Chapter 156: This is not a drill! This is not a drill!!
The moment Vulkan finished speaking, he vanished.
The Salamanders stood bewildered, looking around in confusion. Where had their Primarch gone?
The answer came a heartbeat later.
A blazing trail tore through Terra's night sky, a meteor wreathed in flame, Vulkan's massive form at its core, plummeting toward the surface.
"Father, I will protect you!"
His roar split the heavens like thunder.
Outside the Imperial Palace, the battle had reached a critical point.
A towering Knight Questoris leveled its thermal cannon at several wounded Custodians. Intense light gathered at the weapon's muzzle, the air shimmering and distorting from the building heat.
The Custodians showed no fear. Death in the Emperor's service was the highest honor they could claim.
"For the Emperor!"
They stood ready to meet their fate.
The thermal cannon prepared to fire, and then a blazing meteor crashed into the Knight's back.
The impact sent shockwaves through the war machine's frame, then pitched it forward and slammed it into the ground. The Knight's head shattered on impact, metal fragments and sparks flying in all directions. With a final grinding roar of failing systems, the massive war engine collapsed into twisted ruin.
The Custodians stared at the wreckage in confusion. They knew of no such weapon in the Palace's arsenal.
After quickly administering what aid they could to their wounds, they cautiously approached the fallen Knight, trying to identify what had saved them.
A brilliant figure rose from the molten crater. Vulkan's body regenerated rapidly in the flames, his towering form magnificent and terrible.
"Father, am I in time? Are you unharmed?" Vulkan asked, his voice filled with concern.
The Custodians could only stare in stunned silence.
Aboard the Blackrock Fortress above Cadia, indicator lights flickered across the device's interface.
Magnus lay on a complex apparatus, his body surrounded by specialized equipment. Conduits and runes pulsed with shifting blue-purple light.
"Are you certain this contraption will function? It appears rather... unimpressive," Magnus said skeptically.
Francis stood nearby, running diagnostics on the device. "Relax, it'll work perfectly! Remember what I just told you? Now focus and recall where you encountered that blue, scruffy bird. Then open a rift to that location."
Magnus tilted his head, studying Francis with sudden suspicion. Ever since sitting upon the Golden Throne, his mind had been sharper, clearer. This felt like a trap.
"What exactly are you planning? I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
Francis paused. "Just getting some payback. We're in this together, right? He played us both, shouldn't we return the favor? You want to master your psychic abilities? How can you advance if you don't overcome this obstacle? Your vision shouldn't be limited to the Imperium, the galaxy, or even Prospero; it should encompass the entire universe!"
As Francis painted this grand vision, Magnus felt excitement building. His eyes blazed crimson as he ground his teeth and stamped his foot.
"Let's do this, brother!"
His eye closed, his expression settling into intense concentration. The shimmering runes surrounding him converged into swirling ripples of psychic energy.
"The Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch..." Magnus murmured, as if speaking to something beyond mortal perception.
He cleared his mind, his consciousness diving into the endless Sea of Souls, searching for the outline of that bizarre and indescribable realm of Chaos. In his mind's eye, he saw a domain where disorder and order intertwined, where space and time held no meaning.
Endless spiral staircases, ceaselessly turning gears, and drifting warpfire wove together into an impossible complexity.
His consciousness brushed against that strange psychic signature, the Architect's domain.
"Found it!" Magnus's eye snapped open with a growl. Psychic energy surged through the device.
Sweat beaded on his crimson skin as the psychic light intensified, waves of scorching heat radiating from him like a living flame.
Finally, a deep rumble echoed from the depths of space. The Blackrock Fortress's energy concentrated at a single point, then exploded outward.
Tear—
In the void surrounding the fortress, a massive warp rift slowly tore itself open. Beyond the rift, bizarre and fantastical vistas proclaimed its existence to realspace. A corner of an impossible labyrinth, constantly twisting and changing.
"I did it! I actually did it! Haha!" Magnus roared in triumph, then turned his head to see a strange smile playing across Francis's lips.
"Hehehe~ Now you just lie there and rest. I'll handle our revenge."
Magnus blinked in confusion.
Then a powerful suction force erupted from the device. Magnus's eye widened in shock and disbelief.
"You scruffy bird, after today our grudges are settled! Take this! Crow Takes an Airplane!" Francis shouted gleefully.
