"Sun!"
The burning, radiant object streaking in from the distance sent warriors and believers into a frenzy.
They shouted the Savior's name and offered their reverence.
Even the higher beings and tech-priests were shaken by the Savior's method of annihilation.
It was a fragment of a star.
A stellar fragment of terrifying temperature had been fired out in some fashion, screaming toward the Blackstone Fortress at high speed.
That unimaginable heat and impact were stronger than any meteor, capable of unleashing destruction on a nightmarish scale!
Inside the Chaos temple hall of the Blackstone Ark of Omen.
"Ah, what a moving scene. Like a tragic epic.
Look at your fleet, Savior. Like lowly insects, trying to stop a rolling wheel."
Erebus lounged on his throne, mocking the Savior at will, showing off his Old Terra proverbs.
He shook his head, as if sighing. "Pity their struggle is meaningless. The great Hand of Fate already accounted for this."
As Erebus finished speaking, countless Chaos warships appeared on the far side of the Blackstone Fortress.
The Chaos ships moved in and braced against the Blackstone Fortress, using their engines to add thrust and accelerate it toward Vigilus.
That engine thrust, combined with the fortress's own massive drives, was not something the Third Redemption Fleet could shake.
Not unless more fleets arrived, and paid in sacrifice.
But even then, there was not enough time.
That was why Erebus was so pleased. With the Imperium's current capabilities, it was impossible to stop the Blackstone Fortress's suicidal impact.
He stared at the Savior and sneered with false warmth:
"The Blackstone Fortress will enter the planet's gravity well. One hundred and thirty breaths from now, something wonderful will happen.
I chose that number especially for you. A sacred number belonging to the false Emperor, to celebrate this moment.
Soon, everyone will witness the grandest fireworks I have bestowed upon you and the Imperium."
Erebus was thrilled.
It would be his first victory against the Savior, the Imperial Emperor, enough to make that arrogant existence hurt to the bone.
Yet when he looked up, he saw the Savior with his head lowered, contacting someone. Rage flared in him at once.
That existence had ignored him.
Erebus drew a slow breath. "Savior, you still cling to pointless struggle. It only makes you more pathetic.
Every strand of fate points victory to me!"
Eden ended the psychic link and slowly raised his head.
His tone held a trace of regret. "Little E, you should stop running with the Changer of Ways, that big idiot. No future in it.
His predictions aren't accurate anymore, especially where I'm concerned. I hold higher knowledge. That dumb bird can't peek at it.
If you want, I can let you in on a little."
The Savior's blatant contempt for the Chaos Gods made Erebus's pupils contract sharply.
His "Hand of Fate" psychic sense screamed warnings at him, warning him not to probe the Savior's words.
Erebus gave a cold laugh. "Enough of your tricks. Watch the fireworks I made. You'll hear the wailing of countless souls."
Eden did not continue. To be honest, he did not quite dare to blurt out higher-dimensional secrets either.
Especially after the last time he had nearly blown up the Æonic Well.
He lowered his gaze, felt something out, and smiled with icy disdain. "Sorry. I won't be seeing your fireworks.
But it's fine. You're about to see the exploding hot-air balloon I prepared for you."
"What?"
Erebus instantly sensed something wrong.
The Savior was too calm. That meant something had changed. Could he actually stop the Blackstone Fortress?
Erebus whipped his head toward the void where the Blackstone Fortress hung, and saw the Imperial fleet withdrawing to both sides.
As if making way for something.
Then Erebus saw a burning sun.
A C'tan shard?
No. It was a shell forged from a stellar fragment.
"How is that possible? A necron ancient weapon, how could it appear in the Vigilus System?
And those awakened Necrons, why would they help the Imperium?!"
Erebus was panicking now, his body trembling. He could not understand it, and he had received no related intelligence.
To the warp, the existence of the Necrons was almost a void.
On one hand, Necrons had no souls and were insulated against psychic power. On the other, their tomb technology suppressed the spread of warp energy.
They could even create null zones on the scale of a Pariah Nexus, severing any warp infiltration entirely.
More importantly, Eden had moved too fast. The moment he arrived at Fanes and took control of the situation, he had immediately ordered the tomb technicians to transfer the ancient weapon, the Æonic Orb, into the Vigilus System.
Only after that did he begin the slower work: evacuating the planet's population and activating the tomb fleet.
The transfer of the Æonic Orb had been extremely covert. It used blackstone masking devices to conceal its traces until it was installed within the asteroid belt near Vigilus.
To prevent leaks, only Eden himself and the tomb technicians knew. He cut off information pathways as much as possible.
Meaning: before Eden ever reached Vigilus, the system already had a superweapon capable of firing stellar fragments standing guard.
In truth, he had not known what kind of enemy he would face. He had simply believed there was no harm in bringing more firepower.
He had not expected that ancient weapon, the Æonic Orb, would actually matter, becoming the decisive link.
Otherwise, relying only on the Imperium's fleet, it would have been difficult to stop the Blackstone Fortress. Even if they managed it, the cost would have been catastrophic.
