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.