The Wild Wolf God Leman Russ raised his massive lupine head toward the unseen void and released a roar that proclaimed his arrival.
"Awooo!"
Even on all fours, Russ stood over five meters tall. If one counted the length of his body and tail, he reached nearly thirteen meters.
The sight reminded Axis of a certain druid from another world, except that druids could turn into owls, stags, bears, cheetahs, hawks, raptors, and even tyrannosaurs. In theory, as long as a druid had formed a pact with a creature, they could take its form.
Compared to that, Russ's transformation into the Wild Wolf God felt somewhat simple. But honestly, who expected the Wolf King to become a Beast King?
Besides, if Russ truly appeared in the world of Azeroth right now, he would probably count as a demigod of the wild.
A flare of white light washed over him as Leman Russ shifted back into human form, reappearing before everyone.
"Congratulations, old man. At this point you are essentially a Warp deity, blessed with a physical body that perfectly matches your soul," Axis said.
"Hahaha! I owe all of this to you, Axis. I chose to believe you and Magnus, and this power truly is extraordinary." Russ nodded in satisfaction.
This time, his gamble had paid off. His strength was now incomparable to what it had been, and his psychic power flowed through him with perfect obedience.
"You chose to trust us, so of course we would not let you down," Axis replied with a smile.
On the bridge, Lion El'Jonson stood with his arms folded, silently observing the towering wolf radiating primordial divine might.
His expression remained as cold and implacable as stone, giving little away. Only in the depths of his sharp eyes did a fleeting shadow appear. A hint of gravity, and something else that was difficult to name. Expectation.
Perhaps he would be next.
But the Lion carried certain doubts about this process. Primarchs possessed human shapes, yes. But, who would ever consider a giant over three and a half meters tall to be of the same species? These giants possessed lifespans bordering on eternity, and power beyond mortal comprehension.
And now, whether it was Sanguinius, Magnus, or Leman Russ, they had already surpassed the boundaries of humanity entirely. They could be called Warp gods without exaggeration.
Looking at them in their current forms, could anyone still call them human? The Lion had his doubts.
He could not help wondering if one ought to abandon human identity entirely in exchange for such overwhelming power.
"What troubles you? This power is incredibly strong, and safe. I can feel exactly how vast the strength of a god is.
"I can form links with every one of my Sons, and even with Fenris itself, the world that raised me.
"You should join us. You should embrace this power as well." Russ stepped toward him.
"Russ… is this really right? You, Magnus, even Sanguinius …do you still count as human?" Lion asked, voicing the question that twisted in his chest.
The moment those words left his lips, Russ and Magnus both stiffened. The Lion's meaning was clear. To him, they were no longer human. They were Warp gods.
Magnus bore a third eye.
Russ could transform into a giant humanoid wolf. Sanguinius was more like a divine angel. Sanguinius had created a holy light of his own. In some sense, Magnus was the god of knowledge and the Arcane, Russ the god of the wild wolfs, and Sanguinius the god of the Holy Light.
"We are Warp gods. That is our true nature. In the past, we merely survived beneath a mortal shell.
"Now we have simply reshaped that shell into something that matches our souls." Magnus spoke with a cold echo beneath his words.
The Lion's question clearly displeased him. What was that supposed to mean? That they were no longer human?
"My brother, Father told us the truth. We Primarchs were forged from fragments of lesser human gods within the Warp. Our very nature is divine," Russ added.
Because of Axis, the Emperor had revealed certain truths to the Primarchs. And Russ happened to be among those who knew. At this point, all of them knew at least part of the truth.
All Primarchs of humanity were lesser Warp gods.
"That is correct. You are gods now. You cannot die. You possess power beyond measure. But that is not what I want.
"I know you wish to grant me strength, but Axis… I want you to respect my choice.
"Perhaps I wish to live as a human. Even if that means growing old and dying one day, that is my choice," the Lion said.
He truly did not wish to assume the cover of a god. In fact, a vague feeling had begun to gnaw at him.
If he completed this ascension, the Lion within him would disappear. In his place, something else would awaken.
Lion El'Jonson finished speaking and did not say another word to Axis or the others. He simply gathered his Sons and boarded a small landing craft that returned him to his ship.
"I do not understand why he refuses to accept his true nature," Magnus said.
In his eyes, the Primarchs now resembled the Emperor far more than before.
After all, the Emperor was a true god. Yet among the Primarchs, someone actually did not want to become divine?
"Everyone has their own will, Magnus. Besides, the Imperium no longer needs overwhelming military strength. We are more than enough.
"There is no force in the entire galaxy that can threaten mankind while we stand here," Axis said with total confidence.
"Let him go then. With our current power, protecting the Imperium is no longer an issue," Leman Russ added.
Since completing his ascension, even Russ's mindset had shifted subtly. Before, he had been a beast pretending to be a man. Now he was a god pretending to be a man.
Once the ascension ritual was completed, Axis and the others tore open a Warp rift with their ship and began traveling through the Immaterium.
….
The Warp at the moment was filled with raging green plague storms.
The other three Chaos Gods were unusually quiet. Only Nurgle was anything but calm.
"Tzeentch! Tell me! Was it you? Did you steal my treasure? Did you sneak in and take my precious Isha?" Grandfather Nurgle let out a roar that tore at space itself.
He raged as he interrogated the God of Sorcery, the Architect of Fate. In the universe, anything involving schemes or intricate plans could almost always be traced back to Tzeentch.
After defeating the Emperor, Nurgle had happily returned to his Garden, eager to announce his victory to his beloved little ones and to resume stirring his great cauldron so Isha could taste the new brew.
But upon returning to his domain, he discovered to his shock that someone had torn open a massive wound in his garden. Nearly one-fourth of it had been blown apart.
Countless nurglings and daemons had been slain.
Some of them had even been born before his very eyes. Yet these casualties did not trouble Nurgle much. With a wave of his hand, he could regrow the garden, resurrect the fallen daemons, and restore everything to its foul perfection.
No, what broke his heart was something else entirely.
Isha, his most cherished treasure, his beloved Goddess of Life who lived in the quiet glade of his garden, was gone.
Only now did Nurgle realize he had been tricked. And the first suspect that came to his mind was the master of cunning and treachery, his eternal rival.
Just as Khorne and Slaanesh opposed one another as mortal enemies, Nurgle and Tzeentch were locked in absolute hostility.
They would never rest until the other was destroyed. Only when facing the Emperor of Mankind had they formed a brief and fragile alliance.
But now that the Emperor sat upon the Golden Throne, that alliance had ended. So Nurgle had every reason to suspect that Tzeentch had betrayed him.
Yet when confronted, the Changer of Ways neither admitted nor denied anything. He simply ignored the outburst.
"Show yourself, you wretched creature!
"Give Isha back to me!" Nurgle howled in madness.
Green energies slammed wildly into walls of blue Warp-flame. At that moment, a third force approached, tinged in seductive violet.
"I also wish to know, Tzeentch. Was it you who took Isha? The Goddess of Life is of little use to you, but she is very important to me. If you hand her over, I will grant you a favor. Anything you want," Slaanesh said.
Sitting upon his crystalline throne, Tzeentch let out a long, weary sigh.
Why was he forced to share equal standing with such idiots?
How could minds like theirs be considered equals to his?
"You two fools. Think for a moment. I was with you the entire time.
"And recall carefully where the energy that destroyed your garden originated. Take Slaanesh with you to investigate and you will understand."
Unable to tolerate their stupidity any longer, the Architect of Fate finally offered his answer.
...
..
.
ps?