Axis brought the Emperor directly into Athena's temple. Athena sensed a majestic aura, vast yet utterly unlike any divine power she had ever encountered, and looked toward the Emperor in surprise.
This man's condition was identical to Axis's when she had first met him. He possessed immense divine power but had not yet awakened a Divine Cosmo of his own.
Moreover, his ability to suppress that power was far worse than Axis's had been. He had already fallen entirely into a sealed state. Had Axis not found him, this unknown god might well have self-destructed or permanently sealed himself away.
"This is Emperor Neoth, my father in law. He is a deity who commands the power of the sacred and of creation, and in our universe he once sheltered the entire human race." Axis gave Athena a brief introduction, though it left him somewhat embarrassed.
Originally he had only ever had Kasha, but after crossing through time and space, things had somehow become entangled with Athena as well.
"Father-in-law, this is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War in this world. She is our ally. How should I put this... After I arrived in this world, the same thing happened to me as what happened to you, and Athena helped me through it. During the process, our spirits communed and our souls resonated, so our relationship is now equivalent to that of husband and wife." Axis also gave the Emperor a simple explanation of his situation with Athena.
The Emperor's gaze swept over Athena, and he offered a slight nod as a greeting. He was a being who had lived for nearly a hundred thousand years. Some things required no explanation.
He was not at all surprised that Axis had found another companion. After all, his own experience had been much the same. Sometimes these things simply happened, and there was nothing you could do to stop them.
Besides, Axis was relatively devoted by nature and had always treated Kasha very well. The Emperor harbored no concern whatsoever that Axis would abandon Kasha because of this unfamiliar goddess.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Neoth. My name is Athena, and I am a deity who protects the Earth. Due to certain circumstances, Axis and I came together." Athena bowed graciously to the Emperor.
"A pleasure, Lady Athena. The affairs of you young people are yours to handle. All I hope is that in the future, you and my daughter Kasha will be able to get along well." The Emperor replied courteously.
He could feel that the divine power radiating from this goddess was filled with light and compassion. She was a benevolent being, and a god who guarded humanity.
Had she existed in their universe, this goddess called Athena would have counted among the human pantheon.
During the age of Ancient Terra, the chief deity of Greek civilization had also been called Athena, and a goddess by that name had indeed been born within their Warp as well, only to be devoured by the Chaos Gods.
He had never expected to encounter a goddess Athena in another world.
"Axis, after we arrived in this world, we suddenly experienced a sensation like our divine power was about to explode. What exactly is going on? I can sense that the energy within you seems even stronger than before. Have you already found a solution?" The Emperor turned his gaze to Axis.
"That's right, Father-in-law. The power in this world is called Cosmo. It is divided into Divine Cosmo and ordinary Cosmo.
"The reason our divine power produced that explosive sensation is because the formation of a Cosmo requires the detonation of one's divine power. But if it's handled poorly, our divine power could blow us to pieces. A special method is needed to successfully awaken it." Axis explained the nature of Divine Cosmo to the Emperor.
"I see," the Emperor said. "Then begin, Axis. Let me witness what you described as 'a cosmic power born from within oneself.'"
He was quite curious about this power called Divine Cosmo. According to Axis, it was an extraordinarily fearsome force that could allow divine power to be wielded with even greater potency, whether in terms of offensive strength, defensive capability, or creative power.
"Now, what comes next may be somewhat painful. You will need to hold yourself in check and only release your divine power at the critical moment." Axis nodded, then looked toward Athena.
"Just as you assisted me before, support me and I will help the Emperor awaken his Cosmo."
The method he and Athena had used to awaken their own Cosmo had been rather intimate, so he could not employ the same approach with the Emperor.
After some consideration, Axis decided to use his own Cosmo along with Athena's as auxiliary forces to help the Emperor through the awakening. It would not be like before, when Athena had fused her Cosmo with his through spiritual communion.
Previously, Axis's divine power had far exceeded Athena's, leaving her no choice but to merge and harmonize with him directly. But now, Axis himself was already stronger than the Emperor, and with the assistance of Athena, who was equally a Primordial God, helping the Emperor awaken his Divine Cosmo would be considerably easier.
Axis first used his own divine power to guide the Emperor's sacred Grand Supreme Kai power, while Athena provided support from the side.
Athena immediately gathered her Primordial God Cosmo. Golden radiance spread outward like a warm tide, yet rather than merging with Axis, it formed a stable and encompassing support field that enveloped both Axis and the Emperor.
Axis placed his palm just above the Emperor's forehead. His own Origin Cosmo, which contained the birth and death of universes, destruction and creation, flowed out slowly and carefully, making contact with the sacred Grand Supreme Kai power within the Emperor's body, a force that had been violently suppressed and was on the verge of eruption.
