Emperor's Bane

Chapter 282 Conrad and the Midnight Ghost
When Midnight Ghost No.20 saw the ugly gargoyle for the seventh time, he finally sighed to himself in his heart, to the shadow that was so stubborn that he refused to bow his head.

It was a waste of effort, like a stupid wild dog chasing its own tail.

Conrad had to admit it: though he gritted his teeth.

The former King of Nostramo couldn't help but bend his waist, and supported his knees with the slender pale fingers under the two pairs of sharp claws. His long black hair, which had become much softer, fell down under the grasp of gravity. , covering his treacherous eyes that were caught in thinking.

Under the long hair, Midnight Ghost was panting heavily. His face seemed to be the same as before, but the most essential parts had quietly undergone some slight changes.

In Conrad's pupils, there is no longer much of the excitement and grinning that has been emanating from the fear in his mind and the bloodthirsty savage nature for a long time: instead, there is a kind of bewilderment, and Behind the daze, there are those magical objects that can be barely called [thinking].

The king who once made this criminal world fearful is now like a piece of pure black cloth, constantly absorbing the surrounding elements, but there is no feedback: he just bends down, rests for a while, and then raises his head again Come on, continue his climb.

Conrad crawled very fast, and his every move showed extraordinary skill. Before any mortal could utter an instinctive exclamation, the former Night King was like a jumping bullet, going to the The tallest towers were trampled under his feet. When he did all this, it seemed that he was not far away from the sky.

Curz didn't speak, nor was he angry or joyful. He searched numbly at the top of the tower, and soon found the ugliest gargoyle: the already ferocious rock face was completely destroyed by the continuous acid rain. The face was completely changed, but it made Midnight Ghost feel a kind of heartfelt kindness. He walked over and sat beside the gargoyle, looking down at the dark city under his feet indifferently.

The tower, which has gone through thousands of years, is now decayed and can only reflect the dimmest twilight in the night, but nevertheless, it is like a lighthouse, illuminating everything under the feet of the midnight ghost: ruins, darkness, sin and the traffic, and the alleys and sewers in the shadows, harboring all the vileness and atrocities the world can imagine.

Yes, this is Nostramo, this is the kingdom of midnight ghosts, and it is also the sad hometown that he hates and misses the most.

Although he has witnessed countless similar scenes, a strangeness still flashed in Conrad's pupils. He stretched out his hand involuntarily, as if he wanted to hold the city that was close at hand in his palm.

But in the next second, the most savage groan overflowed from his chest, Midnight Ghost withdrew his hand like an electric shock, his blank face returned to wildness in an instant, he waved his hand casually, and The unrecognizable gargoyle fell, and fell all the way to the hard rocky ground hundreds of meters down.

The sound of slapping heavy objects and the sound of shattering stones reached Conrad's ears at the same time. Everything was so real, but when he turned his head and looked at the place where the gargoyle was originally, he was surprised. It was no surprise to see the unrecognizable figure again.

Conrad was not surprised, he just adjusted his sitting posture, lowered his head and closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for someone to come: when he fell into this light sleep, his face became softer, even There is some imperceptible ease and ease.

About half a Terran Standard Time later, when the obscured moon should have hung in the center of the night, the non-existent clock promptly awakened the eyes of the Midnight Ghost, and he jumped up like a Like a ferocious feline waiting for its prey by the stream, it arched its thin back high, and its eyes sparkled with excitement.

Almost at the next moment, a black figure that was even faster than him flashed past Conrad's face, mercilessly piercing the noisy long night of Nostramo.

Midnight Specter narrowed his eyes, he hesitated, and finally quickly followed the black shadow: This is not such an easy task, the black shadow has the same agility as Conrad, he Walking through the buildings lined with strange rocks in the decaying city, changing postures in the midair of bullets, lurking from one shadow to another.

But the Midnight Ghost never lost him. Following that shadow, he left the dilapidated tower, passed through the noisy black market, climbed up the foul-smelling pipes, and finally came all the way to the depths of the Hive City. There are closed recycling centers, outdated water systems, and crowded streets and alleys. The shadow stayed here for a while, and seemed to be caught in some kind of hesitation and search. When it started to move again, it was in the shadows Followed a woman with faltering steps.

