Warhammer [410-412] (Patreon)

Chapter 410:

You're the War God of the Eldar! Now you want to become the War God of humanity?

Rhodes looked at Khaine with a strange expression.

"That might be a bit difficult. Humans don't like gods, and we don't really have a 'War God' concept," Rhodes said.

"How's that possible? From what I've learned, humans have had many War Gods throughout history, whether in myth or in reality.

There's Ares in the West, Tyr in Norse myth – I remember these figures.

Even though they were weak at the time, as humanity set foot among the stars, they grew stronger and stronger!

Until the Emperor completely erased their worship, shattering them into countless fragments," said Khaine.

As a god presiding over war in the galaxy, Khaine knew there had once been many human War Gods in the Warp. Back when humanity hadn't left their homeworld, these gods were weak in the Warp.

So why couldn't he become humanity's new War God? The human population was far, far greater than the Eldar.

And though humanity's psychic power was less than the Eldar's, their sheer numbers made up for everything.

"The problem is, the Emperor does not acknowledge any gods. If you want to be humanity's War God, you'd be making yourself his enemy," Rhodes replied.

What is wrong with this War God? The Emperor went to extreme lengths to prevent Warp gods from influencing humanity!

At the dawn of the Imperium, all faiths were eradicated, every cult ever known on Holy Terra was wiped out.

So, you want to be humanity's War God? That's basically impossible!

The Emperor would never allow such a thing!

"If the Emperor doesn't want any gods, why is he cooperating with Eldar gods? Your wife is even pregnant with a god-child, and you yourself are a god," Khaine asked, coming across like a clueless rookie, leaving Rhodes speechless.

"Let me explain, Khaine," Isha said. "That's because Rhodes is human, with deep ties to the Emperor. My child is half-human, so the Emperor accepts them!

But you're different. You're the Eldar War God, a being born in the Warp. Humans will never worship you; they only shout, 'For the Emperor!' and fight for him."

"I don't need human faith. I just want to become humanity's War God. Every human war would involve me, and I'd use my power to protect their battlefields, making their soldiers stronger. Their combat power increases, and so does my godly power. It's a win-win," Khaine said.

He really didn't understand why Rhodes refused him. Humanity was the most warlike species in the galaxy, second only to Orks!

If such a belligerent race had his blessing, they'd be even mightier. Every soldier would benefit.

"Besides, humans don't acknowledge only one god. There's also the Omnissiah, right? I can't sense him in the Warp at all. Or rather, his faith is being intercepted by another powerful god," Khaine added. Humans don't just worship the Emperor!

"No way. You have no connection to the Emperor, get it? And you're not human," Rhodes shook his head.

This guy's brain was fried after being shattered for ten thousand years! Seriously, is your head full of crap? How did you come up with such nonsense?

"So you're saying, only someone with a tacit connection to the Emperor, and who is human, can be humanity's War God?" Khaine asked, stroking his chin.

"Exactly. So you don't stand a chance. Just stay as the Eldar's War God and lead your people to revival," Rhodes replied.

Finally, this guy recognizes reality!

"But what if I become human? You can clone me a human body, like you did with my Eldar one. Then I'd be human.

As for my relationship with the Emperor, you're his Primarch – so I could be as well. I could even acknowledge the Emperor as my adoptive father!

Or you could be my adoptive father, since you and the Emperor are responsible for my resurrection.

According to human custom, it's like being reborn. Why not adopt me, and I'll be on humanity's side," Khaine said, painting a scene that left Rhodes stunned.

In Rhodes' heart, thousands of wild horses thundered by. Even Aisha was speechless, staring at Khaine.

Khaine's real personality was supremely arrogant and cold. He'd never suggest recognizing someone else as a father, let alone switch bodies!

Rhodes wanted to refuse, but Isha stopped him.

"Rhodes! I think the War God's proposal is great. Why not accept him as your adopted son?

