40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 153 14. The First Battle ([-])
The higher you go, the thinner the air.Khalil could sense a subtle chill in the air, one that was not created by his power, nor controlled by him.

There are no enemies on the Spire's level, just endless darkness.

The tenacious soldiers of Harkosus disappeared, but the corridor was filled with the smell of blood.The silvery ground was covered with thick and viscous blood, but there were no broken limbs or any flesh and blood, only endless blood.

Khalil narrowed his eyes slowly, turned his head to the side, stared at the darkness beside him, and said nothing.

A chuckle followed, and a man walked out of the darkness. His eyes were all white, his skin was as pale as ashes, and the dancing flames on his forehead emitted a blue light as he breathed.

The man seemed to have a smile that was not a smile on his skinny cheeks. He lowered his head like a court clown and bowed. His movements were very funny and ridiculous.
"You are indeed very perceptive, I hope you also like this meeting ceremony." He said politely. "I heard that you like blood."

Khalil didn't answer, but slowly stretched out his right hand. At this moment, the stern cold wind and howling sounded in the corridor.The man raised his hands calmly, allowing himself to be pressed against his neck by the blade, but he didn't resist.

He still maintains an obnoxious ease, and even his voice reveals that he is confident at the moment.

"Carlos said that you are now as hot as a fire. I didn't believe it at first, but it really is. Are you planning to kill me without even listening to me?"

The skeleton stared at him calmly, still not saying a word.

The man sighed, and took a step back complainingly: "You don't need to do this at all. We are not your enemy, at least not this time."

"Really?" Khalil finally spoke, his voice was low and distorted, like the wailing of the dead floating in the wind.

"Yes, my lord." The man nodded docilely, and his all-white eyes began to gradually change color.

A strange blue color that made it impossible to keep an eye on began to stain the eyes, and his body shuddered, his flesh hissing.

"I'm here just to give you a warning, that's all."

"I don't need your so-called warning," Khalil said. "Now, there is only one reason preventing me from destroying your snatched body, and that reason is not because I want to hear you speak."

The smile on the man's face froze for a moment, he blinked, and the weird blue color disappeared: "...it's not necessary, my lord, why do you need to spend so much effort to find a messenger like me in the boundless ocean Where are the traces?"

Khalil didn't answer, the blue color in the skeleton's empty eye sockets changed quietly, the terrifying jet-black flames gradually blurred, and the crimson base loomed inside.

The man took a deep breath and finally acted no longer confident: "I finally know why Carlos declared that it will disappear for a while"

"I'll find you," Khalil said quietly. "And then I'll kill you."

"Well, well, you can do whatever you want, after all, I'm just a messenger, and my master probably wouldn't care about such a small change." The man pretended to shrug his shoulders relaxedly. "But will you listen to what I have to say, will you?"

"Why should I listen to your lies?"

"Ah—my lord." The man took a deep breath, and a pale smile gradually appeared on his skinny face.

His body began to tremble, and something was struggling inside.

Khalil sensed this—the thing occupying the body was trying to bypass the veil, sending a message through the mortal body.

The man opened his mouth, and his teeth became scorched black, as if they were scorched by flames.His skin melted and flowed down like wax.The flame on his forehead was still intact, beating endlessly, and the blue light even began to become brighter and brighter.

And all of these were firmly bound by him within his body.Like he said, he's really just a messenger.

He doesn't do anything other than deliver letters, not even a brief meddle in reality.

"I am meeting a god who has not yet sat on the throne."

The molten thing knelt on the ground, but its head was held high, and the ecstatic light bloomed in its eyes.

"And I will speak nine truths to him from my own mouth, for which I will suffer all pain, all hunting, all torture. I will myself become a wave in the ever-changing future, I will become a annotation."

Its body began to melt, completely melting, turning into an unshaped mass of pulsating brilliance.They instinctively tried to expand outward, but they were bound by the thing's own will, and they couldn't let it out.

It's here to deliver the message, that's all.

Amidst the brilliance, a voice began to sound—the blood in the corridor began to boil, and the sudden blue flame burned all the blood at this moment.

