"You want to open a permanent Warp rift! What exactly are you after?" Ahriman stared at Rhodes with shock, voicing his question.
He had expected so other demand—perhaps to return to his own gene-father, or sothing else entirely—but never did he imagine that this Primarch would ask him to open a permanent Warp rift.
What kind of bizarre, even blasphemous, request was this? If the Imperium found out, this Primarch could instantly be declared a traitor!
Opening a permanent Warp rift is no joke. There are only two: the Great Rift and the Eye of Terror.
There's another, semi-permanent, under the Golden Throne in the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra—a special webway node that the Emperor had sacrificed countless Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and Battle Sisters to seal off.
But now, a Primarch hailed as the Imperial Warmaster was actually asking for help to open a permanent rift!
"Don't worry about the details. I just want you to open a Warp rift on a deserted death world. For certain reasons, I'll be massacring large numbers of Chaos Daemons. And if the rift gets out of control, you'll also be responsible for closing it." Rhodes explained.
Seeing Ahriman's astonished expression, Rhodes knew what he was thinking. If any other Primarch did this, it would be outright betrayal of humanity. But that's not my intention—I just want to rack up points.
"To massacre Chaos Daemons? What logic is that? Especially the lesser Daemons—there's no end to them. Their numbers are infinite. If there's a shortage, the Four Chaos Gods or other stimuli can create more. Every mont, the Warp energy is spawning Daemons," Ahriman said.
He couldn't understand why soone would make such an odd request: open a permanent rift just to slaughter lesser Daemons? What kind of twisted hobby was this?
"Enough talk. Can you do it or not?" Rhodes asked.
"If you just want an ordinary Warp rift, I can do it. But a permanent one? That's beyond —only my gene-father, Magnus, might manage that!" Ahriman replied.
He was among the most powerful psykers in the galaxy, but there was still a big gap between himself and Magnus. Even Magnus couldn't open a permanent rift on a planet. If it were that easy, there wouldn't only be two giant rifts in the universe.
"Don't worry about that. I have a special way to boost your psychic power to Magnus' level," Rhodes said.
Gigantification is old news, but Ahriman's skills are worth a power-up. For a permanent, point-farming site, Rhodes was willing to pay the price.
Daemons, unlike Orks, don't need planetary conditions—you just open a rift and wait for them to pour out.
"Sorry, even with generous terms, I still can't fulfill your wish. My psychic power, enhanced by Chaos sorcery, can open a rift, but only for a while—not permanently. Even Magnus and I together couldn't do that.
And I must remind you—I don't like Magnus. I used to admire him! But after that battle, I saw his true colors. I'll never return to him." Ahriman stated.
"It's not as bad as you think. Magnus was trying to investigate Daemon intel. He actually cares for you Thousand Sons, but for various reasons, you were beyond saving." Rhodes replied.
He had a way to save them, but only those like Ahriman who hadn't yielded fully to Chaos, retained their bodies and will. Even so, it would require massive amounts of cosmic beast energy to evolve them.
"But if Magnus, as a Daemon Prince, could return to the Imperium—and you can help evolve—why can't other Chaos Space Marines do the sa?" Ahriman asked.
This Primarch had promised: he could bring even a Chaos Champion-level being back to the Imperium. If there's a first, a second, why not a third, a fourth—save everyone?
"It's complicated. Magnus succeeded because I gave him a cloned body. The Emperor had saved a shard of his light-aspected soul, and had the Grey Knights nurture it for generations. That's how Magnus escaped Chaos' control." Rhodes explained.
If the body remained, they could try to purify the Chaos taint. If not, perhaps with Yvraine's help, they could temporarily restore a body and clone it, but that's no small task.
But a bigger problem: most of these Chaos Marines had worshipped Tzeentch for millennia. Even the newer ones weren't much better. Rhodes could help them evolve, but not take them away.
It was like the situation with Blackheart Huron months ago—if possible, he'd have taken all his Chaos Marines too.
"Can you explain how you'd remove my Chaos taint?" Ahriman asked.
He could tell Rhodes wasn't just stalling. Purifying him—restoring his humanity—must co at an enormous price.
If he could combine that with the Ynnari woman's unique sorcery, maybe there was hope—a way to save his brothers after ten thousand years.
"I think I'll just leave you to Magnus—since you can't et my requirents," Rhodes said, shaking his head.
If you can't open the rift, there's no point talking. Rhodes even considered killing Ahriman to keep his plans secret.
"Rhodes, to open a permanent Warp rift requires a special dium. I lived in the Warp for sixty million years—I can make you a special artifact to maintain a permanent rift," Isha spoke up.
It was easy for her—after all, the Eye of Terror resulted from her own birth.
Just opening a rift on a planet, a few dozen ters high, enough for Daemons to pass through.
Hearing this, Rhodes' eyes lit up—right! There was Isha, a goddess of life, who could make such an artifact.
"If I had such an artifact, and my psychic level was boosted to a Primarch's, I could open a rift and guard it for you," Ahriman quickly agreed.
He didn't want to see Magnus—eting him ant death, their relationship severed.
"Then, Ahriman, co and be my son!
But let be clear: I can purge the Chaos from your body, but your gene-seed must be replaced with mine. I'll perform the new Primarch-level Astartes surgery on you.
You'll beco my genetic descendant, with no more ties to Magnus. And you'll need a new na—how about Arim?" Rhodes said.
If Ahriman were to beco his deputy, he needed a new identity—so, a new na and a new genetic lineage.
"I accept! I don't want to serve Magnus anymore. Can you give the thing that purifies Chaos? And if I can help my battle brothers, will you let them join your Legion?" Ahriman asked.
Leaving Magnus' lineage suited him fine. Na didn't matter—Arim, Atom, whatever—so long as he could save his brothers.
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