The golden hull of the Custodian Guard vessel, the Emperor's Eye, carved a sacred trajectory through the void, like an imprint of the Emperor's will etched upon the Warp's veil.
The bridge's cogitator arrays hummed softly, and on the holographic star chart, Terra's coordinates shone like a sun, both a destination and the beginning of judgment.
Knox leaned against the tactical console, his fingertips lightly tapping the metal surface, his rhythm subtly synchronized with the guard ship's plasma engine pulses.
His gaze was fixed on the holographic star chart, staring at the gradually enlarging planet in the distance.
Calixis IV, a loyal world renowned for supplying high-quality psykers to Terra.
As the new Inquisitor, the power Knox wielded far exceeded common imagination.
Although the collection of psyker tithes was nominally within the Department of Justice's purview, an Inquisitor could always find a suitable reason to slightly adjust a planned itinerary.
Just like this time—
"Inquisitor, estimated landing in five minutes."
Captain Nusius's voice came from behind him, "According to the Terra Edict, this planet is supposed to submit ten tamed psykers this cycle as a Black Ship tithe."
Knox nodded slightly, a faint gleam flashing in his eyes.
"The Custodian Guard's wool, might as well fleece it."
He subtly glanced at the Custodian Guard standing in the center of the bridge.
Alessio de Carillon, his resplendent golden armor was like a mobile reliquary in the dim bridge, even the air became stagnant due to his presence.
This guard from the Imperial Palace was ostensibly an escort, but in reality, he was a monitor.
Ever since leaving Cadia, Alessio's hawk-like eyes hadn't left Knox , as if ready to pierce this saint through with his Custodian Guard halberd at any moment.
Knox 's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile.
"What a pity, my Custodian Guard brother, your faith is purer than Terra's holy oil."
The vortex deep within his consciousness silently siphoned the aura of faith emanating from Alessio—its purity comparable to the Emperor's own blessing, each wisp containing ten thousand years of accumulated loyalty and fanaticism.
"Inquisitor."
Alessio suddenly spoke, "According to the 'Terra Navigation Codex,' a Custodian Guard vessel may not dock at non-designated ports under non-essential circumstances."
Knox turned around, his face a standard Inquisitor's poker face: "Lord Alessio, as a representative of the Inquisition, I must express necessary... professional concern regarding the quality of this planet's psykers."
"After all, if even one individual tainted by Chaos were to be mixed in with these ten offerings..."
He deliberately paused his words there, his fingertips lightly stroking the purity seal on his bolt pistol, letting silence spread through the bridge for a few seconds.
Only when the Custodian Guard's armor's servo system emitted an almost inaudible hum did he continue:
"Have you ever considered what kind of... unholy resonance would be triggered if such filth were to seep into the Emperor's sacred psychic matrix?"
His voice subtly rose at the end.
Alessio's faceplate remained still, but Knox 's Soul-Seizing Eye clearly captured the momentary tensing of muscles beneath the Custodian Guard's helmet.
Even the ultimate warriors beneath the Golden Throne held an instinctive dread of Warp contamination.
"Permission to land."
The Custodian Guard finally spoke, but he gripped the halberd's hilt so tightly it creaked, "Stay time must not exceed three standard hours."
Knox elegantly performed an Aquila salute, and as he turned, his lips twitched slightly, as if amused by a joke only he could hear.
"Three hours?"
He scoffed inwardly, "Better than nothing! Anyway, it's enough to make this planet regret not paying its psyker tithe sooner."
The sky of Calixis IV was a sickly purplish-red, with ionized dust characteristic of psychic stasis fields floating in the atmosphere.
The Custodian Guard vessel's thunderhawk gunship tore through the clouds, landing in the central plaza of the planet's capital, Sanctum City.
The moment Knox stepped out of the hatch, the Soul-Seizing Eye's vision abruptly narrowed.
The entire city was enveloped in a viscous psychic membrane, as if covered in slime secreted by some giant creature.
The crowds on the streets walked mechanically, their pupils reflecting light unnaturally in the sunlight, like the compound eyes of insects.
"Genestealer Cult..."
The moment this phrase exploded in Knox 's mind, his stomach convulsed reflexively.
GeneStealers, the vanguard of the Tyranid, were incredibly skilled at infiltrating human society.
What was more troublesome was that the souls of the infected would gradually mutate, eventually becoming a chaotic mess.
"Welcome, Inquisitor!"
