(Recommended music on loop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0mC8Dz_uE&list=PLLAuaMw337aAzEsba1Gtb16guFIZTsyU8&index=1)

Lightning crackled and thunder boomed across the heavens, lakes boiled in fire and mountains collapsed all around as a dark knight made his way back through the unforgiving plains of the Chaos Wastes. Across fields of plague and labyrinths of glass, up towers of blood and down rivers of boiling lead, over seas of skulls and under screamers’ wails, the ruinous templar rode across the landscape of this infernal hells-cape for a full year. His ribs were broken, his skin soaked in the stench of bloating, rotting flesh and the inside of his helmet was drenched in his own year-old vomit that somehow never had the time to harden or decay. Yet the knight carried on, knowing well-enough that to take a single moment of respite in this hostile land would result in him never finding a way home. Carried by his dreaded steed, so impressive in might and black in colour that it could stand among the darkness were it not for the beast’s burning eyes of crimson fire, the champion continued his weary journey until finally, Archaon and Dorghar once again laid eyes on his army encamped around the Northern Polar Gate.

As Archaon entered the encampment many of his warriors struggled to even look at him, not only because of his foul odour but also on account of a strange, fearsome aura stemming from his new crown. Still the would-be aspirant passed his troops and made his way up to that dreaded portal where he’d fought Morkar so long ago, The Polar Gates, a foul wound nested at the very edge of the real world from whence daemons and ruinous fiends could invade the lands of men.

Archaon stood right before the gates entrance, a swirling haze of warp-lightning cracking before him as he bellowed:

“I HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TESTS, GATHERED YOUR TREASURES, BRAVED YOUR TRAPS AND BESTED YOUR FOES. SUMMON THINESELF O DAEMON MASTER, LEST YOU WASTE MY TIME ANY FURTHER BEFORE YOUR OWN USE RUNS ITS COURSE. APPEAR BEFORE ME AND PLACE THE EYE OF SHEERIAN INTO MY CROWN NOW SUCH THAT MY SUPPREMACY SHALL BE KNOWN BY ALL!”

The gate before the aspirant shimmered and cracked as a snickering, gravelled voice emerged all around him.

“You would claim yourself worthy of bearing my gift simply because you gathered some trinkets? Foolish mortal, have you not learnt by now that you are merely a pawn and that I am the one who shall be crowned? It is I alone who will usher in the End of Days!”

Be’lakor the Dark Master of Chaos Undivided, the first and mightiest of all Daemon Princes burst forth from the gate with his sword raised, aiming to pounce on his would-be successor.

….

….

(Prelude to Like and Angry React)

Be’lakor emerged from his daemonic realm with a flurry of sweeping sword attacks that immediately put Archaon on the backfoot. Archaon braced for impact, raising his shield and lunging forward with his sword as he did before against the bloodthirster Ka’bandha during his trials. But the daemon prince was ahead of him, using his wings instead to make a large flapping motion which produced enough force to send Archaon’s shield flying out of his raised grip.

Archaon resorted to gripping the Slayer of Kings with two hands and struck forward, chopping downwards with the flaming blade. But the daemon prince was ready for this too, instead lulling Archaon to step forward so much that his forward knee came into range. Thus as Archaon believed he was about to unleash a strike against the daemon, he instead found himself being dragged down toward the ground by Be’lakor’s tail which had wrapped itself around the aspirant’s knee. Archaon attempted to free himself of the daemon prince’s tail by slashing at it with his sword only to leave his upper chest plate exposed to the daemon’s blade. Be’lakor struck, creating a large dent in his under-arm before wrapping his daemonic claws around Archaon’s right pauldron and using that hold to lift the aspirant off his feet. The Daemon Prince carried Archaon high into the air before tossing him 30 feet away. Down Archaon plummeted to the surface. He landed head-first onto the rocky surface below as his neck cracked and the horns of his helmet broke.

