Chương 21: A Display of Power

Silence hung in the air for a while as we froze in this unpleasant and uncomfortable situation. I stood caught between two fires, trying to decide what to do next while the two sides prepared for a confrontation. My mentor's shadow wolf looked particularly aggressive, practically exuding the desire to tear everyone around it to pieces. And the local deity had no intention of continuing to endure attacks. Maintaining the barrier around the Inquisitor was difficult enough for it as it was.

I suspect it hadn't attacked her yet only because it didn't want, or perhaps even feared, my intervention. Honestly, with every passing second, the desire to just up and leave grew stronger. I mean, why not? It was obvious that neither of these two planned to kill me, but they clearly wanted to use me for their own purposes somehow. Everything was already clear regarding my mentor, but I didn't believe in the nobility of the minor god either. All spawn of the Warp, without exception, desire something.

Even the most depressive creations of the Lord of Decay, embodying the very concept of apathy, strive to earn their god's attention. A complex game was clearly unfolding here, where I was nothing more than a piece on the board. A very important piece, but a weak-willed puppet whose opinion interested no one nonetheless. And I absolutely did not like such a fate. I wasn't an idiot who mindlessly followed someone. Therefore, I needed to use this situation to my advantage.

Right before the conflict escalated into an active phase, I tried to fish for another crumb of information. I raised my hands in a peaceful gesture and coughed slightly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Right, I have one more question. Where is Atreus right now, anyway?" The Inquisitor and the Warp entity turned their heads toward me simultaneously. After Jaya's appearance, its aura had changed again, and now it felt like swelling waves before a storm. It was gathering power, preparing to answer Jaya at any moment. But it showed no aggression toward me, so it answered calmly.

"The Golden Guard noticed when I began the harvest, after which he started tracking my actions, searching for the truth. He investigated what was happening to your people. His attempts met my resistance after he killed several trees and peaceful animals. I tried to stop him, but the guard was stronger, destroying every one of my messengers. However, as soon as I threw the majority of my forces against him, the Praetorian retreated. But I couldn't even wound him, despite the massive amount of power expended.

I must admit, the Anathema's creations are impressive."

"And where is he now, then?" I continued asking questions. The skeleton raised its head, as if looking upward. Jaya, meanwhile, clenched her hand, clearly controlling her little dog somehow. Interestingly, she had never told me about such a breed. Judging by my senses, it was something akin to living fear. Fear of whom or what—I have no idea. But this thing had enough power to slaughter an entire Hive World.

"Strangely, I am no longer able to perceive him. His abilities allow him to hide from my gaze, but not to this extent. I have to exert a significant amount of power just to detect him even under normal conditions. The entire world is an extension of me, and wherever he might be, I would know it," the deity answered. I frowned as the gears in my head started turning.

Atreus was almost fanatically obsessed with the idea of completing his mission and protecting me at all costs, so he was highly unlikely to simply abandon his student without warning. In that case, only two options remained: either he was dead—which, given his skills, was highly unlikely—or he had left the planet for some reason. But even with the help of psychic powers, doing that is quite a task.

For me, for example, it was easier to simply fly to another world than to risk jumping into the pure Warp, since I had no idea how it would end. I used to wander the Immaterium somehow, but much had changed since then. Maybe it would be elementary and cause me no harm. But if I don't have protection... The consequences could be too severe to take such a risk without a reason. This meant Atreus could only have left the planet in one way—by calling for help from the base on Lehida Eight.

Except, would they come down here knowing that... Wait. Jaya said the supply ship was due to arrive here in a few weeks. Except we literally just encountered the threat of an unknown plague yesterday, clearly connected to the Warp. And no matter how great a healer I was, the method of the disease's infection and spread remained unknown to us. The Inquisitor should have notified the base where the Astropaths were located so they would halt the supply ships heading our way.

This was standard practice, preventing diseases of a psychic nature from jumping from planet to planet. Which meant either the Inquisitor had rapidly grown stupid, permitting a theoretically catastrophic act of negligence that could threaten the entire sector, or she knew this plague wouldn't leave the planet. This was all purely my speculation, and I admitted I could be wrong, but the picture coming together was far too neat.

