"Has humanity really reached such a dangerous point?!"
The Lion raised his head, his voice carrying a faint tremor.
He too saw that dark-red Daemon in the depths of the void. Any being with psychic sensitivity could perceive that horrific silhouette.
That was the so-called fifth Chaos God of the warp the Chief Librarian had spoken of. The power spilling from it faintly overshadowed even the other Chaos Gods.
"This probably isn't the so-called Dark King, is it?"
Yet the Lion noticed something off and raised a doubt.
"That dark-red Daemon only looks powerful. It doesn't feel like a true Chaos God."
He could tell that, in essence, the thing had not yet reached the level of a warp god.
"Your Highness, that is precisely what worries me."
From the strain of prolonged scrying, blood-tears were running from the Chief Librarian's eyes.
"That dark-red Daemon has not yet truly been born, and it already wields such terrifying might.
If it fully manifests in the warp and lets out its first cry… what level of annihilation will that bring?"
The Lion had heard a little of the forbidden legends of the Dark King, but even so he voiced his skepticism.
"You're saying that once a hateful warp entity like that is born it can destroy the galaxy, destroy mankind? That sounds a bit absurd, doesn't it?"
Once the initial shock passed, this former believer in the Imperial Truth returned to rationality.
He found it hard to accept that a single warp abomination could wreak destruction on a galactic scale.
"I have delved into many secret archives and found a vast number of forbidden historical records.
Some of those records date back to before mankind even awakened to civilization and reason…"
The ancient Chief Librarian spoke with a certain pride.
The Dark Angels were one of the Chapters that held the most forbidden secrets in the Imperium, and he was among the most studious of them, with access to more hidden knowledge than most.
The forbidden lore he knew exceeded that of many high scholars of the Inquisition and the Sanctum Librarium of Terra.
The Chief Librarian went on:
"For example… the Aeldari xenos. They once forged a vast empire and ruled the galaxy.
Back then, holy Terra was still a savage world, and our species were nothing more than apes.
Yet the splendor of the Aeldari Empire ended in a single instant.
Its collapse was tied to the birth of the fourth Chaos God, the Dark Prince.
The moment that Dark Prince came into being, the entire Aeldari Empire fell into madness and ruin.
The surviving Aeldari scattered and fled, running from the Dark Prince's hunt. They are still running to this day.
They left behind many records about the warp and the Chaos Gods, and they have never stopped prying into the secrets of that dimension.
Ten thousand years ago, Aeldari seers caught hold of a dreadful prophecy: that the fifth Chaos God of the warp, the Dark King, would be born.
It embodies absolute, motiveless annihilation."
"Xenos claims are hardly worth trusting."
A look of disgust flashed across the Lion's face.
"Especially those Aeldari xenos who love to pull strings behind events and weave their little schemes."
He hated those sharp-eared aliens with their overflowing sense of superiority and endless arrogance.
Perhaps only that insufferable Roboute Guilliman would stoop to talking with the point-ears.
The Aeldari could very well have spread such rumors on purpose, hoping to incite panic and unrest in the Imperium of Man.
The Chief Librarian shook his head, his tone unshakably firm.
"Your Highness, I fear this isn't a rumor.
It isn't only the Aeldari xenos. Our own human seers also foretell the existence of the Dark King.
More than one prophet has sensed this. The Dark King's presence leaves clear traces in prophecy."
He hesitated for a moment, then chose to continue.
"At first, the prophets believed the Dark King would be Horus, the Primarch corrupted by Chaos, or perhaps the Great Daemon Samus, the so-called Wind of Destruction.
But after that rebellion, all those guesses were overturned.
That was when the Aeldari seers spread a horrifying and heretical prediction among us…"
At this point, the Chief Librarian broke off, looking with great care toward the Lion, their gene-sire.
"What I am about to reveal may be one of the darkest secrets of the Dark Angels, one never meant to be spoken.
