40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 619 5. Lion and Wolf (2, 8k)

The lion reached out and grasped the spear.

Two giant wolves stared at him opposite him.

The firelight danced, the aroma of barbecue slowly spread, and the boiling fat dripped from it, bringing a stronger 'food' stimulation.

The male lion glanced at them, and in the laughter of Leman Russ, he used the spear in his hand to stab the two huge pieces of raw meat behind him, then slowly lifted them up and shook them up and down towards the two giant wolves. .

They stared at the food intently, saliva dripping from their tightly closed mouths, but they did not rush over to fight for it, but sat peacefully on the spot.

The male lion let out a low chuckle, and then flipped the meat lightly, letting them feast on it. He himself was indifferent to the roasted meat that was exuding the pure aroma of meat, as if it was just a bait.

He stood up, turned around and walked to the entrance of the cave, observing this unfamiliar territory.

The first thing he noticed was the dense coniferous forest below. The branches and leaves of this tree could be used as crude weapons, especially the branches, which were very hard.

Then there is a snowfield to the west. It seems lifeless in the wind and snow, but there are some vague white shadows moving in the distance. It could be wild animals such as tundra cattle or elk.

There is nothing to the east, just a cliff.

"The new territory they chose is really good." Russ said with satisfaction in his ear. "It changes once a year. Last time it was the forest by the lake. This time it's the cave at the foot of the mountain. Where will it be next time, Leon?"

"Next time, I will win." The lion replied calmly.

"Really? But you have lost sixteen times in a row - do you really don't need the great ice hunter Russ to teach you something? Lest you be found early by them next time and dragged back to the lair. "

"I said, I will win next time."

The lion squeezed out these words through his teeth, then turned around and returned to the two giant wolves. He walked unhesitatingly between the two giant beasts who were eating, and slowly sat down against the stone wall of the cave. .

He leaned on the spear on his shoulder, and his face was reflected in the blade of the spear, but his eyes were not deep green, but a blue that should not appear.

The lion tilted the spear indifferently, and the illusion changed again, and a very familiar face appeared in it, it was Leman Russ with a smile on his face.

"Logically speaking, Leon, you can come here to meet them at any time but you chose today. What? Is it because the pursuit of these ten thousand years is about to come to an end? Are there still some people on your missing list? There’s a vacancy.”

The lion didn't answer, but he didn't throw away the spear either. He lowered his head and stared at the ground, his knight's robes billowed by the few wisps of wind and snow that blew in.

So Ruth continued.

"I bet there won't be too many fallen angels who will take the initiative to send you a message asking you to go look for them. Judging from your experience, they are probably one of those confused abductees back then. After so many years of escaping, , I finally heard your news and decided to end it all.”

"Maybe it's out of conscience torture, or maybe it's because you want to question why you regard them as enemies. This is your idea, but I want to point out another possibility - could this be a trap?"

"Is it possible that the person who issued the key hijacked the Banjo-1 bureaucracy, took control of the local military and orbital weapons platform, and only waited for you to arrive to start targeting, and they are actually outnumbered."

"Think about it, Leon, how many people's names are still on your missing list that has not been destroyed?"

The lion exhaled a breath of hot air gloomily, and the two giant wolves stopped eating at the same moment and looked over with concern.

One of them walked up to him, stretched out its tongue and licked his face, causing a feeling of wetness, but unexpectedly, there was no bad breath that animals should have. Caliban glanced at him, and the wolf lowered his head and nudged him with his head.

"Even they know you have something on your mind." Russ said, he stopped smiling, his face was calm. "So, talk to me, bro."

"What are you talking about?" the lion asked.

"How do I know? I'm just an undead. Although I can see what you see, I haven't touched anything you don't want me to know."

"Just like the thoughts you are suppressing in your heart now, I know nothing about them. This is the most basic respect. Leon, I am not Fulgrim. I will stalk you to make you reveal your true feelings to him. "

"Fulgrim never did that," the Lion retorted coldly.

"Yeah, he certainly didn't do that to you."

Ruth said with a playful smile, which attracted a burst of angry looks. However, only a few seconds later, the lion's anger turned into happiness strangely, and he sighed with a smile.

He was helpless and shook his head in annoyance: "To put it bluntly, it's still the same old story - surrender or die."

