"So, can this save my father?" Abaddon asked, setting down a model of the Panacea on the table.
"Yes," Bruce replied plainly. "But he'd still have to stay bedridden."
"And this—can this save my father?" Abaddon asked again, this time setting down a model of the Extra Life Coin.
"Yes," Bruce answered just as clearly. "But he'd come back... changed."
Then Abaddon stacked the two models together and, with the confidence of a man who thought he had just solved everything, asked, "If we use them together, can't my father both come back to life and stay the same?"
Bruce immediately clasped his hands in a formal salute.
"May I ask who Your Excellency is?"
He was genuinely on the verge of breaking down.
If that were possible, I would've done it already, all right?
The whole reason he had been forced to choose between one or the other was because he couldn't get both outcomes at once. Since when did reality work by combo effects?
"I? I am Ezekyle Abaddon, First Captain of the Sons of Horus!"
"What clown crawled in here?" Lion snapped coldly, her face darkening. "Abaddon, are you deliberately making things difficult for Bruce?"
Bruce is explaining why Horus turned out like this, and you're turning it into a public trial?
You should be grateful he managed to save him at all, and now you still want to nitpick?
"I'm not!" Abaddon protested, breaking into a cold sweat.
"Then why," Lion demanded, "do you keep pressing him like this?"
"Because both of those things worked on Father, didn't they? Then why not use them together?!" Abaddon blurted out, voicing the one thing most of the Sons of Horus still couldn't understand.
That was the real issue haunting all of them.
Bruce had explained the whole treatment process from start to finish, but there was still one thing none of them could wrap their heads around.
Why had their father turned into a bunny-eared little girl?
How? Why? Couldn't he just be turned back into the mighty, awe-inspiring Warmaster he used to be?
"I already said it," Bruce answered, rubbing his temples. "The Panacea only heals physical damage. The Extra Life Coin revives the target completely, but it comes with a cost. Isn't that obvious?"
In truth, Bruce knew full well that the confusion came from the fact that he had deliberately left out the part about Horus's damaged soul and the corruption of Chaos.
But some things really couldn't be said out loud.
Even leaving aside whether they would understand it, if they misunderstood even a little, then all the effort of saving Horus would have been for nothing.
"Then why did Father end up like this?!" Little Horus demanded, pointing at Horus, who—even seated—didn't come up to half of Bruce's height.
"…Are you all disgusted with me?" Horus asked quietly, her long ears standing straight up.
"No, no!" Little Horus hurriedly said. "Father, you're the mightiest Warmaster in the entire Imperium. How could I ever despise you?"
He faltered, then pressed on.
"It's just... if there were any way to improve the treatment—if there were any way to bring you back exactly as you were—I'd want that."
That sentiment was shared by every Son of Horus in the room.
Their father waking up was wonderful.
But if things could somehow be made even better, then of course they wanted that too.
"There isn't," Bruce said, shaking his head. "I already told you during the treatment process. He could be saved—but there would be a price."
He pointed at Horus.
"This is the price."
To be fair, Bruce himself was a victim here.
He had known Doraemon's bizarre gadgets could trigger all kinds of strange side effects, the way incidents happened in Gensokyo, but—
Who in their right mind would have expected the mighty, majestic Warmaster to come back as Amiya?
So because they were both from "Terra," and both were leaders trying to save their civilizations, the system had simply merged them?
At that point Bruce finally realized, with painful clarity, that he'd been too hasty.
He should have asked more carefully which world the Extra Life Coin had come from.
Now the answer was obvious.
It was from Terra.
So you've actually been to the Arknights world too, haven't you, Doraemon? Fantastic. Next time I'm sending you to some barren planet to lay power lines as a planetary administrator.
"Damn it! I still can't accept this! Aaaagh!" Abaddon slammed a fist onto the table, finally losing control.
The other Sons of Horus wore equally complicated expressions.
This would undoubtedly become a stain on the legion's honor.
How had their Warmaster ended up as a little girl with rabbit ears?
If the other legions found out, they would be mocked without mercy.
Worse, everything they cherished—their glory, their pride, perhaps even their place in the Imperium—might be stripped away.
