40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 226 51. Lion Heart, Invitation

Leon El'Jonson found it difficult to concentrate his thoughts completely. He was still sitting on his throne, with light shining from above. There was a pool of blood not far away. He didn't let anyone clean it up. Luther's left hand was still lying there.

In this bloody and horrific scene, for some reason, Leon began to recall the past.

He thought of Caliban, of knights, of walls, of forests, of great beasts. He had been taught in the walled towns how to speak, then to wield a sword and use a shield

He was supposed to learn how to ride a horse again, but there were no horses in Cali's class that fit his size. Later, someone did create one through genetic technology, but that happened later.

He once followed someone step by step on foot, and went deep into the forest with him to kill giant beasts.

Since when did things become what they are now?

He held the armrest of the throne with one hand and remained silent. The lines of ivory touched his arm, and the clear perception made everything extremely clear.

He no longer wore armor, and the gorgeous remains were scattered on the ground, stopping in front of the throne, resembling a dismembered corpse. His sword was still leaning against the armrest. The blood had dried on the sword and turned into some kind of bloody lines.

Leon turned his head and glanced at it, then spoke suddenly.

"Akao, he is lying."

The knight in the dark nodded silently, not surprised by Leon's address - his primarch often called him this when no one was around.

"He deceived me," said Leon Al'Jonson thoughtfully. "I'm looking for the reason, Akao, little brother, can you see it?"

Coswayen took off his helmet again, walked out of the darkness, came to Leon, and knelt down on one knee.

His armor was completely black, with only the markings of the Dark Angels Legion on his right shoulder pad. The beast's fur was hung on his body by white ropes, and it was trembling slightly in the light cast by the stained glass.

"Because of loyalty." The Wingless Knight said slowly. "Sir Luther made his sacrifice."

"His sacrifice is ridiculous." Leon replied coldly. "The problem has not been solved, and new problems have been born."

His right hand jerked around the ivory armrest.

".Suspicion."

He exhaled the cold air bit by bit.

"The way they looked at each other just now was not what brothers should have, nor what comrades should have. I saw them staring at each other, searching for suspicious evidence on each other. And this matter"

Leon was silent for a moment.

"It's all my fault," he said. "I pushed them too hard, but why didn't they speak up to defend themselves? I said that everyone has another chance to defend themselves. However, except for Asleta, no one exercised this right at all. What are they thinking?"

"Because they dare not, my lord." Coswayne said, lowering his head.

"Don't you dare?"

"If you open your mouth, you will be suspicious. Even if you have not actually regarded him as a suspect in your mind, they will think so. Letting you down is an absolute taboo in the legion. Not to mention being suspected of being a traitor. ”

"Which of the rules within the legion states that if you disappoint me, you will be punished?" Leon El'Jonson frowned suddenly. "Which of their oaths mentioned that they should not disappoint me?"

"No."

"Then why are they afraid?"

"Because you are the one asking the question." Coswayne raised his head and looked at his primarch.

"Of course they know that silence will lead to greater anger, but they can only remain silent. Because they dare not defend themselves. Moreover, even though Asleta defended himself, you did not believe him."

"But I never doubted him either."

"That is not important, my lord," Coswayne said quietly. "The point is, Sir Luther has been taken away, and our shame will soon be washed away. What are you going to do after that?"

"The truth still has not come to light." Leon replied thoughtfully, his eyes sparkling.

All the clues were recalled by him at this moment and connected one by one. Some speculations came to mind, and he threw away the ones that were too outrageous and kept the ones that were convincing. After a long time, he took the initiative to break the silence.

"Prepare the ship," he said. "I'm going to visit Terra."

"What are you going to do?"

"A Caliban is about to be judged on Terra. Isn't it worth the trip?"

——

Luther moved his new left hand little by little. This left hand was different from the one he was familiar with. There are no scars on its palm, and the blade that represents the oath has never allowed it to bleed.

It is silver in color and has a smooth surface. The artificial muscle fibers are tangled together like thick cables, giving this metal arm a sense of absurdity close to that of a real arm.

