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"Just drank the wine, now eating Macragge fish. The Webway bridges straight to Luna, Terra's chasm turned to thoroughfare. Soaked in the Roman baths, not even the Emperor himself can match ~"
Steam rose thick inside the grand bathhouse of the Macragge Governor's Palace.
Kaelen leaned against the edge of the wide, temperature-controlled pool and belted out a completely off-key rhy at the top of his lungs. The exhaustion from days of relentless work dissolved clean away in the hot water.
Beside him sat Kullen. Horus occupied the other side, the bald giant sprawled in the pool like he owned it, taking up nearly a third of the water.
"Those lyrics you made up are sothing else." Horus wiped water droplets from his face. "But if the Custodians heard that last line, they'd never let you off."
"Just the honest truth." Kaelen chuckled, spreading his hands wide. "That old man on the Throne can't even get a sip of water right now. How's he having as much fun as soaking in this bath?"
ntioning baths made Kaelen think of Roboute Guilliman.
The Lord of Ultramar had to wear that Armour of Fate every single day now. Taking it off for a breath of air was a luxury he couldn't afford. Yesterday, watching Guilliman run a briefing for his sons in the command room, the resentnt radiating off a man who couldn't bathe had been thick through the blast-proof door.
Kaelen found that deeply, genuinely funny.
"My friend, sotis I envy you."
"Envy your unfettered nature. Those bizarre, whimsical ideas of yours." Horus sat to Kaelen's right, the bald giant letting out a slow sigh. "One of my brothers, Jaghatai Khan, is a lot like you. Yet the two of you aren't quite the sa."
"Just making the best of a bad situation." Kaelen pressed a hot towel over his face, his voice coming out muffled. "Be serious when it's ti to be serious. Relax when things are ordinary. No need to pile pressure on yourself. It's already hard enough as it is."
"In this universe, troubleso enemies and problems are everywhere. If you don't let yourself rest properly, you'll collapse sooner or later."
"And what about in your world?"
Horus said it casually, but the question landed with weight.
The Primarch had clearly already worked it out — that his good friend might not be from this world at all.
He saw Kaelen hesitate, and his voice turned sincere.
"Co on. We're friends. What can't be said between us?"
"You told before that you'd tell about your past gradually."
Kullen had his ears pricked up too, quietly bracing for the revelation of the century.
"What's there to say about my world." Kaelen waved a hand and slid right past the topic. "Very dull. No xenos, no demons flying all over the sky. By your reckoning, probably around Terra's M3. Can't say it was great, but still far better than this ss you've got here."
He had no interest in getting into the details of his previous life. He pivoted.
"Anyway. Let's talk business. Tomorrow we enter the Webway. Next stop is Luna."
Horus recognized the dodge and didn't push. The enemy was the real problem right now.
"Going to Luna through the Webway ans we avoid being blockaded by forces like Abaddon's. But the Daemon Primarch Magnus will definitely be waiting there to intercept us."
"And his Thousand Sons Legion," Kullen added. "Chaos Astartes without physical bodies. Extrely difficult to deal with. They're practically unkillable."
"Will Terra send anyone to et us?"
Kullen asked.
"They will, but they can't spare much." Kaelen paddled the water surface, working through the battle situation. "If nothing unexpected happens, Khorne's madn are currently hamring on Terra's gates. 8 Bloodthirsters leading 88 daemon legions, all assaulting the Lion's Gate. The Custodians and the Sisters of Silence will have the vast majority of their forces tied down."
He leaned back against the pool's edge.
"The reinforcents they can spare for Luna will be at most a small squad of Custodians and a few Sisters. Our real problem is that one-eyed red devil."
Horus nodded.
"That brother of mine from Prospero plays with psychic power like it's second nature. After becoming a Daemon Prince, his lethality will only be more outrageous."
Then he shifted.
"But there are two of us. The only thing that can defeat a Primarch is another Primarch, let alone two Primarchs combined against one. Roboute and I complent each other perfectly. We can beat him."
"And don't forget, Kaelen." The Wolf's Regent smiled and held out his hand. A fla appeared in his palm, conjured from nothing. "I have psychic powers too."
Kaelen wasn't surprised. During the Great Crusade, Horus had used psychic enhancent at the Battle of Ullanor, boosting his own speed and strength, then personally decapitating the Ork Warboss.
The man just didn't like using sorcery for long-range bombardnt. He preferred to buff himself and close to lee range. Why cast spells when you could hit things?
Horus closed his fist and snuffed the fla. His expression shifted, worry settling across his face as he looked at Kaelen.
"Roboute and I aren't afraid of him. But I'm worried about you. You don't have gene-seed reinforcing your body. You don't have power armor." He furrowed his brow. "The shockwaves from a Primarch clash alone could shatter you. And Magnus definitely knows by now that you're the one who caused all these variables. He will mark you as his first kill target."
"I will stay by Kaelen's side without leaving an inch," Kullen said imdiately. "Even unto death."
"And if the situation turns sudden?" Horus looked at him. "Kullen, don't forget, even if Magnus is inferior to in raw strength and speed, he is still a Primarch. And he has an entire Legion of Thousand Sons warriors and daemons at his back."
"Hiss." Kaelen sucked in a breath. "That is a problem."
Magnus might be a bit foolish, but he wasn't Ogryn-stupid. Right now the Warp was buzzing with news of Horus's return. So who exactly had made that happen? Gee, real tough to figure out.
He needed a trump card.
Kaelen's mind stirred. He pulled up the System.
After these past battles, his points balance was extrely healthy. He scrolled through the shop list quickly.
Then sothing caught his eye, a card glowing with faint, steady light.
[Emperor's Tarot: The Wheel of Fortune]
[Point Cost: 130,000]
130,000 points.
Kaelen's heart clenched. That was the sa price as the [One Shot Guaranteed to Hit Abaddon] skill he'd bought before.
But expensive things are expensive for a reason. If it saved his life at a critical mont, it was worth every point. He selected it.
DING. 130,000 points evaporated instantly.
Horus and Kullen stared in astonishnt as Kaelen lifted his hand out of the water. Sitting in his palm was a solid, gleaming card.
Both of them leaned in.
"This is..." Kullen's brow furrowed. "The Wheel of Fortune? From the Emperor's Tarot?"
"Do you two know what this card ans?" Kaelen flicked the water droplets off it.
"Reversal." Horus studied it. "It symbolizes a shift in the situation, a transfer of initiative. The turning of fate's tide. The complete inversion of a course already set."
He paused.
"But aside from prophecy and divination, I can't think of what other use a Tarot card would have."
Kaelen stared at the gleaming card in his hand.
"Maybe," he said slowly, "it can reverse an attack."
➤ Next: The Audience Beneath the Stage
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