When the Emperor rushed back into the library, it was unnaturally quiet.
"Child, where are you?!"
He searched like a madman through row after row of shelves, hoping to catch sight of someone.
He must have been tired and fallen asleep.
At last, the Emperor reached a desk piled high with all kinds of books and stopped.
A book lay there on the tabletop.
A breeze from nowhere stirred gently. The Hexagram on its cover was painfully glaring, as though the Empyrean itself were mocking him.
Was this...
Fate?
Sunlight fell across the grass, and a gentle breeze passed through, drawing a soft rustle from the blades.
Bona watched white clouds drift lazily across the sky, along with a few birds leisurely flying past.
He sat up and looked around blankly.
Where was this?
He had just been reading that book in the library. Feeling a little sleepy, he had decided to rest his head on the desk for a while.
Yet when he opened his eyes, he was here.
Bona thought this place looked much like the Terra of old described in books, but it definitely was not Terra.
Not far away, he saw a towering tree, with a Bona Statue beneath it.
Bona slowly approached the tree.
Where was he????
"Hello there, little fellow."
Bona turned and saw four... lunatics?
One wore heavy black-and-red armour and looked every inch a warrior, his face hidden beneath his helm.
The figure beside him dressed very simply, but that did nothing to conceal their captivating charm. Those pointed ears did stand out, though.
Another was a kindly, slightly plump old man leaning on a walking stick.
The last looked like a somewhat frail scholar, his eyes behind his glasses as deep as black holes, inviting endless speculation.
Each looked perfectly normal on their own, but seeing them together struck Bona as very strange.
"And you are...?"
The heavily armoured warrior introduced himself first.
"I am the God of Justice and Courage, the guardian of order in this world."
"Hello, little friend. I am the God of Life and Compassion. Would you come visit my home? My family has been looking forward to it for a long time."
Beside him, the Aeldari whose beauty could not be concealed wiped away her drool.
No, this was so hard to resist.
She wanted to gobble him up.
"Hello! I'm the God of Beauty and Joy. Want to come play?" Slaanesh hopped up cheerfully and waved.
Tzeentch was just about to introduce himself when he felt the other three glaring daggers at him.
"Heh heh. I am the God of Wisdom and Hope, master of countless branches of knowledge," Tzeentch obediently spoke normally.
If he caused trouble at a time like this, the three of them probably would not mind joining forces to beat him up.
Bona's eyes widened in shock. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
"You... really exist?"
"Then this... is the legendary Warp?"
Tzeentch nodded.
With a gentle wave of his hand, galaxies reversed their course and time flowed on. Snow and thunder intertwined as they swept past. Grassland became desert, desert became snowfields, and the star-filled sky overhead blossomed with dazzling colours.
Once again, Bona felt that force called "psyker power," but this time, sensing its presence felt as natural as breathing.
He gave a light wave of his hand, and lightning split the sky. With a mere thought, a gale howled before him.
He took out the Imperial Truth Codex his father had given him.
He read the first line.
Core tenet: the universe is rational, and no so-called "gods" exist. Knowledge can defeat fear and deliver humanity from the horrors of the Age of Strife.
Then he conjured a pen and began writing something.
"Little friend, what are you doing?" Slaanesh asked curiously.
"Father doesn't know this place exists yet. I have to go back and tell him."
Bona spoke excitedly, then wrote in large letters beside that line: "The Warp really exists."
"Did you know? My father is terribly busy. Now that he has the Warp to help him, I'm sure he'll be delighted."
Behind her back, Slaanesh's hands were twisted together. She was fighting harder than ever to resist the urge to rush over and devour Bona bite by bite.
Beside her, Nurgle's smile grew even brighter.
See? What a kind child, always thinking of his family.
"Heh heh, that is not quite right. Bona, do you know why we summoned you here?" Tzeentch asked cryptically.
Only then did Bona remember to wonder why he had come here.
"Why?"
Tzeentch smiled faintly and gently waved his hand.
"We shall not dishonour the Blood of Sanguinius!"
"For the Emperor and Sanguinius!"
Bona watched Astartes in red power armour charge past him, roaring.
Ah, he had met these "vampires" before. He had even shared a trench with them.
Only their power armour was different. It seemed to be a new model.
He turned and saw...
Endless Tyranids.
Their bodies blotted out the heavens. Their vast shadows let not even a sliver of sunlight through, no matter how many suns hung in the sky.
The Tyranids charged. They literally bridged mountains and filled seas, surging like a tide toward the Imperium's positions.
There was no need to aim here. You could hit a Tyranid with your eyes shut.
Bona watched the Tyranids tear the Astartes apart, overrun their positions, and swallow or rip apart the desperately struggling mortals alive.
Then a sky-filling barrage crashed down, killing the Tyranids and the survivors alike. Another wave of Astartes led mortals back to reclaim the position, planting the battle standard firmly in the ground.
The scene shifted again.
"Waaaaaaaaaagh----"
A roar rang out.
Then came thousands upon thousands of deafening roars.
Bona saw countless hulking green figures roar as they charged out of their positions, looking utterly savage.
The Orks waved weapons that could only be called scrap metal and charged into the Imperium of Man's gunfire. After firing a couple of shots at random, they swung their guns like clubs.
Trails of black smoke streaked overhead, while aircraft that could only be called oversized fireworks tore across the sky.
Those absurd war machines also charged in, swinging enormous saws and effortlessly ripping apart the human armoured forces.
"For the Emperor!"
Atop an enormous bunker, Bona saw a one-eyed old man in a peaked cap roaring. One eye had been replaced with a bionic, and his left hand had been replaced with a massive power claw.
Roaring, the old man raised the battle standard and led his soldiers in a counterattack. Some soldiers, driven into a frenzy, even snatched up Ork weapons and hacked back at them.
Finally, Bona arrived in space.
The Imperium of Man's Aquila burned fiercely.
The bodies of warriors and voidsmen drifted through the void amid shattered steel. The entire fleet had been blasted to pieces.
Not far away were several scythe-shaped warships glowing with an eerie green light.
Metal skeletons watched it all without expression.
"The threat posed by the ignorant species has been eliminated."
The scene shifted again, and Bona saw a group of T'au flying spacecraft, getting utterly thrashed by a Lunar-class Cruiser.
The image flashed past.
"Heh heh heh, forget that last one. Pretend you didn't see it," Tzeentch said with an awkward laugh, then closed the vision.
"What was all that?" Bona asked, somewhat frightened.
The four gods smiled in unison.
"The Imperium of Man, ten thousand years from now."
With that, an enormous Ecclesiarchy World abruptly appeared before him.
People fervently recited prayers at the tops of their voices. On a platform, Ministorum Priests passionately proclaimed the Emperor's will, while devout believers knelt in a sea below.
In an execution square nearby, Flagellants swung heavy iron whips at those whose faith was wavering, while fanatical Ministorum Priests stood before them and denounced their weakness.
"Filled with ignorance, barbarity, and oppression," Tzeentch said with a smile brimming with amusement.
Before you continue