"Hmph. So what if you're a champion of the Blood God?!"
Aydis ignited his legendary blade, and hellfire roared across his armor.
He was an Infernal Warden now—blessed by Diablo the Destroyer, clad head-to-toe in a full set of Terror Armour.
Even more intimidating.
He stared down the Bloodthirster and said slowly, "No matter who shows up, you will submit to the Warmaster's review!"
Aydis didn't care what the hell it was. If you came here, you were the Warmaster's troops—and you would line up and be inspected like it.
That was the duty the Chaos Warmaster had given him.
Even if the Blood God Himself showed up, it wouldn't matter!
In the Infernal Warden's eyes, there was no one and nothing left in existence besides the Savior—Chaos Warmaster.
Even if Khorne descended, he would still dare bark a few orders from behind the Warmaster's back!
The Bloodthirster spun his spear and charged, bellowing his challenge.
"Arrogant insect! I'll take your skull and offer it to the great Blood God—so you understand how insignificant you truly are!"
He could tell at a glance: this human commander was weaker than him by a wide margin. He could reap that life.
Yet facing the oncoming Bloodthirster and his brutal assault, Aydis showed no fear at all.
Instead, he gave a cold, contemptuous sneer. "A mere Bloodthirster dares defy the Warmaster's will…"
The Infernal Warden raised one hand lightly, and the space behind him changed.
He had no intention of fighting personally. An enemy like this wasn't worth the Infernal Warden's own hands.
"Terror! Slaughter! Burn, burn, burn!" In an instant, a more savage roar thundered out.
"What?!" The Bloodthirster's pupils shrank as he watched—wide-eyed—the halo-lit zone behind the human commander disgorge several hulking, heavily armored warriors.
The flames on their bodies were ferocious. Brutality and killing intent poured out without restraint.
Those were… high-ranking Terror Legionnaires!
More precisely, they were Hellguard now—the soldiers of the Infernal Guard.
"These guys have presence. They can hold the line." Eden watched the charging Infernal Guard and nodded with satisfaction.
He had deliberately transferred these high-tier Terror Legionnaires over to serve as the core members of the Infernal Guard.
From this day on, he—the Dark Prince, Lord of Hell, Chaos Warmaster—would hold the Terror Legion and the Burning Legion in his grasp.
These two Chaos legions were extensions of Diablo the Destroyer in different conceptual senses: annihilating terror, and infernal flame.
The Terror Legion leaned toward an elite profile—raids, breaching actions, boarding assaults, decapitation strikes.
The Burning Legion, meanwhile, fought as massive formations—vast in scale, overwhelming in numbers.
They would wage war in the Realm of Chaos, carving out territory inch by inch, taking part in the Great Game of the Chaos Gods.
It was also the best way to "handle" Chaos Space Marines.
Those who had fallen to Chaos were unstable by nature. Integrating them back into humanity was nearly impossible.
Leaving them in the galaxy would only invite endless trouble.
Better to send them into the warp-domain, where there was always more war—enough to let them vent every last ounce of negative emotion.
"These two Chaos legions can further reinforce my dark side, and let Diablo's authority grow and expand." Eden thought quietly.
Now the Chaos Gods had set themselves against him. The trend was all but irreversible—fight to the death.
And his "bright" side didn't have much combat power.
He had to develop the strength of the dark side to withstand the dangers that might come.
Relying on the Emperor forever was not a long-term plan.
After all, the old man could "go dark" or fall into slumber at any time. It was safer to hold power in his own hands.
As Eden was thinking, the hell-warriors had already crashed into the Bloodthirster.
Clang!
The Bloodthirster's spear was stopped by one Infernal Guard warrior, and the others immediately swarmed in—fast, seamless, as though they had drilled this a thousand times.
In that moment, these Infernal Guard had no fear of daemons—only hunger for blood and power.
"Ganging up?!" The Bloodthirster had barely formed the thought when a cheap shot landed.
A hammer smashed into his skull. His vision spun.
Then came an even more violent, venomous, shameless storm of attacks—like a torrential downpour.