I was sure she was capable of devising a method to kill guards and servants without raising suspicion. A massive ritual pentagram would mark her as a traitor, after which her former colleagues would come for the elderly Inquisitor's head. But something subtle, like aggressive wildlife or unknown diseases, could kill entire crowds without arousing any suspicion. An almost perfect scheme, which, however, could also break.

For example, if a powerful psyker and healer suddenly appeared out of nowhere, capable of handling practically any such threat. Even if other psykers had lived here before, Biomancy is a rare discipline, and I bet no one with my power level had ever lived here. Speaking of Alpha-Plus psykers... Jaya said I wasn't her first student to possess such power. At first, I had thought about something else entirely, but now it hit me—where were these trained psykers, then?

Judging by her tone, they hadn't exploded from using their powers or fallen to Chaos. She spoke as if they had survived and achieved something important. Except the Imperium would never accept such a walking bomb into its ranks. It doesn't matter what guarantees she offers; it's too great a threat. Therefore, they would be fugitives like the others, yet possessing an incredible level of Immaterium control by the standards of the untrained.

And, what a coincidence, news of a rogue Alpha-Plus witch who had slipped from the Inquisition's grasp several times was making waves across the entire sector. And considering the level of local censorship, that showed just how loud her actions were. The Burning Princess is a monstrously powerful psyker possessing incredible Pyrokinesis abilities. She likely surpasses even me in that discipline. According to rumors, the young girl managed to destroy an entire cruiser, breaching its hull with pure flame.

You don't acquire that level of skill at her age unless, of course, you have a wise and kind mentor with incredible experience nearby. It would be even better if this mentor wielded authority within the Inquisition and was part of a faction actively seeking a vessel for the Emperor. And that raises another interesting question. If I am right and there is at least one rogue psyker who is practically an agent of the Inquisition, how many more could there be?

Considering the resources of the Thorians and many Radicals, an entire sleeper army of powerful psykers could be roaming the Calixis Sector right now. And they don't even have a choice: either work with the Radicals or be killed. Using this method, one could infiltrate their people into many cults and revolutionary circles, acquiring incredible influence. In theory, they could be forged into a force capable of destabilizing the entire sector. In this case, only the Inquisition would be able to oppose them...

which, according to Atreus, is particularly weak here and deeply divided between the Radical and Puritan factions. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The end result is a nuclear cocktail that risks exploding at any moment. Give the signal, and hundreds of planets will flare up like a match. We are talking about trillions of lives, mind you. An army of powerful psykers, backed by a faction of the Inquisition, would be nearly impossible to stop.

Calixis is located on the edge of the galaxy, and the Imperium is known to abandon its least profitable territories if holding them becomes unviable. And the fringes are often lumped into this category. I only had suspicions, but in such quantities... If we assume Atreus also suspected something similar and wanted to leave the planet without notifying the Inquisitor, he wouldn't have told me anything either. Jaya could easily read my reaction and sabotage the Custodian's plan.

In that case, he could have established contact with the void station via special vox frequencies. Except I am certain there are mentor's people there too, who would instantly report the warrior's suspicious movements to the Inquisitor. Therefore, I believe in a different scenario. We arrived on Lehida together, but theoretically, he could have hidden a shuttle somewhere just in case.

Zerbe would have handed something like that over without issue, and spotting a ship even several hundred kilometers away from us would be impossible. Atreus could have hidden it somewhere in the jungle so no one would notice, and then personally headed for the base. It would be much easier to sort things out on-site. He possessed the necessary abilities and enough influence to silence anyone. However, the nearest fleet would take a while to get here.

And since the situation is so critical that he decided to take such a risk, he will call for backup as soon as possible. He clearly considered the threat great enough to decide his strength alone wouldn't be enough here. Emperor, once again I find myself in a situation where I am constrained by a lack of information. But I needed to decide what to do. And if I am even partially right, I cannot trust anyone here. Which meant it was time to end this farce. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Reality froze, and before anyone could do anything, the Sea of Souls shuddered. My abilities allowed me to perform relatively simple tricks all day long, but something truly powerful required a genuinely massive expenditure. Rogue, untrained psykers of my level often display miracles on par with true ancient gods, but few realize they pay for it a hundredfold.

Yes, an Alpha-Plus psyker can destroy an entire army with a snap of their fingers, but what difference does it make if a couple of hours later they turn into a puddle of slime? Psychophenomena and Warp hazards posed a threat even to such "gods," but only if they decided to use their power to the fullest. However, right now, even a fraction of my potential would be enough. Waves began to roll through the Immaterium as I stopped holding back and got down to business seriously.

