Emperor's Bane

Chapter 908 The Night Bat Council

Chapter 908 The Night Bat Council
The lords of midnight always meet in the darkness.

Even the Nightbat Council is no exception.

As for why this is the case?

"Because the first batch of Midnight Lords who oversaw the construction of the Nightfall grew up in Terra's underground prison, they had no idea that electric lights existed. So when Mars sent over the ship's blueprints, they simply crossed out the entire electrical system."

"Isn't Mars making any announcements?"

"Of course: they installed many fireplaces on the ship."

"A fireplace? What fireplace? I don't remember it."

"Do you remember the single dorm rooms the organization assigned to you when you first joined the legion?"

"..."

Whenever a new person joins the group, the Crow Prince tells this not-so-funny joke again.

He persisted for sixty years: or even longer.

Of course, this is nothing to be proud of, since the Legion's power structure is generally quite stable, especially in core circles like the Nightbat Council, where there are often no personnel changes for two or three decades. Therefore, Sevita doesn't always have the opportunity to express his rather proud, standard Nostrama humor.

This is tantamount to a fallacy. Primarch Conrad may be indifferent to any problem in the Legion, but when it comes to matters of personal morality, the Midnight Wraiths are always ready to take action. There are too many well-known arguments that the Midnight Lords are already very familiar with, and no one doubts Conrad's fastidiousness on this issue, as well as his action-oriented approach comparable to Johnson.

Therefore, this leads to a consequence.

Those who might be morally corrupt enough to be expelled from the Nightbat Council at some point would never have been able to join this great organization in the first place. They would even have a hard time surviving in the Eighth Legion. So, at least for the High Lords, who are carefully selected by the Midnight Wraiths, the most common way to lose members is to die in battle.

This leads to another fallacy.

Considering that the Eighth Legion launches an expedition against the infamous Ghoul Stars every few years, if you are someone who can easily die on the battlefield, you won't even live long enough to become a company commander, let alone be selected for the Nightbat Council as an outstanding company commander: in other words, being able to join Conrad's Round Table is itself a testament to your experience in surviving on the battlefield.

The result is that you are less likely to die in battle.

Naturally, they wouldn't be kicked out of the Nightbat Council for dying in battle.

These two paradoxes directly resulted in the Prince of Crows facing the same old faces for a full sixty years.

In a sense, this also shows that the Nightbat Council can indeed represent the Eighth Legion: because they possess the two qualities that the Night Lords need most.

Character, and ability.

Unfortunately, the bloodline of Nostrama is not at an advantage in either of these two issues.

Even Servita had to admit this.

If one wants to be a Night Lord, the Nostramo people are indeed not qualified: at least they don't have any obvious competitive advantages.

In the past, Prince Raven wouldn't have cared much about this kind of issue. After all, it was common knowledge that the standard of an upright Nostrama was to despise everything from Nostrama: any attachment to this eternal night star was a moral depravity and could prove that you were a potential scoundrel.

This was certainly the case, at least until the Midnight Ghost returned to his kingdom.

However, after Midnight Returns to the Sun, and after the Eighth Legion, acting as judges, ravaged the Primarch's world, the problems they faced became entirely different.

Perhaps it was due to his own personality, perhaps it was the result of his educator's teachings, or perhaps it was simply that the Primarch himself didn't like his home world: Conrad did not designate his homeworld as the Legion's sole recruitment location like most of his brothers, but instead embarked on the bright path of education for all from the very beginning.

It's important to know that most of the Primarchs only began tentatively expanding their conscription world after the Emperor divided his sons in Ulanor: Conrad was a full fifty years ahead of most of his brothers.

While the Dark Angels were still a battleground between Terrans and Calibans, the Shadowmoon Wolves were dominated by Khrushchevs, and the Ultramarines had become the private armies of the Five Hundred Worlds, the Midnight Lords were more like Avalon, possessing a unique sense of diversity and maturity.

A large number of Terran veterans still firmly hold the reins of power in the Legion, while the Northramors, below them, are not even able to hold their second-in-command position securely: because Conrad has always pursued a policy of casting a wide net, the sources of the Night Lords' recruits are a mixed bag, successfully diluting the Northramors' influence.

For a long time, such as now, the number of soldiers conscripted from Nostramamo alone was far less than the strength that the entire Avalon could provide.

Following the Dawn Warriors, the Dawn Lords don't seem to be such a distant topic anymore.

Although Nostrama and Terra still hold a monopoly on the Legion's high-level power as of now, with their people filling the Nightbat Council, the despairing disparity in numbers between the middle and lower ranks suggests that it's only a matter of time before the Avalon take over.

