Chapter 58: The Second Step of the Plan
Chapter 58: The Second Phase of the Plan
Guilliman's voice was remarkably steady, filled with an irresistible, commanding majesty.
The demon roared.
Everyone could hear the piercing shrieks of the entity—not immediately lethal, but gratingly shrill.
Clovis could hear it too.
He could even make out what the daemon, Antal, was shouting.
Antal shrieked a single name: the Accursed One. He repeated it over and over: the Accursed One, the Accursed One, the Accursed One.
The shrieks were fraught with terror and unease.
Such a reaction was something Clovis had never witnessed before.
Ever since the Grey Knights paid a heavy price to seal Antal within the black sword, the daemon had done nothing but hurl unbridled taunts, attempting to seduce every single Grey Knight tasked with guarding the blade in a bid to break free from his confinement.
This was the first time true fear had ever slipped through his defenses.
Clovis glanced at the Primarch, a trace of astonishment flickering across his face.
As expected of the Emperor's own blood; even those arrogant, peerless daemons trembled in his presence.
"What do you know? Spawn of the Accursed One," a voice echoed from the black sword as Antal, battered and terrified, finally realized who was gripping the weapon.
It was the Primarch, a figure long since mythologized and forgotten—the Emperor's true son, bearing the very power of the Accursed One.
Antal had not returned to the Warp for a very long time.
His knowledge of the material universe was severely limited.
Clovis had never spoken to him, nor was Antal capable of reading the knight's memories.
Had it been otherwise, he would never have been arrogant enough to act so insolently in the presence of a Primarch.
These terrifying beings were far more complex than they appeared.
They possessed an intrinsic Warp-nature, and once they embraced the Warp, they would attain a power transcending that of any ordinary daemon.
"What do you know, daemon? I need you to tell me everything you know," Guilliman said in a deep voice.
"And what will you give me in return?" Antal asked.
"Your life." Guilliman brought the Emperor's Sword closer, and Antal shrieked anew.
"You win, spawn of the Accursed One. I will tell you everything I know."
Antal conceded to this utterly one-sided bargain.
The Emperor's power would obliterate him utterly.
"Very well. Tell Clovis everything you know. Do not attempt to deceive or beguile him, or else—" Guilliman left the threat unfinished, yet Antal could not stop himself from trembling.
Guilliman handed the black sword back to Clovis. "You have a new mission, Clovis. Record everything the daemon tells you. We need to gain a certain level of understanding regarding the Warp."
Clovis wanted to say something.
To seek understanding of the Warp was to court immense risk.
The horrors of the Warp were plain for all to see.
It was by no means wise for the Primarch to delve into it.
Without giving him a chance to speak, Guilliman turned to another matter.
"Celestine said you had an important piece of news for me. What is it?" Guilliman asked.
Realizing Guilliman’s mind was made up and knowing it was impossible to dissuade a Primarch once his course was set, Clovis could only offer a respectful bow before speaking. "We have discovered Magnus. Following the Battle of Fenris, he utilized the fallen to complete a horrific ritual, dragging a planet from the Eye of Terror directly into the material realm—his former home, the Prosperous System—in an attempt to restore the world and forge a twisted psychic empire of his own."
"The Grey Knights and the Dark Angels attempted to form a coalition to stop this dreadful ritual, but in the end, we fell short. Though we suffered heavy casualties and managed only to grievously wound him, we failed to banish him entirely. We require your assistance, my lord."
"Magnus's psychic might is second only to my father's," Guilliman said heavily. "The appearance of the Great Rift has only made it easier for him to wield the powers of the empyrean. I am not surprised by this outcome. Magnus is indeed a terrifying threat, but the time is not yet right to deal with him."
"If he is allowed to establish that psychic kingdom, it will deal an unimaginable blow to the Imperium. He will use even more horrifying sorceries to force humanity's psychic evolution, turning mankind into the playthings of the Dark Gods," Clovis argued.
He was attempting to persuade the Primarch to concentrate the Imperium's might and shatter the threat posed by Magnus.
In his eyes, Magnus's actions constituted the greatest threat facing the Imperium and humanity as a whole.
"Magnus is not the only traitor seeking to undo my father's life's work. Mortarion and Fulgrim have plans of their own; rushing blindly into action is hardly a wise course. Prosperous lies within the Imperium Nihilus, and to this day, there remains no safe way to cross the Great Rift. Do you truly believe that hastily summoning the imperial armies to march deep into the Dark Imperium is a sound decision?"
Guilliman remained unmoved by Clovis's admonitions.
This was not the optimal moment to wage war against the traitor Primarchs; gathering strength and building up resources was the true path to victory.
"I have been awake for too short a time, and the problems plaguing the entire Imperium are far too numerous. I must resolve them one by one. Otherwise, if we run ourselves ragged rushing to patch holes across the vast Imperium, how long can we possibly endure?"
"But—" Clovis refused to give up, desperately wanting to press further.
"There are no 'buts', Clovis," Guilliman said with a solemn expression. "If you are truly that anxious, then remain here, assist me in dealing with these crises, restore the Imperium to order, and only then shall we muster our forces to crusade into the Dark Imperium and purge those damned scumbags."
"You may also choose to gather a band of warriors and set off to solve this crisis yourself. If you do, you will find that you have reaped nothing save for exhaustion and despair. Chaos is far more cunning than we imagine; sometimes, simply preserving what remains is already a hard-won victory."
Gazing upon the solemn Primarch, Clovis could only lower his head in final acquiescence.
"I am willing to stay and aid you, my lord."
"Very good, Clovis. Never be overly hasty, or we shall accomplish nothing," Guilliman said.
The Emperor had simply been too impatient, too desperate to bring an end to humanity's suffering.
In the end, He had trapped Himself upon the Golden Throne.
Undeniably, the awakening of Slaanesh had brought a brief period of calm to the galaxy—the optimal window for implementing the Emperor's Webway project.
Yet, He had rushed too heedlessly. The worlds He conquered were neither properly pacified nor reconstructed, and His Primarchs were pushed past their limits, ultimately culminating in a cataclysmic collapse.
Slow and steady wins the race; that was the ultimate truth.
He who laughs last laughs best.
The surface battle concluded swiftly.
Under the protection of the Scythes of the Emperor and the Celestial Lions Space Marine Chapters, the industrial world of Calth suffered minimal casualties.
Its primary factories remained undamaged.
Having expelled the forces of Chaos, the Calth System swiftly returned to normal production and living standards.
High Marshal Amaris of the Black Templars, Inquisitor Grey, and other imperial heroes arrived in command of their respective fleets via warp jump.
Centering themselves around Macragge, they split into multiple forces and swept the remaining Chaos elements from the Ultima Segmentum, restoring peace to this sector of the stars.
The first step in combating Chaos—securing a stable rear guard—had been accomplished.
It was time to initiate the second phase.
That meant providing relief to the Charadon Sector and purging the Ork Warlords and Necron dynasties entrenched there.
To counter the Ork warlords, Guilliman issued a coded decree commanding Cawl to dispatch the newly upgraded Primaris Space Marines alongside the latest forged weaponry.