I scooped up an entire sea of energy and began to create. Psychic energy changes shape like the finest clay, becoming whatever I desire. I had never worked with this much energy before, which caused my head to spin slightly. In moments like these, you understand why psykers of this level are considered embodiments of nature's wrath rather than simple humans. Bottomless power, limited only by a sick and unstable mind.

I try to live like a normal person, spending more than five hours a day on meditation to develop mental control, but even I get carried away sometimes. The deity and the Inquisitor reacted to my actions and also began to somehow influence the Warp, but it was already too late. Had I clashed with Atreus right now, he would have died in a second, but I would pay for this power later. At the moment, the conflict had to be resolved at any cost.

My eyes began to shine like beacons, while my hands were enveloped in multicolored light. A radiance enveloped my entire figure, making it practically immaterial. Sparks of pure energy even danced across my staff. I struck it against the ground, and waves of pure power emanated from me. The games were over. The shadow hound lunged in my direction at incredible speed, but I erased it from reality with a simple thought. Literally, I just ordered the Warp to surround the beast and tear it to pieces.

Empyrean energy executed my command, and the powerful entity ceased to exist in less than a second. I shifted my gaze to the Inquisitor and snapped my fingers. Jaya tried to use some powerful artifact, but it was useless. A single thought, and all her toys instantly burned up, turning into useless ash. She clearly hadn't expected this, but was ready to respond regardless. Her hands began to glow with psychic lightning, but even that failed to produce the desired effect.

I simply looked at her, and a few seconds later, she fell to the ground unconscious. Her mental defense was incredibly strong, so I didn't waste time trying to break it or find a weak spot. I simply used telekinesis to pinch her artery, knocking the overly active old woman out. Of course, I controlled the force, ensuring I caused no harm. I would have enough problems as it is; I definitely didn't need her dying. I immediately caught her with telekinesis, preventing her from hitting the ground.

The Warp entity nearby did not interfere with my altercation in any way. He stood and watched it all, only beginning to speak when I shifted my gaze to him.

"You are close to true greatness. I can help you regain your former might and return to your divine majesty..." Without blinking, I silently stared at the deity. If the Warp around him was like a hurricane, I was a veritable storm of continental proportions. The power pressed against my brain, practically begging me to use it...

"The souls you took. What of them?" There was no need for me to speak aloud now; I simply transmitted mental images suffused with my power. I instantly felt this "god" seemingly shrink, fearing my might. Now I understood why the Emperor hadn't taken him. He might be strong, but a coward is not worthy of leading humanity.

"I do not devour them like daemons. To maintain nature, I need helpers. I use them like spirits, guiding herds of animals and healing plants. Believe me, this fate is far better than what awaits them if I release them," he answered me almost instantly, significantly reducing his aura in the process. Now he was a mere sea breeze, not something powerful and terrifying. That role now belonged to me.

"I do not need faith." I clenched my hand, and my power enveloped the god, preventing him from moving. He was capable of giving me a worthy fight, but we both knew who would emerge the victor. The material world is my territory, where he is significantly weakened. Therefore, right now he practically surrendered and did not interfere with me. I struck my staff again and looked directly into his soul, forcibly prying open his aura.

"Swear by your true name that you will cause them no harm and grant these souls protection from daemons and other threats. Then I will not destroy you."

"For all eternity..." A true name was not a simple collection of sounds. It was the essence of the soul, granting the one who knew it complete control over the entity. And the moment he spoke it to me, the Warp trembled. Satisfied, I immediately released him. I did not believe in mere words, but in his true emotions. He was terrified of me to the point of stupor, so he was ready to do anything just to make me leave him alone.

And he wouldn't even be able to do anything about it, for he was bound to this world and could not leave it. Therefore, I would be able to visit him and check how he was upholding his agreement. But I felt he was telling me the truth. And he was right about one thing: if I released these souls, daemons would chew them up and devour them, but this way they would have at least some semblance of a good and peaceful afterlife. An incredible rarity in this universe. But that was not all he could help me with.

I turned to this entity and tilted my head slightly to the side. It was time to solve the problem of my lack of information. Besides, who knows what Warp secrets he knows? The peaceful days were over; it was time to act. C