The Daemon Prince landed now engulfed in blue mists and slowly advanced toward the broken Chaos Champion. Archaon wanted to continue fighting him, heck he would be proud of himself for simply managing to stand back up at this point. But the truth was Archaon could do neither, he couldn’t even turn his head in fear of worsening whatever damage had been done to his neck already. His arms searched around him until he found the hilt of the Slayer of Kings which thankfully hadn’t landed too far away from him. Without any option left, Archaon raised the sword aloft and summoned the power of U’zuhl, the greater daemon trapped within his blade, to his side. A great bolt of scorching flame emerged from the sword and spread forth, torching the ground around them and burning the daemon prince’s body to a crisp until nothing remained, not even a body.

Archaon had won.

But not for long as Be’lakor suddenly pounced down from the sky, landing on Archaon’s chest, and tossing the Slayer of Kings aside as it broke down into foul laughter.

“And to think you wasted your most powerful tool on a simple illusion!” Be’lakor spat in sickening delight. “Time to die Mortal. Only I can bring the End Times!”

Be’lakor leered over Archaon’s desiccated body and kicked his head in, finally severing what little remained of a neck inside the former aspirant’s body and killing him instantly.
….

◙ Angry React: With Archaon dead, Be’lakor took the aspirant’s treasures from him and had them reformed to fit his body. Once this was done, the Daemon Prince was then crowned Everchosen under the consent of the undivided Chaos hordes. Be’lakor’s first step to ascendancy was complete.

….

◙ Like React: Be’lakor was victorious but despite this fact, the undivided forces refused to elect him as their Everchosen, The Chaos Gods in particular would never accept the rule of someone with such a duplicitous past. Thus, the horde shunned him. Melekh the Changer shocked him with a lightning blast, the Khornate champion Abrax the Bloody took the crown of domination from him and split it apart using multiple strikes of his axe. Eventually the message was clear. Be’lakor would not be Everchosen, there would be no Everchosen. The dream of a united Chaos force was just that, a dream.

And so Be’lakor returned to the daemonic realm to mull his findings over as the mortal hordes of chaos once more fractured into their respective factions and would soon begin fabricating their own plans independent of each other.

….

….

(Prelude to Sad and Wow React)

Be’lakor emerged from his hellscape and immediately flung the would-be Everchosen back a few yards. Realising he was in over his head, Archaon reached into his collections of treasures and decided to insert the Eye of Sheerian into his crown himself despite convention.

The daemon saw what he was trying to do and struck forward, his blade swinging overhead only to collide with Archaon’s shield. The Everchosen fought back, slashing his sword into the daemon’s left leg. As Be’lakor fell back, Archaon took his opportunity and planted the Eye of Sheerian into his helm.

His vision changed and his awareness expanded as he developed the ability not only to see what laid before him but what once had been as well. In Be’lakor’s place he no longer saw a daemon prince. Skin made of flesh, a long unkempt beard and furs covering his body, In short, he saw Be’lakor back as he was when he first betrayed humanity. The Daemon Prince attacked anew, flying straight toward the aspirant only for Archaon to easily side-step his attack resulting in Be’lakor humiliatingly dropping at his feet. The daemon slashed with his blade only for him to receive a shield bash to the face. Be’lakor attempted a tail swipe but again, the aspirant saw it coming and stamped on the daemon’s leg with his armoured boots.

Archaon pressed his attack, delivering a multitude of slashes to the daemon’s chest as it struggled to deliver a single blow in return, such was the advantage in foresight the Eye of Sheerian had bestowed upon its beholder. Archaon dominated his opponent, backing the daemon into a corner against a nearby ridge and using fire spells to keep his foe from attempting to reposition via flight.

Only once the daemon prince was well and truly beaten, once it found itself pinned up against the ridge with no means of escape did Archaon finally put the treacherous cur out of its misery as a swing of the Slayer of Kings parted Be’lakor’s head from its body.

….

◙ Wow React: With Be’lakor dead Archaon returned to the chaos hordes who went on to accept his rule as the three marks of Khorne, Tzeentch and Nurgle on his armour merged into a single Mark of Chaos, a sign of the Chaos Gods favour. Furthermore, Archaon instructed his warriors to mount the Dark Master’s head on a standard that would be fixed to his armour, a sign to all and sundry of his prowess in single combat.