I beg Your Highness to forgive my presumption."
"Speak." The Lion was terse. He needed to know the truth.
The Chief Librarian drew in a deep breath to steady his emotions, then let the words come out.
"They said the Golden Throne is the most terrifying instrument of torment in the galaxy, nurturing an extreme destruction.
That ultimate darkness will be born there.
Mankind will face a fate more tragic than the Aeldari's, with not one soul left alive."
"Impossible. That is an utter lie!"
At those words the Lion's voice flared with a thread of anger.
He absolutely refused to believe such nonsense.
The Master of Mankind, his own father, was the one who had torn humanity out of darkness and ignorance.
How could He ever be the Dark King?
The Lion admitted that he did sense darkness from his father… but he did not believe the Emperor would become a warp god who destroyed mankind.
More accurately, he did not want to admit that possibility even existed.
That would be the most tragic scene imaginable for the human race.
"You are right, Your Highness. We have never believed our glorious Emperor, our holy Sun, would be the Dark King.
It is sheer falsehood."
The Chief Librarian nodded in agreement with the Lion's statement.
"Any Imperial Librarian, Astropath, or even illegal psyker can feel the Sun's holiness.
It is a power opposed to the warp itself. How could it ever brew annihilation?
It is utter slander. Humanity cannot tolerate such an insult.
The Custodian Guard executed those Aeldari xenos the instant they voiced that heresy, and Imperial armies struck back in reprisal.
After that, all those who had accepted the heretical rumor were purged in waves, and the incident was sealed away as forbidden history."
"And reality has proven that the Dark King is someone else entirely."
He pointed toward the Daemon's silhouette in the depths of the void.
"He is right before our eyes. Who but the Dark King could possess such a vast and terrible reservoir of warp-power?"
As the Chief Librarian spoke, his face grew ashen.
Though what was happening before them cleared the Emperor of being the Dark King, the fact remained that this destroyer of all things now showed signs of being born.
That meant the galaxy and mankind had begun their countdown to destruction. It was, without doubt, an extremely dire piece of news.
The Lion forced his mood to settle a little and raised his head to ask:
"Did those prophecies say anything about how to prevent the Dark King's birth?"
He could not simply watch annihilation unfold. He had to do something.
"No. There is nothing we can do."
The Chief Librarian was stunned for a heartbeat by the Lion's question, then shut his eyes in pain.
"We can only let it happen and wait for the Dark King's coming."
"Why?"
"Your Highness, if you studied the warp in depth you would know that it does not possess a pure concept of time.
The present, the past, and the future coexist there."
The Chief Librarian's tone grew more and more despairing and powerless.
"In other words, the moment the prophecy appeared, the Dark King had already been born in the future.
We are only waiting for His arrival.
Time has no meaning to the warp and to Chaos.
No matter what we do, no matter how we try to avert it, that Dark King, that god of destruction, will appear at the moment appointed in the prophecy.
Which also means that His servants and His dominion already exist…"
The Lion's frown deepened at that. He let out a long, slow sigh.
"Librarian… I am glad you have not gone mad."
Such a horrifying prophecy, laden with the inevitability of fate, was a shattering blow to any Librarian's mind.
They knew everything in advance and could only watch as the prophesied ruin unfolded step by step.
That was a despair beyond words.
The ordinary citizens of the Imperium were better off not knowing.
At least they could still cling to hope and would not lose the courage to resist.
If a terrible thing is destined to occur, why should mankind spill everything it has to stop and resist it?
The Chief Librarian looked older still.
"I did not go mad, but many Librarians did after learning this secret.
Some were executed. Others became Fallen Angels and fled.
Fortunately, our Inner Circle brethren have never ceased hunting them, to keep the secret from leaking out."
This was one of the darkest secrets within the Dark Angels, and like the other forbidden truths it had spawned yet more Fallen.
The Dark Angels could only train more Inner Circle brethren to hunt them down.