What if the Emperor judged them to be a legion that needed to be erased?
What then?
"…Oh."
Watching all of them react like this, Horus's emotions suddenly surged.
Even Horus knew that this was the sort of moment that called for iron authority—that she should seize the situation and make her sons submit.
But...
They were innocent.
The one at fault was her.
She had been the one who had grown careless. The one who had been wounded. The one who had let the Sixteenth Legion descend into chaos.
The guilty one here was Horus.
"Um..."
Horus lowered her head in shame. Her ears drooped. She bit her lip, fingers clutching nervously at the hem of her skirt.
"It's... it's my fault..."
"I've let you down, my sons..."
As she spoke, tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes, refusing to stop.
Because of her own mistake, the legion had been dragged into this mess. Worse, she had stained the glory her father had entrusted to her.
She was... an unworthy Warmaster.
"I will go to Holy Terra myself," she said, voice trembling, "and confess to Father. I'll resign from the post of Warmaster."
"I'm sorry..."
"I'm so, so sorry..."
"Father—!"
The Sons of Horus nearly lost their minds on the spot.
Some burst into tears with her. Others gritted their teeth so hard it looked like they might crack them. A few pounded their fists against their own chests in anguish.
If anyone had suffered most of all, it was Abaddon.
Because in that instant he realized that he had not only made his father cry—everyone else was also looking at him with expressions that practically screamed, You bastard, are you even human?
"All right, all right, don't do this. It's not as terrible as you think, my brother." Lion hurried forward, wrapping Horus in an embrace and stroking her head gently.
She soothed the guilt-stricken little bunny in her arms.
"No matter what, you're still my brother. You're still the Warmaster I admire most."
"Lion..." Horus looked up at her gentle brother, and the tears came even harder.
"I really am a terrible Warmaster. I knew it was a trap, and I still walked into it."
"I don't deserve to lead everyone anymore."
"If Sejanus were still alive, he would've stopped me. He would have cursed me out, and he would have been right. But... I ruined everything."
"It's all right, my brother. Once you're no longer in danger of dying, nothing else matters so much." Lion kept soothing her. "No mistake is beyond forgiveness. No one can remain perfect forever. You are loyal to Father and loyal to the Imperium. That makes you the finest Warmaster."
"Lion! Waaah!"
Hearing those words, Horus broke down even harder.
And just like that, what had begun as a tense explanation meeting suddenly started to resemble one of those tragic school book fairs—where the person on stage cried while recounting all their sins, and the audience below sobbed along with them.
All they were missing now was a host stepping out to announce:
"Children, it's time to buy books. Limited offer—648 Thrones per copy. Buy one and redeem yourselves."
"Pfft..."
Of course, not everyone in the room was drowning in sorrow.
For example, Second Captain Torgaddon had been holding it in for a while, but now he finally cracked.
"What are you laughing at?" Loken asked flatly.
"If the old Father could see himself now, I don't even know what kind of face he'd make. Hah..." Torgaddon said, tears standing in his eyes as he watched Horus clutching at Lion.
Then his expression softened.
"It's good that he's back... really good."
Torgaddon could agree with almost everything Horus had said about herself.
But there was one thing he absolutely refused to accept.
As for Sejanus—if he were still alive and standing here now, he would never be despairing. No. He would be grinning from ear to ear.
The moment Father came back, the old, warm, laughing soul of the Sixteenth Legion came back with him.
For the first time in a long while, Torgaddon felt just how precious simple ease and freedom were.
"My turn," Bruce said at last, frowning.
That one sentence made everyone look toward him at once, all of them waiting for what the real decision-maker had to say.
After everything Bruce had done—after all the impossible reversals he had pulled off—his prestige had climbed to the point where it nearly rivaled that of a Primarch. People genuinely listened when he spoke. They actually thought through his words.
Acting Legion Master, indeed.
"I don't think the Warmaster's current condition is really a problem."
He paused, then continued seriously.
"If everyone's worried that his present appearance will damage the legion... then the solution is actually very simple."
He looked around the room.
"Why don't we all just keep this a secret?"
The inner circle.
It truly was necessary after all.
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 132)
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 (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
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 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
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 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
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