40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 619 5. Lion and Wolf (Part 8, k)

The lion reached out and grasped the spear.

Two giant wolves were staring at him hungrily.

The flames flickered, the aroma of barbecue spread slowly, and the boiling fat dripped from it, bringing a stronger stimulation of 'food'.

The lion glanced at them, and as Leman Russ laughed, he used the spear in his hand to pierce the two huge pieces of raw meat behind him, then slowly raised them and shook them up and down towards the two giant wolves.

They stared at the food intently, saliva dripping from their tightly closed mouths, but they did not pounce on it to grab it. Instead, they sat there quietly.

The lion snorted and chuckled, then threw the meat lightly over to them, letting them feast on it. He himself was indifferent to the barbecued meat that was emitting the pure meaty aroma, as if it was just a bait.

He stood up, turned around and walked to the entrance of the cave, observing this unfamiliar territory.

The first thing he noticed was the dense forest of coniferous trees below. The branches and leaves of these trees could be used as crude weapons, especially the branches, which were very hard.

Then there was a snowy plain to the west, seemingly lifeless in the wind and snow, but there were some vague white shadows moving in the distance, perhaps wild animals such as tundra cattle or elk.

There is nothing on the east side, just a cliff.
"The new territory they chose is really good." Ruth said in his ear with satisfaction. "It changes every year. Last time it was the forest by the lake, and this time it's the cave at the foot of the mountain. Where will it be next time, Leon?"

"Next time, I will win." The lion replied calmly.

"Really? But you've lost sixteen times in a row - don't you really need the great ice hunter Russ to teach you something? Otherwise, they'll find you in advance next time and drag you back to their nest."

"I told you I'll win next time."

The lion squeezed out these words from between his teeth, then turned back to the two giant wolves, walked in between the two giant beasts that were eating without any hesitation, and slowly sat down against the stone wall of the cave.

He held the spear on his shoulder, and his face was reflected in the spear blade, but his eyes were not a deep green, but a blue that shouldn't be there.

The lion tilted his spear nonchalantly, and the illusion changed again, revealing a face he was very familiar with: it was none other than the smiling Leman Russ.

"In theory, Leon, you can come here and meet them at any time, but you chose today. Why? Is it because this ten thousand year hunt is coming to an end? There are still some vacancies on your missing list."

The lion did not answer, but he did not drop his spear either. He lowered his head and stared at the ground, his knight's robe fluttering in the wind and snow.

So Ruth continued.

"They will proactively send you a message to find their fallen angels. I bet there won't be too many of them. Based on your experience, they are probably one of those who were coerced without knowing why. After escaping for so many years, they finally heard about you and decided to end it all."

"Perhaps it's out of conscience, or maybe it's to question why you regard them as enemies. This is your idea, but I want to point out another possibility - could this be a trap?"

"Is it possible that the people who sent the keys hijacked the Banjo-1 bureaucracy, took control of the local military and orbital weapons platforms, and are just waiting for you to arrive so they can start targeting you. And they actually have a lot of people."

"Think about it, Leon, how many names have not been erased from your missing list that has not been destroyed?"

The lion exhaled a breath of hot air in a melancholy manner. The two giant wolves stopped eating at the same moment and looked over with concern.

One of them walked up to him and licked his face with its tongue, leaving a wet, but unexpectedly non-animal smell. The Caliban man glanced at it, and the giant wolf lowered its head and nudged him with it.

"Even they know you're worried," Russ said. He stopped smiling and his face was calm. "So, talk to me, brother."

"What to talk about?" the lion asked.

"How should I know? I'm just a ghost. Although I can see what you see, I haven't touched anything that you don't want me to know."

"Just like the thoughts you have in your heart now, I know nothing about them. This is the most basic respect, Lion. I am not Fulgrim, who will pester you to reveal your true feelings to him."

"Fulgrim never did that," the lion retorted coldly.

"Yeah, he certainly didn't do that to you."

Ruth said with a grin, attracting a round of angry glares, but after just a few seconds, the lion strangely turned from anger to joy, and sighed with a smile.

He shook his head somewhat helplessly and angrily: "To put it bluntly, it's still the same old story - surrender or die."

"Who knows what they are thinking? It has been ten thousand years. Unless they are fools who have fled to the barbaric world and isolated themselves from the outside world, any Dark Angel in the remaining civilized world should have heard the message I sent."