But large-scale hunts made it almost impossible to prevent brethren from coming into contact with the Fallen, which in turn led more hunters to learn the secret and defect.
That was one of the reasons why the more they culled the Fallen, the more of them there seemed to be.
They were blocking the pipe at both ends with a single straight piece of iron.
"We can keep the secret."
The Chief Librarian spoke to the Lion as if swearing an oath, full of absolute confidence.
The Lion did not comment on that. His thoughts remained fixed on the matter of the Dark King.
It seemed the Imperium faced an enemy even more intractable than the Ruinous Powers.
If the Chaos Gods were bleeding the Imperium dry over time, then the birth of the Dark King would be a blade rammed straight into the Imperium's carotid.
Worse still, His birth was guaranteed. No one could stop it.
The current wars raging across the galaxy were many times harsher than in the days of the Great Crusade or the Horus Heresy. The difficulty was simply on another level.
During the Great Crusade, the Lion's campaigns were largely against xenos or human rebels.
Most operations could be resolved with superior numbers and sound tactics, the foe swept away in a single overwhelming advance.
During the Horus Heresy, he fought Primarch brothers and Astartes. Harder, yes, but once the Exterminatus war machines were deployed the Imperium could still claw the situation back.
The galaxy of today, however, was thick with monsters and horrors.
Humanity had to confront all manner of heretics and xenos at once, while also guarding against the predations of Daemons and the Chaos Gods.
They now faced powers that were divine in all but name.
And on top of that, there was now a suspected Dark King, a god who could wipe out the galaxy.
In theory, He could not be stopped.
"Diablo…"
As the Lion stared at the Daemon's shadow in the void, a name suddenly rose in his mind.
He felt his dread deepen. A sliver of fear even crept into his heart.
"Whatever He is… be it the Dark King or something else entirely… the Knights of Caliban do not lack the courage to draw their blades!"
That fleeting moment of fear was gone almost as soon as it appeared. The First Primarch hardened his resolve.
No matter whether this being was a so-called Chaos God or a world-ender, all he needed to do was strike.
The Dark Angels would, before the day of annihilation, find enough relic weapons and sacred artifacts to bring to bear.
The Lion's words lit a fire in the hearts of those around him.
The mood shifted from heavy gloom to fierce resolve, and the Dark Angels roared his name in reply.
Soon after, new reports came in: good news from the wider Imperial front.
"Praise the Emperor!
"Your Highness, the Savior will arrive within three Terran days, and his special vanguard allies will arrive even earlier to help us hold the line!"
The Chief Librarian's voice shook with fervor and elation.
Moments earlier, he had caught a fresh fragment of information in the warp, a new and certain prophecy.
That was the massed visions the Savior had projected toward the Vostonia Subsector war zone, so that high-tier Librarians and psykers could perceive them.
In essence, it was a man-made prophecy wrought by his own authority.
Right now, the colossal Redemption Crusade fleet was tightening a ring of steel around the Vostonia war zone, while the strike force he led had already plunged into the depths of the sector.
Their primary objective was to extract the Lion and locate the enemy's core.
If the Savior's strike force could arrive within the projected timeframe, then the prophecy was accurate, and must be accurate.
"Are we certain of this?"
The Lion's face broke into a broad smile at the Chief Librarian's report, delight filling his heart.
He no longer harbored any dislike for the Savior.
Right now he only wanted that man to bring the Imperial fleet here as fast as possible and deliver this suffering sector.
After asking the question, the Lion gave a rueful chuckle.
He had just asked something pointless.
As the Chief Librarian had said, the warp had no concept of time. The present, the past, and the future were one and the same.
That was why the Dark King had to come: because he had already been born.
Likewise, if the prophecy of the Savior's arrival had been captured, then it too would inevitably come to pass.
Otherwise such a prophetic signal would never have manifested.
Yet along with this good news came an avalanche of bad news.
