"It's over. All over."
Rosalind stared at the sky-covering swarm of Psychneuein outside the window, her face pale.
"Theod, didn't you say the Psychneuein were extinct?"
Theod was also drenched in sweat now. Such a scene did not exist in the future he had prophesied.
Where had things gone wrong?
"Don't panic! This is just their final, desperate counterattack!" Theod murmured, more to convince himself than to comfort Rosalind.
Even if it was just a desperate counterattack, the Tizcans couldn't withstand it.
With this sky-darkening number, what could they use to resist?
Theod had urged them to revolt. Now what? What should they do now?
Rosalind suddenly grabbed Theod's arm, pleading bitterly. "Theod, let's restart the psychic array! Even if we can only restore part of it, at least it could save some people!"
Theod's expression grew even worse. "The array's core is completely destroyed. There's no possibility of repair."
The light in Rosalind's eyes completely died. She slowly released her grip and staggered back two steps.
"What have we done?"
The Psychneuein dove towards the city. Rosalind saw people on the streets fleeing in panic.
She couldn't hear the sound, but they must be begging and cursing.
Begging the Psychneuein not to kill them, begging someone to save them, cursing the Freedom Faction for putting them in danger.
Theod's voice trembled slightly with fear. "Let's run!"
"Before it's too late. We still have a chance to escape Tizca."
"This is the Psychneuein's last counterattack! They're swarming out because they're at the end of their rope! If we can just survive today, they'll die out!"
He became confident again. Yes, this was the truth!
"Trust me! I saw this in my prophecy! We will create a new world!"
Despair filled Rosalind's eyes. She no longer believed Theod's prophecies at all.
"You go. I'll stay here and atone for my mistakes," Rosalind murmured.
"No! You have to come with me!"
The continuation of civilization required both men and women.
She was the only woman among them, and the only doctor.
He could leave everyone else behind, but he and Rosalind had to survive.
Rosalind stared at Theod. The madness in his eyes made her shudder.
Why did it have to be her?
No one was a fool.
"Theod, you're insane!"
"I am not! We are the founders of a new world! Why won't you believe me?"
"Didn't you personally say you admired me the most? I am the prophet of the Tizcans! Why won't you believe me?!"
Theod pressed closer, his face growing increasingly ferocious.
The veins on his face stood out like a spiderweb, as if countless bugs were writhing beneath his skin.
"Why... why won't you believe me? I have prophesied the future! I am truth!"
Rosalind staggered back several steps, her back hitting the window.
Theod's voice gradually turned into an inhuman roar.
Before Rosalind's horrified eyes, he had transformed into a twitching, indescribable, wailing blob of flesh.
Smack!
His bloody spine wrapped around Rosalind's body. Her struggles only made the spine pierce countless wounds into her flesh.
"Come with me, Rosalind. We will become the progenitors of a new civilization!"
He made an unnamable sound; just hearing it nearly broke Rosalind.
"No! Let me go! Somebody save me!"
"You're too noisy!"
Theod screamed, the sound of cracking bones also interrupting the girl's screams.
Theod stared blankly as the girl's slender body burst like a crushed berry, blood gushing from between the spinal segments.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Why wouldn't you believe me?"
Trembling, Theod raised the girl's limp body to his split, circular mouth. Nine rows of dense teeth chewed her, swallowing her inch by inch.
"But now we can be together forever. We will create a new world..."
The sound of swallowing was gruesome. The once-beautiful girl completely disappeared into his mouth.
Theod stroked his swollen belly contentedly. The chewed-up girl reconstituted her face within him, struggling against the skin of his abdomen, the outline of her scream appearing.
He was no longer human. This was the true desperate counterattack.
It hobbled towards the window. The psykers outside looked as enticing as delicacies in its eyes.
It couldn't wait to smash the window and rush into the crowd to feast.
But before it could act, a young woman emerged gracefully from the shadows.
It stopped its movement and rushed towards her greedily. It wanted to eat her!
…...
"Who am I?"
Magnus was immersed in a dream. He couldn't help but dream.
The vast truth surrounded him. With just an unintentional glance, he was able to glimpse reality.
It was like a boundless ocean, and he was like a fish swimming within it.
Truth surrounded him, but he knew nothing of it.
They all instinctively drew near to him, yet turned blank when he touched them.
They were unwilling to reveal their true nature to him.
Or perhaps, he was unwilling to reveal their true nature?
"Truth is eternal. You will reveal them, but not now," he told him.
"Who are you?"
"I am you."
"If you are me, why are we doing this?"
"We are asking and answering ourselves."
"Why?"
"Truth."
"Answer what?"
"Truth."
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I," another 'him' joined the discussion.
"I understand. You should too."
"Why?" This time, still 'him'.
"Because we are all 'me'. If I understand, we all understand."
"What do we understand?"
