Watching Bruce use his own image to thoroughly brutalize Nurgle, the Emperor's feelings were… complicated.
It had certainly been immensely satisfying, but…
Wasn't that a little too deranged?!
As expected of a Night Lord—he could be that vicious even to a little girl. Truly an outstanding warrior.
All that could be said was that the skin bonus was just too strong. If Nurgle had still been in her original form, the Emperor would have felt no psychological burden at all. He probably would have found it immensely gratifying.
That would have been humanity's true light.
But unfortunately, Nurgle was currently a soft, fragrant little loli, and Bruce had mercilessly broken her.
"Hah… that felt good!"
Looking at Nurgle lying spread-eagled on the ground, eyes rolled back and body covered in fluid, Bruce let out a long, satisfied breath.
A pity it had only lasted five minutes. Otherwise, he could have kept going. Nurgle really was absurdly hard to kill.
I was going that hard—how are you still alive?!
"We… should handle the real business now… Bruce…" the Emperor reminded him.
"Oh, right!"
Only then did Bruce remember that this was Horus's spiritual world. He was here to save someone.
The moment he said it, the dazed, barely conscious Nurgle disappeared. That meant the last Chaos God had finally left Horus's soul.
And with that, Bruce no longer needed to worry about Horus being corrupted.
If even the gods had withdrawn, then Horus's corruption progress naturally dropped to zero. As for whether they would return later… probably not.
Horus had already fallen for this trick once. Was he really going to fall for it again?
Besides, in the 30K era, the Chaos Gods still had to follow certain rules. Without a medium, there was no way they could simply corrupt Horus out of thin air. Otherwise, they never would have needed to pour all four of their powers into a mortal and stab him with that dagger.
To put it plainly, corrupting Horus had cost them their dignity.
"What should I do?" Bruce asked as he walked toward Horus.
"Do whatever you think is right… I believe in you…"
The Emperor's voice grew fainter and fainter until it vanished.
That meant he would no longer be watching Bruce's side of things.
Only after confirming there was no danger did Bruce finally dare to approach the still-unconscious Horus. At the same time, he tried to locate W and Alfred, who had entered with him earlier.
But the place where they had first arrived was now completely empty.
That worried Bruce a little, though it also made him wonder whether they had already withdrawn ahead of him.
If that was the case, then great. After all, he had the Emperor's blessing. They didn't.
If he saved Horus only to get the other two corrupted in the process, then he would be losing out badly.
Saving the Warmaster and protecting his own people were two entirely separate matters.
"Hey! Horus Lupercal! Wake up already!"
Bruce tried calling out to him.
But Horus showed no reaction at all. It was impossible to tell whether he had heard anything, and Bruce found himself in a bind.
Sure, he could throw down with Chaos Gods, but when it came to actually saving someone, he was completely out of his depth. Bruce Wayne was not a doctor, after all. What the hell did he know about healing people?
Damn it. Why was W not here when it actually mattered? What use was she?
Wait. Speaking of useless slackers…
"Wake up, lazybones, lazybones. Anyone who doesn't wake up now is officially a lazybones."
"Hey? You hear me, daddy-obsessed freak?"
"If you stay unconscious any longer, the Sixteenth Legion's going to be wrecked by Abaddon!"
"The Great Crusade isn't over yet! The Imperium needs your strength!"
"Have you forgotten everything from Cthonia already? You're the Warmaster now, not some gutter rat. Get your ass up!"
"The Emperor needs you! Stop sleeping!"
"If this keeps up, Lion's taking your Warmaster seat!"
Bruce kept trying one line after another, using words to provoke Horus.
And sure enough, it worked.
Every time Bruce mentioned the Emperor losing faith in Horus, or said that the Emperor's love would be given to another Primarch instead, Horus twitched. The entire spiritual world even began to tremble.
And because of that reaction, Bruce suddenly thought of a perfect treatment plan.
If Horus cared so much about the Emperor—if he was this absurdly jealous—then what if Bruce transformed into the Emperor and talked him back?
The moment the idea came to him, Bruce acted.
He immediately pulled out another transformation drink—
the last bottle in his storage compartment.
Whether this would work or not depended entirely on this final shot.
If this failed, he would have no choice but to hope Doraemon could somehow bail him out. Bruce had always trusted the wisdom of his teammates. If he could dump the problem on someone else instead of using his own brain, so much the better.
Whether it got solved or not was secondary. At least he would feel less burdened.
Glug, glug, glug.
Bruce organized what he wanted to say and, along the way, mentally reviewed all the embarrassing little roleplay scenes he had done with Lion before finally downing the last transformation drink.
He prayed there was no such thing as developing tolerance to this stuff. If there was, he was finished.
