"Something terrible has happened, Axis," Sanguinius began, his voice heavy as he recounted the full sequence of events, "The situation is… dire. Of all the primarchs, only the four of us remain."
He started from the beginning, from the first incident involving Lion El'Jonson, and then described the chain of disappearances and misfortunes that had befallen their brothers, one after another.
"What? How could this be?" Axis demanded, his expression turning ugly.
He had meticulously arranged everything, creating a future where the Primarchs would never need to collectively leave the Imperium, a future where the Age of Primarchs would not end in tragedy.
Yet, after three hundred years in isolation, he learned that nearly all his brothers were gone, and their departures mirrored the original timeline he had fought so hard to prevent.
It was as if he had done nothing at all.
Without a second thought, Axis's suspicion fell directly upon the old man sitting on the Golden Throne. It would certainly explain why his own domain had been shrouded in the mists of the Warp.
"Father," Kratos said, his voice firm, "Uncle Sanguinius and I both suspect that the one on the Golden Throne is no longer the Emperor we knew. He has changed completely."
It was a conclusion Kratos was reluctant to accept, but the evidence was undeniable.
The disappearance of the Primarchs was connected to the entity enthroned on Terra.
"Axis, we need you to step forward now," Sanguinius said, taking a deep breath. "We need you to purge the rot from the Imperium. This is what our Father would have wanted."
After three centuries as the head of the Imperial Cult, Sanguinius had learned to view matters from different perspectives. The Primarchs were loyal to the Emperor and would die for him, but the being on the Golden Throne was no longer their father.
"I am sorry, Axis, and Sanguinius," Magnus sighed, "This was all the Emperor's will. It was done to protect you and all our brothers."
At his words, both Kratos and Sanguinius shot Magnus a look of undisguised hostility.
"Magnus, what do you mean by that?" Sanguinius demanded immediately. "Do you know something we don't?"
"Our father never wanted to harm us," Magnus explained, "but he had no choice. It was the only way to ensure every Primarch survived. Though they have all left the Imperium, they are, at the very least, still alive."
"Uncle Magnus," Kratos pressed, "you have been in contact with him all these years, haven't you? Tell us what happened. Why did things turn out this way when the Imperium was thriving?"
"Do not trouble Magnus. He has his own burdens," Axis interjected, "The Emperor is in grave danger. The truth is, the Emperor has a dark side. Or rather, the Emperor himself was created from that very darkness."
Questioning Magnus was pointless.
Magnus was the one who suffered most, having sat on the Golden Throne and personally witnessed the Emperor's transformation into the Dark King.
It was not until the final battle that the Emperor had managed to reclaim his own consciousness.
"The Dark King?" Sanguinius asked. "Axis, what is that? I remember when Horus declared war on the Imperium, he spoke of becoming a Dark King himself."
"The Dark King is an ancient entity, a being whose status might even surpass the four Chaos Gods," Axis began to explain.
The matter of the Dark King was a secret so deep that not even Kasha knew of it. "Once born, once awakened, it possesses the power to annihilate and burn the entire galaxy. In the distant past of Terra, a group of human shamans drew the soul of the Dark King from the Warp and sealed it within a human infant. That infant became a perpetual, and a sacred duty was imprinted upon him: to protect the whole of mankind. I believe you know who I am talking about."
Kasha was utterly stunned.
"Axis, are you saying our father will ultimately destroy the universe?" Sanguinius's eyes widened in disbelief. "Does that mean… Horus was right?"
The realization struck him with the force of a thunderclap.
Had they been serving the greatest enemy of all life in the cosmos? Did that mean Horus's choice was the correct one? Should he have supported Horus all those years ago?
The thought was so staggering that Sanguinius, the Great Angel, swayed on his feet, lost in a profound crisis of faith.
"Do not misunderstand," Axis corrected him sharply. "The Emperor is the Emperor. The Dark King is the Dark King. They are two different beings.
"The Emperor was indeed born because of the Dark King, but the Emperor loves humanity and wishes to protect it. The Dark King loves only himself. As for Horus… he chose his path. Even if he had won, he could not have stopped the Dark King. Besides, he never had a chance of winning. It was all just a show."
"I suspect," Axis continued, "that the Emperor has been supplanted by the Dark King. During the Great Heresy, there was a period where the Emperor's consciousness was suppressed by it, leading him to commit many irrational acts."
If not for the Dark King's interference back then, the Emperor would never have ended up on the Golden Throne.
Axis alone would have been enough to quell the rebellion.
"Then, Axis," Sanguinius said, his mind racing, "if that is the case, is our father now our enemy? Must we find a way to strike him down, to defeat the Dark King?"
Kratos stood nearby, silent and conflicted.
He could not believe that the day had come when he might have to fight alongside his father against his own grandfather. Yet, if what his father and Magnus said was true, and considering the Emperor's actions over the past centuries, he had indeed become a threat to humanity.
"No, quite the opposite," Axis declared. "The Emperor is our greatest ally. He willingly sat upon the Golden Throne precisely to protect humanity. If he were not on that throne, the Dark King would have been born prematurely. The consequence of its early birth would be a slight reduction in its power, but it would still be on the level of the four Chaos Gods. It would devour the souls of all mankind, including the Primarchs."
"So, Axis, you had me establish the Imperial Cult because it would strengthen our father," Sanguinius realized with sudden clarity. "It was to help him suppress the Dark King, wasn't it?"
When Axis had proposed the state religion, he had only said it was vital for the Emperor, but neither he, Magnus, nor Malcador had elaborated on how. Now it was clear.
