As time has returned to normal for Neoth, the effect of his attack is revealed a moment later.
*SHING*
A thin red line of destruction can be seen almost cutting a small part of Mars clean off. The Burning Martians in front of them are all killed before their brains even realise it. They aren't simply cut, they are disintegrated. Neoth doesn't take what happened to his men lightly. And as a Greek God Emperor, that might be hypocritical and wrong, but it's how it is.
He turns around, looks at his Custodians, and sees all of their deaths. Of the 500 he sent to Mars, there are 20 left. Valerian approaches and kneels to the ground.
"My Emperor, I apologise for the appalling results of our mission," he says, but Neoth stops him.
"There is no need. Despite what it might appear, you have done brilliantly. I am proud to have you as my guard," Neoth says.
"I'm honoured, my Lord."
"But this won't do," Neoth declares.
His eyes suddenly start to glow in golden light, permeating the area with power. The pure psychic and divine energy released alerted the other Burning Martians on the planet. That's how strong a mere tapping into his power is in Neoth's case. He uses his monstrous power and touches the deceased Custodes. He feels around and soon finds their powerful souls. He is a God of Order, and with his psyker powers, there is not much he can't do. But still, he needs to watch out for those entities that can still snap him out of existence. However, he still goes through with this.
Thankfully, he doesn't have to conflict with Nekron, the physical manifestation of the concept of death as a cosmic certainty, since the Custodes' souls have reappeared on the Phalanx. It seems that they would simply reappear there, since that's where they came from. That's a very useful trait indeed. The Custodes' bodies are drowned in Neoth's power, and as the light dies down, the previously deceased men all start to stand up again and kneel in front of Neoth.
"""All hail the Emperor!"""
"You have done well. However, your service is not yet over. There is still work to be done," Neoth declares.
In the distance, the large remaining group of Burning Martians have arrived and is shooting towards the invaders. As is normal in their culture, they kill and destroy first and ask questions never. Neoth can feel their collective psionic power and understands that even one of them, in the form of Fernus, the alternative personality of the Martian Manhunter, could take on the entire Justice League. Some of the Martians start to change their size, growing to massive proportions, and others shoot forward, spewing fire from their mouths.
This fight is useless, as the Custodes don't stand a chance at this time, so Neoth decides to solve the issue himself. He doesn't want to kill all of them, as they can be useful, and he has plans with them. So he goes on the offensive and faces the Burning Martians in their expertise: telepathy. He assaults all of the hundreds of thousands of Burning Martians at once and appears in their minds.
The mind of the Burning Martians isn't a nice place to be for anyone, normally, but Neoth isn't anyone. He starts the mental battle. The entire mind of the Burning Martians is trying to subdue Neoth and kill him. So the fight started. Using his monstrous psychic might, Neoth overwhelms the Burning Martians with his power and pulls back from their minds. And as he does so, he takes something else with him.
The God Emperor raises his sword and has the Custodes charge forward.
The Burning Martians arrive and clash against the far-overwhelmed group of Custodians. This is as overkill as it gets; there is no question. This isn't a fight... right?
Right. However...
The large form of a Burning Martian appears and swipes his hand down, crashing towards several Custodes. His large burning paw crashes into the Sentinel Guard's powerful Praesidium Shield, and instead of giving way, they hold. They swing their Sentinel Swords through the air, cutting into the large hand and dealing significant damage and making him roar in pain. They protect their Emperor against all odds, no matter what happens.
The Shield Captain organises his company and dodges the large horde of Martians arriving. He swings his spear and cuts apart the first alien he encounters. His company follows along, doing it as he does and slicing through the Martian bodies. Their weapons were effective before, but they couldn't keep up as they do now. So what was different?
*BOOOOOOM BOOOOOM*
Aquilon Pattern Terminator is rather busy. He fires his twin-linked Adrathic Destructors at the Burning Martians. Their bodies unravel in the same spectacularly destructive manner as before. The Terminator moves forward, protecting his brothers' backs and dealing with a lot of aliens at once. Several arrive at the same time, punching forward, swiping their claws at him. The Terminator aims his Adrathic Destructors to the right and fires several times. He turns around and slashes his power talon through the air, cutting dozens of Martians apart.
Neoth observes the carnage as it unfolds, gazing at the consequences of his actions. His mind has also been enhanced, giving him beyond genius-level intellect, perfect memory with infinite storage, and potentially limitless trains of thought. This allows him to keep track of the smallest of details. He has used his power differently and combined his monstrous psionics with his divinity of order to create a new law. This law is not galactic or cosmic, so it didn't require a great deal of power, but it is still a law he imposed on the planet Mars. And that law was simple: All physical stats are equalised.
His mind is immune to manipulations of his mind and soul. The mental battle between all Burning Martians and him would have been won without problems, and he could have subdued them at a moment's notice, since he also has infinite amounts of inexhaustible, all-consuming, unbreakable willpower and stamina. So why did he pull back?
He wanted to test the power of his divinities. And so he did. He can feel himself growing more proficient in using the 'divine energy' and understanding its meaning. It worked well. The Burning Martians and his Custodes were now fighting on equal grounds. Their only difference now was the immense fighting experience and martial prowess of the Custodes, which was showing. The true monster on the battlefield was Valerian, Primarch of the IIIrd Custodes Legion.
Valerian ducks underneath a powerful punch and delivers a powerful uppercut against the Martian's face. His power gauntlet strikes the alien's face, destroying it in the process. Fluidly, he slashes his power sword through the air and twirls his amplified Guardian Spear, blocking more attacks. He is a storm given form. A being of destruction that not even the powerful Martians can contend with now. They fall under his weapons by the hundreds, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. He will fight forever if he has to. But thankfully, he doesn't have to, as Neoth has seen what he wanted.