Curiously, the Mark of Chaos tended to represent the favour of all four chaos gods based on previous Everchosens. Could Archaon receiving this mark be a sign that the Dark Prince and their minions may soon return to the mortal world?

….

◙ Sad React: Despite defeating the Dark Master Archaon would soon discover that the Mark of Chaos had not materialised on his armour, a punishment for defeating his foe using the Eye of Sheerian when his crowning was supposed to take place after the duel no doubt. Perhaps one day he would receive another opportunity to claim his destiny? For now, it was time for him to mend his wounds and explore his new powers of insight.

….

(Prelude to Laugh and Love React)

The Dark Master of Chaos Divided entered the mortal world in a tornado of burning attacks as all the ground around the two fighters set alight. Archaon charged towards his enemy, raising his sword high with his shield ahead of his chest to strike at his foe when Be’lakor merely chuckled and dove to the side. A pack of blackened screamers emerged from the Polar Gates and crashed into the aspirant, stopping him in his tracks. He slashed all around him in an effort to do away with the devious pests and cease their incessant wailing while Be’lakor looked on with glee as he summoned more minions. Horrors, Bloodletters, Daemonettes, Plaguebearers and many more depraved minions emerged from their daemonic realm to put an end to the aspirant’s ambitions.

“See Mortal? This is what it truly means to represent the terrors of Chaos!” Be’lakor chastised as he flew toward Archaon and delivered a great sweeping blow with his sword that split Archaon’s shield in two and left a great crack along Archaon’s breastplate. The lesser daemons sustained their assault, chipping at the cracks in the chosen warrior’s armour to create an opening and let the harsh outside elements take advantage of his feculent body.

But unbeknown to the Dark Master, Archaon had his own point of support as the Polar Gate opened once more and the exalted bloodthirster Ka’bandha emerged. The bloodthirster charged forward in a rage, sweeping Be’lakor to the side with his whip straight into the arms of Archaon’s other ally, the great unclean daemon Bolragoth which wrapped its arms around Be’lakor and proceeded to vomit all over him. As the Great Unclean One introduced the Daemon Prince to the insides of his gullet, Ka’bandha and Archaon fought side by side against Be’lakor’s minions cutting a bloody path as they forced the daemons either to retreat into their realm or suffer at their hands.

But Be’lakor would not be beaten so easily as he took this moment near the great unclean one’s cavities into his favour by yanking one of Bolragoth’s teeth out of its mouth before thrusting it into the greater daemon’s eye socket. Bolragoth’s grip loosened and Be’lakor regained his footing, picking up his sword as he did so.

The daemon prince charged straight at the bloodthirster and its mortal ally who jointly delved straight into a counter offensive. Ka’bandha unfurled his whip and cracked it in the air near the daemon prince, forcing the Dark Master to land where Archaon rushed in and thrust the Slayer of Kings into the daemon’s chest. Be’lakor roared in rage as Ka’bandha answered in kind with a growl that shook the heavens before delivering an almighty headbutt that knocked the daemon prince down off its feet. Bolragoth slumped forward, angry at the daemon prince for striking its eye and Be’lakor sought to fly off before the great unclean one could grasp him once more only for Archaon to deliver a final blow to the Dark Master by unleashing the power of U’zhul and torching the daemon prince’s wings as a result. Be’lakor tumbled back onto the ground and surrendered, unwilling to become overly familiar with Bolragoth’s innards a second time. With help from his two greater daemon allies, Archaon had finally secured victory over the Dark Master.

….

◙ Laugh React: Be’lakor had been beaten and the two greater daemons looked on approvingly as Archaon’s individual chaotic sigils merged to form a single Mark of Chaos. Interestingly, the mark of chaos on his armour did not match the one etched into the daemon prince’s skin as its star had less points. Could this reflect the fact a certain quadrant of chaos had not been party to this decision?

