Emperor's Bane

Chapter 259 Carrion Queen and Parasite
She is coming.

His blood relatives, here they come.

A little faster than he imagined, but still within the expected range.

The midnight ghost wandered in the dimness, like a broken wing from a black vulture, engulfed by the vicious wind, and drifted to a distance that no one could fathom.

Leaning his body, he stayed outside the small country illuminated by the only dim wall lamps, and concentrated on heading for his destination in absolute silence and dead stillness. Apart from him, the dirty road several kilometers long The tunnel was deserted, and the last occupants had been hastily removed hours before, leaving a messy silence.

Midnight Ghost loved the silence, especially when he realized that it wasn't just a lie transmitted to his senses from the outside world, but the result of a temporary lull of a vision in his mind that never calmed down: his brain Now it's silent, a tearful silence.

He hadn't been sober like this for a long time: the phantoms that had troubled him for a long time quietly disappeared in his mind. Although this was destined to be only a temporary ebb, it was enough to make Midnight Ghost smile sincerely.

The smile in the dark is like any god of the dead in ancient mythology.

Midnight Ghost knows the reason why this wonderful situation will come: for a long time, when he is thinking hard about something, the illusion in his mind will arbitrarily throw the future about this thing in front of his eyes, let him All my thinking has become a ridiculous useless effort

This has changed only twice so far: the first time when his Gene-Father put a palm on his shoulder, and the icy light caused the Vision to flee in a shriek of despair, rising The golden sun temporarily obscured everything with its glare, and ruthlessly proclaimed the omnipotence of the Emperor.

And the second change, not so long ago, when he was leaning against the wall of his brand new lair, stuffing a rodent jerky into his mouth, while thinking about the future of his silver-haired blood relative. Only then did some kind of discovery that was too slow flashed through Midnight Ghost's mind, which made him startled.

Midnight Ghost can't see any future of his silver-haired blood relatives, all he can see is the betrayal, perdition and loss that should have happened, not anything about the Lord of the Second Legion at any point in time since then, So, when he was thinking about Morgan over and over again, he was surprised to find that as he put more energy into this matter, the illusion in front of him disappeared unconsciously.

This sounds natural: after all, Coz can't find Morgan's future at all, and he can't let the new illusion repeatedly torture the mind of Midnight Ghost, and the fragment that records the original fate of the Spider Queen is just a part of the past. It's just a normal memory, and of course it can't be a part of the [future], and it can't be repeated in the mind of Midnight Ghost.

When Curz discovered this, he smiled.

Although Midnight Ghost is very clear that this is just an unreasonable mistake, a special situation that cannot constitute any truth, and does not improve his current situation in the slightest, but this does not prevent him from savoring the short peace and silence carefully, and began to Planning an unforgettable interaction with your silver-haired blood relative.

A completely unknown interaction.

An interaction that is no longer dominated by his prophecies and visions of the future, with real dangers and possibilities, and no one knows exactly what will happen.

It can be a contact, it can be a talk, a hunt, a fight.

even……

Can be a trial.

Judge her hypocritical face, judge her stolen life, judge her subtle way of hiding everyone, let the truth be revealed in the dark, let the lies be broken in fear, and gather every drop of fate's blood into In the right place, let that hateful fate flow again: no one can escape.

Or, it could solve another question in his mind, one that was burning his mind, and he longed for the answer that this question had, that was important to him.

Well worth his trouble.

Worth his blood.

……

It's exciting, isn't it?
The ferocious corners of the mouth stretched all the way to the sharp earlobes, revealing the rough yellow tartar on the pale lips. The Midnight Ghost, like a blood-eating monster in rural mythology, is advancing in the deep darkness and bleak light, looking for The sound of riding boots fascinated him, calculating the distance between them.

In the end, Koz arrived at the meeting place he had carefully selected. This is a hub connecting various roads, it is the end of the main road on the bottom deck, it is a crossroad in the dark, and those doors that were conveniently covered , Dust-scattered ventilation ducts, and the intersection of paths leading to the unknown darkness are everywhere in this place, even reminding the midnight ghost of the openness that his vision can capture when he overlooks Nostramo.

He liked it, he chose it: on this strange warship, nothing could bring the Night Ghost back to the way he felt in Nostramo like a complex labyrinth in the dark. I'm sure I won't lose to anyone here.

