[Warp]
After finishing his purification work, the Emperor pondered for a moment before ultimately deciding to terminate his series of small secret plans—completely terminate them.
Continuing to pull small tricks and secretly leech benefits from Selene was truly not worth the risk.
The Emperor had seen with his own eyes Selene's large-scale cleansing campaign across the galaxy. He had also observed the signs of his surviving loyal Primarch sons converging toward the Throne World, Terra, from every corner of the galaxy.
At this point, the matter was already decided.
The Imperium of Man would merge into the Sacred Selene Empire, and he himself would relinquish the title of Master of Mankind, becoming instead a worldly emperor, a divine empress's advisor, general, minister, or even a researcher.
After all, he was nearly omnipotent. Whatever Selene needed him to do, he could do.
Oh, except for being a psychologist.
The Emperor was at least clear on that much about himself.
Whoo—
"...Nurturing... blooming, the wind rises."
After the conceptual consciousnesses of the Chaos Gods had perished, the veil of the Immaterium was finally in the hands of one being. The Sea of Souls at this moment was like a tranquil spring, barely disturbed by the faintest ripples. The once-raging storms and tempests were gone without a trace.
The Emperor stood above that clear spring.
The sky was filled with a mist-like chaotic current, glimmering like crystalline starlight, as though it contained endless mysteries. Beneath his feet, blades of emerald grass sprouted tenderly from the rootless spring, forming a circular cluster as they bowed gently.
It was almost unimaginable—there was now a trace of such natural vitality within the Warp itself!
At the very center stood a giant tree shaped like a wisteria, its entire form a translucent violet-red crystal. In just a few seconds, it grew lush and dense, vines twisting and roots intertwining, its canopy wide as a pavilion.
Five distinct bulges could be seen upon its trunk, connected together to form a strange symbol:
A brass throne cast from blood and skulls; shifting storm clouds filled with lightning; a graceful, unforgettable silhouette of beauty; a decayed hall of plague and ruin.
And at the topmost part, a diamond-shaped cross starburst, glowing like the orbiting sun.
"Hm?" The Emperor let out a soft sound of surprise, then smiled wryly. "So fast."
On the Imaginary Tree born from the Honkai Egg within the [Warp], besides the imprints of the five major Chaos Gods, countless lesser Chaos entities and racial gods had also left their marks.
Among them, the ones that caught the Emperor's attention most were the sigils belonging to the Aeldari Mother Goddess, the God of War, and the God of the Dead.
And—
"The Orks? What the hell, brothers."
The Emperor frowned with visible displeasure, gazing at the two crude green faces that had suddenly appeared on the tree's trunk—one fierce and cunning, the other cunning and fierce.
Compared to the intricate sigils of the other gods, the Ork glyphs stood out like children's finger paintings in an international art exhibition.
So jarringly out of place that the Emperor, plagued by his own perfectionism, had the urge to pluck them off for Selene's sake.
Hoo...
He exhaled with forced restraint. "The Warp's silence... without the interference of Chaos Daemons, my body's resurrection has accelerated considerably. The purification is done. It's time I return to Terra."
"However... the Aeldari pantheon's marks seem to be missing Cegorach, that jester. Why did Selene leave him be?"
"Never mind. A mere clown isn't worth mentioning."
"It's time... to meet my sons again."
...
Physical Universe, Eastern Fringe of the Galactic Rim, outside the Damocles Gulf Arm.
T'au.
Hot. Dry. Oppressive. The sky was dark and heavy.
"Warriors, do not fear!"
"For the Greater Good! For the Ether—let us die together!"
It was the frail roar of the Tau.
BZZZZ—!!
The explosion of burning atmosphere came so slowly that before the sound reached the ears of the Fire Caste warrior within his battlesuit, every bone in his body had already been shattered by the shockwave. By the time he realized what was happening, his body had been flung high into the air like a ball.
Metal expanded. Flesh burst. From the gaps of his armor, red and black fluid sprayed outward, beautiful as a blooming rose.
Although the T'au Empire's commander had pulled an Ether Priest aboard an emergency shuttle in an attempt to flee, unfortunately, the entire star system had been sealed off. Space and time were both locked, leaving them only to watch in despair as one after another of violet-red fire meteors fell from the heavens—each bearing a light and heat far more terrifying than the last.
