Cain had assimilated the full spectrum of Emprik's soul, yet unlike every other life-form he had consumed, he had been unable to access the memories of the Champion of the Root.
They were present—he could feel them—but they remained locked, requiring immersion rather than simple absorption. And given what he had learned from Apex, there was enormous danger in fusing his mind with memories born from an entity of the Emptiness.
But time would not wait for him. Hesitation was a luxury he could no longer afford.
His consciousness soon reached the heart of the Primarch of Conquest Leviathan, the inner core that embodied the Scarlet Throne. The very instant he stepped into that mental realm, he focused his senses on the new structure resting within it.
It resembled a wilted flower, one that had endured countless eons yet never truly died. It existed in a perpetual state of decay, slowly rotting but unable to reach an end. The sight of it stirred something cold in Cain's mind.
