In the deepest abyss of despair, when all seemed lost, her psychic powers had emerged. The Emperor had not answered her prayers directly, but something greater than ce had granted her the strength to survive. Her awakening had driven the Daemons to flee, and though the God-Emperor had not spoken, Elizabeth saw it as a sign. He was still watg. He was still proteg her, even in her weakest, most unworthy state. The Emperor had preserved her life for a reason. ‘If He has granted me this existehen who am I to throw it away?’

  Her survival was not hers to take. If she were to die, it would be otlefield, not by her own hand. She resolved to use the cursed strength she had been given to destroy Chaos wherever it lingered. And besides, Lysandria was not truly gone. Elizabeth owed her one more bolt round. She could not rest until that debt aid. To avoid drawing the Imperium’s attention, Elizabeth left the Emperor’s service, being a rogue wanderer on the wastend. Wherever she found Chaos, she struck mercilessly, tearing apart the taint with her psychic wrath.

  Her crusade tinued until oeful enter. The woman who found her was unlike any enemy Elizabeth had faced. Her features were blurred in Elizabeth’s memory, but her presence was unfettable. She exuded power that defied prehension, moving through Elizabeth’s psychic lightning as though it were no more than a gentle breeze. The lightning arced around her harmlessly, dissipating into nothingness.

  Elizabeth barely had time to react before the woman closed the distance, seizing her by the throat with an iron grip. Elizabeth gasped, choking as her vision blurred. She closed her eyes, certaih had e at st. “Elizabeth,” a voice spoke, low and steady.

  Her eyes snapped open. It wasn’t the eaking—it was a man. The voice was too familiar, too real. As her vision cleared, she saw the ed face of Captain Kayvaan. “Elizabeth, are you all right? Wake up!”

  Reality reasserted itself. She wasn’t on scorched wastend ripped by an all-powerful being. She was back with the team, lying on the cold floor of the hive city. “I… I just had a nightmare,” she said hoarsely, trying to pose herself. “A little headache. It’s nothing. Thank you for your .”

  Kayvaan's frown deepened. “The rest period is over,” he said after a moment, his voice cautious. “You still have five mio prepare. We move out soon.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Uood. Please, give me a moment to get ready.” Kayvaaated before leaving, still evident on his face.

  Five mier, the raid team assembled a off. In the heart of the ruined city, the tral square was dominated by a massive red tent. Its garish colors and grotesque design stood in stark trast to the desotion surrounding it. Huge, ghost-faced balloons floated ominously above the tent, their grinning visages twisted into macabre mockeries of joy. Below, a broken carousel y discarded by the entras once-beautiful wooden horses savagely dismembered.

  Outside the tent, pink cartoonish rabbits wandered aimlessly. At first ghey resembled harmless mascots one might see at a festival, their bright colors and oversized features a parody of innoce. But a closer look revealed the truth. Their ears, like enormous scissleamed wickedly in the dim light. Their eyes glowed a menag red, sing hungrily for prey, while their toothy grins dispyed rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. The square was littered with the corpses of these monstrous rabbits, each cleaved ly in half. The blood that once pooled around them had long since gealed, leaving dark, crusted stains on the ground.

  Looming over the square, several massive loudspeakers bsted harsh, distorted heavy metal music. The cacophony unctuated by the sound of a broken gong, its desperate g merging with the growling basslio create a soundscape of madness. From the vantage point of an abandoned building overlooking the square, Captain Kayvaan observed the spectacle through a cracked window. “So this is why the city’s tral district is abandoned,” Kayvaan remarked, his voice tinged with grim humor. “Nobody wants to live o neighbors this noisy. They’ve even made it look like a circus. It’s almost ving—if you ighe corpses.”

  Elizabeth stood nearby, her power armleaming faintly in the dim light. She shook her head, her expression dark. “It’s like something out of a twisted fairy tale. No child would find this amusing—it’s the stuff of nightmares.” Kayvaan nodded. “Agreed. Let’s end it. What’s your pn?”

  “I say we charge in,” Elizabeth replied. “Hit them with overwhelming firepower. No subtlety, just a direct assault. Destroy everything that moves and leave no survivors.”

  Kayvaan frowned. “Too reckless. We don’t know what’s ihat tent. Charging in blindly is a sure way to die. Let me infiltrate first.” He poioward the massive red structure. “I’ll scout the area, figure out their numbers, and locate their leaders. Once I’ve got intel, we coordinate an assault. If everything lines up, I’ll hit them from the inside, and you charge in to up the rest.”

  Elizabeth’s voice rose slightly, her tone sharp. “You want to infiltrate alone? Do you even uand what you’re up against? These aren’t just mutants or heretics—they’re Daemons. They wield ons beyond our uanding and abilities that assault your very soul. You ’t face them alone.”

  “I’ve dealt with them before,” Kayvaan said calmly. “I know the risks. Look at those rabbits wandering the square—they’re clearly sentinels. Their hearing must be excellent, even if their ears look like scissors. With all of you in power armor, the noise would alert them immediately. You’d never make it to the tent without being noticed. I’m the only one here who move quietly enough for this job.”

  Elizabeth’s scowl deepened. “You’re taking an unnecessary risk. This isn’t a battle you win with stealth alone. Are you sure about this?”

  Kayvaaured toward the tent. “Listen to that music. It’s deafening. Judging by the hey’re holding some kind of gathering in there—a cert, maybe. That works to our advantage. With so many of them focused oage, slipping past unnoticed should be easier. Besides,” he added, patting his gear-den waist, “I’ve brought plenty of surprises for them. Let me do my job.”

  Elizabeth remained unvinced. “We could storm the pce together. A sudden assault with all our firepower would overwhelm their defenses. Rushing in might not be as reckless as you think.”

  Kayvaan's tourned serious. “Your pn is the real gamble. A head-on assault without knowing what we’re fag? That’s inviting disaster. Your Excellency Elizabeth, I am the ander here. Let me do this.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Elizabeth sighed and nodded. “Fine. You’re the ander. But don’t let your fidence blind you to the dahese are not ordinary foes.”

  “I won’t,” Kayvaan assured her. “You know the code if anything goes wrong.”

  Elizabeth and the Sisters took cover, preparing to unch their assault if the situation dema. Meanwhile, Kayvaan activated his optical cloak, his form shimmering briefly before vanishiirely.

  Time passed slowly, marked only by the growing tension in Elizabeth’s heart and the absence of any sign from Kayvaan. The Sisters stood at their positions, ons trained on the grotesque sentinel rabbits patrolling the square. Every subtle movement of the pink monstrosities was watched, every potential omen of aggression analyzed. The bolters were primed to fire, ready to turn the creatures into spttered remains at the first sign of danger. But nothing ged.