Inside the domain.
Within the core region, inside a floating palace forged of pure magical energy.
Veritas was jolted awake.
The form of this ancient deity was an ever-shifting aggregate of energy.
He possessed no fixed shape—sometimes manifesting as a rotating runic array, sometimes as a flowing river of energy, and sometimes condensing into the blurry silhouette of a humanoid wielding a staff.
At this moment, His consciousness was violently yanked from eons of deep slumber.
Fury.
Inexpressible fury.
Never since the dawn of His existence had any entity dared to invade His domain so brazenly.
Even the Chaos Gods, who spent their entire days butchering one another, had tacitly accepted His neutral status and never crossed the line.
Because Veritas's authority was highly unique.
He did not destroy, He did not corrupt, He did not spread plagues, and He held no thirst for slaughter.
He merely observed and recorded the laws of all energy conversion. He was the chronicler of rules, the watcher of energy's true essence.
Such a deity posed no threat to the Four Chaos Gods, nor was there any conflict of interest, so everyone minded their own business.
Until today.
"Who is it?!"
Veritas's consciousness roared through the domain, manifesting as a tangible sonic shockwave.
That soundwave carried the power of His authority. Wherever it passed, the chaotic energy within the domain was forcibly converted into orderly defensive structures.
Billions of runes lit up across the palace walls, each rune representing an energy conversion formula. The entire domain entered a state of combat readiness.
Then, Veritas saw the intruder.
Through the fractures in the domain's outer shell, He saw that rotting colossal hand, and behind it, the mountainously bloated, festering giant.
He saw the affectionate yet deeply unsettling smile on the giant's face.
He saw the buzzing plague flies, the frolicking Nurglings, the hanging entrails, and the weeping pustules.
Nurgle...?!
The name surfaced in Veritas's consciousness.
The Lord of Plagues. One of the Four Chaos Gods. What is He doing here? We have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Veritas's confusion morphed into an even deeper bewilderment the very next second.
Because Nurgle spoke.
That layered, overlapping cacophony of ten million wailing plagues pierced the domain's shell and echoed directly into the depths of Veritas's mind.
"So it was you scheming behind the scenes... ruining my plans... killing my child... and plundering his Warp essence?" Nurgle's voice remained affectionate, even carrying the mild tone of a gentle elder scolding a mischievous child. "Have you slept yourself silly... my dear neighbor... Have you forgotten... even basic manners...?"
Veritas: "...?"
Scheming? Ruining plans? Killing a child? Plundering Warp essence?
What did I scheme? What plans did I ruin? Which of your children did I kill? What essence did I plunder? I was sleeping, for fuck's sake! I've been asleep for who knows how many eons! I don't even know what millennium it is in the material universe right now!
A profound sense of absurdity welled up in Veritas's consciousness.
It was like sleeping soundly in your own home, only for your neighbor to suddenly kick your door down, grab you by the collar, and accuse you of stealing their Wi-Fi.
Your first reaction would undoubtedly be: Who the fuck are you? I stole your Wi-Fi?!
"Nurgle!"
Veritas condensed into a humanoid phantom—an elderly figure wielding a runic staff, surrounded by a flowing river of energy. This was His most common manifestation within the collective consciousness of the ancient Aeldari shamans.
The elderly phantom glared furiously and slammed His staff into the ground.
"I have no idea what nonsense you are spouting! You and I have never crossed paths! Leave my domain at once, or else—"
Before Veritas could finish His sentence.
Deep within the domain, inside an isolated energy vortex, an abnormal fluctuation suddenly rippled outwards.
A few objects slowly surfaced from the depths of the vortex.
A fist-sized light sphere trapping yellow-green energy inside. Twelve magic crystal vials swirling with dreamy, iridescent colors. Thirty-six magical tea bags exuding the fragrance of floral tea. Three magic cushions as soft as clouds. Two magical bookmarks branded with teleportation runes. And finally, seven faint golden emotion crystals radiating the warm aura of sunlight.
The moment these items appeared, the energy field within the domain fell into sudden disarray.
The yellow-green energy trapped within the light sphere exuded the unmistakable Warp essence of one of Nurgle's Great Unclean Ones.
The magic crystal vials, tea bags, cushions, and bookmarks rippled with an energy fluctuation that shared an origin with Veritas's authority, yet was far lighter and more dreamlike—clearly belonging to some unknown energy system.
As for those seven faint golden emotion crystals... they contained incredibly pure fragments of the Hope authority. And the Hope authority heavily concerned both Nurgle and Tzeentch...
The scene instantly plunged into dead silence...
Veritas: "..."
Nurgle's colossal eyes stared dead at that sphere of light. Then, His gaze swept over the other items. Finally, His eyes locked back onto Veritas.
The Lord of Plagues' smile became even more affectionate.
"Ah... the evidence is irrefutable..." Nurgle said mildly. "The essence of my child... unfamiliar magical creations... and fragments of the Hope authority... You not only killed my child and plundered his essence, but you are also researching powers to counter Warp corruption... and even attempting to steal the Hope authority... Your ambition is quite grand... my dear neighbor..."
Veritas: "...???"
The elderly phantom looked down at the pile of items that had suddenly materialized, then looked back up at Nurgle.
Billions of probability deductions flashed through His consciousness.
A trap...
This was a naked, blatant trap.
Someone had killed Nurgle's Great Unclean One, stripped away its Warp essence, and then secretly smuggled it into His domain along with these magical items of unknown origin.
Then they guided Nurgle straight to His doorstep.
It was a frame-up, a planted scheme, a deliberate provocation to sow discord.
"Wait! Nurgle! This is a tra—" Veritas attempted to explain.
But by then, any explanation was already too late.
"Disobedient children... require a little... minor discipline..." Nurgle said, the five fingers of the rotting giant hand clamped onto the domain's shell closing into a fist.
Rumble!!!
Veritas's domain was forcefully torn free from the background of the Empyrean!
The entire domain began to quake violently, its internal energy structures screaming with frantic alarms.
The runes on the palace walls extinguished one after another, the flowing rivers of energy were severed, and suspended magical constructs plummeted like rain.
"You!!!" Veritas's fury reached its absolute zenith at this exact moment.
Since explanations were useless, He would fight.
So what if He was one of the Four Chaos Gods? So what if He was the Lord of Plagues?
"In the name of the Law of Flow!" the elderly phantom roared, raising His staff high as all the energy within the domain answered His call. "Omni-Energy... Conversion!!!"