The Bloodthirster was battered to the ground and howled in agony beneath the dogpile.
"No! This is dishonorable combat! You are vile warriors!"
In that instant, he remembered a legend whispered across the warp—
The warriors of Diablo: every one of them vicious, despicable, poisonous.
They used any means necessary, taking lives in the most humiliating way imaginable.
Among Diablo's elite, there was no "honor" or "shame."
Only the craving for power.
They would use every trick to bring an enemy down.
Even against a top-ranked Greater Daemon, they would still charge—and slide-tackle it!
"A weak daemon that can't even endure this… how pathetic." Aydis stood where he was, watching with icy indifference.
This was the power his glorious Warmaster—his gene-father—had bestowed upon him: numbers.
And not just numbers—numbers of high-ranking Infernal Guard.
"This… this is real power!" Aydis recalled the misery of his past and the might he held now, and enlightenment struck like a blade.
If it had been the old him, he would already be bleeding out under the Bloodthirster's spear.
But now the Bloodthirster lay at his feet, crying in pain.
"In war across the galaxy and the warp, you need a strong backer. Status and background matter."
"Only then can you crush every enemy and win victory after victory!"
Thinking this, Aydis grew even more fanatically loyal, and resolved to protect the Warmaster's authority at all costs—and to expand the Burning Legion without limit.
The stronger the great Warmaster and the Burning Legion became, the stronger he became!
The Bloodthirster lay on the ground, arms over his head, as the Infernal Guard kicked and smashed him at will.
His horns had snapped. His fangs were gone. He wailed weakly, because the Infernal Guard's hellfire inflicted deeper pain.
If the Infernal Warden hadn't ordered that the target be kept alive, the Infernal Guard would have torn him apart and divided him like spoils.
And those Khornate daemons—watching their leader being beaten into pulp—were thoroughly intimidated.
None dared move.
Of course, they weren't afraid only because of the Infernal Guard.
They were also afraid of the terrifying hell-weapon aimed straight at them.
It was a missile seven or eight meters tall, its shell inscribed with the death runes of Diablo the Destroyer, burning with dark-red flame.
It even gave off a faint, needle-sharp scream.
More importantly, the weapon contained cursed energy—more violent, more malignant. Just looking at it made terror and pain crawl up the spine.
"Is that… the Accursed One's weapon?"
"No. It's even more terrifying than the Accursed One's power."
"What is the relationship between Diablo and the Accursed One?!"
The Bloodthirster stared helplessly at the horrifying weapon trained on him, his body trembling uncontrollably.
It was pure survival instinct.
Not just the daemons.
The moment the hell-missile began to rise, every Chaos entity present fell silent.
No one dared make a move.
They could feel the threat—lethal, and soaked in suffering.
"As expected—without a true doomsday piece, you can't hold the field." Eden looked at the hell-missile and sighed with feeling.
This was a Chaos variant developed from the Sacred Ash Bomb—blending the Emperor's holy power with Diablo's dark warp-evil.
The reaction it produced was extreme.
Ever since the Sacred Ash Bomb's lethality had weakened, and Chaos daemons had devised ways to resist it, Eden had been searching for a new deterrent.
In the end, using techniques related to the Godplague, he developed the Hell Missile.
If the Sacred Ash Bomb was a nuclear weapon—able to obliterate daemons and their souls with monstrous force—
Then the Hell Missile was closer to a bioweapon combined with a white-phosphorus bomb.
Its raw destructive power was inferior to the Sacred Ash Bomb, and it couldn't erase daemon souls on a massive scale.
But it caused far more terror and pain.
And it was long-term damage—burning a daemon's soul without end.
"This weapon is too dangerous. The radiation is intense." Perturabo took one look and swallowed hard.
He could already picture it.
If Eden fired something like that into his fortress-worlds… the consequences would be catastrophic beyond measure.
"No choice. Chaos is too terrifying. Humanity must have weapons that can protect itself."
"We must build more of these weapons to protect our fragile homeland." Eden sighed, as though troubled. There still weren't enough.
"Brother… isn't this more taboo than warp-evil itself?" Perturabo was almost numb hearing that.
