Axis chuckled. "You guessed correctly. I have mastered a new transformation: Super Saiyan Three. Its power is a four-hundred-fold increase over my normal state. Father-in-law, when shall we fight again?"
He had finally grasped the power of Super Saiyan Three.
Goku had spent seven years in the afterlife to achieve that very same form. Axis's training environment, however, was far superior. Over the past decade, he had access to a gravity chamber, a host of golden-armored Custodians, and even Primarchs to serve as his sparring partners.
Beyond empowering the Custodes with his ki, he would routinely challenge several thousand of them at once, all under the honorable guise of improving their combat readiness.
The Emperor's role in his training was even more profound.
In every session, the Master of Mankind would push Axis until his ki reserves were completely depleted. This forced Axis to recover from a state of total exhaustion, pushing his Saiyan body to its absolute limits and unlocking greater potential.
His natural aptitude was already enhanced to that of the Legendary Saiyan.
With it, after ten years of such grueling training, Axis felt that if he had failed to unlock Super Saiyan Three, he might as well have found the nearest star and put himself out of his misery.
A year ago, in the training chamber, Axis had managed a brief and unstable ascension to the new state.
He spent the following year mastering the transformation until he could command it.
It was a power four hundred times his base form and four times that of a Super Saiyan Two. However, the form came at a cost; it was a tremendous drain on his stamina.
Even as a Legendary Super Saiyan, Axis could not maintain it in battle for an extended period.
With this new evolution, Axis knew he would have to forge his own path forward. He could no longer rely on Goku's journey as a guide.
"No," the Emperor said, shaking his head, "A battle between us would only end in a catastrophe. I must return to the Great Crusade immediately."
The Crusade had already been delayed a decade because of this, and he was needed at the front.
Moreover, Axis's ki to strengthening had revealed to him some unpleasant possibilities.
"Father-in-law, what is it?" Axis asked, noticing the troubled look on the Emperor's face, "You seem to have something on your mind."
The Emperor fell silent. He did not know how to broach the subject.
He finally released a weary sigh.
"Axis," the Emperor said suddenly, his voice grave, "If one day, you had to stand against me—to utterly destroy me—could you do it?"
The question stunned Axis.
He stared at his father-in-law in disbelief.
"If you wish to spar, I would be more than willing. I would welcome it," Axis replied, shaking his head firmly, "But I would never kill you. As you said yourself, you are Kasha's father, and I am her husband.
"We are family. I would never raise my hand to strike you down."
What game was the Emperor playing? Axis wondered. Was he testing my loyalty? Trying to see if I might be corrupted by Chaos and become an enemy to him or to humanity?
But he was sorely mistaken.
He indeed wished to fight the Emperor, but Chaos? It was a cesspool far fouler than any other. He had no intention of pledging himself to those four lunatics.
On that, there was no room for discussion.
"Axis, I wish to see this new transformation of yours," the Emperor said, changing the subject.
"I can, but the aura of Super Saiyan Three is immensely powerful. We should reinforce this chamber," Axis advised.
He recalled his last attempt in the training facility.
He had both Kasha and Mardel to help erect a powerful psychic ward just to keep his energy from leaking out at that time.
"It will not be an issue," the Emperor assured him, "My psychic power can now isolate this room from the very concepts of space and time. You may transform without restraint. Not a single trace of your energy will escape."
A golden gleam flashed in the Emperor's eyes, and a psychic ward enveloped the secret chamber, forming an absolute shield.
This barrier, woven by the Emperor himself, possessed the ultimate power of severance; even the surrounding space was cut off, ensuring not an iota of Axis's power would be detected.
Axis nodded and took a deep breath.
A golden aura instantly erupted from his body. His black hair flashed gold and shot upwards, and arcs of lightning crackled around his form, the state of Super Saiyan Two.
But the transformation did not stop there.
"Hraaaaaagh—!"
With a guttural roar, Axis's energy surged again, his golden aura expanding like a tempest that threatened to tear the chamber apart.
His hair grew with astonishing speed, cascading down to his waist in a wild mane.
His eyebrows vanished, causing his brow ridge to become more prominent, and from his pupils shone a new, fiercely intense light.
His entire demeanor became ferocious, his gaze so intense that a mere mortal would have been paralyzed with fear just by meeting his eyes.
A tempest of savage energy surged through the chamber. Were it not for the Emperor's psychic ward containing it, the presence would have been felt across all of Terra.
