"You're right, Kasjia."
After a moment of silence, Fulgrim spoke.
She walked quickly towards him.
One step, two steps.
Closer, so close.
A gratified smile had already appeared on Kasjia's face.
Soon, Fulgrim would be in his—
SHING!
The fire-blade instantly slashed at his neck!
Even he could not dodge this blow in time.
Kasjia's head fell to the ground in terror, and rolled a few times.
"Tell me, who are you?"
"How did you find out, Fulgrim?"
A dark, viscous liquid suddenly gushed from the cut on the "Kasjia's" head, and reattached it to the neck that had been severed by the fire.
His disguise should have been flawless.
"On your finger."
"You don't have the Sagittarius golden ring I gave him."
The Sagittarius golden ring.
The symbol of love, as Kasjia had said.
I don't have it?
"Kasjia" looked at his own hand.
That's not right.
He was clearly wearing this golden ring in his disguise. How could he not have it?
"Perhaps you think your disguise is flawless."
Fulgrim twirled the fire-blade in a beautiful flourish.
"But only I can see, only I can know, the meaning of love contained in Kasjia's hand."
"This Sagittarius golden ring again, this nonsensical talk again..."
"Kasjia's" face suddenly twisted in a狰狞 manner.
"Damn it, neither of you are human!!!"
He was triggered.
Sagittarius, Sagittarius, Sagittarius, golden ring, golden ring, golden ring—
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!
Back then, on the night Kasjia had just cured Melusine's Blight and had come out of her room.
He had indeed been ambushed by the long-waiting assassins.
Faced with this situation, Kasjia had chosen to give up resisting and had pretended to be captured.
After arriving at the stronghold, he had used the strong acid he had... spat... out to corrode the shackles on his hands, and had easily defeated the remaining assassins in the stronghold.
And the deaths of the thirty-six people present had happened to complete the final step of the summoning ritual in the room.
A very blasphemous, shining light had enveloped the entire room in an instant.
"Wh—"
But at that moment, Kasjia had been dragged into the Warp by the Sabazius that had just been summoned by the evil ritual.
Fulgrim's collar, naturally, could no longer locate Kasjia.
In the Warp illusion affected by the ritual, he would have plenty of time to lure this mortal to fall.
As a daemon, especially one who had just been blessed by the great power of Slaanesh, this was not a difficult task at all.
He had used the same method to seduce countless intelligent creatures to join the Dark Prince's embrace.
Until he met Kasjia.
Sabazius: "Fall into the abyss of pleasure with me~"
Kasjia: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
Sabazius: "What you hold onto is but a fleeting illusion. Only love and desire are eternal."
Kasjia: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
Sabazius: "You... can't you say something else?"
Kasjia: "Thirty years. In those thirty years, she and I, just the two of us..."
Kasjia: "And in the end, she gave this to me. And from then on, I had it, a small Sagittarius golden ring."
Kasjia: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
The same conversation repeated countless times.
The extremely tired Sabazius: "Why won't you fall yet! Just fall!!!"
Kasjia: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
A long time later.
Kasjia: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
Sabazius: "I have the Sagittarius golden ring."
Ptooey! I don't have the Sagittarius golden ring!
Sabazius, who had almost been brainwashed by the other, was furious.
A madman.
A fucking madman.
This was Sabazius's thought after he had almost been corrupted himself.
He dispersed the Warp illusion that had been lingering in Kasjia's room, and his main body also returned to the Empyrean.
Run.
I can't beat him, but I can always run, right?
But it seemed that in Kasjia's hands, it was even difficult for him to escape.
"Given up? The illusion is finally gone?"
A hint of an impatient smile appeared on Kasjia's lips.
And in that instant, his right hand began to catch fire.
A flame that could erase all existence.
"Finally..."
"I've had enough of these formalities!"
He waved the flame in his hand happily and rushed towards Sabazius.
"DIE, DAEMON!"
Gah!
Sabazius's heart was broken.
Can someone tell me why a mortal's projection in the Warp is so damn weird?!
WHY!!!
