Eden sat upon the Chaos Throne.
He looked down at Horus and the Dark Guard below, as though accepting the courtly homage of ministers.
At this point, he—the Savior, the Emperor of the Imperium—had no desire to continue fighting. His posture was utterly relaxed.
As if the terrifying Dark Emperor posed no threat to him at all.
It was settled. Everything was settled!
"Do you think you can anger me with such crude tricks? Unfortunately, none of this means anything."
Horus raised his hand and crushed the Primarch's blade he had seized earlier.
Thick sulfurous smoke poured from his mouth and nose. The rhythm of his heartbeat struck within every heart present, giving rise to an uncontrollable fear.
In the Dark Emperor's eyes, the Savior was merely fierce in appearance and weak within, bluffing to hide his fear. In Horus's current state, no one in the galaxy could rival him.
Even avatars of the gods were no better than this. In fact, they might not even match him. No one else in the galaxy could gather such terrifying supreme daemonic power all at once.
He, Horus, was the most perfect vessel for Chaos in the galaxy!
In an instant, the elite Imperial forces in the area came under unbearable pressure. They could not withstand the evil bearing down on them.
They instinctively took a step back, the muscles throughout their bodies trembling despite themselves.
Primal fear left these warriors unable even to raise their blades. It was the pressure of a higher-dimensional being over lesser existences.
And not only these warriors. Even the god-engines began to operate sluggishly under the corruption of daemonic power, their components clicking and groaning.
An enemy of this level could no longer be handled by piling on manpower and war machines.
Guilliman, Sanguinius, and the other Primarchs gathered before the throne. Their armor creaked under the invisible pressure, and their breathing grew heavy.
The battle just now had already made them realize that they were no match for the Dark Emperor. They were even more worried that the Savior would not be able to withstand his ferocious Chaos might.
Guilliman looked toward the Savior, his eyes full of concern, and warned him.
"Brother Eden, be careful. That traitor has accepted the power of the evil gods. He is far stronger than before…"
"I know he is very strong right now. Much stronger than I am in the galaxy. But the situation has changed."
Eden gave Guilliman a look that said, Relax. I'm here. Then he descended from the Chaos Throne.
He stepped forward.
In a single breath, he used sorcerous psychic power to cross several kilometers and appear before Horus's terrifying daemonic body.
The Savior's form was tall, but before the fully daemonized Horus, he still appeared somewhat slight.
The atmosphere between them froze.
That distance made Guilliman and the other Primarchs deeply anxious.
They could not imagine how their Savior brother intended to defeat this being who had gathered the power of the gods.
Eden looked up at Horus's unrecognizable face and sighed.
"I didn't expect you to fully accept the Chaos Gods' power. This actually makes things easier."
"You intend to fight me like this?" Horus frowned slightly, then pulled his face into a savage grin. "If this is all the strength you have, I can crush you with one hand!"
"The old Emperor already has half his ass off the Golden Throne. At a time like this, what kind of nonsense is all this fighting and killing?"
Eden spoke with the frustration of someone disappointed in a stubborn student.
"Little Horus, stop shouting about murder all the time. The Chaos Gods have already decided on a ceasefire with the Imperium.
"This war is over. We have more important things to do."
Just moments ago, the Chaos Gods had been thoroughly terrified by the approaching dark calamity. They had agreed to every one of his conditions and signed an unequal treaty, becoming especially obedient.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to return from the warp unscathed and deal with matters here. To stop the dark calamity, both sides had to cooperate at the same time.
???
The Savior's words stunned Horus. Even the Chaos warriors and daemons were dumbfounded, momentarily at a loss.
This war to besiege the Solar System had ended just like that?
Whether Horus or some of the more powerful Chaos beings, all of them possessed sorcerous daemonic power. They could sense that the Savior was not lying.
But none of it was easy to accept.
The Chaos coalition had paid too much in this campaign. They had suffered brutal Imperial counterattacks and braved countless bombardments to reach this place.
Now, with victory in sight, the Chaos Gods were ordering them to cease fire?
No. This was not a ceasefire. It was surrender. Naked surrender!
After sensing the divine edict from the warp, Horus went numb. Then he felt anger and a chill in his heart.
He had cooperated with the Chaos Gods, fought desperately, and attacked the Solar System on Their behalf.
Now, just as he was about to defeat the Savior, those Chaos Gods had been frightened out of Their wits by the false Emperor and no longer dared continue. Pure cowardice!
As expected, fighting alongside those warp-spawned vermin of evil gods would never defeat the Imperium!
"Grandfather, this cannot be.
"The plague is about to spread and run rampant. The Sevenfold Blessing is about to descend upon the galaxy. How can You end this war?"
"Blood God above, are our warriors truly going to retreat like this? Are we to leave the Solar System in the humiliation of failure, like cowards?!"
