"Hahaha! We did it, Father! We successfully repaired a part of the Webway!" Magnus's face was alight with excitement.
The Emperor looked at Magnus and Axis with relief. If these two children of his had not returned as fast, the Webway project would have collapsed entirely, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Yes, we have succeeded," the Emperor said, turning his gaze to Axis, "How was the battle in your section of the Webway?"
"It was a walk in the park," Axis replied with a shrug, "I could have crushed those daemons with one hand tied behind my back. If I hadn't been barred from using my Ki, I could have just sat there and fired off energy blasts. None of them would have ever reached me."
For the Custodes, the Sisters of Silence, and the mortal soldiers, the War in the Webway was a perilous and terrifying conflict.
The daemons could kill them, and their numbers were infinite.
But for a transcendent warrior like Axis, these denizens of the Warp were nothing more than amusing toys.
If he had to make a comparison, it was like one of those hack-and-slash games he used to play before his new life. In fact, it was even easier.
"Hahaha! Only you could speak of it so lightly," the Emperor said with a sigh, "In these past four months, I have lost over a thousand of my Custodian Guard."
His Custodes had even been enhanced with the juice from the Tree of Might Fruit Axis had given him, yet they had still suffered grievous losses in the Webway.
"They can't be compared to me," Axis said, "When I arrived, I saw the psychic shield you and Magnus had formed to mend the breach. But four colossal hands are gripping the edges of the tear in reality. It will be incredibly difficult to repair it completely."
There was no need to guess whose hands those were.
"The four Ruinous Powers have always sought to prevent humanity's development," the Emperor said with a heavy sigh, "They want mankind to fall to their worship, to live mired in endless desire, and to become their slaves."
The pressure from the Chaos Gods was immense. However, they never dared to push him too far, for if they did, the Dark King would awaken.
The Emperor had once sworn an oath to the Four. If the last human in the galaxy were to fall and their soul were to be absorbed by him upon the Golden Throne, the Dark King would emerge and bring about their utter annihilation.
The Chaos Gods did not want this Dark King to appear and destroy the entire universe, turning it into a realm of absolute darkness.
So, while they plotted against him, they always held something back.
"We will thwart their schemes, Father," Magnus declared.
"I know," the Emperor replied. "Magnus, you should leave the Golden Throne for now. Return tomorrow, and we will work on the Webway together. You are not needed here at this moment."
"My Lord Father! I can hold on a while longer. Please, you must go and rest," Magnus insisted. "You have been seated here for over four months. You must take a break."
He himself had only been on the Throne for three days, whereas his father had endured for months. If anyone deserved a rest, it was the Emperor. Magnus was certain he could hold the line for a while longer. The psychic shield was already in place; all he needed to do was maintain it.
"Magnus is right, Father-in-law," Axis added. "You really should get some proper rest."
The Emperor was silent for a moment before he nodded. Placing a hand on the armrest of the Golden Throne, he pushed himself to his feet with a surge of effort.
The instant the Emperor rose from the Throne, Magnus was struck by a pain more intense and terrifying than anything he had ever felt.
The psychic burden he shouldered had instantly doubled.
"Are you alright, Magnus?"
"Do not… worry, F-Father," Magnus stammered, his forehead slick with sweat. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to endure. "I can… I can withstand it. I can hold it long enough for you to rest for a full day."
"Very well. I will rest for a few hours, and then I will return to relieve you," the Emperor said, "And Axis, you should rest as well."
Axis nodded. He left the Throne Room with the Emperor, while ranks of Custodes, who had just finished their own rest cycle, stood ready. Alongside them were Imperial Fists Space Marines and Sisters of Silence, all prepared to charge into the Webway at the first sign of trouble.
Seated upon the Golden Throne, Magnus let out intermittent cries of agony. His face was pale, and his body trembled uncontrollably. This was a torment that no ordinary soul could ever bear. He was grateful that his father had established the psychic shield first. Otherwise, he would have had to erect the barrier himself while suffering this excruciating agony.
