|3rd POV|
Bolothrax roars as he blocks a massive red beam fired from Kael's chest. Sadly for him, this attack carries the concept of Penetration, making all defenses useless against it. The beam punches through his body, destroying the entire left side of his form.
However, empowered by the warp and Nurgle, his body regenerates in an instant.
Bolothrax swings his sword at Kael, but the strike is stopped by a massive red limb. As Kael blocks the attack, the bell on the cleaver rings, triggering an explosion. A green shockwave erupts and liquefies anything it touches, turning the ground beneath Kael into seething goo. The corrosive mass tries to eat through the red armor, but before it can do any damage, white fire bursts from Kael's body and burns it away.
After a brief pause, the two clash once more.
Claw against claw. Teeth against teeth. Mystical attack against mystical attack.
They unleash everything they have against each other, fighting to gain dominance. However, no matter how much juice he receives from his creator, Bolothrax cannot gain an upper hand against Kael, and unconsciously, he does something taboo among Greater Daemons.
Watching from the warp, Khorne releases a delighted laugh as he feels Bolothrax's bloodlust bursting from his body. He is pleased that even Nurgle's chosen can feel rage, hatred, and slaughter so intensely that it echoes across realms and reaches him.
However, before he can give Bolothrax his blessing, Nurgle blocks him. Khorne roars in fury at this, but does nothing. His realm flares a hundred times hotter before settling once more as he backs down.
This is not the time for the Great War Games between the four. He will not attack Nurgle just yet. They have an agreement. It is not yet the Great War Games between the four of them. They are waiting for the fifth player.
Bolothrax struggles against Kael and begins to tap deeper into his patron's realm. Nurgle gladly grants the Greater Daemon more of his power. However, this power no longer feels jolly as Bolothrax feels Nurgle's feeling deep inside of him, which makes him try even harder.
As for Nurgle, his anger bubbles through his domain. His garden churns like a raging ocean. The 'plants' within bloom grotesquely, releasing waves of green miasma. Across the galaxy, diseases grow more potent because of his wrath.
The tear in reality on Atoma Prime expands, allowing even more daemons into realspace as Bolothrax grows stronger than ever. The banishing fire's ability to halt unholy regeneration no longer functions as the warp bends reality itself to overcome it.
However, that does not mean Kael cannot resist.
His Juggernaut Drive continues boosting him every second, fighting against the influence of the warp. His banishing fire roars in defiance as it clashes with unholy power. Each time Bolothrax gets stronger, Kael boosts the power of the banishing fire to fight the Greater Daemon.
Bolothrax keeps regenerating. Kael keeps destroying. An immovable force against an unstoppable will.
Brilliant red light slams into the green daemon and explodes, obliterating everything in its path and shaking the ground beneath them.
The battle grows so intense that earthquakes ripple across the planet. The warp presence around Atoma Prime becomes so overwhelming that every psyker within Sanctuary must be executed. The barrier cannot sever their connection to the warp, and possession becomes inevitable. Daemons manifest within the shield itself.
Luckily, ROB prevents a full daemonic incursion through the psykers, or Sanctuary would already be overrun.
Even the Salamander Librarian chooses suicide rather than let the warp claim their body. Their brothers burn the corpse before it can be used as a vessel.
Only the psyker aboard the spaceship retains a fragment of sanity, though they cannot use their abilities while near Atoma, or they will be possessed by a Daemon. Even the Psykers inside the Custodes vessel are executed by the golden-armored Transhuman, even when they are strong enough to fight the influence of the warp.
"Kael! We need to end this fast. Do you have any plans?"
Ddraig finally speaks after a long silence. He has watched Kael fight both the Greater Daemon and the crushing influence of the warp, bearing down on him like a mountain on his shoulders.
"We need to end this quickly. You only have fifteen minutes left before your body can no longer withstand the Juggernaut Drive. Your life force needs time to recover."
"I know, Ddraig. I know. I'm trying. I have a plan, but I need the connection between Nurgle's realm and realspace to be wide enough for it to work."
"What kind of plan? The portal is almost reaching the Greater Daemon now!"
"Wait and see."
Kael releases another red beam, tearing a massive chunk out of Bolothrax and leaving behind white fire that eats into his flesh. Yet once again, the daemon regenerates as the warp struggles to extinguish the flames.
The boosted banishing fire fights tooth and nail against unholy power. It refuses to let the warp heal the Greater Daemon, but Nurgle's fury widens the connection even further, strengthening his influence and slowly smothering the flames.
Through his own link to the warp, Kael feels the bridge between realms expanding by the second. Bolothrax grows stronger, faster, and more resilient.
It is as if Kael is fighting someone who is also wearing boosted gear.
Every time Kael increases his power, Nurgle pours even more strength into his champion. The only force that truly resists the Chaos God's influence is the power of [Banishing Fire], which always holds the upper hand against anything unholy. Without it, Kael would already be overwhelmed.
"Fofofofo~ Keep struggling, mortal! I can see it! Your soul is weakening! Soon you shall be claimed! Soon, your soul will be tortured by the Grandfather! Soon, it will become the greatest ingredient for his creations! Creations that will bless the entire galaxy!"
Instead of fear or anger, Kael grins. His dragon face twists into a savage, predatory snarl.
