Terra.
The final days of the Unification Wars.
The battlefield of the Navian Peninsula.
The Emperor strode across the war-torn, frozen plain, his face an unreadable mask beneath a radiant aura. His golden armor gleamed, deflecting the biting chill of the wind. A longsword hung at his waist, unsheathed, its circuits dormant, the blade cold and silent.
Around him, craters from artillery fire scarred the earth, and gray snow, laced with radiation, drifted from the sky. The low hum of Thunder Warriors' power armor filled the air as they moved heavily across the battlefield, searching. They rescued surviving comrades and dispatched enemies who still clung to life.
The Emperor stepped over groaning soldiers pleading for aid, past lifeless bodies frozen in the snow, and approached a circular formation of his Custodes.
At its center stood a lone, gray-haired man, shivering in the cold. He wore a tattered cloak made from the pelts of cloned beasts, his body bruised and bloodied, arms wrapped tightly around himself.
This was Morgan, supreme ruler of the Morgan Federation and a fervent worshipper of Chaos. He commanded a fanatical religious army, one of many warlords who had opposed the Emperor's unification of Terra. Like the others, he had fallen, now a captive before the Emperor's might.
"So, this is the end?" Morgan asked, a bleak smile crossing his face as the Emperor approached.
The Emperor remained silent. The wind stirred his long black hair, and the cold, unyielding sun glinted off his sword.
"Why?" Morgan lifted his gaze, voice breaking. "Why slaughter my people?"
"Your people will live," the Emperor replied. "But you and your deranged army have no such right."
"Lord of Terra," Morgan spat the title, his laughter wild and unhinged.
The Emperor shook his head. "No. Lord of Humanity."
"Ha! Humanity?" Morgan's laughter grew manic. "A single planet can't sate your ambition, can it? Even the stars aren't enough for you. Your arrogance is beyond redemption."
The Emperor did not argue. His gaze swept the battlefield. "Victory is mine."
"Tyrant," Morgan hissed. "Butcher of the civilized world."
"I bring enlightenment," the Emperor said, his voice steady. "And I will bring a new dawn. Humanity will rise again, and ruling the galaxy is our destined fate."
"You bring a curse," Morgan snarled. "In the name of salvation, you'll drive humanity to ruin. As long as I breathe, I'll curse you. One day, all you've built will crumble to dust."
His venomous words provoked the Custodes. One stepped forward, striking Morgan with the butt of his spear. The blow wasn't meant to kill, but the Custodian's strength was immense. Half of Morgan's face collapsed—bone and flesh shattered, his eye reduced to a pulp of blood and tissue.
"Enough, Sagittarius," the Emperor commanded, naming the Custodian and halting further violence.
He knew each Custodian by name, having crafted them himself. Raised from childhood, they were his perfect creations.
Sagittarius hesitated, then bowed in apology and rejoined the ranks.
The Emperor looked at Morgan, writhing in pain, with a flicker of pity. His vision pierced through illusions, seeing the truth of things. Morgan's soul was a rotten husk, corrupted by darkness. Beneath his human form lurked a vile Warp entity—obsidian claws writhed, grotesque mouths cackled, spewing blasphemous shrieks.
"Your soul is consumed by darkness, fodder for those vile entities," the Emperor said. "I warned you to shun those so-called gods. They care nothing for your faith or devotion. They crave only violence and slaughter."
Morgan opened his mouth, struggling to speak.
The Emperor ignored him, activating his sword's power field. Golden flames roared along the blade's intricate runes. With a single swing, Morgan's head rolled into the snow.
The surrounding soldiers erupted in cheers.
At that moment, Waldo, Commander of the Custodes, spoke through the Emperor's private channel. "Your Majesty, there's something in the bunker you should see."
Morgan's bunker was a ruin—strewn with rubble, broken bodies, and smoldering weapons. Mortal troops cleared the debris, hauling corpses and charred wreckage outside with loaders. Every soldier saluted the Emperor with awe and reverence as he passed.
Waldo waited alone in a chamber deep within the bunker. The Custodes at the door saluted as the Emperor entered.
There, atop a half-meter-wide, meter-tall pillar of unknown material, sat a peculiar raven statue.
Waldo bowed. "My apologies, Majesty. I should have greeted you outside."
"What is this?" the Emperor asked.
"This statue is strange," Waldo said. "When I look away, its memory slips from my mind. Only when I see it again does the recollection return."
"Impossible," the Emperor said. "Your memory is infallible. You never forget what you've seen."
"I tested it, Majesty. When I left the room, I forgot the statue entirely. Only upon returning did I recall it."
The Emperor turned his gaze from the statue. Its details faded—first the specifics, then its vague outline. Before the memory vanished completely, he looked back, and the statue's image snapped back into clarity.
Even he, with his unmatched mind, could not retain its memory when looking away.
Waldo struck the statue with his war halberd, its arc of lightning passing through as if the statue were a phantom from another dimension. Yet his other hand touched its solid form.
The Emperor approached and brushed the statue's surface.
[Destiny's Protagonist detected. Initiating revival protocol.]
Light pulsed across the cold stone. Moments later, the raven came alive. Its feathers gleamed black, its eyes unnaturally bright. It floated, unbound by gravity, stepping through the air.
"Care to make a pact, mortal?" it said. "Agree, and I'll grant you limitless power, wealth, and dominion."
The Emperor's expression remained calm, unshaken by the statue's transformation. "A Warp creature? Such crude temptation lacks any originality."
The raven studied the figure before it—nearly four meters tall, black-haired, black-eyed, clad in golden armor that glowed with divine radiance, a crown of thorns upon his head. It glanced at Waldo, resplendent in mica-gold armor, his halberd crackling with energy.
"Shiny golden titan," the raven muttered. "Golden armor, war halberd, power weapons, humanity, Earth as my screening range, and such terrifying psychic power…" Its eyes widened. "Holy stars, you're the Emperor?"
The Emperor, hearing his title, ignited his sword. Golden flames surged along the blade, its heavy form radiating apocalyptic power.
The raven flapped back, alarmed. "Whoa, big guy, hold off! I've got connections across the multiverse. It's risky, sure, but the rewards are huge. We can work together."
"I don't deal with demons," the Emperor said, his voice ice-cold.
"I'm no demon," the raven protested. "I'm a traveler across the multiverse, fundamentally different from your universe's fiends."
The Emperor paused, his sword still raised. "Multiverse? Our universe? You claim to come from another?"