Chapter 120: The Final Duel - Rewind
Upon seeing the Emperor's black sun form consuming the galaxy, the Four Gods all withdrew their attacks. They never imagined that the Emperor would truly disregard the lives of humanity. If only they hadn't provoked this...
"Ollanius?" the Emperor murmured softly. His voice carried uncertainty and a hint of human struggle...the first sign of hesitation since His transformation began.
"Yes...My Emperor." Ollanius's voice became clearer, and his figure gradually appeared before the Emperor. The old man's face was weathered, marked by wars and service beyond measure.
"You are practically a god, Emperor," Ollanius said gently. "You should use a god's perception to examine your actions. Do you really think everything is right now?"
The Emperor's black form flickered with uncertainty. "But I must have this level of power to defeat Horus, who is controlled by them, and undo everything they have done."
His voice was cold and urgent, but beneath it lay a thread of desperation.
"I understand!" Ollanius stepped closer, unafraid of the cosmic power radiating from the Emperor. "I understand why you did this. You increased your power to defeat your own son. But don't you realize you're crossing the line? You're becoming the very thing you despise."
The Emperor was silent for a long moment. "So, you've come to stop me?"
Ollanius remained silent at the question, then shook his head helplessly. "It's truly wrong! Didn't you notice? You are becoming the embodiment of the Dark King!"
"That's just an old name," the Emperor replied coldly. "Irrational superstition. Trust in the wisdom of future generations!"
"Your obsession will only cause greater disaster," Ollanius pressed, his voice unwavering. "Look at the worlds below. The people you love most are dying. Is this really the result you want?"
The Emperor's limited humanity wavered at this moment. He looked down at His hands, where the burning golden flames had turned black, power He had absorbed from the immaterium. His power surpassed that of all mortals, but He also knew that every bit of power came with an unavoidable price: humanity itself.
The Four watched all this coldly. Khorne's anger simmered beneath the surface, but Tzeentch raised his hand? to signal for quiet and whispered to his brothers.
"Letting him listen might be his biggest weakness. If you want to intervene, go yourself. We won't care if you get obliterated."
Khorne settled back into seething silence.
"Perhaps you are right," the Emperor said, looking at Ollanius.
A hint of humanity appeared in His eyes once more. "Let humans fight and die humanely. Leave the choices to humanity, and you should rest."
Just as He finished speaking, a sharp, bell-like sound cut through the void, like glass or crystal shattering, the blue halo around the Emperor pulsated, and countless tiny cracks began to appear on the surface of the black sphere, quickly spreading and multiplying.
"Perhaps everything will return to the way it was before," the Emperor acknowledged. Though Ollanius had betrayed Him once, He still deemed him worthy of trust.
The essence of all things trembled. Matter and immaterium shook in the vibration, and all rules temporarily ceased at this moment.
...
When the power of the Dark King collapsed, the flow of time in the universe began to change. The galaxy began to flow backward. Planets reversed their trajectories. The burning flames of stars were twisted back into original energy clusters.
The glory and destruction of countless civilizations were replayed like recordings rewinding before their eyes. Stars that had long been annihilated were lit up again. Broken starships were reassembled on the battlefield. Everything returned to its origin in the reverse flow of time.
Every corner of the galaxy was shrouded in this inverted spectacle. The raging storm in the Warp gradually subsided, the chaotic energies settling back into dormancy.
Time itself had been reversed.
The Emperor stood there again. His form returned to a semblance of normalcy.
His face was still cold, and with another casual wave of His hand, He severed the connection between the Four and Horus, shattering their power into fragments.
Having lost the empowerment of the Four, Horus once again collapsed to the ground as if his body had been instantly emptied.
"Your scheme will not succeed!" the Emperor declared. "It won't be as you wish!"
Unlike last time, the Emperor now held a blackstone in His hand. He held it before Him like a keystone, an anchor against the Warp itself.
The Emperor's gaze fell on the three figures beside Him, Francis, Leman Russ, and Sanguinius. They were His most loyal sons and His last hope.
With the Emperor's will, dazzling golden light mixed with black light burst forth from His body, like the flames of the sun fragmenting into countless pieces. He slowly raised His hands, and the radiance around Him surged toward the three Primarchs like a tide washing against the shore.
As the power shifted, the Emperor's radiance gradually dimmed. His body no longer radiated burning divinity, but instead regained its mortal reality as before. The pure golden light slowly faded, and in its place stood four figures.
Each of them possessed the face and majesty of an Emperor. Each exuded an aura of supreme power. Each looked identical to the others.
The long-suppressed chaotic storm surged violently once more. Horus stood at the center of the storm, his gaze fixed on the four figures before him. His breathing was rapid, his eyes blazing with madness and hatred.
He roared through gritted teeth, his voice like a wounded beast. "What an absurd farce! Who is the real Emperor?! Who is?!"
