After clearing the Slaaneshi cultists from the landing zone, Thomas advanced into the island's darker regions.
A bizarre smell reached his nose.
Following the scent, he saw a large cauldron.
The rich aroma of boiling meat mingled with the coppery scent of the thick broth.
In his ever-active "Eyes of Mystery Prying," illusory images appeared.
Crab-like claws tearing pale flesh.
Long, winding tongues curling around chunks of meat, swallowing them into gaping maws.
...
Thomas raised his hand. His COG drone raised their Bedrock-pattern bolters, blasting the nauseating cauldron to pieces.
The path widened. The Librarians spread out, using the "Griffin's Roar" to purify the cultists.
Thomas led his team directly towards the island's center, the most evil place he sensed.
Following the thick musky scent, he saw a hermaphroditic, depraved creature.
Its armor was ornate and bizarre, far beyond the technological level of the followers and the ocean tribes.
One side of its chest was a woman's breast; the other remained flat, a man's.
Its left hand held a bizarre weapon; its right arm was bent into a crescent hook.
The tribal Slaaneshi champion shrieked, swift as the wind, in an instant crossing the six-tiered bone staircase of the moon-shaped temple.
The "Warlock" raised his hand, scattering Catachan thorns, petals, and leaves. The thorns grew frenziedly, binding the petals and leaves together.
Thorns wrapped around the bent legs. Petals clung to the ornate leg armor. Leaves slipped into the gaps.
SSSS...
A bizarre hiss came from the champion's stomach. It swelled like a balloon and burst.
With a crack, the stomach, along with undigested flesh and intestines covered in flesh buds, fused with the ornate armor.
The armor instantly sprouted bizarre crescent-shaped blades, tearing through the spell that bound it.
Thomas raised his staff. The patterns on his Dominum Armor and the runes on his COG drone blazed simultaneously.
He instantly ascended to the eighth level of the Enumeration, which he had recently mastered.
He knew from Hathor Maat, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, that most masters of the various cults never progressed beyond this level.
Most, in battle, simply maintained this level of Enumeration, channeling the surging Warp tide into raw power.
Dazzling golden light shone from Thomas's throat. The Slaaneshi champion's eyes stung.
As its deep green eyes closed, it saw a claw reaching for it.
Its eyes flew open. Its right arm swung with blinding speed.
The crescent blade shrieked, meeting the golden griffin's claw.
With a crack, golden light shattered the blade. Its momentum undiminished, it swallowed the entangled champion.
Thomas glanced around. Seeing the Librarians gaining the advantage with the "Griffin's Roar," he turned his attention to the profane temple before him.
The "Warlock's" gaze passed over human skin and bone, seeking the building's truly artistic elements.
Gleaming metal, crafted into various lunar shapes: full moons, crescents...
At the same moment Thomas examined the lunar metal structures, the Shadow's Sovereignty approached the orbit of Serpentis Alpha.
Nareth stood at the hololithic strategic table, watching the sixth planet. At that moment, it was precisely at the intersection between the two stars.
He sensed energy churning in the Sea of Souls. He looked at the viewscreen, where remote detectors had captured images:
Purple lightning pierced the graceful clouds.
Drops of shimmering, iridescent rain fell, both real and illusory, slow and fast.
In the Empyrean, the twin-headed, twin-tailed, bloated serpent let out an excited hiss.
Its hiss pierced the veil, turning the sky over the sixth planet into a transparent window to the Warp.
Purple light rippled.
The aetheric readings on multiple screens aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty surged.
The fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth planets simultaneously erupted with aetheric light.
Beams of light, accumulated for millennia, shot from different directions towards Serpentis Alpha and Serpentis Beta.
The aetheric fluctuations spread into reality.
The sapphire-like twin stars now flickered with purple spots in their burning light.
The purple light grew brighter, quickly turning the blue stars into blue cores wrapped in purple.
"Prepare for launch."
Nareth knew the entrance to the Warp would only form when a planet passed between the twin stars. He could avoid that time.
