A Glimmer of Hope

Guilliman's fleet moved like a herd of scarred behemoths, struggling through the foul torrent of the Scarlet Maelstrom.

Every raid on a corrupted planetary stronghold was accompanied by the blood and sacrifice of Imperial warriors, yielding only increasingly glaring red warning lights in the supply bays and spreading despair.

Guilliman's will remained barely lucid beneath Obi-Wan's Force shield, but the whispers of the Warp beyond it were like an unceasing tide, battering the invisible Bulwark without pause. Each impact drained a little more color from Obi-Wan's face.

At last, after a raid on a black planet covered in blasphemous spires and rivers of lava, when the Imperial forces Purged the last resistance in an ancient temple on the surface, an unexpected figure appeared beneath the temple's shattered dome.

"Regent of the Imperium of Man, Robert Guilliman," the slender figure said, her voice carrying the Eldar's characteristic ethereality and a trace of barely concealed urgency. "Your struggle is futile. This Maelstrom is a prison carefully woven for you. But... there is still a faint possibility."

Guilliman's gaze beneath his helmet was sharp as a hawk's, and the Emperor's Sword hung slightly lowered.

"Tzeentch's schemes shroud everything. Your Destruction is merely one part of its grand game. Listen to me! Coordinates: the Ixion Debris Field! There, you can find a rift that leads out of this Maelstrom!"

"Whether you believe me is your choice, human." With those final words, the figure vanished into the Void, leaving only a set of coordinates branded onto Guilliman's tactical display.

Everyone's eyes turned to Guilliman.

Celestine frowned deeply, while Evelyn stared at the fallen figure with a thoughtful expression.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a moment, using foresight to determine whether this journey could lead them out. When he opened them again, his expression was grave as he gave a slight nod. "There... truly is a glimmer of hope. But... it is also filled with an immense sense of danger, like a whirlpool of undercurrents beneath a calm sea. The power of Chaos is... lying dormant there."

Guilliman's gaze swept across the tactical star map, then over the exhausted officers on the bridge who still held firmly to their posts.

To remain was a slow death; to advance was a trap that might destroy them in an instant, yet it also offered a sliver of survival.

"All ships, heed my command!" Guilliman's voice was decisive, shattering the suffocating silence with unquestionable resolve. "Set course for the Ixion Debris Field! Full speed ahead!"

Even if it was an Abyss, they could only leap into it.

The courage born of despair sustained this fleet on the verge of collapse as it turned its battered prows and sailed without hesitation toward the unknown debris field.

When the fleet struggled through the violent energy currents at the edge of the Scarlet Maelstrom and broke into the Ixion Debris Field, the sight before them made everyone draw a sharp breath.

This place was like a graveyard of the cosmos.

Countless colossal warship wrecks drifted in silence. Twisted, broken keels, shattered armor plates, and frozen explosions formed a vast, desolate tableau of death.

The wreckage spanned races and eras. There were the familiar outlines of Imperial vessels, fragments of elegant Eldar ships, even the unnaturally cold metallic structures of ancient Necrons. More numerous still were hulls defiled by Chaos and covered in filthy runes.

They silently told of the end of countless brutal battles.

Yet in the deepest part of this land of death, the navigator let out an almost cracked cry of wild joy. "The Astronomican! The Astronomican's light! Faint! But... clear! Direction confirmed!"

That cry shot through the entire fleet like an electric current! It was as if a tear had been ripped through the clouds of despair, and for the first time, wild joy flared across countless weary faces.

"Silence!" Guilliman's low roar was like a bucket of ice water, instantly suppressing the commotion on the bridge.

His sharp eyes remained fixed on the fields of wreckage beyond the viewport as an overwhelming sense of danger coiled around his spine like an icy venomous serpent.

Almost the moment Guilliman spoke, Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. His expression was more severe than ever, and one hand instinctively pressed against the metal cylinder at his waist.

"A mortal threat! They... are here!" His voice carried a note of urgency.

Before the words had even faded!

