Setting aside whether this theory was correct, Celes loathed this kind of sacrifice. If she had not discovered it in time, Cemetery World would have been invaded by Khorne's daemon armies first.
Perhaps the bishops of the Corpse-Worship Cult had been thinking exactly that? They were sacrificing to The Emperor too slowly, so they intended to use the daemons' hands to purge the entire planet?
But regardless, Celes had already completely eradicated the Corpse-Worship Cult spreading beneath the ground and destroyed the lurking Necron xenos within the Ecclesiarchy church.
Who would have thought that the archbishop of Martyr's Church had secretly maintained close dealings with the Necrons...
A knock sounded at the door. Celes answered, and the door opened. A Canoness in Sororitas-pattern power armor entered, accompanied by a Sister Superior.
Their different duties could be discerned from their attire. The Canoness's power armor was nearly identical in style to that of the other Battle Sisters, save for the far more prominent religious adornments.
As the military leader of an Adepta Sororitas order, the Canoness had the authority to wield the most sacred and ancient weapons and ornaments from the armory. Yet what left the deepest impression on Celes was the censer of devotion mounted upon the Canoness's power pack.
The censer was so thick and broad that it would not have been an exaggeration to say the Canoness carried a wall on her back. A golden disc kept her head from touching the censer directly, and it was covered in finely carved fleur-de-lis. The censer was divided into three branches, each resting upon the skull of a devotee. Their skulls were encased in iron-forged candleholders, bearing sacred flames that would burn forever.
As a non-combatant, the Sister Superior standing beside the Canoness did not cut nearly so imposing a