Just like that, Curze squatted down, like those ferocious stone beasts at the top of Nostramo's steeple, quietly waiting for the sound of riding boots to gradually approach, and the stench in the ventilation duct was icy cold, making his dirty The dirty robe then rattled, revealing the incomparably sharp minions on the slender arms from time to time.

He could already smell the blood.

Midnight Ghost knew that this time, it wasn't a ridiculous hallucination.

------

After a long absence, the Lord of the Second Legion is fully armed.

Morgan held her black and blue double-edged spear ax tightly in her hand. She put on the armor given by the fire dragon lord, and her lower body was protected by a long steel skirt made by herself, while [Sterno] and [ Yuri Ellie] devoured her hands and forearms, providing a terrifying toughness that no armor can match. They are as thin as a layer of white paper, and can even clearly reflect every aspect of Morgan. nails.

Even at the top of the head, an invisible layer of light appeared between the back of the Primarch's head and the earlobe, making the Spider Queen's blue pupils look extraordinarily cold.

Compared with these creations from the hands of the Primarch and the psionic waves hovering all over Morgan, the twenty old guards behind the Lord of the Second Legion seem a bit cumbersome, although among them Most of us have no such pathetic awareness.

And on Morgan's side, the chief old guard was almost inseparable from his genetic mother. Unlike the [immature] subordinates behind him, as a veteran who came out of the Terra unification war, Lana was very Knowing the gap between the Astartes warriors and the Primarchs, one can roughly guess why their Primarchs are so heavily armed.

Because of this, along the way, he was talking with the Primarch in a low voice, at first it was just persuasion, but as they walked farther and farther in the darkness, the persuasion gradually turned into pleading.

"I beg you, my lord."

The Chief Old Guard kept his Primarch within an inch, while uttering another low voice, the expression on his face was full of obstacles to progress, and his follow-up steps were as determined.

"You are a psychic, my lord, one of the most powerful psychic in the empire, you can use the power of psychic power to solve the situation in front of you, instead of rushing to the dangerous situation yourself."

"Please let us line up in front of you to be your guards and shields. If we can delay the attack of the Primarch for even a second, it will be enough for you to summon enough power to subdue your That brother, stop his atrocities on the ship."

"You don't have to take the risk yourself: it's a Primarch anyway, and we know nothing of his powers or gifts, all we know is his bestial ferocity, and such a being is extremely dangerous. May be incommunicable, that's too much for you..."

[Shh. 】

The anxious words were interrupted softly, the Lord of the Second Legion smiled, touched the helmet of her chief guard, and put her fingertips on her lips, until she spoke the final decision .

【Stop talking, Lana. 】

[He can hear it. 】

"But! My lord..."

[Don't be so worried, my child, I know it well, listen to my order and execute it well, this is what you need to do now, nothing will go wrong. 】

"..."

Lana was silent, he seemed to be thinking about whether to stir up the wrath of his Primarch, but after the shortest choice, the sense of responsibility and trust in the Primarch still defeated the unknown, instinctive fear .

"With all due respect, my lord."

"The last time you were so arbitrary, the result was Yemenga's tragedy."

"Please think twice."

Lana's words carried a powerful clang of sorrow, and set off a wave of silence among the old guards behind the Primarch. With Morgan's footsteps stopping, every Dawnbreaker couldn't help but keep quiet , They felt the flash of anger in the eyes of the mother of genes, it was the rage that was destined to be born after the scars were ruthlessly picked apart.

Rana gritted his teeth, feeling the wrath of the Gene Mother as well, but just as he closed his eyes, waiting for the verdict that the offensive words would bring.

He heard a sigh.

That was the sigh of the mother of genes.

The anger of the Lord of the Second Legion lasted less than a moment, but she quickly regained control of her reason, and the wanton burning flame was extinguished casually, in exchange for a soft voice, and she patted the chief The helpless words spoken by the old guard's shoulder.

[Indeed, Lana. 】

【But this time it's different. 】

[I can assure you of this, my child. 】

"..."

Lana didn't speak any more, he felt the power of Mother Gene's fingers clapping on his shoulder, that kind of power could be called slight, but it left the chief old guard speechless.

After all, that was the Primarch.

The Lord of the Second Legion turned her head, and she led her sons forward for a short distance. This time, she did not use psychic exploration to find her brother, because she could feel the presence of the Midnight Ghost. where.

Moreover, just beside the riding boots of the Spider Queen, there is also a capable navigator: the big white cat named [Warmaster] rushed to the lower deck without hesitation. It came out, rubbed Queen Gene's boots, licked Morgan and stroked its fingers, and then, with its tail raised high, it walked in the front direction of the team step by step.