You can use your blood to clone him a new body, making him your genetic offspring," Isha suggested.

The Eldar War God is extremely powerful. Social norms are for ordinary people.

The Emperor's ideas don't fit the entire universe! Sometimes you need both kindness and power. As long as humanity remains dominant, other races can survive too.

If you're human supremacist, you'll be the enemy of all life in the universe.

"Rhodes, you can accept! If you don't want to, use my blood to clone him a Primarch body.

I'll teach you how to make a Primarch. You make the body, then transfer his soul," the Emperor's voice suddenly sounded in Rhodes' mind as he hesitated.

The Emperor had been watching all along. Khaine's resurrection was a big deal. His divine sense always watched Rhodes' palace, observing Khaine's entire revival.

The Emperor wanted to see if the resurrected Khaine was still as stubborn and brutal as before. If so, he'd need to know his attitude toward humanity.

The hardest part of making a Primarch is the soul, and the War God's soul is top-tier.

Essentially, all Warp-born gods, whether of humanity or other sentient races, are Warp creatures. Give them a human body, and they're human.

He'd also observed that this Khaine had truly forgotten his past! He retained War God knowledge, but his personality was no longer the same as the old Khaine.

So, making him a new Primarch wasn't a bad idea. Rhodes' scientists could handle it easily now.

"Fine! Khaine, the Emperor just spoke to me. He agrees for you to become humanity's War God, a Primarch, his adoptive son!

That means you'll have to give up your current body and grow up as an infant, like a new generation Primarch, to be accepted by human society," Rhodes said.

Since the Emperor had spoken, what else could he say?

"Human Emperor, my adoptive father, please accept my bow!

From today, I join humanity, become your son, and fight for the Imperium!" Khaine declared, without shame – or rather, his new personality only retained War God knowledge, not social norms.

He didn't realize how bizarre it was for Khaine to acknowledge the Emperor as his father in the eyes of other Eldar gods!

To him, recognizing the Emperor as father was better than Rhodes. Rhodes was just a Primarch; the Emperor was the true master of humanity. With the Emperor's approval, he'd gain more power as War God.

It was all for strength.

"From now on, you're my 21st son!

You have 21 siblings ahead of you – 20 brothers and one sister," the Emperor said, very satisfied.

He'd gained a War God as a son – that was a major win!

Not only did the Imperium gain another Primarch, but more importantly, humanity's military power would soar.

Rhodes quietly gave the Emperor a thumbs-up. Old man, you've got style. I could never bring myself to create such a big son out of nowhere!

"This body won't work. Give me some time, I'll clone you a human Primarch body.

And no need for any beastification upgrades. You can merge with a cosmic beast right away," Rhodes said.

Primarchs have such high life force, they can directly merge with top cosmic beasts, so the upgraded ex-Red King would fit perfectly!

But now there was a key issue: the human-Eldar alliance had agreed to revive Khaine, while the Eldar had helped revive Vulkan, Primarch of the Salamanders!

But now the Emperor was stealing the Eldar's War God! If Rhodes were Eldar, he'd be cursing the Emperor to high heaven!

"This body won't go to waste. I can leave some power in it, letting it become my avatar," Khaine said.

With his divine power, this body could become a War God avatar.

"Do whatever you want! Since you want to be human, you'd better start learning about humanity," Rhodes said, waving him off.

Soon, a group of Custodians arrived to take the newly revived Khaine to study human knowledge, while Rhodes ordered his scientists to start cloning a Primarch body.

After Khaine left, Rhodes reached out to the Emperor via psychic power.

"So about our alliance with the Eldar? Isn't this burning the bridge after crossing it? The War God was their hope! They were counting on him and the Death God to revive their race!" Rhodes said.

"What's the problem? We've done our part. Besides, remember the Laughing God helped rescue Vulkan – that deal was set long ago. We've always been drawing Chaos' attention for them.

Their Death God now has a body and can walk the material universe.

