"Remember, coat it with Hallowed Mercury. Do not disappoint me again."
Blood rushed to Galabad's head as he immediately coated his weapon with the mercury.
The Lord Inquisitor had seen through everything long ago. He had not acted because this was a trial. It was to give them, the shameful latecomers, a chance to redeem themselves.
"In the name of Titan!"
Valjes had just broken free from the hallucination of the Emperor's massive shadow. It had only begun to feel regret for this possession when the halberd was already before its eyes.
Instinctively, it tried to dodge.
Cyril spent another 20 deception points to exchange for [Intimidating Roar (Emperor's Wrath Audio Edition)].
"Valjes, look at me, you mongrel!"
A roar from the Corpse Emperor, not loud but exploding directly inside its brain, echoed out.
Valjes's movements hitched for 0.1 seconds out of fear of the Emperor, fear of the threat of annihilation.
For a Grey Knight, 0.1 seconds was a death sentence.
Puchi.
Galabad became a streak of silver lightning. His halberd, burning with psychic flames, accurately pierced the left eye.
Boom!
The Hallowed Mercury exploded inside the daemon's cranial cavity like boiling lava.
"Ah! Finally free, you tiny insect! I have remembered your scent!"
Valjes let out a blissful wail toward Cyril. Its possessed body rapidly rotted and burned as if drenched in strong acid, turning into foul-smelling black smoke that accelerated its retreat back into the Warp.
The battle ended. Total time: nine seconds.
Only the low idling roar of power armor engines remained in the hall.
Cyril stood in place, maintaining the pose of holding up the rosette until he confirmed the demonic aura had completely dissipated. Only then did he slowly lower his hand.
He pulled a handkerchief from his robe, actually a tablecloth he had snatched earlier, and unhurriedly wiped his fingers, which were not even stained with blood.
"Handled... passably," he commented indifferently.
Galabad withdrew his halberd, shook off the black blood, and turned to kneel heavily once more.
"Thank you for your guidance, Excellency."
"The situation is now under control. May I ask..." Galabad's gaze swept over the surviving nobles shivering like quails in the corner and the Governor's headless corpse on the ground. "According to Article 7 of the Grey Knights Secrecy Protocol, all witnesses are to be granted merciful elimination."
Galabad's hand moved toward the bolter at his waist.
Cyril's scalp tingled. These lunatics wanted to silence everyone.
Once they were silenced, he, as a fake, would have no excuse and would be taken back to Terra for investigation. That was a certain death sentence.
He had to muddy the waters.
"Wait."
Galabad paused. "Excellency? These mortals have been touched by the power of corruption..."
"Corruption?" Cyril chuckled, his laughter tinged with mockery.
He walked over to the nobles, looking at these fools who were usually high and mighty but were now crying and losing control of their bladders.
"Justicar Galabad, according to the secrecy protocol of Chapter 666, they do indeed deserve a bolter round.
"But dead men have no value, especially those already touched by corruption.
"According to my investigation, this planet has been infiltrated by Chaos until it is like a sieve. I need eyes, I need ears, and I need a pack of dogs who, after being scared out of their wits, are willing to sell out their own fathers just to stay alive."
Cyril stood up and spread his arms. His shadow stretched infinitely long under the lights, like the wings of a daemon.
"Keep them. They have already witnessed the great miracle of the God-Emperor. I want them to become shepherds of fear. Let them spend the rest of their lives trembling as they recount the fate of heretics at every banquet and every transaction in this Hive City. Compared to death, letting them live a life worse than death, in eternal terror of the Emperor, is far more valuable utility.
"This is more beneficial to the Emperor's cause than a merciful bolter execution, is it not?"
Galabad looked at the "Inquisitor" before him, who seemed even more sinister than a daemon, and finally put away his gun.
His life was saved. Cyril was just about to breathe a long sigh of relief in his heart.
"Then, Excellency, is your Black Ship nearby?"
Cyril froze. Black Ship? I'm still worrying about where my ticket is...
Seeing that the Lord Inquisitor was reluctant to speak, Galabad hurriedly explained, "I mean, if the Lord Inquisitor has need, we can go to the nearest Astropathic Choir on your behalf to contact the Inquisition headquarters and report the situation here."
Contact headquarters? Wouldn't he be exposed the moment they checked?
Cyril twitched slightly again.
He absolutely could not report to any official institution. He had to continue the bluff.
"No, not yet."
Cyril suddenly turned his head. His gaze was no longer sharp but became like a crude spiked mace, smashing directly through the psychological defenses of the surviving nobles.
The chattering of teeth from those high-ranking figures who had experienced Valjes's cruel psychological torment, and the dull thuds of knees hitting the marble floor, echoed in the hall.
It was the rhythm of fear.
"Someone has betrayed the God-Emperor.
"And until I find that traitor, any official communication or unusual movement could become a death knell.
"My mission... has only just begun.
"The rot of this Hive City goes far deeper than a single Daemon of Slaanesh. I will stay here and dig out all the roots."
Cyril paced back to Galabad and gestured to cut the amplification array, lowering his voice to a frequency only the surgically enhanced cochleae of an Astartes could capture.
"That is why I chose to act in secret. Of course, Justicar Galabad, your heroic deed today, single-handedly and decisively slaying and banishing a Keeper of Secrets of the Sixth Circle of Slaanesh, sparing Antioch Hive City from a bloodbath and preventing an Imperial planet from falling into the hands of Chaos daemons, is a magnificent record that I will report upward once matters here are concluded."
"You understand, don't you?"
The lenses of Galabad's helmet glowed red.
!!! So that was it. No wonder this Lord had infiltrated alone, even disguising himself as a lowly servant.
If they contacted the Titan homeworld now or made a grand display of mobilizing the Astra Militarum, that hidden high-level traitor would surely destroy the evidence and retreat into the shadows again. Then he would be difficult to catch.
If he ruined the Inquisitor's plans, his reported battle record might turn into Galabad's squad delaying the battle and being negligent in their duties.
For the Emperor, for today's heroic deeds, and for his future reputation as an exemplar, he should naturally keep his mouth shut and strictly follow the Inquisitor's orders.
"Understood!" Galabad responded in a deep voice, the servo-motors of his power armor letting out a low hum in response to his determination.
"Ninth Brotherhood Galabad Squad will strictly execute the silence protocol. Aside from the battle logs, not a single byte of today's events will leak out."
The Lord Grand Inquisitor had not only disrupted the descent plan of a Slaanesh Daemonette but also intended to work overtime to uproot the corrupt forces of Antioch Hive. Galabad lowered his head deeply in respect.
He had successfully bluffed him. Cyril was just about to finish that breath he had been holding.
But immediately after, a voice from within the hall sent him back into an ice cellar.
"Aren't you that lowly mortician who applies makeup to the dead? Cyril?!"