The Dreamweaver hovered steadily in the turbulent void, trailing behind it a space fortress that occasionally sparked with fire and flame.
A massive shadow of a daemon loomed above the fortress.
That daemonic silhouette was terrifying beyond measureâdemonic horns wreathed in infernal flame jutted skyward, surrounded by arcs of black lightning.
Every now and then, a bolt would strike the metal walls of the fortress, visibly melting holes into the surface.
There was no doubtâthis was an immensely powerful Chaos entity, a presence on par with any Daemon Prince or Greater Daemon, capable of tearing open space and summoning Warp calamities.
Yet even the most learned daemonologists of the Imperium would be unable to identify his name, origin, or find any trace of his existence in the annals.
What was even more shockingâhe belonged to no known Chaos faction.
This Chaos entity was newly born, forged from the flesh and blood of the Hope Primarchâthe Saviorâand the genetic material of thirteen Primarchs.
BoomâBoomâBoomâ
Molten metal dripped to the ground.
Eden stepped onto the fortress plaza, each footfall leaving a scorched imprint in the metal floor, smoke curling upward.
His new body stood over three meters tall, etched with glowing arcane runes, exuding a savage eleganceâmonstrous yet strangely majestic. Not grotesque like typical daemons, but embodying an uncanny masculine beauty.
"What a perfect body⊠just like my own. No rejection at allâŠ"
Eden smiled faintly, baring his sharp fangs, his voice now a rasping growlâeach word reverberating with a violent echo.
He could feel the rampaging power within himâfar surpassing the time he'd pummelled Be'lakor with his previous dark blessing. It was stronger, more controllable.
It felt... like his own strength.
Or rather, it was his own strengthâtwo sides of the same coin. He had simply rejected it before.
Crack!
Across the plaza, Carter and over a hundred Thunder Guardians raised their heavy bolters. Dozens of powerful Chaos Daemons and psyker "genestealers" also moved into formation.
Their target: the Chaos vessel standing before them.
"All units, concentrate fire!" Carter barked the order, face resolute.
A horrifying barrage eruptedâstorm-chains of bolts, cannons, daemonic fire, and psychic storms engulfed the target.
"Come onâŠ"
Eden opened his arms, meeting the assault head-on, letting the metal rain and energy waves crash against him.
A full minute passed before the barrage ceased.
When the smoke clearedâ
The monstrous body still stood firmly in place. The metal beneath his feet had sunken inward, molten by the impact.
The attacks had only left minor woundsâalready vanishing.
Boomâ
"Holy shit?!"
Before Eden could even react, a heavy armor-piercing shell struck him, tearing a massive hole in his body.
He sighed, pulling the shattered shell fragment from his body and dropping it to the ground. "Seems without any defense up, I still can't completely withstand specialized ammunitionâŠ"
Still, it didn't deal serious damage.
Had he taken that hit with his real body, he might've ended up in a medbayâor worse.
That was the advantage Chaos had over mankindâstronger bodies and regenerative power.
Humans had only skill to compensate.
Suddenly, Eden sensed something. He raised a hand, drawing together molten alloy and forming a daemon sword.
He swept it forwardâ
Carter, sensing danger, dodged quickly.
But he was too slow.
The impact sent him flying into a heap of metal wreckage, seriously wounded.
Eden didn't give him a moment's respiteâhe followed up with a flurry of strikes. But Carter had adapted, dodging more deftly.
That power sword's sharp arcâEden had to evade it himself.
Its destructive force operated at the molecular level. One hit could wound anythingâno matter how tough.
Of course, you had to land the hit first.
Eden narrowed his focus. Carter fought harder the more injured he was. A critical hit wasn't out of the question.
This Thunder Guard commander was a top-tier combatant in the galaxy, nearly on par with a Custodes captain.
But unfortunatelyâhe was fighting him.
Carter was struck again and again, wounds accumulating.
Yet he never gave up, pushing harder with each blow. He now treated the Savior as a true enemy.
After all, his orders were to attack with everything he had.
"For the Savior!"
Carter roared, seizing a fleeting opening and slashing down with his full might.
But the moment the blade touched the Chaos vesselâ
It stopped.
Because a clawed daemon finger had already pressed against his forehead. Blood dripped down.
He'd lost.
Without landing a single effective blow.
Eden flicked Carter's forehead lightly, ending the match. "That's enough for now. You need rest."
"Yes, my lord," Carter replied, lowering his power sword.
"Old Carter, you did great. I'm satisfied."
