"I must kill Erebus," Alexander said calmly, slowly, and with conviction to Sanguinius and Guilliman.
This was, of course, due to anger.
If Alexander hadn't backed up the flesh and blood of acquaintances like Reyna, Sanguinius, and Guilliman in his four-dimensional pocket a long time ago,
If the Time-Wrapping Cloth couldn't reverse some things back to their complete state,
Reyna would have truly died this time due to Erebus' schemes.
But it wasn't just anger.
Erebus' attempt to kill Reyna naturally had a purpose,
And the only possible purpose was Alexander himself.
Alexander couldn't figure out what Erebus wanted to do, but he certainly wouldn't sit back and wait for death.
Furthermore,
When a bad thing happened in this galaxy, Alexander's first suspicion was Tzeentch, and only then Erebus.
Alexander confirmed with the Truth and Falsehood Divination Machine that Tzeentch was subtly pushing Erebus' actions.
Although Alexander often mocked Tzeentch's plans for always backfiring, this didn't mean Alexander could let Tzeentch's plans develop.
The last reason was,
According to the intelligence Reyna brought after her resurrection, the person who attacked Reyna was Luther.
The foster father of the Dark Angels Legion Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, and the leader of the Fallen Angels. According to Alexander's memories from his previous life, not long after the Great Rift opened, the Fallen Angels daemon Prince Marthus attacked the Rock Fortress and released Luther.
Luther was clearly the Confessor in the Emperor's prophecy.
He indeed fit the Emperor's prophecy: "He repents for the mistakes he made, but because of his repentance, he goes down the wrong path again."
The prime culprit was Erebus, the Confessor was Luther, and what remained were the Avenger and the Envious.
Who were they? The person with a grudge against Luther was Lion and the entire Dark Angels, but Lion's feelings towards Luther were much more complex; a single word like 'revenge' couldn't encompass it.
As for the Dark Angels... their numbers were simply too great.
So, was it someone with a grudge against Erebus? That was also too many people.
If every person with a grudge against Erebus was given a bolter and allowed to shoot Erebus once,
Then just producing those bolters would require a hundred Forge Worlds operating at full capacity.
Alexander hadn't yet grasped the idea of the Envious, and there were many possible candidates.
In any case, according to the Emperor's prophecy, the fate of the galaxy for a period of time would mainly revolve around these four individuals.
Alexander had to confront them to find the path forward.
So, whether based on personal emotion or practical necessity, Alexander had to kill Erebus.
"I agree with that," Guilliman said, nodding approvingly at Alexander.
"If I were given a bolter and two bullets, and standing before me were Fulgrim, Kor Phaeron, and Erebus, I would..."
"You'd shoot Erebus twice?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'd shoot Erebus twice, then use the bolter as a hammer to knock out Kor Phaeron, and then swing Kor Phaeron to smash Erebus to death." Guilliman smiled, displaying his macabre sense of humor.
"Then why not add Fulgrim, grab Fulgrim by the tail, and whip Erebus fiercely?" Alexander asked with a hint of curiosity.
Guilliman paused, then said in a rational, almost earnest tone, "I might not be able to defeat Fulgrim."
You wouldn't 'might not' be able to, you simply wouldn't be able to defeat Fulgrim.
Alexander and Sanguinius, who was sitting beside him, almost simultaneously thought this silently.
Guilliman either didn't notice their slight expressions, or he deliberately pretended not to see, and simply continued:
"No matter what method Erebus used, he was able to directly attack the Solar System, attacking Mars, one of humanity's three most important planets. This already shows that the threat he poses now is no less than it was ten thousand years ago."
"The attacks of Chaos and the traitors are even more ferocious than I anticipated. We don't have much time to slowly wait and accumulate strength now."
"Both the punitive expedition against Erebus and the Unbowed Crusade must begin simultaneously, at the fastest possible speed."
Both Alexander and Sanguinius expressed their agreement on this point.
The galaxy was now filled with Chaos daemons, traitors, mutants, and opportunistic Xenos, as chaotic as the Old Night.
Without the Unbowed Crusade, venturing deep into such a galaxy alone to punish Erebus would entail too much pressure.
The Unbowed Crusade and the punitive expedition against Erebus proceeding simultaneously could both alleviate pressure in various parts of the galaxy and create supporting forces for Alexander in different regions of the galaxy.
Alexander had the anywhere door, and judging from Luther's actions, Erebus' faction also seemed to possess some form of Warp travel ability.
At that time, with the two sides chasing each other, a battle could break out anywhere in the galaxy.
"Then what do you plan to do with those opposition parties and the Conservative Party on Terra?" Sanguinius asked softly.
