A complex light flickered in Isha's eyes before settling into a sliver of resolve.
She agreed to Axis's deal.
Compared to suffocating under Nurgle's love or falling into the twisted, perverse hands of Slaanesh, Khorne's cold and transactional bargain seemed… acceptable.
At the very least, Khorne's reputation was, relatively speaking, the most reliable among the Chaos Gods. If he said he was not interested, he genuinely would not touch you, so long as you fulfilled his demands.
However, her absolute limit was that she could no longer live within the domains of the Four Chaos Gods. She truly detested such an environment. If the task was as simple as planting a tree, her domain of life was more than sufficient. At most, she would require Khorne to provide some of his own divine chaotic power.
"A wise choice, Lady Isha," Axis said with a nod, unsurprised by her decision, "Believe me, our only desire in rescuing you is for you to plant a tree. We ask for nothing more."
In a place like the Warp, choice often meant picking the least terrible of several awful options.
In truth, Grandfather Nurgle had been genuinely kind to the goddess of life, one might even say he pampered her. He had even allowed her to carve out her own pocket of life within his Garden to reside in. Her only daily torment was being made to drink his plague-filled soups.
If not for the fact that Nurgle's love was so perverse, so deformed, and so bizarre, it was possible that the constant, gentle pressure might have eventually worn down the goddess's will and convinced her to yield to him.
However, the Four Chaos Gods could not change their fundamental nature, just as one could not ask Khorne to stop craving blood, skulls, and war. One could not expect Tzeentch to cease his intricate scheming and arcane research, nor could one imagine Slaanesh abandoning the pursuit of artistic ecstasy through both pleasure and pain.
Therefore, Nurgle would never abandon his plagues and decay, and a goddess who loved natural life would never look upon him with favor.
It was more likely she would find Khorne more appealing. A woman might tolerate a man's warlike nature, but she would never tolerate his filth.
"Then we had best act immediately!" Cegorach, the Laughing God, clapped his hands, his tone returning to its usual buoyant cadence, now tinged with an imperceptible nervousness.
"Nurgle may be preoccupied with that major event, but who knows if he might return early on a whim."
"I agree. First, allow me to reclaim my domain," Isha said.
She took a deep breath, as if expelling the last wisp of this prison's foul air from her lungs. She raised her hands and pressed her palms downward toward the garden floor.
In that instant, the entire Garden of Life, that small region that had stubbornly retained a sliver of purity against Nurgle's corrupting influence, began to emit a soft, emerald light. The green radiance spread from beneath Isha's feet like a tide as she steadily channeled the power of life, maintaining the process of the garden's contraction.
The borders of the vast garden began to collapse inward and fade, as if being absorbed into an invisible pocket. It ultimately condensed behind Isha into a miniature garden, the size of a fist.
In the blink of an eye, the vibrant, verdant paradise vanished in a flash of green light. The surrounding landscape returned to its normal state of rot, decay, and omnipresent plague.
Axis could feel the very pulse of the land beneath him change. The power of the life goddess was indeed formidable. Deities could exert far greater power within the Immaterium. The Warp was their true home.
At last, Axis understood why the Immaterium was called both the Realm of Chaos and the Empyrean. His second journey into the Warp in his true form had taught him a great deal, deepening his understanding of its nature.
"The Garden of Life is the core of my divine realm, connected to my very soul. I have now withdrawn it," Isha explained.
"Cegorach, you will lead the way."
"Leave it to me! Follow me, this way!" The clown god immediately shed his playful demeanor and began to lead Axis and Isha away.
Axis and Isha followed closely behind him. Axis remained on high alert, and his golden-green Super Saiyan aura flared, a protective barrier enveloping both Cegorach and Isha within it.
"Tch, this Saiyan Ki. So convenient, yet so domineering," the Laughing God muttered, quickening his pace. Axis's Ki always seemed to surprise him at crucial moments.
If Axis had not accompanied him on this venture, he never would have dared to approach the Grandfather's garden.
"This shield of yours seems remarkable," Isha observed, glancing at Axis. "I can sense that the energy you wield contains a vast amount of life essence." As a goddess who commanded life, and one who represented its most positive aspects, she could perceive the potent life force coursing through him.
"My power is called Ki," Axis explained, "It possesses a duality, capable of destruction but also of life. When I use Ki imbued with life energy, I can heal those around me and restore their stamina."
In the entire Warhammer universe, Isha was the greatest master of life energy. Aside from her total divine power, which was much less than Nurgle's, in all other aspects, she was even slightly superior.
This was because for every plague Nurgle unleashed from the Warp, Isha could always devise a cure and pass it down to the mortal realms.
Over the next ten thousand years, it would be her influence that ensured every major plague unleashed by Grandfather Nurgle was eventually overcome.
As his mastery of Ki deepened, Axis had discovered that it was a primal energy, capable of accommodating all other forms. Life energy was but one of the powers it contained.
Isha shot Axis a look, a faint, proud smile gracing her lips. When it came to the control of life energy, she truly was not Nurgle's inferior. In terms of refined control, she was superior.
"I am quite curious about this energy of yours that contains the essence of life. It does not belong to the Warp, but rather the material universe. Yet, not our material universe, am I correct?" Isha asked.
As a deity of the Warp, she could naturally discern that the power Axis wielded did not originate from this reality.
How extraordinary. A visitor from another world, one with a power system completely alien to their own. It was no wonder this man had managed to strike a deal with Khorne, one of the Four Chaos Gods.
