40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 448 174. Interlude: Reignition (End, 7.4k)

Exhausted, this is the most perfect word Luther can think of to describe his situation at this moment.

He was panting, and the sound sounded like an old buffalo being driven away by its owner. But he has no master, his master is himself. He is both a slave and a master, that is to say, he is driving himself with the whip.

It's sad.

The old knight exhaled a breath of hot breath from his throat.

How sad, again, he thought. His lungs were about to explode, his heart seemed to be vomiting from his throat, and the things in front of him were becoming blurry and shiny.

Then, finally, with a leap, Luther successfully reached a burning trench dug the day after tomorrow.

He lay on the ground without hesitation, and the first thing he did was to cover his head with his hands and curl up.

About a few seconds later, accompanied by a strange dull sound, darkness fell over Luther's head, and then there was a shaking, like the ultimate earthquake of the end of the world.

It goes on and on, with soil splashing, rocks, corpses and other miscellaneous things flying everywhere, and strong winds blowing up the ground, completely changing the entire terrain. About a few minutes later, when everything calmed down completely, Luther opened his eyes.

The trench was no longer the trench he jumped into, but an indescribable thing. Bodies and the remains of half an armored vehicle were piled up in front of him. A soldier was lying under the armored vehicle, staring at him.

Luther propped himself up on his elbows and crawled over slowly. His hearing was damaged, but he asked the question anyway.

"Are you ok?"

The soldier stared at him as if he didn't understand what he was talking about. Then he opened his mouth, and Luther read the shape of his lips.

Titan

The old knight sighed - yes, Titan. The Titan fell. A good Titan at the warrior level was destroyed by those damn demons using cannons and some evil magic. Otherwise, why do you think I would run like this for my life?

He looked at the soldier again, about to say something, but found that he was already dead. His eyes were still wide open, and the burning ashes fell in the whites of his eyes, which were full of red bloodshot eyes, showing a bit of absurdity.

Luther reached out and closed his eyes, then climbed up with difficulty. He lifted up his blood-soaked cloak and took a look, and found that he didn't have many weapons left. Fortunately, the dagger was still there, and that was enough.

He drew his sword, held it in his hand, and turned to take a look. It was discovered that what fell was the Mars-Alpha type, the ancient model, the great Mars. The divine machine that countless people had maintained throughout their lives fell before his eyes.

It's as majestic as a mountain range, but it's a mountain of death.

Luther turned around decisively. He was sad, but he wouldn't say it clearly. He just started running.

One thing must be said, though - it's a miracle that his sense of direction didn't go wrong.

Just imagine, on such a battlefield where there is no distinction between front line and hinterland, he accurately crosses every battle, reaches another front line from the front line, and rushes from one battle to another. As a result, his sense of direction is still there. Show him the way?

He sighed and did not continue to think about this problem. Instead, he jumped into a large pit made by cannonballs.

He jumped in and found that the place was already full, and a temporary emergency field medical team was operating on some wounded people in the pit. Luther had no time to talk. He ran past them, but suddenly turned back dozens of meters later.

He found a doctor with a bloody face, took out two short submachine pistols from under his cloak, and stuffed them into him. The latter looked at him blankly, not understanding what they meant.

So Luther began to explain patiently.

A fire lit up above him, and something roared across the sky, turning into light and dissipating. To the east, two War Dog-level Titans were biting the corrupted zombies emerging from the ground. The flag bearer of the 26th Armored Division was waving the flag crazily on a slope not far away and began to blow towards it. The horn of charge.

It was so chaotic, but Luther's voice was still calm.

"Safety." He pointed to a black bump on the upper edge of the pistol. “Swipe up to open, swipe down to close.”

The medical officer still looked at him blankly.

"This is a trigger, adaptive, and perfectly balanced. When you pull it all the way, it's fully automatic. It has a magazine of thirty rounds, and one shot can crush the devil's head."

As he talked ramblingly, he took out three more magazines from under his cloak and stuffed them into the medical officer's clothes.

"Okay, that's it." Luther spread his hands. "Just do what you have to do, and if something comes looking for you, remember to use my gun, not that damn crap laser gun."

He turned around and continued running, not regretting the time he wasted and the weapons he gave away.

