40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 513 31. Interlude: The grudge is over (two in one)

Sevatar woke up with a start.

He thought he would see the dark Milky Way and burning battleships, but instead he saw a dirty sky illuminated by neon lights.

Countless gloomy spiers continue to spread on the far horizon, using carvings full of religious meanings to transform themselves into terrifying sharp knives stuck in the ground. The gargoyle stayed at the top, coldly overlooking all the living beings on the ground.

The sour-smelling raindrops were poured out from the sewage circulation system of the upper nest, fell on their stone or bronze skin, and remained briefly in the corroded pits, and then carried their coldness directly with them. Falling straight down.

If you're lucky, maybe they can hit the dilated pupils of a corpse. If you're unlucky, they will hit the plastic roof of the shanty town, turning from a sour and smelly rain into a disturbing sonata. One note.

Savita watched all this blankly.

Of course he knew where this was. Looking across the entire galaxy, there was only one world with such a scene.

There are countless hives in the empire, but none can compare to Nostramo before the reform.

Here kindness or any virtue is despised. If you want to survive, you have to be cunning or vicious and have blood on your hands.

Otherwise, you can only stay in the factory and gradually get sick, until you become a coughing corpse on the roadside and be eaten by other hungry people.

Sevatar breathed out a slow breath of cold, smelly air, as if he hadn't realized he needed to breathe until just now.

A faint sound of chewing reached his ears at this moment. Savita looked back and saw a skinny woman. She was standing next to a corpse, grabbing his hand and stuffing it into her mouth, blood dripping from her lips.

Her face was very dirty. It should have been filled with dirt left by acid rain or other dust, but now it was strangely stained by tears. Many white streaks separated the darkness, like a surrealistic absurd painting.

The woman's eyes were filled with painful tears, but her movements never stopped.

Sevita suddenly recognized her.

But this woman died before he was even an Astartes, or even a mine worker.

Sevatar looked at her and took a step towards her. The long-lasting memories from a hundred centuries ago suddenly came to mind at this moment, and once again, he began to hate his excessive memory.

He didn't want to remember these things, or the face of this woman or the corpse.

So, he stopped where he was, and finally discovered what was wrong at this moment - he had become shorter and his clothes were ragged. The clothes were extremely ill-fitting and couldn't even cover his arms completely.

Savita narrowed his eyes instinctively, and a dangerous idea slowly emerged from his mind.

He looked at the woman and opened and closed his palms for a moment.

This is just an illusion. He told himself this. And maybe it was an illusion created by that bastard Erebus through some means.

I should be floating in a vacuum right now, ready to die at any moment. None of this is true, I've already been through this. Human beings can do the same thing a million times over and over again, but they will never be able to remember the ordinary afternoon of a certain day again.

He made a decision and took another step towards the woman.

However, with just this step, heaven and earth suddenly turned upside down.

Everything was eliminated at this moment, and what followed was a whirlpool, like different paints being poured into a bucket and spinning wildly. In just a few seconds, the 'paints' merged into each other and turned into complete blackness.

Savita frowned, watching this scene, and instinctively raised his fist. But the darkness didn't hit him, they just spread out, covering him like a real night.

By the time they were gone, Sevatar had arrived in a new place. He had been here before, there was no doubt about it. Moreover, in the current empire, there will be no second person who is more familiar with this place than him.

"The lair," Sevatar murmured its name.

Yes, the lair.

Located in Nostramo, buried deep underground and shrouded in mist all year round. Once upon a time, all Nostramo-born Night Blades were trained here.

The gloomy and winding corridors connect four huge practice fields and the dormitories for training recruits. Or, in Cassati Nuang's words, the brawl room.

Yeah, brawl.

Savita couldn't help but smile briefly.

He still didn't let down his guard, still thinking that this might just be a trick of Erebus. Therefore, it is probably still unknown how much sincerity is contained in this smile.

It might just be a disguise, or it might be that you really think of your old friend, and that's why you smile. Or maybe it's both, turning his true feelings into bait to try and trick Erebus into taking the bait.