The Cult was meant to gather the faith of mankind as a weapon for the Emperor. But tragically, that plan might have already failed. The Emperor may now be completely under the Dark King's control.
"We do indeed have to deal with the Dark King," Axis confirmed. "The reason I planted the Tree of Gods here was to let it bear fruit. Once I consume its divine fruit, my power will be sufficient to challenge the Dark King.
"At that time, the Emperor will be able to rise from the Golden Throne. With the two of us fighting together, we will have over a ninety percent chance of victory." He held nothing back, laying out his and the Emperor's plan in full.
"That explains it," Sanguinius said grimly. "But the Dark King is clearly done waiting. Axis, how much longer until the fruit is ripe?"
"Unfortunately, the fruit of the tree requires ten thousand years to mature," Axis replied. "It has only been a little over three hundred years since it was planted. We still need another ninety-seven hundred years before the Emperor can consume it and rise from the Golden Throne."
"Damnation!" Sanguinius swore. "Axis, what do we do now? Are we to just stand by and watch as the Imperium we built with our own hands is dragged into darkness?" He finally understood why Magnus had told them to prepare for ten years.
Those ten years were the time Magnus had bought for them to arrange their legions and imperial affairs, to preserve what strength they could.
If his guess was correct, the entire region they were in had already been sealed off again. The Dark King had no intention of letting them leave Axis's domain.
"Uncle Magnus," Kratos said, his face equally grim, "you brought us to Father's side deliberately, didn't you? We cannot leave."
"I am sorry, but this is the only way to protect you," Magnus said. "Just stay here. All you have to do is stay here. In ten thousand years, this will all be resolved. The Dark King threatened our father and forcibly took control.
"Though he fought back with all his might, he could not resist it. Vulkan was the only one who went into seclusion willingly. The others were sent away under our father's deliberate arrangements."
Magnus knew that once Axis awakened, the Dark King's power would be unable to contain this place.
Even the three of them—Sanguinius, Kratos, and himself—could likely break the blockade if they worked together. The only thing he could do now was to persuade Axis to agree to stay.
"If we leave now, we will inevitably go to war with the Dark King, which is tantamount to fighting our father," Magnus warned, stressing the gravity of the situation. "And if the Dark King awakens, the Imperium is finished. Humanity is finished."
It was not that he did not want to change things, but he was truly powerless.
The Emperor's condition was slightly better than before, having been sustained by three centuries of human faith, but he needed a continuous and ever-growing supply of that faith to become stronger.
Sanguinius and Kratos fell silent.
"I understand," Sanguinius finally said with a heavy sigh, preparing to accept Magnus's counsel. "Then we shall remain here."
"Screw that bastard Dark King!" Axis roared, crimson flames erupting around his body. "You son of a bitch, I've had enough of you! The first time, I let it slide. This time, I won't."
His entire form began to shrink, his towering frame contracting to a height of just over six feet, but his body now radiated a brilliant, divine aura. The sight left Sanguinius, Kratos, and Magnus utterly dumbfounded.
"Axis, you can't be impulsive now!"
"You three stay out of this," Axis snarled. "I am not the same man I was three hundred years ago. Back then, I yielded to you, but now, Dark King, I am challenging you to a one-on-one fight."
"The Dark King has not yet been born," Magnus said in a panic. "He hasn't even manifested. How can you fight him?"
"Not born? Heh!" Axis scoffed. "It can interfere with the physical universe, meddle with the current timeline, and even suppress the Emperor's mind. That proves it exists right here. Before, I couldn't find it because I couldn't perceive the divine. But things are different now."
With that, Axis looked up towards the sky.
The Emperor was always watching this place, which meant the Dark King was too.
He took a deep breath, fully unleashing the senses of a Super Saiyan God.
A god's perception was entirely different from a mortal's.
While a Super Saiyan God might not have the raw power of Super Saiyan Blue, its ability to sense and manipulate divine energy was leagues beyond it. In Axis's perception, the entire living planet teemed with terrifying life force, and the Tree of Might exuded a welcoming, natural essence. He could feel the Emperor's sacred psychic power, the bloodthirsty rage of Khorne, and… a primal, ultimate darkness.
"Found you!" Axis bellowed.
He thrust his hand forward, his fist transcending physical concepts and spatial limits.
He reached into the empty void and forcibly dragged out a nameless, black, humanoid figure.
"Impossible," the black shadow shrieked, its form flickering with disbelief. "How… how did you find me?"
"You bastard!" Axis roared, his body flaring with an azure light as he instantly transformed into a Super Saiyan Blue. "I've tolerated you for long enough! Now I'm going to destroy you!"
Simultaneously, he activated his Legendary Super Saiyan state, his form swelling to a three-meter-tall titan in Legendary Super Saiyan Blue state.
The Dark King recoiled. "Axis, if you fight me, I will immediately burn the souls of all humanity!"
"Bah! Just you watch me!" Axis roared back.
His shout was infused with the divine power of a Super Saiyan God. It tore open a passage in reality, a rift that led neither to the Warp nor to realspace.
"Come with me, you bastard," Axis snarled, his voice a low growl. "Let's take this conversation to someplace else."
You could kill the people of this world, so he would just drag it to another world and see what it could do then.
The power of Super Saiyan 3 was enough to tear space.
The power of a Super Saiyan God, amplified by his Legendary state, was more than enough for Axis to open a fissure to a parallel universe.
Axis seized the Dark King by the throat and plunged into the spatial rift. Without a moment's hesitation, Kasha, Kratos, and Sanguinius dived in after them.
...
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ps?