40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 407 136. Interlude: Ancient Books (4.4k)

"How many more damn books do you need?" growled the wild bear. "We don't have much time to waste here with you!"

His cloak and fur were dancing in the wind, and the brown tattoos on his face were distorted into a blurry pattern by his owner's anger. As the target of the scolding, Azek Ahriman replied with a short syllable, almost like a plea.

The wild bear supporting him growled angrily, but still raised his hand to point out a direction for his brothers in the wind and snow. Several wild wolves immediately rushed over, roughly grabbed the scrolls piled on the tables and bookcases, and stuffed them into the bags one by one.

Ahriman gasped weakly, with blood dripping from his nose. He was almost unconscious from the torture of the anti-psychic collar around his neck, but he still remained conscious.

In the eyes of the wild bear, this is not a miracle. In his opinion, Azek Ahriman is now worthy of being called the son of Magnus - although it is a bit stupid, but at least it is. There is still integrity.

Just like their father, he was stupid all his life and finally became sober.

How sad.

"Is that enough?!" he roared again.

In reply, Azek Ahriman gave a weak nod, and the wild wolves immediately took him and the books and scrolls and rushed out, boarded the speedboat, boarded the shuttle, and left here in one fell swoop.

The ground of the shuttle was shaking violently as it exited Prospero's atmosphere. For Ahriman, the tremors exacerbated his discomfort, since he was, after all, lying on the ground.

Moreover, the stench here also tortured him - a stench like a beast's lair.

Amid the roar of the machine and the conversation with the wolves, Ahriman's consciousness began to deteriorate. He didn't know what type of anti-psionic collar the wolves put on him, but it must have been added with torture-related functions. .

Qianzi's eyes could no longer see clearly what was in front of him. Between the waves of pain, he vaguely believed that he was in a dark cave. Surrounded by wolves, he was covered in wounds

Wait, eyes.

Ahriman let out a sharp whimper from his throat, and a knife was thrown in front of him at just the right moment. The handle was made of animal bone, and there were still blood stains on the blade.

The wild bear strode over, pulled the disabled Ahriman up from the ground, and thrust the knife into his hand.

"Help, help me." Qianzi said tremblingly, waving his broken arm feebly. "hurry up--"

His request was granted, and the two eyeballs were gouged out and then carefully put into an iron can engraved with runes. The moment the lid was closed, the smell of promethium came out from inside. fleeting.

Blind and disabled, Thousand Sons fell to the ground. He had lost his eyes, but his extraordinary physique was still functioning. He could sense the eager gaze of the wolves and their vigilance.

Someone reached out and fiddled with his head. His hands had the pungent smell of disinfectant, but his movements were roughly like a slave owner looking at the living goods. Ahriman should have been angry about this, but he was too Weakened.

At this time, it was the wolf named Wild Bear who reached out to stop this insulting medical examination.

"Move carefully," he warned. "Although this guy is stupid, he is still useful. Don't forget what Ruth said."

The slave owner grunted, and then began to check his injuries. A few minutes later, two injections were injected into his body through the neck, and the pain was immediately relieved.

Ahriman began to cough, extremely violently, and would not stop. Pieces of internal organs were spit out from his throat, as well as large chunks of foul-smelling blood. Subspace maggots densely poured out of his nose and blood, twisting on the ground.

Ye Xiong cursed and put a knife on his forehead with his backhand. Ahriman screamed, and the skin on his forehead began to hiss, and a huge cold suddenly hit him, causing him to fall into coma instantly.

When he woke up again, he found that he had received treatment to a certain extent. His disabled hands and feet were fixed with fixed plates. Of course, this also made it impossible for him to turn his neck or move his limbs.

In his perception, he should be tied to a rough stone bed. It was still smelly all around, but much warmer.

"You were asleep for twenty-five hours. That's a good number," one person said.

His voice echoed in the darkness, full of wildness. Ahriman heard him sniffing, his nose twitching—and after a few seconds Ahriman came to the conclusion that he remembered who the voice belonged to.

Of course, the owner of this voice also came to a conclusion.

"Not bad." Leman Russ said, with satisfaction in his voice. "The stench on your body has faded a lot, Azek Ahriman. Now, it's time for you to fulfill your promise."

