Chương 22: Simpler Methods

My subsequent conversation with the local deity took place in a strictly businesslike format. I extracted all the knowledge it had managed to gather over its long life. To my regret, the entity was not the most curious, making it severely limited in information. It told me practically nothing about the political alignment in the sector, considering the relations of mortals to be of no concern to it. Yeah, right.

If an aggressively inclined Puritan Inquisitor were to arrive here, I would like to see how simple mortals would deal with it. Out of everything useful, it could only tell me the approximate location of the nearest Aeldari Craftworld. These local space elves are powerful psykers, but they were afraid to approach the sector capital and therefore languished on the very edge of the galaxy, doing who knows what. I have no interest in them.

Even though these xenos could impart a lot of useful information about the Warp and controlling the Immaterium, every single one of them is a cunning manipulator who would use me without hesitation. Whether they turn me into a living weapon or simply set me up, it does not matter. The Aeldari are infamous for their overinflated egos and their reluctance to dirty their hands. Therefore, the conversation with the minor god did not help me much in sorting out the old Inquisitor's intrigues.

However, my collection of psychic techniques was expanded with a whole section of new tricks. There was practically nothing on Lehida Ten besides plants and animals, making the local guardian's list of abilities narrowly specialized. The deity passed on an incredible amount of different psychic techniques for controlling the biosphere, communicating with it, and everything else. Not the most useful school of thought, but still a pleasant addition.

Spells unconnected to cursed sorcery and Chaos were a rarity and a true treasure. The Inquisition and the Adeptus Astra Telepathica have their own archives, but outside their oversight, such knowledge is forbidden to all. Even the Schola Progenium facilities are heavily restricted in what they can teach. Although I understand the reasons for such decisions, thoughts involuntarily arise in my head about what would happen if the Imperium were more open and similar to ancient Terra.

Knowledge of the Immaterium brings not only danger but also the solution to a multitude of problems. Diseases and wars would become a significantly smaller problem if the human state treated psykers more gently and utilized them to the fullest. Of course, these are naive thoughts that will most likely never become reality, but I still want to at least strive for a better future.

If I abandon the goal of fixing the plight of the rest of humanity, I could simply join a random Rogue Trader and head beyond the borders of the Imperium somewhere into the depths of space. But I am not one to abandon undertakings and betray my ideals the moment difficulties arise. There are things you must stand for no matter what, because otherwise, you will not even notice how you end up burning the galaxy in the name of a great purpose.

After my conversation with the deity, we came to an agreement that I would wait on Lehida Ten for a while until Atreus arrived. After that, he would take Jaya and me, and we would leave the world for a very long time, leaving the deity in peace. If the golden guard drags an army here, I am sure I will be able to convince him to stand down. I definitely do not want to ruin relations with such a useful entity over nothing.

Atreus simply does not care about most things connected to the Imperium, so convincing him will hardly be difficult. And if I just hand the Inquisitor over to him, I hope I will be able to avoid at least some of the problems. Having finished negotiating, I decided to fly off to the side, where I could rest and try to get the Inquisitor to talk. Since this was most likely my last day on Lehida, I chose a place where Atreus would definitely be able to find me.

By a happy coincidence, this was exactly where, in my opinion, the best view on the entire planet was located. It was a mountain peak from which the sea and a pristine white beach, adorned with a blue coral unknown to me, were visible. It took only a couple of taps of my staff against the ground for a small, single-story house to grow out of the earth, where I placed the bound and unconscious Jaya.

Checking that everything was in order, I snapped my fingers and immediately felt the consequences of my former omnipotence. The divine power left me, and I stopped blocking psychophenomena using Biomancy. It was a cunning but very dangerous trick, as it provided temporary stability at the cost of massive problems in the future. My entire body contorted from simply fantastic pain, but I continued to hold on.

Every cell in my body burned as my limbs began to shake from spasms, and dark lilac tears began to flow from my eyes. Immediately after this, blue blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. I wiped it away and immediately sat down to meditate, trying to bring my consciousness back into order. Dozens and hundreds of thoughts raced through my head, some of which did not even belong to me. A strange whisper, screams in an unknown language, and inhuman visions.

I had to spend quite a bit of time clearing my mind of this garbage. The moment I dropped my concentration even briefly, I began to pick up psychic messages from all the nearby systems. And the main problem is that Astropathic messages are always chaotic visions, requiring a specially attuned mind to decipher. But even for professionals, it can take several days, to say nothing of me.

