Vespasian remained kneeling on the floor, completely motionless.
He watched the retreating back of his Father, watched the ominous light flowing across that sword, and watched that purple cape snapping sharply in the gunsmoke-filled wind...
A wave of unprecedented... wavering... surged within his heart.
He remembered the words Gabriel had spoken to them last night.
"There might be something seriously wrong with that sword. Tomorrow on the battlefield, if Lord Fulgrim displays an abnormal obsession with that sword... I hope you can keep a clear head."
At the time, he thought it was just the concern of an allied Legion, the signature caution and paranoia of the Iron Hands.
But now... everything had come true.
Their Father had indeed shown a terrifyingly abnormal obsession with that sword.
An obsession so deep that he ignored all warnings, violently repelled an allied commander, and...
Wouldn't even cast a single glance back at his own son kneeling and begging before him.
Vespasian lowered his head.
Those clean, pure eyes were now brimming with agony.
Will everything else in that dream come true as well?
That head impaled on the golden spike, that familiar face of my own, those empty eye sockets...
Saul Tarvitz walked up beside him, equally silent.
He too recalled Gabriel's words.
"Don't try to question him or challenge him, but rather... if he's being manipulated, someone needs to snap him out of it."
But right now, how were they supposed to snap a manipulated Father out of it?
Tarvitz's fists cracked under the pressure, his nails digging painfully into his palms.
Right at that moment, a silver-grey figure approached the two of them.
Paul looked down at the two Emperor's Children.
One Lord Commander, one Tenth Company Captain.
The last two men in the Emperor's Children Legion still holding fast to rationality and morality.
Right now, they looked like two lost children.
"Vespasian! Stand up. What good does kneeling here do?" Paul's voice was as hard as iron.
Vespasian looked up, tears shimmering in his eyes.
"Lord Gabriel..."
"There's no need to agonize over this. Nothing is set in stone. You simply need to follow your own hearts and guard the honor of the Emperor's Children in your own way. Do not blindly follow the light of your Primarch Father, and everything will naturally find its resolution." Paul's voice rang out again, calm and steady.
Even though these words bordered on gross insubordination, Vespasian and Saul Tarvitz didn't mind. A profound change had already quietly taken root within them.
Paul's gaze swept over the expressions on their faces.
"Lord Vespasian, Lord Tarvitz. This battle is over. It is time for our Iron Hands to depart as well."
Vespasian slowly stood up.
He took a deep breath, forcing the churning emotions back down into the depths of his heart.
Then he reached out and firmly grasped Paul's right hand.
"Take care, Lord Gabriel. Until we meet again," he said, his voice resolute.
Paul nodded, turned around, and walked away.
The silver-grey silhouette soon vanished into the flow of evacuating troops.
Vespasian and Tarvitz stood exactly where they were, staring in that direction.
Tarvitz suddenly spoke, his voice incredibly low.
"Vespasian, do you remember the other thing Gabriel said last night?"
Vespasian nodded, but remained silent.
Tarvitz continued, "Gabriel's exact words were... 'If the situation is beyond saving... don't butt heads with your Father too much. Just protect yourselves.'"
Vespasian turned his head, looking at Tarvitz.
A sharp light was now flickering in those pure eyes.
"Tarvitz, are you saying..."
Tarvitz shook his head. "I don't know. But I feel like Gabriel didn't just say those things out of brotherly concern for our Legion. It's almost as if he... knows something."
The two men fell back into silence.
Vespasian suddenly spoke up again.
"Tarvitz."
"Yeah?"
"If one day... If one day, our Father truly changes... what should we do?" Vespasian's voice was barely a whisper.
Tarvitz stayed silent for a long time.
Then, he answered slowly, his voice hoarse. "I don't know. But I do know that the honor and perfection of the Emperor's Children cannot be ruined by a single sword."
They didn't say anything more.
A seed had simultaneously been planted in both of their hearts.
This seed wouldn't sprout immediately.
But someday in the future, when Fulgrim's corruption became undeniably glaring, when the Emperor's Children Legion slipped step-by-step into the abyss...
It would break through the soil.
And make them the absolute last bastions of loyalty within a fallen Legion.
--
Countless transport gunships slowly lifted off, carrying the entirety of the 28th Expeditionary Fleet toward another floating platform on Laeran—the Deep Blue Coral Platform.
The dense swarm of gunships traced countless contrails across the gunsmoke-filled sky.
But one formation of gunships was the exception.
Instead of heading for the Deep Blue Coral Platform, that formation slowly ascended, punched straight through the atmosphere, and returned to the Iron Truth in high orbit.
On the Deep Blue Coral Platform.
Fulgrim stood atop a towering coral spire, gripping the Blade of the Laer, watching that specific gunship formation disappear into the clouds.
He didn't really care.
Even though he was currently being seduced by the whispers, he had not completely fallen yet.
The Iron Hands company had only come for support; it was perfectly logical for them to leave once the war was over.
Even though Gabriel acted a bit strangely...
Right now, he didn't care about those minor details.
Fulgrim turned around, looking at the assembled Lord Commanders, Captains, and the Astartes warriors forming up in ranks across the platform.
