"However, we did discover a pattern. These nobles usually formed secret societies devoted to indulgence, while also keeping an eye on humans with extraordinary senses, using them as material for sacrifices to Warp entities."
The moment the word "sacrifice" was mentioned, the terror in the Archon's eyes could no longer be concealed.
"You should know that Aeldari senses far exceed the limits of humanity."
Ramesses spoke meaningfully.
Aglaia reacted quickly as well, playing along with him.
"Based on past records, such material would surely attract the assistance of those powerful figures."
"Then I suppose the Inquisitors would not refuse such bait?"
"Of course."
"Mm! Mmph!"
The Archon, with only his head still able to move, began struggling violently.
He slammed the back of his head against the chains with all his strength, producing faint clanking sounds. This was the greatest commotion the Archon could make.
After deliberately leaving the fellow hanging for a while and letting Ramesses discuss the details with the Inquisitor at length, Romulus finally gave a look. Arthur then tore off the Archon's restraint strap.
"I'm telling you, if you have any questions, just ask. Cough, cough, cough—I can tell you anything—"
The Archon squeezed every last bit of air from his lungs and shouted in Low Gothic. Even as searing pain shot through his lungs and blood sprayed from his mouth, he did not pause in the slightest.
"As long as you don't give me to the followers of She Who Thirsts, I can do anything for you!"
He had already determined that the soul-shaking terror from earlier had definitely come from a handmaiden of She Who Thirsts. These people truly knew what the Drukhari feared, and they truly had the ability to deliver him into She Who Thirsts's hands.
"Please!"
Do not sacrifice me to Slaanesh and send me to the Palace of the Six Circles. Anything but that!
He wept bitterly.
"I can do anything."
We still preferred the way you were when you were so unyielding.
Most of those around them looked confused. They could not understand why a Drukhari who remained unfazed by torture and unafraid even of death would fear the Hedonism Cult so deeply.
"Ask whatever questions you have."
Romulus said, stepping aside.
They knew nothing about the situation in the Piaerde System. Even if they wanted to ask questions, they had no clear direction. It was better to let the "local" ask first.
"Thank you, my lord."
Aglaia first recorded the fact that the Drukhari feared the Dark God known as Slaanesh on a sheet of parchment. Then she stepped forward, only to walk straight into Tyberos's gauntlet.
She had not even noticed how such a huge man had come to stand beside her.
"..."
Only then did she realize that those words had not been directed at her.
"My apologies, my lord."
Aglaia hurriedly retreated.
A force capable of cutting down more than five hundred Drukhari with just over a hundred men while suffering not a single casualty was not something she could afford to provoke, no matter which of them it was.
"..."
The group exchanged looks.
This Inquisitor was rather interesting.
An academically minded hothead like her was truly rare—especially the sort who, without a fleet, still dared to butt heads with a Black Templars crusade force aboard someone else's ship.
"You may ask your questions first."
Tyberos pondered for a moment before speaking.
He had only come to trade equipment with the Adeptus Mechanicus. Taking Romulus and the others aboard had been an unexpected bonus. He did not know much about the Imperium's internal affairs either, and Void Glass was a secret belonging exclusively to the Carcharodons, unsuitable for disclosure.
Thinking of her earlier interrogation, he added another condition.
"But you must ensure that he remains alive."
"Of course, my lord."
Aglaia had actually wanted to keep some Inquisition secrets concealed, but even thinking about it told her that was unrealistic.
So she took out a small notebook and spoke directly.
"Who hired you, Xenos?"
"He called himself the Seeker of Knowledge."
Upon hearing that, Aglaia understood that there was hope.
"Where did you meet?"
"Within the region you call the Ghoul Stars, at the Black Spire of the Blood Skulls. You would need a star chart to mark the coordinates."
"Here?"
The Inquisitor pulled over her Servo-skull and displayed the Sector coordinates.
"That's right."
"Your specific mission."
"To intercept the Mechanicus Ark entering this planet. The Seeker of Knowledge explicitly said that after we lost the naval battle, we were to forcibly board the Mechanicus Ark. That would prevent this fleet from entering Piaerde."
Cawl's cogitator chip could not help entering overload. He had never imagined that a plan he had hidden for ten thousand years would be known by an entity he had never even heard of.
At the same time, he looked toward the Transmigrators, recalled the Emperor's radiance upon them, and relaxed.
This had to be the Omnissiah's guidance.
"What was your reward?"
"Hunting. The Seeker of Knowledge promised to gather the entire population of the Piaerde Sector onto Piaerde's main world for the grandest slaughter feast, while allowing us to take slaves. He bribed six Kabals, including the Flayed Skulls. I am an Archon of one of the Flayed Skulls' hunting fleets."
The Drukhari had to sustain themselves by feeding on the souls of other living beings. The population of an entire Sector was an unimaginably vast fortune even to the Drukhari.
Of course, according to the knowledge possessed by the Inquisitors, souls had another use as well.
The hand recording the interrogation trembled. Rather than the joy of seeing the truth gradually revealed, Aglaia's face turned visibly pale at an alarming speed.
"What did he do during this process, and what did you do?"
She pressed further.
"The Seeker of Knowledge gave us the coordinates of the Sector's Imperial Navy and supplied them with false intelligence, allowing us to wipe out the Imperial Navy. He was responsible for dealing with the fleets of other forces. After that, we raided and pillaged to confuse the enemy's attention."
"The specific process."
"I don't know."
Aglaia silently stared at the Archon.
"I really don't know."
The Archon was on the verge of tears.
"Inquisitor Aglaia."
Romulus spoke up.
"May I interrupt?"
"Please speak, my lord."
Aglaia replied respectfully.
"While we were lost in the Warp, we came into contact with a Strike Cruiser attacked by heretics. Inside the Geller Field aboard that ship, we found this."
Romulus directly sent the Inquisitor the footage recorded at the time, including the Psyker serving as a Chaos teleportation device and the markings carved into his back.
He had prepared these materials long ago.
"M-My lord, may I ask where this Strike Cruiser departed from?"
Aglaia looked at the cultist's back. The Chaos markings were exactly the same as those she had seen when searching through her teacher's database, and her lips began trembling uncontrollably.
Romulus looked toward Sister Arabella, who had accompanied them.
"It departed from the ocean world Titanic, stopped at the Eternal Hunt Watch Station along the way, then encountered a Drukhari Xenos attack in the Manster III death system of the Piaerde Sector. Afterward, Chaos corruption erupted within the Navigator Sanctum, and the warship was dragged into the Warp."
The Canoness spoke as she marked the route and each point in time across the Sector projection from memory.
Aglaia hurriedly pulled out the paper documents she carried and began comparing them.
As each piece of information gradually matched, her gaze grew increasingly vacant.
Chaos. That old bastard had really fallen to Chaos.
"...It matches. All of it matches."
Aglaia kept repeating the same words. She failed to catch her breath and nearly fainted.
Only one word echoed in her mind.
It's over!
Before you continue