The Dark Prince's act of provoking the Lord of Plagues astonished the watching Chaos entities.

At that moment, outside the Garden of Nurgle—

Ka'Bandha was leading his Khorne daemon legions in a headlong charge toward the Garden.

"Blood for the Blood God!"

He led from the front, swinging his blood-drenched axe, felling Nurgle daemons one after another like an unstoppable war machine.

This Exalted Bloodthirster held firmly to his bet with the Dark Prince—to see whose performance in the Garden would prove superior.

A contest to determine who was truly the greatest warrior, the one and only eternal rival of the Savior.

To win this contest, Ka'Bandha committed all his strength, swearing to take the heads of eight-times-eight Great Unclean Ones and claim greater glory!

"I already have the upper hand…"

He was visibly smug, his voice booming out: "The Dark Prince hasn't even reached the Garden yet.

Maybe he's lost his nerve and dares not trespass into this festering domain—what a pathetic coward!"

Yet in the next moment, he saw the image projected into the warp: the Dark Prince had already confronted Nurgle directly and issued a challenge.

"???"

Ka'Bandha froze.

He was still hacking away at the outskirts of the Garden, while that guy had somehow sneaked all the way in to taunt the Plague God face-to-face?

Watching the Dark Prince unleash a stream of scathing mockery toward Nurgle only deepened Ka'Bandha's unease.

"Perhaps the Dark Prince… is a rival worth fearing."

Ka'Bandha's expression darkened.

After all, this being, like himself, was fearless—brave enough to insult a Chaos God to its face.

He recalled his own past moment of glory when he'd screamed curses at Tzeentch before the gates of the Crystal Labyrinth.

Yet the moment he'd opened his mouth, he'd been promptly and thoroughly thrashed—nearly beaten to death.

Meanwhile, the Dark Prince not only stole Nurgle's artifact but had just pointed in the god's face and mocked him on his own doorstep.

What kind of courage was that?

By any measure, the Dark Prince had outdone him.

And worse still, while Ka'Bandha had been tirelessly butchering his way across the outskirts with barely any attention, the Dark Prince had seized the spotlight and renown by confronting Nurgle head-on.

"I am the Exalted Bloodthirster, First Favored of the Blood God, and the Savior's true arch-nemesis—I will not lose to the Dark Prince!"

The more Ka'Bandha thought about it, the angrier he got—snorting smoke and fire from his nostrils.

"Nurgle, you F***!"

He snapped, cleaving through the last Nurgle daemon in his sector and launching into a furious tirade.

Yet despite all his insults, there was no reply.

That only made the Bloodthirster even more enraged. His curses escalated, but the silence persisted.

The only thing echoing through the air was his own voice.

What Ka'Bandha didn't know was that, due to the approaching threat, the Garden of Nurgle was under full lockdown—shielding itself from external influences.

Which meant none of his yelling reached inside.

He had been silenced.

The Exalted Bloodthirster grew increasingly upset. Why was no one responding?

Within the Garden, the Nurglings watched the scene, puzzled.

From their perspective, they saw a big, dumb Khorne daemon hopping around and yelling like an idiot—looking utterly ridiculous.

The Nurglings burst into laughter, cackling and wheezing.

At that moment, Ka'Bandha felt the sting of cold indifference—it was unbearable.

"Nurgle!!"

Enraged beyond reason, he swung his massive axe and shattered a twisted path ahead of him—

—and then stormed into the Garden of Nurgle with his entire army.

…

Meanwhile, in a hidden Chaos realm—

"Nurgle, I obey the divine will of my master, Diablo the Destroyer! I will enter your Garden and destroy your feeble favored!"

After his round of insults, the Dark Prince issued a direct declaration of war.

This bold move yielded incredible results—both he and Diablo saw their fame skyrocket among the denizens of Chaos.

Diablo, the mysterious god behind the Terror Legion, now appeared to be a challenger worthy of facing the ancient powers like Nurgle.

Waves of faith and emotional energy poured in—an absolute windfall.

The only price: Nurgle's fury burned ever brighter.

The unnatural vortex around him expanded again, and his rotting eyes glared with murderous intent.

"Children—kill him and retrieve my artifact!"