The process was far more cautious and rougher than it had been when he helped Athena. The Emperor's power was fundamentally different from his own and from this universe's native energies. It was Grand Supreme Kai power rooted in human faith and the divine force of creation, vast, pure, and fiercely exclusionary.
"Guide it, Father-in-law! Use your will, follow the information I'm transmitting, and forge the Cosmo that belongs to you!" Axis sent the message through divine telepathy.
The Emperor of Mankind's willpower was beyond resilient. He grasped the secret of Cosmo almost instantaneously. His vast psychic power forcibly took command of the surging divine energy within his body, and he began constructing the foundation.
When it came to willpower, the Emperor remained supremely confident. Even Axis could not surpass him in this regard. He had willingly seated himself upon the Golden Throne for the sake of the entire human race, enduring endless torment.
However, the form of the Emperor's Divine Cosmo furnace once again defied Axis's expectations. It was not a traditional forge or stellar body. It was not the kind of singularity containing a cosmic explosion like his own, nor was it the wisdom-and-war intertwined form that Athena's took.
Deep within the Emperor's will, a blazing, magnificent, absolutely rational structure assembled itself: a colossal psychic matrix composed of innumerable geometric golden runes.
It resembled a titanic sacred reactor. At its core burned the pure flame of human will, tempered through the faith of trillions and elevated by Grand Supreme Kai divine power.
That was the power called hope.
The power of all human consciousness. Though he was no longer in the Warhammer universe, the Emperor still retained the power of humanity's hope.
"How incredible. Your father-in-law possesses such a terrifying power of hope. This power of hope will make his Cosmo more closely attuned to humanity, more intimately connected to the Earth." Athena spoke with genuine excitement.
And indeed it was so. The Emperor's power was the truest union of human hope.
"Don't lose focus, Athena. Use both our Primordial God powers and our Divine Cosmos to help him awaken." Axis said.
The instant the matrix of Divine Cosmo furnace took shape, the Emperor's previously rampaging divine power found absolute order and began pouring wildly into the structure, compressing itself.
"Now! Father-in-law, ignite it!" Axis called out sharply, and together with Athena's supporting Cosmo, they channeled a stream of refined guiding energy into the matrix's core.
BOOM!!!
It was as though a blazing sun had been instantly ignited within the Emperor's body. A brilliant pure-gold Cosmo, radiating absolute order and rational splendor, erupted with overwhelming force.
The light was not gentle. Instead, it was filled with an unquestionable majesty and searing sanctity.
Within the radiance, countless phantom images of humans could be seen: praying in silence, fighting without fear, persisting in carrying civilization forward. All of it converged into a single magnificent pillar of light that pierced the void, representing the collective will and continued existence of human civilization.
The power level of this newborn Cosmo was staggering from the very instant of its birth. Its pressure was in no way inferior to that of Primordial God Athena beside him, though it differed in nature: blazing, rational, overwhelmingly sacred, and radiant to the extreme, brimming with an absolute will that said humanity shall prevail.
Before the Dark King had been completely destroyed, the Emperor's radiance, though sacred and brilliantly luminous, had carried a cold undercurrent, a sense of extreme darkness.
But after Axis had annihilated the Dark King entirely, the Emperor's power had already begun to change. More crucially, the Grand Supreme Kai power, combined with the Holy Light power that Sanguinius had created, caused yet another transformation in the Emperor's divine force.
Now the Emperor's power burned with scorching heat, shone with absolute sanctity, and radiated warmth.
Like a true sun, a true star. No longer a cold sun, but a light that warmed the hearts of all.
The entire temple of Athena trembled faintly under this power. Sanctuary's barrier hummed once more, yet this time it was not straining against an impact. It was resonating in response to the birth of yet another mighty being.
The twelve Gold Cloths rang out in resonance as well, though this time it was a joyous resonance, for the twelve Gold Saints had originally been bathed in the sun's radiance to become gold.
And the Emperor's power was that of a pure star, warming all people. This force was equivalent to the very core of the Twelve Zodiac Houses.
"How incredible. Axis, the potential of your father-in-law far exceeds anything I imagined." Athena said, her face alight with amazement.
"My father-in-law has endured an extraordinarily difficult life. In our world, he is essentially humanity's last hope. He has been carrying the entire human civilization forward almost single-handedly, and we are talking about all of humanity across an entire galaxy." Axis said.
The Emperor bore far too much upon his shoulders. Having first obtained Grand Supreme Kai power and now Divine Cosmo, his standing had risen far beyond what it once was.
"That truly is great. No wonder his power is so sacred, so warm, so radiant." Athena said.
In this man called the Emperor, she sensed a solar divine power even greater than that of her brothers Apollo and Abel, and one that was more compassionate, more sacred, and more noble.
"So by that logic, my father-in-law would be considered a God of Light, a Sun God." Axis turned to Athena and asked.
