40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 695 77. Resurrection (VI)

The lion strode into the door. Out of some instinct, he already knew where the door was. Mortarion followed him silently and gently closed the door. The oncoming snow and wind did not blow his white hair at all.

The lion turned around and saw this scene, and his brows frowned instantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The lion answered briefly, and then led the topic to a question. "Where are we going?"

"To watch an exorcism ceremony, brother, it's that simple."

"Exorcism? In Fenris?" Hearing the answer, the lion's eyebrows, which were not relaxed to begin with, began to frown more and more.

The reason was simple, just because he knew that this was Fenris.

At the moment when the cold wind slipped through the crack of the door, his intuition fished out the answer from the ocean and placed it in front of him, but it did not reduce his doubts and anxiety at all, but only intensified their influence on his reason.

The lion was not unfamiliar with the exorcism ceremony. As early as the establishment of the Psionic Academy, things related to it have been determined to be improved and passed down from generation to generation. Today, a legal psionicist officially certified by the Empire usually needs to get qualified comments from three different subject instructors before he can officially obtain his identity.

However, apart from these three subjects, subjects containing complex knowledge such as "exorcism" or "purification" are the only compulsory courses.

In other words, the talents of psionicists will determine their future direction - serve in a certain army and fully display their understanding of pure psionic magic; be sent to a certain world to cooperate with the local legal department to investigate supernatural phenomena, check clues one by one through prophecy or dreaming, and solve problems with the least loss; join a certain secret strike force, bestow powerful blessings on friendly forces on the most dangerous battlefield, and use terrifying curses to eat away the flesh and blood and even the soul of the enemy.

No matter what they choose, exorcism is always the first choice. But this is a common situation in the Empire, not for Fenris.

There are no official psychics who follow the rules and regulations to handle their identities, work legally and legally, and accept dispatch and deployment. There are only endless priests, shamans, and voodoo chieftains who come from nowhere, or even tribal elders who can only do one or two magic tricks.

Expecting these people to hold an exorcism ceremony according to the experience and regulations of the empire? This is simply ridiculous. According to the definition of the Psychic Academy, the ceremony arranged by the Fenris people is actually closer to "descending spirits" rather than "dispelling".

Furthermore, under the unique influence of this ghost place that cannot be found in the entire galaxy, even a well-prepared exorcism ceremony is actually very likely to fail, not to mention these primitive prayers.

If the wolf pack had not noticed this matter as early as the Russ era and conducted a comprehensive investigation, cleaning and book collection, I am afraid that the evil spirits and ghosts that have appeared in Fenris in the past ten thousand years would be more than dozens of times more.

The lion's mind was spinning like lightning, and in the blink of an eye he thought of many possibilities. He could no longer remain calm on his face, showing an obvious worry. Mortarion saw it, but he didn't comment or react, just walked forward.

The gray snow went straight through his body, not wetting even a single inch of his skin. The lion stopped thinking for a moment and had to follow closely. He wanted to ask something, but found that he, like Mortarion, couldn't touch anything on Fenris

Soon, they came to the top of a high cliff, and the lion had discovered more things wrong.

He knew Fenris. Although the natural environment here was so bad that it was on the list of the entire galaxy, it had never snowed as thickly as it did now.

At this moment, he stood on the top of the cliff and stared down. All he saw was impenetrable gray and white, densely packed in every inch of his sight. Even though he couldn't touch them, the lion felt a sense of oppression in his heart.

Then, he realized that this was probably related to the exorcism ritual that Mortarion mentioned. However, his focus now has shifted from the ritual to the scale of the snow itself. If it only covers this mountain range, it would be fine.

However, if it is larger, I am afraid that many tribes will suffer from unexpected disasters.

"What are you thinking about?" Mortarion asked.

The lion took a deep breath and kept reminding himself that he was dead now. Then he replied: "Nothing, where is the ritual, brother?"

"It's just under this cliff, close at hand. I don't want to tell riddles or deliberately keep you in suspense, so I'll tell you directly-this ritual is related to you. All the think tanks among the descendants of Rus are here, maintaining the ritual."

The lion's pupils shrank suddenly, but he didn't ask why his body was here. Instead, he suppressed the anger that followed and asked another question.

"Who allowed them to do this?"

Mortarion looked back at him and finally couldn't help laughing: "Who else do you think it is? Who else can it be besides Rus?"

"Rus?" The lion's face finally showed a pure astonishment.

The Lantern Death turned his head and seemed to sigh.

"Yes, Rus. He saved you, and your loyal and respectable son Zabril. The latter carried your body with his instructions and traveled a long distance in the blizzard of Fenris to seek support. Unfortunately, he met a Hur-Hal."

The lion clenched his fists in an instant.

Zabril.

As he read this name, his eyes felt sore and swollen.

Among wolves, hunting a Hul-har alone is regarded as a high honor. Those wild wolves who have the ability to do this will definitely achieve great things in the future. This has become a recognized thing, and the worst can be In a certain war, he killed a lot of people and died fighting hard.

