Chapter 46: The Intern Has to Take the Fall Right After Getting Promoted!

Chapter 46: The Intern Has to Take the Fall Right After Getting Promoted!

"Inquisitor Aglaia."

Aglaia stumbled, her case file slipping from her grasp and scattering across the deck. If Sister Arabella hadn't been at her side to steady her, she would have completely lost her composure.

"I am fine, my Lord, I am fine," she stammered, her words jumbled. She fumbled twice before managing to pick up the scattered parchments. She took a long, deep breath and used her psychic abilities to regulate her body's hormonal levels, forcing her brain into a state of cold, hard logic.

"How far has their plan progressed?"

"After eliminating the Imperial Navy forces, the Seeker began to transport large populations to Pierdra Prime. We do not know how he accomplished this, but we have a Webway portal there. According to our agreement, we were to 'process' these populations upon arrival."

"The entire sector's population?"

"Everyone. The last time my fleet contacted our scouts monitoring the various planets, less than a tenth of their populations remained."

Click—

The sound of a stylus dropping to the deck.

Aglaia drew back her fist and punched the Archon in the face.

A single punch, purely to vent her rage.

The Archon's already ruined face was severely deformed. If an Archmagos's mechadendrite hadn't restrained her, Aglaia would certainly have landed a few more blows.

"You damned swine! You stupid pigs! Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Held fast by the cold steel, Aglaia gave up struggling and began to scream curses. "The Pierdra Sector has a population of nearly five trillion people! And you just let that madman gather them all on a single planet, just sent them all to his sacrificial altar!"

"And you idiots actually believed his lies! You pigs are part of his sacrifice too! Do you know the consequences of sacrificing all those people—"

Aglaia couldn't bear to imagine it.

She had witnessed a Chaos disaster once before, on a Black Ship. A single unstable psyker, after consuming the souls of a dozen fellow inmates, had unleashed a Nurgle plague that contaminated half the vessel. The ship's steel had rapidly rusted and decayed, then erupted in pustules. She had watched in horror as one disgusting Plague Marine after another emerged from daemonic portals that resembled oozing cloacae.

Any human who was merely exposed to the aura of that place had mutated on the spot, their body's microorganisms and tissues beginning to grow chaotically, fusing together, before they turned and walked towards the living with grotesque smiles. If it hadn't been for the Emperor's Custodians and the Silent Sisters on board at the time, she wouldn't be alive to be throwing this tantrum in front of these esteemed lords now.

Five trillion people... even accounting for more than half being lost in transit, that was still two trillion. The population of four hive worlds...

Aglaia's face was a mask of despair.

That old bastard really has gone mad. To sacrifice so many people for the sake of knowledge.

'...Emperor, please tell me what to do.'

The young Inquisitor was at a complete loss. The stern composure she had maintained for the sake of her authority completely crumbled.

At first, she had simply thought she had caught the old bastard red-handed, and planned to use this opportunity to eliminate him for his betrayal of the Emperor and inherit his legacy. After all, Inquisitors being tainted by Chaos was a common occurrence in the industry, as was being eliminated for it. The moment she had discovered her mentor's contact with Chaos, the idea had taken root.

And she had thought she was quite lucky. At first, she had been happy to have the chance to take over her branch of the Ordo right after being promoted from Interrogator.

But—

This old bastard.

How could he have done something so big?!

I just wanted to quietly get rid of the old man, and then spend the rest of my life avoiding Chaos, spend a few decades sorting through his historical texts to submit to the Ordo, and then dump this endless mess and retire to a paradise world!

With her stable biomancy, she could have lived for several hundred years without any problems. She had even picked out a house on a garden world, and paid the deposit to secure a good spot!

Why did this old bastard have to go and do something this big?!

Aglaia swore that if she survived this, she would never study the Great Heresy again. Anything related to Chaos was dangerous. She could just pick a Chapter homeworld to study. Macragge's records were too complete. The Blood Angels were rumored to have too deep a connection to the Warp. A Chapter whose history had massive blank spots... Fine! I'll study the model legion, the Dark Angels! They couldn't possibly have anything to do with Chaos, right?!

But was this really the time to be thinking about the future?

A voice rose from the depths of her soul.

Will I even survive this?

Aglaia asked herself. She didn't know. She didn't even know how to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. She had only ever experienced that one incident on the Black Ship. The rest she had only read about in books. She had no idea what the consequences of sacrificing so many people to Chaos would be. She was just a young woman, not long out of the archives. It was only through sheer audacity that she had managed to find the Adeptus Mechanicus and the crusade fleet. She couldn't possibly summon the Silent Sisterhood and the Custodian Guard.

"Inquisitor Aglaia, can you confirm that the intelligence you have obtained is accurate?"

Seeing that the young Inquisitor was spiraling, Romulus, who had a general idea of what was happening, spoke up to confirm.

"It is almost certainly true," Aglaia nodded. She had been investigating her mentor for a long time. "The answers to the first three questions were things I already knew. This xenos's replies matched the information I had. That's why I was formally reassigned. The old bastard's plot has already succeeded. I don't even know if we..."

"Inquisitor Aglaia, I am not concerned with the internal squabbles of your Inquisition," Romulus cut her off, glancing at the others. "You need only tell us what we might be facing."

The most important question now was what kind of situation they were up against. The transmigrators didn't really understand what a sacrifice of five trillion people meant in the grand scheme of Chaos. Because of GW's magical mathematics, they were skeptical of any numerical data they had from before they arrived.

"What? Planet-wide cultist uprisings, daemons pouring endlessly from the Warp, a corrupted Inquisitorial fleet... perhaps when we reach Pierdra, we'll find the planet is already being swallowed by the Warp! It's already over..." Aglaia replied pessimistically. The more she spoke, the more she felt a shadow fall over her own soul.

"You—" Marshal Orlando was about to step forward and drag this seditious witch away.

Romulus raised a hand, signaling him to stop.

Marshal Orlando swallowed his words. He looked at the silent Imperial Fists and backed down.

Everyone just watched Aglaia. Romulus remained calm and steady. Ramesses was contemplating his own projects. They all gave the Inquisitor the patience she needed. Any intern, right after being promoted, would break under the weight of such a massive screw-up.

The young Inquisitor bowed her head, pressing her hands against her skull as if to escape.

Arthur waited for a moment, unable to watch any longer. Then he felt a slight pressure on his pauldron. He turned his head. Karna was giving him a look.

His other two friends still seemed to be viewing the problem with the eyes of normal people. Could you really expect a zealot from a zealous world to think their way out of this? They'd probably just think themselves deeper into heresy and then have a psychic breakdown and set off a Warp-firework in the middle of them.

SHIIING—

And so, he simply drew his black sword.

(End of Chapter)