Clad in Inquisition power armor, Kenmyo Isayama descended from the Wrath-class interceptor, slowly leaving his footprint on the dusty, lost land.
The land here was basically crystalline residue formed by high temperatures; he looked up to an endless, brilliant galaxy, visible without obstruction because the atmosphere had been completely incinerated by the dual cyclone torpedo.
The starry sky was filled with fragments of shattered stars, slowly emitting the dazzling light of particles.
This was the ruin of Hive World Abel, an abandoned Hive World where no one but scavengers would set foot.
The traitor of the Inquisition, Tossak-Rome, had crashed his ship nearby; the continuous black smoke in the distance marked the location of the Inquisition warship.
Kenmyo Isayama had many questions for Tossak-Rome, which was why he ultimately didn't execute the traitor in space with a laser cannon volley.
"The Corpse Emperor protects, I hope he's alright."
Kenmyo Isayama silently prayed. His definition of "alright" meant healthy enough to endure the torture he had used in Macarnus-Elfman's mind, as there was no need to hold back against a traitor.
"This place is truly desolate."
Kenmyo Isayama couldn't help but wonder if his home world, which he had struck with two cyclone torpedo, now presented a similarly tragic scene.
He walked from the edge of the city, which had long become a ruin of broken walls buried under countless asteroids.
Kenmyo Isayama could access the Inquisition's internal database, which contained photos of this world before it was annihilated by the Imperium's iron cavalry.
Based on the coordinates, Kenmyo Isayama determined that his current location had once been a massive armory, with towering chimneys continuously churning out various tanks from its production lines.
But now, nothing remained. All buildings were annihilated by the initial shockwave, and all life was evaporated by the terrifying high temperatures during the months-long burning of the atmosphere.
Only a broken, utterly destroyed landscape remained—a silent sigh of the entire Hive World's annihilation by the Imperium's terrifying war machines.
The destruction of an entire once-prosperous Hive World conservatively estimated the deaths of fifty billion innocent civilians.
Kenmyo Isayama, wearing an oxygen mask, arrived at the crash site of Tossak-Rome's ship, where the vessel's hull had gouged out a massive crater.
Debris was everywhere. Seeing this, Kenmyo Isayama simply recorded it silently, simultaneously uploading the data to Inquisition headquarters.
The materials used in every Inquisition warship were extremely precious and would be recovered by the Tech-Priests later.
Kenmyo Isayama approached the ship's hatch. There were no signs of it having been opened, so Tossak-Rome was likely inside.
Even after being corroded by impact fusion shaped charges, the special alloy door of the Inquisition warship only lost its surface paint, but it was severely deformed after the collision.
However, this was no issue for Kenmyo Isayama. With Macarnus-Elfman's body, his psychic power could easily deal with this special alloy door.
Kenmyo Isayama simply placed his hand on the hatch. Under the erosion of psychic power, the special alloy emitted a terrifying, twisting sound of metal deformation, creaking and groaning, as the damaged gears forcibly began to move.
Finally, the entire hatch was directly torn off by Kenmyo Isayama. He pulled it back with force, and with a "thud," it crashed directly into the distant rubble of the ruins.
Entering the ship's interior, Kenmyo Isayama found that the damage sustained by the vessel was far more severe than he had imagined, essentially beyond repair.
Kenmyo Isayama had a premonition that if he had arrived any later, this ship would have exploded.
The immediate priority was to quickly find Tossak-Rome. Kenmyo Isayama looked at the electronic components blocking his path, raised his Bolter, and the explosive bullets shattered these unsightly obstacles.
Finally, Kenmyo Isayama found the unconscious Tossak-Rome in the cockpit. He had fallen into a coma, with the ceiling lights having crashed onto Tossak-Rome, and the exploded components of the central console burying him. He was utterly miserable, covered in wounds, the most severe being shattered fragments that had pierced his chest like knives and forks.
It looked quite serious, but Kenmyo Isayama knew that for an Inquisitor's physique, such injuries were not critical.
So, he rather roughly pulled out the fragments, and immediately, a large amount of blood spurted from the mangled wound, staining the ground.
Without further ado, Kenmyo Isayama grabbed Tossak-Rome by the back of his collar and ran outside, dragging a long, terrifying trail of blood.
Just as Kenmyo Isayama had run three hundred meters, the ship exploded with a massive blast. Some parts flew incredibly high, especially the super-powered engine.
It could be said that Tossak-Rome was awakened by the pain. When he came to, he found himself being dragged like trash, and immediately became enraged. He had just raised his right hand.
Kenmyo Isayama, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, pulled out his Bolter and accurately fired a single shot. The bullet caused a double injury: tearing flesh upon impact and bone fractures from the secondary explosion.
This time, Tossak-Rome truly suffered. Kenmyo Isayama hadn't aimed precisely, so the connection between his wrist and hand was only three-quarters severed, with one-quarter still attached to his wrist, a truly horrifying sight.
Kenmyo Isayama looked at Tossak-Rome, who had suddenly lost both hands, and the former Inquisitor, curled up in pain, coldly asked,
"Why did you betray us?"
"You were supposed to have a bright future, but you squandered it."
Although Inquisitors had a lot of work, their treatment and status were far better than other personnel in the Imperium, after all, the authority of the Inquisition came directly from the Corpse Emperor himself.
"Future?"
"Under the Corpse Emperor's rule, have we humans ever had a single good day?"
Tossak-Rome roared furiously at Kenmyo Isayama,
"Endless wars, civilians sitting at home, and a Whirlwind Torpedo could drop on their heads at any moment."
"The Inquisitor's duty is to find hope for humanity's survival, and I found it."
"That is for the Corpse Emperor to die!"
"Only when humanity earns the favor of the Lord of Pleasure will we have a beautiful future."
He doesn't even call him the Corpse Emperor anymore? Kenmei was curious, what kind of brainwashing could lead to this?
To have one's mind completely washed away was impressive; without the Corpse Emperor, humanity had only one outcome: complete annihilation.
Kenmyo Isayama sighed and placed his hand on Tossak-Rome's head.
Demons always use the various negative emotions within humans and all living creatures to strengthen themselves and tempt others to fall.
But to fall from a loyal Inquisitor to this state was absurd.
No one in this Hive World knew Kenmyo Isayama, so using a somewhat crude form of sorcery was acceptable.
However, just as Kenmyo Isayama placed his hand on Tossak-Rome's head to perform a soul-searching type of spell.
Several Bolter rounds whistled from afar, their target clear: Tossak-Rome's head.
It seemed someone didn't want Kenmyo Isayama to access his memories and decided to execute Tossak-Rome.