40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 397 126. Interlude: The Narrator’s Dream (5k)

My name is Berros von Sharp, one of the chroniclers of the Eighth Legion. I've been walking with ghosts for years.

For a weirdo like me, this was pretty enjoyable. However, if we look closely at the origin, I am afraid it can be traced back to an ordinary late night on Terra. He found me on the ground floor of the hive and asked me through the mouth of the Imperial Guard whether I really wanted to leave Terra.

I agreed.

I wasn't meant to live so many years after the unification ended. Like those vanishing thunders, I was meant to die somewhere. But I am his standard-bearer after all, and I have stood behind him since the beginning of the first war.

I've seen him fight alongside Malcador the Marked, and I've seen Constantine Valdor lead the Custodes to tear apart our enemies. I've waved the flag for our heroes at their backs.

Therefore, I always feel that the reason why I have been able to live for so long is just because I have witnessed too many heroes. Their radiance affected me and gave me longevity.

The truth is this, I am the person hiding behind the glory of the hero. The number of enemies I killed was probably less than one-tenth of them. As a result, some painters actually painted me in the center of the painting when commemorating them, standing side by side with them. It was really ridiculous.

Back to the topic, this kind of longevity is really painful for me - in short, after a series of complicated bargaining and the cold snort of the imperial army, I immediately started packing my luggage and prepared to leave Terra by boat.

I have never left this planet. I was born here and I will probably die here. But I didn't think too much at the time, I just wanted to meet those ghosts as soon as possible.

I arrived at Nostramo as a matter of course, was introduced, and met the Lord of Blades, the King of the Night, Konrad Curze himself.

Frankly speaking, I was shocked. I think my expression must have been very funny, otherwise he wouldn't have laughed so happily after thinking about it for a short time.

During the Great Crusade, the Midnight Blades had three expeditions, and I was assigned to one of them. This one was special, but I found out why it was special only after a while.

At that time, it had been nearly two weeks since I met Khalil Lohars. I followed Yago Severtarion and observed the actions of the Night Blades. All the details fascinate me, I fought for unity and now, I realize they did too.

But the way the night blades fight is quite unfamiliar to me. Sometimes, I almost feel that they are deliberately engaging in massacre and enjoying bloody joy. In order to verify this, I deliberately looked into everyone's eyes after many battles.

From those dark eyes of the dead, all I found was peace.

Then I understood that this was just a means - and it was a means that I couldn't understand yet, so I started to wait. As time passed, I finally saw the true use of this method.

deterrence.

Humans are capable of fear, and the Night Blades have gone to great lengths to transform themselves into the embodiment of fear.

They are not proud of this, nor do they covet the dark joy of dominating other people's lives. They have only one purpose in doing this, which is to cause as few casualties as possible. If they can capture a certain planet without spending a single soldier, they will even celebrate it for a day.

Ah, speaking of celebrating, rest in peace Keger.

However, that sounds ironic, right? The Legion with the most cruel methods was actually the most merciful of the Astartes. Of course, my statement may be biased, after all, I have been walking with them.

I have published many books, mostly about Yago Savitarion. I am not deliberately promoting an idol that exists only in words, creating a false legend.

Iago Severtarion is one of the heroes in his own right, I am sure of it, and I have proof, even though the proof cannot be produced.

At first, I published books about him just for fun, but later on, I started to actually write about things that I cared about, such as my observations about Konrad Coates, my observations about Cary Cognition of L. Lohars.

I saved these manuscripts, and after I finish writing this, I will save it too. At this very moment, I am sitting in an underground shelter in Nostramo, writing these words in my notebook.

I knew in my heart that these manuscripts would never be published, but I still had to write them, and I had to write them in a narrative tone.

After all, I am a chronicler, and this is my bounden duty. Although I was terrible at my job, my writing was almost illogical, and literary critics even said I knew nothing about writing. There is no structure or subject, it is like talking in a dream.

I admitted this and agreed with what they said, otherwise why would I have spent money on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses when I left Terra? I hope I at least look like a narrator.

but

Gosh, whoever you are, if you're reading this manuscript, I want you to know one thing.

I had a dream last night.

I couldn't forget it, but I couldn't tell anyone about it either. It's too scary.

I dreamed that the blue light screamed in the dark space where the stars were extinguished, and the voice was full of pain. A black flame followed closely behind, biting it in the dead universe.

Blue starlight like blood spreads on the dark curtain, like broken gems, but if you look closely, you will find that these so-called gems are all extremely ugly. It's a blood-sucking insect or a poisonous insect that bites people, and its eyes are full of greed.

They only existed for a moment and then dissipated, completely reduced to ashes by the flames, but I was sure they saw me.

