The Four Gods' Reverse Merger?

On the open ground before the twisted church, waves of frenzied prayers crashed like tangible tides against Zhou Beichen and Lorgar's mental defenses. Hidden at the edge of the shadows cast by the dead woods, distorted by multicolored mist, they looked toward the blasphemous pulpit at the center of the clearing.

The pulpit itself seemed to be fused from living flesh and some dark metal. Its surface was covered in throbbing blood vessels and mouths that continuously opened and closed, letting out faint hisses. Standing upon it was none other than Archbishop Lot.

But he no longer resembled the shrewd, well-fed ruler described in the intelligence reports.

His body had swollen grotesquely, stretching his once-lavish priestly robes nearly to bursting. His exposed skin was an unhealthy grayish white with a pearlescent sheen, covered in intricate dark-gold patterns that resembled circuit boards and mysterious runes alike. His face was bloated, yet his eyes shone with terrifying brightness, and within his pupils, multicolored whirlpools seemed to be endlessly spinning. His voice was loud and warped, layered with multiple echoes, as though countless voices were preaching through his throat at once.

He was delivering a sermon to the kneeling, fanatic-eyed believers below. The content remained the Covenant Church's classic doctrine, but every word seemed to have been given an utterly different, twisted meaning.

"...The Father God's love is not some distant promise. It has truly descended! It has taken on different aspects, guiding us toward true salvation!" Lot's voice brimmed with bewitching fervor. "Behold! It is not a single will, but four great deities who reveal Its boundless might!"

He spread his arms as though embracing something in the void.

"The one who governs justice and absolute order is the majestic god Khorne!"

"The one who grants life and endless growth is the loving god Nurgle!"

"The one who enlightens wisdom and infinite creation is the wise god Tzeentch!"

"The one who governs beauty and abundant fertility is the joyous god Slaanesh!"

Listening to this reworked list of "holy" names, Zhou Beichen initially only found it strange. It was completely different from the monotheistic doctrine of the Covenant Church as he knew it. But as he carefully considered those awkward, deliberately sanctified names, a chill shot up his spine and into his skull.

Khorne? Nurgle? Tzeentch? Slaanesh?

Wasn't that just...

"Fuck!" Zhou Beichen nearly bit his tongue as he muttered, "The Chaos Gods?! Those things even have some fucking 'reverse-merger' disguise?! They really know how to get creative!"

He understood in an instant. This was no blessing from the Father God at all, but outright Chaos corruption! That idiot Lot had probably prayed to dark forces in desperation, only to attract real demons. Then, thinking himself clever, he had dressed them in the shell of the Covenant Church to rationalize this horrifying reality! It was a spiritual Ponzi scheme, wrapping deadly poison in twisted theology and luring believers into investing their souls as capital!

Lorgar's perception was even more direct. When Lot recited those four names, he clearly "saw" the four corresponding chaotic psychic energies in the air suddenly stir and boil. The violent crimson of Khorne, the decaying emerald green of Nurgle, the deceitful azure of Tzeentch, and the alluring purple of Slaanesh coiled around Lot like four filthy giant pythons, pouring corruptive energy of their respective natures down upon the crowd.

At that moment, Lot's voice abruptly rose, filled with a certain "holy" theatricality. He suddenly raised one already somewhat deformed hand, its fingertips sharp, and pointed straight at the shadows where Zhou Beichen and Lorgar were hiding!

"Behold, lost lambs! Behold the proof drawn here by fate!"

All prayers came to an abrupt halt. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of eyes turned toward them in unison, filled with wild joy, worship, and an almost hungry longing. Their gazes fixed upon Lorgar's body, whose extraordinary presence could not be concealed even in hiding.

"God has entrusted the arrangement of fate to him!" Lot's voice rang out like an aria. "Look, everyone! He is the Chosen of the Four Gods, the first devout believer, the true Son of God! Guided by the four great deities, he shall lead us toward ultimate, eternal salvation and joy!"

Zhou Beichen's heart skipped a beat. This is bad. That old bastard had actually identified Lorgar as some "Chosen of the Four Gods"? Wasn't that Horus?

Lot's gaze swept over Zhou Beichen. In those multicolored whirlpool-like eyes flashed unconcealed disgust and contempt. He raised his other hand and pointed at Zhou Beichen.

"Yet look! The false shepherd still walks at his side, defiling the Son of God's path with lies and schemes!" His tone became "merciful" and "tolerant." "But it matters not! Having witnessed the glory and truth of the eight great righteous paths, even a soul as stubborn as his shall one day cast aside falsehood and sincerely turn toward good!"

"Turn toward good my ass!!"

Lot's "generous" prophecy was answered not by Lorgar's defense, nor Zhou Beichen's rebuttal, but by a coarse roar and a blazing white laser beam that tore through the dim light!

Zhou Beichen did not hesitate in the slightest! The moment Lot pointed at him and uttered that nonsensical "prophecy," the rage he had been holding back, his instinctive rejection of Chaos, and a fierce conviction that I've got nothing to say to freakish trash like you drove him to pull out the laser pistol he had not used in a long time, aim at Lot's nauseating head, and pull the trigger!

Whoosh—!

The beam shot straight for Lot's brow!

Yet just as it was about to strike, the dense, decaying emerald-green psychic energy around Lot—representing Nurgle—suddenly gathered into a viscous, life-filled barrier before the beam. The laser energy sank into it with a faint sizzle, like a drop of water falling into boiling oil. It sent out a small ripple before vanishing. Meanwhile, the tiny scorch mark the beam had left on Lot's brow wriggled beneath the green energy and healed at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, it was gone without leaving even the slightest scar.

Lot tilted his head slightly. A trace of surprise flickered through his multicolored whirlpool-like eyes, then turned into near-pitying disappointment. He shook his head as though lamenting the hopeless folly of one who had lost his way.

"Stubbornly unrepentant..." he said with a sigh, though his voice was cold as iron. "Then let your blood serve as the sacrifice for the Son of God's conversion."

With a light wave of his hand, he issued a simple command to the believers around him, whose eyes had suddenly turned vicious and fanatical, as well as the twisted mutant monsters that slowly emerged from the church's shadows and multicolored mist, radiating foul stench and ominous auras.

"Kill him."

The moment the order was given, it was as though the gates of hell had opened. The fanatical believers let out inhuman howls, rushing forward like a tide with farm tools, crude weapons, or bare hands! The twisted monsters—some covered head to toe in pustules and dripping venom, some with limbs mutated into sharp bone blades, others radiating psychic waves that drove minds mad—released piercing shrieks as they closed in from the flanks!

"Father, stand back!"

Just as Zhou Beichen's shot failed and his heart turned cold, Lorgar's mountain-like figure had already stepped forward, unhesitatingly placing himself in front of him. The primarch's overwhelming presence erupted without reserve like an invisible storm, instantly scattering the charge of the foremost fanatical believers and making them stagger backward as though they had struck an unseen wall.

Cold fury and the resolute determination to purge blasphemy burned together in Lorgar's violet eyes. He spread his hands, and golden flames erupted once more—not small flickers this time, but two roaring fire dragons coiling around his arms!

Battle was about to begin!