40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 394 123. Interlude: A Wise Man’s Thoughts (1)

Magnus realized this with crystal clear clarity—he could see it.

But is this a good thing? No, absolutely not. If he could, he would rather remain completely blind so that he didn't have to see the scene in front of him.

But the thing was forcing him to look.

Every death, every burning. Bullets roared, artillery shook the sky, and bombing sirens rang throughout the city. Countless people died in the belly of the wolves.

Magnus tried to close his eyes, but he couldn't. His eyes did not belong to him. They were taken away from him many years ago.

At this moment, he seemed to be trapped in a cage - his body was this cage. From bones to nerves, every tiny part no longer belonged to him, even the deepest parts of his heart. There is a voice speaking beside memories and thoughts.

The voice spoke of his journey, his words, his thoughts, but the voice used was extremely soft, like the scraping of feathers.

That's not his voice.

He said: "I still can't understand what my father is doing, but I already understand part of it. I finally understand what kind of thing I was dealing with back then. It wanted to take away one of my eyes, but that eye was just The price to pay for talking to it.”

"My remaining eye was the centerpiece of the deal. For decades to come, I was just a window through which it could view humans."

"The realization of this thing really makes me shudder, but what could I do at the time? I was still just a blind man. The things I saw, my determination, my pride, and even my curiosity were just thrown at me. s things."

Magnus took off his sunglasses little by little as he listened to these words, his own thoughts spoken in another person's voice.

It was a gift from Malcador, given to Magnus by the Sigilbearer when he first returned to Terra. He was reluctant to accept it at first, until Malcador confided something to him.

When Magnus thought about this, regret and anger, two impulses that were completely opposite to his emotions at the time, immediately followed because he realized what his memories would bring.

Sure enough, the voice sounded again.

"Makado gave me a pair of sunglasses. At first, I thought he was humiliating me, until he told me some ancient history. Indeed, as he said, there is nothing wrong with pursuing knowledge. Curiosity is human. One of nature.”

"But the greatness of human beings lies in restraining nature. It is true that we are animals, but our will is enough for us to go against the impulses of nature and achieve greatness."

"What's strange to me is that I understand and understand these words, but I dismissed them in the past. This is not what I would do. What happened at that time to make me so extreme?"

The thing said the last word and laughed uncontrollably.

Laughter echoed in Magnus's ears. The Red King gritted his teeth and put his sunglasses back into his coat pocket.

He raised his hand and touched his eyes, wondering if there was dryness under his eyelids. The thing agreed to all his actions and allowed him to touch his eyelids - in the sour pain, Magnus saw his own eyes clearly. finger.

Both of his eyes were back, lost and recovered, seeing the light again, so wonderful. However, for Magnus, this was a nightmare.

"This is not a nightmare, Magnus," He replied gently. "That's what's happening on Prospero, the wolves are loose and the carnage ensues. Your people are bleeding, your homeland is burning - and who is the culprit?"

Brilliant blue light flashed out, spurting out from the fingertips of Magnus's hands. He immediately realized what it was and tried his best to stop it, but he couldn't move even a finger.

The owner of the cage did not give him the key this time, and what happened next could only be described as logical. The powerful feeling of fullness returned after four years of absence, and his body was no longer empty. Even his breathing was filled with escaping spiritual energy.

A feeling arose in Magnus's heart, a feeling called pride and omnipotence.

But he had long since learned humility.

"No, you are still proud." He smiled. "Don't deceive yourself. Your so-called humility is just a helpless act of having to restrain your minions."

"Your father restrained you, betrayed you, and forced you away from your gifts. You call the little spiritual energy you have possessed over the past four years humility?"

"At least they are my psychic powers," Magnus replied through gritted teeth.

He understood that it still came from His permission, but he didn't care.

The hard work and sadness of the past four years flooded into his heart, and every sleepless night appeared before his eyes. The Emperor made no secret of it, stating that he had deprived him of his gift. Magnus did not understand this, but did not complain much.

Because the Emperor had a long all-night conversation with him after returning to Terra, but the former cold master of humanity was willing to stand side by side with him, describing the results of his work and why he wanted to return under the night sky of Terra Reasons to come to Terra

He even showed Magnus a portion of his work, what kind of trust was that?