"Withdraw. Withdraw now!"
Erebus snapped out of it and issued orders immediately, commanding the Chaos fleet under his control to retreat.
Since the Blackstone Fortress could not be saved, salvaging some losses would be better. That Chaos fleet was his core power base.
It was futile. There was no time left.
Boom!
Golden fire swept across the vaulted ceiling, lighting every face.
In Erebus's horrified eyes, the burning stellar fragment passed near this Blackstone Ark of Omen, then slammed straight into the Blackstone Fortress.
Blinding flame erupted. The fortress's Chaos shields were ripped apart instantly. Its outer bulwarks turned red-hot, cracked, and collapsed, while the core took a lethal hit.
The impact and explosion were visible to the naked eye. Molten metal sprayed outward, drowning every Chaos lifeform within.
It all happened within milliseconds.
That stellar fragment punched into the deepest reaches of the Blackstone Fortress, and the inferno that followed swallowed everything, including the Chaos fleet behind it.
With a crushing, unstoppable force, the Æonic Orb annihilated its target and painted a brilliant fireworks display across the void.
Wreckage from the destruction of that black monstrosity scattered in all directions, with part of it hurtling toward Vigilus.
Fortunately, those smaller fragments no longer carried much momentum or power.
The Third Redemption Fleet had been waiting. They executed interception orders immediately, using dense torpedo screens and even their own hulls to block the incoming debris.
They were well organized, orderly.
"No…"
Erebus stumbled back several steps and fell into his flesh-throne.
He had failed. Completely. His carefully designed trap had not harmed the Savior at all.
Worse, the Savior had torn through every Chaos field and living bulkhead and was about to take the throne itself.
"Savior, this isn't over!"
Erebus lifted his staff and carved a sorcerous teleportation circle into the floor.
The plan had failed. He did not intend to stay and endure humiliation. Greater plans still awaited execution.
That would be the true final battle, a blade aimed at the Imperium's throat. Compared to that, the war for Vigilus was nothing.
Yet the moment the sigils flared, a new power invaded.
The circle split open, then tore apart, and the Savior stepped out of the rupture.
"Clown. Did you forget I'm a psyker too.
A stronger psyker than you."
Borrowing the circle's power, Eden arrived directly in front of Erebus, yanked him down from the throne, and sat on it himself.
Like a king above all kings, he put the so-called Dark Apostle, the so-called Hand of Fate, under his boot.
The victory tally was already in. So why not savor the humiliation.
"No. Stop…"
Erebus struggled wildly, helpless, as he watched the Savior's psychic claws reach for him, terror deepening in his eyes.
He realized what the Savior intended to do.
Aaaah!
Amid the screaming, Eden peeled away the face Erebus had so meticulously maintained, not only in flesh, but carving scars into the soul itself.
Scars that would never heal.
Only that could truly leave pain and shadow upon this great traitor of the Imperium, this shameless clown.
And the scar pattern looked a little like a lump of dog crap.
No matter how Erebus resurrected, no matter how many bodies he took, Eden's scar-brand would follow him like a curse.
"I'll kill you, Savior. Just you wait!" Erebus raged, drowned in humiliation, all his earlier composure gone. "One day, I will…"
In the next instant, his neck was twisted and snapped. He never got another word.
Eden could not be bothered to listen to threats. After humiliating him thoroughly, he executed him.
With a wave of his hand, blazing psychic flame reduced Erebus's corpse to ash.
Eden knew the man was not truly dead. The Chaos Gods had always protected his soul.
Leaving him with soul-deep damage was the limit.
Before long, Erebus would crawl out again with that ugly scar on his face and start making trouble.
But it did not matter. With the Blackstone in hand, the war between the Imperium and Chaos had shifted from defense to offense.
Soon, the Chaos Gods would learn what regret meant. What it meant to beg: please stop messing with us.
From the throne, Eden looked down upon Vigilus. Psychic flame poured off him, turning the throne's living flesh into a golden hue.
From a distance, it looked as if he sat upon the Golden Throne, a small psychic trick, nothing more.
"Hiss.
Bad luck…"
Only then did Eden react, quickly stepping down from the "Golden Throne" and moving to the vaulted viewing point to observe the wider battle.
The Third Redemption Fleet had protected Vigilus well, intercepting most of the debris. What remained to fall planetward would not cause much damage.
As for the void war within the system, it was steadily fading.
After the Æonic Orb destroyed the Blackstone Fortress, aliens and heretics realized the fight was no longer worth it and began withdrawing from the system.
The first to leave were several Aeldari craftworlds. Then came the Necron tomb fleet. Even the vast Tyranid hive fleet closing on the system began to turn aside.
The special matter on Vigilus was tempting. Tyranid organisms and specialized chitin armor could even withstand the high heat of stellar fragments.
But it was not worth it. The loss of precious biomass would be too great.
After weighing it, that unknown hive fleet chose to turn away in search of a new feeding ground.
