40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 406 135. Interlude: The Burning of Prospero (6.3k)

"You must destroy this place," Magnus said.

He held a sharp knife and pointed it at his own eye.

You can tell who the knife belongs to at a glance, or where it comes from.

It has a handle carved from animal bone, and the extremely sharp blade is engraved with shining runes, which are not any ancient runes on Fenris. It looked like a bloody sharp knife from Nostramo.

It was originally just a secret idea belonging to the Night King, but it was turned into reality by the Fenrisians. It was forged in the winds and snows of Fenris. It crossed the wind and snow and countless light years ago to come here, and was finally held in the hands of the Crimson King on this alien land.

"What do you mean?" Leman Russ asked emotionlessly, as if he really didn't understand.

"Destroy this place, Russ." Magnus said as he looked at the shining tip of the knife. "I can feel that Prospero is being changed. The power from the vast ocean is saturating this place, and I don't know what it will become."

"And what about your people?"

Magnus couldn't help but smile, and the corners of his mouth curved upward, showing a smile: "I have no more 'people' to speak of."

He wasn't lying, it was the truth. Looking around, the streets of the city are burning, the towers are gradually collapsing due to force majeure, and Tizka, who was once sublimated by psychic powers, is now facing a slow and painful destruction due to psychic powers.

The mutation of flesh and blood is so fair, it treats Prospero equally. It doesn't care who you are or whether you try to resist.

Either go crazy or join and die - there is no other option.

Russ narrowed his eyes slightly, and the animal bone ornaments on his wild long hair tied up according to the Fenrisian habit were now colliding with each other in the strong wind, making crisp sounds.

Dark snow was still falling, and the wolves stood behind them, burning the bodies of the dead Thousand Sons with flames. Deep pits were dug one after another, promethium flames burned blazingly, and blazing white fire pillars burned the bodies and the edges of the pits.

The peculiar smell lingered, making his nose twitch.

"Do you remember Ullanor?" Russ asked suddenly, pointing to the fire pits.

Magnus was stunned, and the sharp knife that was about to stab his eyes stopped at this moment. He didn't think about Ullanor, at least not until Russ mentioned it.

But he did remember Ullanor, and everything that happened that day was vivid in his memory.

The emperor's preaching, the people's celebrations, their longing for a better future. And a relaxing evening they had spent together, no fights, no wars, no complex situations that required multiple considerations.

Playing cards, drinking, fighting, and joking with each other. Without thinking too much, they actually felt something like 'brotherhood' that should be illusory.

Ferrus Manus and Vulkan tested their strength, Sanguinius and the Khan recommended books to each other, and Mortarion and Alpharius fought each other on the Regicide board.

Surrounded by them were Corvus Corax, Robert Guilliman and Rogal Dorn. The three of them kept taking turns giving all kinds of bad ideas to the two people who were not good at playing chess. Nushi was also showing a rare smile for his brothers' performance.

Konrad Coates stood on the terrace and teased Leon Eljonson, who arrived late. Although the Lion's expression was angry, it also rarely showed some relief.

Perturabo stood side by side with the phoenix of Chemos, and the Lord of Olympia rarely talked to others about his views on art - and then his memories ended here.

Magnus couldn't think about it anymore because a harsh chuckle filled his ears.

"Isn't it too late to be nostalgic about the past, Magnus?"

The voice asked a question in a leisurely manner - and then more words, with calmness and appreciation, as if it was giving an evaluation from the perspective of a critic.

"However, this part of the memory does have the value of nostalgia. A race, an empire, suddenly turned from prosperity to decline at its peak moment, and fell into endless darkness. This day in your memory is the moment when it reached its peak. I think I’ll take it out often to savor.”

Russ heard Magnus suddenly curse - he had never heard the Red King curse in such simple, straightforward and dirty language.

Then, he saw his brother suddenly raise the sharp knife in his hand and stab his eyes without hesitation.

Blood splattered and the sharp knife sank into his left eye, but Magnus still felt it was not enough.

In the severe pain, he gritted his teeth, slowly rotated his wrist, and pulled out the blade. His eyeballs were pulled out along with the sharp knife stained with the blood of the original body. Then, he was taken off by the Red King himself and threw it on the ground. .

It lay on the snow and hissed. After a while, it melted out of a small hole and submerged into the black snow pit. White smoke swayed upwards, and intense blue light suddenly emerged from the crater.