The wall and the ground were flipped, and the original silver metal suddenly turned into a metal engraved with countless dense wriggling words at this moment. Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine corpses of the Harkosus appeared in the corridor, either lying on the ground, or hung from the ceiling.

They are dead, but the dancing flame marks on their foreheads are also so conspicuous.A chillingly hollow smile was blooming on the faces of the dead.

"Swear by my name, by the name of my master Tzeentch, I will never deceive or conceal anything from him again!"

The throbbing brilliance screamed.

"Great revenge, great hatred, I implore you to listen to my nine words!"

The skeleton didn't answer, just smiled lowly.
-
The Harkosus were screaming and crying, they were being invaded, and their soldiers and protectors were utterly helpless.Conrad Koz was aware of this, and he tasted the bitter emotion, but seemed indifferent.

"How is our progress?" He turned his head and asked Van Cleef in the interim headquarters.

The First Captain handed over a data slate again, knowing that his Primarch preferred to do it himself, rather than have it relayed.The Lord of the Eighth Legion took the data pad and began to read it quickly.

The killing speed of his legion is simply astonishing. One and a half hours since the start of the battle, they have paralyzed most of the transportation facilities and energy equipment in the only city of Harkosus [-].Under the premeditated airborne attack, the local defense forces were helpless.

Curz was not satisfied with this, he wanted to reduce the duration of the war with the fastest speed and the least bloodshed, so he acquiesced in the use of some fear tactics that had been circulating in the Eighth Army for a long time.

After all, it would not be difficult to disable and then take over the Harkosus broadcasting system.

The Legion broadcast the enemy's wailing in fear in the form of a radio broadcast, which was very effective. After 10 minutes of the broadcast, many Harkossians chose to surrender.

They did so before the Eighth Army even reached where they were.

They were terrified, and so were the civilians.The Eighth Legion did not harm the latter, but they could also hear the broadcast to the entire city.

However, for now, there is still a problem.

According to the information sent back by Enrique Barbatos, the commander of the eighth company who attacked the spire with Khalil Rohars, the soldiers of Harkosus are fearless and have a strong will to fight. They also have a number of combat robots as tall as six meters.

However, judging from the current situation, the soldiers of the other Eighth Legion who were fighting did not encounter the soldiers and fighting machines they said.Maybe it can be explained by saying that all the people in the steeple are elites, but
Aren't places like energy centers and armories important?

Curz didn't think the Harkosus would be so short-sighted.

Moreover, there is another interesting point in the information returned by Anrik Barbatos-he mentioned the religious beliefs of the Harkosus people, and many soldiers would shout the name of burning fire and attack them to death charge.

This kind of thing has never been encountered by other companies and teams fighting on the ground.Such a strong contradictory contrast makes people have to think about what is hidden behind it.

—But Conrad Coates was tired of these useless thoughts.

He handed the data pad back to Van Cleef, and was about to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from the communication channel.That voice belonged to Fair Zalost, and the think tank's voice was very hoarse in the channel, and there were tiny begging voices coming from his side.

"Primum, I just noticed a clear wave of psionic energy."

"Spiritual fluctuations?" Curz frowned. "Where did it come from?"

"The steeple." The commander of the third company replied curtly, with affirmation in his voice. "Definitely from the Spire, Primarch. Besides, I have one more thing to report."

"what's up?"

"My company and I raided an underground facility, but the experiments going on here are somewhat special."

"Just say it straight, Phil." Conrad Curz replied calmly. "We will punish them according to the laws of the empire."

"."

Fel Zalost was silent for a while before answering his Primarch, as if searching for reasonable words.

"My lord, I'm afraid this is not a question of punishment or not. There is a strange alien in this underground facility, and they are working with the Harkosus. We tortured a few Harkosus Men, they say, these aliens are firebringers."

Conrad Curz turned his head and gestured to Van Cleef—the first company commander immediately understood, and called the brothers belonging to the First Dalian through the company's communication channel.

"What are they doing?" the Lord of the Eighth Legion asked again.

"...an experiment, or a ritual, called immersion with fire," Fair said. "I'm sure this ritual will transform humans into those aliens little by little."

"Send me the coordinates," Conrad Koz said calmly. "The First Company and I will be there soon."

　one more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)