The Lion now knew that everything before him was a Warp illusion.
Perturabo's face changed again, his armor turned white, and the person who stood up was Jaghatai Khan.
"If you were faster, you might have been able to deal with Horus's rebellion," Khan said coldly, a hint of mockery in his voice.
He feigned an attack with his right hand, then sharply slashed with his left hand like a knife, breaking the skin on The Lion's forehead.
"I haven't even settled the score for him finding xenos!" A flicker of anger flashed in The Lion's eyes, and he no longer hesitated, lunging at Khan, his fist striking the opponent's face with destructive force.
Khan easily evaded the blow, then countered with a heavy punch to The Lion's chest.
The old man staggered back, but there was no trace of fear in his eyes.
"And if you were smarter, you might have foreseen all of this," Magnus, crimson and cold, said, a hint of mockery in his voice.
The red-haired giant was even as tall as The Lion standing, and he extended his massive hand, gripping The Lion's forehead tightly.
The Lion violently broke free from Magnus's hold, his fist striking the opponent's face with destructive force.
"He's semi-paralyzed now! He needs a wheelchair! And Magnus won't act unless absolutely necessary!"
But the searing pain of being thrown to the ground made The Lion realize that he had, after all, underestimated the Warp's cunning.
The moment Magnus's illusion dissipated, the stench of decay assaulted him.
"Perhaps you're just old." Mortarion's voice was like rusted gears grinding in gravel.
The Plague Lord's pus-covered knee slammed into The Lion's chest, and broken ceramite shards pierced his flesh.
When the second blow, laden with a foul wind, descended, The Lion rolled and crashed into a stone pillar, his palms clutching damp earth, which he flung at Mortarion before him.
The Lord of Death hissed, but froze the moment he raised his hand as dust blinded his eyes.
The sole of The Lion's boot, bearing ten millennia of unextinguished hatred, slammed onto that pale face.
"It is your soul that is dilapidated, brother." He panted, stepping back, watching the opponent's festering body dissipate into smoke.
Suddenly, a golden light stung The Lion's eyes, and Dorn's illusion raised an iron fist identical to the Emperor's, each blow landing on The Lion's ribs.
"The Emperor never trusted you, which is why he sent you to the darkest corners of the The Galaxy / Milky Way, while keeping me by his side."
Dorn spoke, reaching out to strangle The Lion.
But The Lion grabbed his arms and threw his stone-like brother away.
"You think he would trust you with his secrets?" Alpharius laughed from the ground, "I know secrets you wouldn't even dare to imagine...eldest son!"
Arms from behind wrapped around The Lion's neck, swinging him in a semicircle.
But The Lion reached back, tore away the person's arms, and, kneeling on one knee, threw the attacker down again.
Alpharius flipped to his feet, the smile gone from his face.
His previous self, lying on the ground, was nowhere to be seen.
"You never had the guts to fight anyone fair and square."
The Lion roared, and when Alpharius punched, The Lion grabbed his arm and smashed his head into the nearby stone pillar.
This pleased the old man so much that he hit Alpharius again, and then wanted to hit him one more time.
But the next second, a massive arm stopped him.
"Fight fair and square?" Angron roared, throwing The Lion aside.
Angron's attacks continuously rained down on The Lion's chest, ribs, chest again, shoulder, then face.
Something hit him from behind, and The Lion realized it was the wall he had stumbled against.
He did not dodge Angron's incoming attack, but instead bent down, embraced Angron's knees, and used his momentum to smash him into the stone wall behind them.
"Where is your vengeance?" Ferrus Manus demanded, punching The Lion squarely in the abdomen.
"Where is your cunning?" Corax delivered a flying kick to The Lion's cheek.
"You were never perfect~~~" Fulgrim sneered, stabbing The Lion in the throat.
"And now you accept others' god-like worship of you," Lorgar said, pouting.
The Lion charged at him, but a blue-armored figure extended a cunning blue foot and tripped the old man.
"You dare to preach to me and fault my mistakes, yet when the opportunity to return to Terra presented itself, you chose to burn several planets."
Cunning Guilliman said, looking at The Lion on the ground.
And the next second, The Lion felt himself resting on a comfortable thigh, red gauntlets cupping The Lion's face...
"If you hadn't done that, I might still be alive?" Sanguinius said sadly.
The Great Angel walked out of The Lion's sight.
The Lion lay on the ground, hoping to grasp Sanguinius, to prevent him from leaving him again...
Then a massive force lifted The Lion.
"Perhaps I wouldn't have died either?" Vulkan hissed into his ear, then he flung The Lion towards the building's door, where he collided with the stone frame in mid-air and then fell heavily into the shadows.
The Lion lay in the ruins, painfully opening his eyes, and he saw the person he least wanted to see...
"You failed my dying wish..." Sarradin looked down at The Lion on the ground, his eyes full of regret.
Sarradin extended his hand, and The Lion grasped it...
Suddenly, a tremendous force pulled The Lion up directly, followed by Gaius's triumphant face.
"No matter how you try to hide it, you cannot conceal your savage origins; you can never be compared to us..."
Feeling the world spin, The Lion tried to push away Gaius before him.
The faint light from outside did not penetrate the building as usual; he could see nothing, he was in complete darkness...
And so he guessed who the next attacking brother would be...
The Lion first felt something as soft as thought on his right side behind him; he sharply turned his head, but it had already vanished.
Then it was on his left side, light as memory, but it immediately vanished again.
Then the darkness before him slowly parted, revealing a pale face, those black eyes that could see the future devoid of any pity.
"At least I know which of my Legion deserve to die," Konrad Konrad Curze whispered.
"All your scum deserve to die," The Lion roared.
Konrad Curze smiled, "I know that too."
He retreated, disappearing from view again.
The Lion knew his brother's stealth tactics well, so he turned towards the door, waiting for the Night Haunter to pounce on him.
But Konrad Curze's claws suddenly appeared from behind him, piercing his ribs.
"They call me a demon because I terrorized world after world, yet you murdered planet after planet," Konrad Curze whispered into The Lion's ear.
"My infamy made planets tremble at my arrival and surrender without a fight, while you descended destruction from the sky without a word, burning every inch of land to ashes!"
He twisted his claws, bringing another wave of excruciating pain that swept through The Lion's entire body.
Then Konrad Curze's face, crazed with anger, appeared before him...
"Why am I the villain, and you are the hero? Just because I left survivors?"
The Lion gripped Konrad Curze's hands, pulled out his claws, then staggered back.
When he turned around, the Night Haunter had already vanished again.
"I am no hero," The Lion said through gritted teeth, "I am merely fulfilling the duty my father entrusted to me; I am but an indispensable part of his great work to unite and save humanity."
"How noble..." Konrad Curze whispered from the darkness.
"You are a villain," The Lion flexed his fingers, "because you enjoy everything you do, and you even commit evil under prohibition!"
"Perhaps our father's masterpiece was too perfect." Konrad Curze hissed, slashing with his claws and lunging from the darkness, the blades aiming directly for The Lion's eyes.
The Lion rolled to evade the pounce, turning his back tightly against the wall.
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