The Greater Daemons could not believe it. They looked as though they had lost their parents.
They were about to win under the leadership of the Dark Emperor. How could they abandon the fruits of victory like this?!
The news that the Chaos Gods had decided to end the war spread through the Chaos camp, leaving them dejected and feeling betrayed.
Some Chaos entities and daemons were so grief-stricken and furious that they nearly shed thick, burning tears.
They had invested faith-based daemonic energy into this war too. They needed to reap returns through killing and torment, or they would lose everything down to their underwear.
The Chaos Gods demanded too many faith sacrifices now, taking such a heavy cut that many beings suffered bitterly. They had all been waiting to win this great battle.
Afterward, they would break out of the Solar System and plunder the wealthy star systems around it to recover their costs.
But now, all hope had vanished.
"Savior above, have we won?!"
"Victory eternal!"
On the Imperial side, fear was shattered and morale surged. Elite warriors raised their weapons and shouted, as though already celebrating.
For the warriors of the Imperium, they had been fighting a defensive war. If Chaos withdrew, that was victory.
And more than that, the Chaos coalition's attack had basically been stopped by the Iron Wall. They had never even invaded the surface of any planet in the Solar System.
Not only that, the Imperium had counterattacked all the way to Chaos's main fortress.
Now that the Chaos coalition was going to retreat, compared to the Imperium's brutal defensive wars of the past, this was far ahead of expectations. It could be called a great victory.
Guilliman, Sanguinius, and the other Primarchs deeply agreed.
The most important thing now was to resolve the loss of control of the Emperor, their father, and prevent Him from becoming the Dark King and dragging the Imperium into the abyss.
Compared with the war before them, they were far more worried about their father's safety. There was not a second to spare.
Yet in the next instant, the cheers of the Imperial camp were drowned out by an abhorrent voice.
"No. We will never surrender. We will not stop this war. As for that false Emperor, I will personally use the ancient artifact to suppress him!"
Horus was utterly resolute. He refused to obey the gods, and his words seemed to feed the Chaos Daemons a stabilizing pill.
This was the galaxy, not a place where the Chaos Gods alone had the final say. He could still defy the gods' will, completely seize control of this Chaos coalition, and continue the war.
At worst, he would do as his gene-son Abaddon had done, using the Eye of Terror as his central base, or corrupting more planets into his own territory.
No matter what, he would defeat the Savior and retake New Dragon Forest and the ancient artifact.
Horus stared at the Savior, his tone cold.
"The war between Chaos and the Imperium will never end. Today, you must die here. In front of everyone, I will crush your bones one by one!"
The Dark Emperor was already certain that the so-called Emperor of the Imperium before him could not defeat him. Today, he had to kill the Savior. No one could stop him.
Horus had spoken!
The Dark Emperor's declaration raised the morale of the Chaos Daemons. Their eyes turned venomous once more as they stared at the Imperial warriors.
A new round of war was about to erupt.
"Hey, hey, hey. You really shouldn't say things that undermine unity. That kind of talk badly affects the harmony between Chaos and the Imperium…"
Eden took a deep breath.
The fighting could not continue now. Otherwise, it would interfere with the next plan. The Chaos coalition was a massive force, and completely eliminating it would consume too much energy.
Even if he did not destroy them, he absolutely could not allow them to become an obstacle to the throne-repair plan.
That was also one reason he had not immediately started fighting Horus. He wanted to resolve the problem peacefully, so the impact could be erased more quickly.
"Coward, face me! Fight me in a true duel, a duel to the death!"
Horus had no patience left for conversation. This was the victory he had craved for ten thousand years.
He would seize the Imperium created by the false Emperor and completely shatter that false Emperor's throne. He could not give that up because of any being or anything.
Thump, thump, thump—
The Khorne-forged furnace in Horus's chest continued heating up, brewing a terrifying force of tens of millions of tons.
His fist struck out with a distorted airburst, tearing open space along its path.
"Whoever survives will be the true… Emperor of the galaxy!"
"This guy really is stubborn. Even the Chaos Gods can't control him?
"They're useless. Did none of Them think to leave a backdoor in those domain powers?"
Eden frowned as the domain attack came at him.
Under normal circumstances, one should always leave a backdoor in strategic-level power like this, just in case the target lost control or turned against its owners.
Yet now, Horus still had his own independent will and could still wield the vast domain power the Chaos Gods had granted him.
It seemed They had been too desperate to suppress the Emperor back then. They had paid a heavy price, granted Horus immense strength, and given him far too much autonomy.
Unfortunately, that power had now gone out of control and become an obstacle instead.
Eden reacted extremely quickly. He immediately raised his arms and crossed them in front of himself to block the ferocious blow.
Boom!
Horus carried immeasurable force and smashed into the Savior, the tremendous pressure cracking the ground and forcing magma to spill out.
