Valenia rushed towards the Greater Daemon.
The Keeper of Secrets's arm attacked her, the ritual blade piercing her with such speed that its trajectory was invisible.
Valenia did not dodge; a cross on her chest erupted with holy light, blocking the attack for her.
Her holy sword burned to its peak, golden flames enveloping the blade, making even the Keeper of Secrets feel the intense heat.
She gripped the sword with both hands and thrust it out with all her might.
The sword tip pierced the Keeper of Secrets's palm, pinning his arm to the floor.
Golden flames erupted from the wound, scorching its very essence.
The Keeper of Secrets let out a painful wail, a sound that shook the entire restaurant, causing people's eardrums to bleed.
"Now!" Valenia roared.
The priests and nuns chanted in unison the exorcism ritual.
Golden light surged in from all directions, enveloping the Greater Daemon.
The light was like a thousand heavy punches, striking its body simultaneously and pushing it into the crack.
The crack began to shrink.
The Keeper of Secrets's body was gradually squeezed back into the Warp.
It struggled, it roared, and it used its three arms, still inside the Warp, to frantically attack everything around it.
But the golden light grew heavier and heavier, and his struggles became futile.
Just as it was about to be completely banished, its only outstretched arm suddenly swung.
The ritual blade slashed through Valenia's arm armor.
The wound was shallow, and there wasn't much blood, but Valenia's expression changed instantly.
That's Slaanesh poison.
It is eroding her body and soul at an alarming rate.
She could feel the toxin flowing in her blood vessels, spreading through her nerves, and whispering temptations deep within her consciousness.
"Give up." A voice echoed in her mind.
You've done enough. Now, enjoy it.
She closed her eyes.
Valenia offered a final prayer to the Emperor.
There was no plea for help, only gratitude.
She thanked the Emperor for giving her faith and strength, and Emperor giving her the opportunity to die for Him.
She opened her eyes, and the golden light burst forth within them.
Golden flames ignited in her eyes.
It burned her flesh and her soul, and also burned the poison of Slaanesh that tried to erode her.
Amidst the flames, she knelt on the ground.
She remained in a praying posture, hands clasped together, head slightly bowed.
Flames consumed her clothes, her body, everything about her.
But that posture never changed.
Until it turns to ashes.
After the flames died down, all that remained where Valenia had stood was a charred weapon.
It was stuck in the ground, completely black and riddled with cracks.
The handguards were deformed and the grips were charred, but they were still faintly visible.
That was a sword.
The moment the Keeper of Secrets was banished back to the Warp, a sigh of relief filled the entire restaurant.
The fanatics knelt on the ground, panting heavily.
The Sisters of Battle also put down their weapons for a moment and helped each other.
The priests' hymns were no longer at their highest pitch, and some servants wiped the sweat from their brows.
Lynn breathed a sigh of relief.
He leaned against the wall, slowly stood up, and searched the crowd for that familiar figure.
Isolde, no, it's Rena.
He saw her; the blonde figure stood behind a group of nuns, looking in his direction.
In those eyes, Isolde's indifference remained unchanged.
But upon seeing Lynn, her concern transformed into the kind of care that Lynn was familiar with—the kind that belonged to Rena.
He smiled knowingly and was about to walk over to find her.
A blue light suddenly exploded in the center of the restaurant.
It was a woman.
She wore a tattered blue robe and a half-metal mask over her face, the exposed half of which was as pale as paper.
Lynn recognized her; she was the third Tzeentch Sorcerer to appear in this grand drama.
She disappeared a moment ago, and now she's reappeared here.
"Everything... is going according to plan." She planted a staff in the ground.
The staff was entirely azure blue, with a constantly rotating eyeball embedded at its tip.
"Do you believe in change?" the Chaos Sorcerer began to mutter to himself.
The eyeballs darted around, eventually spinning faster and faster, causing the surrounding space to churn.
I greatly admire the first person to worship the Lord of Change.
"Maybe it will turn into Chaos Spawn?"
She released her grip, and the staff stood upright on its own.
"Father, once I have pleased Him, I will surely let you witness the rise of St. Garus!"
"Humanity will ultimately succumb to the Warp!"
As more and more energy accumulated around the eyeball, it finally exploded.
"I'll say it one last time, time... is about to accelerate!"
Woohoo!
A blue shockwave emanated from the tip of the staff, instantly engulfing the entire restaurant.
Lynn felt a strange force sweep over his body.
It was not a direct Psychic Power shock or a physical explosion.
Rather, it was something more indescribable, like time itself, that suddenly accelerated its flow.
He looked down at his hands.
The skin is wrinkling, the veins are bulging, and age spots are appearing.
He is getting old.
Aging is happening at a rate visible to the naked eye.
A chorus of screams erupted from all around.
Those fanatics, those priests and the Sisters of Battle, even the followers of Slaanesh.
Everyone is experiencing the same thing; their lives seem to have been put on accelerator.
Some people collapsed, not because they died, but because they were too weak to stand.
Lynn's knees began to buckle, the wall he was leaning against seemed to grow distant, and his consciousness began to blur.
" Rena..." he murmured to himself.
"I am here."
After the shockwave took effect, the wizard laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, you guys are too naive. You really think it's over just like that?"
She opened her arms wide, as if embracing an impending massacre.
"Those Slaanesh are only interested in pleasure and temptation."
"They will never understand that true victory requires patience, calculation, and..."
She looked in the direction where Lynn was.
"Change is needed!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the space behind her began to distort and shatter.
A crack opened up, and purple-blue light poured out from it.
A tank flew out of it— the Chariot of Change, Tzeentch's most common vanguard vehicle.
The chariot consisted of a Screamer pulling a Disc of Tzeentch.
Atop the chariot stood a Spellcasting Necrontyr, its entire body pink, with six eyes, and wearing a golden bird-beak mask.
They are reciting something in a high-pitched voice.
As soon Spellcasting Necrontyr appeared, the surrounding air began to tremble.
That's Psychic Power resonating and amplifying.
Behind the chariot, the cracks were slowly widening.
A dozen or so enormous monsters charged out.
They are three or four meters tall, and their bodies are composed of twisted flesh, tentacles, and eyeballs.
Strong arms, deformed legs, and a nauseating stench emanating from his body.
It had no face, only a writhing mass of flesh with a dozen or so eyes of varying sizes growing on it.
Chaos Spawn.
A vile creation born from humanity corrupted and distorted by Chaos energy.
They have no humanity, no reason, only the instinct to kill.
As soon as they appeared, they rushed frantically towards the Ecclesiarchy Front.