The Tyranids are an exceedingly "primitive" form of life. Though they are vast in number, they are merely individual cells of a single organism. Whether the collective consciousness known as the Great Devourer arose from the hunger of countless Tyranid minds, or whether the Great Devourer—born of pure hunger—partitioned itself into the Tyranid swarms, is a question destined to remain unanswered.
While truly "independent" individuals do exist within the Tyranids, they remain parts of Yuno. At any moment, she can reclaim them. Similarly, she can control every single organism in the swarm. The terrifying psychic power of the Great Devourer allows her to command the main body of the hive and remotely direct battles in various locations simultaneously, all while maintaining her intimacy with Yuki.
As the second truly independent individual within the Tyranid race, Yuki also possesses the ability to control other bodies. To Yuno, a body is merely a vessel for consciousness. Yuki is learning to accept this reality as well.
Deklaro collapsed to the ground, followed closely by another body—this was an incredibly strange experience for Yuki. For the first time, he felt his consciousness and his physical form existing in two separate dimensions: one mind controlling two bodies. And this was by no means his limit.
Deklaro still had a chance. If he could open his mouth and utter even a single syllable, he could—
Yuki's fist slammed into his face, caving it in at an unnatural angle. Yuki's other, more intact body followed up, two fingers piercing Deklaro's throat to hook and tear out his vocal cords. Yuki then wrenched the staff away and forcibly injected his own psychic energy into it. A flash of green light erupted as he pinned Deklaro to the ground with the weapon.
"One last hit!"
Both bodies threw a punch simultaneously. With a thunderous boom, Deklaro's entire upper torso vanished. Who Deklaro had been, why he had come here, or what past grudges he held mattered nothing to Yuki, and they would matter even less to the world of the living from now on.
Yuki drained the blood and dug out the gene-seed—a gene-seed already mutated by the influence of the Warp. He consumed it to replenish the biomass he had just lost. Time was pressing; he couldn't afford to linger. This was only the resistance from Tzeentch's side. If—
The left side of his face suddenly exploded. A bizarre sensation welled up as his soul established an extraneous connection with the Warp. It felt strange. He opened his mouth and tried to make a sound.
"Wu."
Thump!
A wave of psychic energy startled even Yuki. He realized a new, strange organ had grown within his body, one that also contained psychic power. Strictly speaking, the psychic power of the Hive Mind does not originate from the Warp; they use the swarm's own mental strength, connected to the Warp through specific means. In other words, they use biological organs to generate power. Yuki was now doing the same.
By consuming the Thousand Sons' gene-seed, Yuki had mastered the "Pseudo-Enuncia" effect that the sorcerer had gained through his deal with Tzeentch. Moreover, Yuki could control it at will.
"Holy crap, this is amazing."
Yuki couldn't imagine the massive advantage he would gain by suddenly using Pseudo-Enuncia in the middle of a battle. As he was thinking, Khornate daemons appeared once more. Yuki hovered in the air, standing with his hands behind his back alongside his other body.
The psychic powers of the two individuals assisted each other, and the intensity of the Shadow in the Warp stacked, allowing them to locate the true Warp anchor in this area. With just a slight disturbance, Yuno's Shadow in the Warp could directly overwhelm these enemies.
Yuki knew what he had to do. He had found it. Ignoring all other enemies, he used psychic power to blast open the ground while his clone cleared away approaching foes.
A mountain of skulls, a "Jingguan," sat piled here. To an ordinary person, such a sight would be unsettling, but it was far from enough to draw Khorne's personal attention. The only reason it existed was that the presence of the Great Devourer and Yuki had caught their gaze.
"Yuno! I've arrived!"
Yuno's psychic power surged through Yuki, and vast numbers of daemons began to wail.
"I'm busy trading blows with Khorne! Destroy this pocket of space!" Yuno commanded.
"Understood!"
Yuki charged forward as a thick scent of blood spread. Gore surged from the Warp rift, and a tall Astartes stepped out. He wore the head-dress often mocked as "rabbit ears," and one of his arms was bare, devoid of armor.
Yuki's heart skipped a beat. This was... the Captain of the World Eaters' 8th Company, the Chosen of Khorne, the Champion of Chaos, Khârn the Betrayer.
Without a single wasted motion, Khârn swung his massive axe.
"Khârn!" Yuki roared his name, activating Pseudo-Enuncia. The powerful psychic energy pulverized the surrounding buildings into atoms, yet when the attack hit Khârn, it merely left faint bloody streaks on his skin.
"I hate shameless sorcerers!" Khârn snarled.
His axe struck Yuki's shoulder. Just before being cleaved in two, Yuki retreated, leaving only his shoulder torn open. Khârn looked at Yuki; he wasn't in the "mad dog" state one might expect. He waited patiently for Yuki to prepare himself. Yuki was not prepared at all; Khârn was different from Greater Daemons like Skarbrand. As a mortal Chosen who had not yet ascended to daemonhood, Khârn's combat prowess was arguably even higher.
"Ready?"
Yuki and his clone lunged simultaneously, attacking Khârn from both sides. Khârn blocked both attacks effortlessly. Yuki's fierce assault seemed to pique his interest slightly, and he began to take the fight seriously.
"Interesting."
Khârn backed away, looking at the wound on his bare arm. To be able to wound him in a frontal confrontation was a feat one could boast about anywhere. He looked at Yuki and finally spoke. "State your name."
"Yuki. Currently a nobody."
"World Eaters, Khârn."
"I thought you'd be more proud of your title as the Chosen of Khorne."
"None of that matters. World Eater, Chosen... as long as I can kill, as long as I can drink deep of blood, I have no complaints."
"Even if it's the blood of Argel Tal?"
Khârn fell silent. That name hadn't been heard in a very long time. Then, a towering rage occupied the entire space. Argel Tal—the first of the possessed, Khârn's best friend who had been dead for ten thousand years.
"It seems you have a death wish."
Khârn charged Yuki with ultimate fury. This was an attack Yuki could not possibly block, and indeed, he had no further defenses. He was cleaved in half by a single strike. But as the enraged Khârn prepared to hunt down the clone, he realized the clone had already reached the anchor point Khârn was supposed to protect.
Khârn understood. Yuki had provoked him on purpose. Yuki wasn't interested in the fight; his goal was only to destroy the Warp influence here.
The clone delivered a punch, a psychic vortex surged, and the Warp anchor wavered as ripples of energy expanded. The Shadow in the Warp rushed in. The Khornate daemons tried to flee like mad; if they died within the Shadow, even their souls would be consumed.
Khârn didn't care. He looked at the immobilized Yuki and prepared to cut down the clone as well. That was, until something stopped his hand.
"My Lord, why are you..."
Khârn returned to silence. He looked at Yuki on the ground and tossed him a skull that had been hanging from his belt.
"You have given us expectation. Do not fail the future."
With that, Khârn shouldered his massive axe and vanished from the material universe.