Under the guidance of this top predator in the front bottom cabin, soon, even the most insensitive old guards could smell the weird stench in the draft, the chainsaw placed on the top of the halberd Blade began to roar, and everyone involuntarily entered into an instinctive vigilance.

Standing at the head of her line, the Primarch roughly estimated the distance between her and her brother, then turned to look at her chief guard.

[You stay here, don't move forward without my order. 】

"...Understood, my lord."

After the shortest struggle, Lana's instinctive rebuttal was quickly swallowed by him. The old guard stared nervously at his mother, and the thermal imaging perspective was turned on at full power, ready to speak at any time. The muzzle of the gun was in stark contrast to the lazily opened mouth of the [Warmaster] who also stayed in place.

The big white-haired cat sat on the ground, and when it saw its breeder walking towards that abominable opponent, it curled up on all fours, with its tail close to its body, its eyes half-closed, its ears pricked up, and its beard drooped naturally. There was a purring sound, and there was no sense of tension about the imminent battle: on the contrary, it looked at its silver subordinates with puzzled eyes, wondering what these guys were nervous about.

And in this line of sight where tension and laziness intersect, Morgan lightly tapped the double-edged ax spear in his palm with his fingers, and his figure slowly disappeared in a wave of fluctuation like a pool of water disturbed by stones. .

The next moment, she had already appeared in front of Midnight Ghost, witnessing the smile made up of ferocious teeth covered with yellow dirt.

[You are here, Conrad. 】

"I have always been, dead."

【…】

【You can call me Morgan, that's my name. 】

"I know."

In the spider queen's pupils, the midnight ghost wrapped in darkness nodded his head seriously, with a deliberate expression on his brows and eyes.

"But I can't do that."

【……why? 】

"Because you're dead."

Conrad's voice is a given.

"It is a kind of disrespect for the dead to call them by their names. It is a kind of etiquette."

【…】

[Nostramo etiquette? 】

"No, it's my etiquette."

------

When Midnight Ghost was struggling to get the rotten pork strip out of his tooth, he felt a psychic light.

He knew that the person he had been waiting for had finally come: it was a little later in the morning than he expected, but it was not a big problem, and he enjoyed this kind of error in the brain's independent guessing without prediction.

Midnight Specter squatted in the darkness, his figure was like a hound sitting upright, waiting for his blood relatives to open up the topics they really cared about each other, and beside his sharp claws, there were quite a few Food wrecks, obviously, he is constantly replenishing the nutrients he lost.

[We should talk, shouldn't we? 】

Just when Midnight Ghost finally picked off the pork strip and began to chew it again with satisfaction, he heard another sentence from the Lord of the Second Legion after the silence. These words came from the pure darkness, plain to the point where it is impossible to discern the mood of the speaker.

Coz blinked.

"If you think I stole your precious kitchen waste, then please allow me to apologize, deceased, I didn't know they were your private property, and I promise I won't do it again."

Rather than an apology, it was more like a series of ironic words, which slowly floated out of Midnight Ghost's mouth like this, but to his disappointment, his blood relatives of the living dead did not seem to be shaken in the slightest, as if His words have been heard a thousand times.

Morgan was silent for a while.

After a long time, the Midnight Ghost heard only a sigh, and he instinctively realized that it seemed to be some last thin line.

[The emperor chose to hand you over to me, Conrad, neither you nor I are satisfied with this decision, but we have no choice, don't we?You are destined to remain on my ship for several years, if not longer. 】

[If we don't want to torture each other continuously during this period, then you should have a good talk with me now. 】

"..."

She was more rational than he expected.

Midnight Specter thought of this, and then, almost instinctively, he developed a monstrous anger and desire to destroy: How can this hypocritical living dead maintain such a hypocritical rationality like now.

Doesn't she know her blasphemy and original sin?Doesn't she know that her existence is distorting everyone's fate?

No, she must know.

She is dead, but she can still stand before his eyes alive: she must have gone through some unknown transactions, or simply found a certain path of blasphemy, and came back to pollute the justice and order of the world again.

With her hypocrisy, with her rationality, with her pretense.

She is good at everything.

……

But it's different now.

Midnight Ghost wants to tear it all apart, starting from this moment.

Coz believed so firmly.

So he laughed.

