Within his own territory, Rhodes ordered Mefilas and Huron to muster 200,000 gene-sons and roughly 20 million mortal auxiliaries.
Hundreds of Imperial battle barges, destroyers, cruisers, and escorts—these forces would reinforce Macragge.
Knowing Guilliman's cautious nature, even with Rhodes's promise, Guilliman would likely seek additional help since Rhodes was fighting on two fronts.
Sanguinius couldn't move from Baal; he had to deal with Khorne. Guilliman and Dorn weren't on great terms, and barring necessity, Guilliman wouldn't ask him.
That left the Lord of Fire, Vulkan. With Rhodes's army plus the Salamanders under Vulkan,
Macragge and the Ultramar 500 Worlds need not worry for now!
Even a few giant-sized foes wouldn't make many waves—Rhodes had plenty of mecha-kaiju.
As for the Indomitus front, Rhodes had already laid a heaven-and-earth snare, just waiting for the fallen Primarch Mortarion to deliver himself.
On the other Mortarion front, Rhodes planned a round of enhancements. He first spent 20 million system coins to upgrade the Advanced Enhancement Shop.
The Angel Zog and the Alien Empera could now be enhanced. First up: height and mass—both could be boosted to the 10x limit.
Maxing height and mass cost only a few hundred thousand coins—pocket change to Rhodes.
Then came the Dark Emperor's assorted skills and Zog's binding and energy-replenishment abilities—about another million coins.
The real expense lay in the Alien Empera's dark-energy upgrades and Zog's light-energy upgrades.
First, the Alien Empera. His dark energy could be upgraded three times: first tier 1 million coins, second 10 million, third a full 100 million.
Each upgrade massively boosted his dark energy.
It comprehensively amplified his power, allowing freer control of dark energy.
After the first upgrade, he could dark-energy-infuse ordinary lifeforms.
After the second, he could gigantify ordinary lifeforms, turning them into dark-aspected monsters.
The third mirrored those Ace Killer: a core would form within— a Dark Universe Energy Core—further empowering his soul and allowing entry into the Warp.
In realspace, he could freely wield black holes—darkness would be his power.
His combat strength would exceed sub-gods but remain weaker than the Four Chaos Gods. The price was eye-watering.
Rhodes could only afford the first and second dark-energy upgrades for him; the third, at 100 million coins, would have to wait.
Perhaps later he could speak to the Emperor and have the Alien Empera siphon some of the Dark Emperor's power, further weakening that old schemer and curbing his dreams of ascending as Dark King.
A shroud of black mist wrapped the Alien Empera; his armor transformed in quality, energy levels spiked, and a terrifying darkness radiated from him.
His height reached the 100-meter class—a colossal figure.
"Great master, my power is at least twice what it was! If I complete the ultimate upgrade, I'd like to rematch the Great Devourer—this time I'll strike his true body," the Alien Empera said.
"Don't get cocky, Empera. I know your confidence, but even at max upgrade
You'd only be about twice stronger than now. The gap between you and the Great Devourer remains vast," Rhodes said.
The Alien Empera was indeed powerful now. Unless the Chaos Gods could enter realspace, he would have virtually no peers in realspace.
Perhaps when the Necrons' Star Gods strode realspace, they could match him; not anymore.
Though Rhodes couldn't guarantee the Necrons had no other terrifying weapons.
The strongest known is the Celestial Orrery, which can detonate every star in the galaxy—an ability so excessive it inspires sheer despair.
"I understand, great master," the Alien Empera nodded.
After finishing him, Rhodes enhanced the Angel Zog: height and mass first, then her skills—
Charm, light-healing, and energy replenishment, all maxed—about 2 million coins.
Zog's Primordial Light Core also had three tiers, same prices as the Dark Emperor: 1 million, 10 million, 100 million.
It greatly boosted light-aspect energy, fully elevating Zog's power. First tier doubled her internal light reserves and enhanced beams and other abilities.
Second tier granted Light Bestowal: she could grant a mortal powerful light and gigantify them.
This was gigantification, not transforming them into a Giant of Light, akin to Mefilas's temporary growth—
Except both the Dark Emperor and Zog could make the gigantification permanent.
Third tier would form a Light Core within Zog, allowing her to enter the Warp,
Becoming a god-tier entity, on par with the Eldar pantheon in rank.
But with a physical body and unique light abilities, she would surpass the Eldar gods in combat power.
Additionally, at tier three, Zog could manipulate stellar energies; overall, she'd surpass typical C'tan.
