The Custodians' Secret

"Retreat! Now!"

Guilliman bellowed and dragged Alvin back at full speed.

Only after they had put dozens of meters between themselves and the danger did he have a chance to inspect the part of his arm that had just been consumed by "flesh."

The metal around the arm of the armor Grand Sage Cawl had built for him had been stripped away, exposing the internal servo systems and cables.

In just a few seconds, this top-of-the-line suit of Power Armor had been reduced to this state... Guilliman's heart sank. If he hadn't reacted quickly, far more than this small area would have been devoured.

The five Custodians had reacted just as swiftly. The moment Guilliman shouted, they split up and retreated.

By now, the area around Angron's vast, profane body had been filled with "swelling" and "twisting" flesh. Crimson energy flowed and burned like thick blood. Only with difficulty could they make out a vague face in that enormous, disgusting "mass of flesh," its expression filled with rage. The mark of Khorne's Blood Skull appeared and disappeared in the void.

"What in the world happened?" Guilliman couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. He could only turn to Alvin, still shaken, and hope this extraordinary young man could offer some explanation.

"I..."

Alvin's mental space was still being seared by that blood-red mark.

Even the "Eightfold Blessing of Khorne" tattoo, which had been dim on his body, had become increasingly distinct, as if flames had scorched it.

"I... went to... Nuceria..." He bit his lip with difficulty, enduring the erosion of his mind as he spoke in broken phrases. "I almost... killed him... but... I was stopped..."

Stopped?

Went to... Nuceria?

Those two statements only deepened Guilliman's confusion. But when he saw Alvin's mental state, he didn't press him