Mortarion: Let Us Unite!

Those twisted psychic energies radiated outward from Magnus, piercing in every direction. The ships struck by them were not destroyed outright; instead, they became layers upon layers of flickering shadows.

It was as though ships from other parallel worlds had been pulled to this point, overlapping and colliding, flashing incessantly with dizzying light.

The crew and Astartes aboard those ships howled as well. Duplicate organs began appearing on their bodies. They grew several heads, sprouted multiple arms, and gained several utterly different wills.

Even alternate versions of themselves from parallel worlds possessed slight differences. Once those differences were layered together, they became lethal.

In the end, the ships and their parallel-world selves crushed and collided against one another, instantly exploding into molten furnace-fire. Vast amounts of debris sprayed outward, smashing several more warships apart.

Guilliman swiftly reestablished command over the fleet. He directed ship after ship to intercept Magnus, practically sacrificing them as shields to protect the Glory of Macragge—and to protect himself.

Such an act naturally violated Guilliman's moral principles, but rationality and reality left him no choice.

Zhou Yun had warned him that if he were corrupted by Chaos, the threat he posed would surpass even Horus's.

The fleet obeyed Guilliman's orders without hesitation, turning themselves into shields to intercept Magnus.

Yet almost all of those ships belonged to the Imperium. The Death Guard fleet Mortarion had brought did not obey Guilliman's orders.

Instead, they formed a strange, twisted formation around Magnus, the Imperial fleet, and the Glory of Macragge.

They formed groups of seven ships, seven groups to a battle group, seven battle groups to a fleet, and seven fleets into a distorted seven-pointed star that revolved endlessly, as though following some fixed ritual.

The Death Guard did not join the fleet either. They too arranged themselves