The woman was not beautiful, and her pale face was filled with a kind of disdain for life. She was holding a tattered box, which seemed to be a collection box for some relics, and walked stumblingly on the foul-smelling road until she He fell headfirst into his own cramped dwelling.

The shadow was hidden outside her window, it didn't break in immediately, but quietly endured the short cry, endured the woman in the room who made the wrong mistake in the final failure of all hopes. Decision: She put on the best long skirt, hung the strong gauze on the dilapidated beam, and after a second of hesitation, she moved the stool.

"it's time."

Despite the distance, Conrad could still hear whispers in the shadows, and he agreed to see the monster of the night he was following, the Inquisitor who wrapped himself in a tattered robe: perhaps the ghost of Midnight. His eyes were too focused, the shadow looked suspiciously behind him before prying open the door.

Under the tattered hood, there was a face that belonged to Midnight Ghost, only more emaciated, paranoid, and tyrannical.

Although Conrad, as a bystander, did not hide his traces, the midnight ghost in the shadow was also unaware of his existence. Just like anyone else in this noisy hive, they could not see him. .

Because they weren't real, they were fragments of Night Ghost's memory, stubborn stains he couldn't forget, used by some greater malice, now alive and well before him.

He is not on the same dimension as everything around him, so they cannot see him: just as he is powerless about whatever happens in front of him.

Thinking of this, Conrad couldn't help closing his eyes. He found that he seemed to like sighing recently.

And just as he was sighing, what had happened was running mercilessly: the skinny judge broke into the narrow room, and issued an order to the woman who was saying goodbye to her lover's relics. The sentence belongs to Midnight Ghost.

She is guilty because she gave up hope of living, succumbed to the majesty of reality, was overwhelmed by the death of her beloved, decided to leave this world completely, and prepared to commit suicide to end her long suffering: at midnight By Wraith standards, this isn't the right thing to do.

Even now, he thinks so.

Suicide is wrong: because every suicide is a corrosion and weakening of culture, and every life abandoned by self will become an irreparable signal. The behavior of the woman not only abandoned the existence of self, but also devalued The value of human beings has made this world more hopeless.

So, she is guilty.

So, damn her.

Now Conrad is leaning against the window that can never be closed, while affirming such remarks again, while witnessing the things in the room, when he looks at his past self, the one who was judged The reporter's cry happened to reach his ears.

Her voice was small, but with an inexplicable provocation.

"I failed, but I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't hurt anyone, I didn't even think about it, I lived a miserable life here without complaining..."

She told of her past innocence and pain, but neither of the Conrads was interested in listening: he knew the woman was not lying, that she had committed no crimes in her life, but who was she? Choose a wrong kind of death?
Midnight Ghost doesn't care how she lives, because her crime lies in the kind of death she chooses, so he will only focus on how she will die.

Thinking of this, Conrad, who was leaning against the edge of the window, couldn't help but frowned. He always felt that there were still some fluctuations of resistance in his heart: when he was a bystander rather than an executor, he witnessed the actions he made in the past. At the time of his trial, a strange sense of guilt unknowingly stirred up in his heart.

It seemed to be a kind of uneasiness, accompanied by some inexplicable thoughts, coming together.

How did she live: what kind of life made her choose this wrong death in the end?

Words like this, like an unobserved meteor, passed through Midnight Ghost's heart, making him a little irritable. He stroked his skin and firmly erased these doubts.

This is not what he should care about: he doesn't care how she lives, he only cares about the crime she committed, which is his bounden duty as a judge.

……

……That's it……

Conrad closed his eyes, and the boundless night in his heart shrouded once again, crushing the slightest anxiety into pieces with ease.

He breathed heavily, leaning against the dry wall, listening to the sad cries in the room and the forced serious smile: he remembered what he did to this woman, he terminated her crime, and then used enough The pain made her realize her mistake.

He gave her death, but in a crueler way, because he tortured her as hard as he could: the first cut was from the shoulder to the tip of her little finger, and the accompanying scream was enough Awaken half of the hive.

