40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 607 125. Dark Crusade (Forty-five, Angels Defeat, 6k)

"Sanguinius——!"

How many times have I heard its roar?

The angel held the sword tiredly, blocked, knocked the steel whip away, and then adjusted his position.

His armor was already broken, and this gorgeous and powerful armor could no longer provide him with any form of protection. Similarly, the "power" function that the power armor should have had has actually disappeared. It's not just a few parts that have problems. The actual situation is that only a few parts of his armor are still intact.

But Kabanha is not much better. Its body is full of criss-crossing sword marks, each of which is deep enough to see the bone, and some swords even penetrated the neck. Any creature should die after suffering such injuries, but it is different. It will not die unless Sanguinius cuts off its head or cuts it into pieces.

Kabanha took two steps back, and the steel whip in his hand fell heavily. At some point, they returned to the surface of the sea of ​​blood again. The bottomless ocean was now only deep enough to cover the calf, and ripples surged in their battle.

It panted, and hot blood like magma gushed out of its throat, but its voice was still clear. That was not the voice of a demon, and it was undoubtedly intentional.

"Do you know?"

Sanguinius stood there with his sword hanging down, swallowed the blood in his throat, and asked calmly: "Know what?"

Kabanha shook his head thoughtfully and did not answer immediately. To be fair, it was really absurd to have such an expression on its beast head.

A beast, a bloodthirsty demon - the demon that invaded the material world the most in the realm of Khorne in the past ten thousand years, committed heinous crimes, and had endless blood feuds, but now began to think.

Moreover, its thoughts were very interesting.

"The nature of war." Kabanha said so. "I once destroyed one of your worlds, called Landrum. It was a martial world, where men, women, and children were all soldiers, and they began to receive various training from a young age, and regarded death as their destination."

"I am happy to fight with them. Although these mortals are still weak, they are very brave. No one retreated, no one surrendered, and no one even showed hesitation in the battle. Do you understand what a miracle this is, angel?"

Sanguinius raised his sword and walked towards it.

He did not answer, nor did he want to think about the demon's words, but Kabanha laughed. It vomited blood again and shook its head.

"I caught a general. A sergeant who was temporarily promoted, a small character, and his only weapons were a gun and a sword. I looked down at him like I was staring at an ant, but he was not afraid, but wanted to attack me."

"This makes me curious. There are indeed many brave people among you. I admit this, and these people - the Landrum people - are still different. So I did something I had never done before. I wanted to fight the spirit of this sergeant."

"In the past, only you have received such respect, and others are not worthy of my attention. That sergeant is the second person, and he is much weaker than you, but I still want to win this battle."

Kabanha raised the steel whip and swung it at the angel. As cunning and vicious as ever, it changed its line in the air. It was originally aimed at the left, but it changed to the right because of a provocation of the demon's wrist.

The angel dodged quickly, steadied his pace, swung his sword to slap the steel whip away, and continued to walk towards Kabanha.

He walked very slowly, which may be attributed to a serious injury behind his right knee. Kabanha had bitten off that piece of flesh not long ago, weakening his mobility.

But he didn't let the demon have an easy time. The angel retaliated and pierced the demon's left shoulder with his sword, then turned his wrist and drew his sword to cut again.

He was just a little bit away from making Kabanha lose his left hand.

"At first, I thought their courage was just because of the special belief in death in their culture - remember, Sanguinius? They saw death as a way to repay your so-called emperor."

"And I showed the truth to the sergeant, I let him see what I saw, I made him understand that the so-called Hall of Valor and the resting place they may believe in do not exist, and there is no peace in the world after death, only endless struggle."

"What's his name?" The angel suddenly asked.

Kabanha grinned, his sharp teeth opening and closing, and asked in a serious tone: "Does this matter to you? He is already dead, with no place to be buried, and even his soul was crushed by me."

"He defeated you."

"Why do you say that?"

"If he lost, you would not mention this to me-so he defeated you, Kabanha. A mortal defeated you in the spiritual struggle."

"Yes." The demon nodded in acknowledgement. "His name is Haras, Haras of Landrum, and he defeated me in the battle."

"He accepted the cruelty of all this because he already knew it-they, all the Landrum people already knew it. There was a problem in a world under your rule, and they knew these truths that you carefully protected, but chose to accept it."

