Axis cared nothing for debts or favors; the Ruinous Powers had helped him purely to sabotage the Dark King, and nothing more.
In this timeline, the Dark King had been beaten to death by Axis. If that entity wanted to rear its head again, it would not happen without another ten or even eight thousand years of accumulating power.
The Emperor... or rather, the Emperor of this universe, was safe for the time being.
As soon as these words were spoken, the mood among the four Chaos Gods turned instantly awkward.
This deity from another universe seemed to harbor a rather terrible attitude toward them.
"Is there perhaps a misunderstanding, my lord? We are quite friendly toward you, and we possess a deep love for every life in the universe," Tzeentch said smoothly. "Indeed, the Dark King exists only to destroy all life in the cosmos, which is exactly why we moved against it."
The Changer of Ways continued, "Intelligent life within the material universe makes the Warp fuller and richer. Their souls make us stronger. We are naturally opposed to the Dark King; the Chaos Gods desire a universe teeming with vitality."
It occurred to Tzeentch that this god from another universe likely had a poor relationship with the Chaos Gods of his own reality.
But since he had fought against the Dark King, his relationship with the Emperor of Mankind shouldn't have been particularly good either.
Help me this once, unknown entity. Humanity is on the brink of extinction.
A brief psychic transmission was sent to Axis from the rotting carcass atop the Golden Throne.
Helping Axis seal away, or rather destroy, the Dark King of the other world had consumed a great deal of the Emperor's remaining strength.
Thus, he sought Axis's aid. This god from another universe seemed to have a good relationship with his counterpart in that other reality.
After all, the being was accompanied by the Emperor's own daughter and his son, Sanguinius.
As for the other presence with them, although the Emperor did not know who he was, he felt an undeniable sense of connection and fondness.
"No problem. If you need something, I can help you," Axis agreed to the Emperor's request without hesitation.
The Chaos Gods, who had been waiting to see a spectacle, could no longer maintain their composure. What the hell did this mean? Was he discriminating against them?
Moments ago, they had been so polite, asking for his cooperation, yet he had rejected them outright and felt he owed them nothing.
Yet now, the moment that rotting corpse on the Golden Throne simply opened his mouth, Axis agreed immediately? In what way were the Chaos Gods inferior to that carcass?
"Mr.God, the Emperor of Mankind is no benevolent thing," Slaanesh purred. "He is darker than you can imagine. In fact, he is the Dark King himself; he simply hasn't evolved to that stage yet. He will always be your enemy."
The Dark Prince had originally intended to invite this male god from another world to the Palace of Slaanesh for some joyous entertainment.
To think the entity would reject Slaanesh and instead set his sights on the corpse upon the Golden Throne was insulting.
"I sense powerful life within your body. I am the manifestation of life in the universe, the very representative of vitality. Perhaps we could get to know one another," Nurgle said with a wet gurgle.
Through his divine sight, Axis glanced at Slaanesh and Nurgle. In his vision, Slaanesh appeared as a bizarre, androgynous entity with six breasts, six arms, and a long, lolling tongue.
As for Nurgle, he was nothing short of a massive green mountain of flesh, covered in pus-filled sores and swelling boils.
Between the Palace of Pleasure and the Garden of Nurgle, Axis decided he had absolutely no interest in visiting either.
"You could come to the Skull Throne and speak with me," Khorne rumbled. "You are a pure warrior. We can communicate as warriors do."
Hearing this, Axis nodded toward the blood-red visage of Khorne. This action instantly agitated Slaanesh and Nurgle. What was going on? Did this male god have such particular tastes?
Did he prefer the muscular type?
It seemed that in the other universe, Axis had a decent relationship with Khorne. But why was his relationship with the Emperor so good?
By all logic, the Emperor was the avatar of the Dark King. Since Axis had brought the Dark King's corpse with him, he must have killed the Emperor to do so!
From the perspective of the Chaos Gods, Axis was an entity who had slain the Emperor in another world.
Only after the Emperor's death had the Dark King emerged from the body, leading to the battle. The Dark King they saw appeared to have not fully matured.
