Sanguinius was summoned away by a single order from The Emperor. Even on the way there, he had vaguely sensed his own fate. When The Emperor spoke and asked him to become the new Emperor of the Imperium of Man, Sanguinius still opened his mouth in disbelief.
"I'm not suited to be a leader." Sanguinius gave a bitter smile. The Emperor nodded. He knew Sanguinius's temperament. Making him rule such a vast Imperium would be no different from making Jaghatai the head of the Imperium's civil officials—pure torture.
"You are not suited to be a leader, but only you can bear the responsibility of leadership. Sometimes, a leader does not need leadership talent. He merely needs the ability to make others willing to obey his orders. You know what the other Primarchs are like. Can you imagine what the Imperium would look like under their rule?"
No other reason was needed. On that point alone, Sanguinius had to accept this heavy responsibility. He would become the Imperium's heir apparent not for himself, nor for The Emperor, but so that everything they had fought for would not go to waste.
"I understand, Father."
The Emperor looked intently at Sanguinius and condensed his power into a gleaming golden halo, handing it to him. "The instant I disappear through the portal, put this halo on. If my guess about those Warp mongrels isn't too far off, this should fool him."
"Fool who?"
"I can't say. If I say it, he'll know. By the way, Sanguinius, you don't know much about the Warp, do you?"
"Only the basics."
The Emperor cleared his throat and spent some time explaining the structure of the Warp and the source of the gods' power. He made Sanguinius understand that even if the Imperium of Man lost this war,