40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 71 70. The Eighth Legion (Six, 5k)

Few people know that the banquet hall of the Nightfall is actually converted from three rooms connected in series-this of course does not meet any specifications, so the company commanders held many meetings to decide whether to do it or not .

Phil is the one who votes no every time.

At that time, he didn't think that a building like the banquet hall would be of any help to the Nightfall and the Eighth Legion. This view was completely overturned after a cooperation with the Ultramarines.

Since then, Phil Zalost's vote has been in favor.

Thus, the only banquet hall on the Nightfall was built in this way.It took the form of knocking down walls and removing circuits and plumbing, but at least they had a banquet hall.

And now.
Sitting on a long table, Fer carefully wiped his left hand armor with a cloth soaked in engine oil.

He executed too many people tonight, so much blood that shouldn't have been stained on his gauntlets.

Originally, this kind of simple work was usually handed over to machine servants. Although it was not that no one liked to maintain their own armor, it was still a bit strange to sit in a banquet hall and do this.

But what can Phil do?

As soon as the trial was over, the Eighth Legion returned to the Nightfall without stopping.

The order given by their primarch did not include the meaning of staying on Nostramo, as to why they returned to the banquet hall.
That was, of course, because the banquet hadn't officially ended yet.

"Are you really not going to eat some nutritious porridge, company commander?"

"...I don't really feel like talking to you right now, Adbeman."

"why?"

His former adjutant leisurely lifted up a metal spoon, and the nutritional porridge that was so thick that it completely covered the spoon started a chemical reaction on it steaming hot.

He did it on purpose.Phil thought angrily.

Everyone knows that if the nutritious porridge is not quickly eaten within half a minute of contact with metal products, it will solidify on the spoon due to high temperature and a series of subsequent reactions and become a part of the spoon
"You'd better not waste food in front of me." Fair said in a low voice. "The work of chefs should not go to waste."

"I know, Captain, but don't you want to talk to me?"

Adebiman grinned, and after eating the ball of nutritious porridge, there was a dull sound coming from his mouth while chewing.

"I'm going to have to throw you into a cage when this is over."

Fell said dangerously, and shook his left hand at the same time. The oiled gauntlet gleamed at the moment, and it didn't look bloody anymore.

"No one in the third company can beat me in the cage, company commander." Adbeman laughed softly. "You shouldn't have forgotten this, the former third company commander? Or, resignation made you forget some things you shouldn't forget?"

With a sullen face, Phil lifted up the cloth soaked in engine oil, and then threw it on Adebiman's face.

He did this with such determination and swiftness that Adbeman froze for several seconds.And when he took the cloth down angrily, his company commander had already started eating a bowl of nutritious porridge, his movements were very natural.

". Childish revenge." The adjutant of the third company said coldly.

"It's as naive as you." Fell replied with a sneer. "You have been running on me for the past two days about my resignation, Adebiman, do you think you are not naive?"

"."

"Yes, I know you have a grievance about this matter, and so do others, but the other adjutants are not as extreme as you, Adebiman. The Primarch has already planned to settle this matter with us at a meeting tomorrow, so you don't want to -"

"—I must, Captain."

The adjutant of the [-]rd Company of the [-]th Army clenched his spoon and spoke slowly in the crowded banquet hall.

"If it weren't for you, I would have died 13 years ago. If it weren't for you, the 73 brothers who were with us in that bunker would have died too. You saved us, Phil Zalost, so you became Our company commander."

"Therefore, if you want to resign without saying a word, the last 41 veterans of the third company will not hesitate to bring recruits to rebel against you. We will ask your opinion before each battle. If you do not issue orders, We won't attack."

"Nonsense!" Phil growled. "War is child's play! And the Primarch has said that we will not let us go!"

"That's because of the kindness and wisdom of the Primarch," Adbeman said softly. "Because he knew what would happen if he did this. Captain, you betrayed us yesterday, and I hope you don't forget about it."

Fer was stunned. He never thought that he would hear the word betrayal from his adjutant.

At this moment, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Immediately afterwards, he turned his head and looked around the long table—this table was full of people belonging to the third company, but no one looked at him.

Whether veterans or new recruits.

Everyone—all looked away the moment his gaze swept across.

"I" Phil's lips trembled. "I did not betray."

"Perhaps, but you forget that you saved us all," said his adjutant gravely. "As for now, company commander, you should eat quickly, the nutritional porridge is getting cold, and the Primarch is here too."

