Brilliant golden light burst forth across the planet, like a flood gushing from a collapsing dam.
A terrifying power was shaking the barrier between reality and the imaginary, about to break through into the real universe.
The ground trembled because of Magnus' psyker power, and the black clouds forming the great vortex shot out dazzling golden rays.
Darkness was dispelled, and even the pitch-black clouds turned golden.
Amidst a series of strange phenomena, a golden figure appeared above the fortress.
That figure was incredibly vast.
Like a golden giant walking among the stars.
Just its face alone obscured a large area.
The face looked down at the planet, emitting light so brilliant it was as if ten thousand stars were put together.
The aura emanating from the golden giant parted the thick clouds, allowing its appearance to be clearly displayed before everyone.
Seeing that golden face, the daemons shrieked, and the humans let out excited cheers.
That was the face of the Emperor.
The golden figure paid no mind to the differing reactions of the daemons and humans.
Those brilliant eyes were fixed on Magnus on the ground.
The immense pressure caused Magnus' sealed memories to surge forth.
"My son, it is the destiny of our race to rule the stars. From today onwards, you shall lead the Fifteenth Legion. Lead them to reclaim the galaxy for humanity and drive out the enemies of mankind."
"Magnus, the warp is not so easy to explore. The dangers within are extremely terrifying. You must learn to restrain yourself."
"You cannot use the power of the warp anymore. That terrible knowledge will destroy you, Magnus."
"I hope you can return to my side. Horus has completely fallen, but there is still a chance for salvation, Magnus. As long as you stand by my side, everything can still be salvaged."
Countless memory scenes flooded in, all of them conversations between the Emperor and him.
"No."
Magnus' face, for the first time, showed fear.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
The Emperor was dead.
The Emperor was dead.
Even if his mental consciousness still existed in the warp, he was as good as dead.
Why would he possess such terrifying power to interfere with reality?
This defied logic.
"You have been sitting on the throne for ten thousand years. You cannot possibly appear."
Magnus roared hysterically, "You can't possibly appear. You're just a liar.
A LIAR!"
The golden giant remained silent, the light on its body becoming even more brilliant, dyeing the entire world golden.
Those eyes, more brilliant than any star, just stared at Magnus.
This was just a small part of His infinite power.
Yet it was enough to shroud the entire planet in light.
Under the golden figure's radiance, countless daemons let out mournful screams.
The twisted forms of the daemons cursed the damned Anathema with every venomous word they could think of.
They were restless, searching everywhere for places to hide, to escape the terrible golden light.
Just being exposed to it caused them unimaginable and terrifying harm.
Under the golden figure's shadow, Magnus felt an unparalleled sense of oppression and pain.
He did everything he could to try and see the essence of the golden figure clearly.
Impossible.
How could the Emperor possibly have such powerful force to interfere with reality?
Magnus took a huge risk, pouring his power into his single eye, attempting to glimpse the golden figure's true nature.
A child holding a skull, a muscular man, an elderly white-haired old man.
Tens of millions of faces, each one speaking loudly.
A trinity, without origin or end.
Both one and ten thousand, both all living beings and the Emperor.
Countless souls simultaneously cried out, echoing in Magnus' mind.
Sorrow, death, sacrifice, countless voices, those souls shouting different words.
Magnus felt his soul unable to bear the burden of directly viewing the Emperor's essence.
In a trance, he saw Sanguinius, he saw Ferrus, he saw Vulkan, he saw Corax, he saw the Lion.
They too emanated light, standing beside the Emperor, watching him with cold eyes.
All those faces were silently asking.
Why did you betray them??
Why did you abandon humanity??
Why did you destroy everything that had been gained??
Why did you push humanity into the abyss??
"Father!!" In pain, Magnus trembled and uttered that word.
It was a word he hadn't spoken for ten thousand years.
The golden figure gave no answer.
It just stared at him like that.
Magnus had to turn his head away, not daring to look directly at the golden figure any longer.
His body was trembling.
Hidden within that golden figure was a power capable of rivaling the Great Powers of Chaos.
Just looking at it had already made his body and soul unbearable, as if they were about to be burned away.
"Repent before your father, traitor," Celestine's voice rang out, echoing across the entire planet.
Inside the Lighthouse core chamber.
The rescued Clovis looked bewildered.
He didn't know how he had gotten here.
One second, he had closed his eyes, waiting for death.
The next second, he had been teleported here.
Everything happening before him was filled with confusion.
Numerous Ecclesiarchy priests and devout sisters surrounded Celestine, jointly chanting hymns to the Emperor.
A large amount of neural connection equipment was connected to the Saint - Celestine.