Staring at it, Luther's expression was very complicated. Although the nerve connection port in his upper arm was still aching, this was not the main reason for his complicated expression.

"How does it feel?" Khalil asked.

"It's amazing," Luther said. "I have seen many soldiers using bionic organs, but I never thought that I would one day use them."

"Has it never occurred to you that you might be injured on the battlefield?"

"No, I only imagined the scene when I die." Luther smiled bitterly. "Sacrifice to cover the retreat of the troops, or fall into the enemy's trap and die as a vanguard. I know this is morbid, but a glorious death is indeed what I long for."

Khalil looked at him quietly without commenting on this matter, and the communication was completed silently.

Luther nodded gratefully to him and walked off the operating table. The huge mechanical tentacle that hovered above his head and performed the surgery on him also slowly retracted into the ceiling at this moment.

A dreamlike and unreal feeling still lingered in his heart, making his steps become a little frivolous. He still couldn't believe that he was now in Holy Terra and not being treated like a prisoner at all.

What prisoner would be assigned such a bionic arm?

They walked out the door and began walking in the dark underground. The place smells of dust, the floors are rotten, and the floor tiles look as old as thousands of years old.

Spider webs piled up in the corners, and from time to time you could even see leftover skeletons. The strange thing is that there are no torches or any other light sources here, but it is as bright as day.

"Where are we going, Lord Khalil?" Luther asked.

"You and I are colleagues now, Ser Luther." Khalil replied without blinking. "Therefore, there is no need to call me your lord anymore. As for where we are going, of course we are going to meet our immediate superior."

boss?

Luther couldn't help but start to think about the meaning behind this word. He couldn't figure out who could be Khalil Lohars' immediate boss.

Although this instructor from the Eighth Legion is not well-known, he obviously has many secrets. Not to mention his terrifying ability to summon the dead, his height alone and his extremely similar appearance to Conrad Coates are enough to make people think.

Combining these points, plus the fact that he holds the Terra Code, Luthor has dozens of guesses about his true identity.

He kept thinking, trying hard to forget what happened on the Indomitable Truth, and arrived in a cave a few minutes later. It doesn't smell like dust here, but it's just as old.

The walls and floors are made of stone, the most primitive stone, but they are very smooth, as if they had been carefully polished. A man in dark green robes stood in the cave with his back to them, holding a heavy scepter.

Luther saw the golden eagle on the top of the scepter at a glance, and his pupils immediately shrank.

The man turned around slowly.

"Too slow, Khalil," he said slightly accusingly. "Besides, does an operation take several hours? My time is precious."

"Why don't you say this to Sir Luther's surgeon?"

The man did not answer this sentence, but cast his stern gaze on Luther. Under the hood of the robe, a pair of looming deep eyes slowly lit up with blue light like lightning. Luther froze on the spot as if struck by lightning, his body trembling, and it took several minutes for him to return to normal.

"Brave, but also stupid." Malcador said slightly critically.

"Your self-sacrifice did not solve the problems of the First Legion, Ser Luther. In fact, your departure may only add more problems to them. Without people like you to deal with it, those Terran veterans and the Khark The conflicts among the Liban people will become more and more serious.”

He raised his hand and let the scepter hit the ground heavily. The smooth stone changed in an instant, and was replaced by silver metal. Fine lines were densely covered on the ceiling, emitting a misty light.

There was a golden round table waiting quietly not far away, and the seats shone like light. The sky eagle flutters its wings on the surface of the long table, and another I, pierced by three horizontal lines, emits scarlet light below the sky eagle.

"Are you...?" Luther said in shock. He had recovered from the shock, but his thinking function still had not fully recovered.

"The Seal Bearer, Malcador." Khalil's voice came from above him. "A stubborn old man who likes to complain too much, so he is not a very good chat partner."

The palm bearer took off his hood and ignored Khalil's words. He just made a gesture with his free left hand, indicating that they should go to the round table and sit down. Luther took a deep breath and walked over with Khalil.