Yes, they may be more useful in his hands, such as killing some demons, saving some people, etc. - But, who says they can't play the same role in other people's hands?

Every salvation is meaningful, and every living person can make a million different choices and create new hope.

Alas, hope. Luther sighed.

He suddenly swung his sword alertly, and with a flash of light, the dagger chopped off two rotten heads. Luther raised his sword cautiously, scanned the surroundings, and then immediately started running wildly, running away before more swarming zombies could reach out and pull him down.

Damn it, he was starting to get better and better at thinking and couldn't stop thinking once he started. Many times, it was his instinct that saved him. Speaking of instinct, should human instinct take precedence over thinking?

Wait, why are you here again?

Luther narrowed his eyes and was keenly aware that something was very wrong with his current state. He slowly stopped, found a relatively high slope, and began to observe the situation on the battlefield.

The first thing he saw was a conspicuous group of warriors, the White Scars of Jaghatai Khan. The eagles of the prairie tirelessly drove their combat motorcycles back and forth across the battlefield. Luther really couldn't figure out where they got so much fuel.

He silently wished these eagles never to fall.

He then started looking for any nearby Dark Angels - and as expected, he didn't see any. Before the term "frontline" collapsed, and before there were differences between positions, they were already fighting on the frontline.

very good. Luther thought. This means that there is no problem with my sense of direction, and I am indeed behind the flank that the White Scars are responsible for.

How did I do it?

He glanced down at the power dagger in his hand, his prosthetic arm holding it firmly. On the smooth metal handle, the personal mark from the Lord of the Fourth Legion is still very clear, but the anti-slip pattern on the handle is now blurred.

Luther looked at the sword intently and nodded suddenly. He raised his hand and suddenly thrust the dagger deeply into his chest. With a sharp cry, something rushed out of his shadow, shining with brilliant blue light.

It screamed and flapped its wings, rushing towards Luther's face, but was caught by a creaking prosthetic limb halfway.

Luther coughed and pulled out his dagger. What spilled out from the gap in the armor was not blood, but thick mechanical maintenance fluid. He calmly used the neural link to cancel the over-limit output mode of the prosthetic limb, and the crunching sound immediately dissipated.

He stared at the bird in his hand and shook his head slowly. The latter opened its beak and seemed to want to say something, but Luther did not give it a chance.

He crushed it into a ball of meat, and warp maggots spurted out from under the burst feathers and muscles, splattering all over him. Luther waved his hands in disgust, but there was a dangerous roar in his ears.

He immediately raised his sword and raised his head. However, the person falling from the sky was not an enemy.

Luther saw who he was and immediately sheathed his sword.

"Lord Sanguinius!"

He rushed over and helped up Angel Baal, who was almost unsteady after landing. His heart was horrified - what could hurt the Lord of the Ninth Legion like this?

The broken wings of the angel came into his eyes, and Luther became more and more horrified. He found that the wings of the angel were covered with dirty blood and blackened by burning, and even the feathers were no longer as dense as before. It is not an exaggeration to call Sanguinius at this moment covered in bruises, and it even seems to be an understatement.

"Is the enemy still nearby?" Luther was silent for half a second, then suddenly pulled out his sword again.

"It's dead," Sanguinius gasped. "I banished it, Mr. Luther."

The angel looked down at him and suddenly smiled. The face with many bloodstains and bruises could not hide the brightness of the smile. Luther was stunned and didn't understand why Sanguinius was smiling, until he heard his next words.

"Is it appropriate to call you sir now?" The angel winked at him, his tone relaxed and natural. "Leon doesn't seem to want you to return to the First Legion?"

The old knight twitched the corners of his mouth not knowing what to think, and could only show a strange and mysterious expression.

"I win, Mr. Luther," the angel said slowly. "And every win means something."

"Anyway, I observed the ground while flying and found that our troops are fighting separately. This situation must be reversed and all loyalists should fight side by side. We have to find a way to rebuild the chain of command. To do this If anything, we have to find every one of my brothers."

"I agree with you." Luther nodded solemnly, and helped the angel walk to the bottom of the slope.