Seeing his loyal subordinate a bit dispirited, Eden clapped his shoulderâleaving behind a scorched, blackened mark.
He understood how he felt.
Carter had followed him for so long, yet never had a real moment to shine. Every time he improved, the enemies grew even stronger. He was constantly beaten down.
He couldn't even protect his master in a crisis.
Because in those momentsâEden was always charging in the fastest.
It couldn't be helped.
As the Savior, he faced the most terrifying foes. The next stage might even pit him against the Chaos Gods themselves.
No matter how strong Carter became, he would always be overshadowed by Eden's brillianceâknown only faintly in the galaxy.
He would never become a legend.
After offering his praise, Eden had the medical Sisters carry Carter to the ICUâagain. At this point, it was practically a routine.
Then he turned to the research team documenting everything nearby. "That's enough testing. Disperse."
From that brief battle, he now had a decent grasp of his Chaos body's power. Further testing wasn't necessary.
He was also wary of causing more damage.
He'd already shown signs of losing control and hurting his menâlikely a side effect of Chaos power.
Still, the benefits outweighed the risks.
He could now sense that with this Chaos body, he might even go toe-to-toe with Regent Guilliman. Maybe even beat him up a bit.
But⊠he wasn't sure he could win.
What if the Primarch suddenly pulled a power-up or embraced his Warp nature fully?
Eden could faintly sense the immense power buried in Guilliman's bodyâpossibly even greater than his own.
Not to mention all the faith Guilliman had accrued as Regent. Equal, if not more than Eden's.
So he dismissed the idea of challenging Guilliman.
That guy was stubborn.
If he found out about Eden's Chaos dealings, he'd probably worry himself to deathâthen beat Eden senseless in hopes he'd return to the "righteous path."
Better to keep it all a secret.
Eden leapt up, landing on a platform, and asked, "Tarko, have the preparations been completed?"
"My lordâŠ"
Tarko looked up with difficulty, taking a deep breathâand felt a wave of nausea.
Even knowing the figure before him was his beloved Savior, he couldn't suppress the instinctual fear.
His body and soul trembled in unison.
Still, he forced himself to remain calm. "The plan you issued has been executed. You may head to the Warp at any time."
"Good."
Eden took a step back and softened his tone to avoid harming his subordinate.
Though he had restrained his power as much as possible, he'd gotten too closeâTarko's armor scrolls and purity seals were now scorched and almost burning.
After reviewing the holo-suspended mission plan, Eden waved the team away.
Humans weren't suited to linger near his daemonic vessel for too long.
One misstep and they might be corruptedâreassigned to the Chaos forces near the Eye of Terror's Black Abyss.
"Well⊠I suppose that counts as reemployment?" he mused.
Maybe in future campaigns to cleanse Chaos-infested worlds, he wouldn't need to purge all corrupted humans.
He could ship them to his Chaos outposts instead.
Let them continue serving the Imperium.
As for faith? That wasn't a problemâregardless of which Chaos God they once served, they'd all fall under the Dark Prince's banner eventually.
His daemons had plenty of methods for enforcing loyalty.
Better that than starving under another faction.
Eden walked into the fortress depths. With a pulse of Chaos energy, molten metal shaped itself into a black throne.
Such was the power of Chaos.
He could even reshape entire planets with it.
In time, this space fortress would be transformed into a daemonic palace.
Seated upon his throne, Eden waited, his expression tensing.
The plan had been set in motion. Soon, he would head into the Warp and face Nurgle's domain.
More specificallyâthe Goddess of Life within the Garden of Nurgle.
To seek a way⊠to cure the plague.
He could only hope everything would go smoothlyâotherwise, this Chaos body, cloned at great cost, would likely be utterly destroyed by Papa Nurgle.
That would be a catastrophic loss.
It might take a very long time before he could once again accumulate this level of dark power.
Before longâŠ
Eden received a message from Barag, and a hint of joy flashed across his face.
The Lord of Plagues had finally left his quarters and exited the Garden of Nurgle!
Without hesitation, Eden tore open a passage and entered the Warp in his Chaos vessel.
He had to sneak into the Garden of Nurgle, find the Goddess of Life, and achieve his goal before Nurgle returned...
ââ
The Warp.
The swirling black vortex churned with color and madness. Shadows whispered as they flitted past, and countless Chaos beings swam through the energies of madness, despair, rot, rage, and decay.
But with the arrival of a fearsome new presence, these beings fled like frightened fish.
