This is the bonus chapter for reaching 600 Powerstones.
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Lucian swiped his finger, changing the image.
A long-handled halberd appeared in the holographic projection.
The weapon was sleek and massive, measuring a full four and a half meters long. It was forged entirely from a dark gold metal, the surface engraved with the same magma patterns as the Primarch's horns.
[Exclusive Adaptive Artifact: Starflame Dragon's Breath]
A polearm halberd. The halberd's head is forged from stellar core fragments harvested from the heart of a sun, housing a miniaturized, stabilized plasma core. It can unleash infernos comparable to a solar flare, effortlessly piercing warship armor and incinerating heretical energies. The flames will never extinguish until the target is reduced to ash.
"Starflame Dragon's Breath." Lucian read the weapon's name aloud. "Definitely worthy of the Crimson Drake Starflame."
[Exclusive Power Armor: Dragon-Scale Crimson Fire Armor]
Forged from a blend of the core hull-metals of countless xenos warships and the Primarch's own genetic secretions. Every armor plate mimics a draconic scale structure. It can absorb all fire, thermal, and energy-based attacks, converting them into personal strength. Capable of withstanding a direct hit from a starship's lance battery, and completely immune to plasma overload damage.
[Exclusive Sidearms: Crimson Drake Twin Fangs]
Dual-wielded plasma pistols. Leveraging the Primarch's genetic abilities to completely eliminate the risk of overheating. Capable of continuous rapid-fire plasma discharge, or compressing the plasma into a localized melee flame blade.
Lucian stared at the three-piece loadout, his mouth twitching slightly.
"With this loadout..." Lucian narrowed his eyes. "Forget going toe-to-toe with Horus. Even if the Emperor himself stepped into the ring, this guy could probably hold his own for a few rounds, right?"
Of course, he knew that was purely theoretical.
An entity on the Emperor's level could no longer be measured by raw power alone.
But at least within the hierarchy of Primarchs, the Crimson Drake Starflame was absolutely top-tier.
He continued scrolling down.
A massive block of text detailed the Primarch's innate abilities and exclusive core authorities.
[Standard Primarch Capabilities]
Possesses physical strength, speed, and reaction times far surpassing that of standard Astartes. Capable of tearing apart power armor barehanded, withstanding direct hits from tank main cannons, and single-handedly breaching starships. Can survive indefinitely in vacuums, extreme heat, and highly toxic environments. Completely immune to nearly all mortal diseases and poisons. Retains top-tier strategic command capabilities for system-wide joint operations. Holds absolute mastery over his own gene-seed, capable of awakening the power of his genetic sons across light-years via genetic resonance.
[Exclusive Core Authority: Stellar Flame Mastery]
His core psionic authority represents the absolute apex of the Evocation discipline. Unlike Magnus's omniscient-style psychic prowess, the Crimson Drake Starflame's authority is pure, unadulterated, and violently destructive. He possesses absolute control over all thermal and plasma energies, ranging from mundane fire to solar-flare-level heat. He can casually mold plasma fireballs barehanded or unleash a firestorm capable of engulfing an entire continent. During void combat, he can even use his psychic powers to amplify a starship's lance batteries, doubling their destructive output and transforming them into a tidal wave of fire that can burn right through an entire xenos fleet. In the most extreme scenarios, he can directly ignite a planet's core, turning the entire world into a burning purgatory.
Lucian laughed out loud again as he read the description. It had absolutely blown his mind the first time he saw it during the selection process.
"Is this even a Primarch anymore? This is a human-shaped Star Destroyer! A mobile one that spits literal hellfire!" It was precisely because of these absurd capabilities that he had thrown this Primarch into his final selection pool to begin with.