"Who knows what they think? It has been ten thousand years. Unless they are idiots who fled to the wild world to isolate themselves from the world, any Dark Angel in the remaining civilized world should hear the message I sent."

"I understand that they, even new recruits, will look for channels to get news from the outside world. Newspapers, radio stations, informants. They have countless ways to hear my voice and know my attitude towards them - surrenderers can be justified. Opportunities, but there are always people who don’t want to do it.”

Ruth gently continued his words: "So, as I said, you are worried that the person who sent the secret key this time is also one of those die-hards?"

The lion nodded slowly.

This time it was Leman Russ's turn to sigh.

"You have an extraordinary concentration, Leon. Even among us, you can always do things beautifully as quickly as possible. When you really want to do something well, When things happen, no one in the world can stop you.”

"It's like when you broke into that dark palace and brought back my body. If even that thief can't stop you, what else can?"

"You think too much, my brother, and you start thinking like a typical Caliban again and you don't need to."

"I am Caliban!" said the lion angrily. "You better watch what you say, damn it."

"Okay, let me get this straight - you stupid lion, can't you go find them alone? They don't know you're here!"

The lion was silent for a while and shook his head.

"You don't understand, Russ. It's been ten thousand years, but even if it's another ten thousand years, I believe you still can't understand. They ran away not because they were afraid of death, but because they were afraid of seeing me."

"The fundamental contradiction in this matter is that unless they choose to let go or accept everything on their own, my presence will only provoke a stronger reaction, like a frightened animal, and they will act in ways that even they cannot understand. matter."

"And if they really control part of Banjo-1's system, what will my appearance make them do? I don't want to see any unexpected casualties. Except for those who are really guilty, no one I should pay for my mistake with my life again.”

"Asmodai may have a different view on this." Russ said playfully.

The lion's face turned pale immediately, and he suddenly growled: "Don't mention that idiot to me! I have never seen such a stupid and direct mind. If he is not my son, I will definitely break his bones!"

"Oh, don't be like this, brother. He didn't do anything wrong. Although he fired first last time and interrupted the conversation between you and your sons who call themselves wandering knights, the investigation afterwards didn't prove it. Is he right? There is indeed some chaos corruption spreading quietly among the Wandering Knights."

"He has not been investigated!" the lion roared back.

"But the result is good." Ruth replied lightly, as if he was suppressing a smile. "And we Fenrisians have never paid much attention to the process."

The lion immediately began cursing him in Fenrisian, and Russ accepted them all. Reflecting on the spear blade, he shrugged indifferently.

"Every son grows up in the shadow of his father, brother, so you'd better take a look at yourself first. Asmodai may be a little extreme, but I bet that his extremeness has something to do with you to a certain extent."

Leon El'Jonson took a deep breath, stood up, and said gloomily: "He is just a reckless young man who grew up in this cursed era and endured the suffering born of our incompetence and sins. "

"I won't blame him for anything. I just ask him to do his research before pulling the trigger next time. That's all. So take back your damn words, Ruth."

"So, where are you going?" Ruth asked.

"Asking knowingly." The lion snorted coldly.

The moist breath that belongs only to the forest disappeared fleetingly in the cave. The two giant wolves stared at each other. One of them suddenly yawned, lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. The other man went to the fire and blew out the flames, then also lay down.

It's cold and windy, and Fenris will always be that way. But the lion had left and returned to his battleship.

Not any of the legacies of the First Legion, but a new battleship named 'The Edge of Reason', a name he himself had chosen to admonish himself and the young men in his Chapter.

Now in the fortieth millennium, the galaxy is dark, the empire is as stiff as a walking corpse, numbness, ignorance and fanaticism are prevalent, and faith has become the main theme.

The Lion knows its importance, but he still doesn't want to see his descendants devote themselves wholeheartedly to the way of faith and forget the importance of reason.

The conversation he had with Hermit La Cruz, the son of Aurelion, at the iron felt fortress in the solar system hundreds of years ago came back to his heart at this moment, causing him to frown unconsciously.

This also made Azrael, who was called after, look cautious.

The lion glanced at him and suddenly said: "Take off your armor, Azriel. Then bring your weapons, standard equipment. We have to go to Banjo-1 one step ahead."

Azrael turned to look at the porthole and saw the pale gray planet. Then he turned to his Primarch again, still wary, and asked a question: "Perhaps we should wait a little longer, Primarch? We haven't even reached low Earth orbit yet."

