This Is Our Ultimate Secret!

"I'll help you!"

The Underking stood among them, scythe in hand. He suddenly thrust out his right hand and shouted.

"Don't run! Neos!!!"

The Emperor, who had already turned and run a moment earlier, was his only answer.

The Emperor ran with astonishing speed, like a bolt of golden lightning through the Imperial Palace on Terra, weaving this way and that as he sprinted toward a safe exit known only to him.

As for why he did not teleport—Psychic Power was forbidden here!

The Emperor did not answer Hades. At present, he was utterly focused on the matter of strategic retreat.

A pitch-black wall, like an unbreakable solid barrier, stretched across the Warp and encircled the palace. As long as he reached the other side smoothly, he would return to those wonderful days without work.

But... before that... he still had to face...

Standing atop a strange, shifting sea of metal, the Emperor slowly turned around. His expression was calm and solemn.

"I don't understand."

The Emperor said, looking at the being before him—that black, filthy fellow. In truth, as someone profoundly affected by the Warp, the Emperor had long since been unable to see the Underking's face clearly. There was only a void there, only darkness.

Hades silently watched as the Emperor spread his hands with an air of innocence.

"I think you could let me leave—why did you choose to stop me, Hades?"

"What will happen to the Imperium if you leave?"

"You're all here."

Neos answered decisively, his expression unruffled.

"To this day, we have not announced my return to the people of the Imperium—and there will be no need to announce it in the future. I long foresaw that the primarchs would take my place as the new suns illuminating the Imperium."

Hades's eyelid twitched slightly.