40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 543 61.Primal Fear (V, In the Blood)

"I've lost weight and you've aged," Khalil said.

He walked in the corridor filled with blood, surrounded by noisy shouts and cries. The victorious troops are working hard to maintain order and tell the civilians why they are here.

The crew members were calmer, and although they were still trembling with fear, they were able to continue to work strongly, carrying ammunition, or setting up defenses along the church with the victorious troops.

Robert Guilliman walked behind him, walking very slowly. His gesture earned Khalil many unwanted looks.

"I think we are all getting old," said the Primarch. "I look a little older. Although you don't, you sound like an ordinary old man when you speak now."

"If I were really an ordinary old man," Khalil laughed out loud. "That's not a bad joke."

Guilliman looked down at him, his friend's hands now empty again. The blood vessels pulsed on the back of his hands and wrists, showing a faint cyan color under the pale skin.

These hands don't look like the hands of a warrior, but they are far beyond the scope of what the word 'artist' can describe. For art, they go beyond.

Even if he is not holding anything, the hands of Khalil Lohars habitually maintain a chilling posture.

Guilliman could tell from their small swings and slightly curved finger arcs that they were ready to swing their swords anytime, anywhere, a strategy, or rather, a nature.

The realization struck him as a bit ridiculous - how could anyone be born to kill?

"You're in a daze," Khalil said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "What's going on, Robert?"

Guilliman shook his head and stopped. He was standing behind the sixth layer of fortifications that had been built, looking like a landmark building.

He told the truth calmly.

"I'm concerned about the impact this may have."

"What kind of impact?"

"In terms of trust," Guilliman said. "For centuries, the people of Ultramar have trusted us. They know that these giants in ceramite armor are not destroyers or killing machines without blood or tears."

"They understand that the Astartes are humans like themselves, not monsters. The Astartes also have strong emotions, they can be sad, happy, and afraid, so people believe that we are protectors."

"This chain of trust is forged by many things. It was tempered in the furnace of war and became indestructible today. Every Ultramar person knows that what exists under the ceramite steel is Their brothers, their relatives."

He frowned, his expression becoming extremely serious and hinting of sadness.

"And I'm worried about this chain being destroyed," he whispered. "Some things, once lost, can never be regained."

——

Sicarius looked to his protector.

"Do not talk."

Seral warned again with a whisper that was close to lip language. He was still staring down intently. Sicarius gritted his teeth, resisted the impulse in his heart, and looked at the other battle brothers of the fourth company. .

Among the serious blues, he saw a living company commander.

Without any hesitation, Sicarius knew immediately the first moment he saw him that this was the legendary Idaos, the hero who Robert Guilliman jokingly called the one who ignored the scriptures.

Of course, he had never seen Idaos, but this did not prevent him from distinguishing the difference between the company commander and the battle brother from the painting of the armor.

Ah, speaking of armor.

Sicarius frowned, once again aware of his current burdensome position. He had no armor, no weapons, and was even a seriously injured person.

Therefore, if the fourth company were to launch an attack on the monster under Idaos's order later, he might not be able to provide any help.

This incident made him deeply frustrated. At this moment, the pharmacist gently patted the back of his neck, and the cold gauntlet forced Sicarius to get goosebumps.

He looked at Seral, who mocked silently with a half-smiling look.

At normal times, Sicarius might have been angry at this kind of ridicule, but it was different now. Not only was he not angry, he even became slightly calmer at this kind of warm ridicule.

His calmness lasted until the monster's voice came from below again.

"——Do you know who I am?"

People answered its questions with cries and howls, and many titles were thrown out one by one, most of which had religious connotations, such as Son of God, or the Thirteenth Star, and other titles that were widely circulated among the people.

There were also a few people who called out his name and gave him various honorific titles, such as Lord of Macragge, Protector of Five Hundred Worlds, and a series of other titles that had truly proven Guilliman's honor.

But the monster who was surrounded was not happy at all. He looked at the people coldly, as if they were just livestock.

Suddenly, he roared.

"I am Robert Guilliman, Lord of Macragge, but I am definitely not the son of the false emperor!"

His words silenced the cries of the crowd for an instant, and also made many battle brothers on the high platform become extremely angry. They cleverly concealed their anger in their trembling gauntlets or the weapon safety switches that flicked back and forth.

Sicarius was also one of them. He really couldn't keep calm anymore. Just hearing this thing talking made him feel as painful as his internal organs being burned.

He gritted his teeth and kept grinding them, as if he wanted to sharpen them into weapons so that he could jump down and bite the monster to death.

At this moment, there are only two people left here who can remain calm. One is Idaos and the other is Seral.

The glorious company commander maintained a standard hidden observation posture, staring motionlessly below without making any unnecessary movements.

Pharmacist Seral looked completely indifferent, as if the monster had never said a word from beginning to end. He held the dagger calmly and pressed his other hand on the back of Sicarius' neck.

"What I said is true!" The monster continued to roar, its voice sweeping through the crowd like thunder.

All mortals who heard his voice were stunned. They did not expect to hear such treasonous words from Guilliman's mouth. If someone else had said such a thing, they would probably have swarmed him and started using physical means to silence him.

But it was different now. Now, it was Robert Guilliman who said this to them personally.

So they can only continue to listen in fear.

"Do you know why we are encountering such a disaster today but cannot get support? Do you know why the five hundred worlds have never received the light of the Star Torch in the past ten thousand years? Do you know why the insects, demons and those lowly Why do aliens keep attacking our homeland?"

