"Are you calling me?"
Behind Angron, Noah hovered in the blue sky, holding a psionic spear made of psionics lightning, ready to throw it.
"You're killing my citizens here. Who gave you the audacity?"
Noah was a bit angry, and his powerful psionics directly overwhelmed the entire scene.
Angron had been standing, but after Noah's last word fell, he knelt to the ground.
"Ah! What did you do to me!"
"Let go of me! Bastard, let go of me!"
Angron roared, trying to get up, but how could Noah's psionics restraint be so easily broken? The powerful psionics still firmly pressed him to the ground.
"Did I tell you to stand up? Useless!"
As the two words "Useless" fell, Noah's psionics pressure intensified.
Angron had been kneeling properly on the ground, but now the floor beneath him was pierced, and he was sinking inch by inch into the earth.
Such overwhelming pressure stunned the Lion King, who had been beaten back by Angron, finding it difficult to resist.
What kind of powerful force was this? A Daemon Primarch was pinned to the ground, unable to move, and now he couldn't even open his mouth.
Noah limited his power to Angron, so the Custodes, Grey Knights, and Lion were all able to move. Seeing the Lion still standing there, the Custodes quickly stepped forward and dragged him back.
It wasn't until the Custodes dragged him away that the Lion came to his senses and quickly asked,
"Who is he? To possess such immense power, who is he?"
"He is Sun Lord Noah, the Sun Lord personally appointed by the Emperor, the Imperial Warmaster."
"If you are to address him, you may call him Grand Marshal!"
Although the Lion's performance was poor, without him, the Custodes alone truly couldn't stop Angron. Therefore, the Custodes, for once, answered the Primarch's question.
Noah, Sun Lord, Imperial Warmaster, Grand Marshal.
"So, so he is the Sun Lord?" The Lion was dragged away by the combined effort of two Custodes, then murmured in a lost voice.
He looked at Angron, his former brother, who was now being brutally pressed into the ground by Noah's psionics, sinking further inch by inch.
Then he looked at Noah, still floating in the sky, exuding an intimidating aura without needing to show anger.
The Lion suddenly shivered.
If he remembered correctly, he had previously declared that he wanted to have a one-on-one duel with Noah, hadn't he?
A duel?
The Lion glanced at his small physique, at his already aging body, and then at Angron, who was being shoved into the ground inch by inch by Noah.
A fight?
No, no, no!
Absolutely not, whoever wanted to fight could fight, but he wouldn't; this was absolutely out of the question!
Was Noah's one-on-one a duel? It was clearly a one-sided beating, and he wanted no part of it!
The Lion frantically shook his head, trying to cast out the thought of ever wanting to duel Noah from his mind.
At this moment, the Emperor, seated on the golden throne, focusing his attention here, saw his son's disappointing behavior and sighed in relief.
It's good that he's disappointing; it's good that he's so disappointing. Compared to whether the Lion directly challenging Noah would worsen Noah's perception of the Imperium of Man, this situation was better.
The Lion going to challenge Noah and getting beaten by him should be considered the least problematic outcome.
The Lion frantically threw the thought out of his mind, and the Emperor also breathed a sigh of relief. However, Angron was not having such a good time now.
As Noah's power grew stronger and stronger, Angron's body had already disappeared from the surface, and the alloy steel plates below could not prevent him from sinking further.
"Ah!!!!"
Angron's screams echoed underground, the alloy steel plates twisting and deforming around him, yet unable to prevent his continued descent.
Noah's psionics, like an invisible giant hand, firmly pressed the Daemon Primarch deep into the ground of Nairus.
"You think Khorne's blessings can protect you?"
"They can't protect you."
At this moment, Noah was somewhat annoyed and angry. After all, he had taken his fleet to deal with Abaddon, but that guy Abaddon had actually run away!
Those four pieces of trash from Chaos had actually rescued Abaddon, which was undoubtedly a stab at Noah's heart.
Now that a Chaos Primarch had delivered himself, it would be strange if Noah didn't use this opportunity to vent his anger. Otherwise, he would usually just deal with this guy directly.
"Scream, scream to your heart's content. Even if you kneel and beg me, I will not spare you."
As Noah spoke, Angron's even more desperate screams came from underground.
However, Noah did not directly kill Angron. At this point, Noah felt something very strange from within Angron's body.
But before that, he first used his powerful psionics to re-stabilize and heal the Custodes and Grey Knights who had been injured by Angron but were not completely dead.
Because of the strong vitality of the Custodes and Grey Knights, even if they were cut open, they would not die immediately.
