The piercing sound of an alarm tore through the budding warmth in the central hall.
Before the throne, that scarlet, highest-priority communication request flickered frantically like a death warrant.
The tenderness and doting look on Leticia's face vanished in an instant.
She let go of Terrania's small hand, resuming the calm, unruffled majesty that belonged to a deity.
She extended a finger and tapped it lightly.
Hum— A light screen unfolded.
The heroic and imposing face of Political Commissar Valeria appeared, her expression grave as never before.
"Goddess."
Valeria's voice was hoarse, carrying even a trace of terror she herself had not noticed.
"Our intelligence network has intercepted a massive amount of classified reports from the highest levels of the Empire."
"The Inquisition, the Mechanicus, the Astra Militarum High Command, and even..."
She paused, as if searching for an appropriate word.
"...even communications from within the Chaos."
"Their contents vary wildly, but in the end, they all point to us."
As soon as she finished speaking, the three Primarch Sisters, Fogremia, Angronia, and Sanguinia, already alarmed by the serious atmosphere, teleported from their respective rest areas and stood on both sides of the throne.
"What's going on?"
Angronia asked, frowning, alert Battle Intent already igniting in her amber eyes.
Valeria did not answer directly.
She merely waved her hand, projecting processed intelligence summaries into the air.
The first, from a cardinal of the Imperial Inquisition.
In the report, he used the most vicious and panicked vocabulary to describe the Genesis Sisterhood as an unprecedented Subspace entity, an ultimate heretic capable of twisting reality and corrupting faith.
The second, from a Sage of the Mars Mechanicus.
He used a nearly fanatical tone to speculate that Leticia and her group were human deities from the Dark Age of Technology, masters of the ultimate STC (Standard Template Construct), and the true incarnation of the Machine God, Omnissiah.
The third was a decrypted war cry from Khorne's followers.
In that prayer full of blood and slaughter, they called Leticia, who had defeated The Bloodthirsty Fiend, a "false god who stole the glory of the God of War."
Bizarre and grotesque.
Strange and varied.
The Empire and Chaos, these two mortal enemies, had actually developed equally huge differences and fears regarding their perception of Leticia.
However, at the end of these reports with vastly different stances, they unanimously used the same code name, filled with ominous and destructive implications.
"What code name?"
Leticia looked at the intelligence, her voice still calm.
Valeria took a deep breath and pulled up the final document.
It was a red secret order issued by the Inquisition's Supreme Roundtable, its security classification even exceeding that of intelligence on the War Commander of Chaos.
The content of the secret order was very simple.
"...Its threat level has surpassed any single xenos or Chaos threat."
"Its very existence is the ultimate subversion of the Empire's ten-thousand-year order."
"From this day forward, abolish all temporary designations and officially name it..."
Valeria's voice carried a hint of difficult dryness.
"...'the fifth calamity'."
the fifth calamity!
These four words, like an invisible heavy hammer, smashed fiercely into the hearts of everyone in the strategic hall!
In the Empire's official definition, a calamity means irresistible, means the destruction of civilization, and means the end of an era.
And there are only four known "calamities."
They are the Four Chaos Gods!
This naming means that in the eyes of the Empire's highest levels, Leticia and her Genesis Sisterhood are already an ultimate threat, on par with Slaanesh, Khorne, Chaos God Tzeentch, and Nurgle, capable of overturning the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way!
The hall fell into a dead silence.
"Heh."
A soft laugh broke the solidified air.
It was Fogremia.
The perfect silver-haired sword maiden curled the corners of her mouth into an arc of pride and disdain.
"What a rude and unimaginative title."
"However..."
Her gaze turned to Leticia on the throne, her purple eyes filled with fanatical worship.
"...it can barely be considered an acknowledgment of Sister's greatness."
Bang!
Angronia's dark red power fist smashed fiercely onto the armrest in front of her.
On her face, far from any fear, she grinned with a smile full of Battle Intent.
