40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 677 59. Interlude: Wolf, Lion, God (II)

To be honest, Russ really likes to listen to stories on weekdays. This habit comes largely from the tradition of Fenris. In such a cruel world, history, spirit and courage can only be passed on through word of mouth and from generation to generation.

For countless days and nights, the tribesmen on Fenris would sit around the fire or stove and listen to an elder telling a story he had seen or heard.

Russ was no exception. It can even be said that he grew up with this food.

After he became the only wolf king recognized by the wild wolves, this tradition was naturally brought into the legion by him. Even after his death, he never forgot this matter.

Of course, at this time, he could not do things completely according to his own wishes. If Lion El'Jonson did not nod, or he happened to be in a bad mood, this matter would most likely not go smoothly.

As for now.

Russ held the Spear of Dionysus, sat cross-legged, gently lifted up his old brother's withered and dead face, and placed the round handle of the artifact underneath.

In front of him, two people were arguing. The one standing on the left was full of murderous aura, with his fists clenched and the muscles on his bare arms tense, as if he would attack in the next second.

Russ had heard his story and knew that he came from an unfortunate and broken world where the Great Crusade launched by the Emperor never really came close to success.

While the various legions were still busy recovering lost territory in various parts of the galaxy and fighting on their own, a sudden warp storm completely isolated them from each other.

The demons immediately launched an attack after this, and the Astartes and auxiliary troops who were completely unprepared suffered heavy casualties in the first wave of attacks.

Since then, there has been no hope for human unity, and everything they do can only be described as a lingering survival.

And this Lion El'Jonson was probably the most unfortunate of the many unfortunates in the galaxy. He was strong enough, and relied on his knowledge of demons to lead his legion through the first wave of attacks, but this was not a good thing.

Because when he broke through the siege with untold hardships and returned to the solar system, the message his father conveyed to him almost drove him crazy - his brothers were dead, injured or missing, and there was no news.

Needless to say, their respective legions were either corrupted or killed in battle. What about his father? Naturally, he was not much better.

He only had a head and a body that could barely be called the upper body left, which was placed on a complex instrument and would die completely soon.

He seemed to have foreseen his own death and remained unusually calm about it. He just said that he would fight another war with a new identity - and no matter what the result, there would be no winner in this war.

This Leon was of course very puzzled by this, but his father had lost the energy to explain more.

Before the conversation was over, the sky of Terra was shrouded in darkness, the sun was swallowed, and endless demons poured out and began to fight with the last part of human resistance.

In this war, the Sigillite, the Mechanicus, the Adeptus Custodes, the First Legion, and some remnants of other legions and auxiliary forces were all killed, but this Leon was still alive.

He saw with his own eyes that his father's mutilated body was pulled out from between the thrones by a bloodthirsty demon, and then a dark figure flew straight into the sky from the mutilated body.

After that, the Empire officially fell, and all the remaining colonies no longer had any civilization. All humans became slaves or accomplices of aliens or chaos.

There was only one exception. This person somehow survived the war that turned half of the solar system into a forbidden zone, and since then he has been wandering alone among the stars, hunting all the demons, traitors and aliens he sees.

It's really exciting. Russ thought, and then cast his eyes to the right. Compared with the unfortunate hunter, this one can be completely referred to as the "king".

He looked gloomy, his temples were gray, and his eyebrows were always furrowed. However, it is worth mentioning that although he was arguing with someone, he still maintained a demeanor that matched his status.

Russ could see that this was not a disguise, but his character was like this.

Unlike the hunter, the king's world was much more similar to the history that Russ himself was familiar with. The Great Crusade was forced to stop due to a rebellion at the end, but the mastermind was not Horus, but Sanguinius - which led to more terrible consequences.

The angel who was forced to corrupt and fall met Horus, and the two met alone in the quiet room according to their previous habit. The warmaster, who knew nothing about his brother's tragic fate, was killed on the spot, and the Blood Angels also attacked their brothers at the same time.

In the end, only more than 200 people of the huge Sons of Horus escaped from the meat grinder. However, they were lucky to meet Vulkan and Salamander who happened to be returning to Terra to report among the stars.