"I know them. Even new recruits will look for channels to get news from the outside world. Newspapers, radio stations, informants... They have countless ways to hear my voice and know my attitude towards them. Those who surrender can get a chance to defend themselves, but there are always people who are unwilling to do so."

Ruth continued his words softly: "So, like I said, you are worried that the person who sent the secret key this time is also one of those diehards?"

The lion nodded slowly.

This time it was Leman Russ' turn to sigh.

"You have an extraordinary concentration, Leon. Even among us, you can always get things done beautifully and at the fastest speed. When you really want to do something well, no one in this world can stop you."

"It's like when you broke into that dark palace and brought back my body. If even that thief can't stop you, what else can?"

"You think too much, my brother. You are beginning to think in typical Caliban terms and you don't need to."

"I am Caliban!" the Lion said angrily. "You better watch what you say, damn it."

"Well, I'll be frank with you - you stupid lion, can't you just go find them on your own? They don't know you're here!"

The lion was silent for a while and shook his head.

"You don't understand, Russ. It's been ten thousand years, but even after another ten thousand years, I believe you still can't understand. They ran away not because they were afraid of death, but because they were afraid of seeing me."

"The fundamental paradox is that unless they choose to let go or accept everything, my presence will only provoke a stronger reaction, and like a frightened animal, they will do things that even they cannot understand."

"And if they really have control over some of Banjo-1's systems, then what will my presence make them do? I don't want to see any unexpected casualties. Except for those who are truly guilty, no one should pay with their lives for my mistakes."

"Asmodai may have a different opinion on this." Russ said playfully.

The lion's face immediately turned pale, and he suddenly growled, "Don't mention that idiot to me! I have never seen such a stupid and straightforward mind. If he was not my son, I would definitely break his bones!"

"Oh, don't be like that, brother. He didn't do anything wrong. Although he opened fire first last time and interrupted the conversation between you and your sons who called themselves Wandering Knights, didn't the subsequent investigation prove that he was right? There is indeed some Chaos Corruption quietly spreading among the Wandering Knights."

"He didn't investigate!" the lion roared back.

"But the result is good." Russ replied lightly, as if he was suppressing a smile. "And we Fenrisians have never paid much attention to the process."

The lion immediately began to curse him in Fenrisian, and Russ took it all in. Reflected by the spear blade, he shrugged indifferently.

"All children grow up under the shadow of their fathers, brother, so you'd better examine yourself first. Asmodai may be a little extreme, but I bet that his extremeness is definitely related to you to a certain extent."

Lion El'Jonson took a deep breath, stood up, and said gloomily: "He is just a reckless young man who grew up in this cursed era and suffered the suffering caused by our incompetence and sins."

"I'm not going to blame him for anything. I'm just asking him to do his research before he pulls the trigger next time. That's all. So take that damned thing off, Ruth."

"So, where are you going?" Ruth asked.

"You ask even though you already know the answer." The lion snorted coldly.

The unique moist smell of the forest flashed in the cave, and the two giant wolves stared at each other. One of them suddenly yawned, lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. The other walked to the fire, blew out the flames, and then lay down as well.

The winds were cold, as they would always be in Fenris. And the Lion had gone away, back to his ship.

It was not any of the First Legion's legacy ships, but a new battleship named 'Edge of Reason', which he named himself as a warning to himself and the young men in the Chapter.

It is now the fortieth millennium. The galaxy is dark, the empire is as stiff as a zombie, numbness, ignorance and fanaticism are prevalent, and faith has become the main theme.

The lion knows its importance, but he still doesn't want to see his offspring devote themselves to the way of faith and forget the importance of reason.
The conversation he had with the 'hermit' Hermot La Cruz, the son of Aurelion, at the Iron Felt Fortress in the solar system hundreds of years ago came back to his mind at this moment, and he frowned unconsciously.

This also made Azriel, who was called in later, very cautious.

The lion glanced at him and suddenly said, "Put on your armor, Azrael. And take your weapons, standard equipment will do. We need to get to Banjo-1 ahead of time."

Azrael turned his head to look out the porthole and saw the pale grey planet. Then he turned to his Primarch again, still cautious, and asked a question: "Perhaps we should wait a little longer, Primarch? We haven't even reached low Earth orbit yet."

