40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 582 100. Dark Crusade (Twenty-five)

At noon Robert Guilliman set foot on the walls of Naros. The soldiers holding spears breathed a sigh of relief at his arrival, and their chests puffed up involuntarily.

They trust me. Guilliman thought bitterly.

He calmed down his emotions and walked to Lord Kamo who insisted on going to the battlefield.

By any standard, he was an old man. However, the saggy skin and white hair became majestic again against the backdrop of the family armor - but it only looked majestic.

His age had long since stopped him from wearing this armor. The old lord's forehead was covered with sweat, and he had to hold the family flag beside him even to stand.

Guilliman looked down at the stubborn old man, not knowing what to say. He had persuaded the other party not to set foot on the battlefield, but no matter how many times he tried to persuade him, the answer given by the old lord was a firm refusal.

This was completely contrary to his obedience to Guilliman in other aspects, and he himself never explained this.

Finally, several ministers gave the answer. They said that the old lord had two sons and one daughter, and they all died in the war against the greenskins. If these things had not happened, Lord Kamo would have abdicated long ago.

Guilliman soon realized what was hidden in the heart of the old man named Kamo, but he could not understand it.

All things considered, he had not been 'alive' for more than a natural month. He had never hated anything, not even the greenskins. He knows that these things are harmful beasts and aliens, and they must be killed without leaving any trace, but he does not hate them.

"My lord, those beasts have been shouting for a while." The old lord spoke slowly with a hateful tone. "It has been like this since my grandfather's generation. They come in waves and die in waves, but the iron walls of Narrows still stand. And now, we have you, son of the gods. So, please give the order Bar."

He bowed deeply, as if he had nothing else to say. Guilliman glanced at him, stretched out his hand, and took a giant sword he had made from the hands of four attendants.

He held it high, the sun's rays reflecting off the tip of the sword - this was the declaration, and no other words needed to be said.

The archers who had been restrained for a long time pulled the longbows modified by Guilliman, and let the arrows fly out with the hatred of the Naros people. Arrows rained down, then another wave, and the next, and so on.

Narrows is backed by forests and surrounded by mountains to the north. Timber has never been a problem to worry about. There are even three iron mines in the city. This is also the biggest reason why it has persisted until now. The Naros people do not lack iron tools.

In the early years, when the horse ranches provided enough horses, they could even organize a real armored cavalry. Although the greenskins are ferocious, humans are not weak.

Guilliman didn't feel the slightest joy as he watched the arrows pierce the bodies of the greenskins. He knew in his heart that this was just the beginning, and the orcs didn't care at all about the rain of arrows.

Except for some beasts that were shot in the head and fell, most of the others swarmed towards the city wall at the moment the arrows were fired.

The one rushing at the front of them was a particularly huge green-skinned creature, wearing a ridiculously shaped armor, but its face was so ferocious that it was difficult to look directly at it.

Guilliman frowned, took two steps forward, put down his greatsword, and leaned it against the edge of the city wall, while he stared down. He soon realized his only oversight these days - he should have deployed another line of defense in front of the city wall.

That way, Narrows wouldn't have to be directly threatened.

But his time was too little. During the day, like a real monarch, he handled government affairs with the old lord in his study.

At night, he needs to research new weapons technology, improve the smelting methods of the Naros, and make suggestions for how they train their soldiers.

He has too many things to do, not to mention that he needs to secretly go to the mountains and forests every few days.

The taste of fresh flesh and blood is extremely tempting to him, and it is the only food he is willing to eat. But the strange thing is that the more powerful the beast, the more tasteless the entrance is. This makes him often think of deer, and it also makes him have a bad guess.

However, he still has never eaten anyone.

never. Robert Guilliman thought. Not even death.

"Open the west gate." Guilliman held his sword and spoke slowly. "Let the soldiers divide the battlefield according to the predetermined plan. I will guard the main city gate. If the situation is unfavorable, I will sound the warning bell."

"Sir!" the old lord called him quickly. "You want to-?"

"Yes," said Guilliman.

He raised his sword, turned over and jumped off the city wall. The 16-meter city wall built by the Kamo Lord family and the residents of Naros City through generations of efforts was left behind him, but the soldiers did not Surprised, even started cheering.

This is the third time this has happened, and they are already looking forward to what will happen next.

And Guilliman granted their wishes.

The giant sword was swung the moment he landed as light as a weight, and the heavy weapon swept across the entire green skin in front of him with pure power. Blood splashed, and all the green skins touched by the sword were cut off as easily as straw.

Guilliman rushed into the center of them, and with a few simple swings, he eliminated the greenskins surrounding the main city wall. However, he did not take advantage of the victory to pursue it, but immediately returned to the front of the city wall.

