Psyker Inquisitor

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

As he spoke, Leonardo drew a finely crafted Bolter from his belt and aimed it at the Inquisitor's head.

"No. Let me try. I might be able to save her."

A calm voice came from beside him.

The moment the words were spoken, Leonardo sensed that something was wrong.

The finely crafted Bolter's Machine Spirit... seemed to be resisting his control?

The Machine Spirit was displeased?

Now?

He turned around and saw Rowan's calm expression.

"The threat is far from over. We've only more or less dealt with the Chaos Heretics who boarded us. That Chaos War Band's Strike Cruiser is still lurking nearby."

Rowan continued, "We need manpower. Right now, any situation that could cost us a person is unacceptable."

"What can you do?"

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

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

Having seen Rowan casually affect a Machine Spirit with his own power, Leonardo's attitude changed immediately.

As an Adeptus Custodes, he knew very well that this was not something a Psyker dabbling in witchcraft could easily do.

Otherwise, why would the followers of the Omnissiah on Mars—the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus—belong to the Imperial faction with the fewest Psykers?

"I can do it."

Rowan didn't bother to explain further. A full explanation would take far too long.

He gave a slight nod toward Lucia, and she immediately stepped aside to let him through.

"Come back..."

Leonardo tried to reach out and stop him.

He still hadn't set aside his wariness. In this dark universe, the only person you could trust was yourself. Who knew whether this man was a potential Heretic, here to corrupt a veteran Inquisitor?

Just then, an arm clad 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 Sister Superior standing there now.

The experienced, battle-hardened Custodian froze on the spot, utterly dumbfounded.

A boundless will, using the Living Saint as its vessel, cast a fleeting glance into the material world—and met Leonardo's eyes.

"..."

At that moment, there was no way Leonardo, as one of the Emperor's Custodes, could interfere with anything Rowan did.

Taking advantage of this, Rowan strode toward Sibyl, who was kneeling on the ground.

Without the Living Saint's soothing presence, the Psyker energy within her continued to surge and boil. Violent Psy-lightning writhed around her like silver serpents, forming a zone no ordinary person could cross.

Of course, it was completely useless against Rowan.

It had been less than an hour since Big Gold One had dragged him into this world. After disrupting a Warp jump, detonating a Chaos Sorcerer, and helping Lucia ascend to daemonhood (?), Rowan had already realized something.

When it came to affecting the Warp, he, a Reality Warper, seemed to have a considerable advantage.

As everyone knew, what Reality Warpers changed was the objective reality of the material world—in other words, its [Reality Strength].

Some things in space were more orderly, knowable, objective, and stable... and thus had greater [Reality Strength]. The opposite was true of things that lacked those qualities.

As the vast ocean beyond the material world—the sea of all emotions and souls, and a reflection of the physical universe—the Warp had far less [Reality Strength] overall than the real world.

Far, far less.

"AAAAAAAH!"

As if sensing someone approaching, Lucia let out a pained roar. The already violent Psy-lightning grew even more ferocious, striking toward Rowan.

But every bolt of Psy-lightning, each one powerful enough to kill an Astartes with ease, vanished into thin air as soon as it came near him.

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

Following the same steps as before, he deftly drew out part of his personal Reality Strength field, slightly enhanced by his slaughter of the Chaos War Band, and transferred some of it to Sibyl.

Then, as an afterthought, he intervened in her consciousness, clearing her muddled thoughts and allowing her to steadily sort through and control the wildly unstable Psyker power.

Ten minutes later.

"I... I'm still alive?"

Sibyl, deathly pale, slowly came to her senses.

It had been a long time since she had last fought at full strength using her Psyker abilities, and she had completely misjudged her limits.

When she first realized the power was beginning to turn on her, Sibyl had even prepared her last words. And yet, somehow, she hadn't returned to the Throne?

She tentatively tried using her Psyker abilities.

Hmm. They were so stable it was startling, and the Warp's whispers in her ears, which had sounded like hallucinations, were gone too.

Before, using her Psyker power had been like a child swinging a warhammer: one careless move, and she could hurt herself. But now...

Sibyl even felt that she could tear apart a heavy vehicle like a tank without using any of the spells she had studied—and without any risk of backlash!

"How do you feel?"

Rowan asked.

At that, Sibyl looked up at the three people before her.

Like a figure from a religious painting, the Living Saint's pure white wings spread wide as she hovered in the air, her expression compassionate and holy, her surroundings suffused with a sacred aura.

The stern Black Robe Custodian stood tall, his eyes bright and alert, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He radiated an indescribable martial bearing.

And these two figures, as though they had stepped out of an epic painting, stood together behind the mysterious young man, silently attending him.

As an Inquisitor who ought to suspect everything, Sibyl should have questioned the situation before her. The Imperium had no leader of such exalted status that these two saints would serve as his bodyguards.

Even someone as exalted as one of the High Lords of Terra was nowhere near worthy of the allegiance of a Living Saint and an Adeptus Custodes.

But Sibyl didn't question it at all.

She straightened up, faced Rowan, and gave him the Eagle Salute.

"Inquisitor of the Order of the Hammer, Sibyl Barrios, stands ready to serve the Imperium and the hope of humanity. At your will, my wisdom and strength will become a brick in the making of your glorious path."