However, even if you are fully armed and prepared in advance, the mortality rate of this activity remains high for a long time. The species capable of surviving on Fenris are by no means benign, let alone this kind of evil beast that has surpassed the animal's instinct to forage, only appears in blizzards, and is extremely fond of eating humans.

And Zabriel Lion didn't think that his situation at that time could be any better than his own. The Angel of Absolution must have been in a situation where they were running out of ammunition and food, and may even have lost their weapons.

"Is he still alive?" the lion asked gently, with a cautious tone.

Mortarion did not answer the question, but reached out and took off the lantern from his waist.

In an instant, golden light flourished, penetrating straight through the snow curtain, creating a downward path in front of them, with equal sizes, and the arrangement followed a certain numerical pattern.

"Let's go," he said. "I'll take you to see him."

As he finished speaking, Mortarion never expected that the lion would suddenly run wildly, passing him like a bullet that had been pushed out of the gun chamber by gunpowder, and dive down, as fast as it was falling.

Mortarion was slightly surprised, but still held up the lantern in his hand to maintain the path for his brother, while he waited for a moment before walking down.

He had deliberately given the lion a lot of time alone, but despite this, the lion's expression still looked extremely emotional when he reached the ground.

It was windy and snowy, but spiritual fire candles were burning everywhere. The power of psychic energy made it burn, its light was piercing and almost pale, and the lion stood behind the three people, saying nothing.

They knew nothing about his arrival, but kept talking briefly and observing for a long time. One of them was particularly worried, with gray hair and an old face.

Mortarion shook his head imperceptibly, hung the lantern back on his waist, and examined the current situation. After careful consideration, although he was unwilling to face Leon El'Jonson like this, he still decided to intervene.

The guide of the deceased spoke in a deep voice, with a cautious tone.

"Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"I want them to stop." The lion said without looking back, with a firm tone. "This is nonsense."

"mess?"

The lion turned back, the anger in his eyes almost turned into substance.

At this moment, when his face fell into Mortarion's eyes, a kind of light burst out, as if he had returned to his original nature - at this moment, he saw again the king thousands of years ago who seemed extremely cold because he was too sensible. .

The aging caused by time has faded away, and the compassion, wisdom and patience brought by experience have also disappeared, leaving only the most primitive, rational and ruthless anger.

"They will kill themselves!" Leon El'Jonson clenched his fists and roared. "Anyone who knows a little bit about exorcism can see that this ritual has now changed!"

"It will not dispel any evil spirits, monsters, or ghosts. It will only awaken those things that have been dormant and lost forever! Look around you, Mortarion, and tell me, on this scale, if that thing really came to the world, we would How many lives does it take to kill it?"

His voice was so fierce that it was almost deafening. But Mortarion's expression seemed a bit intriguing. In fact, it could be said that he was embarrassed that he didn't know how to speak.

The lion took a few deep breaths, suppressed his anger, and apologized to him: "I'm sorry that I was angry with you just now-"

"-No, no" Mortarion became more and more embarrassed. "It's nothing, brother, but I want to tell you that they did the right thing."

The lion uttered a single syllable in astonishment.

"I mean"

Mortarion deliberately lengthened the syllables and looked at the lion expectantly, wanting him to tell the answer himself. But the lion didn't react at all. He frowned and blinked, unable to say anything.

All right. Death with the Lantern shook his head helplessly. You can't blame me, Leon.

"They're conjuring spirits for you."

He spoke quite frankly, and never stopped once he started, as if he had been suppressing it for a long time, completely ignoring the increasingly stunned expression of the lion standing opposite him.

"The thing is actually very simple. You complicate it yourself. You died. Yes, there is a price to pay for your return, and that's right. But there is always room for operation. You are a Primarch. How could we really let you die like this?"

"Taking a step back, assuming you are really going to die and come to accompany me, how many of those people who will take over your responsibilities and handle your funeral affairs will be exhausted? Have you ever thought about this? Problem?"

"To put it harshly, the originally stable situation in the Obscure Star Territory may even become turbid because of this. Do you want to see this happen? Don't say that Ferus will stabilize the situation. He will be able to stabilize the situation before the next century. When he figured out the things in his own clan, I thought his iron head suddenly became enlightened. "

"My father came to see you because he wanted to talk to you, but you didn't appreciate it at all. He was still complaining about it, saying things like, 'Only part of me is your son.' Let me tell you, when he came to see me, he just wanted to talk to you." So sad."

"But, then again, this is really rare. I actually have to thank you for this. I have never seen him look at me like this in the past ten thousand years. Why? Don't you believe me?"

"Well, I'll tell you frankly, brother, he really doesn't have much time to be awake now. In other words, he has used all his little humanity on you."

After Mortarion finished speaking, he exhaled comfortably and refreshingly, and thought about what he said again. After confirming that he was right, the Lantern Death God, who had not spoken to his brothers other than Magnus for a long time, really felt relieved.

He knew that he had said too much and too thoroughly, but in the past ten thousand years, apart from participating in the Eternal War, he had been extraditing the dead souls to rest temporarily under the Golden Throne. The only free time he had was for Magnus to play regicide chess.