He'd always thought he was extreme.
He never expected his brother to be even more extreme—making weapons so hateful that even daemons feared and loathed them.
A single Hell Missile wouldn't just kill in the blast.
The afflicted region of warp-territory would be left soaked in cursed warp-evil, uninhabitable for a long time.
Any Chaos entity lingering there for long would likely suffer every kind of curse-corrosion, wracked with agony.
"If we want to defeat daemons, we have to be more taboo than they are."
"That's one of the meanings of weapon development."
"Make the enemy afraid. Make them suffer. Make them so terrified they never dare step into our homeland again." Eden was unmoved.
This was the true anti-daemon weapon—without bottom line.
Fire a few into the warp-realms and you could disgust Chaos itself for ages, leaving residue more persistent than the old plagues.
In short: with this, he had a new method of deterrence, and it would be far easier to maintain order.
Of course, such a weapon could only be used in truly extreme theaters. It could not be deployed casually.
"Submit… or die in agony." Aydis planted his boot on the Bloodthirster's chest and shoved a small Hell Grenade into the daemon's mouth.
It had the same dangerous radiation and cursed warp-evil as the Hell Missile.
It could make a daemon suffer so intensely that "death" became mercy.
In that moment, the Bloodthirster didn't dare move an inch.
Even Aydis was cautious—if he got splashed by the effect, it would be a severe headache.
"Is he… the Daemon-Eater?"
"Only he could command such horrifying warriors and weapons. Perhaps he is Diablo's chosen!"
"I… I am willing to submit to inspection…" The Bloodthirster was already half-dead from the beating.
Under the double threat of the Daemon-Eater and the Hell Missile, his mind finally broke.
He was willing to accept the review of the Chaos Warmaster—the Daemon-Eater.
After that, the Bloodthirster and his daemon host, under the supervision of Aydis and the Infernal Guard, lined up neatly on the ritual grounds.
They were all obedient to a frightening degree, terrified that the Daemon-Eater would inflict that cursed warp-evil upon them.
For the Bloodthirster, losing to the Daemon-Eater didn't seem so unbearable anymore.
And not just the Khornate daemon host.
More daemon armies arriving as "reinforcements" were also encircled, beaten down by the Infernal Guard, and then forced—under deterrence—to submit and stand inspection.
"He's putting real work in. A good seed—gets things done." Eden watched Aydis—whipping a daemon commander six times in the blink of an eye, screaming at them to stand straight—and nodded in satisfaction.
That "convert's fanaticism" was more loyal, more extreme, than even his typical gene-sons.
Like a well-honed blade.
Or a hunting hound.
The Burning Legion needed to absorb more daemon troops to expand its scale, so it could fight better in the warp.
In the past, absorbing daemons was not feasible—there was no way to restrain them.
Back then, he lacked the support of a "dark faith" framework.
He couldn't continuously absorb daemons the way Chaos Gods and Chaos lords did—granting them power, harvesting belief, cycling strength.
But now, with Diablo established, everything became feasible.
He could grant daemons power.
He could also accept their "return" in turn.
And prying bricks out of the Chaos Gods' walls was feasible too.
Like that Bloodthirster just now—he wasn't a Greater Daemon personally created by the Blood God, not one that could be fully puppeted.
The connection was maintained by faith-warp energy.
Most daemon warriors functioned this way.
They longed for the Blood God, so they entered Khorne's domain from the galaxy and the warp, and climbed by slaughter.
If Eden could conquer them and grant them the power they craved, he could collect these daemons the same way he collected Chaos Space Marines.
Of course, he would still need to establish territory in the warp to house them.
"If my dark authority becomes stronger, I could even influence Greater Daemons…" Eden thought.
Back then, the Changer of Ways had truly influenced Skarbrand—the foremost Greater Daemon of Khorne's domain—driving him to attack the Blood God.
"Blood God… we probably can't go back." In the inspection ranks, the Bloodthirster hung his head, full of collapse and shame.
He knew that after this surrender, returning would mean the most brutal punishment.
And likely death.
