While Bruce was raising hell down on the surface of Isstvan V, Horus, who was in charge of overall orbital command and control, was in an excellent mood as she oversaw the battle.
In her view, this Isstvan plan was unquestionably perfect.
Not only had it achieved the two objectives of capturing the rebel main force and the suspected fallen Primarchs, it had also reduced their own losses to the absolute minimum. One could even say they had basically achieved zero casualties.
"Just one final step left…"
Horus looked at the star map, watching the color blocks representing the rebels gradually being eaten away, and murmured optimistically.
As long as these traitor Legions were dealt with, Horus would be able to consolidate her forces and take down Lorgar next. Once that happened, the Imperium of Man and the Emperor would truly have achieved revival.
These two matters were like parallel lines advancing side by side: she would complete the Great Crusade and stop her brothers' fall, while Father would complete the Webway Project, finally allowing humanity to free itself from its dependence on the Warp.
Even if the Webway, as a xenos creation, had certain limitations, it was still better than relying solely on the Warp. One more option meant one more layer of safety.
The thought that she would stand alongside Father at the highest peak of human history made it almost impossible for Horus to suppress her excitement. Perhaps, after Father abdicated, she would even continue leading humanity as Emperor.
Ah!
What a magnificent undertaking!
Just as Horus was imagining that beautiful future, a sharp alarm suddenly rang out.
Dragged back from her dream into reality, Horus looked abruptly toward the edge of the star map. There, a red danger signal was flashing repeatedly.
Something seemed to be approaching the fleet.
"What is happening? Torgaddon, report."
Horus questioned him unhappily.
"Father, it seems a rebel fleet is charging toward us. Their numbers are not small."
Torgaddon's projected head appeared beside the star map.
"Destroy them."
Horus gave the order.
"Yes!"
Torgaddon accepted the command.
Although Horus had planned to destroy all rebel warships, she also knew that the rebels would certainly keep some forces in reserve. Therefore, she had specifically left a portion of her fleet waiting for instructions at the edge of the system.
And now, their purpose and value were revealed.
Horus did not fight battles she lacked confidence in. Moreover, she had already suffered a loss once before. Naturally, she would not act like some raw recruit, facing a possible crisis without any contingency plan.
A while later, the warships began exchanging fire.
Horus did not treat the void battle occurring beyond the system's edge as anything serious. She believed Torgaddon would resolve the problem very quickly.
Please.
To prevent accidents, she had deployed warships from at least three Legions at the perimeter.
Horus, who held command authority over every Legion, had already made every preparation.
When the Primarchs had handed over Legion command authority to Horus without reservation, she had issued orders precisely down to every captain and even every company commander. Unless something unexpected happened, there would absolutely be no problem.
"Hm?"
While Horus was observing the surface battle through the ship's monitoring equipment, she suddenly realized that the communications link between herself and Torgaddon had been cut.
No.
More accurately, her connection with all the fleets deployed on the flank and perimeter had been cut.
"What is going on? Why can't we contact Torgaddon?!"
Horus immediately shouted at the command center.
"Report, Warmaster! Something appears to be interfering with the signal. We are confirming the situation…"
What the hell are you doing?
What are you people even for?!
Horus began to feel uneasy.
After waiting for a moment and watching friendly warship signals disappear from the star map one after another, she hurriedly activated the backup communications.
She picked up the paper cup labeled Smiling Killer and urgently asked her First Captain to confirm the situation.
"Torgaddon! Can you hear me? What is happening on your side?!"
Horus asked anxiously.
Even now, Horus still did not understand what technological principle this paper cup used. But one thing was certain: it was currently the only device capable of zero-delay communication.
"Fa… Father! Something is wrong! We have encountered an attack from a rebel main fleet."
"A main fleet?"
"Yes! The enemy's firepower is abnormally fierce. We are losing control of the defensive perimeter."
"Is it the Word Bearers?"
Horus immediately thought of the only possibility.
Although Horus had considered the possibility that Lorgar might go all in against her, she had not expected him to be so reckless as to attack them at all costs.
What was he trying to achieve?
"Unclear! The enemy fleet's offensive is extremely powerful, and their coordination is especially good. It doesn't really resemble the Word Bearers Legion's style."
"Do you have concrete visual footage? Transmit it to me!"
"Impossible! Communications on our side are being disrupted. The astropaths aboard the ships are behaving abnormally. The situation is very wrong!"
"Abnormal? Damn the Warp!"
Horus immediately understood that Chaos was definitely interfering again.
At the same time, however, Horus did not panic at all, because she had anticipated this situation as well. Thus, she could calmly redeploy forces to assist Torgaddon.
"I will send reinforcements immediately. Hold on!"
"If the battle turns unfavorable, retreat and regroup with us!"
"Yes!"