BOOM!
Massive clouds of smoke and ash rose from the continental shelves, leveling the once-prosperous, high-tech futuristic cities. Countless pitiful T'au and their supreme, untouchable Ether Saints could not even leave behind a single cell of flesh and blood.
In the blink of an eye, all turned to ash. No matter how large or how small, under the annihilating beams of destruction, nothing survived.
After about ten seconds, the world-shattering light of annihilation finally faded. On the surface of the planet were several scorch marks stretching thousands of kilometers long and hundreds wide. From orbit, T'au looked as though someone had taken a charcoal pencil and slashed it violently several times.
The entire planet was covered with winding scorch scars, many still faintly smoking, like a half-baked fruit—the churning magma beneath its crust the molten flesh within.
Lowering her glowing hand, whose faint light slowly faded, Selene casually blew away the debris of what had once been the T'au diplomatic fleet, scattering it into stardust. Raising an eyebrow, she sifted through all of the T'au's data before shaking her head.
"A bunch of naive, blue-skinned fools who've never been properly beaten by their elders."
That was Selene's evaluation.
The T'au's understanding of the galaxy's true nature was far too innocent.
For one thing, they believed the supernatural powers of the Warp were harmless, that Humanity and the Aeldari shunned the Warp only because of their barbarism and ignorance...
They had seen the armies of the Imperium, of the Orks, of the Necrons, or of the Tyranid Hive Fleets, yet still believed that the Greater Good would triumph over all. They believed themselves to have mastered the art of war while other races remained mired in ignorance.
Having faced only a fraction of their enemies' true might, they assumed that was the enemy's full strength—and believed that even if they were temporarily crushed, they would eventually triumph under the banner of the Greater Good. They knew nothing of true power.
The young T'au had no idea what truly awaited them in the depths of the galaxy.
Tch. As things stood, had Selene not wiped out the Chaos Gods and cleansed the [Warp], those naive blue fools would eventually surpass Humanity (and the will of GW) as the next favorite playthings of the Warp's corrupted entities.
As for why the T'au hadn't yet attracted the daemons of the Warp...
Well... their current empire was simply too small.
They were still floundering in a shallow puddle of a few star systems—hardly needing faster-than-light travel, and thus never truly touching the Warp.
Oh, though their technology was impressive. To evolve from reptilian creatures to such a level of civilization and reach interstellar colonization in only seven or eight thousand years was enough for Selene to consider backing up their data and leaving a few planets of T'au alive for observation.
Ten thousand years ago, the Imperium of Man was this way. Ten thousand years later, it still is.
Only the T'au march boldly forward.
The T'au were lucky enough to survive and avoid the galaxy's endless cataclysms, enjoying over eight thousand years of peaceful development.
"Heehee, if only the T'au knew that everything they believe in is a joke! That everything they cherish or fight for... everything... is nothing more than a cruel and mad prank! Heehee..."
Behind Selene, from the void of darkness, the Aeldari Laughing God silently emerged—his exaggerated posture and awkward tone filled with mockery as he respectfully presented the symbol of submission on behalf of the Aeldari gods and the Harlequin troupes.
"Hmm, seems offering up the Commorragh Aeldari to the heavens had its hidden perks," Selene said with a faint gesture, signaling Cegorach to rise.
Cegorach obeyed respectfully. He brushed his chest lightly and stood humbly beside Selene.
Looking at the comical jester face so similar to that of a classic clown, Selene merely smiled.
Strictly speaking, he had come to her on his own.
After Selene had purged the galaxy of Genestealers and Tyranid Hive Fleets, passing through Baal, Cegorach had cautiously approached her and humbly expressed his intent—
To, like the Emperor, serve under Selene's banner.
She did not bother with pleasantries and directly gave Cegorach a task: to meet in Selene's stead with the supreme ruler of the Necrons, the Silent King, and reach an agreement—to prove his worth.
To have the god of the Aeldari, the ancient enemies of the Necrons, meet the Silent King in person—this was an act of audacity, both a display of confidence and a silent, implicit warning.