The huge green-skin roared and ran over its companions in the next second, charging towards Guilliman. Guilliman was already a giant, but this green skin was even more terrifying. It was taller than him, with muscles all over its body covered in knots and scars.

Guilliman swung his sword at it, but the beast blocked the lightning-quick thrust with its crude axe. It roared and waved its right hand, and a huge machete chopped off Guilliman's head.

The acting lord of Naros frowned, retracted his sword, took two steps back, and dodged the blow, but this was just the beginning for the greenskins.

Its attacks were continuous, faster and heavier, and it even became more and more excited as it struck. There was something almost pure happiness flowing on that ugly face.

A sudden anger flashed through Guilliman's heart.

You come here.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his sword, dodging, blocking, and gathering strength.

Want to kill my people

The greenskin laughed wildly and pursued him, unaware of the counterattack he was brewing.

Still acting so happy? !

Robert Guilliman roared: "Death!"

He rounded the giant sword in the most essential way and slashed it down at high speed. Both of the greenskin's weapons were broken under the power of this angry blow, but the greenskin was still grinning.

It smiled, pulled out another slightly shorter machete from its back, and spoke inarticulate Gothic.

"The boys are right, Big Xiami, you are really good at fighting!"

"Shut up, you cruel beast!" Guilliman growled at him. "You don't deserve to use human language!"

"Human?" The greenskin muttered, swung his sword and continued to attack him, but he showed a little disdain and even started to retort.

"Those little guys who are hiding behind you and throwing things? They are obviously just shrimps, why are you so stupid? Moreover, we orcs also say this, how can you say that this is Xiami? You are more of a robber than me. !”

Guilliman's anger quickly subsided, he frowned, and once again made a brand-new discovery: greenskins, or orcs, they were by no means as stupid as what the lords had recorded for generations, they were only instinctively ferocious. They can think and even refute his words.

Is it evolution? Or was it like this from the beginning? If it's the former.

"Why don't you say anything anymore, Big Xiami?" Green Skin grinned. "You can't stand it anymore, right? I'm counting on you to hold on for a little longer."

Guilliman silently swung his sword at it, finding its weakness in the clash of swords over the next four turns, while simultaneously learning a whole new set of sword techniques without any teacher.

He took a step back, lowered his sword, and lured the greenskin to attack him. Then he immediately raised his sword to block, and at the same time, he rotated his wrist and drove the giant sword, causing the machete in the greenskin's hand to fly out.

Its face was full of surprise, and Guilliman swung his sword to cut off its head. Blood spattered out, and the ugly head fell heavily to the ground, but there was no joy in Guilliman's heart, only more serious thinking.

Why do I remember this kind of swordsmanship?

No, I don’t remember it, it just popped into my head. Then I learned it

I used to simply swing my fists or weapons, and never used anything that could be called sword skills, but now, what is this?

A question that had been lingering in his mind since he was conscious followed closely behind, slowly rising to the surface.

What am I?

The acting city lord of Naros put away his sword amidst the cheers of the soldiers, and watched the greenskins retreat in panic, feeling confused in his heart.

I'm not Robert Guilliman, that's for sure. I need no sleep, almost no rest, and have endless energy.

I know what something is when I see it, and by extension what it does, what it can become, and where it falls short. I can think and categorize everything I see, as if I innately know how it should work.

Am I human?

He turned around and glanced at the city wall. The old lord looked at him with a smile on his face, strangely proud, while the soldiers cheered him while shouting his name.

A small group of cavalry attacking from the city not far away had also ended their pursuit of the greenskins and returned to him. They gathered around him and began to chant Robert Guilliman, a name that did not belong to him.

I'm not human. he thought with relief. But I'm not a monster either.

A few minutes later, the bodies of the greenskins began to be burned together, and all the land in front of the city gate was turned up one by one by civilians with hoes, and then a powerful compound potion with mercury as the main material was poured into it.

Before Guilliman arrived, their method was to spread grease and firewood and continue to burn for days and nights. But now, they have a new approach.

Everything is moving in a good direction, in order and without any chaos. All the people of Naros have renewed hope in their lives, and it's all because of Robert Guilliman.

Above them, a black bird stared silently at everything, and soon it fluttered away.

——

"Robert Guilliman?" Argo Severtarion said the name in a questioning tone.

Calgio nodded wordlessly and pushed a shivering civilian to the center of the room that had just been built and was still filled with the smell of materials.

Five armored giants who were much taller than him were looking at him expressionlessly. They all had one thing in common: pale skin that was not human-like, and completely dark eyes.

"Tell me again what you told me, Darvill," Calgio said.

He tried his best to use a gentle tone, but the heaviness revealed in his words was still noticed by the civilian named Darvill.

