High above the world of the Life, a terrifying, blood-red daemonic visage suddenly materialized. The face itself was as vast as a planet.
The Eldar on the world's surface gazed up in absolute terror at the monstrous apparition. The powerful psykers among them could clearly perceive the identity of this terrifying entity from its immense presence and the aura it exuded. It was one of the four Chaos Gods, Khorne.
Cegorach, the Laughing God, waved a hand with a hint of resignation, using his psychic power to temporarily calm all the Eldar present.
"Please!" Cegorach said, his tone half-joking. "Next time you appear, could you be a little quieter? A little less dramatic? You've terrified my people."
Khorne, however, did not even deign to look at the Laughing God. To him, what was a mere jester? The only partners he truly valued were Axis and the Life Goddess, who had now obtained the power of God Ki.
Seeing that Khorne had ignored him, Cegorach could only offer an awkward laugh. He was a jester, of course he could always find a reason to laugh.
"You arrived rather early," Axis noted. "As you can see, the Life Goddess has now evolved into something akin to the Supreme kai of my world, though she is not quite there yet."
So Khorne also covet the power of God Ki Axis thought.
"I am fortunate to have arrived early, or I might have missed quite the spectacle," Khorne's voice boomed. "Isha, Goddess of Life, at this moment, you have truly impressed me!
"I eagerly await the day you become a being comparable to the Kai that Axis speaks of!"
Khone was grinning menacingly, and And Isha felt a jolt run up her spine.
This was the system from another universe that Axis had described.
The Supreme Kai were supposedly equal in status to the Gods of Destruction, though they were far weaker in terms of raw power. If this was the full extent of a Supreme Kai's abilities, then Khorne felt the Chaos Gods still held a higher standing.
Perhaps she had not yet fully matured.
The current Life Goddess was likely incapable of creating a planet from nothing, let alone a world that could nurture life.
Still, the concept of a Supreme Kai was incredibly beneficial to the Chaos Gods. They desired a material universe teeming with countless forms of sentient life.
Every sentient being possessed a soul and emotions, and the collective feelings of all life fed the Chaos Gods with unimaginable power. Their souls, upon death, would also pass into the Immaterium, nourishing the Realm of Chaos and strengthening the Empyrean.
"That would be an honor!
"But I don't think I'll need your protection. I'm sure my father will protect me just fine," Isha said, moving to stand beside Axis.
She glanced at him, her expression seeming to say, I'm your daughter now, you have to look out for me!
"It matters not to me," Khorne rumbled. "So long as you create more worlds, and those worlds create more life, it is a boon for me."
More life meant more war, more blood. It was perfect.
"I am still learning to control this power," Isha explained. "It will take some time before I can create planets on my own, let alone life."
She now had an extra layer of insurance.
While Slaanesh still wished to devour her, the other Chaos Gods would likely offer her some measure of protection. The creation of planets and life was far too advantageous for them to ignore.
"Time is something we have in abundance," Khorne offered. "If you wish, you can enter the Immaterium and practice within my own domain."
"You are thinking too simply," Axis interjected. "The training of divine Ki is not as easy as you imagine. The Immaterium and divine Ki are fundamentally incompatible. The best place to practice is in realspace, though the Webway could serve as a substitute."
Now that Isha had a physical form, Axis even considered having her move her entire domain to the vicinity of his own planet, Nuceria. This would place her beyond Slaanesh's grasp, as the Chaos Gods could not enter the material universe in their true forms. Any Greater Daemon or Daemon Prince they sent would be no match for the Golden Legion, or even for Isha herself.
"I am ready, Axis," Khorne's voice grew eager. "I can provide my divine power at any moment, and the Life Goddess has a suitable vessel. I think we can begin our plan." He could hardly wait to see the divine fruit that Axis had described.
"Of course! We can begin anytime," Axis replied, looking up at the sky. "But first, we must wait for one more to arrive."
A torrent of golden, holy power suddenly descended. A golden visage, as immense as Khorne's, appeared in the sky. It radiated a cold, dark aura, yet it shone with a blinding brilliance.
