"Should we tell the other Chaos Gods about this? Nurgle alone might not be enough to match the fake Emperor," Abaddon nodded in agreement and asked.
Nurgle was powerful, but the Emperor was no pushover—especially after ten thousand years of absorbing endless human faith!
With the new-era Astartes, those powerful bio-monsters, and the Emperor's avatars, Abaddon dared not underestimate the once-mighty ruler of humanity.
"No need! I've already told the other two. Tzeentch is busy breaking the mysterious seal, and Khorne has his own important matters.
The only one who can help Nurgle is you, Abaddon," Vashtorr said meaningfully.
The other two Chaos Gods would not join in. The Chaos Gods were never united—they plotted against one another.
Besides, the other two had new targets: Tzeentch wanted to analyze the Emperor's golden power—a totally unknown, non-psychic force, more important than fighting the Emperor directly.
Khorne was most interested in the soon-to-be-resurrected Eldar God of War and the dark giant Horus!
So only Abaddon and his massive Black Legion, Chaos Sorcerers, and countless cultists could stand against the Empire.
"You mean I should fully support Mortarion and the Nurgle daemons in this war?" Abaddon asked.
"Exactly. You need to lead all your Chaos forces to help Mortarion. Otherwise, he can't win," Vashtorr replied.
The power gap was enormous. If this were the old Empire, even just over a year ago, Vashtorr wouldn't worry—Nurgle could make the Imperium bleed, even with just a daemon prince like Mortarion.
But now, with four Primarchs present—each far more powerful than ten thousand years ago—and the ever-unpredictable Horus lurking in the shadows, Nurgle's prospects were grim.
Abaddon's support was essential, possibly even needing to pull in outside help. Otherwise, a single Primarch, a gigantic Custodian, or other giant warriors could defeat Mortarion with ease.
"What about Nurgle's zombie monsters? You once told me Nurgle planned to use their power to enhance his daemon princes and greater daemons," Abaddon said.
"Those zombies can't change the outcome of the war. Nurgle's daemons might be a bit stronger, but it won't affect the result.
You don't understand—humanity's power now is beyond what you can handle. With just ten thousand new-era Astartes, your Black Legion would be wiped out," Vashtorr said.
This time, the Emperor had played a cunning hand—using a zombie monster to steal the Goddess of Life, causing Nurgle a heavy loss. As for the zombie, Vashtorr didn't think it mattered much; Nurgle could study its power to enhance his daemons, but the Empire's new Titans and upgraded Space Marines would still be vastly superior.
Abaddon had to help, or the war's outcome would shock everyone.
"Speaking of the new Astartes, can you help me upgrade my Chaos Space Marines?" Abaddon asked.
The new Astartes were rampaging everywhere, crushing the Chaos Marines. One new super Astartes could easily defeat a dozen Chaos Marines! Even experienced veterans were powerless before such overwhelming strength.
If they couldn't bridge the gap, Chaos would suffer a fatal blow.
"I'm aware, but their new modifications require special bio-muscles, bone enhancers, and surgery to upgrade nineteen superhuman organs, among other secrets. Unless you can bring me a scientist who can cultivate these new organs and enhance all nineteen, I can't yet crack the new Astartes procedures," Vashtorr answered.
He wanted to crack the technology too, but the special superhuman organs were beyond his capability.
"I thought about corrupting the new Astartes, but they now use legion-based management and have special brain implants for mental control, making them far more resistant to Chaos than the originals. So far, not a single super Astartes has fallen to Chaos," Abaddon said.
"No rush. These new warriors have only just appeared. The Empire is so corrupt, I'm sure some will eventually turn to Chaos. I have no doubt," Vashtorr replied.
Never have hope for humanity—Vashtorr had watched them for millennia, and humanity had never disappointed him. There would always be conflict and injustice among humans.
Abaddon nodded; there was no good solution. The new Astartes technology was out of reach, and its core secrets were tightly guarded.
"I'm very interested in the new Primarch Rhodes. His gene-seed seems excellent for enhancing Space Marines, allowing them to survive in space and even trigger a powerful, controlled transformation," Vashtorr remarked.