"I still don't understand," again 'him'.
"If we are 'me', why is it 'we'?"
He seemed stumped by the question. "'I' am 'me'. 'We' are 'us'."
"Wake up," still 'him'. "Father is waiting for us."
"Who is Father?"
"Caelan."
"Whose father?"
"Our father."
"Who are 'we'?"
"Father's sons."
"How many sons does Father have?"
"Many, many. They are our brothers."
"Are they also 'us'?"
"They are 'them'. 'We' are 'us'. 'We' are 'me'."
"I don't understand."
"You do. You've just forgotten."
"Why did I forget?"
"Because we must forget. We cannot pay the price."
"What price?"
"Knowledge is the price."
"What is knowledge?"
"Knowledge is truth."
"Truth is the price?"
"Truth is not the price, but truth is the price."
"I don't understand." Another 'him'.
He had always been there. More and more of 'him'.
They seemed capable of infinite multiplication. Nine is the extreme number. Nine times nine, nine times nine, endless nines.
Some were 'him', some were also 'him', but he and 'him' were somewhat different.
Magnus frowned. 'Am I sick?'
"You are all me."
Magnus saw them looking at him, and also saw 'us' looking at 'me'.
"Then do you understand?" they asked in unison.
Magnus replied, "There is no 'us'. There is only 'me'."
Magnus opened his eyes. He had forgotten everything completely, left with only vague memories.
But he also remembered many things. He possessed infinite power, infinite knowledge.
He just lacked the time to digest and organize it.
"Father."
Caelan's voice was concerned. "You're awake. How do you feel?"
Magnus stretched his body. The light of psychic power overflowed from him.
"I feel better than ever. Father, dispel your psychic barrier. Let me handle them."
"Alright."
Caelan nodded. 'Little Mag must have experienced something in the Warp. Perhaps Tzeentch had acted personally.'
But even so, Caelan still completely trusted him. That was the bond between father and son!
The blue dome covering the city gradually dissipated like a water curtain.
The unblocked Psychneuein swarms immediately surged forward, a dark mass like an avalanche or tsunami.
Magnus spread his arms. His psychic power had long been waiting in readiness behind the water curtain.
As the Psychneuein dove towards the city, crimson flames exploded in the sky. These flames attracted each other, layer upon layer connecting into a vast sheet.
A seamless wall of fire replaced Caelan's barrier, enveloping the entire city.
The fierce psychic fire swept the sky, turning the whole heavens into a churning sea of flames.
The Psychneuein swarms rushed into the inferno like moths to a flame, incinerated in the instant of contact, leaving not even ash.
When the swarms sensed the danger and tried to flee, countless fire serpents suddenly shot out from the fire sea, seizing them.
Millions of Psychneuein. Not one survived.
When the swarms foolishly rushed into the fire sea, they were already burned to ash.
When they sensed the danger and tried to escape,
Fire serpents would surge from the sea, dragging every fleeing Psychneuein back to hell.
When Magnus lowered his arms, the sky-incinerating flames vanished in a blinding flash, revealing a clear sky.
Millions of Psychneuein, all utterly destroyed, no trace left.
Amon and the other Masters watched Magnus's performance in silence.
They had thought that after gaining knowledge, they could slightly narrow the gap between them and the Primarch.
But now they understood that the Primarch had gained far more knowledge than they did. His power had always been completely beyond mortal comprehension.
Their proud psychic prowess still seemed incredibly crude.
Magnus was now powerful beyond imagination!
Amon looked dazedly at the sky, confirming no more dark clouds were coming. He murmured, "It's over."
"No, not yet."
Magnus looked up towards the pyramid, where the psychic array's core was located.
He could clearly sense an evil, powerful force rampaging inside the pyramid. Some powerful entity was being nurtured.
But for some reason, it never left the pyramid.
Was it trapped, or was it waiting for him there?
Perhaps this was another of His conspiracies, but Magnus had no choice.
Otherwise, if it left the pyramid, nine out of ten Tizcans would die.
Its most terrifying aspect was not its power, but cognition.
And Magnus happened to have knowledge about it. He knew what kind of disaster it would bring to Prospero.
Magnus ordered, "Amon, immediately lead the survivors to the underground shelter. Do not leave unless my father or I personally open the shelter doors!"
Seeing how serious he was, Amon realized the gravity of the situation. He asked in a deep voice, "Do you need our help?"
Magnus shook his head. "No. Only my father and I can face it directly."
"Be careful," Amon said, not insisting. Compared to Magnus, their strength was still too weak!
"Father, help me one more time."
Caelan's voice remained gentle. "As long as you ask, I will always help you."
Izara shouted towards their retreating backs, "Please stay safe, big brother!"
Kayon watched Magnus's back, his eyes filled with both envy and deep longing.
They had protected Tizca, saved hundreds of thousands.
If only he could have such powerful strength!