The Death God is their prophesied savior. The War God, on the other hand, is seen as a threat," the Emperor replied.

Rhodes was speechless. When it comes to scheming, you're the master, old Emperor! You never leave a scrap behind.

Just like that, you tricked the Eldar's new War God into becoming your Primarch. Impressive!

I need to learn from you!

Chapter 411: The Eldar War God Becomes a Primarch; Webway Access

At this moment, the Eldar had no idea their War God had just been adopted by the Emperor!

"Don't worry! The Death God would love us to do this! If the War God returned, he'd just take away some of his power.

And that avatar can be put to good use. It's brand new, far stronger than the old avatars. Just hand it over to the Eldar," the Emperor said.

He wouldn't have done this without a plan. When he spoke with the Death God, the Emperor realized the Death God wanted the War God out of the way.

The Emperor scoffed at this – the Eldar were now just a handful; if they were still at their peak, they might rival humanity.

But now, the survivors mostly worship the Asuryan, or the returning Life Goddess. The Harlequins all worship the Laughing God.

As for Dark Eldar, they'd only worship the Life Goddess if they worshipped anyone. The Mother Goddess is still revered among the Eldar.

So the War God was smart – he realized there wouldn't be much faith for him even if he went back. The Life Goddess gets the most, Death God gets some, the Laughing God gets the Harlequins.

He, as someone who once tried to destroy the entire Eldar race, would never get much.

With a blank mind, he only does what benefits himself. Siding with humanity is best for him.

"So what do we do now? Just tell the Eldar, 'Your War God is now the Emperor's son and a Primarch. You xenos can leave!'" Rhodes asked.

"Actually, we could. Since we're allies, we have to keep up appearances.

Just tell them the War God needs time to recover – say a few centuries.

But he still cares for his people, so he condensed an avatar, which the Asuryan's High Seer can control to protect the Eldar. In a few centuries, we don't have to explain anything," the Emperor replied.

Just stall. The Eldar don't even like their War God!

The Death God is even less eager for him to return.

Everyone's happy!

"Makes sense! Let's go with the stalling tactic," Rhodes agreed.

The Death God and the avatar can still attract some Chaos attention. Rhodes only worries that Khorne might fixate on the War God, transferring his attention to the Imperium.

But the Emperor didn't care. The four Chaos Gods always watched him anyway.

Isha nodded quietly, recognizing the Emperor's cunning. He's still the same guy! When it comes to scheming, no one can match him!

Allies are for taking advantage of!

…

Rhodes secretly began the cloning of Khaine's Primarch body. This time, besides following the Emperor's methods, he had his scientists push the body to the human limit – more than twice as strong as previous Primarchs.

This time, following the Emperor's advice, the cloning would take ten months – just like the other Primarchs.

Khaine didn't care. His soul would stay in the avatar for now.

The War God's resurrection was delayed for six months, during which time many Eldar came to Holy Terra to worship the Life Goddess and the Death God.

Just as the Emperor said, the Eldar didn't care about the War God. For six months, no one asked about him, focusing only on their Mother Goddess.

The Death God ignored him too, busy expanding his influence. With the wild Eldar and Craftworlders out of reach, the Dark Eldar became his new target.

Most of the Death God's army was made up of Corsairs and Dark Eldar.

After six months, the Eldar Seers remembered the War God and asked Rhodes about his resurrection.

This time, Rhodes didn't stall, bringing the Asuryan's High Seer to his room to explain everything.

"So that's how it is. Your War God needs to rest for a few centuries.

His soul was shattered before, and though it's restored, he needs to absorb lots of war to regain his power," Rhodes said.

"Lord Rhodes, you mean… Khaine can't return soon? Didn't you say he'd recover in a month?" Eldrad asked.

"We're not lying. I did resurrect him, gave him a body, but his recovery will take longer," Rhodes shrugged.

"In that case, Lord Rhodes, we will take our leave.

Please open a passage for Eldar to visit Holy Terra. Many want to worship the Mother Goddess," Eldrad said.

