Warhammer [561-563] (Patreon)

Chapter 561: The Extraction of the Chaos Divinity Begins

At last, the most critical step was about to begin! They would completely remove the Chaos divinity embedded in Fulgrim's body and then end that evil bastard's life.

"Custodians! I am about to do something of utmost importance to all humankind. For a time, I will not rule the Imperium. All state affairs will be entrusted to Guilliman.

"As for the matter of Crux, inform Guilliman that once this is over, Rhodes and I will evolve Crux's Chaos together," the Emperor said.

This was the extraction of a Chaos god's divinity—something that had never happened before in the universe. They had to treat it with the utmost caution. No one knew how long it would take, so they had to prepare in advance.

"As you command, my lord," said the Captain-General of the Custodes, Trajann, kneeling.

"Magnus, I will devote myself to helping Rhodes strip out the Chaos divinity. During this time, the Golden Throne will rely on you to maintain. I believe your power is sufficient now," the Emperor said, turning to Magnus at his side.

While the Chaos divinity was being removed, the Emperor could spare no attention for anything else and would even need to marshal all his psychic might. Thus, the burden of maintaining the Golden Throne would fall on Magnus's shoulders.

"Rest assured, Father. No matter how long it takes, I will sit the Golden Throne and share all its pain for you," Magnus nodded.

"Then we meet in three days, Emperor. Three days from now, we begin."

Rhodes, for his part, began making arrangements—first visiting his two sons and two daughters.

He then instructed Elena to take care of his Legion and allied forces while he was away.

"Don't worry. I've got everything at home. I will take good care of our children," Elena said.

"Go with peace of mind, Father. I will make you proud, I promise," Stark nodded to Rhodes.

"Father, you are the pride of all humankind. I believe you will complete this mission," Sterne said.

"Mm." Rhodes nodded to his human wife and two sons, then traveled to the Cosmic Beast world to summon Yvraine and Lelith.

"The children are in your care. Yvraine, Lelith, also keep a close eye on the Cosmic Beast world," Rhodes said.

"Don't worry, dear. There won't be any problems. The power we now possess is at the pinnacle of the universe," said Lelith.

She and her close sister Yvraine were no weaklings—one a former arena queen, the other a former high prophet of Ynnead. Add to that their fusion with the Cosmic Beasts Rhodes gifted them, plus the Cosmic Beast planet's queen, Zoiger, and the Angel Zog.

If you want to stir trouble on the Cosmic Beast world, you'd better consider whether you have the strength.

"Mm." Rhodes nodded and went to the chamber of the two Eldar goddesses, Isha and Aisha.

For this extraction of Chaos divinity, these two goddesses would also help—part of the Chaos divinity resided within Aisha.

"Aisha, how are your preparations? What should we do with the remaining Chaos divinity inside you this time?" Rhodes asked.

"I've already decided. I have completed the purification. Once I expel this evil Chaos divinity from my body, I will truly be a lawful good goddess.

"But this time, Isha and you will go to Holy Terra, while I remain here," Aisha said.

If she went to Holy Terra, the Emperor would discover the Chaos divinity on her. Then he would refuse to help Rhodes strip Fulgrim's Chaos divinity.

The Emperor was extremely suspicious by nature. The only reason he trusted Rhodes and agreed to help this time was Rhodes's decades of service—he had made the Imperium unprecedentedly strong, and humanity unprecedentedly powerful.

But if she appeared, the Emperor would assume Slaanesh had a scheme. So she would wait until she had completely purged all Chaos divinity, then present herself anew before the Emperor. Slaanesh was already truly dead.

"Then I'm relieved. Stay on the Cosmic Beast world. There'll be no issues. Leave this to me," Rhodes said.

"I believe in you, Rhodes. This will succeed. While you are stripping the Chaos divinity there, I will channel my own Chaos divinity outward with all my might. You will obtain a complete Chaos divinity this time," Aisha said.

Rhodes nodded.

… 

For the next three days, he went nowhere—he stayed on the Cosmic Beast world with his wives and all their children.

In the Imperium, the weight of state fell on Malcador and Guilliman.

Magnus maintained the Golden Throne.

