"Question: How do you entice an extremely ambitious person?
The answer is simple: with the thing he desires most!
What does Sarton desire most at the moment?
Of course, it's to quickly capture Avakalorn, to create a secure rear supply base for the black Crusade Legion, and simultaneously cut off the Imperium of Man's reinforcements.
But the problem is, although Avakalorn temporarily lacks the support of Space Marine chapters, the Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum stationed there have proven to be very resilient.
For a while, they truly had no way to bypass these damned guys and directly air-drop into the hive city.
And Abaddon, the Warmaster of the black Legion, surely hopes they can quickly occupy Avakalorn and cut off the supply line between the Imperium of Man and the Rock Fortress.
The ambitious Sarton naturally wouldn't lady this opportunity, but facing the Imperium of Man's stubborn defensive line, it was also a fact that the Chaos fleet couldn't break through quickly.
If it dragged on for too long, his standing in Abaddon's heart would naturally plummet.
Since that's the case—Emrys would 'gift' him a monumental achievement.
So, Sarton soon received a secret communication from his spy embedded in the Blood Skull Warband.
They had found a way to bypass the Imperium of Man's space forces' defenses and land directly on Avakalorn, and even a few days ago,
Zane had personally led his warband to try it once.
Upon hearing this news, Sarton was overjoyed; he didn't believe it was a trap.
After all, these spies were all people he had personally trained and placed in various warbands, for the purpose of timely monitoring
the movements of these warband leaders.
Sure enough, Emrys soon received an invitation from Sarton; he was holding a council and wanted all warband leaders to attend.
"How did you know there were spies here?"
Seeing this, Krast asked curiously.
"Heh, he's so paranoid, and he rose to power by usurping it, so how could he trust these warband leaders?" Emrys chuckled and explained, "Besides, he doesn't often meet these warband leaders, yet he can command them precisely and even understand their movements. Aside from embedding spies, I can't think of any other possibility."
Emrys, accompanied by only two people, arrived at Sarton's battleship in a small shuttle.
At the same time, the leaders of the various warbands in the fleet also arrived at the council hall, each accompanied by only two or three people. This was also Sarton's requirement; he feared the same thing happening to him.
The council began. Sarton, in a gentle manner, first looked at Zane.
"I heard that a few days ago, you found a way to bypass the Imperium of Man's defenses and enter the hive city?"
Zane 'hmphed' at him, snorting a breath from his nose, too lazy to answer.
Sarton's expression stiffened slightly; he could only suppress his anger and pressure him with righteous cause.
"Zane, you know our current situation. We desperately need this method to quickly capture the hive city and achieve lord Abaddon's strategic objective. If you have a method, speak it quickly."
"Why should I?"
Emrys propped his legs on the table, looking disdainful at Sarton's question.
"I thought of the method, and I did the work. Now you're showing up to steal the credit?"
Sarton, who had been cursed for no reason, vaguely realized something was wrong. This guy didn't seem to be here to give him credit; he was here to cause trouble!
"Zane, I won't forget your contribution." With everyone present, Sarton suppressed his temper and said darkly, "Everyone is working for lord Abaddon's black Crusade. Since you know the method, you should speak it, shouldn't you?"
"You tell me to speak, and I speak? Why should I?" Emrys' arrogant tone made all the Chaos warband leaders present look at him sideways.
"Zane!!!"
Provoked repeatedly, Sarton also became enraged, slamming his hand on the table.
"Are you trying to rebel?!"
"Damn you, come and fight me one-on-one!"
Emrys also acted very 'Khorne-like'. Facing Sarton's accusation, he directly jumped up from his chair, stomped a foot on the table, pointed at the dumbfounded Sarton, and roared, "Still shirking responsibility? lord Abaddon told you to take a hive city, and it's either windy or rainy. How many days has it been? You can't even take a hive city; you're a complete waste, a disgrace to the black Legion! How dare you still brag?!"
"???"
The warband leaders in the council hall, seeing 'Zane of the Blood Skull Warband' being so bold as to curse Sarton to his face, were instantly dumbfounded.
What… act is this?!
And behind him, Krast and the others were already terrified by Emrys' act, their scalps tingling, cold sweat pouring uncontrollably!
Big brother, this isn't the hive city; this is the Chaos fleet! You're surrounded by enemies; do you really need to be this arrogant?!
Sarton was also stunned.
This… isn't right, is it?!
How did it suddenly turn into a one-on-one challenge?!
"Zane, are you crazy?!" Sarton, recovering, had a dark expression, his eyes looking as if he wanted to tear Emrys limb from limb.
"Talk your mother's talk, come and fight me one-on-one!" Emrys sneered, his every other word a beautiful High Gothic.
