40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 389 118. Interlude: Eternal Winter (1)

"This cold wind seems to never stop," Lucius said.

His voice was a little strange, not as natural as before. If anyone were to ask why, it could only be attributed to his missing jaw. The brass jaw has no bionic mechanism and cannot assist him in making sounds.

A demon hiding in the shadows was the culprit. It ambushed Lucius. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he might have lost more than just his jaw and half a tongue.

Sol Tarvitz nodded in agreement with his words.

He leaned against the wall, sat safely next to a weapons rack, and was concentrating on sharpening a combat dagger. The room seemed a little empty, as others were being questioned by the Ministry of Military Affairs.

This is a mandatory rule from which no one can escape. Even Fulgrim himself spent a morning recounting his experiences. Of course, the recorded words were not ultimately classified in any archives.

If they were to be filed away, the emperor's sons would probably be surprised.

"Terra shouldn't be windy like this." Lucius stared intently at the scenery outside the window, still telling his thoughts. "Everyone knows what the natural environment of the Throne World is like."

"At least it'll still snow," Tavitz said without looking up. "At least it has the change of seasons, Lucius. Snow, wind, rain, so what if there is no spring and summer? You are doing some unnecessary thinking."

"Superfluous?!" Lucius turned around suddenly and asked sternly. "There is no need to have any doubts, Captain Sol Tarvitz! Any slightest sign of trouble means that damned Chaos is watching!"

Tarvitz finally raised his head and glanced at him. He shook his head, put down the knife in his hand, took out another one, and began to grind it intently.

"I will not tolerate any form of complacency," Lucius said grimly.

His tone had become calmer, but still sounded dangerous, and the face engraved with names looked extremely ominous in the flickering firelight.

"In any form, Tavitz, do you understand? Even if this is Terra, I will report my thoughts to Commander Vespasian right now."

"Why not go to the original body directly?" Tavitz asked, lowering his head. "Don't tell me you're going to the door of the Ministry of Military Affairs to wait for Vespasian to finish his questioning."

"Report at all levels and never go beyond the level." Lucius said sternly. "This is military discipline, and the Emperor's son will never violate military discipline."

With that, he strode out of the room, leaving Tavitz alone. The wooden door closed, Sol Tavitz sighed, raised the dagger, and stared into his eyes through its reflection.

Everyone has been changed. After going through such a hellish journey, no one dares to say that they are still the same as before.

Lucius has become a stubborn man who is extremely vigilant about everything, and Akudona has become cruel. He used to wield a sword and never do anything unnecessary, but now he prefers to do nothing when dealing with his enemies. A lot of uncontrollable anger.

And himself.

Sol Tarvitz stood up.

What has become of him?

He slowly came to the door, calculated the time, opened the door, and saw two people dressed as servants, both wearing brown robes and even wearing hoods. The guard who should have appeared at the corner of the corridor was now gone. No trace.

Tavitz held the sharp knife in his hand and waited calmly for them to speak.

One of them raised his head and looked at him, stretched out his right hand from his robe, and handed a parchment roll that still smelled of ink to him.

In addition to the sky eagle, which represented the empire, Tavitz also saw a emblem on it that was completely unfamiliar to him.

A capital I, and then three horizontal lines of different lengths running through it, connecting a skull with the letter itself.

Tarvitz lowered his combat dagger and sheathed it.

He calmly asked: "Who are you?"

The servant who handed over the parchment didn't answer, but his companion took off his hood, opened his mouth, and let out a few muffled sobs.

"Mute?" The Emperor's Son frowned. "intrinsic?"

The man shook his head, the mysterious mark tattoo between his eyebrows shining brightly. He gestured in sign language, and Tavitz easily understood what he meant - he was silent for a few seconds, then simply reached for the parchment roll and began to read it carefully.

It didn't take him much effort to understand the true intention of the writer hidden among the twists and turns of the written words, and then he came to a conclusion.