"We don't take the shuttle."

Azriel's eyes widened and his shoulders lifted. He immediately saluted, then turned around and ran to the arsenal, but the lion still stood there without any thought of putting on the armor.

He is fully armed, and one of his sons is fully armed are two completely different concepts. The former will make most fallen angels confused, but the latter will only make them wary.

Having been on the run for so long, many of them are far more vigilant than ordinary Astartes, and the slightest disturbance will make them want to leave.

He then began to wonder whether his actions would incur the annoyance of Chapter Master Belius later, but he finally decided to take Azrael with him.

There are three reasons. First, he is smart enough to fully understand the Lion's intentions.

Secondly, among the young people who came this time, he was the one with the most outstanding martial arts skills, and there was probably no one among them. He would have an advantage over the others in any possible battle.

Third, even Berrius is very optimistic about him. In this way, even if his stubborn son wanted to make irresponsible remarks to him, it would be difficult to punish Azrael.

The lion smiled unconsciously.

"Don't be too happy, brother." Ruth reminded him calmly. "What kind of people may you be facing later? Neurotic lunatics, traitors who surrender to Chaos, self-obsessed, hysterical idiots who can't stand anyone? Choose one."

"It doesn't matter." The lion said firmly. "As long as you don't fall into chaos."

Russ chuckled: "It's up to you - but I still want to say that your behavior of using your son as a shield user is really very fatherly."

The lion ignored him.

Just three minutes later, Azrael, who was fully armed, set foot on a forest path with him. As for the other Dark Angels on the Edge of Reason,

In a few minutes they will hear a message left by the lion, and no matter how many of them may be annoyed by it, they will carry out the command conveyed in this message.

The Lion knew them all - every one of them, in fact, and every Dark Angel who joined the Chapter now passed through his eyes.

The tragedy of ten thousand years ago could not be repeated again. He made great efforts to abolish the inner circle system and reform it together with the selection system. Every year, batches of children born in Caliban's class line up to be inspected by him. Even if they fail to be selected, they can enter the war group and become servants.

I have to say, you have really changed a lot, Leon. If Vulkan knew, he would probably give you a hug. Ruth said silently.

The lion still ignored him and just moved forward intently.

He has entered the kind of 'focus' that Ruth said. At this moment, nothing can disturb him anymore.

Azrael followed closely behind his primarch, his modified 'Torchbearer' bolt pistol slung in a holster on his outer thigh, and a power sword carefully modeled after the Lion Sword in every detail. waist.

Except for five shock grenades, this is Azrael's standard equipment. He was still a young man. Although he was respected and favored, he was still not qualified to use those powerful weapons, but it didn't matter to him - as long as he had a sword, it was enough.

They walked quickly through the forest until they reached a critical point. Azrael suddenly felt a strong tearing sensation. When he came to his senses again, he had appeared in a dark alley.

The lion stood aside, the spear in his hand still gleaming in the darkness.

Azrael glanced at the weapon in awe, then whispered: "Primarch, what do we do next?"

The lion didn't answer, but gave Azriel a frown, his nose twitching.

Only then did the Dark Angel belatedly realize that in addition to the common chemical pollution in the mining world, there was also a smell of blood in the air that ordinary people could never detect.

With a clatter, the sword at his waist was instantly unsheathed. Azrael turned around warily and saw an open sewer pipe mouth at the end of the alley, from which the smell of blood wafted.

"Primarch?" he asked again in a low voice.

"Not human blood." The lion replied unusually calmly.

He took steps towards the open mouth of the sewer pipe, his nose still twitching like a wild beast.

However, is there any beast in the world that can move as completely silently as he does? Azrael tried to imitate it many times, but never got the point.

He followed the lion and stood on the edge of the sewer opening and stared down. The darkness failed to block their sight. Some broken limbs were slowly sinking and floating in the wide sewer pipe.

Just like the male lion said, those limbs are not from humans. Their lavender skin and strange strength and sharpness all reveal the identity of their owner.

"It's a genestealer, damn alien." Azrael said with disgust and anger. "Primarch, we-"

"——Let's go down." The lion said.

He lightly held the spear in his hand and drew a circle along the edge of the sewer pipe outlet. The heavy metal and concrete fell into the filthy water with a thud, causing an unspeakable stench. Immediately afterwards, the lion jumped down without any hesitation.

