40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 403 132. Interlude: Survivors ()

As of now, the war that suddenly descended on Terra has started for eight hours.

The beam of light rising into the sky from the palace marked its beginning. Unfortunately, only a few people could realize what the beam of light that pierced the clouds meant.

Compared to the majority of people and soldiers who heard the Emperor's speech and knew that a war was coming to Terra, this small group of people were very unfortunate.

They know the whole story.

They knew when the war started, why it started, and what hardships they were about to face - they knew so much, so why were they unlucky?

The answer is simply because they don't know when it will end.

There is no doubt that this brings more and greater suffering.

Yet Fulgrim, one of the suffering ones, couldn't help but smile as he stared at the pillar of light.

At this moment, he was standing on a towering city wall. The wind was freezing and black snow was dancing wildly. The searchlight was still struggling to stay bright, but most of the light had been swallowed up.

His appearance was looming in the darkness, but this did not damage the beauty of his smile at all. People couldn't help but raise their heads and start to look up. They wanted something from Phoenix's smile at that moment, but they weren't looking for support or strength.

They are determined enough, otherwise they would not be standing here at this moment, holding light guns. Man or woman, old or young - except for those who really couldn't fight, everyone had a weapon in their hands.

They all heard the words of the Lord of Mankind, and it was for this reason that they stood here, soldiers and civilians, all side by side at this moment.

Behind them, there are many tight defense lines, and every step is heavily guarded.

The bright yellow armor of the Imperial Fists was clearly visible in the snow. In addition to them, there is also the cold iron-grey color of the Iron Hands Legion. The duty and glory of the guards shine without fear in the extreme cold.

As the defense line spreads from the bottom, you can see streets stained red with blood and corpses and broken hives. The roar of artillery and tanks is everywhere, and countless soldiers are fighting on bridges and ruins.

The loyalists are on a collision course with the demonic tide.

Ferrus Manus withdrew his distant gaze and glanced down. He saw a dark crowd, so densely packed that they even occupied the entire wide square in front of the fortress.

You must know that four legions can be placed here, which seems to be full at the moment - however, this does not affect the resources of troops behind the fortress to support the nest below.

Roger Dorn's designs are always reliable.

He arranged a special passage under the fortress, through which the warriors could freely and secretly rush directly to the battlefield of the hive city, or return from it to recuperate.

Thinking of this, Tie Shou couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Nushi. As he expected, his brother was still frowning, with his head lowered, clicking back and forth on a data pad - this was certainly not giving a speech. preparation.

At this moment, he was just confirming the recovery of communications on the data board. Ferus shook his head, understanding what kind of burden his brother was carrying on his shoulders.

And he knew better that Rogal Dorn never needed any pity or sympathy.

He turned to look at Fulgrim again. Phoenix's smile was very different from before, but this did not prevent him from attracting the most attention. Most people were looking at him.

Ferus has no problem with this - people have different personalities and naturally have different talents. He's a very good general, and quite possibly the best in the galaxy.

But when it comes to diplomacy or speech, Ferrus thinks that he is far inferior to Fulgrim.

His natural gloom and majesty that only a conqueror can possess will make most people awe him. Within the empire, most of the evaluation and reputation he received are related to war.

Fulgrim was different, but it was definitely not a gaudy look or desire for beautiful things. People respect him, love him, and want to follow him—that's how it was before, and it hasn't changed at all now.

Ferus accepted this calmly.

He strives for perfection, but is by no means unable to accept his shortcomings. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of Fulgrim in the past.

Unlike him, the Chemos hated their own failures for a certain period of time, never talked about those minor shortcomings with anyone, and even appeared to be irritable and irritable.

Interestingly, this situation changed after they followed the Emperor back from Nostramo.

Fulgrim has once again returned to his original appearance, an open-minded seeker who strives to be as perfect as his abilities allow, rather than pursuing those far-fetched and vain things, such as winning a certain war without shedding a drop of blood.

