"He is God among men. His soul burned eternally like an impregnable sun, but imprisoned in a powerful mortal body. The sword against chaos and the one who paves the Golden Path." Konrad's thoughts upon seeing the God-Emperor of Humanity in 310 after the Conquest.
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Giants invaded Asshai. Giants towering above mages and any normal human. Leading the giants was a sun incarnate in human skin; a god in the flesh of a man; his soul fire uncontained in a sheath of flesh and bone. Those brave enough to look directly at him were blinded for daring to gaze upon his radiant countenance.
The afflicted spent the rest of their lives blind, except for the image of the living god blazing in their dead retinas. At the end of the long road leading to the Night Haunter's palace, in the heart of the city, the future Primarch awaited the arrival of the delegation.
The army of strangers ceased as one, each of the 50,000 soldiers remaining motionless at the same instant. The three giants, taller than the other soldiers, stepped forward. The blazing god led them.
Konrad coldly observed the delegation. The three giants did not introduce themselves or say anything; the three observed him with different gazes. One merely stared at him with indifference, another waved amicably at him, and the last looked at him with a feeling of fury.
Vulkan, Sanguinius, and Horus.
The golden god himself stepped forward, with open arms. He prepared to speak, but as he did so, Curze succumbed to a vision of the future so potent and horrifying that he fell to his knees and tried to tear out his own eyes at that moment, but was prevented by the Emperor.
He felt a hand on his head; the excruciating pain ceased in a pulse, restoring sanity in a moment of mercy. The Night Hunter then looked up and saw the golden, ageless, faceless god transform into the image of a man.
The following words were recorded for posterity by those who witnessed this fateful encounter and still echo with terrible significance across the abyss of time:
"Be at peace, Konrad Curze, Lord of the Dark City."
"You have caught my attention and I accept you as one of my sons."
"Do you accept?"
"It will be an honor, my Emperor." The man who had hunted the mages of Asshai for decades knelt and bowed his head, accepting the proposal without any hesitation in his voice.
Looking at the man who made him leave the Ruby Throne to see him personally, Aenar smiled and helped Konrad up. He seemed too small, like a child before him, but the man simply had one of the greatest potentials among the Primarchs.
Being a mage even before going through the Blood Ritual would make the Primarch truly powerful.
"You are a bold man, Konrad." Aenar said, looking at the small and insignificant man before him. His purple eyes stared at the man with a calm and powerful gaze. "You might have trouble getting along with your brothers."
"I don't care about their opinion." Konrad replied in a calm tone, not at all submissive. "I prefer to do things alone and will remain so."
The man's words made Vulkan, Horus, and Sanguinius look at him. Even if there was some conflict between the Primarchs, they were united and respected each other's presence. Now, hearing that Konrad really didn't want to get involved with them.
"You'd better control your tone or I can help you control yourself." Horus, who was already angry with Konrad for making him fail with the Emperor's orders, could no longer control himself and stepped forward, looking at the small man who had prevented the conquest of Yi Ti for months.
Konrad showed no fear and stepped forward, looking at the giant before him as an equal. Horus couldn't believe the audacity of the mere human before him, a powerful Demigod Primarch.
"Stop fighting like two children, my sons are more mature than both of you." Aenar said with a slightly amused tone at the whole situation. In his eyes, it was very normal for brothers to fight.
Horus looked at Konrad with a deep gaze and returned to his position, but still continued to stare at the Lord of Asshai with a cold look.
"You did a good job preventing my legion's advance; this psychic energy dome is incredible." Aenar said, looking at the shield that protected the entire city. Even with Horus's power, the energy dome remained firm, although it would have broken if Horus had continued to attack for longer.
However, that did not diminish the brilliance of the technique's creator. Aenar presumed he could make an equal, but protecting an entire planet or even an entire solar system. If the energy dome could prevent the advance of chaos forces, it would be even better.
"Just a creation of mine after decades of experience." Konrad didn't seem proud of his achievement, which made Horus grit his teeth. From the little man's tone, it didn't seem like much to stop Horus from advancing.
Sanguinius was trying to hold back his laughter; his body trembled and with his size, his actions were soon noticed by Horus himself, who merely snorted coldly and didn't care about the small man.
"I have prepared a banquet, My Emperor." Konrad said, gesturing for Aenar to enter his palace.
Everyone followed into the palace. Aenar couldn't help but notice the mages standing in front of the wall. They all seemed extremely disciplined.
"Your future Astartes?" Aenar asked with a smile. Unlike Horus and Fulgrim who had help forming their Legion, Konrad seemed to have been prepared for this for many years.
"Yes, my emperor." Konrad replied simply and briefly, continuing to walk towards the hall.
Aenar looked at the man with a deep gaze. Seeing the future without the protection of a powerful mind was the same as slowly and terrifyingly going mad. One of the reasons he didn't allow Sanguinius to see the future was this.
Even if Konrad's visions were nothing compared to his, this power was not something mortals should touch. Fate always exacts a price for looking into the future. And the price was usually a person's sanity.
"Avoid seeing the future." Aenar advised Konrad in a gentle tone; he didn't want his Primarch to become even more antisocial; people need to have lives to be truly capable of resisting the invasion of chaos.
The Chaos Gods use their own weaknesses to tempt their targets, so the more determined and experienced a person is, the less effect chaos corruption can have.
"I will refrain from seeing the future, My Emperor." Konrad said in a cold, yet sincere tone. He himself knew how much damage his visions caused. "But sometimes it's involuntary."
"I will help with that, especially before you go through the Blood Ritual, your abilities will be enhanced, including your visions of the future." Aenar said with a serious look. Konrad's situation was special, being a powerful mage and a man capable of seeing the future, even if it was only a future of a single timeline.
"Don't worry, I will take care of everything." Aenar placed his hand on Konrad's shoulder and said amicably; he was not afraid to help the Primarchs, who had helped him so much in this planetary conquest.
Aenar was never stingy with his Primarchs, the men who would help him conquer the galaxy.
"Thank you, My Emperor." Konrad thanked him with a truly sincere tone. He looked at the God of Humanity with a more solemn and respectful gaze. Even knowing some things about the future, he needed to start having respect for the divinity before him. Only such a being was worthy of his submission.
"He's arrogant, but he seems like a nice guy." Looking at Konrad's back, who was next to the Emperor, Sanguinius said with a friendly smile.
The mages around twisted their lips abnormally, hearing the words of the red-armored giant. Konrad a nice guy? If the man were a nice guy, there would be no crimes in the world.
Nice guy and Konrad definitely shouldn't be in the same sentence, as anyone could be kinder than Konrad himself!
Vulkan and Horus looked at Sanguinius speechless at what they had just heard. Even without knowing Konrad personally, just by his dark and frightening appearance, everyone understood that he was not a nice man.
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.