40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 403 132. Interlude: The Survivors (Part 2)

So far, the war that suddenly descended on Terra has begun for eight hours.

The pillar of light that rose from the palace heralded its beginning. Unfortunately, only a few people could realize what the pillar of light that pierced the clouds meant.

Compared to the majority of people and soldiers who heard the Emperor's speech and knew that a war had descended on Terra, this small group of people were very unfortunate.

They knew the whole picture of the matter.

They knew when the war began, why it began, and what kind of difficulties they would face next - they knew so many things, so why were they unfortunate?

The answer is simple, because they didn't know when it would end.

Undoubtedly, this brought more and greater pain.

However, as one of the suffering people, Fulgrim couldn't help but smile as he stared at the pillar of light.

At this moment, he stood on a towering wall, the wind was biting, the black snow was dancing, the searchlight was still struggling to stay bright, but most of the light had been swallowed up.

His appearance was looming in the darkness, but this did not diminish the beauty of the smile at all. People couldn't help but raise their heads and began to look up. They wanted to get something from Phoenix's smile at this moment, but not to seek support or strength.

They were firm enough, otherwise they would not be standing here at this moment, holding a light gun. Men or women, old people or young children-except those who really couldn't fight, everyone had a weapon in their hands.

They all heard the words of the Lord of Mankind, and they stood here for this reason, soldiers and civilians, shoulder to shoulder at this moment.

Behind them, there were many tight lines of defense, and every step was heavily guarded.

The bright yellow armor of the Imperial Fists was clearly visible in the wind and snow. In addition to them, there was the cold iron gray of the Iron Hands Legion. The duty and glory of the guards shone fearlessly in the extreme cold.

And along the line of defense, you can see the streets stained with blood and corpses and the broken hives. The roar of artillery and tanks is everywhere, and countless soldiers are fighting on bridges and ruins.

The loyalists are colliding head-on with the demon tide.

Ferrus Manus retracted his distant gaze and looked down. He saw a dense crowd of people, so dense that they even occupied the wide square in front of the fortress.

You know, there are enough places for four legions here, and it seems full at the moment - however, this does not affect the troops behind the fortress to support the hive below.

Rogal Dorn's design is always so reliable.

He arranged a special passage under the fortress, through which the soldiers can freely and secretly rush directly to the hive battlefield, or return from it to recuperate.

Thinking of this, Iron Hand couldn't help but turn his head to look at the Stone. As he expected, his brother still frowned, lowered his head, and clicked back and forth on a data board - this was certainly not preparing for a speech.

At this moment, he was just confirming the restoration of communication on the data board. Ferrus shook his head. He understood what kind of burden his brother was carrying on his shoulders.

And he knew even more clearly that Rogal Dorn did not need any mercy or sympathy.

He turned his head to look at Fulgrim again. The Phoenix's smile at this time was very different from the past, but this did not prevent him from attracting the most attention. Most people were looking at him.

Ferrus had no opinion on this - people have different personalities and talents. He is a good general, and very likely the best in the galaxy.

But when it comes to diplomacy or speeches, Ferrus thinks he is far inferior to Fulgrim.

His natural gloom and majesty that belongs to conquerors will make most people feel in awe of him. In the empire, most of his evaluations and reputations are related to war.

Fulgrim was different, but not in a gaudy way or lusty about beauty. People respected him, loved him, and wanted to follow him - it had always been that way, and it was the same now.

Ferrus accepted this.

He sought perfection, but not without failing to accept his flaws. Thinking of this, he could not help but think of Fulgrim in the past.

Unlike him, the Chemorians had a time when they hated their failures, never discussing their minor shortcomings with anyone, and even became irritable.

Interestingly, this changed after they returned from Nostramo with the Emperor.

Fulgrim was once again his original self, a humble seeker who strived for perfection within his ability rather than pursuing something unattainable, like winning a war without shedding a drop of blood.

Ferrus stopped thinking about it, forcing himself to stop thinking. He could hear Rogal Dorn hanging the datapad back on his belt.

Looking at the weapon belt, Iron Hand actually smiled a little, which was rare. It was insignificant, but it immediately attracted Fulgrim's attention.

"What are you laughing at?" Phoenix asked softly.

"Just thought of some interesting comparisons." Ferrus replied thoughtfully. "Knights and warriors in the Middle Ages also used weapon belts to carry their weapons. It seems that people have been demanding to carry weapons with them at all times since a long time ago."

"Essentially." Dawn continued, her short hair dancing in the wind. "Except for the special material and the different weapons we carry, our armed belts are no different from what they have."

"Is this a question worth considering?" Fulgrim scoffed gently. In the darkness, his right hand quietly pressed a button, and a burst of noise representing the beginning of the speech began to spread in the square.

"Of course it's worth it."

Ferus replied helplessly. He was still very serious, or in other words, he was trying to remain serious. In this expression, his helplessness quickly went away.

Rogal Dorn glanced at them and said nothing. Ferus spoke again.

"This means that we have been with weapons since ancient times. We need weapons, and we must find ways to bring them with us. This means that from ancient times to the present, human beings have been suffering from various threats. Bows and arrows, leather armor, Longswords—bolters, power armor, chainswords.”

Ferus paused for half a second and emphasized his tone with a strong gesture.

"And our ancestors survived every disaster, every crisis that could have led to their demise, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

He stretched out his hands, grasped the wall of the city wall, and stared majestically at the soldiers and people in the square. No one disturbed him, and everyone held their breath, waiting for Gorgon's next words.

"We have inherited the blood and fighting spirit of our ancestors, which continues to this day. Think about it, the people of the empire, how the current situation is similar to our history? The same armed belt, the same life and death crisis——!"

"Like our ancestors, we too stand on the edge of destruction."

