"A part of my soul was placed upon the Brass Throne by the Blood God himself," Chaos Khârn explained, "You cannot possibly purify me. That fragmented piece of my soul is now branded by Khorne for eternity."
He was a Champion, after all, a station different from that of the Daemon Princes. Khârn had not expected this Primarch from another universe to actually try and recruit him.
Although the man's power was wondrous, he did not believe it could contend with the might of a Chaos God, especially not Khorne, who was the oldest and most powerful of them all.
"At the very least, my energy can grant you a moment of clarity," Axis replied, "Is it not worth trying?"
"You wish to purify me to obtain intelligence about the future, do you not? My mind is clear now. I can tell you everything."
"Let us begin with Roboute Guilliman," Khârn said, "You were gravely wounded by Fulgrim in a duel. Though your sons managed to save you, you became a living dead man. In my universe, you currently slumber on the planet Macragge."
"Next is Sanguinius. Soon, you will return to Holy Terra and launch a boarding action on Horus's flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, alongside the Emperor. You will encounter Horus before the Emperor does and will be slain by him.
After your death, your sons will be afflicted with a terrifying malady known as the Black Rage. They will imagine themselves to be you, see every enemy as Horus, and be eternally lost in the throes of that final battle. In the future, the Blood Angels would be tormented by the Red Thirst and controlled by the Black Rage."
Chaos Khârn revealed the fates of the two Primarchs in a single breath. Had it been any other Chaos Space Marine, they might not have known so much about the Blood Angels' Legion secrets.
But he was different, a servant of Khorne. The Blood God had always coveted Sanguinius and his Legion. Any Blood Angel willing to turn to Khorne would immediately receive his boons and become a powerful Chaos Space Marine, for Khorne adored these bloodthirsty, frenzied angels.
As Khorne's Chosen, Khârn himself frequently hunted the Blood Angels and their successor chapters.
Guilliman looked at Chaos Khârn in shock, then glanced at Sanguinius beside him. Neither of their futures looked bright.
In fact, one could say they were both dead. One was dead in the truest sense, while he himself was to be consigned to a state of living death.
"I am fine, Guilliman," Sanguinius said, his voice calm, "If this is the future I must endure, then I will face it."
"In truth, Sanguinius, even in my reality, you were not entirely gone," Khârn continued, "Only your physical body perished. Khorne once said that all Primarchs are gods of the Warp, and for reasons of your own, you also became such an entity. You can even influence the material realm. You have aided your sons on many occasions and sometimes send forth a golden angel, the Sanguinor, to fight alongside your Legion."
The state of Sanguinius was exceptionally unique.
According to Khorne, the Emperor possessed power that was no less than that of a Chaos God. The Emperor could create his own daemon legions and his own Greater Daemons in the form of Living Saints, and Sanguinius in turn could bestow certain changes upon his sons.
For example, the Legion's Chief Librarian, Mephiston, had been personally blessed by Sanguinius. Dante, the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, was another special case, having lived for a full 1,500 years, far beyond the lifespan of a normal Space Marine. Khorne had claimed that if Sanguinius so wished, he could even allow Dante to live longer.
In Khârn's universe, Khorne desired Sanguinius and all his sons with an insatiable hunger.
"What about me? Did I die as well?" asked Jaghatai Khan.
"You did not die, Jaghatai Khan. You are among the missing Primarchs. In an effort to save Space Marines captured by the Drukhari, you charged into the Webway and were lost within its labyrinthine paths. The White Scars have always believed you are still in the Webway, hunting the Dark Eldar. Ten thousand years passed, but you never returned to the Imperium, and no word of you was ever heard again."
At these words, Kasha's expression changed. Lost in the Webway? How was that possible? Axis was a friend to the Aeldari and a guest of the Laughing God, the true master of the Webway. If someone were merely lost in the Webway, Axis could retrieve them at any time. This meant that in that other universe, Axis and people like her truly did not exist.
Jaghatai Khan also gave Axis a surprised look.
He knew from their previous encounter that Axis could navigate the Webway. If he were truly trapped inside, Axis could easily rescue him. He would not have been trapped for ten thousand years.
"In his universe, Kasha and I do not exist," Axis explained to the Primarchs, summarizing the intelligence he had gathered, "Neither does Kratos, nor the Golden Legion. In that timeline, Magnus and Perturabo also turned traitor. Furthermore, the 2nd and 11th Legions were erased by the Emperor and were not present during the Great Betrayal. Though his universe is similar to ours, it is also different. Rest assured, in our world, if you truly got lost in the Webway, I could pull you out in minutes." Axis gave the Khan a reassuring shrug.
"I too find it very strange. This world is completely different from the one I know," Khârn admitted. "Perhaps the fates of all you Primarchs will be different. You should not measure yourselves against my world. And Lord Axis, the Khorne of this universe seems exceptionally interested in you. You must be careful."
As the Chosen of the Blood God, he could clearly perceive his patron's emotions. The Blood God was intensely focused on Axis, far more so than even Sanguinius.
Being targeted by the Four Chaos Gods was never a good thing. Having once served them, Khârn knew their power. If they truly wished it, no one could escape their corruption.
"Of course he's interested in me," Axis said. "I was lost in the Warp for a century. During that time, I had a thorough exchange with your Khorne. We fought, and in the end, I killed his most powerful avatar. This seemed to excite him greatly, and he even praised me many times. But do not worry. His power cannot corrupt me."
In truth, even Khorne's Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes were not entirely loyal.
