The Dark Emperor form was powerful, but could only be maintained for a few minutes—not enough for a long battle.
Otherwise, he'd have used it from the start.
Even in his normal Dark Giant form, he couldn't fight for long—it was a safeguard for the human host.
For ordinary humans, three minutes of planetary battle was the limit; as a Primarch, Horus could last over an hour.
Normal humans needed at least 24 hours before fighting again; Horus needed only a few hours.
How did Sidonis know the Dark Emperor form's time limit? This was top secret—even Rhodes hadn't been told.
Daram might have told Rhodes, but Horus never had. It was his trump card!
"So, this form can't last long?" Abaddon's eyes lit up.
"Of course—I know their kind well! Their fusion with humans can unleash great power, but humans can't withstand it for long, not even Primarchs. The stronger the giant, the more it harms the host. There are limits," Sidonis explained.
As enemies of the Land of Light, most monsters and aliens had no time limit on Earth—except the Ultra Warriors, who could only fight for three minutes.
The only exceptions were giants born from Earth's own light—their time was unlimited. In space, the Ultra Warriors' energy consumption was lower, but after such a fierce fight, the Dark Giant must be near his limit.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
At that moment, the timer on Horus's chest began to flash and beep.
A warning! Horus's face fell. Daram had told him: when the timer flashes, the transformation is ending!
He'd never experienced this before—other hosts would be ashamed if they heard this. Since merging with a giant, he'd never seen the red warning light—while others triggered it every episode!
"Partner, you have one minute left. After that, I'll have to take over. Don't worry, we won't be defenseless," Daram said.
This red-light situation happened often for other hosts, but Horus was strong enough to avoid it—until now.
"So, we'll revert to the basic form?" Horus asked.
The Dark Emperor form required Horus's control—Daram hadn't fully analyzed it, so after reversion, Daram would control the body in the basic form.
"Yes, but don't worry—I can handle them in the basic form," Daram said.
Even in his basic form, he was confident he could smash the opponents.
"No need—let's end this fight here," Horus said.
Now wasn't the time to go all out. He sensed a disturbance in the warp—something big was happening! The Chaos Gods had new plans; Sidonis' Slaanesh-given power was fading, even vanishing.
"See? His timer's flashing—he has less than a minute left," Sidonis said.
"Good news. I see you have a timer too—do you have a limit?" Abaddon asked Sidonis.
The Emperor's avatar also had a timer, but it shone gold. Abaddon began to sense a connection between the avatar, Sidonis, and the Dark Giant.
"Let's focus on defense! If we hold out a minute, he'll revert, and then it's our turn to counterattack. Recover your strength now," Sidonis said.
Abaddon nodded, raising the daemon sword Drach'nyen, standing with Sidonis, channeling his chaotic power to peak condition.
Abaddon had expected Horus to attack wildly, trying to finish them in the last minute, but Horus's next move shocked him.
The Black Warmaster turned into a black streak, flying back to his fleet, and ordering an immediate retreat from the system.
"That bastard ran! Sidonis, let's chase and kill Horus!" Abaddon shouted.
"Chase? He's got hundreds of thousands of Chaos Space Marines, and we're in space! You can't even fly here—how do you plan to chase? Alone, I can't beat Horus," Sidonis snapped.
How to chase? Their master had just warned them—the fight was over!
Abaddon gritted his teeth, then sighed, "We retreat!" He and Sidonis returned to their camp.
The two top Chaos forces didn't merge—Abaddon failed to swallow the Red Corsairs, and Horus didn't reclaim the Black Legion.
The only winner was Rhodes, earning hundreds of thousands of system coins from the devastation.
And with chaos in the warp, the other Chaos Gods were targeting Slaanesh—just what Rhodes wanted.
He eagerly anticipated Slaanesh being pummeled by the others.
"Come, Isha, it's time for a show—the warp is about to get exciting. The three Chaos Gods and Vashtorr are about to gang up on Slaanesh," Rhodes said, preparing to observe the unprecedented god-brawl.
"Rhodes, are you sure this won't spill into realspace? The Great Rift connects the warp and realspace across the galaxy. If the four gods and Vashtorr fight, it could rip the rift wider," Isha warned.
Isha, goddess of life, was standing in for herself—meaning, the gods invading Slaanesh's palace would encounter Isha, not the goddess of excess.
"We can't do anything about it—it's not our fault. Who knows what's happening in the warp? The other gods and Vashtorr are set to gang up on Slaanesh," Rhodes shrugged.
"Think of something! The gods are in balance—if Slaanesh falls, the consequences could be dire. And my situation might be exposed," Isha pressed.
"What can I do? In the warp, my soul is just a minor god. Even with you, what could we do—help Slaanesh? She'd just capture you herself!" Rhodes rolled his eyes.
Let the Emperor worry about it!
But just as Rhodes was preparing to watch, a violent spatial wave suddenly ejected his cruiser and two human ships from the warp.
At the same time, a strange golden energy spread, sealing off Slaanesh's territory and isolating it.
Inside the palace of pleasure, Isha the life goddess was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
Seriously? One Chaos God could take her—now three plus a demigod were coming? She was doomed! At that moment, golden energy enveloped the palace—a fifty-meter-tall golden-armored being appeared in the warp.
"Who are you?" Isha demanded, frowning.
The stranger's power was immense, rivaling Isha herself.
"I am the Ultimate Lifeform, Absolutian, Absolut Tartarus. Don't worry—I'm here to help," the golden giant smiled.
At the same time, Rhodes suddenly received a system notification: Outstanding balance—three hundred million coins owed.
PS: This is very confusing, even the raw name for 'Slaanesh' was Isha.