The instant their fists collided, the unleashed torrent of energy leveled everything across tens of thousands of miles, the impact even reaching access webway portals.
The core material beneath their feet completely vaporized, exposing the silver skeleton of the Webway's lower structure.
Axis's arm bones let out a strained cracking sound, while the Emperor's gauntlet shattered into dust.
Under Axis's frenzied assault, the Emperor's psychic barrier tore apart like paper.
His entire body was sent hurtling away like a shell, smashing through an unknown number of floating Aeldari obelisks and colossal structures.
Axis moved in at lightning speed, hands clasped together, and brought down a hammerblow that drove the falling Emperor into the ruins of the city below.
Blood stained the Emperor's lips.
This brat had hit hard, and his sternum was broken. Were he not a perpetual, an ordinary man would already have been dead.
Commander Valdor of the Custodian Guard felt his eyes go bloodshot. His master had been injured this badly!
Axis, you damned wretch!
The Webway city's crustal plates shattered like brittle biscuits. Tsunamis of molten rock erupted tens of thousands of meters into the air. This planet, reshaped into a city by the Aeldari, was utterly destroyed by Axis.
Boom. Boom. Boom. The Emperor could feel it clearly,
With each successive, supersonic clash, their fists slammed together again and again, and the ancient Aeldari Webway system was on the verge of collapse.
It was fortunate they were not fighting near Holy Terra; the consequences would have been unimaginable.
But Axis needed to be subdued quickly.
If this continued, the entire sector of the Webway would shatter. And if that happened, the servants of Chaos would flood in, jeopardizing all of his future plans.
Axis—if that's how you want it, I will show you the full extent of my psychic might.
The Emperor no longer restrained his power, unleashing his psychic force in its entirety. This was the first time he was forced to fight at his absolute limit.
"Raaahhhhhh—!"
Axis's roar shattered the Aeldari ruins for hundreds of miles around. His golden-green aura flared into a tangible storm of annihilation.
Space itself split into fissures under raw power.
In an instant, Axis appeared before the Emperor, his fist crashing forward with the might to destroy star systems.
100%!
This time, unlike the golden radiance from before, the Emperor's psychic power turned pitch black. It was cold, dead, despairing, dark.
It was a darkness a hundred, a thousand times more sinister than the aura of a Legendary Super Saiyan.
It was a despair beyond words, so deep it erased the consciousness of the three watching from afar.
Axis had indeed been terrifying and evil before, giving the impression of a predator to humanity.
But at this moment, from the Emperor exuded not fear, but utter hopelessness.
His hair rose without wind, his body emanating an icy presence.
His psychic power no longer seemed divine. This was his true nature, this was a trace of his warp nature.
"Axis, this battle is over," The Emperor's eyes were as black as ink, locking unblinkingly onto Axis.
His voice resonated through the material dimension, warping the entire Webway. His eyes became twin black holes, swallowing all.
Every movement of his hands tore the fabric of space-time.
A simple straight punch thundered forth.
The shockwave cleansed even the Warp itself for a fleeting moment.
Axis's heart seized violently.
His eyes went wide as unimaginable damage racked his body. His stance faltered, the terrifying golden-green aura vanished, and his body returned to its normal size before plummeting from the air, only for the Emperor to catch him one-handed.
The Emperor then allowed his 100% psychic release to fade, and the power was sealed away once more.
Fortunately, he had not held that form for long; otherwise, disaster would have been inevitable.
Shaking his head at the unconscious Axis, the Emperor carried him single-handed to where Lion El'Jonson, Kasha, and Valdor stood.
During the flight, the Emperor's wounds healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In moments, he was restored to flawless condition.
Even the shattered fragments of the One True Armor reformed under his psychic might, reassembling themselves and encasing his body once more.
A perpetual, so long as he was not slain, could recover within moments.
Axis cracked his eyes open with difficulty.
Damn it! perpetuals were absolute cheats.
They had fought for so long, and he was near death.
Yet with just a blink, the Emperor had recovered completely.
The moment the Emperor landed, Valdor charged forward in rage, raising his power weapon and swinging it toward Axis's head. At that instant, he wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard who had harmed his master.
To hell with you, Axis!
From this day forward, you are expelled from the Custodian Guard.
Previously, the Emperor had even considered making him the new Captain-General of the Custodian Guard.