Francis's hands flew across the keyboard and control panels, each button press triggering devastating beams of light that erupted from Blackrock Fortress and streaked toward the labyrinth.
In the void beyond, the massive cannons of Blackrock Fortress lit up in sequence like a constellation of destruction.
Each high-energy beam roared forth like an enraged dragon, striking directly at that strange realm of Chaos.
As the rift fully stabilized, countless Blue Horrors emerged, their eyes gleaming with curiosity and their wings fluttering as they sensed the enticing energies emanating from it.
Their expressions showed initial bewilderment, as if they couldn't believe their luck.
"What fortune! Someone opened a rift for free! Hehehe~"
"Could this be part of the Lord's grand design? Haha~ It smells wonderful!"
"Even if it's a trap, I'm going in! Here I come!"
They hesitated only a moment before bursting into gleeful shrieks and diving through the gap without hesitation.
However, before they could celebrate their good fortune, swarms of high-energy beams, like heralds of annihilation, shot forth from Blackrock Fortress's depths. Their expressions changed instantly.
"It was the Lord's conspiracy! Everyone, retreat!"
"Aaaaaah! The Lord is hilarious!"
"I've learned a new trick! I'll use this next time!"
"Hahaha! I knew it was a trap, but you wouldn't listen!"
"Then why did you fly in to die?"
"Haha~ I came to watch you fools get tricked! Worth it! Urk-"
The daemon laughed maniacally even as a beam pierced its body, disintegrating it to ash almost instantly. More daemons followed, trying to escape the beam barrage, but their fate was already sealed.
Nearly every daemon that flew through the rift was struck by concentrated fire.
Their bodies were torn apart, spraying corrupted blood and raw Chaos energy. The daemons screamed in agony as their flesh charred, limbs shattered, and they were ultimately reduced to nothingness.
Francis, witnessing this carnage, laughed wildly.
"Not enough! Not enough! Those were for Magnus's grudges! Mine haven't even started!"
Magnus stared from the apparatus in complete disbelief.
At Francis's command, countless psychic projectiles launched from the Abyss's Roar.
BOOM!
A high-energy beam pierced through warped space and struck the labyrinth's center with pinpoint accuracy.
Blinding light engulfed an entire section of the maze, the previously dim crystalline structures suddenly illuminated as bright as day.
A second wave of psychic projectiles followed mercilessly. The shells exploded in the void, releasing waves of psychic energy as they hammered the labyrinth's outer walls. The bombardment pierced the maze's defenses and struck deep into its core.
Buildings unable to withstand the assault crumbled under the violent impacts. Cracks spread like spiderwebs, and the intricate architecture fragmented into ruin.
Daemons watching from a safe distance couldn't help but comment.
"The Lord really knows how to stage a show! He went all out! So realistic!"
"Right? If you hadn't told me, I'd think someone actually attacked the Lord's palace!"
"Wow, this is incredibly realistic! Too realistic!"
"Look, even the Lord Himself is blocking the beams! Must be a trick to fool us into helping withstand the attack."
"Exactly! Look how easily the main defenses are handling it. Must be blanks! When we go in, it'll be live ammunition!"
"How cruel! Absolutely cruel!"
Countless Blue Horrors watched with a mixture of admiration and outrage. Such deviousness! Truly worthy of a god!
The god in question was absolutely livid. This was not part of His plan at all!
"This is not part of my plan!"
The daemons who heard this became even more excited, roaring in response.
"That's right! Exactly! This is the next phase of His plan!"
"He's deceiving us! It's layers of traps!"
"Wow! I almost fell for it! Truly worthy of the Architect!"
Tzeentch stood rigid with frustration.
"This is not a drill! This is not a drill!"
The daemon who'd been analyzing earlier immediately pointed at Tzeentch and laughed.
"See? He couldn't fool us, and now He's panicking! He's panicking!"
The other daemons didn't even spare him a glance. A giant talon simply tore the daemon apart.
Splat—
It didn't even reform.
Immediately afterward, the Blue Horrors felt themselves being seized by His will...
[End of Chapter]
Want to read more than 50+ chapters right now!
patreon.com/cw/Mr_UmU
https://www.patreon.com/Mr_UmU
____
Want bonus chapters? You got it.
Goal: 300 – Achieved: 298 = 2 Bonus Chapters
📌 1 Power Stone on the Book Page = 100 on Chapter Pages!
!! VISIT the BOOK PAGE to donate your Power Stone.