The screaming bloodson greedily snatched at Erebus' blood, its brightly shining twin wings casting a searing shadow on his face, burning his soul.
But Erebus didn't believe he would die here.
He was the Hand of Fate, the Gods' proxy, a son of Chaos.
He—the beginning of all sin—would spread darkness until the very last moment.
Erebus let out a sharp shriek, and the last bird-shaped tattoo on his body vanished.
His body fell heavily to the ground, transforming in the blink of an eye into a naked, muscular great bird.
Fate took one last twisted turn; Erebus had lost all the Tzeentch Great Unclean Ones that could have helped him avoid the fate of death.
Yet, at this very moment, a rift suddenly tore open.
Erebus used the immense force of the bloodson pressing on his face to slash open space with his ritual dagger as his body fell.
Doraemon's gadgets still sealed the ship, but Erebus could still use the ritual dagger to move within this cabin.
The body of the Tzeentch Great Unclean One plummeted into the rift created by the ritual dagger, landing with a thud before the door leading to the bridge.
And Erebus' figure suddenly emerged from behind the Tzeentch Great Unclean One, a cold sneer on his face.
Fate remained under Erebus' control.
Though Khayon's appearance had temporarily exceeded Erebus' expectations, Erebus still found an opportunity to create an escape by sacrificing himself once.
This was his resolve as the Hand of Fate!!!
"Do you think you can escape?!" Raum let out a sharp shriek, the abilities gained from devouring Noise Marines taking effect, a powerful sonic wave directly hitting Erebus' face, causing Erebus' body to tremble and a pained expression to cross his face.
Then Khayon flapped his wings, which were burning with the Emperor's golden flames, and in a blink, flew into the air, swooping down on Erebus.
Erebus hastily bit his tongue to regain consciousness, then mobilized all his Psyker power to smash into the giant rock where Lion El'Jonson had once slept.
The giant rock was lifted from the ground, blocking the path between Erebus and Khayon.
Khayon swung the axe in his hand, cleaving through the thick rock in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, a tide of blood surged, and the Khorne behemoth created by Erebus, under his control, blocked Khayon's path.
Blood intertwined with blood, crimson clashed with crimson; in a blink, Khayon had suppressed the behemoth.
But Erebus knew this wouldn't last long; he had to open this door immediately.
"Who is the true Chaos Everchosen?"
This question made Erebus pause for a very brief moment.
Who is the true Everchosen of the Chaos Gods?
Who? Who truly deserves this title?
Erebus didn't have much time to think, instinctively giving his first answer:
"Abaddon."
The moment Erebus' figure landed, a burning pain surged from his body, fires searing his flesh and bringing him intense suffering.
"Incorrect answer."
Damn that useless Abaddon, that guy truly doesn't deserve the name of Chaos Everchosen...
"Horus!!" Erebus hastily gave his second answer.
This was the second answer Erebus could think of; although Horus was dead, perhaps in the eyes of the Gods, in the heart of Chaos, he was still the best chosen?
An even stronger pain emanated from Erebus' body; for a moment, he felt his internal organs burning fiercely, like they were bathed in raging fire, almost consumed.
He hastily mobilized the chaotic evil energy within his body to resist the scorching flames, barely avoiding being burned to death on the spot.
But he could at most withstand the punishment of one more failed answer, meaning he only had one more chance to answer.
Who is the true Chaos Everchosen?
This question racked Erebus' brain...
Wait? Could it be... could the answer to this question be... himself?
The true Chaos Everchosen is he, Erebus?
A hint of joy appeared on Erebus' face,
thinking he had found the correct answer————
Bang!!!!
The Khorne behemoth, bathed in blood, slammed into Erebus like a mountain of flesh, pinning Erebus between its crimson flesh and the heavy bridge door, crushing him until his bones almost shattered.
In just eight seconds, the behemoth was easily subdued by Khayon, the bloodson with its chains heavily lodged in its flesh.
Khayon abruptly tightened the chains, his figure transforming into a meteor of gold and blood, crashing into the Khorne behemoth.
