As Apophis's true body crumbled entirely to ash, the blazing golden radiance receded like a tide.
The spectral holy armour and searing Greatsword of flame dissolved into scattered motes of golden light, vanishing into the cold air.
Lorgar grunted. That overwhelming power drained from every part of his body like an ebbing tide, leaving behind crushing fatigue that nearly engulfed him and a profound sense of depletion deep within his soul.
He swayed, dropped to one knee, and gasped for breath, sweat pouring off him.
Meanwhile, the pocket dimension stabilised by Blackstone Power lost its support and began to collapse like a shattered mirror.
The dark silver barriers peeled away in fragments, revealing cold, immense metal structures and flickering energy conduits beyond. They were in the core of a vast Rangdan warship.
Lorgar forced himself to his feet and glanced at Mortarion, who lay unconscious beside him.
The Death Guard Primarch's eyes were tightly shut, his breathing heavy. Clearly, the inadvertent effects of the golden light had plunged him into a deep coma.
"Mortarion, wake up!" Lorgar walked over, seized his heavy shoulder plate, and shook him hard. "Stop sleeping!"
There was no response.
Lorgar frowned, a trace of helplessness flickering through his golden eyes. He decisively raised his right hand and drew a deep breath.
Smack!
A crisp, resounding slap landed squarely beside Mortarion's breathing mask.
"Urgh!"
Mortarion gave a low growl and jolted awake, his grey-brown eyes holding both the confusion of sudden waking and swiftly gathering wariness.
He instinctively reached for his faintly aching cheek, then shifted his painfully sore shoulders.
"Brother Lorgar? We... fought our way out? Where's that xenos Warmaster?"
He surveyed the wrecked Ship Compartment, his memory apparently missing a few pieces. "I remember golden flames rising all over your body, and then you