Sanguinius sat down slowly and exhaled a breath of air that still smelled of blood. The fragments of armor slipped quietly from his shoulders and fell to the ground. Even the golden hair seemed to be the color of blood.

"So, do you have any clues?" Angel asked. "I mean, about Leon?"

"I'm looking for him too." Luther replied worriedly, and he looked at the archangel.

The latter smiled slightly and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it directly."

"I think maybe we should leave here quickly." Luther said with a frown. "Also, I'm not sure if I can still be trusted now."

He pointed at the bird carcass not far away.

"It influenced my thinking in some way. It even did it in my shadow."

"Then, how do you confirm that I can be trusted?" The angel thought for half a second and quickly asked, without actually asking whether Luther's sudden explanation was reasonable.

Luther narrowed his eyes and stood a few steps away to look at the angel. The misty light still appeared around the angel, bringing a gentle and uplifting power.

The old knight smiled, walked back to the angel, and carefully helped him up.

"Why, Mr. Luther?" Sanguinius asked curiously.

"How can you tell the reason for this?" Luther shrugged with a sense of humor. "You are who you are, and nothing can truly assume your image. Just like the Emperor, the Emperor is the Emperor, and we all know it when he appears."

This sentence stunned the angel. He was silent for a moment, and then he sighed.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "After all, we are already in such a battlefield. Intuition is probably much more useful than reason. In other words, it is really the fire."

"What, my lord?"

"Nothing." Sanguinius smiled sadly at him. "It's just that I think we may have hope."

He was right. Sixty-five seconds after they set off again, countless golden lights streaked across the sky, as bright as meteors, illuminating the earth and their faces.
-

"We are the key, we are the keyhole, we are the door -" Azek Ahriman said with difficulty. "——Please, wake up quickly. The star torch must continue to burn."

He knelt beside the four unconscious men and repeated these words over and over again. He was holding a book tightly, almost praying, or crying.

He didn't realize it yet, but the lion could see clearly. Azek Ahriman's face was covered with criss-crossed and twisted bright red tears, which meant that he truly believed that these four people were his brothers.

An illusory golden arm stretched out from the blind spot of the lion's vision.

"He does, Leon."

Russ's voice came from his side, and the lion frowned silently, but this still couldn't cover up the nagging and continuous voice of the Fenris people.

"Time has created the bond between them, but what truly makes this bond unbreakable is actually the profound realization after heartache and decision to die, but it was impossible to die."

"Azek Ahriman was once a blind and short-sighted man, just like his father. However, Magnus made a change, going against the false nature he had been constructed to fight with determination and He crashed into the monument of truth engraved with sacrifice. His son naturally followed his lead."

Ruth let out a long sigh.

"Well, to be honest, when I saw this scene, I had really complicated emotions. Do you know? Not long ago, Ahriman was still on my ship desperately trying to investigate the whereabouts of his father."

Are you done yet? The lion thought through gritted teeth. He really had the urge to throw the wolf spear in his hand and throw it away.

"You can't get rid of me even if you throw it away."

The form of Russ appeared behind Azek Ahriman. He shrugged frivolously and waved towards the lion.

"Besides, I don't think you'd really throw it away, do you, Leon?" The lion was silent.

"Ha!" Ruth laughed heartily. "Don't be so serious, brother, just smile, okay? The situation is gradually getting better. Now we only need the last step to completely ignite hope."

You finally said something constructive. The lion looked at him coldly and thought.

“But the thing is, the last step is often the hardest.”

The Fenrisian suppressed his smile and walked to one of the four people and squatted down.

In this temporary marching tent, these four wounded people have received the best medical assistance that the Lions can find under the current circumstances, but they are still in a coma with no signs of waking up.

And Ruth borrowed one of them at this moment to point out the real reason behind this incident.

"The problem is willpower, Leon," Russ said seriously, looking intently at Sigismund's closed eyes.

"Whether you believe it or not, Roger's theory is correct. With enough willpower, a person can accomplish anything. In the real world, this statement makes no fucking sense."

He raised his head, glanced at the expressionless lion, and suddenly said: "Don't tell him that I said this. I don't want him to come to my tombstone and keep repeating it. In short-"

He stood up and shook his head.

