Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 422 The Emperor’s Descendants: Tarot and the Holy Grail

"Oh, my dear Cindy," the clown's mask suddenly stuck very close to him, bringing his gilded three-cornered hat, the bright red lips under his half-white smile, and the high collar with triangular grooves. In the ear of the reminiscence envoy. "I have good news for you."

The Memoir felt that half of his face was numb under the Harlequin's breath. This may come from the memory of the Harlequin knocking him to the ground with the nerve gun when they first met.

At that point, he thought he was doomed, but the pied alien lifted him from the ground and bowed to him in a flashy manner that perhaps only an old Terran noble could appreciate.

"Memorial of the Emperor of Mankind," Harlequin said, "Welcome to you on the Veil of Light. What can you do for us?"

"Uh..." Cindy's words were stuck in her throat.

Of course he was grateful that someone - something - whatever - had rescued him from that unfortunate boat and from being destroyed by some cosmic debris that wasn't within range of the scanner, But that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about the sudden appearance of the Eldar.

Like most Imperials, he couldn't tell them apart, nor did he understand the Harlequin's black-and-white domino-like half-body costume, let alone the pursuit of these creatures. There was only one thing that made him feel a little relieved, although that might still be nothing more than self-deception.

"Why don't you answer me, human?" Harlequin shrugged.

"I..." Cindy confirmed that this guy was really speaking Gothic, and he really didn't call him a monkey. He cleared his throat, "This is an Imperial secret."

"Oh, come on," Harlequin cocked his head, and Cindy suspected he was rolling his eyes beneath his white mask.

He took out a set of some kind of hard tarot cards from a dark green leather package at his waist, rubbed them casually with his fingers, unfolded them like a show of skill, and presented the identical back to Cindy.

"Draw one," said the Harlequin. "These are your empire's own tarot cards, although they should not have been born yet at the end of this glorious thirty thousand years."

With an ominous premonition, Cindy picked out a card from the card library, and then under the gaze of the clown, she turned to the front that looked like liquid crystal.

It was a dynamic character waving a quill, wearing gilt sapphire lenses, leaning against the parchment and writing furiously. That's who he is in a nutshell.

"Creatio card, Memoir." The clown flicked his sleeves and pulled out the second stack of tarot cards.

The second card showed a Space Marine. The armor model Cindy didn't identify. He was holding a bolter and shooting at a target in the distance.

"Adeptio card, Space Marine. Are you interested in drawing a third one, friend of the Empire?"

This time, without the clown's interpretation, Cindy recognized the character on the card herself. It was half a noble face in pearl red, with magnificent eyes of unpredictable colors looking straight ahead. The thick red hair was tied up by a gold, white and blue crown and hung down on the character's back. In addition, he drew this card backwards.

"Major Arcana, Magister." The Harlequin took the Tarot card from his hand, "Maybe I can accompany you to visit the respected Crimson King Magnus, the Memoir Cindy. By the way, you You can call me 'Ruby'."

And now, after drifting restlessly in Harlequin's boat for ten imperial weeks, it seemed that the good news about Ruby had finally reached Cindy's ears.

However, knowing this buffoon, Cindy couldn't help but blurt out: "The bad news first."

Ruby stood up straight again boredly. He wasn't much taller than Cindy, maybe there were people in the Eldar who weren't tall enough.

"The bad news is that in the expansion area ahead, the Primarch we will encounter is probably not just Magnus. There is also a... well... a demigod you didn't expect just sent their Signal, and I heard that none of you Imperial people want to meet them."

After Cindy was stunned for two seconds, a dark shadow suddenly flashed in her mind. To be precise, it was a group of people.

"Number..." He smoothed his tongue, "The Eighth Legion?"

Hongyu jumped and flew across the table filled with shaky divination tools, and crossed her legs listlessly on the seat.

"Yes," Hong Yu muttered unhappily, "Why is the Blood Marquis here? No one really wants to meet him, right? Oh, at least the Crimson King doesn't want to, his cards are not in the right position. In short, I wish you the best Good luck to us."

"You don't have to go." Cindy tactfully concealed his nervousness. "I am the one who needs to find out the story and truth of the legion. For the sake of saving me, I advise you to say this..."

