40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 395 124. Interlude: A Wise Man’s Thoughts (2)

"Give him peace," Leman Russ said.

His face was stained with blood, as was his braid. Her bright blond hair was stained with blood, almost turning red.

He spoke neither High Gothic nor Low Gothic, but Uvik, an ancient language originating from Fenris. His words sounded like growls, and the wolves naturally responded with growls.

A wild wolf raised his knife and dropped it, and blood spattered out. The dead thing didn't seem to have any human shape at all, and the flesh and blood hung on the twisted bones like paste.

It was wailing when it was alive, and it was intensifying after death. With an unbearable viscous sound, it gradually turned into a literal puddle of molten flesh.

The work of the blade was finished, and the promethium fire followed.

Ruth kept watching.

A few minutes ago - eleven minutes to be exact, this stain of flesh and blood being destroyed was just Kasper Ansbach Hauser, or perhaps Ahmed ibn Ru Star.

He is the bard of the third company of the Wild Wolves, and he is also a ‘disaster star’ that fell from the sky. Before that, he was the founder of the Terran Historical Criticism Society and a highly respected scholar.

But he's also an unknowing spy, manipulated by psychic wizardry into trying to penetrate among the wolves. Russ had discovered this a long time ago, and he had reason to kill the mortal directly, but he did not do so.

Because this mortal had no idea of ​​his own situation, he didn't know that he was being manipulated by psychic powers.

For a Fenrisian, it is one thing to kill an enemy, but it is another thing to kill a deceived person who knows nothing.

However, no matter what the specific situation is, now, he is just a puddle of bloody flesh. He dies, his lifeline is severed, because he sets foot on Prospero's Tizca - a curse, or something like that, strikes him.

The rune priests didn't notice it. In fact, even Russ himself didn't notice it. The wolves knew nothing about this, and just watched helplessly as their poet died in extremely painful flesh and blood distortion.

Give him rest. Ruth thought.

He smiled, fangs looming behind his pale mouth. He glanced up at his pack, who stared silently at their alpha wolf.

"Logically speaking, we should avenge him." Russ spoke thoughtfully, his voice rough. "But look at all this, right?"

He raised his hand and pointed at the city that was engulfed in flames below the mountain top. Before the wolves begin to bite, Prospero himself is caught up in a strange turmoil.

The more critical point is that they did not see any Thousand Sons.

There were only civilians, civilians running everywhere. They were crushed, or others crushed, and their bodies littered the streets. Deformed flesh-and-blood monsters are everywhere, wandering senselessly.

They don't crave flesh and blood, and they don't need to kill, but their mere presence can set the world on fire. No one attacks them, even soldiers holding weapons will drop their weapons in front of them and start running away screaming.

Or, in a moment of trembling, he turns into a monster like them.

Ruth slowly raised her head and glanced at Prospero's sky. The sky was gray, as if thunder and lightning were about to fall.

He laughed strangely, and the wolves seemed to have received the signal and immediately became active, rushing out in full force and rushing towards the burning city.

——

"What have you done?!" Magnus asked angrily.

Unable to wait for an answer, he began collecting the answers himself. While he grabbed Ahriman, he observed the scene inside the cave.

What he saw made him even more furious, for dead servants were everywhere. Wearing a white robe, he was obviously selected. Holding the crystal in his hand, his body was as haggard as a mummy whose water had evaporated.

A rough estimate is that there are as many as a thousand people. Thinking back to the dark blue lines he saw when he was still kneeling on the ground, Magnus immediately came up with an answer.

"What spell did you use, Ahriman?" Magnus took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He asked the question quickly, and Azek Ahriman struggled to draw a breath from his strength.

He hid his dissatisfaction and consternation in his resignation, Magnus could see it, but he had no time to talk about these things with Ahriman now. He lowered his hand so that Ahriman could fall to the ground.

"It's a spell I created myself, Primarch." Ahriman replied with a hint of pride. "It can use the power of the vast ocean to cross the sea of ​​stars and save a person from prison——"

"——Crossing the sea of ​​stars?" Magnus interrupted him and asked again.

Ahriman noticed that his primarch's eyes looked strange. There was no thirst for knowledge, no praise or pride in his eyes. He couldn't help but become a little sluggish, but he nodded and answered Magnus's question.

