40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 402 131. Interlude: Survivors ()

A speck of dark snow fell from the sky and landed on Akudona's shoulder armor. The chief swordsman himself didn't care about its existence and just strode forward.

In fact, he didn't care about a lot of things - like this snow, or other snow, or wind and lightning.

So, what does he care?

The chief swordsman stepped over a corpse with an indifferent expression, and the ordinary grain of snow passed over his shoulder and fell into the eyes of the deceased.

The deceased's eyes were swollen, cloudy, and bloodshot, blood was flowing from his nose, and there was still a painful expression on his face. His breastplate was broken, and the half-broken Imperial Sky Eagle was standing strong, but it still could not prevent the death of the owner of the breastplate.

After all, symbols are just symbols and cannot really bring any protection. Maybe occasionally, but now is not the time for that 'occasionally' to come.

His tragic situation can prove the brutal battle he went through before his death, but these are no longer important. That grain of snow began to melt in the eyes of the tragically dead soldier, and then more snow fell from the sky, seemingly endlessly.

In just a few seconds, he and countless corpses around him were buried in the blizzard. Among them were pilgrims and many civilians. Only the wreckage of a few Land Raiders still stubbornly poked out their muzzles from the snow, emitting black smoke.

So what about Akudona who crossed him? Is he fighting the instigator, fighting to the death with the murderer who caused such a tragedy?

Not yet.

And, in fact, Akudona wouldn't call it a battle.

He gently twirled his swords and walked alone into the dark mist. In the past eight hours, Akudona has seen countless similar pieces of black mist, with shadowy shadows and demonic tides surging greedily.

He was no stranger to them, and he knew exactly what their appearance meant - massacre, nothing more.

Massacre of civilians, massacre of armies, massacre of Astartes. Countless similar or different bloody deaths were taking place across Terra, and the perpetrators could not even be named. They come in all shapes and sizes, and may be ugly, disgusting, or simply beyond the scope of rational description.

In the past eight hours, Acudona has seen too many 'them'. If he talks about this in a more humorous way, he will say that he is almost ugly to death.

He'd seen them in the hive, he'd seen them in some underground shelter, he'd seen them among the mangled corpses of men, women, and children.

He thought he would be numb, but judging from the current situation, that was not the case.

He still thought of the dead, and thought of their eyes. In silence, Acudona miraculously deduced how the massacre was carried out.

The first wave of targets should be the devout pilgrims, but the speed of killing was deliberately slowed down by these demons. What was their purpose? He doesn't have an answer for the time being, and the arriving defense forces probably don't have an answer either.

Fortunately, they no longer need the so-called answer. They are already dead, just behind the pilgrims.

A blurry scene appeared in front of Akudona's eyes. He saw blood and corpses - but this scene only lasted less than half a second. After that, the dead were completely covered by the never-ending blizzard.

Is their resistance and fighting meaningful? No one can give an answer. After all, they did not save any pilgrims, nor did they cause any considerable damage to the demonic tide.

But before they died, they sent out a distress signal, and Acudona received the message.

Correction: Only Acudona received the message.

So, this is a one-person support, does it sound ridiculous? The answer is yes, but he still comes, he must come.

Eight hours have passed since the war began, but Terra's communications still show no signs of being restored.

Akudona opened his communications to all channels when he set off to join the war. So far, only a few areas have reluctantly repaired the equipment to ensure basic communications, allowing him to receive messages.

He also tried to establish basic communication with them. He succeeded a few times and was very lucky, but his luck did not last long, and these communication connections did not last long.

They often can only say a few words amidst severe interruptions, and then lose contact.

Acudona is now very different from the past, but he has not abandoned his tactical literacy. He still understands how bad the situation in Terra is now - communications, information and intelligence, these things are the lifeblood of the army.

Without them, the army can only fight alone, and fighting alone is fatal to an army.

But that's all they can do now.

Walking in the black mist, the chief swordsman of the Emperor's Children ended his thoughts. Strange roars came one after another in his ears, which were very violent, as if they had discovered his arrival.

Acudona seemed indifferent to this, because a stronger voice was echoing in his ears.

The voice was a roar before death, filled with despair and hatred.

"We need support!" the voice yelled. "Repeat! We need backup!"

But where are you, soldiers? Akudona thought. You didn't even tell those who might receive this call for help, your exact coordinates, location, or landmarks. None of this.

How do you expect them to come to the rescue?

He smiled, for a strong wind filled with menace and stench,

"It's okay." Akudona said softly. "At least I heard your voices and I'm here."

——Yes, he did not receive this request for help through the signal sent by the communication equipment.