In the Warp, we can see a rich diversity of life.
Just as a ball of fire can madly chase a daemon, and swim in this endless and ever-changing Empyrean.
"Daemon, where are you running!!"
Sabazius, with a ball of fire chasing behind him, could only secretly signal his followers during his run to quickly open a portal to the real world with a ritual.
He was coming... to take refuge.
A daemon coming to the real world to take refuge.
A very novel reason.
Of course, he wouldn't just say that to his mortal followers.
But even so, Kasjia still followed behind him, burning down one summoning ritual stronghold after another.
Until not long ago, when he had saved Telmar and Thorn, the two Emperor's Children, he had also burned down his last stronghold.
But fortunately, in the ritual held by the mortals of Byzas in the capital, they had successfully tied down Kasjia, buying enough breathing room for Sabazius.
Now, Sabazius had only one last option.
To seduce Fulgrim.
But unfortunately, the reason these two extraordinary individuals could hit it off was not without reason.
Fulgrim: "I also have the Sagittarius golden ring."
The Sagittarius golden ring!
It's it again! It's it again!!!
Please, please, stop talking about the Sagittarius golden ring!
After having his defenses broken by the Sagittarius golden ring once again, Sabazius fell into PTSD.
His heart was so tired.
He was beginning to regret why he had ascended to daemonhood in the first place.
Was it just for the torment of today?
You're right.
But, the Sagittarius golden ring...
Bringing his thoughts back to the present.
Sabazius still stood in his original position.
He could sense that an eternally burning flame was breaking through the veil of the Warp and approaching him.
"Fulgrim, don't go near him!"
"Let me handle this!"
That madman Kasjia had arrived.
Small, golden-red flames ignited under Sabazius's feet.
"This time, let's see where you can run!" Kasjia shouted.
Run?
Sabazius closed his eyes wearily.
Why run?
So that when he seduces humans in the future, he can be driven mad by the Sagittarius golden ring again?
Sabazius felt that he had lost the meaning of his existence.
I'm tired. Let's just destroy it all.
In the flames, it turned to ash.
You win, Sagittarius golden ring.
"Phew."
Kasjia's feet finally touched the ground again.
This time, he was clearly wearing a Sagittarius golden ring on his hand.
"KASJIA!!!"
And then, he felt a fragrant wind, accompanied by a tight embrace.
Followed by a strong sob.
Large teardrops fell on his shoulder.
"There, there, don't cry—actually, if you want to cry, just cry it out. It'll feel better."
"Just don't bury everything in your heart."
Kasjia knew that Fulgrim's stress had been at an all-time high during this period.
Ever since joining the Great Crusade, she had never been able to truly perform on the battlefield for so long.
At the banquet, facing the great achievements of her other siblings, the self-proclaimed perfect her had always felt a little unable to hold her head up.
Even though the Emperor had not been dissatisfied with Fulgrim because of this, the strong-willed her had felt even more self-blame.
She wanted to prove herself.
In this deserted ruin, the once-confident and calm Star-Phoenix Princess Fulgrim, held Kasjia and cried her heart out.
For a long time.
"I'm so tired, Kasjia."
"Mm."
"We are the only legion to be granted the Imperial Aquila. We are the model for the Imperium."
"I have to... I have to be the best at all times."
"Mm, it's alright. We will walk towards perfection together."
"The Great Crusade has so much for me to do. I can't let the dead legionaries be shamed."
"But the other Primarchs all look down on me. They all look down on our Third Legion."
"I have to prove to all of them."
"It's alright, Fulgrim. We were able to take down a whole world with just a few Space Marines. We've already狠狠地 slapped them in the face!"
"I didn't want to be so impatient..."
"But I'm so scared, so scared that in the end I'll lose you too..."
"It's alright, Fulgrim. I'm still here."
Kasjia quietly listened to the vulnerability hidden beneath her perfect disguise.
And gently comforted her.
It was better to let it out than to keep it all bottled up inside.
As for how to comfort her, Kasjia also had his own unique technique.
