"At most, in fifteen standard minutes, the Lord of Hell's Chaos blockade will be shattered.
"And I will be able to leave this encirclement trap for good."
Fulgrim thought this to himself.
He could sense that the Chaos blockade around New Longlin was wavering. The Lord of Hell would not be able to hold much longer.
And more Chaos daemons would pour onto the planet.
When that time came, Horus's reinforcements would arrive as well. No Primarch could stop that Dark Emperor. Not even the Savior!
As Fulgrim sneered inwardly, his movements grew even more humble, as though he truly were a defeated general.
The situation was dangerous, but it was still within his control and within his plan!
"Chaos has failed.
"The Imperium has won this battle. The Emperor, our father, made the correct choice.
"The Savior is the most suitable heir. He can lead mankind out of suffering and unite the galaxy."
Fulgrim had almost stripped himself of all his weapons as he looked toward Guilliman, Mortarion, and the other Primarchs.
"As you can see, I surrender. I am willing to return to the Imperium…"
He was gambling that he would receive either mercy or a chance to negotiate. The Imperium needed Primarch-level combat strength to deal with Horus and the Chaos Gods.
And Mortarion was proof. If that foul, revolting creature had been given a chance at redemption, then how could he, the Fallen Phoenix, who was stronger than Mortarion, not surrender in the same way?
That would buy him enough time to survive and wait for a counterattack.
"The Savior once said that a wise man submits to circumstances.
"I, Fulgrim, am no fool, nor do I wish to remain aboard a warship destined to sink.
"Moreover, I also hope to free myself from the shackles of Chaos and end my pitiful existence as a servant of Chaos."
Fulgrim took a deep breath and dropped to one knee in a posture of submission.
"My lords, I am willing to offer the Savior or the Lord of Hell—"
Before Fulgrim could finish speaking, his serpentine pupils suddenly contracted. A burning black shadow came at him in a fury.
He raised his hand, trying to block the attack, but it was already too late.
In only two moves, Fulgrim was sent flying. His meticulously maintained face slammed hard into the ground and scraped across it for a long distance.
The scene was extremely brutal.
"Mortarion, why are you stopping me?"
Fulgrim crawled up in a twisted posture and glared at the Death Lord through gritted teeth, utterly unable to understand.
What right did that creature have to reject his surrender?
However, he did not fight back. That would only invite more attacks and would not help him stall for time.
This kind of standoff might be the best choice.
"You think you're worthy of surrender? You think you're worthy of speaking of loyalty?!"
The moment he finished speaking, Mortarion roared and launched another ferocious attack.
What he hated most were those hypocritical creatures pretending they wanted to surrender, especially a vile and cunning being like the Fallen Phoenix.
As Mortarion attacked the Fallen Phoenix, he explained to Guilliman and Perturabo.
"This creature is not loyal.
"He is absolutely feigning surrender. We cannot allow such a being to join the ranks of the Imperium!
"By the Lord of Hell, we cannot give him a chance to weave his schemes!"
The Death Lord looked even more indignant than Guilliman and Perturabo, as though he cared more than anyone about this battle and the interests of the Imperium.
No one was more loyal than he was. No one cared more about the Imperium and the Emperor. And of course, the Lord of Hell.
He valued this chance at redemption more than anyone.
That was why he refused to let a capricious creature like Fulgrim get his way and sabotage the Imperium's battle.
"Are you insane?"
Fulgrim took several more heavy blows and was almost numb from shock.
They were all fallen Primarchs, all servants of the Dark Gods. What was this act of loyalty?
It was bad enough that Mortarion had surrendered himself, but now he would not allow anyone else to surrender?!
Fulgrim had never expected Mortarion to pull something like this. Anyone who did not know better might think that creature was a loyal Primarch of the Imperium.
More importantly, Mortarion had disrupted his plan to stall for time. He would make Guilliman and the other Primarchs stop negotiating and attack or execute him even faster!
Guilliman and Perturabo were stunned by what they saw, but they also agreed with the Death Lord's judgment.
They were too lazy to waste any more words on the Fallen Phoenix and quickly joined this savage beating, pinning that despicable creature to the ground and grinding him into it.
For a time, Fulgrim's sharp, wretched screams echoed across the battlefield, especially after he realized he would not last until the blockade broke.
"No! I surrender!"
"Brothers, we can discuss anything! I can be loyal too!"
"Ahhh!"
This time, he truly did want to surrender like Mortarion, rather than face the fate of utter death.
Yet no matter how Fulgrim shouted, Guilliman, Mortarion, and the others did not stop. They did not believe him.
They beat the Fallen Phoenix until he was barely alive, then stripped him of all armor and hidden weapons before locking him inside a Blackstone cage.
These fallen traitors would be sent before the Emperor or the Savior to face final judgment.
Just as Guilliman and the others finished dealing with the Fallen Phoenix, they sensed tremors in the void. Unnatural cracks appeared across this region of Chaos.
Even the volcanoes were warping!
...
Not long before, in the Warp.