They were merely critical injuries, not worth mentioning.
So Noah acted directly to revive them.
After all this was done, Noah then turned his head back to look at Angron, who was kneeling on the ground, and sensed the situation within his body.
"What's going on? I can feel that your Warp essence isn't what it is now. How did it become like this?"
Noah possessed powerful psionics and had been in the Warhammer Universe for so long.
This psionics had grown stronger again, and because of this, he was actually able to directly perceive Angron's Warp essence.
"You shouldn't be like this..."
Warp essence doesn't lie. Logically, Angron should have developed in the direction of his Warp essence, not like he was now.
It was this doubt that made Noah slow down his attack, merely continuing to press him to the ground.
Immediately after, a giant psionics hand appeared, grabbing Angron from underground and throwing him back onto the surface, while making him continue to kneel on the ground.
"Let me see what caused you to become like this."
Noah slowly flew down from the sky and stepped forward to Angron's front. Upon seeing Noah, Angron couldn't help but roar madly.
"Ah!!!"
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"
"I'll kill you!"
Angron roared madly, one after another, but Noah paid him no mind, completely ignoring him.
"Alright, alright, stop shouting. I know you want to kill me, but wait a moment."
"Just kneel on the ground obediently and don't resist. Let me research what exactly caused you to reverse your Warp essence and become like this."
"You are purely an extreme opposite of your original state. I want to see what caused this to happen."
Noah might have found Angron too noisy, so he still addressed him and appeased him.
Noah's gentle psionics entered Angron's mind, making him gradually calm down, and his roars began to soften.
"Let me see what exactly caused you to become like this."
As Noah's power entered Angron's body and performed a detailed scan, Noah got his answer; his attention was drawn to the butcher's nails on Angron's head.
Then Noah took out a detection device from his wristband and thoroughly examined the item.
The moment the inspection results came out, Noah's brows furrowed, and a silent rage brewed in his heart.
"Who on earth developed this thing? They should be executed!"
Noah gave his assessment of the butcher's nails, which were simply a terrible invention.
However, relying solely on the butcher's nails could not so easily reverse the essence of the Warp; there must be other reasons.
What influences a life form's growth is naturally related to the experiences he encounters during his life, so Noah's psionics began to surge into Angron's mind.
Since he wanted to investigate how this happened, it was natural to directly check the other party's memories.
As soon as Noah's psionics entered Angron's mind, the first memory he received was of tens of thousands of years of slaughter; Noah directly ignored it and bundled it as trash.
"To be honest, what you've done over the past ten millennia is no different from a wild beast."
Noah gave his assessment again, but after Noah gave his assessment, Angron in front of him roared even louder.
"Kill you, kill you, I want to kill you, Skulls for the Skull Throne, blood for the blood god!"
This time, the voice was not Angron's, but a peculiar one.
"Can't hold it in? You shouldn't be Angron."
"But I'm curious how a Chaos Daemon like you appeared inside Angron's body. He should belong to a minor god in the Warp; a daemon like you shouldn't have such a great impact on him."
"Unless there were some problems in his life, wait a moment.
Shut up! Get lost! Let me investigate first."
Noah waved a point of psionics, directly silencing the mouth of the thing that seemed no different from a daemon, and intensified his psionics, beginning to examine Angron's life.
Noah felt that Angron's early life in the gladiatorial arena was acceptable.
He and his Warp essence showed no opposition; at this time, Angron was still Angron.
Incidentally, Noah, in his heart, condemned that planet with its prevalent gladiatorial culture to death; such a planet must be destroyed, their existence was simply anti-human.
He then continued to look through Angron's memories, and soon he saw the nobles on that planet implant the butcher's nails into Angron's head.
Next, he saw Angron kill everyone, including the adoptive father who had raised him all his life.
"This is it!" Noah stopped looking through the memories.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should have entered Angron's body to influence him at this time, a good scheme.
You went in when he was at his weakest?"
"But this isn't right either; a minor god isn't so easily influenced by a daemon of your level. Let me see what happened next."
Noah continued to talk to himself as if peeling back layers, then looked at Angron's memories.
Later, Noah saw Angron leading the gladiators he had trained, launching an uprising and rebellion against these nobles.
However, since Angron had not received formal or regular education, he had no idea how to conduct an uprising and rebellion to stabilize his foundation.
He did not widely mobilize the local people; instead, he fought alone.
Fighting alone is destined to fail. When Angron continued to fight alone, the nobles sent a large army to encircle Angron, directly cutting off all their supplies.
