40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 43 43. A dinner party (two in one, end)

The giant in a white robe trimmed with gold walked calmly. This is his palace, his ship, and one of the many prisons he has built for himself.

There was no longer a single figure in the splendid corridor, and the Imperial Guard evacuated everyone in advance to prevent them from witnessing a primitive man walking out of the banquet hall with their own eyes, thus causing unnecessary trouble.

The giant actually knows that Konrad Curze has no ill intentions towards mortals, and his current mood is relatively stable. Moreover, even if he loses control, I'm afraid he won't hurt innocent people.

But he was a Primarch after all.

And, he's Conrad Coates. When ordinary people see him for the first time, they will start to tremble because of the instinctive fear born from blood and flesh. This is something that cannot be changed.

Wearing his mask, the giant walked silently down the corridor.

The mirror-like ceiling was carved with detailed and exquisite patterns using ingenious craftsmanship. Without looking up, the giant knew that his laurel wreath would reflect the dazzling light as he walked.

The person who designed this corridor was named Mildred. Her family and she felt extremely honored for this great honor. After the corridor was completed, Mildred vowed never to sculpt, build, or paint for anyone else.

"My hands will dance only for the Emperor of Mankind," she said.

The giant still remembers these words, and he will always remember them.

At that time, he was wearing a mask and stood expressionlessly on the high platform, expressing his gratitude to Mildred who was kneeling in tears and choking while the crowd cheered.

"I thank you, Mildred."

But what did he really want to say?

"No, don't waste your talent. It's not worth it."

He couldn't say it.

He could only watch helplessly as the outstanding artist died in a feverish melancholy at the end of his life due to the conflict between faith and instinct.

Her family burned her bones to ashes, mixed them with paint, and painted them into his portrait, which they then treasured forever and worshiped from generation to generation.

They treated him like a god—again.

Is it human nature to cling to a god, false or not?

He didn't want to think any more, so he stopped in front of a door.

This door, like the rest of the ship, has a unified design. A huge two-headed eagle carving stared coldly and mercilessly at the door.

The giant closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he just opened the door and walked in.

It was dark inside, with a shadow peeping in the corner. This room is already spacious enough, it can even be called too spacious, and the furniture in it is all available, but the shadow still chooses to squat in the corner.

"Ghost," Neos hissed. "Please don't leave."

".Do you speak Nostramo?"

"I can."

"How did you do it?"

"I have learned many languages, including this one."

"Have you learned Nostramo?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been to Nostramo?"

"No."

"Then how did you learn?"

"A long time ago, humans were a relatively closely connected whole in the galaxy."

Neos closed the door and stood in front of the door to calmly answer the ghost's questions. He did not look at the latter, but he knew that the latter was observing him.

"They settled on many planets and developed a unique culture. Although it was different from their home planet, I thought this was a good thing, so I learned many languages."

"long, long ago?"

"Yes, a long time ago."

"Have you lived long?"

"I"

Nios was silent for a moment and shook his head: "No, I died many times."

"I don't understand."

"It is correct not to understand, Ghost. It is an abstract concept and it is not meant to be understood."

"So, why did you come to me?" Ghost hissed, his tone seemed a little urgent.

Hearing this urgency, the memory of Nostramo in Neos's memory finally began to revive - this was a helpless move, his memory was too complicated and too huge.

His memory is a huge cemetery, where many people and things that only he remembers sleep together.

The Nostramo language that Neos remembered was, for the most part, a poetic language. The people who created it and used it were passionate and confident. They were born poets, romantic and upright.

But not anymore.

Now it hisses with a shrill pitch. The poetry is still there, but it is a cruel poetry. The people who use it have also changed from decent people to murderers, unaware anti-human beings and workers lingering in pain.

How sad.

He was silent before answering the ghost. He knew that silence would make the doubts more intense, but he had to do this - memories swept over him.

"...I tried to apologize," Nios said.

"Apologise again?"

The ghost's tone grew sharper. "I don't need to apologize."

"So, you at least want an explanation?"

".No, I don't need to." Ghost replied stiffly.

Neos finally sighed.

"The reason he doesn't talk to you is because you no longer need me to teach you. He has done his best to tell you everything you need."

An unfamiliar, aching father stared at his unfamiliar son and spoke softly.

"You already have a father, you don't need me."

Silence, silence again. When it came again, Ghost realized that he was already somewhat familiar with it, and this time, he had to break it himself.

".Conrad Coze." The ghost spoke in a low voice, asking abruptly. "Why did you name me?"

Nios didn't answer.

His vision was freezing, painful ice.

"There are many gargoyles in Quintus. I have seen many. I have numbered them in order, but I have not given them names."

"Khalil said names are extremely important. If you give a thing, or a person, a name, you take on the responsibility of taking care of it. Because it will forever be changed by the name you give it."

"I didn't name the gargoyles because I knew I couldn't take care of them, I couldn't do it. Khalil didn't give me a name either, he called me Midnight Ghost. I asked him why and he just Said he couldn't help it."

"I don't know why he couldn't help it."