Boom, boom, boom—
The fortress of rockcrete and adamantium shook violently. Outside, violent flashes filled the sky as one nuclear detonation after another bloomed.
Each sun of nuclear fire blooming on the horizon signaled the destruction of another Exterminatus war machine and the collapse of another segment of the line.
The already dire situation was plunging off a cliff.
"Can we hold out until the Savior arrives?"
The Lion's bionic eye lenses reflected more than a dozen nuclear suns and the Chaos tide surging over the horizon like a tsunami.
Anxiety gnawed at him.
He doubted that they, or this world, could last three Terran days.
If the last line fell, not a single Imperial citizen within the fortress would survive.
"All Knights of Caliban, advance with me.
This may be our final battle.
We must hold this line for three Terran days. Even if we die upon it, we will not yield!"
The Lion ignited his blade and faced the Dark Angels that remained, delivering his battle oration.
Then he led the Knights of Caliban to the last line on this world, to hold back the endless Chaos tide.
They stood like jagged rocks against the sea, taking the full impact of the boiling warp-surf. More of them fell with every passing moment.
The last defensive line of the fortress was tottering. Even the standard-bearer who bore the Lion's heraldry fell in the ferocity of the fighting, though someone rushed forward in time to seize and raise the honor banner once more.
"Librarian, where are the vanguard allies from your prophecy?!"
The Lion ripped his burning blade free from a Greater Daemon's skull, then hacked wildly, hewing apart the clawed Daemons that hurled themselves at him from all sides.
He bellowed the question down the vox to the Chief Librarian.
In the current situation, without fresh reinforcements there was no possible way they could hold on for another three Terran days.
They would be lucky if any of them were still breathing by sundown.
The Chief Librarian's voice sounded weak, yet carried a hint of joy.
"Your Highness… they are here. I see the vanguard allies."
He had once more drawn on his psychic gifts to glimpse the future, and the strain had withered his formerly robust body.
"They're here? Then why don't I see them?"
The Lion drew in a deep breath and glanced up through a gap in the storm-cloud vortex at the planet's near-space.
There was nothing there.
Had the prophecy failed?
Just as disappointment began to take hold, he sensed something.
His gaze shifted, fixing on the titanic shadow of Diablo.
Space itself was rippling.
Right before their eyes, a vertical, prismatic rift opened in the Daemon's chest.
A gargantuan Chaos warship rammed its way out.
The vessel's silhouette was monstrous and malign. One look was enough to mark it as a Chaos abomination.
From it came a torrent of hellish death-metal, hurled down into the atmosphere.
"Not reinforcements… new enemies."
"No. That can't be!"
As the Lion reeled, the Chief Librarian's voice cracked into a raw, ragged scream across the vox.
The sudden appearance of the Chaos battleship, and the fiery trails of its drops, drove the Knights of Caliban deeper into despair.
The hope they had clung to so tightly was being ripped away.
Thoom, thoom, thoom—
Wave after wave of Dreadclaws, wreathed in hellfire and covered in snarling skulls, runes, and sigils, slammed down into the defensive line.
There were as many of them as there were Dark Angels.
"You have got to be joking…"
As the Lion watched the impact zones, an insane notion suddenly struck him, making his scalp prickle.
The drop-pods' landing pattern was… peculiar.
And the behavior of the Chaos warriors who burst from the Dreadclaws a moment later confirmed his suspicion.
They did not charge the Imperial positions.
Instead, they took up position ahead of the fortress line, interposing themselves between the Imperials and the onrushing Chaos tide.
Clink, clank, clink—
Those grotesque, heavily mutated Chaos warriors stood in ranks, one line after another, shields humming faintly as they crackled to life.
They used their warped bodies as living bulwarks, blocking the incoming daemon-fire and bone-spikes from the tide.
They were shielding the Dark Angels, and the human defenders behind them…
(End of Chapter)
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