Alfred had awakened to his psychic gift at a very young age, and had been fortunate enough to be chosen by a Night Lords recruiting officer.
Even before that, he had often used the innate power to examine the composition of other people's souls, or even attempt to invade them.
Invading another person's soul and destroying it was something Alfred had done many times. As a Librarian, if a method killed the enemy, there was no need to worry about whether it was dirty or proper.
"A primarch's soul…"
When Alfred successfully entered the depths of Horus's soul, he was both nervous and curious. Chances like this were exceedingly rare.
Even the weakest primarch would inflict a terrible backlash on anyone reckless enough to launch a psychic assault against them.
Primarchs were practically born as psychic beings. Trying to show off psychic tricks in front of one was like showing off a saber before Guan Yu.
"This is too strange."
Alfred studied the soul-sea before him, which was as still as stagnant water, and almost suspected he had entered the wrong target.
Every other soul he had ever invaded had shown him something. But this time, it was like stepping into a bottomless black hole. If he was careless, he might sink into it forever.
If he could not still sense the faintest ripple of soul activity, Alfred would have thought he had entered the heart of a dead man.
Can this really still be saved?
A question mark rose in Alfred's mind, and he arrived at an answer.
Horus was basically beyond saving.
If the soul of an ordinary mortal was like a tiny flame, and an Astartes like a torch, then the Horus before him was a heap of ashes after the fire had burned out completely. Other than dead silence, nothing remained.
"What the hell? Where did this dump send me? Is this even the material universe anymore?"
A familiar, grumbling voice suddenly came from behind him. Alfred startled, then quickly turned around and found Bruce and Warfarin.
What was going on? Why were they here too?
"I… I dunno! Everything suddenly changed around me."
Warfarin looked around blankly.
She had been in the middle of an experiment, and then her vision had gone black. If she had not repeatedly confirmed the surroundings were safe, she would have thought someone had clubbed her from behind.
"Agent Commander!"
Alfred hurried forward and called out softly.
Bruce jerked in surprise when Alfred suddenly emerged from the darkness.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where did you come from? What is this place?"
Warfarin was clearly startled as well.
"Why are you here?" Alfred asked, baffled.
"Don't ask me. I have no idea either."
Bruce shook his head.
So the three of them simply stared at one another in silence. In a situation this bizarre, even the Emperor probably could not explain what had happened.
No one should have been able to run into something this absurd.
"Could it be that there's some kind of psychic resonance between us?"
Recalling what had happened aboard the battle barge, Alfred suddenly thought of an explanation.
Bruce's precognitive ability had affected him during the fight. So conversely, when Alfred used psychic powers, Bruce could have been affected as well.
But if that were true, how did Warfarin fit into the equation? Why had she been dragged in too?
"I don't think there's any point overthinking it."
Bruce shook his head.
"Let's first figure out how to get out of this damned place."
His instincts told him this place was deeply wrong. If he went too far in, his real body would definitely suffer some irreversible consequence.
I only wanted to save Horus. I'm not about to die with him. I still have to go back and keep serving Lady Curze. I'm not interested in martyring myself for humanity or the Imperium.
"We can leave at any time, as long as I end the psychic intrusion into the Warmaster," Alfred said.
"But if we leave now, getting back in later may not be so easy."
"Wait, you're saying this is Horus's soulscape? Seriously?"
Bruce looked at the darkness around him and found it profoundly unsettling.
He would have found it easier to believe he had simply been locked in some giant black box.
Only an Astartes could endure being suddenly deprived of all five senses like this and still remain calm. Any ordinary person would have gone mad within seconds.
"It really is. It's just that the Warmaster's soulscape is… strange."
Alfred explained what he understood.
"It's as if this is the soulscape of someone already dead."
"Oh, well, if that's the case, then what's the point? He's finished."
Warfarin spread her hands with a grin.
Bruce slowly turned to look at her.
"Sorry…"
Bruce took a deep breath, then asked, "What do you suggest, Alfred?"
Professional matters should be left to professionals. Unless Alfred himself declared there was absolutely no hope, Bruce felt it was still worth trying.
And Alfred had said "as if," not "certainly," which meant there was still room for a miracle.
"The only option is to go deeper and explore. Maybe we can find some useful fragments of his soul."
"As it stands, the Warmaster's soul feels as if something has cut it apart. The damage here is much worse than the injuries to his physical body."
"No wonder he hasn't woken up. He's trapped in a state between life and death."
Horus right now was like a machine whose operating system had been deleted. The hardware might still be top-tier, but the software had collapsed. Even if they revived him, he might never return to his peak condition.
"So after all that, we still have to assemble the parts ourselves?"
Warfarin immediately delivered another sharp remark.
"If we can reassemble them, that would actually be the good outcome," Alfred said cautiously, glancing at Bruce's darkening expression.
"I'm more worried that… the Warmaster's soul can't be repaired at all."
"If that happens, then I'll give him a clean death. But before that, I think we should at least try."
Bruce had come all this way. He was not going to turn back without doing something.
If Horus was not truly beyond saving, Bruce would try.
After all, he had promised both Curze and Lion that he would do everything possible to save the Emperor's charismatic Warmaster.
"Yes. Please follow me."
Alfred led the way as he spoke.
"Although the Warmaster's soulscape has lost its vitality, some defensive mechanisms are still present. Please be careful."
"Fine. Lead on."
Bruce followed cautiously.
No matter what, their target was a primarch. Alfred had to keep all his focus on every danger that might arise.
A starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Even if Horus was so weak he was only one step from death, if he chose to resist, Alfred, a mere Librarian, would die just the same.
With Alfred guiding them, the three-man group soon locked onto a place deep within the soulscape.
Or rather, in that endless darkness, they finally found a visible figure.
"That's… Horus?"
Bruce saw Horus lying suspended in midair from a distance.
But strangely, Horus was not alone. Several ominous shadows circled him, whispering constantly into his ears.
The unconscious Warmaster wore a pained expression as he struggled against those voices.
"It's not just the Warmaster…"
Cold sweat streamed down Alfred's face.
"There are other things here. Far more terrifying things."
The moment Alfred saw those shadows, he nearly stopped breathing. Instinctively, he wanted to terminate the intrusion at once.
If he went any deeper, he really would lose himself here.
"I know what those are."
Bruce understood immediately the moment he saw them.
Horus had been wounded by a Chaos-tainted athame. That meant his shattered soul had inevitably been cut apart by the Dark Gods as well.
Fortunately, Horus was a primarch, and his resistance was extraordinary. That was why he had not been completely corrupted yet.
Which meant that, according to the original course of events, if Erebus had not made his move and Abaddon had not panicked and chosen the worst possible option, Horus's worst ending would probably just have been death.
"Agent Commander, I think we should retreat," Alfred advised.
"Retreat? Why would we retreat?"
Bruce strode forward disdainfully.
"They're the ones who should be running."
This was Horus's soulscape. However strong the four Chaos gods were, could they really tear Horus apart and kill Bruce too?
And if Horus actually did get torn apart?
Then that would just mean Horus had bad luck.
Besides, if they wanted to save him, they had to drive those things out. Otherwise even if Horus came back, he would not come back whole.
If Bruce was going to save him, he was going to save him properly.
"Wait—!"
But Alfred was too late to stop him. Bruce had already advanced far enough for the shadows to notice him.
"You four mongrel dogs sure are having fun here!"
Bruce bellowed arrogantly.
The four shadowy figures trembled all at once, then slowly turned to look at this intruder who had appeared from nowhere.
Now this was interesting.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
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TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
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Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
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Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
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