Skarbrand, for instance, had once been goaded by Tzeentch into launching a sneak attack against his master. He struck Khorne with a mighty blow, leaving a faint scratch on the armor of the Blood God as he sat upon the Brass Throne. In a rage, Khorne seized Skarbrand and hurled him across the realms, sending him flying for eight days and eight nights. Khorne's fury was not because he had been attacked, but because his Greater Daemon had not challenged him honorably. If you wanted to strike him, you just had to say so and charge forward. Deception was what Khorne despised most.
In summary, the way the Chaos Gods thought was utterly bizarre.
"That explains it, Lord Axis," Khârn said, "Khorne greatly admires warriors of immense power. Even if a mortal does not worship him, he will bestow blessings upon them. I know of a certain Ultramarine in the future whom Khorne favored. This Space Marine was a staunch believer in the Emperor and had no faith in Khorne whatsoever. Yet, Khorne generously granted him a boon, a purely positive one. After this warrior dismembered his enemies with brutal efficiency, he would absorb a portion of their life force to heal his wounds and restore his stamina. He also gained a degree of resistance to Warp energy. On one planet, he defeated a Daemon Prince who had not yet fully ascended and killed a mighty Ork Warboss, which earned him even more of Khorne's favor. He even crushed a Warp device with his bare hands and withstood an energy backlash that would have instantly turned a normal Space Marine into a thrall of Chaos, yet he remained unharmed. As I understand it, this Space Marine likely received the blessings of both the Emperor and Khorne simultaneously."
Axis was a little speechless, while Guilliman's jaw dropped in disbelief. Axis already knew who this Khornate-blessed Ultramarine was: the protagonist of a certain video game. His fighting style was similar to that of Kratos, with a preference for dismemberment that restored his health and stamina. So that, Axis realized, was a blessing from Khorne.
Guilliman was dumbfounded for a different reason. His own son had received a boon from a Chaos God, yet had also received the Emperor's blessing and remained loyal to the Imperium. "Impossible. How could one of my sons accept the blessing of a Ruinous Power?"
"It's quite normal," Axis said with a shrug, "That Slaaneshi creature once gave me a blessing, you remember." Lady Euten's obsession with him back then had been a direct result of Slaanesh's influence.
The boons of the Four could be beneficial, but they could also be dangerous. For instance, after suffering such unjust treatment, a more typical Space Marine in Captain Titus's position would have long since rebelled and pledged himself to Khorne. Such incidents were common in the Imperium, as the future Imperium's persecution of its own Space Marines was quite severe.
"Tell us of the others," Sanguinius said, "What were the fates of the other Primarchs? Tell us everything you know."
"Very well," Khârn replied, "Rogal Dorn went missing during a battle after the Great Betrayal ended. His disappearance was very strange. All that was found was his severed hand, but his enemies were merely a group of ordinary Chaos Space Marines. Logically, given a Primarch's power, this should have been impossible, yet it happened. The Wolf King, Leman Russ, remained on his homeworld for 200 years before announcing at a great feast that he was leaving the Space Wolves and venturing into the Eye of Terror. It was said he sought the mythical Tree of Life, hoping to use it to free the Emperor from the Golden Throne."
"Wait," Guilliman interrupted suddenly. "You said 'free' Father? What happened to him after he was interred on the Golden Throne? Why did he need to be freed?"
"The Emperor was mortally wounded in his battle with Horus, so grievously that he was on the brink of death. If not for the Golden Throne, his body would have perished," Khârn explained, "What I told you earlier was true. The future of the Imperium of Man is a dark one. The Emperor sits upon the Golden Throne as a living, un-dead corpse."
This revelation shattered the worldview of everyone present except for Axis. Even Kasha stared in utter shock.
"Impossible," Kasha protested, "Father is a perpetual. How could he become a living corpse? And with Father's power, Horus could never have defeated him."
Khârn had said this before, but at the time, she had thought he was just trying to break their spirit. Now, it seemed he was speaking the truth.
"In that battle, the Emperor was not just fighting Horus. He was fighting Horus empowered by the full might of the Four Chaos Gods," Khârn explained, "He was effectively fighting Horus and the Four Gods simultaneously. Their battle reverberated even into the Warp itself. No one knows the full details of what occurred, but the outcome was that Horus was defeated, and the Emperor was left mortally wounded, clinging to life only by the grace of the Golden Throne. After ten thousand years, his physical body has almost completely decayed, but his psychic power has grown immensely, allowing him to watch over the entire Imperium."
"Continue with the other Primarchs," Sanguinius said, his face a grim mask, "We will discuss this later."
"Lion El'Jonson was ambushed upon his return to Caliban. There was a traitor among them named Luther. In the ensuing conflict, Caliban was destroyed, and the Lion's fate remains unknown. The Dark Angels have kept this secret so well that no word has ever leaked out. Vulkan, Lord of the Drakes, grew disheartened with the Imperium and chose a life of seclusion. He reappeared once during the War of the Beast, where he and an Ork Warboss fought to a mutual destruction. Corvus Corax hunted Lorgar into the Warp and also vanished without a trace. The Primarch of the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus, was slain by Fulgrim."
Khârn paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"And so, of all the loyal Primarchs of the Imperium, they were either dead, missing, or slumbering. Humanity entered the Age of Man, and the Imperium began its long, steady decay. Believe me," he concluded, his voice heavy with grim certainty, "you would not want to see the Imperium of the future. It is a world you would be tempted to destroy yourselves."
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ppps?