"Slaughter!"
The phantom of Khorne, the Blood God, struck with terrifying ferocity as burning crimson radiance poured down.
"So this is the power of a true god? There's no dodging it anymore!"
Under the fetid gale, the Hope Sun that Eden had become rippled across its spherical body in layer after layer of wavering light.
That was the pressure. Horrific pressure.
Worse still, with his current speed, even evading the attack was exceedingly difficult.
"My experience with god-wars really is far too shallow. Later I'll have to go ask the Emperor the old man for a few pointers."
Eden marshalled concepts and faith-energy to hold the line, a thread of worry rising unbidden.
If the Hope Sun's essence could not withstand the Chaos Gods, then his consciousness, his soul, and his very self could become their spoils.
He had been preparing all along to face the Chaos Gods directly, strengthening his authority until it was sharper and heavier than before.
Yet only when truly standing before the gods did he feel the enormity of these eternal lives.
It was not only the Blood God. The other Chaos Gods also launched their attacks—thorned venom-whips, a rotting giant hand, and iridescent daemonic flame, one after another.
This was the embodiment of a conceptual god-war. Every strike carried limitless might, and worse, conceptual killing—sealing every route of retreat the Hope Sun might have had.
The aura of death spread.
…
Meanwhile, within the Warp.
A void-whale tens of kilometres long watched the dreadful onslaught of the gods within the Pleasure Mirage, fear flickering through its gaze.
It could not help but retreat a little.
A lesser god shaped like an eight-armed octopus could not help but wave its tentacles.
It was delighted.
This lesser god still remembered being beaten senseless by that great round sphere before, and now it was pleased to see the other party finally about to suffer.
Beyond the Chaos Gods and their daemonic hosts, there were far too many forms of life within this region of the Warp.
Voidborn remnants, Beastmen, and vast numbers of lesser gods and fugitives.
Under the Pleasure Mirage's active projection, more and more beings observed this encirclement and slaughter directed at the Saviour.
The malignant might surging from the Chaos Gods filled them with dread, and they submitted to the authority of those eternal true gods.
They all believed that the Saviour—this newborn god of the Warp—would be torn apart by the Chaos Gods!
Hehehehe~
Warp-energy roiled, and an Aeldari clown with rouge-smeared paint and a bright red nose appeared, every movement absurdly comical.
Cegorach cautiously slipped out from within the Webway's veil, as if the slightest disturbance would send him scurrying back inside.
He was truly afraid, terrified of being hunted down again by the Dark Prince.
Across long ages, the Laughing God had hidden in the Webway, hiding behind powerful beings, borrowing their strength to resist the true god who had destroyed the Aeldari empire—the Dark Prince.
He did not dare take even a single step beyond the Webway.
But even so, Cegorach still took the risk to appear.
He cared about the fate of the short-lived species' newborn god—the Saviour.
If that being were slain by the gods, then his fate and the fate of the Aeldari would plunge into an even darker future, with not even room to breathe.
Within the Pleasure Mirage, the image of the Saviour being besieged imprinted itself in the Laughing God's pupils, the gods' annihilating power swelling and rising.
"Everything is a joke!" Cegorach seemed to recall some tragedy; painted tears slid down, yet his face still wore a manic grin.
His laughter held a trace of fear and grief. "Everything that all beings cherish, everything they struggle for, is nothing but a dreadful and insane prank.
That Saviour is about to exit this tragedy, and the dark curtain will fall at last—this is no ultimate joke!"
Cegorach had placed far too much hope in the Saviour. That being was one of the most important ingredients of the ultimate joke.
Without the Saviour, the ultimate joke was nothing at all.
Yet he could only watch it happen—at most performing a silent mime to mourn that being.
"Vermin! Vermin!"
A terrifying demonic roar shook the cosmos, spreading toward distant stars.
The Vostroya Pan-Sector.
An agri-world.
Capillary towers pierced the clouds. A sea of Tyranid swarms drowned the entire planet, devouring every crop and structure.
When this mining sector fell into chaos under the gods' invasion, Hive Fleet Gaogros took the chance to invade as well, greedily consuming any biomass it encountered.
And this agri-world was Gaogros' first target.
Now, the planet's rivers, mountains, and atmosphere had been drained clean, and the Imperial defenders had all been rendered into biomass.
Every Imperial defensive line had collapsed, without exception.
The only force still holding its ground was Khorne's daemonic army—more precisely, the host commanded by the Warp's First Daemon, the Supreme Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha.
"Kill all the vermin!"
"For the Supreme One!"
The Khorne Daemons slaughtered the swarm in fury, until fear began to appear in the swarm's eyes.
