While Zhou Ye was busy, on the other side of the Great Rift in the isolated Imperium Nihilus, lay the planet Baal.
With a series of fluctuations from the Mandeville Point, the Flesh Tearers Chapter burst forth in its entirety.
"Hahaha, we're finally back!"
Gabriel Seth looked at the crimson planet in the distance, the familiar Baal, a savage grin spreading across his face. At this moment, he felt his mental state was absolutely beautiful.
The foul taste of that stuff he'd been forced to consume over a year ago still lingered in his mouth.
He now realized that, likely due to the prolonged battle on that space hulk, they were the last successor chapter to return to Baal.
This meant he was the last to arrive. And there was even better news. He had brought with him a shipment of one hundred thousand doses, enough for two to three portions per person.
Even though they had been adrift in the warp for nearly a year, that damned potion... he could still feel a disgust that stemmed from the very depths of his soul.
Now, forget blood; even the sight of the wine the Lamenters had gifted them made him sick. As for the Black Rage? Don't even mention it. Now, whenever he thought of Horus, it wasn't the Arch-traitor he pictured, but a pile of foul-smelling shit.
One could only say that the mysterious Primarch's chief Magos Biologis, aside from being a bit abstract, was flawless in his craft. The medicine was a guaranteed cure.
But the side effects were nauseating. So now, Seth had only one thought in his mind.
Such a fine medicine must be tasted by every one of his brothers. Everyone... except those Lamenters. But they were with that Primarch now, so they weren't here anyway.
"Those guys can just register themselves directly under that Primarch's name. What kind of Blood Angels are they if they don't have the Red Thirst or the Black Rage?"
Seth couldn't help but curse under his breath. His greatest obsession now was that the Lamenters hadn't tasted a single drop, while he had been the very first to try it. However, since they had managed to create a cure for the Red Thirst and Black Rage, it likely meant that the Primarch had already discovered the Lamenters' flaw. Perhaps they truly were true sons of Sanguinius after all.
More importantly, they had brought something else with them: the new Primaris technology. According to the briefing, the conversion process was extremely dangerous for veterans, but safe for new recruits. The Lamenters, aside from those trapped on the space hulk, were all Primaris Space Marines.
The same was true for that Lord's legions. After all, the number of troops on the space hulk that day had far exceeded the standard Chapter strength. Seth had nothing to say about that. If that Lord's legions hadn't been holding the front line, it would have been a miracle if one or two of his own men had survived.
While the old Seth had sought a glorious death, now that there was a solution to the Red Thirst and the Black Rage, there was no longer any need for that.
Seth gazed upon the crimson world of Baal and led the Flesh Tearers down under the guidance of the orbital control. However, his Librarian's face became incredibly grim, for he could already feel the turbulence in the warp.
"Chapter Master, we Librarians will find it difficult to bring our full power to bear in the coming battle. Even Mephiston will be affected."
Feeling the shadow in the warp, the Flesh Tearers' Librarian wore a grave expression. A psyker's power comes from the warp, and as the Hive Fleet advanced, the warp's shadow grew deeper and heavier. They, the psykers, were the first to be affected.
Otherwise, given the scale of the swarm, Mephiston could have unleashed his full power and wiped out a significant portion of it.
"I know. That Primarch warned us."
Seth sighed. That Lord had conveyed some very bad news to them through the Lamenters. The outcome was almost identical to Mephiston's own prophecies. A shadow now hung over Seth's head as well.
As the ship slowly descended, Seth saw an old man with white hair and eyes filled with a deep weariness waiting at the gate to greet him.
Commander Dante, Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, the longest-serving Space Marine in the entire Imperium of Man.
The Flesh Tearers were different from other successors. They were born from the initial splitting of the Legion. The Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers at that time had been the former Captain of the Blood Angels 5th Company, so they held a certain special status.
"It seems we are the last to arrive."
Seth looked at Dante, then at the naval port. He saw a kaleidoscope of banners and icons, including some that made his brow furrow: the Blood Knights.
That Chapter had been branded as heretical. He hadn't expected them to come.
"Aside from the Lamenters, all the sons of Sanguinius are now gathered. You are the last to arrive. Come, the Angels' Feast is about to begin. Then we will discuss our battle plans. The Hive Mind is now charging directly towards Baal. This is highly unusual."
Looking at Seth, a weariness that originated from the depths of his soul was etched onto Dante's ancient face.
"They come for the flesh of the Father on Baal. If we cannot hold, we must not let it fall into the hands of the swarm."
Seth said directly, repeating the message Zhou Ye had delivered through a projection to the Lamenters. Of course, they themselves didn't know the source. Even among the Flesh Tearers, only a select few knew. Zhou Ye's original wording had been even more blunt.
"If you can't hold it, you'd better destroy it. Don't let the swarm get it."
When Seth first heard that, he had immediately succumbed to the Black Rage. Then, an image of a Horus made of incredibly foul-smelling shit had appeared before him, nearly causing him to empty his stomach.
After regaining his composure, he understood why the mysterious Primarch had said this must be a secret known only to a few. His words were crude, but his reasoning was sound. They truly could not tolerate the swarm defiling the flesh of their gene-father.
But more than that, a twisted smile soon spread across Seth's face.
"Dante, we set out immediately after receiving the news. We even abandoned our own homeworld."
Seth had realized that if they continued on their path, the Flesh Tearers would sooner or later be declared heretics. So he had been seeking the most glorious death in battle. It was at that moment they received Dante's call to assemble, and they had mobilized their entire chapter. They hadn't even left their gene-seed on their homeworld; they had come seeking one last, glorious sacrifice.