"They understood the nature of war, that is, to accept everything, and then hold their chests high and throw themselves into the struggle until death or victory. Death, or victory, angels, nothing else."

"Nonsense."

The angel answered in a cold tone. He understood what Kabanha was doing - talking to restore his strength and trying to disturb him with these words. It was a simple strategy, but it was very effective, because the angel himself also needed a little recovery time.

He could still continue to fight.

Kabanha smiled.

"No, you don't understand enough."

It whispered, its fangs gleaming, and it rushed towards him with wings.

The whip easily tore the air apart, and the flesh and blood condensed from pure evil provided too much power, making the steel whip straight at this moment, looking like a bloodstained rusty sword.

The angel did not block or dodge, but accelerated and rushed towards Kabanha. The only defensive measure he took was to cross the sword to his side to block the vitals to avoid being hit by the steel whip.

Kabanha immediately saw his intention - it was an obvious slashing start, and its target was Kabanha's left hand that was only connected to the flesh.

The demon laughed wildly, and did not dodge, but opened his chest to the angel.

Indescribable sharp sounds rang out in the next half second, and the tip of the steel whip sank into the angel's right shoulder, shattering flesh and bones.

The long sword slashed from bottom to top, cutting off the demon's left hand, and changed its line for the second time, creating a horrifying gap in its abdomen.

Blood gushed out, but Kabanha threw away the steel whip and grabbed the angel's neck with his only remaining right hand.

"Very good."

It panted in praise, and the pungent smell of blood rushed to the face and poured into the angel's nostrils.

"Create weakness, exchange injury for injury - but have you actively ignored one thing, Sanguinius? You want more in this battle than I do."

Kabanha was right.

Sanguinius's throat began to roll up and down, and the bloodthirsty desire that had been suppressed for a long time and had never left since the beginning of the battle came back at this moment.

It easily broke through the barriers that the angel had set for himself in his heart. This time, even the reins had been broken free, and it roared and ran wildly on the yellow sand, thirsting for blood.

As a last resort, although the angel was still being pinched by the neck and needed to break free, he did not do so for the time being, but returned to the yellow sand again. He was not afraid of death or defeat, but he was afraid that he would become something more terrifying because of the indulgence of desire.

——At that moment, Kabanha's blood even attracted him.

He did not dare to gamble, nor was he willing to gamble whether he could continue to suppress this unspeakable, innate desire under such circumstances.

The sun was scorching, the yellow sand was scorching, and the angel fell on a sand dune with sweat all over his body. He could no longer tell which period of Baal this chaotic world in his heart presented, but just stood up staggeringly and began to look for the wild horse that had run away.

Its whereabouts were not difficult to find. Sanguinius only took a quick glance and saw countless deep hoof prints in the desert, which were not buried by the wind and sand, but deeply embedded in it.

He tried to tell from the hoof prints where the beast had gone, but he didn't need to look for it. In the next moment, an unbearable sweet smell came from behind him.

The angel turned around and saw a blood-red and twisted monster, which was as tall as him, but without wings. The recurved hooves were deeply sunken in the yellow sand, and blood was splattered on the naked chest.

Sanguinius suddenly fell to his knees.

He almost lost control.

He wanted to pierce the monster's neck with his fangs, and then drink to his heart's content, completely releasing the desire that had been suppressed for who knows how many years.

He didn't want to be trapped in the endless political game, nor did he want to be an empty symbol, sitting in the position of regent, waiting for others to come and worship him.

He didn't like these things, never. But he was forced to suppress himself only out of a sense of responsibility. There were so many people in this world who were more miserable than him. Why should he abandon others for his own sake?

But, but.

A scarlet hand came quietly, climbed up his chin, and made him look up.

"But, fighting, honor, and blood" his desire whispered softly. "You really want them."

No, it's not like that.

"Yes, admit it, there is nothing shameful about it. You were born to kill, all of you. Primarch is just a modified word. The truth is, you are just tools, tools with pre-set duties."

"Don't rush to deny me, think carefully, think about the glorious Great Crusade - how many people did you kill in it? How many families were destroyed because of your arrival, and how many worlds have become dark nests, and the people are oppressed and bullied?"

Sanguinius gritted his teeth and closed his eyes: I will not refute, what you said is indeed the truth, we all have blood on our hands, all are glorious butchers.

