Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [302]

For someone with such terrifying power to be swayed by the Empire's High Lords—how utterly ridiculous! What an absurd world!

What is the Empire? Huron knew better than anyone: it was a nation utterly corrupted, where the upper echelons of Imperial nobility cared nothing for the common people—only the taxes from each planet mattered to them.

When Huron first became a Space Marine, he had faint hopes of doing great things for the Empire, of being a hero like those in legends.

But the harshness of reality had slapped him awake! Blackheart Huron saw the true nature of the Empire he served.

It was a ship full of holes. Not even the resurrection of every Primarch could save this sinking vessel. There was no hope for it.

Boarding this ship now would only mean sinking with it. Even being a freewheeling Chaos warlord here was better than staying in the Empire—at least he could protect a portion of humanity, at least he could preserve the species.

Huron had discussed this with his advisors. In the end, all reached the same, deeply pessimistic conclusion: humanity was utterly doomed. There was not the slightest hope left.

Only by turning to Chaos did there remain a chance to save the last spark of humanity, a chance for the species to continue.

"I know the Empire is rotten to the core. I plan to purge most of the High Lords, the Senate, and the upper nobility of the Empire. Even within the Mechanicus, I intend a thorough cleansing.

This Empire is about to undergo an unprecedented transformation—a crusade on a scale never seen before," said Rhodes.

"A crusade! Like the Lord Solar Macharius' crusade, reclaiming 1,000 Imperial worlds? But what did that change? I know well how Macharius ended up," Huron sneered, gazing at the giant Rhodes.

Rhodes understood how disappointed Blackheart Huron was in the Empire; Macharius' fate was truly lamentable.

"It's different now! We have four Primarchs. The entire Imperial political system is about to be overhauled. This crusade isn't some minor event like Macharius' crusade.

This is a battle second only to the Great Crusade. At least five million—perhaps ten million—Space Marines will take part, thousands of Imperial Navy ships, and hundreds of billions of mortals," Rhodes explained.

"You're powerful, right? But if you truly want to save humanity, take my advice: break away from the Empire.

Stand on your own! Even if the Emperor himself were to rise from the Golden Throne, he could not save the Empire," said Huron.

Even in his prime, the Emperor had been tricked by the Chaos Gods into a living death, sitting atop the Golden Throne for ten thousand years.

"There's something you might not know: the Emperor is far stronger than he was ten thousand years ago!

His body may be decayed, but strength isn't always in the flesh," Rhodes said.

Most Imperials, even the Astartes and High Lords, knew nothing about the secret of the Dark King. Even the Primarchs thought the Emperor's dark side was just a build-up of negative emotions over millennia.

But only Rhodes and the Emperor knew—the darkness was from the primordial dark god of the Warp, with no self-awareness.

The Emperor himself was its self-awareness!

The Emperor didn't dare to leave the Golden Throne. If he did, humanity would be destroyed and he would no longer be himself, but become another being entirely.

The Emperor had told Rhodes this would be his end—incurable! Leave the Throne, and he'd become the Dark King; his persona would vanish.

If leaving the Throne could gain him the power to rival the four Chaos Gods and protect humanity, the Emperor would've done it long ago.

The Emperor's holy, golden psychic power was only 10% of his true power—the remaining 90% was pure darkness, belonging to the Dark King.

Ten thousand years had split the Emperor into countless minor personalities, including a primary dark persona—but all were still the Emperor.

The Emperor is the Dark King, but the Dark King is not the Emperor!

Early on, Rhodes had considered going independent, but the Emperor offered him an olive branch.

Rhodes knew that until his monster system was fully developed, it was best not to let the Dark Emperor out—else it would spell disaster for the universe!

So he followed the Emperor's path, waiting until he was strong enough to call the shots.

Only Rhodes and the Emperor knew this, and the Emperor had sternly forbidden Rhodes from telling anyone else.

"Let's talk, Blackheart Huron. I'll give you a chance. Refuse, and today is your last day," Rhodes said, shrinking to normal size and landing with Huron.

"No matter what, you'll never convince me! I will never—"

Rhodes had lost all patience. He unleashed the full power of Mefila's psychic ability and invaded Huron's mind.

He brutally rewrote all of Huron's memories—not with psychic powers, but by physically altering his brain and cognition.

"From now on, Huron, I am your master. You will serve me, obey me!"

Rhodes imprinted his will on Huron's mind.

Why bother with words? Brute force is faster!

If this had been the recently corrupted or uncorrupted Huron, maybe he could have been persuaded.

But this Blackheart Huron lived only for himself and would never surrender to anyone.

So other measures were required. Once the memory alteration was complete, Rhodes took Huron to his small mothership, threw him into the medbay, and treated his wounds.

The tyrant of Badab recovered his original form. His mind reprogrammed, his memories rewritten, Rhodes now had a safeguard.

Next came the soul-level insurance!

With someone like Blackheart Huron, Rhodes couldn't use conventional means of control. The most reliable way was to bind him to a Cosmic Phantom Beast.

Those bound to Cosmic Phantom Beasts could be empowered by them, but if needed, Rhodes could command the beast to overload its host with energy, killing them instantly—body and soul.

This would severely injure the beast, so it was only used as a last resort, ideally after fully empowering the host so the beast would survive.

After some thought, Rhodes chose the Cosmic Red Dragon, a lower-tier beast, to merge with Blackheart Huron.

…

Three days later, Blackheart Huron was utterly reborn as Rhodes's loyal servant, granted the power of a Cosmic Phantom Beast and gigantification.

"Can you still command your Red Corsairs warband?" Rhodes asked.

The Red Corsairs were strong, but in truth, they were a motley crew.

Huron hadn't united them through charisma but through self-interest.

Now that Huron had been defeated, and with three days gone, rumors must have spread among the Chaos warbands in the Maelstrom.

Many would be eyeing his throne.

"Don't worry, master. Chaos Astartes have one rule—the strong rule. With your beast, I am now the strongest. Even Primarchs aren't my match," Huron replied.

Only after receiving the Cosmic Beast did he realize what true power was! What he had before was nothing—weak, reliant on trickery and schemes.

"Good. Soon I'll give you support. I want you to consolidate the Red Corsairs and strike against Chaos," Rhodes said.

When the Vigilus Campaign comes, the Red Corsairs can stab Chaos in the back.

"Frankly, master, except for my core Astral Claw squad, the rest of the Chaos Astartes are loyal to Chaos. I can lead them to raid Imperial traders or other Xenos, but attacking Chaos fleets or the Four Gods' armies is impossible," Huron said.