Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 280 Mysterious Man

After the rebellion that broke out in the sector capital was swiftly suppressed by the Imperial army, the rebellions instigated by the Blood Oath Order throughout the sector became less troublesome.

If the riots could overthrow the sector capital and the cultists could completely take over the planet, then the nature of the situation would be entirely different.

This is the capital of the star sector, governing all the imperial worlds within a two-hundred-light-year radius!
Even though the Mariupol sector is a relatively new sector and not as important as some of the older sectors that have existed for over a thousand years, the fact that its capital has been occupied by heretics is still a very serious matter.

To put it bluntly, if such a thing were to happen, the entire ruling class of the Mariupol Sector, from the Sector Governor down, would likely be purged by the Ministry of the Interior, and all families would be exterminated.

But precisely because of its heinous nature, the cultists launched a fierce offensive here, even sacrificing and summoning a Khorne demon.

If Ahriman hadn't dealt with that great demon with near-total domination, it's entirely possible that the sector capital would have been overthrown.

After all, that was a great demon, and the empire didn't have much ability to deal with a great demon in such a short time.

Even Mephisto, one of the strongest psionicists in the 40k era empire, jokingly referred to as a powerful figure in the cultivation world, needed to make prior arrangements to seal a Khorne Demon.

However, once the Great Demon Khorne was sealed away, the heretics' schemes came to naught, and the riot became much easier to deal with.

Ultimately, the real cause of this riot was that Ahriman's Chaos Ritual influenced Khorne's followers, thus triggering everything.

Otherwise, given the Blood Oath Order's modus operandi, they would likely continue to lie low, spreading the Chaos Corruption through faith until it reaches a certain threshold, at which point it would erupt once more, dragging the entire sector down with it.

Instead of what is happening now, where the Chaos Corruption only affects a few planets, causing riots but not directly dragging the entire planet down with it.

The reason for this is that, although the Blood Oath Order is a legitimate order recognized by the state religion and has a deep mass base in the sector, and its missionary network has penetrated into the grassroots communities of various colonies, only a minority of its members are truly corrupted by Chaos.

According to the subsequent investigation and statistics of the court, less than 5% of the members of the entire order who explicitly believed in the Blood God or showed signs of chaotic corruption were "blood sacrifice faction" members.

These heretics are mainly based in the star sector capital and its surrounding star systems, using the capital world's advanced interstellar shipping network and dense population to carry out clandestine activities.

In other imperial worlds, although there are sporadic instances of corruption, the Blood Sacrifice factions in these regions lack unified organization and have difficulty obtaining sufficient weapons and equipment, making them unable to pose an effective threat.

In his postwar report, one of the inquisitors who participated in the suppression noted: "The Blood Oath faction was essentially a marginal faction within the Blood Oath Order, and it was an extraordinary feat for them to be able to instigate such a large-scale rebellion in the sector capital."

These heretics would never have developed to this extent if not for the covert protection provided by certain officials in the Governor's Office of the capital.

The report also emphasized that with the suppression of the rebellion in the capital, the Blood Sacrifice faction forces in other worlds within the sector are now leaderless, and it is only a matter of time before the remaining forces are eliminated.

However, this rebellion also exposed a disturbing fact: even legitimate religious orders recognized by the state church can unknowingly become a breeding ground for chaos.

The Inquisition has ordered a full review of religious organizations throughout the sector; this storm has only just begun.
During the period when the Inquisition was fully engaged in suppressing the sector rebellion, Ahriman remained alone in the Sealed Sanctuary, deep within the State Church's main cathedral, single-mindedly maintaining the suppression of the demonic battle axe. With Ahriman's knowledge and abilities, once he learned the true name of this bloodthirsty madman, sealing him away completely would have been a piece of cake for him.

After all, there are quite a few judges within the court who are capable of performing this level of sealing.

However, Ahriman deliberately did not choose to immediately complete the final permanent sealing ceremony.

He stood in the center of the magic circle, his pale fingers gently stroking the dancing runes on the battle axe, his sharp gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the metal shell and look directly at the demon trapped inside.

The mysterious person who suddenly appeared at the crucial moment and accurately pronounced the demon's true name kept lingering in his mind—this person's grasp of the demon's true name was so precise, and the timing was just right, it could not possibly be a coincidence.

“Tell me,” Ahriman’s voice echoed within the sanctuary, “who exactly is the person who revealed your real name?”

The battle axe trembled violently, emitting a piercing hum, and the roar of a bloodthirsty madman reverberated on the psionic level: "Foolish mortal! You think I care about this temporary imprisonment?"

Dark red blood beads seeped from the axe blade, the chaotic evil power of the Blood God constantly lingering on the battle axe. The bloodthirsty demon roared, "To us, a hundred years is but a fleeting moment. But you... are merely a mere psionicist. Your soul will surely fall into our hands. I await the day your soul returns to the highest heavens!"

As the chaotic evil energy vibrated, the entire church trembled, as if the great demon was about to break free of its seal at any moment.

Ahriman remained unfazed. He knew that this great demon truly didn't care about being sealed for hundreds of years, so he simply increased the intensity of the seal and continued the interrogation.

But what concerned him even more than the demon breaking free of its seal was that the mysterious person not only knew the demon's real name, but also accurately predicted the timing of the rebellion... Such intelligence capabilities were not something that ordinary forces could possess.

More importantly, what is the motive of this mysterious person? What is his purpose in helping me seal this great demon?
If it's for the sake of helping the Empire, even an illegal psychic wouldn't have much trouble getting a legal status in the Empire based on this achievement.

As for the others... Ahriman hesitated for a moment. If they were people whose identities were too shady to be understood, it wouldn't be hard to understand if they ran away.

After all, if it were a fallen angel or a severely mutated mutant, the Inquisition's usual approach would be either to take them in as dogs or to keep it a secret.

But if it were just like that, it would be fine. What I'm afraid of is a different situation.

That means the other party is a member of another cult, and sealing the Great Demon Khorne was only because the killings instigated by the Khorne forces did not align with their interests.

If that's the case, then things get complicated.

Thinking of this, Ahriman dared not slack off, so he redoubled his efforts to interrogate the demon battle axe in his hand, determined to extract some useful information from the sealed demon's mouth.

(End of this chapter)