40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 36 36.Light (1)

"My family will kill you!"

"Um."

Khalil nodded to the man and cut off his head.

After listening to what the noble said, he gave him a little respect.

The scene around him was still the one he was most familiar with, with corpses and broken limbs scattered all over the place. Blood spread on the dark red carpet, forming a blurry pool of blood. If you don't look carefully, you can't tell the difference.

Then he smelled fear.

Khalil slowly took in the emotion and turned his head, the blade gleaming in the darkness. A frightened shadow flashed around the corner of the corridor.

His gains come from him.

"Run," Khalil said softly. "While you still can."

The next second, there was a scream from around the corner.

The hiding nobleman began the last run of his life. He quickly left this gathering place where nobles used to indulge and came outside.

The road on Shangchao is straight and beautiful, and there are soft white light sources on the roadside, making the dark night look peaceful. The night he went to the nest was also very quiet, and he could only hear his own breathing and heavy footsteps.

But what about beyond that?

That thing - that monster, will he catch up?

The noble didn't even dare to look back. He didn't have the courage to do this, for fear that if he looked back, he would see the shadow rushing towards him, and then use the blade to disembowel him like everyone else.

So he ran and kept running.

Standing at the window on the second floor of the party hall, Khalil calmly watched him go away, but did not catch up and kill this fish that slipped through the net.

He let him go on purpose.

The raid on this gathering place was just a temporary move, and letting him go was to create an atmosphere of terror among the nobles.

He's already seen him.

He has remembered him too.

Therefore, for that noble, there was only one way to escape. He doesn't know yet, but he will.

Closing his eyes, Khalil took a deep breath.

This habit was intentional on his part and was similar to a psychological suggestion. At first, he just told himself that taking a deep breath could calm him down. But now, it does.

There were too many times, so his heart accepted the hint.

As expected, people will change subtly. Khalil thought.

He pushed open the window and jumped down from the second floor silently, his boots making a slight clicking sound on the pavement. The height that used to need to be treated with caution now doesn't even require unloading. His muscles and bones are more than a little stronger than before.

Moreover, it seems to be getting stronger.

Kalil pursed his lips, quickly left the place, and disappeared into the night.

He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but he could responsibly say that he didn't like this feeling. He would rather go back to the body that hurt for a long time every time he used strength.

Half an hour later, he returned to the shelter.

The ghost is already waiting. He squats on the edge of the building like an animal. The neon lights cut the sky into broken shapes, and the gloomy spiers step into the distance one after another. The cold wind blew by, blowing the ghost's long hair.

His hair is soft now.

Khalil stepped out of the darkness, and he deliberately collided the soles of his boots with the ground. The sound he made awakened the ghost who was originally deep in thought. The latter turned his head, with obvious surprise in his expression.

"Khalil?"

"What's wrong?" Khalil asked with a smile.

"You" Ghost blinked and looked at him suspiciously. "Did you just come back?"

"No."

"But I didn't notice you were back." Ghost said blankly. "how so?"

"I don't know either."

Khalil smiled and shook his head. He did not reveal his worries, likes and dislikes to the ghost. This was unnecessary. "Maybe it will take time before we can find the answer to this question."

"As for now. Well, it's still early. Why don't we talk about your patrol?"

He walked over and sat next to Ghost, not intending to eat the rest of the nutritional ointment in a hurry. The smell of blood was still lingering on the tip of his nose. Although he was already a little hungry, he didn't want to eat in this state.

After all, there is something to pursue.

Ghost nodded, and then laughed - for the first time, his smile was so natural. Although it was only a small smile, it was enough to make Khalil laugh with him.

"The workers are better off than before." Ghost said happily. "On the eve of the great purge, the factory gave them a holiday. And food supplies were not deducted."

This is of course, after all, the Great Purge only happens once every twenty years.

The gangs are fighting for territory, but they are not brainless enough to kill the workers in the factory at this juncture. Otherwise, how will the factory run in the future?

Let them take a vacation and hide in a temporary safe zone like a shanty town, and deal with it correctly.

So true.