In fact, if only Qianchen Zhiyang, who was always easy to talk to, was here, he wouldn't be so worried about being caught red-handed by the original body and colluding with the aliens.

But the existence of the famous Night Ghost Blood Marquis made Cindy curious about which ships she would be hung on.

Ruby's lips curled into a slender smile. "Unfortunately, I must remind you, my friend the Remembrancer, the person who just received the Eighth Legion's communication, spoke, and was asked to stand in front of the Primarch, is standing in front of you at this moment."

——

The liaison officer is a Nostramo. That pale, malnourished face is representative of the entire empire's administrative system. It is like a weakened shadow of the legendary Night Ghost Blood Marquis, exuding a ghostly, non-existent the smell.

It is said that their characteristics are closely related to the characteristics of the home planet before the return of the eighth primarch. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine that the extremely rich planet of eternal night can actually raise such a group of half-skeletons with no flesh on their bodies.

When he got close enough, Cindy's stomach began to twitch for no reason, and a cold premonition jumped up and down in his stomach, reminding him that the oatmeal porridge he drank in the morning was about to come out. His fingers handcuffed behind his back began to unconsciously pull the iron ring on his wrist.

I know, Cindy whispered in his heart, this is the consequence of being handcuffed to the flagship of the primarch with an alien.

"The memoirist belonging to the 15th Legion?" said the liaison. Typical Nostramo accent, with a venomous snake-like hiss, and cold complex consonants.

"Yes," Cindy swallowed the "adult" that followed and squeezed a little smile from his face. The friendly opening remarks he was about to give to the 15th Legion were stuffed back into his throat by the liaison in front of him with a look.

"I'm from the Terra Memories Court. Thank you for your welcome... But on the way to the Thousand Dust Sun Legion, my pilgrimage ship encountered..."

"What about you, Zevro Ruby?" The contact turned his head and reported the full name of the Eldar indifferently and accurately. "The Midnight Gospel Troupe is not on the visitor registration list."

Cindy's stomach began to ache again. He hoped that the registration list mentioned by the contact was just a bad joke.

"I'm just a messenger this time, respected imperial friend, to provide a little... necessary help to the human empire."

Ruby's lips turned down under the half-face mask. Cindy bet that this guy could untie his restraints in an instant, and it is very likely that he could deal with the twenty laser pistols pointing at them in half a minute, but this is the Nightfall, and this crazy guy is not going to make a fool of himself.

The contact seemed to be hindered by professionalism, so he did not immediately order to shoot and kill the suspicious alien. At least from Cindy's perspective, it was probably like this.

Instead, he turned back to Cindy and asked a strange question.

"My Lord has given you the privilege of his generosity, Memoirist, but do you have the courage... to witness the coming of night with your own eyes?"

"Uh... yes?" Cindy said uncertainly.

The liaison officer laughed softly, nodded to him, and then retreated into the shadows behind him. The twenty or so mortal guards with guns around them also quietly slipped into the ubiquitous curtains and shadows of the Night Veil, leaving only the rustling sound of heels rubbing against each other and the rubbing of fabrics like the fluttering wings of bats.

There was also Cindy, who stood under the only central light source in the round hall, with her heart beating non-stop, and the clown who didn't know what he was thinking - Cindy still didn't understand how this guy dared to come to the Night Veil alone.

The Memoirist's arms kept shaking, and the handcuffs and chains behind him collided noisily.

If - never mind why, if the coming of night contains some kind of permanent midnight hint, and the Eighth Legion is really going to peel his skin off his body as rumored, he hopes they will at least wait until he is dead before peeling it off...

Then, two vague outlines gradually emerged from the darkness.

One was a giant, with a dark silk ceremonial robe embroidered with a hideous bat-winged skull, and occasionally flashing midnight blue lightning with his movements. The pair of human-like eyes looked down mercilessly and unstoppably, and a long scar pierced his pale profile, like a spider's long leg, twisted and dark.

Even if he was not wearing armor, the Memoirist knew that this must be a terrible night ghost. Commonly known as the Eighth Legion Astartes...

