Easy to Verify
Before he could finish speaking, a giant hand covered in blue-gold flames grabbed Magnus by the neck with a speed that Magnus could not even react to.
The other hand encircled his chest like an iron hoop, locking him tightly in place.
Guilliman thus imprisoned the enormous Daemon Prince in his arms with sheer power.
Magnus could clearly feel his fractured and repairing spine pressing firmly against Guilliman's muscular, superalloy-like forearm.
Then, the two arms began to slowly, yet irresistibly, squeeze inward.
"Ugh... Ah!!!"
A teeth-grinding, creaking sound rang out, a sound of metal and bone being compressed to the extreme.
The armor on Magnus's spine shattered first, followed by the re-forming bones groaning under the pressure exceeding their limits.
He could "hear" the structure within his own essence—symbols of support and strength—tense, twisting, reaching a critical point once more.
Snap—Boom!
A more complete and louder cracking sound erupted.
Magnus's swollen body went limp instantly, the terrifying pain overwhelming all perception.
All that remained was a long, heart-wrenching wail that echoed throughout a corner of the Warp.
He was like a plaster statue whose main beam had been removed.
It folded in a bizarre way in front of Guilliman, then was carelessly tossed into the void, twitching in vain.
Guilliman stepped forward and looked down at his brother, who was curled up in pain at his feet.
I'm very curious.
His voice carried a cruel calmness, almost like an academic discussion, "After becoming Daemon Prince, do you still qualify as... 'living beings' in this state?"
He slowly raised his right foot, the sole of the boot, covered in a domineering power armor, glowing with a faint blue light, hovering above Magnus's only intact eye.
"I'll gain more experience," Guilliman said, seemingly to himself. "After all, there are still a few brothers... I must handle them myself."
As soon as he finished speaking, he moved his dangling foot away.
Instead, the Hand of Dominion that had just crushed Carlos's Eye of the Future, broken Magnus's Blade, and severed the Daemon Prince's spine descended once more.
Magnus's field of vision was obscured by shadows.
In his remaining lucidity, he could "see" with unparalleled clarity --
Guilliman placed his large thumb firmly and precisely on the eyelid of Guilliman's single eye, which was wide open in pain and fear.
A cold sensation came through.
Then, the thumb began... to slowly apply pressure.
Guilliman leaned down, his blue-gold eyes reflecting Magnus's face contorted with extreme fear. His voice was as soft as a whisper, yet as heavy as a falling star:
"Have you made your choice, bro?"
"Is it to bring your broken legion and pride back to the 'redemption' I bestowed upon you?"
"Still..."
The strength of the thumb increases steadily and continuously.
"... Let me gouge out your eyes, along with all your obsessions and resentments about the past, as a 'return gift' for Tzeentch?"
In the Warp, the mournful cries of the souls of the Thousand Sons could be faintly heard, yet no one dared to step forward.
Khorne's roar seemed to grow even more excited, while the wills of the other Chaos Gods cast cold, curious glances our way.
Magnus, under this gaze of absolute violence and destruction.
Faced with this threat that transcends death, his once boundless knowledge and pride were finally torn open by the most primal fear, leaving a deep rift.
"You've always... refused to acknowledge that you're human, haven't you, Magnus?"
Guilliman's voice suddenly changed tone.
It wasn't a roar or a taunt, but rather an almost chanting style, imbued with elegance and a certain... unsettling philosophical quality.
It was as if he wasn't committing violence, but rather giving a solemn academic presentation.
Magnus could not answer.
His eyeballs bulged and deformed under the continuous pressure of his thumb, and his vision was completely covered by the bloodshot color brought on by the excruciating pain and pressure.
That hand!
Why is this hand so powerful?!
It seemed to bear the physical laws of the entire Realspace, yet burned with flames powerful enough to incinerate the Warp Essence.
Pure power, mixed with an irresistible will, crushed his pride and true nature as Daemon Prince.
"I think many of my brothers genuinely feel that we are not human."
We are taller, stronger, and burdened with different destinies.
Guilliman continued, his voice calm yet each word piercing, "Actually, this is quite easy to verify."
He slightly adjusted the angle of his thumb, making the pressure more precise, more... purposeful.
"There is an area at the front of our brain called the 'prefrontal cortex'."
Scholars and philosophers of Old Terra believed it to be a hub of rationality, planning, social interaction, and complex thinking, and even... closely related to the nature of the soul and the recognition of the 'self'.
Magnus's remaining consciousness tightened suddenly.
"Then tell me, my dear, learned brother Magnus— "
Guilliman's voice was like that of the most patient mentor, questioning the most dull-witted student. "What would happen if this part of the human prefrontal cortex were to be subjected to continuous, repeated, and violent impacts?"
"I previously... read some information."
Guilliman seemed to be recalling an interesting fact. "I've heard that after experiencing extreme tremors in the prefrontal cortex, humans often... 'reflect' on their entire lives."
Those most unforgettable moments will reappear with crystal clarity, like a revolving lantern.
He paused, the pressure applied by his thumb accompanied by a subtle, rhythmic tremor.
"This will be... a rare experience."
Especially for you, a scholar who so cherishes knowledge and memory."
As Guilliman began rhythmically shaking Magnus's head, a strange change occurred deep within the Daemon Prince's consciousness, which was clouded by excruciating pain and Chaos Psionic Energy.
These ascendants transformed flesh and blood into materialized Warp energy, but many of their fundamental "form" and "conceptual" structures were preserved.
The eyes are for "seeing," and the heart symbolizes the "core."
So... the "higher-order thinking and self" represented by the prefrontal cortex also exists within their bodies, which are Warp Essence.
At that moment, Magnus clearly sensed it.
He could feel that area in his brain, and he could feel it moving with the swaying of his head.
Like a pendulum, it struck the inner wall of his skull again and again, heavily!
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Each impact was not merely a physical shock, but was accompanied by a tearing echo on the level of the soul.
What followed was an endless, uncontrollable torrent of images.
At dawn in Prospero, the academy he founded gleamed in the golden sunlight.
The apprentices' eyes gleamed with a thirst for knowledge; he was the Red Devil, the Lord of Dawn, the embodiment of wisdom and pride.
Swimming through the Sea of Souls, he glimpsed the mysteries of the universe; the splendor and danger of Psionic Energy unfolded before his eyes.
He was confident that he could manage all of this, become a beacon of knowledge and truth, his father's most capable support, and illuminate the path forward for humanity.
The father's warning, that cold and authoritative voice...
Why won't he listen?
Why the obsessive belief that you are the special one, capable of avoiding all risks?
That Psionic Energy communication that changed everything...
The light of the collapsing Webway...
The agonizing cries of the offspring as their Flesh Change...
The devastating flames of the arrival of the Leman Russ fleet...
The Emperor's words, which ultimately chilled him to the bone...
Everything, like the cruelest silent film, flashed back and collided wildly in his consciousness from the panoramic perspective of an observer.
He saw his own pride, his own stubbornness, and his own mistakes.
How I gradually slid from a seeker of knowledge into the abyss of despair.
In the end, he embraced the Chaos he once despised, and became what he is now... being choked by his brother and wantonly humiliated.