"In a sense, yes. His power is indeed that of a Sun God, though stronger than either of my brothers. You may not know this, but the position of Sun God is not limited to just one holder. This universe contains many stars, and so there are as many Sun Gods.
"On Earth alone, two Sun Gods were born. One is Apollo, the current ruler of Olympus. The other was named Abel." Athena explained.
"Abel? You must have defeated that Sun God." Axis asked.
This Sun God was a character from one of the theatrical films. In terms of established lore, he was supposed to be even more powerful than Apollo, yet his on-screen performance had been abysmal.
His subordinate Corona Saints had demonstrated power surpassing that of the Gold Saints, yet against the five Bronze Saints, they had still suffered a miserable defeat.
"You even know about that? Yes, Brother Abel was indeed defeated by my hand.
"His true power exceeded Apollo's, but unfortunately, Apollo possesses his own divine body and has peacefully cultivated his Divine Cosmo for countless ages.
"Abel, on the other hand, was slain by the gods, and after awakening ages later, was defeated by me once more." Athena sighed as she spoke.
It was rather exasperating. Why did every god who reawakened insist on fighting her for control of the Earth?
Axis nodded. So this world also incorporated the theatrical films, and a Sun God called Abel existed here.
The Emperor slowly opened his eyes. Those eyes, which had once harbored endless psychic storms, now seemed to have transformed into two golden stars. Within them, countless miniature golden galaxies rotated in perfect, ordered harmony.
He raised one hand. Pure gold Cosmo light, threaded with flowing sacred runes, burned quietly in his palm. That radiance seemed capable of imposing law, of banishing all chaos and disorder.
The Emperor carefully studied the entirely new yet somehow inherently natural power system within his body.
This force had perfectly unified his Grand Supreme Kai divine power, his psychic abilities, and the faith of humanity, rendering them more efficient and more fully subject to his absolute will.
Moreover, this Divine Cosmo could channel his Supreme Kai power, his sacred power, or a blend of both, producing even greater strength.
"...Remarkable." The Emperor's voice carried a trace of admiration. "This power grants a better extension of my will. It is... entirely different from the Grand Supreme Kai's power."
He looked at Axis and nodded. "My sincerest thanks, Axis. This 'Divine Cosmo' shall burn in an even more perfect form."
Axis smiled and withdrew his hand. "It seems you've already mastered it completely. Welcome to this universe's power system, Father-in-law."
"My attribute should now place me in the ranks of the Sun Gods. I can feel another Sun God in this universe whose strength is slightly below my own. He has sensed me as well." The Emperor gazed toward the distant sky.
"That would be Apollo. Abel is already dead." Athena said, stepping to Axis's side.
It truly was time to deal with the situation on Olympus. She hoped her brother Apollo would not do anything foolish. Their side now boasted three Primordial Gods.
Even if everyone on Olympus combined their strength, they would stand no chance. Surely he could see that.
"I sense yet another Sun God, though this one has suffered severe damage. He is likely to slumber for eternity. However, I could awaken him." The Emperor opened his eyes and spoke.
Hearing this, Athena and Axis exchanged a glance. The other Sun God the Emperor spoke of, the one trapped in near-eternal slumber, had to be Abel.
At that very moment, the sky seemed to tear open. A golden chariot materialized from the surface of the sun, then hurtled down to hover above Sanctuary.
A terrifying divine pressure descended upon the holy city. It was filled with the fury of the sun, and it was clear that the owner of this power was angry.
"Athena, I never imagined you would spare Abel. You should know he is a sinner. There can be only one Sun God in this world, and that is me." Atop the solar chariot sat a man standing two meters tall, his dazzling golden hair flowing behind him, clad in a resplendent golden Divine Cloth.
Every inch of this man radiated the aura of the sun. He was Apollo.
In the original Greek myths, Apollo was actually the God of Light, while the true Sun God should have been Helios.
Apollo had sensed the emergence of a Sun God's power while he was in the heavenly realm, and this solar power was more pure, more sacred, and more powerful than his own.
This was unacceptable to him as the current leader of the Olympian gods. He had already set half a foot into the realm of a Primordial God. No Primary god could match him.
Not his sister Athena, nor Hades the Lord of the Underworld, nor Poseidon the Sea God, nor even Artemis the Moon Goddess.
Yet now a solar divine power even greater than his own had been born, and he could not accept it. That bastard Abel must have somehow entered the realm of the Primordial Gods before him.
The man had been destroyed by Athena only a few years ago. Had his own sister betrayed them once again?
"You are mistaken, Brother. Abel has fallen into eternal slumber. This newly born Sun God is not him." Athena, Axis, and the Emperor emerged together from the goddess's palace and looked up at Apollo atop his chariot.
"Unknown deity, how dare you steal my divine dominion?" Apollo directed his gaze at the Emperor.
"Your dominion?" Axis snarled. "The sun has never belonged to anyone. And I don't appreciate people talking down to me from on high. Get down here."