Rogal Dorn, Sanguinius, Vulkan, the Lion, and Horus continued the Indomitus Crusade.

All of Rhodes's forces were garrisoned in his domains, led by the newly elevated Mefilas. His fleets were commanded by two stand-ins who continued leading the Legions on crusade.

Three days later, Rhodes ordered Tartarus to open the portal and returned to Holy Terra with the Eldar goddess Isha.

At that moment, Holy Terra was under the highest Custodes alert. The entire Imperial Palace was restricted. The Imperial Fists Astartes had formed defensive lines around Terra as a precaution.

Reinforcements included some of Rhodes's gene-sons and Guilliman's Primaris. More than 400,000 Astartes now defended Holy Terra.

Elena's battle-sisters numbered over a million.

In the deepest vaults of the Imperial Palace, before the Golden Throne, Fulgrim was bound upon an altar.

The participants in the extraction included the Emperor of Mankind, Rhodes, the Eldar goddess of Life Isha, the Alien Empera, the Angel Zog, and Tartarus.

"Let's begin. My three subordinates will suppress the Chaos divinity's power. We three will draw the divinity out. Emperor, this will mainly depend on you," Rhodes said.

To completely extract a Chaos divinity, a peer-level powerhouse had to act. Aisha would inject the entirety of the Chaos divinity on her side into Fulgrim.

And the Emperor, as the avatar of the Dark King, would scour that Chaos divinity clean and force it out. The rest would support.

"Begin. Today we undertake an unprecedented feat—to annihilate a Chaos god.

"If this plan succeeds, we will destroy the remaining Chaos gods in the future," the Emperor said.

After countless dark ages, they finally had a chance to obliterate those hateful Chaos gods.

Everyone nodded, and the work of extracting the Chaos divinity began.

On the altar, Fulgrim's body was wrapped in countless psychic chains, each etched with ancient sigils—the Emperor's own binding script, enough to suppress Chaos. To counter Chaos force, Rhodes also released the Cosmic Beasts, using their order-aspected power to suppress the Chaotic might.

The Emperor slowly raised his hands, palms up. A vast torrent of psychic force gathered from the direction of the Golden Throne, pouring into Fulgrim like a star-river.

Cold fire burned in his eyes—the will and strength of the Master of Mankind, amassed over millennia, now poured into this unprecedented rite.

Golden-red energy ripples coiled around Rhodes. He spread his arms, resonating with the Emperor's power, helping suppress the Chaos and rip it free from Fulgrim.

Rhodes now wielded extradimensional power from the Alien Yapool, the terrifying super-abilities of the Alien Mefilas, the enhancements of countless kaiju. His psychic force was second only to the Emperor—surpassing Magnus.

To ensure success, Rhodes summoned all idle Emperor-avatars under him—thirty-six in total—to channel the Emperor endless psychic power, boosting him to unprecedented strength.

Isha hovered in midair, emerald robes billowing without wind. Soft green radiance flowed from her fingertips—the manifestation of life-force that could soothe all wounds, but now became a scalpel to excise Chaos divinity.

Her life power was gentle yet lethal, a spring rain infiltrating Fulgrim's soul to seek the final junction between the Chaos divinity and its host.

Rhodes's three subordinates unleashed their divinities together. Zog's pure light and the Alien Empera's darkness jointly suppressed the Chaos force.

Tartarus deployed a special Absolutian light to clamp down on Fulgrim's soul, severing soul from Chaos divinity with light and dark in tandem.

Fulgrim let out a soul-rending scream, his very spirit trembling—a pain beyond words.

As the rite progressed, his body convulsed violently. Hideous bulges writhed under his skin, as if something inside was thrashing to escape.

The Chaos divinity rebelled at being stripped, trying to tear the host apart to flee.

But the Emperor's psychic might, Rhodes's extradimensional powers, Isha's life force, Zog's light, Tartarus's Absolutian arrays, and the Empera's dark energy—sixfold suppression—left it nowhere to run.

The Chaos divinity was being separated.

Chapter 562: Extraction—Agony of Body and Soul; The Chaos Gods Convene

Time flew.

The extraction took even longer than expected; a few years slipped by.