The Lord of Nocturne was reluctant to believe this horror story at first, but the tragic situation of the Sons of Horus was real, and so was the hatred in their eyes.

So Vulkan decided to speed up and return to Terra to report the matter to the Emperor - after all, if what the Sons of Horus said was true, then Sanguinius now might not be able to match him alone.

Unfortunately, although the Lord of Nocturne made a very wise decision, he still ran into Sanguinius who was waiting here early in the warp.

The fallen angels wore broken armor full of flesh and blood, and shed tears of blood all the time. Their first reaction when they saw people was not to attack, but to cry and ask them to leave quickly.

Vulkan was confused by this scene. He didn't understand what happened to his brother, but Sanguinius soon told him the truth by eating his flesh and blood and his offspring alive.

Under the influence of the power of Chaos, the 9th Legion won a great victory. Their power at this moment has expanded to an unknown limit. At the moment when they captured the warships of the Sons of Horus and the Salamanders, their power was beyond the reach of ordinary legions.

In the end, this group of fallen launched a blood frenzy that swept the entire galaxy and reached Terra within a year.

It was also at that time that the king saw his fallen brother for the first time. Unexpectedly, he did not see a complete monster - Sanguinius still existed, he was just trapped in a fallen body.

The bloodthirsty desire that was part of his essence took control of this body instead of him. The angel of Baal was powerless to stop him. He could only watch as he killed his brothers, ate them, and hung their heads on his armor as trophies.

The king saw Horus, Vulcan, Fulgrim and Ferrus. In addition, there were many outstanding warriors in the Legion, including Sanguinius' own descendants.

What was even more terrifying was that they were not dead - at least not completely dead, but still experiencing painful torture.

When the king swung his sword at Sanguinius, Horus would tell him about his brother's weakness in swordsmanship, Vulcan would roar at him to be careful of the monster's claws and blood, and Fulgrim and Ferrus would try to grit their teeth, trying to use his last bit of strength to peel off a little bit of the monster's armor and create a little chance for the king to win.

And what about Sanguinius himself? He just shouted desperately, wanting the king to escape quickly, because he fully understood how powerful the monster that was now controlling his body was.

The king did not listen to his advice and still chose to fight to the death, just to stop Sanguinius outside the palace.

The battle entered a white-hot stage, and Rogal Dorn led the Imperial Fists to arrive in time, followed by Korvus Corax and some of his Raven Guards.

The three Primarchs fought side by side, but they were still unable to resist the claws and fangs of the fallen angels. His fighting style had completely become that of a beast - and no matter how serious the damage was to him, he only needed to dodge a little, grab an unfortunate scapegoat and swallow a few bites, and he could recover quickly.

What's worse is that he didn't even use his full strength from beginning to end. Sanguinius's consciousness kept persuading them, begging, wailing and even cursing, hoping that his brothers would leave.

In the end, it was the Emperor who took action. He temporarily exiled Sanguinius and the demonized soldiers of the 9th Legion, but he looked extremely weak.

According to the Sigillite, this was because of a spell that the Emperor tried to use. He wanted to take back the souls of his sons from the four evil gods who took their lives, but he failed, and this forced action made his injuries worse.

Despite this, the Empire still won a hard-won victory. They immediately issued an order to recall the legions and primarchs who knew nothing about it and were still fighting on the front line-but how could Chaos sit idly by?

Perturabo, who was the first to respond to the order and set out on the return journey, was attacked. Although he was ready for battle because of the intelligence, the Lord of Steel was still seriously injured. His son Dantioch led the remnants of more than 2,000 people to rush back to Terra at the risk of his life.

The second person who suffered misfortune was Angron. In the hazy star field, in front of the alert Imperial fleet, the angels fought with him in the bunker on the flagship for a whole day and night.

The gladiator of Nuceria died in the end, and the butcher's nails that were deeply trapped in his brain were pulled out by the fallen angels at the last moment of his life.

His death and fearlessness before death infected his legion, causing the World Eaters to burst out with extremely strong fighting power - but this was not luck, but the beginning of misfortune. The blood god in the chaos took a fancy to their anger.

