As a Chaos God, Lucius could already command the Warp as easily as he breathed, and this included manipulating its utterly chaotic flow of time and space.
"Your children will come to save you soon, but letting them just whisk you away would be far too dull. How about this, put on a good show for me," Lucius said with a grin. He reached out toward Isha, and a colossal surge of psychic energy instantly enveloped the goddess.
As if adjusting the playback speed of a video, Lucius observed the timelines of the galaxy's past, present, and future. Finally, his gaze settled on a particularly interesting era.
"The Great Crusade... not bad at all. It seems the Emperor didn't encounter the Aeldari much during the Great Crusade. Let's go there," Lucius nodded. With a flick of his wrist, he cast Isha through the turbulent tides of the Warp, sending her back over ten thousand years to a planet in the Great Crusade era.
To avoid detection by Slaanesh, Lucius used the power of Formless Distortion to warp Isha's presence into something else entirely, burying her deep within a world directly in the path of the Imperial expansion.
"Disgusting... what are you doing?"
Just as Lucius finished his work, the voice of the Emperor rang out. The freezing solar flares of the Emperor's presence burned fiercely as they drew near the Realm of Ruin.
"Hey now, don't be so hasty. You know that even if I do this, it won't change the outcome of the past. I just want to have some fun," Lucius replied, not even bothering to look back at the cold sun. "It's just that the Skaven need to exist from the past all the way to the future."
"The Great Crusade is my pride. I will not allow you to defile it!" The cold sun grew even more dazzling in its fury, forcing the rats within the Realm of Ruin to scurry into the shadows, terrified to show their faces.
"Relax, I'm just adding to your glory. Don't be so angry." Lucius glanced up at the cold sun and waved a hand, pushing the Emperor's presence further away. "Why else did I become a Chaos God, if not to play as I please? Heh..."
…
870.M30.
The orbit of the planet Dulan was thick with the warships of the Imperial Navy. Dulan's defense fleet had been torn asunder by the close-quarters boarding actions of the Astartes; only a few stragglers remained, fighting a desperate, losing battle.
Under the joint assault of the Dark Angels and Space Wolves Legions, the Dulan Empire was on the brink of collapse. Two Primarchs and their mighty Legions of Adeptus Astartes had slaughtered their way through the Dulan defenders in brutal, close-quarters combat, reaching the threshold of the Tyrant of Dulan's opulent palace.
The Tyrant, who had modified his body until he resembled a thin-skinned xenos, was still screaming curses at the Imperium of Man, declaring the Dulan Empire to be the true heir of Terra!
"What a farce. It should never have come to this." Lion El'Jonson, currently appearing as a golden-haired man with a stern, middle-aged visage, looked upon the Tyrant with cold indifference and raised the Lion Sword.
"You cannot defeat me! You cannot defeat the King of Dulan! That thing calling itself an Emperor is nothing but a warlord, a self-important bastard—ugh!"
The Tyrant had stood up to roar his defiance, but the Lion had no patience left. Without a word, he stepped forward and took the arrogant Tyrant's head with a single stroke, silencing the insults against his father.
"Jonson! What are you doing?!"
Like a wild wolf, Leman Russ burst into the chamber only to see the Lion had already claimed his quarry. The sight filled him with immediate, boiling fury.
The Lion gave him a flat look and said coolly, "I made you no promises. Blame only your own slow legs."
The Wolf King leveled his power sword, Mjalnar, the Sword of Balenight, at the Lion, demanding a duel. The Lion, naturally, was not one to back down; Dulan was conquered, and he had all the time in the world to humiliate the Wolf.
Just as the two Primarchs were surrounded by their respective sons, poised to begin the legendary Duel of the Lion and the Wolf that would be etched into history, a terrifying and massive Warp rift suddenly tore open above the tranquil planet of Dulan!
Immediately afterward, an object resembling a gargantuan comet slammed directly toward the surface!
"Watch out! Take cover!" The Wolf King was the first to notice the anomaly, shouting for his sons to find shelter.
The Imperial fleet in orbit opened fire with everything they had to intercept the comet, but their barrages had no effect whatsoever.
Just as everyone expected the two Primarchs and their Legions to be annihilated, there was nothing but a minor tremor. Then, all fell silent.
"Hmm? Something is wrong." The Lion looked toward the impact site. The massive object had caused no explosion, no devastation. Even the Astartes preparing their drop pods were left bewildered.
But they did not see what was happening below: the dull, mindless eyes of countless rats began to gleam with a sudden, cunning intelligence. These rats chattered and scurried frantically across Dulan. Some even consciously began to crawl onto the Imperial landers.
"Good. The preparations are complete," Lucius said, watching the interrupted duel with a satisfied nod. Under his power, not even the Four Gods or the Emperor would realize that an Aeldari Mother Goddess had just been plunged into the heart of Dulan.
At that moment, a group of uninvited guests, exactly as Lucius had expected, appeared within the Realm of Ruin.
Led by Yvraine, Eldrad Ulthran, the Visarch, and Lelith, a force of the Ynnari and Craftworlders had used the powerful psychic might of their Farseers to tear a Warp rift by following Isha's scent.
This was not unprecedented; foolhardy Farseers had once entered Nurgle's Garden in search of Isha, though their fates were predictably grim.
"Eldrad, if you are lying to me, I will kill you first!" Lelith, the Wych Queen, looked at the squalid landscape revealed beyond the rift, a place where the ruins of countless races and civilizations overlapped. A wave of intense dread washed over her. She threatened him in a sweet voice that contrasted sharply with her deadly exterior.
Eldrad swallowed hard. He knew he had come to the right place. This was a vast divine realm, no less significant than those of the Four Gods. Their lives now rested in the hands of the master of this place, one of the capricious Ruinous Powers.
However, his divinations had promised that this mission would proceed smoothly. Only then had he found the courage to come.
"Pointy-ears! Pointy-ear things!"
"YES-YES!"
"They are too-too tall! Skin is smooth-disgusting, NO-NO..."
Hissing, malicious whispers echoed from the shadows, full of spiteful gossip that made the Aeldari warriors tremble.
Then, a figure stepped out... no, it was not a person. This humanoid entity possessed a pair of long goat horns and a long, whip-like tail. It was tall, with digitigrade legs and covered in white fur, a red-eyed rat-man!
"One, two, three... oh, by the Great Horned Rat, the pointy-ear things have come-arrive!"
This was a Grey Seer Verminherder. The daemon spoke to them with a voice and gaze filled with both malice and cunning.
Lelith instinctively moved to strike the disgusting creature down, but Yvraine immediately held her back. The Emissary of Ynnead knew this was a daemon of this realm.
The Chosen of the God of Death stepped forward. "I have come to petition the master of this domain and to reclaim our Mother Goddess, Isha. Please convey this to your lord."
"Yes-yes... the Great Horned Rat is already waiting. He wants to play-play a game with you worm-things… hee-hee-hee!" The Grey Seer Verminherder let out a snickering laugh.
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