[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] finally exhaled in relief and stood up.
Then he walked over to Lone Wolf and crouched beside him.
He studied the young man's burned, barely recognizable face.
And those eyes that still shone with astonishing determination.
"What about you?"
His voice was a little rough.
"Want a shot too?"
Lone Wolf nodded.
The movement pulled at his burned flesh, sending a sharp wave of pain through his face.
He winced slightly.
But he didn't cry out.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a shot!"
His voice was still hoarse.
"But I'm fine. Nothing too serious."
"Worst comes to worst, I can just die and respawn later."
"As long as Sejanus is okay, that's what matters."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] fell silent for two seconds.
He looked at the player before him.
Lone Wolf was the strongest player fighting for the Imperial faction in the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet.
He had been burned beyond recognition protecting Sejanus.
And yet, despite everything he'd suffered, he could still talk about his own injuries so casually.
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] swallowed.
He wanted to say something.
But no words came.
In the end, he merely reached out and gave Lone Wolf a firm pat on the shoulder.
Then he pulled out a syringe and injected the medicine into his body.
After several injections, Lone Wolf's condition improved somewhat.
He slowly raised his head and looked at [I Want to be the Imperial Regent].
There was an unusual light in his eyes.
"There's something..."
His hoarse voice suddenly broke the silence.
Everyone in the room turned toward him.
Lone Wolf slowly looked around at every person gathered there.
His voice remained rough, but every word came out clearly.
"I think we need to change our original plan."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] frowned slightly.
He studied Lone Wolf's expression before slowly asking:
"You mean..."
Lone Wolf nodded.
"We can't let Sejanus return to the Luna Wolves."
His voice remained calm, as though he were simply stating an undeniable fact.
"Those Chaos faction players have completely lost their minds."
"They're willing to pay absolutely any price to kill Sejanus."
"A hundred players launched a suicide attack with thirty Whirlwind missiles."
"That's nine million Imperial Coins spent in a single attack."
"That kind of insanity..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room.
"You guys understand better than anyone."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent]'s pupils contracted slightly.
He knew Lone Wolf was right.
Over the past several months, they'd clashed with the Chaos faction countless times.
Those players had entered this world like a pack of lunatics finally freed from every restraint.
They didn't care about dying.
They didn't care about losing money.
They didn't care about rules.
Only one thing mattered to them.
Winning.
Winning at absolutely any cost.
"Sejanus might be an Astartes captain and one of the greatest warriors of the Great Crusade era..."
Lone Wolf continued.
"But even he can't defend himself forever against assassination attempts from players with enormous amounts of Imperial Coins."
"If one assassination attempt fails, they'll try twice."
"If two attempts fail, they'll try a hundred times."
"Eventually, they'll wear him down and kill him."
"Think about it."
"If Sejanus returns to the fleet alive, do you really believe those Chaos players won't launch suicide attacks aboard the Vengeful Spirit?"
"Won't plant bombs in his quarters?"
"Won't ambush him from behind during missions?"
"Or crawl out of some ventilation duct and shoot him while he's taking a shit?"
The channel fell silent.
Nobody argued.
Because everyone knew those Chaos faction lunatics were absolutely capable of doing every single one of those things.
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] remained silent for a long time.
His eyes moved between Lone Wolf and Sejanus.
Sejanus was still unconscious.
Under the effects of the medical injections, a little color had begun returning to his burned face.
His breathing had grown steadier.
But there was still no sign of him waking up.
Finally, [I Want to be the Imperial Regent] spoke.
His voice carried a complicated mixture of emotions.
"But if we don't let Sejanus go back..."
"Then who's going to stop Horus?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire storage room fell deathly silent.
Everyone understood the weight of that question.
Horus Lupercal.
Warmaster of the Imperium.
Father of the Luna Wolves.
The Emperor's most beloved son.
On Davin, inside the Serpent Lodge, he would be corrupted by Chaos.
He would raise the banner of rebellion and unleash a civil war that would engulf the entire galaxy.
He would personally slaughter countless loyal warriors.
He would lead nine Legions against Holy Terra.
And he would leave the Emperor bound to the Golden Throne, trapped in eternal stasis.
It was a destiny the Four Chaos Gods had spent countless years weaving together.
The central tragedy of the entire Warhammer 40K universe.
And Sejanus was the man who had once maintained the balance within the Mournival.
One of Horus's most trusted sons.
Without him...
