Chapter 358: Pukijipa

Numbers themselves possess power; this is the theory of numerology.

But to Carlos, this was utter nonsense.

The reason sacred numbers work is solely due to the gods' favor—the Lord of Change delights in the sacred number nine, so his followers use nine to please him; if the Lord of Change is truly pleased, he grants extra power.

This is the true reason sacred numbers work—numbers themselves hold no power; they are merely symbols.

Just like blue, bird feathers, scriptures, or the single eye.

Numbers themselves should not possess power!!!

It should not be this way! It should not be this way! It should not be this way!

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Carlos's two heads suddenly elongated, and a ridiculous, gurgling, abstract sound continuously emanated from between his legs.

Pukijipa——————

Clusters of colorful fluid poured uncontrollably from between Carlos's legs, pooling into a thick, viscous puddle on the ground.

Not only Carlos, but the other six Lords of Change also screamed in terror; thick, colorful fluid quickly pooled beneath their feet.

Carlos's four eyes rolled white, his tongue protruded from his beak, twitching in midair.

"H-How could this happen?"

"It shouldn't be this way."

Carlos wailed as he watched the seven incantations he had woven turn sluggish and stall, uncontrolled warp energy surging backward into their seven great demons' bodies.

That wasn't the worst—those strange bacteria that had long lain dormant on them now stirred into action.

These bacteria had previously been restrained and suppressed by Carlos's spells, but as their number dwindled to seven, the bacteria's power surged abruptly, ravaging the bodies of the seven Lords of Change.

Even Carlos, the Chief Great Demon, could not resist for a moment—as if the bacteria were their innate nemesis.

"No! Don't! Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!"

"My knowledge! My knowledge! It's flowing out! All of it's flowing out!"

Carlos's two heads shrieked in unison, writhing and struggling:

"No! My precious knowledge! Don't keep flowing!"

"I can't hold it! Ooooooooh!!!!"

Compared to Carlos, who could still suppress it, the other Lords of Change suffered far worse.

Their knowledge poured out like waterfalls.

"Lord Carlos!!! We can't stop it!!"

"Don't shit! Don't shit! I'm scared!"

"By the Lord of Change, is this part of the plan?! Ooooooooh!!!"

Mephiston stared in stunned silence.

He couldn't help turning his head away—this abstract spectacle was too shocking for his mere few centuries of life.

As for Guilliman, since the incantation had stalled and glitched, he felt his power restored significantly.

The incantation itself relied on inducing Guilliman's negative emotions; the darker his mood, the stronger the binding.

But watching this grotesque spectacle, the only emotion Guilliman could muster was silence.

He silently rose, ignited the Emperor's Sword without a word, its blazing blade, infused with the Emperor's psychic power, shining like a lighthouse in the night.

Carlos paid no attention to Guilliman at all.

"My knowledge! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!"

"Ooooooh! All my knowledge is draining out of my head!"

"No, no, I must draw the knowledge back in!"

"No, no, I can't do this—if I crawl on the ground to absorb knowledge, my career as a Great Demon is over!"

Carlos screamed, arguing with himself—his left head proposed, his right head rebutted.

But in the end, his craving for knowledge won out—Carlos dropped to his knees, his feathers smeared with the colorful viscous fluid, his two heads pressed against the ground.

Guilliman's face twisted in disgust as he swung the Emperor's Sword at Carlos.

The chainsaw axe Bloodson, once belonging to Angron, roared like thunder; the demon possessing Khorne filled every fiber of his flesh, twisting him into a crimson, warped demon.

Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!

Intense hatred surged forth from the fusion of demon and human; this identical, overwhelming emotion granted their fused body unparalleled power.

In the warp, will is everything—and Khorne's will for revenge was stronger even than his rage.

Wings woven from hatred and blood trembled; under warp energy, his exposed arm swelled and sprouted claws, mimicking the iron chains of Nurglish gladiators, fusing with his flesh.

Flames of vengeance and fury blazed along the chains, surging all the way to the roaring chainsaw axe.

Khorne growled and hurled Bloodson—the burning chains arced through the air, dragging the axe blade deep into the left shoulder of Sli'mux, Chief Gardener of Nurgle's Garden.

