"Gulp."
The pitch-black potion entered his mouth, sometimes as spicy as Vosvoth vodka, then as sour and foul as a dissolving Hrud corpse...
An indescribable, chaotic mix of tastes made Nareth want to retch.
The potion writhed rapidly. Chaotic green spots and red light churned and fell into his stomach.
The floating glass shards suddenly lifted like willow catkins.
They coalesced together, then scattered.
Tumbling without order, chaotic and indiscernible.
The blood mist and purple silk intertwined, sometimes forming a ribbon, then scattering into threads of blood.
The golden steps rapidly decayed, shriveling into thin sheets.
The gilded coating blistered and peeled.
Insects seemed to burrow into every part of Nareth's body.
His spine creaked. Distorting mist enveloped him.
Slimy tentacles surged in his mind, lashing against clusters of worms and piercing stingers.
Explosions numbed his brain, his thoughts freezing.
Then, the sounds of chaos from 'Terra' flooded his ears.
In his mind, tentacles, worms, and stingers crossed paths, yet strangely never collided.
The firelight reflecting in his eyes merged with the red spots. As green veins rippled, his spine settled.
Threads of law twisted. Black mist surged.
'I can actively direct the black mist, infiltrating reality, truly leveraging the power of the Kingdom of Disorder.'
Joy filled Nareth. He traced disordered black arcs in his mind, then the surrounding wings, spikes, and the abstract crown above.
As he reined in the overflowing power of the potion, the tangled glass shards clattered to the ground.
The gilded throne collapsed. Dust covered the floor.
The newly promoted "Mentor of Disorder" began organizing the knowledge gained from the potion.
He had gained eleven new Beyonder abilities.
The first was a physical change, his constitution increased, and he gained the ability to stretch and contract, unlike in his memory.
The range of this stretch was not as great as the worm-creatures'. He could compress his body to a quarter and stretch it to twice its size.
Second was one of the signature abilities of the "Mentor of Disorder" in his memory, "Majesty."
"Majesty" released a "commanding presence," making those around him instinctively lower their stance, wanting to submit.
Compared to the subtle "Corrosion," "Majesty" worked faster.
Another signature ability was "Disorder," causing a designated area or target locked by spiritual energy to fall into disorder.
Attacks would have difficulty landing on him, and enemies were more likely to make mistakes.
The sefiroth's self-completion granted him three abilities.
The first was "Ambition." Burning ambition made his body stronger, his senses keener, his spiritual energy more abundant.
As long as his ambition burned, he needed no rest.
Unless he chose to sleep, no one could render him unconscious, much less trap him in a dream.
Most pleasantly, divinations and peeping directed at him would also be distorted by "Ambition."
'Is this a qualitative change of "Burial"?'
'Derived from the Slaughth?'
The effect of this ability depended on his own "Ambition."
'My ambition is to control my own destiny. That's just a small ambition.'
'But to control my destiny, to sit at the table, I must incorporate the sefiroth and become an Old One.'
'Hmm... is my "Ambition" big or small?'
The second was "Words of Order." After declaring a target guilty and specifying the charge, the target would be punished accordingly.
The deeper the target's violation of order, the greater their crimes, the higher the damage inflicted.
It could even directly erase the target.
The third was "Backroom Deal." There were two uses.
One required time to create a "backroom deal."
Acting as one party in a transaction, he could be force trade with one or more parties.
The higher the cost he paid, the easier the success.
The higher the value of the exchanged item, the greater the chance of failure.
'Useful for powerful targets, giving me a chance to obtain things that would otherwise be difficult to get.'
The other use was to directly create a peaceful environment during battle, enforced conditions by giving the enemy valuable items.
But he could not harm the opponent or affect their state, otherwise the target would aware.
'Essentially, paying a price to force escape from a dangerous situation.'
The remaining five abilities were new to Nareth, granted by the potion's ingredients.
The first was "Psychic Eggs." By mental projection, he could implant a clutch of formless eggs into a target's mind.
The eggs would absorb the host's psyche, growing from formless to tangible, from small to large, until they consumed the entire mind.
This ability clearly came from the Psychneuein.
'Throughout the process, the host's mind is in "disorder," unaware of the parasitic eggs.'
'This is also a manifestation of "disorder."'
The second was "Mind Gate." The host of the "Psychic Eggs" could serve as a mental portal.
The "Mentor of Disorder's" body would temporarily become pure spirit, walking the mental domain, emerging from within the host.