"As expected, this body is much better suited to the WarpâŠ"
Eden's Chaos form floated through the formless sea of madness, experiencing a strange sense of comfort.
It was his first time entering the Warp in a physical form.
And yet, it felt completely naturalâas if he was born to dwell in this environment.
Even those once-disgusting whispers of madness now seemed harmonious, like birdsong in a peaceful forest.
He had merged with the Warp like a fish returning to water.
Here, Eden could see more clearly. Space and time were distorted, physical laws scarcely existed.
He could effortlessly traverse stacked regions of space to reach his target.
Soon, he spotted the domains of the Chaos Gods.
Four massive Warp realms, each glowing with different colors, pressed together like puzzle piecesâdistant yet near. At their convergence lay an area larger than any of the four realms.
...
The Eternal Battlefield.
The grandest warzone in all of existence.
There, the Chaos Gods' armies clashed in endless war, battling ceaselessly for territory and dominance.
Tens of millions of legions marched across the wastelands. Daemon Princes without number. Countless mortal followers drawn from innumerable worlds, answering the call.
A constant flood of troops stepped into that eternal war.
If these Chaos legions ever descended upon the galaxyâŠ
The Imperium of Man would be drowned in despair, utterly doomed.
There would be no chance of victory.
Fortunately, the hatred between the Chaos Gods made cooperation impossible. None dared withdraw their armies, lest their domain be seized by a rival.
And besides, deploying these legions into realspace consumed unimaginable energy.
The numbers were so vast that even draining all of the Warp might not suffice to send them all into the material universe.
The Eternal Battlefield was too important. No Chaos God could afford to lose it, and none could truly triumph.
So the war dragged on, stalemated.
Perhaps it would rage until the end of time.
Thus, to gain more power and territory, the Chaos Gods were forced to look outward.
Hence their relentless invasions of the galaxy.
Each Chaos God dispatched their strongest Daemon Princes and elite forces to steal faith, populations, or drag entire sectors into the Warp.
That way, they could tip the balance in the Eternal Battlefield.
Eden's brow furrowed as he looked at the realms of the Four.
"âŠHuh, seems like Nurgle's domain is just a bit larger than the others."
Even a barely noticeable difference translated to a significant power boost.
If Nurgle kept expanding like this, he might become the most powerful of the four.
Wouldn't that just paint a big target on his back?
Eden shook off the thought.
He had more pressing mattersâlike meeting with the Goddess of Life.
Following Barag's intelligence, he quickly located a secret passage leading to Nurgle's Garden, navigating along the edge of the Eternal Battlefield.
And soon, he arrived at the outer boundary of the Garden of Nurgle.
Crunch.
Eden suppressed his aura, creeping toward a decaying pathâonly to step on the brittle remains of a Tzeentch daemon.
Fortunately, it didn't raise any alarms.
He noticed that this shallow swamp was littered with bonesâlikely daemons who'd wandered from the Eternal Battlefield and been devoured by Nurgle's creations.
Giant corpse flies buzzed through the stinking air.
But Eden felt nothing.
Perhaps due to his inner darkness, he already bore some Nurgle-like qualities. They just hadn't manifested beforeâsame with the other gods.
He glanced toward the Garden.
But he wasn't going in.
He'd have to be crazy to walk into that hellhole.
T.h.is conte.nt* is host$ed@ at M#|%V#|LE%^%MPY^R.@
Who knew how many Greater Daemons were lurking in there?
That was the domain of a Chaos God. Apart from the Emperor himself, anyone who went in was either dead or corrupted.
Besides, if he entered, the chances of being discovered by Nurgle were too high.
It was better to contact her from outsideâsome other way.
Finding a hidden and comfortable spot, Eden quickly initiated the same Chaos-illusion contact method he'd used before to meet the Goddess of Life.
This time, however, it wasn't a Slaaneshi dreamscape.
He created it himself.
Meaning he could personally tailor it into the ultimate euphoric fantasyâa sensory VR dream come true.
But⊠it just wasn't stimulating enough.
He still preferred to leech off Slaanesh.
The moment the illusion took shape, a response came from deep within the Garden.
The illusion began to merge with the Goddess of Life's hidden sanctuary, overlapping and shielding itself from Nurgle's detection.
Thankfully, she'd always done it this way.
Minimized the chances of being found.
Inside the illusion.
Eden looked up and found himself in a small private school classroom.
Click-clack.
The sound of heels echoed.
And thenâshe entered.
Aisha, the Goddess of Life.
