Warhammer 40: My Fiancée Fulgrim.

Chapter 174 Ulanno

Holy Terra
That was when Horus had just been brought back to Holy Terra from Kosonia by a group of mechanical monsters with hardly any flesh on their bodies.

Horus met his father, whom he had never imagined he would have in his life.

Emperor.

As a being with a thousand faces, we may never know what the emperor looked like in Horus's eyes. But according to Horus's interviews with the narrator, it seems that in his eyes, the angel Saint Gilles was the most emperor-like being.

Alas, Horus.

For the next thirty years, or more precisely, including the two hundred years of the Great Expedition, Horus remained by the Emperor's side, learning and growing.

Until he grew from a clueless young man from Kosonia into a capable expeditionary commander.

During this period, the emperor taught Horus a great deal.

Even after Horus acquired the Primarch's pre-loaded knowledge brain, he still found it difficult to accept the many mysteries the Emperor imparted to him.

In Horus's eyes, the emperor always seemed to be filled with infinite divinity.

His emperor was always so powerful and invincible.

His words were always full of boundless wisdom, and Horus needed to ponder each sentence for a long time to understand its meaning.

No difficulty can stop him, and no sinner can escape from his grasp.

He will never make a mistake, never.

This was always Horus's thought when he was young.

The Emperor was a perfect being, a being beyond humanity, and even a higher being than the Primarch.

He possesses a mind far more profound than that of mortals, one that is impossible for anyone to fathom, and his power is even more extraordinary: the Imperial Guard and Space Marines created by science and technology alone are beings that Horus could never and absolutely not match.

Not to mention his own powerful physical strength and vast spiritual energy—Horus could assert that there was no being as powerful as the Emperor in the entire galaxy, no, in the entire universe.

After countless years of conflict, he unified Terra, and his army is about to unite all the lost worlds in the Great Crusade, bringing humanity back together!
As a model and example for all humanity in the world and the universe, the emperor is always right.

Whether it was from the very first time he met the Emperor, or in his later studies and when he officially led the Sixteen Legions in the expedition.

Before Horus, the Emperor was always a powerful and unapproachable figure.

But now, the situation seems to be slightly different.

After receiving the signal and coordinates from the Emperor, the teleportation light flashed and enveloped everyone present.

This includes the remaining squad members who are waiting for them to come up from the surface.

And the Imperial Guards, Shadowmoon Wolf Gastrin, and the Emperor's Son who fell off the cliff one after another.

Despite the Emperor's severe injury from the mech-beast, his psychic power remains unfathomable.

Under his calculations and transmission, all the Imperial Guards, Shadow Moon Wolves, and the Emperor's Son present were teleported back to the Emperor's Dream Ship.

However, the Emperor himself does not seem to be in a very good situation at present.

Although Horus's help prevented him from being crushed to death by the orc, he was clearly not as composed as he had been when he set off:

It was a disheveled state that defied description—not only was the emperor's armor, which had once shone with unparalleled golden light, now dulled and lost its former luster amidst the orcs' blood and grime, but it was also shattered and cracked from the blows and cuts of those green-skinned aliens' weapons.

They won, but it was a Pyrrhic victory.

Horus stared blankly at the emperor who was being supported by him, wanting to say something but unable to utter a word.

The Emperor once again achieved victory in a new battle, just like before, but the feeling was different.

In the past, when Horus fought alongside the Emperor, he was always so calm and composed, so at ease.

In Horus's mind, the Emperor fighting alongside him in battle was more like a trial.

Always watching over him from afar, allowing him to unleash his boundless imagination in battle command and gain new combat experience.

It should never be this pathetic.

"Emperor?"

Horus called out softly, his heart filled with a mixture of doubt and disbelief.

"What's wrong, Horus?"

"No. It's nothing, Father."

"My lord, you need to rest."

“I understand,” the emperor said, waving his hand gently to indicate that the guards behind him wanted to help him back to rest. “Horus, the battle is not over.”

The battle is far from over.

“But the Greenskins will never recover from such a devastating blow,” Horus said with a sense of bewilderment. “They are already broken—it will be at least several thousand years before humans can see the beasts rise again.”

