I've swept my new chronoleptic power over the system, and noted 3 points still in flux.
One was made by my own hand, as the emerging Warp Rift was sucking in the shredded remains of the Warp Leviathan. There was another on board the Phalanx, glowing stronger around the left arm of Trajann Valoris, so that must be his own T-engine.
And the thrid was still on the planet's surface, moving invisibly at walk speed. It could be a Tyranid Emissary again, but considering the Chaos rituals I just interrupted, I suspected someone else.
"This must be the lost Craftword named Malan'tai. It vanished 200 years ago while fighting Hive Fleet Naga" Lady Valyene observed in a curious voice, having come out of the tesseract after the psychic shriek just ended.
Even damaged by the Crusade Fleet bombardement, the huge Tyranid construct still held on, and refused to die.
I checked on Sanguinius again, finding him healing his gene-sons, as many of them were still bleeding from every orifice, which fit quite well with the Blood Angels theme.
Primarch Corax and his own gene-sons were still fighting on the ground, on several planets in the system, or rather they were putting down insensate Tyranid bioforms, prioritizing the larger examplars first. My Lamenter Deathwatch sons were doing much the same, and even faster by the grace of their C'tan Phase swords.
Just as I was thinking what exactly to do next, and how to kill the nigh-invincible Tyranid moon, the temporal nexus on the surface pulsed wide, and thousands of Chaos Marine armor suits appeared, and began fighting the Tyranids again.
"Come Canis, I should speak with the idiot." I said a low voice, then traversed the tesseract and emerged with a Necron Beamer in hand. Maybe capturing the Sorcerer wouldn't trigger his own death-avoiding spell?
"...Pef Lancefire! And his loyal wolf." the Archtraitor spoke, partially revealing himself as a blue clouded-figure, as I kept my gaze on the temporal coordinates on his location.
"Ahriman. I find it curious you're searching the galaxy for spells and artifacts, when the Hidden Library holds the entire knowledge of the Old Ones. Aren't you the Chief Librarian?" I asked in a mild voice.
Canis just growled, warning me I didn't have much time. So, I will have to plant my poison fast.
"...What do you know, Blacksoul? My Brothers are vanishing one by one, I have to try something!" the Sorcerer asked in a desperate voice.
"The Old Ones used blue snails to clean up the floors in their library, mopping the floors with their dust-dissolving slime. But after the Old Ones were gone, the snails took over the library and began to learn for 60 million years. Also went mad from too much knowledge and merged into a larger mollusk, but that's not important. What matters is, what will you do when the Starchild comes to claim his birthright? Now it's been 10000 years, and your Legion is fading in the chronodrain of the blue snail. Worshipping the janitor didn't pay off, right?" I asked rhetorically and raised the Necron Beamer towards the time-cloud masking Ahriman.
"What? ...The janitor?" Ahriman wonder in confusion just as I fired the Necron beam. The cloud vanished just as I fired.
I checked inside the pocket space, and found yet another empty armor suit, fused at the seams by Warp magic. Damn his ninja replacement skills!
Canis was already biting other Rubric Marines in half, and scattering their ashes when another temporal pulse emerged from the Warp Rift and every single Thousand Son vanished.
I smiled inward and returned to the Singularity's bridge, where a few Lamenter tech-marines sprayed my armor with incense and holy oil.
I still failed, but this time I failed with style. Was the thing about the janitor taking over the Old Ones' library true? Well, if we were to ask Kairos Fateweaver he will say yes, with at least one mouth.
Lady Valyene frowned as I stored the Necron weapon in the tesseract, while Canis just licked his teeth. Perhaps I had the best teacher for my Pariah ability right here? Canis could eat souls and grow stronger.
"Anyone else smells spoiled cheese?" a tech-marine asked waving the censor incense around.
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It wasn't me! Maybe Canis?
"I feel like I got drowned in cold water..."
"Me too!"
"Ringing ears for me!" another Blank yelled as I raised a hand to stop the chatter. There was a battle going on, still.
"Incoming transmission from the Phalanx, Lord Captain. It's the Custodes-General!" the Vox daughter warned me just as the Blade decrypted and printed the words on my retina.
I sighed and stepped through the tesseract labyrinth again, and found myself surrounded by Custodes and Primaris Imperial Fists, all of them towering above me by a meter or so.
"Pef Lancefire, reporting as ordered, sir!" I yelled in my best Guardsman voice, and even saluted correctly as per Imperial military law.
"Come, Lord Lancefire. The Emperor has sent you something." the Custodes-General spoke with a dispassionate voice, and lead the way to the Admiral's Council Room beside the bridge.
I wanted to comment about stupid things that could wait while the Tyranid invasion was still ongoing, but then I decided not to.
This could be important.
"Lord Lancefire, by the command of the Emperor and Master of Mankind, you are now promoted to the rank of Nobilitae Primus. Kneel and receive your reward!" the huge Custodes demanded while taking out a familiar flaming sword.
"...are you sure? It may cause trouble." I muttered while kneeling with my right knee.
"Sadly, yes. There are other steps to create another Warmaster, but being a first class Noble is required too." he said while smacking my shoulders with the Emperor's Sword.
"...I would have guessed the Lion was first in line for that thing, as bad an idea as it is. Half the galaxy burned last time." I grumbled and tried to rise, only for the Custodes-General to hold me down easily.
"Half the galaxy will burn this time too, Pef Lancefire. We don't have a scale to measure the coming event, but it will not be Alpha-grade class-12 temporal-psychic burst or anything as simple like that. The Emperor wants to use Magnus as a containment shell, and spread the backblast among the Thousand Sons already tied in the Rubric." he explained in a cold voice.
"Look, Trajann. These are big boys toys, I play with tanks and Sentinels. Maybe a Titan, if am not too tired." I countered in a weak voice.
"Humility doesn't suit you, Lord Lancefire. The Primarch-grade Immortus Gland in your head is already driving you to form your own Space Legion, the Blank Astartes. The hermetic cores are also opening one by one, while you master your own abilities. Today I sensed the temporal seal being used." the Custodes spoke with a careless tone, and pointed at the Moment Shackle relic he carried.
I sighed and stood up via my tesseract, then emerged on the other side of the table. "My mother always said I was special, but I didn't think she meant being a baby Primarch. As for the new Eye, I was sealed by the head of the Holy Inquisition, so can't talk about it." I said with a finger on my lips.
Trajann's eyes glowed golden for a second. "And yet, you were planning to assault the Impossible Fortress and loot the Hidden Library. "
I shrugged, caught red-handed this time. "A man can dream, right?" I said in a sheepish voice.
"Yes, he can. And he can even receive 5 Primarchs for this dream. And a flaming sword." the Custodes-General allowed with a smile, and dropped the Emperor's Sword in mid-air.
The thing turned like a missile searching for a target, then sped up and impaled me through the armor, my Null Box and then my heart inside.
I glanced down, and found no wound or sign of armor breach, and only a warmth in my heart. "That was special." I admitted with a weird voice. Maybe I was indeed special.
"Take care of the Doom_of_Malan'tai now, bleeding heart. You will need Ynnead's aid in the Crystal Labyrinth." Trajann Valoris added in a casual tone, and walked out, just as a drop of blood dripped from my armored chest.
I scratched my cheek, and replayed the strange ennoblement ceremony in my mind. What the hell did I agree to?