"..."
Zhou Ye glanced impassively at the blue-armored marines surrounding him. These were not Ultramarines, of course, but the Thousand Sons who had pledged themselves to Chaos—specifically, Ahriman's own brothers.
Compared to the tense Yvraine and her Farseer, however, Zhou Ye was far more composed.
Ahriman, for his part, shot a look at the massive host of Tzeentchian daemons fighting Khorne's legions behind him and promptly ignored them. He knew he had been played by Tzeentch, but so what? He had found Yvraine, and she was accompanied by only a single Eldar psyker. There was no reason for Ahriman to back down now. He knew she was on a quest to resurrect Guilliman, which meant his chances to act in the future would surely dwindle.
But regardless, this was just some nameless, suspected Primarch. And even if it were Guilliman himself, so what? He couldn't beat Guilliman in a straight fight, but temporarily trapping him with psychic power wouldn't be a problem. That would be more than enough time for him to charge in with his men and make this xenos suffer a fate worse than death.
But…
"O Primarch of the Imperium, such blasphemy! Do you mean to shelter this xenos?"
"Oh."
Zhou Ye had no reaction. By the Imperium's standards, look at what he'd already done: re-formed the Legions, used A.I., bad-mouthed the Emperor. What was a little xenos-collusion on top of that? He had done everything except touch Chaos.
Besides, the one who would truly be colluding with xenos wasn't him, but Regent Guilliman himself. While the relationship between Guilliman and Yvraine was mostly a meme, the man really did keep the Eldar Farseer by his side as an advisor. As for re-forming the Legions, Guilliman had already done that in practice. As for using A.I., that duplicate of Cawl by his side was an A.I. It was all tradition. No big deal.
"Such blasphemy, Primarch of the Imperium!!!" Seeing Zhou Ye's complete indifference, Ahriman's voice was tight with suppressed fury. The psychic staff in his hand began to glow with a dazzling light.
Seeing this, Yvraine and the Visarch prepared for a desperate fight. From what they knew, not all of the Imperium's Primarchs were skilled psykers, and the one before them was simply too powerful. Generally speaking, the three great psykers of the Imperium were Chief Librarian Mephiston of the Blood Angels, Chief Librarian Ezekiel of the Dark Angels, and Chief Librarian Tigurius of the Ultramarines—the so-called three great immortals of the Astartes. But all three of them together would likely be instantly defeated by Ahriman.
The chosen champions of the four Chaos Gods varied in strength, but it was almost certain that Ahriman was the most terrifying. While Khârn was incredibly powerful, he still had to cut people down one by one. Ahriman, however, could genuinely destroy stars with his psychic might. As some netizens put it: Ahriman was a planet-buster, while Khârn was likely a city-wrecker. This was purely in terms of destructive power, of course; a real fight was another matter. After all, while psychic power was undeniably destructive, many of the strongest beings in this universe had powerful psychic resistance. The most typical example was Guilliman, whose resistance was so high that even the Daemon Primarch Magnus couldn't overcome him. The problem was, Guilliman only had resistance; his resilience was a bit lacking, and he could still be psychically slammed into a wall.
"Huh?" Zhou Ye looked at the furiously accusing Ahriman with a sense of speechlessness. The insults in this universe seemed to be limited to a few phrases. And for someone talking so tough, he sure was reluctant to come down from the sky.
An evil idea sparked in Zhou Ye's mind. With a flick of his wrist, he used the Authority of the Void to grab a handful of sand from the courtyard. Then, with a casual toss, he flung it directly into Ahriman's face from an angle the sorcerer didn't even notice.
"The Primarch has thrown the ashes of a Null! Attack!!!" Yvraine roared in that instant, charging toward the Rubric Marines.
"?"
"!!!?"
Both Zhou Ye and Ahriman froze for a second. While Ahriman broke out in a cold sweat, he quickly realized it was just ordinary sand.
Zhou Ye, for his part, tilted his head in confusion. He had just unceremoniously thrown a handful of sand at Ahriman, that was all. As for Nulls… honestly, Zhou Ye hadn't encountered many. Unlike psykers, who were relatively numerous, Nulls were exceedingly rare. A psyker before their powers awakened was more or less a normal person, but a Null… they were almost always born that way. They were likely to be discovered at birth and killed. He only had a few Nulls under his command, and their power level wasn't high enough to be made into Sisters of Silence. After all, Nulls also had different tiers of power. The Sisters of Silence were the absolute top tier. The few he had would be completely useless against Ahriman.
So Zhou Ye hadn't even bothered trying to augment them, letting them develop as they may.
"Huh?" Yvraine looked at Zhou Ye, completely baffled as to what this mysterious Primarch was doing. It was such a perfect opportunity to strike first, and he didn't take it? Worse, he had just revealed his true nature. This was Ahriman they were facing! She wouldn't have been this panicked if it were Khârn. This type of being could genuinely lay waste to an entire planet, though they usually chose not to.
"What are you doing?" Ahriman was also dizzy with confusion, unable to comprehend Zhou Ye's actions.
"Ahriman, doesn't this look familiar?"
"?"
"These are all your brothers!!!"
"!!!"
Ahriman froze. The next moment, his grip on his staff tightened. If not for his helmet, one could clearly see his face was seething with rage. The staff in his hand flared with psychic energy. Seeing this, Yvraine shrank back. She was already thinking about running. At this moment, she felt this Primarch was more than a little insane.
Great. Now Ahriman's hatred was no longer directed at her, but at the Primarch.
In a flash, enough power to tear an entire Space Marine Chapter apart gathered in the sky.