This is an invitation.

To be more precise, this is a private invitation personally sent by the holder of the seal, Malcador.

But why me?

Tavitz frowned, thought twice, and finally handed the parchment back - he didn't understand why Malcador suddenly sent him an invitation, but he didn't need a reason to refuse.

The two followers obviously had different opinions on this. They looked at him, and the follower who took off his hood showed signs again.

"No," Tavitz said. "Please tell the Master that I cannot agree to such an ambiguous invitation. My legion needs me right now, and I cannot leave at this time."

The man sighed visibly, put his right hand into his arms again, and took out a black and gray instrument. He held it in both hands and handed it to Sol Tavitz, and then a voice slowly came out.

"Accept this invitation, Thor," Fulgrim said. "It's important, accept it, okay?"

The Emperor's son stared speechlessly, feeling more deeply confused. Four hours later, his doubts were resolved. At this moment, he had left the station assigned to the Emperor's sons and arrived at a secret underground facility.

The air was filled with a strange smell, as if something was burning deep underground. There were many people here. He had only been in the facility for a short ten minutes, and he had seen at least three different teams passing by him.

Civilians, soldiers, or secret people wearing cloaks. He even saw a large number of red-robed priests.

The two followers who led the way for him had no intention of explaining at all. Their steps were extremely steady, and they were definitely professionally trained.

Tarvitz observed all this expressionlessly, taking in every detail. For example, the blue-gray wall covered with energy transmission pipelines, or the huge thinkers that could be seen everywhere, as if they were placed casually.

The material that made up the ground was not rock, but a complex alloy. Tarvitz was not a skilled blacksmith, but he had made many weapons by hand from time to time, and this alloy was not one he had ever seen.

And these were just appearances. What really made him curious about this place were the detectors and alarms that could be seen everywhere, one every five meters, installed at any cost in every place where humans might or might not pass by.

He even saw automatic turrets, which were not hidden, but were placed in a dignified manner on some necessary roads.

There were guards with sophisticated weapons everywhere, and sentries hidden in the dark. Even if an Astartes army wanted to attack here, it would probably cost a lot.

After all, who knows what else is hidden here?

Thinking about these things, Tarvitz maintained a necessary silence, and at the same time he also realized something more important - from a certain perspective, Malcador's willingness to let him in here essentially represents a kind of trust.

But where does this trust come from?

Continuing to move forward, continuing to go deeper underground, after passing through the 25th heavy armed door, the two servants finally stopped. They turned around, bowed to Tarvitz, and walked into the darkness.

The world that appeared in front of him at this moment was no longer the same as before. The creations of the civilized world disappeared. This place was rough and primitive, and the walls were even just unpolished raw rocks.

The space was vast, but there were no instruments, as if this was a naturally formed cave, just a different kind of decoration, and there was no need to use it.

The only light here was the fire emitted by the Skyhawk Scepter in the hands of a short old man. It danced on the wall, making the silhouette of the person blurry and terrifying.

And Tarvitz knew who he was. He slowly approached, bowed his head, and greeted him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Saul Tarvitz." The Sigillite said so, his eyes shining under the hood.

This made the Emperor's Child a little uneasy - Malcador was using psychic power, but the question that had been asked many times today once again came to his mind.

Why?

"Captain Tarvitz, did you see any pilgrims on the way here?" Malcador did not give him more time to think, but suddenly threw out a question.

"What do you mean by that?" Tarvitz asked cautiously. "They are everywhere, Master Seal Holder."

"Just asking a few questions." Malcador said noncommittally and shook his head. "In the past month, Terra is entering winter, and this abnormal wind has exacerbated the impact of the low temperature."

"If the temperature continues to drop like this, I'm afraid many pilgrims will lose their lives. Clothes can't withstand such severe cold."

