When he first logged into the game, Tenjiro always liked to shout, "Punch Ahriman, kick Magnus, and become the strongest psyker in the galaxy."
But for all his bluster, Tenjiro had a clear understanding of his own strength.
Even if ten of him were tied together, he would not be Ahriman's opponent.
So when Ahriman appeared, his first reaction was wariness, and he quickly called out to his teammates in the player area channel, preparing for a righteous group beating.
Azek Ahriman, born in the Middle East region of Terra during the Unification Wars, was a descendant of the nobility of the Achaemenid Empire at that time.
Fearing the Emperor's power, the King of Achaemenid wisely chose to ally with the Emperor.
The adult Ahriman happened to catch the Great Crusade, so he and his twin brother Ormazd signed up to join the army.
He was chosen to join the Fifteenth Legion—the Thousand Sons—becoming a Space Marine.
Ormazd, with his charisma, quickly rose to become a respected Company Captain.
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Unfortunately, he soon departed due to the Thousand Sons Legion's genetic instability.
This incident caused Ahriman great mental trauma and led him to vow to find a way for the Thousand Sons Legion to escape mutation.
Since then, Ahriman worked diligently, becoming the First Company Captain of the Thousand Sons Legion and the Chief Librarian of the Corvidae cult.
After the failure of the Siege of Terra, Ahriman and other traitors, to escape the Imperial pursuit, hid in the Eye of Terror.
In the Eye of Terror, he studied Warp knowledge even more diligently.
He not only researched Red Letter Warrior spells to help the Legion escape the fate of mutation but also attempted to ascend to godhood, which could be said to be ambitious.
"Traitor," Tenjiro aimed his staff at the opponent, "How dare you appear before me?"
"You are too deeply blinded by the Emperor, my brother," the voice was very calm, "Join us, and you will see the truth."
"I never waste words on Heretics," Tenjiro raised his staff, pointed at the merchant in the distance, and ordered the nearby soldiers, "Seize him."
The accompanying squad of soldiers did not hesitate, raising their Gauss Rifles at the merchant.
"This is a very foolish decision."
The merchant extended his hand, and space twisted, revealing a rift emanating paradoxical light.
Several Thousand Sons Sorcerers and Red Letter Warriors emerged from the rift.
They wore power armor predominantly red with silver trim and wielded psychic staves or boltguns.
"Open fire!"
The squad leader decisively gave the order.
The soldiers pulled their triggers, their Gauss Rifles and shoulder-mounted machine guns firing simultaneously.
A dense hail of bullets flew towards the enemy like rain, forming a deadly barrage.
However, with the spread of a psychic force, the bullets stopped in mid-air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Red Letter Warriors wielding boltguns opened fire.
The bolt rounds roared, tearing through the soldiers' armor and shredding their weak flesh.
Those Sorcerers also cast psychic spells, unleashing thunder, lightning, or summoning demons.
A group of hounds, emitting black smoke and flowing with magma, entered reality from the Warp, tearing at the ignorant mortals.
Raging flames and lightning appeared out of nowhere, flinging soldiers in exoskeletons or burning them to ashes.
This was a massacre; ordinary soldiers were powerless against these damned traitors.
"Damn it!"
Tenjiro cursed under his breath and joined the battle.
With a raise of his hand, psychic power surged, and Warp fragments glowing with an ethereal radiance floated around him.
He pointed his hand forward, and the crystalline fragments poured towards the Thousand Sons Sorcerers like a torrential downpour.
Ahriman merely waved his hand.
The incoming Warp fragments turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.
"By the Emperor's grace! Raging Thunder."
Tenjiro again unleashed a dazzling bolt of lightning, incinerating two Warp hounds, then charged forward, wielding his psychic staff.
Though he was a psyker, he had spent a fair amount of time in the gladiatorial arena.
A Red Letter Warrior tried to aim his gun at Tenjiro.
But Tenjiro struck his wrist with his staff, forcing the opponent to drop his boltgun.
Then he delivered an elbow strike to the opponent's head, which produced a hollow thud.
The brutal force caused the Red Letter Warrior to stumble backward.
Another Red Letter Warrior who tried to rush forward was swung at by Tenjiro's staff, striking him hard on the helmet.
The staff, covered in a force field's glow, outright shattered the opponent's helmet.
At this moment, Ahriman made his move.
A terrifying psychic impact struck, throwing Tenjiro back and sending him crashing down.
"Remain calm, brother. We are not your enemies; on the contrary, we are your brothers."
The merchant revealed his true form.
It was the Imperium's great Chaos foe—Ahriman.
He wore power armor predominantly red, with gold and silver accents, and held a staff pulsating with psychic energy.
Tenjiro propped himself up with his staff and glanced at the map integrated into his armor.
Warmaster and others were frantically rushing towards his location.
But it would still take a few minutes; he needed to buy time.
He looked at Ahriman, "There's nothing to say, you shameless traitor who betrayed the Emperor and harmed your brothers."
Ahriman's face darkened, and anger ignited in his eyes.
The Thousand Sons Sorcerers nearby were also startled; this guy was truly brave, daring to speak to Ahriman like that! Would Ahriman tear him to shreds directly?!
However, Ahriman did not do so.
A pure, uncorrupted Thousand Son, unaffected by the psychic backlash, and possessing powerful psychic abilities, was too important to the Thousand Sons Legion, to him, and to the Primarch.
