"Where is this? Why did you bring me here? Weren't we going to see Rhodes?" the Life Goddess Isha asked, frowning.
The two floated in a silent cosmic void—this was the material universe, but not where Rhodes was.
"Don't worry, Lady. I'll take you to him soon, but first, I have some instructions for you.
You and Lady Isha are still sharing the same identity, as my future master specifically instructed. Your identity must remain hidden—you know the reason," Tartarus said.
If he brought the Life Goddess back openly, with the Dark Giant's body, Rhodes would surely ask, and he'd have to tell the truth.
That could have serious consequences—perhaps the young master wouldn't be born. His master insisted he be careful.
"So you want me to wander the material universe?" Isha asked.
"No! You can become a state of dark light particles and possess Lady Lelith, making her your human form," Tartarus replied.
This Dark Giant statue had no soul or will—just a vessel—so it wouldn't count as a monster for enhancement.
"Understood. Let's do as you say," Isha nodded, turning into light particles and hiding away.
With her soul and life energy merged with the female giant, the statue's nature was completely changed—it now held both darkness and life energy.
Once the Life Goddess was hidden, Tartarus opened the portal again.
A flash of golden light, and Tartarus emerged before Rhodes.
"Great Master, I salute you. I am Absolutian Tartarus, an ultimate life form," the Golden Man announced with dramatic flair.
A wisp of light slipped from behind him into Lelith's body—two goddesses secretly merging.
"Alright, in the future, keep your introductions brief, okay?" Rhodes said.
He never imagined the Golden Man would appear this way, but with his time-space powers, it made sense he was the easiest to send back from the future.
"My apologies, Master! But I must insist—introducing myself is Absolutian custom. People must know who I am," Tartarus replied.
Not introducing himself at his entrance would be worse than death!
"Fine, whatever. So, you're the monster I'll purchase 120 years from now?" Rhodes asked.
"That's right, Master! You summoned me into this new universe 120 years in the future," Tartarus replied.
"So my future self had you support Slaanesh?" Rhodes asked.
"Master, I only followed your orders—completely sealing off the pleasure palace!
You need more time to grow. If the four Chaos Gods fought, the Warp would be thrown into a storm even worse than ten thousand years ago.
All human worlds would lose contact, and the war could destroy the Milky Way—so I came to stop it," Tartarus explained.
"So this really happened in the future. If you hadn't appeared, Slaanesh would have gone to war with the other three?" Rhodes asked.
"No, Master. The future hasn't happened yet. You must complete the closed loop.
No new timeline is created as long as you, in 120 years, summon me and send me back to the past," Tartarus replied.
Timelines weren't so easily made. Many galactic civilizations had time-related technologies—accelerating or slowing time—but true time-travel was different than Rhodes imagined.
So-called travel to the future was actually pausing your own time until the future arrived, and as long as you avoided paradoxes (like killing your past self), the timeline would close itself.
It was a bit complicated, but Tartarus patiently explained everything.
"In any case, your being here isn't a bad thing. Your power surpasses all my monsters combined—you could help me earn credits to pay back your price," Rhodes said.
With Tartarus, earning credits would be fast—a single absolute destruction could wipe out a Tyranid hive fleet.
"Sorry, Master, but due to special reasons, only after you officially unlock me for three hundred million credits can I be enhanced, and only then will the enemies I kill count towards your credits.
Until then, nothing I kill adds to your total," Tartarus shrugged.
Rhodes was speechless. Owing three hundred million was bad enough—his summoned super monster couldn't even earn credits for him!
"Alright, got it. You'll make a good bodyguard. Your power lets you open portals anywhere in the universe, right? You can travel freely through parallel universes and timelines?" Rhodes asked.
Tartarus's golden portals were notoriously broken—multiverse travel, even timeline creation.
"Master, let me clarify—my ability to travel freely is because our world is a multiverse made up of countless universes.