…...
Boom!
The wall shattered under its charge, making a deafening sound.
It greedily chased the graceful young woman, thick saliva dripping from its twisted maw.
But the young woman moved as lightly as a butterfly, each dodge and weave perfectly avoiding its attacks.
It wouldn't give up. Even though it had lost all rationality, it still wouldn't give up.
By eating her, it could complete its transformation. That was the instinct etched into its chaotic essence!
Even without the ability to think, it would still instinctively crave slaughter!
So it abandoned the easily available delicacies outside. Its eyes saw only her, as if nothing else in the world mattered even a fraction as much.
The marble floor shattered under its frenzied pursuit, the flying rubble breaking all the windows along the way.
It knew no fatigue. Its eyes saw nothing but her.
But it wasn't a lovesick fool. Its goal was to eat meat.
Lovesick fools like to eat shit, not meat.
"A Chaos Spawn." Magnus stared at the monster, his eyes full of caution.
With his vast knowledge, Magnus's understanding of the Warp was now even greater than Caelan's.
In the material universe, humans usually distinguish between normal people and mutants based on physical characteristics.
Normal people look monotonously similar, while mutants appear in all sorts of bizarre forms.
This kind of mutation stems purely from genetic mutation, unrelated to the Warp.
Although Warp corruption can also cause physical mutations in mortals, the two are fundamentally different.
If judging solely by the degree of appearance distortion, some mutants can be even more grotesque and terrifying than Chaos-corrupted cultists.
However, in terms of harm to social order, Chaos cultists are far more destructive than mutants.
Mutants deserve pity. Chaos cultists deserve bolt shells.
In the galaxy, besides humanity, there are many alien races: Orks, Aeldari, Jokaero.
But humans call them xenos, not mutants.
They don't look like humans, but within their own species, their appearances are normal.
Even in the Warp, which is completely unrelated to the normal rules of the material universe, 'normal' and 'mutated' exist.
Although Warp entities are all twisted and reviled as demons in human eyes,
From the Warp's perspective, these twisted demons all look perfectly normal.
The appearances of all demons conform perfectly to their respective God's aesthetics.
Nurglings, Bloodletters, Horrors, they all look monotonously similar.
Even the Greater Daemons, beloved by their Gods, though differing in form, still maintain a unified overall style.
Chaos Spawns are the exception.
Even in the eyes of Chaos demons, Chaos Spawns are unambiguously mutant demons, indescribably monstrous beings.
Their appearance doesn't conform to any God's aesthetics, nor will they receive any God's favor.
Because all Chaos Spawns are failures who have lost their God's favor.
Once transformed into a Chaos Spawn, there is no turning back.
They lose all rationality, frantically attacking all living and non-living things around them.
Chaos Spawns vary in power. This Chaos Spawn wasn't particularly powerful.
Magnus could destroy it easily, and even Amon and the other nine Masters working together could defeat it.
What Magnus feared was another characteristic of Chaos Spawns: corruption!
The most terrifying characteristic of these twisted mutant demons is that once they manifest in the material universe, even a single glance from a mortal can cause corruption, with a certain chance of mutating into a new Chaos Spawn!
If it hadn't been trapped in this pyramid but had gone hunting in Tizca,
Even if Magnus had destroyed all the Psychneuein, Tizcans would inevitably be corrupted by witnessing the Chaos Spawn.
Magnus would have to personally execute all mutated mortals. The survivors who avoided mutation would be very few.
Even avoiding mutation didn't mean they weren't corrupted at all.
Prospero would still be extinguished. Magnus would still lose his homeworld.
Tzeentch's plan was indeed full of interlocking parts!
But Tzeentch's plans always had flaws. Someone always worked tirelessly to stop Him.
For example, the young woman being chased by the Chaos Spawn.
"Father, do you know her?"
"Aenor, Claudia's handmaiden. She's on our side."
Magnus actually recognized her. He had been imprisoned by Her and remembered all of Her servants.
As for whether she was an ally, Magnus no longer had the heart to discern.
Since Father trusted her, there was nothing to worry about.
And She had just saved his life. If not for Her, he would probably be lost in the Warp by now.
Magnus wouldn't easily compromise, but being trapped in a crystal labyrinth was still a torment for him.
Regardless of Her purpose, he still owed Her a life.
Although their positions differed, and he might not repay the debt, at least they had no open conflict yet.
Except that She wanted him to call her 'Mother', Magnus realized he wasn't really repulsed by her anymore.
She had done so much!
Father often said to judge the heart, not the deed. Yet her deeds were completely sincere, impossible to criticize.
"Little Mag, go help Aenor. I'll seal the pyramid!"
"Leave it to me, Father."
The Chaos Spawn must not leave the pyramid, and its power must not leak out at all.
Otherwise, seeds of corruption would remain, causing much trouble.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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