Psyker Inquisitor

"Execute her. May her soul return to the Throne."

Leonardo said this as he drew a master-crafted bolter from his waist, aiming it at the Inquisitor's head.

"No, let me try. Perhaps I can save her."

Beside him, a calm voice spoke.

The moment the words fell, Leonardo immediately sensed something wrong.

The machine spirit of that master-crafted bolter... seemed to resist his control?

Machine spirit displeased?

At a time like this?

He turned his head and saw Rowan's composed expression.

"The threat is far from resolved. We've only roughly dealt with the boarding Chaos heretics. That Chaos War Band's Strike Cruiser is still eyeing us hungrily."

Rowan continued, "We need manpower. Right now, any situation that could cause casualties is unacceptable."

"What method do you have?"

Leonardo looked at him, his usual attitude gone, and asked cautiously, "This Psyker has already fallen into severe Backlash. If we don't make a decision soon, she'll tear a hole in the Veil large enough for a Daemon Army to invade reality."

"It would be better to give her a peaceful, quiet death now, so she can return to Our Lord's side."

Having witnessed Rowan's ability to influence machine spirits so effortlessly, Leonardo's attitude shifted immediately.

With the insight of a Custodes, he knew this was no simple feat that a Psyker dabbling in sorcery could easily accomplish.

Otherwise, why would the followers of the Omnissiah on Mars—the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus—be the faction within the Imperium with the fewest Psykers?

"I have a way."

Rowan didn't bother explaining further, as a full explanation would take far too much time.

He gave a slight nod toward Lucia, who obediently stepped aside to clear the path.

"Stop right there..."

Leonardo reached out to block him.

He still hadn't fully let down his guard. In this dark universe, the only one you could truly trust was yourself. Who knew if this man was a potential heretic, using this chance to corrupt a Senior Inquisitor?

Just then, an arm covered in a bright yellow gauntlet reached out and stopped him. Leonardo looked up and met Lucia's gaze.

No—that wasn't the gaze of the current Sister Superior.

The seasoned, battle-hardened Custodes froze on the spot, stunned like a wooden chicken.

An infinite, boundless will had momentarily used the Living Saint as a vessel, casting a brief glance into the material world—one that locked eyes with Leonardo.

"..."

At this moment, as an Emperor's Custodes, Leonardo could no longer interfere with any of Rowan's actions.

Rowan, seizing the opportunity, quickly walked toward Sibyl, who was kneeling on the ground.

Without the Living Saint's calming presence, her psychic energy surged and churned violently. Wild psy-lightning lashed out like silver serpents, forming a barrier around her that ordinary beings could not cross.

Of course, this was useless against Rowan.

It had been less than an hour since Big Gold One had dragged him into this world. After interfering with a Warp jump, detonating a Chaos Sorcerer, and assisting Lucia's ascension (?) to daemonhood, Rowan had realized one thing.

When it came to influencing the Warp, he—as a Reality Warper—held a massive advantage.

As everyone knew, what Reality Warpers altered was the objective reality of the material world—the [Reality Strength Field].

And some things in space—the more orderly, recognizable, objective, and stable they were—the stronger their [Reality Strength]. Conversely, the weaker it was.

As the Sea Beyond, the vast ocean of all emotions and souls, the mirror of the material world... the overall [Reality Strength] of the Warp was far lower than that of reality.

Far, far lower.

"AAAAAAAGH!"

Sensing someone approaching, Sibyl screamed in agony. The already violent psy-lightning grew even fiercer, actively lashing out toward Rowan.

But every bolt of lightning—capable of easily killing an Astartes—dissipated into nothing the moment it entered Rowan's vicinity.

Standing before Sibyl, Rowan reached out and activated his Reality Warping Ability.

Following the steps he had taken before, he smoothly extracted a portion of his personal Reality Strength Field—slightly amplified from slaughtering the Chaos War Band—and transferred it onto Sibyl.

Then, he casually interfered with her consciousness, clearing her chaotic thoughts and allowing her to calmly sort out and control the wildly unstable psychic power.

Ten minutes later.

"I'm... alive?"

Pale-faced, Sibyl barely came to her senses.

It had been a long time since she had last fought at full psychic capacity, causing her to completely misjudge her limits.

When she first sensed the Backlash beginning, she had already prepared her last words. But unexpectedly, she hadn't returned to the Throne?

She tentatively tested her psychic power.

Hmm, the stability is terrifying. The whispers of the Warp, like auditory hallucinations in her ears, have also vanished.

If before her psychic power was a child swinging a sledgehammer, where the slightest carelessness would injure oneself, now...

Sibyl even felt that her psychic power, even without using practiced spells, was enough to tear apart heavy vehicles like tanks, with no risk of Backlash at all!

"How do you feel?"

Rowan asked.

Hearing this, Sibyl looked up at the three people before her.

Like a religious painting, the Living Saint spread her pure white wings, hovering in midair, her expression compassionate and holy, the surrounding domain filled with a sacred aura.

The stern-faced Black Robe Custodes stood tall, his gaze sharp, his right hand resting on his sword hilt, exuding an indescribable heroic bearing.

And these two figures, as if stepping out of an epic scroll, stood together behind the mysteriously appeared Young Man, silently attending him.

As an Inquisitor who should doubt everything, Sibyl ought to question the current situation, because the Imperium currently had no leader of such high status that these two saints would serve as bodyguards.

Even someone as esteemed as the High Lords of Terra was utterly unworthy of receiving the allegiance of a Living Saint and a Praetorian.

But Sibyl had no such thought at all.

She stood up straight, faced Rowan, and performed an Eagle Salute.

"Inquisitor Sibyl Barrios of the Order of the Hammer, willing to serve the hope of the Imperium and humanity. As long as it is your will, my wisdom and strength shall become a brick on your radiant path."