"We don't take shuttles."

Azrael's eyes widened, and his shoulders lifted. He saluted immediately, then turned and ran to the armory, but the lion remained standing there, with no intention of putting on armor.

Him being fully armed and one of his sons being fully armed are two completely different concepts. The former would make most fallen angels panic, but the latter would only make them alert.

Having been on the run for so long, many of them have become far more vigilant than ordinary Astartes, and the slightest sign of trouble will make them want to leave.
Then he began to wonder whether doing so would cause trouble to Chapter Master Belius afterwards, but he finally decided to take Azrael with him.

There are three reasons. First, he is smart enough to fully understand the lion's intentions.

Second, among all the young men who came with him, he was the most skilled in martial arts, and most likely the only one who could do so. Compared to the others, he would have an advantage in a possible battle.

Third, even Belius was optimistic about him. In this way, even if his stubborn son wanted to say something bad about him, it would be difficult for him to punish Azrael.
The lion smiled unconsciously.

"Don't be too happy, brother." Russ reminded him indifferently. "You don't know what kind of people you will face later. Neurotic lunatics, traitors who have surrendered to Chaos, paranoid, hysterical, and idiots who can't stand anyone? Choose one."

"It doesn't matter." The lion said decisively. "As long as we don't fall into chaos."

Russ chuckled. "It's up to you. But I still want to say that you are very fatherly in using your son as a shield."

The lion ignored him.

Just three minutes later, the fully armed Azrael and him set foot on a forest path. As for the other dark angels on the Edge of Reason
In a few minutes they will hear a message from the Lion, and no matter how angry some of them may be, they will carry out the orders conveyed in the message.

The Lion knew them - every one of them, in fact, and every Dark Angel who now joined the Chapter passed through his eyes.

The tragedy of ten thousand years ago could not be repeated, so he made great efforts to abolish the previous inner circle system and reform the selection system. Every year, batches of children born on Caliban lined up to be inspected by him. Even if they failed, they could join the war group and become servants.
I have to say, you have really changed a lot, Leon. If Vulcan knew, he would probably give you a hug, Russ said silently.

The lion still ignored him and just kept moving forward.

He had entered what Russ called 'concentration', and at this moment, nothing could disturb him. Azrael followed closely behind his Primarch, his modified 'Torchbearer' bolter pistol hanging in a holster on the outside of his thigh, and a power sword that was carefully imitated in detail from the Lion Sword hung at his waist.

Apart from five stun grenades, this was Azrael's standard equipment. He was still a young man, and although he was respected and favored, he was still not qualified to use those powerful weapons, but he didn't care - as long as he had a sword, it was enough.

They moved quickly through the woods until they reached a critical point. Azriel suddenly felt a strong tearing sensation. When he came to his senses, he found himself in a dark alley.

The lion stood nearby, the spear in his hand still gleaming in the darkness.

Azrael looked at the weapon in awe, then whispered, "Primarch, what shall we do next?"

The lion didn't answer, but gave Azrael a frown, his nostrils twitching.

The Dark Angel only then realized that in addition to the chemical pollution common in the mining world, there was also a bloody smell in the air that ordinary people could never detect.

With a clang, the long sword at his waist was instantly unsheathed. Azrael turned around cautiously and saw an open sewer pipe at the end of the alley, from which the smell of blood was wafting.

"Primarch?" he whispered again.

"Not human blood," the lion replied unusually calmly.

He took a step forward and walked towards the open sewer, his nostrils still twitching like a wild beast.

But is there any beast in the world that can move as silently as he does? Azrael tried to imitate him many times, but he never got it right.

He followed the lion and stood at the edge of the sewer entrance, looking down. The darkness failed to successfully obscure their vision. Some broken limbs were slowly floating up and down in the wide sewage pipe.

Just as the lion said, those limbs were not from humans. Their lavender skin and unusual strength and sharpness revealed the identity of their owners.
"It's the Genestealers, the damned xenos." Azrael said with disgust and anger. "Primarch, we-"

"——Let's go down." said the lion.

He swung the spear in his hand lightly, drawing a circle along the edge of the sewer pipe outlet. The heavy metal and concrete fell into the dirty water with a thud, splashing an unspeakable stench. Then, the lion jumped down first without hesitation.

