Boom.
Eden felt his authority and ambition both swell to the limit as he poured out even more dark-side power.
The void in the star sector where the fleet was fighting looked as if hellfire itself was burning there, forming fiery clouds of color in the emptiness.
That was the sight of Warp faith energy clashing and bleeding through into reality, Diablo the Destroyer's hellfire colliding head-on with the iridescent tides of the Chaos Gods.
Unimaginable masses of faith-power were annihilating each other in that clash, turning into unclaimed Warp energy, effectively dissipating into nothing.
Any Warp-born existence seeing this would feel a stabbing pain in its heart.
Because in a Warp where the Chaos Gods maintained their grim balance, acquiring that much faith-power was incredibly difficult.
Back when Grandfather Nurgle tried to seize an extra trove of faith-power, he was hammered mercilessly by both the Imperium and the other Dark Gods.
That alone showed how rare such faith-power was. Yet now it was being burned off like a dam in flood, simply discharged and wasted.
Gradually, Diablo the Destroyer's hellfire began to gain the upper hand, bit by bit compressing the faith-power projected by the Chaos Gods.
Scouring it away and scattering it.
"Chaos Gods, you can't hold back my onslaught!"
Eden roared, steadily increasing his firepower and suddenly blasting out an even greater tide of dark-side power.
In his eyes, this was just a beam struggle between both sides, and he held the advantage, on the brink of final victory.
So even after reaching his limit, he grit his teeth and held on.
Those old geezers of the Warp had huge running costs and not much in the way of reserves. They simply couldn't spit out that much evil power anymore. How were they supposed to trade blows with him?
You could see it with the naked eye: the Chaos Gods' gathered evil power was thinning out. The Warp heaved in titanic waves under the churn of both sides' powers.
Some unlucky Warp beings were even swept away outright.
For example, the domain of a certain Slaaneshi Daemonette, and one unfortunate void whale that had just been trying to eat.
The whole spectacle was utterly breathtaking.
Even Eden was stunned by what he had wrought.
So this was divine power… possessing mighty authority, ruling one's own existence, omnipotent.
It felt incredible.
"What a display of godhood…"
The Sun of Hope stood there with its two chubby little hands on its hips, feeling extremely pleased with itself.
At this point, the Sun of Hope was roughly half the Sacred Sun's size, its surface wreathed in broad black splotches like clusters of sunspots.
Having devoured so much dark-side power, it had taken another step along the road to godhood and was just shy of touching that final threshold.
He could even faintly sense little avatars in his mind starting to fight each other.
"I am not a god!"
As soon as he said it, the Sacred Sun beside him suddenly let out a harsh voice, the Tyrant-Emperor explaining himself with a hint of anger.
"Good grief, that's enough to trip his keyword filter too?!"
Eden glanced at the Sacred Sun, forcing himself to rein in the arrogance and swagger born from his swollen authority, and replied with a noncommittal "Oh."
He hadn't even been talking about the Emperor. He'd been sighing over his own Diablo the Destroyer's display of divine might.
How could it not be insane?
Even if he was borrowing the Emperor's dark-side power, he was still playing a major role.
After all, the Sacred Sun itself couldn't project such a gigantic amount of evil power. If it could, it would have done so already, instead of struggling along this hard for so long.
Diablo the Destroyer's concept was incredibly potent. No one in the Warp could spit dark-side power more violently than his shadow could.
"I'm the real god here…"
Then Eden ramped up the output even further, completely smashing the Chaos Gods' gathered evil power.
His own faith-power flooded across the entire star sector.
"You brat… you arrogant little bastard. Control your thoughts and resist the corruption of the dark!"
At that moment.
A gigantic psychic fist from the Sacred Sun suddenly hammered down, aiming to crush the Sun of Hope's arrogance and impulse to fall.
The Tyrant-Emperor had been monitoring the Savior's mental state all along and struck in time to stop him, forcing his chosen heir back to clarity.
Of course, there was a bit of personal feeling mixed in as well.
From the Savior's psychic fluctuations, he had sensed that this brat was silently talking smack about how he wasn't good enough, that he couldn't spit power hard enough.
How could he let that slide?!
So the psychic bitch-slap turned into a punch, intended to knock some sense into that dark-side-addled idiot.
"Damn you, who dares attack Diablo the Destroyer by surprise?!"