Suppressing his wrath, the Plague God used up massive amounts of corrupt warp energy to hurl a new wave of Great Unclean Ones into the space.

He vowed to find Diablo and devour him in revenge.

Yet as soon as those daemons emerged at the portal nexus, they were met with fierce resistance from the Terror Legion, Orks, and Tyranids—all working in strange coordination to repel them.

The Tyranids even feasted upon them.

Currently, Nurgle was waging war on multiple fronts—his forces stretched thin across the Scourge Stars and Ultramar. He simply couldn't spare enough power for this theater.

Moreover, deploying troops en masse took time.

These hastily summoned daemons couldn't break through Eden's carefully arranged lines.

Seeing this, Nurgle stopped wasting time on more summons.

Instead, he did the unthinkable—channeling his own divine essence to shove a rotting hand through the vortex.

He wasn't acting out of mere anger from the insults—he had a goal.

He wanted the artifact and the Godplague back.

This location, though more rooted in reality, still held thick warp energy, allowing Nurgle to exert some of his power.

His festering hand pressed against the veil between reality and warp, causing the space to tremble. The membrane stretched like a soap bubble.

"Archmage, can this veil withstand it?!"

Eden gulped as the corrupted hand loomed overhead.

"The veil is… still solid," the Grand Sorcerer muttered, wiping sweat from his brow and resisting the urge to run. "And we have Blackstone constructs reinforcing the space to limit warp intrusion."

As he spoke, the surrounding Blackstone barriers powered up, further reinforcing the veil.

Nurgle's hand smacked against it—again and again—like a corrupted god striking tempered adamantium glass.

"Phew. Good thing that hand can't break through," Eden exhaled.

Truth be told, even if Nurgle had managed to shove it in, it wouldn't have been catastrophic.

The sanctum contained a sacred tower core capable of igniting at any moment, channeling the Emperor's holy energy.

He was very eager to blast Nurgle again after their last encounter.

In fact, the Emperor had been pestering Eden to storm the Garden again so he could get another shot.

Still, Eden refused to let the Emperor intervene unless it was truly critical.

The Emperor's light would damage this pocket realm severely—and worse, might reveal that the Dark Prince and the Savior were one and the same.

That would make things… complicated.

Failing to break the veil, Nurgle changed tactics—injecting corrupt warp energies through his hand.

The rotten flesh twitched, and down rained black clouds of flies and worm-like grubs the size of trucks, all aiming for the cauldron containing the artifact.

He was trying to teleport it back to the Garden.

Such an invasion couldn't be stopped by conventional armies.

"Perfect timing!"

Eden didn't flinch. He had a counter prepared.

BZZZZMMM—

Flames ignited across the realm. Terror spread.

"Not even death and decay can conquer fear!"

Infernal fire surged.

The spectral form of Diablo the Destroyer, King of Terror, emerged—his gravelly voice stirring dread.

His manifestation rivaled Nurgle's own—covered in deep red runes, his body ablaze with hellfire.

Most striking of all were the enormous, twisted horns atop his head—like a devil's crown, symbolizing absolute might.

Diablo roared, and his mouth became a pit of flame, unleashing hellfire upon the flies and grubs—incinerating them to ash.

From the outside, it looked like two Chaos Gods clashing—equal in power.

The watching entities of the warp were stunned.

Some even considered joining the Terror Legion, now backed by this formidable new god.

Such was the allure of divine power.

Every great god naturally drew followers whose beliefs aligned with their nature, and in turn, their worship fed them.

This was the power of faith.

Above, the battle raged—green and red fire colliding as more corrupt lifeforms flooded in.

But in truth, Diablo was almost out of power. His bluff was about to be called.

"Shit… Chaos Gods are this terrifying?"

Eden was struggling to maintain the illusion of Diablo's form with his shadow core—barely holding on.

This was the first time he truly experienced a god's might.

Under normal conditions, his shadow couldn't possibly contend with Nurgle.

Only thanks to the veil, the Blackstone, the terrain advantage, and the recent influx of faith energy had he held on this long.

Yet Nurgle's corrupt energy seemed bottomless, while Diablo's strength was running out.

If he didn't do something soon, the rot would break through.

The Godplague and artifact could be stolen—and he himself might be overwhelmed.

