Axis appeared suddenly, startling the Chaos Champion Khârn. How had this man materialized before him? He had not felt any fluctuation in the warp, so it could not have been a psychic teleport.
"You are the Khârn from another world, are you not? The Khârn from ten thousand years in the future," Axis said, hovering in midair as he looked down at the blood-crazed berserker before him.
Axis had identified him the moment he saw the Butcher's Nails hammered into the man's skull and sensed the gene-seed of Angron within him.
This was Khârn, the Champion of Khorne.
In some respects, the status of a Champion was even loftier than that of a Daemon Prince. Any mortal could aspire to become a Daemon Prince if they pledged themselves to a Chaos God and sacrificed enough lives in their name.
But to become a Champion, one had to be exceptionally favored and cherished by one of the Ruinous Powers. It was a blessing they bestowed upon their most beloved.
Take, for example, Lucius, the Champion of Slaanesh. He had been granted a form of near-immortality. Even if he was slain, he could be reborn through any foe who felt the slightest sliver of satisfaction from the act of killing him.
And even if his killer felt nothing at all, preventing this twisted resurrection, Slaanesh himself would simply pull Lucius back from the realm of death and return him to life. Such was the power of the four great Chaos Gods.
So, why had this Khârn, a warrior so valued by Khorne in the original timeline that he had effectively replaced Angron as the legion's leader, much like Typhus of the Death Guard, appeared in this era? The Champion Khârn was a formidable combatant, capable of holding his own for a few moments even against a Primarch, albeit one of the weakest.
"Who… who are you?" the Chaos Champion asked, his voice laced with anxiety as he stared at the man before him.
For some unknown reason, the sight of Axis filled him with a primal terror. Every cell in his body trembled as if facing a natural predator. The chaotic aura coiling around him even began to feel unstable, slipping from his control.
"Who am I?" Axis chuckled, "I am Axis. I am the Lord of the Golden Legion. And I am Khârn's father."
By now, a host of Axis's Golden Legion sons had converged on their position.
The Primarch's sudden arrival had drawn everyone's attention. Seeing his chance, a certain weakest Primarch was already making a break for it.
Axis shot a sideways glance at the fleeing Lorgar, then gave his own Khârn a meaningful look. If he let this one get away, it would be a stain on his honor.
Khârn understood his father's unspoken command instantly. He gave his corrupted counterpart a cold snort, then hefted his axe and took off in pursuit of Lorgar.
The Word Bearer was prey his father had personally marked for him, and he would not fail to hunt him down.
With his son gone, Axis began to change. His form suddenly swelled to over three meters in height. His golden aura flared, shifting to a golden-green, and his hair turned a brilliant green, standing on end in an explosive corona of power.
An unbelievably terrifying pressure emanated from him. It did not significantly affect his own sons, for Axis's true focus was not on them. His overwhelming presence was aimed squarely at the Chaos Champion Khârn.
When he felt the full force of Axis's aura, the Champion of Chaos froze, rooted to the spot. His body began to tremble violently, and his eyes widened in stark terror. He knew he would be killed. He would be destroyed.
There was no way to fight this man, no possibility of victory. Only a single thought screamed through his mind. Flee! Flee now! No, it was impossible. There was no escape. He was finished. It was over.
"Huuuuu! Die!" the Chaos Champion roared, a crimson aura erupting from his body. The Butcher's Nails on his head hummed violently, writhing like metallic tentacles.
He charged, choosing to attack because if he hesitated any longer, he would lose even the courage to stand.
He brought his massive power axe down in a devastating arc aimed at Axis's head.
Axis merely snorted, showing no intention of dodging. He stood his ground as his golden-green aura flared with even greater intensity.
The Chaos Champion's axe stopped dead in mid-air. No matter how much strength he put behind the blow, it would not move another inch.
An invisible force, an extension of the golden-green energy radiating from Axis, had blocked his attack completely.
"Is this all you have?" Axis asked. "Then I am truly disappointed. My Khârn is one of my finest sons, and I hold him in the highest regard. I will train him personally, grant him greater strength, and encourage him to become ever more powerful." Axis took two steps forward, and the invisible pressure forced the Chaos Champion, his axe still raised, two steps back.
The disparity in their power was difficult for the Champion to accept.
Had his opponent been a Primarch who defeated him through martial skill, he would have had nothing to say. But to be rendered utterly helpless by mere presence alone was beyond belief.
Khârn tried to resist, swinging his axe again and again at Axis, but he soon discovered it was all in vain. Axis did not even bother to lift a hand.
The overwhelming power of his Legendary Super Saiyan aura was enough to ensure that the Champion's axe could not touch him. This was not a battle between equals. They were not even in the same league.
Moreover, Axis's words had struck a nerve deep within the Chaos Champion. Why? Why was his other self living such a blessed life? He had a father who loved him, a brotherhood that would fight and die by his side, and access to power far beyond his own. In contrast, he had abandoned everything, surrendered everything, and thrown in his lot with Chaos. He had accepted the Butcher's Nails, and for all that, he was still no match.
Axis let out another cold snort. He raised a hand and fired two beams of light from his fingertips, which instantly pierced through the Chaos Champion's arms.
"Grr!" the Champion grunted in agony as his power axe clattered to the floor.
Axis strode forward and struck him with a single punch to the face, knocking the Champion of Khorne unconscious.
By this time, the other members of the Golden Legion had dealt with all the Chaos Space Marines aboard the ship.
Although the unexpected arrival of these invaders had caused some disruption, they had failed to turn the tide.
The intruders were all veterans of the Long War, but Axis's sons were no less experienced, having been forged in the crucible of the Great Crusade, and they were far better equipped.
The battle ended in a perfect victory for Axis's sons, a complete and utter defeat of their enemies.