Here, Noah saw Angron even using his own blood for his comrades and swearing to die with them in battle.
"That's right, I was right. Although Angron's Warp essence was polluted and influenced by you, your ability at that time should not have been enough to affect him."
"So something must have happened later that allowed you to completely gain the upper hand. Let me see."
Listening to Noah, who was like peeling silk from a cocoon, revealing his origin and process, the daemon residing within Angron's Warp essence began to feel some fear.
Such a person who would get to know you inside and out, clarifying your origins, was the most terrifying; this meant that Noah might be able to act against him.
Later, Noah saw the appearance of the Emperor. the Emperor appeared before Angron and invited him.
However, the Emperor's invitation was somewhat abstract. The highly wary Angron refused his invitation.
On this point, Noah felt that Angron's action was correct.
He felt that Angron had made no mistake.
After all, he had been chased by those nobles before. Now, suddenly, a person appears before you, claiming to be your father, asking you to take over a legion to conquer the galaxy—who could accept that?
Any person would harbor doubts and wariness about this matter.
In Noah's view, Angron's behavior was understandable and unproblematic.
But in the Emperor's view at the time, it was not so. The Emperor, finding that Angron had defied him, immediately teleported Angron away without a word.
And even if he was teleported away, he didn't teleport Angron's gladiator brothers, only Angron himself.
The most absurd thing was that when Angron woke up, the Emperor directly told him the truth and his plans.
And when Angron said that by doing so, the Emperor could only gain his body, not his heart, the Emperor replied that being a tool was sufficient.
With such abstract words spoken by the Emperor, it's no wonder Angron's Warp essence was completely overwhelmed.
In the memory, Noah saw that from that moment on, Angron's Warp essence completely entered a disadvantaged stage.
He even began to be gradually influenced and suppressed by the daemon sent by Khorne in front of him, which is why Angron became increasingly violent later on.
After all, the butcher's nails could have an effect, but they were not powerful enough to change the essence of the Warp; there must have been the handiwork of a Chaos God involved.
Of course, the most important factor was the Emperor's blessing.
the Emperor's actions directly put Angron's Warp essence at a disadvantage, and later it was completely defeated by the Khorne Daemons.
"You are a pitiful person; to have such a father, you truly had terrible luck."
After watching this part of Angron's memory, even Noah was shocked by the Emperor's abstractness; he couldn't help but rub his forehead.
What surprised Noah was that perhaps because his psionics suppressed the Khorne Daemons, Angron broke free from his original violent demeanor.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, Angron nodded to Noah.
It was the feeling of finally meeting a kindred spirit.
"You've truly worked hard..."
No matter what, this guy was a tragic figure, and since he was Guilliman's brother, Noah still felt pity for him.
Powerful psionics surged from Noah's body, directly targeting the butcher's nails on Angron's head.
The next second, the butcher's nails on Angron's head were directly pulled out by Noah with powerful force, and along with them, the Khorne Daemon residing within Angron was also extracted.
The next second, Angron, under Noah's control, reverted to his appearance as a gladiator when he first arrived on the Emperor's battleship.
As for the Khorne Daemon residing in the butcher's nails, it was controlled by Noah's powerful psionics, with a giant psionics hand gripping its neck.
Countless psionics lightning bolts continuously struck him, punishing him.
"Let me go, let me go!"
"You're finished, you actually dared to pull me out, you're done for!"
He struggled to utter these few words from his throat, and the next second, Noah's grip tightened, rendering him unable to make any further sound.
Noah merely mobilized more psionics, completely grinding this Greater Khorne Daemon into dust.
Authority returned to Khorne.
Leon watched Noah's actions from below; when Angron fell to the ground, he saw his brother.
After a moment of hesitation, he quickly rushed forward and embraced Angron.
Noah had just extracted the Daemon, which meant his brother had been controlled by a Daemon.
Although Angron had committed many wrongdoings, the influence of Chaos Daemons meant these were not his subjective actions, so Leon chose to take him back into his embrace.
The savagery on Angron's face had disappeared, replaced by an indescribable gentleness.
At this moment, the most stunned among everyone was neither Leon nor the army under Noah.
It was the World Eaters Chaos Space Marines.
They looked at their Primarch with disbelief; their Primarch had a Daemon residing within him, and now the Daemon had been extracted, and the Primarch had returned to normal, so what about them?
They were Chaos Space Marines, traitors to the Imperium of Man. The Imperium of Man had no sacrifice too great to accept, nor any betrayal too small to tolerate.