“I sincerely hope you are right, my son. But the reality is more complicated and more critical: the Tianlong Star Sector is nothing more than an exclave.”

"They belong to the largest orc empire ever formed, and they are the biggest obstacle to the continuation of the Great Crusade."

The Emperor smiled at Horus, a smile that made Horus's heart skip a beat: "We are about to launch an unprecedented war—right here in Ulanor. All the honor and victory will be yours to claim, my son."

"It is obligatory."

Horus knelt on one knee.

With the help of the Imperial Guard, the Emperor slowly left the deck of the Imperial Dream before Horus's eyes and walked toward the cabin at the bow.

Horus was somewhat stunned as he watched the Emperor and the royal guards walk away.

The being that was originally countless times taller than him, radiating golden light that could blind others, now appeared so hunched over.

It's not quite the same as the emperor in Horus's memory.

He thought to himself.

Was that really him, the emperor Horus had always worshipped, the father he had always revered?
Even at the very end, Horus could hardly believe what had just happened.

Is the Emperor really that weak? He can't even defeat a mech-beast?

Or perhaps the Emperor himself has always been like this, only he—Horus—has become stronger?

That was also the first time Horus realized that the Emperor was not as powerful as he had imagined.

He is also someone who can be defeated.

Although Horus would not allow this to happen.

Emperors are not always right.

Bladestorm.

This flagship, belonging to Chagatai Khan, the ruler of the Fifth Legion, possesses a speed and instantaneous acceleration unmatched by any other Glory Queen in the world.

This is the Khan's guerrilla philosophy—speed is always the top priority in all metrics.

But when Horus performed the Centaur Rings before him, Chagatai Khan, who had made an excuse to leave, watched the instantaneous acceleration of the flagship and once again marveled at the foresight of the previous design.

Luckily, I ran fast.

Fortunately, the Primarch who boarded the Bladestorm this time was neither Horus nor one of those delusional guys that the Khan hated.

"Welcome, my brother! What good news have you brought me?"

The Khan smiled and walked forward with his arms outstretched. Perhaps his relationship with the other Primarch brothers was rather cold, and many people were not willing to get to know the Khan better.

However, you should still be a little more enthusiastic in your performance.

As he spoke, he stepped forward and embraced the giant wearing blue power armor inlaid with gold.

Robbout Guilliman, ruler of the five hundred worlds of Ultramar, commands the largest legion in the Great Crusade, but also the most bloated in the Khan's eyes—the Ultramarines.

"This is a message from the Emperor."

Robert Barrett still had a furrowed brow and looked deep in thought.

"He will send us to the Ulanor system to join Horus and Fugrim in a campaign to annihilate the orc empire there."

The Ultramarines Legion and the White Scars Legion are the new reinforcements that the Emperor has deployed in his fight against the Orcish Empire.

The Ulanor Orc Empire had grown so powerful that it was beyond human comprehension—the Shadowmoon Wolves and the Emperor's Sons alone could not possibly defeat the terrifying greenskins that surged like a tidal wave.

This forced them to rely on Guilliman's blue-skinned orcs as a countermeasure.

"The Shadow Moon Wolf?" The Khan clearly looked troubled.

This is a bit tricky.

“Brother, I heard that you and Horus cooperated extremely closely, and your interactions and tactical exchanges were exemplary among the Primarchs.”

But that's all in the past now.

At some unknown point in time, some unknown events occurred, causing Chagatai Khan to avoid Nahorus from then on and never dare to cooperate with Shadowmoon Wolf again.

This puzzled Guilliman greatly.

Did some conflict occur between them?
—But that shouldn't be the case. Horus is a very kind person. Although Guilliman and Horus didn't cooperate much, he could still feel the other's genuine friendliness and gentleness.

What exactly happened that could frighten Chagatai Khan, a former friend of Horus, like this?
"It's best not to bring it up."

As one of the few humans with normal thinking among the Primarchs, Chagatai felt out of place.

Let's deal with these damned orc empires quickly and then run away!

"So now it's just the two of our legions heading to the Ulanno system together?"

"Do not."

