"The chicken wings on your back tell me that you must be Sanguinius, yeah?" Sukuna raised a brow as a pair of Primarchs greeted him. One was bald and covered in odd tattoos, and the other one had hair and a pair of wings. In terms of power, the one with wings was clearly and immediately far greater than the bald one. In fact, Sukuna was pretty sure that his weakest Devourer could beat the bald one in a slugging match. The King of Curses smiled at the thought; it would actually be rather amusing to witness such a thing. The weak one, he figured, was probably the one known as Lorgar, whom Sukuna had already discarded as not worth his time. So, he wasn't going to waste a single breath on the bald guy, especially not when the blondie was far more interesting – far more powerful.

The first thing that Sukuna noted immediately about the winged Primarch was that he had two souls. For some odd reason, Sanguinius had two contrasting souls. One was bursting with Cursed Energy and the other with Positive Energy. Despite their differences, however, the souls that occupied his body were akin to twins – almost identical and so are able to exist as one. And since an Innate Technique was embedded upon the soul itself, it meant that – potentially – Sanguinius had two Innate Techniques and two Domains.

Odd.

Sukuna had never heard of such a thing before. The opposite of it was more common, twin bodies linked by one soul – a foul curse that could only be cured if one twin killed the other. It was what happened to Sukuna himself, but he rejected that curse before he was even born, devouring his twin within their mother's womb, this ensuring his own strength.

Was there even a solution to Sanguinius' problem? Was it a problem at all?

Only time would tell. But having two souls occupying one body and sharing one mind couldn't possibly be as advantageous as it might first appear, though the power it'd grant would surely be great, which was likely why he'd heard so much of the winged primarch and his feats of strength and bravery. Aside from Magnus and himself, Sanguinius was marked by Malcador as the strongest – both in personal combat and leadership. Though, no amount of leadership could match up against Sukuna's Inspire ability if he was being honest – not that he used that ability very often, to begin with, but the point stood.

All of that said, compared to either Horus or Vulkan, Sanguinius was leagues ahead in the magnitude of his power, though Sukuna couldn't imagine the angel having enough of it to permanently kill Vulkan if they ever really fought to the death.

Sanguinius smiled and nodded, holding out his arms as if to welcome the King of Curses into the structure that was large enough to be a mountain. The Emperor told him it was built by yet another bald guy named Perturabo, which honestly made Sukuna wonder why so many of his supposed siblings were bald if they were meant to be the epitome of the human form or whatever. Lorgar was just straight up ugly. "Greetings, brother Sukuna. I have heard a great many things about you."

It was clear that both Primarchs were doing their absolute best to ignore the fact that he had four eyes and four arms. Sanguinius, most of all, couldn't speak out against it, given his obvious inhumanity, even if it was a prettier version. And, if the rumors were true, then Magnus literally had red skin. He wouldn't be freakier among the freaks.

"Really?" Sukuna said, grinning. He couldn't imagine any of the rumors regarding himself were anything close to positive or good. Then again, such rumors and whispers would likely only come from the very few legions he'd ever interacted with, like the Salamanders and the Luna Wolves. Or maybe not. He didn't really care, either way. "And what exactly have you heard about me?"

Sanguinius' smile faltered for a moment, before it widened. "All good things. Many of our brethren are eager to meet you. Come, let us gather, before the arrival of the Thousand Sons."

Sukuna raised a brow and frowned. "Oh? Magnus isn't already here? A pity, I was hoping to meet him."

"He'll arrive in a few hours," Lorgar said, smiling. Sukuna wanted to punch his teeth in already. He wasn't sure if he disliked Lorgar or he just didn't like bald people, in general. But, then again, both Horus and Vulkan were fine and neither of them had hair. However, the Emperor expressly forbade him from killing or otherwise hurting any of his apparent siblings, unless within reason and even he knew that 'just because' wasn't a good-enough reason to want to beat up Lorgar and steal his admittedly cool weapon. "A few of our siblings could not come, but have sent representatives, instead, like the Khan. And Rus."

Sukuna ignored Lorgar and, instead, gestured at the entrance and turned to Sanguinius. "I suppose the others are inside? Are Vulkan and Horus in there?"

Sanguinius nodded and ushered him forth. And the two of them walked together, with Lorgar trailing behind them. "Yes, they're inside. Those two spoke very highly of you and your prowess in battle. Is it true that you jumped out of your own ship to destroy an Ork Vessel, using nothing but your own power? Horus said you weren't even wearing armor at the time."

"Ah," Sukuna almost smiled at the very distant, but otherwise fond memory. He'd done far crazier things since then, but he honestly didn't keep track of them, though his legionnaires probably did. What happened happened and that was that. "I did jump out of my own capital ship to destroy an Ork Vessel, yes. But that was so long ago. I didn't even think much of it at the time. Or at all."

"Horus spoke of it whenever you were brought up in any conversation," Sanguinius smiled. "He was rather fond of you. You gifted him his favorite weapon, after all."

"Ah," Sukuna chuckled. "Kamutoke. I have a few things, then, that I'd like to ask him and Vulkan about."

Lorgar, the annoying bald man, who did not seem to know his place, which was about twenty meters away from them, suddenly spoke. "You mean to ask him about the development of his Jujutsu?"

