40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 514 32. Madman
Eleven hours after the war ended, Kaiour still believed that Khalil should not have left his hospital bed and moved around.

The Chapter Master's worry and persistence are not unreasonable. For a person whose serious injury has not healed - in fact, it is impossible to heal - bed rest is the best option.

However, his persuasion only received an "I insist" and a calm stare. So the nutrient solution was cut off, and the bandages were wrapped around the still bloody body by the servitors. They would soon be completely wet with blood.

This also means that Khalil's activity time is strictly limited. In the words of pharmacists, he must change the bandage regularly to avoid infection.
Shitty excuse. Kaiul thought so, but he did not show this emotion at the time, but concealed it very well.

He walked expressionlessly in the fortress built by the Sons of the Red Sand, absently observing the burning candles and sculptures everywhere, and felt a strange familiarity.

This weather-beaten and war-torn fortress has a certain style of the Astartes Monastery, probably because of certain traditions within the Children of the Red Sand.

They still long to fight alongside the Warhounds. People will always change the surrounding environment for something, just like the Night Soul
Thinking of this, Kaiul's heart couldn't help but beat violently. He stopped there, his face gloomy.

A battleship that had served for ten thousand years was 'decommissioned' under his command. Although she did deserve her death, it was still an unacceptable and huge loss.

So what if we get a new warship? The Night Soul has passed away. Even if the new battleship has enough firepower to inherit this name, it cannot really replace the Night Soul and its ten thousand-year persistence.

Kaiul sighed deeply, gathered his mood, and continued towards his destination, speeding up his pace. But after just a few minutes, he left the interior of the fortress and came to its severely damaged walls.

"I would like to ask you and your brothers to leave the city wall temporarily. It doesn't take long, just thirty minutes." Kaiour said. "My brothers and I have something we want to do here."

Kaiul turned around, and in the dim light of Litatra's afternoon, he saw a man wearing a thick robe and his face covered with bandages.

Kaiul nodded again, ignoring the compliment that made him feel slightly uncomfortable, and said in a deep voice: "You still haven't let down your guard, which is very rare. The Children of the Red Sands indeed have strict military discipline. Where is your commander? "

"It seems that faith can really change people." A hoarse voice said behind him.

He was a little queasy.

Her roar sounded very loud, and the soldiers patrolling the fortress walls immediately responded to her words and dragged their exhausted bodies back to the fortress.

They will have a precious and hard-earned thirty minutes of rest, during which they can take a nap or smoke a cigarette to relax.
They had so much entertainment to do, but Kaiul didn't see any joy on the faces of these soldiers. Some of them were even slightly dissatisfied and didn't want to leave their duties.

"You seem a little surprised." The instructor said. "Why?"

The two soldiers not far away turned their heads sharply at the sound, their light guns ready to go. Caiul nodded at them, and after receiving two awkward smiles, he spoke.

These people indeed hold themselves to the highest standards and work hard all their lives, just to one day be able to set foot on Nuceria and participate in the selection.
He stepped out of the shadows and at the same time straightened a servitor that had a sensor recognition error due to his sudden appearance.

The latter's feet made a loud noise as they collided with each other. It raised its head and looked at him, but did not receive any orders. So it lowered its head and continued to clean up the blood stains.

"That's me." A tired woman came over holding a gun and introduced herself to Kaiul. "I am their company commander, Sophiel, at least for now. What can I do for you, my lord?"

Around them, a few servitors were hard at work cleaning and repairing, while the surviving soldiers of the 67th Armored Regiment of the Sons of Red Sand stood on the other side, strictly observing military discipline and patrolling with guns.

Whenever and wherever he tried to speak in this authoritative, distant, and extremely official tone, he would get this untimely feeling of vomiting
It's like a cynical part of him is screaming: Stop acting like you're some kind of hero!
"Good day, sir!" a soldier stood at attention and saluted, shouting at the same time. "It's my honor to fight alongside you!"

Looking at this scene, Kaiul, who was standing in the shadows, nodded imperceptibly - there were not many Astra Militarum troops with strict military discipline, and even fewer who could continue to maintain this quality after the war.

Kaiul looked into his eyes in silence. Between the layers of blood-stained bandages, he saw two completely black eyes. The light reflected from the sky of Litatra was reflected in it, scattered into cloudy and somehow dispersed patches of light.

The woman looked at him slightly confused, but didn't say anything. She just saluted and issued an order at the top of her voice.

His tone was definitely not good. In fact, the overflowing madness and violence almost overflowed.

Before the smoke cleared, the city walls were covered with bloodstains, which had already seeped into the masonry and steel. Only a dozen or so of the smoking machine guns and artillery pieces could still fire.

"Good day, loyal soldiers," Kaiour said.

He suppressed his shock and lowered his head to greet: "Instructor."

At a glance, it looks like two cold silver fences. So, this is a prison.

But what does it shut up?

"Forgive me for my gaffe." Khalil said. He seemed to realize something from Kaiul's silence and reaction. However, it was difficult for him to even say this apology. It even sounded more like a sentence. threaten.

Caiul wanted to say something, but couldn't. He could only nod wordlessly, then took a step back and made a gesture to the other shadow knights who were still in the shadows.

Not far away, several shouts came from under the city wall, which seemed to be the screams of civilians who had survived.

The hive people's endurance also has limits. They are not residents of the garden world. They live a comfortable life and have noble blood. These thugs, crooks, and the cunning citizens who deal with them all the time are tough enough, but not above it all.

The burning city and the 'legacy' left by the demons were a bit too much even for them.