But if we don't do this, their future will be even darker. The cruelest order is also order, which is much better than the evil brought by chaos.

You can't shake me.

He took a deep breath, letting the smell of blood slide through his throat, clenching his fists.

You can't shake me.

"I don't have to do this. Coming back here is the most unwise decision of your life."

It knelt down and cut its wrist with its fangs. Hot and sweet blood immediately gushed out, flowing in the yellow sand, hissing. The angel's nostrils began to twitch, like a beast smelling the smell of raw meat. The lips bulged, and the long fangs slowly extended.

"Drink." Desire whispered. "In the desert, water is precious."

It moved its hand to the top of the angel's head, and the blood dyed his blond hair red, and then flowed down, making his whole body dirty.

Veins bulged on Sanguinius's forehead, and the desire welling up in the depths of his throat was suppressed time and time again with low growls. But how sweet is the smell of blood? A few drops of the hot liquid that slid across his cheeks finally fell into his lips.

An unprecedented and wonderful taste immediately blooms.

Sanguinius opened his eyes suddenly, his pupils as thin as pinpoints. His clenched fists suddenly unclenched, and then he grabbed the hand that was still bleeding out and bit it.

The fangs pierced into the flesh, drawing out more blood. He began to lick the wound continuously, his throat rolled, and he swallowed mouthfuls of hot blood into his throat.

How could it feel so wonderful? Sanguinius drank greedily of his uncontrollable desire, finally leaving behind him the burden he had carried for ten thousand years.

He kept drinking and biting flesh and blood, unaware of the situation he was in at this moment - until a deep laughter came from his ears.

Sanguinius opened his eyes again and saw Kabanha's face.

"I won." The devil declared with satisfaction and pride.

What? What is it saying? The angel took a deep breath in confusion, but a warm stench came from his mouth and nose. He was stunned and looked down, only to see a pair of blood-red hands and a disemboweled demon body.

The angel stood stunned for a few seconds, and his body suddenly began to tremble.

Kabanha suddenly laughed wildly, his exposed internal organs twitching with the laughter.

"Have you forgotten, Sanguinius? Fighting on a spiritual level, you said it yourself! Do you think this battle will only be limited to swords? No, with your current declining skills, I can easily kill you But this battle will be fair, remember?”

"This sea of ​​blood was originally prepared for me. No matter how hard you hit me, I could absorb it and recover instantly, but I didn't do that. If I want to defeat you head-on, I will definitely make you admit your defeat in person. defeat."

The demon stood up unsteadily, its internal organs falling out of its open chest and abdomen, but it didn't care.

Kabanha stopped all smiles, clenched his remaining right fist, and raised it high. At this moment, its voice is as loud as thunder.

"Now I win." It said slowly. "And you lost, Sanguinius."

"See, you and I are no different from each other. Do you remember what I said on Signus? You and I were supposed to be brothers, connected by blood, killing each other - now, you see the truth."

"Your heroic appearance, which you have maintained for thousands of years, has disappeared without a trace under this momentary indulgence of blood-soaked desire. You even refuse the blood of demons. A thing you call evil and filthy. You also regard the blood of monsters as a treasure and don’t want to waste a drop.”

"Now, tell me, Sanguinius - can you ever return to your children with your head held high? Can you still gaze upon your brothers with normal eyes? Can you ever cry out again? For the four words “Emperor”?

"Choose."

Kabanha lowered his voice and whispered mockingly in a whisper-like tone.

"Die here and die fighting as Sanguinius. Or deceive yourself and go back with your unsealed desire. Choose, angel. This only weapon I have will be waiting here, just waiting for you to do it for yourself." render a verdict.”

After a long time, Kabanha got a roar.

It was stunned because it had not expected this. But it was also surprising, because the roar was a roar of anger, and that kind of anger was extremely pure.

There is no rational boundary, no logic contained in it, all the self-control and repression were thrown into this flame at this moment, becoming the most suitable fuel. Ka'banha had never seen such pure rage - ever.

The moment this object appeared, it overwhelmed Sanguinius' desire for blood that he had restrained for thousands of years, and then more, everything.

Sanguinius howled and sprang toward it, but not empty-handed. A sword somehow appeared in his hand, and that sword made one thing clear: Sanguinius was still a warrior, not a beast.