Dream on! As long as Valdor still lived, that day would never come.
The Emperor caught the incoming power weapon with his bare hand, and Valdor was sent flying backward from the rebound.
"Stand down! Valdor, what are you doing?"
"My Lord! Allow me to execute this villain who dared to harm you. He dared to wound the Master of Mankind!" Valdor shouted.
"It was only a sparring match. Besides, Valdor, you should know that physical attacks of this level cannot harm me," the Emperor said.
Though he had been struck hard enough to spit blood, even to the point where Axis had shattered his sternum, such purely physical damage was little more than a scratch to a perpetual, if it could even be called a scratch.
Within moments, a perpetual could recover completely.
The only true danger to a Perpetual came from the forbidden powers of the Warp, and to injure the Emperor himself would require the combined might of the Four Bastard Powers, no single Chaos God would suffice.
"Are you unharmed, Father?" Lion El'Jonson stepped forward to ask.
In the end, Father had won.
Axis was strong indeed, but the Emperor was stronger still, especially when he revealed that final surge of power.
That was a darkness that could inspire despair in the soul.
"I am fine. It's this brat who has a problem. But truth be told, I enjoyed myself. Never before have I so freely unleashed my psychic power," the Emperor replied.
By now, Axis had regained consciousness.
At once, he shifted his violent Saiyan aura into one infused with the power of life, beginning to heal his injuries.
In the past decades, Axis had not been idle; he had trained in channeling this life-infused ki, which could heal the wounds of others, and himself.
Of course, energy conservation still applied; to fully recover, he would need food. For now, though, he could at least move.
The Emperor's strength was indeed terrifying, especially that final manifestation of the cold, dark, and hopeless power derived front he warp.
"You're awake. Well? Did you enjoy the fight?" the Emperor asked.
"Enjoy? Haha I did! Hah! I enjoyed it immensely! This is the kind of satisfaction I had longed for," Axis said with a satisfied smile.
Valdor merely gave a cold snort from the side.
Lion El'Jonson responded with a smile, after all, Father had suffered no true harm.
"Though, can you put me down now?" Axis was still being held by the legs by the emperor.
The emperor smiled, and leg go of his hand, and Axis landed on his back.
Kasha ran over with worry written across her face, helping Axis to his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Relax. I'll be just fine and I still have the energy to make a little one with you tonight." Axis gave her a hug with his shaky form as he rose to his feet.
"Idiot! Don't joke about things like that! My father's here!!" Kasha's face flushed red, but she couldn't help but hold her man even closer, "Who even talks like that?"
She'd never seen her man being injured like this, and she was worried.
"Your ki has excellent healing properties," the Emperor said not showing the satisfaction he felt at seeing his old scheme succeeding, "It may not be as fast as a Perpetual's recovery, but with the enhancements I've given you, you should be back on your feet soon enough."
If Axis had not been felled by that single strike, he could have fought for months without pause with all the primcarch level modifications done to his body.
"This fight was simply satisfying. Let's do it again sometime. I can tell your body isn't quite keeping up with the strength of your soul. I could use my ki to reinforce your flesh," Axis suggested.
"Hmph! I will never allow you to be alone in the same room with the Emperor," Valdor said coldly.
"Enough, Valdor. It was only a friendly sparring match. Neither of us was truly harmed. You need not be so tense, and you must not harbor hostility toward Axis. He is the future of mankind, second only to myself in strength. You will show him the proper respect," the Emperor commanded.
"Yes, my Lord," Valdor replied, stepping back. The Custodian Guard obeyed without question.
"Axis, from today onward, you will no longer address me as 'Emperor.' You should use another title. Do I need to spell out the nature of your relationship with Kasha?" the Emperor said, fixing his gaze on him.
It was time to give his daughter an official place.
"So… I should call you Father? How does that work with Russ, then?" Axis asked.
"It's only a form of address. No need to overthink it. You can still call Russ 'Father,' and call me 'Father' as well.
"As an Perpetual, I have married women tens of thousands of years younger than me, and I still addressed their fathers, also tens of thousands of years my junior, as Father."
"…Alright then. Father."
The Emperor nodded in satisfaction, then led Axis and the others back toward Holy Terra.
After they departed, a figure clad in a jester's motley appeared.
"How terrifying… humanity has given birth to another monster."
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Guys were still a few powerstones short from the next bonus chapter!!