40k: Midnight Blade

Cassidorius Delkunas has read many books, and most of these books are contraband officially labeled as 'dangerous' by the empire.

In the distant 40th millennium, knowledge is poisonous and ignorance becomes a kind of protection. Cassidorius naturally knew about this, but he was studying under orders, so no one would bother him about it.

In total, he has read more than 12,000 books, all of which were delivered to him by 'official personnel'. They cover all kinds of knowledge in various fields, from biological illustrations to seemingly ordinary fiction novels, everything is included.

Cassidorius didn't understand at the time why he had to read so many books. Does an officially certified Terran explorer really need so much knowledge? Or is it that the empire gives him preferential treatment because he is the last descendant of the Delkunas family?

He once thought that those books were just a kind of political preferential treatment, or that someone thought that the license in their family treasure house was too sacred. But now, he seemed to be vaguely aware of something.

Those gifts come with a price, right?

"This is a mammoth."

He shook these thoughts away, patted the remains behind him, and began to explain his only companion. A hollow echo spread from the empty ribs of the corpse, creating a regular murmur.

"It is said that these terrible creatures usually move in groups, with a body length of eight meters and a height of five and a half meters. Therefore, I think the remains we see now are probably a young mammoth."

His companion was indifferent, and the scarlet eyepiece did not even look at Cassidorius's right hand, which was resting boldly on the mammoth tusks, trying to leave a mark. He was staring in the direction they came from, silently, as if the dense and lush forest had some magic power.

Cassidorius coughed at this, and a heavy sound burst out of the respirator.

He tried to speak again.

"Did you know, Captain Van Cleef? These giant creatures were once one of the staple foods of our ancestors. I really wonder how they did it. Just imagine a group of primitive people wielding stone spears and torches. Can you hunt creatures of this size and even bring them to the table with ease?”

Van Cleef still made no answer, indifferent to the savage feats described by Cassidorius. He stared at the forest very intently. The surface of the power armor had become mottled and dull, and all the lightning lines were extinguished.

His silence was unusual. They had been walking together for a while, six years and eleven natural months. Although the time was changing every moment, Cassidorius could still pass through his helmet. Internal timer to figure out how long they have been gone.

He didn't know the Astartes' view of time, but for a mortal like him, these nearly seven years were long enough.

He already knew Night Blade's first company commander well and knew what kind of person he was. Although Van Cleef doesn't like to talk most of the time, he is definitely a good listener.

No matter what Cassidorius said or what complaints he had, Van Cleef responded instead of remaining in uncomfortable silence as he did now.

The last descendant licked his dry lips inside the respirator and tightened his grip on the gun. He slowly walked away from the remains of the young mammoth, came to Van Cleef's side, and began to look toward the forest with him.

As far as the eye can see, there is only a huge forest with lush branches. The trees are frighteningly tall, and even the weeds are half as tall as a man. All these plants have grown up to look completely different from those in the books.

However, thinking about it, animals may be able to restore their appearance before birth through fossils and the like, but how can plants recreate it? Is it possible to rely on imagination?

Cassidorius thought about these things, but still maintained a certain degree of concentration, staring with Van Cleef at the forest they had left.

Then, he suddenly - or in other words, finally - discovered something.

It's so quiet.

Absolute silence, silence, no sound at all.

There was no cry of wild beasts, no chirping of insects or birds, not even the sound of the breeze blowing through the treetops. The leaves did not sway, the grass and trees remained still. The forest they had been living with for sixteen days seemed to have died suddenly. It was so green that it even made people a little panicked and made them want to vomit.

A chill quietly rose from Cassidorius's back, and he quietly issued an order to the gun in his hand through the neural connection. He heard a slight click, the safety had been turned off, and the firing mode had been adjusted to full automatic.

Then, at this moment, an idea suddenly came into Cassidorius's mind.

Is there something - he thought - something watching us from the forest? Hiding among the lush leaves.

This idea appeared very suddenly and untimely, but it was deeply rooted in his mind and became a sneakiness that was difficult to erase.

Sneaky began scratching at his brain with its claws.

Passively, Cassidorius formed an image of the thing in his imagination. He knew this was wrong, but he couldn't stop. He held the gun tightly, hoping for the blessing of the God-Emperor and hoping that Van Cleef would discover this and kill him with one shot. He already knew what was causing trouble.

Then he continued to imagine.

Does it have eyes? have it. They are probably orange-yellow, and have two eyes like lanterns. No, maybe more than two, but four, eight, or sixteen. The eyes are long in the eyes, nested and connected, like a whirlpool.

