Chapter 103: One for One

The melta blast struck Angron’s body. The damage inflicted by the melta was respectable; at the very least, it managed to wound the Daemon Primarch of Khorne.

After being hit by the melta charge, Angron did not retreat; instead, he charged toward Wang Ming. Seeing Angron rush forward, Wang Ming turned and ran—he had no intention of going toe-to-toe with the Primarch.

"Stand your ground, you coward!" Angron roared as he watched Wang Ming flee.

"Only an idiot would fight you!" Wang Ming thought to himself while glancing back at the enraged Angron.

"Snap!"

Just as Angron was in pursuit, he stepped on the "surprise" Wang Ming had prepared for him: over a dozen melta mines buried in a cluster.

"Whoo! Take flight!" Wang Ming shouted with excitement as he watched the flash of the melta explosions. He then pressed the control button for the laser turrets in his hand. He didn't believe for a second that a few melta mines could kill a Daemon Primarch; he had prepared plenty of surprises for Angron.

Through the flames of the exploding mines, a colossal figure emerged. Angron glared at Wang Ming in fury, his body covered in scorched wounds from the melta blasts.

Suddenly, several laser beams struck Angron from all directions. The unexpected assault only deepened his rage. Angron ignored the pain, charging madly toward Wang Ming and stepping on several more melta mines along the way, yet he remained fixated solely on his prey.

Wang Ming ran ahead while Angron pursued. Wang Ming was fast, and Angron found himself bewildered by the chase. He had intended to kill Wang Ming quickly, but he never expected that after their initial exchange, this coward would abandon direct confrontation in favor of hit-and-run tactics.

Throughout the chase, the sound of melta fire never ceased. Angron had tripped over a dozen mines at the start, and as he continued to pursue, Wang Ming would occasionally toss more melta bombs behind him.

"Alright, Angron! Since you’re so persistent, I’ll duel you in the name of the Emperor!" Wang Ming finally stopped. He turned around, raised his golden greatsword, and prepared to face Angron head-on.

"You coward!" Angron bellowed. In truth, one of the main reasons Wang Ming dared to confront Angron now was that the Primarch’s condition was dire. After the barrage of melta bombs, Angron was riddled with wounds and had even lost an arm.

This was why Wang Ming dared to stand his ground—not out of courage, but because of Angron’s weakened state. Seeing the "severely crippled" Primarch, Wang Ming suddenly felt he had the upper hand again.

"You coward!" Angron roared, charging at Wang Ming once more and swinging his massive "Black Blade."

Wang Ming swallowed hard and raised his golden greatsword to meet the blade. The sound of the weapons colliding was earth-shattering, but unlike their first encounter, Wang Ming was at full strength, while Angron was battered and broken.

Observing the injuries on Angron, Wang Ming felt the advantage was firmly his. How could a Primarch at peak condition lose to this? The momentum was on his side.

Wang Ming brought his golden greatsword down, the power field disintegrating Angron’s flesh. For the first time, Wang Ming had truly inflicted damage on Angron with his melee weapon.

"You coward! You despicable, shameless wretch!" Angron cursed in fury. Wang Ming’s "little surprises" had diminished his strength by more than half.

Facing a weakened Angron, Wang Ming fought with ease, or at least, he was no longer as desperate as he had been when facing a full-strength Angron. They traded blows, the golden greatsword and the "Black Blade" flashing through the air with thunderous collisions. The battle between the two Primarchs left the surrounding Traitors and daemons caught in the crossfire to suffer a miserable fate.

The scale of their duel was terrifying. The two Primarchs fought like titans, and wherever they stepped, the surrounding creatures were swept away by the shockwaves of their battle. While they remained evenly matched, Wang Ming held no real advantage; even weakened, Angron was not someone a half-baked Primarch like Wang Ming, who had rarely fought in his life, could easily handle.

Just then, Wang Ming spotted an opening. He swung his golden greatsword toward Angron’s head. Simultaneously, Angron swung the "Black Blade" toward Wang Ming’s neck.

