Chapter 109: Turning Point
"Sacrifice!"
Horus's voice echoed like thunder across the bridge.
"Pave the way for our victory with sacrifices of flesh and gene-seed! Offer all the Legion serfs and a tenth of the gene-seed to the Gods of the Warp!"
This command was like a giant stone thrown into a calm abyss, causing massive shock within the traitor Legions.
A flash of anger and reluctance crossed Mortarion's eyes. He was unwilling to offer those gene-seeds, but the whispers of Chaos entangled his ears, and the corrupting will forced him to comply.
Lorgar accepted the command without hesitation, even showing fanatical excitement.
He even shouted, "This is the will of the Gods! This is divinity!"
Fulgrim's face showed a sickly smile; he seemed to be enjoying the chaos.
Abaddon felt only coldness inside, numbly carrying out the Primarch's command. At this moment, he felt revulsion toward Horus.
In his heart, the once-great Warmaster had become a slave to Chaos!
The serfs of various Legions were dragged onto the altars.
The screams of countless souls echoed through the ships, their last shred of hope stripped away.
"No! Don't kill me!"
"No! I'm still a child!"
"Aaaaaah!"
Blood gathered like rivers, staining the warship decks. Chaos priests chanted ancient incantations, and psychic flames burned brightly, forming evil runes.
The gene-seed was placed at the center of the altar. These genetic legacies, which once represented the Imperium's glory and honor, were now reduced to tools of Chaos. Each gene-seed emitted dazzling light, but was ultimately devoured by Chaos energy.
As the sacrifice was completed, the entire fleet's energy field began fluctuating violently.
More Chaos energy rushed into Horus's body. His form wildly changed between different states: Luna Wolves, Warmaster, the corruption of Davin, a mass of pitch-black Chaos energy!
The rate of change became faster and faster, finally settling on a mass of pitch-black Chaos energy!
Distorted cracks appeared in the void, as if an invisible giant hand had torn open reality's curtain. The warp's presence spread like poisonous mist, devouring everything around the warship.
Guilliman's eyes, seeing all this, revealed unconcealed shock and anger.
He slammed his fist on the command console, his voice deep but filled with suppressed fury.
"This is his last resort! He's actually willing to use this method to open the path to Terra!"
Suddenly, an irresistible force surged from the warp rift, engulfing the entire loyalist fleet. People on the bridge felt an invisible heavy pressure on their hearts, the flow of time seemed to slow down, or even freeze.
Blood floated around the rift, as if suspended in the air!
The power of the warp also began to erode the surrounding reality.
"Hahahaha! Guilliman! When I execute the False Emperor, I will place His head before you!"
"Hahahaha! Humanity belongs to Chaos!"
Horus's crazed voice reached their ears.
Guilliman was aware of everything, but their bodies seemed to move in slow motion.
He wanted to move, to retort, but he couldn't! They could only watch helplessly as Horus's traitors flew into the warp, heading straight for Terra!
His heart screamed incessantly! All the Chaos Legions entered the warp. The restraints on the loyalists ended.
"All forces, return to defend Terra!"
The moment he could move, Guilliman immediately issued the order for everyone to turn around and return to Terra.
Guilliman and the others' warships arrived at the edge of the Sol System. They saw twisted radiance surging in the void, as if a giant psychic bubble covered the entire star system.
The light of the stars was obscured by eerie colors, and planetary orbits became blurred and distorted, as if each planet was rotating at a different rate of time.
Cracks, like countless eyes, surrounded the Sol System. Each eye was like a pathological arc tens of thousands of kilometers long, flashing throughout the system.
Two universes, two opposing forces, were merging in a way that violated the laws of the cosmos.
The warp and the material realm began to devour each other! When a scout ship flew into it, contact was lost the moment it entered. It just stopped there, like an ornament!
"What do we do? We can't get in at all. Maybe we should just disband." Perturabo's face was solemn upon seeing this, and he even wanted to leave with the Iron Warriors.
"This is Father's time of crisis! How can you leave?"
"That's your Father, too!" Ferrus frowned. The two of them were clearly in sync in other aspects, but why was his brother not concerned about Father?
"If you don't dare, I do! My fate is mine, not heaven's!"
"Night Lords, follow me to Terra to save the world!"
Konrad Curze dropped the notebook in his hand. He felt his body filled with power! Could mere temporal distortion be more terrifying than the great dark calamity?
He didn't believe it!
Konrad Curze ignored all other dissuasions, leading the Night Lords' fleet directly into the Sol System!
And then, predictably, got stuck in place!
Guilliman: "..."
Lion: "..."
"..."
They could even use scanners to see that the Sol System was full of daemons, falling out of countless rifts.
Terra's sky, torn by Chaos, was reflected blood-red like purgatory, and countless daemons poured out of warp rifts.
Malcador the Sigillite stood on a high battlefield platform, his gaze like a burning star, surrounded by the flame-like radiance of his psychic power. Raising his rune-inscribed staff, he transmitted orders to the Grey Knights.