It mostly has black fur, the hair is short and thick and as hard as fine needles, and the shape of its head is between a cow's head and a sheep's head. But it looked like neither. Instead, it looked like a man with a tumor on his face and four horns on his head.

It is not strong, its limbs are slender, its hands are like two long shaped wooden boards, and its sharp claws are bent close to the ground, sinking deeply into the soil, burying the cold light.

and finally its breathing.

Cassidorius suddenly widened his eyes.

He smelled a strange smell, with the fishy smell of beasts, a strong smell of blood, and a terrible stench from the barbaric era. The horrible stench comes from people who still eat hair and drink blood and don't care about dental hygiene.

Then there are sixteen orange eyes.

They looked at him unblinkingly, expectantly.

Cassidorius found that the thing was very close to him, very close, close enough to completely bury him in its hair. It stared at him intently, then grinned, revealing a mouth of fine human teeth, as if in approval. Beast Eyes are full of enthusiasm.

VanCleef drew his sword, and the chainsword's motor began to roar.

This was the first time Cassidorius Delkunas encountered it.

——

They walked slowly and got stuck in the mud. It was raining heavily from the sky, and it fell at a rapid speed, hitting the mud at their feet like a bullet hitting an object. Every drop made a dent.

"What era is it now?" Van Cleef asked for the first time.

"I don't know," said Cassidorius.

He wasn't sure whether his companion really wanted to know, but he didn't really care. They have been silent for too long and really need a reason to talk to each other. Human beings will go crazy if they don't communicate for a long time.

"Is there something you don't know, know-it-all?" Van Cleef scoffed gently.

The last generation smiled.

This nickname was born twenty-two years ago, in the middle of the night. They sneaked into a simple barn and managed to rest for a night.

Of course Van Cleef didn't need such a place to shelter from the wind and rain, but Cassidorius did. Although he wears special power armor provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus, he is still a mortal. He had to rest for at least five hours every day before he had the energy to move on and continue his long journey.

That night they chatted and reminisced about old times, and the knowledge Cassidorius displayed in their conversation led Van Cleef to give him this nickname.

Of course, his erudition was full of mistakes. The knowledge he got from books was completely opposite to the real situation. It must be said that this was a wonderful and interesting mistake.

"Sir, we are in a muddy place now. How do you want me to find something from this deserted place to help us identify the current era?"

Van Cleef did not answer, but raised his right hand and pointed in one direction. Cassidorius looked over there and saw a wooden sign hanging crookedly on a tree. The wooden sign is not the point, the point is the tree.

It is at least five meters thick and is simply a miracle of nature. They have left the barbaric era for a long time, and such giant trees are definitely not common.

Unfortunately, it is completely dead. Half of the leaves on the bare dead branches were gone, leaving only the ferocious branches attacking the gloomy sky with their claws and teeth, silently venting their resentment in the heavy rain.

They approached slowly, and Cassidorius took off the wooden sign with his hands and began to work hard to decipher the small line of soot written among the dirt. Of course, they had been washed away by the heavy rain and were very blurry.

"Crow's Nest?"

He barely made out the two ancient words, and then he could no longer figure out what the remaining words meant.

"Is there something wrong with your profound knowledge again?" Van Cleef asked.

"No, not this time, my lord," Cassidorius sighed. "I feel like it's not my problem this time."

He raised the wooden board in his hand towards Van Cleef. Van Cleef nodded clearly, reached out to take it, and pulled out the nails stuck in the top of the wooden sign. This nail is made of wood. I don’t know how many years it has gone through, but it is still very hard.

He pressed the wooden sign against the bark of the tree and pushed the nails back in with his bare hands. The dead tree made a dull echo. It was probably empty inside, so it could make such a sound.

"Crow's nest? Crow's nest?" Van Cleef asked again, facing the tree trunk.

"Perhaps I should use a more rustic name, my lord." Cassidorius began to joke about using an honorific that Van Cleef didn't like. "How about we call this place the crow's nest?"

"Not much," Van Cleef replied calmly. "This place may not still be inhabited, and it means nothing if it's rural or not. Even if you use written language, what if you call it the Crow's Nest? I'm more concerned about another issue than this."

"What, my lord?"

Van Cleef turned around and looked at him. Ashes slowly floated out from the gap between the neck guard and the eyepiece. The eyepiece was still scarlet.

"Delkunas, when was the last time we met anyone else?"

"Perhaps you should say, seeing—" Cassidorius shrugged. "——The Patron Master said that unless we really have to, we'd better not have any communication with anyone."

"When?" Van Cleef asked.

