While I was being told this story, I scanned the space marine's thoughts. He couldn't get into my mind, which wasn't so strange. People with innate mental protection met quite often. But at the same time, Erebus didn't throw away the option that I was also connected to daemons. So, he decided to take a closer look at me and use my abilities to conduct an investigation.

Further plans for the Astartes were quite simple - to walk the streets of the city and search for members of the cult using the method of scientific poke. I generally agreed with this suggestion, but before doing so, I demanded to go to my home so that I could change into more suitable clothing that gave at least some protection.

I knew that Theodore had a full set of protective parkour gear at home. There was a suit, flaps on the shins and forearms, protection for the knees and elbows, and of course the helmet. Of course, I did not need protection but the appearance of this set corresponded to the image of some superhero, so I could not deny myself a small dose of pathos

And then we wander around the city in a stolen car and looked out for people desecrated by Warp. With my ability to detect them, it was easy enough. After that, Erebus grabbed them, read their memory and... demonstratively executed in some brutal way. After that, we left the disfigured body lying on the street and went to look for the next victim. Sometimes the Astartes extracted something useful from the cultists' memory, so we went to another safe house or drug den.

In such mode, we scanned the city until lunch the next dayю I don't know how the space marine could handle it, but if I were a simple person, I would have fallen out of fatigue by the hour of three at night. Finally, I got tired of wasting time and I gave to my 'boss' an innovative proposal.

"Erebus, we won't find anything this way. As proverb says, fish rots from the head. I am sure that the top of the cultists sits in the town hall or in the city's board of trustees. Let's just go over there and check on all the staff.”

"I would check the town hall first.” - The space marine replied. - "What's the Board of Trustees?"

“Well... officially, it's a kind of charitable society where the wealthiest people in the city donate money. And in fact, it is rather a legalized roof for systematic extortion of money from large and medium-sized businesses.”

My donor's memory contained some interesting information about the inner workings of local politics. His father worked in the town hall and had to know all the important people who made the key decisions about the fate of the city.

"From what you say, we're talking about the most powerful people on this planet. Even I can't just go to them and start questioning them. We will need power and legal support. So, come on, drive in the direction of the central police department. For one thing, we will find out where the office of this Board of Trustees is located and who is included in it. But first, you'll check the cops.”

Ten minutes later, our car came in front of the tall, pompous building that housed the local justice system. There was not only the police department, but also the supreme court, the bailiff's office, and so on.

As we entered the building, we encountered a beast that even a space marine was powerless to handle. The name of this monster is ‘bureaucracy’. Despite all his powers, Erebus spent almost half an hour to get a face-to-face meeting with the police chief. Earlier, he tore off the heads of ordinary citizens without trial. Equality.

After discussing the details of the high-level operation, Astartes led me around the offices to scan the police. Of course, I checked them all, but I did not hope for the effectiveness of such a raid. According to the workers' memoirs, as soon as there was a rumor that the investigator of the space marine arrived here, about a tenth of the employees immediately left 'on important business' or without any reason at all. Circus on the road, in general, not an investigation.

After we checked the individual offices of the employees, our procession went into the common hall, where the citizens may ask police services. There I felt a pretty strong daemonic aura. It came not from a police officer, but from one of the visitors. Apparently, he was not aware of the ongoing 'operation' because all those who could tell him about it, had already run away, saving their asses.

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I immediately reported the discovery to Erebus, who immediately informed the police chief. As it turned out, this daemon-worshipper was a representative of the Board of Trustees, engaged in the registration of various documents. A plan was immediately drawn up to bring him to clean water. The suspected visitor was invited to a private office, since it was standard practice to work with important clients, and a couple of minutes later our brave space marine came there.

I watched what was happening in the office on the security monitor screen. Next to me stood high-commands and watched how the legal procedures are observed. But the events started to develop quite differently from what was planned.

As soon as the Astartes mentioned that he suspected the man of having links with daemons, the man immediately summoned those very daemons. But they were not pathetic daemons, but quite powerful creatures. While the trio of daemons held back the space marine, the visitor leaped into the portal, disappearing into the Warp. Naturally, the local law enforcement forces immediately rushed into battle against the daemons, but daemons crumbled a couple of particularly zealous fighters into a salad, and then disappeared into the portal. Erebus was not injured in the battle, although his suit had several deep scratches.

Of course, after the presentation of such evidence, no one asked questions about our authority. Immediately the assault squad was assembled to begin the assault on the office of the Board of Trustees. As Erebus's subordinate, I also had to take part in the assault. Under this pretext, I demanded to give me a weapon, and then there were the next bureaucratic delays.

On the one hand, the weapons for me was obvious, but on the other, they couldn’t give me a gun, because I did not have a license to carry them. The compromise was to give me a power sword. It turns out that Theodore once went to the course of possession of cold weapons for six months. I did not inflate the conflict and was satisfied with this piece of iron. If necessary, I will be able to chop the daemons into pieces, without much getting out of the image.

After that, we got into our cars and with sirens and flashing lights raced towards the Central office of the Board of Trustees, which was located on the outskirts of the city in the 'luxury' quarter. When we were almost there, I noticed the building we were passing by. It was literally drowning in the energies of the Warp.

"Wait! It's here!” - I shouted. We were walking at the head of the column, and the driver immediately slowed down. - "This building is filled with Warp energy.” - I pointed.

Erebus didn't hesitate and immediately trusted me.

“Target changed. We're taking over this building. Urgently cordon off the perimeter. Me and the main capture group are going inside.” - He said.

Our convoy immediately changed direction and headed for the right building. Our armored car literally knocked out the gate that closed access to the fenced area around the building. Quickly disembarking from the transport, our team broke into the main entrance. From home were immediately opened fire to us and the police squad 'stuck', hiding from the barrage of fire.

The space marine did not slow down, but rushed forward, running out into the great circular hall. I slipped after him, pulling out a sword and shoulder-length knives on the move. A man in a business suit, armed with a sword in his right hand and a bulky pistol in his left, rushed toward the Astartes. There was an instant battle between them, so that the space marine could not distract himself even for a moment.

At this time, the second cultist, whom I recognized as a visitor to the police department, was finishing the ritual of sacrifice. In the center of the hall, ten crosses were placed in a circle, on which the unconscious victims were hung. The cultist ran between them in a certain pattern and cut off their heads with a sword. While I was trying to understand the ritual, another cultist jumped out at me. However, he did not have time to do anything, because I immediately cut off his head.

In the assailant's hand was a curly dagger decorated with precious stones. As soon as I looked at it, a plan formed in my mind. The action before me was a sacrifice ritual. Its scheme was more or less clear to me, thanks to my knowledge of ritual magic. And now I had the key to the entire ritual, the ritual dagger that was supposed to kill the victims. Of course, if necessary, I could do without it. But, roughly speaking, the murder with this dagger was a higher priority than the murder with an ordinary sword

I waited until the cultist had killed the second-to-last victim, then with a well-aimed throw I thrown the dagger straight into the heart of the last victim. At the same time, the dagger itself continued to be in contact with my astral body, which automatically made me a key figure in the ritual. The cultist stared blankly at the dagger in the last victim, then looked at me, his face contorted with anger. But he didn't have time to do anything else.

In the center of the room, a portal to the Warp opened, and a daemon more than three meters high leaped out. He looked like the 'mini-boss' I'd killed, but he was much stronger and more imposing.

"Why did you call me, mortal?" - The daemon said to me, ignoring the cultist standing next to him.