Sanguinius's soul was the strongest among all Primarchs. Even this new body could only barely contain it, so he needed to quickly fuse with a Cosmic Beast to become a super lifeform.
"No problem, Rhodes. Let's begin the final step."
Rhodes nodded, released the Cosmic Fire Phoenix Baton, and had him merge with Sanguinius.
Baton turned into a crimson energy stream and entered Sanguinius's body, transforming every cell with cosmic order energy, uplifting his soul.
Unlike Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson, who awakened their god-souls after fusing with beasts, Sanguinius had already awakened his divine powers due to the faith of Baal's people.
The Emperor could deploy the Sisters of Silence and Living Saints within the Imperium; Sanguinius could, wherever Blood Angels fought, summon mini-Sanguinors.
If faith in him deepened, he might even create more such beings—turning all his best genetic traits into living saints. In the original timeline, after Baal, Dante was supposed to die, but Sanguinius extended his life.
So, fusing with the Cosmic Beast only upgraded Sanguinius's body to super lifeform status, letting his soul fully wield its divine power.
Now, fully resurrected, Sanguinius became a 70-meter giant, with massive golden wings wreathed in red flame.
Baton's power manifested as crimson power armor and a golden power greatsword.
Sanguinius swung the sword, tested his new strength, and nodded in satisfaction.
He then shrank back to about 2 meters tall; now, all Primarchs could freely adjust their size.
With this, Primarchs no longer stood out in crowds, but could still grow to over 4 meters to boost morale if needed.
"Thank you, Rhodes. I don't know what to say! Here's my promise: if you ever need anything I can do for you, I'll help—so long as it's not a betrayal of the Emperor or humanity," Sanguinius said.
He was now truly alive again—a living god among men.
Unlike other Primarchs, his soul had ascended to an order god. Once tainted by Chaos, now he was wholly pure.
"Just fight bravely on the battlefield and kill more enemies to repay me," Rhodes said.
Reviving Sanguinius and giving him a Cosmic Beast meant he'd have to earn his keep—killing enemies to earn Rhodes more system credits.
Unlike Guilliman or Magnus, Sanguinius and the Lion were the type to fight on the front lines. Thanks to their fusions, every kill would credit Rhodes's system.
With a demon hunting ground on one side, and orks in Octarius bringing in credits, Rhodes's system balance grew daily.
"I'll do just that—together we'll finish the Great Crusade!" Sanguinius said.
"Sanguinius, maybe you can extract your current gene-seed and transplant it into the Blood Angels, curing them of the thirst," Horus suggested.
The Blood Angels' thirst was due to a flaw in Sanguinius's gene-seed.
Now that he was a super lifeform and his soul an order god, extracting new gene-seed would eliminate the flaw.
Horus had promised to help Sanguinius with this during the Crusade. Now, thanks to Rhodes, the Blood Angels' curse could finally end.
"I'll not only cure the Red Thirst, but also eliminate the Black Rage—it's no longer needed," Sanguinius replied.
The Black Rage was a warp-borne disease born from his hatred of Horus.
Now revived and without hatred, the curse faded.
The Blood Angels' curse of over ten thousand years was finally gone.
"I suppose you can't wait to return to Baal?" Rhodes asked.
"Yes. I've said goodbye to Father. I'll return to Baal, rebuild the Blood Angels, and resume command. When the Crusade begins, I'll join you," Sanguinius said.
As a warp god, he could now navigate the warp with ease, speeding imperial travel and even ensuring safe routes—a gift of his new divinity.
"You may not be able to go yet—there's still a war to fight. Rhodes, are you ready?" the Emperor asked.
The Imperium was now at its peak strength. With his sons, Rhodes, and their companions, they could easily hunt the Void Dragon.
"Right. I'll help Rhodes hunt the Void Dragon. Why not set out now? Or let me solo it!" Sanguinius said, brandishing his sword eagerly.
Just revived, granted unimaginable power, he was eager to test himself against a worthy foe.
Guilliman smiled wryly.
His brother was still the most belligerent of all Primarchs—even more than the Lion or Wolf Lord.
Who else would regularly spar with Emperor-class Titans—and win?
"Haha, good idea, Sanguinius! But let me go first against the Void Dragon," the Lion said, joining in.
He, too, wanted to test himself against the foe the Emperor had once defeated on Mars.
With Cosmic Beast power, he wanted to see how he now compared to his father.
"Don't underestimate the Void Dragon—it's stronger than you can imagine. I only won back then with powerful psyker support and help from other Perpetuals. Alone, I might not have made it," the Emperor warned.
Back then, he was only a bit stronger than Magnus in psychic power, and physically nowhere near a super lifeform.
He'd had several Perpetuals and Malcador's support to seal the shard.
"Father, I'm now stronger than you were then. If I can't win, the other Primarchs can step in," Sanguinius insisted.
The Emperor thought for a moment and nodded.
Sanguinius was now as strong—or stronger—than himself ten thousand years ago.
"If everyone's so eager, let's go now and destroy the Void Dragon," Rhodes said.
He'd have Tartarus summon Huron and Ahriman, both of whom had Cosmic Beasts and could benefit from absorbing C'tan fragments.