"I've heard much about you, Emperor of Mankind." The Eldar Death God, Inisid, gazed at the mummified figure atop the Golden Throne and spoke.
In truth, the two were quite similar. Before the Emperor ascended the Golden Throne, throughout the galaxy, the one most believed destined to beco the Dark King wasn't the Emperor, but rather the Eldar Death God. Even during the Horus Heresy, many powerful beings considered Horus to be the true Dark King.
The Emperor's exploits were legendary. But between him and the Emperor, who would ultimately beco the Dark King?
"Eldar Death God Ynnead! Why have you co to see ?" the Emperor asked.
"I propose an alliance between our races. Now that I've formally entered the material universe, I felt it appropriate to et you, the Master of Mankind, rather than just converse with one of your Primarchs," Ynnead replied.
"Negotiations are fine. But first, let clarify: Rhodes was never my subordinate. Make that clear. I only brought him into the human camp and gave him the identity of a Primarch," the Emperor said.
This was an understanding they'd reached long ago. Unlike the other Primarchs, Rhodes didn't call the Emperor "father" or any such thing—he simply addressed him as the Emperor. Their relationship was one of cooperation.
The Emperor provided Rhodes with protection and support in the beginning. Rhodes, in turn, aided the Imperium and humanity as a whole.
The basis of their cooperation: Rhodes was human.
"Is that so? I thought he was one of your subordinates."
"We're just like-minded friends working together for humanity. The Imperium is different from your Eldar. We're all human, and we have no gods of our own," said the Emperor.
"No gods of your own? Aren't you the mightiest human god? Humanity's faith for over ten thousand years has been channeled into you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so powerful," Ynnead mocked.
The Emperor has let humanity build a religion around him—worshiping him as the one true god. For him to claim he's not a god is the greatest joke!
The Emperor didn't deny it. His imnse power was indeed built upon the continuous faith of humanity over ten thousand years.
He alone suppressed the Dark Emperor, prevented the birth of the Dark King, and kept himself from becoming the Dark King.
Still, his core belief never changed: the world does not need gods. This was the foundation for the Imperium, even if it ant telling countless lies.
Guilliman stood to the side, mouth open as if to say sothing, but restrained himself.
Their father, the Emperor, truly had it hard.
For the sake of humanity's developnt, he deceived the entire species, telling them there were no gods—when in reality, true gods existed in the Warp.
In fact, the Primarchs and even the Emperor himself were, in a sense, gods. Even the unborn child of Rhodes would beco a god.
The Emperor's dream of freeing humanity from the Warp was unrealistic. The Warp would never disappear; it was the shadow and projection of the material universe.
Even the Old Ones, for all their might, couldn't erase the Warp's influence. And to say there were no gods in the material universe was simply false. For example, the C'tan.
Or those ultimate beings Rhodes spoke of—able to rewrite the laws of the universe at will, even surpassing the cosmos itself. Isn't that godhood?
"You didn't co here to debate whether I'm a god, did you? If that's all, then we have nothing more to discuss," the Emperor said.
That question no longer mattered. Since humanity couldn't escape the Warp, all that remained was to figure out how to coexist with it—sothing that still needed to be explored.
"I want to know, after the Eldar God of War is resurrected, with you, myself, Cegorach, Isha, and all your sons—could we together slay a Chaos God?" Ynnead asked.
"Which Chaos God do you want to kill?"
"Of course, the one I am destined to destroy: Slaanesh—the Chaos God born of the Eldar," Ynnead replied.
Since his identity was revealed, countless Eldar had asked him the sa thing: When would Ynnead, the Death God, slay Slaanesh as foretold?
The reason the Eldar persisted to this day, storing their souls in infinity circuits, was to await the coming of their Death God.
The Death God Legion's ability to unite all factions was not because of Yvraine's charisma, but because of Ynnead.
Though he hadn't yet been born, he now had a physical form in reality. He had to do sothing to earn the trust of the Eldar.
"It seems you don't understand. Those four are true gods of the Warp—immortal and undying from the mont of their birth. Unless the universe is destroyed, unless both reality and the Warp are erased, they cannot be killed," the Emperor said.
If it were possible to slay the Chaos Gods, he'd have done it long ago—even at the cost of most of humanity.
But the only true thod is to let the Dark King born—to wipe out the entire universe. Otherwise, these four cannot be slain.
"So you're saying, once they ascended to Chaos Godhood, they beca truly invincible?" Ynnead's face darkened.
"If you were born as prophesied, with all Eldar dying, you'd erge from Slaanesh, slaying her current persona. But you can't destroy her godhood.
At most, you'd slay the personality Slaanesh chose. Her divinity would persist, choosing a new host—maybe you, maybe soone else," the Emperor explained.
That was the critical difference. As long as the Warp endures, those four are undying. And the Warp could accommodate eight such beings—or even more, if life in the universe continues to grow.
The Dark King is essentially a cosmic reset button. When the universe can no longer contain the forces of Chaos, the Dark King will appear and erase everything.
"I understand. But no matter what, I will destroy Slaanesh, even if it's just her current persona," Ynead said after a pause.
No matter what, he must slay Slaanesh. This was his duty to the Eldar—a mission for which he was born. Otherwise, he would beco a laughingstock.
"That's none of my concern. Besides, Slaanesh is sealed by so mysterious force. You probably won't have a chance soon," the Emperor said.
"That golden power—isn't it yours? Don't tell you have nothing to do with it," Ynnead pressed.
The Emperor was speechless. Why did everyone think he was behind it? Who the hell sealed Slaanesh with a power so similar to his own? Now he's being blad!
Even the Chaos Gods suspect he's in league with Slaanesh! Now, even the Eldar Death God thinks so?
"Hmph! If you're not involved, then you'd better not help Slaanesh, either!" Ynnead snorted and left the Imperial Palace, ending his eting with the Emperor.
"Father, isn't this Death God a bit too arrogant?" Magnus said.
"He's only just been born, and prophecy says his power rivals the Chaos Gods. Of course he's proud," the Emperor replied.
"It's none of our business. With the Eldar God of War and this Death God revived, the eyes of Chaos will be on them for a long ti. Humanity should use this chance to grow," Guilliman said.
Vulkan nodded in agreent.
"Guilliman is right. Vulkan, prepare yourself. Rhodes has readied a cosmic phantom beast for you—you'll be rging with it soon," said the Emperor.
Now, nothing else mattered. The most important thing was to strengthen the Primarchs—let Vulkan reach demigod status first.
…
In the following days, the Eldar and humanity worked out so cooperative agreents. The eting between Ynnead and the Emperor was reported as a friendly discussion, further solidifying future cooperation.
But what exactly they discussed, no one knew.
At that mont, in Rhodes's room, the Goddess of Life, Isha, smiled. After days and nights of tireless effort, she had finally used her divine power to gather all the fragnts of the God of War Khaine, restoring him with life energy.
Khaine's soul was reborn—a crimson figure appeared before Rhodes and Isha.
"Did it work?" Rhodes asked.
"Yes, this is Khaine," Isha replied.
"Who am I? Who are you? Where am I?" The newly resurrected Khaine looked lost.
Reviews
All reviews (0)