What he said was true.

Feir suppressed his emotions and quickly ate the nutritious porridge with a spoon. At the same time, he turned around and searched for traces of their Primarch in the silent banquet hall.

His eyesight had always been excellent, so he saw their Primarch very quickly.
-
Conrad Coates didn't know how he got to the door of the banquet hall—he was in a state of confusion as he did it.He just arrived here by instinct and memory, that's all.

Khalil's words almost shattered him completely, and what's worse, he couldn't even convince himself to be angry with Khalil.

As before, he knew, Khalil was right.

Thinking of this, he frowned angrily. Although it was only for a moment, Conrad Koz still firmly remembered the anger he had raised against himself.

Khalil was right.he said to himself.You shouldn't have gone to him to get his approval, you should have come to meet your Legion first.

Pursing his lips, he pushed open the door and walked into the banquet hall.

The hall that was still full of people was silent for a moment, and [-] pairs of eyes stared brightly or heavily at their Primarch. Conrad Koz smiled slightly, and threw all the emotions in his heart into a box in an instant. inside.

He would taste them when he was alone, but not now.

Now, he is the Lord of the Eighth Legion.

"I want to thank you."

He didn't use the machine that could amplify the sound, stood in front of the door, and spoke loudly. "You have done what I failed to do, my Legion, and tonight you have made much of the thick dark cloud that has been hovering over Nostramo dissipate."

He paused for a moment, looked around, met the eyes of everyone who had seen, and stared at each other.

".Thank you." He said sincerely.

No one answered, only silence, and the judges of the Eighth Legion looked at a loss at this moment, restless.

Some people's hands holding the nutritious porridge began to tremble, and some people were drinking the tasteless beer, but at this moment they suddenly put it in their mouths and forgot to swallow it.

The air filter placed in the banquet hall is functioning quietly, and the slightly fragrant air is continuously overflowing from the ground, but, for some reason, the main atmosphere here now seems to be only a strange embarrassment.

——And this embarrassing person also includes Conrad Koz.

He stood motionless in front of the door, wanting a little reaction.

But those heirs who were still looking at him before now formed a strange tacit understanding, and all of them lowered their heads in unison, as if they had a communication channel where only Konrad Koz was not there. .

After a long time, a voice sounded.A man with high cheekbones and a fierce face rose to his feet. It was Captain VanCleef, a man who had even dared to admonish their Primarch not to take part in this trial.

"You shouldn't be thanking us."

He said so with an emphatic honorific.

"As the Primarch of the Eighth Legion, it is only natural that you lead us."

"Moreover, even if this matter is excluded, the trial of Nostramo is already within the scope of our responsibilities. The Eighth Legion was reshaped by the emperor and taken away from Terra as the judge of sin. Therefore You shouldn't thank us, your thanks are in"

He took a deep breath.

".It's torturing us."

Conrad Coates heard someone gasping for air in horror.

And VanCleef was even going on, the skin on his face and cheeks was already trembling, but he just didn't stop.

"You can't thank us," he said gravely and earnestly. "Unless we do something you don't expect."

Conrad Koz didn't respond to his words immediately, he fell into deep thought, this kind of thinking came by such a coincidence, so timely.After a moment, he smiled wryly.

How did I do it?Just finished being trained by Khalil, and then taught by his own company commander
"You're right, Van Cleef." Conrad Coates nodded. "I really shouldn't thank you, I want to apologize for this-but, you don't seem to want to accept my apology too much now."

He smiled calmly, with some bitterness in his expression.

VanCleef actually had a lot to say before this moment, but after he saw the Primarch's complicated expression, all these words were forgotten.

To make matters worse, his adjutant even started slitting his throat at him across the table.

"."

Van Cleef decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

"Then, let's continue the banquet." Conrad Koz said. "I want to celebrate, for you, and you should be happy that you did a great job tonight. You should celebrate, too—so let the party begin again!"

He announced, walked into the banquet hall, raised his right hand, picked up a bottle of beer belonging to someone else from the nearest table, raised his head, and began to swig this strange liquid.

And the soldier puffed up his chest excitedly, as if he had received some great honor.

As for his brothers.
Well, the gnashing of teeth isn't noticeable in the cheers, is it?
-
Khalil sighed softly.

