With the fall of the golden greatsword, the Emperor utterly annihilated both the body and soul of the Warmaster Horus.
The Emperor's own body slumped.
In this battle, he had contended with the Four Chaos Gods in the psychic domain while simultaneously fighting Horus with all his might in the physical universe. Kratos, who had watched the entire confrontation from the side, immediately stood up to support his grandfather.
After the battle between the Emperor and Horus concluded, the shadow of the Four Chaos Gods receded back into the warp. No longer obstructed by their power, Rogal Dorn and several other Primarchs stormed onto Horus's flagship.
Dorn, accompanied by the Captain-General Valdor, was the first to find the Emperor and Kratos.
"Grandfather! Are you all right?" Kratos asked with a look of deep concern as he supported the Emperor. His grandfather's condition was dire.
The battle was over. With the constitution and regenerative abilities of a Perpetual, the Emperor's body should have already begun to heal. Yet the gravely wounded Emperor showed no signs of recovery. In fact, it looked as if he was barely clinging to life.
"I am not," the Emperor said with a bitter smile. "It is very bad."
This was the day his human form, the man once known as Neoth, would truly die.
"Emperor!"
"My Lord!" Rogal Dorn and Valdor rushed to his side, their faces etched with worry. They had been fighting their way toward the heart of the ship, but an unknown power had blocked their path.
Only moments ago had that mysterious force vanished, allowing them to finally reach this place where the final duel had been fought.
"I am dying. Today," the Emperor spoke with great difficulty as blood streamed from the corner of his mouth.
"Impossible! Grandfather, you are a mighty Perpetual! You cannot die!" Kratos said frantically.
"Even if your physical form is completely destroyed, annihilated down to the cellular level, you should be able to recover. If you are seriously injured, I will take you back at once. Father has a large supply of Fruits from the Tree of Might. They contain powerful life energy, they can surely save you." How could his grandfather, who was like a god to him, possibly die? It was unthinkable.
"Father, Kratos is right," Rogal Dorn said. "Let us take you back to Holy Terra. The Fruits of the Tree of Might from Axis will surely heal you!"
"There are some things you do not understand. But you are right, it is time to return to Holy Terra," the Emperor commanded, "Inform all the Primarchs. Any who can make it, have them assemble in the Great Hall on Holy Terra."
With the supreme commander of the Chaos forces now slain by his own hand, their armies would soon be leaderless.
They would fall into disarray and no longer be a significant threat.
Soon, Rogal Dorn, Kratos, and Valdor helped the Emperor aboard a transport craft and began the journey back to the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra.
The remaining Primarchs received the Emperor's summons. While their Legions continued the pursuit of the rebel forces, the Primarchs Sanguinius, Ferrus Manus, Vulkan, Corvus Corax, and Jaghatai Khan all began their journey to the Palace.
…
Meanwhile, Axis had reached the end of the Webway.
This section of the labyrinthine dimension had stabilized, and Magnus's psychic guidance came just in time, leading him towards the exit that opened into the throne room of the Golden Throne.
The tide of daemons had retreated, and the Webway was now safe, but Magnus had nonetheless erected a psychic ward just in case.
"Axis, that was far too reckless! How could you just charge into the warp like that?" The first thing Axis heard upon exiting was Magnus's roar.
Magnus was genuinely furious. The last time Axis had rashly entered the warp, he had vanished for nearly a century and missed countless important events in the Imperium. This time, right under Magnus's nose, he had done it again, and against his brother's strenuous objections.
"Don't worry about it, Magnus. I was carrying out a very important mission," Axis said with a wave of his hand.
Rescuing Isha, and having her help cultivate the Fruits of the Gods was of paramount importance. It was the key to whether Axis could one day challenge the Dark King.
It had to be done, and that had been the only opportunity. Only at that moment would Nurgle's attention be drawn away by the Emperor, luring him even from his own domain. In the future, not even during the Plague Wars would Grandfather Nurgle leave his Garden.
"Axis, it was too dangerous! You have no idea how terrifying the warp truly is," Kasha said, standing beside Magnus, equally displeased.
