Emperor's Bane

Chapter 67 The Lion ([-])

When the reinforcements of the Dark Angels arrived, or when the death of the "Manipulator" was known to every Randan warrior through the sudden collapse of the psychic connection, the battle was completely over.

The last Randan army did not choose to surrender. Everyone knows that there is no such option as surrender in a war like this. The remaining Randan warships were forced to retreat to the edge of the galaxy by the imperial army. gradually die out.

The elite of the Dark Angels are still jumping to help the last alien ship one after another, but the purpose of the battle has changed from bloody fighting to capturing these valuable alien creations as much as possible. Ran Dan’s remaining warships, arsenal and even Wounded warriors were completely [disarmed] and dragged away, and what awaited them would not be too rosy a future: as they had done to the defeated armies of humanity before.

This was not an easy victory.

It is true that more than a hundred battleships of the Randan Empire and more small warships are now burning between the light and darkness of the Sabis galaxy, and the crumbling battle moon is a symbol of an army containing hundreds of thousands of Randans. Dan's elite alien main army was destroyed here, even for a superpower like the Randan Empire capable of conquering the Milky Way, this can be called a heart-wrenching failure.

From a human point of view, it was like the entire Astartes Legion had been wiped out in the same galaxy, from the Primarch to the lowest-ranking servant of the Legion. Such a battle was enough to break the balance between the stars.

There is no doubt that this is a great victory.

But it was also covered in blood.

More than 3000 battleships belonging to the human empire and twice as many cruisers have turned into wreckage in the Sabis galaxy. Under the illumination of stars and flames, there are also countless corpses and broken arms of dark angels floating around, maybe There were [-] people, and maybe more, they either fell in brutal close combat, or were smashed into dust in the void along with their own gang vehicles by the flying artillery fire.

The worst loss was the hundreds of Terra veterans who served as bait and resistance force on Sabis 100, and then acted as the vanguard to directly attack the battle moon. After passing through the last Randan garrison and meeting with these scarred warriors, the Primarch took a brief count of the number: there were only more than [-] left.

However, several of Hector's combat brothers are still alive: the ancient warrior Kairon did not live up to his identity, he seemed to be the most calm one, Ajax had a shocking scar on his chest, and Salieri was The most tragic one, his left hand was apparently blown off in a certain confrontation, and after a simple bandage, it was still dripping with blood.

Hector paid tribute to his genetic mother in a low voice, and returned to his companion. Before that, he did not forget to remind his mother.

"Your Excellency Luthor is the person in charge of the Geyemara Fortress. His job is not too close to the Sabis galaxy. Normally, even if he gets the news, he immediately gathers the army and rushes over. It should not be able to keep up with this battle."

[Perhaps this is the instability of the subspace. 】

Morgan responded in a low voice as well, and of course she knew why, because the laughter in her head resounded once again—although they never went away.

But through the simplest voice, she also knew that she was about to witness a good show.

Morgan wasn't worried that he wouldn't get the best seat to watch the show: the Dark Angels might let Hector and the others roam freely, and just go over and take the necessary small steps.

But she can't. After all, she is an [Alaph] who has proven her strength. No one dares to let her wander around. When she was in the Thousand Sons Legion, her psychic power may be mediocre, but here is the first Legion, every corridor here is packed with [-] Mind Eyes.

Morgan witnessed Hector meeting with her teammates, and then she turned her head, only feeling a few gazes containing spiritual power.

They had been staring at her for some time, some following the five hundred people around Jonson, while others were newcomers with orders and secret words.

what……

A group of cute little guys.

------

Sweat dripped down Luther's cheeks along the messy hair.

"You'd better realize what you're doing, Mr. Luthor, because it's hard for me to describe the ridiculousness and absurdity of this behavior in words."

Before leaving, Astris's undisguised voice still echoed in his ears.

And his gaze, which is like the gaze of an old man looking at a naughty child.

"Master Luthor, [Indomitable Truth] just sent us a message informing us that the Primarch is about to board the ship... There is an additional encrypted message at the end of the letter, which needs to be opened by you personally."

The voices of the mortal crew members echoed in my ears, Luthor stretched out his sweaty hand, and accepted the message almost numbly.

There are only three words on the communication board.

[Go to the deck. 】

Luther looked at it again and again.

Finally, he took a deep breath and explained the rest of his work.

Then, like a martyr heading to the execution ground, he adjusted his armor and helmet, slowly walked out of the command room, and disappeared into the corridor.

Some mortal crew members watched him go away, while several Dark Angel veterans who were also stationed here just glanced at the nominal commander casually, and no longer cared about anything about this mortal.