Planetary Governor Helios waddled forward, his bulging abdomen deforming the breastplate adorned with the Emperor's holy image.
His smile was excessively enthusiastic, his lips almost reaching his ears, "Our psykers are ready, and can be..."
Knox suddenly raised a hand to interrupt him.
"Governor Helios."
His voice was incredibly gentle, but his fingertips were already on the safety of his bolt pistol, "Have you... been feeling an itch on the back of your neck lately?"
The Governor's smile froze on his face.
Beside him, the Custodian Guard Alessio instantly entered combat stance, the halberd's disintegration field humming to life, ionizing the surrounding air with tiny electrical arcs.
Knox 's Soul-Seizing Eye penetrated the Governor's layer of fat, clearly seeing a wriggling alien organism parasitic at his cervical spine—the Corpse starcher' infection gland was transmitting chemical signals of loyalty to the Tyranid Hive Mind through neural synapses to the brain.
"Interesting."
Knox slowly drew his pistol, "I suppose your ten psykers are currently lying in some incubation pool growing scales?"
Helios's face suddenly tore open, revealing a hideous chitinous jaw beneath.
"For the Four-Armed Emperor!"
The Governor's roar turned into an inhuman shriek, and at the same time, the ground of the entire plaza trembled violently.
Hundreds of infected citizens surged from the buildings, their arms mutated into sharp bone blades, their eyes glowing with the cold green light characteristic of the Tyranid Hive Mind.
Alessio's halberd carved a golden arc, bisecting the first mutant that lunged at him.
Foul body fluids splattered on the Custodian Guard's magnificent armor, instantly evaporating into acrid green smoke by the force field.
"Inquisitor!"
The Custodian Guard's voice showed a rare trace of fluctuation, "How did you expose them?"
Knox 's bolt pistol suddenly roared, blowing apart a mutant that lunged from the shadows.
He casually flicked the barrel, a faint smile playing on his lips: "The Emperor's... little hint."
Gunsmoke swirled before the Custodian Guard's magnificent armor, making the bloodstains on the golden holy armor appear even more striking.
Knox could feel Alessio's gaze from behind his visor, a gaze so sharp it seemed to want to dissect his skull and see how many unspoken lies were hidden within.
"What?"
He feigned surprise, raising an eyebrow, his fingertips lightly caressing the still-warm barrel of his bolt pistol, "Does the Custodian Guard doubt a saint's... revelation?"
That drawn-out trailing syllable was like a serpent's hiss, deliberately emphasizing the word "revelation," yet it immediately dissolved into a light chuckle, vanishing into the gunsmoke.
The moment his words fell, a bone blade tore through the air.
Knox stumbled backward, his Inquisitor's robe sliced open by the sharp blade, forming an elegant rip.
Beneath this seemingly clumsy dodge, his hand glowed faintly in the shadows.
The netherworld emblem writhed like a living thing, solidifying death:
Ink-black mist seeped from the cracks in the floor tiles, coiling around each fallen body.
And in the depths of Knox 's pupils, a light as profound as the mist flickered.
In the Micro-Netherworld, the River of Oblivion's waters foamed sickeningly.
Newly arrived souls, like chewed-up dregs, floated and struggled in the river.
"Nether Energy reserve: +1."
"Tsk, the purity is appallingly low."
Knox inwardly curled his lip in disdain; these souls, tainted by the Tyranid Hive Mind, yielded not a single trace of pure Nether Energy.
The battle escalated rapidly, Alessio, the Custodian Guard, was like a precise killing machine, leaving behind dismembered limbs falling like straw wherever he went.
But the enemy's numbers seemed endless, residents from the entire city surged towards the plaza, and even the figures of four-armed GeneStealers appeared on the rooftops.
Knox took the opportunity to retreat to the edge of the battlefield, his Soul-Seizing Eye scanning the depths of the city.
In his psychic vision, a thick biological energy beam rose from underground, piercing the clouds—that was the Tyranid Hive Fleet's summoning beacon.
"So that's it..."
He narrowed his eyes, "These bugs aren't infiltrating, they're building lighthouses."
Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared across the sky.
The Custodian Guard vessel's communication channel exploded with Captain Nusius's roar:
"Inquisitor, orbital scans show a giant biological signature beneath the crust, this damn place is a Tyranid Hive Mind node!"
Before Knox could respond, the ground suddenly collapsed.
A biological claw, as large as a Titan mech, burst from the earth, carrying foul-smelling slime and rubble, and slammed directly towards the Custodian Guard Alessio.