Cassidorius had to admit that he was a little nervous at Van Cleef's unusual attitude. Is it because they have been walking in this muddy field for too long?

No, he didn't think the gloomy sky and frequent heavy rains would have any impact on an Astartes. It was just another long journey. Even if the scenery was terrifying, so what?

He was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly remembered their experience in the wilderness. That was not the first time they encountered demons. In the years that followed, they often had to deal with all kinds of monsters.

But that demon was definitely the one that left the deepest impression on Cassidorius.

And then, when it appeared, Van Cleef's reaction was exactly the same as now.

Cassidorius opened his mouth and tried to speak, but his attention was drawn away by a floating black feather, which landed at his feet and was quickly swallowed up by the suddenly boiling mire. He quickly raised his head and looked upward.

He saw a group of crows, or, to be more precise, countless crows - they were densely packed on the branches of the dead trees, unusually silent, and looking at them with an icy gaze that transcended everything in the heavy rain.

At the same time, blood began to seep from behind the board that Van Cleef had nailed up. It gurgled out from the dry and cracked bark, slowly at first, but soon formed a stream-like scene.

The thick blood was not affected by the heavy rain. Instead of being washed away, it slowly covered the swamp at their feet, forming a scarlet curtain.

Cassidorius stared at the group of crows, looking into their yellow eyes in silence. Their eyes are like lanterns piercing the mist at midnight, each one looking at -

He took a deep breath, raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Van Cleef drew his sword again and looked at the crows coldly.

--shake.

This is the second time they've encountered it.

——

"My name is Arthur, Arthur Pendragon." The young man said with a smile.

Cassidorius did not speak, but just handed over the right to talk to Van Cleef, who was wearing a black cloak. The first company commander completely concealed his face under the hood, and even managed to stop the ashes. Hanging upside down.

The fire flickered and the wood crackled. The night was falling, and the wilderness they were in was very quiet.

In other words, the first company commander still had no intention of answering.

Cassidorius sighed.

"Why are you sighing, sir?" the young man asked politely. He had dazzling blond hair and eyes as green as emeralds. "Is it because I bother you late at night? I'm really sorry. If that's the case, I will leave immediately."

"No, it's okay." Cassidorius said stiffly in the language he learned. "It's just that we're not used to getting along with other people."

To be precise, it shouldn't be. The last descendant added silently in his heart.

The young man frowned, then immediately let go. He smiled helplessly: "This is indeed the case. Be wary of strangers and see what those Saxon bandits have turned our country into! Ah, by the way, you Are you two from France?"

"No." Van Cleef suddenly spoke, his voice was very calm, and he did not use the breathing grille. "From somewhere further away."

"Dongfang?" The young man's eyes widened. "No way - that would be too far. Did you come by boat?"

"He came." Cassidorius said.

He had noticed something from Van Cleef's attitude, so he relaxed his vigilance a little. He hadn't spoken to anyone other than the First Company Commander in a long time, at least one hundred and thirty years. The last time he spoke to him was a villager who screamed and called them devils.

"Oh my God." The young man looked at them in awe, not doubting the possibility that they were lying. "From the east, all the way here? Didn't you use horses?"

Cassidorius laughed, tightened his cloak, and then changed his sitting position: "No, we basically can only walk on our legs."

"That's quite a feat," said the young man. "You two must be great knights, traveling together, trying to complete a great deed? Is that so? You must be slaying demons and righteousness on the road!"

He approached Cassidorius slightly excitedly, trying to get the answer to the question.

The last descendant originally wanted to answer, but was suddenly stunned. He carefully observed the young man's appearance, his dazzling blond hair and emerald green eyes.

His eyes widened.

"No."

Van Cleef spoke again in a calm voice, the word evidently addressed to Cassidorius. The last descendant calmed down for a moment, then turned his head and remained silent.

The young man looked from him to Van Cleef in confusion. The first company commander lowered his head and began to speak slowly.

"We are not knights, nor are we traveling together. But we do have a very important thing to do. As for slaying demons and slaying demons, we did kill a lot of monsters as heroes."

"Since you are indeed doing justice, why can't you call yourself a knight?" the young man insisted. "What's more, you are so tall and wearing armor. Even through the cloak, I can feel its coldness and extraordinaryness. You must have experienced countless battles wearing it."

"I haven't done anything righteous," Van Cleef said. "But I did fight a lot of battles and kill a lot of people."

The young man became more excited, and Cassidorius could see that he obviously had a lot more to say. However, in the next second, he suddenly closed his eyes and lay back crookedly. A pair of old hands stretched out from the white robe supported him at this moment.

