The biting north wind was frigid, and the cold snow was like blades. The clouds pressing down on the entire planet were as heavy as lead, and the boundless snowdrifts blurred the lines between the land, mountains, and sky.
All of this formed the planet beneath Reyna's feet: Ice Moon Krassus of the Cadia system.
Reyna walked across the snowfield, following silently behind the procession.
Whether it was the mechanical grinding sound from Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, the buzzing of Blood Angels First Captain Calian's power hammer, the footsteps of the Cadia 184th Regiment soldiers, the gentle flapping of Saint Celestine's wings, or even the sound of the towering Knight Mechs striding through the snow—all were absorbed by this sea of snow.
Standing on such a snowfield, Reyna even forgot the existence of the galaxy, almost mistakenly believing that the entire universe was an endless expanse of snowfields and mountains.
But a roaring sound that the wind and snow could not cover shattered this illusion.
Reyna looked up at the sky behind her.
Flames tore through the heavy, almost solid clouds, as a falling ship, shining like a star, streaked across Krassus' windy sky.
That was Archmagos Cawl's Adeptus Mechanicus Ark, Iron Soul.
Adeptus Mechanicus Arks are among the largest vessels in the Imperium of Man, and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's particular one was exceptionally massive.
By virtue of its enormous mass, it even temporarily became a satellite of this cold planet, circling on the horizon.
Inquisitor Greyfax once told Reyna: every Adeptus Mechanicus Ark is a great work of the Omnissiah, a remnant of Golden Age technology, an ancient ship almost mythical.
Simply to awaken the machine spirit of a Adeptus Mechanicus Ark, the Adeptus Mechanicus would not hesitate to sacrifice an entire Forge World.
But now, Iron Soul had fallen in its struggle with Vengeful Spirit.
Reyna could not discern any emotion from the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The remaining half of his face was hidden beneath a crimson hood, while the rest was entirely mechanical, made of steel. Reyna sometimes wondered if this Archmagos was still physiologically human?
But Reyna quickly banished these jumbled thoughts from her mind.
According to the plan, it was time for her to act.
The fall of Iron Soul meant that Marshal Amalrich of the Black Templars' last stand had also ended.
That Marshal of the Black Templars had stubbornly chosen to remain on Iron Soul to cover their retreat.
But now that Iron Soul had fallen, Great Raider Abaddon and his Black Legion would set foot on Krassus, hunting Reyna and her party.
The Knight Mechs of the Taranis family were so massive, and the Triaros transport carrying Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's precious holy relics was also considerable in size.
While the plasma shields on the Knights and the fortress-grade Void Shields Archmagos had installed on the troop carriers allowed them to evade orbital bombardment, they also made them easily exposed.
Reyna's Psyker-enhanced senses picked up the roar of beasts from the horizon, sounding like giant dragons.
Abaddon's lackeys had arrived.
Reyna calmed her mind, drawing upon her Psyker powers.
She felt the surging tides in the Empyrean.
Since the fall of Cadia, the tides in the Warp had swelled to a terrifying degree, almost pressing against the veil of reality.
Now, Reyna only needed to move her mind slightly to draw upon the power of the Warp, much easier than before.
However, whenever she drew upon these powers, Reyna always heard dark whispers from the Warp.
Those words spoke many inexplicable terms, seemingly containing Weird's dark knowledge, enticing Reyna to accept this knowledge.
If Reyna accepted, her Psyker power could advance further, solving all the current dilemmas.
Reyna vaguely heard such temptations coming from the constantly rising and falling tides in the Warp.
But Reyna felt quite helpless.
She didn't understand!
Those obscure and difficult-to-understand Psyker theories, she couldn't comprehend a single word, and could only rely on pure instinct to manipulate Psyker power.
Reyna gently raised her hand, and the towering, overlapping mountains before her let out mournful wails.
The snow accumulated for tens of thousands of years on dozens of mountains transformed into howling beasts, roaring down from the peaks, forming an avalanche that submerged everything before Reyna.
In an instant, from the horizon to Reyna's front, everything visible was engulfed by a vast tide of snow, as if a sea of clouds had fallen from the sky.
Reyna knew no profound Psyker spells.
She could only crudely use her Psyker power to trigger such a massive avalanche, burying all traces left by the team before.
Inquisitor Greyfax had examined Reyna's Psyker talent.
She rated Reyna's pure Psyker power as having reached the level of a 16th-grade Alpha in the Inquisition's standards, even on the higher end of 16th-grade Alpha.
But regarding her skill in using Psyker power...
Greyfax rated it as a level where, in a Schola Progenium, she would be executed by a Drill Abbot with an alloy warhammer to the head on the very first day of class for poor performance.
Reyna actually had little understanding of her current Psyker power.
Her previous knowledge of Psyker classifications was limited to fragmented terms like Alpha-grade and Alpha-plus-grade she had heard from Alexander.
It wasn't until Inquisitor Greyfax briefly explained the Inquisition's internal Psyker classification to Reyna.
Within the Inquisition, psykers are roughly divided into forty-eight grades.
