Chapter 583 - 583: The Chaos Godshard Manifests, The Other-Dimensional World
The battlefield returned to calm; the human Imperium had achieved final victory!
Countless mortal soldiers began to celebrate, people hugging each other, wildly rejoicing in this hard-won triumph.
In the past, humanity waged wars across the galaxy but could only barely maintain the Imperium's operations; countless human worlds were trampled by vile xenos, and they were powerless.
But now, things were different. The great gene primarchs had returned, the great human lord Emperor had awakened from the Golden Throne, and now the Chaos Emperor could no longer threaten them.
The gene primarchs also stepped forward, waving to the ordinary soldiers. After a simple celebration, all the gene primarchs gathered together again.
Leman Russ spoke up: "So... can Horus still transform now?"
Logically, if the cosmic phantom beast leaves them, they can't transform anymore.
Rhodes smiled: "Of course. Daram left a ray of light; Horus can still use the Giant of Light's power. Now Horus can still become a Giant of Light to fight, and his overall strength hasn't decreased at all."
This is the mystery of the Giants of Light; even after separating from the human vessel, they can leave their light in the vessel's body.
In a sense, Giants of Light aren't even physical beings; they're pure energy lifeforms. For example, in ancient times, Diga could leave his combat body behind to pass on his power.
"That's enough. I will use this power, the Giant of Light's power, to continue protecting humanity." Horus spoke firmly. After fusing with the Giant of Light, his soul had been tinged with great light attributes. Now, his eyes could tolerate no darkness, and even his personality had changed.
This was because Daram was originally a dark giant who converted to a Giant of Light; otherwise, if it were an ordinary Giant of Light, Horus would probably have become a saint by now.
"I believe you, Horus. Do you want to fuse with a cosmic phantom beast?" Sanguinius asked.
Rhodes nodded beside him. If Horus wanted, he could find a light-attribute monster and convert it into a cosmic phantom beast.
"No need. I don't need a cosmic phantom beast; I will only use the Giant of Light's power. This is the power shared between me and Daram."
Lion El'Jonson patted his shoulder: "As you wish, my brother. We all support your decision."
Rhodes gazed at the sky thoughtfully: "But... why did Nurgle create a false Mortarion? What exactly is it plotting?"
No one could answer this; perhaps some green fat guy ate too much plague and shit, and his brain suddenly glitched.
In Rhodes's view, this clone had some strength but was still not enough. It did injure Leman Russ, but Leman Russ had just returned.
He had only recently fused with a summer cosmic phantom beast. If it were Sanguinius or another gene primarch, this fake Mortarion would also be killed.
"You don't need to worry about the Imperium's dark side; hurry back to Holy Terra. That's where you should be." Lion El'Jonson turned to Rhodes and said.
The success or failure of this Chaos God Shard Plan concerns the life and death of the entire human race, so no mistakes can be tolerated. Rhodes didn't need to come here; no matter what enemies, they, the gene primarchs, could handle them.
"I was just a bit worried, so I came to check. And since this Mortarion could appear, other traitor gene primarchs might also be cloned by the Chaos Gods in this way. You all need to be careful." Rhodes said.
For example, a certain half-immortal like Vulkan is very skilled in cloning life fusion technology; one must be 120,000% vigilant against him, or they'll fall into his trap.
"Don't worry, Rhodes. If such enemies appear again, we can defeat them with our own power." Horus said.
The most dangerous war on the Imperium's dark side was this one; previous wars could be handled by any gene primarch casually. And now, the Chaos forces have been mostly cleared out.
In the future, if the Emperor can fully rise from the Golden Throne and repair the great rift spanning the galaxy, the Imperium's dark side can be fully reclaimed into the Imperium's embrace.
"I understand. Then I'll return to Holy Terra now. You all continue fighting on the dark side. As for the Imperium's holy frontier, don't worry; there won't be any problems there." Rhodes nodded and said.
On the Imperium's holy frontier, there are his sons, his wife, and the successfully reincarnated Eldar war god Khaine. The battles there aren't as complex as here, and he can rush over to support anytime.
After chatting with the gene primarchs for a while longer, Rhodes opened a portal and left the planet.
…
In the following time, the gene primarchs pressed their advantage, their armies leaving no survivors wherever they went; the Chaos forces were utterly defeated.
All Chaos forces across the entire galactic Imperium's dark side, countless planets infected by Chaos, were reclaimed one by one by the gene primarchs.
Time passed steadily; three years flew by quickly. A massive disturbance came from within the Holy Terra palace.
The Emperor sat on the Golden Throne, with the Angel Zog, the Alien Empera, and the Life Goddess Isha all letting out long sighs of relief.
After several years, they had finally completed the task; this Chaos Godshard had been stripped out.
In these three years, the entire Imperium had undergone another wave of evolution: all-new equipment, new enhancement potions, new knight mech Titans, even some Dreadnought mechs put into use.
With the return of all gene primarchs, the Space Marines' fame resounded across the galaxy once more; countless xenos and Chaos wailed under humanity's attacks.
Now, the Imperium possessed unimaginable power, enough to counter various Chaos assaults. And since Nurgle's sudden move three years ago, the Chaos Gods had made almost no new actions.
"Rhodes, are you ready? Soon, the Chaos Godshard belonging to Slaanesh will be stripped out.
At that time, you must immediately place it into your other-dimensional world to ensure Holy Terra is safe."
Ten years of arduous waiting had finally yielded results.