His eyes shone in the gloom of the sewer, and that extraordinary concentration was still at work. However, compared to him, Azrael's mind was in chaos at the moment.

At first he wanted to say that the Lion didn't have to go into this filth himself to pursue the truth, but then he wanted to ask why it was such a coincidence that they stumbled upon the remains of the Genestealer as soon as they arrived at Banjo-1.

Is it the work of those fallen angels? Are they still protecting humans? From this point of view, the secret key might also be part of their plan, not to set a trap, but just to call for reinforcements.

If that were the case, then the Lion would surely forgive their sins. However, the fallen angels have always been cautious about their whereabouts. Are there really some among them who are so noble that they would save innocent people even if they reveal their identities?

Azrael was a little confused and his breathing rate changed slightly. Unbeknownst to him, his primarch had noticed this - and the Lion spoke without looking back.

"You don't know them, Azrael. You think these people are traitors, cruel thugs with no faith or morality in their hearts, but this is not the case."

"Perhaps next time I should let you and Asmodei watch their trial together. Words can lie, but not in front of me. They can only face me with my true face, so you will see the truth."

As he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped and thrust out the spear in his hand. Azriel couldn't even see the trajectory of the blow, and his eardrums felt painful.

He was horrified - was it an attack? Or an enemy? The answer is neither. The spear in the lion's hand just picked up a corpse that fell from the sky.

Azrael looked up and saw the remains of dozens of Genestealers falling continuously above their heads. Judging from his appearance, he is probably not a pure-blood, but he is definitely not one of those pretenders who can blend into all walks of life.

He drew out his gun vigilantly, came to guard the original body, raised the sword blade high in his right hand, and swung it continuously. Hundreds of slashes shook the air in just ten seconds, turning all the fallen corpses into pieces. , did not let any bit of it contaminate the Lion.

But his robes and boots were actually stained.

"It's unnecessary." The lion commented. Even so, he said it with a smile.

Azrael smiled sheepishly behind his helmet, and then activated the jump bag on his back: "I'll go scout, Primarch."

"I'll go with you." The lion said without doubt.

Azrael wanted to ask how you were going to keep up, but after just a second, he began to be glad that he had not asked such a stupid question.

I saw the male lion biting the center of the spear with its mouth open, exerting force on its legs, jumping upwards, and tightly grabbing the tiny protruding edges on the wall of the sewage pipe with both hands, and then began to jump vertically at a speed that even Even Azrael with jump enabled is a little out of reach.

He looked at the original body's unimaginable agility and his hands black with dirt in amazement, and once again recalled the Chapter Master's words.

When the Lion is on the battlefield, he will not let go of any opportunity that is beneficial to him. We have to learn this, Azriel.

Half a minute later, they entered a huge pipe that was sending countless sewage down to where they came from.

The designers left two relatively wide side passages for future repairers to use, but they were obviously used by the dying genestealers. Crates containing various supplies and weapons were piled up on the side passage on the left, filling it up.

Azriel took a cursory glance and saw hundreds of unused standard light guns. This discovery made him even more worried. Although he is young, he has already dealt with all kinds of aliens, especially genestealers and greenskins.

He knew the habits of these two aliens very well, so he understood what it meant for these weapons to appear here. But the male lion remained silent, holding a spear with the tip pointed downward, moving silently and quickly.

Sewage flowed, and corpses floated in one after another from afar. Some strange sounds of battle came vaguely from the end of the road. Azrael listened, but did not hear any bolter sounds.

This makes sense, given that the corpses of the Genestealers were riddled with sharp cuts and puncture wounds.

So, the fallen angels have been reduced to the point where they have run out of ammunition and food? This may be good news for them, but despite this, Azriel is still aware of another problem.

Without the support of explosive bombs and other weapons, an entire nest of gene stealers can be killed like this. How many people are there in that group of fallen angels, and how strong are their combat effectiveness?

"Primarch," he called softly.

"I know." The lion said darkly.

He stopped and turned around, with a cold smile on his face: "They obviously did a good job. Get ready for battle, Azrael, against the Astartes."

"Primarch?"

"Just because they can't see aliens doesn't mean they are happy to see us. A group of fallen angels with such combat power cannot be anonymous, so we are likely to be dealing with a group of pirates or a group of fanatics intent on subverting the local government."

"Understood, Primarch," Azriel said, sighing inwardly at his own incompetence at the moment.