Malcador sat in the first place on the left hand side, and Khalil sat in the first place on the right hand side. The main seat was deliberately left vacant. Following the guidance of Malcador's gesture, Luther sat behind Khalil, and after taking his seat, he felt a strong coldness that spread throughout his body.

"First, let's talk about your grievances, Sir Luther." Malcador stared at him, his voice was calm and wise, and his words were very coherent. "The Secret Cult is an organization that is not unfamiliar to me, but it is still a mystery to both you and Khalil."

The wielder of the seal let go of his hand, and his scepter turned into light and disappeared. The long golden table began to emit an even stronger golden light. After a few seconds, some images appeared from it. Most of them were blurry images that were not clear and even looked like silhouettes.

Luther stared at them and felt a stream of cold air rising from deep in his bones and rushing into his brain.

He felt no anger, only extreme rationality.

"The members of this organization are not clear. The only thing that is certain is that there are aliens and humans within it. They rarely really stay in one place for a long time, and the way they move across the galaxy is not known to us. However, They have been trying to influence humans a long time ago, and their earliest history can even be traced back to before humans even left the solar system.”

Malcador narrated without emotion, there was no hatred, no emotion, nothing in his voice.

"Their purpose is still a mystery, but no alien can be trusted, especially one like them. We can make an assumption, Sir Luther, if you had not chosen to sacrifice yourself, or the Eighth Legion decided to fight against the truth. We will deal with this matter immediately and in accordance with the law. You can imagine how far things will go without mercy.”

Luther clenched his fists in silence.

"In other words, they are harmful to humans." Makado said calmly.

"And they have now begun to try to extend their claws into the legions of Astartes. No one can tolerate this. However, the progress of the Great Crusade cannot be delayed. The legions cannot stop and return to Tai Pulled one by one to be reviewed so, I re-enabled here.”

He opened his hands and traced his fingers through the air, causing complex and gorgeous ripples. The air ripples and the world changes again. In just a blink of an eye, the long table of smooth silver metal and gold disappeared, replaced once again by the stone floor.

Luther found that he was actually sitting on a stone table with many names engraved in letters on the surface of the table.

"Isn't it difficult to understand what he said?" Khalil asked Luther with a smile. "Are you a little confused about what the Sealmaster wants to say? It's actually very simple, Sir Luther. Do you remember the invitation I told you not long ago?"

".I remember."

"We would like to invite you to join this organization, Sir Luther." Malcador said seriously. "You are wise and powerful. The most important thing is that you are full of hatred. And we need this."

"What kind of organization is this?" Luther asked slightly confused.

"It doesn't have a name yet," Khalil said, no longer smiling.

"There are many things hidden within the Empire, Sir Luther. Secret cults, aliens, wizards. The galaxy is so vast, and the enemies humans face are by no means only revealed in wars. More destruction is born from small things. For example, the death of Sergeant Trinfer Ratton, who would have thought that his death could cause such a storm? How the Secret Cult did this is unknown to us, but we also have means to deal with them. Of course, Maybe it’s not just them.”

He opened his palm, and a ring gleamed in the pale whiteness. It was completely black, but had a scarlet brilliance inside. It is shaped like a human skull, but it is not ostentatious and can even be called simple.

Luther stared at it and found that the red light was actually moving.

"They can do evil, kill loyal people, and maim innocent people, but their hands will be stained with blood, and so will their accomplices," Khalil said in a low voice. "And this ring will help you see their bloody hands."

Luther raised his head silently.

"What am I going to do?" he asked curtly.

"Hunting." Malcador replied softly. "I will inform you of the specific regulations later. There are my spies all over the galaxy. You can get information about secret things from them. The secret sect always keeps its traces secret, but how can there be an airtight wall in the world?"

Without words, Luther reached out and took the ring. His hands were shaking.

"There is no honor in this duty, Ser Luther," Khalil reminded. "You have to think about it."

"Don't think about it," Luther whispered. "I have given up honor."

He puts on the ring.

There is one more chapter.