Aisha had been carrying out her method to sever herself from her own Chaos divinity. Though it would strip away over ninety percent of her power—reducing her from one of the cosmos's top deities to an ordinary god of Order—she felt it was worth it.
Chaos Dark Gods are powerful, but their divinity corrupts them, turning them into monsters driven by vestigial instincts.
And the Chaos Dark Gods had essentially hit their ceiling. Though they called it an eternal game, Aisha knew very well:
That eternal game would never end. As long as the Warp existed, as long as Dark Gods existed, it would never end!
Even if a fifth, sixth, seventh, all the way to an eighth Dark God were born, the eternal game would go on forever—an endless, meaningless existence.
Their power might inch upward, but they would never break past that boundary. The Chaos Dark Gods would forever be slaves to the Warp.
They could only extend their awareness from the Empyrean Heights to observe the material universe, never to set foot in it.
Only their Greater Daemons, and the demon hosts under the Demon Princes, could act within realspace.
As the former bearer of Slaanesh's Chaos power, Aisha could clearly sense who Slaanesh's current Chaos divinity had chosen as its host.
Fulgrim—once her Demon Prince, her sycophant, her little toy.
She intended to discuss this with Isha. To be honest, the choice of host made her rather displeased!
But at present, he was the most suitable candidate in the entire material cosmos. Perhaps the only other option was that Ace Killer—the Slaanesh's son she had infused with a portion of her divinity.
"Aisha, you were looking for me?" After a flash of light, Isha, in an emerald gown, appeared in the palace.
"Isha, my Chaos godhead has found a new host. We need to find a way to inform Rhodes," Aisha said.
"How could it pick a successor so quickly? By rights, it should choose after fully separating from you!" Isha asked, surprised.
"I'm the first one to sever myself from my own Chaos power, so no one knew what would happen!
I was guessing before, but now it's certain: the moment I truly intend to break away from the Chaos sovereignty, it begins searching for a new host. When I'm fully separated, the Chaos sovereignty will fuse with that host and make him the new Dark God," Aisha said.
She was the first to choose separation from Chaos power; there was no precedent—everything she did was exploratory.
"Isn't that a good thing? Let him slowly gain your power and become the new Slaanesh!
You can finally get the freedom you dreamed of. As for telling Rhodes, let's inform him after you give birth," Isha said.
"It's not that simple! This could trigger a terrifying consequence, so I must tell Rhodes," Aisha said.
"What do you mean?" Isha asked.
"When I became a Chaos Dark God back then, I annihilated ninety-nine percent of the Eldar in an instant and absorbed their souls to forge the Chaos godhead," Aisha said.
After that, she devoured the Eldar pantheon to obtain the Chaos god-seat. Although that seat had been established, it had been forged by herself.
If a new Chaos God is born—even if it's still her godhead—it must be reforged, and reforging requires the sacrifice of a race.
"You mean—he'll do what you did, absorbing the souls of his entire kin? Who is this chosen one?" Isha blurted as she realized the implication.
If true, that would be horrifying!
"It's Fulgrim, my former Demon Prince. He's human, so his apotheosis ritual will likely bring disaster upon humanity," Aisha said.
This was what she feared most. In at most a few years the Chaos godhead would fully depart her, so meticulous preparation was essential.
Otherwise, if an entire species were sacrificed, Rhodes might fly into a rage—
Potentially triggering a chain reaction. For instance, the Emperor standing up from the Golden Throne in fury, no longer suppressing the Dark King,
Because there'd be nothing left worth suppressing.
"Don't overthink it. That's only your conjecture! It might not happen. Your Chaos godhead is already fully forged. This time it's just choosing a new owner," Isha offered comfort.
She felt Aisha was being alarmist. Sacrificing a species had forged Slaanesh's godhead, but if humanity—the current hegemon of the galaxy—were sacrificed, in theory that should yield a fifth Dark God, not the successor to the fourth.
That's the worst-case outcome.
"Plan for the worst—that's what I learned from Rhodes. Whatever we do, we must be fully prepared. I don't dare gamble on this!
Isha, do you dare? If we lose this bet, you know what a nightmarish scene the entire universe will face.
And we can't determine that the possibility is zero. If it can happen, it's a danger," Aisha said.
Fulgrim was twisted and perverse; once corrupted by the Chaos godhead, he would become even worse.
At the moment he ascended to Dark God, some law of the Warp would link him to the material universe.
Then he could do what she once did—devour all human souls, become even stronger than her former self, perhaps surpassing Khorne to become the most powerful Dark God.
She had devoured the Eldar gods; as for humanity's gods, they were not entirely gone—their soul fragments had become the Primarchs, with some remnants still scattered in the Warp.
"Alright, you're right—we should inform Rhodes. What's your plan?" Isha exhaled deeply.