Therefore, I did not try to spy and find out what was happening on other worlds, since I would not succeed anyway and would only waste my time. After an hour of meditation, I got up and stepped outside, continuing to keep an eye on the knocked-out Inquisitor out of the corner of my eye. I sighed slowly, shifting my gaze and enjoying the local view. Around me was a boundless green forest that had not encountered a human being for millennia.

When I first arrived here, what surprised me most was not the alien biosphere, but something much simpler. Exploring unknown nature was incredibly interesting, but after a while, you figure out its secrets and begin to get used to it. But I liked the silence even after all the years spent here. No sounds of the endless scurrying of millions and billions of people, the pounding of countless manufactorums at work, and the hum of ancient machines.

On Scintilla, I had managed to get used to them, but I derived no pleasure from it. There, to put it mildly, they worried more about the efficiency of production than about the quality of human life. Therefore, the moment I found myself in such an unusual place, I quickly fell in love with it. Lehida was a dangerous planet, but no less beautiful for it. Atreus and I had conducted many training sessions in a wide variety of locations, which gave me a good understanding of the local beauties.

The Praetorian loved holding lessons near waterfalls or on mountain peaks, which is why I memorized such views. Scintilla staggered the imagination by showing the miracles a small human is capable of creating. The images of buildings the size of entire mountains were forever burned into my mind, but beauty was not the focus in their construction. Lehida, on the other hand, although obviously looking artificial, could have even been turned into a Paradise World given sufficient expenditure.

Well, assuming all the local settlers did not die out of nowhere. But perhaps it is even for the best that at least one world will remain where there is a place for silence. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I raised my head and looked at the starry sky. It was not polluted by artificial light or space debris, so it was significantly better than even what I had observed on Terra of the third millennium.

I saw a starry sky that was overflowing with constellations unknown to me. In general, everything here was, although mortally dangerous to a human, so clean. Air devoid of machine exhaust and water without microplastics. During my past life, I had not even paid attention to this, and then I ended up on a Hive World entirely. There, all the problems of the twenty-first century were multiplied a hundredfold, but I was able to adapt even to them. But this place was different.

Man was not made to live here, as there were dangerous predators, unknown poisonous plants, and deadly diseases. Except you can adapt to them. Once you acquire power, the threats cease to be so stressful. At this time, the Inquisitor was slowly coming to her senses. Actually, she had been conscious for a relatively long while now, but for the moment she was pretending to still be knocked out.

It was some interesting trick, unknown even to me, with an artificial coma induced by Biomancy, clearly requiring colossal control of Empyrean energy. Her techniques never cease to command respect, but every art has its limits. She could defeat a psyker several times stronger than herself, that is, a Beta-level psyker, but that is her limit. And I was far beyond its boundaries. I turned and went back into the house, closing the door behind me. I shook my head as I slowly approached the elderly schemer.

She was tied up and sitting on a chair I had created, but I paid no attention to her appearance. I simply walked up to her and began to speak calmly.

"We both know what comes next. Is there any point in my further actions? I cannot break you, and you cannot escape. I know you are not sleeping and are merely pretending. Believe me, I do not want to exacerbate the situation any further." Of course, she did not answer me. She was a master of her craft, not to be fooled by such a simple trick. Unfortunately for her, I was taught how to conduct interrogations by a professional. An actual former Inquisitor.

I flicked my hand slightly, and psychic energy transformed, enveloping Jaya. She shuddered and began to convulse. Although Pyromancy looks more terrifying, one should not underestimate Biomancy in this ancient art. And no one can withstand the pain caused by direct manipulation of the nerve endings, regardless of their level of training. And even though I did not want to torture her, she would not start talking to me otherwise.

Besides, it would be difficult for me to ruin our relationship any further, seeing as I am already one step away from becoming a heretic. Even if it is only by the standards of a certain faction of the Inquisition. Our main disagreement was our attitude towards the Warp and collateral damage. And while I could, gritting my teeth, accept the latter, secretly working with unknown Warp entities was another matter. She herself taught me that one must never stoop to that under any circumstances.

Whatever her motives might be, I needed to know how deep this heresy had penetrated into the Imperium. At any cost. Jaya screamed loudly and came to her senses. The Inquisitor began to breathe rapidly, staring heavily at me. She cast a glance at her arms and legs, which she could not move because of the ropes. It was all a material illusion, but no less effective for it. I sighed and approached my mentor. I tried to look as calm as possible, showing not a shadow of anger or fear.

