40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 36 36. Light ([-])

"My family will kill you!"

"Ah."

Khalil nodded to the man and chopped off his head.

He listened to the nobleman and gave him a little respect.

The surroundings were still the most familiar scene, with corpses, stumps and broken arms scattered all over the place.Blood spread on the crimson carpet, forming a blurred pool of blood.If you don't look carefully, you can't tell the difference.

Then he smelled fear.

Khalil pocketed the emotion slowly, turning his head, the blade gleaming in the dark.At the corner of the corridor, there was a frightened shadow.

His harvest comes from him.

"Run," Khalil said softly. "While you still can."

The next second, there was a scream from around the corner.

The nobleman in hiding started the last run of his life.He quickly left this aristocrat's indulgent meeting place and went outside.

The road on the upper nest is straight and beautiful, and there is a soft white light source on the side of the road, which makes the dark night look peaceful.The night on the nest was also very quiet, he could only hear his own panting and violent footsteps.

But what else?

That thing—that monster, will he catch up?
The nobleman didn't even dare to look back, he didn't have the courage to do this, he was afraid that as long as he turned his head, he would see the shadow rushing towards him, and then cut him open with a knife blade like killing everyone else.

So he ran, and kept running.

Standing at the window on the second floor of the meeting hall, Kalil watched him go away calmly, and did not chase after him to kill the fish that slipped through the net.

He let him go on purpose.

The raid on this gathering place was just a temporary idea, and the purpose of letting him go was to create a scary atmosphere among the nobles.

He has seen him.

He already remembered him too.

Therefore, for that nobleman, there is actually only one way to escape.He doesn't know it yet, but he will.

Closing his eyes, Khalil took a deep breath.

This habit was intentional, and it was similar to a hint on the psychological level.In the beginning, he just told himself that taking a deep breath could calm his mind.But now, it does.

Too many times, so his heart accepted the hint.

People do change subtly.Khalil thought.

He pushed open the window and jumped down to the second floor without a sound, his boots making a slight trampling sound on the road.The height that required careful attention in the past does not even need to be unloaded now, and his muscles and bones are more than a little stronger than before.

Moreover, it seems to be getting stronger.

Khalil pursed his lips, quickly left the spot, and disappeared into the night.

He didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but he could say responsibly that he didn't like this feeling.He would rather return to the original body that hurts for a long time every time he uses strength.

Half an hour later, he returned to the shelter.

The ghost is already waiting, squatting like an animal on the edge of the building, the neon lights cutting the sky into broken shapes, and the eerie spiers cascade into the distance.The cold wind blew past, blowing the ghost's long hair.

His hair is soft now.

Khalil stepped out of the darkness. He deliberately bumped the bottom of his boots against the ground, and the sound awakened the phantom who was originally thinking.The latter turned his head, with obvious surprise in his expression.

"Khalil?"

"What's wrong?" Khalil asked with a smile.

"You" Ghost blinked and looked at him suspiciously. "Did you just come back?"

"Do not."

".But I didn't notice you came back." Ghost said blankly. "how so?"

"I do not know either."

Khalil shook his head with a smile, he didn't reveal his worries, likes and dislikes to Ghost, it was unnecessary. "It may take time before we can find the answer to this question."

"As for now... Well, it's still early, why don't you talk about your patrol?"

He walked over and sat next to Ghost, not intending to rush to eat the rest of the nutritional cream.The smell of blood still lingered on the tip of his nose. Although he was a little hungry, he didn't want to eat in this state.

After all, there is some pursuit.

The ghost nodded, and then smiled—his smile was so natural for the first time, and although it was only a small smile, it was enough to make Khalil laugh with him.

"The workers are better off than before." Ghost said happily. "On the eve of the big cleanup, the factory gave them a holiday. And they didn't deduct food supplies."

This is of course, after all, there is only one big purge in 20 years.

The gangs are vying for territory, but they are not so stupid as to kill the workers in the factory at this juncture, otherwise how will the factory run later?

Let them go on vacation and hide in a temporary safe area like a shantytown, and handle it correctly.

So true.