Faced with his request, Qianzi remained silent for several minutes.

This was not because he wanted to go back on his word, but because he needed some time to think about what he had promised. Surprisingly, his silence was not greeted with urging, but with patient waiting.

Ahriman lived up to Leman Russ's patience, and he successfully remembered.

"I--"

He spoke hoarsely, spitting out the first syllable from his throat, followed by several continuous coughs. A fishy sweetness surged up, and he found that his throat hurt as if it had been cut by a knife.

"—I understand, my lord. Where are the scrolls and books?" Ahriman reluctantly added his own words. “I couldn’t do anything without them.”

"Can't do it?" Ruth laughed. "Don't you, the Thousand Sons, claim to have a lot of knowledge? Is this just a boast? The knowledge in the books should be written down, Master Scholar."

"Those books are different," Ahriman explained in a low voice. "They are the private collection of the Primarch and we have no right to read them."

"In other words, you haven't read it?"

"Yes."

"Then what makes you think they can tell us what Magnus did in his final moments?"

Russ asked leisurely, his tone still as usual, but his voice became dangerous.

"In other words, the true feelings you showed at that time, your hatred, anger, and the way you even squirmed your knees to get closer to the place where your father last stood, as well as your passionate guarantees and promises, they are all Fake?”

Ahriman was silent for several seconds before answering this sentence.

"I peeked a few times," he said, his voice filled with shame. "I saw a record of black flames in one of the books."

Ruth chuckled.

"What's the name of that book?"

He asked, his voice becoming muffled, and a strong smell of alcohol came from the direction where he was standing. Once again - Ahriman coughed again and again, but this time it was the breath of wine that caused him to choke.

"This wine is my private collection." Ruth was obviously amused, and he urged vaguely while drinking. "Hurry up and say your name, Qianzi, or I won't treat you to a drink."

"It has no name," Ahriman said, coughing. "It was black and had a rusty blade stuck in the middle of the spine."

Two minutes later he had the book.

Someone roughly stuffed it into his right hand. Ahriman stroked the cover of the book with his fingers and the rusted blade inserted into the spine of the book to replace part of its function, and let out a sigh of relief.

"I still need someone to read it out for me." He requested in a low voice, very humble. "I am blind, please, my lord. This book is not designed for blind people."

"Your demands are really endless." The giant wolf of Fenris said impatiently. Ahriman was blind, but he could still tell from this threatening whisper that Russ might be baring his teeth at the moment.

Qianzi smiled bitterly and wanted to explain, but the book in his hand was snatched away. The sound of pages being turned came out quickly and ended quickly, followed by a simple language.

The narrator's voice was serious and wise, so much so that it took Ahriman a few seconds of astonishment to realize that it was the voice of Leman Russ.

But why does he know that ancient writing?

The Thousand Sons' mind was in confusion. After the Wolf King started chanting for a while, he just remembered the fact that no matter how brutal Leman Russ behaved on weekdays, he was always a Primarch.

"He never responds to any call or any expectation, because He does not have to do such unnecessary things. Hatred will begin to spread in people's hearts along with evil deeds. When the hater raises the sword in his hand out of hatred, the contract has been completed. "

"He is the god of evil, the god of hatred and revenge, but also the god of justice and judgment. He is the thunder and lightning, the dark winter and the dark red flames, the cruel punishment and the primitive revenge."

"There are few believers in it, and they usually refuse to communicate with others. They are trapped in killing all their lives because they do not live for themselves. They made a contract, and from then on they can only run for the dead."

"If the law cannot punish the criminal, or cannot give the criminal the punishment he deserves, they will appear, and their methods are as cruel as those who are born with bloodthirsty disease."

"The limbs of the deceased will be separated from the torso by a knife blade and buried under the threshold. The head and body will be hung on the beams of the home. Blood will be splashed throughout the home, and a sharp knife full of blood stains will usually be left at the scene. ”

"They are not welcome. They are not welcome in any village or city. Such a cruel death caused panic among the people and condemnation from the sheriff. The bad guys vividly described them as a group of ghosts who can only move at night. ”

"As time passes, eras change, new cities oppress the wilderness and savagery, and they disappear. But they still exist, and they will always exist."

Ruth raised her head and closed the book.

