I apologize for the long absence from updating this story, but I was completely blocked and didn't know how to move forward with it. Now the chapters will return to weekly updates.
Segmentum Tempestus The Veiled Region,
Selaaca – Tomb World of Maynarkh Dynasty
942.M33
Sanguinius
Countless Necrons had already fallen at his hands, yet more and more continued to appear. Moreover, Phaerakh attacked him from a distance, commanding her mindless servants and repeatedly activating her race's increasingly absurd weapons.
Of course, the Mother of Oblivion, seeing that all this was to no avail and that he was tearing through her forces, oblivious to the null fields, decided to use something that could very well backfire.
She released the imprisoned Shard of Mag'ladroth, which, though likely burning with vengeance against the Necrons, sensed the fragments of its former self fused with Sanguinius, lunged towards him, disintegrating the robotic race in the process.
While the Shard of Mag'ladroth attacked relentlessly, the Mother of Oblivion and her most powerful minions attacked him from a distance, especially with their beloved antimatter-based weapon. Massive energy beams repeatedly struck his psychic shield as he slaughtered the C'tan fragment hand-to-hand.
The difference between this Shard and the Dragon of Mars was significant, and Sanguinius himself was considerably stronger than before, his body more stable. However, he wasn't foolish or arrogant enough to assume this would be an easy fight, and the Necrons had truly terrifying weapons at their disposal, which had proven effective during the War in Heaven.
He felt the Necrons deploying shields, weapons, and other technologies, attempting to block or weaken his psyker abilities. If he were the same being he had been immediately after his rebirth, he would be in serious trouble. However, that was long behind him. His soul, and therefore his psychic powers, had to evolve to cope with the Void, which, once awakened, had become an essential part of him.
He wasn't about to risk it and pointlessly prolong this standoff. In a single moment, he allowed the Void, which had been held in check until then, to explode. A light-absorbing black wave erupted from his body in all directions, hurling the attacking Shard with such force that it broke the sound barrier several times in its flight, shattering the incredibly resistant walls of the Tomb..
The closest Necrons were utterly annihilated, but even those hundreds of metres away left only dust in their wake. The Mother of Oblivion activated massive shield generators around her, but even these, though they halted the initial assault, yielded to what came next.
Sanguinius's fist, encased in Void like a gauntlet, shattered the massive antimatter shields protecting the Maynarkh Dynasty's Phaerakh. Then, two powerful golden beams of psychic energy shot from Sanguinius' eyes, and struck the Necron; a terrifying scream filled with unimaginable pain and fear ripped from her lips before she fell to the ground, motionless.
Sanguinius, however, did not cease his attack; instead, his gaze fell upon the immense legions of Necrons pressing against him despite the death of their master.
Two beams of energy disintegrated their bodies made of living metal, regardless of their size, strength, armour, or shields. Sanguinius rose into the air, twisting and turning on his axis until he seemed to create a tornado of psychic power.
The energy also effortlessly shattered the walls surrounding them, slicing for miles in every direction until the unimaginably massive structure began to crumble.
At that moment, Shard returned to the chamber at lightning speed, only to be met by a Void-encased fist, which gripped him in an iron grip while the other began to strike him repeatedly with such force that cracks began to appear even in the nearly indestructible body of the Star God fragment.
Sanguinius's combined psychic power, combined with his physical strength and the concentrated mass of Void, was devastating. They created a field of pure destruction so powerful that even the crumbling structure of the Tomb disintegrated for hundreds of metres around them.
Only when Sanguinius determined that Shard would pose no threat did he abandon his merciless attack and unleash the device the Seeker had given him, intended to temporarily imprison Shard and block his power.
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Webway, Ilmarin
512.M35
Sanguinius
He entered the main chamber, where his three mentors, the Old Ones, had been preparing a ritual for weeks, while he, in hours of meditation, tried to strengthen his mind before the impending confrontation with the last Shard of Mag'ladroth – the Dragon of Mars.
For nearly a millennium and a half, he remained in a deep slumber and constant struggle with the Shard he had captured on Selaaca from the Necrons.
The galaxy had changed beyond recognition, but he left these matters to Jaghatai, who concentrated their forces on the fight against the Drukhari for dominance in the Webway.
His brother methodically and patiently pushed the Dark Eldars onto the defensive, raiding all their outposts and bases, hunting down ships and even fleets of slavers.
The growing army of the Eternal City was unfailing in this regard, growing stronger with each passing year. Every freed slave, every planet saved from chaos, fuelled Sanguinius's armies and filled the practically limitless expanses of Ilmarin, which could easily accommodate hundreds of trillions of beings without filling even a single percent of its space.
Time and space were of little consequence here. While in the Eternal City, you didn't age, for though time flowed outside, it seemed to stand still, or rather, simply didn't exist.
The same thing happened with space, which, thanks to powerful spells and Old Ones technology, could expand to unimaginable dimensions. A chamber seemingly large enough from the outside to house no more than a dozen Astartes housed a legion of Titans inside.
Between meditation sessions, he tried to discuss the most important matters of his growing Dominion and decide how it should develop during his long slumber. He visited the still-bound Fulgrim several times, with whom Mind had achieved as many successes as failures.
On the one hand, she managed to separate Fulgrim's soul from Daemon, who controlled his body and imprisoned his brother's soul. On the other hand, however, they were unable to erase the mark of Slaanesh from the Primarch's soul.
As Mind argued, this required complete control of the Void, even challenging the chaos god to fight for his brother's soul and vanquishing it. Something he was far from achieving, despite all his power. He had once tasted the power of the Ruinous Powers and knew the vast gulf that separated him from them.
A ritual was being prepared to reduce, or even eliminate, this distance. In this ritual, he would not only completely absorb the power and essence of Mag'ladroth but also combine the might of the most powerful Star God with the spirit of Asuryan, the soul of Sanguinius himself.
He was to become what the C'tan themselves aspired to: a God of both the matter and the immaterium. Once this happens, his crusade against Chaos will begin.