Leman Russ hurriedly departed with his Wolf Guard. Guilliman and Rhodes watched his receding figure with satisfied smiles. The return of the Wolf King would once again bolster the Empire's strength.
With the Primarchs gradually returning one after another, the Chaos forces were now under immense pressure, completely on the back foot.
Strictly speaking, all the Primarchs had now returned.
The only one who hadn't was Ferrus Manus, who was in a state of death. Rhodes didn't have the time to revive him in the short term.
No one in the Empire was urging Rhodes to do anything about Ferrus Manus.
After all, Rhodes had already revived Malcador, recovered many lost Primarchs, and single-handedly transformed the Empire into its current hopeful state.
In the following time, Rhodes focused solely on staying on Holy Terra, patiently waiting for the Emperor to strip away the Chaos godhood.
When he had time, he would go to the Cosmic Beast Planet to spend time with his two daughters and two wives, visit the soon-to-give-birth Aisha, or accompany Elena.
He also used the communication abilities of the cosmic phantom beasts to chat with his two sons. Now, his two sons could stand on their own, each leading their own legions along with some of Rhodes's gene-sons.
They were clearing out various xenos within the Imperial Sanctum, further expanding human colonies.
Guilliman and Malcador were buried in heavy administrative duties all day long.
The return of the Wolf King once again caused a huge stir in the Empire. The Space Wolves held a grand banquet on Fenris, breaking out their treasured ale.
They celebrated the return of the Great Wolf Father. Leman Russ's return brought unimaginable benefits to the entire Space Wolves, and all the Wolf's progeny began to cheer.
After a brief reunion, Leman Russ quickly led his gene-sons to the dark side of the Empire to support his brothers. His brothers had been fighting on the dark side for years, and it was time for him to join the fray.
In the pitch-black starry sky, cannon fire roared as Imperial fleets and Chaos fleets engaged in brutal slaughter amid shattered starfields.
Horus's flagship, the Vengeful Spirit—no longer a symbol of Chaos, but repainted in Imperial iron gray, with the eagle emblem on its prow shining with holy light—led the Imperial fleet in breaking into the enemy lines.
After the battle at Vigilus ended with the defeat of Chaos Warmaster Abaddon, Horus's flagship, lost for ten thousand years, returned to the hands of this former Warmaster.
Using the powerful light energy of his Light Giant form, Horus successfully purged all Chaos from the Vengeful Spirit. Then, through Belisarius Cawl's engineers on Rhodes's side, the ship was fitted with a faster-than-light engine and expanded. It became a massive battleship about 50 kilometers long.
Its macro-cannon arrays spewed destructive lances of light, slicing a Chaos battleship in half at the waist. The explosion's flames bloomed silently in the vacuum.
On the fleet's flank, Lion El'Jonson's Invincible Reason acted like a sharp knight's longsword, precisely piercing the weak points of the Chaos fleet. The Dark Angels' fleet executed near-perfect tactical coordination, dividing and encircling Chaos warships one by one.
"All ships, attention: Target locked—Nurgle plague ship Rotten Breath. Saturation bombardment!" Lion's cold voice echoed through the fleet channel.
At this moment, the Lion King was exceptionally excited. It felt like everything had returned, as if it were ten thousand years ago, with the Primarchs fighting shoulder to shoulder once more for the Empire and all humanity.
Except for those traitorous villains, all the brothers had returned.
In the next second, hundreds of plasma torpedoes fired in unison. The bloated Nurgle ship disintegrated in a dense explosion, its foul pus and plague zombies freezing into disgusting ice crystals in the vacuum.
However, the Chaos fleet's counterattack was equally fierce. Khorne blood raiders emerged from Warp rifts, their hulls adorned with skulls and chains. Its ramming prow directly pierced an Imperial cruiser, followed by thousands of Chaos berserkers boarding via assault torpedoes.
"They're boarding! Prepare to engage!" the Space Marine commander on the bridge roared.
"My children, do not panic. Your father is with you. Face our enemies bravely, let them know the might of the Empire, the might of humanity." Lion El'Jonson drew his massive Tiger Soul warblade and spoke.