Guilliman looked helpless: "Although the Emperor's orders only include our two legions, it seems that some brothers and sisters are on their way after hearing the news."

"Oh? What does this mean?"

"For the position of War General."

Despite his siblings' perception of Guilliman as a wild and ambitious man who should be guarded against, Guilliman was not without his own.

But he really had no desire to become a war commander or a higher position.

—At least not during the First Empire.

“I have heard about that—with the recent return of our last brother, Alpharis, all the Primarchs have now returned to the Empire, and the position of Expeditionary Commander will be decided soon.”

The Khan is an outsider; he has no intention of becoming a warlord.

"That's why there is now a powerful orc empire in the Ulanno star system, which is more terrifying than any other alien force we have encountered before."

This most glorious achievement is enough to be the deciding factor in the election of the War Commander.

"You mean, only by conquering the Primarch of the Ulanor Orc Empire can one become a Warmaster?"

It seems that among the four Primarch Legions, excluding the marginal Khans and the unsuitable Warmasters Fugrim and Guilliman, only Horus and his Shadowmoon Wolves can enjoy this honor.

"Doesn't this seem a bit like a pre-arranged deal?"

“Who can argue with that?” Guilliman agreed with a smile. “I still believe in Father’s decision—but some of my brothers and sisters are clearly dissatisfied.”

"They are heading towards Ulanor from all directions. To be honest, it will be an unimaginable Primarch battle."

What kinds are there? For example—

“Philus. The Iron Hand has always been a strong contender for the Warmaster position, and she is equally determined to win it.”

“Magnus is also on his way here.”

"Magnus?"

"He's probably just here for the fun. I don't understand this guy's interest in witchcraft—though he's been saying lately that what he uses isn't witchcraft."

Very mysterious.

Nobody knows what strange things he's up to.

"Ok."

The Khan silently pondered this in his mind once again.

Regardless of who becomes the next war commander, he should take the initiative to continue to deploy his war zone to more remote areas.

The more remote the better.

So be it, we'll be barbarians. As long as we don't have the Centaur Gold Ring, being primitives is fine too. "Where are we going next? That star system in the Ulanno sector is the place Father promised us."

"No, Chagatai, our destination is the Tianlong Star Sector. The Emperor, the Shadowmoon Wolves, and the Emperor's Son Legion are all there fighting against the Orc Empire's forces."

"Let's go there and meet up with them first."

“Alright, alright.” Chagatai nodded gently.

In front of the Dalit teleportation portal.

"Prepare for a subspace warp."

Although Chagatai did not know how this stargate teleportation device worked, he was very fond of transportation.

Chagatai especially favored those very fast modes of transportation.

After returning to the Empire, he naturally became very fond of this Dalit cluster stargate.

Subspace teleportation via stargates can save a significant amount of travel time—just like it is now.

In just a few days, they leaped out of the dazzling world of subspace and into the real space of the Tianlong Star Region.

According to previous interstellar communications, the Emperor, Shadowmoon Wolves, and the Emperor's son's warships are currently besieging the orc planet Geron.

If there are no errors in the information, they should be near this landing star system.
"It's over there! Bro! Look to your right! That planet that's off course!"

With the keen eyesight of a steppe eagle, Chagatai quickly spotted the orc planet and the Imperial expeditionary fleet, where a fierce battle was taking place.

The distance was so great that only with his original vision could he perceive the distant planets and Imperial fleet clusters, which appeared as tiny dots.

"Rush to their aid immediately—wait a minute. That orcish planet seems to be disintegrating!"

"We need to get the expeditionary fleet's communications back in order to get some answers."

In this urgent situation, Bladestorm, possessing the strongest mobility, charged forward even faster than Macrag's Radiance.

"But don't worry, I'll share the signal with you."

Chagatai Khan's tone carried a hint of pride.

He and his men from the grasslands are about to engage in the fierce battle that follows.
Then--?
Then, in Robbett Guilliman's vision, the orc planet Geron, which was on the verge of collapse, seemed to erupt with an incomprehensible wave of power—

Then, the entire planet exploded.

"Won?"

Gazing from the distance aboard the Macurag, Guilliman breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Goron explode like fireworks.