As Horus spoke, she issued reinforcement orders to several nearby mixed fleets.
Her side possessed the combat strength of seven Legions. No matter how capable Lorgar was, could he really fight her while suffering at least a sevenfold disadvantage in troops?
But not long afterward, as Horus observed the battle through the star map, she suddenly discovered a fatal problem.
Her side seemed to have fallen into a very unfavorable situation.
Fog of war.
Whether it was the fleets she had sent out or her control over the front-line situation, Horus had lost all means of observation. At present, the entire outer ring of the star map was a blurred, unpredictable haze.
This was deadly.
As a commander, even if Horus possessed heaven-defying ability, she could not precisely deliver orders to her subordinates. Likewise, her subordinates could not report the latest battle situation back to command.
Now, Horus had already imagined an even worse possibility.
The one attacking the fleet was not only the Word Bearers Legion, but other Legions as well.
And they possessed some method of isolating information transmission.
An invisible net was being woven and slowly tightened.
"No… I cannot sit here and wait for death!"
Seeing that the situation was wrong, Horus immediately issued a new order, commanding the scattered fleets to gather together.
In any case, control of Isstvan was already in her hands, and the rebels on the surface would not be able to struggle much longer. Rather than spread out and risk being defeated in detail, it was better to concentrate their strength. Even if an emergency occurred, they could still break through in one direction.
As the fleets methodically executed the order to gather, unsettling reports continued arriving from the front.
The intelligence indicated that they were not only being attacked by a rebel main fleet, but were being crushed almost one-sidedly.
Not only that, the fleets heading to the perimeter to provide support were being intercepted one after another, and not only in one location.
This situation made Horus wonder: where had the rebels gotten so many warships?
How could they stretch the battle line this wide?
Not good!
Horus immediately realized that this was not a simple suicide assault. It was a premeditated offensive.
The enemy definitely was not just the Word Bearers Legion.
Now was not the time to sit back and defend. She had to launch an active attack!
"Mortarion! Respond if you hear me!"
Horus immediately contacted the Lord of the Death Guard.
"Warmaster?"
Mortarion, who was on the planet's surface, received the communication and asked in confusion.
"I need you to return to orbit. There has been an emergency. I must go to the front line and command the battle personally. Isstvan's security will be left to you."
"I understand!"
Mortarion carried out the order without hesitation.
After setting up the defensive perimeter and arranging the warships remaining over Isstvan, Horus immediately gathered the main force and counterattacked toward the fog of war.
But the farther they advanced, the more wrong the situation became.
Communications signals were being disrupted. Not only that, various pieces of equipment aboard many warships began failing one after another. Mortal soldiers were growing uneasy.
What shocked Horus even more, however, was the battlefield at the very front.
A black vortex, one that could not be described with any proper words, was devouring everything.
Countless warships covered in blasphemous runes and bizarre shapes were destroying every Imperial vessel around them together with that vortex. The vortex was like a black hole—deep, dark, and so terrifying that merely looking at it made one feel as though their soul were being drawn out.
Was this some Chaos sorcery of Lorgar's?
That damned bastard!
"Notify everyone! Prepare for battle! Make the damned traitors pay!"
"For the Emperor!"
"I am with you! Fire upon the shameful traitors!"
Under Horus's encouragement, the morale aboard the warships finally stabilized. The soldiers temporarily forgot that unsettling sight and, following the attack order, unleashed all firepower the instant they entered visual range.
After all, the Warmaster was personally present.
What was there to fear?
The ones who should be afraid were the enemy!
The moment the vanguard engaged the enemy, the other side also returned fire.
Their fierce firepower turned more than half the vanguard into space debris almost instantly.
A Gloriana-class battleship?!
Seeing this, Horus confirmed that at the center of that strange vortex was Lorgar's flagship—
The Fidelitas Lex.
Only it could possess such firepower.
But as the distance closed, the observation equipment began malfunctioning. The images became blurred and twisted. Even so, Horus still managed to see clearly through the optical equipment what was at the center of the vortex.
It was something that made her uneasy, yet also filled her with disbelief—
The Macragge's Honour.
The Gloriana-class battleship of the Ultramarines Legion.
For some reason, it had appeared here. Its exterior and appearance had also changed. The entire ship was covered with all manner of blasphemous Chaos symbols and spikes. At first glance, one might think it was some living daemon.
The Ultramarines Legion…
At that thought, Horus finally realized who her opponent was this time.
She finally understood why the enemy's void warfare was so powerful.
Such troublesome organization and aggression—no wonder it was so special.
How could the Word Bearers Legion possibly possess this kind of combat power?
But if it was the Ultramarines Legion, then everything made sense.
Guilliman!
You bastard.
So you really did betray Father and throw yourself into Chaos?!
Damn it!