"Why?! Why are you smiling?! How dare you smile?!"
Bolothrax roars in fury. He can feel it—Kael is not smiling from madness. He is amused.
Kael looks at Bolothrax and says.
"It is done."
Kael laughs and shoots high into the sky. Bolothrax stares in confusion until Kael pulls something from thin air. It looks comically small in his massive hand, but the power radiating from it makes Bolothrax shudder.
It is a weapon.
Its shape is wrong. Like a lance with a flattened tip. Its body is forged from black and red materials that radiate primordial power older than him.
It is Ea, the Sword of Rupture.
"Let me tell you about Genesis."
The declaration warps reality itself. The laws of the universe buckle as the weapon begins to spin. Red energy roars outward, forming a colossal storm across the planet.
Every lesser daemon caught within it is annihilated instantly.
"Ea! Sing praises as you like!"
The weapon spins faster. The storm intensifies. Red lightning erupts and smites everything foolish enough to exist within its presence.
Bolothrax knows this weapon is beyond anything he has ever faced. Summoning all his power, he charges Kael midair.
Before the attack reaches him, white fire surges from Kael's body and collides with it alongside the red lightning, halting it completely. Bolothrax roars in anger and struggles to charge forward to reach Kael.
"I will tell you of the beginning."
His voice echoes through the warp. The declaration is heard across the galaxy itself.
And the warps answers. It is as if welcoming something that was born alongside the warp itself. It is like the warp welcoming its sibling after a long absence.
ROB smiles as he watches Kael wield Ea for the first time. He reshaped its nature to fit this universe, ensuring it would function within the laws of Warhammer 40K.
Ea is no longer a weapon of the Type-Moon universe.
It is now a primordial weapon born alongside Earth itself. A relic from the planet's genesis. A weapon older than even the Chaos Gods. A weapon that is older than even the Old Ones, the oldest sentient creatures in the Galaxy.
"Heaven and Earth split. Nothingness congratulated Creation… and my sword cleaved the world."
Bolothrax's assault grows stronger as Nurgle continues to pour power into him. But when Kael finishes the second phrase, the storm turns crimson.
It spills into Nurgle's garden, tearing through his domain. A lonely, tortured Goddess watches from her cage in disbelief as the storm devastates the realm. Even the Grandfather of Plague rises from his throne to prevent further destruction.
For the first time since her imprisonment, he looks away. For the first time, Nurgle does not watch her.
For the first time, she feels hope. Hope that one day she can leave this cage, the fragile cage that Nurgle created to taunt her. It tells her that she cannot leave, even when the cage is fragile. A mistake that she soon exploits.
"Mortar of the stars… heaven's hell is the eve of creation's celebration!"
Reality fractures like glass under unbearable pressure. This should be the final chant. The last words before unleashing the power of Ea. However, Kael is not done. He grins and pushes everything he had already accumulated into his weapon.
"Witness the separation! Witness the beginning of a new age! The Age of Gods is over! The Age of Man begins now! Transfer!"
He reverts to human form while maintaining Balance Breaker, pouring everything he has into Ea. The weapon pulses with primordial power that unsettles even the Chaos Gods. With a grin, he swings down his weapon and aims at Bolothrax.
"Enuma Elish!"
A massive red beam erupts from Ea and strikes Bolothrax. His power disintegrates instantly. The attack tears through body, soul, and essence alike, granting him a True Death.
Across the warp, his annihilation is felt. He is an ancient Greater Daemon, and his True Death will echo through the warp. However, his death is insignificant compared to the event that is happening at the moment.
The beam continues, enters through the portal, and enters Nurgle's realm, cleaving it in two before stopping just short of Khorne's domain.
But it does not end there.
A massive red line now exists between warp and realspace, separating the realms of gods and mortals. For the first time in billions of years, there is a place of absolute silence where Chaos Gods cannot influence. A place where no Gods can influence.
A sanctuary.
The imprisoned Goddess seizes the chance and tears her cage, the fragile illusion that she now uses to regain her freedom. After leaving her cage, she immediately retreats to the opening void, and before Nurgle can even notice, she disappears into the void, becoming its first netizen.
In realspace, a second Great Rift forms—calm, red, and desolate. It circles Segmentum Solar and severs all daemon incursions, even on Terra.
For the first time in millennia, the Emperor of Mankind feels no pressure from the Four. The rift underneath the palace disappears into nothingness and leaves him alone.
For the first time, he can think clearly.
And he does not like what he sees of his Imperium. A golden light engulfs the entire planet, and once again, the Emperor walks among mortals. Sadly, he needs to take care of a group of Grey-Armored group that tries to make him sit on the throne once again.
As for Kael, he roars in triumph and flies over Sanctuary. But before he can land, his body finally gives out. He begins to fall. His body falls through the air and agitates the people inside the sanctuary, screaming in worry.
Rita leaps from the wall and catches him, wrapping him in her arms and cushioning the impact against the wall.
"Ah… sorry, Rita. My body isn't working right now."
"You idiot. Why are you apologizing? You saved us all."
Kael hums weakly.
"I am home, Rita."
"Welcome home, my lord. Sleep well."
Kael smiles and closes his eyes.
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