Honestly, only Eldrad cared about the War God. The others were too busy celebrating the Death God's return.

Many Seers had even forgotten that they came to Terra to resurrect the War God!

"But your War God still cares for you. He can't lead you in person, but he created an avatar.

Unlike the old avatars, this one can become a giant over sixty meters tall. Khaine wants you, the High Seer, to control it.

The avatar used to be your secret weapon – now you have this new one," Rhodes said.

He and the Emperor had agreed: this avatar was useless to humanity, since even a giant Custodian or Knight suit could match it.

So just give it to the Eldar. Khaine could remote-control it with his power.

"That's fine, but one avatar isn't enough for all the Craftworld Eldar," Eldrad said.

There used to be dozens of avatars, one for each Craftworld. Now there's only one, even if it's stronger.

"That's not our problem. Khaine can only make one new avatar right now. But it's very powerful," Rhodes replied curtly.

He simply handed the avatar over to the Craftworld Eldar.

The avatar, with a super-beast body and a portion of Khaine's power, was taken away by the Asuryan's High Seer to give the Eldar an explanation.

The other Eldar didn't protest. With the Life Goddess and Death God back, that was already a huge surprise. In fact, they'd always been divided about Khaine's return.

After all, Khaine had once tried to wipe out the entire Eldar race!

After receiving the avatar, the Death God himself said goodbye to the Emperor and left Terra with many Eldar. Only a small group stayed with Rhodes to serve the Mother Goddess.

They kept a webway portal open, letting Craftworlders, Exodites, and even Dark Eldar come worship the Mother Goddess.

The Imperium agreed, as long as the Eldar opened some of the webway for human use.

Since they were allies, it made sense for humanity to borrow the webway. After all, the Eldar didn't build all of it.

Traveling in the webway was faster and safer than the Warp.

The Eldar didn't want to agree, but with the Mother Goddess' approval, they could only comply.

Some webway routes even connected to Imperial dark side worlds. The Imperium sent many envoys through the webway – including a ship to the Dark Angels' wandering asteroid fortress!

Chapter 412: The Dark Angels Are Out of Secrets!

The arrival of Imperial envoys from Holy Terra caught the Dark Angels totally off guard. Chapter Master Azrael welcomed them at once.

But the tone soon turned tense.

The Dark Angels, the first Astartes Legion, always claimed to have no secrets – yet had more secrets than anyone, and were the most mysterious of all the Space Marine chapters.

Even their successor chapters were highly secretive, seemingly carrying out mysterious missions.

The Imperium used to have no idea what the Dark Angels were up to, but since Rhodes became a Primarch, everything changed.

Kania, a traveling rogue trader once close to the Dark Angels, leaked some info to Rhodes, who then told the Imperium everything.

What Kania knew, Rhodes knew. What Kania didn't know, Rhodes still knew. Kania didn't even know the term "Fallen Angels."

But Rhodes did, and so did the Imperium. Now, the First Legion had no secrets left at all!

When a group of three-meter-tall, powerful Space Marines arrived at the Rock under the lead of the Custodians, Chapter Master Azrael was shocked.

The Custodians, plus over a hundred towering Astartes, gave off an overwhelming presence – even Azrael felt the pressure. The Custodians' aura was even stranger.

"Dark Angels Chapter Master, I'll now read you the Emperor's decree: The Dark Angels must recall all successor chapters, reform the Legion, undergo the new Astartes upgrades, cease all secret missions, obey Imperial command, and join the coming wars," said Custodian Ultraman.

"The Dark Angels have always been loyal to the Imperium. We have no secrets. I don't know what you mean," Azrael replied.

The Dark Angels could not let their secrets be exposed – it could mean being declared traitors.

They'd hidden the Fallen well. No one could possibly know.

At this, Custodian Ultraman sighed. As Rhodes had said, the Dark Angels were stubborn to the extreme.

