40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 551 69. Dark Crusade (3)

Cato Sicarius looked at the mortal standing opposite him in confusion.

Although he didn't really want to do it, he had developed an almost instinctive observation ability during his long career as a scout. This ability will always make him have the desire to analyze anything in front of him and practice it.

Now, of course, it’s no different.

Sicarius quickly came to a conclusion from this man's loose stance and calloused hands: he was probably not a warrior at all, and the reason why he was standing here might just be that the veterans around him were joking to him.

As for the calmness on his face, Sicarius preferred to interpret it as a kind of expressionless expression after being extremely overwhelmed. He had found this kind of situation in many mortals who met the Astartes. People think that Lai is no exception.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh. However, at this moment, the door of the duel cage was suddenly closed from the outside.

Sicarius turned around in surprise and saw his company commander Idaos retracting his right hand from the cage door.

"Be extremely careful, Cato Sicarius." He warned, and stretched out his hand to shake an iron bell on the side.

Even if he was just a scout, Sicarius knew that this meant that the battle had begun. The veterans gathered around the iron cage silently cast their gaze over, making Sicarius feel a strange kind of heat.

Now, even if he truly knew nothing about the situation, he could sense something in other people's reactions.

Besides, even if this was really just a bad joke, it wouldn't be so serious. Furthermore, both the company commander and the veterans had a very serious attitude.

In other words, they really thought that mortal could compete with an Astartes in the cramped environment of a dueling cage.

Sicarius turned his head, frowned, and cautiously raised the sword in his hand. He still felt that this thing was unreal. How could a mortal who had obviously not undergone any transformation be able to compete with the Emperor's Angel of Death?

A second later, he got the answer, which was two crossed silver lights.

They were so fast that Sicarius even thought they were faster than bolt bombs. He could capture the trajectory of the bomb in the air and even predict its landing point, but this was not possible with these two swings.

They were just lights in his eyes, and even the sounds seemed not to exist. If he hadn't raised the sword and subconsciously turned the blade sideways to block, he might have been stabbed through the throat by now.

His two hearts began to beat extremely fast, and adrenaline began to be secreted rapidly. In just an instant, Sicarius entered a state of concentrated fighting.

His eyes were fixed on the mortal who had retreated, focusing on his shoulders. As for who he is, or what he is, we can talk about it later.

The priority now is to win this.

He decided to take the initiative.

Sicarius strode forward and made a tentative thrust. The blunt sword with perfect weight and balance stabbed straight towards the mortal's body.

Sicarius kept his hand and controlled the power. During the brief blocking process just now, he had already had a rough estimate of this person's strength. He didn't want to hurt him, but the reality shocked him.

Because his thrust was easily broken by a short knife.

It was an exquisite volley. His opponent used the short sword to predict the path of the training sword in advance, and then swung the sword in advance, hitting the long sword just right, exerting a deflection force.

Sicarius clenched his hands suddenly and took the sword back. He looked at his opponent in shock, with a bit of confusion on his face.

"Then, let me introduce you formally, Sicarius." His captain said with a low smile outside the duel cage. "This is the instructor of the Eighth Legion, Khalil Lohars."

"Legion?!"

"Yes, Legion," Idaios said. "Okay, now hurry up and defeat him, otherwise you will be punished on the first day you join the company."

Sicarius uttered a phrase in the local dialect of Thalasa that meant disbelief. His muscles tensed, his expression a mixture of shock and disbelief, and his taciturn opponent finally spoke.

He still just stood there, his hands lowered, holding two knives clearly in his hands.

"Captain Idaos is kidding you, Sergeant Sicarius. There is no such thing as punishment in this battle. In fact, you didn't even have to participate in this battle."

He raised his left hand, pointed at the audience with the sword blade instead of his fingers, and pointed out a veteran wearing a training shirt and holding his hands.

"The next person to fight me should have been this Evedo brother. It was Captain Ideos who let you in."

"You heard it all." Everdo, who was named, nodded towards Sicarius calmly. "So try to play nice, recruit, or I'll really give you a little punishment."

Sicarius looked at him, then at his opponent, took a deep breath, and finally asked his question.

"Are there any rules for this fight?"

"You are very sharp, sergeant. You have grasped the key point that you need to be most concerned about now. However, the rules are actually very simple. As long as you can hit me once within five minutes, you will win."

His opponent replied with a smile and raised his hands slightly.

"Then - the battle officially begins. From now on, I will only use the same power as you."

What he said was true. When he took the initiative again and rushed towards Sicarius, his movements were no longer so fast. Sicarius still did not dare to take it lightly, and did not even regard the victory conditions as an insult.

He temporarily put aside a series of questions and began to concentrate on fighting this battle - he had this ability, and this concentration was the reason why he was repeatedly rewarded in the scout training.

For what could hardly be called time, Sicarius' mind began to analyze the situation.

He realized that judging from the two confrontations just now, his opponent obviously had more combat experience than him. And he himself has an advantage that cannot be erased - the length of the weapon.

The weapons his opponent wielded were two daggers, which meant that if he wanted to hurt Sicarius, he would have to find a way to get up close.

In fact, he's doing it now.

He was dancing lightly around Sicarius, the short sword was held on his chest, and from time to time he would stab or swing it tentatively, as if to lure Sicarius to draw the sword, while the young sergeant repeatedly warned himself not to Be fooled.

