The failure of Russ was completely beyond the girl's expectations. The blood within her chest churned; Russ's fall had dealt her a massive blow. Even though the Russ of Terra was superior to the original in every conceivable way, the Lion had still emerged victorious.
The girl shook her head slightly. The greatest taboo in any game is being controlled by sunk costs. Although Russ had lost, he had taken the Lion with him, effectively removing that card from Alexander's hand. Now, only the final round remained.
The girl slowly placed her final card on the table: Horus, the Warmaster, the final sacrifice to the Dark King. Then, she placed the demon blade Drach'nyen—born from humanity's first murder—beside him. In response, Alexander used his skeletal fingertips to pick up his own card: the first one he had drawn upon arriving in this world. Sanguinius, the Primarch who had been with him from the very start.
Simultaneously, Alexander slowly placed the Black Knight alongside Sanguinius.
"Can you sense it?"
Sanguinius's wings vibrated gently in the air as he addressed Horus. "Our battle is tied to things on a much higher level."
Horus nodded slightly. It was a metaphysical sensation, subtle to the extreme. He felt like an avatar existing in the mortal realm, a finger extended into this space by something far greater... No, not just a finger, but a far more vital organ.
"How pathetic. We have become puppets in their contest," Horus laughed, the sound bitter and sorrowful.
"I am no puppet of Alexander," Sanguinius said with a faint smile.
"If not a puppet, then what?" Horus couldn't help but shake his head.
"A soul-friend. A dear friend to whom I can entrust my life," Sanguinius said softly, the smile on his lips growing clearer.
Horus was touched by the words. "Like we once were?"
"Not quite that dysfunctional," Sanguinius replied, shaking his head.
The smile on Horus's lips stiffened slightly. He mourned the breaking of a brotherhood, and mourned even more that the rupture had been caused by his own hand.
Sanguinius traced an arc in the air that could only be described as beautiful. His snowy wings gently brushed aside the snowflakes as the teardrop-shaped tip of the Spear of Telesto lunged straight for Horus's chest.
Horus was prepared. The Worldbreaker (Talon of Horus) blocked the spear, while the bolter hidden within the claw clicked into place. Whistling rounds, like miniature meteors, streaked toward Sanguinius. But the Angel's form shifted slightly, turning almost into a cloud of mist, letting the bolts pass harmlessly through him. The Three-State Pill allowed him to exist as liquid or gas; seizing this momentary opening, Sanguinius swung the Encarmine Blade at Horus.
The azure demon blade let out a bloodthirsty shriek, matched by the screams of a thousand faces within it. A flash of ghostly light erupted as Drach'nyen collided with the Encarmine Blade. Cracks instantly spider-webbed across the exquisite silver sword. A split second before it shattered, Sanguinius withdrew it, spinning his body. The Spear of Telesto used its momentum to slam into Horus's shoulder guard. This makeshift power armor was far weaker than Horus's old Serpent's Scales; the shoulder guard disintegrated under the impact. However, Drach'nyen also managed to graze Sanguinius. Murder!
A crimson line appeared on Sanguinius's neck. Fortunately, his reflexes saved him from being claimed by the demon blade.
"Did you know?" Horus spoke abruptly. "Fulgrim once tried to persuade Ferrus to join the rebellion with him."
"One of Fulgrim's many follies. The Primarch of the Iron Hands was not perfect, and he had his flaws, but weakness was never one of them."
Sanguinius turned and dodged, becoming a streak of golden light. A dark angel shadow emerged from behind him, wielding the Encarmine Blade and slashing at Horus's flank. Horus raised his claw to block, while Drach'nyen lunged at the dark angel's abdomen. Before the blade could touch the shadow, it vanished, merging back into Sanguinius.
"True. But I am different."
Horus displayed speed completely inconsistent with his heavy armor. He leapt into the air like a streak of moonlight, closing the distance to Sanguinius instantly. Sanguinius was surprised; for the first time, Horus was matching his speed. There was no doubt—it was the power of Drach'nyen.
Murder. Sanguinius had been marked as the target of a murder.
"I understood from the beginning that you would never yield, never be corrupted."
"The only path left for me was to kill you... and because I am your friend, your brother, I am more certain of that than anyone."
The dark light of the blade of murder was piercingly bright. For ten thousand years, every murder ever committed echoed within it—most common among them, brother killing brother. Drach'nyen seemed to transform into a sharp arrow—the arrow of one brother shooting another. One brother, who should have been sovereign, killing another who was equally destined for the throne. That ancient murder was released by Horus, echoing into the present, reflecting onto Horus and Sanguinius. The Prince and the General, the Warmaster and the Angel, brother and brother...
The ghostly blue arrow crossed the long span of ages, manifesting in the echo of the blade.
Sanguinius swung the Spear of Telesto to meet it. Upon the spear, his crimson cloak fluttered in the wind like ripples of blood. The cloak collided with the arrow-form of Drach'nyen. At the softest touch of the fabric, the arrow was mysteriously reflected, grazing Horus's face as it sped back.
Those gadgets are truly a nuisance...
Sanguinius seized the moment, swinging the Spear of Telesto down like a heavy sledgehammer. The adamantium shaft actually bent slightly under the titanic force. Horus raised his claw to parry, but without wings in mid-air, he was driven down by the blow. He crashed into the ground like a massive meteor, sending snow flying meters into the air.
Sanguinius beat his wings, diving from the sky into the swirling snow.
"Sanguinius!!!" Horus let out a primal war-cry. The demon blade's light tore through the snowstorm. The world suddenly grew dim as a boundless darkness seemed to drape over Horus, forming a cloak fit for a Dark Sovereign.
"Look at me!!"