Once upon a time, his weapon was the Lion Sword, but ten thousand years of slumber had long caused him to lose it. However, the Tiger Soul blade formed from cosmic phantom beast power suited him even better.
"For the great Gene-Father! Fight for the Lion!"
"Brothers, show our enemies what they're up against—show them they're facing the Lion's progeny."
"First Legion eternal!"
Countless Dark Angels shouted as hordes of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos daemons rushed into the ship.
But what met them was not terrified human soldiers, but the uniform sound of bolters being loaded.
The Dark Angels raised their weapons, shouting "The Empire eternal! The Lion eternal!" and launched attacks against the boarding Chaos Space Marines.
The Chaos tide surged into the ship's interior, staining bulkheads with filthy blood, the air thick with rot and sulfur. Khorne berserkers roared through corridors, chainaxes and power swords hacking at everything in their path.
But the Dark Angels were already arrayed in formation.
"Hold the line! For Caliban!"
The Terminator squad "Deathwing" formed a steel bulwark at the front, their storm bolters spewing tongues of fire, tearing the foremost Chaos warriors to shreds.
A Khorne Chosen swung a bloodied greataxe, only to have his skull smashed by a Terminator captain's power fist, brains and metal fragments splattering everywhere.
"Traitors, you defile the Emperor's light!" the Dark Angels company master roared, his power fist's energy field humming.
The Chaos response was a bout of maniacal laughter. A Black Legion Chaos Lord pushed aside corpses and stepped forward, his armor etched with blasphemous runes, corrosive venom dripping from his power claw.
"Dark Angels? You're just a bunch of cowards hiding behind secrets!" The First Legion's scandals were known to all—Fallen Angels, the second empire, and all that.
The Dark Angel said nothing, drawing his power sword and charging directly.
The heavy steps of Terminator armor shook the deck. The two clashed in the narrow corridor, power sword and power claw colliding in a shower of sparks.
If Chaos dared to probe their secrets, then Chaos must be silenced. The First Legion truly had no secrets now; any mention of them touched the Dark Angels' reverse scale and must be killed.
The bridge broadcast carried the Lion's icy voice: "All squads, report status."
"Section A: All Chaos scum cleared!"
"Section B: Clearing in progress, estimated twenty minutes to end combat!"
"Section C: Combat concluded, preparing to support other areas."
The comms channel was filled with mostly good news—either enemies were already dealt with or soon would be.
The new era's Primaris super-Astartes technology had directly widened the gap between Astartes and Chaos forces.
Lion El'Jonson nodded in satisfaction, looking at Azrael beside him—now the Dark Angels' first deputy chapter master after completing the Redemption Crusade.
"Father, at most half an hour, and we'll tear the Chaos fleet before us to shreds," Azrael said gravely.
The Lion didn't reply, merely gripping the Tiger Soul blade tighter. The phantom beast soul on the blade let out a low growl.
"Well done, my children. I'm going to stretch my legs a bit too."
In the next second, the Lion rushed into the battlefield like a silver lightning bolt, his speed far exceeding that of ordinary Space Marines. The Tiger Soul blade traced a blazing arc through the air.
A charging Khorne berserker didn't even have time to react before being cleaved in two, his burning remains falling to the ground.
"The Lion is here! The Lion King has come!"
The Chaos warriors retreated in terror, but it was too late.
Lion El'Jonson descended from above, as if entering no-man's-land. Under the swing of his warblade, each stroke claimed several Chaos scum lives.
His fighting style was precise and deadly, with no superfluous movements—only the purest efficiency of slaughter, even carrying a violent aesthetic.
A Nurgle daemon tried to block him with a plague cloud, but the Lion merely snorted coldly. The phantom beast soul on the blade roared fiercely, its blazing white light incinerating the corrupting mist. Then, he thrust the blade through the daemon's pustule-ridden body, burning it to ashes.
"Clear all enemies," the Lion's voice rang out on the comms channel.
With the last Chaos Space Marine slain, the battle inside the ship finally ended.
The Dark Angels began clearing the battlefield, recovering their comrades' bodies and executing any enemies not yet dead.