He was obviously thinking a lot, but when facing the lion, he couldn't say a word or give any useful advice. He was like an answering machine and kept repeating the original body, the original body, the original body.

Azrael clenched the blade in his hand, but did not raise it. Instead, he kept it lowered like a lion.

They continued to move forward and soon reached the end of the pipe. However, the scene that appeared in front of them was not the scene they imagined for "Fallen Angels vs. Gene Stealers".

In fact, there are no fallen angels here at all, only the corpses of genestealers all over the ground.

It was chopped into pieces, cut off, and had its hands, feet, and head ripped off. The spine was hung on the cable from the ceiling, wrapped around another head that was still staring at death, and the internal organs and minced meat were covered on the metal like soil.

Perhaps one day, they will bloom flowers of flesh and blood, but Azrael does not care about this. He noticed that these gene stealers did not even leave traces of resistance. He wanted to know who could do it. Something so horrific?

He looked at his original body, expecting the Lion to give some explanation, but what he didn't know was that Leon El'Jonson was no less shocked than he was.

That's weird, man.

Leman Russ's voice once again crossed a certain boundary, floating in a deep voice, full of seriousness.

Does this scene look familiar to you?

nonsense. The lion roared in his heart.

This style of fighting quickly, brutally attacking and resisting leads to even greater violence. Damn it. Man, I can only think of one person in the galaxy who is capable and willing to do such a thing.

Ruth let out a low sigh: But the problem is, that person can't come back.

The lion clenched the spear tightly, and the artifact that transcended reality and reason creaked in his hand.

A name flashed through his heart, followed by pain, regret and longing. At this moment, the battlefield of Terra from thousands of years ago turned into a devouring ghost from the corner of memory, roaring and rushing into his blood vessels. It began to cause pain far beyond the limits of ordinary people's imagination.

And he just took a deep breath.

"Primarch?" Azrael asked worriedly.

"Nothing." The lion replied calmly.

Just say something if you have something to say, you idiot. Leman Russ growled at him anxiously.

Normally, whenever he did this, the lion would retort or scold him, but not this time. Without a word, his brother gripped his weapon and stepped straight into the field. Hell, start looking at every little detail.

Through his eyes, Russ was able to witness those brutal attacks as well.

The two of them share some indescribable similarities in intuition, and now they become one. Wherever the lion looked, the wolf king described for him in his heart how the killing started and how it ended.

Unlike him, the lion was more focused on the murderer's strength and the direction of the attack. Under this strange combination, a conclusion slowly emerged.

The murderer's speed and strength surpassed that of humans, and even the Astartes.

His killing skills are even more extraordinary. Every time he cuts, he perfectly avoids bones. He is like an experienced butcher using a sharp knife to dismember an animal on the cutting board. He can always avoid bones when cutting.

Obviously, he is very familiar with the physiological structure of these gene stealers - no, rather, he is familiar with the human body structure. He remembers every weakness and every vital point clearly, and can even use them in Genestealers steal human forms and use them on aliens.

Well, maybe we should contact Yago Savitarion. Russ said in his heart.

Why contact him? the lion asked back. That brat has to say something stupid every time he sees me.

His Primarch is back, aren't you going to let him know?

I do not believe

The lion stood up slowly, and Azriel's voice came shortly after: "The throne is above, Primarch, who did this?"

"Monster," said the lion. "And, there's a little bit-"

He suddenly turned around, and a golden light suddenly surged in front of Azriel's eyes.

The Dark Angel belatedly judged the intention of the lion's spear swing through some kind of quiet breeze. He immediately raised his sword and charged towards him with a roar, but the lion roared at him instead.

"Stop, Azrael!"

With a bang, the Dark Angel flew backwards and the sword came out of his hand. Seeing this, the lion suddenly let out a roar that was far more violent than Azrael's, and the spear in his hand seemed to shine like the light in the sky at this moment.

He thrust it out without hesitation, piercing a body of flesh and blood, but the face illuminated by the golden light immediately caused the lion to immediately let go of his hands, and even took several steps back.

"Huh!" The person who was stabbed slowly exhaled a long breath of cold air, smiled and shook his head. "It's been such a long time no see, Leon."

The lion didn't answer, his eyes were full of shock, but then he suddenly raised his hand and rushed towards him.

"Azrael, no!"

The crack of bolt gunfire was fleeting.