Chapter 709: You Dare to Ascend as the Eternal Dragon

Chaos, the Deceiver, manipulated fate, letting it descend as threads, attempting to reassert control over Azarq Ahriman.

Azarq Ahriman was too precious—especially at the moment His divine seat manifested—Chaos immediately realized Ahriman’s value exceeded even His expectations.

The divine seat occupied by Azarq Ahriman was named Ahriman, embodying fate’s darkest face, symbolizing the doom that all things return to dust, symbolizing the inevitable descent into darkness; the closer the universe drew to its end, the stronger and more dangerous this seat became.

Threads of fate pierced from past, present, and future dimensions toward Azarq Ahriman, imprisoned beneath the Space Wolves.

Magnus had lost all knowledge of psychic energy, relying entirely on instinct to channel it—powerful, yet imprecise, and this caused a deviation when He sent Ahriman out of the Warp: Ahriman did not reach the Witch Star, but instead plummeted toward Fenris.

He was directly captured by Fenris’s gravity, smashing through the atmosphere, piercing thick clouds, and crashing headfirst into Fenris’s Fang Fortress.

At that moment, inside the Fang Fortress, Old Wolf Logan was hosting a banquet, discussing the sudden appearance of the Witch Star next to Fenris.

Then Ahriman struck like a cannonball, smashing through the ceiling of the Fang Fortress and crashing into the Space Wolves’ banquet hall, his horned helm embedded deep into the rough stone floor, standing upright before Logan Grimnarl.

Even Old Wolf Logan had never seen such a sight—he nearly believed this was some new attack by Ahriman.

But Ahriman made no movement at all, remaining inverted, his helm planted in the ground.

So Logan shoved Ahriman into a cage, planning to consult Bjorn about how to handle him.

Throughout the entire process, Ahriman offered almost no resistance; His emotions were in extreme stillness, shattered by His father’s sacrifice and the impact of apotheosis.

The threads of fate descended from Chaos, but before they touched Ahriman, they crumbled inch by inch into ash.

How powerful—Ahriman had already fallen from apotheosis, yet the power entwined around Him remained so immense.

Is the Ahriman seat truly this extraordinary? Its strength even surpasses that of Vashthor in His prime.

Why has this occurred?

Has the galaxy drawn so close to its final end?

Chaos watched Fenris with reluctant frustration—not only Ahriman’s own power, but Fenris’s bitter winds, frost, geothermal fires, and undead spirits were all resisting Chaos’s influence.

He had more important goals now; he had no time to waste on Fenris and Ahriman.

Chaos turned His gaze toward the distant void, to the battlefield at the border between Ultramar and the Tau Empire.

Countless threads of fate, woven densely, descended from His hands, binding to Magnus.

The many-headed monster writhed with terrifying psychic energy, summoning storms that shredded nearby warships.

Mortarion darted around Magnus, relying on his mobility and that strange numerology-based precognition, but ultimately, he could only barely hold on.

The power gathered in Magnus far exceeded anything Mortarion could match.

At this moment, Magnus possessed not only His own power across infinite parallel dimensions, but also most of the power of the Eternal Well; in a sense, Magnus had already become the god of the domain represented by the Eternal Well.

No matter how long Mortarion could delay, he could only hold out for a few more moments.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yun was deeply entangled in battle with the Hive Mind, unable to break free in the short term.

Hm?

The Lord of Change watched as the threads of fate began snapping one by one—as if an invisible insect were gnawing at fate from the future.

He startled, lifting His gaze from His domain toward the grandeur of the Highest Heaven.

Boundless waves surged within the Highest Heaven; countless Warp entities screamed in anguish, hunger spreading among them, the Domain of Greedy Dissolution rising from the sea, boundless shadows emerging like night mountains from the Warp.

Within those shadows, the Lord of Change saw swarms of insects murmuring in unison, beasts hungering in the hunt, corpses strewn across the land, all things withering to yellow.

Ten thousand insects cried in sorrow, ten thousand beasts roared hoarsely, ten thousand mortals wept in silence—finally, all starving beings devoured one another, spiraling into a circle, head biting tail, forming a colossal dragon coiled within the Warp, faintly visible, about to be born.

Distant hunger descended upon the Warp, coalescing into a dragon, coiling and roaring, devouring all things while devouring itself.

Without doubt, this was the seventh divine entity foretold by fate, succeeding the Dark King and the Machine God—the Lord of Greedy Dissolution, the Eternal Dragon.

He was about to be born.

Has Zhou Yun fallen?

How could this be?

The Lord of Change’s will trembled; panic swept through the Crystal Labyrinth, and all within Chaos’s domain shuddered and quaked.

Is this still within His plan?

If Zhou Yun fails and the Eternal Dragon is born, the powers of Greedy Dissolution, Malicious Artifice, and Corruptive Destruction will crush the Emperor.

The Dark King will inevitably be born; Chaos did not believe the Emperor could bear the weight of three domains alone.

At that moment, Chaos suddenly sensed the flow of fate had shifted.

Fate had clearly changed: the Tyranid ascension had indeed been halted, yet the ascension itself had not ended; the rise of the Greedy Dissolution domain had not ended; the birth of the Eternal Dragon had not ended.

A deep brown light rose within the shadow of Greedy Dissolution, carrying the scent of wheat and chestnuts, like a blazing sun.

The corpses, insects, and beasts embedded upon the Eternal Dragon’s body as scales let out hungry shrieks, stretching limbs like withered trees yearning for sunlight toward the deep brown radiance.

And within that deep brown light floated only a single chestnut bun.

What is this?

What has happened?

“Chaos!!!” A scream erupted from Slaanesh’s domain—the Lord of Hunger roared at the Lord of Change: “Is this also part of your plan?!”

Is this part of His plan?

Chaos stared at the tangle of fate, blurred and indiscernible, unable to see the future’s direction.

But… but Chaos faintly guessed what had occurred.

Even if unbelievable, even if He could not comprehend how it was done,

everything now pointed to one possibility:

“It is not the Hive Mind. It is not the Tyranids who will become the Eternal Dragon.”

“It is Zhou Yun. He is ascending a second time. He is seizing a second domain.”

“It is He—throughout, it has always been He who seeks to ascend as the Eternal Dragon.”

Silence spread through the Warp; all Warp entities heard Chaos’s words.

The trajectory of fate now became clear.

The second ascension—Zhou Yun’s first ascension had never truly been completed.

Due to the Emperor’s obstruction, Zhou Yun had never truly become the Machine God; He had remained in a state of infinite near-completion, never fully achieving it.

Now, at the moment His first ascension neared completion, Zhou Yun began his second ascension.

He seeks to claim both Malicious Artifice and Greedy Dissolution—to become both the Machine God and the Eternal Dragon.

“Is he mad?” the Lord of Hunger roared. “Does he want the Dark King to be born?!”

No one answered Slaanesh’s question. Chaos stared at the material universe, terrified yet delighted.

Terrified by Zhou Yun’s actions, delighted because He sensed a great transformation brewing upon Zhou Yun.

Since the War in Heaven, since the Horus Heresy, no such storm of change had ever swept through the galaxy—now it surged, centered on Zhou Yun.

Laughter and war cries also erupted from the Brass Fortress of Khorne; the Blood God bared a cruel smile.

“War! War! War!” The battle cry rang like a horn, shaking the Highest Heaven.