"——The reason why his theory is established and correct is because the place we are now is not in the real universe. I think you have noticed it, right? Those ubiquitous forces of chaos?"

The lion nodded silently.

“In a world like this, willpower determines everything.”

Russ raised his hand and pointed to his temple, the barbarian king's eyes were extremely wise.

"Willpower can even make them refuse to die. Bro, let me tell you a story."

He slowly walked up to the lion, ignored the latter's frown, put his hand on his shoulder, and suddenly started to smile again.

"You see, those five people are brothers who are not related by blood."

He spoke in a low voice, his voice still full of pleasure.

"The first one from left to right is Sol Tarvitz, from the Emperor's Children. His genetic father is Fulgrim of Chemos, and his father drove him away from the eagles, regardless of No matter how you describe this behavior, in my opinion, it is indeed a protective drive."

"Most of his brothers are already crazy, or are still on the road to madness, but he is different. His father asked him to be the avenger of the wronged dead, so the upright Sol Tavitz decided to do it completely."

"He was interrogated by our old Malcador and given something that he has no use for now and doesn't even know it exists. As soon as the war started, he was at the Fortress."

"Next to him, the big man in golden armor lying next to him is called Thunder. Of course this is not his real name, but we shouldn't care so much, right, Leon?"

Ruth hugged him tightly with a smile. The lion instinctively stood up straight, wanting to avoid being affected by this hug. However, he saw that the illusory golden arm went straight through his armor and body, unable to carry him. to any impact.

The lion lowered his head in silence.

The Fenrisian took in all this reaction, but said nothing and continued his story.

"He is one of the millions of secrets that my father keeps. He is one of the last survivors of an army and an era. My father can be very ruthless sometimes, you know? Of course you know."

The lion nodded silently in response to the Wolf King's black joke, and in response, Russ whistled.

"Father can abandon some people who are obviously loyal to him without hesitation, or use them as tools and send them to die. Ha, it's so dark."

He chuckled again for the rest of his life.

"However, considering that this old man is even more cruel to himself, I think we are not qualified to make irresponsible remarks on his behavior. After all, he wants to hold the entire human race on his shoulders."

"Thunder has seen this clearly, so he is willing to raise his head from the endless blood feud and help him again. He has cooperated with the Seal Master for a long time and fully understands the necessity behind every order. Therefore, he We fought in the Star Torch Hall until the last moment."

"Because of this, he gained four new brothers, and one of them was the most taciturn."

Russ shook his head as if sighing, pointed at Sigismund lying on the ground, and uttered something that sounded like a complaint, but also like a compliment.

"How come Roger, that dull stone, has such a good son?"

What's up with him? the lion asked wordlessly.

"He is strong," the Fenrisian replied seriously. "Sigismund, don't tell me that you forgot who he is, Leon. I know it. He completed a one-on-six feat when he visited your flagship. It's really terrifying."

He's really strong, I know, but my question is, what happened to him? The lion asked this while suppressing his impatience and anger over which pot Ruth would not open or lift.

"He's a little too strong." Ruth shrugged. "Father originally prepared a sword for him, but before he got it, he understood what his father wanted him to understand. However, considering what they all experienced in the Star Torch Hall, I think this is not enough. Strange"

He suddenly stopped talking and raised another question.

"Do you want to know what they experienced in the Star Torch Hall?"

The lion nodded.

Of course he wanted to know.

"Ten thousand years." Ruth said the word with a smile. "Tell me, how do you feel about that word?"

Long. the lion thought.

"That's right, it's a long time." Ruth continued to smile. "Then, let us stretch out ten thousand years, until one second becomes one year, until time becomes broken, and until time itself no longer even has any meaning."

He raised his right hand and spread his palm in front of the lion.

"Nothing," the Fenrisian said seriously. "This is what they experienced."

The lion returned his gaze with equal seriousness.

"Thor Tarvitz endured betrayal, massacre, and fratricide, and was ultimately asked by his father himself to stay away from his Legion."

"Thunder survived a top-down purge and has survived to this day. The hatred in his heart is enough to shock you and me. And the person who personally ordered the purge of his army is the master he serves."