"That's right," Axis confirmed, "I am not originally from this universe. I come from another, where lifeforms can wield Ki. However, most manifest it as a destructive force. Only a few can develop its applications for life energy." For any deity with a keen eye, his otherworldly nature was obvious, so Axis saw no reason to hide it.
Moreover, after seeing Isha's Garden of Life, Axis had a sudden idea. What would happen if he planted a Saibaman on the Goddess of Life's own soil? If a new life-bearing domain were created within the Webway, that planet would exist in the materium, a tangible piece of realspace. Then, Axis could carry out his Saibaman cultivation experiment.
And he wondered if he could learn something from Isha.
"Once we reach a safe place, we shall discuss it at length," the life goddess said with a nod.
She was intensely curious about Axis's Ki, suspecting that an exchange of knowledge might allow her own divine power over life to grow even stronger.
"Quick! This way! We're almost at the exit," the Laughing God's voice called from ahead.
Following his lead, the three of them finally arrived at the boundary of Grandfather Nurgle's Garden.
"This is it," Cegorach said, looking at the immense barrier before them, "We just need to leave quietly, without attracting any attention."
Once they were out of Nurgle's Garden and back in the Webway, they would be completely safe. The mission had gone incredibly smoothly. He was already beginning to feel a sense of anticipation.
He couldn't wait to see the look on the great green oaf's face when Nurgle and the other Chaos Gods finished their duel with the Emperor, only to return to his domain and find his greatest treasure stolen. It was sure to be a magnificent sight.
The Laughing God prepared to use his sorcery to transport Axis and Isha away, but Axis stopped him with a raised hand. The next part of the plan would be anything but discreet. They had to be loud.
"Leave the rest to me," Axis said, cupping his hands at his waist as a blinding, golden-green light began to gather between his palms. He intended to unleash a major attack, and a massive amount of Ki surged forth, illuminating the entirety of Nurgle's Garden with its glow.
Mimicking the Kamehameha, Axis unleashed a colossal torrent of golden energy that roared outward, as if to pierce the Warp itself, and slammed into the Grandfather's barrier.
BOOM!
An indescribable explosion ripped through the Immaterium.
Pure physical energy, an anomaly in the Warp, violently collided with the will of a Chaos God. Golden-green light clashed with foul, brownish-green energies, annihilating one another in a cataclysmic blast.
The powerful shockwave instantly leveled the surrounding plague forests. Countless Nurglings and Plaguebearers dissolved into putrid slurry under the impact, and vast swaths of the rotting landscape were obliterated.
While the terrifying Ki blast could not truly harm Nurgle's essential being, the pure, raw power of a Super Saiyan was enough to brutally punch a massive hole right through the Garden of Nurgle.
This utterly terrifying attack left the two Aeldari gods beside him stunned. They could not fathom why Axis would suddenly launch an assault.
"Now! Let's go!" Without a moment's hesitation after his attack landed, Axis spun around, grabbing both Isha and the clown god by their arms.
His golden-green aura enveloped them, and they shot like a golden meteor through the breach in Nurgle's Garden, successfully escaping the domain.
"Axis, why did you have to make such a scene?" Cegorach demanded, "Weren't we supposed to be sneaking in? A commotion that large will certainly be noticed by Nurgle!" A disturbance of that magnitude would undoubtedly catch the attention of Nurgle, even as he fought the Emperor.
"I had my reasons for doing so," Axis said, clapping the dust from his hands.
"If we had taken Isha without a sound, Nurgle wouldn't have known who was responsible," the Laughing God argued. "He might have even suspected Slaanesh did it. We could have instigated a conflict between two Chaos Gods. That would have been the most beneficial outcome for us!" He felt this was the perfect, most elegant solution. Getting rich on the quiet while sowing discord among the gods of Chaos. How could anyone ask for more?
"Do you think Slaanesh is an idiot? Or that Nurgle is a fool?" Axis retorted, "Did you really think he wouldn't find out if we were discreet? This is his home turf. Besides, the moment the Goddess of Life takes refuge in the Webway, Nurgle will figure out what happened. He will know that you and I were the ones who stole her. Your fantasy of provoking a war between him and Slaanesh is just a delusion. So, I figured it was better to deal a heavy blow to his Garden before we left and cause our dear bastard a bit of trouble."
As one of the supreme beings in the universe, it was impossible that Nurgle would fail to discover the truth.
Moreover, Axis wanted Nurgle to know who had come calling.
That's right, fat green blob, I was the one who stole your precious goddess. What are you going to do about it? Did the Chaos Gods think they were the only ones who could attack the Imperium? Did they not expect someone to strike back at them? He wouldn't wait ten thousand years for the Emperor to burn Nurgle's Garden; he would start by blasting it himself.
Standing nearby, the Goddess of Life looked at Axis with a gleam of appreciation in her eyes. The clown god was far too timid.
This direct method of striking at a Chaos God was much more satisfying and far more befitting of a true god. Besides, just as Axis had said, the Grandfather would have inevitably learned of their escape from his garden.
"Cegorach, Mr. Axis is right. Sometimes, you need to be bolder and teach those Chaos Gods a lesson," Isha said.
"Fine. So, what now?" the clown god asked with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. His cautiousness was born of the need to preserve his strength. After all, the entire Aeldari pantheon combined could not defeat a single one of the Chaos Gods.
He decided to let it go.
It was Axis who had dealt the blow, so Nurgle's vengeance would likely focus on him. As for himself, he would just have to hide in the Black Library for a long time.
"Nurgle will certainly not let this go, and Slaanesh may have also noticed the disturbance. We must reach the Webway as quickly as possible," Axis said.
The three of them nodded in agreement and set off toward the nearest Webway portal.
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ps?