Deep in the void, the power of Chaos surged and converged, twisting into a dark spiral that silently flowed toward unknown territory.
Even though this spiral contained supreme might, it still looked rather furtive.
Around the dark spiral stood four terrifying projections. They were twisted, flowing, indescribable, yet filled with divine pressure.
"Ah, the plan was destined long ago. Fate has lifted the ninety-ninth veil. The Empyrean shall seep into the blank realm…"
Tzeentch, the Lord of Change, whispered in a layered voice. There was a trace of excitement in those words, and even the shifting projection grew stranger.
Grandfather Nurgle gasped with difficulty like a worn-out bellows, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.
Even so, He still persisted in pouring power into the dark spiral.
Not long before, the Lord of Change and the other Chaos Gods had rushed into the little black room in the Garden of Nurgle, forcibly dragged Him from His slat bed, and made Him join them in carrying out their final plan.
They did not want their previous investments to fail completely, and they had found a way to reverse the situation.
The Chaos Gods had once again begun furtively and laboriously digging a tunnel.
But this time, the Chaos passage did not lead to the reality of the galaxy. It led to the Savior's Dawnlight City Webway.
That was the true core region of the Imperium, and it was also the region where Terra now resided. The Accursed One was there.
Originally, invading the Webway built by the Old Ones was extremely difficult. It was many times harder than invading the physical galaxy, and Chaos could find no path of entry.
However, during this war to besiege the Accursed One, the Imperium had transported Terra into the Webway.
A teleportation on such a vast scale had left an extremely obvious projected trace in the Warp, giving Them a node of invasion.
Of course, those nodes were extremely tiny and could easily be sealed by the Savior using Blackstone devices.
But the subtle point was that the Savior's strength and attention were both invested in the battle of the Sol System, and he had no energy left to deal with this matter.
That meant They could seize this opportunity and expand the nodes little by little, forming a new passage.
In this way, Chaos would be able to invade the Dawnlight City Webway without restraint.
And once Horus reclaimed the Shadowlight Artifact, he would also be able to follow the passage to unravel the Accursed One's power and completely remove that being as a threat.
Not only that, the large-scale erosion that followed would allow Them to occupy this core region of the Webway.
The Imperium would gradually lose the ability to travel swiftly through the Webway and would be forced to continue using Warp travel.
In that way, the galaxy would return to the form They loved.
Closed. Dark. One civilized world after another turned into isolated islands. That would be the perfect breeding ground for Chaos.
"After ninety-nine human standard minutes, Chaos will reach the Savior's Dawnlight City.
"That will be a brand-new passage, a Webway War that will continue for tens of thousands of years…"
So said the Lord of Change.
Once the passage formed, Chaos daemons from the Warp would spread into every corner of the Webway, forming settlement after settlement.
Even if the Savior wished to cleanse those taints of Chaos, it would take a length of time long enough to inspire despair.
Moreover, he no longer had that time. Enemies from the rim of the galaxy would leave him unable to look after himself.
Tzeentch could imagine what the Imperium of Man would face once this Webway plan succeeded.
At present, the operation of all systems within the Imperium of Man depended on high-speed passage through the Webway, and its consumption of resources had reached an astonishing degree.
The production bases and forge worlds that supplied those resources had also been replanned and dispersed across the galaxy.
Once there was a problem with the Webway routes, the material supply system and military mobilization would be paralyzed in an instant.
More civilized worlds would fall into even more terrible poverty and hunger because their supplies had been cut off.
The Imperium of Man, that greedy giant, would have its esophagus, blood vessels, and meridians severed, entering a terrifying process of slow death.
When that time came, even if the Savior were stronger and wiser, he would be unable to reverse it all!
"The Emperor thought he had received fate's gift. He thought he had seized the fruit of victory, yet that was merely the prelude to another tragedy."
The Lord of Change's voice became a childlike chorus, as though chanting something.
That Savior, that Emperor of the Imperium, thought that by taking New Longlin, he would establish final victory.
In truth, that was only part of the plan.
"Heh. Sweet decay will eventually spread to the Savior's bedside. His kingdom will become a paradise of plague."
Grandfather Nurgle's mood improved quite a bit, and He began huffing and puffing as He dug the tunnel again. Very soon, He would recover all His losses from the Savior.
Yet in the next instant, the Plague Lord's entire mass of rotten fat began trembling. Maggots and Nurglings shook loose like a tsunami, almost filling the void.
It was enough filth to bury ten civilized worlds.
He was furious.
"No! My sevenfold plague blessings! My beloved children are humiliating my love! They are attempting betrayal!"
Grandfather Nurgle discovered that the Savior was trying to seize His Chosen, Mortarion, along with the sevenfold blessings of plague.
That was an unforgivable act. He had to stop him!
He raged and wanted to go recover His Chosen and beloved child.
Yet the moment Grandfather Nurgle moved, the dark spiral began to quake. Creating such a Chaos passage required all of His attention.
That meant He would have to stop everything in order to prevent the Savior's plunder.