"Yes." Sukuna sent a glance at Lorgar as they went inside. The interior was actually rather beautiful.

Sukuna didn't care much for the architecture or aesthetic, but it was a preference thing, which did little to assuage his admiration for the care and craft that went into every nook and cranny. Pillars of black stone, lined with gold and bent to create fascinating patterns on the ceiling. Or interwoven strands of intricate leaf-shaped things, joining together to create the most interesting images. He didn't like any of it, but he could appreciate the craftsmanship. "Who built this place?"

"Our sibling, Perturabo," Sanguinius said, smiling as his eyes traversed the place. And then, his smile fell and his eyes turned dark for just a moment. Sukuna noticed it, of course, and so did Lorgar. "He built it to be beautiful and wondrous, and now it shall be a place of... judgement."

"Ah, about that." They walked down a gilded hall, with intricately-carved statues and sculptures left and right, each one in the shape of a man or a woman, naked and muscular, their faces depicting the various emotions humans had a tendency of experiencing. "What exactly are we doing here? The Emperor never explained and I kind of never asked."

Sanguinius paused and the three of them stopped right in front of a large painting that seemed to contain almost every single Primarch in existence, excluding Sukuna himself, because he probably hadn't been there when Perturabo painted this. Everyone else was there, however – at least, the ones he knew about. At the center of the painting was the Emperor, flanked by Horus on one side and the Lion on the other. The rest were just scattered about them. Idly, Sukuna wondered if they actually all had to stand there while Perturabo painted them and then simply added himself afterwards – assuming the aesthetically-inclined Primarch painted this at all, which really wasn't anything far out of his domain of expertise – or if Perturabo painted this from memory and the Primarchs never gathered for a painting.

It was nice.

It irked him... just a bit... that he wasn't in it.

Sanguinius sighed. "Though he himself remains unaware of it, our brother, Magnus, is to be put on trial."

Sukuna raised a brow. The Emperor probably should've mentioned this, because it sounded important. "For what?"

"There are those among us who wish to see the use of Psychic Powers banned entirely and for Librarians to be put out of commission." Sanguinius explained. Lorgar nodded. Sukuna noted that Sanguinius was not a big fan of this whole affair, which meant he was probably on the side of Magnus. Lorgar was harder to read, but – by his demeanor – Sukuna wouldn't be surprised if the bald fool supported whoever was already winning. "Father did not call this council, because he wanted to. He did it because his hand was forced. This is Magnus' chance to convince the others that they're wrong to be prejudiced and that Psychic powers are not dangerous if properly mastered and controlled. I just hope our brother can come up with a convincing rhetoric."

"Ah," Sukuna raised a brow. "Psychic Powers, if I recall, are a lot less stable, compared to Jujutsu, but more varied, explosive and dynamic in its effects. I personally think it's weaker on average, compared to Jujutsu but the really strong Psykers are far stronger."

Of course, he didn't mention the very odd fact that Jujutsu Sorcerers were unaffected by blanks, simply because Cursed Energy originated from within their bodies as opposed to Psykers who constantly had to draw on Cursed Energy from the Cursed Realm to fuel their power. It was the same thing, all things considered, since all Cursed Energy came from the Cursed Realm, but the Jujutsu Filter made all the difference. That said, Blanks were pretty much immune to direct Jujutsu Phenomena, techniques like Cleave or Domains in general, but there really was nothing stopping a Jujutsu Sorcerer from just beating one to death, since Cursed Augmentation was indirect Jujutsu Phenomena.

Psykers did not enjoy that distinction. According to the reports and documents he'd read regarding the interaction of Blanks and Psykers, the latter were prone to clawing their own eyes out or committing suicide in the presence of the former.

Sanguinius nodded. "Indeed. The Jujutsu Sorcerers that have begun appearing among the Luna Wolves and Salamanders have provided us with excellent information, alongside a means of comparison. Whatever the case, Magnus will be brought to trial before a great council – not just Primarchs, but Custodians and Nobles as well, men and women of great importance. And the outcome will determine the fate of Librarians – though I'm quite certain Jujutsu Sorcerers will remain untouched."

"They will be untouched," Lorgar said. "Nearly all the dangers in Psychic Sorcery are irrelevant to them."

For a moment, Sanguinius looked like he wanted to say or ask something from Sukuna, but held his tongue at the last second.

Odd.

Sukuna raised a brow and shrugged. "Is this trial necessary? It seems like something everyone's just going to ignore anyway when it becomes annoying in the future. Psykers are very powerful; they're going to be important at some point, especially against more powerful foes – the kind that doesn't die from guns. But I don't know; my legion's doing just fine without Psykers in it."

"Would you side with Magnus, brother?" Lorgar suddenly asked. Sukuna turned to the ugly bald man with the ugly face and considered his question for a moment.

"I suppose I would." Sukuna said, shrugging. "I don't see why power should be restricted. And if it bites them in the ass, then that's on them for not being strong enough to control it. I'll speak in Magnus' defense, but I honestly don't care too much, either way."

"Then," Sanguinius said. "Shall we meet the others?"

AN: Chapter 43 is out on (Pat)reon!