As for the weird man next to him, covered in robes, spikes and decorative chains, with an iron mask on his face, he was probably the strange auxiliary army "Son of Muse" of the Night Ghost King's Court.

Even though the dome of the Nightfall was too high to reach, the thick darkness compressed the space infinitely and was further occupied by the Astartes. They were just standing in front of the Memoirist, and the fear in Cindy's heart began to rise and strangled his throat fiercely. Every time the wrinkles of the Night Ghost's clothes trembled the slightest, Cindy felt that her chest was hit hard.

"You, go with him." The Night Ghost glanced at the Harlequin, and his every word was like a preview of a killing with little interest.

Somehow, Hongyu had moved his handcuffs from his back to the front of his body, and the Son of Muse grabbed the chains between his wrists and led him away roughly. Cindy couldn't imagine what would happen over there next.

Now, only the Astartes and the Memoirist were left.

"Hello," Night Ghost lowered his voice, even though it could not relieve Cindy's fear that was about to overflow, "I am Yago Sevitarion. Since you have the courage to face the night with your own eyes... I will lead the way for you, the Emperor's messenger."

"I..." Cindy's teeth chattered. He regretted it. He only came to find the Thousand Dust Sun. He didn't want to witness the midnight of the Eighth Legion at all. Even if he joined the Terra Memories Court with the purpose of pursuing more truths in the dust, he still had some attachment to his life... probably.

"Hmm?" Sevitarion snorted softly and walked around behind him.

"I... praise... the Lord of the Night..." Cindy squeezed out the rest of the words desperately.

Click.

His handcuffs were removed.

——

In addition to removing his handcuffs, the second thing Sevitarion did was to give him an injection.

At first Cindy thought this symbolized the beginning of torture, but then he silently and gratefully praised the Space Marines for their unexpected kindness - because it was this injection of chemical medicine that stopped the stomach of Remembrance.

"Don't say thank you, Reminiscence," the Space Marine began with absurd calm, walking slowly. His fingers gently stroked a snow-white skull embedded in the wall, his gesture almost loving.

"Yes, sir..." Cindy said bravely.

"Why don't you just call me 'Sevita'?" Sevita Leon turned his face and stared at his face. "I am neither your boss nor your master."

"Yes..." Cindy found herself having to make a choice between looking straight into the darkness ahead, or looking straight into the pale outline of Sevita's face.

He didn't want to be forced to guess how much more soft leather lay hidden within the dark veil that would suddenly drape over his head, nor did he want to end up irritating the Space Marine by staring at him.

He had been waiting for a chance to clear himself of any suspicion of being in the same boat with the aliens, but Sevatar didn't seem to care about that at all, so much so that he didn't even bother to ask a question.

"Excuse me, where are we going now?" Cindy trotted to keep up with the Space Marines. Something rolled under her feet like broken stones, and then quickly transitioned to some kind of elastic material surface, like a picture. The pulled cloth... He didn't want to know what it was, let alone join in it.

"I will take you to complete your work, Chronicler." The Space Marine said softly, his voice gently stirring the silence in this long and narrow tunnel, "What else?"

"But..." Cindy swallowed a bitter mouthful of saliva, "I'm here to see the fifteenth primarch, Sevatar..."

When he successfully said the other person's name, Cindy wasn't sure if Sevita actually laughed, but the vague sense of urgency suddenly relaxed, giving Cindy a chance to breathe.

"This is exactly where I'm going to take you, Cindy," Sevita said.

"Then what is here..." Cindy suppressed a scream, and the rough section of a broken bone scraped his arm.

"You are rewarded for daring to face the night." Sevatar shrugged slightly, stopped, and used a knife to pick out the candle wick on the passage next to him. "The Night Veil is not open to mortals, but today, the Blood Marquis is in a bad mood."

Konrad Curze is in a bad mood, why are mortals allowed to look directly at these unique arts of the Eighth Legion!

Cindy heard her heart screaming.

Then, Sevita patted him on the shoulder just right, and a blast of cold air almost froze half of Cindy's shoulders.

"If you had chosen to refuse at that time -" Sevita said slowly, a fake smile on his slightly curled lips.