Kaiul withdrew his gaze and looked at their instructor again, only to find that the latter was staring in a certain direction in trance. The hateful wind carrying the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood blew by, and there was a bloodstain on his right cheek.

The corners of Kaiul's eyes twitched unconsciously.

"Faith"

Khalil spoke at the right time. He turned around and touched his face, but the bandage on his fingers was stained with blood. He didn't seem surprised by this, the bandage on his face deformed slightly, and Kaiul heard a chuckle.

"This is really interesting. Ten thousand years ago, we all regarded faith as a kind of spiritual poison, but now"

Kaiul's heart trembled, not for anything else, just for the adjective 'us'.

"It's an irony, Caiul. We all hate religion until we ourselves have to pick it up and use it. Human beings always seem to be like this, saying one thing, doing another, but thinking something else. It's the same thing." He was silent for a moment and suddenly laughed again: "I'm sorry that I have to let you listen to these inappropriate and pretentious complaints here. I must have disappointed you, Chapter Leader?"

"Absolutely not," Caiul replied seriously.

"But I can't offer you any help," Khalil said thoughtfully. "As you can see, I am just a disabled person now, and I have to be careful even when I walk."

"You have worked hard for ten thousand years to rescue me, but is this really a rescue? How did I get out of trouble, and how did I reappear?"

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

".I don't even know what kind of existence I am now."

Caiul listened in silence, once again in the dilemma of not being able to say anything. He really wanted to tell the other person that you don’t need to do anything, your just existence is an inspiration to us.

But doesn't this sound too weird? The general, no, turned the regiment's instructor into a statue of a god, making him harmless and deified.
Forever night, what on earth am I thinking about? Shen will kill me for this.
The young Chapter Leader frowned behind his helmet, and even his breathing became a little heavy. His reaction prompted a moment of meticulous observation, followed by a sigh of resignation.

"Excuse me, I have to leave for a while," Khalil said.

He turned around, used his hands to push himself up the city wall, and then jumped down.

His movements were so fast that Kaiul only had time to take a step forward before he saw him disappear outside the city wall.

The originally quiet shadows suddenly rioted at this moment, and knights in gloomy armor ran out. Needless to say, with the clashing sound of Kaiul's clenched fists, they followed closely, jumped off the city wall, and quickly disappeared among the burning city.

"Shen." Kaiul couldn't help but murmured to himself and read out a name. He took off his helmet, his young face full of confusion.

However, neither he nor his brothers knew that Khalil had not gone far - in fact, he had not left the fortress at all.

He had been waiting patiently in the darkness projected by the city gate, watching the shadow knights pass by one by one with cold eyes, as if he had gone back to 10,000 years ago and was undergoing an assessment.

After they all left, he walked out of the darkness and slowly walked toward the ruins on his knees.

He walked slowly, firstly to avoid the patrols and the shadow knights who stayed behind to look for his traces, and secondly, because he could no longer walk fast.

His bones, joints, and even every muscle fiber were trembling, and every minute and every second he used them was excruciating.
Khalil stopped, leaned against a pillar that had not collapsed, and breathed out the air in his lungs quietly, trembling with pain. At the same time, there was a slight tremor on the ground beneath his feet.

Khalil turned his head without surprise and asked: "Footprints?"

A shadow knight nodded to him and replied: "Footprints."

There was a row of bright red footprints under his feet that spread behind Khalil. They were marks caused by blood soaking the bandages. From the city gate, it spread all the way here.

Khalil naturally knew this very well. He would not make such a stupid mistake. The reason why he left traces was just to provide a little help.

"Are you going to report now?" Khalil asked.

"That depends on what you plan to do, instructor. Also, my name is—"

"—Zel." Khalil said. "I know you."

The shadow knight known as Zell paused for a moment. He raised his hand and took off his helmet, and said dullly: "I don't understand."

"It's a good thing that you don't understand, Paladin. Could you please refrain from debriefing for now?"

".I said, instructor, it depends on what you're going to do."

"I'm going to get a mask and a stone," Khalil said.

At the same time, he suddenly clenched his right fist hard, and the bright blue light flashed from his eyes, and the traces left by the row of blood disappeared completely, never to be seen again.

"Excuse my stupidity." Zell took a deep breath. "I don't know what you're talking about, instructor."

Khalil did not answer this sentence, but raised his hand to gather the radiance of spiritual energy into the air, forming a curtain of light. Once it took shape, it fluctuated rapidly, forming two completely different illusory scenes.

One is a pale skeletal mask. The second is a golden round stone. A trace of bright red blood spread in its center, looking like the vertical pupils of a wild beast.

The light curtain dissipated, and Khalil turned around and walked away. There was no longer any trace of blood under his feet.

"Come on, Zell, we'll be there soon," Khalil said. "When I find them, you can report to Chapter Master Kaiul."

"I still don't understand." Zell quickly followed him and asked stubbornly. "I'm referring to the fact that you called out my nickname."

Khalil calmly turned his head to look at this giant who was much taller than him, and shook his head silently.

The afternoon sunshine in Litatra was gradually turning into the sunset. The wind blew the flames burning in the surrounding ruins, crackling and turning his eyes into two sharp knives, piercing straight into Zell. bottom of my heart.

The Paladin's already pale face suddenly became even paler, and his forehead was gradually covered with fine beads of sweat. However, he always insisted on looking at Khalil, without wavering in the slightest.

He was resisting the terrifying mountain-like pressure. It wasn't until Khalil took the initiative to look away that this sense of oppression dissipated.

"Actually, you already have the answer." Khalil said. "So, let's work quickly, Zell. I don't have enough time."

(End of this chapter)