Gradually, a twisted halo surfaced on Fulgrim's chest—a shimmering of countless colors, now blood-red, now venom-green, now shadow-purple, now bone-white.

This was the Chaos divinity made manifest. No longer a vague concept, it was forced from the host and condensed into substance under the power of six mighty beings.

Fulgrim felt unimaginable pain. His soul and flesh were being torn apart—as if ten thousand hands were pulling his spirit to pieces.

"Ahhh! No—Father, I was wrong! Forgive me! Spare me!" Fulgrim screamed.

He tried to soften his father's heart, to stop the torment. Moments ago he had been defiant, but when he truly tasted inhuman agony, he broke completely.

The proud Phoenix cast aside all pride and begged his father, the Emperor of Mankind, for mercy.

"Fulgrim, if you'd known this day would come, why choose that path? You betrayed me without a word. Why beg now?" the Emperor snorted. Perhaps he would pity other sons—but not this one.

"Save your breath, Fulgrim. You're dead today—Jesus himself couldn't save you," Rhodes sneered, increasing the pressure.

"Ahem!" The Emperor suddenly coughed hard. Why did Rhodes have to mention Jesus?

 That was one of his old disguises!

"Ahhh—no! Father, it hurts too much—end me! Kill me!" Fulgrim howled, desperate for death to release him from ultimate pain. This was torment of both soul and flesh.

"You think this is torment, Fulgrim? I have sat upon the Golden Throne for ten thousand years.

"Every day, every hour, I endure this very agony—body and soul. At first, I could barely continue.

"But for my beloved species—for all mankind—I clenched my teeth and endured. Even as my flesh decayed, I did not give up," the Emperor said coldly.

On the subject of pain, of dual agony of body and soul—who had more authority than he?

 It seemed the extraction weakened Fulgrim's soul. Let the pain continue.

 Traitor—you deserve this retribution. It is your earned punishment.

Fulgrim could no longer scream—his vocal cords were torn. His soul's wail echoed through the Warp.

On the Cosmic Beast world, Aisha sensed that Rhodes and the Emperor had begun the extraction. Without hesitation, she stopped suppressing her Chaos divinity and expelled it intact.

Over several years, she transmitted the last of her primal Chaotic power across.

The dying, enervated Fulgrim suddenly revived—a new force entering him. It was a complete Chaos divinity, though part of his own had already been stripped out.

He had gained a complete divinity—yet somehow had not.

The Chaos divinity had become a tangible thing—indescribable in words.

It was like a transparent halo, like a blazing sphere, like a miasma of evil—a living avatar of Chaos power.

For the first time in realspace, a Chaos divinity appeared in tangible form. It had no fixed shape, but under the Emperor's Dark King power and the light-and-dark of the Ao cosmos, it now showed itself.

"Emperor, that's the Chaos divinity. We've already pulled part of it out—push a little harder and the whole thing comes free," Rhodes said excitedly.

Without the Emperor, this would have been impossible.

The Emperor nodded and poured on more power, further wrenching the divinity from Fulgrim.

Had he imagined it? It felt like Fulgrim's inner Chaos divinity had just increased.

The halo born of the divinity struggled more fiercely, trying to dive back into Fulgrim or escape into the void.

It tore at the barrier of reality to flee into the Warp. The upheaval was so great that the Angel Zog and the Alien Empera coughed blood, even though the Emperor bore most of the pressure.

Were he not, Rhodes's subordinates would already have collapsed. One could imagine how strong a Chaos god's divinity was.

Isha's palms glowed green as she poured life-force into the Angel Zog and the Alien Empera to stabilize them.

"Focus—we're close."

They all nodded and increased their power again, pinning down the divinity's attempt to flee.

The Emperor's psychic force became a golden giant hand that clamped the halo tight.

Rhodes's golden-red energy wrapped over it like molten lava, further weakening its resistance.

Isha's life-force became a surgeon's blade, severing the divinity's last link to the host, while the other three crushed its rebellion with their power.

…

In the Warp, a titanic tempest rose, ripping the Sea of Souls.

All Slaaneshi daemons howled in agony—as if their very existence were being erased.

This horrific scene alarmed the other Chaos gods.

