The Emperor and Alex constantly monitored the movements of the Extradimensional Old Gods.
Even when Erebus traveled beyond the galaxy to seek out those Extradimensional Old Gods, they were aware of it.
But they did not stop him; instead, they allowed that bad seed Erebus to proceed.
Because facing a familiar enemy is always better than facing a completely unknown one.
Although Erebus is a bad guy, the Emperor and Alex knew him inside out and could easily control him.
As long as this fool could persuade the Extradimensional Old Gods and borrow their power to launch an invasion of the galaxy, they could use Erebus's hands to study those entities and gather more intelligence.
The threat of the Extradimensional Old Gods was growing closer.
They were approaching the galaxy as the Warp contracted, and even The Great Devourer's attention to the galaxy increased.
In a sense, The Great Devourer and these Extradimensional Old Gods are on the same level, equally ancient.
They had to carefully manage the scale of their reckoning with the Chaos Gods, to prevent the Warp from being overly destroyed and unable to resist the corruption and invasion of the Extradimensional Old Gods.
As the Warp's energy was continuously devoured, a large amount of Aether Crystals were produced.
When Players obtained enough law fragments, they could be promoted to demigods or even gods.
Their existence was the greatest confidence of the Emperor and Alex.
Only by relying on Players could they resist those unfathomable and immensely powerful Extradimensional Old Gods and their kin.
As the Warp's energy became sparse, Immaterium also grew much more stagnant, making it increasingly difficult for many demons and Warp creatures to survive.
Just maintaining their existence exhausted their strength.
But the Imperium did not spare them; as products of the Four Chaos Gods' flawed operation, they had to be purged to make the Warp pure again.
Alex and the Emperor continuously dispatched vast armies to sweep through the Warp and cleanse Immaterium.
As time passed, the Four Chaos Gods also fell into decline, but they remained extremely powerful.
It wasn't until the Laughing God, Cegorach, brought the Emperor and Alex into the Black Library, revealing all the secrets of the Four Chaos Gods, that they had enough confidence to defeat the four Four Chaos Gods.
With the help of Eldar, the Goddess of Life, Khaine, the God of War with Bloody Hands, and other Star Gods like the Night Haunter and the Void Dragon, Alex retrieved the Four Chaos Gods from the Warp.
That was the greatest creation of the Old Ones' wisdom, and also the foundation of the Warp; the Chaos Gods' birth also relied on this object.
After obtaining the Chaos Gods, the war to annihilate the four gods officially began.
The first target everyone focused on was Slaanesh.
He was the youngest born and the weakest in power.
Most importantly, the Eldar Death God naturally countered him.
With Players as the vanguard and the Star Gods and Eldar Pantheon as the main force, the Imperial punitive army marched mightily into Slaanesh's domain.
Even with the domain's blessing, Slaanesh's demonic army was no match for the combined forces.
The other three Chaos Gods / The Four Gods certainly wanted to provide support, but the Warp was already depleted at this time, and their divine power was greatly weakened.
Once they left their domains, their strength would drop significantly.
Even if they offered support, it wouldn't change the outcome.
After a arduous battle, Slaanesh's domain was breached, and as the Eldar Death God's longsword pierced Slaanesh's body, this powerful Chaos God was reverted to his primal state.
Unless the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods were destroyed, the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods were immortal and indestructible.
Neither the Eldar Death God nor the Emperor could completely destroy them.
Given enough time, they would return from death.
Many Eldar deities previously devoured by Slaanesh were also released.
Asuryan, the head of the Eldar Pantheon, wanted to negotiate with Alex, demanding equal status for the Eldar and autonomy for the Pantheon.
The result was predictable: he was suppressed by Alex and Cortana working together, and forced to swear an eternal oath of allegiance.
Because the legacy of the Old Ones had been completely inherited by the Imperium of Man, as creations of the Old Ones, the Eldar Pantheon was also part of that inheritance.
For this, the Imperium of Man controlled the lifeline of the Eldar Pantheon.
With the support of the Eldar Pantheon, the power of the Imperium of Man expanded to a new height.
Immediately after, the Imperium of Man targeted the remaining three Chaos Gods: Tzeentch, Nurgle, and finally Khorne.