Magnus bent over and gasped in pain, but tremblingly raised the sharp knife in his hand again and stabbed into his right eye. A few seconds later, the other eye was thrown out, and the blue light rose again.

Holding a sharp knife in hand, the Crimson King slowly knelt on the ground, facing complete darkness.

He couldn't see anything, but the pain was always with him. This was naturally the handiwork of his jailer - Magnus' pain was aggravated, and a disobedient prisoner would naturally be punished.

In a daze, Magnus almost felt like his soul was being torn apart

He knelt down on the ground tremblingly, his knees were cold. Tzeentch's voice came back again. This time, there was something careless like playfulness in his voice.

"Yes, you can get rid of me for a while, for this has also become one of his altars - but what's the use, Magnus?"

"You know in your heart that the part of your free will you are showing now is only due to my permission, and you are still in my hands. All the resistance you make exists because of my tolerance. If I want, you can even There will be no chance of resistance.”

"A moment of freedom" Magnus whispered. "It's better than being an eternal slave."

Tzeentch laughed, and the sound faded away, and another bone-chilling coldness crawled down the knees to the insteps of Magnus. Immediately afterwards, Ruth pulled him up.

"How does it feel?" the Fenrisian asked.

"It sucks," Magnus said. "Fortunately, we still have time to do the next thing. Where is my company commander?"

Russ raised his eyes and looked at the Thousand Sons whose hands and feet had been broken by the wild wolves. The latter was lying on the ground in despair, without saying a word.

"Right over there -" Ruth grinned and raised his hand to point. "——But you can't see it, and besides, he's having a gun put to his head. You have no problem with this, right?"

"Bring him here."

Russ shook his head and gestured to the wolves. One of them took a step forward, cut off his hands and feet, and was dragged over by Azek Ahriman, who was wearing an anti-psionic collar, and threw him in front of the two original bodies.

His movements were quite rough, like throwing a dead animal.

"Damn it, wild bear." The Wolf King suddenly cursed. "Can't you move more gently?"

"He is a traitor." The warrior known as the Wild Bear answered bluntly and vulgarly, his voice low. "Besides, I won't look down upon a fool who sold out his legion."

Russ took a deep breath and turned to look at Magnus - this incident was really not what he expected, but he didn't see any anger on Magnus's blood-covered face. There is only peace.

"He's right," said the Crimson King. "My captain is indeed a fool, just like me. Ahriman, do you hear me?"

Thousand Sons raised his head and glanced at his genetic father.

"What did you trade?"

Magnus lowered his head, his empty eyelids filled with blood. He stared at Azek Ahriman and asked the question again.

But this time, Ahriman did not escape, or rather, failed to escape. His lips were trembling, and his face was as pale as paper.

"Everything." After a long time, he replied. "I told the thing that I would give anything if I could save my Primarch and my Legion."

Magnus laughed.

"Well, congratulations on your success." He sarcastically said bluntly and without mercy. "It does take everything from you, your honor, your legion, your hometown."

"But the rescue promised in the contract we made -" Azek Ahriman gritted his teeth and moved his broken knees, squirming towards the original body bit by bit. "— did not come true! It deceived me, Primarch!"

He shouted, his voice dissipated in the cold wind, how sad it was.

"The definition of salvation is obviously different between you and it."

Magnus shook his head, ignoring the plea in his son's words. He looked a little tired, but still answered Ahriman's words.

"But this is also my problem. After I left, I realized how dangerous the vast ocean is, but I didn't give you a clear warning. No, maybe, even if I gave a warning, you wouldn't hear it. In the past four years, you He could be behind every communication you have with me.”

The Crimson King chuckled mockingly.

"Destiny?" He raised his head and looked at the sky, his voice sounded like a question, but also like a sigh. "Is this the fate of me and my legion? Whatever."

Magnus shook off Russ's support, turned around, and stumbled toward the burning city. He didn't walk fast, but it was enough to show his determination.

The Fenrisian narrowed his eyes, roared, and followed closely. The wolves followed their leader in silence. The warrior named Wild Bear even did not forget to drag Ahriman away.

Their eyesight was intact, but they chose to let the only blind person here lead the way, following closely behind him and letting him walk around. They gradually penetrated deeper into Tizca, and at this time, the scene here was fully visible to everyone.

Azek Ahriman opened his eyes in despair, looking at the corpses scattered all over the place, watching the liquefied flesh and bones intertwined with the gelatinous bones, burning intimately together in the mortal flames.