He was an old man, very old, with gray hair, but no beard, and his chin was bald, like a forest that had been completely cut down. Without a word, he dragged the young man off the ground, placed him on the soft grass behind him, and then strode to the fire.

"My name is Merlin." He introduced himself, and then sat down slowly, as if he didn't pay any attention to politeness. "You are?"

"Van Cleef." The first company commander raised his head and said. "He is Cassidorius Delkunas."

"A noble?"

"Absolutely." Van Cleef nodded. "Bigger than the biggest noble you've ever seen."

The last descendant shook his head wordlessly, expressing his protest with silence. The old man turned his head and looked at him.

His skin looks very rough, but also very tough. The eyes stuck between the white eyebrows and wrinkles suddenly became stern at this moment. He stood up and walked towards Cassidorius, with a pace that could not be refused.

The last man looked at the old man at a loss, and for a moment he even forgot where he was until he felt a special pulling feeling. He lowered his head and saw that the old man had grabbed a gem with his hand.

If it wasn't the piece hanging around his neck, what else could it be? But how on earth did he penetrate his armor with his bare hands and grab this gem?

Cassidorius had no answer. He didn't think about it at all. He just stood up suddenly and snatched his gem back.

He glared at the old man, feeling shocked and angry. The old man who called himself Merlin was very calm. He looked up at Cassidorius, reached out and grabbed his hands, and pulled him down. The force was not strong, but he could not refuse at all.

"How long have you been gone?" the old man asked, unable to hear anything else in his tone.

"Tell him," said Van Cleef. "There's nothing to hide."

Cassidorius was confused and shocked and turned his head to look at the first company commander, just in time to see him slowly take off his helmet. At this time, the old man stretched out his hand and straightened his face.

"How long have you been gone, young man?" he asked again.

Cassidorius gets a number through the neural link.

"Three hundred and seventy-nine years." He said nervously, even swallowing.

The old man stared at him silently, seemingly thinking, but Cassidorius heard a voice at this moment. Close to a whisper, or a scream. It was difficult for him to define which side the sound belonged to, but he heard it.

And this is the most important thing.

Merlin let go of his hand and turned around with a speed that was absolutely inappropriate for his age. However, before that, his expression had completely changed.

From calm to rage, terrifying rage. Cassidorius could have sworn to the Emperor that he had never seen anyone possess such clear anger - but what happened next was what truly stunned him.

There was a golden light rising from the far horizon. It wasn't the sun, definitely not. It was still only midnight, and the sun could not appear in the dark other half of Terra contrary to common sense, but there was still light.

It illuminated the sky a fish-white color, and all the surrounding darkness disappeared, and Cassidorius saw it—in fact, they all saw it.

it.

Crouching in the darkness, it left wet footprints in all directions. Those footprints had formed a circle, completely surrounding the fire.

How long had it been walking around them? How long have you been waiting hungrily in the dark? Did it stare at them carefully with its yellow eyes, waiting for the next opportunity to appear?

Cassidorius didn't dare to think about it anymore.

Merlin walked towards it, and it raised its head and stared at him, who was growing taller and taller.

"This is not the end." The monster said clearly. "You can't kill me at this point, cursed one, you can't even remember this after tonight, you have to forget it all or this future won't exist."

'Merlin' raised his hand coldly, and the glow from the sky immediately fell, responding to his call, and a violent golden lightning appeared in his hand.

He penetrated its chest completely, and it screamed into ashes.

Cassidorius fell to his knees.

"Emperor" he spat out half a word with difficulty.

Merlin turned around, his face no longer old but still calm.

"I'm not the person you know," he said. "I have not experienced the thousands of betrayals since then, and I have not yet become disheartened and gone away to live in seclusion."

"But you——"

"——Stand up, Cassidorius Delkunas!" A thunderous voice suddenly came, and two golden lights lit up in the man's eyes, scolding him mercilessly. "There is no need to kneel down, kneeling down is useless! Piety and prayer will not help you in the slightest in what you want to do!"

"He will know." Van Cleef said from the side. He held his helmet between his legs and stood up slowly. "He'll learn it sooner or later."

"What about you?" The man looked at him, his words still merciless. "Why did you make yourself look so stupid? How long can you continue to endure torture like this?"

"That depends on how long I have to endure it," Van Cleef replied nonchalantly. "As for you, have you seen Delkunas' memories?"

"Of course." He nodded majestically, and his appearance changed again, returning to Merlin's appearance. "I already know everything, but I will soon forget all these things - you have questions to ask me, right?"