At the same time, the screams of the blue starlight began to become more intense. I can't describe the sound at all. If I had to describe it, it was like the noise of hundreds of Stormbirds flying overhead at the same time.

It makes you wonder if you have a perforated eardrum. Only when it dissipates completely and you and the people around you greet each other pale will you know whether you still have hearing.

But I don’t have such a pale friend to exchange greetings with.

Last night, I woke up for the first time from a dream, Standard Terra, at 1:23 in the morning. My bed was completely soaked, and I looked at my hands.

Do you know what I saw, dear reader?

I saw my bones and veins coming to life beneath my almost transparent skin. I unbuttoned my clothes and looked at my body, and it did the same.

A sudden premonition rose from the bottom of my heart. I didn't know where it came from. It said many words, but I could only understand one sentence.

It says, My time is near.

I don't know what this means, maybe it's a death warning? I didn’t have an answer, and I don’t have one now. I heard these words, and then I fainted again, and once again saw the blue light and the black flame.

This time I realized something, because those black flames were so familiar to me. Anyone who has seen it once will never forget it again.

But what exactly is this scene that appears in my dream?

I had a question and got an immediate answer.

A person, no, no, a thing, appeared in front of me.

It's not an illusion, it's something that really exists. It heard my voice from the other side of the universe, so it came to my mind and spoke to me in my dreams.

It was covered in blood, but still smiling.

"This is the process of your god slaughtering me, Bellos von Sharp. Hello, first meeting."

It greeted me kindly, but I felt chills all over - I had never believed in any god in my life, and what on earth was it?

"I'm afraid I can't tell you the answer to this question, you'll go crazy." It replied in a deep voice, as if it knew what I was thinking.

I looked at its face, and the endlessly changing ball of light slowly turned into a face I had seen on a recruitment poster, an officer from the Ministry of Military Affairs.

On the poster, he posed in a heroic posture, inviting the subjects of the empire to join the auxiliary army. And this thing took on his appearance and assumed the same posture.

The recruiting officer smiled widely at me.

"I chose an image you can accept to talk to you, Narrator."

He rubbed his hands, his white gloves soaked with blood. His seven orifices were bleeding, and fragments like starlight were pouring out of his throat.

"I'm sorry for visiting without permission, but I need to use your brain to hide from him. I shot myself in the foot, you know? This little world you live in-"

He narrowed his eyes and opened his bloody mouth seemingly happily. I saw the withered yellow teeth trembling slightly like saw teeth. He stretched out his right hand and made a gesture, his gesture was so compassionate.

"—is being occupied by the storm of chaos." He chuckled. "It's a good thing that allows me to briefly bypass the veil, but so can he."

He spat out a mouthful of blood and wiped his mouth nonchalantly. I saw his flesh trembling, and as I stared at that face, fragments of words I had heard in the past, some of the stories he had told us around the fire, came to mind at this moment.

I thought it must be an evil spirit, and an ancient evil spirit. It must have been devouring flesh and blood and thirsting for life a long time ago.

"Correct answer." He coughed in approval. "I am indeed very ancient, and I am indeed an evil spirit - ah, it really hurts, he has caught up with me."

He half-knelt on the ground and weakly covered his neck. The clothes on his back began to swell, and a broken crown tore through his clothes and flesh, emerging bloody.

It seemed to be made of ore or thorns, with a dark red light emitting from its surface. Then, a pale bone hand suddenly emerged from the gap in the recruiter's body.

This hand held the edge of his body and began to gradually lead the master away as he screamed. It was so scary, I thought I would see a monster, but I didn't expect I would see a familiar person.

"Of course you're familiar with him! You idiot!"

The recruiting officer laughed contemptuously at me. He kept screaming, but he could still laugh wildly. I really didn't understand how he did it. But I wasn't in the mood to speculate anymore, because I saw Khalil Lohars.

Wearing the Face of Bones, the innocent soul defended me, and the dark mist spread from his bloody feet, creating a horrific scene of massacre in my dream.

He looked at me and sighed slowly.

"Stand away," he said slightly warningly. "Don't contaminate yourself with these nightmares, Belros."

"Don't listen to him, come here, Narrator! Don't let him tell you what to do! People must have free will, free will, do you understand?!"

The skinned recruiter lay on the ground and yelled at me, the skin and flesh falling off his face.

For some reason, I think he is very weak. Isn't his appearance of being unable to maintain his human form the best evidence?

This gave me courage, and I spat at him—standing behind Instructor Khalil, of course, as always.

Sigh, I wish I had a flag in my hand.

"Oh, you brave mortal!"

The recruiter laughed harshly again, the flesh dissolving in my saliva, and the bones exposed. He was still calling, still trying to cajole me.

