curze caught it in one hand.
Then, with total shamelessness, she stuck her own fork into Horus's slice of cake and calmly began eating with Bruce's spoon.
"Anyway," Curze said, as though nothing were wrong, "back to the point. How are we going to beat the hell out of the Word Bearers? Malcador and Father know they've already fallen to Chaos, don't they?"
Horus looked at Curze's hand, then at the fork stuck in her own cake, and instantly lost her appetite.
This woman really had no manners at all.
She was using the fork Horus had already been eating with and passing it off like nothing had happened. And on top of that, Bruce no longer had a spoon.
What was he supposed to do—drink his pudding straight from the bowl?
Bruce, meanwhile, was doing exactly that, slurping the pudding directly with no shame at all.
Noticing Horus's aggrieved stare, he blinked.
I'm drinking pudding. Why does that bother you?
Horus coughed, then finally answered.
"Father knows. He told me I have full authority over the matter."
"But the Great Crusade cannot stop. He has a premonition that before long, an extremely violent Warp storm will sweep through realspace."
"A Warp storm?" Bruce stiffened at once.
Right now, so many of their arrangements depended on Warp travel. If the Four wanted to get shameless and effectively cut humanity off from that, the Imperium would be in serious trouble.
Humanity's Age of Strife had happened for exactly that reason: worlds had lost contact with one another. The Imperium had only just begun to rise again. Another blow of that kind now would be devastating.
"What about the Webway Project?" Curze asked, far less surprised than Bruce. "Will it be ready in time?"
If the backup plan couldn't be brought online before that storm came, then the Great Crusade would be all but finished.
"I don't know," Horus admitted. "Malcador refuses to disclose too much, but I believe some portions of the Webway will be brought into operation."
Bruce laughed dryly.
"So what, then? We risk having our lines of contact and supply severed at any time, and we still go after the Word Bearers?"
"I'll find a way," Horus replied. "If necessary, I'll gather the Word Bearers under the pretext of a military exercise, surround them, and kill them all."
She had already chosen the place.
Istvaan.
The name alone made Bruce's skin crawl.
"Then before that," Curze said, picking up the thread, "shouldn't we first identify which of the other Legions may already have traitorous elements?"
"If we can solve that problem in one sweep, all the better."
Bruce looked at her carefully.
"Father... shouldn't the more important detail be that the Warmaster just said she plans to gather them all in one place?"
Even though this Horus was loyal, something about that sentence still triggered every last alarm bell in his head.
She wouldn't be setting the trap on Istvaan, would she?
Curze immediately caught on.
"What are you afraid of? This time we're the loyalists. If you're really scared, then don't go down to Istvaan, that's all."
This time, they were on the righteous side. Using the tactic from the old history against the actual rebels should have been immensely satisfying.
So why was he acting like they were still the villains?
Horus blinked.
"How do the two of you know I was planning to use Istvaan as a trap and wipe out the traitors there?"
Were they secretly using precognition on their own side now?
That was not how this was supposed to work.
Magnus immediately surrendered the moment Horus looked at her.
"Don't ask me. I know nothing."
But privately, even she was baffled.
How did these two seem to know everything in advance, as if they had opened a third eye? Since when were the Night Lords this terrifying at foresight?
Bruce cleared his throat and quickly redirected the conversation.
"Rather than get stuck on that, shouldn't we focus on figuring out which Legions show signs of treason? If we can solve that all at once, that's best. Better than waiting for everything to explode later."
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of broad beans.
"Let's simulate it," he said. "I'll go first."
He set one bean down in the center of the table.
"I think the Alpha Legion should die first, no matter what."
To Bruce, there was only one universal rule:
When in doubt, kill the riddler first.
Loyal or traitor, it didn't matter.
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 150)
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 (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
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 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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