"Ah?"
Dante was slightly surprised but said nothing. However, Seth's next words made his entire body tremble.
"On our journey, we received a revelation from the Emperor and left the warp ahead of schedule, upon a space hulk that had been thrown into realspace. There, we united under a glorious Primarch to fight against the Fallen Primarch Fulgrim, and we were victorious."
"How is that possible!!!"
Dante cried out in shock. Seth merely smiled, and his Chief Librarian stepped forward with a fragment.
The Laer Blade.
The sword was infamous. Even the Blood Angels were no strangers to it.
Seeing the processed shard, Dante was dumbfounded. He immediately summoned his Chief Librarian, Mephiston, who quickly gave a definitive answer.
This was indeed the blasphemous artifact from ten thousand years ago, and now, the blade had been shattered.
Although the weapon was in the hands of Slaanesh's chosen champion, Lucius, the only person who could destroy it was surely a legendary Primarch.
Hearing this, Dante's dead heart was once again filled with hope.
"Which Primarch was it? The Khan? Russ? Or Dorn?"
A Primarch. A being of legend. As sacred and great as their own father, Sanguinius. The mere mention of their names was enough to excite these first founding marines.
And it had been ten thousand years. Ten thousand years without a Primarch's appearance. Although Dante now longed for death, he had no intention of letting the entire Blood Angels chapter be destroyed with him.
"None of them. A mysterious… but exceptionally brilliant Primarch. He killed Fulgrim and destroyed the Laer Blade in his hand, gifting it to us as a trophy."
Seth's face was full of pride. To receive such a fragment was truly a testament to Zhou Ye's generosity. The main force in that battle had been entirely that Lord's legions. They had been little more than side-shows, yet he had still entrusted the blade to them.
It was a tremendous honor, enough to make the entire Blood Angels lineage proud.
One only had to look at the reactions of Dante and Mephiston to know. Of course, there was something even more momentous.
"That Lord's chief Magos is also an ancient being, entrusted by our father Sanguinius and the Emperor to solve our Red Thirst. Now, after ten thousand years, that Magos has finally emerged from the warp with that Lord. He has found a solution. And he even solved the Black Rage while he was at it."
"What?"
Dante was stunned, but his face quickly turned to one of ecstatic joy. Without the shard of the Laer Blade, he might have been skeptical. But now, with a Primarch's endorsement, any doubt could be considered blasphemy.
Dante failed to notice the twisted, pathological hint hidden deep within Seth's smile. He could no longer wait.
"Announce it before the Angels' Feast. This is good news, enough to rally everyone's spirits."
"Of course. Right, bring them up."
Seth beckoned with his hand. Two figures, restrained, were pushed forward. One wore black armor. The other had no symbols on him whatsoever; even his markings as a Flesh Tearer had been erased. The former was a Blood Angel lost to the Black Rage.
This curse was the glory of the Blood Angels. While it was a secret, it was a minor one—if people found out, they found out. But the other was different. That was true blasphemy, a curse—or perhaps a blessing—that likely came from Khorne himself. Seeing these two, Dante was almost completely convinced.
This was a demonstration to be performed in front of everyone. Of course, along with them came a massive chest containing the potion, a friendly contribution from Zhou Ye. Although he had tried his best to suppress these two flaws in the gene-seed, they were rooted deep within it. Zhou Ye couldn't guarantee they wouldn't erupt, even from his own creations. So, he had developed this potion and produced one hundred thousand doses in one go.
To do so, he had drained several Nurglings dry. It had gotten to the point where Zhou Ye was now telling his Space Marines to capture any Nurglings they found on planets with Nurgle outbreaks.
He would lock them in Imaginary Cages and just draw their "blood." They were just Chaos creatures anyway; no need to be concerned about them.
Chaos feels no pain, so one must attack them repeatedly until they can no longer move.
---o---
Soon, the Blood Angels' monastery fortress was bustling with noise. This was the place where Sanguinius had once held his feasts.
Now, the Blood Angels and almost all their successors were gathered. All except for a few, like the Blood Knights, were present. As for chapters like the Blood Knights, they had only one goal: to be annihilated. They knew what they had done.
Though they had succumbed to the Red Thirst, they were not completely without reason. They only wanted an eternal rest. In other words, they had come to serve as a suicide squad.
The others, such as the Flesh Tearers, Blood Drinkers, and Flesh Eaters—the successors who could still be considered relatively sane—were all present.
Before the feast began, Dante made an announcement to all the sons of Sanguinius.
"The Red Thirst and the Black Rage, which have plagued us for ten thousand years, may very well be resolved today! This is a gift from a great Primarch and his Tech-Priest!!!"
SILENCE!!!
As Dante's words fell, the entire hall was plunged into a brief silence. The news was too shocking for them to process, even for Space Marines.
Dante didn't waste any more words. As one of the highest-ranking commanders in the Imperium, he also detested excessive ceremony.
He had the two test subjects brought forward: one afflicted by the Red Thirst, the other by the Black Rage.
Seth stepped forward. Without any courtesy, he partially released their restraints. Then, before the two could react, he forced two vials of a murky green potion down their throats.
In an instant, the two marines' bodies began to tremble violently. Their previously frenzied eyes rapidly transformed into a look of lucid idiocy.
Seeing this, every Blood Angel in the hall trembled. They knew all too well what this meant. They had awoken from the Red Thirst and the Black Rage.
And then…
VOMIT!!!
---o---