40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 677 59. Interlude: Wolf-Lion God (II)
Frankly speaking, Russ really likes listening to stories on weekdays. This habit comes largely from the tradition of Fenris - in such a cruel world, history, spirit and courage can only be passed on orally from generation to generation.

Countless days and nights, the tribesmen of Fenris would sit around a fire or hearth, listening to an elder tell a story he had seen or heard.
Ruth was no exception, and it could even be said that he grew up on this food.

After he became the only wolf king recognized by the wild wolves, he naturally brought this tradition into the legion. Even after his death, he never forgot this matter.

Of course, at this point, he couldn't do things completely according to his own wishes - if Lion El'Jonson didn't nod, or he happened to be in a bad mood, this matter would most likely not go smoothly.

As for now.
Russ grasped the Spear of Dionysus, sat down cross-legged, gently lifted up the withered and lifeless face of his old brother, and placed the round handle of the artifact underneath.

In front of him, there were two people arguing. The one standing on the left was emitting a murderous aura, with his fists clenched and the muscles on his bare arms tense, as if he would launch an attack in the next second.

Russ had heard his story, and knew that he came from a unhappy and broken world, where the Emperor's Great Crusade had never truly come close to success.
While the various legions were busy recovering lost territory and fighting on their own in various parts of the galaxy, a sudden warp storm completely isolated them from each other.

The demons launched an attack immediately afterwards, and the Astartes and auxiliary troops, who were completely unprepared, suffered heavy casualties in the first wave of attacks.

Since then, there has been no hope for human unity, and everything we do can only be described as a struggle to survive.

And this Lion El'Jonson was probably the most unfortunate of the many unfortunate people in the galaxy. He was strong enough and relied on his knowledge of demons to lead his legion through the first wave of attacks, but this was not a good thing.

Because when he broke through the siege with untold hardships and returned to the solar system, the message his father conveyed to him almost drove him crazy - his brothers were either dead, injured or missing, with no news.

Needless to say, their respective legions were either corrupted or killed in battle. What about his father? Naturally, his situation was not much better.

All that was left of him was a head and a part of his body that could barely be called an upper body. He was placed on a complex instrument and would die completely soon.

He seemed to have foreseen his own death and remained unusually calm about it. He only said that he would fight another war with a new identity - and no matter what the outcome, there would be no winner in this war.

Leon was of course very confused by this, but his father had lost the energy to explain further.
Before the conversation was over, the sky of Terra was shrouded in darkness, the sun was swallowed up, and endless demons poured out and began to fight with the last part of human resistance.

In this war, the Sigillites, the Mechanicus, the Adeptus Adeptus Mechanicus, the First Legion, and some remnants of other legions and auxiliary forces were all killed, except for this Leon who was still alive.

He watched with his own eyes as his father's mutilated body was pulled out from between the thrones by a bloodthirsty demon, and then a dark figure flew straight into the sky from the mutilated body.

After that, the Empire officially fell, and all the remaining colonies no longer had any civilization. All humans became slaves or accomplices of alien races or chaos.

There was only one exception. This man somehow survived the war that made half of the solar system a forbidden zone, and has since wandered the stars alone, hunting down all the demons, traitors, and aliens he sees.
How wonderful, Rus thought, and then cast his eyes to the right. Compared with the unfortunate hunter, this one could be called the "king".

He looked gloomy, his temples were gray, and his brows were always furrowed. However, it is worth mentioning that although he was arguing with someone, he still maintained a demeanor that was in line with his status.

Ruth could see that this was not a disguise, but was just his character.

Unlike the Hunters, the King's world was much more similar to the history that Russ himself knew. The Great Crusade was halted by a rebellion at the end of the war, but the mastermind was not Horus, but Sanguinius - which had even more terrible consequences.

The Angels, who had been forcibly corrupted and fallen, met Horus, and the two met alone in the Quiet Chamber as usual. The Warmaster, who was unaware of his brother's tragic fate, was killed on the spot, and the Blood Angels attacked their brother at the same time.
Of the huge Sons of Horus, only about 200 escaped from the meat grinder. However, after all the misfortunes came good fortune, and they were lucky enough to meet Vulkan and Salamander, who happened to be returning to Terra to report.

