"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Accompanying Fulgrim's piercing shriek was a twisted yet ecstatic moan. It was unknown if Zhou Ye was enjoying it, but Slaanesh certainly was.
"Does this thing have a problem?"
This was Zhou Ye's only thought. But considering this was Slaanesh's domain, everything suddenly became quite reasonable.
In any case, Zhou Ye felt he would never be able to comprehend the thought processes of these Chaos entities. Of course, there was no need to. Look at Fulgrim, screaming Guilliman's name every other second. Anyone who didn't know better would think the two had some kind of special relationship.
In reality, it was Fulgrim's blade that had laid Guilliman low for ten thousand years. So when he screamed about Guilliman's blasphemy, everyone else just tuned it out like hot air. After all, what was blasphemy to Chaos was surely a symbol of loyalty to the Imperium. The two were now mortal enemies; you could see the few Smurfs nearby had eyes red with fury. Of course, though their eyes were red, they were wise enough not to get involved.
"Brutal..." Rylanor clucked his tongue in amazement from the sidelines. He, too, was very curious about Zhou Ye's identity. He wasn't this large when they first met, but that wasn't a major issue. Zhou Ye was clearly a terrifyingly powerful psyker; it was common for such individuals to use their powers to alter their physical size and suppress their strength.
But frankly, without a profound understanding of Fulgrim, one simply couldn't dish out insults of that caliber. For a creature as fallen and disgusting as Fulgrim, however, the verbal lashing was just right, not a word wasted.
Good cursing. I'll have to make the whelps learn from this later.
Rylanor clapped his hands in delight at Zhou Ye's relentless verbal assault. Unfortunately, his Dreadnought chassis had been temporarily knocked offline by Fulgrim, and one of its arms had been torn off. All he could do now was laugh from the sidelines.
---o---
"It seems your master prefers me!"
This was, after all, a point of Warp distortion. Zhou Ye had heard Slaanesh's ecstatic moan as clear as day. It was obvious that his insults directed at Fulgrim had been quite enjoyable for the Dark Prince.
"I will kill you!"
Clang, clang, clang...
Fulgrim was now boiling with rage. His four arms struck out in a furious barrage, their speed so great they left afterimages as they hammered against Zhou Ye's large shield.
Then, to his utter despair, he found that the dents he hammered into it repaired themselves almost instantly.
"What is the origin of this shield?"
Staring dumbfounded at the shield, Fulgrim felt he was about to go mad. His patron god had already shifted their gaze to Zhou Ye. He felt he had fallen from grace, and he could not tolerate it. But he couldn't break Zhou Ye's shield, and...
BANG!
With a loud crash, Fulgrim found one of his hands had been blasted apart. He frantically tried to draw upon his psychic power, only to discover with shock that he could no longer draw forth any more. Even the blessings Slaanesh had bestowed upon this vessel were nearly depleted. It was happening too fast.
BANG!
Another loud crash. The shield wall of the Lamenters appeared. Then, several Victrix Guard veterans from the Ultramarines followed suit, and then the Black Templars, the Flesh Tearers, and the Star of Trailblaze.
Fulgrim looked around in astonishment and realized he was now alone on the field.
The reason was simple. When Zhou Ye's Titan legion had reactivated in unison, the Slaaneshi daemon army had completely collapsed. Slaanesh's gasp was the final straw. It wasn't just Zhou Ye and Fulgrim who noticed that Fulgrim had fallen from favor; the Slaaneshi daemons had noticed it too.
With Zhou Ye constantly stripping away his Slaaneshi blessings and Fulgrim's attention focused entirely on him, the Primarch had finally, at a certain moment, completely lost control of his daemonic legion.
And so, this pathetic bunch scattered in a chaotic rout, all of them pouring into the depths of the Space Hulk to hunt those miscellaneous Genestealers. After all, being killed here and sent back to the Warp was a net loss. And although there were many of them here, there wasn't a single Keeper of Secrets. Slaanesh's preparations had been inadequate, preventing more powerful daemons from being summoned.