In just a moment, more than half of the World Eaters were demonized on the spot and fought with the Ninth Legion, which was also not humanoid. The assault company commander Kahn, who barely had reason, snatched back the remains of his father, and together with the Imperial fleet that came to support, repelled this blood frenzy.

The Empire thought it could take a break for a while, but it never expected to hear the death of the Eighth Legion's Primarch, Midnight Haunter Konrad Curze.

According to his captain, Yago Sevitarion, his gene father seemed to have obtained some crucial information in the prophecy, so he decided to launch the assassination alone, and even expelled all the Night Lords who disagreed from the Legion, telling them to "go back to Terra, listen to the news of my death, and then cry bitterly."

The series of blows of losing brothers made the king deeply sad and aroused his anger. At this time, the living forces of the First Legion originally placed near Caliban finally returned to Terra in small units, and the rest of the legions followed suit.

In the end, a huge force gathered around Terra. The main defenders were Rogal Dorn, Robert Guilliman and Mortarion, who had lost some of his legion soldiers for some reason and was disabled.

Chagatai Khan, Korvus Corax and Magnus cooperated with each other, combining speed and psychic power for reconnaissance. A large number of Word Bearers were placed in various parts of the solar system, ready to launch support at any time.

Lorgar Aurelion himself was in the Terra Palace. It is said that he had a long talk with the Emperor for three days and three nights. Since then, this devout preacher has never prayed again, but has been busy all day near the Astronomican.

"Then what?" Russ asked. "What about me? What about Alpha?"

The king turned his head and looked at him with extremely complicated eyes, and whispered: "You and Alpha secretly joined forces while we were busy setting up defenses. He acted as a disguise and an assassin in the open to attract the enemy's attention. You were the main attacker, waiting for the opportunity."

Russ pouted as expected, and asked again: "So, I'm dead?"

The king nodded, still looking at him.

"Well, what about Alpha?"

"Die with you--" the king sighed deeply. "--but your sacrifice has achieved great results. At the cost of your life, you stabbed the Spear of Dionysus into Sanguinius' chest, allowing his own soul to take control again. Although it was only for a period of time, it was enough for him to commit suicide."

Rus frowned in disapproval: "I don't think suicide can do anything."

"Yes." The king said. "His death gave the monster hidden in his body all the power, and then"

"Then, you lost the fight." The hunter said in a muffled voice, his fists still clenched. "Your situation is more than a hundred times better than ours, why can you still lose?"

The king turned his head, looked at him, and said calmly: "Because there are four gods behind the enemy, but we don't. Because my dead brothers were pulled back from hell by them in a more blasphemous appearance-but I want to correct you, we didn't lose, the empire still stands."

Simple words made Rus dazed for a while. Like a blade hitting the face, a bullet grazing the shoulder, the deafening shouts and sighs before death are all frozen in this short sentence, revealing the essence of this war.

"Okay--" He gathered his thoughts and took over the conversation. "--I think the story is almost over. Shouldn't you two talk about why you are blocking the way?"

Russ stood up, gently pulled out the Spear of Dionysus, and stood in front of his brother again.

The hunter and the king looked at him with extremely complicated eyes. In the end, it was the hunter who took the initiative to speak.

"Because here." He paused. "Only one Lion El'Jonson can leave, and he died. The qualifications originally given to him are now gone."

"Oh!" Russ suddenly realized. "So you want to come back to life?"

No one answered, only two pairs of determined eyes.

The Fenris people couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" The king asked seriously.

"I laugh at you for not seeing the truth. You are all dead, no matter what you have to do, what wishes and hatreds you have left, you are all dead - that's why that bastard can bring you here, isn't it?"

"And, to be honest." Russ raised the spear in his hand with unusual gentleness and pointed it at them. "You all failed, unlike him."

"How did he?" The hunter pursed his lips and asked.

"Unlike him, he protected those who should be protected and saved those who should be saved - if there is really only one Lion El'Jonson who can leave here alive, I think no one else is qualified except him, and you are all unworthy."

After the voice fell, Russ laughed wildly and waved at them with his left hand.