Sensing the sudden blow, Eden abruptly flew into a rage.
The chubby Sun of Hope bared sharp fangs, its little pudgy hands turning into claws, clenching into a fist and punching back.
In a higher dimension, that was the Tyrant-Emperor punching him in the head, and him slugging the Tyrant-Emperor right in the eye socket.
Mutual crits.
It was quite possibly the first time in ten thousand years that the Emperor's true self had taken such a direct backstab blow.
Duang!
The Sun of Hope staggered under the counterstrike, claws clamped over its head as it cried out in pain, dizzy and reeling.
That ferocious divine psychic blow shocked him back to his senses through the agony, temporarily suppressing his corrupting impulses.
He quickly realized what he'd just done, his scalp going numb.
"Holy crap, was I really that brave just now? I didn't just charge the Chaos Gods, I even dared punch the Emperor himself?!"
In one short day, he had charged all five great dark gods of the Warp in a row. You could call that peak heroism.
That was the terror of blackening.
If the Sun of Hope's descent into darkness made it violent, then if the Emperor ever really lost control and turned, the result would be the same: no kin, no mercy.
He'd start treating humanity as his walking food stock.
"Are you alright, sir?"
Eeden looked at the not-so-far-off Sacred Sun glowing a bit red-hot and asked awkwardly.
He had actually critted the Emperor. That really shouldn't have happened. Fortunately, the Sacred Sun was tough enough that he hadn't done any real damage.
Otherwise this would have turned into comedy on a galactic scale.
"Savior, you do not yet have the strength to harm me."
The Tyrant-Emperor's voice was harsh and domineering, but his emotions remained in check. He did not explode in anger.
It was just that, in his psychic form, the red punch-mark around his eye socket was a bit hard to miss.
That punch had landed pretty solidly.
He had taken it because he hadn't reacted in time. If he kept pressing the matter, it would look petty and beneath his stature, and be even more embarrassing.
More importantly, the Tyrant-Emperor had no grounds to hold it against the Savior.
He was strict, but he punished only those who deserved it. And right now, the Savior was the most important person in the Imperium, bearing humanity's last hope.
Just now, to help vent the Sacred Sun's pent-up dark-side energy, he had pushed the Savior closer to corruption's edge.
That was a sacrifice the Savior had made for the Imperium, and the Emperor knew he owed him for it.
"This brat… might be the Imperium's last safeguard…"
A hint of hope crossed the Tyrant-Emperor's awe-inspiring features.
Now that the Savior had revealed such destructive might, he wanted to further strengthen him from here on.
If the final day came, the Savior might be able to stop him… or kill him.
But if the Savior reached that point first…
The Tyrant-Emperor cast a glance at the slightly feral, chubby Sun of Hope and did not continue the thought.
He refused to picture that scene. It would be humanity's tragedy. At that point, there would be no one left who could halt the Imperium's decline and bring about a new golden age.
"As long as you're alright, sir."
Seeing that the Emperor was unharmed, Eden scratched his head with one claw and then, eyes shining with expectation, asked:
"If you're fine, could you send me a bit more dark-side power?"
After all, leaving that dark-side energy just sitting there didn't do the Emperor much good. Better to let him fool around with it.
His request was flatly refused, and he ate another psychic bitch-slap for his trouble.
That jolted Eden completely awake, and he dropped the topic of devouring more dark-side power.
He also realized that the Sun of Hope had hit its limit. If he kept absorbing, he would probably start splitting off little personalities just like the Emperor had, all fighting inside his own head.
He wasn't at all sure he could be like the Emperor, mastering every personality and remaining lucid.
If he turned into something like a Chaos God or a high-tier Warp entity, his faith backlash could strip away his self-control, leaving him obsessed only with devouring more faith and more lives to grow stronger.
He would become a slave to the very concept that defined his faith.
"That'd be a disaster. Might as well be dead at that point!"
Eden kept his guard up against himself.
He might have grown stronger this round, but he had also been pushed closer to the brink of corruption, facing more danger than ever.
The Warp was that treacherous. Every gift of faith-power came with its price quietly tagged on.
Still, this was for the Imperium.
At least this round of devouring and projecting dark-side energy had given him the basic ability to survive in the Warp and would give him an edge in achieving victory in the Battle of Vostonia.
On top of that, the Emperor had gotten a decompression as well and could hold out a while longer.
