With the hum of machinery, a vast number of Extinction Automata moved to block the tide of Chaos at the front, tasked with holding the line.
And the way they held the line was… slaughter!
"Maximum alert. Execute extermination protocol."
These abominable machines from the Dark Age of Technology emitted a grating electronic shriek that made people's teeth ache, and radiated an aura of raw terror.
The next moment, searing flashes erupted. Forbidden lances of light and shockwaves surged toward the Chaos tide.
It was like ramming a red-hot blade into butter.
Rumble—
Those daemon engines toppled and exploded like piles of children's blocks.
Atomic pulse cannons and a host of other proscribed weapons created waves of explosive fire along the line, burning away into the distance and scouring everything in front of them.
The daemons of Chaos howled under the lethal barrage.
Across vast regions of the world, it was as if ring after ring of fire had been lit, their destructive shockwaves overturning the entire Chaos battleline.
Both mortal soldiers and Dark Angels alike were deeply shaken by the sight.
"We actually stopped the abominable evil?!"
Sapphon and the others trembled, then could no longer suppress their joy. "N-No, not just held them—we're annihilating that evil!"
They looked toward that lone figure, and even greater reverence took root in their hearts.
All of this had been brought by their gene-father, the Lion. This being, with an unstoppable display of might, had struck down the abominable evil.
At some point, Lion El'Jonson had stepped onto a large mechanized platform hovering in mid-air, facing the masses.
"I am Lion El'Jonson, Primarch of the Dark Angels, loyal son of the Emperor…"
Behind him the explosions thundered, yet his voice, carried by machines, reached every ear unhindered.
The Lion used proscribed machinery to address everyone: "I have been absent from the Imperium for ten millennia. Now that I have returned, all I see is endless darkness and ruin.
I have not come with the intent to rule, nor do I seek to claim for myself the titles of Emperor, Regent, or anything of the sort.
I have come to destroy every dark threat, to protect mankind. The Lion will shelter you, and shelter all humans of Vostonia."
After being savagely scolded by the Emperor earlier, the Lion no longer entertained thoughts of acting as Regent or founding some 'Second Imperium'.
Otherwise, his father would likely never forgive him.
So now his only ambition was to protect humanity, to win more glorious campaigns and prove his worth to that father.
To prove he was not that far beneath the Saviour.
At the very least, he too was a Primarch capable of shielding the Imperium. His return after ten thousand years was not something "optional" or dispensable.
Vmmm—
Lion ignited the blade of his sword, his armor gleaming in the light of the fires.
"In the name of the Emperor, I shall lead you in the destruction of every Chaos foe on this world.
No matter how many they are, no matter how mighty, there is only one ending for them: annihilation beneath the Lion's wrath!"
"For the Emperor!"
"The Lion!"
The oath of this legendary Primarch completely set the warriors' spirits ablaze.
They roared his legendary name and hurled themselves at the foes of Chaos with even greater ferocity.
After that, more Dark Angels followed the Lion in boarding assaults, charging toward the enemy's core positions under the cover of the Extinction Automata.
"This is the power the First Legion should have. The afterglow of the Great Crusade has not faded; it has been preserved to this very day."
Lion swung his blade, cutting down one Chaos foe after another.
He could feel the same human will to fight that he had only ever sensed during the Great Crusade. The return of a Primarch had brought new hope.
"Your Highness, the abominations of Chaos are afraid. They fear you."
Sapphon kept close to the Lion's side, his gaze full of awe.
Everyone had now accepted the reality of the legend returned. He even felt that there was nothing in existence that could stand before this legend.
As for the so-called "Saviour-Primarch of Hope," few even mentioned him anymore.
They had the Lion—a legend before their very eyes, a legend who had saved them.
Lion was not especially surprised by this result.
"They should be afraid. Within three days we will have cleared this planet of Chaos foes, and then we will make contact and gather more armies."
"Three days?"