As the most powerful Absolutian besides the King, I can draw on the kingdom's power to travel through timelines and parallel universes.
Unless you rebuild the Absolutian Kingdom, I need the kingdom's power for those abilities," Tartarus explained.
"So now you can only travel around this universe?" Rhodes asked.
Why did it feel like he got a nerfed Tartarus? His best power needed a whole kingdom to unlock!
Maybe after paying off the debt and enhancing Tartarus, he could build a kingdom? That'd be crazy!
The Absolutians weren't just anyone—they were a top-tier multiverse race, rivals of the Land of Light. The Absolutian King, known as Kaos, matched the Ultra King in power and mystery.
So if Rhodes really rebuilt the kingdom, he wouldn't need those powers anymore!
"You're right, Master. I can open portals anywhere in the universe, even the Warp—it's easy for me," Tartarus replied.
"We'll deal with the kingdom later. I'll find a way to gather three hundred million credits—after all, I have 120 years," Rhodes said.
It wasn't a small amount. Three hundred million was just for Tartarus. Upgrading to the advanced shop needed twenty million, and buying advanced summons would cost another million or more.
Tartarus was an advanced shop creation. Without drawing him as a fragment, a direct purchase required a shop upgrade, likely costing another two hundred million.
So, just to close the loop, Rhodes needed at least five hundred million credits!
Thankfully, the debt worked like a loan—it didn't deduct credits as he earned them. Otherwise, Rhodes would be left unable to do anything until he'd paid it all off!
"Master, my combat power is still formidable. In the material universe, only a few can match me," Tartarus said.
"I know. Having you is extra insurance. The Tyranid Swarm's Devourer—you know about it? How does it compare to you?" Rhodes asked.
Rhodes wanted to gauge Tartarus's power in the Warhammer universe—he knew Tartarus was weaker than Chaos Gods but stronger than secondary gods and most order deities.
At least, in the material universe, he was not weaker than the top-tier C'tan.
And with Tartarus, once the Eldar War God was resurrected, even if he turned hostile, Rhodes would have a way to suppress him.
"Master, I haven't seen that creature, so I can't be sure. As for future knowledge, you'll have to discover that yourself—knowing too much about the future is dangerous," Tartarus said.
"Understood. I won't ask more. Come with me to the ship," Rhodes said, leading Tartarus to his medium mothership.
Meanwhile, Isha and the other Isha were having a secret conversation.
"You know, Aisha, I thought you were going to abandon me!"
"Don't worry. I'd planned to summon you remotely into this body, but something unexpected happened," Aisha said. (To differentiate the two goddess I will use Isha and Aisha.)
This golden giant felt incredibly powerful—she couldn't beat him in the material universe, but in the Warp, it was easy.
"This time, I've gotten an incredibly strong body, and as a Dark Giant, I can temporarily lodge inside you."
Once her soul entered this vessel, she'd truly have a physical body—no longer just a Warp spirit.
This was a fundamental change—now, her power in the material universe could rival the C'tan.
"This body is indeed strong and perfect—the same race as that Dark Giant. Most importantly, it has no soul.
It's a bargain for you—if I'd guarded it, it could've been mine," Aisha said.
"Oh, please, this body wouldn't suit you anyway. You're a Chaos God, much higher than me. It can perfectly hold my power and soul, but not yours," Isha replied.
Aisha did plan to relinquish her Chaos Godhood, but she hadn't fully separated from Chaos, nor become an Order god, so this body wasn't suitable.
"Haha, true! Even if I got this body, it'd just be a loan—it's best for you.
You could try developing new powers. Rhodes mentioned that Dark Giants could unlock other forms.
Use your life energy to develop a Life Goddess form—like Horus's Dark Emperor form," Aisha said.
After witnessing giants battling, she realized the future of high-level cosmic combat would trend toward giant forms.
Since Horus could develop a Dark Emperor form, with her help, Isha could surely develop her own Life Goddess form.