How ridiculous.

Sevatar sighed, and his frown finally relaxed - he was too lazy to worry about anything anymore. Regardless of whether this illusion was the work of Erebus or not, he wanted to walk through the lair again.

He was familiar with this place, but he hadn't been here for a long time. Recruits can still be trained here, and Nostramo civilians can work or rest on it without knowing anything, but he can't.

The Star of Eternal Night has long been completely infiltrated by a certain power of chaos, and some demons or knowledgeable traitors would even call it the term 'god's domain'. Its sun is still obscured, but its rich deposits of fine gold can no longer be traded.

Sevatar turned around.

He was leaving, and just staying in this dark hallway would be a waste of this hard-won opportunity. Although he understood that this place was actually just an illusory scene constructed with the help of his memory, he could only see what he remembered——

"-I can't see it, Sai."

Yago Severtarion raised his head and saw Konrad Curze wearing a moonlight crown.

"Do you really think this place-" He smiled and stamped his feet, causing a dull sound to begin to echo in the corridor. "——Is it a place that Erebus has the ability to make up?"

Savita looked at him and instinctively put his right hand on his waist. If he remembered correctly, he had not completed his training at this time, but had already obtained permission to bear weapons. Although it's just a short sword,...

His fingers touched the cold grip.

Sevatar drew out the sword and held it in his hand. The sword reflected the moonlight from the crown on the King of Night's head.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Conrad Coates."

"No." Sevatar growled and bared his fangs. "He is dead."

Kurtz smiled gently, folded his hands in his black robe, but the words he spoke were very sharp: "If all this is just an illusion, then you are just a madman holding the blade of imagination, threatening you. The hypothetical father of genes.”

"My genetic father died ten thousand years ago."

"Really? Your self-deception skills still need to be improved, Sai. Death is just the beginning. Van Cleef's famous aphorism, can you actually forget that your memory is wrong?"

Coze shook his head and sighed, then took off the crown on his head.

In just one moment, the soft moonlight turned into a pale, dead light, and the corridor was completely illuminated in an instant.

Normally, such light would make the Nostramo people's eyes feel very uncomfortable, but at this moment Sevatar did not feel this way. The moonlight even made him feel vaguely at ease, as if he should be under this light, holding a sharp blade, fighting for the one who wears the crown.

"Fight for me?" Coze looked at him and tilted his head to ask. "Really? You have struggled for ten thousand years and transformed yourself into a machine that keeps killing repeatedly, but you attribute all of this to me?"

Sevatar silently retracted the dagger in his hand and began to grow taller. Seiko power armor replaced the training uniform and white robe. The Night Blade's emblem and the blood-stained tears reflected the pale moonlight on the shoulder armor on both sides.

He raised his hand, touched the scar on his face, and suddenly said: "Ten thousand years, father."

"Yes." Coze nodded to him. "I know."

"You never answered my call."

"Maybe you should say, us."

The King of Night smiled and put the crown back on his forehead, answering Sevita's accusation very casually.

"Your seniors, your brothers and your juniors. We have never responded to you, even once."

"You don't want to, or you can't?" Savita asked. "I don't believe you can't. I've met a lot of people here. I even met that old man who wrote the book several times."

Coates answered the question diplomatically with an ambiguous shrug. His posture was still relaxed, but his expression suddenly became serious.

He said: "All of them. The living should not call the dead unless you want to get a response."

"Of course I want a response," Sevita said stubbornly.

Coze shook his head and asked softly: "Then, what is it for? Why are you calling, and why do you want to get a response?"

Sevatar didn't answer, so he continued talking on his own.

"Seeking support from seniors? No, don't think about it. Siani is very busy. Looking for your brothers so that you can talk to them? I'm sorry, there will always be war in the realm of chaos. They are fighting on the front line and are unable to answer any of your questions. Question. As for your descendants."

Cozz raised the corners of his lips and shook his head with a half-smile: "They just died not long ago, and they deserve a place to rest for a short rest. Or do you want to disturb their sleep?"