All of the Chaos Space Marines were slain, with the sole exception of their champion, Khârn, whom Axis had personally taken captive.
Elsewhere in the ship's hold, the loyal Khârn, empowered by his twelvefold Golden Transformation, was savaging Lorgar.
At tenfold power, he had already been more than a match for the weakest of the Primarchs. Now, at twelvefold, Lorgar was utterly outclassed, unable to even muster a token defense.
His father had ordered him to take the Primarch alive, so Khârn had tossed his power axes aside and resorted to his fists. Against this caliber of opponent, they were more than enough.
"Is that all you have? Where did your arrogance go?" Khârn roared with laughter as he delivered a vicious uppercut that shattered Lorgar's jawbone.
Broken teeth mixed with corrupted blood spattered against the ceiling as the Word Bearers' Primarch was sent flying like a rag doll into the engine room.
Khârn's initial goal was simply to carry out his father's orders. But the appearance of a corrupt, chaotic version of himself, which he believed Lorgar had summoned, had filled him with a cold fury.
He mistakenly assumed Lorgar was responsible for summoning all the fallen versions of himself and his brothers. The poor Primarch was given no chance to explain that he had no idea where those warriors had come from.
"I… I bear the will of the true gods…" Lorgar struggled to chant, but Khârn's iron grip clamped around his throat, lifting him into the air.
A relentless flurry of punches followed, after which he was slammed back down onto the deck for another round of brutal beating.
All Lorgar could do was curl up, protect his head, and scream.
The pride of the Primarchs, the greatness of his station, it was all meaningless now. He was a punching bag, his screams of agony echoing like a pig at the slaughter.
"I am a Primarch! Aaargh! Stop, you bastard, stop! No, please, I beg you, stop!"
"What a pathetic Primarch! You utter disgrace," Khâln snarled, continuing his relentless assault.
"It's laughable." He planted a boot on Lorgar's hand, the crunch of finger bones shattering under his ceramite sole audible over the din.
"A weakling like you dares to call himself a Primarch? You bring shame upon the Emperor and all your brothers."
Lorgar lay on the floor, bruised and battered, his eyes vacant.
Who am I? Where am I? Why did I ever come here? Why did I think I could challenge a monster like Axis?
The Primarch didn't even need to act himself. His son alone could grind him into dust.
"Wait! We can talk… You don't know the blessings of the True Go—aargh!" Lorgar's attempt to preach the boons of Chaos was cut short by a whistling fist.
Khârn slammed both fists into Lorgar's temples, ensuring each blow brought him to the very edge of death but no further.
"Father said he wanted you alive. You're lucky, trash," Khârn spat viciously onto Lorgar's face.
He grabbed the Primarch by one leg and began dragging him forward like a dead dog, leaving a thick, viscous trail of blood on the adamantium deck.
The remnants of the Word Bearer Primarch's consciousness could hear his vaunted psychic armor being stripped away, plate by plate, just like his long-shattered dignity.
When Khârn threw his mangled prize at Axis's feet, the last thing Lorgar saw through his swollen eyelids was the other Khârn, the one blessed by Khorne from another timeline, now curled up on the ground like a beaten cur, his limbs broken by Axis.
"My great father, I have brought you the traitor, alive," Khârn reported, dropping to one knee before Axis.
"Well done. Lorgar, you shameful traitor. I will escort you personally back to Holy Terra. I will deliver you to the Emperor for judgment, and you will be tried and executed publicly," Axis declared, planting his boot on Lorgar's face. Simply killing this filth would be too merciful.
Axis planned to make an example of him. To capture a traitor Primarch during the height of the Great Heresy and put him on trial according to Imperial law, to execute him before the eyes of the galaxy, would be an incredible boost to the morale of the Imperium of Man.
It would show the entire galaxy that there was no good end for traitors, that the Imperium could and would crush them. For the rebel forces, it would be a critical and devastating blow to their morale.
Upon hearing this, Lorgar began to struggle furiously. Axis meant to humiliate him in the most extreme way possible.
Being dragged back to Holy Terra for a show trial was a fate far worse than death. Lorgar spat muffled, frantic curses at Axis, but it was useless. Khârn simply grabbed him by the neck and hauled him onto the ship.
The traitor army that had invaded Nuceria, along with the sudden appearance of the Chaos Space Marines, had been completely annihilated by Axis's Golden Legion.
The Legion's own losses numbered less than a hundred warriors.
"My sons, you have done well. Now, we withdraw to Nuceria. It is time to celebrate this great victory," Axis commanded, leading his sons back to their homeworld.
A brief victory celebration was held in the Golden Citadel on Nuceria.
The warriors of the Golden Legion raised their banners high, chanting the names of Axis and the Emperor, celebrating their triumph over the traitor Lorgar's scheme and the defeat of the Chaos minions from the future.
Axis, however, did not revel in the festivities.
He stood with Kasha in the deepest interrogation chamber of the fortress, gazing at the captured Chaos Champion Khârn, who was bound in adamantium chains.
This fallen warrior, a denizen of a parallel future, lay helpless. Axis had shattered his limbs, leaving him without even the strength to struggle.
"It's incredible. You actually managed to capture a Khârn from an alternate universe," Kasha said, her face a mask of wonder.
This was a Khârn from another world, from a completely different timeline. Could they learn something about the future from him?
"We can extract information from him. Let us begin the interrogation," Axis said.
"I will assist you."
Axis nodded and approached the bound Champion of Chaos. He then slapped him hard across the face.
"Talk," Axis's voice was low and cold, echoing through the dim chamber.
The Chaos Khârn lifted his head. His blood-red eyes blazed with hatred, but deep within them lurked a trace of undeniable fear, and something else… a flicker of longing.
"What… what do you want from me?"
...
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Bonus chapter~