Then Khorne surged forward, using his fleshy wings to leap straight to the face of Chief Gardener Sli'mux.

The Chief Gardener, seemingly unfazed by pain, gripped his pruning shears and thrust them at Khorne's chest.

But the demon within Khorne forced his now-twisted, clawed left hand to clash against it.

Khorne seized the axe handle and yanked Bloodson free from Sli'mux's shoulder; foul, toxic blood splattered the ground.

"Kill! Maim! Burn!" a bestial war cry tore from Khorne's mouth.

Bloodson roared low, slamming a wave of blood and fire into Sli'mux's neck.

One strike—its mica dragon-teeth chainsaw severed the cervical spine, sending the one-eyed Nurgle demon's head spinning into the sky.

Khorne's twisted skull counter flickered once, signaling another skull KPI completed.

He gasped as his flesh slowly reverted to human form.

The Lurker embedded in Khorne's body writhed, half-emerging from his torso, devouring the slowly dissolving remains of Sli'mux.

This act inflicted immense pain on both him and Khorne—they both felt as if their bodies were being torn apart, every molecule twisted by the warp's profane energy.

The drawbacks of consuming other demons—especially demons of other domains—Khorne and the entity within him knew well, yet they chose to do it anyway.

Enduring the agony of his body being warped by profane warp energy, Khorne turned his gaze to the battlefield.

The Glory Queen-class battleship Soul of Vengeance had been crippled by the "seeds" Nurgle had planted within its hull, while her loyal sister, Glory of Macragge, circled the shattered vessel, unleashing relentless firepower.

Abaddon barely held control of the Soul of Vengeance, the two great human warships dancing a perilous dance within the warp.

Watching this war and iron dance, Khorne unexpectedly recalled the old War Hound—no, the World Eaters' Glory Queen-class battleship, the Conqueror.

Captain Lotala Saryn's soul likely still lingers aboard that vessel.

Since fusing with the demon that once inhabited Angar the Terrible, Khorne felt his mind gradually gaining control over his rage, thinking with relative reason.

Khorne tore his gaze from the two Glory Queen-class battleships.

Though the Glory Queens were Primarchs' vessels, the outcome of this war could only be decided by Primarchs themselves.

The battle between Soul of Vengeance and Glory of Macragge was insignificant—far less critical than the clash aboard the Vengeance of Tzeentch.

The battle between Sanguinius and Magnus.

"The Lord of Change has interfered, pukijipajipa."

The demon within Khorne, gnawing on Sli'mux's remains, spoke to him:

"Now we wait to see what Sanguinius's patron will do, pukijipajipa."

"Then the key is Ahriman," Khorne said, watching the demon still chomping on the corpse: "Can Ahriman hold him off?"

"What the hell are you doing, Magnus?!"

Ahriman shielded the newly resurrected Thousand Sons warriors behind a barrier.

This psychic barrier was woven from the Chaos relics Ahriman had accumulated over ten thousand years.

According to the original plan, Magnus was to defeat Sanguinius or Carlos was to trap Guilliman, then one of them would come to aid Ahriman.

But now, despite the Lord of Change's aid, Carlos had lost—Guilliman would soon finish him and arrive at Ahriman and Zhou Yun's battlefield.

And what of Magnus?

The Lord of Change had channeled most of his power to Magnus, to widen the wound on Sanguinius's body.

Sanguinius should be extremely weakened by now, yet Magnus still dawdled, unable to defeat him.

Ahriman gritted his teeth—he had to consider how to retreat intact.

"Dropped!!!"

Zhou Yun's voice rang out again; Ahriman snapped out of his thoughts and charged into the surging warp current.

While Ahriman thought, Zhou Yun was thinking too.

He was calculating the time.

According to Guilliman's plan, their operation should now enter Phase Two.

He just didn't know how Sanguinius was faring.

Zhou Yun turned his gaze to the threads connecting him to the two Primarchs.

The thread linked to Guilliman had flickered earlier, but now it was steady—Guilliman had clearly defeated Carlos.

And Sanguinius?

Zhou Yun suddenly saw the thread representing Sanguinius—regular tremors pulsed along it.

(End of Chapter)