The Hive Mind of Gaogros had never encountered such frenzied daemons, and could not understand why these daemons would fight it to the death on behalf of humanity.
That outcome was inevitable.
The Supreme Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha had invaded the galaxy many times and had repeatedly crashed headlong into the swarm. He loathed vermin to the marrow.
This time, he had accepted the Blood God's command and come to the Vostroya Pan-Sector to destroy the Imperium's armies.
Ka'Bandha prepared meticulously and chose an excellent position—an agri-world in the heart of Vostroya, sitting squarely on the Imperium fleet's unavoidable route.
But once he arrived, he discovered that this damned Imperial agri-world was infested with vermin.
He had become the one left holding the bill.
A Lictor Mutant Overlord had even taken a bite out of him!
The Supreme Bloodthirster was enraged.
After smashing the Lictor Mutant Overlord to death, he ordered his daemonic host to annihilate every last swarm-creature, while he himself charged the hive ship.
"All vermin must die!" Ka'Bandha's towering daemonic frame—more than ten metres high—tore through the hive ship's plasma cannons and carved deep scars into its living biomass armour.
His slaughter-tainted warpfire gnawed into the twenty-kilometre bio-behemoth, and molten ruin spread visibly across its flesh.
Hiss—
The hive ship struggled, letting out a pained screech.
It commanded the parasite swarms lurking within its biomass folds to attack the invading Supreme Bloodthirster, but it was futile.
Every last creature died in the molten flames.
"Vermin, I will find you. I will tear you apart. I will grind your skull to dust!" Ka'Bandha raged, threatening the Hive Mind.
This trip to Vostroya had a second purpose beyond crushing the Imperium's forces: he wanted to witness with his own eyes the Saviour defeating the enemy who had once wounded him.
And these Tyranid vermin had blocked his path.
Unforgivable!
However, just as Ka'Bandha was tearing apart the hive ship, he abruptly received an illusory projection from the Warp.
"The Saviour?!"
He saw the Saviour within the Pleasure Mirage. He witnessed the blasphemous imagery the Saviour had created—images that nearly encompassed the Chaos Gods and most of the daemon primarchs.
Such blasphemous projections stripped those existences of their dignity.
But Ka'Bandha discovered that within those blasphemous images, there was no trace of himself. The Saviour had not used the Pleasure Mirage to profane him.
He could feel it: as the other Chaos powers lost dignity and bled faith, his own awe and faith-authority were slowly rising.
"Saviour—my lifelong enemy—your respect, I accept…"
Ka'Bandha clenched the still-struggling Hive Tyrant in his hand, and unfamiliar emotions churned deep within.
He had not expected the Saviour would rather humiliate the Blood God than humiliate him, the Supreme Bloodthirster.
He respected him so deeply—meaning he had acknowledged him as his true, lifelong enemy.
Only he was worthy to stand as the Saviour's opponent!
The situation within the Pleasure Mirage changed with terrifying speed. Soon, the Blood God and the other Chaos Gods arrived, shattering the images.
Their target was the Saviour.
"Be silent, or die!"
Ka'Bandha tensed, daemonic might surging, and then he punched the Hive Tyrant unconscious, fixing all his attention on the projected scene within the Pleasure Mirage.
He feared for the fate of the Saviour—his lifelong enemy.
The Tyranid creatures seemed cowed by the Supreme Bloodthirster's dreadful pressure. They bowed their heads, bodies trembling, frozen in place, not daring to move.
Even the hive ship fell silent, no longer launching attacks. It did not wish to provoke that troublesome Chaos beast again.
Instead, it used this moment to reclaim biomass and prepare to retreat.
This place was too dangerous. It was not suitable for continued feeding. It needed to seek a new feeding ground!
Ka'Bandha paid the vermin no mind. He watched the Pleasure Mirage without blinking. Soon, the gods tore open and invaded the illusion.
They surrounded and attempted to annihilate the Saviour, dreadful authorities crashing down upon him.
"Hah. I never expected the Saviour would face the gods alone.
What might!"
Ka'Bandha gave a low snort, unable to stop himself from lifting his chin—wearing an air of pride by association.
The Saviour was powerful enough to force the gods to manifest their authority-projections. Besides the Accursed One, no other life in the galaxy or the Warp had ever received such an "honour."
"Then as the Saviour's lifelong enemy, am I not equally mighty?"
Ka'Bandha studied the Blood God's phantom in the projection, mulling it over.
He seemed never to have tested the limits of his own authority. Perhaps he should find the chance to do so.
Ka'Bandha made up his mind: he would find an opportunity to trade a few blows with the Blood God.
The Supreme Bloodthirster stared at the great round Hope Sun, battle intent surging.
