Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 151: The Emperor's Pressure-Release Valve

Tzeentch sat upon his throne in the Labyrinth of Change, controlling his avatar as it faced off against the God-Emperor. The prophecy of Kairos still clung to his mind like a nightmare. Among the Four, only He knew that Lucan's existence was perhaps far more important than they imagined.

So, He attempted to make a deal with the Master of Mankind, just as the Emperor had once made deals with them to create the gene-primarchs. He offered vast amounts of important knowledge, the locations of Chaos cults in vital positions within the Imperium, and even the next major offensive plans of those who worshipped the Chaos Gods, all as bargaining chips.

Tzeentch had also revealed some of his prophecies to the other three gods. Otherwise, besides Khorne, neither Nurgle nor Slaanesh would have wanted to confront the Master of Mankind. Who would provoke this Anathema for no reason? But after endless millennia of scheming against one another, even now, they held little trust for each other. However, the boundless rage of Khorne a few years ago, and the anomaly that had appeared in his domain, had convinced them that Tzeentch's words were not baseless. The enraged Khorne had even launched a war across the warp just to find the being known as the DOOM Slayer.

As the preeminent individual combatant among the Four, Khorne's power had to be acknowledged, even if the others were loath to admit it. They felt it necessary to apply pressure to the Master of Mankind together. It was worth a brief alliance to figure out what this new entity truly was. The fact that it possessed the power to completely destroy daemons struck at the very foundation of the warp.

In their eyes, this new weapon the Emperor had created was a far greater threat than the gene-primarchs of old. And the existence of the Zerg was likely another biological weapon the Emperor had created using the Golden Age technology hidden on Terra.

They were also well aware of the Emperor's state. Sitting upon the Golden Throne, He had his hands full just suppressing his own power. If He were to fully unleash it and truly become a god, it would not be what He wanted. The gods knew well that the Emperor placed the survival of humanity above his own life.

The Four continuously poured more power into their avatars. But they received no response from the Anathema.

Just as the Four were about to press their advantage, the once-calm sun suddenly began to roil. The power of the God-Emperor was surging, pushing back against the power of the Four.

"Has this Anathema gone mad?! Does he truly not fear godhood?!"

The same thought appeared in the minds of all Four Gods.

At this moment, Lucan's physical body began to tremble violently. A massive amount of power was being injected into his warp projection. Lucan felt as if he were about to explode.

"It's too much, Emperor! I can't hold on for long!!!! Hurry up!!!"

Lucan's Xel'Naga projection was absorbing with all its might, but how could the combined power of countless humans be so easily borne? Lucan realized he had been too arrogant. The power the God-Emperor had accumulated over tens of thousands of years created an insurmountable gap between them. If he continued to absorb this power, Lucan didn't know if his warp projection could hold, but his physical body would be the first to give out.

On the bridge, everyone noticed Lucan's abnormal state. But they were powerless to help. A restricted zone formed around Lucan; the immense psychic energy prevented any ordinary person from even approaching. A large number of medics rushed in to try and repair Lucan's body, which provided some small measure of help.

Just as Lucan felt his body was about to collapse, a hand grabbed his own.

"Kerrigan?!"

At this moment, Kerrigan's clothes had been completely shredded. Her still-young body was now fully covered in a Zerg carapace, and a pair of arthropod-like wings unfurled from her back. In that instant, Kerrigan had completely transformed into a child-version of the Queen of Blades.

The massive amount of psychic energy in Lucan's body began to flow through Kerrigan's hand and into her own body. He could feel the overflowing energy being absorbed by Kerrigan, but this was a power that even he couldn't withstand. How could Kerrigan bear it? Perhaps only the StarCraft version of Kerrigan who had become a Xel'Naga could have easily withstood this power.

"Kerrigan, let go! Your body will collapse too!"

But Kerrigan did not do as he said.

"I can do it, Father! I... I can use the hive mind to share this power!!" she said, gritting her teeth.

"The hive mind?!"

Lucan suddenly sensed Kerrigan beginning to distribute the absorbed psychic energy to every single Zerg individual. Kerrigan's ability to create Zerg eggs had been transformed into a psychic manifestation in the Warhammer world; after all, in the StarCraft storyline, Kerrigan couldn't create an egg out of thin air. But here, she could. It could be said that as long as Kerrigan did not die, the Zerg would never go extinct. Every Zerg produced in this world was an extension of Kerrigan's psychic power.

Because of this characteristic, a massive amount of psychic energy was being distributed through the hive mind to every single Zerg.

On the planet Char, all the Zerg began to emit a faint golden halo, causing the entire planet to shine brilliantly in the void. Hundreds of millions of Zerg were sharing the pressure for Lucan and Kerrigan. The Emperor's power was painful even for the Zerg; most humans who received the Emperor's blessing died after performing a single miracle, unable to bear the power. An ordinary physical body simply could not contain it. Fortunately, the physical constitution of the Zerg was much stronger than that of an ordinary person.

The Zerg fighting in the underhive of Malfi were also affected. For a time, the power of the Emperor surged in every corner of the underhive. The Emperor's power began to spread throughout the lower and underhives of Malfi, purifying the warp corruption there.

The Dark Hereteks who were blocking the Zerg's advance found that the creatures' attacks were now imbued with psychic energy. And the Emperor's power dealt greatly increased damage to Chaos. The Swarm, which had been held back and suppressed, now burst forth, glowing with golden light, and broke through the hereteks' defensive line.

"Xenos blessed by the God-Emperor?! How is this possible!!!"

Glydus and Frank watched this scene, finding it utterly unbelievable.

"You would rather bless these xenos than bless me!! Why is that!!" Glydus smashed the cogitator in front of her with her fist, as the Chaos-slaying Zerg swarmed in her direction.

But the continuous influx of power was too much for weaker Zerg like Drones and Zerglings, and they began to explode. Kerrigan immediately ordered all stored eggs to be hatched to buy more time!!

The Emperor looked at Lucan's projection. The amount of power he could bear was more than He had expected, which allowed Him to draw upon His own strength with even less reservation.

"Emperor! Hurry up! I'm really at my limit! I can't absorb anymore! I really can't absorb anymore!!"

A fire that seemed to purify all existence washed over the avatars of the Four Gods. The Emperor's reaction was beyond their imagination. Tzeentch had considered many possibilities, but he had never expected the Emperor to solve this problem by flipping the entire table.

A monstrous tide of holy flame swept over the avatars of the Four, destroying their power. Tzeentch was the first to run. Then Nurgle and Slaanesh began to retreat. The thick-headed Khorne even wanted to try and trade a few blows, but when the two forces collided, he too was forced to cut his losses and abandon a portion of his divine power.

All Four Gods had suffered varying degrees of loss, all for nothing. When the one being they had to target together was temporarily freed from his constraints, the power he displayed was simply not something their avatars could withstand.

The avatars of the Four began to flee this region of the warp. The loss of these avatars was a heavy blow to them all. After all, the Emperor was an enemy, but the other three were as well. The intensity of the eternal Great Game was even higher than that of any war in realspace.

As the Emperor began to retract his power, Lucan collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, losing consciousness for a time. His physical body had been pushed to its absolute limit.

And at this moment, at the center of humanity, on Holy Terra in the Sol System, the Imperial Palace, where the Golden Throne was housed, began to tremble.

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