Clearly, the golden giant outside was being controlled by her.
Ventris, the Fourth Company captain of the Ultramarines, stood to the side.
Silent, watching everything.
The confusion in Clovis' heart grew stronger.
Why had he never known that the other party was in the fortress??
"What exactly is going on??" Clovis' eyes were filled with astonishment and bewilderment.
Celestine's actions were clearly projecting the Emperor's power.
How was this even possible!!
In the city, Leah and many Imperial soldiers also saw the golden figure.
She also didn't dare to look directly at the figure, fearing that the terrifying light would ignite her soul.
Many civilians and soldiers knelt on the ground because of this miracle.
They wept, hysterically shouting the Emperor's name and various prayers.
Tears streamed down their faces.
The priests were even more agitated, their bodies trembling, singing with all their might, praying with all their might.
Under Magnus' fearful gaze, the golden figure raised its hand.
A golden longsword appeared out of thin air in the golden figure's hand.
Enough to cause the entire star system to be engulfed in shimmering golden flames.
In the cold, dark void.
Millions of crew members on the Imperial fleet all stared blankly at this scene.
How magnificent.
How shocking.
How unbelievable.
A star system's diameter alone starts at hundreds of millions of kilometers.
And now, it was illuminated by a single figure.
"Forgive me," Magnus cried out, feeling the Emperor's terrifying pressure.
The golden figure remained silent, the flames of the golden longsword growing more intense, as if to incinerate space and time.
Seeing this scene, Magnus dared not show any more arrogance.
He erupted with all his power, attempting to escape Pharos.
If he stayed any longer, he would truly die.
He ordered the sacrifice to be interrupted, reversing the psyker teleportation that spanned half the galaxy, wanting to escape the Imperial sanctuary and return to the planet of the Sorcerers in the Imperium Nihilus.
The golden figure swung its sword at him, the flames rushing towards Magnus' location.
In a moment of crisis, Magnus used the Nine Silver Towers he had obtained from the Lord of Change to reverse the sorcery and escaped.
However, the golden flames burned away all threads of fate.
Soon, Magnus' mournful screams echoed in the warp.
The planet of the Sorcerers and the nameless star system were also affected.
Saros and many other sorcerers were hit by the backlash of the powerful sorcery and were also burned by the golden flames following the traces of fate.
In just a few breaths, they were burned to ashes.
The situation on the planet of the Sorcerers was even more terrifying.
A golden light descended, purifying half of the planet.
Countless daemons died in mournful screams.
The cultists were also the same, their souls completely purified in the brilliant golden light.
The planet of the Sorcerers was split in two.
Half of the planet still emitted a strong aura of Chaos, while the other half emitted the aura of the Anathema, which daemons detested.
The fleeing Magnus did not die.
He fled back to the planet of the Sorcerers in a sorry state.
Half of his body was in tatters, charred black, even his armor had melted, and one wing was completely bare, turned black.
Magnus' face was also like this, one half still intact, the other half charred black, looking incredibly hideous.
His greatest reliance, the Nine Silver Towers of the Architect of Fate, had even developed charred black cracks.
These were all the price he paid to save his life.
Magnus' face was extremely grim after fleeing back to the planet of the Sorcerers.
The part of his body burned by the Emperor's power did not recover as it usually did, but remained charred black.
No matter how he used the power of the aether, it was difficult to heal those terrible wounds.
Moreover, the charred areas still had a burning pain.
This made Magnus suffer immensely.
Guilliman had drawn down a blast of the Emperor's psyker energy near the planet Pharos, just like his psyker communication ten thousand years ago, which directly pierced the warp and hit his core.
This meant that these burned areas would never heal.
This was not a surface burn, but damage to his very essence, manifesting on his body.
The excruciating pain of the burning would torment Magnus for a long time.
Keeping him in constant agony, unable to find a moment's peace.
"Guilliman!!" Magnus' voice, with only half a face remaining, was filled with hatred.
His plan had completely failed, and he had been ambushed by Guilliman.
"I won't let you go, Guilliman."
With the Emperor's manifestation, the assault formed by the daemons and traitors quickly collapsed.
The Imperial forces, with the help of the Cursed Legion, quickly achieved victory.
Before they could even cheer, the Imperial heroes gathered in the Lighthouse core chamber.
They urgently needed an explanation.
Why did the Emperor manifest here??
Why did Lord Guilliman know that Magnus was coming??
Why did he know Magnus was coming but refuse to tell them??
Why was Ventris in the fortress??
They had participated in an extremely difficult battle, yet they were completely unaware of the reason for the war.
This was undoubtedly infuriating.