There are still screams echoing in the city, not like humans. The company commander laughed like crazy, and the wild bear yelled at him to keep quiet, but the Thousand Sons didn't listen at all.

"Let him vent." Ruth's voice came distantly from the wind and snow ahead, as if it came from ancient times. The Wolf King's voice was very calm. "It's the only freedom he can have."

Eventually, they followed Magnus to an empty square.

Here, the Crimson King slowly turned around and looked at Leman Russ as if he was feeling something. The Wolf King did not escape, but stared at the withered eyelids. Black snow howled in the strong wind and flashed before their eyes.

One person was fully armed with armor and a blade, but the other person only wore thin blood-stained clothes and only had a blood-stained sharp knife in his hand.

"Ruth."

The Wolf King obeyed the call and took a few steps forward to stand in front of his brother.

"I want to ask you to tell me something."

"Say it," Ruth replied in a low voice. "Tell me everything you know, I promise you, Magnus."

"Did Conrad Coates foresee what happened today?"

"No."

"Then this knife-" Magnus raised the sharp knife with an aggressive tone, as if questioning. "——Why was it born?"

"For you, brother," Ruth replied bitterly. "He only saw you in the numerous hallucinations. He saw you being turned into a puppet by the ancient evil god. He saw you being driven by the evil god in pain, destroying world after world."

"He didn't know if that day would really come, but I always prepare for the worst about everything. So I asked him, if things really come to this, how should we end -"

Russ stretched out his hand, took Magnus's right hand, and pointed the sharp knife at his throat.

"—so he told me we could make a knife."

"Then you should have killed me with this knife sooner."

Magnus was silent for a moment, smiled miserably, and withdrew his right hand, preventing it from pointing at Russ' throat again. His voice gradually became more intense.

"You should have killed me before this really became a reality."

"We can't do this," Ruth said lowly. "We cannot commit murder just for a so-called prediction. The future is one-sided and is shaped by us in the present. If we believe everything in prophecy, what's the point of living in the present?"

Magnus fell silent, and when he spoke again, his voice had become rational, even to the point of being a little detached.

The destruction of Tizca, the burning of Prospero, and the mad howls of Azek Ahriman were no longer a problem for him, no longer requiring any attention. At this moment, he was focused on only one thing.

"I am a door." He said in a low voice. "Through me, those things in the vast ocean can peek into the world."

"In the past, I once refuted other scholars' behavior of calling them demons. Even if it is clearly recorded in ancient books, I still think this word is just a word forced on them by superficial fools."

"I have visited the vast ocean at least tens of thousands of times, Russ. Many times, I passed by them and felt their size and wisdom. I once believed that I could trade with them and gain benefits from the transaction. . Looking back now, it’s a ridiculous idea. And my son—”

He looked towards Ahriman. Thousand Sons looked at his original body, blood and tears streaking down his cheeks.

He finally understood what he had done.

"——Naturally, he inherited me." The Crimson King smiled.

"He made a deal with that thing, just like I did. It seems to be a curse, brother. Since time immemorial, people of superior intelligence like us have had this trait and character."

"We believe that we are very important. The world will not move without us. We are the center of the world. Everyone should listen to our words because we have a sense of responsibility, a sense of responsibility that is better than ourselves."

"It once appeared in me, causing me to step into the trap of the evil god for my legion. It also appeared in my son, causing him to sacrifice everything he had out of the desire to save."

"Ultimately, this attitude can only be summed up as arrogance and arrogance. The more knowledge, the more ignorant you are. And now, retribution has come. My son used a spell to take me away from Terra. That spell Tear apart my father's greatest creation yet."

"What is it?" Ruth asked.

"You don't know?" Magnus asked in surprise.

He was met with an ambiguous smile, and he knew it was another one of the Fenrisian jokes - always so out of place, and one that had irritated Magnus so many times in the past. But now, he just wants to smile.

"Yes."

With a smile and a sigh, the Crimson King slowly spoke out the name.

"Webway."

"Azek Ahriman tore the Webway apart. Although there was only a small opening, the Webway was a delicate and huge creation. You and I both know that there is no room for sloppiness in such a huge project, and no tiny detail can be tolerated. Mistakes can have fatal consequences."

"What's more, this mistake was carefully designed by Him, so I have reason to believe that Terra has now fallen into the sea of ​​fire. Just like Prospero. No, it may even be worse."

