"If that's the case, Father, this siege on Holy Terra by the four Chaos Gods is the Laughing God's best chance—has he succeeded?" Guilliman's eyes lit up.
This time, they'd truly drawn all of Chaos' attention, even more than ten thousand years ago!
"Yes! We succeeded in drawing all of Chaos' focus, and the Laughing God began his mission. Whether he succeeded, I don't know yet.
But if he snatches Vulkan's soul, I'll know at once," the Emperor said.
The Laughing God was skilled at hiding, but the two Ork gods weren't to be trifled with—together, they could fight a Chaos God.
Even alone, though weaker than a Chaos God, they could hold their own. The two Ork gods spent most of their time fighting each other.
Like the Eldar, the Orks were a race created by the Old Ones, with terrifying psychic powers. Their gods were not weak.
The Laughing God could only try stealth.
"Hope he succeeds—if not, I, Sanguinius, and Rhodes can help the Laughing God," Guilliman said.
Now Rhodes's soul was strong enough—they could traverse the Warp in spirit.
They might not defeat an Ork god, but could at least stall them.
"No rush! Right now, we must fix the mess in the Imperium. Vulkan and the Lion's return is between me and the Eldar gods.
We must change my strategy from ten thousand years ago—from human supremacy to alliance with the Craftworld and Exodite Eldar.
The galaxy is dangerous, with external threats—only unity brings victory," the Emperor said.
Only two races could ally with humanity: the T'au Empire, and the ancient Eldar—of which the Exodites and Craftworlders were good allies.
As for the Dark Eldar, the Emperor wanted them wiped out—Rhodes agreed wholeheartedly (even though his second wife was Dark Eldar, she also disliked their ways).
As for the T'au, the Emperor was helpless—their looked perfect, but was flawed; equality was impossible, the world was never fair.
Most importantly, the T'au were too weak—the Imperium could crush them with a few Chapters or a legion.
So, for now, only the Eldar were worthy allies.
"I understand, Father. I'll amend Imperial law and the Codex Astartes. Now you can communicate again, things will be easier," Guilliman said.
Rhodes nodded in agreement—with the Emperor able to speak through avatars, many problems were solved.
…
For a whole month, the Emperor rested, Magnus kept the Astronomican burning and suppressed the Webway daemons, and Rhodes brought four huge Emperor avatars into the Webway, slaughtering daemons.
By stopping the four Chaos Gods' invasion and clearing the Solar system, Rhodes earned a huge haul of system coins.
He now had over 8 million coins, planning to save for a high-tier shop upgrade (requiring 20 million), not just mid-tier draws.
Meanwhile, with the Empera Blade draining the Dark Emperor's power, the Emperor regained control.
The blade was now even stronger, so much so that only Rhodes's powerful body could wield it.
Over the month, Salome, Balt, and Yapool worked together to upgrade the Golden Throne.
All metals were replaced with regenerative and extradimensional alloys, making the Throne stronger and reducing the Emperor's torment.
Magnus was the first to benefit—even though the pain was still immense, it was halved.
The drain on his soul and life-force was halved.
After a month, the Emperor resumed control and Magnus rose from the Throne, trembling and so weak he nearly collapsed.
The Grand Master Draigo rushed to support him.
"I underestimated the Throne, even with the pain halved, I'm still weak," Magnus said.
"It's much better now! And I no longer need to sacrifice 1,000 psykers every day.
With my power, I can last three days, then have a batch of psykers use up their powers instead," the Emperor said.
These psykers were blameless but could be used by Chaos, so the Imperium needed them as Throne fuel.
Their sacrifice generated much negative emotion, splitting off hundreds of Emperor personalities and strengthening his dark side.
But thanks to Rhodes, the Emperor had destroyed all his mini-personalities, and now Magnus' help let him fully suppress the Dark Emperor.
He felt better than he had in ten thousand years.
"Father! My new ritual will soon be ready. With hundreds of powerful psykers gathered to channel their strength in shifts, we could replace these cruel sacrifices," Magnus said.
"Magnus, you've done well. Go rest now!" the Emperor said.
Magnus nodded and, with Grey Knights supporting him, left the Throne.
Order returned to Holy Terra, and people migrated in from other regions.
Terra regained its glory, and almost all daemons in the Solar system were wiped out.
Cadia's fall, the galaxy's upheaval, and the Warp storm had crushed Imperial morale. Many governors, citizens, and nobles despaired.
But it only lasted a while—Terra's Astronomican was out for less than three days before being relit.
A month later, even some Imperium Nihilus worlds regained communication.
Previously, the Astronomican reached 50,000 light years from Terra; now it reached 70,000, bringing a third of the lost Imperium back.
Even some fringe worlds, once autonomous, were reclaimed.
The next news electrified the Imperium: four Primarchs had returned—one from Chaos, one from sleep, and two newly born.
And the Emperor had awakened, regaining his mind and able to rule again.
The Emperor had returned! He still couldn't leave the Throne but could speak with his people.
This was a great joy for the Imperial people!
Their Emperor had awakened, and the Primarchs had returned—it was like the days ten thousand years ago, when the Emperor still walked among them.
Then came another bombshell: the Emperor personally decreed the abolition of the Chapter system and restoration of the ancient legion system.
This shook the entire Imperium and every Space Marine!
PS: Bonus Chapter at 100 PS.