In his garden, bloated Nurgle raised his head. The disastrous defeat in the Plague War had humiliated him. Though he lost many greater daemons and daemon princes, he himself was fine.

Such servants could be remade with a wave. Emperor of Man, I will not spare you.

What was happening to Slaanesh? Why did it feel like Slaanesh was about to vanish?

On the Brass Throne, Khorne also sensed the anomaly. If the one suffering was Slaanesh, he would laugh—someone was helping him win the Eternal War by annihilating his greatest foe.

In a blue fortress shrouded in mist, Tzeentch let out sharp cries.

The Changer of Ways perceived a new variation in the universe—one beyond his control. Slaanesh's divinity was in serious trouble.

The three Chaos gods focused together, then found the source: the heart of the Imperium—Holy Terra, the Imperial Palace.

"Damn human Emperor—what trick is he playing? Wasn't he allied with Slaanesh?" Khorne growled.

"I don't know why, but Slaanesh's divinity seems to be getting stripped out by some power," Tzeentch said.

"Hahaha, that's good news for me. I've always wanted that one dead. Everything they represent stands against me," Khorne said.

They were mortal enemies. Slaanesh's suffering always delighted him.

"This could also be the Emperor's plot. We should go look—see what's happening," Nurgle said.

From Holy Terra, he felt a different power—the primal force of life.

It was his most yearned-for—his beloved Isha's aura—tender life.

"I've no interest in wading into that mess. It does me no good," Khorne said.

He preferred to amass strength and cooperate with Vashtorr, then repay the Emperor for the setback at Vigilus.

"I sense something amiss. We should see what's going on. Whatever the Emperor is doing, we must stop it," said the Changer.

Lately, unease gnawed at him. The Emperor must be enacting some grand design, and somehow it concerned the Chaos gods. If they did nothing, a disaster would unfold.

As they debated, Vashtorr—master of life, forging, and fusion—appeared.

"We must find a way to open a daemon gate on Holy Terra and send legions through. We must stop the Emperor—no matter what."

This was a rare opportunity—perhaps his chance to become the fifth Chaos god—or the fourth.

He had monitored Holy Terra, and during Vigilus he discovered Abaddon had been swapped. Coupled with current events on Terra and the violent Warp tremors, he made a bold guess: the Emperor was stripping the Chaos divinity out of Fulgrim. If a divinity suddenly lacked a master, his chance would come.

But his apotheosis needed the other three to help—at least to draw the eyes of the Emperor and the human called Rhodes.

The extraction could last decades. He would use the time to collect the keys—this was a once-in-a-millennium chance.

Chapter 563: The Chaos Gods' Plot; The Barrier of Reality Is Broken

Khorne's Brass Throne shuddered amid the Blood Sea, the steps of skulls collapsing under his booming laughter.

"Slaanesh's wails are sweeter than a mortal's screams! But if this is an Imperial trap—it's not worth the risk. Why not watch and wait?"

In truth, he cared little for the previous Slaanesh or the upstart inheritor. Anyone bearing that power was his enemy. He wanted Slaanesh dead, not saved.

Trap or not, he wouldn't rescue Slaanesh.

"It's not a trap—it's murder," hissed Tzeentch, a thousand mouths speaking cold truth and hot lies, his Crystal Labyrinth twisting into a Möbius loop.

"Look at the ripples in realspace—this is a premeditated plot."

In the mist appeared Holy Terra: the Golden Throne blazing like a supernova, thirty-six Emperor-avatars forming a psychic matrix to wrench the Chaos divinity from Fulgrim's chest. The Emperor was extracting it by some method.

"What is that? It looks like our own embodiment," Khorne asked.

It felt like the concretized essence of their power—indescribable, like themselves.

"You know something?" Nurgle asked.

He suspected Vashtorr and Tzeentch knew more. His loss in the Plague War likely owed much to their using him as a decoy—to draw Imperial strength or to probe the Emperor's current level.

"Can't you see? This is the locus of our power—its source—the Supreme Godhead of the Immaterium: the Chaos divinity.

"The Emperor intends to extract it and annihilate a Chaos god.

"That is good for you, Khorne—you and Slaanesh are sworn foes.

"But if he can kill Slaanesh, he can kill the rest of us," Tzeentch said.