The crowd's uneasiness began to grow at his words.

"For hundreds of centuries, the people of Ultramar have endured torture and pain in disaster and despair, but has the liar on the throne ever really sent support? No! There is no support, only constant requests!"

"He even asked your protectors to spread their forces and go to the borders of his so-called empire to protect other people who are not Ultramar! Isn't this ridiculous? Isn't this infuriating?"

"He has made ten million demands from us, but has never given us anything in return! Is this God? Is this what a god can only do? Think about it carefully, people of Ultramar, has that so-called god ever existed? Have you responded to your expectations?”

The crowd looked at each other, and slowly, under the gaze of the monster with the face of Robert Guilliman, their emotions began to boil. Unity is a virtue of human beings, but unity can also bring about another kind of problem, that is, blind obedience.

Sometimes, demagogues don't even need to be highly skilled to turn large groups of peaceful people into resentful mobs.

What's more, they are now facing Robert Guilliman - can the words spoken by the original body be false?

Under their gaze, the monster slowly raised its right hand and clenched it into a fist, giving it a strong sense of power.

"I've endured it for too long, you've endured it for too long, and I won't endure it any longer."

"Your suffering will end from today." The monster changed his voice and made a calm announcement.

"I will no longer continue to watch you continue to be deceived by the false emperor and false god. I have returned, and I have returned as the son of Ultramar! I will lead you into a bright new century!"

"Fire," Captain Ideos said.

More than sixty bolt guns were firing at the same time without any hesitation. The bolts that spun out of the gun barrels carried the user's fury and rushed towards the giant surrounded by people, with no intention of killing. There was a moment like this that was so clear.

The monster raised his right hand as expected, blocking with superhuman speed and falling down just in time to avoid the rest of the bombs.

They could only roar and hit the long pillars at the back of the hall and the company flags of the Ultramarines, tearing those representatives of honor into pieces.

Blood splattered and the crowd screamed. Idaos stood up resolutely and left the high platform at the lead. The team led by him quickly followed, completely surrounding the crowd and the fallen monster, leaving the pharmacist and Sicarius alone.

"I'm going down too," the scout said to his protector.

"Don't even think about it," Seral replied calmly. "You have no right to participate in the battle, let alone."

He shook his head, and Sicarius looked at him in confusion and annoyance, but did not repeat the request. The situation below changed again, attracting his attention.

Facing the heavily armed Ultramarines, the crowd trembling in fear did not get out of the way. In fact, on the contrary, they even stood firmly in front of Robert Guilliman, pretending to protect him.

Even when faced with the muzzle of a bolt gun, the terrified people did not flee.

"Get out of the way." Sicarius heard Captain Idaos yell. "You have all been deceived! What you are protecting is not our genetic father, but a monster who is pretending to be a deceiver in his face!"

The crowd roared again, and many of them could recognize that the person speaking was the company commander of the Ultramarines - and now, between the original body and the company commander, what choice should be made?

They looked back and forth hesitantly. In the end, this hesitation was completely shattered by the monster who barely sat up.

"Let them come."

He spoke angrily, and squatted down with the help of several civilians with tears in their eyes. He even lowered his head weakly, and his whole body was completely hidden behind the mortals.

"They have all been brainwashed by the false emperor. Don't sacrifice your lives for me. Disperse, my people. If my fate is to be killed by my own son, then I am happy to accept it. I only hope that this will not bring more unnecessary bloodshed and sacrifice." Sicarius stood up suddenly. He ignored the broken sutures and the pain in his body and was about to jump off the platform to join the battle. Sellar pressed him down again with unquestionable strength, and then calmly gave his veto. "Don't force me to knock you out." He said firmly and coldly. "Stay here honestly and follow the orders of Captain Idaeos. Do you want to be punished by military order, Cato Sicarius?" "But-" "--No buts, what is happening down there is called incitement, psychological warfare and self-torture. It just pushes you Ultramarines into a dead end, do you understand?" Sicarius looked at him blankly, just like the other undecided battle brothers below. Serral smiled mockingly and took off his helmet, revealing a pale face with black hair and black eyes, his skin was like alabaster, and a crow made of steel cast a fierce stare at Sicarius on his forehead.

"This is not something you noble sons can be cruel enough to do, and once bloodshed occurs, that thing will probably take advantage of the chaos to do something we don't want to see."

He stood up slowly, and a burst of suppressed angry rebukes came from under the high platform at the right time, and the crowd of people actually began to counterattack the battle brothers of the Fourth Company.

They loudly rebuked these Astartes, believing that their actions to murder the Primarch were extremely shameless, and some even began to question them with great pain. No matter how they explained, these people would never retreat a single step.

Seeing this, Sicarius suddenly felt uneasy.

Perhaps this matter is not surprising in the wild world. People who have not received basic education are indeed easily incited by simple words.

However, everyone on the Macragge's Glory will receive education, and those who are interested can even study in a separate academy.

Logically speaking, the flawed and ridiculous words of that thing should not confuse them to this extent.

He thought, and the pharmacist Seral had already stood up.

In front of Sicarius, he disappeared into the shadow of the platform. Ten seconds later, he stabbed a short knife into the monster's chest.

The crowd was shocked, and Captain Idaeos took the opportunity to roar and fire at the ceiling, forcing the crowd back, while striding forward. But the monster did not die.

He smiled at Seral, grabbed his right arm armor at lightning speed, then opened his mouth, bit off half of the pharmacist's face, and swallowed it into his stomach.

Blood splattered, and Sicarius' pupils shrank sharply.