"Calamity?"
"Very good!"
"Then let us make them feel what a real, goddamn calamity is!"
"Sister, please give the order! My battle axe is already craving the wails of the enemy!"
Quite different from her two Sisters.
The newly joined Sanguinia, in those sky-blue eyes, revealed a trace of deep worry.
She frowned slightly and said softly.
"My Goddess, this name... will bring us too much unnecessary strife and hostility."
"It will cause those who could have been saved to misunderstand and fear us."
The artist's pride.
The warmonger's craving.
The guardian's worry.
Three vastly different reactions, representing three different paths.
For a moment, everyone's gaze focused on the throne.
Waiting for their Goddess to make the final verdict.
Leticia quietly watched the four scarlet characters of "the fifth calamity".
She was not angry.
Nor was she worried.
There wasn't even the slightest bit of surprise.
As if this title, enough to make the entire galaxy tremble, was nothing more than a perfectly normal trivial matter in her eyes.
A long while later.
She smiled.
It was a smile filled with supreme charisma and absolute self-confidence.
"Fogremia is right; this name acknowledges our power."
"Angronia is also right; we should let the enemy feel the calamity."
"And Sanguinia..."
Leticia's gaze became incomparably gentle.
"...you are also right; our ultimate goal is salvation, not destruction."
She slowly stood up from the throne and opened her arms as if to embrace the entire sea of stars.
Her voice was not loud, but it clearly entered the depths of every sister's soul, carrying an unquestionable, final declaration belonging to a creation deity.
"A calamity means irresistible."
"A calamity means the end of the old order."
"A calamity means even more: the beginning of a brand new era!"
"The Empire and Chaos have crowned us with their fear."
"Then, we shall accept this great gift!"
Leticia's gaze swept across the faces of every sister under her command, her voice becoming impassioned and powerful.
"From today on, we shall use the name 'the fifth calamity' to bring to this universe, which has been decaying for ten thousand years..."
"...true rebirth!"
Boom!
This sentence, like a thunderclap of creation, exploded in the minds of all the Sisters!
All doubts, all worries, vanished into thin air at this moment!
Replacing them was an unparalleled fanaticism and pride from the depths of their souls!
They knelt on one knee simultaneously, offering the highest respect to their Goddess with a uniform voice full of high spirits and Battle Intent!
"We obey your will!"
"For the fifth calamity!"
At the very same moment that Leticia was heroically setting a brand new name for her force.
Fogremia's body suddenly stiffened slightly.
It was an extremely slight, almost imperceptible pause.
Her perfect purple eyes subconsciously looked toward the endless void outside the genesis.
As if something was watching her from the distant other side of space and time.
...
Deep in the Subspace.
That realm of Slaanesh, constructed from extreme desire, endless pleasure, and insatiable pain.
Above the throne.
The Dark Prince, androgynous, beautiful to the extreme, and fallen to the extreme, slowly opened His six eyes filled with seduction and malice.
His gaze pierced through the barriers of countless dimensions.
Finally, it landed on that perfect silver-haired figure who had just experienced a bloody battle and was resting inside the genesis.
He felt it.
He felt that His most proud "artwork," that soul which should have fallen, which should have become His most perfect collection, had actually been "stolen" by a strange power...
No.
Not just stolen.
That soul had even been corrected, polished, and reshaped by that power...
to be even more perfect than His original design!
It was a kind of pure, unadulterated perfection, bordering on "The Way"!
"Interesting..."
Slaanesh let out a satisfied and greedy sigh.
He extended that long, pale arm and gently licked His fingertips, as if tasting an unprecedented, peerless delicacy.
"A perfect artwork..."
"And one who understands 'beauty' better than I do..."
"New god."
His gaze slowly shifted from Fogremia, finally landing on the black-haired deity on the throne—Leticia.
At that moment.
The lord of pleasure found its brand new, ultimate pursuit.
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