"Yes. That is the most conservative estimate. The proscribed legions from the Dark Age of Technology are the most terrifying killing machines.
Not even daemons can withstand the assault of such malign artifice."
Lion knew very well how terrifying the Extinction Automata were; they could scour an entire world clean in a very short span of time.
This time he had released all of the Extinction Automata. Forget just dealing with the daemons on this planet—he could fight several more apocalypse-scale wars with them.
It would be no problem at all.
It was just a pity there still weren't enough of these malign machines. Otherwise, humanity would not be suffering so much at the hands of heretics and xenos, nor would it have lost so much territory.
But honestly, if their numbers were any higher, even he would not dare to unleash them all. If these malign machines had any kind of malfunction, or slipped free of control…
That would be trouble.
The Extinction Automata now were all broken remnants—captured, tortured, and lobotomized. If they ever slipped the leash and had a chance to upgrade themselves…
Humanity might face a devastation even worse than Chaos—an apocalypse more terrible than any daemon.
Thankfully, for the moment, he could still control them.
"What terrifying creations…"
Sapphon stared at the malign machines rampaging in slaughter all around, a trace of dread flickering in his eyes.
The weapons of those machines were so lethal that every discharge and eruption turned daemon flesh into mangled scraps.
Even Chaos engines could not stop them and were simply torn apart.
They might be even more horrifying killing machines than the daemons of Khorne—cold, efficient, utterly without emotion.
Even if only a head remained, it could still focus a beam from its optical sensors or self-detonate to harm the foe.
The combination of the Lion, the Extinction Automata, and the Dark Angels inflicted a massive psychological shock and terror upon the Chaos forces.
"No…"
A Greater Daemon of Chaos crashed to the ground, spitting out a venomous curse in unwilling fury. "Primarch, this is only the beginning. You will never know victory, never. The spread of Chaos is already a fixed reality.
You will regret setting foot on this world, regret coming to Vostonia. You pathetic worms will all be buried together with the Saviour!"
"I have no interest in your death-throes. The fact is simply that you fear me, and you fear my army."
Lion did not give the Greater Daemon any chance to continue. With a single stroke, he ended it.
Something then occurred to him, and he shook his head and murmured:
"It seems Vostonia truly is a trap the Chaos Gods laid for that Saviour fellow. Fortunately I arrived in time and can break their scheme ahead of schedule."
From the information left behind by the Greater Daemons, the Lion roughly pieced together the current situation.
The Chaos Gods meant to lay a snare to kill the new Emperor of the Imperium—his "cheap" Primarch brother.
"Your Highness, you know that Saviour?"
Sapphon asked curiously. He had not expected their newly returned gene-father to also know of the holy being spoken of in the prophecy.
Lion flicked the blood off his blade and did not bother to explain much. "The Saviour is one of my Primarch brothers, you could consider him the twenty-second Primarch of the Imperium."
He did not wish to say much about the Saviour; there was no point.
"Of course. The Saviour is a Primarch as well—how could our gene-father not know him?"
Sapphon came to his senses.
The Saviour was a Primarch just like the Lion, and perhaps even lower than the Lion in the Primarch order.
After all, their gene-father, the Lion, was the First Primarch, second only to the traitor Horus in status.
With that thought, the halo around the Saviour's image in the Grand Master-Chaplain's mind dimmed considerably. He no longer seemed so mysterious, so divine.
"Since we know about this matter, we cannot ignore it."
Lion looked over the Dark Angels and said calmly, "In the time ahead, we must find the chance to break the enemy's scheme, lest my brother face too much danger by the time he arrives."
As the First Primarch—the eldest brother among Primarchs—he could not just stand by and watch his younger brothers suffer. Helping his brother through this crisis was only right.
Besides, that Saviour fellow had indirectly provided him with a lot of materiel. It was only proper for him to lend a hand in return.
It was for the Imperium as well.
With those words, the Lion's image loomed even taller in the hearts of the Dark Angels, faintly overshadowing the Saviour.