Tzeentch was the most cunning, but most of his abilities were related to psychic powers and strategy.
Facing an overwhelming numerical advantage, Tzeentch's demonic army was utterly routed, abandoning their armor and suffering heavy casualties.
The Crystal Labyrinth was breached, and even the Eternal Well, containing countless secrets, became a possession of humanity.
Like Slaanesh, Tzeentch was also reverted to his primal state.
Next was Nurgle.
His resistance was much stronger than Tzeentch's.
After all, he wielded authority over life, plague, and reincarnation.
Seemingly corpulent, his combat power was extremely formidable.
It was the Emperor, with a host of helpers, who defeated him through a war of attrition.
The last one was Khorne.
As the strongest of the Chaos Gods, he was the embodiment of blood and war.
Logically, this war should have greatly nourished him, elevating his power to an unimaginable height.
However, with the operation of the Aether Phase Engine and humanity's series of actions in acquiring the Chaos Gods and inheriting the Old Ones' legacy, he received no feedback from Reality.
Consequently, his power not only failed to increase but actually weakened as the Warp dried up.
Of course, Khorne remained extremely powerful.
He and the Emperor and others erupted into an unprecedentedly terrifying battle, where the sun and moon lost their light, the heavens and earth paled, and the Warp shattered, before this Chaos God was finally defeated and reverted to his primal state.
After clearing out the Chaos Gods, Alex and Cortana thoroughly studied the documents left by the Old Ones.
They re-positioned the Chaos Gods in the Warp, stopped the Aether Phase Engine from drawing energy, and began repairing the temporal black hole and rebuilding Immaterium.
To prevent extreme entities like the Four Chaos Gods from reappearing, Alex divided Immaterium into the Celestial Realm and the Abyss, preventing it from becoming a cesspit again.
Immaterium is a reflection of emotions and souls, but it absorbs emotions indiscriminately, which led to the birth of the cesspit.
Separating them would establish a cycle, thereby nourishing Reality.
The Celestial Realm absorbs positive emotions such as integrity, kindness, and justice, while the Abyss absorbs negative emotions such as evil, depravity, and indulgence.
At the same time, a complete conversion channel was established to transform these positive or negative energies into resources for Reality, forming a cycle.
Meanwhile, Alex also began to shape the Human Pantheon, allowing the Primarchs to each wield different authorities and regulate the Warp's energy.
Warriors or heroes of noble quality were absorbed into the Pantheon, creating the heroic spirits of humanity.
Those of corrupt morals were sent to the Abyss as fuel, to cleanse their sins.
After all this was completed, the Imperium of Man completely controlled the Warp, becoming a powerful race surpassing the Old Ones.
After all, the Old Ones did not have the support of the Star Gods.
And now, the Imperium of Man not only inherited everything from the Old Ones but also gained the support of the Star Gods, possessed the Aether Phase Engine, and could continuously elevate all of humanity, ultimately achieving ascension.
With the conclusion of the God Wars, the Players began to clear out the hostile races that had not been thoroughly purged during the Great Crusade.
For example, the Nephilim, who regarded humans as food, and the Kraff, who used humans as breeding vessels, were all brought to justice.
Players were more than happy to use these races unwilling to coexist peacefully with humanity as leveling fodder.
Even the seven great demons of the Calixis Sector were sought out and beaten by the Players.
The secret of Tyrant Star was also uncovered.
It was an ancient demon attempting to steal the authority of the Dark King; it was for this reason that Tyrant Star appeared so much like the Emperor.
In reality, it was not the Emperor at all, but merely a Chaos demon aspiring to become a Chaos God.
To keep Players entertained and to help them improve their strength, Alex created various dungeons, turning famous demons and Chaos traitors into dungeons.
Players could enter to challenge them, and upon defeating them, would receive certain rewards.
Occasionally, event dungeons would also be released, featuring projections of Primarchs like Lion and Sanguinius.
Defeating a Primarch's projection would also yield rewards.
Meanwhile, truly powerful Players accepted missions to venture beyond the galaxy and confront the kin of the Extradimensional Old Gods, including the Tyranids.