"I understand, Sevatar." Cindy nodded with self-knowledge, abandoning the terrifying furnishings around her and staring directly at the dark black clothes of the Space Marines. Then he would definitely be doomed.

"——You will lose this precious opportunity. We will blindfold you, plug your ears, and then carry you into the Blood Marquis's drawing room, put you in a bag, and wait for the Primarchs to end their Family gathering." Saiweita blinked, "After that, you will meet the Crimson King of your dreams so that you can complete your work."

"In addition, if you choose to give up the gift in your hand now, it is not too late." Saiweita said, his hand was closer to Cindy's neck, and with just a long press of the right strength, Cindy would He fell down peacefully and waited for the night ghost's further arrangements.

As long as the reminiscence envoy agrees.

It is said that in Nostramo, this short sleep is called "the kiss of the night".

——This is not what I heard from the Memoirs of the Eighth Legion. In fact, no one in the Memoirs Court of Terra has heard of the existence of the Memoirs corresponding to the Eighth Legion, even though the style of the Night Ghost King’s Court is particularly gorgeous. Legion records are being stuffed into the archives these days.

Perhaps the man who wrote that record has become a meal on the plate of Savita Leon or Konrad Coates, or the latest trinket in a dark room.

"How?" Savita asked leisurely.

"What if..." Cindy hesitated, "if I went now... would I have the honor to hear what the Primarchs are arguing about?"

"Argument?" Ye Gui tilted his head, and the fake smile disappeared from his face in an instant.

"Yes," Cindy said. He didn't know where his courage came from. "The alien's divination hinted at their disharmony... I want to know the truth, Sevita. This is why I joined the Chamber of Memories. Pursue."

He paused and comforted himself: "Anyway, the decorations on the Night Veil are just static works of art, right?"

"Oh," Sevita chuckled again, staring into Cindy's eyes, flicking her other wrist, and a thin rope was thrown straight out, tightly entangled in the darkness high in the sky.

"They are..." he said, "but we are not."

Cindy subconsciously continued to step forward. Suddenly, his feet were empty, and his whole body immediately fell down.

He might have let out a scream, but Sevatar had grabbed him by the collar, and the sudden sound of wind cut off the Memoir's wail.

"If we go fast enough," Sevatar murmured, "you can still catch up to the end of the truth, Memoir. And you may also be the first human being to have the honor of recording the story of the Eighth Legion."

Following the sling in the darkness, they descended rapidly toward the lower level of the Night Veil.

——

"You can't convince me with the potential contained in it. An inaccurate judgment can bring endless disasters. This is a consequence we cannot afford."

"This is also the only way to expand the empire's territory. You should be able to understand that we cannot stand still..."

"No! Unnecessary destruction will befall us..."

"Risks and opportunities are mutually exclusive. The fine wine flows from the Holy Grail, and my legion will bear the consequences. My brother, the expedition is a journey to open up the frontier, and the expansion area will be transformed into a star sector by time... Yes, The stars are already foreshadowing the dark disaster. Only by descending into the abyss of Hazeroth can the soul and truth be brought into the world..."

"Listen to your words, what soul, what omen! You have held too many dangers in your hands, brother, you are walking on the edge of darkness and heresy..."

"When did you become the more cautious one among us, Magnus?"

Konrad Curze chuckled, and his voice swept across the empty and dark living room coldly, echoing quietly in Magnus's ears.

"When did you become a conservative who resists the truth, a warden who guards knowledge, and a gatekeeper who seizes keys?"

"Always, the rules are the rules," Magnus stood in front of Conrad, the flowing psychic light floating on the outer layer of the armor in his angry mood, his eyes fixed in a red deeper than his skin color, staring closely Conrad Coates slouched half-lying in the bone chair.

The latter was wearing a clean pure black silk robe, with a sarcastic smile on his pale face.

"Rules are rules, laws are laws..." Cozz chewed these words as if he was tasting them over and over with his tongue, "And I, I have my own rules of conduct..."

"Is your code to use psychic divination to convince me?"

Magnus narrowed his eyes, his chest heaving.