Khalil nodded calmly, listening intently, not in a hurry to interrupt or express his opinion.He knew very well that at times like this, Ghost always had a lot to say.

"However, the gangs are not hanging out on the streets anymore." Ghost pouted. "I didn't hear any useful information today, oh, and Gargoyle No. 21!"

He looked at Khalil.The latter was not surprised, knowing that it was time for him to speak up and respond.

"What happened to it?" he asked softly.

"It was dismantled." Ghost said, not much could be heard in his tone. "With that building."

"Did someone merge with each other in advance?"

"It should be. There are many traces of explosions at the scene. I saw some people collecting corpses. Khalil, can I ask you a question?"

"of course can."

"Will they be sent to the butcher shop after they die?"

"will not."

"That?"

"The incineration plant, the black market, and some doctors who can do body modification."

Khalil gave three answers in sequence, very rigorous.He has always been very cautious when it comes to questions from ghosts: "The butcher's shop is not their place."

"But why?"

"Because ... in the eyes of the gang, they are each other's human beings," Khalil said. "And people don't eat people."

Ghost stared wide-eyed: "But——"

"—yes." Khalil smiled. "Just like you think, they don't treat civilians as human beings. Even if they themselves were once one of them."

"It's a notion that's been around in Nostramo for millennia, and to a large extent the reason most teenagers are eager to join a gang is because they want to be human."

Ghost listened carefully, nodding from time to time.The identity reversal between the listener and the narrator is so sudden and so natural.The night sky hangs low overhead, and they talk to each other calmly in the cold wind.

——It seemed like an ordinary night again.

If that light never came.

Khalil raised his head suddenly, and a voice came from his mind.

+ Please come out of town, Khalil Rohars.Take your ghost too, my son, Conrad Coates. +——
"My lord, I ask you to think twice again."

"I've thought about it many times."

"But, the Handprinter—"

"—Please, Constantine," said the giant in golden armor. "I had to, otherwise I wouldn't be able to gain his trust."

"...You don't need the trust of a psyker on a remote planet, not to mention that the printmaker said he was suspicious."

"Everyone is suspicious in Malcador's eyes," said the giant. "He sometimes even said what I was doing was wrong."

"However, the psyker is indeed full of doubts, my lord."

"You haven't even seen him, Constantine."

"Compared to a psyker with one of your sons whom I have never met before, I am more willing to trust the palm printer and his judgment that has never been wrong so far."

The giant sighed.

"Okay," he said. "Are you willing to listen to my opinion, Constantine?"

".You are my lord, so I am naturally willing."

"Then please--and you, I know there are people listening to me and your Marshal--leave me and my sons alone."

The man who was called the Field Marshal wore no helmet, and his hair was very short, almost to the scalp, in a thin layer of stubble.He's not handsome, but he's convincing.There was a quiet power in that face.

Constantine Waldo, his name.

"How, Constantine?" asked his lord.

"...if this is the order of the Emperor, Lord of Men, we will obey."

The giant who had been crowned with a noble title sighed again—if his behavior at this moment was seen by his sons, it would definitely surprise them.Some of them might even stare jealously at the Marshal of the Custodians.

And the Marshal wouldn't care.He never cared.

"Do you have to, Constantine Waldo?" asked his lord slowly.

"You are asking me to deviate from my responsibilities, you are asking us to deviate from our responsibilities. You even have to go to that dirty ground to meet a dirty psyker."

Constantine raised his head and said firmly: "So, yes. You must order."

"Then," said the Emperor slowly. "You left me with no choice."

Now, for the first time, he was behaving worthy of his title.

"I will go to the surface with my sons, and you are not allowed to follow. Set the weapons on my ship to off, and let the Astartes and the army stay where they belong."

"Is there any more, my lord?" the reluctant Marshal of the Forbidden Army asked dutifully.

"No more." The emperor smiled imperceptibly. "I've always liked the way you look."

"."

The Marshal of the Custodian Army raised his hands without saying a word, performed a courtesy, and then left in his armor.Behind him, his lord slowly opened the door, his expression has changed.

+ Get ready. +
He said to the other four consciousnesses in his mind. + We're leaving now. +
(End of this chapter)