"Expel every daemon! Defend the Imperium's glory!"
The Grey Knights, clad in silver aegis armor, wielded psychic-purifying swords and warhammers.
Their battle cry was like thunder: "For the Emperor!"
Every incantation caused an explosion in space, and psychic light beams tore daemons apart.
On the other side, Constantine Valdor, Captain-General of the Custodians, wielded the Apollonian Spear, furiously slaughtering Bloodthirsters attempting to approach, and roaring:
"For the Emperor!"
The Custodians, clad in auramite armor, advanced relentlessly, every shot precise and deadly.
The mighty daemons spewed flames at the Custodians, but the moment the Sisters of Silence appeared, the huge flames instantly vanished.
Standing on the front lines were the Imperial Fists, forming a defensive line, their yellow armor particularly striking amid the bloodshed.
They used giant shield walls to block the daemon charge, while heavy artillery behind them fired continuously, blasting daemon hordes into bloody mist.
Sigismund stood at the very front, longsword in hand.
As his blade swung, it killed a roaring Keeper of Secrets that charged at him. He said coldly, "No daemon shall cross this line. Terra is our holy ground!"
Giant Titan war machines moved like walking gods, their weapons firing energy beams powerful enough to tear apart starships.
Each step was accompanied by earth-shaking roars, and wherever they passed, daemon corpses covered the battlefield.
Even Warlord Titans deployed, even mighty Greater Daemons like Ka'bandha would be destroyed by their powerful firepower!
Besides these, there were countless Solar Auxilia, driving various battlefield vehicles, becoming the sharp blades of the Imperium against the tide of Chaos.
A Hellhound tank advanced through the battlefield, spewing scorching flames, its tongues of fire like arms reaching from the abyss of hell, devouring daemon hordes.
Bloodletters tried to break through the flames, but were incinerated the moment they stepped into the inferno.
An Auxilia driver roared through the comms, "Burn these daemons clean! Let them taste humanity's wrath!" Flames reflected in his goggles, even as the smell of burning flesh constantly wafted from outside.
In the sky, Thunderbolt fighters screamed past, dropping incendiary bombs and fragmentation warheads. The bombs landed precisely in the densest daemon concentrations, and the shockwaves tore hundreds of daemons into flesh and blood.
Suddenly, a fighter was hit by daemonic fire. The fighter emitted dangerous warnings, but the pilot remained unmoved. He turned directly and dived into the densest daemon area, shouting:
"For the Emperor!"
At the same time, in the Throne Room, the Emperor, who was resisting Chaos corruption for Magnus, suddenly felt the power of the Chaos Gods disperse outside the Sol System.
"Now's the time!"
The Emperor suddenly absorbed a large amount of warp energy and, with a focused strike, unleashed a psychic tsunami toward Magnus, the light filled with unspeakable purity and majesty.
The corruption of Chaos had no time to react. The Emperor's psychic power surged forward with fierce intensity, and those dark forces instantly disintegrated, like ice meeting the scorching sun.
His psychic power penetrated deep into Magnus's soul. Fierce psychic flames continuously washed away the traces of corruption.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
The pain, like ten thousand needles piercing his soul, made Magnus roar uncontrollably; his voice carried pain, struggle, but also liberation.
His eyes gradually regained clarity, and the chaotic blue light was purified into golden radiance.
The moment the purification was complete, a golden ripple spread from the Throne Room, dispelling all traces of corruption within. The once heavy air became fresh, as if the first ray of morning sunlight had fallen.
Even the Astronomican let out a mournful scream, its crimson light completely vanished, replaced by the golden light representing the Emperor!
The Astronomican emitted an unprecedentedly vast light, ripples spreading throughout the entire galaxy, even beyond it!
Beyond the galaxy, in the endless void, a giant biological organism writhed constantly, its surface exuding a greedy hunger. Countless mouths, tentacles, and suckers covered its body, continually opening and closing, seemingly devouring energy and life from the void.
Its tentacles suddenly paused, as if it had smelled a taste it had never encountered before.
The light of the Astronomican crossed the edge of the galaxy, piercing through the silence of the void.
It seemed to stir with faint fluctuations, a mix of hunger, curiosity, and endless aggressive desire.
The scene returned to Terra.
"Hoo hoo hoo~"
Magnus was drenched in sweat, slumped on the Golden Throne, breathing heavily, looking at the Emperor with complex emotions: guilt, self-reproach, and newfound resolve.
"Father, I was wrong!"
"I shouldn't have made deals with those entities!"
The recent exertion also caused the Emperor's body to sway, as this was equivalent to Him directly clashing psychic powers with those beings.
They seemed truly desperate!
The Emperor placed His hand on Magnus's head and said, somewhat wearily, "You just stay here. I'm going out for a bit."
With Magnus's recovery, nearly half of the rifts in the Sol System quietly disappeared!
[End of Chapter]
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