The God-Emperor sensed the Golden Ark Core drawing ever closer to Terra and could not help recalling a conversation he had once had with Lin Fan.
How had the Battle of Cadia been lost?
How? Abaddon had simply hurled the Blackstone Fortress at it like a missile, blowing both the fortress and the planet to pieces.
The God-Emperor felt somewhat rueful. The Golden Ark Core was such an advanced piece of equipment, yet now Tzeentch was throwing it at him like a stone.
What was even more aggravating was that it truly was not easy for him to intercept this stone. The Ark Core possessed far greater mass and volume than Terra.
But upon further thought, technological development had always begun with simple things. At their core, all the Adeptus Mechanicus's energy devices likely could not escape the fate of "boiling water faster," while the Necrontyr's astonishingly powerful Gauss Rifles were merely another form of the "stone-throwing problem."
The roar of the Golden Throne pierced through the Throne Room and the dome of the Imperial Palace. The entire Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, flattened and reconstructed, could hear it. The daemons and cultists besieging Terra retreated, having completed their task of diversion, while the Adeptus Custodes stationed along the walls and trenches rushed toward the Imperial Palace before they even had time to wipe the blood from their bodies.
This time, he truly could not hold on any longer...
The God-Emperor sighed. He had long known this day would come. He had forcibly delayed the ascension process for so long; today was the day he had to repay that debt.
As long as the God-Emperor attempted to stop the Golden Ark Core, his strength would be drained even faster. The Golden Throne would lose control, and he would be forced to ascend as