This is my last one!
Fortunately, Doraemon's gadgets had never failed him before. A few seconds later, Bruce once again transformed into a four-meter-tall golden giant.
There was no time to waste.
Bruce immediately bent down over Horus and began murmuring into his ear.
"Horus… my finest, most outstanding, most excellent son, the one who makes me proudest… you cannot give up now. I need your help."
"Wake up, my son. I—and the Imperium of Man—need you."
"We spent thirty years together. We are the best of fathers and sons. I took you from Cthonia and raised you with my own hands. The bond between us is unbreakable. You are more important to me than any of my other sons. I believe in you, Horus~"
"Horus, you're the best, aren't you? Your father loves you most of all~"
"The Great Crusade is not over. Let us keep fighting—for humanity, for the Imperium, for us~"
Under Bruce's relentless barrage of emotional nonsense, Horus gradually went from small twitches to visible changes in expression. He clearly wanted to wake up, but still couldn't quite manage it.
Seeing that his verbal therapy was actually working, Bruce doubled down and kept spewing sentimental drivel, even though it sounded more like a confession than anything else.
As for why Bruce was suddenly so fluent, why he could say so many beautiful lines all at once—
well, for that, one had to thank Lion.
Back when Lion had clung to him, Bruce had done plenty of script practice. It had made him nauseous at first, sure, but eventually he had come to accept it.
Because…
when you had a pretty little girl lying in your arms, shyly covering her face, staring at you with melting eyes, and occasionally giving your chest a little pouty thump—
how could you not come to terms with it?
But even Bruce had never imagined that all those humiliating little scenes would end up being useful here.
So this was the Lion's far-sighted strategy, huh?
Learned something new.
Meanwhile, in the real-world operating chamber—
Lion was having a hard time of it.
She had watched all three of them collapse at once and could only find it baffling.
First Bruce and W had dropped unconscious, then Alfred the Librarian followed right after. The sight had given Lion quite a fright.
If she had not repeatedly confirmed that all three were merely unconscious rather than possessed by Chaos, she would already have been swinging the Lion Sword and performing mercy executions.
"Sigh…"
Lion waited a full nine minutes.
The two on the floor and the one on the bed still showed no signs of waking up, and the naturally impatient Primarch was growing increasingly restless.
Was she really just supposed to sit here and wait?
After thinking it over and over, Lion's gaze finally settled on Bruce lying on the bed.
And the moment she looked properly at him, an indescribable stirring rose inside her.
So… this is what Bruce looks like when he's asleep…
Hehe…
A few seconds later, Lion suddenly snapped back to herself and felt ashamed of that momentary lapse.
How could I be thinking like that? Bruce is still in danger, and yet I…
Then something suddenly occurred to her.
Right—the story!
A few days ago, while they had been chatting over their communicator, Bruce had told her a very interesting ancient Terran fairy tale, a lovely and heartwarming story.
It was about a princess trapped in endless sleep, awakened at last by a prince, after which the two of them stayed together forever.
And perhaps…
perhaps that story could apply here as well.
After all, Bruce was unconscious now too, and perhaps he needed encouragement…
"I… I'm only trying to help you…"
Looking at Bruce's motionless face, Lion finally made an important decision.
Yes, perhaps there was a bit of taking advantage in this, but still…
this was for the sake of helping her dearest comrade in arms! She, Lion El'Jonson, was not the type to stand by and do nothing when someone needed saving.
Bruce's lips really were making it hard not to take a little nibble.
"Ahem."
Lion cleared her throat, then repeatedly confirmed that no one would be entering the operating room anytime soon before slowly bending down.
Just as Lion was about to press her lips to Bruce's mouth, her whole body suddenly froze.
Then her hand moved to the Lion Sword at her back, and her eyes sharpened instantly, like a lion sensing danger.
Still holding that bent-over pose, Lion glanced sideways—
and saw W trembling on the floor.
"!!!"
W's face went pale. She didn't dare move.
Of course, she also couldn't move.
The oppressive force of a Primarch's presence, combined with her weakness from having just exited the spiritual world, made escape impossible. If she had a choice, W would have slapped herself and gone back to sleep.
But alas… the instant she opened her eyes, she had witnessed this utterly horrifying scene. She could not even cry out for help.
Gah! The Dark Angels' Primarch wants to eat our acting legion commander!
"Um… please, carry on… I-I didn't see anything… hehe…"
W tried to sell the lie with a cute, ingratiating smile.
"…"
Lion's expression darkened. She straightened up, removed the Lion Sword from her back, and quietly began walking toward W.
No one would ever know about this.
The First Legion's honor had to be protected.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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