So the Crimson King knew that his father did not betray him, nor did he have any intention of looking down on him. So, what was the reason that forced the father under the starry sky that day to do such a cruel thing as depriving his son of his talent?

With his own help, Magnus found the answer on his own. He found the answer in the palace's collection of books. The uneven writing on the parchment scroll conveyed to him one after another horrific truth containing blood and tears through his fingertips.

A self-righteous wise man, a scholar eager for knowledge, an old man seeking the truth

Everyone has met Him, at least briefly. He is in books, He is in language, He is in the knowledge that makes tables and chairs, lights torches, cooks food. He represents progress, civilization and wisdom

He is——

Magnus whispered His name.

"——Tzeentch."

"Correct answer," Tzeentch said. "Do you want a reward?"

Magnus had no right to refuse, and the reward came as promised.

A grinning butcher's face appeared in front of him, and the radiance of psychic energy gradually dissipated. The alpha wolf Leman Russ laughed and waved the sword in his hand - Magnus tried to dodge, but that The sword passed directly through his chest without touching his body at all.

The rotating saw teeth eagerly penetrated into a body. Leman Russ laughed wildly and began to saw an Astartes wearing red power armor alive. Mixed metal fragments flew along with the flesh and bone stubble.

Leman Russ could have killed him directly, but he kept exerting force until he completely sawed through the Thousand Sons' body. The wolves howled excitedly around him, applauding his kills.

"Kill them all!" the wolves howled. "Kill all the foolish children of Magnus!"

did you see it? Tzeentch asked silently. He is killing your legions with pleasure. It's terrible. Aren't you brothers?

Ah, by the way, although Leman Russ is a wolf, he will also listen to one person - no, no, in fact, he only listens to that person's words.

He is a wolf, but he is also a dog who recognizes his master. So, who is this man, Magnus? Who is that huge shadow standing in the shadow of Leman Russ' murder?

He seems to be wearing a crown on his head.

Magnus gasped and fell to the ground, fear beginning to ripple through him. Despite this, he managed to maintain his sanity.

Then he started doing what he did best—thinking.

I have become a prisoner again. In the past, He could have put a veil over my eyes, made me blind, and turned me into a paranoid fool. But now?

I have no power to resist whatever He wants to do. He could just turn me into a puppet. He doesn't have to repeat my memories and show me pictures that I don't know are true or false like he does now.

A flash of light flashed through Magnus' mind.

"You can't make me surrender directly, you can only trick me," he said.

The Crimson King's tone was definitely not a question, but a firm affirmation. He was simply telling a theory with full confidence, just like how he had scolded Fang Qiu to the Thousand Sons in the past.

Tzeentch chuckled lowly.

"Yes, it's a pity that I can't make you stop thinking, Magnus. I even want to praise you. The light that everyone shines when they think is my happiness. I admire the way you look when you think. .”

"So, you did it, you successfully understood my intention, the great Lord Prospero - but, I want to ask you, why did you resist?"

He smiled and said the last words, and Magnus raised his hands again, and the spiritual light bloomed again. The massacre of Leman Russ and the burning of Prospero dissipated in an instant, turning into invisible dust. .

The light continued to condense, building a portal in the air. The stiff body began to move on its own, and with each step, a strong sense of weightlessness and tearing followed.

Stars fell, stretched, were born, and died within sight—years that were unimaginable to ordinary people passed by in the blink of an eye, and Magnus didn't even realize that he was screaming.

I don’t know how long it took, a year, or ten thousand years, but he finally returned to normal again. Opening his eyes, he found himself kneeling on the ground wet.

The thing under his knees was rock, and there were dark blue lines that were extinguishing, and a creepy feeling rose in Magnus's heart. And Tzeentch opened the door of the cage with his own hands, and he was briefly free.

He barely blinked and saw light sources and white slates surrounding him. There was another person, a person walking towards him, wearing dark red steel boots.

Azek Ahriman cried out in ecstasy: "Primarch!"

Magnus was stunned for a few seconds, then raised his head furiously.

"What have you done?!" he roared hoarsely and rushed towards Ahriman.

There are still two chapters to go, so today it’s 10,000.