Eden comforted himself with that thought and turned his attention back to the star sector where the fleet fought. On the Chaos Gods' side, they too had sensed a massive change.
…
Not long before, in the region where the Chaos Gods dwelt.
Four immense phantoms loomed over the churning Warp, constantly pouring out more evil power.
"Our dear Diablo the Destroyer must be near his limit. Soon he will kneel at our feet…"
The Pleasure Lord's phantom quivered, becoming ever more seductive as pink mists rolled off its form.
The ultimate incarnation of joy and ecstasy in the Warp was quite interested in this so-called Lord of Terror, Diablo the Destroyer. Perhaps pinning him beneath its heel would bring even greater delight.
"Hmph. That low imitation won't last much longer."
Khorne, the Blood God, felt only disgust at Diablo the Destroyer, a creature that seemed like a knockoff of himself. He wanted to punish him even more harshly, stripping him of his right to slaughter.
In truth, all the Chaos Gods were wary of Diablo the Destroyer.
Because his power over slaughter was only the surface; at its core, his authority was destruction, bleeding over the borders of their concepts and stealing their believers.
The Chaos Gods all believed that Diablo the Destroyer had emptied his reserves and hit his limit, which was why they had thrown in more faith-corrupted power, forming surging, nightmarish peaks of evil energy.
So long as they could crush that upstart, the massive outlay would be worth it. It would remove a potential threat to them in the future.
But in the very next moment, Diablo the Destroyer spat out an even more violent torrent of dark-side evil power, smashing apart the energy they had built up. Large swathes of their power simply dissipated in a clash that gained them nothing.
"Is that lunatic insane?!"
The Chaos Gods shook with a rage laced with genuine pain.
They had never imagined this newborn being would be so heedless of the cost in how he burned faith-power.
As if there were no tomorrow beyond today.
The Chaos Gods could no longer maintain their supply of evil power, and their constructed domain of faith was completely torn down. Diablo the Destroyer's faith-power crashed in and took it over by force.
They had no wish to keep throwing power into that pit. The losses were too great.
More importantly, they had no idea whether Diablo the Destroyer might have even more faith-power to pour in. He might be a bottomless abyss.
Even if they were confident they could eventually crush him, they no longer wanted to try. It wasn't worth driving him to go all-in.
That might produce unforeseen consequences.
These highest Chaos beings were extremely cautious. Without absolute certainty of victory, they would never throw in more chips.
That was how they had survived this long and risen to godhood.
But in another sense, it was also a weakness. They had lost the courage to truly go all-or-nothing.
Even Khorne, the Blood God, was no exception.
Fortunately, they had endless lifespans and plenty of time and chances to deal with Diablo the Destroyer at their leisure.
He was merely one more noteworthy being in their long existence. Worth mentioning, but only just.
Compared to Diablo the Destroyer, who had not yet reached full godhood, the other Chaos Gods and the Cursed Ones were far more dangerous. They were the ones who had already taken their seats at the table.
"Such savage power…"
The Pleasure Lord trembled beneath the ferocity of the impact, a faint sense of familiarity pricking at it.
"We have made a mistake. Fate has changed further than we thought. Perhaps we underestimated Diablo the Destroyer…"
The Changer of Ways spoke suddenly.
The Lord of Plots realized, with a jolt, that the fate of the Vostonia Pan-Sector had become unpredictable, and that might affect their original plans.
They might need to revise those plans and strike the Imperium with more lethal force.
In the Chaos Gods' sight, Diablo the Destroyer's demon-god body grew ever more solid, so strong and hulking that his vicious tail swayed in menace.
Wreathed in that vast evil power, his phantom spilled through into the realspace where the fleets battled.
Their own god-shadows and influence were completely driven out.
…
"What is that?!"
The think-tank psykers sensed something and were seized by fear.
They all raised their heads and looked out. In the void where the Imperial fleet fought, within the burning flames, a deep-red demon-god phantom appeared.
It was colossal and terrifying, looking down upon all beings as if it might erase everything in the next second.
That was Diablo the Destroyer, Lord of Terror.
Some of the psykers whispered the demon-god's name. The Warp had whispered it to them.
By now, Diablo the Destroyer had become a Warp presence that could no longer be ignored. Whenever his image appeared, it came with a chorus of hellish howls and shrieking invocations.
