This is the bonus chapter for reaching 1500 Powerstones.
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Paul looked at Sacken, whose aura had abruptly and drastically changed. Deep within the pupils beneath his golden faceplate, the five-pointed star spun rapidly.
The Wisdom trait was analyzing the psychic fluctuations radiating from the entity.
It was no longer the residual psychic energy of Sacken Alar, but something ancient, cunning... and sickening.
"Just as expected." Paul's icy voice echoed through the Custodian faceplate with absolute certainty. "The orders of His Majesty the Emperor are never wrong."
He tilted his head slightly, looking at Helovia beside him, whose small face was pale as she gripped the Magical Girl wand tightly.
"The ultimate source of sin on this world must indeed be purified by the hands of the final bloodline of House Alar."
This sentence was delivered with absolute conviction, as if stating a predetermined fact foreseen by the Emperor long ago.
Ten meters away, Sanguinius's amber-gold slit pupils contracted slightly.
The Great Angel keenly caught the meaning hidden within Paul's words. It was an absolute, almost blind trust in the Emperor's grand design.
Father... You could even predict this?
Complex emotions rippled through Sanguinius's heart.
Although his own foresight abilities were powerful, he could only see fragmented pieces and blurry possibilities. But his Father...
The Great Angel looked at the golden Custodes Praetor, and then at the little girl holding the peculiar wand.
He actually laid out plans for details down to this level?
He even knew of the existence of the final bloodline of House Alar?
He could accurately predict that she would appear at this exact time and place, and that she would need to face a family member possessed by a Greater Daemon?
Sanguinius took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart.
Truly worthy of being the Father who brought him out of Baal and personally shaped his body, giving him life. Truly worthy of being the greatest Emperor who led the Imperium of Man in launching the Great Crusade.
His mind was running wild with self-generated explanations.
"Lord Sanguinius." Paul's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Leave this traitor to me and this child."
He turned toward the Blood Angels warriors still fighting bitterly against the Corrupted a short distance away. "Your sons need you. The Blood Angels Legion's losses in this battle... have already been quite heavy."
It was phrased tactfully, but Sanguinius understood.
He looked at the battlefield.
Although the warriors of the Second and Fifth Companies were still fighting valiantly, their power armor was covered in scars, their ammunition was severely depleted, and the psychic reserves of the Librarians were on the verge of exhaustion. And the Corrupted surging from all directions seemed endlessly inexhaustible.
Sanguinius took another look at Aetaos, who was hovering mid-air and radiating terrifying psychic fluctuations.
The twenty-meter-tall demonic vessel, the gently flapping blue-purple demonic wings on its back, the three pairs of Tzeentch Greater Daemon eye phantoms slowly rotating behind Sacken.
This Warp entity was very dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
But...
Sanguinius's gaze fell back to Paul.
This Custodes Praetor had previously slain a massive Warp entity in the Aru Industrial Zone single-handedly, and had just slain another powerful Warp entity.
"I understand." Sanguinius nodded slowly, his pristine white wings giving a gentle flap. "I leave this place to you, Praetor Titus. I will clear the Corrupted in the vicinity; if you require reinforcement, simply ask."
But he didn't fly far away immediately.
The Great Angel merely retreated three hundred meters, landing on a relatively high platform amidst the ruins. From this position, he could simultaneously observe the Aetaos battlefield and the Corrupted-clearing operation across the entire upper hive.
If any accident occurred on Praetor Titus's end, he could arrive to reinforce within three seconds.
As for those Corrupted...
Sanguinius looked down at the tide of blue-purple monsters surging forward.
The Blade Encarmine was slowly raised.
Pale golden psychic energy rose like a sun.
"Let your purification and judgment—"
The Great Angel's figure vanished instantly.
The next second, he appeared at the very forefront of the Corrupted tide.
"—serve as atonement for the losses you have inflicted upon the Imperium!"
The blade of the Blade Encarmine swung out.
No flashy maneuvers or complex techniques were needed. Powered by a Primarch's strength, it was simply the most direct, violent horizontal sweep.
SWISH!!!
The pale golden sword light expanded like a crescent moon, covering a 120-degree, fifty-meter-radius fan-shaped area in front of him.
Within this sector, over three hundred blue, mutated Corrupted froze simultaneously.
A fine golden line appeared across their bodies, starting from the waist. Then, their upper halves slowly slid off. Blue-purple blood spewed like fountains, staining the ground a profane color.
Sanguinius didn't linger at that spot.
With a flap of his wings, his figure darted through the battlefield like a phantom.
Wherever he passed, the Corrupted fell like stalks of wheat.
One strike, thirty of them.
Another strike, fifty.
A third strike, seventy...
The Great Angel acted like a highly efficient harvester, flashing through the ruins at speeds exceeding a hundred meters per second, clearing a sector with every swing.
The Corrupted couldn't even see his movements. They only saw a flash of pale golden light, and then their bodies were severed in two.
"Is this... the power of our Father..." a Blood Angels warrior at the edge of the upper hive ruins muttered.
He and three battle-brothers had just spent an entire minute coordinating to kill a single mid-tier Horror.
But their Primarch Father... killed hundreds with a single strike.
"Stop staring blankly." The sergeant beside him patted his pauldron. "Our Primarch Father is clearing the battlefield for us; we cannot fall behind!"
"Yes, sir!"
The warriors raised their bolters once more, coordinating with Sanguinius to mop up any stragglers.
–
Paul watched Sanguinius's retreating back and breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
Finally managed to bluff Sanguinius away. The Great Angel's presence is too oppressive; it's hard to operate freely with him around.
[Have you been loyal today]: "Paul, that move of pushing everything onto the Emperor is a universal key."
Paul replied, "At this point in the 30K timeline, the Emperor is the ultimate scapegoat... wait, I mean the ultimate authority. As a Custodian, as long as you invoke the Emperor, the Primarchs generally won't pry too deeply. After all, in their eyes, the Emperor's designs have always been unfathomable."
Right then, in the regional channel.
Blood Angels' Second Emperor: "Paul, I found it! I had the players back in the real world search the forums based on that guy's appearance, and I finally found his info! Aetaos'rau'keres! A Greater Daemon belonging to Tzeentch, the Lord of Change! His portfolio is covert assassination and reality warping. Psychic specialties: Time manipulation, psychic reflection, reality warping. This guy can reflect enemy psychic attacks and can even erase a target's existence records in the Warp! Weapons: Staff of Cataclysm and Warp-fire claws. The former is for area-of-effect bombardment, the latter for tearing souls in melee combat. Combat style: Primarily ranged psychic suppression, relying on high-speed claw strikes in melee. And one key piece of info: When this guy takes damage, his attack accuracy drops, but he becomes more frenzied, and his destructive power actually increases."
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Thanks for the powerstones guys!