"This… is Super Saiyan Three!" Axis's voice deepened, resonating with power.
The lightning crackling around him grew denser and more frantic than it had in his Super Saiyan Two form, and the storm of pure energy he generated threatened to rip space itself asunder.
He clenched his fists, feeling the boundless power coursing through him.
Four hundred times his base strength, it was a terrifying might, enough to shatter a supergiant star with ease.
This was not the mere act of triggering a stellar core to detonate with a targeted energy blast; this was the power to obliterate a star through sheer, overwhelming force.
The Emperor watched in silence as Axis transformed, his golden psychic barrier holding firm, effortlessly containing the violent energies of Super Saiyan Three.
His gaze was distant, as if lost in profound thought.
"How about it, Father-in-law?" Axis grinned, his battle lust at it's peak, "Shall we?"
He was more than eager to face the Emperor in battle once more.
"No," the Emperor firmly shook his head, "Axis, your strength has grown far beyond what it was before.
"There is something I must tell you. But remember: what we discuss today must never be spoken of to anyone. Not the Primarchs, not Kasha, not even Malcador."
It seemed that witnessing the Super Saiyan Three transformation had cemented a terrible resolve within the Master of Mankind.
Axis nodded and released the transformation, his hair receding and returning to its natural black as the golden aura faded.
"My question was not a test, Axis," the Emperor said, taking a slow breath. "It was… a prophecy. I have seen the future."
"A prophecy?" Axis echoed, his brow furrowing. "What future did you see?"
"I… will fall," the Emperor said, his tone heavy with resignation.
Axis's eyes widened in shock. "Fall? Father-in-law, what do you mean, you'll fall?"
He could scarcely believe it.
If the Master of Mankind were to fall, which of the four bastards would dare claim him? He would be their equal!
No, wait, he thought, a cold dread seeping into him, their equal... or their superior.
He suddenly recalled a piece of lore: the Emperor was but a vessel for the entity known as the Dark King. In the most recent lore, the Dark King was an entity of a far higher order than the four Chaos Gods, a cosmic horror destined to obliterate the entire universe and plunge it into silent, eternal night.
"Should certain conditions be met, I will become a being more terrible than the Great Four," the Emperor explained, "When that day comes, humanity will know only despair….
"Are you familiar with the old myths of the Aeldari?"
"I am," Axis replied. "Malcador taught me of their pantheon, the Phoenix King Asuryan, their goddess of life, their god of war."
Emperor nodded.
"Slaanesh is the monster born from the corruption of the Aeldari. It is the fourth and youngest of the Chaos Gods. In the single moment of its birth, ninety-nine percent of the Aeldari race had their souls devoured. Of their pantheon, only three survived: one was shattered into countless fragments, one became a prisoner, and the last hides eternally within the Webway, never to emerge.
"While we as a species are psychically weaker than the Aeldari individually, the sheer scale of humanity's collective soul is terrifyingly greater."
"Father-in-law… you mean humanity will also give birth to a new Chaos God?" Axis asked, his voice low.
"Worse," the Emperor replied grimly, "I am the entity that humanity will birth. The Dark King slumbers within me.
"When he awakens, every single human will have their life and soul consumed in an instant. The entire human race will be extinguished in the moment of his ascension."
Axis's empowerment had strengthened his physical form, but it had also amplified his abilities of foresight, granting him a far clearer vision of the future.
He saw himself as a desiccated, corpse-like creature, bound to a Golden Throne, enduring unimaginable torment for the sake of the human race.
He foresaw that when his last shred of humanity, his final fragment of love for his species, his very last remnant of self was scoured away, he would rise from that throne. In that moment, the Dark King would be born, and no life would survive.
The universe would return to an eternal, silent darkness, and all that was would cease to be.
"Axis, the ki you gave me could have strengthened my body more than tenfold," the Emperor stated, "Yet I chose to increase its power by only a factor of three. Do you know why?"
He had used only a fraction of the ki to reinforce his body; the rest, the ki teeming with life energy, he had stored away for another purpose.
Axis shook his head.
"I intend to use this power to preserve myself within that inescapable future," the Emperor continued, "Your ki can postpone the birth of the Dark King.
"In the desperate future I have foreseen, Axis, you, are the only hope."
The Emperor placed both hands on Axis's shoulders, his golden eyes were heavy as he looked at Axis.
"I will accept that cruel fate. I will sit upon the Golden Throne and buy you time."
"You are going to sit on the Golden Throne!"
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powerstones would be appreciated!