The Beginning

A warship sailed through the Immaterium.

This Lunar-class Cruiser, roughly five kilometers long, could cause gravitational anomalies on a planet merely by approaching it. Yet here in the Immaterium, it looked like a small leaf drifting through a raging storm.

That "leaf" drifted past giant eyes formed from gathered stars, past demon-claw-shaped nebulae, surrounded by countless indescribable, loathsome, terrifying entities of the Immaterium.

Weak and helpless.

Within this Lunar-class Cruiser, visually sealed off from the horrors outside, the people aboard were far more helpless than the ship itself.

The sounds of countless light and heavy weapons mingled with the howls of some horrific creatures, forming a melody that filled its listeners with dread and despair.

The resurrected dead wandered the corridors. Once-diligent Slaves slaughtered loyal Soldiers, while creatures called demons emerged from anywhere to massacre every living thing they saw.

At this critical moment of life and death, panic gripped the Command Deck.

Everyone, including the Captain—whether the Soldiers stationed there, the fortunate sailors who had fled into the Command Deck, or those usually haughty officers—discussed fighting for the God-Emperor until the final moment. They discussed who would die first, and how to keep the Captain-noble's corpse from being taken by traitors and Warp Creatures...

But they alone did not discuss how to reclaim the areas that had already fallen, or how to take back the ship that had sustained all of them and their families for generations from the enemy's hands.

Fear and despair were spreading. That fear and despair came not only from humanity itself, but also from some force—or some thing—that affected their minds.

This atmosphere lasted for nearly half an hour, until a set of heavy footsteps reached the Command Deck. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief in unspoken unison and immediately formed ranks.

Under the mortals' gazes, two warriors far taller and broader than ordinary humans entered.

The two warriors wore silver power armor. One carried a massive shield and greatsword; the other wielded a power Halberd.

A few people recognized their identity from their appearance and colors—the Grey Knights.

Most people still did not know who these warriors were. Though the Grey Knights' existence had ceased to be a secret after the Thirteenth Primarch's return, delayed information meant they remained unaware.

But it did not matter. The "God-Emperor's Angels" had come among mortals, and that alone was enough to rekindle their fighting spirit.

"The Grand Master's right. We shouldn't have risked crossing the storm," the Grey Knight wielding the Halberd said over the comms channel. "A Navigator who can guide a ship through the Immaterium with one hundred percent safety? What a joke."

"Perhaps that Navigator who can supposedly guarantee safe passage is a trap himself," the other Grey Knight replied grimly.

Amid the mortals kneeling on the floor, the two Grey Knights walked toward the heart of the Command Deck.

They treated the ship's most distinguished figures as if they were air, heading straight for a cultivation pod placed in a corner.

The silver angels stared at the powerfully built man floating in liquid behind the glass.

"How much longer until this one wakes up?"

"Unknown. Hold this place until we leave the Immaterium and can bring him to his destination."

"Throne. A man whose augmentation surgery has just finished and who is still asleep... whether he wakes or not, sending him to a battlefield is inappropriate."

The Grey Knight carrying the massive shield and greatsword voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation, but still turned around and obeyed the order, walking to the Command Deck's sole entrance.

The mortals immediately gathered behind that Grey Knight, forming a volley-fire formation and raising their lasguns.

The Grey Knight who remained beside the cultivation pod set his Halberd aside and extended both hands, using psychic power to sense the man who had yet to awaken.

It was as if he had become one with the man in the pod, able to examine everything beneath the surface of his unconsciousness.

"Psychic power is an ability that can warp reality. It can forcibly impose the thoughts of people like us upon reality. Our thoughts may not be scientific or rational, but that does not matter. Psychic power can do it."

The Grey Knight saw Qin Xa standing within the chapter fortress of the White Scars, and he heard someone speaking to him.

The young Qin Xa stood before the White Scars Chapter Librarian and listened to his instruction.

"Calling forth lightning, fire, strengthening the body, prophecy... it can do many things. But do not forget that it is a power from the Immaterium. Like the Immaterium itself, it is elusive and impossible to grasp, so it will bring all kinds of harms beyond anything we could imagine even in our dreams."

"..."

"Qin Xa. That was the name of a glorious warrior from ten thousand years ago. You inherited that name. If the loudmouthed traitor who killed him is still alive, you are obligated to avenge him."

"..."

"Jubal Khan. My Chapter Master."

"Why should we let those gray-armored men take whatever they want just because they came here? They leave behind a few weapons, and then we must hand over this child, who is about to undergo augmentation and become a member of the Librarius, with both hands?"

"..."

The Grey Knight focused completely as he used psychic power to probe Qin Xa's mind.

He discovered that Qin Xa, floating in the cultivation pod, was already half-awake. He was simply still immersed in memories of the past.

Qin Xa wandered through every important moment of his life.

From when he had appeared for reasons unknown on a barren world, with an aged soul somehow contained within a young body.

To when that barren world had been invaded by enemies, and the White Scars Chapter had arrived as reinforcements, discovered him, and found through testing that he possessed stable emotions and psychic talent.

Then came his discovery by the Grey Knights, his removal by them, and the augmentation surgery he underwent among them. As the operation neared its end and he floated in a cultivation pod, he overheard someone saying that he would be deployed to some world, learning how to fight while fighting.

There was no time for him to linger slowly on Saturn. Humanity's great enemy was closing in step by step.

This man should have become a Librarian of the White Scars Chapter, but the Grey Knights had taken him away.

Even though the kindly Librarian who always appeared in Qin Xa's memories had tried every possible means to stop them, Qin Xa had still become a Grey Knight under the Grey Knights' soft and hard approaches... that was this man's Destiny.

Having discovered that Qin Xa was wandering through his memories, the Grey Knight did not forcibly awaken him to reality. Under the current circumstances, remaining immersed in memories rather than being affected by his surroundings and losing control of his psychic power was a good thing.

Besides, even if he dragged him out, this warrior who had only just left the tank would be unable to fight.

"The situation seems fairly good." The Grey Knight lowered his head in thought.

Everything still seemed salvageable.

There were still large numbers of troops aboard the ship. Though only two Grey Knights remained here, Space Marines were still fighting elsewhere, even if they were not under the Grey Knights' command.

With proper planning, supplemented by those measures specifically intended to deal with demons and corruption, it seemed that the ship reaching its destination safely was not...

A roar interrupted the Grey Knight's thoughts.

When he turned toward the Command Deck entrance, an axe cleaved through the blast door. Then a terrifying crimson figure entered everyone's sight.

Blood-dripping crimson wings spread wide, and an enraged roar erupted from the demon's fanged mouth, shaking everyone's minds and will.

The Grey Knight armed with a massive shield and greatsword was the first to recover from the roar and immediately met the attack.

Blue psychic lightning burst from the Grey Knight's hands. His shield blocked the blows of twin axes, while weapons blessed by ritual, with special lethality against demons, roared as they slew demon after demon.

The mortal Soldiers roared as they detonated Melta bombs in suicidal attacks, while naval noble officers fought desperately alongside their servants.

Everyone roared, "For the God-Emperor!"

The Grey Knights and the mortals repelled the demons' assaults on the Command Deck again and again.

Until even the final cry of "For the God-Emperor!" became weak, agonized, and powerless.

Until the entire Command Deck was drowned beneath demons flooding in like a tide.