But it seems that the other Primarch has no way to breathe a sigh of relief.

Khan's flagship, the Bladestorm, turned back at an even faster speed than before.

"brother.?"

His terrified expression suggested he had witnessed some indescribable horror.

That's terrifying!
Guilliman couldn't see it, but he saw it all clearly!
Upon receiving the signal from the expeditionary fleet and connecting to their live feed, Chagatai Khan was filled with horror as he discovered just how these guys had managed to defeat the orcs!
"May the Lotus Emperor's Palm grant you eternal life!!!"

The palm strike delivered in that holographic projection not only shattered the heads of those orcs, but also shattered Chagatai Khan's long-held worldview and philosophy of life.

This also shattered Chagatai Khan's last remaining hope that "Horus might not be insane by now!"

The White Scars are a legion that places great importance on art, which is different from the impression others have of them.

In his leisure time, the white-scarred Space Marine often drank wine, recited poetry, and was skilled in calligraphy and painting.

But it's definitely not this kind of art.

Horus Horus has gone mad.

He was completely immersed in his art and couldn't extricate himself from it.

If only Horus had gone mad, the Khan would be saddened, but life would still go on.

But what does it mean that his incredibly awkward Three Wonders of the Lotus King actually worked when dealing with the orcs?
Why do such crazy tricks actually work?

The Chagatai Khan's pupils were trembling.

Could it be that the one who's gone mad isn't Horus, but this treacherous world?!

Does this mean that the best way to deal with orcs in the future is to learn from Horus and use the Horus Triumphs together?
Thinking of this, Chagatai Khan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his heart was ice-cold.

this world!

He's gone mad!!!
The above is Guilliman's record when he arrived in the Dragon Sector.

Although Chagatai Khan was extremely unhappy, the orc chieftain of the Tianlong Star Region had been killed, and the remaining orc stragglers naturally fell into continuous infighting and could no longer pose any threat to them.

The results are truly outstanding!

He could say nothing more about Horus's behavior.

Their next destination will be the Ulanno Star Region.

There, there will be even more terrifying and ferocious orcs than on Goron, and the number of orc planets encountered will be even greater.

They must make thorough preparations before advancing into the Ulanno Star Sector.

Otherwise, even if the emperor himself came, he would have almost capsized under the powerful force of the orcs.

After clearing out the local orc forces, Guilliman and Khan's armies officially joined forces with the expeditionary fleet.

It turned out to be the case.

"This is indeed an effective method."

At the Emperor's request, Guilliman ordered the Ultramarines fleet to disperse to various star systems in the Dragon Sector to wipe out the remaining Orcs. During this time, Guilliman obtained the holographic footage of the battle that had shocked Chagatai Khan.

It does look somewhat unbelievable.

Watching the battle unfold in the holographic projection, Horus saved the Emperor from imminent doom, using the "Three Absolute Techniques of the Horus Emperor"—a technique of unknown origin—to utterly destroy the mecha orc that even the Emperor found difficult to deal with.

Even the other orcs around them died instantly from brain explosions.

It was unbelievable, but it happened right before his eyes.

This alone was enough to increase the number of people calling for him to become a war commander.

But Guilliman saw something else.

—A general solution for dealing with orcs, and even other aliens.

The orc aliens spread and reproduce in the universe through spores, while also photosynthesizing through chloroplasts on their green skins.

It is actually very difficult to completely eradicate the existence of orcs.

If oversight is relaxed even slightly, the Orc Empire will, like it is now in Ulanor (and in the future Beast Wars), grow into an unstoppable and powerful force without anyone noticing.

"It seems that the best way to defeat the orcs in the future is to use the power of the mind, like Horus did, to erase the orcs' Waaaaagh field?"

Guilliman stared at the blank parchment in his hand, lost in thought.

During these days, Guilliman has been trying to record some of his ideas and tactics and bind them into a book for future Space Marine commanders to study and use.

He had even thought of a name for it—"The Astartes Codex".

This was intended to allow Space Marines to maintain a certain level of organization if they lost contact with headquarters and were stranded in some wild world or lost in the warp, simply by relying on this book.

A practical encyclopedia with a wide variety of features.