After a moment's thought, Nareth realized this ability came from the Enslavers and the Psychneuein.
The mental portal was an Enslaver's ability, but it relied on the parasitic eggs to function.
'Similar to the "Visionary's" "Dreamwalker," moving through dreams.'
'Or like the future Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor, moving through human minds.
'Also like a daemon inhabiting a person's mental world. But I cannot sustain it. Perhaps it requires a higher sequence; my body hasn't fundamentally changed.'
The third was "Entropy." Obviously, from the Hrud ingredient.
The entropy field caused random disorder effects on the target, rapid aging, armor rusting, item corrosion, etc.
'"Entropy" is also a special form of "disorder."'
Fourth was a greatly enhanced will, immunity to mind control, and the ability to actively release "Will Suppression."
This ability clearly came from the Slaughth.
'I'm now a bane to psykers.'
'Though unlikely to overwhelm the Emperor, I should be able to overwhelm the un-ascended Magnus and Malcador, and most Tzeentchian greater daemons.
'"Will Suppression" is a special form of "Majesty." "Majesty" affects the minds of those around, while "Will Suppression" acts on the Sea of Souls.'
Fifth was a purer spirit and greatly increased psychic power.
Nareth already felt he could draw vastly more power from the Warp.
If before it was a pipe, now it was a pump.
After consideration, he judged the purer spirit came from the Enslavers, who were pure spirit beings.
The increased psychic power came from the Psychneuein and Enslavers, both powerful psychics.
In addition to the eleven new abilities, his existing abilities had also been enhanced to varying degrees.
The "Baron of Corruption's" "Distortion" had qualitatively changed, extending from twisting the target's words, actions, and intentions to twisting the concepts of himself and the target.
"Distort" attacks against himself, causing half the damage, curses, diseases, etc., to be shared between him and his enemy.
"Savage Howl" now carried a cacophony of buzzing and tentacles that lashed the target, causing continuous damage.
"Multiprism" could now be used not only for defense, but also to create a prismatic psychic structure. Within its range, it could reflect and amplify his physical and magical attacks until the structure was overwhelmed and collapsed.
Other abilities had also increased in range and power, but without qualitative change.
As Nareth was organizing the abilities gained from advancing to "Mentor of Disorder," his communication bead suddenly buzzed.
He pressed it. Arsena Dunn's voice sounded.
"My Lord, the communication channels we are using occasionally have static, and sometimes buzzing interference."
"Techmarines have picked up a broadcast from the southern city. The sound is faint, but discernible."
Zzzzz...
Static suddenly filled the channel.
Nareth frowned. His orchestrated chaos had crippled 'Terra's' communications.
But the Son of Vostroya's vox-system was still functioning. The dedicated communication channels had broken silence after the chaos began to ensure real-time communication.
There should be no interference.
Unless... the problem wasn't with the vox-system, but supernatural interference.
As he thought, a dry, scorching desert wind sounded.
"Samus. That is the only name you'll hear."
"Samus is here. Samus is everywhere. Samus is the name beside you."
The voice faded. The channel fell silent.
'It is you, the greater daemon Samus.'
Nareth knew Samus had followers here. His temple was in the Whisper Mountains in the southern hemisphere.
He remembered that after the Luna Wolves routed the local main force, the remaining resistance had retreated to the Whisper Mountains.
Garviel Loken, newly appointed to the Mournival, had volunteered to go to the Whisper Mountains to eliminate the remaining enemy forces.
But the veil between reality and the Warp was thin in the Whisper Mountains. Samus had briefly possessed Sergeant Jubal of the Poison Roses tactical squad.
"Jubal" had killed several squad members before being banished by Loken.
During the Solar War, the remembrancer Mersadie Oliton had accidentally released him aboard the Phalanx.
Samus and his daemon army had rampaged through the Phalanx. Dorn had been unable to banish him and had nearly activated the Phalanx's self-destruct.
If Oliton hadn't killed herself, closing the portal she had accidentally opened and banishing the daemon, Dorn would have had to destroy his fortress.
Though Samus was banished, the Phalanx was severely damaged.
Dorn's plan to shatter the traitor fleet surging from the Martian and Lunar Warp passages had failed before it began.
Samus, in terms of personal combat power and his daemon army, was among the foremost daemons.
"I will go and handle it." Nareth ended the call, spread his wings, and rose into the air.
The "Mentor of Disorder" decided to personally banish this powerful daemon.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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