After listening to everyone's confusion, Ventris showed a slight smile.
"My lord did not know of Magnus' arrival. If he had known it was him, he would have taken more targeted measures to ensure that this daemon primarch could not escape from the trap."
"Then why did Lord Guilliman leave behind words about Magnus in advance? Didn't he foresee the other party's arrival and leave them behind?"
Clovis' tone was full of confusion. Clearly, Ventris' explanation did not convince him.
If he hadn't foreseen Magnus' arrival, then why would Lord Guilliman leave a projection in advance?
Ventris did not explain this, but instead clicked a few times in a pop-up holographic window.
As he worked, Guilliman's voice echoed through the core chamber.
"Well, well, Mortarion, long time no see. I hope Typhus hasn't gone from being your son to your father, considering he took your legion and tricked you, you fool, into the embrace of the Plague God.
I hope he wasn't so cruel as to make you his son; that would be truly humiliating."
"Well, well, Fulgrim, long time no see. Actually, there's something I've been wanting to say for ten thousand years: you're incredibly ugly and you smell terrible.
Honestly, even that unwashed slob Mortarion is better than you. Your aesthetic is about on par with Skaven... no, wait, Skaven are better than you."
"Well, well, Lorgar, long time no see. Let me tell you, I am now the Emperor's spokesman, the Lectitio Divinitatus has been rewritten according to my will, and even the Ecclesiarch of the Imperial cult was personally raised by me.
Every day I hear them singing my praises and erecting statues of me, it's quite embarrassing. First I burned your city, and now I've come to take your place."
Guilliman's voice echoed through the hall; he had left a message for every traitor primarch.
Amalrich: ...
Clovis: ...
Many senior officers: ...
For a moment, they didn't know what to say.
Lord Guilliman had specifically left a sentence for each primarch to mock his brothers.
"That's the situation. The Lord left a message for all the traitor primarchs. No matter who comes, we can choose the matching message from here to play, thereby achieving the effect of intimidating the opponent."
Ventris explained.
These recordings were pre-recorded.
Guilliman wouldn't do something like prophecy.
Besides, in this universe, prophecy isn't very reliable anyway.
It's like a certain necron who claimed to be a prophet but was actually cheating using time manipulation skills.
As long as the final outcome didn't match his prophecy, he would use time technology to rewind and ensure the result conformed to his prediction.
His methods included, but were not limited to, assassination, manipulation, deception, taking matters into his own hands, and forcing others to follow his prophecy.
It can be said that prophecy in this universe is merely an observation of an infinite future.
It might come true, or it might not.
Prophecy is completely unreliable.
The issue with the recordings was resolved.
It wasn't that Guilliman was unwilling to tell them Magnus would come, but rather that he himself didn't know which traitor primarch would arrive.
Ventris answered everyone's confusion one by one.
This trap plan was just a casual endeavor, a smokescreen to deceive the traitors.
If the enemy fell for it, they fell for it; if not, there was no loss.
"Then why did the Emperor manifest here?" Clovis asked, getting to the crux of the matter.
"This question needs to be answered by Fabricator-General Regulus. The answer is related to the operating principle of this alien lighthouse."
Ventris threw the question to Fabricator-General Regulus, letting him answer it for everyone.
Everyone's gaze converged on Regulus' metallic body; they all wanted to know the fundamental reason for the Emperor's manifestation.
The Emperor's past manifestations were very random.
But this time, Guilliman was clearly prepared.
Which meant Guilliman possessed the ability to make the Emperor manifest at any time.
Regulus extended his intricate mechanical finger and opened a large holographic projection.
The projection showed everyone a very complex spatial structure model.
"The operating principle of the alien lighthouse is very special. This equipment works by inducing the principle of quantum entanglement between particles.
It can somehow adjust the fundamental elements of the universe, creating resonance between different objects and locations multiple times over unattainable spatial distances, thereby transmitting matter and guiding ships."
"Lord Guilliman once used this equipment to navigate ships traveling through the warp. With the help of this alien lighthouse, those ships could ignore warp storms and reach their destination directly. In times of crisis, the personnel operating the lighthouse attempted to remotely transport two primarchs from Macragge to Pharos, and according to records, this teleportation was instantaneous."
"Through the deductions of Lord Guilliman, Fabricator-General Cawl, and many other Mechanicus savants, this lighthouse has another function, which is to amplify a person's synesthesia.
With the help of this equipment, we can amplify Saint Celestine's piety towards the Emperor, and then use this piety to warp the laws of reality and establish coordinates for an Emperor projection."
