Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [307]

The red and blue energy spheres landed on Terra, clearing a huge swath of daemons.

The entire planet was submerged in a sea of daemons. The only human-held zone was the massive golden palace atop the Himalayas.

Countless humans were gathered there, defending desperately. Imperial Fists Space Marines fought to the death.

At the palace gates, thousands of gold-armored Custodes battled the daemonic horde—a truly epic scene!

When had Holy Terra ever faced such a massive daemon attack?

 But Rhodes and company weren't looking at the surface—instead, they gazed at the sky.

More shocking than the daemons was Terra's sky.

A massive Warp rift had opened above Holy Terra like a giant eye tearing reality.

 A black-purple light tried to drag all of Terra into the Warp, while a golden psychic force opposed it.

The two forces were locked in struggle, maintaining a precarious balance. But from the rift, daemons poured out like a tide.

"What's going on?! That Warp rift looks like the Eye of Terror!" a Cadia war veteran exclaimed.

Why was there one over Terra?

"By the Emperor, Chaos daemons have invaded! They seek to defile the Emperor and the Golden Throne!"

"You arrived just in time, Rhodes, Guilliman, Magnus. If you'd been hours later, humanity would've been finished!" the Emperor's voice suddenly entered their minds.

The Emperor was more conflicted than ever—he'd almost given up hope. This time, the four Chaos Gods joined forces and caught him off guard!

"Father! What happened? Why did a Warp rift split open above Terra?" Guilliman asked.

"For ten thousand years, the lower levels of Terra's hive cities have been infiltrated by Chaos.

 For centuries, they've smuggled blasphemous artifacts in, and I was powerless.

With the Custodes, Grey Knights, Imperial Fists, and huge numbers of mortal troops,

 these artifacts weren't a huge threat, but the Great Rift changed everything.

The four Chaos Gods tore a giant rift in Terra's sky—swallowing even the moon!

 Terra's orbit shifted, and countless people were flung into the air by gravity waves and died on impact—over 80% of civilians died in the first blow.

Their deaths fueled an enormous wave of resentment and psychic energy!

 Combined with the blasphemous artifacts, daemons descended on Terra.

The four gods even tried to unleash my dark side!

 To handle this, I had to extinguish the Astronomican and focus fully," the Emperor explained.

Rhodes pondered. In the original timeline, after the Emperor sat on the Golden Throne, the Chaos Gods barely cared.

 They always treated the Imperium like a joke, leaving most actions to Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons.

The four gods rarely intervened personally—even Nurgle didn't know about the Plague Wars in advance.

But Rhodes's appearance, the Emperor's Avatars, and the upheaval in the galaxy made the Chaos Gods finally act against the Emperor.

Using the artifacts, they wiped out 80% of Terra's population, then used their souls to open the rift and unleash daemons.

Only the Imperial Palace held out. Mars was under attack by Chaos Space Marines and couldn't help.

Other planets in the Solar System were also under attack. This time, the four gods seemed intent on forcing the Emperor back onto the Golden Throne, with no warning—just opened a rift over Terra!

In the original timeline, it was just the Battle of the Lion's Gate and only Khorne's army.

 This time, Chaos was all-in!

They even whipped up a massive Warp storm to block all psychic communication and reinforcements.

"Father! How can we help?"

"If unchecked, the rift will swallow Terra. Magnus, Guilliman, come to the palace and help me seal the rift with psychic power!" the Emperor said.

Now, Guilliman was a demigod, and with Magnus' psychic power, the three could seal the rift over Terra.

"Father, I can call Sanguinius—he can help repair the rift from the Warp side," Guilliman said.

"Even better! Rhodes, we three will close the rift—hold off the daemons on the ground!" the Emperor said.

"No problem. You close the rift, or these daemons will never stop!" Rhodes replied.

Guilliman and Magnus nodded, leaving the ground forces to Rhodes.

The two shot into the sky towards the palace.

"Lord Rhodes! What do we do next?"

"Support the Custodes—priority is palace security, using it as a bastion to resist the Chaos fleets.

 We must seal the rift first—otherwise, the invasion won't end," Rhodes ordered.

Everyone nodded and rushed to battle. The Custodes struck first, with the Custodes Ultraman returning to a 60-meter-tall giant form.

A 60-meter-tall Custodian appeared, stunning both sides. The daemons thought it was a new Imperial Titan.

Marshal Trajan, leading the Custodes, was stunned!

The giant wore gold armor and held Custodian weapons—but he'd never seen this Custodian before.

And normal Custodes were no taller than 4 meters—where did this giant come from?

The giant Custodian raised his weapon, unleashing a blue shockwave that cleared hundreds of daemons, then approached the defenders.

The Custodes eyed the giant warily, not relaxing.

"Who are you? How are you so massive?" Trajan asked.

"I am also a Custodian, personally armed and armored by the Emperor," Ultraman Custodian sighed.

"Impossible! Custodians can't live that long—even the first Captain-Generals are long dead. Who are you really?" Trajan pressed.

"My name is long, but recently I added the suffix 'Ultraman.' As for my lifespan, I was imprisoned for 10,000 years by a Necron.

 I was released at the Battle of Cadia to aid the Imperium," Ultraman Custodian explained.

"Even if that's true, how can you become so huge?" Trajan asked.

Even the Emperor, even the Primarchs, weren't this size.

"That's a blessing from another Primarch! And anyway, giant forms aren't new anymore!"

Just then, Rhodes released two Emperor Avatars, who stood left and right before the palace.

They raised their swords, gathering golden psychic power, and formed blades thousands of meters long, slashing down.

Where the golden blades passed, all daemons were incinerated. The two Avatars cleared a huge area.

Then came Rhodes's monster army: several Zettons, two King Joe robots, cosmic robot Iron, and Inpelaizer.

"Don't be nervous! These are reinforcements! My Custodians, follow orders!"

 A familiar yet strange voice rang out.

It was the Emperor!