He has no other way, because he wants to use her pain as a warning to everyone, and to use this terrible punishment to deter thousands of possible suicides: this is a necessary sacrifice, although it is extremely cruel, although the splash The blood that makes his heart skip a beat, but...

"I assure you, I don't like this at all."

In the room, the midnight ghost of the past was making sure. His voice sounded serious and formal, but it was quickly drowned in the woman's heart-piercing wailing.

And it wasn't until this time that Conrad outside the window finally opened his eyes. He stood up, turned around, and looked into the room: in the countless reincarnations before this, he has done this countless times up.

But every time, he could only get the same disappointing result.

The rusted windows couldn't block the Midnight Ghost's sight at all. His pupils completely captured the scene in the house: in that crowded room, a appalling atrocity was going on, and any trial in the mortal world It seems that it is difficult to match the scene in front of you.

Midnight Specter held tightly the long knife he made by himself. His dirty nails scratched across the woman's face, and he was concentrating on his work. The skin of a criminal as a deterrent.

Countless warm and moist blood splashed in the trial and screams, dotted from the edge of the long knife to Midnight Ghost's face, he faced the redness quite seriously, and his tone seemed to be an extremely holy martyr.

He said he didn't like it.

However, he lied.

He knew this very well.

"..."

Conrad took a deep breath, he could feel his hands trembling, he could feel his pupils avoiding, even though those screams were constantly hitting his ears, he was still avoiding, avoiding that kind of face.

The face that belonged to him.

"..."

What did he see?
What kind of blasphemy did he see in the past?
On that face, on the face of the night ghost of Nostramo, on the face of the one who was supposed to be judging, fulfilling the great vocation of his birth, what kind of external ?
Is it serious?Are you serious?Is it just like what he said, the solemnity and ruthlessness that he has to come to fulfill his responsibility because of the inevitability of no choice?
……

Is it like this?
……

He had hoped so.

He had thought so.

……

"..."

Once again, Midnight Ghost took a deep breath.

He heard his own sighs and heard them disappear in the shrill screams.

……

Conrad opened his eyes, he looked at the judge in the room, he looked at his past self, at the lifelike fragments that time was projected in front of him.

He saw it, he saw that the pale face was definitely not calm, but some kind of madness that was twisted beyond belief. Those eyes, which were already huge, were like the eyes of a bloodthirsty tiger, gleaming against the blood. His thin lips had long been lifted up, exposing the fangs full of saliva, no different from a vicious dog waiting for an opportunity. As for the tongue that was temporarily forgotten, it was not known whether it was intentional or not. Unintentionally, he quietly licked the blood splashing on his face and quickly hid it in the black hole of his throat.

The face of Midnight Ghost is definitely not as calm as he said, but like a monster in a story, like a ghost in a myth, like a monster that has been hungry for thousands of years, full of desire for blood and violence, Outlined an inhuman horror face.

In this kind of madness, he dragged his pale, skinny, but huge body, licked the blood with his slender tongue, peeled off the skin with his dry claws, and used hypocritical words to keep making the room Everything in it looks even more disgusting and ridiculous.

He is enjoying.

He is impulsive.

He is lying.

……

He enjoyed it.

……

At this moment, this existence named Conrad is so despicable, cruel, and bloodthirsty, he looks like the sinful person that Nostramon can see everywhere, only to satisfy his own dark desires They, there is no even a little bit of difference.

……

Outside the dilapidated window, the ghost-like bystander just watched all this quietly, as if the person inside was not himself in the past, he watched the atrocities in front of him with a strange look, That is neither repentance nor madness, but a sense of loss, a kind of inexplicable resentment towards the creator of oneself.

He was quiet, as if he already had his own opinion on the scene in front of him.

The wailing was still going on, but it had gradually weakened, and the judge in the room could not help but restrain his face, and became a little dejected: obviously, this was another failed trial, because he did not Inflict all terror, for the guilty one died prematurely.

All of this made the midnight ghost in the shadows feel inexplicably annoyed, he abandoned this place, and left like a whirlwind, because soon someone would follow the screams, and he would still There is a lot of work to be done.

