Shina rose from the ground, levitating as she gracefully brushed the dust from the hem of her robes.
For the first time, a crack appeared in her flawless expression: fury colder than ice.
"Savage human fledgling god..." Her voice was ethereal, yet seethed with the outrage of ten thousand years of authority profaned.
The ritual had failed at the final hurdle, and this human had dared touch her sacred body with his filthy hands.
Lorgar staggered to his feet, his entire body charred black. His skin had cracked inch by inch under the searing heat, and blood kept seeping from the fissures.
Agony pierced his nerves like billions of steel needles, but his spine remained straight. In his eyes, burning with golden flames, there was not a trace of fear—only the will to fight to the death.
"Pointy-eared bastard..." He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his voice hoarse from the burns yet brimming with contempt.
"Human fledgling god, this is your last chance." A hint of condescending pity entered Xinaniels's voice, though her deeper purpose was to shake his resolve.
"The energy of that pillar of light has already eaten into the source of your life. Your regenerative abilities will be suppressed entirely. Persist in your obstinacy, and your body and soul will both be annihilated."
Before she had finished speaking, Lorgar raised his hand!
Streams of warm, boundless golden psychic energy poured from his blackened palm, swiftly enveloping his entire body.
The charred, dead skin sloughed away, and fresh flesh healed at a frenzied pace visible to the naked eye.
Wounds that would have killed a Space Marine instantly had mostly healed in a matter of breaths!
"Heh."
Lorgar shook out his freshly healed arm, its new skin still pink and tender, then picked up the hilt