While the Emperor underwent his enhancement, Axis's own power was growing.
He followed a routine of completely exhausting his Ki and then resuming his training, a method that was perfectly suited for a Saiyan.
The Emperor's strength increased, and so did Axis's. During the first year, the Emperor would absorb every last drop of Axis's Ki, leaving him needing a full twenty-four hours to recover.
In the third year, Axis's Ki had roughly doubled. The Emperor's rate of absorption had also increased, now demanding more than twice the amount of energy as before.
Despite this, Axis's recovery had become far more efficient. All he needed was a meal and seven or eight hours of sleep, and his Ki would swiftly replenish itself.
His Saiyan body was adapting to this rapid expenditure of energy. In addition to strengthening Kasha, Axis even found the spare time and energy to begin enhancing his own gene-sons.
But the Emperor had other priorities.
He pointed out that Axis would have plenty of time to enhance his Astartes in the future; for now, he would be better served helping with the Adeptus Custodes.
Thus, beginning in the fourth year, Axis began dedicating several hours each day to providing Ki enhancements for the Custodes.
Even Malcador the Sigillite was brought before him to receive this empowerment.
By the fifth year, Axis's Ki had grown to one and a half times its previous peak, and he had pushed his Super Saiyan 2 form to its absolute limit.
Following the Emperor's command, the Martian Mechanicum constructed a gravity chamber deep within the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, capable of generating three hundred times normal gravity. He was getting too used to previous one available on terra.
Once it was completed, Axis transmitted all its technical data to his flagship, Solus Prime, with instructions to replicate it aboard the vessel.
Future training was crucial.
In the sixth year, the Emperor's physical evolution reached a critical stage.
The amount of Ki he consumed each day was now more than triple what it had been in the first year.
According to the original plan, the Emperor was only supposed to remain on Holy Terra for a short, six-month period before returning to command the Great Crusade.
However, the evolution triggered by Axis's forced him to remain on terra. The task of leading the Great Crusade was therefore handed over to Horus ahead of schedule.
During the seventh year, the first cohort of Axis's new recruits completed their transformation.
The Legion's numbers finally surpassed thirty thousand.
From that point on, a new contingent of thirty thousand recruits would join Axis's Legion each year until it reached its full strength of one hundred thousand in the tenth year.
In the eighth year, the Second Primarch, Karl, returned to Holy Terra.
Decades had passed since Axis had rescued the master of the Second Legion, and in that time, Karl had successfully rebuilt his forces to over one hundred thousand strong, allowing his Legion to rejoin the Great Crusade.
The two brothers met, during which Axis even used his Ki to enhance the man.
"Sigh, saying this is a miraculous power is an undertatement," Karl exclaimed in admiration after the enhancement, "I had wondered what matter was so important it kept Father from the field. Now I see he has been receiving this same treatment."
It all made sense now.
He finally understood how Horus, Russ, and Lion El'Jonson had grown so much stronger.
It was because they had been strengthened by this energy called Ki.
Karl mused that if he had possessed this level of physical prowess during his battle against the Rangda, their surprise attacks would never have succeeded.
"It will not be long before I join the Great Crusade myself," Axis said, "My Legion should be fully established in no more than three years."
With the first batch of recruits having been formally inducted, his Legion's strength now stood at over thirty-five thousand.
For the next three years, thirty thousand new Astartes would join their ranks annually until they reached the standard Legion size of one hundred thousand.
The Emperor had decreed that the Legion's subsequent development would be left entirely to Axis, who would also be tasked with finding a suitable homeworld during the Great Crusade.
"Does that mean Father will return to command us in the Crusade in three years?" the Second Primarch asked, his eyes brightening.
"That seems about right," Axis replied, "He might even return a little sooner, though it could be later as the Emperor has reached a crucial point in his transformation.
"Is Horus having trouble leading the Great Crusade?"
Horus was, for all intents and purposes, acting as the Warmaster, though the Emperor had not yet officially granted him the title.