"As for the issue of the Emperor's projection, we need to briefly explain the relationship between the warp and the material universe. The two are interdependent; it can even be said that the warp is the material universe, and the material universe is the warp. Their essence is the same, but their evolution is completely different."
Fabricator-General Regulus used his mechanical finger to swipe the holographic projection screen, displaying a complex spatial structure diagram.
"Reality and the warp are interdependent and can also squeeze each other. If reality is strong, it will expand into the warp; if the warp is strong, it will expand into reality."
Amalrich widened his eyes, looking at the various data and models on the huge holographic projection, feeling completely dizzy.
The others weren't doing much better.
They all felt like they were listening to gibberish.
In this era, there was no comprehensive higher education.
People generally engaged in various professions after receiving some basic knowledge.
Amalrich and Clovis usually either fought or studied enemy data; where would they find the time to learn such profound knowledge?
It was estimated that not many people within the Mechanicus itself understood this high-level theoretical knowledge of time and space models.
Regulus seemed to have noticed this problem as well. To better explain the situation, he switched to a more understandable analogy.
"The material universe is like a planet's atmosphere, while the warp is the void outside the atmosphere. Both are forms of space, but the difference is that within the planet's atmosphere, due to gravity, gases are locked in, and these gases in turn lock in temperature, thus forming an ecosystem completely different from that of outer space."
"The material universe and the warp are similar. Because reality possesses physical laws, it forms an ecosystem completely different from the warp, thus creating a world with order."
"This is just a simple explanation. The connection between the warp and reality is much more complex, involving theories that ordinary people cannot fully grasp in a lifetime. This explanation is merely to help you better understand the difference between the warp and reality and the barrier that exists between them."
"Psykers are special beings among humans. Their souls penetrate the barrier between reality and the immaterial, drawing power from the warp, thereby gaining various terrifying abilities."
As Regulus said this, he looked at the Librarians of the Chapter.
The Librarians felt the Fabricator-General's gaze, but they did not respond.
They knew how to use their power, but they knew very little about its origin.
In their understanding, psyker power was something you either had from birth, waiting to be awakened, or you would never have it in your lifetime.
As for how it came about, very few people would explore such matters.
Seeing that the Librarians did not speak, Regulus did not pay too much attention and continued to answer everyone.
"It is precisely because of this characteristic of psykers that even though the Emperor's physical body suffered fatal damage and is placed in a stasis field, his mental consciousness is still active in the warp. The existence of the barrier prevents the Emperor from affecting reality, and ordinary psykers cannot look directly at him in the warp..."
"It is precisely because of this that for a long time, the Emperor could only manifest implicitly through various means. The appearance of the Great Rift led to a surge in the number of psykers within the Imperium, which also means the Emperor's ability to interfere with reality has increased. This is also the main reason for the frequent appearance of the Cursed Legions."
"According to existing data, after the appearance of the Great Rift, the frequency of Cursed Legion appearances has greatly increased. This also corroborates that after the barrier between reality and the warp was weakened, the Emperor's interference with the material universe increased."
"Therefore, to project the Emperor's power, it's not just about having enough piety; you also need to provide coordinates and weaken the barrier between reality and the warp for the Emperor's power to enter the material universe."
"When the gods project power, they often require large-scale blood sacrifices or plagues, or a stable warp channel. Only by meeting these conditions can the gods project their power. Otherwise, the warp gods cannot affect reality."
Fabricator-General Regulus kept swiping the holographic projection, stating the research findings of Guilliman and Cawl.
"And through research, using the lighthouse to establish a stable warp channel allows the Emperor's power to smoothly interfere with reality. This way, as long as the user is sufficiently pious, a massive manifestation can occur."
Before the expedition, Guilliman had already instructed Cawl to research supernatural powers.
A large number of books previously banned by the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy were also dug out.
Of course, this matter was also met with obstruction from conservative forces within departments like the Grey Knights, the Ecclesiarchy, and the Inquisition.
However, Guilliman's firm attitude ensured that this project proceeded steadily, allowing supernatural research to make some headway.
Later, while repairing the Pharos lighthouse, thinking of its special abilities, they tried a few times and found that the Pharos lighthouse could indeed provide warp coordinates, amplify the user's synesthesia, and connect to targets that were far away but desired to be contacted.
Some pious individuals were able to leverage this characteristic to pry into the Emperor's power during testing.
Guilliman then formulated a related plan, using the lighthouse to secretly plot against one or two daemon primarchs who were preparing to harm him.
Magnus simply stumbled into it and became a test subject.
"Can the lighthouse still be used? Or rather, can we use the lighthouse to allow the Emperor to communicate with us?" Amalrich asked.