The Imperium had absorbed the technologies of the Old Ones, the Eldar, and the Necrons, and with the help of the C'tan and the Pantheon, had reclaimed the Squats' achievements from the Dark Age of Technology.
The Imperium of Man's technology had reached unprecedented heights.
The tech-priests of the Mechanicus had used this new technology to refit Sanguinius's flagship, the Red Tear.
Its old ceramite armour had been replaced with a new self-repairing material, and a time-reversal device had been installed in the engine core.
The device activated automatically within milliseconds whenever the ship suffered major damage.
By rewinding the entire warship's timeline to its pre-damage state, it greatly improved the ship's survivability.
Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, had charged at the Red Tear at a speed far beyond light, overloaded its shields, shattered its thick armour, and broken into the interior of the battleship.
Yet the warship did not explode. Instead, it repaired itself before her eyes, leaving not a single weld mark behind.
Along the corridors of the Red Tear hung many ancient oil paintings and holographic reliefs.
In the corners stood abstract sculptures carved by Eldar bonesingers.
The whole layout was elegant and full of artistry.
Carol was surprised.
The paintings on the walls and the exquisite sculptures spoke of the invaders' astonishing artistic talent. She had assumed these invaders would be the embodiment of cruelty and malice.
That there would not be a single thought of art or beauty in their hearts.
She had expected to see symbols and sculptures glorifying slaughter and death, and corridors filled with the bodies of the tortured.
"It's a pity this talent is used for slaughter rather than creation." Carol shook her head and sighed quietly.
She reminded herself again and again that no matter how many paintings hung on the walls or how beautiful the sculptures were, nothing could hide the fact that the Imperium of Man was waging a war of aggression.
They were evil, brutal invaders.
After looking around to get her bearings, Carol unleashed a torrent of cosmic energy that instantly wrapped her entire body.
The next instant, she shot into the air and flew toward the heart of the warship.
She did not bother finding routes around the thick blast doors or through the tangled corridors.
Instead, she cut her own path and broke through by force.
Thick bulkheads were destroyed layer after layer, only to repair themselves at astonishing speed behind her.
Alarms rang throughout the warship, and intrusion warnings blared again and again from the speakers.
The emergency lights along the corridors changed from orange to a rotating deep red.
The ship's armed crew quickly moved to stop the intruder.
But Carol was too fast. They could not keep up at all.
After piercing countless walls, Carol arrived in a magnificent hall.
It was a gigantic circular hall large enough to hold several thousand people, its dome more than thirty metres high.
It was supported by dozens of white stone pillars, and on each pillar was carved a statue of a Blood Angels hero.
On the throne sat a giant like an angel from myth, with pure-white wings on his back. Long golden hair flowed down his back, and his face was exquisitely refined.
Even Captain Marvel was momentarily captivated by his appearance.
The giant had no guards. He was alone.
He sat on the throne and quietly watched Carol fly in.
After looking around and confirming there was no ambush, Carol grew even more confident.
Wrapped in cosmic energy, she floated up before the giant and spoke solemnly.
"Ninth son of the Master of Mankind, surrender."
"Please, call me Sanguinius." The giant raised his face and smiled. The smile was warm and approachable, as if there were no enemies in the room at all.
"I don't need to know your name," Carol said, her voice cold and resolute.
"When speaking with someone, it is more respectful to address them by name," Sanguinius explained patiently, like someone guiding a young diplomat at her first official function.
"I didn't come here to talk about that." Carol cut him off and raised her voice a little. "Make your father stop this war."
"May I hear why you wish to end the war?" Sanguinius waved a hand.
A holographic interface unfolded in the air between them.
In its background was a clear star chart of the Milky Way, showing one by one the races that had formed friendly alliances with humanity.
From backward races desperate to escape interstellar colonisation to frontier civilisations ravaged again and again by powers such as Thanos,
all of them had been granted equal trade rights and autonomy within the framework of Imperial law.
The interface also recorded each race's average lifespan, infant mortality rate, and access to education under the old order, and how those figures had changed after Imperial intervention.
"A new order is about to come to the galaxy. Chaos and conflict will end, and every race will have the chance to develop in peace. Is that not the best outcome?"
The universe was too vast, and the countless universes beyond it even more unimaginably so.
Even if humanity turned all its technology to making itself a breeding machine, it would struggle to fill a single universe. Filling the entire multiverse was utterly impossible.
Moreover, after several rounds of reform, the Imperium no longer sacrificed the interests and dignity of its citizens for the sake of territorial expansion.
So allying with other races and supporting those friendly to humanity had become one of its options.
Naturally, the technological achievements of those races would be inherited by the Imperium of Man.
"The war you started is evil. It stands for darkness. Without you, these stars would have been far more beautiful," Carol said, burning with a sense of justice.