Erebus let out a terrified shriek, hastily trying to answer the question on the door, convinced he had found the correct answer.
"Ere————"
"Archaon!!!!" Before Erebus could answer, Be'lakor, who was fighting Nobita and covered in wounds, suddenly roared, answering the door's question for Erebus.
Who is Archaon?
Who the hell is Archaon?
The same confusion spread in the hearts of everyone present; only Be'lakor himself and Nobita knew who Archaon was.
Erebus' face was filled with horror, feeling that Be'lakor had screwed him over.
Who was Archaon, some unknown nobody? The true Chaos Everchosen should clearly be him, Erebus.
"Congratulations on clearing the level!!!"
The sound of the door opening suddenly rang out, the lock on the door leading to the bridge burst open with a bang, and the shackles locking the entire Blessed Lady also disappeared; the escape room game had been cleared.
Be'lakor suddenly swung the shadow greatsword in his hand, gave Nobita a deep look, and then, almost without hesitation, plunged into the shadows, disappearing to an unknown place.
Before fleeing, Be'lakor also took back the part of his power he had lent to Luther.
Luther, who was using shadow travel to contend with Lion El'Jonson, suddenly froze, realizing he could no longer freely move through the shadows.
Lion El'Jonson, almost without hesitation, slammed the Emperor's Shield heavily into Luther's face, knocking Luther back, then the Sword of Loyalty in his hand flashed with a cold light, instantly slashing towards Luther.
Luther hastily dodged, but was ultimately a step too slow.
A bloody mark streaked through the air; one of Luther's arms was severed by Lion El'Jonson, and his body staggered backward.
But Lion El'Jonson was unstoppable; although a faint drowsiness was resurfacing within his body, the Emperor's command was above all else, driving Lion El'Jonson to become a blade piercing directly into the traitor's heart.
The Sword of Loyalty cut through the air, striking at Luther.
Luther hastily raised the Caliban Greatsword with one hand, trying to block Lion El'Jonson's attack.
But how could Luther, with only one arm, contend with the blade of a Primarch?
Lion El'Jonson's sword deftly bypassed Luther's blade, pressed against the flat of the Caliban Greatsword, then exerted force, easily flicking the greatsword from Luther's hand.
Luther's body lost balance, he staggered back three or two steps, then knelt on the ground.
He slightly raised his head, looking up at Lion El'Jonson, who was looking down at him.
The Lion's expression was hidden by his thick, pale beard, revealing no emotion, only a hunter's killing intent in his eyes as he looked at his prey, as if Luther was no longer his brother, father, son, and companion, but merely a Caliban behemoth corrupted by chaotic evil energy.
A bitter smile appeared on Luther's lips; he lowered his head, looking at his hand that no longer held a sword, savoring Lion El'Jonson's move that had disarmed him of his Caliban Greatsword in his final moments.
"I taught you that move once," Luther murmured.
Luther bowed his head, not seeing the momentary flicker of wavering in Lion El'Jonson's icy eyes.
Lion El'Jonson's movement was delayed for a moment, but only for a moment.
He turned, spinning the blade in his hand, drawing an arc in the air, assuming a beheading stance.
"Lion El'Jonson... my child." Luther whispered softly, his voice full of sadness, bitterness, and remorse: "I am your father."
"Traitor."
Luther was met only with Lion El'Jonson's cold voice, then the Sword of Loyalty drew an arc, striking at Luther's neck.
Luther slightly raised his head; his face was reflected on the blade of the Sword of Loyalty.
It was a face filled with madness, frenzy, and ignorance; those once wise eyes now held only chaos.
Luther was surprised by the distortion and ugliness of his own face; the chaotic evil energy had greatly corrupted him, he had truly become as ugly and insane as a Caliban behemoth.
He remembered how he had found Lion El'Jonson, wild like a savage, in the forest; he had seen purity, nobility, and greatness in that child's eyes.
He remembered how he had taught Lion El'Jonson to grow, teaching Lion El'Jonson swordsmanship, shield use, knowledge, and tactics.