"What book is this?" he asked with interest. "Who wrote it, Azek Ahriman?"

"I don't know." Qianzi replied slightly hesitantly. "All I know is that the Primarch got it from an auction."

"What auction?"

"Antique auction, in the solar system, actually, on a ship in low Earth orbit of Terra."

Thousand Sons answered quickly, his distant memories gradually coming back to life. Some pictures flashed before his eyes, and they were so real. The pride of walking with the original body at that time came to his mind, making his nose feel sore, but he could no longer shed tears.

So he continued.

"The original body received the news. He heard that this time there would be a Rogue Trader who specializes in collecting ancient books. The collection in his hands were all precious books that had survived the ancient night. So he immediately took me there. This book The book is one of the ancient books we bought.”

Ruth lowered his head and glanced at the book in his hand. The dark cover looked like animal skin, very worn with age. There are many scratches on the surface of the book, very deep, very scary scratches

The Wolf King narrowed his eyes, and his fangs unconsciously poked out of his lips.

What kind of scratch is this? It was clearly the cruel traces left by slashing with axes and chisels. There were attempts to destroy this book, but it has survived to this day.

He looked at the rusty spine again. It was indeed rusty, that was true, but there was a strange dark red blood stain on the blade.

The Wolf King thought for a moment and opened the book again.

Ahriman's voice came immediately: "My lord, I implore you to search more about the flame."

The Fenrisian kept silent and continued to read, the wrinkles between his eyebrows getting deeper and deeper. The pages of the book were constantly being turned, with a clattering sound, which made one almost wonder whether he was reading, or whether he was simply turning the pages for fun.

Ahriman wanted to ask about the progress, but he heard the sound of metal falling to the ground.

"grown ups?"

Russ didn't answer, just stared at the metal emblem that had just fallen from the book to the ground in silence. After a few seconds, he bent down to pick it up and looked at it carefully.

The emblem itself is probably made of metal. It has been severely corroded by time and is very rough to get.

The front of it is a straight sharp blade, hanging straight down. The lines are so sharp that it is almost weird, making people almost think that it will chop off someone's head in the next second. On the back is a skull, and the eye sockets are particularly terrifying and deep.

Russ held it tightly, his hair - or rather, hair, already standing slightly on end.

The Wolf King looked at the book without hesitation, as if being guided. In the first second, his eyes caught sight of a line of text. It shouldn't have been the object of his attention, because it was just a line of comments, so small that it was inconspicuous and densely packed.

"My lord?" Ahriman called again. "what happened?"

"The sharp blade is one of the carriers of His power." Russ began to recite the line of text. "There are many weapons in the world, and sharp blades are His favorite. His believers usually hold knives, single swords, double swords, or daggers that can be used for throwing."

"But revenge is not just one way. Enemies can be tortured and killed in many ways. If you have hatred in your heart and have the courage and anger to seek revenge, then any weapon can be used to make a contract with Him. ”

"In the same way, fire can also be used, and frost can also be used. The latter two are probably punishments that have continued from the barbaric era to this day."

"The flames usually appear in two colors: black and red, but they are only dark red and inconspicuous. Frost usually appears along with dark snowstorms, turning soil and rivers into glaciers."

"If the two appear together, it means that this place is being paid attention to by Him. If the sky becomes dark, the sunlight disappears, and there is lightning and thunder, it means that He is extremely angry."

He stopped talking, turned the pages of the book, looked around, and then read out the last three sentences.

".However, if the person with hatred is defenseless, or if he cannot take revenge on his own, he can turn to Him in another way. Not a contract, but a sacrifice."

"He who has a grudge can step onto the altar, any altar, He understands. If you have made up your mind completely, He will respond just once. The flames of anger will burn your body, and from then on, you will be destroyed physically and spiritually. Hatred is His hatred, and your hatred is His hatred.”

"The gods will take revenge on your behalf."

Russ closed the book, and Azek Ahriman was silent for a while, then suddenly asked a ridiculously cheap question.

"My lord, what does this mean?" he asked, as if he did not understand. Ruth looked at him, didn't answer, just turned and left.

"grown ups!"

"Stop shouting, Azek Ahriman," the Fenrisian said calmly. "We're on our way to Terra."

The update is complete, the total is just over 10,000, we will continue tomorrow.