"I can't teach you anything, Ciani," he said. "My mastery of unarmed combat comes from my familiarity with human tissue and structure. This dangerous technique is not suitable for sparring."

"But you achieved a thousand and 230 three-game winning streak that day."

Khalil was silent, after all, he still didn't say that he was actually fighting them with reaction and strength yesterday - if he really said this, it would be too hurtful.

"And I—Cyani of Terra!"

The soldier standing opposite him proudly puffed out his chest. Although his body was covered in scars from the beating, he was still able to speak with a loud voice. "I must learn your technique! Khalil Rohars!"

".All right."

"what!"

Ciani let out a short laugh, and charged again.With a sigh, Khalil forced himself to stop his instinct to fight back, allowing Siani to take six steps before bringing him to the ground again.

He was very careful throughout the whole process.But it didn't look like that to Ciani and the people in the ring.

"Okay!" Lying on the ground, Siani bared his teeth and shouted. "Six steps! I've made progress!"

"Siani! Siani! Siani!" The Astartes of the Eighth Legion in the audience also shouted with him. "Syani of Terra! Cyani of Terra!"

Lying on the ground, the young warrior laughed heartily.Khalil smiled a little too, but it wasn't obvious.

He flicked his right hand and began to mock his behavior from the bottom of his heart.

In just one day, he has mastered his acting skills to such an extent?What a hypocrite you are, Khalil Rohars.
"How is it?" Siani got up and asked grinning. "Has it exceeded your expectations? Compared with yesterday, how has my progress been?"

Khalil didn't answer, just shook his head with a chuckle.

His behavior of not knowing what to say was understood by Siani as a kind of rejection. The latter frowned and put on a serious attitude.

"I know, if I'm serious, I might not last even a second. But, at least I have improved, on a purely technical level?"

"Of course, Ciani," Khalil said. "Although I don't know anything about technology, you do make progress."

He didn't lie, it's true—although the six steps that Siani of Terra approached him were partly due to his release of water, but that kind of strange steps that he learned without a teacher is not the so-called one or two words of release of water. Explain clearly.

If someone else came to fight him, I'm afraid Siani would have suddenly appeared out of his opponent's sight.In unarmed combat, this advantage is amazing.

"Know nothing."

Ciani shook his head with a smile, and leaned against the pitch-black steel cage of the ring. The cold chill made his swollen and painful skin a little better.

The young man spoke again gravely and earnestly.

"I really came to ask for advice with the heart of learning from you, Kalil, so please don't say such overly self-effacing words. Technology itself complements power. You are willing to weaken your own strength and simply use technology to I'm already grateful for sparring with me."

"But I really don't use any technology."

Ciani laughed helplessly, raised his right hand and made a quick swing.His hand blurred in the air for a split second, and then what should have been a jab suddenly turned into a dangerous chokehold.

He withdrew his hand.

"Isn't this called technology?" Siani of Terra asked with wide-eyed eyes.

"This" Khalil was stunned.

For a moment, he didn't know how to refute.

Isn't that technology?In his opinion, of course not.However, once he was brought into Ciani's perspective, he immediately realized how lethal this kind of variation he was accustomed to.

But he is not without points to refute.

"What if your opponent is wearing power armor?" Khalil asked. "You can't expect to smash armor with your fists."

Ciani smiled, very broadly.

"I'm not an ambitious person, Khalil—I'll learn all your hand-to-hand combat skills little by little, and then learn weapons from you." He smiled and blinked. "You won't reject me, will you?"

I do.Khalil shook his head helplessly.

"I won't refuse." He said seriously. "But I can't guarantee how long I can teach you."

"Huh?" Siani put down his raised hands in astonishment. "what does that mean?"

"It's nothing, Ciani," Khalil said lightly. "Are you still going to study?"

"Of course!"

Siani of Terra frowned: "But what do you mean by that? Aren't you going to stay with us?"

"I don't have any position in the Eighth Legion. You are now staying in Nostramo, so I can still walk on the Nightfall with the glory of Conrad Koz, but I won't be thick-skinned Leave."

Khalil chuckled and shook his head. "You are a legion. Wouldn't it be too funny for a non-soldier like me to stay here?"

"."

Ciani was silent, and the Astartes under the ring were also silent.After a moment, he nodded.

"Indeed," Cyani of Terra said softly.

Other than that, he didn't say anything more.

　And just in case.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)