The Lord of Nocturne was reluctant to believe the horror story at first, but the plight of the Sons of Horus was real, and so was the hatred in their eyes.

Vulkan therefore decided to speed up his return to Terra in order to report the matter to the Emperor - after all, if what the Sons of Horus said was true, then Sanguinius was no longer someone he could match alone.

Unfortunately, despite the wise decision of the Lord of Nocturne, he ran into Sanguinius who was waiting there in the Warp.
After being forced to fall, the angel wore tattered armor full of flesh and blood, and was constantly shedding tears of blood. His first reaction when he saw people was not to attack, but to cry and beg them to leave quickly.

Vulkan was confused by this scene and did not understand what had happened to his brother, but Sanguinius soon told him the truth by consuming his flesh and blood and that of his offspring.
Under the influence of the power of Chaos, the Ninth Legion won a great victory, and their power has expanded to an unknown limit. After capturing the warships of the Sons of Horus and the Salamanders, their power is beyond the ability of ordinary legions to resist.

Ultimately, this group of fallen beings launched a blood frenzy that swept across the galaxy, reaching Terra within a year.

It was then that the King first saw his fallen brother. To his surprise, he did not see a complete monster - Sanguinius still existed, he was just trapped in a corrupted shell.

The bloodlust that was part of his nature took over the body, and the Angel of Baal was powerless to stop him, as he slew his brothers, ate them, and hung their heads on his armor as trophies.

The king saw Horus, Vulkan, Fulgrim and Ferrus, as well as many of the best warriors of the Legion, including even the son of Sanguinius himself.

What's even more terrifying is that they are not dead - at least not completely dead, and are still experiencing painful torture.

As the king swung his sword at Sanguinius, Horus would tell him of his brother's weakness in swordplay, Vulkan would roar at him to beware of the monster's claws and blood, and Fulgrim and Ferrus would try to grit their teeth, trying to use their last bit of strength to peel off a few pieces of the monster's armor and create a chance for the king to win.
As for Sanguinius himself? He just shouted desperately, wanting the king to escape quickly, because he fully understood the powerful power of the monster that now controlled his body.
The king did not follow his advice and still chose to fight to the death, with the sole purpose of stopping Sanguinius outside the palace.

The battle became intense, and Rogal Dorn arrived in time with the Imperial Fists, followed by Korvus Corax and some of his Raven Guard.

The three Primarchs fought side by side, but were still unable to withstand the claws and fangs of the fallen angels. His fighting style had completely become that of a wild beast - and, no matter how serious the damage inflicted on him, he only needed to dodge slightly, grab an unfortunate scapegoat and swallow a few bites, and he would be able to recover quickly.

What's worse is that he didn't even use his full strength from beginning to end. Sanguinius' consciousness kept persuading them, begging, wailing and even cursing, hoping that his brothers would leave.
Finally, it was the Emperor who intervened. He temporarily exiled Sanguinius and the demonized soldiers of the Ninth Legion, but he appeared extremely weak as a result.

According to the Sigillite, this was due to a spell the Emperor had attempted to use. He had tried to wrest the souls of his sons from the four evil gods who had taken their lives, but he had failed, and had been forced to do so only to inflict more damage. Despite this, the Imperium had still achieved a hard-won victory. They immediately issued an order to recall those legions and primarchs who had been fighting on the front lines without knowing about this - but how could Chaos sit idly by?

Perturabo was the first to respond to the order and was attacked on his way back. Although he was ready for battle based on the intelligence, the Lord of Steel was still seriously injured. His son Dantioch led the remnants of more than 2,000 people to return to Terra at the risk of his life.

The second one who met with misfortune was Angron. In the Nebulous Segment Field, in front of the alert Imperial fleet, the angel fought with him in the bunker on the flagship for a whole day and night.

The gladiator of Nuceria died in the end, and the butcher's nails that were deeply embedded in his brain were pulled out by the fallen angels at the last moment of his life.
His death and his fearlessness before death infected his legion, causing the World Eaters to burst out with extremely strong fighting power - but this was not luck, but the beginning of misfortune, as the Blood God in Chaos took a fancy to their anger.