He moved slowly and cautiously in the duel cage, always keeping the tip of his sword pointed at his opponent.

This caution made the veterans in the audience murmur slightly, and also brought a smile to Ideos's face.

However, the smile soon disappeared from his face. He stretched out his hands, grasped the bars of the cage, and began to shake and urge.

"Attack, Sicarius! I order you to attack!"

"Can't do it, sir!" Sicarius shouted in reply without looking at him. "My opponent is very strong, I must adopt a defensive counterattack strategy!"

His opponent laughed.

"It's not a good idea to speak out your strategy rashly, brother sergeant," he said gently.

The next moment, a short knife was thrown out by him.

There was no warning at all about this throw, and it could be said to be extremely sudden. Although the speed was not too fast, it still made Sicarius' hair stand on end.

He subconsciously wanted to put away his sword and block, but at the last moment he gave up the urge and instead used a simple movement to dodge the dangerous throw.

The short knife hit the railing of the iron cage, making a crisp metal collision sound. At this moment, his opponent came quietly, holding a knife and rushing towards Sicarius with a running posture that was almost close to the ground.

The distance between the two has been reduced to a few steps in the continuous testing just now, and now there is no need to say anything more. In just an instant, a flash of silver light penetrated the sword's defense and reached Sicarius' throat, causing a burst of pain.

The young sergeant took a step back in frustration and pursed his lips - he had already calculated that the throw was a feint, and had already prepared himself. He wanted to use his sword to meet the subsequent impact, but he still missed the mark.

At the last moment, his sword subconsciously defended, instead of slashing out at the original angle. If he could cut off this sword, then at the very least, it would be a mutual killing situation.

He lowered his sword, the bell rang again, and the cage door opened. Sicarius walked out silently, his blood that was almost boiling just now has completely cooled down.

He kept the reason for this failure firmly in his heart, but he still couldn't help but be urged by curiosity. He asked a question to the company commander who was close at hand and opened the cage door for him with his own hands.

"Sir, did you just mention the Legion?"

Idaos showed an ambiguous smile: "Huh? Is there any?"

"I'm sure I heard you right"

"You heard it right." Another voice said, that was the voice of his opponent.

Sicarius looked back, just in time to see him conjuring the swords disappearing into his sleeves. At this moment, he no longer looked threatening.

Sicarius was convinced that even if he wore a helmet and let the tactical goggles analyze this person, he would probably only get a 'harmless' hint.

"But—" Sicarius frowned. "——Are you just a mortal?"

The more he talked, the more ridiculous his conclusion became. What mortal could defeat an Astartes in such a small space as a cage with such a nearly crushing attitude?

Not to mention what was revealed in those few words before. Sicarius knew that there might have been many similar battles before he came.

In other words, this so-called mortal has already played many games in the cage, and the opponents he faces are not recruits like him who have just been selected into the company. What he faced were the real veterans of the fourth company.

"I'm glad you can say that." Khalil said with a smile as he lay on the edge of the cage. "But to be honest, Captain Idaos, you shouldn't push a newly recovered recruit in front of me after a serious injury."

"Yeah." Veteran Edowe grunted from the side. “You’re right”

He got a glare from Idaos.

"It's not a big deal to recover from a serious injury, Instructor Khalil. I knew Cato Sicarius was ready before we started. And his performance in the duel cage just now proved what I thought, Isn’t it?”

Khalil nodded, and the veterans of the Fourth Company listened intently to their company commander's words.

"Although he did not win, he showed several rare qualities. In my opinion, these qualities are things that some brothers who have been fighting for more than ten years have not learned."

"For example, he never underestimates the enemy, and even when receiving shocking news during the battle, he can remain rational and continue to analyze the battle situation. The most critical point is that he does not blindly follow the orders of his commander or superiors like others."

"Cato Sicarius had his own set of views on combat situations. Although the strategy of defensive counterattack turned out to be wrong, however, these mistakes can be corrected through training. In other words, I think ——”

Idaos turned his head and looked at Sikarius, who was at a loss and stiff, smiled and patted his shoulder.

"——He is fully qualified to join the fourth company."

The recruit blushed, barely keeping his expression calm, trying hard to hide his emotions at the moment. He had tried very hard, but he still couldn't help but reveal an obvious smile.

Idaios also smiled and pushed him into the pile of veterans. They began to introduce themselves to him and commented on his performance and tactics. The misunderstanding was easily completed without Idaios participating.

He stood there and looked back at the man in the duel cage. He couldn't see through the latter's expression at all. The calmness was as endless as the sea, but Idaos was still willing to imagine some scenes.

A hundred centuries ago, when the Chapter was still just a Legion, how would this instructor, acknowledged by Robert Guilliman himself, teach the Nightborne of the Eighth Legion?

He used his imagination, and at this moment, a servo skull floated out of the pipe on the ceiling. It was a convenient passage exclusively for them.

This silver skull with the logo of an eagle and a laurel wreath swayed in front of Idaos and issued an order, or in other words, a summons in a cold synthesized voice.

"Please go to the Primarch Executive Council quickly, Captain Idaios."

"I see."

It received a response, but instead of leaving just like that, it floated to the edge of the cage again, and the synthesized sound sounded again.

"Please go to the Primarch Executive Council quickly, Instructor Khalil."