Thus, the judge who was walking in the returning memory jumped out of the window like a gust of wind, flashed back in front of the ghostly midnight ghost, brought death and blood on the pavement, and disappeared in the blink of an eye In the vast darkness of night.

Conrad witnessed the departure of the past self, he did not continue to chase, but took another deep breath, as if he could smell the blood in the air.

With the disappearance of that shadow, this memory seems to be completely over. Midnight Ghost can feel that the world in front of him seems to be collapsing, and the Nostramo nest, which is enough to be fake and real, is disintegrating silently Disappeared slowly, but in the blink of an eye, there was nothingness in front of him again.

Conrad was not surprised, he had already adapted to all this: since he was exiled to this empty space, such a scene has been staged countless times, and he regards this as a prison, a heart-wrenching A pleasant restriction trip.

After his random farce nearly detonated the battle between the two legions, the soul of Midnight Ghost is now temporarily locked in a strange building, which seems to be a labyrinth with no exit at all, and it looks the same everywhere. every time he turned a corner, he would suddenly fall into a memory, and he would return again to the old Nostramo, to the old midnight Beside Ghost.

At the very beginning, all this made him feel frantic and irritable, and he tried his best to find a way to destroy these illusions, and when he saw the face of Midnight Ghost in the trial from the perspective of a bystander for the first time, what did he feel? The outburst of madness frightened even himself.

"..."

But that's all in the past.

Conrad didn't know how long he had been imprisoned here, and all his timing methods were interfered with, but he thought his sentence was already very long: after all, it was the suicide trial just now, he It has gone through a full 27 times.

It was the same every time. He watched everything pass from the perspective of a bystander, without even the freedom to escape: once he deviated from that route, he would be involuntarily sent back to where it all started until he had to go. Witness the whole process of that trial.

Conrad didn't know why her blood relatives had compelled her to watch that trial over and over again, but whatever she tried to do, she was afraid she'd be disappointed: Night Ghost was still Night Ghost, he hadn't changed.

……

……

Maybe.

Conrad lowered his eyebrows. He didn't stop any longer, but walked quickly to the next corner: Although the Nostramo in his memory was just a fake, at least the wind there was real. Yes, the dream is also the quietest there.

Only for this, he needs to have a good opinion of his carrion blood relative: he doesn't know how she did it, but in this cage-like labyrinth and memories, the influence of the prophecy on him is indeed weakening, although It will not disappear completely, but it has been limited to a range that can make people feel comfortable.

……

He even fell in love with it.

When such an idea appeared in Midnight Ghost's mind, he couldn't help showing a sarcastic smile. In this irony of himself, he stepped into the next corner of the maze, into the next memory.

……

And when he opened his eyes, what appeared in front of him was the tall tower and the unrecognizable gargoyle.

"..."

Well, No.20 eight times.

------

Without any complaints, Conrad climbed up the high tower. He still looked forward to the peaceful sleep of half Terra Standard Time, and the ugly gargoyle that made him miss it.

But unfortunately, this time, everything seemed to have a little accident.

------

【You are much slower than I thought, my lovely little parasite. 】

When Konrad No.20 came to the tower eight times, he suddenly found that a certain silver-haired carrion lady had been waiting there for a long time.

"Why are you here?"

【This is my country. 】

Midnight Ghost was silent, and he became restrained at that moment, and the familiar top of the tower became strange, especially when he saw that in the palm of his blood relatives, he was throwing up and down casually. While touching his cute little gargoyle brother.

Conrad stared at Morgan, was very quiet for a while, and then tentatively spoke.

"Your business is over?"

[For the time being, yes. 】

"How long has it been outside, a year?"

[Not that long, maybe six months. 】

"..."

Conrad was silent again, and he looked uncomfortable, as if a small animal's territory had been ruthlessly violated.

"You...come to take me out?"

Midnight Ghost's question evoked a smile in the Spider Queen's pupils, and she turned her head, discarding the gargoyle, and stared at Conrad's as serious expression as possible with amusement.

[Maybe, maybe not. 】

"..."

Curz raised his eyebrows, he quickly realized the meaning of the words, and responded mercilessly with a sarcastic laugh.

"If you want to use the so-called freedom outside the cage in exchange for my submission, then I advise you to get out as soon as possible: I like this place very much, it makes me happy, and I have no so-called sincere regrets to tell you."