"What do you want to do?" Ruth asked.

He patiently listened to all of Magnus' confession and took the words to heart. However, after all this talk, the topic still has to come back to one thing.

"I still have some psychic powers."

Magnus turned his head, stretched out his hand, and felt the burning Prospero in the wind and snow, but the words in his mouth still did not stop.

"Pure, spiritual energy that is not controlled by Him. Although you may not believe it, I did gain freedom briefly. My father took away my talent and let me leave the prison."

"During the four years on Terra, I re-entered the path of psychic energy as an apprentice. It was not easy to start over, and this bit of psychic energy is all I got. To be fair, they are actually very important to the current situation. It doesn't help much, but I have a lot of knowledge and He can't see me now."

He raised his hand and pointed at the dark sky filled with the howls of innocent souls. An extremely obvious smile gradually appeared on Magnus's face.

"But I can see Him." The Crimson King said proudly. "I am a door. He can observe the world through me, and I can see Him through myself."

"He is at his wits end, Russ, at least not now. His plans and conspiracies have surfaced. He needs me to carry out subsequent plans. I have seen them all. He wants me to burn Terra and let me fight for Terra made the final cut."

Magnus stopped talking, the pride on his face gradually turning into anger, real, burning anger.

The empty square behind him began to sink. Ancient bricks and stones replaced the blood-stained ground. The stones rubbed against each other. Thunder roared above the clouds. A bolt of lightning struck the center of the square. Then, just for a moment, a dark and angry The flames burst into flames.

Azek Ahriman murmured to himself: "What is this?"

Wild Bear glanced at him and shook his head: "Are you really stupid, Thousand Sons? This is a sacrifice."

Ruth took a sharp step forward.

"Don't come here." Magnus said with warning, standing in the flames. "Don't come over here, Ruth."

The wind roared, and the snowflakes turned into wailing human faces, gradually surrounding Magnus. The magic circle that had been engraved on the stone ground began to gradually light up, circle after circle, spreading like water ripples in the water.

Lord Prospero's voice began to echo in everyone's ears.

"He thinks he can control everything, but he can't. He is not truly omniscient and omnipotent. He planted a thousand hidden stakes in my hometown to set up traps. Azek, you are just one of them."

"Even without you, there will be others who will carry out another plan. He has taken great pains to me. Like here. He has carefully manipulated some unfortunate people to bury these stones and carve these magic circles."

"They were buried under this square as early as when we were participating in the expedition. Each piece was transported halfway across the galaxy, and was buried in the soil for eighteen years. middle."

"My destiny is already in His hands, but I can still resist."

"Father!" Ahriman struggled to shout. "Stop! There must be another way!"

"This is a sacrificial formation."

Magnus paid no attention and just continued. Perhaps he was unwilling, or perhaps he was unable to respond.

Leman Russ was the closest to his brother. He could see Magnus's skin gradually melting like a wax figure, and the true face exposed underneath - wings, bird feet, hands turning into giant claws, breathing in Revealing the smell of ashes.

A sound far beyond the limits of human capture began to echo in his ears. Not even the Astartes could hear it, but the Primarch could, as it related to the Warp. It was a scream, uttered by Magnus. The pain was excruciating, as if he was undergoing disintegration torture.

Magnus was screaming into the warp.

In other words, declare.

"Its purpose is to transform me and make me one of the demons."

The Crimson King slowly raised his hands, and a light so faint that it could hardly be seen bloomed from between his claws. That was his own psychic power, the psychic power that only belonged to Magnus, the Primarch of the Fifteenth Legion of the Human Empire.

Weak and insignificant, yet so bright that it illuminated the entire subspace at this moment. There was a roar, and Magnus laughed heartily.

He uttered the last words, a curse, without any hint of scholar's arrogance or pedantry.

However, from another perspective, it can also be called a joke, a joke specially made for Leman Russ to reward him for his tireless annoying behavior over the years. He used Fenris' ancient One of the dialects said this sentence.

"But don't even fucking think about it, you filthy, vile warp parasite!" Magnus roared.

A huge, scarlet, terrifying shape rose into the sky, reaching straight into the sky. The flames dissipated and the Crimson King was gone. Meanwhile, beneath their feet, there was a slow crackling sound in Prospero's earth.

Leman Russ grinned and showed a sincere smile.

"That's a good joke, man," he said.

There is one more chapter.