After leaving the Throne Room, the Emperor breathed a sigh of relief. A great feast had been prepared in the kitchens, and Axis was already seated at the table, devouring everything in sight. After fighting daemons for four days and three nights in the Webway, he was famished.
He consumed vast quantities of food, converting it all into Ki to replenish his body.
The Emperor also sat down and ate a small portion.
Just then, Rogal Dorn and Malcador entered the chamber and bowed to the Emperor.
"My Lord, you have risen from the Golden Throne?" Malcador asked.
"For the moment," the Emperor replied, "Magnus can take my place for a time, allowing me to rest. Do you two have anything to report? What is the status of the rebellion? Have you been able to contact Guilliman, Sanguinius, or young Axis?"
"Father," Rogal Dorn began, "I have broadcast the news of Horus's rebellion to every world still in communication with Holy Terra. However, we cannot reach Guilliman, Sanguinius, or young Axis at all. We have also lost contact with Leman Russ and the Lion."
"Tomorrow, Magnus and I will try to combine our psychic might to break through the warp storms and make the light of the Astronomican shine brighter," the Emperor said, "Our first priority is to quell this rebellion."
Before, he would have been helpless. The terrifying warp storms made communication and travel impossible. But now, Magnus had returned. With their combined psychic power focused through the Astronomican, they could transmit some messages, even through the tempests of Chaos.
However, guiding ships through the Warp would still require immense psychic strength. Together, their power was only sufficient to navigate a few select fleets. For now, most of the Imperium's merchant vessels and warships had to resort to blind warp jumps, a method that was both dangerous and inaccurate.
This state of affairs could not be allowed to continue for long, or the Imperium of Man would shatter once more. The Emperor even considered installing the experimental hyper-light engines, capable of twenty times the speed of light, onto some of his ships just to re-establish contact with the star systems immediately surrounding Terra. A drive with that speed would be sufficient for travel within a few dozen light-years, though the journey would be much slower than warp travel.
"If there was a device that could amplify the Astronomican," Axis said between mouthfuls of food, "could your and Magnus's combined psychic power pierce through the Chaos Gods' warp storms then?"
The Emperor's head snapped up. "Axis, do you possess such a device?"
"I don't," Axis replied, "but that doesn't mean no one else does. I know of an ancient piece of xenos technology that performs the same function as the Astronomican on Holy Terra. It can guide the Imperium's ships through the Warp. If we can find it and use it in conjunction with our own beacon, we should be able to navigate fleets through the storms."
As he recalled, Guilliman had used something similar during the era of the Imperium Secundus, a device like Terra's own beacon. It was an artifact from an ancient xenos civilization, rumored to be of Necron origin. Axis could not remember its name, but he knew that right now, it was one of the few things that could help the Imperium. After all, the Imperium Secundus had relied on it for short-range navigation, which at least kept the 500 Worlds of Ultramar safe from the influence of the warp storms.
The Emperor's eyes lit up as he instantly realized what Axis was talking about. In the futures he had foreseen, the Imperium Secundus founded by Guilliman, Sanguinius, and the Lion did indeed possess a navigational beacon much like the Astronomican. But now, the future had changed. The Lion, for instance, was unlikely to ever co-found such an empire.
"If it is a xenos artifact, we cannot use it," Rogal Dorn said, flatly rejecting Axis's proposal. To use the works of xenos was heresy of the highest order.
The Emperor, however, raised a hand, cutting Dorn off. He looked at Axis and said, "Your idea has merit, Axis. Such a device could indeed help humanity. Do you know its specific location?"
"I don't," Axis admitted. "But Guilliman is destined to find it."
The Emperor nodded in agreement.
"My Lord," Axis proposed, "instead of having Jaghatai Khan return to Terra, we should send him to find Guilliman and bring the beacon back."
Just at that moment, an astropath rushed into the hall.
"A message for the Master of Mankind! Urgent military intelligence!"
"What is it?" the Emperor asked, turning to face him.
"My Emperor! Ferrus Manus, along with several other primarchs, has departed for the Isstvan system!"