They were traitors. They were traitors who had substantially threatened and harmed the Imperium of Man.
If the Primarch recovered, would they still remain with the Chaos faction?
But if they didn't stay with the Chaos faction, where would they go?
The World Eaters were lost. They vaguely put down their weapons, staring blankly at Noah, awaiting the judgment of this Warmaster of the Imperium of Man.
After Noah so easily suppressed the Primarch, extracted the Daemon, and pulled out the butcher's nails, the World Eaters Legion had already lost their fighting spirit.
As their fighting spirit waned, Khorne's gaze upon them was entirely withdrawn; Khorne never needed weak cowards.
Khorne does not care if you are strong or weak; he only cares if you are brave, if you have the determination to face all death.
Now that the World Eaters had lost this fighting spirit, Khorne naturally withdrew his gaze.
And the World Eaters naturally felt Khorne withdrawing his gaze.
They felt the blessings on them gradually dissipating, but even with this dissipation, they still dared not do anything.
Noah's power was etched into their hearts; they could not muster any thought of resistance.
With the Daemon completely annihilated in Noah's hand and authority returning to Khorne, Noah finally took some interest in looking at the Chaos Space Marines below and Angron in Leon's embrace.
Noah was considering how to deal with Angron.
Subjectively speaking, almost all of Angron's crimes were influenced by Khorne's Daemon.
This meant that these were not Angron's voluntary actions.
All the crimes committed were not voluntary on Angron's part.
He didn't even commit them himself; he was merely a manipulated individual, or rather, a victim.
But not everything can be described as simply "not voluntary."
But whether Angron was willing or controlled, his crimes still existed.
The fellow humans who died by his hand were countless, and even in this conflict, Space Marines under Noah also fell by his hand.
Could the losses of the people and the army simply be written off like that?
Helping Angron find release was something Noah did out of his relationship with Guilliman and pity for this fellow human before him.
But after these matters were resolved, Angron's crimes still needed to be judged.
However, the crimes Angron committed were truly outrageous; his offenses had exceeded every law and regulation of the Terran Federation.
After all, no one else had harmed so many human citizens like him.
And Noah, merely a scientist, was somewhat unsure how to sentence Angron.
Precisely because of this, after dealing with the Daemon, Noah still floated in the sky, overlooking all the Imperial soldiers below and the two Primarchs.
Angron's crimes were too great, and Noah didn't know how to punish him, so under the calculations of his powerful brain, Noah made another decision.
Atonement... Angron's crimes were truly immense; even if Angron were completely reduced to ashes and his soul annihilated, it would not be enough to offset even a billionth of his crimes.
At the same time, Angron was, after all, controlled by a Daemon; although everything he did was carried out by him, his consciousness was not under his control.
If Angron were simply killed and reduced to ashes like that, it would be somewhat unjust, and this would not comply with federation law.
Therefore, without a suitable judgment and resolution plan, the only thing Noah could do was to let Angron do things that could mitigate his crimes.
In short, atonement.
This was also the only solution Noah could think of at the moment to resolve the current situation.
Having decided how to deal with Angron, Noah then slowly descended from the sky, coming before Angron and Leon.
Noah, like a god, came before Leon and Angron.
Angron struggled free from Leon's embrace, then knelt with a thud before Noah.
He knew very well that Noah was about to announce his punishment, because his intuition told him that Noah was such a person.
Although everything he had done before was controlled by the Daemon, a crime is a crime.
There were never any various reasons that could absolve him of guilt.
To be able to feel his body, to have it return to his control before his death, Angron felt that his life had been quite good.
At least at this moment, he was himself, not a walking corpse, not someone controlled by a Khorne Daemon.
He felt he could accept any punishment Noah imposed on him; he was willing to accept any penalty.
When Noah flew in front of them, Lion King initially only thought that Noah was similar to his father.
But when he saw Angron kneel before Noah, and adopt a posture of admitting guilt and accepting punishment, Lion King realized that something was wrong.
Angron made a gesture of admitting guilt and accepting punishment.
So what guilt was he admitting? What punishment was he accepting?
He was admitting all the sins he had committed over the past 10,000 years.
Once these immense sins were fully placed upon Angron, his brother, who had just managed to regain his sense of self, would surely die.
Although he had never interacted with Noah, Lion King did not know what kind of person Noah was.
However, this did not stop him from kneeling before Noah with Angron right now.
He wanted to plead for his brother, because this was the responsibility of the eldest son, the demeanor of the big brother.
Angron, who had just regained his sense of self, should at least have a chance at atonement, right?