Before Grandfather Nurgle could decide, more threats arrived one after another. The other Chaos Gods blocked Him.
The Lord of Change issued a warning.
"Any being who disrupts the plan shall become our common enemy. That is fated."
At the same time, the Blood God and the Lord of Pleasure also stirred.
"Nurgle, cease your actions, or the fury of war shall descend upon the Garden of Nurgle!"
"Dear one, you should not affect the plan for the sake of one traitor. He is nothing more than a pitiful turncoat."
To the other Chaos Gods, eroding the Webway was the most important matter. Besides, They were delighted to see Nurgle suffer losses.
After all, it was not Their Chaos Chosen being stolen.
Yet in the next instant, the Lord of Pleasure let out a delicate cry, and even that incomparably seductive divine body began to tremble.
That supremely alluring voice made a passing void whale shudder on the spot with a mournful whimper.
"No! My beloved child!"
The Lord of Pleasure gasped violently, as though being forcefully corroded and ruthlessly plundered by some power.
The Savior, the Lord of Hell, was also plundering the Pleasure Chaos Chosen who belonged to Him, and devouring the authority of pleasure He had left behind!
The continuous, violent tremors were intolerable, and He wanted to stop that shameful plunder.
Yet before He could act, Grandfather Nurgle blocked Him.
He threatened, "Do you wish to become our enemy? Plague will drown your palace!"
Seeing the Lord of Pleasure's losses made this Plague God feel much better, and He was the first to step forward and stop Him with an extremely forceful attitude.
He looked ready to fight to the death.
Since He had lost a core Chosen, it would be best if the others tasted the same pain.
Faced with the threats of Grandfather Nurgle and the other Dark Gods, the Lord of Pleasure had no courage to turn against Them on the spot.
Moreover, only the success of the plan could recover all His losses.
Helpless, He could only endure the continuous tremors brought by the Savior and continue maintaining the dark spiral, using it to corrode the Savior's Webway.
Immediately afterward, the Blood God and the Lord of Change also discovered that their Chaos Chosen or followers had been shamefully plundered by the Savior.
But under the obstruction of the other Dark Gods, They could do nothing.
These greedy Chaos Gods, bound by mutual restraint, had no way to stop the Savior.
They were trapped.
In Their fury, the Chaos Gods accelerated the corrosion of the Webway.
Although They had suffered repeated defeats in this battle, as long as They won this one time, all their losses could be taken back.
They had found the Savior's deadliest weakness and seized his lifeline!
Buzz—
Under the blessing of supreme authority, the dark spiral plunged deep into the void!
...
"Huh?
"Why isn't the Lord of Pleasure resisting? Did He pass out or something?"
In the realm of Chaos, Eden was huffing and puffing as he plundered the Lord of Pleasure's authority.
Compared with his previous corruption of Grandfather Nurgle's beloved child, this time he was even bolder and more excessive. It was practically naked plunder, a blatant robbery.
Extremely crude.
He was not merely taking away the Lord of Pleasure's Chosen. He was sweeping up some beloved Pleasure daemons along with them.
Of course, this was only an experiment to see what level of strength the Lord of Hell had reached.
If the Lord of Pleasure's counterattack was too fierce, Eden would have no choice but to retreat immediately and end the corruption.
What surprised Eden, however, was that although the Lord of Pleasure's reaction was intense, there was no resistance at all.
He simply allowed the Lord of Hell's authority to shake and plunder wildly. Anyone who did not know better might think that Lord of Pleasure actually enjoyed it.
"This is great. Once I plunder a few more Chosen, the Lord of Hell will be able to move through the Warp!"
Eden was very excited.
In his field of vision, the burning daemon-god shadow of the Lord of Hell grew increasingly solid, gradually changing from an illusion into a real entity within the Warp.
That was the progress brought by high-ranking believers and abundant faith-born warp power.
Afterward, Eden moved at full speed and continued plundering the Blood God and the Lord of Change, yet They still had no reaction.
The Chaos Gods seemed to have gone limp, and They did not even manifest.
That allowed him to successfully turn Magnus, Alpharius, and the others into the Lord of Hell's Chosen, pushing his strength another step forward.
???
Gradually, Eden calmed down from the excitement of plunder.
His brows furrowed.
Something was wrong. Very wrong!
Under normal circumstances, the Chaos Gods could not possibly allow those precious powers of authority to be plundered by him.
Now that They were doing exactly that, it could only prove that They were secretly pursuing even greater gains!
With the Emperor absent, Eden was alone in contending against the Chaos Gods and those supreme beings of the Warp. The pressure was still enormous.
One careless step, and he might fall into the abyss, just like the Emperor had.
Before Eden could react, the Chaos blockade around New Longlin shattered like glass and collapsed with a roar.
And the hateful power of the Chaos Gods on Horus's body came surging in, so threatening that it nearly made him suffocate.
"This is dangerous…"
Eden took a deep breath and felt endless pressure pressing down on him.
He did not know what the Chaos Gods were plotting, and that Dark Emperor had found his real body in the galaxy.
(End of Chapter)
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