After one or two more major battles, or a few more expeditions to the Ghoul Stars, the number of Avalonian company commanders will become so large that they cannot be ignored.

In the end, the situation became so dire that the Nostramo people had to ask Sevita to help them carry the flag.

The Raven Prince was helpless. If killing was forbidden, his only skill was telling jokes: at least the Legion retained some Nostramamo-style humor, one of the few things the Night Star could offer.

As for what exactly constitutes Nostrama's sense of humor?

"I am always moved when I think about how Sevita was personally promoted by the Primarch."

"The most useless thing in the legion has actually discovered the most useful thing in the legion."

The one who said this was Company Commander Orfion, a man whose birthplace was only half a city away from the Crow Prince.

He has always been known for his...stubborn acts of courage.

"Humph……"

Faced with such typical praise, Prince Raven would always respond with a peculiar smile. Severta would hide his pleasure in his dark eyes, while a twisted smile would be sewn onto his corpse-like face: this was the smile the company commander used to welcome the seventh and newest member of the Nightbat Council.

"Get used to all this as soon as possible, Talos."

He nodded to the poor apothecary while simultaneously sizing him up.

Unwittingly, this Nostrama man named Talos actually broke a record. He was the first guy to be selected as a member of the Nightbat Council, a position only a company commander could hold, even though he hadn't become a company commander. Of course, the main reason was that the company commander of Talos's 10th Company was named Macarion, who refused Sevita's call-up and instead sent out his worst apothecary.

"……I try my best."

Talos was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I believe this is no more difficult than collecting enough gene seeds on the battlefield."

"I think so."

Sevita smiled and then led him to the round table in the center of the room.

"So, why don't we turn on the lights?"

Talos was still curious about this question.

"This is a tradition, a tradition since its inception."

"Darkness was always a problem, but not anymore."

"So what's the real reason?"

Sevita paused for a moment.

"The Primarch likes to spy on our meetings in the dark."

"..."

As he was led to the only empty seat, Talos suddenly felt that becoming a member of the Nightbat Council wasn't so wonderful after all.

But as Sevita said, darkness has never been a problem for the Night Lord. He can clearly see the face of everyone present: the Nightbat Council usually consists of eight members, including Primarch Conrad and seven captains he personally selected. Now, the throne representing the Night Wraith himself is vacant, and Sevita sits on it like the Hand of the King in the story.

He planted the power halberd in the ground.

"I don't think I need an opening introduction."

He sat at the round table, where he could easily look down on his brothers, including the tactical monitor in the center of the table, which displayed the Eighth Legion flagship floating in the void and the entire fleet: as a garrison legion that needed to maintain the ghoul defenses on a daily basis, the Midnight Lords rarely had the opportunity to reunite.

"Talos."

The crow prince pointed to the newlyweds sitting opposite him.

“Macalion should have told you.”

"So, what about others?"

Ofyan was the first to ask a question.

"Macalion faces two choices."

Severta leaned back, casually resting the power halberd on his shoulder.

"Either become a member of the Nightbat Council, or follow the Primarch to the Ghoul Expedition."

"You know which one is more appealing to him."

"Ah, that's not surprising."

“As long as he can follow the Midnight Ghost, Macarion is willing to cut off his own head at any time.”

Company Commander Orfion nodded and gave Talos a fairly friendly smile.

"So, he sent someone to take the blame?"

"That's the truth."

Severa looked at Talos, but pointed at Orfion.

"Ofion, the company commander of the 39th Company: a fool who would volunteer to cover the rear during a retreat."

"You should be glad you're not one of his soldiers."

There's nothing wrong with being a "brute".

Orfion mocked his own nickname.

"Of course, Macarion is better than me in this respect: who wouldn't envy the title of philosopher of war?"

Sevita did not respond, but pointed to the next person.

“Fer-Zalost”.

"The two of you should already be very familiar with the head of the think tank."

"Yes."

Talos bowed slightly to Zalost. As someone who was also constantly troubled by the prophetic fantasies in his mind, he had received much help and favor from Zalost in the past; and the curator of the think tank returned his smile.

“I originally thought I would have to wait another twenty or thirty years to see you in this position, Talos.”

"I think so too."

Sevita tilted his head, pointed to the spot next to him.

"Next up, Anrik Barbatos."

"Like Zalost, he is a Terran, and also a notorious old stubborn in the Legion."

"Just because I object to having electric lights installed here?"

Barbatos laughed and retorted.

"No, that's not the main reason."

Sevita shook his head quite seriously.

"The main reason is that you have been preventing me from installing a small kitchen and tea room next to the parliament room."

"Because this is where the meeting is held!"

"But that's what the Dawnbreakers will do."

"You are the Lord of Midnight, not the Lord of Dawn."