"Warmaster, I know my brother has committed heinous crimes, but I am willing to bear these crimes with him.
After all, we, as his brothers, are also responsible for his fall to Chaos."
Compared to 10,000 years ago, Lion had truly grown; he was no longer as arrogant as he was then.
Instead, he would share a responsibility with his brother that actually had little to do with him, and this statement was merely to protect his brother.
A gentle psionic energy point appeared before Lion's knees, then lifted him up.
"In your eyes, am I a person who cannot distinguish right from wrong?"
"His fall was not something you could influence; the influence of Khorne Daemons within him was not something you could simply deal with. There is only one person who can deal with it."
"This matter has nothing to do with you, so do not come before me and interfere with my judgment."
Since Lion King had appeared on this planet and was commanding the Imperial army in battle, fighting to defend the Imperium, Noah did not dislike Lion King; in fact, he appreciated him.
To be honest, the war in this region had nothing to do with him, but his willingness to come to this planet to command operations showed the essence of this person.
Therefore, Noah held no ill will towards him.
"You stand here. Regarding your brother, I will handle his issues appropriately."
Out of his goodwill towards Lion King for coming here to command operations, Noah uncharacteristically explained a few more sentences.
Since Noah had said so, what could Lion do?
Even the arrogant Lion King was forced to stand obediently aside and listen to Noah's opinion after a few words from him.
The authority of an Imperial Warmaster was like this, and moreover, Noah, this Imperial Warmaster, was appointed by his father, so he had no way to defy Noah.
"Angron," after speaking a few words with Lion King, Noah shifted his attention back to Angron.
"To be honest, your crimes were not committed subjectively by you, nor were they done voluntarily by you. They were committed under the manipulation of Chaos Daemons. From this perspective, you should be considered a victim."
"But..."
"No matter what, this body is your body, and the crimes committed by it, you must bear a part—"
"For over 10,000 years, you have conquered too many human worlds, and caused too many fellow humans to suffer pain they should not have endured because of you. These are the crimes you have committed."
"Your crimes are so great that they are almost impossible to adjudicate; they have even confused me, as this is the first time I have encountered someone who has committed such immense crimes."
"In order to better adjudicate your actions, I was forced to quote an old saying from Terra: 'atone for crimes by rendering meritorious service.'"
"Considering your contributions to the human race during the Great Crusade, and the considerable number of humans you saved, under this premise, a large portion of your crimes can be reduced."
"Furthermore, your problems are inextricably linked to your father; he did not properly save you, and therefore, he will bear a portion of the responsibility for your sins."
"This part of the responsibility, your father is currently undergoing punishment; he is being punished on the golden throne, thus it is considered to have been offset for you."
"But even so, your sins have still been committed. If I were to let you go like this, I would be unable to account for all the soldiers who sacrificed themselves in this battle."
"So, what follows is my judgment of you."
"Angron, the crimes you have committed are exceedingly great, and they were also committed by your physical body. Although various factors and circumstances exist, suggesting that you yourself should not bear them, I still make this judgment for you."
"Your current physical body, I will completely destroy on your behalf, to judge the sins you have committed.
After all, your consciousness was influenced and suppressed by Daemons, so most of the crimes were committed by the physical body. I will completely destroy this body."
"Because you are a fellow human, I will reshape a new body suitable for your soul to extend your life.
But as for the resources needed to extend your life, as well as the sins you have committed, you must atone for them."
"You need to fight for humanity, embark on a Crusade of Atonement, and lead armies once again to rescue more human worlds from the shadow of Chaos.
Until you have rescued 100,000 planets, only then can all your sins be offset."
"Do you have any objections to my judgment of you? If you have any objections, you can raise them immediately, and I will reconsider them as appropriate."
Noah announced his judgment in front of everyone: destroy Angron's current body, and he would need to undertake a Crusade of Atonement to rescue 100,000 human worlds.
"I have no objections. I admit my crimes, and I will atone for my sins."
Angron made no excuse, for in his own eyes, the crimes he had committed were already too numerous to count.
Now, Noah was actually willing to give him a chance for atonement; what great mercy this was.
Destroying this body, which had carried endless pain and atrocities, was both an end to past sins and a form of liberation.
And the granting of new life and a chance for atonement was based on his status as a "fellow human" and the meritorious deeds he had once accomplished.
To fight for humanity, to rescue 100,000 worlds... This was a path to redemption that seemed almost endless, heavy enough to crush any soul.
But this was precisely the most direct "compensation" for his past destructive actions.