This is how Guilliman described his upcoming book.

It can be used to manage practical actions in all aspects, from battle group organization to battlefield tactics.

For any given tactical scenario, the Codex has hundreds of pages dedicated to discussing how to respond to and overcome it. The wisdom of thousands of Imperial warriors contributed to the Codex, containing every detail from unit marking to launching a full-scale planetary attack.

But now, he seems to have encountered some new problems.

Should we use Horus's use of the "Centaur Ring" to blow up an orc's skull in a moment of desperation as evidence to include this possible solution for dealing with orcs in the holy scriptures?
"Horus doesn't possess psychic powers, and in the future, even mortals could use this technique. If developed properly, it will become an unimaginable weapon against orcs."

But... something just doesn't seem right!
Imagine two armies at war: on one side, warlike orcs, and on the other, murderous Space Marines.

Suddenly, the Space Marine shouted: "X Emperor's Palm, for all eternity! Emperor! Emperor! Emperor!"

Then the orc's skull exploded.

hiss.

Guilliman is torn.

(Stop ruining our Grimdark worldview!)

—Worth studying.

Finally, Guilliman came to a conclusion.

As for rigidity, he didn't need to worry too much—the Astartes Codex was not a static product. In the future, when some of its entries were no longer suitable for the development of the times, it wouldn't be too late to improve them, would it?

As long as he's still around, the Ultramarines can't possibly get stuck in a stun.

Write it!

Guilliman convinced himself and gently touched it with the quill in his hand.

This might be the decision he regrets most in the future, really.

A few days later.

"Is this the time for Ulanor's investiture as Imperial War Marshal?"

As Kasgar sat in the conference hall of the Emperor's Pride, he thought to himself with a sense of helplessness.

He didn't attend the meeting voluntarily; it was more like the emperor forced him to speak.

To be precise, it was the emperor who asked him to spoil the plot here.

His psychic prophetic abilities were endorsed by the Emperor himself.

"We are about to face the orc war chief, Overlord Urak Uruk, in the Ulanno sector."

"If we are dragged into a war of attrition against the Orc Empire, we will only face certain death. The only solution is for us to break into the Orc Overlord's fortress together and carry out a decapitation strike."

"The orcs who have lost their leader will be nothing but a rabble, fighting amongst themselves until a new leader emerges."

Facing the Primarchs and Emperors before him, Kasgar could only pretend that it was a psionic prophecy and speak slowly and mysteriously.

It seems the emperor also knew that his prophetic abilities were all a lie, because he had actually read books when he existed in a higher dimension.

But since it works so well, just use it as much as you can.

—This aligns with the emperor's consistent approach to personnel selection.

With Kasgar's almost map-clearing ability, the legions quickly discussed their next course of action.

The Ultramarines and White Scar Space Marines are not involved in the battle for the main star; their goal is to reclaim the outer planets of the Ulanno system.

Meanwhile, Horus's Shadowmoon Wolves, along with the Emperor and his son, sailed directly to the Central World. With the assistance of the Imperial forces and the Third Legion, the Shadowmoon Wolves would launch a surprise attack on the Orcish fortress.

—And the slaying of the overlord Urlak Uruk.

Horus will employ his favorite tactic of directly attacking the enemy's command structure, dropping his legions directly into the enemy's fortress via airdrop pods.

"With the prophet Kasgar, please allow me to call him that, after all, your prophetic abilities and accuracy truly amaze me from the bottom of my heart."

Horus seemed to be in a good mood during the meeting.

He himself understood the true meaning behind the Emperor entrusting him with such an important task at this time—

Imperial War General!

For him, the title of War Commander was not as important as the Emperor's recognition that he was worthy of being War Commander.

But before he could even express his gratitude for his father's approval, a Primarch that shouldn't have been there appeared in the holographic projection during the meeting—

The Steel Hand, Phyllis Marus.

"Hey everyone. Can you hear me?"

While they were still in near-Earth orbit around a planet in the Tianlong Star Region, holding a combat meeting, a flagship as cold and indifferent as steel appeared in the vast starry sky in the distance.

"Father, you are being too biased."

(End of this chapter)