"What... is this?" Horus's eyes were wide with curiosity and awe as he raised his left hand, which was set ablaze with potent Cursed Energies. Around him, the Luna Wolves Legionnes Astartes had similar expressions. He then turned to Sukuna. "Brother, this is the same power that you possess, is it not?"

Sukuna nodded, smiling as he analyzed the feel of Horus's Cursed Energy. Despite the bald man's proclivity for violence, it seemed like his Cursed Energy leaned closer to Positive Cursed Energy, which meant he'd be a force to be reckoned with, especially when up against Cursed Spirits. "It is. It's called Cursed Energy. Congratulations. Somehow, you've awakened your latent potential as a Jujutsu Sorcerer. This is getting out of hand; first it's the Emperor and now you."

"What do I do with it?" Horus asked. Already, Sukuna found that his fellow Primarch's control over his own Cursed Energy was incredible – at least, for someone who just awakened. CE control came easily to those with the mental fortitude and strength necessary to wield them. And a Primarch's mind was unmatched; Sukuna knew that for himself. Horus began making shapes out of his Cursed Energy, forming something that looked like a vehicle in one moment and a Bolter Gun the next. That sort of fine control was something plenty of Jujutsu Sorcerers would definitely struggle with.

"Lots of things," Sukuna answered, shrugging. "You could use it to augment your natural strength, speed, and durability, for instance. It's called Cursed Augmentation, the most basic form of Jujutsu Sorcerery."

Horus nodded and closed his eyes. "I think I understand. But it'll take quite a bit of practice for me to understand. Would you teach me, brother?"

Sukuna shook his head. "Nah, not interested. Figure it out yourself."

At that, Horus chuckled. "I thought not. But, if nothing else, this should prove to be an interesting challenge. Thank you for indulging me, earlier, brother; I have not had the honor of sparring against a great warrior, like yourself, for a long time, now."

"You were pretty good," Sukuna nodded. Looking back, Horus was a monster in melee. Sukuna had to wonder if every other Primarch was anywhere close to the bald man, in terms of hand-to-hand combat or if Horus was weaker or stronger than most. That made things interesting, honestly. And now, Sukuna couldn't wait to meet the others. The most interesting one, he figured, had to be the one known as Magnus, who Malcador claimed was second only to the Emperor in terms of raw power. Sukuna would have to find that out for himself. "It would've been more fun if you could use your Cursed Energy, but that just means we can spar again soon, when you've mastered its use."

Horus grinned. "I look forward to that, brother. I will make sure to master it as quickly as I can so that I can beat your face in the next time we spar."

"Ha!" Sukuna chuckled. This time, he felt some level of genuine amusement. Even Sukuna had to admit that there was plenty of potential in his fellow Primarch – in all of them, perhaps. It'd be a heck of a good time if they all started gaining Jujutsu, no matter how strange that might actually be. "You're very much welcome to try that, Horus."

Horus laughed and held out his right hand to Sukuna. "To more campaigns with you, brother. Hopefully, the next one we fight together on will be far more exciting than mere Asari."

Sukuna stared at Horus's outstretched hand for a moment longer, before shrugging, clasping, and shaking it. The King of Curses smiled. "Likewise."

"Actually," Horus suddenly said, smirking. "I have brought a gift for you. I had it commissioned myself, after Malcador told me all about your bizarre fighting style. Took a while to come up with an appropriate gift, but I think I did a pretty good job with this one."

Sukuna raised a brow as Horus moved out of the way, revealing a delegation of Tech-Priests, who carried with them a large metal box. The Tech-Priests then laid upon the ground, a meter or so away from Sukuna, and pulled open the lid, which produced a loud and steaming hiss, revealing its contents. The Tech-Priests backed away as Sukuna stepped forward. Resting upon a bed of crimson velvet was a... bow and arrow.

Sukuna reached out and pulled the bow, which was made entirely of some kind of metal – or, more accurately, it was made of a composite material, though the bowstring itself was clearly a rope made of metal wires. It was heavy. And, Sukuna knew, at a glance, that no human being could pull this. Heck, not even Space Marines could pull this. He laid the bow back down and picked up an arrow, one of fifteen. It was heavy – much heavier than any arrow he'd ever held before, which was good since a bow's draw weight was only as effective as the actual weight of the arrow it fired, and vice versa.

Just a single arrow must've been two hundred kilograms, about the same length as a Yari, the arrowhead itself around two feet in length and flickering with a power field of some kind.

Horus grinned as he stepped forward. "The bow isn't mechanized; so, it has no need for energy. It has a draw weight of ten metric tons. The arrows themselves each weigh around thirteen kilograms. The arrowheads are covered in a thin power field that fully activates as soon as the arrow hits anything solid. They're lightweight and easy to manufacture. I've sent the designs to your Tech-Priest."

Sukuna nodded and placed the arrow down.

"So," Horus continued. "What do you think?"