"Can't they be arranged to take shelter? At least through this winter?" Tarvitz took over the conversation as Malcador meant. Although he was just trying to keep the conversation going, his frown at this moment was indeed sincere.

Malcador sighed.

"This winter will not pass, Captain Tarvitz." He whispered. "Soon, it will snow on Terra. Then, the weather will become worse and worse, because the snow, like this wind, will not stop."

"The blizzard will destroy the pilgrims who sleep in the wilderness. Their bodies will freeze in the cold, and the ground will be frozen. And you know them, they regard asceticism as a kind of dedication to the gods. Even if the shelter is built, not many of them will be willing to enter the shelter."

Sol Tarvitz inevitably fell into silence for a while, and the hint in Malcador's words forced him to do so. What do you mean that winter will not pass and the snow will not stop? Doesn't the Master think they can survive this disaster?

A hint of dark anger finally appeared between his brows.

"Then force them to enter." Tarvitz said. "It is better to be forced to lose some of your faith and piety than to lose your life."

"You can force people to do things they don't want to do, but what about the wind and snow?" asked the Master. "How are you going to change the natural environment?"

"I don't believe that winter will last forever." Tarvitz replied in a muffled voice. "Just like I don't believe we will lose the war, Master, I don't know-"

"——Who said we would lose?" Malcador interrupted him and asked in surprise.

Although his emotions seemed sincere, Tarvitz still couldn't figure out whether this was just a disguise of the Master of the Seal. He was still confused and did not hide this emotion.

Malcador looked at him and suddenly said something with a tone of sudden enlightenment: "Ah, I understand."

"What? I ask you to give me an explanation, Master of the Seal." Tarvitz said slightly unhappy.

The Master of the Seal shook his head, slowly raised the Sky Eagle Scepter, and dropped it heavily on the ground. The knocking sound was very crisp and began to echo in the rock wall. The bright fire suddenly lit up, dispelling all the darkness.

Tarvitz turned his head and saw a group of people wearing dark cloaks, looking down at them. There was nothing on the rock wall, but now there was suddenly a second floor excavated by humans.

They were tall, thin, average or huge, some armed, some empty-handed. Tarvitz even saw one wearing a lightning medallion outside his cloak. No one else did that, only he wore it so proudly on his chest.

"What does this mean?" Tarvitz asked in a low voice, turning back.

"They are evaluating you," Malcador replied calmly.

A wave of anger rose in Tarvitz's heart, but he remained calm and chose to wait and see what would happen. The Sigillite walked past him, his robe dragging on the ground, making a crackling sound.

He walked all the way to the front of the door before stopping. Tarvitz stood there, warily giving those who were looking down at him a cold stare, until Malcador spoke loudly.

"So-" The Sigillite touched the ground again with his scepter, and the ground began to change. Complex patterns suddenly appeared and were engraved on the gray rock. There were many changes, and the most profound was where Tarvitz stood.

But what appeared under his feet was not a pattern, but a pool of spring water that replaced the ground. It was so cold that it even flooded Tarvitz's chest. Even for the Astartes, it was too cold, but the Emperor's Child did not leave it.

He vaguely heard some silent whispers, and many of the voices sounded very familiar.

"- Tell us your answers." The Sigillite declared majestically.

And pinch.

By the way, the timeline from Terra's perspective is still in the early stage of the Battle of Calth. And all the interludes I used during the chapter name of Terra are carried out along the timeline. In other words, they were actually a chapter in "Terra". Why separate it? Because I realized that if I didn't do this, the number behind the entire Terra might be (seventy) or even (eighty)

The Battle of Terra will be a long story, the biggest climax in the middle of this book. I will do my best to write about all the forces involved. I think it is necessary, but the experience of chasing updates may not be very good. So if there are book friends who want to support it, I understand. As for those book friends who are still willing to follow the update, I can only give back by updating more frequently ()

Ok, that's it for now, I'll have a meal and come back to write the second chapter. The order today is about 15,000.