The oppressive presence of Lion El'Jonson, Lord of the First Legion, the Lion King, was far beyond what a mere Luo Jia could compare to.
In just a few seconds, Alwen felt the relief of surviving a disaster, as if he had just returned from the gates of hell.
He wiped away his cold sweat and hastily retrieved the 'medal' from his private space, along with the medal awarded by Ultramarines Chapter Master Karlgar on Vigilus, Guilliman's official document, and the symbol of friendship medal bestowed by Chapter Master Dante later in the Baal system!
These items were, so to speak, all taken out by Alwen in one go.
He was truly afraid that this old man, who had just woken up, might have a momentary lapse in judgment and blow his head off, mistaking him for a minion of Chaos. Then he'd have nowhere to cry!
Hoping for the Emperor to intervene?
That was even more impossible; this was his biological son!
The Lion King lowered his head, looking at the items Alwen had produced. Although his expression remained emotionless, the cold glint in his eyes gradually faded.
He didn't know Dante, nor did he know Karlgar.
But these medals, including Guilliman's document, could not be faked and indirectly proved that this human bore an important mission and was not a Chaos sorcerer.
"Your matter can wait," the Lion King said, his gaze cold, as he turned and walked towards Zabriel.
He could still understand Alwen's situation, but Zabriel was different. He was one of the first to rebel with Luther. If there were extenuating circumstances then, after meeting him, not only did he not immediately repent, but he even dared to pull out a bolter and shoot his own genefather. That firmly cemented Zabriel's identity as a traitor!
"Traitor." The Lion King glared at Zabriel, each step he took seeming to contain ten thousand years of accumulated fury, like a volcano on the verge of eruption!
His gaze shifted downwards, falling on Zabriel. Upon seeing the Dark Angel's emblem on his chest plate, his rage intensified.
"You are unworthy to wear the Deathwing's emblem. This defiles the sacred mission of the Legion!"
However, to the Lion King's furious accusation, the heavily wounded Zabriel reacted as if his deepest, most unwillingly touched pain had been pricked. He struggled and roared at his former "father".
"It was you, you abandoned us! You—you are the traitor!"
Roar!!!
These two words struck the Lion King's heart directly.
Even as a Primarch, he was enraged by this statement, his pupils suddenly contracting. If not for ten thousand years of slumber granting him more self-control, the other party would likely have been killed the moment he uttered those words!
"You, with your own hands, destroyed our home!" Zabriel seemed to have completely given up, screaming hysterically, as if to vent all the grievances, bitterness, pain, hatred, and self-reproach of the past ten thousand years in this single moment.
"We never forgot our mission, nor dared to abandon the Legion's glory, but it was you, you and that person, who personally destroyed the glory we built, destroyed our home!"
"You, what are you saying?!"
Even though the Lion King's brain processing speed could rival a supercomputer, he was momentarily stunned.
"Didn't you—didn't you fire on my fleet first?"
"No, lord!" Zabriel painfully lowered his head, his eyes bloodshot.
"I—I never betrayed the Imperium. It was you who attacked us without asking why, without even giving us a chance to explain. When Caliban exploded, we were thrown into the Warp vortex—for these ten thousand years, we have endured the humiliating name of the Fallen Angel, forever unable to be forgiven!"
The Lion King was bewildered.
This seemed a little different from the "facts" he understood!
It was clearly his fleet that was attacked by the Astartes garrisoned on Caliban, which was why he ordered the attack. How did it become them attacking first?
"No, you won't deceive me, traitor."
The Lion King's gaze became more resolute, convinced that Zabriel was a traitor; otherwise, he would never have fired on him.
He was about to take a step when he was blocked by a figure.
"Wait, Lion King!"
It was Alwen. Sweating profusely, he stood in front of the Lion King. Although his veins were bulging from pain, he still controlled his tone, softening it.
"This is all a misunderstanding, including what happened on Caliban. Please calm down and let us explain clearly, okay?"
"Move aside!"
However, the Lion King's response remained unyielding.
The events of the past held too many mysteries. He knew there were many suspicious points behind it, but—Zabriel attacking him, that was an undeniable rebellion!
"Lion King, I implore you, calm down."
Alwen said, gritting his teeth.
"I can explain clearly what happened on Caliban. Zabriel—he really cannot die!"
Zabriel was crucial to the future recovery of the Fallen Angel. His personal prestige among the Fallen Angel was no less than that of the Lion King.
If this important linchpin were to die, who knew what great turmoil it would cause?!
This was also why Alwen risked protecting him.
The Lion King's gaze grew colder, the surrounding atmosphere seemingly dropping to freezing point. In this unbearable, extremely oppressive atmosphere, it was suddenly broken!
The tribal people, who had scattered in panic because of the Lion King, surprisingly ran back again.
And they all stood in front of the Lion King.
"Bad, bad man!"
"You're not allowed to hurt Guardian lord!"
"Bad man! Bad man!"
A very young child bravely looked directly at the Lion King, who was like a towering mountain.
At this moment, the Lion King froze.
These humans were protecting Zabriel?
"You—you call him Guardian?" The Lion King frowned slightly, his voice like muffled thunder, full of gravitas.
"Yes, yes—."
"He is our Guardian!"
"If not for him, we would have died long ago!"
The people of the tribe answered tremblingly.
Alwen immediately followed.
"Lion King, although Zabriel attacked you, he is absolutely not a minion of Chaos, nor is he a traitor—he has upheld his oath and fought against Chaos for the ten thousand years you were in slumber!"
The Lion King fell silent.
Finally, he sighed, his tense muscles relaxing. His gaze swept over these humans who, despite fearing him, dared to stand in front of Zabriel, his eyes full of complexity.
Perhaps, he was truly old.
Looking at the unyielding Alwen, the Lion King's expression went from initial anger to gradual calm.
Perhaps the rebellion of the past involved too many complex circumstances, perhaps it was guilt towards his Astartes, perhaps it was many factors that caused this once decisive and resolute Lion King to inadvertently show a hint of compassion.
"I need an explanation."
The elderly Lion King's gaze remained majestic. Standing there, he seemed to swallow the entire moonlight, clad in dark green armor, just as he was once the Lord of the Legion.
He was willing to stop, not because he believed what Alwen had said.
But because these ordinary people, the humans in the tribe, were willing to plead for the two, even standing in front of him, a Primarch!
If it were in the past, the Lion King believed he would have unhesitatingly purged these people along with the traitors.
But, after the conflict with Luther and the Caliban incident, the Lion King, during his ten thousand years of slumber, finally learned how to empathize with his subordinates, or rather, at this moment, he was truly the Lion King, and not the former Lion.
Actually, this time was truly fortunate.
Firstly, the Lion King had just awakened, emerging from that strange forest, his brain still in a daze, and his physical functions had not fully recovered.
Secondly, the Lion King did not use his weapons, including his sword and shield, only exerting his own strength.
Otherwise, with just Alwen and a Fallen Angel, the Lion King would have twisted their necks in a single pain.
Now, he was willing to listen to the other party's explanation.
The Lion King, disregarding the dirt, sat cross-legged on the ground, his calm eyes containing a hint of majesty.
"Zabriel, I forgive your insolence, but—you need to explain clearly what happened back then."
The young Lion King would have decisively executed the other party.
But the elderly Lion King was willing to give the other party a chance to listen to the thoughts of his Astartes.
Time is cruel; it bestowed aging upon the Lion King, but time is also gentle, allowing the Lion King to gain a bit more understanding.