The earlier worship brought by the oracle gradually faded.
As the war dragged on, the Extinction Automata unleashed more and more of their power. Gigantic lances of light, black gravity waves, molecular-disruption cannons and more swept across the battlefield.
The radiation they caused spread to even more regions.
Whole swathes of hive cities collapsed. With terrifying might, the malign machines smashed apart the daemons.
The devastation they caused was even greater than that of the initial daemon invasion.
Gradually, both humans and daemons began to fear the power the Lion commanded.
Humanity worshipped the Lion ever more fervently, while the daemons knew only terror.
At the very least, this world had been saved. Humanity would live through the Chaos tide.
"Abominations of Chaos, your doomsday has come!"
Lion's confidence returned.
He leapt from the upper levels of the hive-palace, forced a Heldrake under his control, and charged straight toward the last cluster of Greater Daemons.
He was that strong.
As the Heldrake crashed down and exploded, the Lion burst from the fire, facing several Greater Daemons alone.
The more he fought, the stronger he seemed to grow, grievously wounding one Greater Daemon after another, with others escaping in sheer terror.
The legend felt wonderful. His blade was far from dull—if anything, he was stronger than he had been during the Great Crusade.
"By the Emperor… what power…"
Under the people's awestruck gazes, the Lion looked like a king of warriors. In an invincible display, he slew every invading Greater Daemon.
Once the legendary Primarch had dealt with the Greater Daemons, the daemonic horde's assault faltered, and the Extinction Automata continued to purge the remaining forces of Chaos.
This war of Chaos invasion… was over.
Waves of cheers crashed again and again. The entire world roared the Lion's name.
He had brought them salvation.
Top spires of the hive, the royal palace.
After the war ended, the First Primarch, the Lion, had come to this palace to rest for a while.
"Your Highness, the planetary governor of Calisde requests to hold a celebration in your honor…"
Grand Master-Chaplain Sapphon approached and half-knelt before the Lion on the throne. "He wishes the people of Calisde to witness a legendary Primarch with their own eyes."
It was an old tradition of the Imperium. After a great war, there would always be celebrations to lift morale, followed by the construction of monumental statues and heroic memorials.
Sometimes, a world would spend decades or even centuries building a great wonder in commemoration.
If it was for a Primarch, the scale would be far greater.
"That won't be necessary. We do not have that much time to dawdle here."
Lion shook his head, refusing the request.
As one who had always upheld the Imperial Truth, he still was not used to such worship. It reminded him of the statues and immense cathedral-cities Lorgar had once raised to the Emperor.
Yet he could not deny that the Imperium had changed far too much.
Perhaps raising giant statues to focus faith was also a way of resisting the evil of Chaos. Hearts needed a place to settle, or they would wander into dangerous thoughts.
He would have to adapt to all of this as well.
"Sapphon, have the Techmarines re-work my armor. As for the specific style, follow the Sav— follow a more… ornate style."
Lion looked at the Grand Master-Chaplain and finally voiced a request.
But he could not quite bring himself to say that he wanted to imitate the Saviour's way of crafting an image. He only planned to have his armor made more ornate.
More imposing.
He had no choice. Nowadays, the Saviour and that annoying one all had armor that shone with halos and stacked visual effects. If he went out in plain heavy plate and a big monster-hide cloak…
He would be crushed in terms of sheer presence. It was a little undignified, and not helpful when it came to projecting authority.
"As you command. The Techmarines are already working on your armor."
After sending off the message, Sapphon asked about their future plans. "What shall we do next? Do we muster forces here, or move on to other regions?
According to the original plan, the Dark Angels are to proceed to the sector capital, Vostonia."
"Then we follow the original plan. It is the right choice."
Lion stepped down from the throne, boots pressing into the beast-hide carpet as he walked outward. "We can gather more forces at the sector capital and consolidate more strength."
He walked all the way out onto the palace balcony, the Grand Master-Chaplain following close behind.
