"Fuck." I swore any notion of amusement I had would have shattered into millions of pieces at this unprecedented piece of news.

Yuggoth was important, and that would be putting it extremely lightly. It was the beating heart and skeleton behind my every scheme and action. It was why I had put great effort into its protection from the get-go, giving well-worded advice to the arrogant toads and my full cooperation, using body parts and blood to craft and fuel the wards.

Anyone with a semblance of intelligence would understand its value, that my bottle was on it notwithstanding. But time had worked its job. Nothing was eternal without maintenance, and the damages were done.

Damages only in my freedom I could fix on the magical aspect, essentially unfixable, less be said on the critical issue that was the lack of my dark energy in reserve. The technological strains, from the extended contact to it and non-care, were… fixable for the little it was worth with the tools, skills, material, and knowledge at our disposal.

The original defense systems weren't in pristine conditions, but the effect on their efficiency was close to null, as the protection they brought was the same. And there were the Blackstone Fortresses… there laid the problem: it was the only attack, a devastating one, but one eating the black energy reserve.

One that couldn't be replenished, what leaked from the Flask of Sealing was far too diluted in the area where it was harvestable for the most resilient of the contraptions to be used. Attacking was excessively pricey on resources compared to pure defense.

I made my little bats, and others built plenty of new defenses and had comprehensive routines focused around the Wandering World, but that was to compensate and avoid wasting energy. Ultimately, they weren't here for a catastrophe of that scale. Not that any of them ever could. At a certain point, only quality mattered.

And with the Chaos Gods… I don't fear them breaking the original shield because they simply couldn't, given their psychic nature. The emphasis on breaking - the shielding wasn't energy-free - but shooting them wasn't an option for the above.

A single unsightly tumor was manageable, two too, but the three together? I could harm them, wound them to an extent they couldn't fathom, make them scream and twist in agonizing torture, an enticing prospect. But only if I allocated the firepower, the shield would go bye-bye soon after. I formulated alternatives, but none comparable.

But that wouldn't kill them. At best, it was liquifying a body part and silencing it into submission a bit. Let's not even go on why they were this strong with the great imperfect filter between them and Realspace. Most possibly a consequence of the crack on the Well of Eternity by the frog bitch to get my soul with my hypothesis on a Pandora's Box scenario concerning parallel universes.

It was a terrible situation… exceptionally so. Temporarily shutting down the Chaos Gods in exchange for the shield wasn't a good trade. The Warp wasn't a nice place, and while the three were the top dogs, they weren't the only powerful inhabitants.

The twin products of Orks' belief came to the forefront. They had taken a minor hit, thanks to the Krorks. They saw the Orks as a desecration of all they stand for, less than animals. They didn't hate them; it wasn't something as crude as that. Instead, they understood the need to purge the galaxy of their presence. The Krorks would seek to exterminate the Orks and psychically sterilize their every last spore of the galaxy at any opportunity.

But Grork and Mork still existed and would until a real dent was made in the Ork population. They were a wild card, and being so… recklessness and showing off that scale would potentially pause their endless brotherly battle.

It wasn't a scenario we didn't see coming or planned for, but fuck wasn't it on the deep end of what we wanted to happen. Losing the shield was not much below, handing my rings and bottle to a random Daemon.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but our little fun needs to end here," I explained plainly to the confused Dark Muse. Lifting my hand, I invoked six pentagrams; from them manifested thirty-six ebony chains whose speed generated sonic booms as they shot forward.

Shaimash sidestepped, dodging elegantly, and continued to do as my chains adjusted and realigned to their prey. This little dance went on for one more second, an eternity, and a show of his skill, but one touched briefly. Like the sting of a venomous jellyfish, the psychic disruption and burning pain took effect, stunning him for a microsecond, and in that time, he was chained up.

Angry yet unafraid or unaware, I took no chances and wisely decided to just portal him in one of my extensively secured guest rooms in my Vault. His interrogation for me to look later on, as was everything else related to him. Until then, Trazyn would be his jailer and talking companion.

-Be advised that Shaimash is neutralized and continues as ordered.- I sent telepathically, sharing the subsequent information. I teleported myself to Yuggoth, my gaze immediately landing on a winged, immaculate porcelain puppet with an ever-sleeping visage marred with worry, the Avatar of Lileath.

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To her right was her mother, but further away was her father, their expression not different from one another beside Kurnous, who was more stoic. On the other side, sitting on a crystal table, was my brother, who jumped forward a happy skip to his steps as he walked in the air.

"Arrived in a flash like always." Cegorach exclaimed, though definitely less jovial than usual, "I think we may have a little problem."

"We do… and that's a little of an understatement." I drawled, staring at the sky. Usually, it was an illusion doing the job the stars would have on a planet, night and day cycles, temperatures, etc. Still, here it was deactivated, showing the Warp in all its beauty, for it was so if the sight didn't drive you insane and you could appreciate the aesthetic of some of its parts.

Now, instead of an unknowable sludge, it was three distinct ones in shades, lighting, and appearance: one was of blood, bronze, and rage in a howling armored man, the second of pestilence, rot, and despair represented by an unsightly slug, and the last of contradiction, hope and falsehood in a hood of ever-shifting flesh, beaks, and feathers.