His words made Savita's eyes twitch uncontrollably.

In fact, when he saw the pale light projected by the crown, he already understood that the King of Night in front of him was not an illusion.

However, he didn't expect that his genetic father would still be so sharp after ten thousand years. The words he spat out seemed to be filled with venom, corroding his chest and poisoning his two hearts to the point of almost stopping.

"Thank you for the compliment." Coz said with a smile. "How about I wish you good health, Cy, and live another hundred centuries?"

".I don't think there's any need to be like this, father, I'm just an Astartes." Sevatar said with difficulty. "And, can you hear my heart?"

Coze nodded and said softly: "Of course I can, my son, after all, you are dead. I am responsible for the extradition of all souls belonging to God's Domain."

Savita was inevitably stunned.

died? He is dead?

This idea was born quickly, and then it quickly developed into an uncontrollable smile.

A few seconds later, under the slightly strange look in Kurt's eyes, Sevita laughed loudly.

The King of Night did not stop him, he just raised his hand gently and turned the lair into a dark cemetery. There are coffins everywhere, some are tightly closed, and some have their doors wide open, but there is no human figure inside.

It wasn't until the change was complete that he spoke softly.

"Unfortunately, you won't die."

The laughter suddenly disappeared.

Sevatar looked at him dryly and said: "I beg you to give me an explanation, my respected Gene Father, the great King of the Night, the Midnight Ghost of Nostramo, the noble Gene Primarch of the Empire. one"

"You don't have to be like this, right, the noble and only Captain of the Midnight Blade Chapter?" Curze asked half-jokingly.

However, after saying these words, he did not wait for Savita's answer. Instead, he turned around and walked to somewhere in the cemetery.

The noble Chapter Master followed him with a straight face.

There is probably no distinction between day and night here, but Savita can feel the breeze blowing on his face. There is no smell of ashes in the wind that he is familiar with, only a power that makes people so calm that they want to sleep.

Savita raised this question in his heart, and half a second later, he got an unexpected answer.

With his back turned to him, Konrad Coze spoke like this: "Magnus found this treasure in the subspace, which is called the Wind of Rest. He thought that this wind was very suitable for use in this cemetery, so Now it seems that he was right.”

wind of rest

Sevatar curled his lips and expressed his dissatisfaction with Curze with an expression that he would never show in the war group.

"Why don't I know these things?" he asked. "Is it possible that this divine grace in me is fake?"

"Why do you have to know?" Cozz asked.

"Can you please stop answering with rhetorical questions?"

"Why? It's an old Legion tradition. It works, doesn't it? I can't believe you haven't used it on someone in the last ten thousand years."

"I didn't," said Sevita. "I carry on a lot of our traditions, except this one. I never answer a question with a question, at best I don't answer."

Curze sneered and suddenly stopped in place, turning into a black shadow and disappearing completely like a ghost. The next second, he appeared behind Savita and put his right hand on his shoulder.

"Come on. The political official you threatened six hundred and twenty-nine years ago told the story clearly. He said that you were holding the chain saw with one hand and pressing his shoulder with the other hand, and you even came closer. Kill him so that he can see your white teeth.”

"How? Do you still need me to repeat what you asked him back then?"

Savita was silent for a while, exhaled a breath, sighed and shook his head: "...I really didn't expect that he could sue me even after he died."

"He died a heroic death." Coz suddenly smiled. "He was assassinated when he went to a certain world to review the local lord. The other party had already fallen into chaos and became a traitor."

"This official and his team resisted for a total of five hours before being captured. It has to be said that this is a strange coincidence. Mortarion will be very happy about this."

"Lord Mortarion?" Sevatar blurted out instinctively. "Why would he be happy about this?"

Cozz lowered his head and glanced at him: "Is the word "sama" you blurted out ironic?"

"Of course not!" Saiweita said hurriedly. "I'm just a father. You have to understand that not everyone is like us and doesn't like others using honorifics."

"So you often talk about Mortarion to some people?"

"Yes and no."