"Looking at a sky like this fills me with unease."
Lion gazed up at the oppressive, dark sky and spoke suddenly.
He could not see the light of the star.
The lingering warp-tainted mists and the black smoke of burning almost completely blanketed the world's atmosphere, weighing on every heart.
"Judging from past experience, this sort of profane energy will persist for some time before it dissipates.
And we'll need even more time to fully restore the planet's environment."
Sapphon explained patiently.
He knew the Primarch had only just returned and did not yet fully understand the daemons of Chaos. "During this period, more mortals will die from mental or physical mutations.
That is why Chaos is so terrible, more troublesome than most xenos, even more destructive than Ork spores."
There was one thing the Grand Master-Chaplain did not say, or rather, did not wish to bring up.
After this, the planet would also "proactively" cull a number of warriors whose minds or bodies showed potential signs of mutation, to eliminate hidden threats.
Many warriors who had survived fighting Chaos on the front lines would die under mankind's own guns instead.
But that was the usual face of the Imperium's dark side, and they were long used to it.
"No. I mean that the energies of Chaos have grown stronger again. I can feel it—rifts and storms are forming."
Lion's tone grew more serious, his gaze sharpening.
His instincts were blaring warnings. Somewhere within the warp, something unknown was surging.
"What?!"
Sapphon stiffened at his words and quickly felt the same oppressive presence.
Not only the Lion and the Grand Master-Chaplain—many perceptive Space Marines and psykers across the globe sensed something as well. One by one, they lifted their heads and stared toward a patch of sky.
Riiip—
It was as if the firmament had been torn open. The black clouds within the upper atmosphere began to twist and whirl as if disturbed by some unseen force.
"By the Emperor…"
Through breaks in the clouds, Lion and Sapphon saw the void beyond. The boundless darkness had changed, as if someone had ripped it apart.
A hideous, prismatic scar appeared in reality.
It was a massive rift linking the warp and the galaxy, spanning the entire Vostonia sub-sector and engulfing more and more worlds.
Boom, boom, boom—
Heavier shockwaves rolled in from beyond the sky. Then countless meteor-trails appeared, the result of steel wreckage burning as it slammed into atmosphere.
Finally, a colossal mass crashed through the clouds and slammed into a distant hive, delivering an indescribable psychic shock.
A battleship—an Imperial battleship!
A Retribution-class battleship, over ten kilometers long, plummeted and slammed into the hive's surface at an angle, creating a titanic plume of fire tens of kilometers high, like a fallen sun.
The impact was equivalent to the simultaneous detonation of dozens of large nuclear warheads—world-shattering. Even the hive's void shields were shattered in an instant.
Everyone fell silent under the shock of that sight.
Once the glare dimmed a little, Lion immediately looked back to the sky and saw Imperial warships exploding one after another.
They had suffered some irresistibly powerful attack and were being destroyed in moments.
More terrifying still, four enormous silhouettes appeared among the stars, like primeval gods standing in the void.
Those were the Chaos Gods' reflections in the galaxy, their shadowy forms gazing down upon the Vostonia sub-sector.
Darkness advanced from four directions, converging on the center and brewing a dreadful warp-shadow.
The stars dimmed, then lost all their light.
So the earlier invasion truly had only been the beginning. This was the real hour of darkest night.
Despair spread, impossible to contain.
"So this is the power of the Chaos Gods…"
The Lion stared at the scene, his body shaking despite himself, an instinctive response to extreme danger.
Only now did he truly grasp what kind of foe the Imperium was facing, what kind of unstoppable darkness lay before it.
"Sapphon, perhaps we need more reinforcements."
Lion turned to the Grand Master-Chaplain, his voice trembling just slightly.
"That oracle from the Emperor—did it say when the Saviour would arrive? Is there any way to contact him based on the prophecy?"
He realized that he could not hold this war alone, might not even be able to endure until reinforcements arrived.
Hurry up and get here, Saviour…
(End of Chapter)
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