Last to go was the Ork warboss. When he saw Vigilus was no longer lively, he drove off in his battle-satellite.
He even took some newly recruited Mekboyz with him.
What he did not know was that those Mekboyz worshipped Rog, and that belief would spread quickly.
With the Ork warboss gone, the intensity of fighting on Vigilus dropped to ordinary levels.
More Imperial ships converged on the planet.
Watching it all, Eden finally let out a slow breath, satisfied.
It meant he could seize control of the Vigilus System and its blackstone deposits at a much smaller cost.
The relevant research programs could begin.
From this moment, the Vigilus campaign was effectively declared a victory. What remained was simply cleansing the planet, no longer something that required his direct attention.
Eden ordered personnel to come and take over this Blackstone Ark of Omen. It, too, was a precious resource.
After that, he went to Vigilus in person to hold the line, just in case.
In theory, he now controlled Vigilus. But until the prize was fully in his hands, it was hard to feel at ease.
When Eden's landing craft entered the atmosphere, transport ships flooded the skies, filling Vigilus's airspace.
The Imperium had secured orbital control. Ground forces could now enter in bulk, not like before, when they could only infiltrate in small numbers and constantly fear being glassed.
This would be a true purge.
At that moment, in a basin somewhere on Vigilus, Haarken Worldclaimer lay on the ground, barely breathing.
His head kept taking brutal hits from an Ork club. Around him, Chaos Raptor warriors lay scattered.
Most of those Raptors were stripped nearly bare.
Haarken had chased the Blood Ravens Chapter Master into this basin, only to be ambushed by a band of Orks shouting that Rog was cunning and fierce.
Then the Blood Ravens gathered too, attacking alongside the Orks.
The Raptor force had no ability to resist. They were smashed to pieces, and that was not all. Their weapons and armor were ripped off them as loot.
Those Blood Ravens thieves really were damnable.
"Bastards…"
Haarken raised a hand, trying to fight back, only for his skull to be hammered again with a loud crack. His vision slid into darkness.
In the edge of his sight, he could still make out the sky filled with Imperial landing craft.
He knew it was over. This planet would belong to the Imperium.
And that was exactly what happened. Once the Imperial coalition army reached the surface, it seized region after region at high speed.
Hundreds, even thousands, of engineer Titans advanced while building fresh defensive lines.
As for fortresses held by aliens and heretics, they could not withstand dedicated demolition machines.
Their bastions were quickly torn apart by drills, buckets, and dozer blades wrapped in power fields. Nothing could hold long.
Even hiding in underground tunnels did not spare them from bunker-busting missiles.
Now, the roar across Vigilus was several times louder than before, but it was entirely the Imperium's one-sided bombardment and firestorm cleansing.
That kind of roaring was so reassuring.
Inside the trench-lines, many warriors who had held out for days, bodies fully spent, heard it and simply collapsed into sleep.
From experience, they knew they no longer had to grit their teeth.
Especially once they saw the Savior's honor banners, because saturated manpower would fill every trench.
And as for the thunder of fire support, it was better than any lullaby. They slept soundly, and so did the enemy.
"Traitor!"
In the royal bedchamber of Port Sanctus, Calgar jolted awake from unconsciousness and sat up like a maddened beast. Even the ornate bed beneath him collapsed under the sudden burst of strength.
His fury was obvious.
Calgar clearly remembered being attacked by the Emperor's rebellious son, the traitor Horus.
He had fought back with everything he had, but still he was struck down.
After that roar, the Ultramarines Chapter Master realized he was in a secure area and forced himself to calm.
"Aide."
He rose quickly, desperate to know the current situation.
"Lord Calgar, the war is over. His Majesty the Savior has already reclaimed Vigilus."
At that moment, a senior Hospitaller Sister entered and scanned his body. "Your condition has improved, but you still require continued recuperation.
To cleanse the corrosive energies still lingering within you.
His Majesty has arranged a thirteen-day recuperation regimen for you at the Holy Terra convalescent sanctum. Please depart as soon as possible."
What?
Calgar was a little stunned.
He had arrived, been attacked almost immediately, slept, woke up, and it was already won. Now he was being sent off to a convalescent sanctum for the full treatment.
The victory felt unreal, even leaving him a bit ashamed.
But since it was the Imperial Emperor's arrangement, he could only accept.
Once the Ultramarines Chapter Master had geared up, he went to pay his respects to that exalted ruler.
After that, he departed for Holy Terra alongside the warriors granted the same honors.
When their rest ended, they likely had new missions waiting.
Inside the temporary Savior sanctum.
Eden sat at his desk processing affairs of state, while also tracking the progress of blackstone extraction.
Vigilus had largely been cleansed, and the precious treasure was already being mined and shipped back in batches.
"Mm. The Kalozasa Dynasty needs to be handled too. Their soul issue has to be resolved…"
After receiving warm greetings from the Crownless Phaeron and the Necrodermis Governor Zhabok, Eden suddenly remembered that difficult yet crucial matter.
(End of Chapter)
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