"I am the Wolf Lord! The Warmaster! The Dark Master! The final Primarch of the Dark King! LOOK AT ME!!!"
A crimson light enveloped Horus's face. The darkness was like bone, like blood; in this moment, Horus was darker than the night itself. Drach'nyen shrieked, reenacting a murder here and now—the murder of Sanguinius by Horus. For a heartbeat, the terrifying Horus of ten thousand years ago seemed to have returned.
"I am Sanguinius," Sanguinius said loudly.
Then... Thud!!!
Horus fell to his knees with a loud bang.
The Yellow Gate Pill (Daikaku Pill). Simply say your name, and anyone who hears it will instinctively feel terror and kneel.
Horus knew the effect of this gadget. Sanguinius had teased him with it before, so he had specifically turned on the audio filtering system in his power armor...
I see. It was damaged earlier by the Spear of Telesto...
"F*** my life," Horus muttered a curse. The feeling of being toyed with displeased him as he scrambled up from the ground to dodge Sanguinius's next strike.
"We have the same mother," Sanguinius said with a smile. He turned in mid-air, his spear pointing at Horus again as his lips moved slightly. "San—"
Horus did not give Sanguinius the chance to trigger the pill again. He charged forward, Drach'nyen carving an arc through the air. Blood flowed from the blade—the blood of Sanguinius from ten thousand years ago, manifesting once more. The blood was scalding, roaring into flames; the dark howl drowned out all other sound.
Sanguinius hurriedly raised the Encarmine Blade to block. At the first moment of contact, the silver sword shattered into a million shards. The fragments rained down on Sanguinius, carving hundreds of bloody gashes into his skin.
Drach'nyen also bypassed the limitations of time and space, manifesting the strike of that ancient murder. The golden armor on Sanguinius's chest disintegrated, and a deep, bone-exposing wound appeared. He beat his wings, desperately putting distance between himself and Horus.
Blood flowed—hot, searing blood pouring from Sanguinius's chest. It was the reenactment of the ancient wound, tearing at his very being.
Horus pressed his advantage, having no intention of giving Sanguinius a chance to recover. Drach'nyen was weeping blood. Horus finally understood why Abaddon's combat skill had seemingly regressed after ten thousand years—this sword was just too easy to use. As long as the target was human, they were destined to be murdered by this blade. Why bother with technique, animal instinct, or centuries of training when you had a prefabricated murder in a demon sword?
Drach'nyen, give me the murder!
The blood-wreathed blade lunged toward Sanguinius, but a bizarre smile touched the Angel's lips. In his hand appeared a short toy sword, wrapped in a circle of red fabric...
Horus's smile froze.
Sanguinius's smile grew brilliant.
The Reflection Cloak had a weakness: against a highly skilled opponent, they might find a way around it. The weakness of the Famous Sword Denkomaru was its inability to actually harm the enemy and its tendency to run out of battery in high-level fights. Thus, Alexander had a sudden spark of inspiration:
What if I wrap the Reflection Cloak around Denkomaru?
When Sanguinius first got the Spear of Telesto, he thought the Emperor's trick of tying flashbangs to spearheads to blind people was underhanded enough. He never expected to see something even more devious.
The Reflection Cloak-wrapped Denkomaru collided with Drach'nyen. A light vibration echoed from the toy sword, while the tide of blood surging from the demon blade was reflected back at Horus.
Horus's pupils dilated. His body was sent flying uncontrollably as the murder released by Drach'nyen bypassed his makeshift armor, piercing deep into his chest. It shattered his ribs and tore through one of his hearts, sending him crashing heavily to the ground.
Thick blood welled from Horus's chest. He struggled to crawl out of the snow. Sanguinius was on one knee, blood likewise pouring from his own torso.
The two Primarchs locked eyes.
Horus gripped Drach'nyen; Sanguinius gripped the Spear of Telesto.
"Sanguinius, in your prophecies back then, did you ever see us ultimately turning against each other and slaughtering one another?" Horus asked in a low voice.
"Never... perhaps I saw it, but I never believed it would be real," Sanguinius replied.
"Then why can you not lay down your weapon now and reject this future where I kill you or you kill me?" Horus pleaded sincerely.
"You were just talking about Fulgrim's folly," Sanguinius shook his head.
"For you, I would rather be foolish," Horus said with a bitter smile.
Then, both Primarchs charged at each other simultaneously.
Drach'nyen erupted once more with piercing light, the bloody glow of murder aiming straight for the Angel. Sanguinius thrust his spear, the teardrop tip flickering with psychic light at a chaotic frequency. The glare made Horus slightly dizzy. At that moment, the spear was suddenly withdrawn. Amidst the psychic glare, a flash of red streaked past. As the light faded, Horus looked down to see that Sanguinius had thrown the Reflection Cloak, entangling it around Drach'nyen.
The air became momentarily awkward. Horus did not dare swing the blade, fearing the demon sword would trigger the cloak and reflect the brewing murder back onto himself.
But he was unwilling to abandon Drach'nyen. He had to admit that the current Sanguinius was superior to him in many respects. His only reliance against the Angel was this demon born from humanity's first murder—a blade that even the Emperor feared, meant to pierce both the first and last murders of mankind. All humans were destined to be murdered by it... and Sanguinius was no exception.
If he abandoned the demon blade, Horus feared the Spear of Telesto would poke nine holes in him in a single second.
"This stalemate isn't a solution. You let go, we pull back, and we try again," Horus said, his face unchanging despite the absurdity.
"Then why don't you let go?" Sanguinius asked with a smile.
"I—" Horus opened his mouth, but suddenly felt the wind of a blade behind him.
To Horus's side, the Black Knight gripped his black sword with both hands, aiming the point directly at the Warmaster's back.