"And you gave me this name. I don't like it, but if you want it, I will accept it. Luojia may be annoying to me, but he is indeed right about one thing. I can indeed feel the connection between you and me. There is a blood connection.”

"But if you don't want to."

Ghost asked in the calmest voice he could muster in the darkness. ".Then why did you give me a name?"

Because I once thought, because I once could.

Nios closed his eyes and his voice sounded like a whisper in the wind: "...because of responsibility."

"responsibility?"

"I have a responsibility to you," Nios said.

He still had his eyes closed, unwilling to open them. But, as he puts it, duty is calling. It's not the father's responsibility, but another one.

The mask whispered quietly in his heart, trying to cover his bloody face again. Nios refused, he still needed some time.

As long as this little time is enough. he said to himself.

"Whether this responsibility includes a normal father's love for his children, I don't know. My emotions and thoughts are split, ghost, you can't understand. No one can understand except me."

"So I bound myself with responsibility. I had to give you a name - it was an anchor, a ghost. It evoked my emotions."

In the darkness, someone spoke in High Gothic. "I need you."

Other than that, there was no answer.

Neos lowered his head.

"Thank you." He said lowly. "Thank you, Ghost."

"You can call me Conrad Curze," the man in the dark said.

——

Khalil heard the roar clearly.

If he had never met Lorgar Aurelion in person, if he had not been one of the witnesses of this dinner, perhaps he would not have regarded the roar as a human voice.

But he had seen it with his own eyes. Not only that, he was the source of the roar.

How interesting, he thought.

The power of a demigod, the body of a demigod, is so noble that ordinary people cannot look directly at the inner spirit, but is so weak that it can be easily torn apart by such words.

Belief?

A true believer does not care about the gossip of unbelievers.

He turned around.

The door of the banquet hall was slammed open by a giant. He had golden skin, characters danced brightly on it, and his face was horribly distorted.

"Apologise!" he shouted. "Otherwise, even if you are Conrad's adoptive father, I will make you pay the price!"

"I'm not his adoptive father."

Khalil replied calmly, turning a blind eye to the giant's anger - if anyone else was watching this scene, they probably wouldn't be confused. After all, he is also a giant now.

"I have said many times that he and I are just partners."

"You have insulted my faith!"

Luojia roared, completely indifferent to Khalil's explanation, and even seemed not to hear it at all.

"You know nothing about me! You have no idea what kind of brilliance I see in my eyes. You are just a mere -"

He paused abruptly, abruptly stopping what he wanted to say.

"mortal?"

Khalil smiled and added for him. He doesn't mind this.

"You always speak this word with a bit of condescending compassion and self-righteous arrogance, as if mortals are inferior to others. But now, when I am taller than you, you have fallen into silence again."

"I do pity them!"

Luo Jia shouted again. "But I never think they are inferior! They are just lost lambs who need to be rescued!"

Khalil sighed tiredly, he didn't want to tangle with this so-called demigod anymore.

It didn't make any sense, there was still a lot to deal with on Nostramo. The man who was the Emperor gave him and the ghosts a lot of support, including an entire legion on the way.

Legion. he thinks. Interesting statement.

The tall, armored warriors flashed before Khalil's eyes.

So, it's that kind of legion. A whole one seems to be a bit too much for Nostramo.

"Luojia, calm down! You have said enough today!"

A voice sounded near the door, with obvious annoyance, interrupting his thoughts.

Khalil looked up, a little surprised.

He thought it would be Rogal Dorn, but he didn't expect that it would be the giant who had been silently supporting Fulgrim at the dinner.

Ferrus Manus? He said his name silently.

Iron, hand. The former refers to his character, and the latter refers to his willingness to lend a helping hand to many people? Or is it simply used to show the pair of silver arms?

Khalil calmly prepared to wait and see what would happen, but he did not expect that Ferus Manus would burn his body with fire in the next second.

"And you, Mr. Khalil Lohars, I ask you to calm down and never use that kind of power again."

The giant with silver hands spread his arms in earnest, and they shone. "They make me uncomfortable."

"Really? I'm sorry, but I only use it when necessary."

"You just used it to stasis all of us - I knew early on that you couldn't be just an ordinary person, but I didn't expect you to be so powerful."

Ferus said, deep wrinkles appeared between his eyebrows.

In Khalil's view, his demeanor at the moment was somewhat similar to that of Rogal Dorn, but compared to the giant's cold directness, Ferrus Manus still retained some reserve. Room to turn.

"Powerful is just a false adjective."

Khalil said noncommittally. "No one is truly powerful because the meaning of the word simply does not exist in the real world."

".I have reservations about this." Ferrus said slowly. "But please forgive Luo Jia for being rude——"

"--rude?!"

Luojia roared again. The original body's anger was extremely shocking, and the golden characters on his skin brightened violently.

He thought that Ferus would support him, but he didn't expect that his brother would say such things!

"He is the rude person, Ferus! He doesn't care about his father's good intentions. He obviously has such a strong power but allows our brothers to live in that place!"

Luo Jia looked at his brother tremblingly, angry, disappointed, and aggrieved.