He remembered the days when he and Lion El'Jonson fought side-by-side, father and son united, slaying forest beasts and defending the weak commoners.
He remembered how the Order of Knights, led by the two of them, had flourished; Luther was once the most prominent hero of the Order, and Lion El'Jonson was destined to be its most prominent hero in the future.
He remembered the day they had together crushed the Fenrisian Knights and unified the entire planet of Caliban.
Everything, all that Lion and Luther had shared, was reflected in the arc of the loyal sword: friendship, loyalty, brotherhood, camaraderie, father-son affection, and all the honors they had once achieved together were mirrored in the sword.
Then, all of it dissolved in the gushing blood from Luther's neck, just like the carcass of a giant beast rotting in the forest soil of Caliban.
In the last moment before his life ebbed away, the Chaos energies residing within Luther abandoned him, allowing him to regain consciousness. But this was not out of kindness; it was Chaos' innate malice, a desire to torment him, to make him realize how foolish his actions had been.
Suspicion, jealousy, secrets, and estrangement—when did everything truly change?
"Lion El'Jonson," Lion heard Luther whisper in his dying breath, "meaning Lion, Son of the Forest."
These were the words Luther spoke when he first met Lion and named him.
"I'm sorry," Luther said softly, and then his body collapsed at the Lion's feet.
The Lion remained silent, gazing at the corpse for a brief moment.
'I forgive you.' The Lion ultimately did not speak these words aloud, merely whispering them softly in his heart.
He had grown accustomed to keeping his most sorrowful and painful experiences hidden as secrets deep within.
Be'lakor's escape, Luther's death—Erebus no longer cared about any of it.
In his view, the three artifacts were now gathered in this star system, and the escape room game to seal the Blessed Lady had been completed.
He had won. All he needed to do was use the ritual dagger to escape the Blessed Lady and perform the ritual anywhere in this star system—
Just as Erebus was about to brandish the ritual dagger to tear open a rift and escape, the Khorne giant beast lying on him suddenly extended a hand.
Or rather, the child named Ol, whom Erebus had used as a sacrifice to bear Khorne's blessing, extended a hand.
Hatred streamed from his previously vacant eyes as he grabbed the rope Erebus used to tie the ritual dagger around his neck, ripped it apart, and then knocked the ritual dagger from Erebus' hand onto the ground.
Erebus looked stunned, completely failing to react to what had happened.
Why would this Khorne giant beast defy his will?
Yes, to solve the problem of the previous door, Erebus had temporarily nourished a part of this child's soul, allowing him to speak his own name.
But this was not enough to truly restore his sanity and allow him to resist Erebus—unless he had preserved a sliver of consciousness from the very beginning, despite the Blood God's blessing and the extensive demonic corruption.
Erebus remembered the child's name, which was the same as the Emperor's first Warmaster; he remembered the Emperor who had suddenly possessed Nobita; he remembered the Emperor's preference for pure children as hosts. In an instant, Erebus felt the invisible hand of the Emperor.
"Bastard!!!" Erebus shrieked, injecting intense Chaos energy into the child's head, causing it to swell and burst in the blink of an eye.
But in the last moment before death, this child—whose entire planet had been massacred by Erebus, offered as a sacrifice to the Blood God, and whose soul had been tormented beyond recognition—revealed a smile.
The domain of corrosive destruction is a duality of destruction and self-destruction. Vengeance is destruction at the cost of self-destruction, and the Emperor commends it.
After losing its host, the Khorne giant beast violently exploded, and a vast number of Khorne daemons, transformed into a tide of blood, roared and surged towards Khârn, engulfing him.
Erebus seized this fleeting opportunity, intending to pick up the ritual dagger from the ground and escape.
But how could the child's self-destructive vengeance be meaningless?
Just then, a round hand reached out from the void, snatched the ritual dagger from the ground, and vanished into the void.
On the Light Lord, Alexander casually took the ritual dagger out of a woman's handbag he held.
Item: Item Retrieval Handbag.