His eyes glowed in the darkness of the sewer, his extraordinary concentration still working, but compared to him, Azrael's mind was in a mess.

He first thought that the Lion didn't have to go into this filth to find the truth himself, but then he wanted to ask why it was such a coincidence that they came across the remains of the Genestealer as soon as they arrived at Banjo-1.
Was it the work of the fallen angels? Are they still protecting humanity? In this case, the key might also be part of their plan, not to set a trap, but simply to call for reinforcements.

If this is true, then the Lion will definitely forgive their sins. However, the fallen angels have always been cautious, is there really someone among them who is noble enough to expose his identity to save innocent people?
Azrael was a little confused, and his breathing rate changed slightly. He didn't know that his Primarch had already noticed this - the lion spoke without turning his head.

"You don't know them, Azrael. You think these people are traitors, cruel thugs with no integrity or morals in their hearts, but that's not the case."

"Perhaps next time I should let you and Asmodai watch their trial together. Words can deceive people, but not in front of me. They can only face me with their true face, so you will see the truth."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped and thrust out the spear in his hand. Azrael couldn't even see the trajectory of the attack, and his eardrums hurt.

He was horrified - was it an attack? Or an enemy? The answer was neither. The spear in the lion's hand only picked up a corpse that fell from the sky.

Azrael looked up and saw dozens of Genestealer remains falling continuously from above their heads. Judging from their appearance, they were probably not pure-bloods, but they were definitely not those pretenders who could blend into all walks of life.

He drew his gun warily and came to the side of the Primarch to guard him, while holding the blade high in his right hand, he swung it continuously, shaking the air with hundreds of slashes in a short period of ten seconds, turning all the fallen corpses into fragments without letting any of them touch the lion.

But his robe and boots were actually already stained.

"What a waste of time." The lion commented, but he said it with a smile.

Azrael smiled sheepishly behind his helmet, then activated the jump pack behind him. "I will go scout, Primarch."

"I'll go with you," the lion said without question.

Azriel wanted to ask, how are you going to keep up, but just a second later, he began to be glad that he didn't ask this stupid question.

The lion opened its mouth and bit the center of the spear, then exerted force with its legs and jumped upwards. Its hands tightly grasped the protruding edges of the wall of the sewage pipe, and then it began to jump vertically. The speed was so fast that even Azriel, who had activated the jump pack, found it difficult to catch up.

He looked in amazement at the Primarch's incredibly agile figure and his hands, which were blackened by dirt, and once again recalled the words of the Chapter Master.

When a lion is on the battlefield, he will not miss any opportunity to gain an advantage. We must learn this, Azrael.

Half a minute later, they entered a huge pipe that was discharging countless sewage downwards - where they came from.

The designers left two fairly wide side passages for future repairers, but they were obviously used by the dying Genestealers. Crates loaded with various supplies and weapons were piled up on the left side passage, occupying it completely.

Azrael took a quick glance and saw hundreds of unused standard laser rifles, which made him even more worried. Although he was young, he had already dealt with all kinds of aliens, especially genestealers and greenskins.

He was very clear about the habits of these two alien creatures, so he understood what the appearance of these weapons here meant. The lion still said nothing, he held the spear with the tip pointing downward, moving silently and quickly.

Sewage flowed, and corpses floated in from afar. Some strange sounds of battle were faintly heard from the end of the road. Azrael listened carefully, but did not hear any sound of grenade launchers.

This makes sense, after all, the bodies of the Genestealers are covered with sharp cut and puncture wounds.

So, the fallen angels have been reduced to a state of running out of ammunition and food? This may be good news for them, but despite this, Azrael still realized another problem.

Without the support of explosive bombs and other weapons, they were able to kill an entire nest of Genestealers like this. How many Fallen Angels are there and how strong are their combat effectiveness?
"Primarch," he called softly.

"I know." The lion said in a gloomy tone.

He paused and turned, a cold smile on his face. "They are obviously doing a good job. Prepare for a fight, Azrael, against the Astartes."

"Primarch?"

“Just because they hate aliens doesn’t mean they’re happy to see us. A group of fallen angels with such fighting power can’t be unknown, so we are most likely dealing with a group of pirates or a group of lunatics who intend to overthrow the local government.”

"Understood, Primarch," Azrael said, sighing inwardly at his own incompetence at the moment.