But in a moment, more than half of the World Eaters were transformed into demons on the spot, fighting with the Ninth Legion, which was also not humanoid. The Assault Company Captain Kahn, who was barely rational, snatched back the remains of his father, and together with the Imperial Fleet that came to support them, they fought back the blood frenzy.

The Empire thought it could take a break for a while, but it never expected to hear the news of the death of the 8th Legion's Primarch, Night Haunter Konrad Curze, right afterwards.

According to his First Captain Yago Sevitarion, his genetic father seemed to have obtained some crucial information in the prophecy, so he decided to launch the assassination alone, and even expelled all the Night Lords who disagreed from the Legion, telling them to "go back to Terra, listen to the news of my death, and then cry bitterly."

The series of blows of losing his brothers plunged the king into deep sorrow and also aroused his anger. It was at this time that the living forces of the First Legion, which were originally stationed near Caliban, finally returned to Terra one by one in small units, and the rest of the legions followed suit.

Finally, an immense force gathered around Terra, with Rogal Dorn, Robout Guilliman, and Mortarion, who had lost some of his legionnaires and was disabled, as the main defenders.

Jaghatai Khan, Korvus Corax and Magnus worked together, combining speed and psychic power for reconnaissance. A large number of Word Bearers were stationed throughout the solar system, ready to provide support at any time.

Lorgar Aurelion himself sat in the Imperial Palace on Terra. It was said that he had a long conversation with the Emperor for three days and three nights. Since then, this devout preacher had never prayed again, but just stayed near the Astronomican all day, extremely busy.

"And then?" Ruth asked. "What about me? What about Alpha?"

The king turned his head and looked at him with an extremely complicated look, and whispered: "You and Alpha secretly joined forces while we were busy setting up defenses. He acted as a disguise and an assassin in plain sight to attract the enemy's attention. You acted as the main attacker and waited for the opportunity."

Ruth pouted as expected and asked, "So, I'm dead?"

The king nodded, still looking at him.

"Okay, what about Alpha?"

"And die with you—" the king sighed deeply. "—but your sacrifice brought great results. At the cost of your life, you stabbed the Spear of Dionysus into Sanguinius's chest, allowing his own soul to take control again, although only for a while, but it was enough for him to commit suicide."

Ruth frowned disapprovingly. "I don't think suicide will do anything."

"Yes," said the king. "His death gave the monster hidden in his body full power, and then..."

"Then, you lost the fight." The hunter said in a muffled voice, his fists still clenched. "Your situation is a hundred times better than ours, how could you still lose?"

The king turned his head, looked at him, and said calmly: "Because the enemy has four gods standing behind them, but we don't. Because my dead brothers were pulled back from hell by them in a more blasphemous appearance - but I want to correct you, we did not lose, and the empire still stands."

This simple sentence made Ruth dazed for a while. It was like a knife blade hitting his face, a bullet brushing his shoulder, the deafening shouts of killing and the unwilling sighs before death were all solidified in this short sentence, revealing the essence of this war.
"Okay..." He gathered his thoughts and took over the conversation. "I think the story is almost over. Shouldn't you two tell me why you are blocking the road?"

Russ stood up, gently drawing out the Spear of Dionysus, and stood before his brother again.

The hunter and the king both looked at him with extremely complicated expressions. In the end, it was the hunter who took the initiative to speak.

"Because here." He paused. "Only one Lion El'Jonson could leave, and he's dead, and the title that was originally given to him is now void."

"Oh!" Ruth suddenly realized. "So you want to come back to life?"

No one answered, only two pairs of determined eyes.

The Fenrisians couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" the king asked seriously.

"I laugh at you for not being able to see the truth. You are all dead, no matter what you have to do, what wishes or hatreds you have left, you are all dead - that's why that bastard brought you here, isn't it?"

"And, to be honest," Russ said, raising his spear in an unusually gentle manner, pointing it at them. "You all failed, unlike him."

"How is he?" the hunter asked, pursing his lips.

"Unlike him, he protected those who should be protected and saved those who should be saved. If there is really only one Lion El'Jonson who can leave here alive, I think no one else is qualified except him. None of you deserve it."

After he finished speaking, Ruth smiled wildly and waved at them with his left hand.

(End of this chapter)