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The grotesque flesh-egg extended tendrils, lifting Emile from the cross upon which he was bound.
Ignis strained with all his will to move—but not a single muscle obeyed. Were it not for the air still filling his lungs, he would have believed time itself frozen. His nervous system failed to transmit; his muscles gave no response.
He could only watch. Only watch.
The Salamander roared within his own mind, issuing command after command—yet even his smallest finger would not stir.
Sinera bore the egg toward the portal. Nothing born of that thing could be good.
Move. His will screamed. Move! But his body was a prison of silence.
Emile's head vanished first into the writhing mass. The flesh-egg trembled in visible ecstasy once it swallowed him, convulsing as if savoring the taste. Its motions quickened, eager—almost impatient—to draw him fully inside.
Ignis prayed to the Emperor, beseeching the Master of Mankind to shield the boy. No answer came. Only silence.
As the swallowing continued, tears would have formed—had his body allowed it. Something inside his chest felt torn away. But even grief was shackled.
The Emperor did not answer. Disappointment curdled into sorrow. He had always believed that the one upon the Throne loved humanity.
Perhaps, in His sight, the people of New Eridu were not truly human. They paid no tithes. They were not Imperial subjects.
Yet Ignis was not the only one agitated. The Khorne daemon bound within his chainaxe was in near panic. Its chosen host's will had fractured—but it was ensnared by Slaanesh sorcery.
If word of this spread in the Warp, it would be mockery for millennia.
It strained toward the Immaterium, attempting to ride the immense soul-force radiating from the egg. If Slaanesh could summon reinforcements—then Khorne could as well. And better. His brothers excelled at slaughter—especially slaughter of Slaanesh's kind. Moreover, the energies of Khorne's domain bore a baneful resonance against sorcery.
Just reach the Blood God's realm…
Ignis felt the chainaxe's own will pressing outward. He had never trusted daemons. He knew what became of those who truly pledged to Khorne—magnificent perhaps, but enslaved.
And yet, in that moment, the only solution he could conceive was surrender. If he truly called upon Khorne, something monstrous—an An'ggrath-like abomination—might erupt from the gate in an instant.
But would that be salvation? Khorne's arrival in New Eridu would differ from Slaanesh's only in method, not in outcome.
So, this was helplessness before Chaos. Had doomed worlds felt this same despair?
Emile's body vanished completely. Even the cross was consumed. The egg quivered in rapture.
Rapture—at nourishment? At acquiring a component for some unborn horror? Either way, fury ignited within Ignis.
Kill it. Kill it. Grind its bones. Burn it to ash.
His soul howled. Calm thought unraveled. Hatred devoured restraint.
Vengeance. Vengeance. Vengeance.
Every cell in his body screamed.
「"Thank you, kind sir."」
Emile's voice echoed—memory, or something more.
Ignis remembered their first meeting. Emile Volt beaten by thugs, refusing to yield. When Ignis intervened, the boy—brave until rescue—had finally cried in relief while thanking him.
Such a good child. So much promise.
Ignis had sworn to protect him. Had even dreamed of nurturing his artistic gift.
Was it my interference that doomed him?
The thought horrified him.
Do not flee responsibility. A voice thundered within. Avenge him.
The words became a mantra.
"Ah, what a pitiful sight," Sinera's voice purred.
"The egg is about to hatch. What do you suppose will emerge?"
Kill her.
"I should thank you, dear. Without your guidance, I would never have found such a marvelous soul."
His fury burned brighter.
"The emblem upon your leg—he designed it, did he not? A masterpiece. So delightfully earnest."
The daemon laughed, circling his immobile form.
"You swore to protect him. Yet you never found him in time."
You failed.
The words became fire.
"Let us make a bargain," the honeyed voice whispered. "Join us. I may return his soul."
Silence.
"Oh? No answer?"
She snapped her fingers. The portal's tendrils seized the egg.
"Did you wonder what would hatch? So many souls within. Emile might have left… traces."
"But alas, it must be destroyed. The portal's strength wanes."
"Say goodbye."
The tendrils constricted. The egg convulsed, then stilled. When released—nothing remained.
"Die!"
Rage shattered the sorcery. Ignis moved.
The chainaxe roared in answer, crimson fire engulfing his armor. The strike was impossibly swift—too swift for Sinera to evade fully. The whirring teeth tore away one of her claws.
"You broke my spell? Impressive. The axe's doing?"
He did not answer. Only wrath remained.
"Vengeance."
Her short blade intercepted the chainaxe—but the daemonic teeth chewed relentlessly, biting through the weapon. Ignis kicked her in the abdomen, heedless of consequence.
She retreated with agile grace, summoning ethereal whips—Slaanesh's Lash—their tips wrapped in blades.
They struck. Agony seared directly into flesh and soul. But pain meant nothing. Hatred sustained him.
Around them, movement returned. Cerakos fought on. Gotthardt redirected fire, herding the daemon toward Ignis.
Chainaxe and thunder hammer descended in tandem.
Sinera parried and riposted, her blade plunging into Ignis's abdomen. Poison surged through him. Organs began to fail.
He seized her wrist and forced the blade deeper, refusing release.
Only vengeance matters.
The chainaxe pressed closer to her skull. She felt strain for the first time. Elegance faltered.
Desperate, she unleashed psychic force. Reality above Ignis fractured like a mirror. Shards of Warp-glass fell, slicing through ceramite and soul alike.
The pain was unbearable. His grip trembled—but it wasjust enough.
She severed her trapped limb and slipped free. The chainaxe carved away another claw but missed her head.
She staggered back, wounded—and afraid. He was poisoned. He would not last.
Ignis lunged again—only for a cold metallic tendril to sweep before him.
He turned.
From the portal poured a host of Slaanesh Daemonettes.
The gate had awakened once more.
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