Amon approached the fallen loyalist and removed his helmet, hanging it on the power unit's pipe.
"What luck. I must admit, you nearly thwarted my plans," the sorcerer grinned, licking his lips with his forked tongue. "To have wandered into the very lair of the Unborn and meet me here! Alone, you might have dealt with both the magic and the demons, but together we turned out stronger. An excellent combination of coincidences! So, the victory was preordained by the Master of Paths, as our primarch once said," his voice dripped with contempt, "Coincidences are not accidental."
"You're celebrating too soon, heretic," Richard rasped. He had regained consciousness and was still struggling to break free. "My brothers will soon sever your filthy head from your shoulders!"
The sorcerer laughed. He began moving his hands in front of him, making blasphemous gestures. Where his palms cut through the air, bright lines slowly began to form.
"Your confidence is unfounded. You see, I'm about to summon a very powerful demon. It will help me escape the ship. By the time your brothers come to help, I'll already be gone. Honestly, you've been quite helpful. Tnekh'kar..."
The Space Marine twitched at the unholy name of the demon. He wanted to cover his ears, but the creatures held his arms and legs tightly.
"...isn't too picky," the traitor continued. "When it comes to invitations, but the right combination of events makes it, let's say... more reliable. I'll share a little secret with you: mastery of summoning is based on metaphysics and associations.
Tnekh'kar embodies the hunger of grave worms, death, of course, and the thirst for life. It all fits together, see?"
Richard growled in helpless rage as he saw the lines of sorcery closing into a circle, framed by burning symbols. Whatever the heretic was doing, it was working.
The sorcerer paid no attention to the Space Marine's fury.
"You took part in the fight among flesh. Intestines. Worms. Digestion. Hunger," the traitor enumerated. "You killed many and fell yourselves. Death. You strive to break free, to conquer, to survive. What a wonderful range of emotions! Tnekh'kar loves this. Just like music without a single false note. You don't suspect, but our conversation is aiding this too..."
The sorcerer spread his arms forcefully. A patch of space at the center of the circle cracked, shining with all the warp's colors. The symbols spun and merged into a spot. The traitor nodded in satisfaction at his thoughts.
Richard tensed. He had managed to lift himself slightly, but immediately two fat demons sat on his chest, pressing him back to the ground.
"Yes... association... Are you familiar with this word? You don't have to answer, I know you're not. It's a term from liber philology—a science that was born on ancient Terra. It studied human behavior, the connection between consciousness and emotions. Our common ancestors didn't even suspect that the mind could give birth to real monsters. And not just create them, but control them.
We, servants of the Fate-Changer, developed psychology into full-blown demonology. We learned how to interact with the Unborn and use them for our purposes. Of course, on this path, we had to make many sacrifices, but believe me, it was worth it!"
The sorcerer fell silent, his gaze fixed on the magical circle. The hole in the warp grew, expanding before his eyes. At that moment, the pile of monster corpses stirred.
'Ulrich is alive!' hope strengthened the will of the Crusader.
He decided to play by his enemy's rules.
"I don't care for your science, traitor!" Richard shouted. "Knowledge is poison if it does not lead to the Emperor!"
His words hit the mark. The heretic tore his gaze away from the summoning results, gasping from the insult.
"The Emperor!" The traitor's face reddened from the rush of blood. "A rotting corpse on a throne! The Emperor doesn't need knowledge. He trapped humanity with force, hiding knowledge of the nature of the warp! Sorcerer, wizard, mage, he forbade us from exploring the essence of the universe's reflection!"
"Then it had to be that way," Richard taunted him. "The Emperor's wisdom is boundless. Knowledge is poison!"
The demon's body, atop the pile of corpses, shifted and gently thudded to the ground. The sorcerer didn't notice, as he entered into a heated debate.
"The Emperor doesn't need thinkers, only fanatics. A thinking man asks questions, doubts everything. For the Emperor, such people are the greatest threat.
At Nicaea, he forbade us magic, trampling culture and centuries of experiments into the dirt. The rotting corpse didn't even make an exception for his own son, and when that son tried to save his father—to warn of the threat—he flew into a rage. What's this, someone else touched the warp! Soon enough, he would find the source of power and overthrow the Emperor's ignorant despotism!"
Another body rolled down, revealing Ulrich's helmet.
'Come on, don't stop,' thought Richard.
"And he did the right thing!" the Space Marine shouted, keeping the heretic's attention on himself, buying him more time.
"He set his chain dogs on us, and they destroyed everything we had painstakingly built," the sorcerer clenched his fists. "In one day, they turned everything to ash and dust! Prospero, Tizcu, mine..."
The heretic faltered and grimly finished,
"Enough words. You wouldn't understand me, you freak with urine for blood. I'll enjoy watching Tnekh'kar devour your soul. Veni en-sure-it-ment staminivernis, ab Amon populorum!"
The magic circle spun along all three axes, forming a dense sphere. The portal expanded, occupying the full space of the magical figure. Thin tendrils with tiny mouths emerged from the hole, grabbed the edges, and pulled.
A crack sounded. Space literally tore under the pressure of the unholy force hiding on the other side.
"Atceptimus victimus," the heretic intoned sweetly. "So izebir ae-victus!"
The bolter's barrel shoved the demon's corpse. The monster hit the floor, screeching with sharp claws. The Unborn screamed and rushed toward the not-quite-dead Space Marine.
"For the Emperor," Ulrich exhaled over Vox.
A shot boomed. The bolt struck the sorcerer's body, showering the traitor's face with fragments.
The unexpected blow knocked the sorcerer to the ground, losing control of the portal. The deformed sphere swelled and crackled with lightning. The demon's tendrils shuddered and retracted.
Richard saw the walls become transparent and shimmer, merging with the immaterium. The monsters holding him screamed in agony. Within a fraction of a second, they evaporated. Dispersed like an illusion.
Energy surges coursed through the ship, pulling the vessel into the warp. A wave of unreality swept over Richard, burning his nerve endings from head to toe.
'I've fulfilled my duty,' the Space Marine managed to think, just a moment before the world exploded in a blinding flash.