Judging from the direction, the core area of the explosion should be Siluria' lower hive, which was also the direction 'World-Eater Haarken' first arrived from!
The enormous tremor and the shockwave from the explosion quickly swept over!
Looking at the sky that seemed to be ignited, Emrys' previously pleasant mood instantly plummeted. He stared intently in that direction, as if plunging into an icy river, a chill creeping up his spine until it burst from the top of his head!
"It's... a psyker!"
He finally understood why, ever since 'Haarken' arrived, besides dispatching a few Hell Drake and Chaos Raptor units to harass various important facilities in the hive, he had made no major moves.
It turned out... this was the moment Haarken had been waiting for!
He used the broadcast sound array system to constantly play vile, blasphemous, and corrupt twisted sounds in the Siluria hive, not to dismantle the Astra Militarum's fighting will!
Harken's true target was those 'potential' psykers!
Under the influence of the Great Rift, the civilians on Vigilus were already unusually irritable, let alone those psykers who already had a deep connection with the Warp?
Although the Adeptus Arbites had immediately brought many psykers with exposed symptoms under control, there were still a very few psykers who were in an 'unawakened' state, making them impossible to detect, let alone control!
One must know that the Siluria hive had a population of over ten billion. Aside from Tech-Priests, Astra Militarum, Adeptus Arbites, and other personnel, there were still two-thirds of the civilians who had been violently driven to the middle and lower hive areas!
Those places lacked complete protection and effective means; they were virtually left to fend for themselves. In Drayne' eyes, apart from Blackstone artifacts and the Mechanicus' valuable assets, the lives of those civilians were not even worth a servo-skull.
This was a series of chain reactions!
Because of harassment from Orks and genestealers, important energy shield devices were destroyed, leading Drayne to order a contraction of the front lines. And because of the shrinking defensive line, a large number of civilians couldn't be transferred in time and were abandoned in the middle and lower hives.
Now, those unawakened 'psykers,' under Harken's relentless corruption and inducement to depravity, finally couldn't bear it any longer, were forcibly guided to awaken, and ultimately... lost control!
Just like the explosion just now, it was clearly a phenomenon where a psyker, upon awakening, lost control and went berserk because he couldn't control that power!
If they could have acted earlier, or if Drayne had changed his mind, perhaps this scene wouldn't have occurred, but... there are no 'ifs.'
What made Emrys even stranger at the moment was that psykers, by all accounts, should be extremely rare, and generally only awaken to very low levels.
But... looking at that colossal mushroom cloud, even from a great distance, Emrys could still feel the terrifying 'psychic power' contained within it!
It was completely on a different order of magnitude!
"I... I shouldn't be that unlucky, right?" Emrys swallowed hard. A 'level' so rare that it's hard to find among billions of humans, it shouldn't just coincidentally be something he ran into!
Just then, Drayne also rushed out of the Forge Temple, his face grim as he stared at the mushroom cloud that almost blotted out the sky, a clear look of horror flashing across his face.
"You said, is there any possibility"
Emrys' expression was stiff, his gaze never leaving the colossal mushroom cloud, as if... he was afraid.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Drayne suddenly roared, forcefully interrupting Emrys' next words. His seemingly calm, but actually trembling, hand betrayed him.
Emrys fell silent.
He also wanted to convince himself, but judging from the scale of the 'explosion,' it was difficult to rationally refute; that was at least a... 'Delta-level' psyker!
This meant that once that psyker completely lost control, or was possessed by a Daemon, it would be a fatal blow to the Imperium, and even to Hades-8!
"Pray" Drayne gazed in that direction, trying his best to hide his fear, but his usually calm voice trembled uncontrollably: "If that's a 'Beta-level' or 'Alpha-level' psyker... otherwise, Vigilus is finished!"
This was not alarmist talk.
As a psyker, Emrys could perceive far better than Drayne the terrifying power contained in the aftershocks of that psychic explosion!
If the Warp psychic energy that an Epsilon-level psyker could harness was like a faucet, then a Delta-level or higher psyker was a thick water pipe, or even a stream!
And a Beta-level psyker was equivalent to a dam, as for the highest levels of 'Alpha' and even 'Alpha Plus'... it was unimaginable!
Even a Titan Legion, in front of an Alpha Plus-level psyker, would probably be no better than paper. Such a terrifying existence, one person... was equivalent to a vast army!
In other words, if it really was an 'Alpha' level, they shouldn't even struggle; they should run as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the Alpha completely falls to Chaos, the entire Vigilus will be swallowed by the Warp!
"Lord Emrys, our transaction... might have to be delayed a bit longer," Drayne said in a low voice. "Presumably, you should be very clear... about the danger of a high-level psyker. We must find that awakened psyker before Chaos does!"
"Agreed."
Emrys had no objections this time.
He could still distinguish right from wrong. If that psyker were to be corrupted by Chaos, they wouldn't even need to wait for the topknot; Siluria, and even the entire Vigilus, would likely be flattened!
This was still the best outcome!
The worst... was for the entire Vigilus to be completely swallowed by the Warp through the rift torn open by the Great psyker, further expanding the 'Curse Scar' and completely isolating the Imperium's dark side, leaving humanity with no chance of recovery!
After hastily bidding farewell to Drayne, Emrys returned to his residence and immediately sought out Hilda: "I need your help!"
"Is it about the psyker awakening just now?"
With such a large scope and impact, Hilda could hardly fail to notice. She frowned: "Don't expect me to go. I don't want to die. A psyker of that level... crushing me is as simple as crushing an ant, and besides, I still have to protect 'Elsa.'"
"I know, I want to borrow a squad of Samhann's Aeldari Warriors from you," Emrys quickly added. "Don't worry, I won't let them get involved with that psyker's matter."
"Oh, in that case, no problem."
Hilda nodded, but then looked at him with confusion: "Then how do you plan to deal with that awakened psyker? Judging from the scope, you should know that he is at least a Delta-level."
"I know, but I have to go too."
Emrys showed a hint of bitterness and sighed: "Once he falls into Chaos' hands, no one will escape. I must go and deal with him."
A Delta-level or higher psyker, his danger was no less than a walking 'atomic bomb.' If he were truly corrupted by Chaos, he could tear open a Warp rift in the material universe in minutes, like a mountain canyon, spanning the entire world!
Leave it to Drayne?
No, he didn't trust him. What if the Adeptus Arbites and Inquisitor were slightly careless and detonated that psyker? Then they'd just have to wait for death!
Besides, Emrys wasn't completely without options. If all else failed, once he found that psyker, he would throw him into the adjacent 'Alien universe'!
Explode!
Explode however he wanted, if he dared, let him explode another Warp out there!