"Sigismund was a reinforcement. He was supposed to lead people to support the Star Torch Hall, but all his troops were killed and wounded midway. He forced himself to explore inside, trying to reach his destination, and every second was faster than The last second was even more painful. He knew that even if he reached his destination, his mission had failed."

"Bjorn experienced the cruel repercussions of my death, and he lost his name once. He got it back, but he was still filled with pain, knowing that the wolves would no longer be familiar to him. What’s more, how many people he is familiar with can survive?”

"Azek Ahriman himself made a terrible mistake, a mistake that his Legion and his Primarch paid for. He wanted to die, but he could not. He wanted to atone, but he did not have the power to do so. , he is just a disabled waste now. Nothingness, brother, these five people all have some kind of more or less hollow deep in their hearts."

He clenched his palms.

"So Father chose them," Ruth said. "Use nothingness to fight nothingness, use people who have no attachment to survival to fight against a hellish death situation."

The lion gripped his sword and spear.

"They died again and again and were reborn again and again during that long to countless time. Their father's strength paid the price for them, and their will became more and more condensed in these countless cruel deaths. Everything, everything. Just for now."

Ruth left him, strolled over to the four lying people and the kneeling person, and slowly opened his arms.

"Do you understand what they're trying to do?"

The lion slowly exhaled a breath.

"They want to refuse death."

After the words fell, the light-like figure suddenly disappeared, and the breeze blew a corner of the tent. Saul Tarvitz opened his eyes first. He coughed convulsively, blood escaping from his lips and teeth. Thunder followed closely behind, sitting up with clenched fists. Sigismund woke up shouting Rogal Dorn's name, and Bjorn announced his rebirth with a wolf's howl.

Azek Ahriman looked at them blankly, completely speechless, with tears of blood flowing freely.

"In this way, the key will be returned to the lock, the door will be pushed open, and hope will be rekindled." The lion heard his dead brother let out a long sigh of relief and murmured to himself. "Go outside and take a look, brother, the sky must be beautiful right now."

The lion did as he was told and strode out. Ruth was right, the sky was indeed beautiful at the moment.

His face and armor were illuminated by endless golden light, and the darkness in the sky was completely eliminated, illuminated by billions of golden light points as bright as day. A soft and gentle breeze blew from the other side of the earth, and there was no trace of the devil's stench.

The lion instinctively looked back and saw a huge beam of light burning with unprecedented brightness. Countless monsters and countless nightmares screamed and melted completely in front of this burning beam of light.

Leon El'Jonson had nothing to say, he was speechless. He just suddenly felt that the light pillar was not a star torch.

"It is, but it's also hope."

Russ's voice rang in his ears again, and the light spots regrouped into the majestic and wild figure of the Wolf King.

"Humanity has relied on sacrifice to get to where we are today, brother, and those spots of light——"

The Spear of Dionysus dragged the lion's arm and slowly pointed toward the sky. The top of the spear lit up with light, and a huge vortex slowly condensed in the sky.

A few seconds later, the huge hulls of Night Veil and Macragge's Glory rushed out of the vortex at extremely high speeds, followed by an entire huge fleet. Continuously, one ship after another, without any trace of depravity. The Imperial Sky Eagle gleamed, and the Legion's emblem was as bright as lightning.

They had a difficult journey, endured torture, and were filled with anger, sadness, and helpless anxiety. Only then did they finally return home.

"——It is the countless souls who returned under the Golden Throne during this battle." Leman Russ said softly. "It's just that, in this way, we, the dead, have done all that we can do for you. What should we do next?"

He paused, his voice suddenly became a little strange, and then he burst out laughing.

"Oh, wait, this is really strange. Leon, are you crying?"

The lion said, "Yes."

"what?"

"Yes, I'm crying," Leon El'Jonson repeated. "It's just that I still don't know something, Ruth."

"What's the matter?" Wolf King asked gently.

"How are we going to win?" the Lion asked sincerely.

Russ raised the corners of his lips and said, "We have to wait for a gem."

　Yes, I stayed up late - but I couldn't sleep until I finished writing this. The status of a creator is time-limited. Anyway, I'm going to bed now. I hope I can see many, many comments when I wake up (escape)

　　

　

(End of this chapter)