If it had been the complete version of the Dark King, the Four Gods would have stood no chance; its power would have burned them to ash in an instant.
"Oh powerful God, it appears you possess a method to expel the Dark King from the Emperor's body without killing him, is that correct?" Tzeentch asked thoughtfully, glancing at Kratos, Sanguinius, and Kasha standing beside Axis.
As a near-omniscient god, Tzeentch divined the true identities of Sanguinius and Kasha at a glance, one son and one daughter of the Emperor.
The other one, Kratos, they had never seen before. There was no information about him in this universe.
Yet, judging by his aura, he was the son of the Emperor's daughter. His father, self-evidently, was this powerful being who had just slain the Dark King.
Interesting. This was far too interesting.
It seemed that events in the other universe had unfolded completely differently from their own.
"Father, are... are you speaking to someone?" Kratos looked at his father with confusion.
Since arriving at his father's side, they noticed Axis looking out into the cosmic void, seemingly communicating with unseen entities.
Only Sanguinius, utilizing his perspective as a newly ascended Warp deity, could see who Axis was speaking to, though even he could only see vague shapes.
He had no idea what was being said or done. Although Sanguinius was now a Warp entity, his true power was still worlds apart from the four great Chaos Gods.
"Quiet, Kratos. Your father is communicating with powerful existences. Do not disturb him; we need only guard him quietly," Kasha said, sensing something amiss and immediately cautioning her son.
"Oh powerful being, we are merely curious about you, about the power you control, and how you extracted the Dark King," Tzeentch pressed.
Through careful observation, Tzeentch realized the Dark King had not crawled out after the Emperor's death as they had assumed. Instead, this being named Axis had forcibly extracted it through some means.
When these words were spoken, all the Chaos Gods, and even the Emperor of this universe, looked at Axis in astonishment.
Even the Emperor here had assumed Axis had killed his counterpart to draw out the Dark King.
"Worthy of the wisest of the Chaos Gods. Just as you say, I have a method to force the Dark King out," Axis admitted openly, offering no denial.
"Truly amazing. In that case, we should communicate more. Perhaps you could help us deal with the Dark King of our universe. That would be a good thing for everyone," Tzeentch proposed.
The Chaos Gods and the Emperor might disagree on everything else, but on the matter of the Dark King, there was no dissent.
"That is not impossible! I can use a unique sensory ability to drag the Dark King out of the void," Axis said.
"Hahaha! It seems we will have a very pleasant conversation. Then, existence from another world, we will find you again when you are ready. When that time comes, we will aid you in dealing with the Dark King together," Tzeentch concluded.
The other three Chaos Gods sent friendly signals to Axis before departing one after another.
Existence from another world... I suppose I should call you son-in-law, since you married my daughter. The Emperor's will was conveyed directly to Axis.
The psychic presence of the Emperor after ten thousand years was terrifying.
It was a sensation of cold, burning despair. Although the Emperor of this era had suppressed the Dark King through humanity's unceasing faith and prayer, his own power had become horrific.
In this form, the Emperor could not even communicate remotely with his Primarchs; only extremely special existences could bear his direct contact.
"That is correct. I married Kasha. In the other world, I am indeed your son-in-law, and you even rebuilt me using the Primarch modification," Axis said with a nod.
This Old Pineapple was vastly more powerful than the one from his own world. The two were not in the same weight class. This universe's Emperor possessed combat power not far off from the Chaos Gods; in a sense, he had practically become a Chaos God himself.
It is a good thing that the other version of me has you. Protect your world well.
Your world is different from mine. My world holds only darkness, the Emperor lamented.
He could feel the hope radiating from Axis, and the hope of his other self. The Emperor even felt a twinge of jealousy toward his counterpart.
Here, he could only face unparalleled despair and darkness. Humanity would eventually perish, even if he woke his sons.
That would merely delay the inevitable steps toward extinction.
"I need to recover my strength for a while before I can deal with the Dark King of your world. Before that, I can help you. Just tell me what you need," Axis offered.
Through his immense spiritual perception, Axis could see that the Warp and the material universe here were extremely unstable.
A Great Rift tearing across the entire galaxy had already formed.
...
..
.
ps