Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 167

"He and your brother went to a place where they would embark on a journey, and at the end of the journey would be the place where you and he would meet."

Horus frowned slightly. Although he hadn't witnessed the earth-shattering battle, his keen senses allowed him to detect a wisp of energy emerging from behind the crack.

Dorne.........

Horus, who had been holding his breath, breathed a long sigh of relief, looked at the old prophet, and nodded.

"Thank you."

"As it should be."

The old prophet smiled slightly and said this.

－－－－－－－－

Kayan stared at the burning hive city in the distance, his expression eerily calm.

Honso stood behind the Black Legion wizard, panting heavily, his face filled with lingering fear. It took him a good ten minutes to calm down, and once he had composed himself, his first words were an extremely insulting and filthy curse.

The target of the profanity was, of course, Kayan, who seemed to be doing nothing.

"[Filled with insulting profanities of the Iron Warrior]" Honsuo said angrily. "What the hell is that! Kayan! Tell me! Why the hell did the Imperium have a Primarch?! And the warp rift! Why did it close inexplicably?!"

“Everything is preordained by fate,” Kayan said calmly. “Don’t worry, I will give you what you are entitled to. I will personally speak with Abaddon later.”

Upon hearing this, the Iron Warrior's expression finally eased a little. Although things were full of various variables, at least the client's final payment was not delayed in the end, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

"And now? What do we do? Our fleet has been completely wiped out. The Empire will undoubtedly drop Whirlwind torpedoes here, and then we won't have a single chance of survival."

Hong Suo asked about the issues he was most concerned about, aside from the final payment. Now that the project had completely fallen through, he had to quickly pack up and run away with the remaining members of his construction team.

The outside world is too treacherous. Even taking on a side job can lead to a Primarch War. I'd better just go back to the Legion and stay put.

Kayan did not answer Hongsuo's question. He simply looked into the distance, sensing the psionic energy permeating the air, and finally turned around, looking at the empty space ahead, and suddenly spoke.

"coming."

coming? What's coming?

Hong Suo narrowed his eyes and frowned.

Raising his hand, the hundreds of steel warriors present raised their weapons and went into a state of alert, but Kayan stepped forward and came to the front of the group.

"Come out," he said calmly. "I knew you were coming a long time ago. Now you've seen enough, so you should be able to confirm what happened, right?"

A ripple spread through the air, followed by the opening of a psionic portal. A Thousand Sons wizard, wearing a horned helmet and wielding a shamanic staff, emerged from behind the portal on a small flying saucer. He looked at Kayan and remained silent for a moment.

"It's been so long since we last met, brother."

"Enough with the nonsense." Kayan looked at his former brother and sneered. "Azek Ahriman, tell me, what have you figured out?"

Chapter 198: Conversation with Neos and Peturabo's Ramblings

Lin Qi felt as if his entire body was being burned by fire. Every piece of skin, every piece of flesh, and even every bone was radiating a burning pain.

Tzeentch's power had been completely exhausted, and the aftereffects of forcibly using his authority with his current soul were naturally manifesting. Pain aside, a profound sense of emptiness filled Lynch's body.

He had a vague feeling that he was losing something important, something so important to him that losing it would drive him crazy.

crazy.......

Yes, he can't go crazy yet.

He can't lose those things either.

Because some people went mad after losing those things.

In the darkness, a golden light suddenly appeared. The golden light felt so gentle; though incredibly brilliant, it was not dazzling. It was like the first ray of light rising from the horizon on a winter morning, a light that travelers would wait for hours in the snow and ice to see, a light that was worshipped by people of ancient times and imbued with all that was beautiful, hopeful, and for the future.

That was a ray of humanity.

As darkness receded, Lynch felt the cold. The cold wind, snow, and rain lashed against his skin, wearing down his strength and spirit.

But soon, with the sound of footsteps, a large figure appeared. The figure walked up to Lin Qi and, without hesitation, draped a thick fur coat over Lin Qi's naked body.

"Get up," the figure said. "This is the deepest part of my spiritual realm. It took me a lot of effort to bring you here. Don't let them find out. I was just seriously injured by Khorne, and my power is in a temporary state of weakness."

"Emperor?"

Lin Qi struggled to his feet, raised his head, looked at the man in front of him, and squeezed out a guessed name.

The man in front of me was probably in his thirties or forties. He had a simple, old-fashioned face, and his skin was brownish. His eyes, eyebrows, hair, and beard were all a deep black. He looked very ordinary, but if you looked closely, you could sense a thick, chaotic madness and exhaustion beneath that ordinariness, like countless pigments mixed together.

The man nodded, acknowledging his identity.

“However,” the Emperor began, his voice devoid of emotion, sounding almost robotic, “you can still call me Neos. At least here, I don’t want anyone calling me the Emperor.”

"Alright." Lynch straightened up and let out a long breath. "Nyos?"

Neos nodded, then strode forward and walked to the front.

Lynch started walking and caught up with Neos.

It was at this moment that Lin Qi realized the two of them were walking in a snow-covered landscape. Heavy rain and snow were falling, and strong winds howled across the land. In the distance, the mountains were blanketed in white, with dense trees rooted in the rocks. Lin Qi squinted, trying to get a better look.

"Don't look at things casually."