"What's the difference? At least 40% of this latest batch of recruits are Avalonians."

Sevita raised an eyebrow in displeasure.

"And you never stopped Conrad from sneaking his egg tarts during meetings."

"It's not like I could have stopped it."

Barbatos shrank back in displeasure, but at the same time he didn't forget to nod to Talos.

"Welcome, newcomer."

"I must say, you are truly impressive."

This statement piqued Talos's curiosity.

Which aspect are you referring to?

"Not every newcomer will give up the opportunity to participate in an expedition led by the Primarch himself."

"I don't think this counts as an expedition."

Orfion shook his head.

"He left us, the entire Nightbat Council, most of the Legion, the main fleet, and a large number of mortal auxiliary troops behind. He didn't even take much heavy equipment. In the end, our Primarch only picked some of the Legion's... the fastest runners?"

“Running away is a skill, Orfion.”

"I don't deny that: but what's the point of him bringing tens of thousands of long-legged warriors into Ghoul Stars?"

"The Primarch has his reasons; just obey."

"You always say that, Shen."

Sevita glanced at the person who spoke, but he didn't bother to introduce the guy: because there was no need.

Everyone in the legion knew this lucky guy who, despite not being particularly strong in combat, managed to hold a high position.

So the crow prince simply pointed his finger to the last spot in the room.

“Wa-Jahan”.

He pointed to a calm face.

"This person isn't important; just knowing he exists is enough."

"Fuck you, Sevita."

A perfectly enunciated Nostradamus swear word caused a burst of laughter throughout the conference hall.

Even aboard the Nightfall, Talos hadn't heard such hearty laughter in a long time: he could hardly believe that this was the renowned Nightbat Council.

He had originally thought this would be a place filled with bloodshed and complex struggles.

However, it seems that it's not entirely unacceptable now.

That's all I wanted to say for now.

Sevita turned his head to the other side.

"Considering you're a newcomer, we don't expect you to play any unimaginable role immediately. Your main job is to listen and learn, see how these clever beasts make stupid mistakes on a daily basis, and try your best not to make the same stupid mistakes as them in the future. As for the specific rules, I don't think I need to explain them."

"I think even if you made a mistake, it shouldn't be to the point of making a face like this."

"white face?"

Talos was somewhat unfamiliar with the word.

"what is this?"

"A form of punishment that is superior to [Red Hand]."

"There it is."

Prince Crow pointed to one side of the wall.

Talos looked in the direction of the sound and saw a framed picture of a pale face that had been peeled off while still alive.

"This guy's name is 'Whiteface' Krosh."

Ofion spat.

"The Terrans were once on the Nightbat Council's personnel list, but they later got into trouble."

(The white-faced Krouch is the Midnight Lord officer who led the army to besiege the Sosa Lighthouse in the original story. He is also one of the few people in the Legion who despises Sevita. Fun fact: the infamous tattooed count actually respected both the Primarch and Sevita before he drew his sword.)
"Because the Primarch discovered that he had played a somewhat dishonorable role in the deaths of his superiors, and thus rose rapidly through the ranks."

"You know, this kind of thing used to be considered a gray area in the Eighth Legion."

Barbatos nodded somewhat helplessly.

"But the Primarch brought clear laws."

"And his way of upholding the law was to peel off Krosh's face in front of everyone."

"If you commit a serious crime in the future, this pale human skin mask will be pasted on your face: like a red hand."

"..."

Talos gazed at the ancient human skin mask with a look that was a mixture of awe and longing, as if he could feel the power of the midnight ghost through it: for this apothecary of humble origins, there were very few opportunities to see the Primarch in person.

On the other hand, Talos is also a Nostramo native, and like Severta, he is one of the younger generation who grew up during Conrad's reign. They experienced the rise of the Midnight Ghost in Nostramo, his brief departure and his return in Midnight Sun, and the complete transformation of the Star of Eternal Night.

In their eyes, the name Conrad symbolizes everything.

This is why Talos accepted the Nightbat Council's invitation without hesitation. Although, considering his current strength, status, and identity, becoming a member of the Nightbat Council would make him somewhat of a target of public criticism, he was willing to accept any price as long as he could spend more time with the Primarch in the future.

Talos was so convinced of this.

And this is how Sevita observed it.

As a fellow Nostramore and Conrad's most fervent follower and believer, Prince Raven knew this fellow all too well.

So he clapped his hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Alright, welcome to the speeches, that's all for now."

"Let's get down to business, gentlemen."

Sevita's gaze shifted to one side.

"What's the first topic for today, Shen?"

"let me see."

Shen opened his notebook.

"Um……"

"The Primarch gave the order before setting off."