The voice echoed from the Empyrean, whispering in the Knight's ear.
The Knight suddenly bent down and pounced on the Dragon holding the scythe.
The Dragon swung the scythe, trying to block the Knight, but the Knight, by lowering his body, slid under the scythe.
"Die, you wretch!"
The Knight roared, his flaming longsword thrusting directly under the Dragon's left wing.
Just as the voice had said, the Knight's longsword, imbued with a torrent of Psyker energy, pierced into the Dragon's body.
The Dragon let out a deafening wail that made the entire Mars tremble.
The torrent from the Empyrean flowed ceaselessly, pouring into the Dragon's body through the Knight's longsword.
The Dragon struggled, twisting its body, but the Knight kicked the Dragon's head, pressing him firmly onto the sandy ground of Mars.
Then, the burning stellar radiance in the Dragon's chest extinguished, and his claw, which had been clutching the Black Stone Scythe, drooped onto the crimson sand. The scythe itself shattered into mere Black Stone.
The Dragon was not yet dead; such a powerful being was difficult to truly kill, but he was no longer able to fight.
Alexander watched this scene in silence.
It wasn't until the Knight in the dream used the flag, originally tied to his broken spear, to bind the Dragon's neck that Alexander couldn't help but speak:
"You believed that voice?"
That voice that warned the Emperor had a fifty percent chance of being Tzeentch and a fifty percent chance of being Cegorach.
No matter which one it was, they were both among the top four The Deceivers in the galaxy. Considering that the Emperor was still a pure-hearted Knight at the time and the Deceiver had already shattered into pieces, they were among the top two The Deceivers.
They dared to speak, and the Emperor actually believed them just like that.
"Did you not have any doubts about the voice's intentions?" Alexander asked.
"At that time, I had not yet perceived the treachery and evil within the Warp," the brown-haired boy said softly.
"I merely thought it was a kind Warp entity."
Silence. Alexander was utterly silent.
He looked at the Emperor, and now he knew who Magnus had inherited his traits from.
"Both Cegorach and Tzeentch actually had reasons to help me defeat the Dragon."
"What the Dragon wanted to do was too much. Neither Cegorach, Tzeentch, nor any other god could tolerate a god simultaneously wielding power from both the Warp and the material universe."
"If a player could both jump onto the chessboard to beat up the pieces and also summon his fist to beat up other players, then there would be no point in playing the game."
"Just individuals like the two of us, who possess bodies in the material universe, are enough to make them envious and jealous."
"First, I am not a god; don't put me on par with you all," Alexander said with a serious expression.
"What a coincidence, neither am I," the brown-haired boy smiled slightly.
The Knight in the Dragon's dream tightly bound the Dragon's neck with the flag.
He cast a look of extreme regret at the shattered Black Stone Scythe on the ground.
Then, he dragged the weak and powerless Dragon all the way into the nearest cave.
"I defeated you. Originally, I should have killed you, even if it would be difficult."
The brown-haired boy wove the mighty power of the Empyrean into shackles, binding the silver Dragon layer by layer.
"But I will not do so. My prophetic gift tells me that at some point in the future, you will play a tremendous role."
"I let you live, imprisoned you here, and will utilize your power in the future."
"This is my judgment for you, completely fair and just, in accordance with order and the spirit of Roman civil law."
"After all, you destroyed my pure silver spear, forged with thirty years of savings, and killed my warhorse, bred over three hundred years. I am entitled to compensation from you."
Alexander felt the Dragon's emotions from the Dragon's dream.
Injustice, immense injustice.
He was willing to be judged for all the slaughter and destruction he had committed in the War in Heaven, and even for the experiments he had conducted on humans.
But he, a dignified god of the material universe, was actually defeated on a backward, primitive planet because of a spear, and then judged by a damned Knight.
He, he was simply too wronged.
From the perspective of dignity, the Dragon even felt that being completely killed like the Flayer would have been more dignified than his current situation.
"He still dares to cry injustice?" the brown-haired boy said, a little annoyed.
"That was my favorite spear. Elda personally designed the carvings and decorations for me. Emperor Diocletian praised it when he saw it, and my comrades were extremely envious."
"Even without considering that spear, there's my horse. That was a good horse... To bind him, I even lost a good flag."
"I hope you love some of your children more than that spear," Alexander said, his mouth twitching slightly.
"I love most of my children more than that spear," the brown-haired boy emphasized. "I am also willing to abandon that spear for all my children, even if many of them play a far lesser role than that spear."
Alexander could barely listen, turning his head to continue watching the Dragon's dream.
However, the scene of the Dragon's dream abruptly stopped, turning into the Dragon's eternal confinement in the Mars cave.
"You probably know the rest," the brown-haired boy said calmly.
"On the day the Old Night arrived, I knew the Dragon could be put to use."
With that, the brown-haired boy gently waved his arm, and a ripple stirred in the Dragon's dream.
Alexander was able to see that the Dragon of Mars' grand dream covered the entire Mars, connecting with the minds of every person on Mars, and even extending to more distant places, connecting with the Tech-Priests on many more worlds.
"This is what I did. The Dragon's dream fostered the birth of the first Mars Tech-Priests. In the Dragon's dream, the Tech-Priests acquired the designs for the first machines, and also gained an primal desire for knowledge and a reverence for technology."
"They therefore risked traversing the Warp storms of the Old Night, collecting technology, and building forge worlds one by one. They admirably fulfilled their mission, preserving a vast amount of technology and shaping many forge worlds that could produce weapons of war for the Imperium."
The brown-haired boy continued calmly, "Of course, these are not the most crucial things."
"I have studied the Dragon for tens of thousands of years. While not as direct as you entering his dream, I have profoundly understood the Dragon's nature."
"The Dragon had some success with his crude modifications. Through Black Stone, he was able to absorb power from the Warp, but his body was unable to truly accept these powers."
"So, I used the Dragon's former title, Omnissiah, to spread a false faith. Using the Dragon as a conduit, I stole power from the domain of the Malicious Art."
"Many machines that should not have been able to operate began to operate. Many technologies that should not have been able to be born were born. Many weapons that originally had no will developed the machine spirit."
As the brown-haired boy recounted, Alexander saw that, in the Dragon's dream, tens of thousands of years of devout faith from countless Adeptus Mechanicus members, along with their desire for knowledge, reverence for technology, and impulse to create new weapons—
All of this, everything, converged within the Dragon of Mars' grand dream, constantly gathering towards the Dragon of Mars, yet being expelled and suppressed due to the Dragon of Mars' inherent repulsion of Warp power, scattering around and unable to coalesce.
"This is everything that was done with the Dragon of Mars."
"Some will condemn me for twisting the fates of countless Adeptus Mechanicus members and forge worlds, committing immense crimes."
"Some will accuse me of being the most despicable liar in history, for stealing the Dragon of Mars' title and becoming a false Omnissiah."
"But everything I did was for humanity."
The brown-haired boy said calmly, "Humanity needs weapons, loyal weapons that will not turn and will not suddenly betray."
"Humanity needs technology, safe technology that is not dangerous and will not easily corrupt."
"Humanity needed a fire-stealer, someone to use the Dragon of Mars to steal power from the domain of the Malicious Art—of course, that was once needed."
With that, the brown-haired boy turned to Alexander: "My friend, do you want to turn a lie into truth?"
"Do you want to become the Omnissiah, to become the true God of All Machines?"