A smile surfaced on Sanguinius's face, one with neither mockery nor contempt, only a rueful understanding.
He waved a hand and opened another holographic interface, which replayed wars from the past.
Thanos leading his armies to massacre whole planets, Odin leading his to war against the Frost Giants…
Interstellar civilisations fighting without end, and the war between the Kree Empire and the Nova Corps claiming countless lives.
Even when ceasefires were signed, they only bought time to gather resources for the next, even more brutal battle.
Pirates and raiders ran rampant, bringing untold suffering to countless planets and races.
"Is this the beautiful starry sky you spoke of?" Sanguinius asked quietly.
"Those are minor problems. Every race should be able to solve its own problems," Carol retorted, a little irritated.
She knew perfectly well what the Milky Way had been like before the Imperium of Man arrived.
But at this point, she could not admit he was right.
That would be slapping her own face.
If they're doing so well, why oppose them?
She would look like a villain deliberately disturbing the peace.
"Leaving those races to solve their own problems only means letting the strong prey on the weak."
Sanguinius slowly tapped the edge of the throne with one finger as he gently pointed out the flaw in her words.
"Heroes with a sense of justice will help the oppressed, so you needn't worry," Carol said. "The stars would have become beautiful eventually, but your arrival ruined that."
"Then who decides what is just and what is evil?" Sanguinius leaned forward a little.
"If a man kills his enemy's entire family to avenge his father, is he just or evil?"
"In each individual case, by what standard do you judge who deserves help and who should be eliminated?"
"You're twisting things with sophistry!" Carol shouted. As her voice rose, the cosmic energy around her intensified until she blazed like the sun.
"You cannot point out a single mistake the Imperium has made. You are merely waving empty justice to justify yourself." Sanguinius stood and spread the pure-white wings behind him.
"This universe needs order, and the Imperium can provide it."
"True freedom is not doing whatever one wants, but not having to do what one does not want."
"I'm wasting my time on someone like you," Carol declared, and her whole body was wrapped in dazzling light.
She flew at Sanguinius, intent on capturing the Emperor's son.
"I hoped we could talk reasonably, but it seems you put more faith in violence."
Sanguinius shook his head helplessly, regret seeping into his voice.
The next instant, terrifying power erupted from his body as well.
Even before the nameless one resurrected him, he had already awakened to the essence of the Warp.
Now he also had the blessing of the Pantheon and the faith of all humanity.
Sanguinius now wielded divine power. No, power that surpassed even the divine.
"If you believe in violence, then I have no choice but to answer with violence."
A long spear appeared out of nowhere in Sanguinius's hand.
It had been forged with ancient technology, keen and unbreakable, and it also bore the blessing of the Nightbringer and held the absolute concept of death.
Even heroes with superhuman bodies could be gravely wounded or killed by it.
Crash!!
Carol's punch, charged with cosmic energy, was blocked by Sanguinius's spear.
The two energies collided, unleashing a terrible shockwave that blew away everything around them.
After forcing Carol back, Sanguinius pressed his attack without mercy, his spear thrusting like a storm.
Afraid of being run through, Carol could not meet the spear head-on and had no choice but to dodge.
All the while, she reinforced her fists and body with cosmic energy and counter-attacked.
The two traded fierce blows, and every clash sent out a terrible shockwave.
As the battle went on, Carol grew more and more uneasy. At first, she had believed she could easily capture the Emperor's son.
But once they actually fought, she realised how wrong she had been.
His combat technique and physical strength were greater than hers.
He wielded that spear imbued with the concept of death with peerless skill.
Every thrust found the weakest point in her defence.
The two fought on, carrying the battle from inside the warship out into space.
When Carol made a careless move, Sanguinius caught her with a whip-like kick. She was blown backward, through the bulkhead of the Red Tear, and out into the void.
Sanguinius beat his wings and charged after her.
His wings spread wide, and with lightning-fast movements he forced Carol onto the defensive.
Every clash sent out a visible shockwave in every direction, keeping people and ships alike from getting close.
In the end, Carol could not withstand the mounting assault. A single blow sent her flying into a meteorite deep in the void.
When she crawled out from deep inside the meteorite, she saw Sanguinius in the distance raise the spear, gather his strength, and throw it.
The instant it left his hand, the spear blazed with dazzling golden light and streaked unstoppably through the void.
Carol's pupils dilated, and she tried to flee.
But the spear was too fast. Before she could react, a sharp pain tore through her abdomen.
The spear ran her through, pinned her to the meteorite, and rapidly drained her life force.
"It can't be…" Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who had watched from afar, cried out in disbelief.
He had never imagined Carol would lose, let alone die so terribly.
The other superheroes in the battle stared blankly at the scene, filled with grief and outrage beyond words.
....