To successfully cultivate the Tree of Might, Axis had spared no expense. Now, the Emperor of Mankind, from his seat upon the Golden Throne, would also lend a portion of his power.
"The Emperor himself is extending his hands huh. Well, my confidence in our success only grows," Khorne declared, looking at the golden face.
The Emperor, however, did not reply. He merely gave Khorne a cold, piercing glare, a silent testament to the irreconcilable hatred between him and the Four.
"Then let us begin," Axis announced, taking charge. "Isha, you will work with me. We will use Ki to stimulate the Tree of Might and help it grow into a divine tree. Khorne and the Emperor, you will be responsible for providing your immense divine power. We, in turn, will be responsible for purifying that power."
"And what about me, my friend? What can I do?" Cegorach asked, tentatively raising his hand.
"You can be our lookout," Axis said. "And evacuate all the ordinary Eldar from this world, including your own followers." There was little else the Laughing God could do but handle logistics and stand guard.
"Sure!" Cegorach gave a cheerful wave to the group and turned to leave, beginning the evacuation of the planet's inhabitants.
Once everyone was clear, Axis took out his seeds of the Tree of Might. He had twenty genuine seeds remaining after using over a dozen previously.
The Life Goddess Isha floated into the air and summoned vast quantities of life essence. Using her newly acquired God Ki, she began to pour a ceaseless stream of energy into her world.
Axis dropped a single seed to the ground. Unlike his previous attempts on ordinary planets, the result was different. The seed pulsed with energy, but it did not fully sprout. Even with the Ki Axis provided, it seemed to be missing something.
"It seems one seed is not enough to grow a divine tree, Axis," Khorne observed. "You will need to add more."
A voice echoed in Axis's mind. It was the Emperor. Axis, place the remaining seeds together. Fuse them into one.
Axis nodded.
Realizing one seed was insufficient, he planted all twenty of his remaining Tree of Might seeds in the same spot. He then instructed Isha to infuse them with her life essence, while he converted all of his own Ki into an energy with potent life energy.
Bathed in the life energy from two powerful beings, along with vast amounts of Ki and divine energy, the twenty seeds began to transform. They slowly merged, coalescing into a single, peculiar seed the size of a large walnut.
Deep within the core of the world, the strange, walnut-sized seed greedily devoured the life essence of the entire planet. The ground turned a visible, deathly grey. Forests withered, rivers ran dry, and even the rich scent of life in the air grew thin and faint.
Isha bit her lip, her slender hands pressed against the ground. Her divine Ki flared, turning her into a great furnace of life. She frantically drew the chaotic, untamed energies of the Immaterium, converting them through her newfound body into pure life energy, which she poured back into the dying planet to offset the terrifying deficit.
But her rate of conversion was a mere drop in the ocean compared to the seed's voracious appetite.
"It's not enough... not nearly enough!" Isha's voice trembled slightly. The seed's hunger was too great.
"Hahaha! This divine tree is truly magnificent! It's my turn!" Khorne's wild laughter shook the very fabric of space. The blood-red face in the sky opened its maw and unleashed a raging, crimson torrent of power. It was not pure energy, but the condensed will of countless battlefields, thick with rage and the desire for destruction. Like a breaking dam of blood, it surged towards Isha with the stench of rust and an endless roar.
Isha's pupils constricted, but she was prepared. With a low grunt, she unleashed a radiant, emerald-green aura of divine light. When Khorne's profane, violent flood of power met this green light, there was no cataclysmic explosion.
Instead, the wild energy was snared by an invisible leash, forcibly restrained, broken down, and purified. Isha's body became the converter.
She bore the immense pressure, her divine form trembling slightly as beads of sweat formed on her brow, but she held firm.
The profane crimson torrent was stripped of its filth, layer by layer, and refined within the green light. It was ultimately transformed into a more temperate, massive source of raw Warp energy.
Isha then guided this power into the ground, feeding both the insatiable seed and the dying world.
On the other side, the light in the Emperor's golden eyes flared.
A precise, holy beam of golden psychic energy shot towards Axis. This power was the antithesis of Khorne's. It repelled all things of Chaos, containing the deepest hatred for the Immaterium, and it was this power that Axis had to convert.
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ps?