Khalil nodded calmly, listening carefully without rushing to interrupt or express his opinion. He knew very well that at times like this, Ghost always had a lot to say.

"But the gangs no longer roam the streets." Ghost curled his lips. "I heard nothing useful today, oh, and Gargoyle No. 21!"

He looked at Khalil. The latter was not surprised, he knew it was time for him to respond.

"What happened to it?" he asked softly.

"It was dismantled," Ghost said, not hearing much in his tone. "With that building."

"Did anyone get angry with each other in advance?"

"It should be. There are many traces of explosions at the scene. I saw some people collecting bodies. Khalil, can I ask you a question?"

"sure."

"After they die, will they also be sent to the butcher's shop?"

"Won't."

"That?"

"Corpse incineration plants, black markets, and some doctors who can do human body modification."

Khalil gave three answers in turn, very rigorous. He was always very cautious when it came to questions from ghosts: "The butcher's shop is not their place."

"But why?"

"Because... in the eyes of gangs, they are all human beings," Khalil said. "And humans don't eat humans."

Ghost's eyes widened: "But -"

"-Yes." Khalil smiled. "Just as you think, they don't regard civilians as human beings. Even they themselves were once one of them."

"This idea has been circulating on Nostramo for thousands of years, and in large part the reason most teenagers eagerly try to join a gang is because they want to be human."

Ghost listened carefully and nodded from time to time. The identity reversal between listener and narrator is so sudden and so natural. The night sky hung low above their heads, and they talked to each other calmly in the cold wind.

——This seems to be just another ordinary night.

If that light never comes.

Khalil's head jerked up as a voice spoke in his head.

+Please come outside the city, Khalil Lohars. Please take your ghost with you, my son, Konrad Curze. +——

"My lord, I ask you to think again."

"I've thought about it a lot."

"But, the one holding the seal——"

"——Please, Constantine." The giant in golden armor said. "I have to do this or I won't gain his trust."

".You don't need the trust of a psyker on a remote planet, not to mention that the Signer says he's suspicious."

"Everyone is suspicious in Malcador's eyes," said the giant. "He sometimes even says what I'm doing is wrong."

"However, there are many doubts about the psyker, my lord."

"You haven't even met him, Constantine."

"Rather than a psyker with one of your sons whom I have never met, I would rather trust the Signer and his judgment that has never been wrong so far."

The giant sighed.

"Okay," he said. "Do you want to listen to me or not, Constantine?"

"You are my master, so of course I am willing."

"Then please - and you, I know there are people in the back listening to me and your marshal - please leave me and my sons alone."

The man known as the Marshal was not wearing a helmet, and he had very short hair, a thin layer of stubble almost sticking to his scalp. He wasn't handsome, but he was convincing. There was a quiet strength in that face.

Constantine Waldo, his name.

"How, Constantine?" asked his lord.

".If this is the order of the Emperor, Lord of Mankind, we will obey it."

The giant who was crowned with a noble title sighed again - if his performance at this moment were to be seen by his sons, they would definitely be shocked. A few of them might even stare at the Admiral of the Imperial Guard with jealousy.

And the Marshal wouldn't care. He never cared.

"Is it necessary for you, Constantine Valdo?" his master asked slowly.

"You're asking me to deviate from my duty. You're asking us to deviate from our duty to the point of going to the filthy ground to meet a filthy psyker."

Constantine raised his head and said firmly: "So, yes. You must give the order."

"So," the Emperor said slowly. "You left me no choice."

Now, for the first time, he acted befitting of his title.

"I will go to the surface with my sons, and none of you are to follow. Set the weapons on my ship to off, and keep the Astartes and the military where they belong."

"Is there anything else, my lord?" the reluctant Marshal of the Forbidden Army asked dutifully.

"No more." The emperor showed an imperceptible smile. "I've always liked the way you look."

"."

The Marshal of the Custodes wordlessly raised his hands in a gesture of courtesy, then put on his armor and left. Behind him, his master slowly opened the door, his expression changed.

+ Be prepared. +

He said to the other four consciousnesses in his mind. +We'll leave immediately. +