He raised the Blade of the Laer high.
The pink-purple light flowed across the blade in the setting sun, casting an ethereal glow over his perfect face.
"Warriors! We have succeeded!! This victory is absolute perfection!" His voice echoed across the platform, reaching every single ear.
The Emperor's Children on the platform erupted into cheers.
A smile tugged at the corners of Fulgrim's mouth.
That smile was still perfect, still completely flawless.
But that perfection...
Was fundamentally different from before.
"Therefore, I have decided! For the remainder of our time here, we will hold a grand victory celebration on this planet! And with it, we shall put a perfect end to the perfect victory we have achieved!" His voice soared.
The cheers were deafening.
The vast majority of the Emperor's Children wore deeply satisfied smiles.
But there were a few individuals whose faces held no joy whatsoever.
Tarvitz stood in the crowd, his brow furrowed tightly.
Vespasian was equally silent, his gaze firmly locked onto the sword in his Father's hand.
Rylanor, the Legion's Ancient, held a trace of imperceptible worry in his eyes.
And as for those Loyalist players mixed into the Imperial Auxilia ranks...
They didn't show the slightest hint of a smile.
--
[Light of the Emperor Regional Chat]
[I Eat Tomatoes]: "Damn... they are being so insanely cheap!"
[For the Regent Yellow Guilliman]: "10,000 Imperial Coins + 10 nutrient paste tubes. What the hell, are they paying off beggars?"
[Sanguinius Is My Husband]: "We spent six million buying those bombs, and this is all we get back? We took a massive loss!"
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Don't even say it, it just hurts to think about."
[The Imperium's Purest Inquisitor]: "Can't be helped. We failed the quest and only managed this much progress. Let's just consider it welfare for the Loyalist bros scattered across other sectors..."
The Imperial faction chat was filled with wailing and misery.
But that was the nature of the game. A loss was a loss.
--
[Wings of Freedom Regional Chat]
[I Just Like Sleeping In]: "What was our final quest progress? 95%?"
[Number One Handsome of the Soul Hall]: "Yeah, 95%. We got stuck right at 95%!"
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]: "Fuck, why didn't it hit 100%? Did we not kill enough Laer, or did something go wrong on Fabius's end?"
[Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan]: "No idea. I feel like we did everything we were supposed to do?"
[All According to Plan]: "I feel like it has something to do with [Paul Dawn]. His last two interventions might have impacted our completion rate. Did you guys notice? When he grabbed the Blade of the Laer, Fulgrim actually shed a fucking tear. No idea what he saw."
These words sparked a flurry of debate among the players.
But quickly, when the system notification chime for the quest rewards rang out, all the chatter vanished instantly.
[Faction Quest: The Perfect Sons of the Phoenix - The Beginning of the Fall]
[Completion Progress: 95%]
[Rewards: 100,000 Imperial Coins + Chaos Cultist Emotional Faith Sacrifice Method + Chaos Energy Side Effect Purification Method]
[Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan]: "Holy shit?? One hundred thousand Imperial Coins??"
[I Just Like Sleeping In]: "Chaos Cultist Emotional Faith Sacrifice Method... Does this mean we can actually get blessings from the Four Gods??"
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]: "Let me check... 'Contains the ability to stably become a Chaos Cultist of the Four Gods...' Does that mean we can now become Chaos Cultists who can receive introductory blessings from the Ruinous Powers?!"
[Number One Handsome of the Soul Hall]: "Heh heh heh! And there's also a method to purify the side effects of Chaos energy. This was a total win! I don't want to end up turning into a Chaos Spawn before I can even become a Chaos Champion! As long as we can purify it, I won't have to worry about playing the Chaos faction anymore."
A smirk tugged at [All According to Plan]'s mouth.
So what if it was 95%?
At least they secured the Tier 2 rewards.
And this Sacrifice Method... once they figured it out, it might just become the foundation of their entire power base in the Chaos faction.
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse]: "Not bad! I definitely felt your hard work! Glub glub! I'm taking these hundred thousand Imperial Coins very comfortably, keep up the good work! Keep grinding for me! Hahaha!! Glub glub! Since you're all gonna be dogs for the four Chaos Gods anyway, you might as well be my little doggies too! Glub glub! I just wonder if this sacrifice method can be used to sacrifice you guys, I'm really looking forward to that, hehehe! Glub glub!"
The moment [The Emperor is Just a Corpse] dropped those words, all the Chaos players who were celebrating their faction's victory suddenly felt like they had swallowed a mouthful of flies.
[Let the Galaxy Burn]: "You stupid fucking idiot. You mooched off our hard work, and instead of being grateful, you're out here being a disgusting troll! You completely deserve how miserable your life is in reality. What the fuck are you 'glub glubbing' at your mom for? Are you a fucking reincarnated frog?!"
[Slaanesh I Must Operate You Hard]: "No point cursing out a psycho like this. Just ignore him and kill him on sight every time we run into him. It's not like he can hide his name anyway. This idiot is obviously sitting in a body of water somewhere! 'Glub glubbing' over there like a total clown."