Neos suddenly spoke up, stopping Lynch's actions.

"They hid themselves in the darkness."

they.

Lin Qi immediately understood everything.

He stopped looking around and obediently followed Neos. The two walked for an unknown amount of time until they came to a plain, where a small wooden house stood quietly in the middle.

Neos pushed open the door and led Lynch inside.

"here it is........"

“My anchor point.” Neos opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath of cold air. “This is a fragment of my memory. It happened a long time ago, in a snowy wasteland in Terra. I lived alone for a long time, and it was during that time away from my community that my deepest humanity was forged.”

He pulled a small box of firewood from under a bed, lit the cold fire, and warmth began to fill the small wooden hut. In the reddish-orange glow of the flames, Neos went outside, and when he returned, he was carrying two chairs.

"Sit down. It's safe here; no one will hear us."

Neos put down the chair and began to speak.

"You must have many questions. It's rare that I'm clear-headed right now and have some time to help you answer some of them."

Lynch sat down silently, looked at Neos, or rather the Emperor, in front of him, and took a deep breath.

After a long wait, what Neos finally received wasn't a problem, but a very filthy insult.

"You yellow weasel, you idiot."

Upon hearing Lynch's curses, Neos was stunned for a moment, but after realizing what was happening, he was not angry. Instead, he burst into laughter.

“It’s been so many years since I’ve heard anyone curse me like that.” Neos’s voice carried a hint of emotion. “As you know, I am the Emperor. People in the Empire rarely curse me, and even when they do, it’s often not out of genuine feeling. However, quite a few people from Chaos do curse me, but unfortunately, those insults have no effect on me.”

“And you, my friend,” Neos said earnestly, looking at Lynch. “Your insults have successfully reminded me of some pleasant memories.”

Looking at that face filled with sincerity, Lin Qi's cursing caught in his throat. He tried several times to utter those words, but in the end, he could only sigh helplessly.

Sitting in the chair, Lin Qi closed his eyes—he began to think, to think carefully, recalling from the first day he came into this world, then traversing several years, and finally arriving at this present time.

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and stared intently at Neos.

“You knew from the beginning.” His voice turned cold, carrying a suppressed anger. “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?”

“You can’t accept it.” Neos shook his head slightly. “Also, at that time, you probably wouldn’t have been able to agree with it.”

"Heh." Lin Qi sneered. "Why do you think I'd agree with your ideals right now? Do you think this is some kind of fun? You're overthinking it. Let me tell you, everything between us from the very beginning was a transaction! A transaction!"

“You’ve already agreed.” Neos’s voice was soft. “You’ve done so much for this world. You’ve made the Astartes less aloof and allowed them to see the mortals below. You’ve made the factories in the hive more efficient and stopped them from exploiting workers so ruthlessly. You’ve united the scattered people and made them work together towards a common goal.”

“I did provide a lot of help in this process, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to do these things at all.” The Emperor’s face was cold and stern, but the next moment, Neos revealed a smile. “But you did very well, better than me. I was too busy at the time and neglected many things. So I want to thank you, Lynch, you showed me what the human race should be like.”

Lynch remained silent.

Neos didn't continue speaking; he knew the person before him needed some time to calm down. He was willing to give that time. As gods, both he and the other were in a hurry, but as humans, they could both make a little relaxation and compromise.

Time passed slowly, and the flames inside the fireplace flickered, gradually turning the wood into charcoal.

crackle.

Lynch broke out of his silence, his face looking grim. He spoke again, but this time his voice was no longer the same; instead, it was filled with pleading.

“Nyos.........”

"You said."

"If I help you save... will you really let me go home?"

The Emperor was silent.

Neos nodded firmly.

“I swear to you with the last vestige of my humanity,” Neos said in an unprecedentedly serious tone. “If I have deceived you, then I will be forever condemned, and from then on, there will be no more Neos in this world, only the Emperor.”

In an instant, the entire wooden house shook violently, but after a mere thirteen seconds, the shaking stopped, as if nothing had happened.

Lynch sensed everything around him and realized that Neos had not lied to him.

"May I ask about the method?"

"Well... it's better to keep things a bit of a surprise, but if that time really comes, we'll probably have to pay a considerable price. However, since humanity has already been saved, it won't matter if we leave."

"Heh... If you're lying to me, then you can wait to see me perform a pole dance for you on Terra. I'll record it, make billions of copies, and have it played on a loop every day throughout the entire Empire and every world."

"...If doing this will make you willing to stay, I actually have no problem with it."

"...You're ruthless."

Lin Qi looked at the shameless Neos and sighed.

"So tell me, what do you want me to do now? I remember Carlos rushed up before I passed out and took me and Dorn away. You wouldn't happen to be working with Tzeentch, would you?"

"It's not a cooperation, it's just a transaction," the Emperor said coldly. "His feud with Khorne dates back to the beginning of the universe, and his help didn't come without a price. You've already been exposed in the galaxy, and many forces have deviated from their original destinies because of you. This powerful change allows him to quickly regain his lost faith and become even stronger."

"Where's Dorn? I'm the only one here, and I'm in spirit form, while he's in physical form."

"Don't worry, he didn't take you to Tzeentch's labyrinth. Even if he dared to go, Tzeentch wouldn't dare to take you in."

Neos let out a long breath.