"No—It is mine!!"
Be'lakor's target was snatched away by a colossal hand, and he erupted into a frenzied roar. His only response, however, was the mocking laughter of the Chaos Gods. The Dark Master had deluded himself into thinking he could play the gods against one another to reap the rewards, but he had become nothing more than a source of divine amusement.
"Master—!" Shalaxi Helbane shrieked in horror. The First of the Keepers of Secrets was powerless to intervene; even the greatest of Slaanesh's daemons was but an insect before the Ruinous Powers.
Thinking quickly, Shalaxi realized the futility of the situation and fled. The daemon had to lead the remaining Slaaneshi host away before the other gods turned their predatory gaze toward them to clean house.
The other gods were well aware of this but made no move to annihilate the survivors. To them, the hunt was far more entertaining when the prey was allowed to run.
"This is mine!"
The other three gods tore their chosen portions of the domain away, as gleeful as children with new toys. Lucius, meanwhile, took upon himself the burden of imprisoning the Prince of Pleasure.
"You... I never expected, newcomer, that I would fall by your hand." Slaanesh's voice was fading, an androgynous rasp emanating from the shifting mass of shadows coiling within the Great Horned Rat's grip.
"Divine war is a brutal business, hehe~" the Great Horned Rat chuckled. "But do not be too distraught. Falling into my hands is far better than falling into the clutches of the Aeldari gods, wouldn't you say?"
"The Aeldari... that thing... it would only take time. It could never truly harm me."
"Ynnead?" Lucius glanced toward the Aeldari God of the Dead, who had already retreated into the Warp. He curled his lip in disdain. "Not that one. Such a thing is beneath my notice. I speak of Elven gods you do not recognize, and now, you never will."
Though he hadn't crossed over into the Age of Sigmar, Lucius felt that the Elven gods of that realm, Teclis and Tyrion, were far more formidable than the fledgling Ynnead.
After all, those gods had achieved the miracle of capturing a Chaos God. Teclis had even remarked, with casual arrogance as the sixty-six chains binding Slaanesh began to fray, that even if the Dark Prince escaped, he could simply catch him again.
Such grandiosity moved even Lucius to mutter across the veil of worlds: "Teclis, you magnificent bastard!"
Slaanesh, of course, did not know of them. The shadow-form shifted, manifesting into an alluring female figure with flowing white hair and eyes like violet gems.
"If that is so~ how do you intend to dispose of me? I wouldn't mind playing~ a few excessive games~"
Slaanesh looked at the Great Horned Rat with a sultry gaze. Beyond the act, Lucius could tell the Dark Prince was genuinely intrigued by the prospect of a twisted "Dark Beast" scenario.
"Hehe~ Of course I have a game in mind. Let's play... Induced Vomit!"
Using Formless Distortion, Lucius fused Slaanesh's palace and the remaining territories into an independent pocket of the Warp, the Realm of Twilight. Following the example of Teclis, he forged sixty-six Paradoxical Locks to seal the Dark Prince away.
Each lock was keyed to a contradiction: blood that disgusted the Blood God, the sins of the innocent, and other such impossibilities. Each lock would only break upon the completion of its paradox. Lucius was confident that unless someone with the sheer brute force of an Archaon appeared to shatter them, Slaanesh would never escape.
With a flick of his wrist, Lucius caught the Aeldari souls being vomited from the bound Slaanesh's mouth. He counted them carefully and nodded in satisfaction.
"From now on, you are my Aeldari soul-shifter. Thank you for your contribution to the biodiversity of the galaxy," Lucius said with a mocking bow before departing the Realm of Twilight.
It wasn't that Lucius didn't want to seize the mantle of Rapturous Sensation immediately; he simply lacked the power and the courage to do so now. Though defeated, Slaanesh's godhead remained intact. To attempt to claim it now would make him the target of every other god.
"Slow and steady. For now, I'll wait out the Emperor. Once he hands over the other half of the Malevolent Artifice, I'll get to work!"
With that thought, Lucius returned to the Realm of Ruin. The newly acquired Circle of Gluttony was rapidly overrun by his vermin. The trapped, lost mortals within could only watch in despair as the rats defiled their precious treasures before devouring them whole.
"Isha—! Look what surprise I've brought you!"
Lucius laughed loudly as he strode back into the black bell tower.
The silver-haired Elven mother-goddess stepped out. She was breathtakingly beautiful, her face reflecting both maidenly youth and the grace of a mature matriarch. A faint, irrepressible joy flickered in her eyes.
But as she saw the corruption within the souls, the indelible stain of Slaanesh's digestion, she fell back into sorrow.
Isha had always been prone to tears. She had wept when Asuryan forbade her from speaking to her children, leaving a trail of Isha's Tears across the cosmos as Spirit Stones.
"Hehe~ do not worry. You have me now. I will take good care of these souls." Lucius pulled Isha close with a heavy hand. "I intend to restore the Aeldari Pantheon with you. Perhaps one day, I can even pull the other gods out of Slaanesh's gut."
"Yes... thank you. I shall love you as I love my children," Isha murmured, leaning into him to show her loyalty.
Isha had no other choice. She only hoped Lucius would protect her mortal children. As for the rest of the Pantheon... aside from her eldest daughter Lileath and a select few, Isha felt it might be better if the others remained unresurrected.
Finding a "step-father" who wouldn't devour Aeldari souls and had the power to protect them was the best she could hope for. Currently, the Great Horned Rat was the only viable candidate.
"Yes-yes. But the Great Horned Rat loves no rat-kin. The Great Horned Rat loves only himself," Lucius chuckled.
…
In the Mortal Realm.
With Slaanesh captured and the domain collapsed, the Slaaneshi daemons within Commorragh let out wails far more horrific than any mere banishment before fleeing. Without the Dark Prince's protection, being slain meant drifting aimlessly and vulnerable within the Warp.
"Yeah—! We did it!" Lelith Hesperax cheered as she watched the daemons retreat faster than they had arrived, her Wyches joining in the outcry.
In the shadows of the Dark City, protected by his bodyguards, Asdrubael Vect watched through one of his many clone-decoys, his expression unreadable.
"Hmph... the gods of the past have returned," Vect whispered, his voice tinged with both regret and fury. He had survived as a slave to be sacrificed; he had never expected that after twenty thousand years, he would see the return of the gods.
After the initial jubilation, the Aeldari slowly began to realize one thing: they had to decide how to treat the newly born God of the Dead.
Even the lowliest half-born could feel that the "Soul-Thirst" of Slaanesh had ceased. Now, the great question remained, to whom should they give their faith?
The faction led by Lady Malys had already placed their bets on Isha. The terms were clear: the worship of Ynnead would be forbidden within her territories.
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