The restoration of the Han Dynasty began with the Horus Rebellion.

Chapter 47: The Burning Planet

There is no place for those who are weak-willed or hesitant.

Human beings can only survive through firm action and conviction.

There is no sacrifice too great to bear, nor betrayal too small to tolerate.

This is the text that will automatically appear on the command panel when the ship's commander deactivates the Extinction Order-level weapon lock-on system.

Legend has it that this was a warning from Makado, the ruler of the empire, both to strengthen the conviction of the "executioners" when the extermination order had to be carried out, and to warn them that they must not have any personal desires when using this final means, and must be 100% loyal to the emperor and humanity.

Although Adoron disliked the mortal who spent his days in Terran Palace giving orders to Space Marines and even Primarchs at will, he did agree with the statement—at least the first part.

He felt this even more deeply when he saw the sentence for the second time in three days.

"Don't blame me, Taviz, and Lucius too."

Having confirmed that the launch procedure for the bipolar cyclone torpedoes was ready, and only the final command to pull the trigger remained, Edoron, the chief lord commander of the Son of the Emperor, looked with regret at the soon-to-be-extinct planet Istvan III.

"While our Primarch Father steadfastly led us on the path to perfection, you wavered because of trivial emotions and outdated ideas, failing to keep up with us. To prevent you stragglers from becoming a stain on the Legion, I, as Forgrim's finest offspring, have no choice but to deal with you personally. What a pity..."

Aidoron shook his head slightly, but a twisted, excited smile appeared above the modified organ in his throat.

"It's a pity I didn't get to see you all, and the tragic death of that hateful Togadon."

Just thinking about finally being able to kill those two arrogant "brothers" gave Aidoron a feeling of intoxicating pleasure. Just as he was considering whether to use Fabius Bayer's newly developed drug to enhance this pleasure, a rapid notification sound dispelled the idea.

It seems the time has come.

Aidoron connected the communication loop, and two images appeared simultaneously on the screen in front of the lord commander.

In the footage from the Deathguard battleship End, which was the source of the signal, Typhon seemed to notice the potion bottle in Aidoron's hand and frowned slightly in displeasure.

"I have no intention of interfering with your entertainment, Commander Adoron, but we have five minutes left before the mission begins, and I expect you are ready as planned."

"Hmph, don't worry, Taifeng, our Andronius will never have any problems—I'm the one worried about whether you'll hold us back."

As he said this, Aidoron looked meaningfully at the communication image displaying the Minos, a battleship of the Sons of Horus.

Horus Asimand the Younger had a somber expression, and his eyes revealed undisguised melancholy and pain.

Even so, after hearing Aidoron's words, he still took a deep breath and said.

"I am ready and will follow the War Commander's orders, after you launch the Bipolar Cyclone torpedoes—"

"Not 'after,' but 'at the same time.'"

Taifeng seriously corrected Asimand's words.

"We must simultaneously bombard the planet's core from three angles to make it disintegrate instantly as we have calculated, thus avoiding any accidents."

Normally, a single bipolar torpedo is enough to detonate the Earth's core energy, completely shattering the planet—while the combined mechanical forces of three bipolar torpedoes can further induce a chain reaction of destruction, accelerating the destructive process that would take hours into mere seconds.

Of course, Aidoron himself actually preferred to let the enemy experience several hours of despair before dying, but since Horus had given the order, he had no choice but to comply.

Just as the countdown to the operation had already appeared on the screen with 180 seconds left, the ship's internal communication light next to the command panel began to flash rapidly.

Edoron frowned slightly. At this critical juncture, he would have ignored anyone else, but this was the research lab of the chief apothecary of the Emperor's Son, and Edoron didn't want to offend that guy.

"I'm busy right now, Fabius, we can talk about it later—"

"No, Commander Lord Adoron, just now... a single-person shuttle of the World Eater said it had a special sample it wanted to trade with me, so I ordered it to pass..."

Fabius Bayer secretly traded "research materials" with other legions, a fact known to Edoron and permitted by Forgrim, thus granting him numerous privileges.