In truth, Sukuna wasn't sure what to think. He... would readily admit that he'd never gotten a lot of gifts in his life. He could, perhaps, count with one hand the number of presents he'd ever gotten in his entire life and he'd still have a pair of fingers left. This was... something. Sukuna wasn't sure what to think or feel about it. However, from an objective standpoint, the weapon was awesome. Not the most useful, certainly, as a Sniper Rifle could perform identically, but it was the idea of it that mattered the most. The first weapon, after all, that Sukuna ever learned to use was the bow and arrow, which he used as a means of hunting and poaching, in the days before he became a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

"It's a good weapon," He finally said, before frowning. Sukuna turned to Horus. "You have me at a disadvantage. I have prepared no gift for you."

"T'is quite alright, brother," Horus chuckled. "The giving of gifts is not a competition – because if it was, then I'd win every single time. But, honestly, there is no need to trouble yourself, brother."

Giving Horus the Trishula would just kill him. His fellow Primarch's Cursed Energies were certainly potent, but his control and refinement of them hadn't yet reached the stage where he could effectively wield a God-Weapon without succumbing to its negative effects. Even Sukuna himself, who held mastery over the Trishula, could only wield it temporarily. So, no, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't offer that as a gift. Sukuna also didn't want to give away the Flaming Arrow of Amaterasu as he was rather fond of its use, even if he preferred not to. And that left him with only one other artifact to actually give away.

Eh, Sukuna didn't use that much, anyway.

"Here," Sukuna reached into himself, one of his outermost tattoos unraveling and disappearing entirely as he pulled out a Cursed Tool that he honestly didn't have much use for. The King of Curses forged it himself, which he modeled after seeing Zeus's Lightning Bolt, another artifact that he would've loved to have taken if some other sorcerer hadn't taken it before he did. Sukuna then handed the artifact to Horus, who blinked as he took it in hand and waved it around. "It's called the Kamutoke. It's a Cursed Tool that summons lightning bolts from the open sky. Master it and it'll serve you well in any battlefield."

"I see," Horus raised the weapon high into the air and, above him, arcs of lightning flashed into being, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder in a cloudless sky. His fellow Primarch smiled. "I thank you for this gift, brother. I see now that I have finally found my rival in the giving of gifts."

Sukuna nodded, before he turned his attention back to the bow. Perhaps, it was time for him to create yet another Cursed Tool. The bow was made of excellent materials – unearthly in their quality. Whatever Cursed Tool he could transform it into was bound to be a thing of incredible power and might. But, before then, he was going to make use of it as it was. After all, it was a gift. And, even for a King, like himself, gifts were rare. Ryomen Sukuna had received many offerings in his life before this one, but gifts were something else entirely.

"Thank you." Sukuna said, after a moment. "I appreciate this tool."

And with that, the two Primarchs departed the world, just as the legions of the Imperial Army arrived to fully pacify the planet. By then, Sukuna mused, most of, if not all, the Asari were probably already dead from Horus' super poison. If not, the Imperial Army would take care of them anyway. So, the world was officially conquered, but not yet pacified, which meant it really wasn't Sukuna's problem anymore. Horus and his fleet and jumped to some other distant world that he was meant to conquer. And, for now, it was time to move onto the next world.

The rest of Sukuna's fleet arrived shortly after Horus's departure, a measly "fleet" of twenty vessels, though each was heavily armed and its interior mechanisms fully automated by something called a Virtual Intelligence, something not even Horus possessed, courtesy of Malcador, who granted him quite a lot of new toys just because he didn't care about a lot of things, which was a... weird reason. But, hey, Sukuna couldn't care any less. Malcador also granted him a legion of Shackled Men of Iron, which kind of reminded him of the Iron Warriors he'd first encountered and fought, many of whom almost killed him with their laser weapons.

Sukuna wasn't entirely certain if he was ever going to use these ones, but he'd do so if necessary. After all, his job was to conquer as many worlds as possible as quickly as possible. If he had to make use of machines to do the job, then he'd do it. After all, one of the very first things he taught the Devourers was that the method didn't matter next to the results. They had to do whatever it took to win and succeed. There was no need for honor or fairness or any other fancy concept where victory was concerned.

The next world on his bucket list of worlds to conquer was known as Veridin Prime, another former human colony that was overrun by a hostile race of aliens that seemed to suddenly appear from deep space. Or, at least, that's what the records claimed. But the records also went on to state that any information might be heavily outdated or outright false. Fair enough. There was no real information regarding the aliens, aside from the fact that they wielded some form of bio-technology and relied heavily on greater numbers. Some other Primarch was meant to conquer this world, but Sukuna was chosen, instead, because he was closer and better suited.

Or something like that. Sukuna didn't exactly finish reading the report, before he handed it over to his captains who, no doubt, would study it in much greater detail. It hardly mattered in the end. As long as other humans weren't involved, then things became rather simple and easy, actually. All he had to do was kill everything that wasn't remotely close to human and then leave the world behind for the Imperial Army to pacify or whatever it was they actually did. Easy. Simple. Sukuna liked it that way.

Or, at least, it was supposed to be simple. But, then again, Sukuna never imagined having to clear trillions and trillions of angry, hungering aliens from just a single world.

AN: Chapter 24 is up on (Pat)reon!