Cozz chuckled: "Okay, I won't say anything more. After all, this is a matter for you living people - yes, yes, don't remind me in your heart, I know you are still dead, but you Will be alive soon."

".Can I choose not to live?"

"Of course," Coates said. "It's all up to you."

He released his grip on Sevita's shoulder, then pushed lightly, and a strong feeling of weightlessness instantly came, as if he was falling into an abyss - no, he was falling into an abyss.

The strong wind was blowing by itself, but Sevatar stared at his expressionless father standing on the edge of the cliff with wide eyes. There was no smile on Conrad Coates' stern face at the moment, but there was no other emotion either, only a bottomless calm.

Sevatar met his eyes, and at this moment, even time stood still.

Sevatar saw his father raise his hand and tap his forehead with his index finger.

Darkness hit him in the next second, completely surrounding him. He did not yet know what fate he was about to experience. His father knew it, but he could not tell him.

The so-called prophecy is the most unforgettable part here. There are some things that cannot be said and some things that cannot be done.

The King of Night sighed and turned around, only to see a group of tall demons wrapped in black flames.

"What?" he asked angrily. "No one came out just now, leaving me to stimulate them. Why are they coming out now? Are you watching your most miserable brother being tortured here?"

"Especially you, Fell. After he remembers those things, he may have to give up Grax meat first."

The demon known as Fell took a step back slightly embarrassed and said in a sound that was comparable to the sound of blades rubbing against each other.

"Logically speaking, you should call me mourning bird now."

"What?" Cozz raised his chin and looked at him coldly. "You never liked this title when you were alive. Why did you suddenly regard it as your real name after becoming a demon?"

"Not really, it's just that we are not human anymore."

"So?" Cozz asked.

His expression was becoming a little dangerous little by little. Seeing this, the demon coughed decisively and wisely: "I mean, the God's Domain is a little not quiet right now. Do you have to deal with it?"

"Isn't Van Cleef gone?"

"First Captain - no, I mean, Van Cleef can indeed restrain us, but we are not the only ones in God's Domain who have a grudge against that bastard. The dead souls are rioting now."

The King of Night let out a long sigh and turned into a shadow and disappeared in place.

——

Caiul Sahora growled and grabbed the apothecary with such force that the servo built into the opponent's armor began to alarm.

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?!"

The pharmacist looked him directly in the eyes and answered his question word for word: "That's what it means, Chapter Master."

"What is called--"

"——It's better not to embarrass this pharmacist, Chapter Master."

On a blood-stained cot, a coughing Khalil joins the conversation.

Outside artillery fire is streaking across the sky and shaking the earth, but this place is extremely clean and tidy. Long cables and various equipment are arranged in every corner of the room in an orderly manner, and the outside world is heavily guarded.

It is a miracle that Litatra, which is being invaded by demons, has such a place, but after all, this is a fortress belonging to the Sons of the Red Sand. With that in mind, this is perhaps not surprising.

Furthermore, they also received help from the Shadow Knights.

With this fortress as the core, chaos pollution is being cleaned up efficiently and quickly by 'professionals' who specialize in the art. According to Kaiul's calculations, it would take them up to fifty hours to remove all the chaos pollution on Litatra.

"Huh?" The chapter leader turned around in surprise. "Wha, what?"

"A similar thing happened once a long time ago. That time, the medical officer responsible for treating me was named Jairzinho Guzman. Pharmacist, do you know him?"

"Of course, instructor!" He said this title without hesitation, which also made Kaiul's eyes twitch.

"And you, Chapter Master?"

"Of course I've heard of his name, instructor." Kaiour puffed out his chest and answered meticulously. "Who could not know the medical officer who healed Robert Guilliman?"

A terrifying smile appeared on Khalil's bloody face. His tendons twitched and the muscles began to work. It was so bloody that it was unbearable to look at. He was laughing, but the two of them didn't know why he was laughing.

".Then I don't have to waste any more words." He said. "Even such a medical officer with extraordinary medical skills can't cure me, so I think it's better to move these medical instruments to places where they are really needed. How about that?"