Who would stand against Abaddon and Little Horus during the crisis at the Serpent Lodge on Davin?
Who would stop Horus from falling to Chaos?
Who would prevent the galaxy-spanning rebellion?
Garviel Loken possessed the same integrity and moral character as Sejanus.
But his experience was still limited.
His influence within the Legion was far weaker than that of the other three members of the Mournival.
If Sejanus could return alive...
If he could stand with the Loyalists during the dispute at the Serpent Lodge on Davin...
Perhaps history really could be changed.
Perhaps Horus would never fall.
Perhaps the great rebellion that devastated the galaxy would never happen.
The Emperor might finally realize his dream.
Complete the Imperial Webway Project and free humanity from its dependence on the Warp.
Fully establish the Imperial Truth.
And perhaps even eliminate the Four Chaos Gods for good.
That had been the Imperial faction players' original dream.
It was the reason they had been willing to risk everything to save Sejanus.
But now...
Lone Wolf looked at the silent faces around him.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
On his horribly burned face, the gesture looked particularly disturbing.
"Do you really think changing history is that easy?"
His voice was hoarse, but his reasoning was coldly logical.
"With the Four Chaos Gods watching, even if Sejanus survives this time, he might just die the next."
"We only managed to change his fate because we knew what was supposed to happen."
"We knew he was going to die here, so we prepared shields ahead of time and made sure we had enough ways to respond."
"But what happens if he dies in an accident we never see coming?"
"What if he's hit by a stray round during some future battle?"
"What if an alien species kills him with a powerful weapon during a mission?"
"Can we really protect him every second of every day?"
"History doesn't just stop moving because we change one event."
"Every change creates new possibilities, and we have no idea what might happen next."
"Are we really going to gamble Sejanus's life on an experiment like that?"
The storage room fell silent again.
Dozens of faces remained completely still.
He was right.
This wasn't some ordinary science-fiction universe.
This was Warhammer 40K.
A universe with Four Chaos Gods.
With the Warp.
With psykers.
With daemons.
A universe where history itself seemed to possess a terrible momentum.
Every attempt to change it risked provoking consequences.
They might have saved Sejanus once.
But could they keep saving him for the rest of his life?
[The Emperor's Will is Unstoppable] lowered his head and clenched his fists.
[Loken Did Not Betray the Luna Wolves] leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
[Thirty Years a Centaur Gold Ring] let out a long sigh.
[I Don't Eat Bear Biscuits] crouched in the corner and silently lit a cigarette.
Finally, Lone Wolf spoke again, breaking the silence.
"All we can really do is give everything we've got to make small changes."
"Save as many Loyalists as possible."
"The people who never should've died in the original story."
"The warriors who were betrayed and slaughtered when the Horus Heresy began."
"Give them a chance to live."
"Let them survive long enough to become sparks of hope when the fires of rebellion spread across the galaxy."
"That won't just improve our chances of winning."
"It might also reduce the chance of the Imperium falling into the same internal chaos under the rule of the High Lords of Terra after the rebellion ends."
His gaze shifted toward Sejanus's pale face.
The captain's eyes remained closed.
His breathing was steady now, but his brow was still faintly furrowed.
Even unconscious, he seemed to be worrying about something.
"Sejanus's true importance shouldn't be here, in the present."
"It should be on Davin."
"When Abaddon and Little Horus try to take the Warmaster into the Serpent Lodge..."
"That's when Sejanus needs to step forward."
"As a member of the Mournival."
"As one of Horus's most trusted sons."
"He needs to stand against them."
"Try to stop them."
"Try to bring Horus back to his senses."
"Try to..."
He paused, his voice dropping lower.
"Change that one crucial moment in history."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] stood motionless for a long time.
He looked at Lone Wolf.
At that horribly burned face.
At those remarkably bright eyes.
Finally, after a long silence, he slowly nodded.
There was an unmistakable determination in that gesture.
"I... understand what you're saying."
He turned toward the fifty-plus Imperial faction players gathered behind him.
When [I Want to be the Imperial Regent] spoke again, his voice carried an authority that left no room for argument.
"Change of mission."
"Everyone, listen up."
More than fifty figures immediately straightened their backs.
"We're getting Lone Wolf and Sejanus out of the false Emperor's palace."
"And we're going to make everyone believe Sejanus is dead."
He paused, looking from face to face.
"Understood?"
More than thirty voices answered together.
"UNDERSTOOD!"
--
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