A court jester, indeed. Watching him and the Emperor scheme and counter one another in the future would be quite entertaining. If he misbehaved, she could always kill him later.
"What did Szarekh say?"
Without turning her head, Selene continued gazing at the T'au homeworld.
"The Necrons' stance is... contradictory. There was clamor and discord, but in the end, they chose peace. Our Silent King is willing to cease hostilities against Humanity and to follow you, pledging allegiance. However..."
"However?"
"'The loyalty of the deathless shall only be sworn before our true ruler and sovereign—you are not yet worthy, leftover scrap of the Old Ones' toys.' Those were Szarekh's exact words, my liege."
The Laughing God shrugged.
"So impatient, are they? I had intended to leave him waiting a while longer—to give those slumbering Necron machine-brains more time to boot up and run their calculations. After all, once they enter my service, there will be no chance for betrayal."
Selene idly twirled her fingers with an amused smile.
"..."
Still unfamiliar with Selene's temperament, Cegorach fell silent—not out of unwillingness to flatter her, but because...
He stole a glance at Selene, only to avert his gaze almost instantly.
Even that brief glimpse had shown him something vast and unspeakable. Were it not for his own status as a powerful divine being—and for Selene's current lack of hostility—that single glance might have been enough to shatter his sanity.
"Let him wait a while longer. He may take it as a sign of my regard—for him and for the Necron race. The last of the great species to be received by me in person. They shall have the honor of coming to the Imperial Capital for investiture—standing beside the Sangheili and the Protoss as equals."
The blue-white flow of data faded from Selene's eyes. Having gathered all the information she desired, she lost interest in the T'au.
"These blue-skinned fools... I'll leave their education to you."
Extermination? No—that was excessive. She was not the Emperor, always reaching for an exterminatus when matters grew troublesome. With the Laughing God, a being who had survived both the Aeldari Fall and their Great Corruption, standing beside her, it was simpler to let him deal with them.
"Yes, my lady!"
When Cegorach raised his head again, Selene had already departed from that sector of space.
Haa...
The Laughing God let out a long breath, and though unseen, there was perhaps a faint flicker of melancholy—gone as quickly as it came.
Truly, as one of the last surviving gods of the Aeldari, standing before the embodiment of Finality—the being who had slain the Prince of Pleasure and struck down the Blood God—even with his madness, his divine mind was at its limit. Especially now that Finality had absorbed the authority of the Prince of Pleasure.
Standing before her was little different from standing before Slaanesh in sheer terror.
"Heeheehee... So, to live a little longer—and to see even more delightful chaos—I must fulfill my mission!" After a long pause, Cegorach's twisted grin turned toward the scarred and ravaged surface of T'au, devastated by lingering aftershocks.
"Hello, little ones! Would you like to play a game?"
...
From the Eastern Fringe toward the Throne World, Terra—the direction of the Warp route.
Within a warp-tunnel fracture, shimmering with violet-red light.
A massive fleet composed of warships bearing the 'Ω' emblem—painted in gold and blue, belonging to the Ultramarines Chapter and the Imperial Preachers' Expeditionary Fleet—was speeding through the corridor.
The Warp was so calm. So strange.
The tides of destruction had completely vanished. The once-roaring, raging Sea of Souls now lay still and serene, like an artificial lake in a paradise world, gentle as a spring breeze.
"Unprecedented speed... How fast the Warp transit has become!"
The current Chapter Master of the Ultramarines still seemed in disbelief, struggling to comprehend the healed Great Rift and the disappearance of all warp tears scattered across the galaxy. In astonishment, he asked over the command channel:
"Father, it... it worked? Has the Emperor truly reached an accord with the Chaos Gods? Have they truly kept their word?"
"For now, it seems so," Guilliman replied with a calm smile. "And soon, we will see the Emperor walk once more among mankind."
Though doubts remained, events were undeniably turning for the better, were they not?
Before long—bzzzzzz—!
At the end of the warp corridor, ripples appeared, and its unchanging color gradually shifted into the vibrant hues of the material universe. On the bridge of the Macragge's Honour, Guilliman clearly saw, at the edge of the solar system, the crimson orb of Mars and its orbital platforms.
The Throne World was near.
"That's... Jonson's Unyielding Truth? He's already arrived..."
—
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