Thankfully, all the Custodians and accompanying Space Marines had been upgraded – each stronger than the old Custodians.

"This is a direct order from the Emperor. With Custodians present, you know what that means. I can also confirm that several Primarchs have returned!" Ultraman said.

"I've heard rumors – a new Primarch named Rhodes, Lord Roboute Guilliman of Ultramar, a mysterious female Primarch, and a shameful traitor," Azrael replied.

After the Great Rift opened, Imperial communications suffered, but the Dark Angels still had some intel. News of new Primarchs brought joy.

But hearing of the traitor, only hatred burned – if he could, Azrael would have already mobilized to kill him.

"The traitor you speak of was an undercover agent! He sacrificed greatly for the Imperium!

His genetic sons have always served the Imperium," said a Custodian.

Since Magnus returned, over a year had passed. The returning Primarch had contributed greatly, especially against daemonic sorcery.

Many psykers were now being trained, and the Grey Knights had become even stronger, dealing heavy blows to daemons.

"All he did was destroy the Imperium! His sons serve the Imperium? Which chapter? Why are these traitors still alive?" Azrael demanded.

He couldn't accept that the traitor and his sons still lived – how could the Imperium or the Emperor allow it?

"His genetic sons are the Grey Knights. The old Grey Knights are history. The new Grey Legion is being formed and expanding," a Custodian replied.

Just like Rhodes persuading the Space Wolves, the visit to the Rock wouldn't be smooth.

"Impossible! The Grey Knights' psychic power doesn't match his sons. Horus' gene-sons were never that strong," Azrael denied.

Horus couldn't be the Grey Knights' gene-father!

If anyone, it should be Magnus, or maybe the Emperor.

The Custodians looked at each other, realizing they were on different wavelengths.

"Who is this returned traitor Primarch you're talking about?" Azrael suddenly realized something was off.

"Looks like there's been some confusion. You said Horus, but the Primarch we're talking about is Magnus. He went undercover in Chaos, and his return brought new anti-daemon methods," said another Custodian.

Magnus's return was no secret in the Imperium. The Custodians even found it odd – why did the Dark Angels think Horus was the traitor?

"Seems your intel is lacking. The Imperium's dark side has survived because a fallen Primarch returned.

The one who put the Emperor on the Golden Throne ten thousand years ago – Horus, gene-father of the Black Legion, 16th Legion, Luna Wolves," Azrael replied.

He was stunned to discover that besides Magnus, Horus had also returned – and even grown stronger.

"Are you sure? That traitor should be long dead, slain by the Emperor," a Custodian clenched his fist.

"I'm certain. About a year ago, the Red Corsairs' leader Huron Blackheart mysteriously vanished. The Red Corsairs fell apart.

During the ensuing chaos, Horus reappeared, uniting the Red Corsairs under his command, tens of thousands of Chaos Marines obeying him.

Then he clashed fiercely with his eldest son Abaddon. Abaddon was losing, but a powerful new Slaanesh daemon appeared, calling himself the Son of Slaanesh.

The two of them held off Horus. Now Chaos is split between Abaddon's alliance and Horus," Azrael explained.

In the Dark Angels' eyes, Sidonis was just a new mutated Slaanesh daemon, another heresy to be purged.

The situation in the Imperium's dark side was delicate; all human worlds were isolated, and the Dark Angels barely held on.

"Don't worry. Soon, a great crusade will begin. We've allied with the Eldar and can use the webway, which is how we reached you," Ultraman said.

As the first upgraded Custodian, personally chosen by Rhodes and the Emperor, Ultraman knew some secrets – even Horus's.

Horus was revived by the Emperor and Rhodes, and had only betrayed because he was the Warmaster, the Emperor's most trusted Primarch.

"Has the Emperor truly awakened? And have we really allied with those damned Xenos?" Azrael could hardly believe it.

Working openly with Xenos was the greatest shame, far worse than any Dark Angel secret.