The two of them could barely hide their conditions anymore. She herself wasn't pregnant; the truly pregnant one was Aisha.
This was a good opportunity to reveal both ladies' identities completely so there'd be no barriers between them and Rhodes.
"I'm ready. Isha, please bring Rhodes here," Aisha said.
Isha nodded and left the palace to find Rhodes.
…
At that moment, Rhodes was with two other children—newborns from Yvraine and Lelith.
They weren't boys but two girls. Lelith and Yvraine had each borne Rhodes a daughter.
Following some Eldar traditions, Rhodes gave them his own name as their surname: Lelith's daughter was Kasha Rhodes; Yvraine's was Jaliya Rhodes.
Rhodes doted on them greatly.
Like their two older brothers, the girls were super lifeforms from birth and had nurtured their own cosmic phantom beasts: one a wind-aspected giant bird, the other a lightning-aspected serpentlike beast.
The two little girls had been gestating for over a decade before birth, and to reach adulthood would take at least one to two centuries.
And since they were super lifeforms with phantom beasts, there was no Slaanesh soul-binding involved.
"Take good care of your sisters from now on," Rhodes patted Sterne's shoulder.
Elena smiled beside him. This time, she had won decisively. She'd borne two boys, while the two Eldar ladies had given birth to girls.
Her sons had an absolute edge!
"Of course, Dad. I'll protect my sisters," Sterne said.
"The girls' psychic talent is excellent. They might be the ones protecting you someday," Yvraine said, cradling her daughter and smiling.
These two children were extraordinary—beyond their imagination. They had even consulted the Mother Goddess.
The Mother Goddess praised them and said that once fully grown, they would become new gods of Order—embodied gods of Order.
"If that day comes, I'll be thrilled to have such powerful sisters," Sterne grinned.
As a Primarch, he wasn't dull.
"What a rare moment of peace. I wish days like this could last forever, and we could stay here," Lelith said.
The Phantom Beast planet was perfect for the Eldar: lush, vibrant, teeming with life, with no industrial pollution. Various small creatures lived here, and the powerful energies emitted by the cosmic beasts formed a barrier against the Warp—daemons couldn't survive here.
"The second phase of the Indomitus Crusade will take decades, so I can stay with you for at least that long.
Let the subordinates fight the battles," Rhodes said, lying on the grass.
His two subordinates, Barbarue and Zarab, would do just fine.
If needed, he could teleport at any time. Rhodes didn't want to sit in a fleet commanding battles; it was far better to enjoy a vacation on the Phantom Beast planet!
"Father! Before long, my brother and I can join the expeditionary fleet," Sterne said.
Unlike his father, he'd been raised on warships, following Rhodes's crusades for over a decade. He yearned to launch a campaign.
Elena stood proud—this was her well-trained son.
"You have youthful fire. Fine—once your Astartes are established, take them to war!
You and your brother together—there won't be many who can stand against you," Rhodes said.
Once the two fully matured—super lifeforms, plus their phantom beasts, plus hundreds of thousands of Astartes—bringing them down wouldn't be easy.
When they'd had their fill of war, the pastoral life would beckon!
As Rhodes savored the rare serenity, the Goddess of Life approached in a green gown.
The two Eldar ladies rose and bowed slightly to the Mother Goddess.
Rhodes also waved a greeting to the Life Goddess—they were more than familiar,
the hold-each-other-to-sleep sort of familiar.
By the way, hadn't Isha been pregnant for over twenty years? Why wasn't there a baby bump?
Rhodes remembered seeing a slight swell before, but now her abdomen was flat again.
"No need for ceremony. Rhodes, I've come because there's something important to discuss. Can you come with me?" Isha smiled at the others, then looked to Rhodes.
"What's so important? Can it wait until after today's gathering?" Rhodes asked.
"It's very important—about the Warp," Isha said.
"Oh! I see. You all keep playing. I'll go talk with Isha."
Seeing how serious she was, Rhodes didn't stall. He bade his wives goodbye and left with Isha.
When it concerned the Warp, Rhodes dared not be careless.
"What's happened, Isha?" Rhodes asked.
This time, Isha seemed to be deliberately avoiding Elena, Lelith, and Yvraine.
"I want to introduce you to someone—or rather, an Eldar goddess," Isha said with a mischievous smile.
"Oh? I thought you were the only Eldar goddess left," Rhodes said.
Where would another goddess come from?
"I told you before—I have a sister who governs love, beauty, and all things beautiful in the cosmos, the Eldar's goddess of love," Isha led Rhodes into the palace.
As they entered, Rhodes's eyes widened. On the bed sat a curvaceous woman with purplish-red hair.
Her face was identical to the Life Goddess's. Her lower abdomen was slightly swollen, and by a certain bond, Rhodes knew it was his bloodline.
"You are…?" Rhodes was stunned.
"Actually, we've always been two people," Isha said.