She wore gold-rimmed glasses, a short skirt teacher's outfit that accentuated her curves, sheer black stockings, and carried a whip in one hand.
Temptation incarnate.
"�??!!"
Eden froze.
Did he step onto the wrong film set?!
This Slaaneshi-level illusion was way too accurateâit even nailed this classic trope!
"Devourer of Daemons."
Aisha's soft, sweet voice called outâfilled with joy, and perhaps⊠longing?
She had been alone for so long. No mortals, only daemons and gods.
Thenâ
She looked around and noticed the unfamiliar scene and her unfamiliar attire.
"What is this place?"
"Ahem. Just⊠something from a corner of my homeworld. Don't mind it."
Eden coughed and waved his hand, transforming the illusion and strengthening the link to her sanctuary.
That way, more information could be shared.
As the connection deepened, the classroom morphed into her divine garden, and his consciousness became more solidânearly real.
Now, he had truly entered her domain.
She also reverted to her usual Elven goddess appearance, clad in a flowing gown of light.
"Devourer, I saw the fate of the future. The beings of the galaxy will soonâŠ"
Aisha's face tensed, nearly in tears.
"Aisha, just call me Eden. You were going to say the Lord of Plagues is about to unleash a galactic-scale plague war, right?"
He cut her off, summarizing what she was about to say.
No time to waste.
"Yes, EdâEden." She paused, her ears turning slightly red.
Eden ignored the moment and got straight to the point.
He asked Aisha to give him all her plague research and treatment methodsâand promised that he would rescue her soon.
Right after this plague was handled.
Her eyes welled up at his words. She began to sobâagain.
Crystalline tears fell and clinked as they hit the ground.
Eden looked down.
Those weren't just tears. They were raw materials for Eldar spirit stonesâworth a fortune!
Too bad he couldn't collect them now.
But once he got her out of here, he definitely needed to make her cry some more. For scientific purposes, of course.
Seeing her sob, he rushed over to comfort her. He needed her to calm down and hand over the plague knowledge.
At this moment, nothing was more important than learning!
Eden took her soft little hand and soothed her gentlyâsuccessfully obtaining all the knowledge he sought.
Mission accomplished!
This knowledge wouldn't just help stop the plagueâit would vastly improve the Savior Territory's entire medical field.
And, in her emotion-fueled gratitude, Aisha gave him even more of her divine essence.
She entrusted more of her life power to him.
Such trust!
Even Eden felt a twinge of guilt. If he didn't rescue her after all this, he'd feel like a jerk.
But he said nothing.
Because nowâit was time to go.
As soon as he got the knowledgeâ
He let go of her hand and prepared to sever the connection, to pull his consciousness out of the Garden and return to realspace.
Every second counted now.
Any delay could ruin everything.
Aisha noticed too.
Though reluctant, she helped cut the link.
After all, her Devourer had more important things to doâhe was going to save the galaxy.
That thought only made her admire him more.
"Until next timeâŠ"
Eden smiled gently and began the severance.
And thenâdisaster struck.
Instead of weakening, the connection intensified. Aisha suddenly embraced him tightly.
And thenâvines, flowers, and grasses exploded from the ground.
They completely wrapped around both of them.
Worse yetâthose vines sealed off the only exit.
Eden felt the softness of her body and the faint floral fragranceâ
And didn't dare move.
He really didn't dare.
Because Nurgle had returned.
A wave of foul power engulfed the entire garden. The sky filled with yellow mists, thunder cracking through the air. A grotesque mountain of flesh approached, radiating apocalyptic decay.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Each heavy step from Papa Nurgle brought Eden closer to a nervous breakdown.
Though shielded by the Goddess's power, any movement could expose him.
He couldn't escape. If Nurgle entered the garden, he would be found.
Damn it! This whole sneaky cuck mission just turned into a suicide run!
As tension peaked, and Eden and Aisha clung tightly to each otherâ
The footsteps stopped.
...
Outside the Garden.
Papa Nurgle looked at the overgrown vines sealing the entrance and⊠paused.
He remembered something.
Didn't he trample her flower bed before he left?
Maybe she was still mad about that.
Like a gentleman, the Lord of Plagues didn't barge in.
But neither did he leave.
Insteadâhe set up a massive cauldron outside the gardenâŠ
To brew his finest plague stew.
He planned to offer this lovingly prepared rot-soup as an apologyâ
To win her forgiveness.
(TL: D-Did Nurgle just got NTR'd!!???)
(End of Chapter)
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