This is the bonus chapter for reaching 700 Powerstones.
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Hearing that their gene-father could be resurrected, all the Ultramarines were startled.
However, the next words spoken by Yvraine of the Ynnari plunged their spirits to rock bottom.
"Besides the Armor of Fate, to save Guilliman, we must also purge the corrupting poison entangled within him. The power of our Eldar God of Death is perfectly suited to do this, but at the same time, this will also kill Guilliman."
After the Eldar Yvraine finished speaking, Cawl continued where she left off.
"After the poison is purged, with the aid of my Armor of Fate, the deceased Guilliman can be resurrected."
Zeke shook his head repeatedly as he listened. This is too unreliable. It's not even as good as my Totem of Undying.
As soon as these words came out, Calgar and the Ultramarines he brought with him exploded in an uproar.
Are you playing me?
Killing him first to save him? Setting aside whether the person you bring back is still the original Guilliman, Calgar would never agree to let the Primarch be killed by a group of xenos.
"As long as I draw breath, no xenos will be allowed near the Primarch."
Calgar raised his fist, encased in a Power Gauntlet. His meaning was clear.
Anyone who dared to make a move on his gene-father would have to see if his fist agreed.
Hearing the Eldar's plan, Inquisitor Greyfax aimed her gun at the group of xenos. "Hmph, I knew it. What good intentions could a bunch of xenos have?"
Saint Celestine, however, chose to stand with Cawl.
"I have three strategies." Zeke broke the tense atmosphere.
Everyone's gaze shifted to him.
Zeke took out a series of items from his backpack: first a bucket of Milk, then an Enchanted Golden Apple, and finally a Totem of Undying.
"You mean to say you have three methods to save our gene-father?"
Calgar suppressed his anger, thinking this human before him was even less reliable than the Archmagos.
The Ultramarines had traversed the galaxy for years, searching for a way to save their gene-father.
And suddenly, one day, a human pops up saying, "I can save your gene-father, and I have three whole methods."
Calgar didn't buy it.
"I indeed have three methods, but which one will actually work requires testing."
Zeke didn't dare make guarantees, softening his words a little.
"This is Milk, a drink that can clear negative effects, and the Enchanted Golden Apple, a food that can heal injuries."
Zeke took out another portion. "You can ask Marshal Amalrich, who traveled with us, or have someone test it. At any rate, my methods are surely more reliable than those of the Eldar emissaries, right?"
That was true. Calgar took the Milk and the Enchanted Golden Apple.
After speaking with Marshal Amalrich and calling over an Ultramarine to verify it on the spot—confirming everything Zeke said was error-free—Calgar tested it himself.
He put away Zeke's Milk and Golden Apple and ordered someone to deliver them to Guilliman, who sat within the stasis field.
Without deactivating the stasis field, introducing food into the body was achievable.
Under the anxious gazes of the Ultramarines, the milk entered Guilliman's body.
The skin that had festered from the poison vanished.
The Ultramarines couldn't believe what was happening before their eyes. A captain standing in the back row whispered in a broken voice, choking back sobs.
In front of their gene-father, they acted like a group of children.
Chapter Master Calgar tried his best to hide his inner excitement. There's hope!
He then proceeded to feed the Enchanted Golden Apple to Guilliman through the same operation.
Golden radiance surrounded Guilliman. His health bar was recovering, but he still didn't wake up.
The Golden Apple couldn't heal certain spiritual wounds; it had to be the Totem of Undying.
Seeing that Guilliman didn't wake up, Calgar paused, remembering Zeke's words: he still had a third method.
Calgar looked at Zeke with desperate eyes. All the Ultramarines looked at Zeke. After witnessing his means, the Ultramarines no longer doubted this human soldier.
Zeke picked up the Totem of Undying. "This last method requires killing Guilliman first."
The hall fell silent. After going in a circle, they had returned to square one.
Calgar didn't know how to face Zeke.
Anger? But this mortal had just dispelled the poison from his gene-father.
Trust? Perhaps that miraculous food was just a ploy to lower his guard.
Misfortune never knocks before entering.
Suddenly a boom came from above the hall, several Black Legionnaires descended from the sky. Chaos forces had breached the place.
Good opportunity. Zeke and Cawl exchanged a glance, realizing this was a godsend.
Calgar engaged a Black Legionnaire, his fist punching through the opponent's defenses.
His Power Gauntlet, crackling with arcs of electricity, delivered a heavy blow to the Chaos Terminator's jaw, instantly exploding the traitor's head into a rain of blood.
At that moment, movement from beneath Guilliman's throne caught his attention.
With just a glance, the Chapter Master's chest was instantly filled with trembling terror.
The stasis field had been deactivated. Zeke was manipulating Guilliman.
So heavy, Zeke thought to himself, placing the Totem of Undying in Guilliman's hand.
Simultaneously, Cawl backed away from the auto-reliquary. The device hummed as its dome opened like the petals of some giant carnivorous flower.
If anything went wrong with Zeke's plan, the Armor of Fate would step in immediately.
"No!" Calgar forced down his fear and roared.
"I order you to stop immediately! In the name of the Emperor, Chief Librarian, stop them!"
Calgar's panic became unparalleled as his eyes met the Chief Librarian's. The latter shook his head at him.
The Chief Librarian chose to trust the vision he had seen.
Meanwhile, Yvraine stepped forward with incredible grace. She raised the sword in her hand high and stabbed toward Guilliman.
Zeke didn't want to be the executioner who killed Guilliman. Since Yvraine had the idea, he'd let her do the honors.
"What have you done!" The Chapter Master roared, despair and fury filling his entire body like flames.
"No, no, no, no!" He bellowed, smashing a nearby Black Legionnaire charging at him into pulp with a single punch.
Then, clenching his fists, he turned his back on the traitors who had forced this tragedy.
What's done is done. He could only vent his endless rage upon the tide of Chaos enemies.
–
Fragments of his final memories cut through him repeatedly.
The image of Fulgrim stabbing him—that was not a glorious duel, but a carefully orchestrated conspiracy.
The despicable Fulgrim had exploited the wound left by Kor Phaeron to inflict a grievous injury upon him, poison invading his body.
Although the sons of the Ultramarines tried to save him, it was all in vain.
Death, a concept that should have been distant for a Primarch, unstoppably overwhelmed Guilliman.
The desperate cries of his sons, the lamentations of the Apothecaries, the clamor of the battlefield...
Everything was fading away, replaced by an ancient, absolute darkness.
He heard the laughter of the chaos gods, celebrating the fall of another of the Emperor's masterpieces.
Everything, it seemed, had truly ended.
Until a speck of golden light appeared.
He saw a golden light flash past, a small golden figure before his eyes.
"Is that you, Father?!"
"Father, take me away from here!"
With conviction, Guilliman reached out his hands toward the spinning golden figure.
The Totem of Undying slipped past his eyes.
Crack. A crisp shattering sound.
Post-Mortal.
The first thing Guilliman saw when he opened his eyes was a short human soldier.
"You're awake?" Zeke stepped aside, and Guilliman saw the scene of war, a large group of Chaos forces storming into the hall.
"First, outside is full of Chaos forces. I'm afraid there's no time to celebrate right now."
With his superhuman intellect, Guilliman immediately understood the situation.
"Second, the Imperium has fallen into unprecedented darkness during your absence." Zeke counted on his fingers, quickly explaining the current situation to Guilliman.
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Next Goal = 800 Powerstones.