Chapter 45: Now I'm Really Going to Be Sacrificed to Chaos

"However, we have indeed discovered a pattern: these nobles typically form secret hedonistic cabals while simultaneously seeking out humans with extraordinary sensory perception to use as sacrificial material for warp abominations."

Visibly, upon hearing the word "sacrifice," the terror in the Archon's eyes could no longer be concealed.

"As you know, the sensory perception of the Aeldari far exceeds the limits of humanity," Ramses said pointedly.

Aglaia reacted quickly, playing along with him.

"According to statistical data from past records, such materials will inevitably attract the assistance of those powerful elites."

"Then I suppose the Inquisitors would not refuse such bait?"

"Certainly."

"Mmh! Mmh-mmh!"

With only his head still capable of movement, the Archon began to struggle violently.

Using all his strength, he slammed the back of his head against the chains, producing soft clinking sounds—the loudest disturbance the Archon could possibly make.

After deliberately leaving the creature hanging for a while and letting Ramses discuss the details thoroughly with the Inquisitor, Romulus gave a subtle nod, and Arthur pulled away the Archon's restraint strap.

"Listen, if you have questions, just ask them directly—cough, cough, cough—I'll tell you anything—"

The Archon extracted every last inch of air from his respiratory system with record speed, speaking loudly in Low Gothic. Even though his lungs burned with fiery pain and his throat spewed blood, he did not pause for a single instant.

"Just don't hand me over to the cultists of the Thirsting Lady, and I'll do anything for you!"

He was now certain that the psychic coercion from earlier had unquestionably come from the Handmaiden of the Thirsting Lady. These people truly knew what the Dark Eldar feared most, and they genuinely had the capability to deliver him straight into the hands of the Thirsting Lady.

"I beg of you!"

Being sacrificed to Slaanesh and dragged down to the Six-Circles Palace—anything but that!

He wept bitterly.

"I can do anything."

"We actually preferred you when you were so unruly and defiant."

Most of the surrounding people wore looks of confusion, utterly failing to understand why a Dark Eldar who could endure torture without changing expression and showed no fear of death would be terrified of the Pleasure Cult to such an extent.

"Ask whatever you wish," Romulus said, stepping aside.

They knew nothing whatsoever about the situation in the Pythos Sector, and even if they wanted to ask something, they lacked a specific direction. It was better to let the "locals" do the questioning first.

"Thank you, My Lord."

Aglaia first used a piece of parchment to record the Dark Eldar's dread of the Dark Gods—whom they referred to as the Thirsting Lady—then stepped forward to proceed, only to crash straight into Tyberos's gauntlet.

She hadn't even noticed how such a massive bulk of a warrior had approached her.

"..."

Only then did she realize that the remark hadn't been addressed to her.

"Forgive me, My Lord."

Aglaia retreated in a panic.

Someone capable of hacking through over five hundred Dark Eldar with a force of just over a hundred men without suffering a single casualty—whichever of them it was, she could not afford to offend anyone present.

"..."

The few exchanged glances.

This Inquisitor was quite interesting, too.

Such an academic, hot-headed greenhorn—especially one operating without a fleet, daring to butt heads with the Black Templars Crusade on someone else's ship—was truly a rarity.

"You may ask your questions first," Tyberos said after a brief contemplation.

His purpose on this trip was merely to trade for equipment with the Adeptus Mechanicus. Taking Romulus and his companions along was an unexpected bonus, and he wasn't particularly well-versed in the internal affairs of the Imperium. The Void Glass was a secret belonging exclusively to the Carcharodons and was not suitable for public disclosure.

Recalling the previous interrogation, he added,

"But you must ensure he stays alive."

"Of course, My Lord."

Aglaia actually wanted to keep the Inquisition's secrets, but a moment's thought told her that was completely unrealistic.

Thus, she pulled out her small notebook and spoke directly.

"Who hired you, xenos?"

"He calls himself the Seeker."

Hearing this, Aglaia knew instantly that there was a solid lead.

The Seeker was the external alias used by the mentor she had been investigating all this time.

"Where was your meeting place?"

"Located deep within what you call the Ghoul Stars, belonging to the Black Spire of the Blood Skulls. Marking the coordinates requires a star chart."

"Is it here?"

The Inquisitor pulled her servo-skull over, displaying the sub-sector coordinates.

"Correct."

"What was your specific mission?"

"To intercept the Mechanicus ark entering that planet. The Seeker explicitly stated that if naval combat failed, we were to forcefully board the Mechanicus ark, which would prevent this fleet from entering Pythos."

Cawl's internal chip inevitably overloaded; he never imagined that a plan he had concealed for ten millennia would be uncovered by an entity he had never even heard of.

At the same time, he looked toward the Astartes, recalling the radiance of the Emperor that emanated from them, and immediately felt a sense of relief.

This was undoubtedly the Omnissiah's guidance.

"What was your payment?"

"The hunt. The Seeker promised to gather the entire population of the Pythos Sector onto the Pythos primary world to hold the grandest slaughter feast, and to grant us free rein to hunt slaves. He bribed six cabals, including the Flayed Skulls. I am the Archon of one of the Flayed Skulls' raiding fleets."

The Dark Eldar needed to feed on the souls of other living beings to sustain themselves. The population of an entire sector was an unimaginably massive treasure trove to them.

Of course, in the knowledge possessed by the Inquisitors, souls had another distinct use.

The hand recording the interrogation trembled. Having obtained the answer, Aglaia's face did not bear the joy of a mystery finally solved; instead, it began to pale at a visible rate.

"What did he do during this process, and what did you do?"

She pressed on.

"The Seeker provided us with the coordinates of the Imperial Navy in the sector and fed them false intelligence, allowing us to utterly annihilate the Imperial Navy. He took care of the fleets from other factions, and after that, it was just raiding to confuse the enemy's sight."

"The specific process?"

"I don't know."

Aglaia stared silently at the Archon.

"I really don't know."

The Archon looked like he was about to cry.

"Inquisitor Aglaia."

Romulus spoke up.

"May I interrupt?"

"Please speak, My Lord," Aglaia replied respectfully.

"When we were lost in the Warp, we encountered a strike cruiser attacked by heretics. Inside the vessel's Gellar field, we found this."

Romulus directly transmitted the recorded footage to the Inquisitor, which included the psyker acting as a Chaos translocation conduit and the runes inscribed upon his back.

He had prepared these materials long ago.

"M-My Lord, where did this strike cruiser depart from?"

As Aglaia looked at the Chaos runes inscribed on the cultist's back—which were identical to those she had seen when reviewing her mentor's database—her lips began to tremble uncontrollably.

Romulus looked toward the accompanying Sister of Battle, Arabela.

"It departed from the ocean world of Titanic, made a stop along the way at the Eternal Hunt watch-post, and was subsequently ambushed by Dark Eldar xenos in the Pythos Sector—Munst System 3 (Dead World). Following that, a Chaos corruption broke out within the Navigator sanctum, and the warship was dragged into the Warp."

The Senior Sister spoke thus, then began marking the route and various timestamps on the sub-sector projection relying on her memory.

Aglaia hurriedly pulled out her paper documents and began cross-referencing.

As piece after piece of information matched up, her gaze grew increasingly vacant.

Chaos. That old bastard really had fallen to Chaos.

"......It matches. It all matches."

Repeating the same sentence over and over under her breath, Aglaia failed to catch her breath and nearly fainted on the spot.

Only a single word echoed in her mind:

Doomed!