"This body... has carried too much blood. It should not continue to exist." He looked down at his massive hands that had torn apart countless lives, a flicker of deep disgust and relief in his eyes.
"One hundred thousand worlds..." He repeated the number, without fear, only an inexpressible sense of relief, "I will complete it. Until my... last moment!"
"Very good. If that is the case, then the judgment takes effect. Angron, come with me. I will destroy your current body and provide you with a new one."
"Your current body, I need to execute it across the entire planetary surface, so that all the soldiers who suffered losses in this battle because of you can rest in peace."
Noah's judgment was very fair, and Angron also accepted his issues. Lion King had nothing to say, and he still stood there stunned.
However, Noah did not forget him. He turned his head and looked at Lion King.
"Lord Lion King, your brother Guilliman needs your help. Go back to Terra."
After all, he was the first Primarch he had interacted with, and the interaction had been quite long, so Noah still considered Guilliman.
In the end, he did not forget to send Lion King back to Terra to handle government affairs with him.
Hearing Noah bring up the matter again, Lion's face suddenly changed, and a constipated expression appeared on his face.
Lion was proud, but his pride depended on the person. Facing a powerful existence like Noah, who had even saved his brother, he couldn't harbor any thoughts of offense.
But he really didn't want to go back to Terra to handle administrative affairs; it wasn't what he was supposed to do.
Lion looked awkward, but at this moment, Angron spoke up to help his brother out of the predicament.
"Warmaster, please don't make it difficult for Lion. He's not suited for administrative affairs. Among us brothers, there are only a few who are truly suited for it."
"Guilliman is the most suited for administrative affairs, and Lion is the least suited."
"If you send Lion back to handle administrative affairs, I'm afraid he won't be able to help Guilliman at all; instead, he'll likely cause many problems."
Angron resolved Lion's trouble this time, but the way he resolved it was somewhat undignified... Noah looked at Lion with some suspicion. He found it hard to believe that a Primarch could be unsuited for administrative affairs. Wasn't handling administration a skill every Primarch should possess?
Guilliman handled it quite well.
This Primarch opposite him, if sent to Terra, wouldn't just fail to help Guilliman, but might even cause more trouble?
Noah couldn't imagine how such a clumsy person could exist in this world, so his gaze towards Lion was full of inquiry.
Lion, in turn, nodded helplessly under Noah's gaze, indicating that he was indeed like that... Since the man himself said so, what could Noah do? He could only offer a silent prayer for Guilliman.
"In that case, so be it, Lord Lion."
"So, what are you good at?"
This Lion was completely unsuited for handling tasks, which in Noah's eyes made him somewhat useless. However, he was a Primarch after all, so he must have something he excelled at.
As soon as Noah mentioned what he was good at, Lion instantly perked up and spoke, wanting to regain his dignity.
"Combat! I excel at commanding combat!"
"You must have contacted Guilliman, right? He should have told you everything I did during the Great Crusade, and also during the Great Rebellion."
"My loyalty, combat skills, and strategic judgment, you should be aware of them."
Lion said this to Noah with some pride.
During the Rebellion, his action of cutting off the rebels' last retreat had always been a source of pride for him.
It was precisely because during the Horus Heresy, Lion led the Dark Angels Legion to ignite beacons everywhere behind Horus, burning down all the rebel planets, that the Imperium of Man did not split in two.
Because at that time, when Horus received news of Lion setting fires behind him, he already knew he had no retreat.
He had to face a rear riddled with holes, and 300,000 Ultramarines stabbing him in the back.
"Regarding what you said, I agree with your so-called strategic vision."
"It just so happens that we lack sufficient commanders, and your return has indeed brought us a sigh of relief."
But even though Lion had said this, Noah still wanted Guilliman to get some relaxation, given their relatively harmonious relationship.
And also because he was the first Imperial Primarch he had met.
"Angron, if Lion can't handle administrative affairs, then what about you?"
Noah placed his last hope on Angron.
He didn't believe that all Primarchs could only command battles, after all, the most crucial node in war was logistics.
Angron's Warp nature destined him to be an excellent hand at handling administrative affairs; he could take on others' negative emotions and quietly digest them himself.
Such a person was destined to be able to understand others, and someone who could understand others was perfect for handling political and administrative matters.
Facing Noah's earnest hope, Angron lowered his head in shame.
Noah was hoping a gladiator would have administrative capabilities, but unfortunately, he was hoping for the wrong person, as Angron had never received a formal education.
"Alright, I understand. None of you can do it, right...?"