It was very, very strange that they 'allied' together; it was antithetical to what they were, but I can see my show with Tzeencht as motivating. Alas, the whys it happened would never be elucidated. What mattered was that it was happening and negative for us.

"What can we do, Hoopa?" Lileath called in barely hidden distress, her articulated pure white hand holding her bow tightly and her porcelain feather quivering.

I hummed and pondered shortly over my limited options. Offense through Yuggoth's systems was ill-advised, diplomacy was insanity with these perverse abominations of thoughts, and turtling up would let the three free reigns to do whatever they wished.

Wishes among were the countering of the Celestial Wheel by controlling the Warp current and turning Yuggoth in the largest demolition ball or less complicated, throwing the literal Warp at the shield for millennia till it expires.

The first was at the head, and from what I sensed, seemingly the horrific gist of it. Yuggoth would rip apart anything in its path. The result if it was oriented to branches of the Labyrinthine Dimension and beyond was crystal clear. It might not be what was planned, but the simple fact it was a possibility was enough to act as if it was what was a certainty.

"Is the portal in the Enclave fully operational yet?" I questioned, and this time, her parents gave it to me. I knew the bulk of what was said, but leading the conversation where I wanted was important.

"Yes…" Isha informed curtly with a delicate frown, and her Consort took over, scowling, "As Isha said, it is. But opening it would attract unwanted attention… and the Golden Escape final stage is in a less acceptable form…"

"Hm. The encryption hasn't reached completion yet. But it shall do." I finished with a self-deprecating smile, and if it had been completed, our resident God of Craft and Artifice wouldn't find it impossible to reverse-engineer my creation and use my system to access the Golden Gates.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded, but let's say my design was suboptimal. It would have gained us precious time, far more than now, but now the encryption won't be as successful in stopping Vaul.

It wouldn't be a problem if I weren't stuck, but for this transportation method, it was either on or off. I always preferred total destruction if the Aeldari Empire won in their area. And destruction is nothing in the face of Morai-Heg and, well, Vaul. At best, I have made it lengthier for them to work through it.

But mentioning either was pointless; everyone understood the risk of activating the Golden Escape. Frankly, I might be a bit dramatic. Vaul would only have access to the last gate identity data used as I didn't include a central, easily accessible database like a moron.

Yet… creating a hyper-powerful algorithm to find the coordinates of my thousands of remaining Golden Gates was within his ability and something he would do.

It won't be quick, even by his creation, but a distinct brutish method was a surefire, no matter how long, complex, and random I made each individual tag corresponding to my gates. After all, at the end of the day, they were made for mortals, trained mortals only with the mental faculties to use them, but mortals all the same.

It was the same method used to get passwords, stubbornly dumb computational power to find the right combination of symbols, even if it's a wee bit more complex here. Still, the last Golden Gate it was linked to would be known by them and, as such, usable, even if broken, considering what Vaul was capable of when motivated.

'Freedom, all this shit would be fixed if I attain it.' I growled internally, my soul steering toward it to a degree deeper than it ever did. Rage mixed with anticipation at the rapidly approaching reality. I think I might have to haste things up on Earth. Even with a lesser might, my little brighty would survive and stay adequately conscious of doing his part in our pact.

I was too generous, really… and greedy. Well, it's not as if having him to full maturity is necessary for me, but it would be better for Humanity as a whole and his overall experience in R'lyeh.

He already consumed another of my contractors, aiding the elimination of the last large one, which went beyond what I would like my direct involvement to be ideally, but idealism wasn't realistic here, sadly. I would have to simply be discreet.

"Hehehe! Bazinga! Freedom! Do you hear my brother, sister, and niece? Do you hear his mandate? Do you comprehend his attention?!" My clown of a sibling exploded in elation, confetti, and fireworks shooting from his shoulder as he pranced around.

Soon, what he meant rammed into the family of three's heads; shock and mixed feelings were their reaction. There was another implication: what they were already doing was edging on betrayal, but that last step was a point of no return for many in the Pantheon.

Khaine won't see the difference. Their mere association with me sealed their unworthiness to exist in his eyes. They were too far gone already and have done so of their free will. Time for regret is long past.

"Indeed, the risk of revealing the Golden Escape to the Pantheon is inferior to letting those three Psychic Tumors do as they please while we look from the sideline." I breathed in with a soft smile, "That's why I propose a change of plan, to let you personally meet our guests."

"Hoopa, what of the children?" One of them asked concernedly, unsurprisingly coming from Isha. Always ever kind and merciful, she does represent her title better than any of us.

"The evacuation is going on as we speak," I answered matter of factly. Their enthusiasm, bravery, and willingness were unimportant to our foe. They would be a hindrance and a weakness in the incoming battle.

We can't have them die or be forcefully corrupted, or both, and honestly, aside from a certain few with the correct equipment, it was pointless to risk them as I did at first to get control of this planet.

"You needn't worry, sister, if that's what you were asking," I added. The information about the current happening was currently passed across the Ark of Life chains of command, and everything was put on high alert. It had already been supposed the Empire was externally influenced, and it might or might not be a coincidence the Chaos Gods were on the move.

"Let's bring your true divine selves to this battle and show our adversary the errors in their ways." I declared, even if we knew winning would still not be guaranteed.