If his goal were merely the materials to convert Perpetuals, that would be enough.
But he wanted the Serpent's Cradle, the twelve precious Aeldari maiden worlds.
He had to eliminate the Slaaneshi greater daemon dwelling here and sever its connection to the twin stars.
From the battle reports from the three planets, he keenly noted that the cultists, the Slaaneshi steeds, all related to gluttony.
From his memory, he already guessed the greater daemon here was also born from extreme gluttony.
Slaanesh represented all extremes. The six concentric rings around the Palace of Pleasure each represented an extreme pursuit.
The outermost ring was greed. The next was gluttony.
Nareth, with the black wolf Freddy and the gyrinxt John, boarded a Vostroya-pattern Lightning fighter.
Nelson, the Primarch's personal pilot, started the engine. The black fighter shot from the deck like lightning, flying towards the purple light.
The "Calamity Priest's" expression was grim. The shimmering purple light, though beautiful, was like a terrifying maw.
The closer they got, the louder the piercing hiss.
Nelson heard his Father's command in his ear.
"Open the hatch. Return."
"Father, getting You to the surface is my duty." The "Calamity Priest" struggled to speak normally.
"This is far enough." The "Mentor of Disorder's" voice was grave. His "Majesty" made Nelson, maintaining the third level of the Thelema mindstate, instinctively obey.
The hatch opened with a change in air pressure.
Light and shadow flickered in the Primarch's eyes. The Warp energy flooding into reality surged towards him.
Telekinesis enveloped the wolf and cat. He took one step, crossing a hundred kilometers.
He did not stop. His afterimage trailed as Nelson blinked, as if he had walked a corridor.
Walking through the 'Infinite Gate' forged from Warp energy flooding into reality, in a single breath, the Primarch crossed tens of thousands of kilometers of void, reaching the sixth planet's surface.
The purple light reflected off bodies adorned with expensive gems, jewelry, and silk. The daemons twisted their bodies proudly.
They scraped their sharp claws and swift pincers, circling the Primarch greedily, but dared not approach.
Golden light gathered in the Primarch's throat, piercing the pale, soft skin of thousands of nearby daemons like needles through the fine leather.
ROAR!
With a deafening roar, a golden light, large enough to cover an entire hive, pierced the purple iridescence.
Tens of thousands of daemons were torn apart, screaming.
Nareth's wings beat. He flew towards the rapidly forming creature.
It was as tall as sixty-six men, yet seemed a creature of the Great Ocean, compressed to fit here.
In aetheric vision, its size had no limits.
A shimmering halo surrounded it, emitting a dizzying, hallucinogenic perfume.
The Primarch's gaze pierced its false appearance. He saw its muscular body adorned with jewels, each imprisoning the souls of millions of victims.
On its twin heads, triangular, sickly yellow eyes stared directly at Nareth.
"Nareth, you have taken my food." Both heads spoke simultaneously, their seductive whispers flowing.
"But I do not hate you for it. I have a proposal that benefits us both."
"One of your brothers has been enjoying the ultimate delicacy. Through consumption, he has gained great power."
Nareth instantly guessed the greater daemon was referring to Hannibal.
"You and your sons will gain the ultimate delicacy and great power." The whispers rustled.
"Not only can you consume flesh, but you can taste the true ultimate delicacy: the souls of your enemies."
"Souls will nourish you."
As the greater daemon spoke, enticing illusions bloomed around it like fireworks.
Shadows of Order feasted on long, elegant Aeldari legs, faces showing pleasure.
Nareth held a greenskin as tall as himself, opening his mouth wide, swallowing its head.
As his body grew a finger's length, the rich, oyster-like flavor merged with his soul, a pleasure beyond the mortal realm, filling his spirit with joy.
John's mouth watered.
Freddy seemed to dream, back on Terra and Luna, consuming sweet dreams.
Nareth instantly ascended to the third level of the Thelema mindstate. John and Freddy, linked to his mind, snapped awake, their eyes clearing.
Anger flashed in Freddy's eyes as Nareth spoke coldly.
"I refuse."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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