"Father made a big exception for you, Konrad. He allowed you to kill, he allowed you to use your auxiliary army, he allowed you to travel through the webway, and he allowed you to disrupt everything in the empire, but what did you bring to the empire? There is only more The danger, my brother!”

"Listen to what you have to say, Magnus, even though you're so angry, you're still calling me brother."

"Conrad Curze!"

Magnus waved to the Harlequin who was standing at a low table with his hands raised in a submissive sign of surrender. Azhak Ahriman stood upright, his staff tilted slightly forward, tilting dangerously in the direction of the Harlequin.

"You just use a set of divination cards to convince me to support you in expanding the Holy Grail area?"

"He used this set of divination cards to find you and me, Magnus," Coze put his hands in front of him, sighed softly, and glanced at the location of the Harlequin with his deep eyes, "Look at him, his existence... He proved I knew what I was doing."

"What can he prove, that humans can also become clowns?" Magnus almost yelled this sentence.

Zephyr Ruby licked his lips, "Hi," he said with a smile.

"Shut up your...your person!" Magnus gritted his teeth, his voice vibrating the air in the room, making the darkness gradually heat up, "I don't understand where you get your confidence, Conrad, I don't Understand how you dare to waste the Emperor's grace like this... The Holy Grail Expansion - there is only one dead empire, and countless legendary aliens, ghosts, warp anomalies... all the dangers that can cause soul anomalies! Not a piece of STC taken from the remains of the great dark empire in your mouth, the ‘Holy Grail Expansion’!”

Curze tilted his head.

"Are you listening, Curze!" Magnus shouted. His noble face was illuminated by an unfamiliar anger, which made him no longer look like a gentle scholar.

"Of course," Curze came back to his senses, "but you got a lot of things wrong, Magnus. First of all, Zephyr Ruby..." The Blood Marquis snorted coldly, "He shouldn't be at this time. The birth was not by my hand. No, no..."

He suddenly raised his hand and pulled out a broken bone from the Bone Throne. It was like throwing a dagger, and it instantly pierced the Harlequin's chest.

Zephyr Ruby fell down laughing, gasping and twitching on the ground. The Emperor's Tarot slipped out of his unsealed leather pouch, and three of them drifted to the ground.

"Strip him, Chief," Curze said, "and look at his heart."

Ahriman stared at the Harlequin and stepped back. "He's still alive..." he said incredulously, surprised by Curze's cruelty.

"If your heir dares not peel another man's breast, don't let him stand here," Curze said to Magnus.

Ahriman had to squat down, put down his staff, and crack open the human clown's sternum. He stopped in surprise when he saw the contents.

"Take it out." Magnus restrained his temper.

Ahriman bit his lip and took out a heart from Zephyr's chest - a crystal-like heart, emitting colorful and complex light, like an exquisite prop on the stage, rather than flesh and blood that provides human survival. organ.

Listening carefully, he seemed to be able to hear a thin and crazy smile from the heart, lingering on the edge of hearing, mercilessly rubbing against the fragile nerves of the listener. Some extremely high being controls its puppet and directs its gaze here.

"Okay, put it back," Coates said.

Ahriman quickly stuffed the crystal heart back into Harlequin's chest. Ruby blinked and pulled up the skin on her chest like clothes. "This hurts so much," he complained.

"What do you want to say?" Magnus asked.

"I would say someone made the bet before we did - maybe, more than one person."

Curze stood up, his body as thin as a wandering spirit easily approaching Magnus.

"Why did West Gaule send his actors? Why did the map of the Webway, drawn by humans, appear in the hands of aliens? The Emperor knows that map, and he has everything under control."

Curze asked questions one after another, and Magnus stepped back from his press. "I don't believe in coincidences of fate, Magnus."

Magnus frowned and said defiantly: "You are exploring too many secrets, Konrad Curze, your psychic powers are still harming you, and your prophecies are still misleading you. You are still pursuing you. The truth about birth.”

"My prophecy? Is this my prophecy? No...this time, I am not that prophet." Coz sneered, "Look inside the brilliant light, the real prophet is no longer me. Yes. I am following the clues to the truth."