His voice shook the entire Vengeful Spirit.
The power of the Four surged within him once more. His figure grew even larger and more grotesque. The Talon in his hand burned with abyssal black flames as he prepared for a last stand.
All four figures stepped forward simultaneously and spoke with unified authority.
"I am the Emperor."
"Horus, turn back!"
"You're talking nonsense!!!" Horus roared, his voice gradually taking on a hysterical hoarseness. His madness stemmed not only from anger but also from incomprehension. The four Emperors before him seemed to represent countless possibilities and countless futures, quantum certainties all manifested at once.
The next second, the four Emperors attacked simultaneously. Their radiance transformed into endless blades, spear shadows, and streams of flame, pouring toward Horus in a coordinated assault.
Horus swung the Talon, unleashing the power of the Four to block the relentless attacks forcefully. Simultaneously, he released distorted black flame in an attempt to retaliate. The power of the Four surged within him. His wounds healed rapidly, and the might of the Talon grew ever more terrifying.
Every move by an Emperor was intense pressure, forcing him to respond with even greater force. He was barely holding them back, three-to-one odds against beings of godlike power.
In the midst of this endless melee, Francis's body suddenly trembled slightly.
An unusual glint flashed in his eyes as something within him awakened, a strange sensation like a lock breaking open.
A powerful surge of psychic energy erupted from Francis's form. Fragments of Horus's soul suddenly floated out from his body, torn free by forces he could not control or understand.
Francis: "???"
Sanguinius: "??!"
Leman Russ: "!!!"
These soul fragments drifted like countless swirling stardust, carrying an aura of pain and despair. They slowly flew toward Horus's body, drawn by sympathetic resonance. These fragments seemed to possess Horus's own memories and emotions, his past pain, regret, and madness compressed into tangible form. After flying into his body, Horus shuddered violently.
"Aaaaaah!!!" His scream was primal, a sound of agony beyond physical pain.
"Kill me! Kill me now!!" His voice cracked under the weight of sudden self-awareness.
Horus's face contorted instantly, as if he were enduring unimaginable agony. He crouched down, clutching his head in torment. The Talon slipped from his grasp and fell to the deck. The whole world seemed to be enveloped by his uncontrollable pain.
Disrupted by this sudden invasion of soul fragments, the chaotic power became unstable for a critical moment. Horus's eyes were bloodshot, his gaze filled with confusion and despair. His hands gripped his head as if to tear his mind apart.
"Father, save me!!!" one voice cried from within him.
"No! The false Emperor deserves to die!!" another snarled.
"No! I am my father's son!!" a third pleaded.
"No! Just one step away! I am a god!!!" a fourth howled.
Horus let out a frantic growl, as if making a final stand against his past and his regrets, all the versions of himself warring for supremacy in his fractured mind. The power of Chaos surged wildly into his body, attempting to corrupt the soul fragments he had just received, to silence the voices of his own humanity.
The four Emperors temporarily halted their attack, realizing the change taking place. This was a vulnerability they could exploit...if they dared.
Francis seemed to have thought of something. He whispered urgently in Leman Russ's ear, his voice low and rapid.
Leman Russ looked at him in shock, his face uncertain. He seemed to mouth a question: Is this really going to work?
Francis gave him a determined look. Then came a sickening squelch sound.
Horus felt as if his Talon had pierced something soft and vital, flesh and bone and something far more precious.
When he painfully looked up, he saw one of the "Emperors" lying in a pool of blood. Crimson was gushing constantly from His abdomen.
"Loken" was half-embracing the wounded "Emperor" and howling in anguish, a soldier's final cry of despair.
"Your Majesty! What's wrong with you?! Wake up!!" The young officer's voice cracked with grief. "Father, you've already killed your own father! Won't you stop?!"
"The Emperor is dying!!" Loken howled hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot. Two streams of tears ran down his face as he cradled the bleeding form.
Horus looked at the scene before him in bewilderment. Then he glanced at the other "Emperors" still standing on either side, and something broke inside him.
Upon seeing his confusion, Sanguinius quickly transformed back to his original form, the illusion of an Emperor falling away to reveal the Primarch beneath. The true Emperor transformed into "Leman Russ," the deception becoming transparent in an instant.
Horus, already in immense pain from the soul fragments, felt as if his head was about to split open upon witnessing this revelation. He understood what had happened, what he had done.
The immense pain and the chaotic whispers made it impossible for him to think clearly. All he knew now was a terrible certainty: he really had killed his father.
The "Emperor" in Loken's arms began to fade, dissolving into golden light...a projection, a phantom, a carefully constructed lie designed to break him.
"No!!!" Horus's scream echoed through the void.
Why did this happen? How had he fallen so far? Was there any redemption left for him, or had he crossed a threshold from which there was no return?
His Talon lay abandoned on the deck. His body trembled with the weight of what he had almost done.
[End of Chapter]
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