"Why did you do this?" The Crimson King closed his eyes and asked helplessly but painfully.

It was only then that Azek Ahriman discovered that his primarch actually had two eyes at this moment. He took a step back in shock, all kinds of speculations arising in his mind.

But Magnus gave him no chance to continue thinking. He reached out again to grab Ahriman and asked in a low voice.

"What price did you pay, Ahriman?"

He looked closely at one of his finest offspring and immediately grasped the point.

"With only these servants and their lives, why do you let this spell achieve its effect? ​​What did you make a deal with in the vast ocean?"

"I" Ariman said slowly - he tried to refuse, but he couldn't, he couldn't refuse any request of the primarch.

But his expression still became a little gloomy. Obviously, the current situation was completely different from what he had expected at the time.

He had thought that he would receive praise and even gratitude from the Primarch. Just a few minutes ago, he had thought with anticipation that he would be the hero who saved Magnus, the Thousand Sons, and Prospero.

Ahriman took a deep breath and said: "I spent a long time wandering the vast ocean, Primarch. I found the friendly entity that made a deal with you at that time. It provided me with strength, and I also Paid"

There was a loud buzzing in Magnus's head. The sound was so violent that he could no longer hear the second half of Ahriman's words.

It's over. he thinks. This conclusion was then overturned immediately.

No, there must be some solution, definitely.

He let go of his hand, stumbled back a few steps, then turned around and started running wildly.

He passed through several secret twists and turns. Many Thousand Sons watched the return of the original body with surprise but joy. Most of them had been bound to the wall or the ground by some kind of dark blue crystal, and their exposed faces looked like Melted wax figure.

Magnus forced himself to ignore the horrific sight and just continued running forward. He could obviously use his psychic powers to reach the ground easily, but he didn't do so.

The Crimson King knew very well that what was surging in his body at this moment was not his power.

Everything has its price, Magnus. The Emperor's voice echoed in his ears. You need to keep this in mind, especially when dealing with the Warp.

Yes, I remember, Father.

A burst of light hit him, and he finally rushed out of the reflective cave.

The air belonging to Prospero filled his mouth and nose, and the thick smell of blood shocked him.

Magnus stared in pain. The once bustling Secret Eye Square was now filled with wandering flesh-and-blood deformed monsters. Not far away, there was a group of screaming civilians running around irrationally on Godian Avenue.

A faint chuckle reached his ears.

The Crimson King gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, simply not looking at it anymore. He needed to stay rational, he couldn't look at it anymore. Ahriman's voice came from behind.

"Primarch? What do you want to do?"

His voice was full of anxiety and fear, as well as a subtle hint of suspicion.

Magnus was suddenly furious—suspicious? Suspect? You doubt me?

But he came to quickly, in fact, with a start.

He immediately realized how wrong his emotions were at this moment, and Magnus immediately ordered himself to stay calm. He looked back at his heir, but he still couldn't help but speak with a bit of reproach.

"Why don't you allocate people to help the residents?"

Ahriman looked at him strangely and took a while before answering his question.

"There are no more of us, Primarch. There are only a dozen or so of us scattered throughout Prospero, and most of the others have-"

He smiled suddenly, his smile full of misery and sadness.

"——I think you have also seen their appearance, but it is not important, Primarch, after all, you are back."

Without waiting for Magnus to answer, Ahriman continued, even lowering his proud head deeply.

"You conveyed the code word in the communication, asking me to find a way to bring you back, so that the Legion can be saved. Now that I have done this, Primarch, you can also perform the task of salvation!"

His voice was so sincere, but Magnus just looked at him expressionlessly. There was no so-called 'breath of life' on his face, only despairing silence and numbness.

Ahriman received no answer, so he raised his head and looked at his primarch. But all he saw was a staggering Magnus turning away, not the face of a determined savior.

"Primarch?!" Ahriman shouted.

"The person you're communicating with is not me." Magnus replied in a low voice. "I never conveyed any code words, Ahriman. And you, you made a deal with that thing in the ocean, didn't you?"

He stood still and turned around.

"What did you trade?" he asked in a low voice.

Ahriman did not answer. He looked extremely shocked and betrayed.

Where they couldn't see, there were wolves running towards them.

There is also a 4k chapter.