Perhaps he had taken enough beatings, or perhaps the patchwork power within him had begun to destabilize under the relentless high-intensity battle. The movements of Khaine's avatar had visibly slowed, and the blood-red flames burning around it had dimmed considerably.
It let out an unwilling roar, yet temporarily ceased its attacks and shifted into a defensive stance. The Doom Howl lay across its body as its blood-red eyes fixed tightly on Gork and Mork. They were still full of savagery, but now held even more wariness that had been forcibly beaten into it.
And at that moment, Gork and Mork suddenly stopped as well.
"Boring, boring!" Gork picked at his ear as though that world-ending battle had merely been a warm-up. "This red-skinned git can't take a beating. It went limp after just a few hits."
Mork cackled in agreement. "Exactly, exactly! We gotta save our strength for bashin' those Chaos shrimps! Little Vulkan ran off, so we gotta go take a look. Can't let those bastards bully our boyz!"
As they spoke, the two Ork gods did not even glance at the dumbfounded Cegorach nearby. Their enormous green bodies rapidly became translucent and insubstantial, melting into the currents of the Warp like a receding tide.
The Laughing God remained where he was when a transmission from Gork and Mork suddenly reached his ears.
"Cegorach, quit yappin'! We know who deserves a bashin'! Those cowardly Chaos gits, sooner or later we'll WAAAGH them all into the sky!"
"We beat up old Khaine because he deserved it. Anyone who messes with the boyz under our protection gets what they deserve! As for fightin' Chaos? Don't worry. Wherever there's a fight, we'll definitely be there."
"We gave Khaine a good thrashing. This git probably won't be dumb enough to go pick a