Countless flashes of foul psychic light suddenly ignited within the seemingly lifeless colossal wrecks!

Like a Hive stirred awake, densely packed assault boats and Chaos fighters painted scarlet and brass, adorned with Tzeentchian blue flames and symbols of change, even the defiled remains of cruisers themselves, surged forth like packs of Ghouls pouring from corpses! In an instant, they surrounded the Imperial fleet!

"Enemy attack! All ships, open fire! Fire at will!" Guilliman's roar erupted alongside the fleet-wide alarms!

The thunder of macro cannons, the tearing glare of lance batteries, and the blazing trails of torpedoes instantly illuminated the frozen debris field.

Like a disturbed swarm of hornets, the Imperial fleet unleashed its final and fiercest counterattack.

Warships weaved through the wreckage, while gunfire interlaced in the Void to form a net of Destruction.

But this was only the beginning.

A blinding Warp rift of ever-shifting colors tore open directly above the magnificent side armor of the Macragge's Honour! Accompanied by shrieks capable of shattering mortal souls and a flood of blasphemous psychic runes, an enormous figure made of pure Tzeentchian energy descended!

Kairos Fateweaver! Tzeentch's Lord of Change! Its colossal body, formed from countless screaming faces and flickering runes, hovered in the Void, while its beak-like heads uttered chattering whispers that drove minds to madness.

With a sweep of its arms formed from pure magical energy, countless daemons gleaming with Tzeentchian blue light—Pink Horrors, Flame Sorcerers, Tzeentchian vanguard troops, and the elite Chaos Space Marines of the Red Corsairs—fell like deadly hail, smashing with precision onto the decks and into the critical compartments of the Macragge's Honour!

A boarding battle erupted in the heart of the flagship!

"For the Lord of Change! For Eternal schemes!" The roars of Chaos and the shrieks of daemons instantly drowned out the bridge alarms!

Cold golden fury burned in Guilliman's eyes. The Emperor's Sword flew from its sheath, its blazing golden radiance driving back the surrounding shadows.

"Hold the line!" His towering blue figure shot forth like a cannonball, ignoring the bolter rounds and psychic lightning streaking toward him. The Emperor's Sword carved a path of Destruction as he charged directly at the enormous two-headed daemonic silhouette floating in the Void outside the bridge!

Watching Guilliman charge the Greater Daemon alone, Captain Carter almost instinctively blurted out, "He's doing it again!"

"No, Captain." Obi-Wan's voice was extraordinarily calm, but his gaze was sharp as a hawk as he watched the space where Guilliman and Kairos were about to collide. "He has to go. Only he can draw and withstand most of that daemon's power. If that daemon is allowed to free its hands... the consequences will be unthinkable. His charge is protecting all of us."

The Spartan Squad needed no further orders. They immediately tightened their formation around Carter, sending drones toward every direction that could threaten Obi-Wan and forming a defensive perimeter.

They knew full well that this Jedi possessed tremendous power, but protecting him was their duty, even at the cost of their lives.

The battlefield instantly reached a fever pitch.

Imperial Guard, Ultramarines, and Sisters of Battle engaged the Red Corsairs and Tzeentchian daemons flooding into the ship in a bloody close-quarters battle.

Bolters thundered, Chainswords howled, and psychic lightning interwove with gouts of flamer fire.

Celestine was like a burning meteor. Every sweep of her great sword of holy flame Purged swathes of daemons, but her magnificent wings immediately drew the attention of several powerful Tzeentchian Flame Sorcerers. Chains of blasphemous blue fire wrapped around her wings, temporarily pinning her in midair.

Evelyn's psychic storm raged through the corridors, but it too was blocked by a psychic barrier erected jointly by several Chaos sorcerers.

Guilliman and Kairos's battle was even more earth-shattering.

The golden flames of the Emperor's Sword collided violently with Kairos's ever-changing magical energy. Every clash sent tremors through space and unleashed shrieking psychic waves.