"Come and witness this battle of gods, Belros! You won't regret it, this slaughter show is definitely worth the price of admission! We are in your brain, and we will fight in a way you can understand, so you will see I was dismembered by him and brutally killed by him! You will see all the worst punishments in human history!”

His words were really crazy, but instructor Khalil seemed unmoved. I saw him stomp on the recruiter's head and then stop moving.

For at least a few minutes, he didn't say a word, just staring somewhere through the empty eye sockets of the skull mask. I followed his gaze, but there was nothing there, just pure nothingness.

After a while, he lowered his head and spoke to the thing. His voice made me shudder. I almost didn’t think he was the ‘instructor’ I knew.

"What are you going to do to Nostramo?" I heard Instructor Khalil ask.

"Do nothing, old friend I rarely see."

He replied weakly, the smile still clear in his voice.

"You should ask yourself what you did to it. You chased me around the galaxy no matter the cost. Have you ever thought about why I didn't just escape behind the curtain? Your power has spread. Now, you will You will reap the consequences."

Instructor Khalil seemed to be smiling under the mask. He waved his arms, and the soul of the enemy emerged from the void and began to bite the flesh and blood of the recruiter. He screamed like never before - I don't understand why he was in pain. That was until I remembered his words.

They were inside my head, representing the fight in a way that I could understand.

So, if I wanted to see reality, what would I see?

This idea started to take root in my mind as soon as it appeared, and my body took a step forward uncontrollably.

I woke up immediately. Instructor Khalil glanced at me, but didn't say anything more. Instead, the thing at his feet laughed again, deliberately looking pitiful.

"Let me go, eh? Old friend? You can't kill me. Continuing to torture me and make me bleed is just a waste of time. Go back to Terra quickly. If it's too late, you may be in danger."

"Then I will let the entire galaxy burn." Instructor Khalil said. "If the future of mankind is completely cut off, how can other things live? I will continue to kill until the galaxy is empty, and then beyond."

"Oh, don't act like that. You wouldn't do that. I didn't touch your anchor."

"Do you want to bet?" Instructor Khalil asked softly.

Over the years, I have become accustomed to the soft murmurs in which the nightblades converse, taunt, and curse each other. But I rarely heard this tone. Even in those terrible eighteen years, I never saw him talk to anyone like this.

I was stunned, and the thing holding the recruiter's skin seemed to be the same.

"I know what you are going to do. You want to use yourself to hold me back so that your plan can succeed, break Nostramo, and completely ruin the Eighth Legion. But, I don't like this kind of thing."

He smiled again, this time so clearly that even I could hear the ruthless smile.

"So you only have one choice. Now, take your pick."

A burning black flame began to appear under his feet, dust was everywhere, and it was hanging upside down. I looked at the flame and couldn't take my eyes away. I couldn't understand anything at the time, but I still firmly remembered everything I saw. Also included are things that appear in the flames.

I definitely saw Terra burning. Then I heard the recruiting officer's voice again, only this time, his voice had changed.

It became low, as if it was an echo from eternity. I looked at him and saw a mirror. The person in the mirror had no face, like a dummy or a model, but he could breathe and spit out pieces of white mist that came from nowhere.

"You won't do this." I heard the dummy say in a determined tone.

But Instructor Khalil's skeleton, half of his body already dissipated in the flames, remained indifferent. His voice was soundless, dead and cold.

"You can give it a try. Do you want to take a gamble? You can see the past or the future. You can extend countless threads from the present and observe the direction of things. So, come and try to read my mind, great Wan The Lord of Change.”

"You can't give up this tiny bit of hope!" the dummy in the mirror roared.

"You are a stupid idealist like him. You should abandon Terra and return to Nostramo. You should come to your hometown and tear this world into pieces with your own hands! Follow my plan. Do it, you stupid god!"

"Stop pretending," the skeleton said calmly. "You are not angry, you are just pretending, trying to make me think that I have control of the overall situation. Choose, Tzeentch, while you can."

I don’t know how long this moment of stalemate lasted, because my thoughts were confused - in my memory, I clearly felt that they talked for a longer time and revealed more words, but I can record it. There are only so many.

Ah, yes, there is one last scene.

I saw the mirror shattered, the dummy fell to its knees, opened its chest with both hands, took out a large ball of starlight, and crushed it in front of us.

He just disappeared, and the sound of the howling wind when he left is something I will never forget.

I know that this is a victory, and I once again witnessed a victory brought by a hero.

Then I woke up and saw fire raining down outside my window.

This is war, someone is waging war against Nostramo. It was five hours ago, but I know we will win.

We will definitely win.

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