Regardless of the quality of the chess game and the level of skill, it was just for fun anyway, but the Fool really couldn't rest at all. Even in the intervals between moves, he would talk about what he had heard from the wronged souls recently.

Which governor was burned with his entire family by the Nightblades for a living sacrifice, which Inquisitor had an unclear relationship with her guards, and which alien was being hunted by his own race all over the galaxy

He was talking non-stop, but Mortarion had nothing to say.

Unlike Magnus, the dead souls he extradited were all loyalists who died in battle. As early as the moment they died in battle, they were drawn into a state of dreamlike and half-dream by the power of the Emperor. If he wanted to talk, he had to wake them up, and he couldn't do that.

So, in the past ten thousand years, in almost every chess game, he was passively accepting Magnus's verbal bombardment. Now that he finally caught the lion, he would naturally not let go of this opportunity.

However, Mortarion still didn't know the lion well enough.

After a brief silence, Lion El'Jonson hit the nail on the head, getting rid of all the other information revealed in his brother's words, and focusing on the truth.

From this point of view, perhaps he has never changed, he is still a sword sharp enough to hurt everyone.

"What is the price?" The lion asked in a low voice. "Also, you said Russ saved me. He is just a lonely ghost, relying on the spear to barely move. Why did he save me? Who is helping him behind the scenes?"

After speaking, he took a step forward in the wind and snow. Mortarion narrowed his eyes, looked down at the lion's feet, and saw a real footprint.

He smiled sincerely.

"Tell me the answer, brother."

"Go and explore it yourself." Mortarion winked at him. "Goodbye, Leon. We hardly ever communicated in the past, but if possible, I really hope we can sit down and have a good talk."

The wind and snow continued, and his figure was gradually obscured, no longer solid as before. The lion rushed forward eagerly, trying to reach out and grab him, but only caught nothing.

At the same time, the cold came from all directions and invaded his body unstoppably.

The lion groaned and froze in place, but the anger in his heart did not diminish at all - he gritted his teeth and resisted stubbornly, but it was of no avail. He could only watch Mortarion disappear little by little in the wind and snow.

Come back!

The roar was stuck deep in his throat and was difficult to utter. The Caliban people who wrapped themselves in reason and let it dominate their emotions and hearts finally showed a little fragility and sadness at this moment.

The cold wind blew his white hair. Perhaps it was the cold, or perhaps he was really old. The thousands of sorrows actually crossed his heart at this moment and pierced deeply into his heart.

"Why?"

The lion lowered his head and asked himself. The funny thing is that even he himself didn't know what he was looking for. He was asking why, wanting to get an answer, but what was the question?

The price of resurrecting him? Who did Russ ask for help? Is he okay? Mortarion, have you been okay in the past ten thousand years?

And.

Have I disappointed you, father?

"Never." His father said. "You have always been my pride. Please believe this, Lion."

Warmth swallowed up the cold, and the distant singing replaced the humming wind and poured into his ears. The lion slowly closed his eyes. For some reason, he felt extremely tired. The wolves howled, calling the names of the dead, one louder than the other, one louder than the other, like thunder.

Bjorn slowly raised his head.

"Almost done." He commented simply, his right hand had touched the axe at his waist without knowing when. "But there is one last thing to do."

"What is it?" Zabril, wrapped in a cloak and struggling in the cold, asked hoarsely.

The lone wolf did not answer, but slowly pulled out the axe, held it tightly, and walked towards the center of the ceremony.

The oncoming cold light engulfed his figure, and also made Zabril swallow his questions. But he was lucky that there was someone beside him who was not as self-willed as the wild wolves.

Azek Ahriman spoke softly with empathy.

"You are a veteran, Zabril. So, you have carried out some secret missions in the past - assassinations that were not worthy of being on the stage, and so on. But I think, no matter how sure you are, after pulling the trigger or swinging the blade, you always have to spend a little time to confirm whether the target has been eliminated, right?"

The dark angel turned his head mechanically and stiffly, as if he didn't understand what he said.

The blind man greeted him with an expressionless face, and the dark red cloth band covering his eyes stung like flying blood.

"Don't act as if you suddenly lost the ability to think, Zabriel, my words should not be difficult to understand."

"I beg you to explain."

The blind man suddenly made a seal with his left hand behind his back, and then he spoke calmly.

"This is an exorcism ritual, yes, but it is divided into two steps. In the first step, the rune priests call on the nature spirits of Fenris to drive out all the remaining evil forces in the lion's body - or rather Eat it, you can understand it yourself.”

"The second step is to reverse the ritual. Just exorcising evil spirits is not enough. His soul will not come back on its own. Therefore, the nature of this ritual requires a small change. From exorcism to soul summoning, it only takes one step."

Holding the seal, Ahriman deliberately paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking the last words.

".As for now, we just need to confirm whether the person who came back is him."

Zabriel buried his head deeply, and for a long time, he whispered.

"You guys are crazy."

The blind man smiled and did not deny the matter, but quietly dispersed the seal on his left hand.