And in that final moment of desperation—

BOOM—

This chaotic realm was under siege.

"For the Emperor!"

A long-prepared silhouette cloaked in dark gold seized the moment, roaring as he burst through a spatial nexus, leading his forces into the embattled domain.

It was the great nemesis of the Dark Prince—the Savior!

"We are the Grey Knights—armor forged of faith, shields built of sacrifice, swords purified by devotion!"

As arcs of psychic lightning surged through the teleportation array, the Grey Knights of the 7th Brotherhood followed their Savior into the fray.

"I know no fear, for the Emperor protects, and the Savior grants me strength!

Let the abominations come—we shall show them the might of faith!"

Grand Master Koven led his Grey Knights into battle, fully armed and exuding an awe-inspiring presence.

In recent times, they had left a bloody trail of daemon corpses in their wake, earning such notoriety that their enemies fled at the mere sound of their arrival. Nothing could halt the judgment of the Grey Knights!

"The Emp-emp-emp... Emperor—!"

However, the moment Grand Master Koven raised his gaze, his legs nearly gave out in fear.

The final foe of the Imperium—A CHAOS GOD? NURGLE?!

The Savior had said they'd be taking on a big target—but hadn't mentioned it would be a Chaos God! How the hell were they supposed to handle this!?

Koven, an expert in daemonology, was all too familiar with the horrors of Chaos.

Even a mere glimpse of a god's eye could corrupt a pure soul.

And now, staring upon Nurgle himself, his very soul began to decay.

The other Grey Knights were even worse off—frozen in place, their sanctified armor visibly corroding, darkening under the spread of mold and fungi.

"Dark Prince—your end is at hand!"

The Savior stood firm, sword unsheathed, looking like he'd come for the Dark Prince.

But then—

"By the Throne… that's the Lord of Plagues?!"

Eden, juggling multiple roles at once, continued his masterclass in acting.

Who could've guessed—the Savior, the Dark Prince, Diablo, and even some random bystanders—were all him.

He had been waiting for just the right moment to appear and farm some more faith. After all, Nurgle could be exploited from both the hero and villain angles.

And it was also the best time to thwart Nurgle's incursion.

Under the gaze of countless watching entities, the Savior exuded calm and valor—fearless before the Chaos God.

He… drew his blade against Nurgle!

Golden light burst from the Savior's body as he shouted commands to his forces and the Grey Knights:

"In the name of the Emperor—purge the foul god's incursion!"

Grand Master Koven and the Grey Knights, finally snapping out of it, were overcome with righteous fervor.

Yes! Following the Savior is always the right path!

To face Nurgle, one of the final enemies of the Imperium, was every elite warrior's ultimate dream.

Even if they could only land a scratch—it would be a worthy death!

They'd be immortalized in the annals of Imperial history, their names engraved on their own epic pages, venerated as Imperial saints forevermore.

After this, the 7th Brotherhood would walk with pride before any warrior force in the Imperium!

Better still, they wielded holy weapons.

Time to go all in!

Koven expertly deployed a Sacred Ash Grenade, launching it high above the Grey Knights and Thunder Guardians, momentarily dispelling Nurgle's corruptive aura.

The Thunder Guardians then formed a perimeter to block the incoming worms.

Meanwhile, the Grey Knights began purifying the terrain with psychic fire, efficiently setting up large-scale artillery arrays.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

One by one, giant Sacred Ash Shells fired into the sky, arcing toward Nurgle's massive, all-seeing eye.

Sensing danger from the cursed energy, Nurgle instinctively blinked—but too late.

Blinding golden light exploded in front of him, searing his vision.

It felt like a burning blade had stabbed straight through his eye—he groaned in agony, clutching his face.

The holy light spread across the realm.

Eden, in the meantime, had moved the Dark Prince close to the Plague Cauldron—despite the poisonous risk—to shield the Godplague from the radiance using his dark wings and Blackstone constructs.

Even with layers of protective gear, the toxic mists and holy light battered him from both ends. His back charred, black blood spilling from his lips.

Even his soul took damage.

Thankfully, only a whiff of the steam toxins made it through—not the Godplague itself.

When the light finally faded—

The Dark Prince and the Plague Cauldron had vanished, along with the Grand Sorcerer, the Changer's Medicus, and others who fled the space.

