Chapter 36

A few minutes prior, Slaanesh and the Whore of Babylon wrestling for dominance within Nero's body sitting on her throne unconscious.

Despite the struggle, the Whore of Babylon shows little effort to fight back against Slaanesh. Obviously because she is within the domain where she is the strongest while Slaanesh is not only weakened but also far away from her source of power, the Realm of Chaos.

"Both of us will perish if we further this meaningless struggle." Slaanesh conveyed his thoughts but the reaction of his opponent was lackluster as if she didn't really care.

"So, what do you propose? Allow myself to be devoured by you?" The Whore of Babylon retorted lightly, lacking any emotion in her face as she stared at Slaanesh who is the one truly in desperate state.

"Then, what if we share ownership to the body? Our nature is similar and very compatible. Mine of Excess, yours of Vices." Slaanesh proposed.

At that moment, Slaanesh could feel the Daemons he favored had fallen in the hand of Adam. The feeling is known to The Whore of Babylon too. She eyes warily at Slaanesh before she spoked.

"Fine. However, I want that man." The Beast of Sodom licked her lips while staring at the silver armored giant pushed open the door to the throne room and stared at those who sat at the throne, welcoming him with a smile.

Slaanesh knew what was going on in the mind of The Whore of Babylon but didn't bother to correct her since her death was beneficial to him.

———

(Adam's PoV)

Stomping down the doors with my legs, I immediately greeted the figure of Nero sitting on the throne unharmed. However, an ominous feeling soon overwhelmed my senses as her eyes fluttered open.

Gone was her emerald green eyes, replaced with purple and red. Both stared at him as amusement adorned her face.

Immediately I knew that it was no longer Nero. It was Slaanesh and something else that is equally wicked taking over her body.

"Well done reaching the throne room, Adam Black. However, this time for sure. This place shall be your grave!"

Fire burst into existence, filling the throne room with fiery red and purplish inferno that swallowed Nero before she Turned into a twisted amalgamation of Slaanesh and the Beast VI assimilated into one.

Even from a distance, I could feel the corrupting power crashing against him. My Warp Immunity no longer could protect my soul from the corruption that isn't solely sourced from Slaanesh, but also from Beast VI which I had no immunity against.

The feeling of safety soon fled my mind. What left is the vulnerability that I had long forgotten. The whispers of temptations I never knew or experienced, flood my mind trying to corrupt my soul. However, that didn't mean I was helpless.

"Emperor, give me strength,

Deliver me from evil.

Guide my blade,

Fortify my soul.

In Your name, I shall overcome,

For Your glory, I shall endure.

By Your will, I am delivered,

By Your light, I am saved."

I grasp my the hilt of my sword tightly as I recite the Litany of Protection, one of the many tools within the arsenal of a Gray Knights. Without a pause, I chained another litany, the Exorcism of Steel to enhance my weapon.

"By the blood of the Emperor, my blade is His vengeance. In His name, I strike, and no daemon shall escape His wrath. My sword is sanctified by His will, and with it, I bring death to all that is unholy."

From the throne, Slaanesh simply watched Adam's futile struggle with amusement.

"Prayers to your corpse Emperor when his light was too far to grant you anything?" Slaanesh mocked before a golden cup, the Holy Grail appeared on her open palm.

Adam does not answer the provocation. Although what Slaanesh said is true. The prayers he made had diminished effect compared to the previous universe.

He stared as the golden cup became twisted with evil, forming points like crowns as sludge poured out from the edge of the once holy artifact. As the mud keeps pouring out from the grail, it quickly covers half of the throne room around Slaanesh. He couldn't figure out the purpose or effect of the mud. But he got a feeling that he shouldn't even touch it due to the sheer evil radiating from it. However, if he hesitated even more, the mud would soon drown the entire palace. He had no choice but to advance.

Looking at Adam approaching him and soon stepping in the mud, Slaanesh grinned.

