After delivering a devastating sword strike to Tzeentch, Zeke gave the Chaos God little attention, instead making a stride to appear before the Emperor.
The Emperor's psychic consciousness resided in the Warp, yet even here, he was eternally bound to the Golden Throne.
Zeke materialized before him and sent an urgent message. Immediately after, Zeke's psychic presence dissipated, transforming into a torrent of pure Warp energy that coalesced into a seal beneath the Throne.
The seal would endure for five hours. During this period, the Emperor's consciousness would be freed from the ceaseless burden of the Golden Throne. He would be at liberty to move within the Warp and even manifest elsewhere within the Imperium of Man.
Initially, the Emperor, who had been resting comfortably on the Golden Throne, watched Zeke appear and vanish. He stared wide-eyed and dumbfounded at the sudden intrusion, then felt the structure beneath him being sealed once more, similar to prior events.
Before he could react or rise to take action, he received a psychic message from Zeke.
"Emperor, I need to borrow your likeness. I'm building some statues of you on my colony. Remember to go and bless them, provide some protection, and resolve a few minor issues for the citizens."
"In exchange for this assistance, the energy from my psychic entity will seal your Golden Throne. While it won't allow you to be fully unrestrained for long, five hours of freedom is possible."
"Happy trading!"
The Emperor gazed at the message with a somewhat dazed expression, then felt the Golden Throne beneath him confirmed sealed by a powerful psychic influx. He leapt to his feet impatiently.
He paid no mind to the request for his likeness—were there not already countless statues of him across the Imperium? They were everywhere. And giving a blessing? That was a trivial task.
The most crucial thing was his liberation. Though brief, he was finally free of the Throne and could pursue his own agenda, beginning with a proper inspection of the Imperium. He also desperately wished to see his son—and avenge his other sons.
He hadn't forgotten the Great Crusade, nor the actions of his corrupted son who launched the Black Crusade. This act, under the influence of the four Chaos Gods, had again brought the Imperium to the brink. These four gods had destroyed his lineage. He had ventured out once before, but only to fight Nurgle.
Fighting only Nurgle wasn't enough. He intended to strike all four to vent his ancient rage.
As for the Imperium of Man? Alas... the Emperor sighed heavily. Five hours was far too short. What good would this fleeting respite from the Throne do him? It was entirely insufficient time to cleanse the Imperium's countless ills.
Moreover, the Imperium perhaps no longer needed him to exhaust his efforts; a new hope had dawned for humanity. The Emperor glanced once more at the spot where Zeke's psychic entity had disappeared. Humanity had gained a new bastion and a new Warp giant. The Terran Dominion brought immense promise for the continuation and survival of the species.
It needed time to grow. He believed Zeke could handle the challenges. As for himself, he only needed to wait patiently until his full power was required to aid Zeke. Perhaps, when Zeke's full power returned, he might be able to leave the Golden Throne entirely without dooming all of humanity.
The Emperor had already sensed that the Warp energy Zeke was currently using was a fraction of his peak state. Once Zeke's full power returned, the might of this human giant would be enough to destroy the entire Warp. All he had to do was wait.
He believed that once Zeke recovered, he could be completely released from the Throne. For now, he wouldn't concern himself with the Imperium; he would first settle his personal grudges.
Ultimately, the Emperor considered himself human, complete with human emotions. Having risen from the Golden Throne, he took a single step and once again vanished.
He sent a fraction of his consciousness across the Warp to inspect Zeke's colony and the statues being erected in various public squares. After giving them a small blessing, he withdrew his thoughts and turned his gaze back to Tzeentch.
Among the four Chaos Gods who had tempted his son, Tzeentch had certainly played a major role. Moreover, he had just been impaled by Zeke moments ago. As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. When else would be a better time to beat Tzeentch than now?
The Emperor took a stride and instantly appeared before Tzeentch. Without a word, he drew his Emperor's Sword and impaled Tzeentch once again.
Tzeentch: "????"
"Alright, alright, so everyone wants to impale me, huh? What did I do to provoke you guys? I just got stabbed by him, that's fine, but what's your deal?"
Even though Tzeentch was the Lord of Change, he looked at the Emperor before him with a bewildered expression. It wasn't the surprise that the Emperor could get off his Golden Throne—that had already occurred when Zeke appeared, and they had joined forces to attack him. What baffled him was why this guy had to stab him first.
Horus's Great Pilgrimage had happened 10,000 years ago, and all four Chaos Gods had acted together then. Therefore, in Tzeentch's view, the Emperor shouldn't single him out, right? Besides, shouldn't he go after Khorne first? Why was he the first one to be attacked? This was too much!
The Emperor couldn't be bothered to waste words. Time was limited; he only had five hours. After dealing with Tzeentch, he still wanted to take a shot at Khorne.
The Emperor, without a single word, simply wielded his Emperor's Sword again, clearly stating his main goal: "I'm hitting you!"
Tzeentch: "???"
Barbarian! You are a pure barbarian! Can't everyone just talk things out? Why does everyone have to fight for no reason!
Tzeentch, having already been wounded by Zeke and now the Emperor, was no match for the Master of Mankind. He immediately began to flee wildly through the Warp. Fighting the Emperor was impossible. Why would he fight the Emperor? The amount of time this guy could be up was certainly limited. Wouldn't it be fine if he just waited him out? Fighting the Emperor with his current diminished form would only result in a severe beating.
This guy had been trapped on the Golden Throne for 10,000 years; it was normal for him to have accumulated grievances. If he couldn't win, couldn't he at least run away?
Within the Warp, a massive storm stirred once again. The instigator of all this looked at the shimmering Emperor statues in his public squares and nodded with satisfaction. He hadn't wasted the Warp energy he had painstakingly accumulated. With this, slow development within the Imperium of Man was incredibly simple! With these shimmering statues in place, who would dare accuse him of heresy? Everyone would have to obey.
If the Emperor's blessing wasn't enough, the Knight House had ways to deal with those greedy individuals. If House Yaeger couldn't resolve it, the Terran Dominion's fleet could intervene, making them disappear from this universe as if they had never existed.
If that still didn't work, he could always use a little more Warp energy to grant the Emperor another brief moment away from the Throne to issue a warning within the Warp.
Thinking of this, Zeke checked his energy reserves again. Good heavens, that brief release for the Emperor cost a full five percent of his remaining reserves. No, no, he had to save it carefully—the way Slaanesh looked at him was truly terrifying. He preferred his little gray over such a thing.