Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1073, page 9 of 1072: "The Tyrant's Calamity"

Outside the church doors, the crowd erupted in a frenzied, beast-like roar. They were no longer pilgrims, but a surging tide of vengeance, pounding against the heavy oak doors with deafening crashes, while the iron-clad timbers that made up the doors groaned under the weight.

"This……"

This scene made Horatio feel as if he were in the midst of the most frenzied riots in the depths of the hive.

Just then, Horatio felt the light dimming rapidly in a strange way.

The sky wasn't obscured by clouds, but rather seemed to have had its colors absorbed by something.

He slowly raised his head, his pupils suddenly contracting. He was certain he wasn't seeing things—the sun in the sky was turning into a black void emanating an ominous aura, with purple, silent lightning crawling and twisting along its edges, like tentacles from another dimension.

[Comos...]
A blasphemous name flashed through his mind.

Under the eerie glow of the black sun, the crowd in the square grew increasingly agitated.

They stopped simply storming the gate and began to turn around, searching for the Sintira nobles and their private soldiers who had not yet fled far.

A strange scene happened.

Those cowardly Sintira nobles and guards—instead of fleeing in terror, they suddenly stopped running, turned around, and their expressions were no different from those of the frenzied pilgrims. Their bloodshot eyes were filled with madness, and they roared furiously as they launched a counterattack against the crowd.

But their overwhelming numerical disadvantage quickly led to them being overwhelmed and torn apart by the enraged crowd.

Reason was rapidly evaporating, forming two frenzied torrents tearing each other apart.

This utter, illogical chaos immediately reminded Horatio and the others of what they had encountered at the Ministry of Justice checkpoint.

"Protect the captain!"

Seeing the surrounding crowd waving sticks and stones and roaring, Valina didn't hesitate for a moment. She swiftly pulled out her Hellpunk pistol from under her coat and shielded Horatio. The Hellpunk soldiers she brought quickly formed a tight defensive formation, ready to force a way for Horatio with their chests and gun barrels.

"Captain, you must get out of here... God Emperor! Why are they charging towards us!"

A pilgrim with bloodshot eyes and spitting as he charged toward Horatio, brandishing a long staff topped with a freshly severed nobleman's head.

"hiss--!"

Valina's Hellfire Pistol emitted a distinctive, tearing sound as it ripped through the air.

A high-energy laser beam instantly pierced the pilgrim's chest, leaving a charred, smoky hole.

"Arabella, something's happened."

On the way back to the hovercar, sporadic gunshots and screams echoed through the surrounding city. Horatio immediately recounted the visions he had witnessed to Sister Arabella via encrypted communication.

“Bishop Jan Huss, sent by the Cardinal Archbishop of the Sector, pushed the local High Bishop of Polaberia off the church building, killing him instantly.”

"What?" came a bewildered voice from the other end of the communicator. "Are you sure, Captain? What's the motive?"

"I don't know. They originally said they were going to go up and have a theological debate, but they both got very excited, or rather... they got so excited that they started fighting."

Now, the sun in the sky has turned a strange black, and the crowd is in complete turmoil. I suspect these bizarre events are somehow connected to Tyrant Star. Currently, Bishop Jan Hus of the Order of St. Drusus has been arrested, and the rioting crowd is indiscriminately killing people. I am returning.”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator, as they were clearly processing the massive amount of information.

“Be careful, Captain. I understand what you’ve said. But…” Arabella’s tone became somewhat subtle, “Our Holy Rosary Order and the state church—the Order of Saint Drusus—are not part of the same branch. We are under the command of the Superior Sisters…you know, the Superior Sisters and the Pope have never had a very good relationship.”

Prematurely interfering in the internal affairs of the state religion would make us appear...unbecoming.

I will forward the information to the Martyr-Madame Protus Order as soon as possible.

Horatio hung up the call.

As a time traveler, he was well aware that the imperial state religion lacked "spirit" but had plenty of "nerves".

Therefore, he has never wanted to get involved in the messy affairs of the state religion.

However, in the face of such a sudden incident, even if one does not take the initiative to intervene, one should at least communicate with the state religion to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
-
Holy Terra, Writing Room.

The filtered air was filled with the mixed smell of ancient parchment and sealing wax.

"This is the first time I've ever heard of such an unbelievable event," a young clerk muttered as he scribbled furiously on a data board.

"The Milky Way is vast, and there are countless unbelievable events you've never seen before."

The High Lord before him—Horaceau Cochrane—stood up, walked to the large, stained-glass windows, and gazed at the fiery red sunset over the sacred Terra, which was divided by countless spires.

An interior servant in a grey robe entered the writing room carrying a lit candle and carefully hung a new light source on a tray in the corner of the room.

“Then, sir… and then what?” the clerk asked humbly.

"And then..." Horatio gazed out the window at the imperial palace that stretched across the sky, a hint of weariness flashing in his eyes.

"War has broken out."

The temporary office of Horesch at the Władysław Palace.

When Horatio learned that the planetary governor had sold the sector's grain reserves to the Gemini Terra Group at extremely low prices and then resold them to various contracted colonies, he immediately began to prepare to forcibly stockpile a batch of grain in the name of the Imperial Navy for use by the orbital landing forces.

"General Latouch-Trewell, it is I. Horatio Cochrane."

Horatio stood before the array of holographic thinkers. The signal from Sintira, after traveling through the subspace, finally stabilized after a moment's delay and a flurry of flashes.

"Our unit urgently needs the assistance of the Calissis fleet. Our investigation has revealed that the Governor of the Polaberia Colony has sold large quantities of grain to the Universal Group, and the entire Polaberia system is facing the threat of famine. Our newly formed orbital defense force has expanded to 11 new recruits, and these 11 mouths cannot go without food."

In the holographic image, the venerable old general looked serious, tired, and had sunken eyes, indicating that he had not been doing well recently.

"It seems we've encountered the same problem." The static added a touch of hoarseness to the old general's voice.

"What do you mean?"

“Our orbital granaries have been requisitioned by the state religion. Its name is—'Offering to the God-Emperor'.”

"What happened to Cintira?"

Instead of answering directly, the old general sent Horatio a video.

(End of this chapter)