After Axis had vanished from the Webway into the warp, she would have plunged in after him herself if Magnus had not done everything in his power to stop her.
"Axis was on a special mission that I assigned him. You need not blame him. I did not inform you of it beforehand."
At that moment, the gravely wounded Emperor, supported by Rogal Dorn and Kratos, slowly walked into the Imperial Palace. Seeing her father in such a grievously injured state, Kasha rushed over to him.
"Father, you… how were you injured so badly? What happened?"
"Father, Mother, Grandfather is severely wounded! Quickly, get some Fruits of the Tree of Might," Kratos called out anxiously to Axis.
Axis sighed but still took out one of the fruits. Kratos quickly took it and offered it to the Emperor, urging him to eat it.
But the Emperor only shook his head with a pained smile. "I appreciate your kindness, Kratos, and you, Axis. But my current body is like a cup with a great hole shattered in its side. The Fruit of the Tree of Might is the water. A broken cup, as you know, cannot hold water," the Emperor said.
Rogal Dorn and Captain-General Valdor stood by, their expressions grim. The severity of the Emperor's wounds was beyond anything they could have imagined. How could he have been so wounded in a fight against Horus?
Only Malcador the Sigillite let out a silent sigh of understanding.
"How can this be?" Kasha said. "Axis, quickly, try using your Ki. Perhaps it can repair Father's wounds."
Axis nodded. He walked to the Emperor, placed a palm on his chest, and began to pour his Ki into him. But he quickly discovered that the Emperor's body was like a ruined vessel.
No matter how much Ki he supplied, it was no use. Ki could replenish life, but it could not mend the wounds the Emperor had sustained. These were injuries inflicted by the Four Chaos Gods acting in unison, and perhaps the Dark King had played a part in it as well.
Axis sighed and shook his head. From the moment the Emperor had departed to face Horus, this outcome had been inevitable.
"I told you, do not waste your strength," the Emperor said. "While I still have a little time left, there are things I must attend to."
Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the doorway. Sanguinius, Ferrus Manus, Vulkan, Corax, and Jaghatai Khan had arrived at the Imperial Palace.
Yet, besides these Primarchs, two unexpected visitors had also appeared. Lion El'Jonson and Leman Russ, the Wolf King, had returned to Holy Terra.
"Lion! And Dad, weren't you fighting the Rangda? Why are you back?" Axis asked. It had been nearly a century since he had last seen Russ.
The return of these two was entirely unexpected. Axis noticed that the Wolf King was carrying a severed head in his hand. It belonged to a Primarch, but not one he recognized.
"Axis, with Holy Terra under siege, how could we not return?" Russ said, nodding to Axis, "We killed Alpharius on our way here and shattered his Legion."
Axis nodded in return and clapped his adoptive father on the shoulder.
So Alpharius had fallen to the Wolf King, not Dorn.
"We received news that Horus was besieging Holy Terra," Lion El'Jonson explained, "We discussed it, and Russ and I decided to return as reinforcements while the others held the line against the Rangdan. When we arrived in the system, we encountered Alpharius, and we killed him."
Holy Terra had been besieged.
It was a matter of survival. The frontiers of the Imperium were important, but Holy Terra was more so. That was why the Space Wolves and Dark Angels had returned, but it seemed they were still a step too late. The sight of the Emperor in his current state filled the Lion and the Wolf King with immense regret, regret that they had not arrived sooner to personally end the life of the traitor Horus.
"I see. You all appear to be wounded. Share this fruit," Axis said, nodding.
He passed the Fruit of the Tree of Might he had offered the Emperor to the assembled Primarchs. "The life energy within it will heal your injuries."
At that moment, nearly every Primarch present was injured in some way, their conditions far from optimal after fighting to their absolute limits.
The Primarchs nodded and together they shared the fruit, its life energy restoring their bodies and bringing their stamina back to its peak.
Meanwhile, with the support of Kratos and Kasha, the Emperor made his way to the Golden Throne.
"Father," Magnus began, unable to hold back as he looked at the Emperor before him. "Have you… have you decided?"
"Magnus," the Emperor said, looking at his son. "Others may not understand why, but you do. This can no longer be changed."
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ps?