"Yes, my lord," the First Company Commander said softly. "I want to know, what is that thing?"

"Don't you already have the answer?" said the future monarch, the old man at this moment. "Could an ordinary demon be able to do what it did? It is pursuing your traces in endless history and the past. This is a hunt destined to last tens of thousands of years."

"It cannot be killed, driven away, or sealed until the hunt is complete. You will have to kill it millions more times, VanCleef."

"I'm good at killing."

"Yes, you do, I see your life. But it will evolve." The old man said sternly. "The longer you go, the stronger it gets. The more things you collect, the bigger it becomes."

"The gem you escort will become clearer and clearer little by little, but it will also appear again and again until this is over. It is a reflection, a mirror. Everything in the dark has an exact opposite. Mirror, even hope."

Cassidorius stared at them blankly and listened to their conversation. He was still in great shock and could not think completely. Unlike Van Cleef, he came from an age when people had to be religious.

And now, the object of his faith is standing in front of him. How can a devout believer stay calm?

He even began to wonder whether this was a dream or reality - in fact, I never left Terra at all, right? I've been with that colonel, I'm fighting alongside fallen heroes, I'm

"You are already a hero." The old man said.

At some point he knelt down and whispered to him in an unprecedented gentle tone. He put his right hand on Cassidorius's shoulder, as light as nothing, and his white robe was shaking in the night wind.

"Tens of thousands of years from now, your name will be sung, Cassidorius Delkunus." He said slowly, his face filled with pity.

But Cassidorius saw more, at least for this moment, he saw more.

From those golden eyes, he saw the past and the future. He saw a bruised barbarian waving a torch to drive away monsters in the darkness, and also saw a golden-armored giant burning himself on the throne.

His armor was melting, and his skin had already turned into hot blood, mixed with golden liquefied metal and slowly falling to the ground, like tears. Those flames spared nothing, not even his bones, and his teeth exploded in the flames.

However, he is not dead yet and is still sitting stubbornly on it.

He looked directly at Cassidorius.

"It's your reflection."

The dying king said this in the old man's eyes.

"It's all the suffering you're going to face, all the years you're going to go through, all you're trying to save with everything you have. It's you, Cassidorius Delkunus. There's only one way to kill Die it.”

"My Emperor." The last descendant murmured to himself and made a sound. "Our shield, our sword."

"I beg you to hold on."

The person in the pupils whispered, panting, enduring the torture. His voice began to tremble, and even his words became illogical. He ignored Cassidorius's words and just said to himself

It seemed that he could no longer see it.

"They tried every means to test me, wanting to know my final plan, wanting to know how I was going to win. The answer is you, Cassidorius. It's you, and all the shining souls in human history. . Human beings have to rely on themselves to win. I can’t help, he can’t help, no one can do this, only humans can do it.”

Slowly, slowly he laughed into the fire.

"Actually I have two gems," he said. "One from the past and one from the present. I always prepare myself with two hands, Cassidorius. We can use them to forge the future."

His eyes flickered and he disappeared.

The sky turned white, and the old man turned around without saying a word, picked up Arthur Pendragon, who was still sleeping, and whistled again.

The sound of horse hooves quietly appeared from the woods behind them, and a shining white horse appeared from it and ran towards them. The old man put the young man on the horse and got on the horse himself.

He nodded to Cassidorius and Van Cleef as a farewell, without saying a single unnecessary word.

The first company commander stopped him at this time.

"I have one last question, my lord."

"I am not your master." The old man looked at him with a smile in his eyes. "But ask, Van Cleef."

The first company commander's always sinister face suddenly showed a smile.

"That -" He raised his hand and pointed at the young man. "——Does it have anything to do with the other blond knight we know? Or did you refer to your own memory when you created him?"

The old man closed his eyes and thought for a moment before answering slowly.

"They are not related, but I did refer to my own memory. Virtue can be passed down, Van Cleef. Like courage, if one person takes courage, another will be inspired. United as one, you think Woolen cloth?"

Van Cleef remained silent and bowed. When he got up, the white horse had disappeared.

"Let's go." The first company commander put on his helmet. "It's time to set off, daybreak, Cassidorius."

The last man stood up, his eyes sparkling. He wiped his face, put on his hood, stepped on the fire, picked up two stones and pressed them on, then turned around and left with Van Cleef.

Their figures were gradually obscured by the morning mist.

I came late, I went out to do some errands during the day. This chapter is 8.7k, and the update time tomorrow will probably be in the afternoon. I have to go to the hospital to visit my grandpa in the morning.