Ferus didn't think about it anymore and forced himself to interrupt his thoughts. He could hear Rogal Dorn strapping the datapad back onto his belt.

Looking at the armed belt, Ironhand actually smiled a rare smile. The amplitude was insignificant, but it still immediately attracted Fulgrim's attention.

"What are you laughing at?" Phoenix asked softly.

"I just thought of some interesting comparisons." Ferus replied thoughtfully. "Knights and warriors as far back as the Middle Ages also used armed belts to carry their weapons with them. It seems that people have been needing to carry weapons with them at all times since a long time ago."

"Essentially." Dawn continued, her short hair dancing in the wind. "Except for the special material and the different weapons we carry, our armed belts are no different from what they have."

"Is this a question worth considering?" Fulgrim scoffed gently. In the darkness, his right hand quietly pressed a button, and a burst of noise representing the beginning of the speech began to spread in the square.

"Of course it's worth it."

Ferus replied helplessly. He was still very serious, or in other words, he was trying to remain serious. In this expression, his helplessness quickly went away.

Rogal Dorn glanced at them and said nothing. Ferus spoke again.

"This means that we have been with weapons since ancient times. We need weapons, and we must find ways to bring them with us. This means that from ancient times to the present, human beings have been suffering from various threats. Bows and arrows, leather armor, Longswords—bolter, power armor, chainsword.”

Ferus paused for half a second and emphasized his tone with a strong gesture.

"And our ancestors survived every disaster, every crisis that could have led to their demise, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

He stretched out his hands, grasped the wall of the city wall, and stared majestically at the soldiers and people in the square. No one disturbed him. Everyone held their breath and waited for Gorgon's next words.

"We have inherited the blood and fighting spirit of our ancestors, which continues to this day. Think about it, the people of the empire, how the current situation is similar to our history? The same armed belt, the same life and death crisis——!"

"Like our ancestors, we too stand on the edge of destruction."

He reached out and lifted the Forgebreaker. In the darkness, the Forgebreaker hummed slightly, and the blue arc of electricity began to wrap around the hammer head, illuminating the face of Ferrus Manus.

At this moment, his eyes were extremely bright. "I have nothing to say, come and fight, come and fight side by side."
-

Sol Tarvitz swung his power sword with fierce force.

The sword edge cruelly penetrated the body, and the filthy etheric flesh was broken bit by bit in the decomposition field, and then the strong bones were broken. In the roar, a demon was split into two.

The steaming, stinking internal organs and the decomposing flesh and blood fell to the ground together, and blood splashed all over his body. But this is just the beginning, there are more demons rushing out, trying to get their hands on what is behind them, and this must not happen.

At least, Tavitz can guarantee with his life that no demon will be able to step into the Star Torch Hall inside the Extremis Fortress before they are completely dead.

To do this, they will do whatever it takes.

"I am thunder, I am lightning!"

An unfamiliar war cry came from the front of Tavitz. While the Emperor's Son continued to kill and slash the demonic tide, he glanced at the figure at the front with the corner of his eye.

He was dressed in gold armor with a simple style, and the arm armor and leg armor were dotted with lightning and scarlet. He held a huge sword and was so brave that every time he swung the sword, several demons died at the same time.

Lightning wrapped around the broad sword and illuminated his face - it was an iron face, extremely ruthless. The craftsman's cold hammering created the arc of its sinister smile, and it was covered with blood.

Frankly speaking, Tavitz had never seen such a cruel fighting method, and every blow tried to bring more blood. The warrior who calls himself Thunder is surrounded by mystery, and Tarvitz would love to sit down and talk with him if he had time, if he wanted to.

He knew that he would hear good stories one after another.

But now is not the time.

"Evacuate! Get back to the front!" A voice roared behind them, with a mechanical and electronic undertone. "The artillery has been loaded!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a precise rain of death was shot out from the guns carefully maintained by the Mechanicus. At this moment, the glory and wrath of the God of Machines was revealed.