Now, these Slaaneshi daemons were all off fighting Genestealers. As for Fulgrim... sorry, they couldn't care less. Worst case, they could just stab themselves when they got back. It's not like Fulgrim could tell if they died in battle or committed suicide. As long as they harvested more Genestealer souls, it would be a pure profit. The souls of these humans were of extremely high quality, but their combat prowess was terrifying. With the Titan legion charging in sync, they couldn't kill many of them anyway.
So what else was there to say? The only one left fuming was Fulgrim.
The Fallen Emperor's Children he had brought were from Lucius's warband, a matter of emergency. But the members of that warband had long since been annihilated by the veterans of the Ultramarines, Black Templars, and Star of Trailblaze. He was now a general without an army. If Zhou Ye weren't standing in front of him, the other Astartes would have swarmed him.
"It seems you have been abandoned."
Zhou Ye casually put his shield away and looked at Fulgrim. He had been milked for all he was worth; there was no need to pretend anymore. He slowly raised the golden sword in his hand. In an instant, golden flames erupted from him as the epicenter.
"Hiss..."
"Emperor!"
The Space Marines not aligned with Zhou Ye's faction all cried out in shock. They could feel the immense power radiating from him. The flames he commanded, compared to the ones Ashira had unleashed, were like the sun to a candle flame.
Seeing this, Fulgrim realized something. That sword...
"That is the False Emperor's sword! But that's not right. That sword is in Guilliman's hands. Where did you get it?"
"You have no need to know. It seems that since you didn't descend in your true body, you took back the Blade of the Laer from Lucius, yes?"
"..." Fulgrim did not deny it. His most powerful weapon was actually a very special one gifted to him by Slaanesh—a weapon of great significance in the death of the Aeldari gods and the birth of Slaanesh, given to him by the Dark Prince to mock the Aeldari. But he hadn't brought that sword with him. Not even Slaanesh would let him casually take it from the palace.
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to break it."
Clang!
"!!!"
In the next instant, Zhou Ye flashed forward and appeared before Fulgrim. Having been turtling for so long, Fulgrim was caught off guard, unable to react to Zhou Ye's equally ferocious offensive power.
The next moment, another of Fulgrim's arms was severed by Zhou Ye. Now he was left with only his original two arms. Zhou Ye charged again. A powerful blow, devoid of any flashy techniques, came crashing down.
Fulgrim instinctively parried with his sword, and at that moment...
BOOM.
Scorching flames erupted as the Blade of the Laer and the great golden sword clashed. Zhou Ye's immense strength, combined with the Authority of the Herrscher of Rock, was fully unleashed, completely suppressing Fulgrim, whose psychic powers and blessings were now all but exhausted.
Then, to his astonishment, Fulgrim realized that the sword in his hand was trembling.
The Authority of Wither, a power that could corrode even metal, a power that even Nurgle envied.
The Authority of Reason. In this world, Zhou Ye could even say that he himself was the Omnissiah.
Now, both Authorities were being applied by Zhou Ye to the weapon in Fulgrim's hand. He was going to break it.
"You!" Fulgrim was both shocked and enraged. At his peak, he certainly would have had a way to stop what Zhou Ye was doing. But now, he had been whittled down to a literal great eel. He had no strength left to resist. He could only watch helplessly as the power of his Father (in his eyes) continuously destroyed the weapon in his hand.
This was Zhou Ye's goal: to use the extreme heat and golden flames to mask his true Authorities. The Authority of Wither continuously corroded the weapon, the Authority of Reason deconstructed its composition, and the extreme heat simply and brutally destroyed the blade itself.
"Fallen Primarch Fulgrim, crawl back to the Warp, back to your master's side!"
BOOM!!!
A massive pillar of flame shot into the sky as Zhou Ye and Fulgrim's bodies passed each other. The scorching heat exploded outwards, and Fulgrim's form was utterly consumed, turning to ash within the flames.
Clang.
The Blade of the Laer, burned and twisted out of shape, shattered into pieces. The Slaaneshi blessings upon it had also been absorbed by Zhou Ye. It was now just an ordinary weapon.