Noah shook his head helplessly.
"Then let's stop here with this matter for now and deal with the war first."
Even though Noah, Lion, and Angron had been chatting for what seemed like a long time, according to their situation, all that conversation only lasted a few minutes.
Now they were still on the battlefield, with the World Eaters Legion waiting quietly on the side, watching them.
The Primarch of the World Eaters had gone over to the Imperial side, so where were these traitors to go?
"Primarch..."
"We..."
The World Eaters were not eloquent, and moreover, they also had the butcher's nails hammered into their heads. They didn't know how to speak to their own Primarch, because they were now traitors.
The atmosphere was extremely awkward.
Angron struggled to stand up. His body had not yet been completely destroyed, and because he had been freed, he still had the ability to walk.
However, that was all the ability he had. He only had the ability to walk. He walked to the front of everyone, looking at his children.
"Everyone... I'm very sorry, everyone. I let you down, leading you down this path of no return..."
Many, many thoughts ran through Angron's mind.
His Warp nature allowed him to sense the complex and painful emotions in the hearts of most of his children in the World Eaters Legion opposite him.
And the reason why these children under him had turned to Chaos was inextricably linked to him; he was responsible for all of it.
If it weren't for him, the World Eaters Legion would still be that loyalist legion.
They would also not have suffered the torment of the butcher's nails.
Angron's voice was hoarse and heavy, filled with endless regret and self-reproach.
He looked at the children before him, still wearing the butcher's nails and blood-stained armor. Their eyes were a mix of confusion, pain, a trace of lingering loyalty, and deeper Chaos corruption.
They had fallen because of him, and because of him, they had endured ten millennia of torment and curses.
"It was I... who led you into the abyss." Angron's voice trembled. "Those nails... that curse... should have been borne by me alone. Yet I made you... suffer with me."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't firm enough in resisting the Warp Daemons' erosion, making you suffer with me."
He slowly raised his hand, as if wanting to touch the scarred and spiked helmet of the World Eaters veteran closest to him, but then let it fall powerlessly.
He had no right to ask for forgiveness.
"Primarch..." The veteran's voice, like sandpaper rubbing, came through the vox-caster, carrying an indescribable complexity of emotion.
They followed Angron partly out of an instinctive loyalty to their gene-father, and partly because the rage brought by the butcher's nails bound them together.
Now, seeing their Primarch seemingly freed from that madness, regaining a trace of clarity, their hearts were thrown into great confusion.
Noah watched quietly from the side, without interfering.
Although the combat power of the World Eaters Legion was only so-so in his eyes—he himself could clear out this Space Marines legion alone if he appeared—there was no need for that.
Having been in this world and universe for some time, Noah now clearly understood the relationship between these children and their Primarch.
The fall of the World Eaters was not their own choice from the beginning, but merely a passive choice made by following their own Primarch.
These World Eaters had committed heinous crimes, and they were destined to die.
But before that, Noah was willing to give them a chance, a chance to atone for their sins before death.
Noah gave them a chance, and the World Eaters chose to seize it.
After Angron spoke, a large number of Chaos World Eaters, excluding those Space Marines who had already firmly committed to the Chaos Forces, began to defect, striking their weapons at the enemies beside them.
The most attacked among them were the Chaos Lords of these ten Warbands.
Others might rebel and return to the side of humanity, but these Chaos Lords would never.
Therefore, with clear targets, these individuals began to fight back.
The World Eaters stood in a group, and their sudden disarray naturally attracted the attention of other Chaos Warbands.
Immediately after, the Chaos Legions, who had originally been fighting side by side, turned on each other.
The enemy's confusion had to be seized, and the Space Marines stationed on Nairus simultaneously launched a counterattack, moving past the World Eaters to support their fight.
The World Eaters were doomed and deeply sinful, but they would not fight alone.
His sons were fighting, and Angron turned his head, looking at Noah with a pleading gaze.
He also wanted to go... Noah couldn't stand such a look. He gently raised his right hand, and a psionic entered Angron's body. Immediately after, Angron felt his body filled with strength.
"Go, destroy them. This will be your first world!"
"Take up your weapon and fight for humanity!"
"For humanity! For atonement!" Angron's voice was like thunder, resounding across the entire chaotic battlefield.
He no longer looked at Noah, but instead cast his full gaze upon the area where the World Eaters were fighting among themselves and clashing with other Chaos Warbands.
The next moment, he moved.
Like a cannonball fired from a barrel, Angron charged forward at a speed far exceeding his usual state, directly crashing into the densest area of the Warband.