"Clues to the truth? Apart from the rumors of dark prophecies wandering across the borders of the Empire, what else do we have?"

"If this rumor comes from the same year that the Second Primarch disappeared, it is more than just a rumor..."

"You're obsessed!"

"Then just think that I... am a pure sailor into the darkness, Magnus," Curze said, laughing. "Just think that I am just opening up territories and launching expeditions for the empire. Isn't this The mission he gave us? Huh? He doesn't allow me to kill and release my bloody nature. How I obey his words! Instead, you insist on bloodbathing the borders of the empire, Magnus, this is really It’s all upside down.”

"Besides..." He turned around and looked at the tarot cards scattered on the ground.

"I guess—you know how to read them, don't you, Remembrancer?" he said into the empty darkness.

The memory made Cindy look pale as she was carried out of the darkness by Savita. This may not just be due to the complex internal environment of the Nightshade.

"Koz..." Cindy said this word, and then immediately stopped, looking like she wanted to slap herself. This is the drawback of inertial thinking caused by calling First Company Commander Sevita by his real name along the way.

"My lord," he cleared his throat, "yes, Harlequin taught me."

"Do it," Curze said, Magnus standing beside him.

The Memoir took a deep breath, mustered up his courage, and first picked up the card closest to his feet.

"The Discord card," he said, "the Traitor of the Warp."

"The throne is on you..." Magnus sighed, "We actually started playing cards..."

Cindy clutched the tarot cards, her hands so wet that she was almost sweating. He knelt down and grabbed the second one.

"Major Arcana, High Priest."

Magnus's expression was suddenly filled with uncertainty. "Where's the last one?" he asked.

Cindy picked up the third card and turned its face towards the Primarch.

"The Major Arcana," he said tremblingly, "The Emperor."

"No," Curze said, interrupting anyone who might have said so. "Don't explain."

He immediately turned around, raised his head, and looked directly into Magnus' face.

"You are not the only one who can talk to my father, Magnus, and you are not the only one who has seen through all the disasters and dangers about subspace," Coze said, a trace of pain suddenly flashed across his face, "You still think so highly of yourself, no matter what Is this out of trust in psychic powers, or is it opposition now... But, you see, the throne is watching me."

——

"You have checked the records I want to hand over." Cindy was depressed and aggrieved. "I didn't mention a word about colluding with aliens, playing with psychic powers, or quarrels between demigods..."

"But your thoughts are very noisy." Sevatar sat calmly opposite Cindy. A space warrior could show such a careless expression and make such casual jokes. This was something Cindy had never imagined.

"I……"

"The dark secret is not yet to be revealed to the public," Sevatar declared without a doubt.

"Okay, okay," the memoirist wrung his hands together, "then you can erase my memory. Really!"

"Hmm..." Saiweita's black eyes began to stare at his head.

"What are you going to do!" The Memoir held his precious head.

"I don't have the right potion on hand, only a knife." Saivita curled his lips, and the scar on half of his cheek moved. "You can choose to let me destroy your frontal lobe."

"The throne is on top!"

"Or..." he said, "Another way is to ensure that you will no longer be associated with the people of the empire."

"Uh..." Cindy shuddered and put her hand across her neck, "What do you mean?"

"Pretty much." Saiveta said, rubbing her fingers lightly on the knife. "To be specific, you will never have the chance to return to the Empire in your lifetime."

"I think I understand what you mean." Cindy's eyes lit up.

"tell me the story."

"We're going to the Holy Grail Expansion with you, right?" Cindy said hurriedly, "and stationed there?"

"You guessed it right." Sevita took back the blade, obviously disappointed. "Where did your fear go?"

"Uh...because I longed for more facts, more truth...so I forgot?"

"Even if the truth you obtain will never be published, or even, you may not discover anything?"

"I enjoyed the whole excavation process." The memoirist shrugged nonchalantly.

Savita lowered her head and said a few vague words to the communication button on her clothes.

Then he looked up, "Cindy will die of a severe stomach ailment brought on by years of hard work. Give yourself a new name, Clerk."

"Cindy..." He repeated the word, "Cindy... Xin... Xintila. Xintila."