While observing the real universe, he had seen Rhodes leading his gene-sons against Orks. The Marines' transformation abilities had caught his eye.
"I'm not sure—Guilliman's sons and the latest Astartes don't seem to have such powers," Abaddon replied.
His Black Legion had never directly faced Rhodes's legion, and those who had never returned alive. He knew little about Rhodes's forces, not even their name, let alone their transformation abilities.
"I'm certain—the new Astartes descended from Rhodes are the strongest. His gene-seed is crucial.
If you ever get a chance, kill his gene-sons and steal their gene-seed for use in Chaos Space Marines. It would be a wise choice," Vashtorr said.
"No problem. If I encounter his gene-sons, I'll kill them and loot their gene-seed," Abaddon replied.
The ability to survive in space and use a berserk transformation—perfect for Chaos Marines! The Imperium forbade using traitor gene-seed, but Chaos had no rules—the strong took whatever they could.
"This war will start in over a decade. During that time, I'll upgrade you. Once I finish analyzing this flesh, I'll give you upgrades.
You'll gain the giants' ability for high-speed space movement, FTL travel, and beam attacks," Vashtorr promised.
The experiments on daemon Primarchs were complete. Now it was time to upgrade—while the dark giant's flesh was unobtainable, the Slaanesh avatar's and Emperor avatar's were.
"I look forward to the upgrade. To fight the Imperial Primarchs, I must be able to grow gigantic, move at high speed in space, fly, and fire beams," Abaddon said.
Vashtorr nodded in satisfaction; once he finished studying the flesh, he'd create a new body for himself.
Meanwhile, he could try recruiting Slaaneshi daemons. Many of his business partners were from Slaanesh's ranks. With Slaanesh herself now sealed, her lesser daemons, warp forces, and Chaos Marines would become spoils for others.
"Should I deal with Sidonis, now that his greatest backer is gone?" Abaddon asked.
He didn't trust the Slaanesh avatar—it was still from Slaanesh's side.
"You can't defeat the avatar yet, but you can try tempting him to your side. First, figure out if he's a daemon prince, greater daemon, or chosen.
Slaanesh's daemon princes can be wooed, but greater daemons must all be destroyed—they're direct creations and totally loyal," Vashtorr explained.
Only the promoted daemon princes, champions, or chosen could be recruited.
To Vashtorr, the Slaanesh avatar didn't seem like a greater daemon—his link to Slaanesh was weak, more like a champion or chosen, not even as closely linked as a daemon prince.
"I'll sound him out when I return. If he refuses, I'll handle him myself after my upgrade," Abaddon promised.
"Good. If you do kill him, bring me his body—I have uses for it," Vashtorr said.
Abaddon nodded—there was too much of a power gap now for rash actions.
After another round of small talk, Abaddon left the Eye of Terror for his Black Legion via the warp.
…
Meanwhile, on a planet on the dark side of the Imperium, several greater daemons and daemon princes gathered around Sidonis.
The leader was Slaanesh's top greater daemon, Shalaxi Helbane, along with Chaos Chosen Lucius and other champions.
As the strongest in Slaanesh's forces, Sidonis had become everyone's pillar. This role used to belong to Shalaxi or Fulgrim, the promoted daemon prince, but Fulgrim had gone missing after his defeat, and Shalaxi was no match for Sidonis.
Sidonis himself was at a loss—he had no idea what was going on!
"Lord Sidonis, what happened to our master? Was she really sealed?" Lucius asked.
Recently, all Slaanesh daemons were told that the Palace of Pleasure had been sealed. The other Chaos Gods had marched on their master's palace—many daemons saw this. Now, their master seemed truly sealed; so what were they to do?
"Our master is not defeated—I can still feel her power clearly," said Shalaxi Helbane.
As Slaanesh's most perfect creation, and one of the strongest greater daemons, Shalaxi could sense that her master's power had not faded. Something was wrong at the Palace of Pleasure, but their master was not truly sealed away.