[Draconic Divine Manifestation]
Infused with the "Draconic" divinity of a specific Perpetual's DNA. When engaged in full combat, he can enter the "Avatar of Dragonfire" state. His physical height increases by half a meter, his entire body is encased in crimson-gold dragon scales, and wings of solid flame erupt from his back, allowing for high-speed flight in both atmospheric and vacuum environments. He can unleash a breath weapon that burns at the temperature of a stellar core, capable of instantly melting Terminator armor and incinerating the physical anchors of Chaos Daemons. While in this state, his physical strength, psychic power, and defensive capabilities are doubled.
The first time Lucian read the word "doubled," he had stared at the screen in dead silence for two whole seconds.
"Holy shit," Lucian muttered, the Crimson Drake Starflame having rapidly climbed the ranks of his shortlist at the time. "Are you kidding me? He can fly, and his overall combat power literally doubles?"
[Total Fire Immunity]
Completely immune to all fire, thermal, plasma, and energy-based attacks. He can actively absorb these energies, converting them into his own physical and psychic reserves. He could plunge into the outer corona of a sun and remain completely unharmed; in fact, the fire would only make him stronger. Unlike Vulkan's passive "extreme heat tolerance," this is an active "energy devouring" trait.
[Genetic Flame Resonance]
Capable of establishing a cross-light-year genetic resonance with his sons. On the battlefield, he can awaken the latent fire within every Astartes sharing his bloodline, instantly doubling their physical stamina, fire resistance, and psychic affinity. He can also command mortally wounded sons to detonate their own gene-seeds, unleashing a devastating blast of fire to take their enemies down with them.
This specific trait meant that the Crimson Drake Starflame Legion would never truly be broken in a rout.
It was this exact line that had cemented Lucian's decision, making him choose this genetic template as Crimson Dawn's very first Primarch.
"A Legion that never shatters," Lucian said softly. "Now that is a true trump card."
The combination of abilities was insanely busted. It was so completely overpowered that Lucian had genuinely wondered if the game system had glitched the stats. But he quickly learned that all immense power came with a heavy price.
First were the psychological side effects.
[Psychological Influences]
The entity fused with this template will be subjected to minor genetic personality alterations. He will be fiercely proud and unyielding, harboring a deep disdain for ambushes, conspiracies, and any tactics that avoid a direct confrontation. He will actively despise the combat doctrines of Konrad Curze and Alpharius. He fundamentally believes that war should be an honorable, cleansing immolation. He is extremely protective of his own sons; his discipline is ironclad, but he will absolutely never allow any other Primarch or faction to discipline or execute his warriors. Even if his sons commit heresy, only he holds the right to punish them.
[Lethal Native Flaw I: Dragonfire Fury]
The core price of the "Avatar of Dragonfire" state. Once activated, the Primarch's psyche will gradually be consumed by the destructive instincts of the flame. He will entirely lose his sanity, devolving into a mindless, apocalyptic beast that cannot distinguish friend from foe, burning everything in his path.
[Lethal Native Flaw II: Stellar Backlash]
If he pushes his fire-manipulation abilities past his absolute limits, he will suffer a catastrophic internal backlash from the stellar energy. Despite his Total Fire Immunity, this backlash will cause severe internal trauma, potentially inflicting permanent damage to his gene-seed and psychic foundation.
Lucian had remained silent for a long time when he first saw those two lethal flaws.
"Of course it wouldn't be that simple. Another god-tier powerhouse saddled with massive baggage," Lucian muttered. "He's an absolute beast normally, but the second he goes berserk, he'll barbecue his own men. But I suppose that's Warhammer for you. Flawless perfection simply does not exist in this universe."
There was no such thing as a perfect gene-seed, nor was there truly invincible power.
Out of the twenty Primarchs forged by the Emperor, which one didn't have a fatal flaw? Angron's Butcher's Nails might have been implanted later, but his tragic fate had been sealed from the start. Curze's prophetic madness, Perturabo's paranoid bitterness, Alpharius's crippling obsession with secrecy... even Fulgrim's pathological pursuit of perfection was simply the soil Slaanesh needed to plant its corruption.
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