Guilliman fought like a god of war, his power and skill pushed to their limits, but Kairos was incomparably cunning. It did not merely meet him head-on. Its immense body flickered unpredictably through the Void as it continuously spewed weakening curses and mind-shattering magical chants.

"Stubborn pawn! Your fate was woven long ago!" Kairos shrieked, the eyes of both bird heads lighting up at once. "Now kneel and submit to great destiny!"

Just as Guilliman deflected a lethal psychic spear and prepared to charge again, a sudden change occurred!

The Tzeentchian daemons that had been circling the edge of the battlefield, not immediately Purged by the Imperial warriors, suddenly stopped their scattered attacks. Around Guilliman and Kairos's battlefield, they formed a bizarre ritual circle!

Piercing, inhuman chants merged into a spine-chilling torrent. Countless flickering Tzeentchian runes poured from their bodies and wove together in the air into a huge, spinning blue magic circle aimed directly at Guilliman at its center!

"This is bad! Move in and support him!" an Ultramarines Librarian cried in horror, trying to mobilize his psychic power to interfere, only to be immediately pinned down by several Red Corsair champions and daemonic vanguard troops.

The other Imperial warriors attempting to rush toward the ritual circle were also desperately blocked by Red Corsairs and daemons, unable to break through for the moment!

The spell activated!

Countless blue chains made of pure Tzeentchian energy and studded with vicious runes shot from the center of the ritual circle like living venomous serpents. Ignoring physical distance, they instantly coiled around Guilliman's limbs and torso. These chains were not physical; they acted directly upon his soul and Primarch essence!

"Urgh—Aaargh!" Guilliman let out a roar of agony beyond measure! It was not merely physical restraint, but the excruciating pain of his soul being pierced at once by countless icy, malicious needles filled with warped knowledge!

The golden flames on the Emperor's Sword flickered violently. His massive body suddenly stiffened as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer, and one knee slammed heavily into the cold deck!

He tried to struggle, but the psychic chains tightened further and further, madly eroding his will and dragging him toward an endless Abyss of madness!

Kairos released a shrill laugh of imminent victory.

Celestine struggled desperately, her wings tightly bound by chains of flame.

Evelyn was blocked by the psychic barrier.

The Spartan Squad was besieged by Chaos warriors several times their number. Captain Carter's armor was split open by a power axe, and blood stained his blue armor red.

Guilliman, humanity's hope, howled in agony beneath countless chains, half-kneeling on the ground as his golden radiance was completely suppressed by foul blue light!

A desperate situation!

At that critical moment, when the hearts of the Imperial warriors had nearly sunk to the bottom.

A figure burst forth from the heavily guarded center of the Spartan Squad, too fast for the eye to follow, like blue lightning tearing through the darkness!

Obi-Wan Kenobi!

He was no longer the gentle, refined, wise, and tranquil Hilling envoy.

At this moment, his gaze was as sharp as a lance, and his body as swift as lightning!

The metal cylinder at his waist had somehow already appeared in his hand, followed by a crisp and distinctive hum!

A pure, blazing blue blade, containing boundless order and the power of life, extended in an instant, illuminating his resolute face!

"Guilliman, get up!" Obi-Wan's roar carried the Force's shockwave, overwhelming the chaos of the battlefield.

Before the disbelieving eyes of everyone who knew of this envoy, the Hilling envoy they had always regarded as a "scholar" and a "Librarian" gripped that blue Lightsaber radiating mysterious power and transformed into a streak of rushing blue lightning, charging without hesitation toward Robert Guilliman, who knelt bound to the ground by countless Tzeentchian chains!

He charged toward the center of that deadly blue vortex from which even a Primarch could not break free!

On the bridge, in the command center, every Imperial personnel member who witnessed this scene stood dumbfounded, their hearts thrown into a storm of towering waves!

This otherworldly envoy... possessed such astonishing martial power?! What force was that blue blade?!

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master, had drawn his Lightsaber on the battlefield for the first time!

Blue radiance pierced through the haze of despair, becoming the most dazzling presence in this blood-soaked hell!