"Useless trash,
if it weren't for you, I would have already led my men to occupy the hive city. If you don't dare to fight one-on-one, shut your mouth and get out of the way!"
Sarton's eyes burned with rage, his fists clenched, making creaking sounds.
"Hmph, coward, if you don't dare to fight one-on-one, then get down from there; don't hog that seat."
'Zane' was extremely arrogant, pointing at Sarton's nose and cursing, "With your useless appearance, you can't even break into a hive city in half a day, and you still dare to command us? I want to fight you one-on-one, do you dare to accept? Useless trash!"
"One-on-one!"
"One-on-one!"
"Accept him, lord—lord!"
"Can you tolerate this? I couldn't!"
At this moment, looking at the excited crowd of warband leaders, all eager to watch the show, Sarton's face was dripping with gloom. He knew he had been pushed into a corner; he had no choice but to accept!
This was the inherent flaw of Chaos warbands.
Whether you were a follower of the Blood God, the Changer of Ways, the Grandfather, or the Prince of Pleasure, while their beliefs differed, one thing was the same: the strong reign supreme!
Just like Sarton, taking advantage of the Chaos fleet's failed attack, he pushed the blame onto the then-Legion Lord, then, using absolute 'righteousness', openly demanded a one-on-one duel with the Legion Lord, to decide through life and death who was the true strong one.
Only, now the same tactic was being used on him.
And likewise, if Sarton dared to back down, then this Chaos fleet, with its hundreds of large and small warbands, would no longer obey his command.
The reason was simple: Chaos warbands believe in the strong; they would never submit to the weak!
Want to prove you're strong?
It's simple: get on stage and fight. Only the one who can walk off the arena to live can earn the respect and recognition of these madmen!
"Alright—!"
Sarton was furious, and also forced into a corner. He could only accept this guy's demand, his eyes like a killer's, he snarled, "Zane, I will cut off your head and make it my hundredth trophy!"
"Bragging your mother's talk!"
'Zane' gave a thumbs down and sneered, "When I cut off your head, I'll feed it to the dogs. Don't ask why; you're not worthy!"
Sarton was nearly driven mad.
"Zane, stop talking nonsense, come—I want to personally tell you why I can be a Chaos Lord!"
The two stepped into the bloody slaughter field, adorned everywhere with twisted spikes, hung with skulls, and various trophies.
The ground was covered in blood!
Soon, Sarton chose a chainsword, glaring fiercely at Zane.
"Come on, weakling!"
"Looking at your mother, get over here and die!"
Emrys, disguised as 'Zane', picked up a power sword.
"Ten seconds, if I don't chop off your head, I'm not Zane!"
The next moment, the two, like savage beasts, violently charged at each other amidst the frenzied shouts of the crowd!
Bang!
Amidst the bursting air currents, the two retreated separately.
Sarton roared, his chainsword suddenly cleaving towards his opponent. The angle and power were perfect; with his rich combat experience, he was sure that this strike would definitely cut off the head of this damned bastard!
However, at the moment the two crossed paths!
In Emrys' eyes, hundreds of 'future' branches were reflected. He feigned a loss of balance, but in reality, it was a deliberate opening!
Seeing Sarton fall for it, Emrys immediately twisted his waist and turned, his power sword, like an antelope's horn, sliced across Sarton's throat at an extremely strange angle!
Slash!
Blood splattered and gushed out!
Sarton's eyes widened, his pupils contracting as if in disbelief. He clutched his neck and stumbled back several steps, uttering, "No… it's impossible—"
In just one exchange, he was instantly killed?!
However, before Sarton could struggle, Emrys again swung his sword horizontally, directly severing his head, then with a flick of the blade, impaled his head on the sword tip.
"Tell me, who is the victor?!!!"
"Zane! Zane! Zane!"
"Lord of Blood Skulls!"
Stepping through blood and dismembered limbs, amidst the frenzied shouts of the Chaos Space Marines, Emrys, with Sarton's head impaled on his sword tip, let out a primal and wild roar, raising his fist.
"By Khorne, now—I am your Lord!!!"
Krast.
"…"
The Knight-Commander suddenly felt a bit bewildered.
How did this plot seem to have gone off track? Weren't they here to create internal strife, then infiltrate the Chaos fleet to assassinate and
sabotage the Chaos fleet?
How did their "First Watch Knight" and "Grandmaster of the Sons of the Forest" suddenly become the Lord of the Chaos fleet?!
Oh no!
Krast watched Emrys, who was in the arena, holding Sarton's head on his sword tip, stepping on the latter's corpse, and roaring with his arm raised.
His heart immediately sank.
They wouldn't really turn into Chaos, would they?!