He wanted the Saviour—his lifelong enemy—to survive the gods' assault.
Better yet, to strike back.
…
The Webway of Dawnlight City.
Within the Throne Palace, the hall fell into silence.
A psychic veil projected the scene of the Saviour under the gods' attack—shocking beyond words.
It also exuded a corruptive stench. Even the gods' images alone could cause masses of mortals to fall.
"Can that guy survive?" Magnus stared at the Saviour and the gods' phantoms within the veil, unable to stop himself from holding his breath.
He had fallen once. He knew too well how terrifying the Chaos Gods truly were.
They were not something any primarch—or any life—could resist, save the Emperor… and his father.
"If the Saviour dies, Father will be saddened, won't he?"
Magnus turned to the black throne. That father was also watching this battle, silent.
He had never seen Father look sad.
The Saviour, the Emperor of the Imperium, was too important. Humanity could not lose him.
The Crimson King's heart was conflicted. Part of him wanted the Saviour—who had humiliated him and ruled as the Emperor—to die.
Yet another part of him wanted a primarch of the Imperium to resist the Chaos Gods, rather than sink beneath their blows.
Magnus was already willing to return to the Imperium, to follow his father and do something for humanity—to atone for his ancient sins.
Ten thousand years ago, his own fall, and the fall of his brother primarchs, had been a deep humiliation.
He wanted someone to truly withstand the corruption of the Chaos Gods, to wash away the primarchs' shame, and to prove that their wicked authority was not omnipotent.
"F… Father."
After hesitating, Magnus finally spoke. "Can the Saviour survive the attacks of the Chaos Gods?"
That was the best outcome he could imagine.
Upon the black throne sat a kingly existence, resolute and overflowing with might.
It was the Emperor's primary persona.
Hearing Magnus' question, he looked mildly surprised.
The Emperor lowered his gaze toward his son. Thinking of something, a faint smile touched his face.
"My son, you asked a good question.
Eden will survive. He will survive. The Imperium will not lose its Emperor."
Hearing his father address him so warmly, Magnus' heart trembled.
Then he turned back to the psychic veil, brow tightly furrowed.
The Crimson King could not imagine how the Saviour could possibly live through such utter despair!
More and more beings across the galaxy and the Warp turned their attention to this war, to the Saviour's fate.
…
The Pleasure Mirage.
The deathly aura released by the Chaos Gods swallowed the gentle light around the Hope Sun.
The lethal onslaught locked onto the Hope Sun—an attack that could not be dodged, akin to a conceptual form of causality.
Even if the Saviour fled this space, fled this planet, fled the Eye of Terror, and hid at the farthest edge of the galaxy…
He would still be struck.
It was an attack that even time could not erase. Once unleashed, it would hit its target.
This was the might of true gods!
"So many are watching me, this Saviour. I can't fold now…"
Yet Eden had no intention of running—especially after thinking it through.
If he could not dodge it anyway, then he might as well meet it with even greater presence.
Right now, he represented humanity, represented hope, and stood as the symbol of resistance against the Chaos Gods. How could he cower and flee on a "live broadcast"?
Buzz—
Eden's thoughts raced on a millisecond scale. He seized control of the Hope Sun and made it erupt with golden holy light that illuminated the cosmos, like a sacred sun.
His voice thundered:
"That's all you've got? You parasites of the Warp—you cannot destroy humanity's unyielding will!"
No matter what, the Saviour could not lose in presence and momentum.
Boom!
Amid the twisting and trembling of space and authority, the Chaos Gods' attacks crashed down and struck the Hope Sun head-on.
In that instant, fear surged through Eden—followed by the tearing agony of a soul being ripped apart.
But the next moment, he froze, then realised—
"Huh?
The Chaos Gods' attacks don't seem that strong. This feels about the same as when the Emperor the old man was pounding me earlier?!"
That thought rose in Eden's mind, and he immediately felt steadier.
Right. He had endured the Emperor's heavy blows. What did he have to fear?
???
Meanwhile, the Chaos Gods were stunned.
In the manifested clash, Khorne's blood-axe—laden with slaughter—had cleaved straight into the Hope Sun.
Yet the blood-axe left only a single wound before being bounced away!
And the thorned venom-whip, the rotting giant hand, and the iridescent daemonic flame—each was the same, as if they had struck an impossibly tough sphere that even rebounded their force.
They simply could not break its defence!
The Saviour's authority-essence posed no threat, but its toughness exceeded imagination.
Their concepts could not invade.
In that moment, the galaxy and the Warp finally understood just how hard the Saviour was to kill.
That being—because he was excessively cautious—had maxed out every point in defence.
(End of Chapter)
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