Nevertheless, with the gods and his daemonic allies seemingly by his side, Archaon returned to his soldiers at the encampment where Aekold Helbrass, Bodvarr Ribspreader, Abrax the Bloody, Melekh the Changer and many other champions of the Dark Gods watched on as Be’lakor fifnally gave up his own ambitions and reluctantly crowned Archaon by inserting the Eye of Sheerian into his Crown of Domination, marking that his journey from aspirant to Everchosen was complete.

A new storm of chaos would soon be unleashed unto this world and its architect would be Archaon the Everchosen, Herald of the End Times!

….

◙ Love React: Archaon fell to his knees, victorious over the Daemon Prince thanks to his daemonic allies who held the beast down yet still weak and weary in his own right both from the ride he’d taken to get here in the first place and then the damage he’d sustained fighting Be’lakor including several cracks in his armour that needed repairing. Truly he knelt on a knife’s edge, a single other strike could see him tumble off this perch he’d spent so very long pursuing.

And it did.

Multiple daggers were suddenly flew across the air and plunged themselves into his back via the broken gaps in his armour. Archaon gasped and keeled over before looking up. Dechala the Denied Daemon Princess of Slaanesh hovered above him, having silently slithered out of the Polar Gates and waited stealthily for her moment to pounce. Yet it wasn’t Dechala that garnered the most shock from Archaon or the onlooking chaos horde. It was the next figure who emerged from the gates.

A beacon of light shone forth as a man with luscious locks of blonde hair clad in golden brass armour sauntered forward: remade, reformed, and perfected beyond worldly comprehension in the warp. Sigvald the Magnificent lives!

“HOW… YOU WERE… GONE?” Archaon asked.

“Rather like how you assumed the Lord of Excesses was gone? Perhaps if you were real Everchosen material you would realise it pays dividends to have faith in your betters, certainly where my Dark Princess of Pleasures is concerned.” Sigvald turned to Dechala for a second and nodded to her, prompting her to latch her daggers deeper into the would-be Everchosen’s body and use that reinforced hold to commence tearing the backplate of his armour off, sending Archaon into a howling stupor as the Armour of Morkar split from his flesh and his mutated body contacted the harsh winter air. “Alas, it seems the only great fate you have been destined for is to wonder whether you will die before or after your bowels let go. I thank you for collecting all these handy trinkets though. One can never have too many embellishments on their person I always say.”

As Archaon continued to shriek in sheer agony as Dechala tore his armour asunder, Sigvald stepped forward to announce one of his infamous speeches to the soon-to-be beying Chaotic horde.

“Shun these seditious, slippery and sickly scum for I suggest the season of reinvigorated sight shall strike scintillatingly soon. I Sigvald, Spawn of Succubi and Scion of Sordid Acts, struck the steel of Everchosens and stole their silver screaming so follow me as your savior instead O squalid scandal of shambling serfs for I have such salacious spectacles to show and so, so many sinful sensations to spring upon you all…”

As Sigvald continued to speak the Polar Gates fractured further as more followers of the Dark Prince emerged from the Realm of Chaos led by two more greater daemons from the Strumpet God’s seductive circles: the keeper of secrets Sslivox the Serpent and the daemon prince Abyssa, the latter of which came clad in a strange suit of armour unfamiliar to this world’s known metals. Once his armour had been fully removed from his body, Archaon lay there in a pool of his own blood, slime and vomit as a repulsive, mutated shell of a man looking more akin to an overgrown slug than a warrior of the Dark Gods in appearance. Dechala picked up the armour of Morkar and carried them over to Sigvald, leaving the humiliated Archaon behind as Aekold Helbrass stepped forward to seal his wounds return him to the camp. As Archaon balked in the shame of his defeat, Sigvald stood tall and resplendent with the armour of Morkar and the other chaotic treasures at his feet and his daemonic allies to his rear.

More and more daemonettes and deamonic heralds of Slaanesh poured into the world and it became obvious to the undivided chaos horde that despite their preferences a new Everchosen would be crowned today. That Everchosen would be none other than our Scion of Slaanesh, Sigvald the Magnificent!