The Savior, however, continued the assault, directing his forces to launch another barrage of Sacred Ash Shells through the vortex toward the eye.

There was no attempt to pursue the fleeing enemy.

Grand Master Koven and the rest saw no issue—the Chaos God of Rot was the true enemy.

When the barrage finished its cycle—

Nurgle stopped howling, lowering his burnt, blackened hand from his ruined eye.

"Children of the Cursed… you bring your own ruin…"

His fury now focused squarely on the Savior and his forces. He was preparing another devastating strike.

Even if it cost him oceans of corruption, he would retaliate!

"F***, he's still kicking?!"

Eden, having used Diablo to evacuate the Dark Prince and the Cauldron, hadn't yet retrieved his clone body.

A pang of regret hit him—

He had underestimated Papa Nurgle. He might actually die here.

But before he could issue a retreat—

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the space.

It came from Papa Nurgle.

In his vision, Nurgle's grotesque head suddenly took an axe to the face!

Then—rainbow-colored fire engulfed his rotting flesh.

The god's colossal, obese form collapsed.

And two more figures lunged at him.

Nurgle roared in rage, spewing corruption:

"Khorne… Tzeentch…"

Three gods' powers and concepts clashed in an all-out battle.

These scenes were broadcasted far and wide—thanks to Diablo's lingering illusions.

The Warp went wild. The Lord of Plagues was being livestreamed getting jumped by Khorne and Tzeentch!

Countless Chaos entities watched in horror.

Deep in the Warp, in Slaanesh's palace—

The Prince of Pleasure, bruised and battered, slouched lazily on their throne—but smiled in satisfaction, flicking their whip at a writhing phoenix daemon below.

They'd previously been attacked by Nurgle and then blindsided by both Khorne and Tzeentch.

Now seeing Nurgle take a beating—justice felt sweet.

Even so, while their body was battered by three Chaos Gods, their essence remained intact, and perhaps… even slightly empowered.

Still, no way in hell were they getting involved again.

…

"Damn! Khorne with the backstab?!"

Eden gawked at the spectacle—utterly stunned.

Khorne had learned from Tzeentch and struck while Nurgle was weakened by holy energy.

This was the perfect moment for Eden, too.

Time to invade the Garden of Nurgle!

He called up Old-G—ordering him to bring the Librarians and Honor Guard immediately.

They would use the chaotic warp network to reach the Garden.

He could've gone himself, but bringing Old Gi was safer—especially to let the Emperor descend.

The Emperor had long yearned to incinerate Nurgle's realm.

This was a millennia-old plan to cripple one of the Imperium's greatest foes—but now it had morphed wildly thanks to the Savior's exploits.

Still, it was a good outcome.

The Regent of the Imperium wouldn't just waltz into the Garden—he'd march in.

Whether that affected the results remained to be seen.

Just in case—

Eden ordered his forces to load supermassive equipment, including the Holy Tower Core, Prism Cannons, and the Tsar-Class Baneblade.

His most valuable assets—all on the line.

This operation's secret codename:

Project Minotaur—commence.

And it wouldn't just be a single-pronged strike…

—

Somewhere in the dark warp-network domain—

Eden, as the Dark Prince, downed several purification vials, barely stabilizing himself.

Nearby, the Plague Cauldron had cooled.

Floating atop its toxic green surface were two Blackstone vials.

Each one pulsed with chaotic liquid that swirled between green and purple—alive.

After painstaking effort…

The enhanced Godplague was complete.

This was no mere virus—it was a Chaos "nuclear weapon," infused with Nurgle's reserves, Primarch DNA, and the Emperor's genes.

"This thing better not break…"

Eden carefully gripped the vial, holding it like it might explode at any second.

If it leaked here, they'd all die.

Now holding this Chaos nuke in his Dark Prince disguise, Eden was ready to conduct a field test—just to let the other powers know:

He had WMDs. (Weapons of Mass Destruction)

But he couldn't release the plague in realspace—too risky.

The Garden of Nurgle was the perfect proving ground.

Time to see how Chaos gods and Nurgle daemons handled biological annihilation.

With high expectations, the Dark Prince led his troops into the warp—

(End of Chapter)

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