According to Horus's original plan, after dealing with Lorgar, she intended to move against Guilliman and the Five Hundred Worlds, reducing their autonomy. After all, that independent little kingdom was far too dangerous to the Imperium of Man.
But she had never expected Guilliman to act first!
"Abaddon! Summon everyone! I will issue the following deployment…"
Before Horus could finish her command, a powerful Warp storm instantly swept through the entire Isstvan system.
Pure Warp energy washed over every loyalist warship.
Immediately afterward came temporary engine overload, equipment paralysis, servitors turning violent and attacking nearby personnel, mortal soldiers losing their senses, and psykers falling into madness.
The black vortex was like a Warp entrance that had descended into the material universe, continuously releasing psychic pulses outward.
In less than a few seconds, the loyalist fleet almost completely lost combat capability, becoming helpless puppets waiting to be butchered.
Horus's mind was flooded by the low whispers and demonic sounds of the Warp. Those voices that had appeared during her corruption made her clutch her head in agony.
"Father!!!"
Abaddon immediately stepped forward and supported Horus, who had nearly fainted.
Fortunately, Warmaster Command was not some ramshackle amateur operation. Following the orders Horus had issued earlier, they transmitted deployments to the front line in sequence while also attempting to find a solution.
However, the situation had become far too chaotic. The command chains between the fleets were almost fractured. Whether these remedial measures would take effect was unknown.
After all, such a situation had never occurred since the start of the Great Crusade!
Even the most experienced commanders, those who had followed the Emperor through the Unification Wars on Terra, had never seen anything like this.
"Not good! Something… kill me!… Aaaah…"
Bang.
One of the astropaths in the command center suddenly screamed. His body began twisting, and he lunged rapidly toward the nearest communication device.
Although an Astartes drew his gun and shot him dead at the fastest possible speed, the astropath still managed to splash his blood onto it before he died.
Immediately afterward, the main screen crashed.
As static flickered, an unsettling red background appeared, the red light illuminating everyone's faces.
Then the symbol of the eight-pointed star of Chaos emerged.
The Tech-priests urgently intervened. These members of the Mechanicus began trying to appease the suffering machine-spirit, but no matter what measures they used, they could not stop the abnormality.
A short while later, a communication signal forcibly connected.
Then a towering warrior appeared on the screen, his entire body radiating an ominous aura. He wore blue power armor engraved with blasphemous symbols, and on his back hung the eight-pointed star of Chaos.
"You…"
Horus clutched her head, still struggling against the other person deep within her soul. When she looked at the "brother" on the screen, rage surged into the sky.
At the same time, that anger caused her to lose control of her body.
"Who are you?!"
"You are absolutely not Roboute Guilliman!"
The real Guilliman—Horus would recognize him at a glance even if he were turned to ash.
The one before her had only Guilliman's appearance. Inside, he was absolutely not the man she knew.
If the Guilliman in Horus's memory was a gentleman skilled at disguising himself, then this fellow was pure evil.
"My brother… your current appearance is truly laughable…"
Guilliman slowly spoke.
"Although this is not the first time we have met, I will tell you this: you and Father's ridiculous ideals will be ended by my own hand."
"This time, none of you will have any chance of victory. Soon, my fleet will kill all of you. Then no one will be able to stop me from reaching Holy Terra."
"All of you will die."
After he finished speaking, the screen signal recovered.
The light source that had plunged the entire Vengeful Spirit into darkness and crimson disappeared, but the entire strategic command center had still not fully recovered.
Although separated by a screen, Guilliman's hateful appearance and aura had left an unsettling afterimage in the minds of everyone present, even if they had only stared blankly for a moment.
"A… Abaddon…"
Horus, still in agony, turned her head and reached toward the paper cup on the table labeled Recruit.
Abaddon immediately understood. He carried Horus over to the table and placed the paper cup into her hand.
After grasping the paper cup, Horus used the last trace of her strength and reason to send a message to Bruce:
The fleet has been attacked.
Leave Isstvan V immediately.
But just as she tried to say more, she completely lost consciousness.
This only intensified the chaos within Warmaster Command.
No one could stop Guilliman's fleet.
They easily tore open the defensive line, allowing more and more warships to advance toward Isstvan V at an utterly unscientific speed.
And the vortex formed from Chaos power was accelerating as it devoured every warship.
They would become nourishment, making that vortex even stronger, until it completely shattered the barrier between the Warp and the physical universe.
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
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 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" 150
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 255
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 155
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
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The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi 51
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Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 105
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 100
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 120
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 105
After Maxing Out Every Class 110
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 95
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 60
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 57
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 75
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 86
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 70
Honkai: The Fire Devil 70
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/30
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 60
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 74
At age 8, she co-starred with 45
Honkai: Schicksal Media 53
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 30
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