They should have died in that amalgamation of natural disasters, but they had not. Yilafren had passed out on the bike, her chest pressed against Lin Fan's back as the Raider bike drove itself forward.
Lin Fan held up the holy icon, conjuring a sacred golden shield, while Khan, bundled up like a zongzi and hanging off the rear of the bike, argued with The Emperor's phantom.
The moment they plunged headfirst into this death zone, the severed signal from The Emperor within Lin Fan immediately reconnected. The holy icon shone with sacred light, and Lin Fan, who understood The Emperor's intent, quickly raised it high, using the shield to block the cataclysm of thunderstorm, flood, and mudslide.
God knew why this place could produce things like floods and mudslides, but at least Lin Fan and the others would not have to worry about their safety for quite some time.
Yilafren had been drawn to the light of The Emperor's icon. Just as she reached out to touch the thing in Lin Fan's hand, The Emperor's phantom appeared. Then the little girl was overwhelmed by an immense force from the Warp, falling unconscious on the bike and sleeping without waking.
"Father..." Khan stared blankly at The Emperor's phantom, unsure what to say.
The Emperor spoke. Khan felt as though his brain had been brutally scraped by a razor, the countless overlapping voices making it impossible for him to understand what The Emperor truly meant to tell him.
"I am the true god!"
"There is no time..."
"The plan has failed..."
"Destruction... hatred... vengeance!"
"The faithless! Beyond salvation!"
"Restore the Age of Gold..."
"So humanity may stand forever at the pinnacle of the cosmos!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Tools!"
"My child..."
"I, too, am mortal..."
"Who will save me..."
"Malcador... my friend..."
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