Erebus stood dumbfounded, watching the ritual dagger suddenly disappear from its spot.
Then he slowly turned his head to look behind him.
The tide of blood formed by the Khorne daemons could not stop Khârn and Raum; both man and daemon were ablaze with the Emperor's flames, incinerating more than half of the blood tide in an instant.
And behind Khârn, Lion El'Jonson and Nobita, now with free hands, were charging forward.
Especially Lion El'Jonson, who, though clearly somewhat tired and sleepy, had a murderous intent in his eyes so clear that it made Erebus' heart ache.
How the hell was he supposed to fight this?!
Erebus' face contorted in terror, and he rushed into the bridge.
To contend with Khârn, Nobita, and Lion El'Jonson,
He would have to summon another Primarch.
The Blessed Lady was one of the three Abyss-class Battleships originally built for the Word Bearers.
In its bridge stood a statue of the Primarch of the Word Bearers, Lorgar, Erebus' gene-father.
"Father!!!! Save me!!!!" Erebus cried out miserably, knowing that Lorgar could hear him.
On the daemon world of Sicarius, within a secluded meditation chamber of the Infernal Temple,
The entire meditation chamber was built with extreme simplicity, barely accommodating the massive body of its owner and a small table, making it extremely difficult even to sit down.
But the owner of the meditation chamber didn't care, immersed in his writing.
"The Gods have chosen me to spread their blessings, precisely because of my selflessness."
"Vulgar mortals come seeking power, glory, immortality, and wisdom, but I—Lorgar Aurelian—have only ideals."
"I devoutly believe in the following truths: all things between the stars are born of the will of the Gods, reality is but a false illusion, physical laws can be easily twisted, all things are born from the tides of Chaos, humanity can only overcome everything by embracing Chaos, nothing is more worthy of worship than Chaos, and the future of humanity requires a complete embrace of the power of Chaos."
"The Blessed Sons are the perfect form I aspire to, a harbinger of a beautiful future where humanity and Chaos coexist. Their existence has proven that my path is the path to humanity's salvation, the supreme path that my father, blinded, failed to perceive."
Just then, the owner of the meditation chamber, the Primarch of the Emperor's Children, the daemon Primarch of Chaos Undivided, Lorgar Aurelian, stopped writing.
He felt the plea from his son.
Which poor son had fallen into disaster?
Lorgar sensed it slightly.
Oh, Erebus. Well, then, he deserved it.
Lorgar resumed writing his *Book of Lorgar*, this being the latest volume, the twenty-two thousand two hundred twenty-second.
But after Lorgar had written a few characters, he felt a dryness, a resistance.
He saw Erebus frantically cashing in the rewards the Gods had once given him, to compel the Gods' will to force Lorgar to save him.
Perhaps other Primarchs might defy or ignore the Gods' will, like Mortarion, who might even emerge from the Warp and scythe Erebus down directly.
But... but Lorgar could not. He was a worshiper of the Gods, their High Priest; he could not defy the Gods' will, even if he would gladly witness Erebus' death.
Lorgar sighed and stepped out of his meditation chamber.
The winds of the inferno swept through the ship's interior; a scorching, burning inferno suddenly tore through reality, manifesting within the ship.
And from within the inferno, Lorgar, bathed in scorching dark-red flames, with horns, holding the Illuminator, and clad in the Armor of the Word, emerged.
Lorgar's gaze pierced through the inferno, into the Blessed Lady.
He saw Erebus, with a look of disgust and disdain; he had killed his son, Angron.
He saw Khârn and Raum, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes; he remembered his son, Angron.
He saw Nobita, his expression shifting slightly; he felt the power of a newborn deity.
Finally, he saw Lion, a flicker of dread crossing his face; he knew what kind of power his elder brother possessed.
He immediately decided to grab Erebus and run.
Just then, Nobita reached inside his clothes and pulled out a tarot card made of papyrus.
This was Khayon's daemon tarot card, but even Khayon himself had never noticed such a card in his collection.
Because on the tarot card was a secret, agile, and swift raven.