After the Imperium of Man grew stronger, it severed all the Tyranids / Tyranid tendrils that had extended into the galaxy.
The Tyranids were blocked outside the galaxy.
When the main Tyranids / Tyranid forces arrived, an unprecedented great war might erupt between the two sides.
Other Extradimensional Old Gods might also participate, summoning their kin from beyond the galaxy to invade the galaxy alongside the Tyranids.
"War will never end," Jaghatai Khan repeated the words he had spoken ten thousand years ago during the Great Crusade, upon learning of the situation.
Before, people thought that by defeating separatist forces and xenos, they could usher in peace.
At the end of the Great Crusade, the Chaos Gods emerged, orchestrated the Horus Heresy, and ignited ten thousand years of turmoil.
The Emperor suffered for ten thousand years on the Golden Throne, accumulating power, and finally, with the help of the Saints, successfully defeated the Chaos Gods.
But now, the Extradimensional Old Gods have appeared.
Even if they defeat the Extradimensional Old Gods, who knows if new enemies will emerge?
In this dark universe, there are always stronger enemies, and humanity can only constantly face them.
Only the Players, knowing the inside story, could continue to be happy.
It was initially thought that Warhammer 0L would restart the game and enter open beta after the final battle.
Who would have thought that after defeating the Chaos Gods, the official launch went straight into open beta, making everyone realize that Warhammer was merely the tip of the iceberg of the official ambition.
Warhammer was just an entry point; conquering the universe was the true goal.
This made many exclaim it was a masterpiece, directly asking if the developers intended to create a human version of the Cortana Empire.
"No wonder the Guide's Star God servant was named Cortana; turns out Warhammer was just a front, this is actually Cortana Empire 0L."
"Drag the Great Eyeball in and throw it into a dungeon as a BOSS, otherwise this guy's updates are getting slower and slower."
A new era for the galaxy had arrived.
The threat of the Chaos Gods was removed.
As for what the war with the Extradimensional Old Gods would become, only people in the future would know.
Destiny, in its true sense, had become utterly chaotic; no one could see the future.
"Although it's difficult, as long as we don't give up, there's always a chance to win."
"This universe is a universe of endurance, and humanity's greatest advantage is its ability to adapt to all kinds of environments and find ways to survive." Malcador was quite optimistic about this.
After all, during The Battle of Terra, he too had once fallen into despair.
After planning so painstakingly for so long, nine Primarchs rebelled, and he was pushed back to Terra by the Chaos Gods.
It seemed as if they were about to completely become playthings of Chaos, yet they gritted their teeth and endured.
The once invincible Chaos Gods were reverted to their primal state, becoming tools of the Chaos Gods.
The Warp was reshaped into the Abyss and the Celestial Realm, becoming an orderly place.
This was their victory.
Persevere, and there will always be a turning point.
"I have a new plan."
The Emperor then began to pitch his new plan to everyone.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, everyone ran off.
The Emperor's plan was even more unreliable than Tzeentch's; anyone who believed it would surely fall into a trap.
Nevertheless, everyone put their heads together and devised a strategy to deal with the Extradimensional Old Gods.
That was to use the Chaos Gods to block their invasion, then develop the galaxy and use the advantage of high-dimensional life forms (Players) to gather information about those old gods.
Only after thoroughly understanding them, knowing how to counter and eliminate them, would they launch a counterattack.
And in the Calixis Sector, Feng also learned everything that had happened on Terra.
"I told you my vision was sharp; the moment I saw the Saint, I knew he had a future."
"That's why I followed him wholeheartedly, and now I can become Sector Governor, all thanks to my keen eyes."
Father Tina, who had grown up with Feng, unceremoniously debunked this statement.
"You were clearly on the verge of a mental breakdown from the plague army back then, kneeling to anyone you saw."
Everyone had their own new chapter.
No matter what their former identities, now, they all deeply recognized the Imperium of Man and were willing to fight for it with their lives.
Perhaps, the future would bring more trials, but humanity would always find a way to overcome them.
Alex would also remain in this universe, continuously guiding the Players, leading them to one new victory after another.
Perhaps, one day, they could truly conquer the entire universe, making the Extradimensional Old Gods submit beneath the banner of the Two-Headed Eagle.