The veteran's eyes snapped open.
In that instant, he felt a sudden surge of warmth flood his body, long since drained by war and despair. That warmth swept away all his exhaustion, all his fear, all his pain.
Before his eyes, there were no longer filthy trenches and ugly Orks.
He saw... golden light.
Endless golden light, as warm as the sun.
Within that light, he seemed to see the figure seated upon the Golden Throne, silent for ten thousand years. Slowly, that figure raised a finger and pointed toward the distant stars.
Toward the vast fleet that had just arrived.
"Salvation... it's salvation..."
The veteran murmured to himself. Two trails of tears ran down his face, mingling with dust and blood.
"For the Emperor!!" He suddenly let out an earth-shaking roar, his voice hoarse yet filled with strength unlike anything he had ever known.
He discarded the Lasgun that had long since reached its limits and picked up a fallen comrade's Chainsword from the ground.
He vaulted out of the trench and launched a desperate charge toward the oncoming Orks, each three times his size.
"For the Emperor!!!"
He was not alone.
On every battlefront, in every corner of Vigilus.
Hundreds of millions of Astra Militarum soldiers still clinging to life, civilians trembling in the Hive City's air-raid shelters, refugees hunted by xenos in the wilderness...
Every soul that still harbored a trace of hope, or had already sunk into utter despair, was set ablaze by [primordial fire] at that moment.
In an instant, their faith found a new direction.
"A miracle! It's a miracle of the Emperor!"
"The Warmaster has returned! He's come back to save us!"
"We... we're saved..."
Deafening cheers, prayers, and sobs rose from every corner of the planet. Countless soldiers charged madly at the