40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 76 75. The Eighth Legion (X, 3k)

Leonard watched his squad be captured one by one with his own eyes. There is no mistake about this.A full 20 people, no one was spared.

He was the first, Estonev was No. 13, and recruit Kai Thun in the squad was the last.

Quintus's night is still very long, but for the Retribution Blade team, it can be regarded as the end.

Leaning against the roof of the building, Senhan's cold ice bound him firmly to the ground.In all fairness, the position is not comfortable, and while Leonard has experienced worse positions, he still wants to move if given the choice.

But he had no choice.

Moreover, he did not understand.

So, he asked directly.

"Why, instructor?"

He watched the giant throw the unconscious Kai Thun to the ground, and spoke dryly. "Why are you doing this?"

However, the giant didn't answer. He just took off the recruit's helmet with gentle movements—Leonard originally thought he was afraid of hurting Kai Thun, but it wasn't at all.

He saw that the instructor, who had only been in office for more than a day, immediately pressed Kai Thun's temple after taking off his helmet, and he did it with two fingers of the same hand.

Then, he started pushing hard.

Kai Thun woke up from the pain, there was no doubt about it, but his expression was relaxed when he woke up.After noticing that he couldn't move, he was so calm that even Leonard was a little surprised.

"Are you more comfortable?" Khalil asked coldly.

"It's much better than before, instructor." Kai Thun replied in a low voice. "I didn't expect them to have weapons like that."

"Nostramone has all kinds of guns, and the sonic gun is not surprising. Although it is rare, it does not mean that there are no guns."

Khalil shook his head calmly. Kai Thun originally wanted to say something, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a group of brothers from the same team who were frozen on the ground.

".Instructor?" He said dryly. "What does it mean?"

"I would like to ask what you mean, Kai Thun of the Retribution Blade team."

".I?"

"Yeah, you." Khalil laughed.There was no kindness in that smile.

"I chased you to the place, but I found that you were completely indifferent to the group of people who were tied up for sacrifice. You are still a recruit, and I can tell from the emblem on your right shoulder. So, who told you to ignore of the victims?"

"It's me, instructor," Leonard said.

He vaguely sensed a reason, but he couldn't believe it, and he didn't want to believe it.

how can that be possible?he thinks.How could the primarch's adoptive father not understand our duty?

"I'm not talking to you, Leonard, I'm in a bad mood right now, and I hope you forgive me for this and everything I'm going to do to you in the future."

Khalil turned his head slowly, and there was an extremely strange emotion brewing in Leonard's eyes that were as dark as agate stones.

Looking into those eyes, it took Leonard a long time to realize how the emotion should be spelled.

disappointment.He silently recited its syllables in his heart.

Leonard's right hand began to tremble slightly, however, Khalil ignored him and just turned his head back.

"Tell me, Kay Thune, why are you ignoring the victims?"

The recruit didn't answer, just remained silent.Something that couldn't be described in detail slowly boiled on his pale face.

"Kay Thun, your hearing system isn't too damaged. Just because you were hit by that gun and stunned doesn't mean you've lost your hearing."

Khalil spoke slowly.

"So, in the name of the Legion's trainer, with the power and obligation given to me by the Emperor and the Primarch of the Eighth Legion Konrad Curze, answer me, why do you ignore the victims?"

"...Because they are not sinners." The recruit replied in a low voice. "They have nothing to do with my mission."

Khalil took a deep breath, he never thought that he would get such an answer.

No connection.

He had already imagined the worst for them, but never imagined that the situation would be so bad.

"What is your mission, Kai Thun?"

"Judgment."

The recruit answered without thinking, and even began to recite a short but powerful sentence.

"We are the punishment from the Emperor, we are his sharp blade, we are the incarnation of judgment. We will walk in the dark night and slaughter sin. We will abide by this way forever until the end of our lives."

"Judge whom? Punish whom?"

"Naturally a sinner, instructor."

"Judgment for whom? Punishment for whom?"

"Of course the Emperor and our Primarch, Instructor."

"Extremely wrong—!"

Khalil suddenly roared, and his voice crashed into the gloomy building in the cold night of Quintus. His voice echoed from the top of the building, echoing continuously until it became an inhuman cry of regret.

Leonard's lips began to quiver.

And now, all the blades of retribution, they are all awake.It's just that no one dared to speak out, and they all silently stared at Kai Thun and the giant entrenched in the darkness.

"...Where did I go wrong, instructor?" the recruit asked blankly. "That passage? But I've recited it millions of times."

Leonard saw that their instructor closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the short burst of extreme rage dissipated in an instant, as if it had never appeared before.

He is completely calm.Leonard thought incredulously.But how is this possible?

Calmly, Khalil spoke slowly.

"No, not the words, Kai Thun, but your actions."

"My behaviour?"

Khalil didn't answer this sentence again, he just sighed calmly, that kind of calm indifference almost made Leonard's hair stand on end.

He wanted to speak, but he couldn't, because a dangerous chill was persuading him.