Every being who saw that god-shadow would know his name in an instant.
Soon after, Eden issued an order to the entire fleet to withdraw. The boarding engagements were over. This region would be left to the Terror Legion.
His dark-side persona Diablo the Destroyer's faith-power had already claimed this area, and it could now convert more Chaos warriors into believers.
If he kept fighting, the casualties would be coming out of his own strength.
"Diablo the Destroyer has descended, the great God of Terror and Destruction!"
The Terror warriors looked upon this sight and sank into boundless fanaticism. Their faith deepened further.
Until now, they had only ever seen statues of Diablo the Destroyer. This was his first time manifesting a god-shadow in realspace, showing a true miracle in the galaxy.
He had even smothered the Chaos Gods' power, more than enough to prove his irresistible might.
"Diablo the Destroyer…"
Chaos Terminator Arno fell to his knees before Diablo the Destroyer's phantom, without a moment's hesitation.
Their warlord, their Chaos Lord, had already sworn fealty to the Dark Prince and was kneeling beneath Diablo the Destroyer's phantom, offering up his faith.
The Bloodbound, like many other Chaos warbands, would cast off their old identities and become Terror warriors, fighting for the Lord of Terror.
There was no trace of the humiliation that often accompanied forced submission on their faces. Instead, they were filled with excited smiles and limitless battle lust.
"Offer terror and destruction to Diablo the Destroyer!"
Arno and countless other Chaos warriors shouted Diablo the Destroyer's name at the top of their lungs. No matter how the Chaos Gods called to them, it no longer mattered.
They couldn't help it.
In the past, they had to struggle through slaughterous purgatories, sevenfold plagues, or other brutal trials just to earn a pitiful drip of evil blessing.
They might even get backstabbed by their own gods.
They had been thoroughly gaslit, grinding themselves to dust to feed their gods evil power and getting a meager pittance in return, with little chance of ever rising to become Chaos Champions.
Not to mention, they were far less free than the Chaos Undivided types, who still owned their own will.
In Eden's view, the difference between sworn god-servants and Chaos Undivided freeblades was like the difference between corporate wage-slaves and independent entrepreneurs. Pros and cons on both sides.
But now he was offering the Chaos warriors a new option: come work for him.
Diablo the Destroyer was directly poaching talent with ultra-high compensation. Triple salary, four days on three days off, flexible hours, no overtime, no KPI pressure, free canteen, free transport, housing included, promotions and raises tied to years of service.
Just imagining it felt good.
More importantly, they also enjoyed access to huge loans. If you dared to borrow, he dared to lend.
Blood-point credit was unlimited. Everyone had the right to borrow, drawing down future evil blessings in advance.
The Terror warriors could power up their strength as much as they liked, haul in more insane gear, and throw themselves into ever more wars.
Under those conditions, how were the Chaos Gods supposed to compete with him?
The Chaos Gods had massive realms, but their evil-power outlays were equally staggering. If they gave one batch of Chaos warriors that kind of treatment, what about the rest? What about their own daemonic legions?
Not to mention they still had to maintain invasions across the galaxy and endless battlefields. Their expenditure was enormous, and their evil-power supply chains could snap at any time.
Otherwise the Chaos Gods wouldn't risk gang beat-downs to sneak around, corrupting new territories and stealing faith-power.
In comparison, he had none of those worries. He only needed to maintain the Terror Legion, with the Emperor himself as a backup provider.
He could recruit Chaos warriors as aggressively as he liked, bringing those warriors who should have belonged to the Imperium back into the fold, letting them fight for the Imperium in another way.
"This round was pure profit…"
Eden stopped driving the Sun of Hope's dark side and returned fully to reality, taking control of his Chaos body once more.
He returned to the Heart of Terror and sat upon the Molten Iron Throne, looking down at the Chaos fleets around him.
The ships, under the influence of evil power, were changing, burning with fresh hellfire.
They would become part of the Terror Legion.
From this faith-war of the gods, he had not only gained a massive Chaos fleet, but also more than two hundred thousand Chaos warriors.
That would enormously expand the Terror Legion's power and give him much more confidence in winning this war.
???
Then he noticed something new.
His dark-side persona Diablo the Destroyer's faith-power seemed, under the strain of that high-intensity clash, to have seeped into the deeper reaches of the Vostonia Pan-Sector…
(End of Chapter)
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