The Emperor now felt unprecedented relief. Finally, finally, they were about to eliminate a Chaos God. As long as his godshard was thrown into the other-dimensional world, everything he had done would be worth it.
This time, he had even risked dragging Holy Terra into danger. After the Chaos Godshard manifests, the barrier between the real universe and the Warp would be broken.
The remaining three Chaos Gods—Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Khorne—could all descend in their true forms, but Slaanesh's Chaos Godshard absolutely cannot fall into their hands.
No new Slaanesh would be born; a Chaos God would be thoroughly eradicated.
"Rest assured, Emperor; I'm ready. You can start anytime." Rhodes said calmly.
He had made many preparations for this day; various monster enhancements had reached their limits. Now, the dimensional space he created with Yapool had expanded significantly.
This time, he must hide the Chaos Godshard in his other-dimensional world; he absolutely cannot let the Chaos Godshard manifest and break the barrier between Holy Terra and the Warp, connecting here to the Warp and allowing the four Chaos Gods to descend.
The Emperor nodded upon hearing this, exerting force with his hand. From Fulgrim's corpse emerged a rhombus-shaped crystal, thoroughly stripped out.
As soon as this chaotic rhombus crystal appeared, it emitted an indescribable fluctuation, enveloping the entire solar system.
"Now! Quickly, Rhodes—put it into your other-dimensional world. Absolutely cannot let Holy Terra be corrupted by chaotic forces." The Emperor urgently said.
Rhodes nodded, grasping the Slaanesh Chaos Godshard with both hands, then activating his special ability to send this Chaos Godshard into the other-dimensional world.
In a bizarre space, Rhodes suddenly appeared with Slaanesh's Chaos Godshard. Here, the Chaos Godshard's power could not affect the real universe.
…
The instant the Chaos Godshard was stripped, the veil of the real universe was torn—this was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. The three Chaos Gods had waited far too long for this day.
They all awaited this moment to fully descend on Holy Terra, turn the Emperor into the fourth Chaos God, birth the Dark King, reclaim Slaanesh's godshard, and divide it.
But the actual situation defied their expectations. The moment the Chaos Godshard appeared, the barrier between the chaotic Warp and the real universe was indeed broken, even about to envelop the entire solar system in the Warp, turning it into a Warp paradise.
But strangely, this human named Rhodes suddenly used some method to hide Slaanesh's Chaos Godshard, and even he himself vanished.
He didn't exist in the Warp, nor in the real universe, nor in the Webway—as if he had completely disappeared from this universe.
"What's going on? This isn't like our planned scheme. Why? Why did Slaanesh's godshard disappear? How could a Chaos Godshard vanish?" The green fat guy Nurgle howled madly.
For this plan to succeed, he had paid a heavy price, even using some of his own essence to create a terrifying monster.
But the monster was easily defeated by the gene primarchs, which hurt him deeply.
And all this was done to test the Emperor and ensure the mission's success.
"Strange, too strange. Why did the Chaos Godshard disappear? It couldn't vanish into thin air, and where is that human Rhodes?" Khorne said.
Though he would be very happy if Slaanesh's godshard completely vanished, having such terrifying power controlled by someone else was not what he wanted to see.
Beside him, the blue birdman Tzeentch also frowned; this was completely different from what they had imagined!
This powerful Chaos Godshard was supposed to be their trump card, their weapon to utterly destroy the human Imperium.
"So, our plan failed? Tzeentch, you damned bird, you said we would succeed.
After paying such a huge price, we got nothing." Khorne roared.
Beside the three Chaos Gods, Vashtor's face didn't look good either.
These years, the Imperium's dark side had been under his sole pressure; he had created all sorts of bizarre daemon engines, recruited mortals, Chaos Space Marines, and Imperium traitors.
Then created Arks of Omen for them to plunder across the real universe, weakening the Imperium's power.
"Something is indeed off, but don't panic, guys.
Feel it yourselves—the Chaos Godshard didn't disappear; it was hidden by some force.
If the Chaos Godshard vanished, a vacancy would appear in the godshard, and the Warp is a magical place; it would naturally birth a new true god." Tzeentch's eyes flickered as he spoke.
The Warp is their parent; the Warp birthed them, making them the chosen ones. If their Chaos Godshard fell, the Warp should birth another, not remain silent.
This situation is extremely bizarre; there's only one possibility—humans used some unknown method to hide the Chaos Godshard.
"Damned humans, damned Emperor!" Khorne roared.
"So what do we do now?"
"Don't rush; wait and see." Tzeentch said.
…
At this moment, in the other-dimensional world created by Rhodes and Yapool, the Chaos Godshard erupted with terrifying energy, Warp aura filling the entire other-dimensional world.
The newborn other-dimensional world, as if receiving some nutrient, began madly absorbing this Warp power from the Chaos Godshard, rapidly growing.
This seemed like a good thing, but it wasn't entirely; the growth of the other-dimensional world has a limit, and it can only break through after accumulating to a certain point.
With so much Warp energy surging in at once, the other-dimensional world couldn't absorb it all.
"Master, if the Chaos Godshard erupts with more Warp power, the other-dimensional world we created won't be able to absorb it. You must think of something quickly."
Yapool said anxiously.
This was no joke; the other-dimensional world was something he and his master had painstakingly created. It was supposed to be their lair, but if destroyed by this Chaos Godshard, it would be a huge loss.
Rhodes also frowned.