Midnight Ghost's voice was a bit noisy, causing the Spider Queen to raise her eyebrows in displeasure, and before Conrad could get a false sense of victory from this displeasure, his loving blood relatives had already gently waved him away Called on the wall.

"boom!"

"...?!"

When the severe pain in the neck and back came late, Midnight Ghost opened his eyes incredulously, as if he was genuinely confused by the behavior of his blood relatives, but before he could say anything, Morgan has come before him.

With another wave of hand, Midnight Ghost was deeply embedded in the wall, which made the Spider Queen nod in satisfaction.

[Now, I think we can finally have a good conversation, right? 】

Coz blinked.

"I think we could have..."

Morgan raised his hand.

"..."

Curze fell silent.

[Very well, this is my favorite communication atmosphere. 】

The Spider Queen smiled in satisfaction. She casually looked around, looked at the fake Nostramo, and then turned her gaze back to her blood brother.

[My patience with you is very limited, my sad parasite brother, so, I ask, you answer: Got it? 】

"..."

Midnight Ghost did not speak.

Midnight Ghost just nodded.

【very good. 】

For a moment, Conrad even saw a flash of real terror in the face of his blood relatives, which was enough to make him stop for a while.

[I have only one question, my dear brother. 】

Morgan slowly approached her Midnight Ghost, grabbed his neck, and strangled the fragile blood vessels. Her blue pupils no longer kept the original coldness, but flashed with a kind of choice. And the boiling of the bite.

[You see, Conrad, you can't deny that. 】

[You know: when you were carrying out your so-called trial, your face and madness didn't seem to be any more different from those criminals you were determined to clear up. It was a bloodthirsty impulse, not Some sort of ineluctable necessity drives you to atrocities like this one. 】

[When I extracted this paragraph from your memory for the first time, I realized this: the person walking under this night is definitely not a judge, but a A pathetic slave to dark desires. 】

[Isn't it? 】

Morgan's words were extremely firm words of judgment. It seemed that no one could face the knife in her mouth calmly, but in the face of such accusations, Midnight Ghost's only answer was that pale but fanatical smile.

"Maybe, maybe not?"

"boom!"

The Spider Queen grabbed his head without hesitation, and smashed it to the side.

【I suggest you don't learn from me. 】

"I try my best."

Conrad smiled without sincerity, his pupils just flickered with some kind of curiosity.

"What are you asking these things for?"

Morgan was smiling too.

[Nothing, I'm just curious about something: When you witness these scenes over and over again, what kind of new ideas will flip out in your heart? 】

[Is there? 】

"..."

Midnight Ghost nodded.

[You are hating yourself. 】

"Do not."

"I hate the Emperor."

"I'm hating our father."

Midnight Ghost laughed, and he lay down among the messy rubble, laughing heartily because of the confusion in the Spider Queen's eyes, like a beggar who had nothing to ask for.

"Let me tell you, Morgan."

"When I saw how ugly the Midnight Ghost was, and how crazy he was during the trial, just like a pure bloodthirsty person, the real confusion lasted only a few minutes in my heart To one second.”

"Because I realized very quickly: who am I supposed to hate."

"The Emperor, our father!"

"He's the one who started it all!"

"He made a mistake, a huge mistake: Since what he wanted was a Midnight Haunter who could bring him perfect justice and order, then he shouldn't have created the ruthless machine of Midnight Haunting, Put Conrad-Kurtz in it!"

"This is pure failure!"

"Midnight Ghost is righteous, he is a pure monster, everything about him runs according to the program that he wrote long ago, he will never be disturbed by any kind, and he will never fall into any desire."

"But Conrad-Coz can't, because Conrad is weak, because Conrad is a bloodthirsty bastard, because Conrad can't control his desires, because Conrad is so... Weak."

【…】

"I realized this early on, my dear blood relatives."

"But: thanks to your help, I can finally face this point: What the world really needs is the Midnight Ghost, but it's a pity that Conrad restricted him."

"He can't get out. He can only let Conrad, a weakling, live cowardly and incompetently."

"It's really sad, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)