40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 700 82. Interlude: Triumphal Ceremony (1)

The shuttle landed again, the hatch fell, and Khalil jumped out with a file box in hand.

He didn't have time to wait until the shuttle came down the stairs - yes, he was so greedy now that he wanted to hold on to even such an insignificant few seconds.

As soon as he landed, he started running. His boots hit the ground and made a hard sound, but it didn't last long before he was swallowed up by another sound. The sound was extremely powerful, deafening, and echoed continuously.

It is derived from two huge horns and is made of pure gold and jewelry. Just repairing it every year costs a huge amount of money. The man who crafted them was a prominent artist, one of whose ancestors had sculpted the Emperor's Dream.

In order not to disgrace this honor, this family has worked hard for generations, hoping that one day they can produce works that live up to the name of their ancestors, and this artist may be the closest person among them.

He was entrusted by others to make them three centuries ago. In order to cast these two golden horns, each twenty meters high, he used up all the money and connections his family had accumulated over the years, but he himself was in the final stage because of Died of illness due to overwork

After his death, the two horns were jointly presented to Sanguinius by the local nobles on the Emperor's Ascension Festival that year. They also wrote a long letter to this end, hoping that the Archangel could accept this gift on behalf of the Emperor. The words were so sincere that they almost made people cry.

However, the artist's name was not mentioned at all in the letter.

Finally, Sanguinius responded with a letter, equally sincere in his words, but never mentioned whether he would accept it or not. He just said that he hoped that these two horns could stay in the hometown of their makers, not only to attract tourists, but also to be blown on the spot every year during the Emperor's Ascension Festival.

If you are loyal enough, my father will surely hear their voices. In this way, he can know which loyal people are missing him.

So, as a tradition, these two horns stayed in Fortress No. 300 and were blown once a year. As for whether the emperor heard it? I'm afraid only he himself knows the answer.

However, most of the nobles who signed the letter had their properties confiscated one by one within the next half century. Either died for corruption or were confiscated and exiled, with few exceptions.

It's a very ironic story, but it's a pity that Khalil doesn't have time to learn more now.

In about forty minutes, this grand triumphal ceremony will officially begin, and he hasn't even arrived yet.

He had been notified six hours ago, but, as Machado said, he was also a part of politics - at this juncture, the Government Council actually sent him a large number of documents that needed to be inspected, signed and signed in person. Confidential documents were archived under his watchful eye.

When the matter was dealt with, the six hours that could have been spent leisurely were only a short two hours and twenty-two minutes. If it weren't for the faster speed of the shuttle he was riding, I'm afraid he would still be in the universe. mid-navigation.

What's even more terrible is that all forces in the empire must appoint an important representative at this triumphal ceremony, and the candidate for the Inquisition is him.

Khalil was very sure that this series of reactions must be the deliberate revenge of someone holding the seal, but he had no way of saying anything about it.

Is there a problem with the Inquisition appointing him as its representative? No, it's fine from every angle. In fact, both in public and private matters, he should be waiting for the return of the heroes of the expedition fleet under the grand red carpet and the magnificent city walls.

It would be even better if he had time to arrive early. It would be extremely good.

He ran wildly, the cold wind whistling past his ears. The speed was so fast that he had to use one hand to press his hat tightly. Khalil finally sighed uncontrollably.

He really wanted the ubiquitous darkness to help and take him directly to the venue, as easy, simple and natural as before. Unfortunately, this is not possible.

At this moment, the security level of this fortress has reached an unprecedented level. People from all parties have shown their talents and put a lot of energy and effort into safety.

In the same way, after receiving the news, people from all over the solar system flocked to see the glory of the original body and crowded every corner of it. The venue of the triumphal ceremony was watched by more than 100,000 cameras at the same time.

Moreover, at this time, the Inquisition team has definitely lined up on both sides of the wide road, waiting for the military band to play music. If he suddenly appeared from the darkness like before, the scene might not be very nice.

Even if you leave the darkness early and walk into the team, there is little hope. He didn't know how many hidden sentries were placed around the team. Even if only one discovered him, there would definitely be some trouble.

Thinking about these things, Khalil felt that his head had never hurt like it did today. Fortunately, the dedicated apron was not big, but in just three minutes, he ran to the elevator, where people were already waiting.

Two Tribunal agents in black uniforms gathered around him. One of them connected with him and took out a data pad for identification. The other reached for the heavy metal file box in his hand and pressed the button. Turn on the headset and start a series of complex communications in code words.

A few seconds later, the elevator door slowly opened and they filed in, with agents still surrounding him one after another.

Khalil took off his wide-brimmed hat and finally had time to take care of his messy hair. At the same time, he still kept his eyes on the bright red numbers that were constantly beating on the wall on the right side of the elevator.

Soon, it went from one hundred and twenty-one to a mere one.

The door slid open, but there was no one outside. The bright sunshine at noon shone impartially on the wide stone pavement. Khalil stepped out of the elevator, feeling the sunlight changed by the ecological dome, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

The agent holding the file box raised his hand to guide him, and the other person moved silently to the end of the line. Three pairs of leather boots began to stamp on the ground quickly, coats fluttered, and the loud sound of the horns echoed again.

At this moment, their voices have a different feeling. They are still extraordinary, but they are no longer deafening. Instead, they have a quality similar to human voices. They sound like the loud war cry of a warrior, echoing in the air. between valleys

Two minutes later, between the shadows cast by tall buildings and the last bit of sunlight, they stopped in front of a motorcycle and an extremely empty road.

"Sir, we have made temporary arrangements. You can just drive along the road without any obstacles. It only takes ten minutes for you to arrive outside the ceremony venue, and someone will pick you up there."