The Lion stood on the bridge, gazing out the viewport at the ongoing space battle.
Horus's Vengeful Spirit was bombarding the last Chaos capital ship, with Sanguinius's golden figure shining above the enemy vessel.
Leman Russ's wolf pack fleet flanked from the side, completely cutting off the enemy's retreat. When Primarchs coordinated in battle, it could make enemies tremble in fear.
"Father, we've won," Azrael said softly, approaching him.
The Lion was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Yes, but the war is far from over. We have more traitors to kill, more Chaos dogs to purge!"
At that moment, the Primarchs were teleported to the planet's surface via shipboard librarians' psychic abilities, launching an attack on the last Chaos forces on the planet.
On the shattered planetary surface, the war was equally brutal.
Sanguinius unfurled his brilliant wings, wielding a flaming greatsword, streaking across the battlefield like a golden meteor.
His target was a Greater Daemon of Khorne—Skarbrand.
These two were old adversaries. Khorne's foremost daemon constantly sought to drag the Angel and his progeny into Chaos's fold.
In the Warp, Sanguinius had harbored deep hatred for Khorne's daemons, so slaughtering this Khorne Greater Daemon was incredibly satisfying.
"Great Angel! Your blood shall be offered to the Blood God!" Skarbrand roared as he charged.
Sanguinius didn't reply, merely flapping his wings to soar high, then diving down.
Sanguinius's golden wings traced a brilliant trail through the smoke-filled battlefield, his flaming greatsword erupting with blinding light.
Facing the charging Skarbrand, the Great Angel's lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.
"Is that all?" Sanguinius elegantly twisted in mid-air, effortlessly dodging Skarbrand's heavy double-axe swing. "Ten thousand years, and your moves are still this clumsy."
The Khorne Greater Daemon let out a deafening roar, turning to pounce again.
Sanguinius suddenly accelerated, delivering a spinning kick that heavily struck the daemon's ugly face, staggering it back.
"Look at you," the Angel hovered in mid-air, his sword tip disdainfully pointing at the daemon. "You don't even understand basic combat. Is this the trash Khorne teaches?"
Skarbrand angrily swung his double axes, gathering furious energy on the weapons. "I'll tear off your wings! Offer your skull to the Blood God!"
Sanguinius suddenly dove down, his sword light like lightning. "Anyone can talk big?"
The Great Angel's sword edge precisely parried one waraxe, then a kick to the daemon's knee produced a crisp crack of breaking bone. "Get up, trash. Show me how capable Khorne's mightiest warrior is."
In truth, if Sanguinius wanted, he could end the battle in an instant, killing this Khorne Greater Daemon in seconds.
But that would be letting this bastard off too easy. Over ten thousand years, how many of his gene-sons had died at his hands? So the Great Angel planned to properly torment this Khorne Greater Daemon, Skarbrand.
The massive Khorne daemon knelt on one knee, angrily exhaling scorching breath.
Sanguinius had already circled behind it, slicing off half its wing with one sword stroke. "Too slow, really too slow."
Sanguinius mocked his opponent, yet his longsword mercilessly pierced the daemon's chest.
But this strike was perfectly measured—severely wounding the foe without killing it instantly.
The Khorne daemon leaped up in fury to pursue, but Sanguinius dodged aside, letting Skarbrand miss, then slashing the Greater Daemon's back with his sword.
"Does it hurt? Do you know the pain I've felt watching my gene-sons slaughtered by you over these ten thousand years?" Sanguinius gritted his teeth.
Skarbrand roared in pain as he turned, the Greater Daemon completely losing reason, charging recklessly.
A glint flashed in Sanguinius's eyes—it was time to end this revenge battle.
Finally, he could avenge those fallen gene-sons. Damn Khorne daemon.
The Great Angel suddenly transformed into a streak of golden light, piercing Skarbrand's chest at astonishing speed.
The flaming greatsword erupted with holy flames inside the daemon's body, incinerating it from the inside out.
"Farewell, pitiful wretch." The terrifying holy fire utterly destroyed the Greater Daemon's soul; he didn't even qualify to return to Khorne's Brass Throne.