So they could only remain within the Daemon-Eater's Burning Legion and accept Diablo's power.
Gradually, the Bloodthirster took in the power of Diablo the Destroyer and felt the surge of warp-evil.
Hellfire ignited across him.
Black bone spines erupted from his frame.
He looked even more ferocious.
"Diablo is… so generous…" The Bloodthirster grew excited.
Why did this suddenly feel… good?
Forget going back. He wasn't going back!
As time passed, more and more Chaos daemons teleported into the inspection perimeter—
And one after another, they were "processed" by the Infernal Guard.
The number of daemonic troops within the Burning Legion rose steadily, expanding without pause.
Eden didn't waste this opportunity.
He absorbed as many daemons as possible, because he knew he would never again have conditions this uniquely favorable.
But soon, he noticed a problem.
It wasn't the daemons.
It was the Chaos Space Marines—most of them looked lost.
And it was affecting morale.
"This won't do. Without morale, how are we supposed to fight the next wars?" Eden frowned, immediately going to investigate the cause.
Before long, he had his answer.
The Chaos Space Marines had lost their objective.
"Fair. Their goal and craving, all this time, was to follow a Chaos Warmaster into Holy Terra and rule the Imperium."
"But now the Chaos Warmaster is me—the Imperium's Emperor. They could practically charter a shuttle to Holy Terra like it's their own home."
"They just achieved everything at once. Of course they're lost."
Eden understood their mentality completely, and decided to give them a new objective.
He rode his mechanical disc up into the air and delivered a declaration to the Burning Legion.
"Warriors, I know your confusion and pain. Everything you once desired no longer has meaning."
"To you, Holy Terra is now within arm's reach, and fighting the Imperium is no longer glorious."
Eden stared at the army with a trace of disdain.
"But I must say: the old you were cowards."
"You chased wars that were not worth a breath."
"You were pitiful. Timid."
"You disappoint me."
His contempt succeeded in provoking anger and dissatisfaction.
In an instant, a wave of agitation surged.
Chaos Space Marines protested, gripped their weapons, and tried to prove they were no cowards.
Eden simply watched the restless army in silence, doing nothing—letting the negative emotion climb.
When the agitation reached its tipping point, he finally spoke, his voice carrying warp-evil authority.
"Now there is a long, great, glorious war waiting for you."
"Do you dare answer it?"
"We will enter the Great Game of the gods, slaughtering across the warp—killing, burning, looting—seizing more territory from Chaos itself!"
"Will you swing your blades into the Realm of Chaos… or will you tremble like cowards?"
"Come. Join this great crusade."
"And in the end, our purpose is—godslaying!"
Under the oath-cry of the Chaos Warmaster, Lord of Hell, both Chaos Space Marines and daemons raised their weapons and roared.
They were no cowards.
They dared raise blades against gods!
"For the Warmaster!"
"For the Lord of Hell!"
Eden heard the Burning Legion's roars, morale soaring.
They had a new objective—one greater than breaching Holy Terra and ruling the Imperium.
Godslaying.
Nothing was greater than declaring war on gods with mortal flesh.
"That's more like it." Eden nodded in satisfaction.
Whether the objective could truly be achieved was not important.
What mattered was having an objective.
This wasn't only the Burning Legion's objective—it was humanity's, too.
The Chaos Gods had to be dealt with.
After that would come the xenos threat, the Great Devourer threat—each a final objective in its own right.
With a new objective, the Burning Legion consolidated rapidly into a true whole.
…
Eden looked down at the endless black mass of troops stretching to the horizon, awaiting his review, with loyal warcries rolling like thunder.
He couldn't help but sigh.
"Ah. Such loyalty—what a sight."
"Wherever this Savior goes—Imperium or Chaos alike—there is nothing but heartfelt welcome. A thriving vitality everywhere, all things racing to flourish…"
Now the Burning Legion was formed.
Next came war in the Realm of Chaos.
Eden flipped through the latest intelligence.
Their target was the Slaaneshi daemon world—Oliensis.
Guilliman was imprisoned in the dueling arena on that daemon world!
(End of Chapter)
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