"It's all that Guilliman's fault!" Kasjia shouted resentfully.
It's all his fault!
"He's so bad! All he does all day is show off that broken five hundred worlds he inherited!"
"What's there to be proud of? It was all inherited from his adoptive father Konor. What does it have to do with him? The Ultramarines were even expanded by the Emperor for him!"
"What skills can that Guilliman have?!"
"He can't compare to the Chemos we built with our own hands! Right, Fulgrim?"
"If it really came to a fight, in terms of swordsmanship, we could easily slit his throat!"
"Yes, yes, that's right! It's that Guilliman! He's really the worst!"
Fulgrim instantly turned from crying to laughing.
The best way to comfort someone is to set up an enemy.
And there was no one more suitable for being the scapegoat than that guy Guilliman.
"If you're stressed in the future, just vent it all on me."
"Really?"
Fulgrim looked up, a hint of surprise in her expression.
"Uh, pretend I didn't say that."
"No, I heard you. Kasjia, you said it yourself."
"From now on, just look forward to it."
Fulgrim stood up, gently patted the dust off her body, and gave him another kiss on the forehead.
Kasjia had a bad feeling.
He felt that his pelvis... might be in trouble again.
The two stood up and looked at the... residue left after the daemon had been burned.
"Kasjia, what was that thing that was impersonating you just now?"
"That..."
A daemon?
Or a manifestation of desire?
Hinting at the desire to escape everything that was lurking in Fulgrim's heart.
Who could really know?
"Anyway, it wasn't anything good."
"In short, if you encounter a voice whispering in your ear in the future, just let me deal with it."
Kasjia waved his right hand.
After using it for this period of time, the pale golden cracks had already spread from his wrist and were beginning to cover his entire right arm.
"In that case... won't you be in danger?"
Fulgrim, seeing this, came forward with a concerned look and stroked his arm, which was covered in golden cracks.
She had known about this mutation since it had first appeared and had asked him to undergo a full-body examination.
But no matter how she tested it, there were no problems.
As if the golden-red cracks did not exist at all.
In the end, Fulgrim could only give up asking after reminding him a few times.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is probably a precursor to some kind of psionic awakening of mine," Kasjia replied. "But I'm not sure what I will become when the cracks completely shatter."
"Don't."
Kasjia suddenly heard a cry as soft as a mosquito in his ear.
"What?"
"Don't use this anymore, Kasjia. I'm afraid I'll lose you."
Fulgrim's face was filled with heartache.
She held Kasjia's right arm tightly and was unwilling to let go for a long time.
Perhaps.
As much as Kasjia had despised those who played with psychic powers, a certain red-skinned, one-eyed Ogryn, after his own psychic awakening, he had grown to love this thing.
This is so useful!
Exorcism, healing, and it even has a special attack!
But Kasjia also knew in his heart that relying too much on psionic power was not a good thing.
What if it exploded? Turning into the ashes of a Thousand Son would be a good outcome.
If it exploded and created another Eye of Terror, that would be a real disaster.
He couldn't just lose his physical body like that. He still had a female Primarch at home waiting to be fed!
He'd better use it as little as possible.
Kasjia secretly made up his mind.
"By the way, we have to go back quickly."
"Abdemon is currently defending the capital of Byzas, and the nobles are very likely to rebel at the time of my departure."
As she spoke, Fulgrim gripped his arm tightly.
Perhaps the rebellious nobles could not defeat the god-like Astartes warriors.
But if they wanted to die with them and detonate the hidden nuclear weapons to turn the continent into ruins, it would be very tricky.
At that time, the entire continent would be covered in a wasteland of nuclear radiation.
Just like Chemos had been.
Byzas was a resource-rich planet, which was also why it was chosen as 28-1, as the starting point of the expedition.
And at this critical time of the Great Crusade, Fulgrim did not have the spare energy to reform it as she had with Chemos.
They had to hurry and stop the nobles' crazy actions.
"You mean the noble rebellion in the capital?"
Kasjia gave a wry smile.
"I already took care of it on my way here."
Of course, it's best not to ask how.