"I managed to grab a part of Fulgrim's essence."
Gazing into the vast, starry expanse, Zhou Ye said slowly, his eyes half-closed. In that final instant, he had snatched away a part of Fulgrim's very essence. It was an unexpected turn of events, but without a doubt, a welcome one.
"..."
At that moment, a silence fell over the area. Everyone stared, stunned, at the scene.
"We... banished Fulgrim?" Even Chris was murmuring in disbelief. He then slapped himself across the face.
SMACK!
The crisp sound of the slap shook him from his reverie. He felt like he was dreaming. Though he was not an Astartes, he had banished a Daemon Primarch. What an honor! Did any other Inquisitors have such an honor? Even if they had only played a supporting role, it was enough.
"For the Emperor!"
"For the Imperium of Man!"
"The Emperor is supreme!"
A torrent of cheers erupted. The Star of Trailblaze, the Black Templars, the Flesh Tearers, and the Lamenters all roared in exultation. It was a moment of immense glory.
Except for a few. Namely, Asmodai and the other members of the Inner Circle. They could only stand there, staring blankly at it all.
But before he could say anything, he found that another mysterious, private channel had connected to his vox.
"Asmodai."
"It is I, my Lord..."
"Do you wish to know the truth of Caliban's destruction?"
"!!!" Hearing this, Asmodai couldn't help but tremble. He looked with disbelief at the god-like figure of Zhou Ye.
"I will tell you. I will also tell you what truly happened back then. The Fallen are not traitors. The Lion, Lion El'Jonson, will awaken within a century. He will retake command of the Dark Angels. At that time, all matters will be left to the Lion's judgment."
"!!!" Asmodai was stunned. Their own Dreadnought, Aldrich, had already told him as much. Now, hearing it again from Zhou Ye's own lips, combined with the glory of banishing the Fallen Primarch Fulgrim, Asmodai had no reason to doubt him.
Zhou Ye's goal in doing this was simple: to stop this guy from causing him any more trouble. He didn't want to kill him, nor did he plan to take him back. He would just let him go back to wherever he came from, and hopefully, not bring a whole host of Dark Angels to find him. Though Zhou Ye doubted they could find him anyway, since they didn't have a jump engine.
"Of course, I think you'll be begging me to erase your memory."
A look of interest crossed Zhou Ye's face as he spoke.
"Gulp..." Asmodai trembled. He felt that a secret, an ultimate secret that not even the Dark Angels themselves knew, was about to be revealed to him.
He... could not refuse.
Zhou Ye withdrew his gaze, paying Asmodai no further mind.
Because at that moment...
Thump.
With a crisp sound, everyone dropped to one knee. It was the highest form of respect they could show to a great Primarch. The Lamenters had started it. Then the Flesh Tearers, followed by the few Ultramarines. It spread like wildfire, and with the Inquisitorial Storm Troopers joining in, a vast swathe of the battlefield was kneeling.
"..." Zhou Ye's shoulders hunched. Damn it, my acute secondhand embarrassment is flaring up. Couldn't they stop doing this all the time? He was starting to understand how the Golden Fiend felt.
In that case...
"Then..."
Zhou Ye beckoned with his hand. The fragments of the Blade of the Laer flew into the air. Under his control, they hovered before Metaurus of the Ultramarines, Inquisitor Chris, Mario of the Lamenters, Gabriel Seth of the Flesh Tearers, Giovanni of the Black Templars, and Asmodai of the Dark Angels.
As for the main hilt, Zhou Ye kept it for himself.
"This blade was the beginning of Fulgrim's fall. Ferrus also died by it. Now, I have destroyed and purified it. I bestow these fragments upon you. May glory be with you all!"
"For the Emperor and the Primarch!"
Looks of sheer ecstasy crossed the faces of everyone present. Without hesitation, they each snatched a fragment from the air. What an honor.
BOOM.
At the same time, a violent tremor shook the hulk. A massive force was now pulling at the gigantic Space Hulk.
---o---