Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde

"I agree! If you can fix them, they can join my Legion," Rhodes nodded.

"Then, Lord Rhodes, can you finally tell me how you'll purify Chaos?" Ahriman asked.

He was extremely curious—after all, even the Emperor's psychic might couldn't purge Chaos. What mysterious force could?

Isha, sitting nearby, had guessed what Rhodes would use. The cosmic beasts were miraculous—she'd wanted to catch one to study! She had thought they were something the Emperor had discovered or bred, but it turned out they were Rhodes'.

The Emperor's actions made more sense: he'd drawn all the Chaos gods' hatred onto himself to buy Rhodes time to grow.

But now, it was time to reverse the roles—if Rhodes could finally destroy Slaanesh, the goddess of love and beauty would be freed.

"I'll fuse you with a special lifeform called a cosmic beast. After merging, your life level will rise to Primarch level, and your genes could be used for gene-seed production," Rhodes explained.

Cosmic beasts were miraculous, but now that Rhodes' system could mass-produce them, he didn't mind investing in Ahriman.

"Wait… Lord Rhodes, did I hear wrong? You said fusing with this cosmic beast will boost me to Primarch level?" Ahriman was stunned.

He never expected the boost would mean becoming as strong as a Primarch.

"Not just Primarch—stronger than the old ones! You'll gain gigantification—becoming a giant 50 or 60 meters tall. Your life level will rise dramatically." Rhodes detailed the benefits.

After fusion, Ahriman's body and soul would be improved, though different from a Primarch-cosmic beast fusion (which would be even stronger).

"You're truly generous. So, my gene-seed could be used to found an Astartes Legion?" Ahriman was shaking with excitement.

Creating a Primarch was on the Emperor's level; Ahriman's opinion of Rhodes soared.

If even the new female Primarch and Yvraine had fused with cosmic beasts…

"Yes. Since I'll entrust you with great responsibility, I won't be stingy. If you perform well, you could arm a Legion with your own gene-seed," Rhodes said.

Of course, Rhodes wouldn't let Ahriman form a separate Legion, and even the Thousand Sons who joined would get Rhodes' gene-seed for control.

Giving Ahriman a cosmic beast was more a leash than a gift—the beast could end Ahriman's life if he rebelled.

"I understand, Lord Rhodes. With such a generous reward, I won't disappoint you. I'll give you my loyalty—unless you betray me first, I'll never betray you," Ahriman promised.

Cosmic beasts had their own will and recognized Rhodes as master—a reward, but also a restraint, but he didn't mind.

After confirming everything, Rhodes summoned a cosmic giant python—a basic cosmic beast—to fuse with Ahriman.

He also summoned his own cosmic fire phoenix, Lelith's cosmic mantis, and Yvraine's cosmic crane, all to help expel the Chaos from Ahriman.

Using cosmic beast energy, they began to drive out the Chaos, while the goddess Isha used her life energy to reshape Ahriman's body.

Red, green, yellow, blue, and cyan lights flickered over Ahriman, as the energy pushed the Chaos out.

"Don't worry, partner. From now on, let's get along. Empty your mind, and let's become one. Your soul is strong—we'll work well together. Just accept my power," the yellow cosmic python said as it entered Ahriman.

The four cosmic beasts squeezed out Tzeentch's power, then expelled it.

The process was excruciating—Ahriman trembled all over; even his soul felt torn. Only Isha's vibrant green light and life energy protected him.

But as a millennia-old being—one of the galaxy's greatest psykers—he endured in silence, gritting his teeth as the Chaos ebbed away.

Meanwhile, in the Warp, Isha distracted Tzeentch, keeping him from noticing his champion slipping away.

The transformation lasted three days and nights—72 hours. Ahriman's body was continuously torn and rebuilt, life energy keeping him in a state between life and death.

Cosmic beast and life energy formed his new body, while Chaos was expelled.

At last, Ahriman felt an unprecedented lightness—the shackles on his soul were gone; Magnus' gene-seed was gone; even the Astartes enhancements were erased.

His life had ascended. In a flash of yellow, he grew to 58 meters tall.

The cosmic python gave him resplendent armor, a yellow cloak, and a massive serpentine staff, replacing his old force stave.

"I can feel it—this incomparable, nearly perfect power! I'm omnipotent!" Ahriman shouted in excitement.

He had ascended to a super-lifeform, free from Chaos, though bound by a new force.

"Congratulations, Ahriman. You are now completely free from Chaos, and the curse of the Thousand Sons. You are no longer an Astartes—you've surpassed that level," Rhodes said.

Ahriman shrank back to a refined, middle-aged man, as he had been in life, then knelt before Rhodes.

"Thank you, great Soul Father. The cosmic beast comes from you. From today, I am your soul-son. I will never betray you," Ahriman declared.

Having been granted such power, all he could offer in return was loyalty. The Primarchs called the Emperor "father"; he would call Rhodes "Soul Father".

"We may not have a gene-father bond like the Astartes, but ours is closer. With the cosmic beast, you can contact me anywhere, anytime," Rhodes said.

A fused cosmic beast could be strengthened up to five times. So far, Rhodes' best was Elena, twice strengthened.

With his boost, the beast could be retrieved or contacted from anywhere in the universe.

"Thank you for your gift, Soul Father," Ahriman said.

"Rhodes, now that everything's done, I'll be going," Yvraine smiled at Rhodes.

She never expected her former underling could rise to become a super-lifeform like her!

Time to collect the War God's fragments—when the Eldar War God revived, there'd be another pillar of support. She looked forward to Rhodes' meeting with the War God—it would be spectacular!

"Alright! I've prepared 200,000 doses of monster warrior serum for you. Good luck—bring the fragments of Khaine to me once you've got them. I'll be on Holy Terra for the next year; if not, contact me via Gomora," Rhodes said.

"Got it!" Yvraine waved and left Fenris with her subordinates and all the Eldar, heading into deep space.

After she left, Ahriman stayed in the training room, practicing cosmic beast martial arts and honing his new energy.

Rhodes, meanwhile, prepared to craft an artifact with the goddess Isha.

"So, what's the plan—what materials do we need?" Rhodes asked.

"Your regenerative metal and extradimensional metal will do. We'll use them to make a giant archway," Isha replied.

She swapped bodies with the other Isha while Rhodes took Ahriman to the training room.

Rhodes nodded, taking out a massive chunk of extradimensional metal and regenerative metal from his system space—both rare metals from the Ultra universe.

"Amazing materials. Let's begin! I'll inscribe magical runes and infuse it with Chaos power, while you help open a Warp rift and draw in Warp energy," Isha said.

She could do it alone, but for appearances needed Rhodes' cooperation—and she'd have to use order power, not Chaos, for the process.

With Rhodes' strong mental power, it wasn't too hard.

They mixed the metals and made a huge archway, 10 meters wide and 20 meters tall, weighing 50,000 tons—using up most of Rhodes' stock.

Osha inscribed complex Chaos runes and infused it with order power while Rhodes regulated the rift and provided Warp energy.

"It's done. Name it!"

"The Dark Portal!" Rhodes said.