Although occasionally experimental subjects would escape and cause disturbances, Edoron would usually turn a blind eye as long as Fabius could clean up the mess himself.

Just as Edoron was about to scold Fabius for bothering him with such a trivial matter...

"But when I got to the deck, there was no one there... I tried to track them, but... Damn, too fast! Aidoron, close the bridge access immediately!"

Aidoron's pupils contracted slightly, just as he was about to give the order—

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion came from behind him, and Aidoron turned around to check what was happening...

The first thing he saw was several Space Marines, sons of the Emperor, in mid-air.

Did Astartes take flight?

boom! ! !

But the next second, Aidoron himself took to the air.

Aidoron, who was sent flying several meters into the air before crashing down, felt intense pain and saw the culprit that had knocked him away like a Lemanus chariot.

"Are you crazy?! Cut—"

Boom! ! !

But Eldoron's roar came to an abrupt halt as the blood-stained white power gauntlet pressed against the noise generator in his throat, slamming him to the ground.

"Bastard! Who dares to kill our father!"

Immediately afterwards, the fist of Kahn, the company commander of the Eighth Company of the World Eaters, made intimate contact with Aidoron's nose.

"I'm going to kill your whole family!"

-

"That mad dog, Kahn!"

The scene of Aidoron being brutally beaten by Kahn was broadcast live to Asimand and Typhon via the communication channel.

Taifeng was initially taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, but he quickly recovered and looked at the action timer, which was about to reach zero.

"Damn it, never mind that, Asimand! Even just the two of us will do, launch the Bipolar Cyclone torpedoes!"

As he gave the instructions, Taifeng pressed the long-awaited launch command button...

[Beep beep beep, system error, insufficient permissions, please re-authenticate.]

Upon hearing the notification, Taifeng's eyes widened. An extermination order could only be authorized for launch by a War Marshal or Legion Commander, but theoretically, they had both received authorization from Horus—

Of course, those who can grant permissions can also revoke them.

"You should thank me, Typhon, otherwise it would be you, not Edoron, getting beaten up by Kahn right now."

Hearing Mortalian's deep voice behind him, Taifeng instantly understood what was going on.

"Damn it! That good-for-nothing bastard!!"

"Um?"

"I...I'm talking about that guy, Kahn!"

Typhon suppressed the hundred curses he wanted to utter against the Primarch behind him, then gritted his teeth and spoke to Mortalian.

"Commander, this is a mission order from the War Marshal! I didn't expect Kahn to be so impulsive as to even betray his own people..."

"He was only acting out of loyalty, and the loss of the Great Tyrant is the Sixteenth Legion's problem. We don't need to make enemies of the World Eaters over Horus's defeat, understand?"

Taifeng could only lower his head, close his eyes, and purse his lips, pretending to obediently accept the Primarch's teachings. But in reality, he was worried that if he made eye contact with the Primarch at this moment, his impulsiveness would make all his centuries of forbearance go to waste.

No, now is not the time to completely break ties with him!

"And Horus's strategic objectives have already been achieved, haven't they? Even a single Bipolar Cyclone torpedo would be enough to destroy this planet."

It seemed that this was indeed the case. Taifeng's mind calmed down a bit, and he opened his eyes to look at Istvan III. He didn't expect that Asimand, whom he had been worried would waver, would become the only "executioner" to successfully carry out the order.

Although Typhon just missed the scene of the bomb penetrating the atmosphere and piercing the Earth's core, judging from the countless red cracks that are rapidly extending across the planet's surface, the planet will be torn apart by its own uncontrolled core energy within two hours at most.

At that time, those enemies of the benevolent father—how could they be!

However, when Taifeng saw the Great Tyrant outside the city, his brain, which had just cooled down, suddenly rushed back to life.

"Order the fleet to retreat."

Mortarian stepped forward and, unsurprised, looked down at the Tyrant, whose engines had already been started and which was moving slowly like a startled beast.

"Now, all we have to do is watch the show."