He reached out and lifted the Forgebreaker. In the darkness, the Forgebreaker hummed slightly, and the blue arc of electricity began to wrap around the hammer head, illuminating the face of Ferrus Manus.

At this moment, his eyes were extremely bright.

"I have nothing to say. Come fight, come fight side by side."

——

Sol Tarvitz swung his power sword with fierce force.

The sword edge cruelly penetrated the body, and the filthy etheric flesh was broken bit by bit in the decomposition field, and then the strong bones were broken. In the roar, a demon was split into two.

The steaming, stinking internal organs and the decomposing flesh and blood fell to the ground together, and blood splashed all over his body. But this is just the beginning, there are more demons rushing out, trying to get their hands on what is behind them, and this must not happen.

At least, Tavitz can guarantee with his life that no demon will be able to step into the Star Torch Hall inside the Extremis Fortress before they are completely dead.

To do this, they will do whatever it takes.

"I am thunder, I am lightning!"

An unfamiliar war cry came from the front of Tavitz. While the Emperor's Son continued to kill and slash the demonic tide, he glanced at the figure at the front with the corner of his eye.

He was dressed in gold armor with a simple style, and the arm armor and leg armor were dotted with lightning and scarlet. He held a huge sword and was so brave that every time he swung the sword, several demons died at the same time.

Lightning wrapped around the broad sword and illuminated his face - it was an iron face, extremely ruthless. The craftsman's cold percussion created the curve of its sinister smile, and it was covered with blood.

Frankly speaking, Tavitz had never seen such a cruel fighting method, and every blow tried to bring more blood. The warrior who calls himself Thunder is surrounded by mystery, and Tarvitz would love to sit down and talk to him if he had time, if he wanted to.

He knew that he would hear good stories one after another.

But now is not the time.

"Evacuate! Get back to the front!" a voice roared behind them, with a mechanical and electronic undertone. "The artillery has been loaded!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a precise rain of death was shot out from the guns carefully maintained by the Mechanicus. At this moment, the glory and wrath of the God of Machines was revealed.

All kinds of weapons take turns, sharing death selflessly in this extremely spacious tunnel. The demons that rushed out of the fog in large numbers were beaten into a sieve, and the strongest among them only put up a slight resistance.

But they are demons after all. The coquettish ones and the fat rotting ones soon came to the front of the battle and began to use various evil methods to try to prevent Tavitz and other warriors from evacuating.

The soul-stirring music and the plague that could resurrect the dead began to spread rapidly, and the front line was about to collapse - but at the critical moment, a golden shadow charged against the crowd forcefully.

"Evil!"

Thunder roared and chopped down the giant sword in his hand. He jumped up and chopped off the sharp blade in his hand. He didn't think about whether he could come back at all. He had only one purpose, which was to kill the two monsters who confused the front.

When Tavitz saw this scene, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and the Emperor's Son started running towards that direction without hesitation.

In just one second, he had already judged the current situation - reinforcements were still coming, and the Patron Master had mobilized a huge amount of manpower and firepower to ensure that the Star Torch Hall was safe and sound. They only needed to hold on to this wave. .

So those two things must die.

"Cover them!"

A commander made a prompt decision and immediately issued an order. The mortal soldiers immediately shifted their firepower and roared at the enemy one after another with bullets.

They bought some quiet time for Tavitz to run without having to worry about the harassment of demons or resurrected zombies, and also allowed him to arrive near Thunder five seconds early.

At this moment, he was fighting with the pink monster with a long tongue. Although the latter had a charming figure, his movements were incredibly agile. If it weren't for the broad sword that could cover half of his body with a casual block, Lei Ting would have been defeated by now.

Tarvitz saw the opportunity, pulled out the new gun from the Mechanicus on his waist, raised his hand and shot a plasma at the face of the thing.

Lei Ting followed closely and swung his sword to split its charred body in half. The fat and rotten monster was not idle either. It took this opportunity to release a disgusting yellow miasma at them.

At the critical moment, Lei Ting raised his left hand with a grim smile, and a thick black gun barrel protruded from under the gauntlet, and the promethium flame immediately began to burn. The miasma was burned away, and even caused a series of explosions.

In the firelight, Tarvitz fired again, still accurately hitting the big mouth on the fat belly of the fat demon. It wailed, and the fire had just dissipated, and a huge sword appeared from it, completely slicing it from head to toe with extreme violence.

"For unity! For unity!"

Thunder laughed wildly, and slashed with his right hand again, killing several demons immediately, while Tarvitz threw a series of fragmentation grenades and turned away without hesitation.

He knew that Thunder could keep up - in fact, it was true. The cruel giant, who was much taller than him, laughed in a low voice and got closer to him while running.

"Well done, latecomer." He praised, but his tone was full of sarcasm from nowhere.

The Emperor's Son glanced at him and replied: "Each other, you are a fool."

"What's there to fear about death?!" Thunder retorted loudly. "A glorious death is what I have been seeking all my life, Sol Tarvitz of the Emperor's Son! Do you know what glory is?!"

Tarvitz kept silent.

Of course he knew, but he had no glory now - yes, he was fighting for humanity and the Empire, but he had no glory.

He was a runaway, he left his legion and his primarch, and this alone made Tarvitz unable to answer the question.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Thunder didn't ask any more questions, but took off his helmet as soon as he returned to the fortifications, revealing his face.

His skin was a rough bronze color, his nose was high, and his eyes were raised ferociously. At a glance, Tarvitz was sure that this man had experienced a lot of war - but the question was, who was he?

"Who are you?" Tarvitz asked bluntly.

"Think about it slowly." Thunder laughed and answered, shaking his helmet and tucking it under his armpit. "It's just a person who has survived until now."

After that, he turned and left, leaving only a loud battle cry.

"For unity!"

Finally finished writing