Oh, you'd better be quiet, Leonard who used to belong to the company, you'd better be quiet.
After a period of silence, Kalil spoke again, his tone was soft, and the combination of words and tone made everyone hear a kind of irony.

"There were 72 dead bodies in that church," he concluded slowly. "Excluding the civilians who were sacrificed, there are 33 cult members. In other words, you have tried 33 sinners tonight. Congratulations, Kai Thun."

"If you hadn't brought me back, I could have tried more tonight. He was just lucky enough to stun me with that gun, but I also put the knife in his chest. He was the last man standing. "

Kai Thun replied in a low voice, with a slight tremor in his voice.

"So?" Khalil asked with a chuckle.

".So, I don't understand why you're going to be so aggressive, and even treat us so—so, contemptuously."

Kai Thun moved his head, the young man pursed his lips, and his eyes fell on the dirty ground of the building.The foul acid rain puddles reflected the misty light, as well as the thick clouds of Nostramo, making it all the more treacherous to those who watched.

"You are wrong, Kai Thun, I have never despised any of you. What qualifications do I have to do this? You have fought for mankind and the empire for a long time, so it is broken."

"Even a recruit like you who hasn't officially received a military rank has a long lifespan in the war. Your captain Leonard has been fighting for 43 years. I have no right to despise you. Never despised you. I just regret."

".But you were obviously mocking me just now."

"No." Khalil stretched out his hand and turned the young man's face back. "I didn't, I was satirizing something else, something that made you like this."

He looked at him seriously, meeting his eyes.

Kai Thun tried to avoid it at first, but later, he stopped trying to resist.He looked back at those dark eyes for the same amount of time, and then, something in his eyes began to glitter.

He already believed Khalil's words.

"But we didn't do anything wrong, instructor," said Kai Thun hoarsely. "Is it wrong to punish evil?"

"That's right, but I want to know, who are you punishing for?" Khalil asked softly.

"For the Primarch, for the Emperor."

"So, Kai Thun, among the 33 criminals you killed tonight, which one committed a crime against your Primarch and the Emperor? What was the charge?"

The recruit froze.

He was faced with a very simple question, but he had no idea how to answer it.He just stood there in a daze, without opening his mouth for a long time, like a natural sculpture, a statue of iron and steel.

He doesn't answer because he doesn't know how to answer.But he didn't need to think anymore, because someone answered for him.

"All," said Estoneve hoarsely. "All are guilty, all of them are guilty of the Primarch and the Emperor, Instructor. Their crimes are too numerous to list."

"What crime did they commit against Konrad Curze and the Emperor?"

".Crimes against humanity, instructor."

"What crime did they commit against Conrad Curze, and the Emperor?"

"Crimes against humanity, instructor."

"Which humans are against humanity? Sergeant Estoneve of Retribution Blade, which humans?"

Khalil asked softly.He turned his head to look at Estoneve.With a calm expression, the latter immediately looked away, not daring to look at him.

"Which humans? Tell me, Estoneve. The civilians who died of your recklessness? Or the civilians who died of your indifference?"

"Did you know that I was only a block away from you when the explosion happened? Did you know that I saw you recklessly killing them? Did you know that I saw you do nothing to the pleas of innocent people behind the door?"

"I've seen it all, Estoneve, and it hurts me more than they did, because I realized that I was too late to save them, because I realized that what happened tonight didn't have to happen."

He looked up, then down again.

"Tonight, 370 innocent people died at your hands. Either because of your indifference, or because of your intentional indulgence."

He turned his head and looked at the captain of Retribution Blade.

"Leonard, you did the best job. You only had one innocent life on your hands. You just watched two gangsters beat a woman to death."

"It took me 3 minutes to find you, and you didn't do anything during those 3 minutes. The woman was dying when I caught you. Did you know she found you?"

"...I know." Leonard answered with difficulty.

How could he not know?The woman had been watching the alley where he was entrenched as she vomited out pieces of her guts.

"I hope you will remember tonight. I will also remember tonight, because tonight, 370 innocent lives will be counted on my head!"

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled wryly.Then, he raised his right hand and pressed it just below the ear.

"This is Khalil Rohars, canceling all the original launch plans. Yes, canceling all ground missions, including the second batch that has been prepared."

He lowered his head and looked at the owners of those twenty pairs of eyes, staring at them calmly with mournful eyes.

"Starting tomorrow, I will personally lead them in cleaning."

"Instructor—" Estoneve tried to say something, but was interrupted by a gesture from Khalil.The giant put down his hand, looked at him calmly, and shook his head.

"Don't talk to me now, Estoneve. You are not him to me, you are just a broken shadow, an echo."

He turned around and stood on the edge of the building, overlooking the chaos and disorder of Quintus, listening to the sounds from every corner.

"When you are complete, talk to me again." He said in a low voice.

　Back pain, fell asleep for a while, got up and wrote another chapter.

　　This plot may be a bit long, but I want to write it as delicately as possible.The transformation of these squads of the Eighth Legion is a very important point, and it can be regarded as making up for GW.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)