"Tch…" Zhou Ye rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to fight Ahriman. For no other reason than it was a massive drain on his energy. And if those psychic attacks actually landed and he had to dodge, his beautiful garden world would be in ruins.
So…
In that instant, Zhou Ye simply made a grabbing motion with one hand. A Rubric Marine was instantly pulled into his grasp. The Authority of Binding activated, neutralizing the Rubricae spell on his body. The Authority of Corruption activated, purging the Warp's curse. The Authority of Creation activated, instantly reforging him.
Just then, Ahriman's terrifying psychic attack descended from the sky, about to smash into Zhou Ye, but…
"Captain Ahriman, is that you…? That's… a daemon! For the Emperor, Ahriman, watch out!!!" a bewildered voice suddenly rang out. The marine instinctively turned his head and saw the chaotic battle raging nearby, shouting out a warning almost on reflex.
"!!!"
The attack, powerful enough to sunder the earth, froze in mid-air. Ahriman's face was a mask of disbelief. He looked at Yvraine, who stared back with equal bewilderment at the dazed marine. Of course, Zhou Ye had also given the man a quick wash, turning his blasphemously sigil-covered power armor into a plain gray.
"Ahriman, I can restore all of your Rubric Marines and solve their flesh-change problem. So now, I give you a choice." As he spoke, Zhou Ye grabbed several more Rubric Marines. With a clench of his fist, they too were caught. Soon, several more confused Thousand Sons were restored by Zhou Ye.
"Ahriman, what's happened? Those are daemons! For the Emperor!!!" Seeing their restored brothers and the massive battle in the distance, these Thousand Sons also cried out in alarm. This was why Zhou Ye kept feeling like Tzeentch was actually helping him.
Honestly, if Ahriman didn't agree, he was just going to dig out these Thousand Sons' gene-seed. As for the men themselves, it depended on their condition. If worse came to worst, he'd just stick them in Dreadnoughts. The gene-seed was the core of a Space Marine. Without it, even if Zhou Ye could keep them alive, their physical prowess would be a fraction of what it once was. In that case, putting them in a Dreadnought was the best option; letting them walk around would be akin to exile.
The more pressing problem right now was the Khornate host. This force was even larger than the one at the Battle of the Lion's Gate. What's more, that massive rift was still hanging in the sky. Zhou Ye not only had to deal with these Khornate daemons, but more importantly, he had to close the Great Rift, which would consume a huge portion of his energy. He couldn't count on Curze for now, so he needed a sufficiently powerful assistant.
Ahriman was the best choice at the moment. The man was simply too strong. The so-called corruption of Chaos wasn't an issue for him—look at him, he hadn't mutated at all. And of all the people present, besides Zhou Ye himself, no one was a match for Ahriman. This wasn't some pretender like Lucius. If he wanted to close that massive Warp rift, Ahriman was an indispensable ally. Besides, the man hadn't really wreaked that much havoc on the Imperium; he had always been focused on trying to save his brothers.
"Hah… hah… hah…" Ahriman, trembling, retracted his spell. Then, as if feeling his Tzeentchian garb was too blasphemous, he used his psychic power to shroud himself in a neutralizing light. He descended, landing directly in front of Zhou Ye.
This was an incredibly dangerous distance for him. As a psyker, he could use his powers to keep a Primarch at bay from a distance. But at close range, he would be killed.
But… he landed anyway, trembling, and immediately checked his brothers' condition. He found that they were fine. Even the extremely difficult flesh-change was gone. They were healthier than any Thousand Son had a right to be.
"How did you do it?" Although he had already confirmed it, Ahriman still had to ask. He had previously seen Yvraine restore a Rubric Marine using the power of the God of the Dead, but it was temporary. Once the time was up, they would revert. But this… this was permanent. It was unbelievable to Ahriman. This was something even his father, Magnus, had failed to do. Among all the Primarchs, Magnus's psychic mastery and knowledge were the highest, arguably without equal. Yet, this person had solved a problem that even such a being could not. How?
"You don't need to know. Submit, or die," Zhou Ye said coolly, looking at Ahriman. "And kneel!!!"
Hearing these words, the Thousand Sons he had just restored instinctively moved to protect Ahriman. They knew how Prospero had been destroyed. They retained a certain wariness of a strange Primarch.
But in that instant, an immense force crashed down upon them.
The force pressed them down, forcing them to their knees. The Authority of the Rock, manipulating gravity. The Rubric Marines themselves may have been psykers, but their power level was definitely not high. They were powerless against the pressure of Zhou Ye's authority and were pinned to the ground.
"..."
Staring blankly at his brothers, forced to a half-kneel and unable to move, Ahriman then looked at the Primarch before him—over four meters tall, with black hair and eyes that glowed with a faint golden light.
In a daze, he saw a vision he had once glimpsed in the Warp. Ten thousand years ago, before the ruins of the City of Light, there was a man who had pinned an entire Legion to the ground, unable to move.
The power of the man before him was so unfathomably deep that Ahriman couldn't sense even a shred of psychic fluctuation from him. There were only two situations that could cause such a sensation. One, the person had no psychic ability at all. Two, their psychic level was so far beyond his own that even with the blessings of Tzeentch, he couldn't compare.
He could immediately rule out the first possibility. Just a moment ago, this person had, using a method he couldn't even comprehend, dispelled the Rubricae curse and the flesh-change, and then pinned his brothers to the ground. This was impossible for a psychic dullard.
So, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. And in all of human history, there was only one being who could accomplish such a feat…
The Emperor.
---o---