"How should I put it," Karl began with a sigh, "Horus certainly possesses the gift of leadership. Many of the primarchs are willing to follow his command, but there is one exception."
Horus was steadily taking on the mantle of a leader among the primarchs.
In the Emperor's absence, all command duties had fallen to him, a development that had fostered resentment in one individual in particular.
"I assume you mean the Lion," Axis ventured.
"Anyone could guess that," Karl said, "The First Legion pays no heed to Horus's command. While the other primarchs will generally obey the orders he issues, Lion El'Jonson... he has always marched to the beat of his own drum.
"He cooperates with Horus on matters of strategy, but he ignores any minor directives," Karl shook his head.
"But let us not speak of this. It is none of our concern, after all," the Second Primarch finished with a shrug.
Axis simply smiled without a word.
According to the original timeline, Lion El'Jonson should have been locked in a desperate war against the Rangda at this very moment. But because of Axis's intervention, the xenos had been dealt with ahead of schedule.
This had given rise to an irreconcilable conflict. The Lion, as Primarch of the First Legion, was the true firstborn, the eldest brother to all other primarchs.
Horus, however, believed that as the first primarch to be found by the Emperor, that title belonged to him.
A clash between the two was now all but inevitable, as both vied to become the true leader of the primarchs.
It seemed the Emperor would have to get out and settle this matter soon.
"A word of advice, Axis," Karl added, "Both the Lion and Horus are gathering allies to their sides. When you finally join the Great Crusade, they will almost certainly try to win you over. You would be wise to think carefully about where you stand."
"That is not a good sign," Axis said, his eyes narrowed, "Have any of the primarchs explicitly declared their allegiance?"
"No one has officially taken a side yet," the Second Primarch explained, "but Horus holds a distinct advantage. Sanguinius and Mortarion are incredibly close to him; they will support whatever he decides. Magnus, Jaghatai Khan, Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, Perturabo, Leman Russ, Vulkan, the Eleventh Primarch, Guilliman, and myself are also on very good terms with Horus."
It was an almost entirely one-sided situation.
Lion El'Jonson had virtually no supporters.
The only ones who remained neutral were Rogal Dorn and Lorgar. Dorn's personality was as unyielding as rock; his loyalty was to the Imperium and the Emperor above all else, and he had little concern for such disputes.
He did not care who led the primarchs, so long as they all obeyed the Emperor's command.
Lorgar, on the other hand, was single-mindedly focused on his proselytizing, spreading the word of the Emperor's magnificent deeds to the masses.
With the Emperor remaining on Holy Terra for the last seven years, Lorgar's progress in the Great Crusade had fallen far behind his brothers.
In that time, he had brought fewer than ten worlds into compliance.
"What a complicated mess," Axis said, "Do not worry, I will not be picking a side."
Was there even a side to pick? he thought. Horus's victory seemed assured. The Lion undoubtedly knew this as well, but his pride as the first primarch would not allow him to so easily relinquish the honor he felt was rightfully his.
Axis realized that Karl's words, on the surface, were a warning to remain neutral, but his true intention was likely a request for Axis to report this to the Emperor.
At present, only he and Malcador had access to the Master of Mankind. Even the Emperor's daughter, Kasha, was not permitted to see him.
The Emperor did indeed consume a vast amount of Axis's Ki, but he also needed time to assimilate that power.
For the past eight years, he had not once left the secret chamber deep within the Palace. All matters of the Imperium, large and small, had been entrusted entirely to Malcador and Horus. It did not seem right for Axis to be the one to raise this issue.
After they spoke for a little longer, the Second Primarch took his leave. Once their conversation concluded, Axis returned to his quarters and recounted the situation to Kasha.
Saiyans were born for battle.
If you asked him to fight, he would excel, but politics was a field in which Saiyans were truly wasn't interested in taking part.
If it were not for his past life's memories, he would never have grasped the true meaning behind Karl's words.