Kaiul nodded silently, and with a wave of his hand, the servitors began to move the heavy instruments they had laboriously brought in. The pharmacist bowed his head, turned around and left the room in a hurry.

Khalil watched him go, selectively ignoring the fact that he had been looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

He rolled his eyes, instinctively wanting to blink, but his eyelids didn't close. They didn't exist at all. How could he close them?

Khalil sighed helplessly, but saw Kaiul Saraho suddenly showed an expression as if he was facing an enemy.

He asked, dumbfounded, "Leader of the Chapter, what's the matter?"

"Instructor." Kaiul asked cautiously. "Why are you sighing?"

Khalil was silent for several seconds before he could think of the right words to answer this question.

"It's just that old habits die hard," he explained briefly. "In addition, please talk to me with a normal heart. I understand that my identity may be a bit special to you, but I'm afraid I am not the person you know well."

"I don't understand, instructor."

Khalil raised his head and glanced at him with lidless eyes.

"Okay." He nodded lightly. "First of all, when did you start to know me?"

"When I'm done with the surgery," Kaiour said, adding. "Chapter 20. I saw a lot of things. As soon as the operation was over, I went to the archives on the Night Veil and looked through all the information. Your deeds were clearly written in it."

"Deeds?"

Khalil gave another horrible smile at his choice of words. For some reason, this smile made Kaiul feel a little uneasy.

"The word deeds is usually only used for heroes and martyrs, and I am not any of the above. I have to regret to tell you that the things you see are probably very different from the real me, Kaiul."

"At the same time, the image you imagined is completely different from the real me. I understand that you use those stories to inspire yourself. Although you never shout my name, you do get inspiration from it."

"You have been doing this for these ten thousand years. Because of this, my image in your word-of-mouth communication has probably become very weird."

"I am not a morally perfect person, nor am I a so-called hero who saves the galaxy. My hands are stained with blood, and I have an extreme and irritable personality. I like to use simple and direct killing to solve any trouble. I am just a reckless man. What's more, now Still a madman."

He raised his bone-white left hand and pointed at his face.

"I have been sinking in the darkness for a long time, Chapter Master Caiul, long enough for me to go crazy and wake up countless times. Now, although I have escaped, I am still in the cycle of madness. Therefore, you do not need to be respectful. Come face me."

"To be more realistic, we are just strangers. We have never met each other. We have only heard each other's stories and names. You read it from the archives, and I learned it from the mouths of the souls who know you well."

"In other words, perhaps the title of instructor should no longer be applied to me. I am an instructor of the Eighth Legion, but not an instructor of the Shadow Knights or any of the Night Blade regiments."

Kaiul was speechless for a moment and didn't even know how to answer his words. He had no choice but to look into those dark eyes.

It was just a quick glance, but he was shocked - from those eyes and the bloody face, he saw two emotions that should not appear at the same time.

One is calm and full of indescribable weight, full of trust and expectation. The other one contains boundless madness. There is only a desire for revenge in it. Even just staring at it can make Caiul feel the same bloody impulse.

"It seems you already understand." Khalil smiled gently. "Thank you for being willing to listen to me, a lunatic, Chapter Master. Can you give me some time alone? This really happened too fast. I still need some time to calm down."

Kaiul took a deep breath, put his right hand on his chest, saluted, turned and left the room. When the wooden door closed gently, the smile on Khalil's face completely disappeared.

He twitched his muscles and tried to dig out his eyes.

The light is piercing, I don’t like the light, I don’t like it.

Unspeakable broken thoughts flashed through his mind, and the blood soaked the camp bed again, but he wordlessly clenched his eyeballs, completely turning them into soft mud.

I'm mad.

How long does it take to recover?

Ah, Conrad.

In the darkness without light, he read the name, and then he actually got an answer.

+Look at them for me, father. +

Oh, what a coincidence, I just lost my eye

He laughed silently, looking extremely crazy. However, just half a second later, the smile completely faded away, leaving only a bitter sadness. Extremely contradictory, extremely weird.

+I will, Conrad. +