"That guy is thoroughly repulsive."
"Which one do you mean?" Yuno asked. "Fulgrim, or that local noble you met?"
"Both."
Yuki and Yuno sat together on a massive, open-air observation platform. Thanks to their vast wealth, they had secured a prime vantage point even on a world overflowing with extravagant aristocrats.
"Let's avoid a clash with them for now," Yuno advised, looking out over the landscape. "Your powerful combat avatar isn't here, and handling a Primarch in this body would be somewhat taxing for me."
"Didn't we already agree not to fight this time?"
"I am simply reminding you to keep it that way."
Yuno returned her gaze to the sprawling vista below.
"Anyone who can quietly observe all of this while remaining hopeful for the Imperium of Man is bound to succeed at whatever they set their mind to."
The sheer abundance of natural beauty and opulent luxury on this world was staggering even to a transmigrator like Yuki, yet the decadence and depravity of its high society proved far more shocking still.
The local nobility possessed negligible combat capability, but their stamina for hedonistic pursuits was absurdly high.
Most ironically, even on a paradise like this, the common populace served as mere consumable fuel for the ruling elite. After peering deep into the inner workings of this world, Yuki felt it was practically a miniature domain of Slaanesh already.
"Fulgrim is probably preparing to transform this entire place," Yuki mused.
"I still preferred his former appearance," Yuno remarked.
"So did I."
The sun of the Garden World was beginning to set. While a single star could light multiple planets, Yuki had rarely seen a world blessed with twin suns quite like this.
"It's starting," Yuki murmured softly.
Yuno reached out, lacing her fingers through his.
Down on the plains below, vast crowds had gathered. To an ordinary human observer, the sheer mass of bodies pressed together resembled an ocean of black ants—easily numbering in the hundreds of thousands upon closer inspection.
They gathered as if materializing out of thin air, while a strange, heavy fragrance began to permeate the atmosphere.
The air on this Garden World was naturally infused with a delicate perfume designed to soothe mind and body—a subtle synthesis dispensed by specialized Adeptus Mechanicus filtration networks. On major holidays, the scent was adjusted to match the festive mood.
Now, however, the fragrance carried a compound engineered to provoke raw, uninhibited desire.
Yuno inhaled faintly, analyzing its composition in an instant.
"It's laced with that Slaanesh creature's personal fragrance... What a thoroughly repulsive phrase."
"That's precisely why I despise Daemon Primarch Fulgrim," Yuki replied.
Down on the ground, the mass of humanity had already begun to move.
The process was brutally simple and devoid of restraint: random pairings formed spontaneously, engaging in wild, unrestrained indulgence wherever they stood, persisting until sheer exhaustion or death claimed them.
With a heavy, sinuous rustle, a colossal figure possessing the lower body of a massive serpent slithered onto the balcony.
"How is the view?" Fulgrim purred, his voice dripping with dark charisma. "While it hardly compares to the inner chambers of Slaanesh's Palace, such a spectacle is quite rare within the mortal Imperium."
"So your grand plan is to keep this going until a Great Daemon of Slaanesh is born?" Yuki asked flatly.
Fulgrim chuckled softly. "Did you know? Every major settlement on this world utilizes identical atmospheric apparatuses. By introducing the divine will of Slaanesh into the network, the entire population succumbed instantly. How utterly fragile... so-called human willpower amounts to nothing."
Yuki didn't even bother to retort. This planet was firmly in the Dark Prince's sights now. In an era defined by the Great Rift—the absolute darkest hour of the Imperium—the fall of a single world was a mere drop in the bucket.
Fulgrim leaned down toward Yuno, bowing low. "My Queen... I would be honored if you were to trample me underfoot."
"Fulgrim," Yuki warned, his gaze narrowing.
Fulgrim's lips curled into a sly grin as he turned back to Yuki.
"Is sheer madness all there is to it?" Yuki asked.
"In the depths of absolute ecstasy, mortals inevitably begin to tear themselves and one another apart," Fulgrim replied smoothly. "Even if I do nothing, events naturally take that course. I have witnessed it for ten thousand years—such is human nature. Even those who merely imitate humanity fall into the exact same trap."
Recalling his own chaotic dynamic with Yuno, Yuki remained silent, unable to refute the point.
Fulgrim's features shifted slightly—not a mere change in expression, but a physical metamorphosis of his face. He constantly altered his visage, occasionally wearing intricate masks.
"Could you put something over your face?" Yuki scoffed. "Honestly, your former visage was far more beautiful."
"Beautiful? Such concepts are ultimately meaningless, Yuki," Fulgrim replied dismissively. "Your understanding of beauty remains dreadfully superficial."
Yuki gave up on discussing aesthetics with a Daemon Primarch. He looked back toward the ground, where the frenzy had escalated into outright violence and bloodshed.
Yuno had grown utterly bored. She raised a hand, calling down a small Tyranid bio-ship from orbit. Under normal circumstances, such an action would require stealth, but with the entire planet plunged into manic madness, subtle concealment was no longer necessary.
"Are you going to stay here and watch?" she asked, turning to Yuki. "I'm heading back."
"Go ahead," Yuki nodded gently. "I'll stay a bit longer to see how this world meets its end."
Though he stayed, the planet's fate was already sealed. It would inevitably be claimed by Slaanesh or dragged directly into the Immaterium. Perhaps a strike force from the Grey Knights or another chapter would arrive eventually, but that would be far too late to change the outcome.
"Fulgrim," Yuki asked quietly, "do you ever regret it?"
"Regret what?"
"Abandoning the Imperium, betraying the Emperor, killing Ferrus... do you regret any of it?"
Fulgrim looked at Yuki with a thoroughly bizarre expression. "Regret? Why on earth would I feel regret?"
"I see."
Yuki looked at the entity that had once been the Palatine Phoenix, finding him utterly hideous in his current form.
"Regret is not in our nature, Yuki," Fulgrim said softly, his voice full of dark allure. "It brings no pleasure. We are children bathed in eternal ecstasy, nurtured by the grace of Slaanesh. Do you carry doubt and sorrow in your heart? Why not step forward and taste it for yourself?"
"Slaanesh really ought to bow down to you for salesmanship," Yuki muttered, watching the planet's rapid transformation.
The entire atmosphere was now fully corrupted. The mutated air, designed to draw out the deepest, darkest desires of the heart, proved irresistible even to the cybernetic Tech-Priests of the Mechanicus—though their desires were directed toward far stranger objects than flesh.
The planet's surface was changing as well. The ground turned soft, spongy, and decadent, while grand, grotesque flora sprouted across the architecture. Under the direct gaze of the Warp, the world bloomed into a dazzling, horrific paradise.
Yuki watched the descent in total silence.
Fulgrim, however, was visibly elated. After idling in his palace for ten thousand years, taking an active hand in corrupting a world felt delightfully invigorating.
"When do you plan to confront Guilliman?" Yuki asked suddenly. "I've been looking forward to your rematch."
"Guilliman? My foolish brother?" Fulgrim sneered, his tone turning cautious. "Truth be told, if he hadn't received aid from our miserable Father, I would have paid him a visit long ago. But he wields the Emperor's Sword, and fate currently favors him. To avoid confronting Father directly, I shall bide my time for a far better opportunity."
"Pragmatic as always," Yuki noted.
After a brief wait, the world's total corruption reached its absolute zenith—and from the depths of the collective madness, a new Great Daemon of Slaanesh was born.