Darkness came, and in the fetid wind, a ferocious and huge beast opened its bloody mouth. This attack was so sudden and swift. The wind had only just begun to blow, but the attackers had already arrived.

The fanged mouth was so close to Akudona's head that he could even clearly see the structure of the creature's mouth through the eyepiece. Interlaced fangs rotated in circles inside the flesh-colored mouth, stumps and broken arms were scattered throughout, and where the esophagus should have been was a twisted human face. The face was so ferocious that Acudona could not guess its gender at all.

He narrowed his eyes, took a step back calmly, and at the same time waved his left hand violently.

As if there was a flash of lightning, the boning saber smoothly cut into the beast's lower jaw from bottom to top, and passed out from the upper jaw. Blood spattered, and it roared, ignoring the pain, and started to chase after him.

Akudona stepped back unhurriedly, each step being perfect, just in time to avoid its bite, but the demon did not give up and continued to pursue it. It seemed that it did not realize that a person could evade it so easily. What exactly does it mean to attack an enemy.

Or, it has something else to rely on.

The pursuit lasted for five seconds in total, and after the second second, its hideous wound had actually healed.

The chief swordsman naturally saw this. He smiled knowingly and suddenly clenched his swords tightly. Dark blood suddenly bloomed from under the armor of his arms.

The dark flames began to burn blazingly on the two swords, and the beast realized just now that it was chasing something. It roared in fear and wanted to turn away, but it was too late.

"Nowhere to escape," Acudona whispered to it affectionately.

In the next three seconds, the blade slashes fell like a torrential rain.

Akudona waved his saber freely, and there was a secret desire for revenge that belonged to others and was blooming in his heart. He understood that he was an agent, but how could he not have any hatred?

He laughed, and the laughter spread in the darkness, and the fire grew brighter.

When the light of the sword subsided, the previously huge demon had its skin torn open and its flesh and bones separated. A ferocious human face struggled in the steaming flesh and blood, while Akudona raised his foot to step on it.

He did not rush to exert force, but slowly raised his hands, and the two knives crossed over his head, colliding lightly and making a cold and sharp sound.

He looked around unhurriedly, and after a few seconds, he suddenly swung the blade down.

Blood spilled all around, causing ripples in the darkness, and countless demons roared and appeared.

Of course they know what the person in front of them is now and what they will become - but he is not yet, and he still has the value of being killed. Malice began to surge in the darkness, greed, thirst for blood, and thirst for promotion.

Akudona can naturally sense their thoughts. To him, the demonic appearance that he could not understand in the past is no longer a riddle like a wordless book, or it is impossible for him to start painting.

The chief swordsman slowly twisted his neck and raised his hands again as an invitation. The demons accepted the invitation, and a bloody battle ensued.

Roaring, roaring, laughing - all of this was buried in the deep fog, and no one could see the scene behind.

Twenty and five minutes later, Akudona limped out of the fog.

His armor was covered with scars, half of his helmet was broken, and his face was covered in blood. He walked into the snow wet, steaming from his body, and the dark blood continued to fall, never ending.

Akudona staggered to the ground, his blood-stained saber safely in its scabbard. He turned his head sideways and dug his hands deeply into the snow.

How many were killed? he asked himself, and got a number.

Thirty-three. No, thirty-four, if you count the first one.

It doesn't sound like much, but this number is actually far beyond his previous limit.

Holding on to the snow, Acudona reluctantly turned over, lying on his back, staring at the gloomy sky. He is recovering rapidly from his injuries, which is not a gift without reason.

He could clearly sense the price he was paying, and the limit that existed in his heart like a warning - as long as he exceeded this limit, he would probably become another creature.

But

He exhaled a breath of blood-smelling air and slowly stood up from the ground. The arm armor once again shattered with the movement and turned into fly ash, hanging upside down and floating into the sky. Their color was as dark as those clouds.

Akudona looked down at his hands, or to be precise, at the names.

During the fight just now, he deliberately did not call them.

Maybe next time. he thinks.

He began to walk again, and his figure soon disappeared into the wind and snow. No one could find any trace of his appearance, just like a ghost.

And he is by no means the only one. On the land of Terra at this moment, there are 623 ghosts like him wandering aimlessly, their ears haunted by the whispers of the dead.

For the rest of their lives, as long as they have a breath left, they will never have peace.

　There is also a 4k chapter.

　　In addition, the interlude story is the reaction of all parties throughout the Battle of Terra. I will try my best to describe everyone's encounters and changes. Of course, this will not delay me from returning to the main plot of Terra.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)