My voice was also calm and devoid of any aggression. I was quite good at it, as my practice in this field had never ceased.

"This conflict can still be stopped. I believe that we are capable of coming to an agreement and resolving this issue peacefully." Granted, it was a half-hearted attempt, but it was still worth trying. Except the reaction, as expected, was not the best. She began to smile, staring straight into my eyes. And I strongly disliked that look.

"You do not yet understand how deep the problems of the Imperium go. Like the roots of an ancient tree, they have dug into the soil that is humanity, and feed upon it. For too long, the Imperium has sacrificed tomorrow for the sake of surviving today. But you are right, Gabriel. We can resolve this conflict peacefully, for we want the same thing. To save humanity. I simply know better than you that this cannot be achieved without sacrifices." What an interesting choice of words. To save humanity, not the Imperium.

A very, very risky move that is difficult to analyze. Perhaps she is trying to test me this way? But now is clearly not the best moment to test me for heresy. I am capable of killing her with a single thought, and she certainly has no argument against me right now. But if this is a desperate attempt to recruit me to her side to delay justice, then I will have to disappoint her.

"And do you believe your strength will be enough to change the entire galaxy?" I asked. She smiled softly, beginning to move her hands almost imperceptibly. She was trying to slip the ropes, but dealing with my creation was not that simple. Jaya continued to speak while she attempted to orchestrate an escape. Or at least pretended to try.

"Do you think I am the one to blame for everything? The rosette makes us all equal. Radicals and Puritans, fanatics and pragmatists, representatives of various Ordos, large and small. Absolutely every member of the Inquisition is equal, and all, without exception, play their own game."

"The entire Imperium is entangled in intrigues, and Calixis is no exception. It is simply that right here we have far more influence compared to sectors closer to Sol. Any attempt to stop us, or even to simply unravel all the local intrigues, is doomed to fail from the very beginning." While she spoke, I felt her attempting to very subtly and carefully use her powers, which I interrupted with a single wave of my hand. She seemed to choke for a second but quickly recovered.

"I am not a fool, I understand that myself. But you obviously must hold a high position within your organization and are bound to know about many things happening in the sector." Suddenly, I felt a multitude of souls, among which was one bright and strong, approaching us. I raised my head and looked straight through the walls at a point in the middle of the sky that could not yet be seen with the naked eye. The guests were too far away, so I had to focus specifically to detect them.

I felt thousands and hundreds of human souls moving in our direction. Jaya clearly understood something from my face, which made her act even more strangely. She sighed in relief and began to shake her head slightly.

"You do not understand where your actions will lead. But that is exactly what makes it so beautiful." I looked at her suspiciously, continuing to use my Warp senses to the fullest. If she had tried to do something, I would have been able to stop her without a problem. Even if she had tried to kill herself, my Biomancy skills were sufficient to literally raise her from the dead. Except something was clearly wrong.

"Previously I believed that humanity was doomed and all paths to a bright future had long been burned away. I did everything in my power to delay the moment of our downfall, but that is exactly why I am so glad I met you. Because the mere fact that destiny is not predetermined is worth all the sacrifices." I frowned, gradually filling myself with power. You do not make such speeches when you are not planning to do something risky. She looked at me with a grim smile while I failed to understand what was happening.

Objectively, she did not have a single way to escape or even kill herself. No matter what she did, I would be able to stop her. I jumped up abruptly, looking toward where the people were flying towards us. They were moving suspiciously directly toward us, but the closer they got, the more I deciphered their auras. At first, I counted a single transhuman aura, but with each passing second, there were more of them. One, three, five, ten, and more.

And while none of them were even remotely equal to Atreus, there were over a hundred of them. I turned my head and saw the Inquisitor looking even more amused.

"I taught you many things, but you always placed too much emphasis on psychic science. Sometimes problems can be solved much more precisely using simpler methods." She remained sitting tied up, yet stayed maximally calm. I, meanwhile, was trying to understand where I had made a mistake and what was happening. I accelerated my consciousness to the maximum, analyzing the situation and everything that had happened over the past few days. Let us see.

The training, the disease, the deity's harvest, the destruction of the complex. I froze as the puzzle pieces in my head snapped together into a single picture. And if I am right, then I am in massive trouble.