Kabanha laughed loudly.

Regardless of its own injuries, it punched hard. The angel slashed with his backhand, cruelly split his fist, and got stuck between the demon's bones.

Kabanha was bleeding and gasping for breath. He twisted his wrist and forced Sanguinius's sword out of his hand with his own hand bones.

It laughed and took a step forward, raising its right fist again. The violent force blasted away the sea of ​​blood, and the corpses floated. Countless swords flew out, and one of the steel whips fell into its mouth.

The demon chuckled lowly, biting the whip, kneeling and shoulder-to-shoulder, resisting Sanguinius' subsequent attack, and then punched again, the blade spinning out from the gap in the bones.

The angel flapped its broken wings and roared into the sky, holding it with one hand. At this moment, the steel whip covered with ferocious barbs rushed towards him and wrapped around his right ankle.

Kabanha roared angrily, exerted force with one hand, burst out with unparalleled blood courage, and actually pulled the angel down forcefully.

Countless blood flowers splashed up from the place where he fell. A figure followed closely and smashed the blood curtain, speeding towards the demon. His bones were broken, the tight skin burst on the muscles, and the blood vessels exploded together, but he But it didn't seem to be affected in any way.

He has been captured by anger.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

Kabanha clearly saw Sanguinius' distorted face at this moment, his broken armor, protruding fangs and the still-sharp weapon. He held it tightly in his hand, holding it even as his anger completely took over.

Still a warrior, still a warrior, refusing to become a beast.

Even if it's crazy.

"Only you." Kabanha whispered silently.

It whipped and was swung away by the sword. It backed away and the angel roared in pursuit. It used a feint to lure the angel to draw his sword in advance, but the crazy warrior ignored it at all, letting the steel whip fall on his neck and wrapping tightly around his neck, without stopping his running pace.

He raised his right hand high, lowered the blade, and slashed from the wound on Kabanha's broken left shoulder to the wide open belly. He was covered in bruises, bathed in blood, and had a hideous face. He looked beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Kabanha looked at him blankly, his figure suddenly became shorter. Starting from the left shoulder, its body was cut open and severed, and a small part of its body, including its head and right hand, slipped into the sea of ​​blood.

Despite this, its right hand still clenched tightly, still tightly wrapped around the angel's neck, without relaxing at all.

A smile appeared on the demon's head, and the blood sea surged and began to boil. A will roared in it, asking him to accept the healing of the blood sea, then stand up and continue fighting.

"No," Kabanha said. "I won once, but I also lost once. This is the final result of this battle, my lord."

The sea of ​​blood surged manically, then suddenly subsided.

The will angrily said yes, a compliment but also a rebuke.

You lost, Kabanha, you lost to Sanguinius! He spoke disdainfully yet joyfully from his throne of brass in approval. But you also beat him! For this I want -

The thunder roared, and one weak demon after another screamed in the tide of chaos. They died for this, were born for this, and then were instantly captured by anger and became one of the countless blood demons.

"——I don't need anything anymore, Blood God." Kabanha said.

He let go of his right hand and let the crazy angel run towards the end of the blood sea with his weapon. He sank into it, allowing the corpses holding weapons to submerge him, without resisting or accepting the power.

"I refuse promotion. I have been defeated. Dying in this battle is the only thing I desire as a warrior. Even if I cause eight thousand more massacres and obtain countless heads, I can't compete with the honor and satisfaction this battle brings me. Compared."

"I defeated Sanguinius, the Blood God. I defeated him on a spiritual level, made him a prisoner of rage, and left him with nothing to claim to be noble or proud of. But I also lost, and I was willing to Let this defeat put an end to my battle.”

How dare you—? !

Unspeakable horror surged from Ka'banha's blood, and the things contained in it were extremely complex. There was a furious murderous intention for his disobedient act, but there was also a harsh laughter that meant to reward his courage.

Kabanha ignored any of them, and just sank, sank, and finally touched the deepest part of the blood sea, and then made no sound again.

Amid the waves of chaos, in the kingdom of the Blood God, a voice slowly resounded.

"Kabanha is dead."

He said, and then turned his attention to other places of struggle, paying no further attention to the corpse of the devil. However, there is a complex and unspeakable symbol on the right armrest of His throne.

In the language of demons, that symbol represents a name.

Cabanha.