The moment Adam stepped on the black mud, his stride paused as Slaanesh's grin grew wider.

Naturally, Slaanesh knew about Adam's ability and weakness. Not that he ever tried to hide his immunity to the Corruption of Warp. However, the Grail Mud belonging to the Beast of Sodom is different. It isn't a power that originated from the Warp.

As such, the moment Adam stepped on the mud. Its corrupting power immediately starts to invade Adam.

Slaanesh is very confident of the Grail Mud that can even cause 'Divine Spirit' to fall prey to it.

Surely enough, Slaanesh soon saw dark tendrils from the mud crawl up Adam's body. Trying to take hold of him until almost the entirety of his body was swallowed up except for his head.

———

(In Adam's Mindscape)

Before his eyes, the throne room was replaced with a battlefield filled with death and carnage. The skies filled with wails and shrieks of Daemons. The Warp bleeds into reality as twisted monstrosity of the Warp pour out like an endless tide against the exhausted and vulnerable defenders.

They were swiftly overwhelmed by the endless tide of Chaos Forces. Walls shattered and the fortress overrun by Daemons and Traitor Marines. Loyalist Forces fell by the droves until little were left.

It was a siege destined to fail.

There Adam stood. He heard whispers of voices echoed into his ears. The voices are twisted by hatred and betrayal which stabs into his heart and mind.

"Why did you abandon us?"

"You left us to die!"

"You escaped like a coward!"

The voices of the Guardsmen and Astartes filled his ears like the buzzing of insects. But one clear voice cut through the rest. A familiar and unforgettable voice which sounded lethargic and broken.

"You failed me, Adam." The voice spoked before the last wisp of the Astronomicon's light was forever extinguished.

Adam stood very still and immersed himself with the scene. Even as corpses crawl beneath him to spite and curse at him. He stayed still in silence. His eyes remain unwavered as his will.

"Is that all?" He asked as the scene around him froze like time just suddenly stopped and then melted away into the same black sludge he previously saw.

As everything melted away and replaced with a black void. Then, he felt a warm touch against his armor. Tilting his head down, he saw Alina hugging his form.

"Let's leave everything behind together, Milord. You have done enough for the Imperium. You deserve your rest." Her gaze lay straight at Adam's

For a brief moment, his eyes wavered and hesitation formed. He felt like he was forgetting something very important. However, what Alina said was true. He had fought long enough. He wanted a respite for his weary soul.

That brief moment of hesitation is sufficient for Slaanesh to act. When Adam's mental fortitude wavered, Alina's form melted away to reveal the beautiful yet sickening form truly hidden underneath and a purple curved blade stabbed through the gap of Adam's armor into his guts.

Although the wound was insignificant considering Adam's immortality and regeneration. But inside the mindscape, the wound represents something else. His soul that had remained unbreakable and invulnerable for the longest time to the Chaos Gods was finally breached.

From the stab wound, purplish pulsating veins spread all over his once pristine form as he stared blankly, finally regaining mental clarity to remember what happened to him.

In front of Adam, stood Slaanesh. He smiled smugly, knowing he had succeeded and soon the once incorruptible Adam will be his pawn just like Fulgrim once did. Once he made Adam savor the pleasure of reveling in excess.

Adam grunted as he found himself staggering his steps. His sense heightened to levels he never could've been before. Kaleidoscopic colors swims in his visions which replaced the black void. Then, Slaanesh in his vision transformed from a figure that would make him recoil in disgust into the most beautiful and enchanting woman he ever laid his eyes on.

Lifting both of his hands up to guide Adam's hand. He speaks with a beguiling whisper and smiles excitedly as he guides the hand on the bountiful body of Nero he possessed to stimulate the primal instinct of men.

"Accept my blessing. Savor it. Experience the pleasur– You!"