The typical Saiyan was far too direct for such subtleties.
"The solution to this is simple though," Kasha said with a smile, "Do nothing."
"So, I should not mention it to the Emperor?" Axis asked.
"What is there to mention?" she replied, shaking his head, "Remember, your only duties right now are to build your Legion and help the Emperor strengthen his body with your Ki. The Emperor has delegated governance of the Imperium to Malcador and military command to Horus. Horus is simply exercising the authority he was given. If Lion El'Jonson refuses to obey his orders, then the fault lies with the Lion. Do you understand?"
There was nothing more to be said. The Emperor had already chosen a leader for the primarchs; the Lion's continued protests were meaningless.
Besides, she thought, did he truly believe Malcador would not keep the Emperor informed of such things? There was no need for him to intervene.
Axis nodded in understanding.
In the ninth year, an Imperial expeditionary fleet discovered another lost primarch.
This time, the Emperor chose to leave Holy Terra, postponing his physical evolution for six months to welcome home Konrad Curze, Primarch of the Eighth Legion. The Night Lords Legion was officially founded, and his homeworld of Nostramo was designated its Legion homeworld.
The Emperor also used this emergence to resolve the growing conflict between his sons.
He summoned Lion El'Jonson and Horus before him and severely reprimanded them both.
He admonished Horus to respect his elder brothers, but he also warned the Lion that he must obey Horus's commands, for as the eldest brother, he was expected to set an example for the others.
The storm over the primarchs' leadership temporarily passed, but the answer was now clear in everyone's minds: the Emperor's chosen successor was Horus.
This affair left Lion El'Jonson disheartened.
His thoughts drifted to that figure who had met with him in secret during the Rangda War. Could he truly become the Warmaster? But not a single one of his brothers supported him.
Furthermore, Horus had also received Axis's Ki enhancement, and his power was now equal to his own.
Simultaneously, the Emperor dispatched an envoy to Colchis, the homeworld of the Seventeenth Legion, with orders for Lorgar to strictly adhere to his Great Crusade directives and tolerate no further delays.
After settling these matters, the Emperor returned once more to Holy Terra to continue receiving his enhancement from Axis.
By their estimations, the process would be complete in another one to two years.
In the blink of an eye, the tenth year passed.
By its end, Axis had finished enhancing the entire Custodes.
The physical capabilities of every Custodian had been elevated by twenty to thirty percent.
In that same year, Axis's own Legion officially surpassed one hundred thousand Astartes, marking the completion of the Golden Legion's formation at its full strength.
This year was also critical for the Emperor, as his evolution finally reached its culmination. The Master of Mankind's body had at last completed its evolution.
In the eleventh year, within the secret chambers of the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra.
A tremendous boom shook the entire chamber.
The Emperor's body suddenly floated into the air, and a resplendent halo of golden energy formed around him.
His hair drifted upwards as if weightless, and glowing golden sigils gradually spread across his entire body.
The Emperor slowly opened his eyes, and twin beams of brilliant gold shot forth from his pupils.
An unprecedented wave of psychic power erupted from within him, stronger than any he had ever wielded before.
"I feel magnificent," the Emperor said, standing before him. "My physical abilities have increased by at least three times."
Over the course of ten years, his body had absorbed vast quantities of Ki from Axis, strengthening his physical form to an unbelievable degree.
Still, it fell short of Axis's own body. That young man was the true monster. His own progress over the last decade had been immense.
"Thank you, Axis," the Emperor said, "You have not only healed my old wounds, but you have also allowed my body to evolve."
"You are welcome," Axis replied, "It was a form of training for me as well."
"And your own power," the Emperor asked, "it must have grown considerably, has it not?"
He knew it was not only he who had grown stronger.
He could sense that the young primarch had likely mastered yet another transformation. Axis's potential seemed as limitless as the void itself.
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Haaaaave a great daaaaaayyyyyy!!!
alos, powerstones!