She could even, together with a Giant of Light, guide a planetary will and manifest a Giant of Light.
As with the Dark Emperor, Rhodes gave her two energy upgrades, spending 11 million coins.
A white radiance enveloped the Angel Zog; a sacred goddess-visage appeared. Her height rose from over 100 meters to over 200. An unimaginably holy light poured from her.
Just feeling that energy bathed one in warmth, as if standing in sunlight.
In her second, draconic form, she was no longer an ugly tyrant lizard but a thousand-meter long Light Dragon with white wings and a pure white body.
Zog was very pleased—her old dinosaur form was so ugly she hated using it.
After the upgrades, the Angel Zog took the form of a beautiful woman, 1.8 meters tall, in a white gown, and bowed to Rhodes.
"Thank you, great master, for your blessing," she said, kneeling.
"No need for courtesy. You're the main force against Nurgle this time. Don't disappoint me—teach Chaos a lesson," Rhodes smiled and nodded.
Upgrading the two powerhouses cost 26 million system coins.
Watching the process, Aisha gained a new appreciation for Rhodes's methods.
This enhancement capability was astonishing. These two had previously been around the level of orderly gods, stronger due to their bodies; now they had half a foot into the Chaos-god domain.
And there would be more like them under Rhodes in the future!
How terrifying that is!
The others likely had no idea what sort of being they had provoked!
Aisha felt fortunate to have joined Rhodes, to possess the Cosmic Phantom Beast, to evolve Chaos energy and reclaim Order energy.
Her Slaanesh shard had already half-separated; with a bit more effort, she could discard it completely and reclaim her godhood of art, beauty, and love.
Once Slaanesh left her, it would pick a new host, and she would be free.
Slaanesh must die—that foul god must be destroyed! The Chaos gods should all be destroyed.
The Warp had once been a limpid pool; after the four gods were born, it was as if four lumps of excrement were thrown into the clear water, staining it a fecal yellow.
If a fifth god were to arise, the stench would worsen, and there would be no hope of restoration.
After finishing the two, Rhodes performed an ultimate extradimensional upgrade on his scientist, Yapool, spending tens of millions more.
With the ultimate upgrade, Yapool's extradimensional ability reached its zenith. With Rhodes choosing him for monster-enhancement,
The two together could use immense extradimensional energy to open a new pocket dimension, to gradually grow thereafter.
Rhodes would gain inexhaustible extradimensional energy; all super-beastifications would no longer be a problem, and annual output would no longer be so low.
After all enhancements, Rhodes eagerly spent 100,000 system coins to redeem a monster-enhancement use.
He chose Yapool. A terrifying energy rose within Rhodes, coursed through him, and formed a core inside him—extradimensional energy.
Extradimensional energy is a wondrous power. It can crystallize into extradimensional crystals, refine extradimensional metal, make super-beasts, and even Ace Killer.
His Mefilas-derived psychic abilities also improved.
Rhodes's extradimensional energy let him better manipulate extradimensional forces and even teleport within a certain range—not just planetary or system-scale, but across light-years.
For his entrance, he adopted Yapool style: opening a hole in the sky and making a radiant appearance.
After the upgrade, Rhodrick and Yapool joined forces and entered the interstice between realspace and the Warp.
They released their tremendous extradimensional energy together and began to create a small extradimensional world.
Horrific crimson energies wove between Warp and realspace, tearing the two realms and gradually forming a vacuum zone.
Vast energies were drawn out; a tiny seed point appeared, then collapsed and expanded, forming a bizarre space.
Once it formed, Yapool ceded control, granting Rhodes perfect mastery of the realm—he became its sovereign.
After more than thirty days, they stabilized the space.
It was currently only one-tenth the size of a stellar system, but with time and Rhodes's growth, it would self-develop.
"It's done, great master. From now on, at least within one star system, you can teleport freely," said Yapool.
Opening this realm was exhausting, but worth it. It was like his homeland.
"From now on we'll have inexhaustible extradimensional energy. Let's go back—I'm a bit tired," Rhodes nodded and returned to realspace.
When the realm is large enough, it could rival the Old Ones' Webway. Humanity would no longer need the Webway; it would have its own extradimensional corridor.
Its speed would be comparable to the Webway.
…
Back in realspace, Rhodes had Tartarus send Yapool back to Holy Terra's secret lab.
"How stands the war?" Rhodes asked.
Opening the extradimensional space had taken a full month; the two fronts should be engaged by now.
"Master, Mortarion has already engaged the First Fleet, and Macragge's battle began half a month ago."