As Luther walked in the corridor, the array of lights continuously projected on his helmet, making his pupils and sweat drops change colors in the interlacing of light and darkness.

He walked in the light, but it seemed dim.

Sweat drops, more and more drops of sweat gathered on the forehead and the back of the neck, he knew that this was not a failure of the temperature regulation system, but some other mistake, some mistake made by himself.

"What do you think you're doing, Chief Luthor?"

"You are disobeying orders, [Lion's] orders, this is what he hates the most, because this is the characteristic of every dark angel, this is the connection between us, you will not understand."

"You really think you know him? Know one—the Primarch?"

Astris' voice echoed in his ears again, and he still remembered that moment, when he heard about Jonson's plan and fierce battle in the Sabis galaxy, he ordered the battleship almost without hesitation. Set sail and go for reinforcements.

He still remembers the way those dark angels looked at him when he gave the order...

He even doubted himself.

When he used his identity as the commander of the fortress to forcibly order those dark angels to act, was he thinking about anxiety about Jonson's situation, or...

He is too eager for the battlefield?
He wanted to return to the battlefield, even if it was just to watch from a distance and smell the stench of gunpowder smoke mixed with blood.

Luther didn't dare to continue thinking, he knew the answer instinctively.

At this time, he also walked out of the passage and came to the deck of the battleship. The dark light emitted from the void hit him, which was a bit dazzling for a while.

Hundreds of Dark Angels had assembled on deck, all [reinforcements] Luthor had forcibly brought in through the privilege at hand, given by the Primarch himself.

The Dark Angels lined up in two teams, staring ahead, indifferent to Luther's appearance, but there was a gap of about ten meters between them, enough for Luther to stand in the middle, and both sides were far away.

Like the auditorium of a trial court.

As Luther stood there, he couldn't help thinking bitterly.

------

[Lion] I rushed down from the first Stormbird, and after that, several Stormbirds landed staggeringly, and some wounded veterans of the Dark Angels lined up from above, mixed with a silver figure.

Like a broken shadow, Morgan hid in the jungle of Dark Angel veterans. She even leisurely chose a good location, right next to the Dark Angel think tank who was watching her.

The top deck of the imperial battleship is naturally an extremely wide place, even if there are hundreds of dark angels standing there, it is not too crowded, and Luther himself is respected by everyone, so when the [Lion] strides all the way to the When he was in front of him, he looked very eye-catching.

"Leon..."

Looking at the too tall Primarch, looking at the familiar face and blond hair, Luthor couldn't help but call out the name of his former adopted son.

Leon-Jonson, this is the name that Luthor personally gave to this strange wild child after he dissuaded his colleagues from the sword and decided to adopt him.

Leon, 【Lion】.

Jonson, "Son of the Forest".

He chanted the name, watched the child get stronger and grow too quickly, and left him far behind in the blink of an eye: in fact, decades of time had passed, but Luthor always felt that It was too fast, and I always felt that the person in front of me was still the child, the child who had just put on the armor and helmet and fought side by side with him.

When he came to his senses, he looked at his adopted son again, only to find that apart from his appearance and this illusory name, the person in front of him was far from the one he had imagined.

He couldn't even fight with this man anymore: it became a dereliction of duty, a sin.

Luther said nothing more.

And Jonson didn't care.

The Primarch lowered his head, his shadow covering Luthor's body like a black night.

【What are you doing here! 】

"I……"

【I have already arranged positions for you, tasks and goals, and none of them require you to disobey my will, abuse my authorization at will, and then bring an army to appear here! 】

The Primarch's voice echoed across the deck, clearly in the ears of every Dark Angel.

Jonson's face was always like a frosted bloodthirsty sword, his brows were furrowed, his eyes fixed on the figure in front of him: Luther, his best friend, his left hand.

The Primarch was silent for a while, he just continued with that terrible, tormenting gaze, letting them torture Luthor, he didn't speak anymore, but everyone felt that the air on the deck was slowly Become cold, become creepy.

[Lion] covered himself from head to toe in a black armor, which was engraved with some extremely simple patterns of red gold and silver, other than that, there were no other decorations.

He was so tall, when he stared at Luthor with all his heart, his emerald green pupils were like a vicious full moon hidden in the dark clouds of the mountains, emitting a chilling light.

Luther lowered his head, lowered, lowered a little more...

His hands were crossed unconsciously, dripping sweat dripping on them.

Finally, when Luthor began to doubt whether he could really resist this silent coercion, [Lion] spoke again.