Once the Unbowed Crusade began, a large amount of administrative and logistical pressure would arise, and Terra would become a critical rear base, which could not be lost.
According to Guilliman's previous plan, they would use a salami-slicing tactic, gradually dismantling the Conservative Party without them realizing it.
This wasn't because Guilliman was overly concerned about the Conservative Party.
In reality, both the Conservative Party and the reformists were minorities among the billions of administrators; the vast majority were the silent moderates.
A direct, large-scale purge of the Conservative Party might cause fear among the moderates, leading them to side with the Conservative Party or causing the purge to expand, further crippling the Imperium's already heavily burdened administrative system.
However, Erebus' sudden attack had disrupted the original arrangements.
Sanguinius looked at Guilliman, asking how Guilliman planned to deal with the current situation.
In terms of martial prowess, Sanguinius had nine ways to send Guilliman back to sleep in a Static Field.
But in terms of politics, Guilliman had nine ways to dismantle Sanguinius' Legion right in front of him.
"A direct purge of the Conservative Party would only be possible if they were foolish enough to launch an extreme attack against us, causing the moderates to side with us," Sanguinius said.
Guilliman, hearing this, revealed a slight smile. He said unhurriedly and softly, "Haven't they already committed heinous crimes, betrayed the Imperium, and attacked Mars for power and to obstruct the Unbowed Crusade?"
Sanguinius and Alexander were both stunned.
"You..." Alexander vaguely realized what Guilliman meant: "You're so wicked."
"I need you to be a bit wicked too." Guilliman smiled, looking at Alexander: "Please have the Fabricator-General immediately issue a condemnation of Terra."
"The content of the condemnation will be that, according to the Adeptus Mechanicus' investigation, former Minister of Adeptus Administratum Irthu, in collusion with the current High Admiral, secretly controlled a large number of starships to crash into the Steel Ring, almost causing immense destruction to Mars."
"This is slander!!! Naked slander!!!"
"It's completely aimed at me, at us, at the Adeptus Administratum, trying to smear us!!!"
"This must be their own doing!!!"
Inside a secret room in Irthu's private residence, he roared, bellowed, and angrily threw the condemnation letter from Mars onto the wooden table before him.
Minister of Justice Avilisha Drachma, High Admiral Melida Perez, and the Grand Master of the Assassinorum watched in silence.
The disaster on Mars had completely taken them by surprise.
They had initially been gloating over such a major mishap occurring in the preparations for the Unbowed Crusade.
But even more unexpectedly, Mars actually declared that this disaster was deliberately caused by Irthu and High Admiral Melida to obstruct the Unbowed Crusade.
Irthu angrily denounced this as pure slander, their own doing.
But everyone present, including Irthu himself, knew that no one would believe them.
Guilliman wouldn't specifically blow up so many fleets and destroy one-sixth of the Steel Ring just to smear them.
Most critically, Admiral Melida, as a member of the High Lords and the supreme leader of the Navy, could indeed have done such a thing.
And while the Minister of Justice and the Grand Master of the Assassinorum were not directly condemned by Mars,
If Guilliman wanted to, he could easily use a simple investigation to also smear the two of them.
"What should we do, sir!" High Admiral Melida said, trembling.
If Mars' condemnation was confirmed, she and Irthu would be guilty of the great crime of betraying the Imperium and the Emperor.
"..A bunch of scoundrels!"
Irthu gnashed his teeth, slammed his hand hard on the table before him:
"Guilliman has gone too far in bullying me!"
"Behind this, there must also be that evil Doraemon at work!"
"If we let them kill us all like this, the Imperium will be finished."
Irthu's gaze swept over the Minister of Justice, the High Admiral, and the Grand Master of the Assassinorum.
"Let's make a desperate stand!" Irthu said, calming himself: "The Minotaurs Chapter is already very close to the Solar System!"
"Melida, deploy the portion of your loyal ships."
"Avilisha, deploy all the enforcement units that can be mobilized within the Ministry of Justice."
"Of course, most importantly, you, Fadix, I need your assassins."
"Even a Primarch and Saint Doraemon are just mortals!"
Irthu said in a nearly savage tone:
"They will die if bombed by a fleet, shot by a bolter, or have their throats slit by an assassin!"
Both the High Admiral and the Minister of Justice were startled by Irthu's tone, trembling for a moment.
But after some hesitation, they still nodded slightly, agreeing with Irthu's plan. At this point, a desperate struggle was indeed their only option.
Only Fadix, the Grand Master of the Assassinorum, was not intimidated. He slowly and firmly nodded to Irthu.
"The assassins are already ready," Fadix said.
"Really?" Irthu's face lit up with excitement: "Where are they?"
"Right here."