"What do you want to talk to me about, about your [adoption] of me?"

[I don't hate this word. 】

"I don't hate it either."

"In general, everything is actually not as bad as you think, deceased, I have adapted to life on this ship, I have built my lair here, the food wasted by your heirs and subordinates It's hearty enough, and I don't need to worry about my stomach."

"As long as you don't stop me from continuing my career, I think we can still get along very happily. A few years is not such a long time. Forget that there is a monster in the depths of your ship, you can easily Enjoy your conquest and rest in peace."

"Put on your crown, noble queen like a carrion, just like I just want to be my monster in the shadows here, and don't meddle in those places you are not good at."

[As a parasite, you are more confident than I imagined, Ghost. 】

The voice of the Lord of the Second Legion was terrifyingly cold, and Midnight Ghost even felt that he was about to fall in love with this kind of coldness, which reminded him of the dry and cold plasma that gradually shed from those guilty after their skin was peeled off.

"Justice and civilization are a kind of beneficial parasites, my dead blood relatives, they parasitize in the wings of order brought by fear and power, just like jumping toothpick birds feed on the residue in the mouth of crocodiles. "

"You can't deny that."

[Of course I won't deny it. 】

He heard Morgan laugh.

[But I can be sure of one other thing: you are just a poor parasite, my brother Nostramo, you were placed by our father in my ship, shabby, useless, not helpful , not even harmful, because your very existence brings nothing but ruin. 】

"……Oh!"

"What a severe indictment!"

Midnight Specter slowly raised his slender and penetrating arm, his exaggerated tone was like a barmaid in a nightclub hypocritically touting the appearance of the patron, he lowered his head, and shed a few drops After the tears, that wanton savage smile was revealed in the Spider Queen's pupils.

"Why do you say that, my carrion queen."

[This is the truth, my parasite. 】

"Your title really hurts my heart. Is it because I started a trial without your permission? Then you have to forgive my strong ambition."

【You call that a trial? 】

"Then what's your name here?"

The humming of the Spider Queen accompanied her icy laughter, stinging the only piece of pure land left in Midnight Ghost's heart.

[Generally speaking, this kind of person who did not submit strong evidence, bypassed the laws of the empire, conducted a private trial, and had cruel methods and extremely bad influence, we will call him...]

[Murder, kill, commit. 】

"..."

The silence in the darkness is more terrifying than the harshest cold wind in Nostramo. At that moment, Midnight Ghost's breathing became obviously heavy. He was like a pot of boiling water that had been boiled for a long time. Knocked to the ground.

He was silent for a long time.

"Even in Nostramo, everyone is responsible for their actions."

[I don't think so. 】

【After all, right now in front of me, isn’t there a murderer who is full of crimes, kills innocent people indiscriminately, and is full of excuses. 】

"..."

"Let me remind you one last time..."

[You don't need to remind me. 】

[I know what happened. 】

[Take a good look at yourself. 】

【coward. 】

------

Midnight Ghost's attack was faster than Morgan imagined. He jumped away from his actions like a monster, hooked his claws on the rusted wall, and turned into a cripple that could not be caught in the darkness. film.

Normally, it does.

But in fact, Midnight Ghost has a fatal weakness: a weakness that was discovered by Morgan from the beginning.

The Lord of the Second Legion saw his crazy brother disappear into the darkness, so he calmly raised his ax and spear, and then slashed towards a corner in the boundless darkness around him without hesitation. .

The ear-piercing sound of metal rubbing indicated that the blow was unsuccessful, but the shadow that was darker than the darkness that left hastily rolled to the side in embarrassment, squatted low on the ground, and temporarily stopped its attack.

"..."

"How did you find me?"

The silence in the dark night lasted for a while, but facing this question, the Spider Queen just waved away the indescribable stench in front of her in disgust while holding the ax and spear.

[How long has it been since you took a shower? 】

"..."

"..."

"bath?"

"what is that?"

【…】

【It's enough. 】

Just when the second attack of the Midnight Ghost was accompanied by a more intense stench, the Spider Queen clenched her weapon tightly while not forgetting to contact the maid who was far away in her bedroom.

【Ania, it's me. 】

[Prepare for a bath, no, I don't need it. 】

[Boiled water is good, one hundred degrees. 】

【No no no!If he doesn't have to wash in my bathroom, then I'd rather kill him. 】

【Let me think about it...】

【By the way, how big is the pool where you wash your mop? 】

(End of this chapter)