Khalil nodded to them, turning his words of thanks into an aquila salute. He held on to his wide-brimmed hat, turned over and mounted the motorcycle, turned the accelerator, and sped away.

The time given by the agent was ten minutes, but he squeezed out the performance of the motorcycle beneath him and shortened the time to eight minutes. The person responsible for guiding him stood and waited silently under a triumphal arch that was huge enough to accommodate a Titan of any size to pass through with its head raised high. He was as small as an ant.

Khalil ignored the brakes and jumped off the motorcycle, met him, and let the machine fall to the ground and spin away for a long distance. The latter bowed hastily and without a word led him into the side of the Arc de Triomphe and into a tower.

They stepped up the historic stone steps in three steps at a time, and it took less than half a minute to reach the second floor. It was another anxious trip to the elevator. After that, they ran, transferred, and arrived at the tower. top.

It is extremely majestic and magnificent, connected to extremely ancient city walls and towering like cliffs. It occupies an extremely large area. It used to serve as an administrative center when Fortress No. 300 was first established, and later became an old city. But now it has been completely demolished.

The white floor tiles temporarily transported from other fortresses were polished smooth and covered in every corner. Outside the city wall are countless high-rise buildings, which have almost reached the maximum height allowed by the ecological dome. They are as spectacular as countless straight swords, piercing straight into the sky.

But Khalil had no time to enjoy these spectacular sights at this moment. There were still eleven minutes before the triumphal ceremony began, and he had to rush to a floating platform far away on the other end of the east wall before then.

All representatives will be there to watch the following activities, such as military parades and speeches. If you are lucky, you may even see angels fluttering their wings and flying over the city walls.

Khalil ran almost furiously and finally reached his destination in the last five minutes.

Men and women dressed either luxuriously or simply paid attention to him in the boxes they were assigned to. He didn't react at all. He only felt an unprecedented fatigue. He simply put on an expressionless face and walked slowly to his room. In the box.

The wooden door closed gently, he sat down with relief, and then immediately took off his hat. However, a greeting suddenly came from the control panel built into the room.

"You're not late, Khalil."

Khalil raised his head and saw the Lord of Steel appearing in the box in the form of a projection.

He was dressed very formally today, wearing a straight and serious uniform, but for some reason he wore a pair of gloves. At this moment, he was holding his hands and looking at the expressionless Grand Inquisitor with interest.

"What do you mean, I'm not late?"

The control panel buzzed again, and another shadow also appeared in the box, it was Roger Dorn himself, the 'Stubborn Stone'. Unlike Perturabo, he selectively put on a suit of ceremonial armor, and his expression was somewhere between calm and thoughtful.

"We've been discussing this for a while," he said, then paused. "He thought you would be late."

Khalil threw down his hat and leaned back on the soft velvet sofa, allowing himself a rare deep dive.

He asked seemingly calmly: "What about you, Roger?"

"I thought you'd be late too."

"."

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Seeing that he didn't speak, Donne began to explain seriously: "I don't mean anything else, Khalil, but judging from the current situation, the possibility of you being late is really too high."

"Okay, okay." Khalil raised his hand helplessly and rubbed his brow. "Anyway, can we skip this topic? The ceremony is about to begin, right?"

"The last ten seconds." Perturabo added. "Be prepared."

Khalil took a deep breath.

This was certainly not the first time he had experienced a similar occasion, and he knew exactly what the Lord of Steel was reminding him - ten seconds passed in a flash, and a sudden burst of trumpets and drums announced the beginning of the triumphal ceremony.

The walls of the box suddenly became transparent, reflecting the outside world into the interior. A screen slowly descended from the ceiling and landed in front of him, showing the figure of a military band marching in step and playing music.

They formed a red square formation and walked neatly in the center of the white stone bricks. Soon after, salutes and more square formations joined in, naturally taking over the first piece of music that was about to be played and playing the louder second piece of music.

The Titans that had been prepared for a long time also slowly rose from under the suddenly cracked stone bricks, and the engines of the God Machine began to roar, responding to the majestic music like a horn.

Khalil's head hurt even more, because he knew that this was just the beginning. In a dozen seconds, the ecological dome will crack briefly, and the terrifying roar of the battleship engine will crush everything that has been carefully prepared.

The sound waves at that time will be more than a hundred times louder than now, and the sunlight will disappear and be covered by shadows. Then, the specially selected honor guards from the Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors will walk into this huge square from the Arc de Triomphe.

Their armor will be dazzlingly bright, with flags held high, followed by armored troops and auxiliary army formations. Countless civilians will cheer for this scene at home, just because they know that the highlight is coming.

Yes, the highlight is coming.

Khalil looked away, slowly raised his head, and briefly pulled himself out of this grand scene. He just had this problem, not used to being in such occasions, but he didn't actually think about anything special.

But a voice interrupted him, this voice rose from the bottom of his heart, with the soft coldness of moonlight.

"Hey, Your Excellency the Grand Inquisitor, how are you these days?"

"Not good." Khalil said. "How about you? Your Excellency the Lord of the Blades? How are you?"

Conrad Curze laughed, and Khalil could almost imagine his smiling face - however, Curze's next words completely interrupted his imagination.

"Very good, very good. By the way, do you know who is feeling bad right now?"

"Who?"

From his shadow, the Night King threw out a gloomy sneer and a name with malicious intent.

"Yago Sevitarion."

As the voice fell, the moonlight lit up, and the Midnight Blade Chapter Master in armor appeared in the box with an expressionless face, and met Khalil Rohals's eyes.

They looked at each other, and no one spoke until the door of the box was pushed open by two agents.

"My Lord! We detected psychic energy-uh!"

".It's okay." Khalil covered his forehead. "It must be the instrument that is wrong, right? What do you think?"

The agents nodded and immediately closed the door.