Both blades struck with unstoppable force. A dramatic scene unfolded: the greatswords of both Primarchs sliced across the other’s neck. Both heads flew off at the same time—it was a mutual destruction.

"Damn it, even with all that tactical play, it still ended like this!" In the Warp, Wang Ming grumbled as he looked at the large blue orb of light before him.

"You’ve got some combat ability, lad, but not much." The Emperor’s voice echoed in Wang Ming’s mind, carrying the tone of a weary father watching his child fail an exam.

"Forget it. Judging by your performance, you aren't even as effective as Guilliman when he loses his temper. I’ll just give you the essence of the Warp now." The Emperor spoke with a sense of frustration, his voice tinged with helplessness.

"Wait, I don't think so. I did alright, didn't I? I mean, I did manage to banish Angron. And wait, Emperor, didn't you already give me the essence of the Warp?" Wang Ming asked sheepishly, before pausing to question the Emperor. He recalled receiving it earlier and wondered if what he had been given was fake.

"Er... that was just a practice run. I made it for you to get used to the feeling while I had some free time," the Emperor replied awkwardly.

"So it really was a fake!" Wang Ming stared at the blue orb, his eyelids twitching. To think that the "essence of the Warp" he had been exposed to was counterfeit—did that mean all those psychic beatings he endured were for nothing?

"I was just worried you wouldn't be able to handle the real thing. See how thoughtful I am? Enough, I'm giving you the true essence now." The Emperor spoke quickly as a golden orb of light emerged from the blue sun and entered Wang Ming’s body—or more accurately, his soul.

"Wait, if the first one was just practice? Does that mean the real one will also involve..." Before Wang Ming could finish, he lost consciousness.

"Yes, it’s exactly the same as before," the Emperor said softly after Wang Ming had passed out.

Just as with his previous "training," the forty-thousand-year history of human suffering unfolded before him. Wang Ming watched the tragic history of humanity while simultaneously enduring the agony of psychic lashes tearing at his soul.

The visions began with the minor internal conflicts of early space exploration, which were manageable. But as he witnessed one particular era, a fire of rage ignited within him, one that lingered long after the scene had passed.

Next, Wang Ming saw humanity advance into the Space Age. Planets throughout the solar system were terraformed and colonized. To better facilitate expansion into the stars, the "Human Federation" was established.

Humanity initially left the solar system in sub-light ships, beginning interstellar colonization. Time passed, and colony after colony was established. However, as the distances grew, sub-light travel became unsustainable, with voyages to distant colonies taking generations.

Finally, in the eighteenth millennium, two pivotal technologies were invented: the "Warp Drive" and the "Geller Field." These inventions put human expansion into the fast lane. Although the Warp Drive drastically reduced travel time, early iterations were imperfect. Without the guidance of special psykers known as "Navigators," Warp travel was perilous.

Countless ships and fleets were swallowed by the turbulent tides of the Warp, randomly displaced to places they were never meant to be—sometimes appearing deep within the searing core of a star, resulting in total destruction.

This continued until the twentieth millennium, when "Navigators"—specialized psykers—were created at the Lunar Genetic Laboratories to solve the instability of interstellar travel. By the twenty-second millennium, Navigators were being produced on a massive scale, and humanity’s expansion across the stars truly hit its stride.

The curtain rose on the Golden Age. With the problems of interstellar travel solved, humanity began mass colonization. Powerful technologies were developed to meet the needs of the people.

Much like the Age of Discovery, humanity explored and expanded. New worlds were colonized and developed. During this time, the "Human Federation" encountered alien races. Using their superior technology, humanity forced these aliens to the negotiating table. The Human Federation did not share the near-zero tolerance for xenos that the later Imperium of Man would possess.

They signed non-aggression pacts with over a dozen powerful alien species. Everything was as beautiful as humanity had imagined before reaching the stars. Humanity reached the pinnacle of technological development, with nearly every human living in an enlightened, wealthy, and happy society. People called this era the "Golden Age."