He immediately reflexively put on a humble and flattering smile and nodded repeatedly to Calgio.

"Yes, yes, I understand, my lord."

He began to speak, shaking and fearful, but speaking as clearly as possible.

Savita crossed his hands and did not let his gaze fall on this person, or even near him. He knew very well in his heart what kind of effect his current gaze could have on mortals.

But others don't think so - and of course they don't need to.

Kaiul Sahoura was sitting in his seat, with his hands clenched in fists on the table, listening to Darvill's story very attentively.

Scheherel Lenghun frowned, his thoughts obviously flying all over the world.

Sevatar didn't even need to look to know what he was thinking. As a war group that cooperates deeply with the Inquisition, the Judgment Blade's thinking logic is highly similar to that of the Inquisitors in some aspects.

The hunter ignored it. The way he sat there looked to Sevatar no different than a dead man.

Scaradrick was the most indifferent. He lowered his head and leaned quietly against the corner of the wall, looking like a sculpture.

Darvill's narration lasted for about eleven minutes in total. This obviously well-educated man tried his best to tell all the rumors about the name Naros and Robert Guilliman in the most concise language.

He didn't even hide his life experience. According to him, he used to be the son of a palace minister in a certain territory in the west. When he was seventeen years old, the territory was invaded and he fled to another city with the lord's children.

But the local lord did not welcome their arrival, and the lord's son soon got into trouble for not realizing this, and was eventually thrown into prison. The daughter hastily married a cavalry captain and sought asylum, and it is said that her life was unsatisfactory.

Darvill himself relied on his knowledge to become a teacher, and his life was pretty good. Until half a year ago, the growing green tide engulfed the city.

"Very well, you can leave first." Saiweita said. "There will be people outside who can guide you where to go."

Calgio stepped aside, and Darvill nodded gratefully to him, bowed and left quickly.

The door closed, and Scheherel Lenghun took the lead in asking his question.

"How can we be sure he's telling the truth?"

Sevatar pointed at his eyes, expressionless.

"I know you can tell the lie——" Lenghun sighed. "——But there are too many ways in this world to make a person convinced of a lie."

Scaradrick said without looking up: "Want to torture?"

Calgio's expression quietly changed a little, but it quickly became calm amidst Sevita's shaking head and Caiul Sahora's objection.

"Let that poor man go. I don't think he was lying. The lie was carefully woven, every detail was carefully considered, and many of the details in what he said were very vague."

"No, Kaiul, we must take this matter seriously." The Grand Master retorted, and immediately began a long speech.

"Let's not mention whether Naros City exists or not. Let's first think about whether this world is normal. First of all, there are colonists who have been here. This has been confirmed from the basic database of Kaos."

"Although this planet is only numbered, our ancestors have indeed been here before. Even those worlds that were once lost in the old night have left a certain degree of technological heritage after being transformed by colonists."

"And this planet was included in the empire's territory during the Great Crusade. The impact of the colonists will only be stronger. Why did it degenerate into this state?"

"So, civil strife? However, even if it is civil strife, will everyone here put aside their useful firearms and pick up primitive iron weapons to kill each other? To put it harshly, this would be too inefficient, no It’s in line with our human nature.”

"So, the theory of civilization degradation caused by weapons such as nuclear bombs? It is also not valid. There are no harmful substances on the surface here."

Calgio looked at him and became extremely serious at the very strange professionalism shown by Scheher.

"The following is the second question." The Supreme Grand Leader shook his head expressionlessly. "If the civilian named Darvill is lying, then he is probably the only liar I have ever seen, isn't he, everyone?"

"Please follow this line of thinking. How strong is his skill and psychological quality in lying? Not only can he give a reasonable response in front of us, but he can also fabricate a story that is so perfect that he can deceive us. The lie of Lord Yago Severtalion."

"Is this possible?"

He looked at Savita, who glanced at him and suddenly smiled coldly.

"No." The grand leader gave his conclusion and the last question. "So, we can go to the last question. What if he wasn't lied to, but was affected by lies?"

Hector Calgio took a deep breath and uttered one word: "Devil."

"No." The grand leader of the Judgment Blade corrected softly. "It's chaos."

His voice was very soft, but it caused the temperature in the room to drop a little without warning. Calgio felt a chill, and an overwhelming anger.

At this moment, in the conference room, only Sevatar and the hunter remained calm. They looked at each other, and the hunter slowly stood up, using an extremely calm tone that pushed the already serious atmosphere to the limit.

He mentioned the word Tzeentch.

Twenty-five minutes later, a Thunderhawk gunship flew out of the camp and rushed towards the city with only vague directions.

Narrows.