Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [292]

Now, Magnus's soul was stronger than it had been ten thousand years ago. The bright soul fragment, nurtured by generations of Grey Knights and the Emperor's psychic power, had transformed him.

He was now far stronger than he'd ever imagined—his corrupted and bright souls had merged as one. Magnus had finally reclaimed himself.

Magnus shed his red-skinned daemon form, reverting to his gene-primarch appearance, about 3.5 meters tall, a wise middle-aged man.

He had no physical body, but his powerful soul formed a body of pure energy.

"I never thought I'd one day escape the thrall of Chaos! That I could become a Primarch again," Magnus said in awe.

"Is your body now made of pure Warp energy?" Horus asked in surprise.

Even Guilliman was startled—Magnus had managed to form a body from Warp energy in soul form and not a daemon body.

"We all come from the Warp—there aren't just daemons, but gods.

And gods are far stronger than daemons; all daemons in the Warp were created by those four as negative aspects!" Magnus said.

The Warp is called the Sea of Souls, the border of dream and reality. The true native beings are gods projected into reality.

Originally, there were no daemons in the Warp—just the four Chaos Gods turning it into a den of daemons.

The Warp is also called the Empyrean, or the Realm of Chaos—it was never a daemon lair.

After ten thousand years in the Warp, Magnus had gained new insight.

"If you can appear in the material universe in this form, why couldn't other Chaos gods, or Sanguinius?" Guilliman asked.

Magnus's state was abnormal—his body seemed much like a Primarch's, but made of pure energy.

Normally, demigods couldn't manage this.

"Ordinary demigods can't condense a true body from Warp energy.

But I can draw enough Warp energy to make an inferior energy body, capable of briefly holding my soul, though not for long.

It's like the Eldar gods—they've appeared in the material world as energy forms, but it's all illusory.

I must quickly get a real shell, or I'll be pulled back to the Warp," Magnus explained.

"Seems we know too little about the Warp," Horus said.

He and Guilliman were both powerful, but neither were true sorcerers—only Magnus among the Primarchs was a true mage.

"How long can you stay like this in the material universe?" the Emperor asked.

It was similar to how he granted Living Saints or the Cursed Legion—he even had the soul of Ferrus Manus, the first Primarch slain by Fulgrim.

"Father! At most seven days—if I don't get a real body in seven days, I'll be pulled back into the Warp," Magnus said.

He was now a demigod, not a Daemon Prince or greater daemon—on another level entirely.

"Rhodes! How long to make Magnus a new body?" the Emperor asked.

"At most three days!" The super-beast body wouldn't take long. This time the fusion materials were Emperor's Avatar flesh, Magnus's soul, plus Chaos energy.

"Then start now! No delays," the Emperor ordered.

"Magnus, focus on extracting Warp chaos energy—it's a key fusion material," Rhodes said.

This time, chaos energy was a main ingredient.

 "Understood!"

"I can help extract Warp chaos energy too," Guilliman said.

A demigod could easily extract chaos energy from the Warp.

Rhodes began preparing Magnus's super-beast shell.

…

Meanwhile, in the Warp, Tzeentch opened his all-seeing eye.

He was shocked—he'd lost the connection to Magnus, one of his most important Daemon Princes!

A lost connection meant one of two things: defection or total death.

A Daemon Prince could not defect easily—unless acted upon by a god-level being. Had Magnus been killed?

Tzeentch sensed his Chaos fleet sent after Magnus had been wiped out, not a single daemon soul returned.

Only one greater daemon managed to escape back, and Tzeentch summoned this daemon, Kairos Fateweaver, before him.

"Kairos, tell me what happened—why can't I sense Magnus's soul? The connection is broken," Tzeentch asked.

"Great master, forgive your servant's incompetence—Guilliman is no longer normal. Not even several greater daemons could handle him; and besides him, there were three other Primarchs," Kairos answered.

"Oh? Three Primarchs? Besides Guilliman and the mysterious female, who were the other two?" Tzeentch asked.

"Two mysterious men, both with powerful souls, presence, and strength. One could become an 80-meter-tall black giant, fight in space, and tear apart warships with ease. The other was also powerful but didn't show much strength—mainly fighting off lesser Chaos Marines, sorcerers, and daemons," Kairos said.

"Interesting—a black giant fighting in space, destroying Chaos fleets; another who could grow in size but held back.…" Tzeentch mused.

Using his power, Tzeentch searched Kairos's memories and saw everything.

One didn't stand out, but the black giant shone.

"Great master, the enemy summoned the Emperor's Avatar, plus three Primarchs. I judged Magnus was lost and retreated to report," Kairos said.

From what Kairos brought back, Magnus was likely doomed.

"No need for excuses. Your info is useful—stand down. I may summon you again," Tzeentch said.

Kairos bowed and withdrew.

"How interesting! Otherwise, omniscience would be painfully boring," Tzeentch's laughter echoed through the Warp.

…

Three days passed in a flash. Magnus and Guilliman worked together, Draigo and Mephiston, and Horus all helped extract vast chaos energy.

Rhodes, using the system's restoration, extracted 20,000 tons of Emperor's Avatar flesh. Once all was ready, Rhodes brought Magnus to the super-beast synthesis machine and had Yapool inject extra-dimensional energy to activate it.

The machine shone with red light—Magnus's soul, immense chaos energy, and Emperor's Avatar flesh.

The machine's energy was consumed at shocking speed, several times faster than previous fusions.

Hours later, it stopped and opened. Out stepped a 55-meter-tall Magnus, staff in hand, radiating both holy light and chaos power.

"How do you feel?"

"Better than ever—now I can wield both Father's holy power and Warp chaos energy as I wish," Magnus said.

The two powers could be fused!

Not just any fusion, either—chaos and the Emperor's holy power both originated from the Warp; they were one and the same.