He was clearly thinking a lot, but when facing the lion, he couldn't say a word, couldn't give any useful advice, just like an answering machine servant, constantly repeating "Primarch, Primarch, Primarch".
Azriel gripped the blade in his hand but did not raise it. Instead, he kept it low like a lion.

They continued forward and soon reached the end of the pipe. However, the scene before them was not what they had imagined: a Fallen Angel vs. a Genestealer.
In fact, there are no fallen angels here at all, only the corpses of Genestealers all over the ground.

Chopped up, chopped off, with its limbs and head torn off, its spine hanging on a cable from the ceiling, entangled with another head that was still open-eyed, its entrails and bits of flesh covering the metal like dirt.

Perhaps one day they would blossom into flowers of flesh and blood, but Azriel didn't care about that. He noticed that these gene stealers didn't even leave any signs of resistance. He wanted to know, who on earth had the ability to do such a horrible thing?
He looked towards his Primarch, expecting the Lion to give some kind of explanation, but what he didn't know was that Lion El'Jonson was no less shocked than he was.

That's weird, bro.
Leman Russ's voice once again crossed a certain boundary, floating in with a serious tone.

Do you think this scene looks familiar?

Nonsense. The lion growled in his heart.

This style of fighting quickly, attacking brutally and then resisting until there is more violence is just a bunch of bullshit, man, and I can only think of one person in the galaxy who has the ability and the will to do that.

Ruth let out a low sigh: But the problem is that that person can't come back.

The lion tightly grasped the spear, and the artifact that transcended reality and reason creaked in his hand.

A name flashed through his mind, followed by pain, regret and longing. The Terra battlefield ten thousand years ago turned into a man-eating monster from the corner of his memory and rushed towards him, roaring into his blood vessels and starting to create pain far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

And he just took a deep breath.

“Primarch?” Azrael asked worriedly.

"Nothing." The lion replied calmly.

"Just tell me what you have to say, you fool," Leman Russ growled at him irritably.

Normally, whenever he did this, the lion would refute or scold him, but this time, his brother said nothing, holding his weapon tightly, stepped straight into the hell, and began to observe every detail carefully.

Through his eyes, Russ was able to witness the brutal attacks.

There was something indescribably common in their intuition, and now they were one. Wherever the lion looked, the wolf king would describe in his mind how the killing began and how it would end.

Unlike him, the lion was more focused on the murderer's strength and the direction of the attack. Under this strange coordination, a conclusion slowly emerged.

The killer's speed and strength surpassed that of humans, even Astartes.

His killing skills were extraordinary. Every time he chopped, he perfectly avoided the bones. It was like an experienced butcher who was dismembering an animal with a sharp knife on a chopping board, always avoiding the bones when cutting.
Obviously, he was very familiar with the physiological structure of these gene stealers - no, it would be more accurate to say that he was familiar with the human body structure. He remembered every weakness and every vital point clearly, and could even use them on aliens like gene stealers who had stolen the human body.

Well, maybe we should contact Yago Sevitarion, Russ said in his heart.

Why contact him? The lion asked. That brat always says some bullshit to me every time he sees me.

His Primarch has returned, are you not going to let him know?
I do not believe
The lion slowly stood up, and Azrael's voice followed closely behind: "Your Majesty, Primarch, who did this?"

"Monster." said the lion. "And, one thing--"

He suddenly turned around, and a golden light suddenly burst out in front of Azrael's eyes.

The Dark Angel belatedly realized through some quiet breeze what the lion was trying to do by swinging his spear. He immediately raised his sword and rushed forward with a roar, but the lion roared at him instead.

"Stop, Azrael!"

With a bang, the Dark Angel flew backwards, and the long sword flew out of his hand. Seeing this, the lion suddenly roared far more violently than Azrael, and the spear in his hand seemed to shine as brightly as the light in the sky.

He thrust it out without hesitation, piercing a body of flesh and blood, but the face illuminated by the golden light immediately made the lion immediately loosen his hands and even took several steps back.

"Hoo" the person who was stabbed slowly exhaled a long breath of cold air, smiled and shook his head. "It's been a long time, Leon."

The lion did not answer, his eyes full of shock, but then suddenly raised his hand and rushed towards him.

"Azrael, no!"

The sound of a bolter gun flashed and disappeared.

(End of this chapter)