[My mission has always been clearly stated, Luther, even the most stupid soldier can understand it, I don't think you can't do it. 】

[I regard you as my left hand, Luther, a trustworthy part of me. I entrust part of my responsibilities and powers to you, and I don't want you to violate them or abuse them, and I don't want to see you To every command you make without my knowledge, it's utter folly. 】

Morgan blinked, and she could hear some disdain for mortals from the heart of the dark angel beside her.

And Zhuang Sen straightened his body, like a goddess of justice holding up her sword.

[Return to your logistics post immediately, that is the responsibility I assigned to you, it is your task, don't abuse my authorization at will, and don't come here again, they don't belong to you, I don't allow it. 】

Luther bent down, his voice sounded extraordinarily calm.He managed to force the words out of his trembling lips.

"Your will, my lord."

The primarch nodded.

[Now, your warships and soldiers will accept my direct command. Because of the unnecessary confusion caused by all this, I will withdraw my authorization. I will designate another person for Geyemara's fleet and fortress. You need Put all your energy on my order and your mission, Luther, this is what I need you to do, not to mess with me here. 】

"...obey..."

The obedient answer made [Lion]'s face a little bit better, but when he looked around at all the dark angels present, the corners of his mouth curled up again in anger.

[Now, disband! 】

[Go back to your posts. 】

[There is nothing to celebrate here. 】

The formation of the First Legion disintegrated in silence. Hundreds of soldiers passed by Luthor and walked into the corridor of the battleship. Some of them, or most of them, after the [Lion] left , cast a unified look on Luther.

Luther couldn't tell what it was.

He didn't want to tell the difference either.

He just lowered his head and said nothing, his heavy body trembled, causing the sword at his side to collide slightly in the sword box.

------

When Luther woke up again, he was already leaning on a chair, watching the small warships of the Dark Angels cleaning the battlefield in the distance.

A few words from Jonson had stripped him of all connection to the war, and now he had nowhere else to go but this hall of rest for the mortal crew of the battleship.

Luther lowered his head, and after a long time, he sighed slowly.

There is a sense of emptiness in the lobby, and rightfully so.

Because now, even the lowest mortal crew members are busy, they all have their own positions and missions, they are part of this war, and they can take the honor of victory for granted.

Luther thought a little lonely.

And at this moment, the door opened, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a silver figure, and he quickly recognized who it was.

"Ms. Morgan."

Luther forced himself to stand up, smiled and nodded, the two shook hands, and Morgan naturally sat opposite Luther.

She put on the straitjacket again, holding a book and a bottle of drink in her hand, and the magic staff was controlled by psionic energy, floating casually aside.

Luther looked at the outfit and smiled.

"rest?"

[It's human nature, isn't it. 】

"You can see a better starry sky in the corridor, there is no need to come to such a remote corner."

【It doesn't belong to me, it belongs to those soldiers. 】

She sat down, crossed her legs, spread the books on her lap, leaned on the staff, and with a touch of her finger, two wine glasses floated over and filled up slowly.

"You are also a warrior, the hero of this battle."

Luther's voice was serious and hoarse.

This sentence seemed to make Morgan stunned for a moment. She raised her head, which was about to read, and was silent for a while, showing a somewhat helpless smile.

[It used to be, but not anymore. 】

[When I fought with them, everything was fine, but when the battle was over, I looked around and found that there was no place for me. 】

Luther's expression froze a bit.

He shook his head.

"If you're here to comfort me, Ms. Morgan, I accept your offer, but it's unnecessary."

Morgan laughed.

[I actually didn't expect you to be here, Your Excellency Luther, but now that I think about it, it's also expected. 】

[And the reason why I came here is also very simple. Ahriman has not returned yet, and I have nowhere to go on this ship. 】

The figure of the Thousand Sons Warrior flashed in Luther's mind, he nodded and accepted the statement.

And Morgan just played with his wine glass casually, and then brought the other to Luthor.

She muttered to herself, as if answering, as if complaining, and as if she was just venting meaninglessly.

【Yes, I used to fight, and I am comrade-in-arms with them. 】

[But they are fighters, I am not. 】

[They are Astartes, and neither am I. 】

[They are the heirs of the Primarch, a natural part of the war, and the true master and indispensable piece of this battleship. 】

[And I am also not. 】

[So, I am still alone. 】

[There is really nowhere else to go except here. 】

Luther was silent for a moment, then he laughed.

It was hoarse, bitter, sad laughter.

Afterwards, he took the drink offered by Morgan and drank it in big gulps.

(End of this chapter)