"What's wrong with him? He seems a bit off," Rhodes whispered to Isha.
"There's an issue, yes. But I did my best! His soul was shattered, then forced to fight for over ten thousand years. A little mental trouble is normal," Isha replied.
The main culprit here was Aisha. During the attack on the Pantheon, Khaine was an unwitting victim—his soul shattered, a chunk even devoured by Aisha herself.
After ten thousand years and Isha's personal restoration, it was still uncertain if the real Khaine could return.
The newly revived Khaine felt a splitting headache. Fuzzy memories flickered—he seemed to be the god of war! Some catastrophe had defeated him. He'd never known such powerful foes before.
He'd even forgotten his own name! Only the desire for vengeance against a purple-glowing goddess remained, and a need to compete with a crimson being—though he seemed to have lost to both.
Isha and Rhodes exchanged glances, then silently switched to communicating via system channel.
Because Isha also had a cosmic phantom beast, she could access Rhodes's chat channel.
"This guy seems brain-damaged. Will our plan still work? Can he still draw Chaos's attention?" Rhodes asked.
"How should I know? I did my best to gather all his fragments and used my life power to repair him, even tapped into my phantom beast's order abilities. Otherwise he might not have survived at all," Isha replied.
"Isha! Remind Rhodes we might have to control Khaine by other means. Khaine, as the god of war, is naturally opposed to Khorne, able to steal much of his power," Aisha said in the mental realm.
"Want me to just hand over control of the body to you? Khaine wouldn't even notice—he's completely out of it," Isha said.
"Fine, I'll do it. But when Khaine merges with his body, I'll still need your life power," Aisha replied.
The two goddesses quickly swapped personalities.
"Rhodes, this might be a great opportunity. We could use certain methods to control Khaine," Aisha said.
If Khaine was this confused, they had to take advantage.
"Are you kidding? Control Khaine? He's out of it, not a complete idiot. What if he recovers?" Rhodes replied.
"Trust me. Most of his memories are gone forever—Slaanesh ate those soul fragments," Aisha said.
She knew best—she was the one who shattered and ate part of Khaine's soul back then!
"So how do we do it? Just trick him? If he goes back to the Eldar, Ynnead will play him like a fiddle," Rhodes said.
If it were the original Khaine, no problem. But in this state, he was vulnerable—Ynnead was not to be underestimated.
"There are other ways. When your phantom beast merges with him, you'll control a part of his fate. Befriend him, win him over," Aisha said.
She almost wanted to do it herself—after being a Chaos God for ten thousand years, she was an expert at deception.
"You—you seem familiar!" Khaine pointed at Aisha.
Aisha rolled her eyes. Of course he'd find her familiar—she'd eaten part of his soul!
"Khaine, your name is Khaine. You're the Eldar God of War, slain by Slaanesh ten thousand years ago, your soul shattered," Rhodes explained.
First, see if he could recover any memories.
"I am the Eldar God of War… I do feel related to war, but I can't recall my name. Who are you?" Khaine asked, rubbing his head.
He felt a force pulling him elsewhere—a message in his mind: he was a Warp god. Without a physical vessel, he couldn't linger in the material universe.
"I saved your life. I'm Rhodes, Primarch of Humanity. This is Isha, the Eldar Goddess of Life. We gathered your soul fragments and revived you," Rhodes said.
"I must have died, or I wouldn't have lost so many memories. Thank you for reviving me. The name Goddess of Life sounds familiar… Isha, you seem weak?" Khaine said.
He was grateful for being saved, but the name "Goddess of Life" struck him as weak.
Isha grinned. Once, she was indeed weak—a pitiable outcast! But now, with her giant body, even she was a little afraid of herself.
After ten thousand years, the once-weak goddess had changed; she was much stronger now.
"I was weak ten thousand years ago, but things are different now. You're our God of War—revived because Chaos is pushing the Eldar to the brink. We need you to lead us to glory again!" Isha said.
"Eldar? I don't care for them. I even want to destroy them," Khaine shook his head.
For some reason, he felt a distaste for the Eldar. Though his mind provided some information, he was the god of war, not a tribal god—he had no special love for the Eldar.
"He really is off—he doesn't think he's the Eldar's god anymore," Rhodes said through the system channel.
"That's not so strange. The Eldar gods arose from the Eldar's faith, but their domains aren't limited to the Eldar alone. Their laws apply across the universe.
And remember, Khaine once almost killed me—he nearly wiped out the Eldar, because prophecy said they'd be the death of him," Aisha said.
She, the goddess of love and beauty, became a Chaos God after the Eldar's collective downfall—fulfilling the prophecy by killing Khaine.
"Thank you for reviving me. I'll repay you, but I must leave now. I can't stay in the material realm much longer; I must return to the Warp," Khaine said.
He could feel the pull of the Warp—he needed to return.
"No, Khaine. I've prepared a special body for you, so you can remain in the material universe," Rhodes said.
"A body in the material realm—like yours?" Khaine asked.
These two had powerful souls—if they had no bodies, they'd also return to the Warp. If he had a body, he could remain longer. But what was in it for him?
"Why should I stay in reality? I do fine in the Warp."
"Don't make me laugh. The Warp isn't what you think—it's full of demons now. All the gods are Chaos-aligned! The Warp is no longer safe.
Order gods are almost extinct, and there's a God of Blood—who rules war, blood, violence, terror, and cruelty—eyeing you hungrily," Rhodes said.