The God-Emperor's true body awakened.
The moment he rose from the Golden Throne, not only the Throne Room but all of Terra—even every mortal throughout the Imperium—fell into absolute stillness at the same instant.
Their eyes went vacant, their breathing became nearly imperceptible, and the candle flames of their souls were forcibly suppressed to the brink of extinction. Only hollow shells remained standing where they were.
This was the God-Emperor's absolute dominion over humanity, a horrifying sight of souls being forcibly linked together.
The situation within the Throne Room was even more dire.
Guilliman, Angron, Fulgrim, Yin Carlos, Mortarion... every Primarch, along with the Imperium's highest-ranking figures, was forced to one knee!
It was not willing submission, but the result of directly bearing the crushing pressure unleashed when the God-Emperor stood.
They could feel their souls flowing through that connection, drop by drop, toward the black-and-gold figure.
They struggled with all their might, muscles bulging and veins standing out, yet even lifting a single finger had become incomparably difficult.
The members of the Hilling Empire fared no better.
Although Liang Bing and He Xi had not fallen to their knees, their bodies were pinned in place by the almost tangible pressure. Their flaming swords were driven deep into the ground, keeping them from collapsing.
They gritted their teeth and tried to gather their last reserves of strength to resist, only to discover that even the circulation of energy within their bodies had become terribly sluggish.
Kieran, Szarekh, and the other Necron girls, who had just been jolted awake from unconsciousness by this dreadful threat, also realized what was happening. Even moving their eyes required tremendous effort, and they could only watch helplessly as the terrifying scene unfolded.
The God-Emperor's indifferent gaze swept over these "resisting" insects before finally settling upon