That was the crux. They were immortal—rules incarnate. Or rather, the universe's emotions. As long as sentient life existed, they would not fade.

They were bound to the Warp—the great Chaos gods.

Once, everything was a game—an eternal game.

But now the Emperor sought to change the rules—turn the game into slaughter—upending the table, breaking all their interests.

"It's true," Vashtorr said, dropping pretense. "That is the Chaos divinity. The Emperor is extracting it.

"Humans mean to annihilate a Chaos god, and the prime movers are the Emperor and that human, Rhodes."

"How is that possible? We are immortal. As long as the Warp—our great Immaterium—endures, we persist," Khorne said.

He embodied war, violence, cruelty. As long as sentients knew slaughter, his power was endless.

He was the first-born Chaos god, birthed from the slaughter through which life evolved.

"That was then. Now is different. Humanity keeps growing stronger. And that human Rhodes—you've noticed?

"The beings and machines he conjures aren't of our universe.

"That means a plane higher than ours exists.

"We so-called multiversal gods exist across timelines, but we have not transcended this cosmos," Vashtorr said.

"How can that be—other universes—and this Rhodes hails from one of them?

 And he can summon things from there into ours?" Khorne rumbled. The blood-hued ocean heaved—his mood in turmoil.

If other universes existed, what were they—these self-styled multiversal gods?

They hadn't even left their own universe. It was laughable—like a villager boasting he was the world's richest man while never leaving his hamlet.

"I speak truth. I've watched him long. Didn't you notice?

"His soul did not originate in the Warp. He was not born in our world. He comes from elsewhere.

"The universe has shifted. We can no longer see the future," Vashtorr said.

Chaos gods transcend time and could once move future-to-past at whim. But now—could they really see? The future had become uncertain. For Tzeentch, uncertainty was not necessarily good if he didn't know the outcome.

"This is bad for all of us," Tzeentch said.

Cosmic upheaval could be good—if he knew the result. Otherwise, it wasn't.

Other-universe powers and beings—no wonder the Emperor sheltered Rhodes so carefully. If not for Vashtorr's disclosure, they'd think Rhodes was merely a special Primarch the Emperor created.

"That explains it. Those 'Cosmic Beasts' are imports. Our universe never birthed such things."

They resembled proto C'tan yet fundamentally differed.

"We must unite. No more Eternal Game, no more infighting. We must join forces to eliminate the Emperor—and that human, Rhodes," Tzeentch said.

"Tzeentch is right. We cannot waste ourselves. Unite against the Emperor—or be destroyed one by one," Nurgle said.

"I'll tell you something more. Your beloved goddess of life wasn't stolen by the Emperor, but taken by that Rhodes. She even bears his divine offspring," Vashtorr goaded.

Nurgle's cauldron boiled. The kindly father stirred the green froth with a bone staff; Isha's emerald hair shimmered in the surface. "My Isha…" Pus-tears welled in his milky eyes.

Cursed wretch! So that human stole his bride. He would make Rhodes pay—destroy him, humanity, and the Imperium.

"I will intervene. We must unite. If the Emperor gets the divinity and uses the Dark King's power to devour it, he will surpass us all," Khorne said at last.

After consideration, Khorne joined the war. If he waited, disaster might reach him when the others had already fallen. As the strongest of the Chaos gods, he should stand up now.

"But we are insulated from realspace. We can only manifest part of our power there.

"We cannot even intervene when humans sail the Warp. How do we stop what's happening on Terra?" Nurgle asked the key question.

It wasn't fear of the Emperor or inability to fight him—the problem was they couldn't reach him in realspace.

"Hahaha. That was true before. We were beings of the Warp, insulated from reality. But the Great Rift has torn the galaxy open. We can meddle more deeply in realspace," Tzeentch said.

"At most, we can send greater daemons. Our true selves still cannot go," Nurgle said.

"I already said—that was before. The Emperor is stripping the Chaos divinity—and he doesn't realize that the divinity is itself an insulator to realspace.

"By making it appear in realspace, he has turned the area around Holy Terra into a zone where Warp and reality interlace.

"The barrier of reality is about to break," Tzeentch said.