"Enough."
Neoth's voice is heard all over Mars, despite not shouting. The Burning Martians look like dolls whose strings have been cut. They fall to the ground unconscious.
"What are your orders, my Lord?"
"Get these aliens to the Phalanx. We shall use them. And then notify the Officio Aedificium to start terraforming here right away," Neoth says and disappears.
"At once, my Lord."
.
Neoth appears back in his laboratory on the Phalanx. He looks at the room he was in the process of creating and then at his armour. He has been very close to making contact with the Sage Force. His sheer existence caused the Sage Force to 'wake up' and become active. It was seeking a way to get to Neoth, but he was making sure it happened on his terms.
The Sage Force is a cosmic energy field based around wisdom, knowledge, and perception, radically enhancing the minds of its conduits. It enhances the intelligence of its conduits to super-genius levels, as well as granting them psychic powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. Neoth is the perfect recipient and conduit of the Sage Force, having a natural connection to it without even actively doing anything.
Unlike the other forces, the sage force can be more effectively utilised through technological means. Various mechanical apparatuses constructed through the force's power enable the user to bring their thoughts to life. Neoth has created such a device and, using his beyond-genius level intellect, created a chamber where he will accept the Sage Force and dive into it.
He steps into the chamber, several Custodes are keeping watch over their Emperor at all times, but they wouldn't be able to do anything in this case. After sealing the chamber from the rest of the Phalanx inside a separate dimension, Neoth created for this purpose, he expands his psionic senses towards the Sage Force.
*FWOOOSH---BOOOOOOOOM*
Neoth makes contacts, and in that same instance, he is enwrapped within the 'fire of thought' itself, appearing to burst into flames when touched by it. His body bursts into flames. Not only his physical body, but his mind and soul are affected as well. As stated, Neoth is immune to soul or mind manipulations, so there is nothing to fear, but he feels his entire existence burst into flames and his psionic powers shoot through the roof. He closes his senses and focuses on the Sage Force itself, taking in everything he can.
...
After several hours, Neoth finally wakes up again. His health is restored to full, and he is given vast power over mind and body. Said power extends to even physiological regeneration and mental evolution. Now, Neoth already had all of that, so what did connecting to the Sage Force truly do for him? All of his mental and spiritual abilities have been enhanced to varying degrees. His psychic power has grown more potent and precise. Controlling subatomic particles to any degree he pleases is a piece of cake. Even more than it already was before. But not just that, Neoth can feel that he has the power to turn his imagination into reality.
The Sage Force has pushed his psyche and body to grow and evolve beyond their initial physical limitations. He is no longer 'just' the Greek God Emperor... he has evolved beyond even that. His current limits are uncertain, even to Neoth himself, and the only way to know how much he has grown is to keep testing himself over and over again. But even better, he now has a way to elevate his Legions by using the Sage Force in combination with technology. His mere presence causes the small dimension inside the chamber to collapse and break apart.
*BOOOOM*
"All hail the Emperor!!" the Custodes declare.
They feel his monstrous might has grown to unimaginable degrees. They feel the natural suppression has been enhanced as well. They kneel because it is what they should do, because it is fitting for a being such as him.
"Rise, my loyal protectors. I have discovered something that will allow us to elevate the Imperium to greater power."
Neoth connects to the Captain-General of the Custodian Guard.
'Constantin Valdor... call everyone to the throne room.'
'At once, my Lord.'
.
After another hour of working, Neoth makes his way to the massive Throne Room, which his subjects have constructed for him. Behind him, several Custodes follow carrying the material he ordered them to bring. These objects are a Custodes' armour, resembling their usual Auramite Armour, and a Burning Martian, which has been rendered unconscious. Neoth sits down and addresses the Custodes.
"You men are my bodyguards, your lives forfeit to the guarantee of my physical safety. Of their loyalty to me, there is no question or doubt. I, and I alone, have the authority to stand in judgment over you. No other commander do you have in battle or service. None will bar you from me, and none will hamper or stall your mission. I have sent you on missions, selfishly and without proper thought. That changes now.
I have managed to discover a way for you, my most loyal of men, to be equipped with the means to stand against the limitless dangers throughout this new Multiverse," Neoth starts and holds up the new Custodian Armour.
"It looks the same, but it isn't. It has been enhanced to great degrees, beyond what you have been wearing before. The technology we still have from the Age of Technology, from the humanities' prime era, will return in the future and will work seamlessly with your new equipment. Through this new set of armoury, you will be able to perform... anything."
Neoth has created a new set of Custodian Armour and has used the Sage Force, together with his boundless psychic might, in the process. He fuelled the technology with the Sage Force, creating a small connection to it and allowing the Custodes who wear it to draw upon the Sage Force through the armour. This will enable him to enjoy a variety of benefits.
For one, will there never again be a lack of ammunition and weapons, The armoury creates them for the Custodes following their will. The only thing Neoth has to do is to create the weapons in the first place. After that, the Custodes can summon them at will. The armour also repairs itself and heals the Custodes over time. But most importantly. The armour enhances the wearer according to the strength of their will. The stronger the will, the more energy can be tapped into from the Sage Force and Neoth's power.
"Our war effort has been fruitful. The inhabitants of planet Mars have proven to be strong. However, we will utilise their strength and harness it for our own. So I am proud to present a new chapter: The Grey Knights."