All kinds of weapons take turns, sharing death selflessly in this extremely spacious tunnel. The demons that rushed out of the fog in large numbers were beaten into a sieve, and the strongest among them only put up a slight resistance.

But they are demons after all. The coquettish ones and the fat rotting ones soon came to the front of the battle and began to use various evil methods to try to prevent Tavitz and other warriors from evacuating.

The soul-stirring music and the plague that could resurrect the dead began to spread rapidly, and it was about to collapse the front line - but at the critical moment, a golden shadow charged against the crowd forcefully.

"Evil!"

Thunder roared and chopped down the giant sword in his hand. He jumped up and cut off the sharp blade in his hand. He didn't think about whether he could come back at all. He had only one purpose, which was to kill the two monsters who confused the front.

When Tavitz saw this scene, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and the Emperor's Son started running towards that direction without hesitation.

In just one second, he had already judged the current situation - reinforcements were still coming, and the Patron Master had mobilized a huge amount of manpower and firepower to ensure that the Star Torch Hall was safe and sound. They only needed to hold on to this wave. .

So those two things must die.

"Cover them!"

A commander made a prompt decision and immediately issued an order. The mortal soldiers immediately shifted their firepower and fired bullets at the enemy with roars.

They bought some quiet time for Tavitz to run without having to worry about the harassment of demons or resurrected zombies, and also allowed him to arrive near Thunder five seconds early.

At this moment, he was fighting with the alluring pink monster with a long tongue. Although the latter's figure is enchanting, his movements are incredibly agile. If it weren't for the huge sword's generosity, which could cover half of his body with just one block, Thunder would have been defeated by now.

Tavitz saw the opportunity, pulled out the new gun from the Adeptus Mechanicus at his waist, raised his hand, and hit the thing in the face with a plasma shot.

Thunder followed closely behind, swinging his sword and splitting its charred body in half. The fat and rotten monster was not idle either. It seized this opportunity and released a burst of disgusting yellow miasma towards them.

At the critical moment, Lei Lei raised his left hand with a ferocious smile, and a thick black barrel poked out from under the gauntlet, and the promethium flame immediately began to burn. The miasma was burned away and even caused a series of explosions.

In the light of the fire, Tavitz fired another shot, still accurately hitting the big mouth on the fat demon's belly. It wailed, and the fire dissipated just now, and a giant sword appeared from it, completely chopping it from head to toe with extreme violence.

"For unity! For unity!"

Thunder laughed wildly and slashed with his right hand again. Several demons died immediately. Tavitz threw down a series of fragmentation grenades and turned away without hesitation.

He knew that Thunder could keep up - in fact, it was true. The cruel giant, who was much taller than him, chuckled deeply and got slightly closer to him while running.

"Well done, latecomer." He praised, but his tone was a bit sarcastic.

The Emperor's Son glanced at him and replied: "To each other, you fool."

"What's the fear of death?!" Lei Lei retorted loudly. "A glorious death is what I have wanted all my life, Thor Tarvitz of the Emperor's Children! Do you know what glory is?!"

Tarvitz remained silent.

Of course he knew, but he had no glory to speak of now - yes, he was indeed fighting for humanity and the Empire, but he had no glory to speak of.

He was a runaway, he had left his Legion and his Primarch, and that alone prevented Tarvitz from bringing himself to answer that question.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Lei Lei didn't ask further questions. He just took off his helmet as soon as he returned to the defense and revealed his face.

His skin was a rough bronze color, his nose was high, and his eyes were raised ferociously. With just one glance, Tarvitz determined that this man was battle-hardened—but the question was, who was he?

"Who are you?" Tavitz asked simply.

"Take your time and think about it." Lei Lei replied with a smile, shook his helmet and put it under his arm. "It's just a person who has survived to this day."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving only a loud war cry.

"For unity!"

　finally finished

　　

　

(End of this chapter)