[Hades?]
Hades?
Hades.
Ah... yes. That name—the first word he heard after descending into this world. Strange and bizarre, yet over time, it had gradually become familiar to him.
But Hades sometimes had doubts—what kind of person named their child Underking? It might have had something to do with Barbarus's exceptionally strong death culture. In any case, he had muddle-headedly borne that name, and aside from his followers, even the Underking himself had never thought much about it.
This was another collapse.
Another manifestation of fate—He was the Underking, and the Underking was him. This was why He had descended upon Barbarus. Among the myriad reflected fates, only this path led to godhood.
All the others had failed.
Some died on Barbarus, some on Terra, some on Fenris, some on Mars, some aboard Horus's ship that year... in all manner of strange and varied ways.
There were other failed endings as well: some fell midway and became permanent Warp Black Holes; some were imprisoned somewhere in the Warp by the combined efforts of the primarchs; some were successfully contained by Trazyn.
Only he had come closest to success—before the collapse of countless fates, he had been the most successful one. After fate collapsed, then no matter what, there could only be one answer, regardless of success or failure.
He was the original.
Hades did not find it strange.
He now accepted everything that happened with remarkable ease. Nothing could stir even the slightest ripple in him anymore. After experiencing so much absurd joy and sorrow, he instead possessed a detached calm.
Perhaps it also had something to do with His imminent ascension. He could feel that immense power pouring in, flooding into His God Realm. Everything was ascending, rising into higher skies.
In a daze, He saw much more than