I Am a Divine Being

Every day, Kasgar woke up aboard the Vengeful Spirit, a vessel over twenty kilometers long.

Yet he found no joy in it.

Because he hadn't slept well.

[I am your essence]

[Kasgar, accept me.]

[Accept. Me.]

[Me]

Honestly, the quality of Warp entities was truly abysmal.

Bombarded daily by harassment calls, Kasgar helplessly closed his eyes.

There was no escape.

Raising his right hand, riddled with cracks, he pondered his future possibilities in his mind.

What the hell is this thing!?

The doubts in Kasgar's heart only grew.

Back in the day, the Chemos Mechanicum said he wasn't human—fine. But after his Space Marine transformation, why was he hurtling toward non-humanity at breakneck speed?

A few weeks ago, at the Silent Star camp.

After successfully seizing that small Xenos Warship, he controlled the alien crystal and his vessel to land on the Silent Star.

As for how to control it, or why he could, Kasgar had no idea.

But it was as if Kasgar shared a telepathic bond, able to perceive the other's thoughts.

The entity seemed to rejoice at meeting him.

The remaining alien stragglers inside the ship, connected through his link, chose to lay down their arms and surrender.

Thus, Kasgar docked the vessel near the Adeptus Mechanicus camp.

As he had expected, these Crystalline Aliens were indeed the custodians of the Dalit Warp Gates, holding the methods to sustain them.

According to the Crystalline Aliens, they were created by the Creator solely to guard and maintain these gates.

They had crossed the gate earlier because they sensed unknown lifeforms gathering near it.

Thus, they came to drive off and eliminate any who dared approach the Creator's sacred creation.

But they never expected the "enemy" to possess the Creator's mark.

Kasgar sensed the guilt and fear radiating from the crystal.

But wait—

Who is this Creator you speak of?

It couldn't be me, Kasgar, could it?

It was.

The giant crystal core pulsed with joy like a puppy.

The giant crystal captain had recognized the Creator's aura in Kasgar's hand, thus pledging allegiance.

Now that the Creator had returned, they naturally handed over the technology and maintenance methods for the gates.

After the Tech-Priests, who had received the technology, skipped away in delight, Kasgar asked the crystal another question.

"This Creator you speak of, who built the Warp Gates—who is he?"

They called him—

"The First of All Creation"

"The King of the Empyrean"

"The Creator"

And the one name he recognized.

"The Old Ones"

—[The Old Ones]

Who the hell am I?

Sitting in the cabin of the Vengeful Spirit, he fell into deep thought.

Kasgar's existential crisis seemed to arrive earlier than most.

He remembered he was a transmigrator.

But—

The Mechanicum said he wasn't human.

The guy with the Jester mask called him brother.

In the warp, he had become a blazing fire.

The Crystalline Aliens called him a descendant of the Old Ones.

[It is I. Kasgar, you are me.]

[Accept me. Accept me.]

[Kasgar, me.]

And there was another warp voice yapping in his ear the whole time!

Wow.

Truly a gathering of the worthy, a congregation of the wise!

Not a single one of them was human!

Kasgar forced a laugh and glanced at the crack on his right hand.

Couldn't be a god.

But he was already a fair distance from being human.

Let's just call it a god-man.

Whatever. The warp was full of no-good things anyway.

Best not to use it unless necessary.

Hmph!

He refused to believe it.

With his powerful command and dueling skills, could he really not beat others without relying on these warp sorceries?

Kasgar thought to himself.

"Achoo!"

Roboute Guilliman, seated at his desk in Ultramar preparing expedition deployments, sneezed.

"My Lord?"

Ionid Hill, the Second Captain of the Ultramarines beside him, inquired.

"It's nothing. Continue with your work."

Though he wondered why a Primarch would sneeze at all.

Then came word that Horus's fleet had finished purging the aliens in the region and had returned to the Silent Star.

Guided by the crystalline ship that had defected to them, the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet successfully crossed the portal and arrived at the alien homeworld on the other side.

It was a cluster of planets made entirely of crystal.

Soon after arrival, the giant crystal contacted their headquarters.

After several hours of negotiation, the crystalline alien race formally declared their submission to the Imperium of Man.

And handed over their portal technology completely.

This was an invaluable treasure for humanity.

A stable warp navigation beacon!

Even the Emperor Himself, upon hearing of it, later gave it the highest praise.

Given that the portal technology they provided would greatly aid the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus in establishing stable warp routes.

Not long after, the War Council on Terra officially decided to overlook their earlier attacks and incorporate them as the Empire's most loyal vassal state.

They hadn't wanted to show mercy to xenos.

But they couldn't say no when the offer was that generous.

So—praise the Emperor's mercy!

Of course, that was all later.

After finishing negotiations with the Crystalline Aliens, the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet set course for home.

According to rumors, this return was because the Emperor was about to choose one of the eight Primarchs who had returned to serve as the Warmaster of the Imperium!

Warmaster!

The Imperium of Man was about to have a Warmaster!

Wait, which Warmaster?

Hearing that title that would surely prick his back, Kasgar broke out in a cold sweat.

But if the timeline hadn't gone wrong...

In the early days of the Great Crusade, the one who would be elected Warmaster wasn't the Horus Lupercal everyone knew.

But rather the mysterious Lord of the Second Legion, whose existence would later be erased entirely.

Even Kasgar, in all his days since returning, had never seen him appear.

But seeing how cheerful Horus was, smiling at everyone he met, Kasgar decided it was best not to shatter the other's illusions.

So it was this Warmaster.

Scared me—thought it was some other Warmaster.

No wonder the Emperor's Children veterans were always going on about the Warmaster.

Walking down the ship's corridor, Kasgar let out a sigh of relief.

"So it's the upcoming Warmaster selection. I thought the timeline was messed up—"

Then, beside him, several Space Marines in Pearl White power armor strode past.

They were muttering something about "Thirty Years Centaur gold ring" and other half-understood phrases.

What?

What, what, what?

Centaur. Gold ring.?

Kasgar stood frozen in place.

The timeline really hasn't gone wrong, has it?

This time, the Warmaster can't possibly be elected directly as Horus, right?!

[Preparing to exit Mandeville Point]

Just as Kasgar was in turmoil, the ship's broadcast blared an alarm.

With a violent shudder, the view outside finally returned to the starry void.

And the whispers that had lingered in Kasgar's ears vanished completely.

The familiar Solar System once again came into Kasgar's sight.

Arriving at the heart of the Imperium, Holy Terra.

So beautiful, Holy Terra!

Though the seas were gone and the land had turned into a barren, deep brown, Kasgar still felt a surge of nostalgia.

Time to go home.