"How can you say I'm rude?! I love our brother enough to argue for him! He's suffered enough on Nostramo, and it's all obviously because of this man! "

"It hasn't even been a day since we met Conrad, Luojia, we know nothing about what happened on Nostramo, why do you draw such arbitrary conclusions?"

The deepness between Ferus' brows began to become more obvious and more intense. His expression was serious, but Khalil glimpsed the hidden anger in the heart of this giant named after iron.

Ah. Another one with psychological problems.

It seems that only one person can be considered normal. Khalil thought helplessly.

"We already know enough!"

Luojia said loudly. He no longer roared, but instead waved his arms like a speaker, trying to convince his brother. His posture was very sophisticated and talented.

He used this gift with complete naturalness and had no idea he was using it.

"We know that Conrad suffered, that he was obviously malnourished, don't we? We know that he had only rags to wear, and we also know that he trusted this man with all his heart!"

He turned and glared at Khalil with real anger in his eyes.

"Khalil Lohars! How dare you say that you didn't deliberately manipulate our brother into thinking what a kind father you were? You were just trying to use him for your own benefit!"

"You have such great power but you let him live in such a house and in such a terrible environment! He is the son of the Emperor! You are a hypocritical and shameless person!"

Luojia suddenly opened his arms, as if he were a martyred saint.

"Now, are you satisfied?! You have arrived on the Emperor's Dream, and you have set foot here in person. There are countless people in the galaxy who long for such an honor, but you! You despicable villain, you stand here, All thanks to our brothers!”

"If you still have a conscience, you should go and confess to him now! Tell him your true intentions, your true thoughts! And then beg him to forgive you!"

Ferrus Manus slowly clenched his fists, making a crunching sound.

He couldn't bear it anymore. He didn't understand why Luo Jia had to choose this time to do such a thing - not to mention, his subjective assumptions were too obvious.

If Khalil Lohars was really such a person, wouldn't their father be able to tell?

If he was really such a person, would their father really talk to him alone? How could you ask them to solve the problem when leaving the banquet hall?

He took a deep breath, planned to speak out and warned, and was already ready to take action.

Luo Jia has done enough wrong things today, and he can't let him continue.

However, there was someone who was faster than him.

"I'm sorry," Khalil said sincerely.

Ferus stopped in surprise, and Luojia burst into laughter. He didn't realize that the apology was meant for Ferus.

Then--

"——I really can't bear it anymore. I thought I could, but your words really make me..."

Khalil sighed, and the blue light came again, and this time, he didn't hold back.

".Burning with rage."

The blue light flashes away.

——

In the majestic hall, two giants were talking face to face.

"I'm sorry your son was hurt," Khalil said. "I want to apologize to you for that."

“Everyone has moments when their emotions take over.”

Neos said noncommittally. "Luojia was dominated, so he fell into undue rage. He blindly looked at the truth he wanted to see, and spoke nonsense against you - he really should be punished."

"Then so should I," Khalil said quietly. "I was also dominated by my emotions."

".Are you testing?" Nios frowned. "You clearly know my attitude, and you also know that I won't care about this kind of thing."

"You should care."

Khalil shook his head seriously: "An outsider injured one of your sons on your ship. Is it possible that you want to be indifferent to this?"

"He did something wrong, made a mistake-"

"—in his mind he was right, and his love for his brothers was real. Also, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I just couldn't help it."

Khalil took a deep breath.

He spoke very quickly: "You can't just focus on those lofty goals and plans. I bet you never revealed them to your sons when you were making these ideas, not even once. I'm right. wrong?"

"They won't understand."

"You didn't even say it and you didn't think they would understand?"

"They're just kids."

"child?!"

Khalil's voice suddenly became high-pitched, and anger showed on his face. "You give them great power and noble status, and then you call them children?!"

"Aren't they to us?"

"What about everyone else?"

Khalil shook his head. “What are they to others, to those who are far inferior to them?”

"You hide all your intentions, and then hide away and be a father who only talks to a few people. Do you think this is good? Isn't Lorgar Aurelion's problem obvious enough?"

"He cut off a side of you and kept it in his own heart, treating it as a god and his own savior! Once he finds out that you are actually completely different from this, what do you think he will do?"

"...He will understand on his own, I can't change his will."

Khalil raised his hand silently, closed his eyes and rubbed his brow.

He was suddenly very tired.

After a long time, he spoke again.

".I originally thought that a person like you would be a conscientious pragmatist and realist. I never expected that you would actually be an idealist."

Khalil threw his head back tiredly.

"You don't want to use your words to change everyone, because you feel that these words are like a command to them. You think they can figure it out on their own, right?"

"They can certainly do it," Nios said firmly. "I believe in them. They have everything I've ever seen in a human being."

"Yes, it also has the shortcomings that all humans have."

Khalil said deadpan. "For example, due to your stubbornness, you brought in four sons, and they all have this problem. What about the others? Will they be better or worse?"

"."

"Let's talk business." Khalil remained expressionless. "For example, the specific situation of that legion and my future work situation. There should be many planets waiting to be recovered, right?"

Neos nodded, and he could only nod.

Sneak attack!

I wrote that my blood pressure is high