He could potentially end the Legion's long-standing curse.
He suppressed his anger and spoke calmly.
"Your purity is the key to saving the Thousand Sons."
"Come with us to see our Primarch Father; he will be very happy."
"Primarch Father? Is that the sunburned, one-eyed Ogryn of astonishing wisdom?" Tenjiro's tone was scornful.
Ahriman stared intently at Tenjiro, "He is the Primarch, the source of your bloodline, and should not be humiliated by you in such a way."
"I am loyal to the Emperor," Tenjiro said calmly, "not to some arrogant, one-eyed Ogryn. With all due respect, that idiot is a giant baby who makes mistakes and then blames others."
"The Emperor is also the Primarch's father, yet I haven't seen that one-eyed Ogryn show him any respect."
"You are blinded by the Emperor and cannot see the truth of this universe," said Ktesias, a Thousand Sons Sorcerer next to Ahriman. "We are blood brothers; only we are one."
"Right, right, you weren't blinded. Your homeworld was wiped out, and you're still helping them count their money," Tenjiro nodded wildly, speaking sarcastically. "You couldn't defeat Horus, so you only dared to vent your anger on the Space Wolves."
The Emperor's original order was for the Sixth Legion—the Space Wolves—to bring Magnus back.
Horus altered the order, commanding the Sixth Legion to carry out an extermination order on the Thousand Sons' homeworld.
Magnus hated the Sixth Legion, yet he helped Horus attack Terra.
Ahriman's face immediately darkened.
Those words hit too close to home.
By the time they learned the truth about the Burning of Prospero, they were already servants of Tzeentch.
And Horus was the Warmaster chosen by the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods.
How could they possibly have the right or the strength to challenge him?
After the Great Crusade ended, Horus died, and the Sons of Horus were shattered, no longer existing. There was nowhere to seek revenge!
"Why the long face?" Tenjiro looked at Ahriman. "You got people killed, and I'm not allowed to talk about it? You certainly weren't blinded; you just took down the entire Thousand Sons Legion with two Red Letter Warrior spells."
"The Sixth Legion really shouldn't have attacked Prospero back then; they should have just won you over—after all, the Thousand Sons they killed weren't as many as those you annihilated with a single Red Letter Warrior spell."
"And you still want me to go back with you? Are you saying I'm dying too slowly?"
Tenjiro looked at Ktesias, "Brother, listen to my advice: Believe in the Emperor, and you will find salvation. Follow Ahriman and that red-skinned one-eyed Ogryn, and you'll be screwed over one day."
"Follow the Emperor, and you only have to worry about mutation. Follow these two geniuses, and not only will you mutate, but you'll also starve nine times in three days. Look how badly worn your power armor is."
"Enough," Ahriman interrupted Tenjiro, his voice filled with anger. "I didn't want to fight my brother, but you keep offending me."
Tenjiro, however, was disdainful. He bent down and picked up a handful of ashes left from the psychic duel.
Standing up, he extended his clenched fist. "Do you know what this is, Ahriman?"
Ahriman frowned. "What is it?"
"These are our brothers, Ahriman."
Tenjiro slowly opened his hand, a smile on his face, as the ashes flowed down his hand and then dispersed.
The anger in Ahriman's heart surged, almost overwhelming his reason.
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Look, our brothers are drifting away," Tenjiro spread his hand, letting the airflow carry away the dust. "If you press your ear to a Red Letter Warrior's armor, you can surely hear the voices of those warriors, right? Are they saying, 'Ahriman, how could this happen? Didn't you say you would save us? How did we turn into ashes?'"
Ahriman trembled with rage.
Having finished his taunts, Tenjiro clearly felt the temperature of the surrounding air drop sharply.
Ahriman was clearly on the verge of exploding.
He suddenly felt a chill in his heart, but forced a calm expression.
"You are too deeply blinded by the Emperor. Perhaps you will change your mind once you meet the Primarch."
Ahriman was about to use force when he heard Tenjiro suddenly shout, "Wait, it's not impossible to go with you. After all, I also have gene-seed from that one-eyed Ogryn within me, so I should go see him."
Ahriman stopped his movements. "You are willing to come with us willingly?"
"Of course, but there's a condition," Tenjiro said.
"What condition?" Ahriman asked.
"You move three meters to the left first."
Ahriman's head was full of confusion, but he still complied.
After all, Tenjiro was already surrounded, with nowhere to escape.
"Is that your condition? Can you come with us now?"
Tenjiro sneered, "How could I possibly go with you? I was just messing with you, you idiot."
Ahriman could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. He swung his staff, intending to forcibly restrain Tenjiro and take him away.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dense gunfire erupted from afar.
The Warmaster and other players who had received the news arrived.
They held boltguns, meltaguns, and plasma pistols, firing at Ahriman and his group.
"For the MVP, charge, brothers!"
"Capture Ahriman alive and get first place!"
"..."
They shouted various slogans, rushing forward with excited faces.
"You were stalling for time?"
Ahriman looked at Tenjiro, finally realizing why he had talked so much nonsense just now.
He felt both anger and fear.
Ahriman couldn't understand why he, as a lecturer in the Black Raven school specializing in precognition, hadn't foreseen the arrival of these Emperor's servants.
"You only realize it now, but it's too late," Tenjiro sneered.
"Do you think this is enough to deal with me?" Ahriman looked at the other Thousand Sons Sorcerers. "Form a Mandala formation to deal with them."