This one strike drove Eden straight underground, leaving a massive crater in the earth.
"Coward, die!"
Horus gave the Savior no chance to breathe. He jumped into the crater and struck him again and again.
He used all his strength to batter this Emperor of the Imperium upon whom the false Emperor had placed such hope.
Originally, all of this should have belonged to him, the Dark Emperor. He was the true successor of the Imperium, the master of humanity!
The terrifying shockwaves pulverized everything around them, and the giant crater continued to expand.
"Brother Eden!"
"Big Brother!"
Guilliman, Rogal Dorn, and the other Primarchs saw this and immediately roared as they charged forward, hoping to aid the Savior.
Yet the terrifying daemonic power of the Chaos Gods repelled all of them. They could not even get close.
This was a battle between the Savior and the Dark Emperor. It was a higher-dimensional war. Other beings did not possess enough strength to participate.
They could only watch helplessly.
"I never thought of seizing all this, nor did I wish to wage war. But the false Emperor deceived everyone and failed everyone.
"He has no ability to dominate the galaxy, and neither do you. I will use Chaos to fully unleash humanity's potential, and not even the gods will be able to interfere.
"I am the master of the galaxy!"
Below the giant crater, Horus was almost consumed by hatred.
He roared and struck the Savior into the lava. Then he opened his mouth and spat out malicious plague pus. Countless tiny maggots began gnawing at the Savior.
After that came sulfurous fire, tormenting whispers of pleasure, and labyrinth traps.
The abhorrent powers of the Chaos Gods completely swallowed the figure in golden armor, as though they would tear him apart in the next instant.
This dangerous sight made the Primarchs and elite Imperial warriors tense with fear.
When the Chaos Daemons saw this, they erupted into cheers. It was as though they had seen the arrival of victory.
As long as the Savior died, they would be able to freely divide the terrifying chaos that followed and the faith-based daemonic energy it generated.
That would be the most delicious fruit.
"Horus, are you trying to tickle me?"
Yet from within the Chaos storm formed by the gods' daemonic power, the Savior's voice rang out.
He sounded completely relaxed, as though he had not suffered any damage at all.
The next instant, Eden's figure floated up from within the Chaos storm. There was no trace of injury on his body.
"That's impossible…"
Horus's pupils contracted, his face full of disbelief.
He unleashed another blast of sulfurous flame.
Yet when Khorne's domain of slaughter approached the Savior, it was almost like smoke blowing against him, causing no damage whatsoever.
It was even absorbed by him.
Horus attacked several more times in succession, but none of it caused any harm. Even more terrifying was that the silhouettes of the Chaos Gods appeared behind the Savior.
They were glaring at Horus.
The Chaos Gods were angry. Angry that Their slave had defied his masters' will.
"Old bastards of the warp, cough up the goods!"
Eden's body shook, and he brazenly accepted the blessings of the Chaos Gods.
These were domain powers They had scraped together by selling off everything They owned, practically pawning Their own coffins. According to the contract from earlier, these supreme evil gods had to support him, the Savior, without reservation.
It was an unequal treaty, and also the Chaos Gods' only chance to save Themselves.
If They did not want to be devoured by the Dark King, They had no other choice.
They could only choose to believe in him, the Savior, so he could stop the Dark King's descent.
Under the blessings of the Chaos Gods, Eden had no fear of Horus's attacks.
Those powers had belonged to the gods in the first place.
Just as he had predicted earlier, when the Chaos Gods granted Horus power, They had also left some backdoors to regain control at the critical moment.
"I told you. There's no future in fighting and killing. Cooperation is the only path to mutual benefit.
"Chaos has already ceased hostilities with the Imperium. It doesn't matter how much you object. Besides, the power in your body never belonged to you in the first place."
Eden floated before Horus's towering daemonic body and spoke calmly.
His presence was growing wildly, completely suppressing Horus's aura. At the same time, he continuously absorbed and devoured the divine domain power from Horus's body.
That was also the down payment the Chaos Gods owed him. As for the rest of the balance, They were still desperately borrowing and scraping it together. Stopping the Dark King required an ocean of faith-based daemonic energy.
"No… that is my power!"
Horus's pupils constricted, and a trace of fear rose in his heart. He could feel the power within him being plundered by the Savior, and he was gradually growing weaker.
He lunged at the Savior, trying to take those domain powers back.
"Traitor, what do you think you are doing?
"Are you trying to sabotage the greater effort to stop the Dark King and become history's greatest sinner?!"
Eden shouted in righteous fury.
He spoke with absolute moral authority, carrying the momentum of the warp and the galaxy itself. He gathered the powers of the Hell King, the Sun of Hope, and the gods' domains.
Then he swung one massive slap across Horus's face and sent him crashing hard to the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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