He did not hesitate in the slightest; that massive Chaos artifact chainaxe, imbued with purified, berserk power, swept out!
Boom!
A Khorne Berserker, along with his power armor, was instantly cleaved in two, blood and gore splattering everywhere!
"Traitor! Feel the wrath of the loving father!" A Nurgle Champion swung a plague flail.
Angron didn't even block, merely sidestepping the malevolent weapon, and with a backhand swing of his axe, shattered the opponent's helmet and head. Green pus exploded, but it could not stain the faint psionics glow around him.
"For the Primarch!" An old World Eater veteran, loyal to Angron and fighting other Chaos Astartes, shouted excitedly as he saw him charge.
"For humanity!" Angron roared in response, his axe relentlessly beheading a Son of the Emperor attempting to ambush the veteran. "Purge all traitors! Leave none alive!"
Angron's entry was like dropping a piece of ice into a boiling oil pot, instantly changing the local battlefield situation.
Those World Eaters who chose atonement, seeing their Primarch personally fighting alongside them and displaying unprecedented clarity and strength, were instantly greatly emboldened!
Because this was something rarely seen even during the Great Crusade; they seldom saw a Primarch as clear-headed as he was now, unlike before when the Primarch was merely a beast.
"For the Primarch! For the Warmaster!" the atoning World Eaters roared, their attacks becoming even more frenzied and organized.
They began to consciously coordinate with Angron's assault, isolating and surrounding the stubbornly resisting Chaos Lords.
At the same time, the Space Marines of the Nairus Chapter also seized the opportunity.
Chapter Master Deus Krieg's orders were swiftly issued through the command chain:
"All units! Full attack! Support the Redeemers! Purge all Chaos scum who refuse to surrender!"
The Imperial front instantly advanced.
Bullets from gauss rifles, bolter rounds, plasma, and laser beams rained down on the chaotic Chaos lines.
Land Raiders and Rhino transports crushed through ruins, smashing resisting enemies.
Even several Emperor-class titans marched with earth-shattering strides, their destructive weapons bombarding distant, still-gathering massed Chaos Forces.
The battlefield completely turned into a one-sided slaughter—a slaughter targeting those die-hard Chaos elements.
And in such an attack, even the ordinary mortal auxiliary forces fixed phase bayonets and began to charge against the Chaos Forces.
Heretics and common Chaos Daemons had almost no ability to resist when faced with phase bayonet attacks.
Mortals had the courage of mortals, and the combat power of mortals; they were willing to charge alongside the Space Marines, all for the manifest destiny of humanity!
Angron was like a sharp blade on the path of atonement; wherever he went, Chaos Lords and die-hard loyalists were cut down.
His fighting style remained berserk, but unlike before, it was now imbued with purpose.
Angron was no longer indiscriminately destructive.
He would even actively open breaches for Imperial assault units or relieve PDF squads caught in encirclement.
Lion El'Jonson stood beside Noah, watching the dramatic and incredibly intense scene before him, and couldn't help but exclaim, "He... he really is different."
Noah stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm: "He is only doing what he should be doing. Atonement is never a verbal promise, but one written in action and blood."
In addition to the ground war entering a one-sided state, the Chaos Legions in space were also facing an unprecedented massacre.
Even the Black Legion's original main fleet had no room to resist when facing the Patrol Fleet groups mobilized by Noah, let alone these splinter fleets from the Black Legion.
Thick inferno rays and quantic lances attacked all the traitorous warships.
No traitorous warship could withstand a single quantic lance.
If one could, then multiple quantic lances would attack simultaneously, or even the titan ship's inferno rays would actively engage.
The battle on the ground might still be called a battle, but the battle in space could not be called a battle at all; it was purely a one-sided slaughter.
The fleet engagement between the two sides lasted less than an hour before the Chaos fleet was completely annihilated.
The Chaos warships were destroyed, then caught by the planet's gravity and plunged into the planetary surface.
Then, through atmospheric friction, they directly turned into meteorites that were constantly being worn away, destroyed during their descent.
The few sufficiently sturdy warship wrecks that could completely ignore atmospheric friction were eroded by torrents of energy fired from orbital defenses.
The sky scene was beautiful, like a once-in-a-century meteor shower.
A few larger meteors were also directly destroyed by orbital cannons, exploding in the sky like beautiful fireworks.
Even though it was daytime on Nairus, the sky was still incredibly beautiful.
And behind this magnificent display was the unprecedented massacre suffered by the traitorous Astartes of the Black Legion.