From -7th grade Omega to -1st grade Sigma, these seven grades are for untouchables, representing the level of anti-Psyker power.
0th grade Rho represents ordinary people with no Psyker talent.
1st grade Pi to 16th grade Alpha represent the levels of psychics under normal circumstances.
17th grade Alpha+ to 22nd grade Zeta+ represent the upper limit of psychics that the material universe can tolerate; this group and those above it are collectively referred to as Alpha+ grade.
23rd grade Eta+ to Omega+ represent the upper limit of Psyker powers that are not purely material existences.
Reyna was approximately at 16th grade Alpha, which is considered the extreme among regular mortal psychics, appearing in only about one in a billion people.
In most cases, it's a level that would lead to an Inquisitor executing them with a single shot.
At higher levels, 17th grade Alpha+ psychics are mostly complete lunatics; a few Inquisitors within the Inquisition are at this level.
And further up, 18th grade Beta+ is already the theoretical limit that the human brain can withstand; no matter how strong the will, sanity will gradually be lost.
19th grade Gamma+ is the highest level of all registered human psychics in Inquisition records.
Further up, 20th grade Delta+ and 21st grade Epsilon+ are almost purely theoretical; mortals can barely achieve them.
22nd grade Zeta+ is the limit of material structure; beyond this, the realm no longer belongs to the material world.
Inquisitor Greyfax told Reyna that the Emperor was speculated within the Inquisition to be an Omega+ grade Psyker, or perhaps even greater.
Tzeentch's chosen Ahriman was also considered by the Inquisition to be a figure above 23rd grade Eta+.
Inquisitor Greyfax, as an expert in dealing with psychics and a senior Psyker herself, emphatically warned Reyna not to continue pursuing Psyker power.
Reyna, currently stuck at a high 16th grade Alpha, was already in extreme danger.
At the Alpha+ level, the probability of losing control and falling into madness would increase exponentially.
Reyna was on the verge of tears about this.
She didn't want this Psyker power to grow either.
On Cadia, a Slaanesh daemon's longsword had grazed Reyna's cheek, damaging the Holy Word Records tattoo on her face.
Afterward, Reyna inexplicably fell into hallucinations and a high fever, and it happened that the Great Rift opened at this time, causing Reyna's Psyker power to inexplicably soar.
She almost instinctively released powerful Psyker energy, forcefully tearing apart the material body of that Slaanesh daemon.
Reyna gave a bitter smile; although dangerous, this Psyker power was indispensable now.
Even at the risk of her Psyker power growing further, Reyna had to use it.
She gently exhaled, and the Psyker power within her surged again, stirring the heavy clouds.
In an instant, a blizzard raged, and dense snowflakes engulfed the entire world.
This should temporarily allow them to evade Abaddon's pursuit.
But Reyna couldn't maintain it for too long; mobilizing a blizzard over an entire region placed a significant burden on her mind, and sustaining it for an extended period, Reyna might not be able to completely avoid the influence of the Warp.
If Alexander were here, he would probably pull out some useful, strange technological creation, freeing Reyna from the pressure of the Warp.
This thought inexplicably arose in Reyna's mind, and she wondered how her old friend was doing now.
"Your resistance to Warp corruption is truly exceptional." Inquisitor Greyfax watched Reyna through her Psyker goggles.
Her gaze was scrutinizing and cautious, as if she were monitoring Reyna, ensuring she wouldn't descend into madness.
But after the scrutiny, there was also a hint of concern deep within the Inquisitor's eyes.
Her experiences on Cadia had convinced the Inquisitor of Reyna's loyalty, and she now considered Reyna her ally.
Reyna couldn't help but give a wry smile.
This Inquisitor, who had once been a collection piece for Trazyn the Infinite, was actually quite a good person.
She wasn't excessively fanatical or extreme, possessing just the right amount of caution, loyal yet capable of making flexible judgments to a certain extent based on the situation.
It was just that...
Saint Celestine slightly spread her wings, and a pale golden light spilled into the sea of snow, guiding the members of the Expedition.
"Bah! Witchcraft!" Greyfax cursed as she looked at Saint Celestine.
She always thought Saint Celestine was some kind of witch corrupted by the Warp.
Fist-sized snowflakes pounded against the black Power Armor.
Glosst watched the blizzard before him with anger.
It should have been him leading the Raptor units to descend from the sky, taking the head of Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and offering it to Warmaster Abaddon.
However, this inexplicable blizzard suddenly disrupted Glosst's plan; the Raptor units' jump packs couldn't be activated under these conditions.
"Damn it, could it be that there's a Psyker on the other side powerful enough to change the weather?"
Glosst noticed the strangeness of this blizzard.
However, despite the blizzard's obstruction, Glosst knew that Warmaster Abaddon's Terminator Sorcerer unit had also launched its operation.
If Glosst could lead his troops around this blizzard, he would have a chance to sandwich Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's Expedition.
Glosst paced back and forth, thinking, when suddenly, a red-pink wooden door appeared before his eyes.
"It's so cold, as cold as Fulgrim's heart after beheading Ferrus, utterly chilling."
The wooden door slowly opened, and a sigh of emotion came from within.