His words came to a pause when Slaanesh suddenly felt a powerful constricting force choking on his neck. His eyes immediately widened in disbelief as he)*stared at Adam who's unreadable expression hidden under his helmet. But his glowing eyes under the visor is enough to answer Slaanesh's question.

Mustering all the willpower he could gather, Adam resisted the corruption seeping deep into his consciousness.

The reason why the corruption went unnoticed is because of the unique trait of Grail Mud corruption compared to Warp corruption. Unlike the corruption of the Warp that aimed to twist his very being into its thrall. The corruption of the Grail Mud aims to twist his deepest desire, emotions and mortality, driving him into despair and ultimately turning him into his most destructive version while drunk in madness. Something that already exists inside him, unravels and is brought to the surface.

Despite battling against the corruption and madness that is consuming his rational mind, Adam couldn't help but conclude that the Beast VI is a natural predator of men due to the nature of Grail Mud to aim and twist the most vulnerable aspect of humans. As such, he placed the threat of Beast VI ahead of Slaanesh.

If Slaanesh were to learn about his thoughts, he would be infuriated to be looked down upon.

———

(3rd PoV)

With a forceful howl, Adam lifted his right leg electrified with Warp Lightning before he stomped the ground as hard as he could, shattering the once beautiful marbled floor as the tide of black mud purified by the lightning pulse spreading in a spiderweb-like shape.

When Adam regained his clarity, the throne room around him already changed. The once opulent and lavish throne room of Nero had turned into a den of evil and malevolent energy. The ground filled with a thick layer of black sludge pulsating with an extreme evil aura and faint faces of humans in pain could be seen on it.

At the center of the room was Nero. The Emperor of Rome had been replaced with a personification of Excess and Decadence. The Emperor of Roses is no more, what remains is the amalgamation of the Dark Prince and the Beasts of Sodom. Behind Slaanesh is seven towering monstrosities resembling a dragon's head resembling the Pillar Demon God, Flauros.

Facing the monster, Adam could tell that whatever Slaanesh had become is not the primary threat. But the monstrosity behind him is. The beast snarled and growled at Adam but had yet to make any act, still waiting for command to act.

It was an uphill battle. To stave off the corruption that had been set within him, Adam couldn't even muster his full strength. Yet, Slaanesh grew stronger with each passing moment as the beast was. However, dying wasn't an issue. Not due to his Immortality. But for some reason, Slaanesh is dead set to enthrall him. Not that he would. He would detonate his own soul before Slaanesh could claim him.

Both sides started without words for a brief moment. Adam was splitting focus to fight the corruption within him and Slaanesh in front of him. Meanwhile Slaanesh seems to also be occupied in his mind but not for long.

For a moment, Nero's right eye that was purple representing Slaanesh turned red as the left eye, which indicates the Beast VI fully taking over Nero's body.

Adam tightens his grip on Titansword, expecting an order for the Sodom's Beast to attack. But instead, he heard a jovial laughter.

"While I cannot understand why that guy is so obsessed to defeat you. But now I do. To resist the Grail Mud with your willpower alone… definitely a great delicacy. I hope you will last long enough for my turn, human from another reality." Beast VI said before Nero's pupils both turned into purple.

"As if I will let you snatch my prey! He is mine!" Slaanesh took over and snarled as the Sodom's Beast howled in acknowledgement and the mud below her started rippling as she sunk into it.

The seven monstrosities vanished alongside Slaanesh and from the mud he sank, a claw with red and gold coloured scales crawled out before its main body which was equally monstrous. Seven heads now connected to a body, each roared and snarled as they climbed out from the mud before lining their sights on Adam.

Adam stared unflinchingly at the monstrosity that towers over him that even the ceiling crumbled, unable to accommodate the Beast of Sodom's true body. His gaze is filled with apprehension, knowing the already strong Slaanesh became even stronger.

"Even so. I will defeat you or die trying." Adam closes his eyes momentarily to muster his willpower and strength as he prepares to confront Slaanesh.

—————

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