40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 760 49. Interlude: The Third Way
Calistarius was well aware that he was in a coma, and the fact was too obvious for his mind.

However, a paradox arises from this - if a person is in a coma, how can he have the clarity of mind to perceive this matter?
Calistarius raised his head and stared at the fiery clouds of Baltic Sun I in silence.

Under the red sky was a strangely shaped rock, grim and majestic, coated with a layer of flaming armor by the color of the setting sun. Below it, towering spires and cracked canyons coexisted.

Looking further back, there is an endless sea of ​​sand. It is completely deserted, and even the plants and animals that should exist in the desert environment are nowhere to be seen. It seems like a dead world.

Calistarius watched all this calmly, without any nostalgia in his eyes - he missed his hometown, but these scenes? No, they were not included.

He had been driven nearly insane by these things as a child.

Late each night, as the sobbing wind blew through the tent, causing a deathly shiver, he would huddle on a piece of cloth - what they called a bed - and imagine the world outside the tent.

Finally, one night, he couldn't bear it anymore. He quietly walked out of the tent, but was forced by a strange shape shrouded in darkness. He trembled all over and fled back to the tent in panic.

Looking back now, he did see something. A shape, yes, that's right, a tall shadow.

He or it stood in the darkness, with human-like limbs, but much taller than an ordinary person. Its eyes gleamed in the darkness, ruthlessly looking at the child who had left the tent alone.

For the child, this little sneakiness was enough to scare him into trembling, but for the Blood Angel Calistarius, it was not enough.

Then the world in memory began to change, the darkness dissipated, the sun rose above the horizon, bringing scorching light, illuminating the entire form.

He had a head of withered gray hair, and wore armor that looked like a skinned human body. His appearance was hideous and terrifying.

"Mephisto." Calistarius called out his name.

The latter nodded slowly, and in an instant, the world spun. Everything related to Bawei Yi disappeared, replaced by a sea of ​​blood.

The sea was boundless and despairingly vast, but it was not peaceful at all. At the end of the sea level stood two huge pillars that reached the sky and the earth, with huge chains extending from the top, locking up two beasts that were wreaking havoc in the middle of the sea.

One was blood red, the other was pitch black, but the two were not much different in appearance, both were equally ferocious, strong, and wild. They walked on two feet, had sharp claws, protruding fangs, and pupils as bright as the sun on the top of a mountain.

They are fighting each other, and this is the biggest reason why this sea of ​​blood cannot enjoy peace - every time they swing their claws, bite or even move, it will stir up huge waves.
However, when the waves gradually advanced to the feet of Calistarius and Mephisto, they were just a small ripple.

"Now that I think about it, it seems like I've seen you a long time ago," said Calistarius, looking calm. "Isn't this interesting?"

"No," Mephisto said. "This is not interesting at all."

He paused to explain.

"Any fool who dared to challenge the timeline eventually died at the hands of time itself, trapped by their own stupidity, and then died in their heart and body. I went back to the past just to make sure you could become me. This was already predetermined. From the moment you were born in your mother's body, you would definitely become me."

Calistarius curled his lips and deliberately used a harsh tone: "So you are actually a coward who believes in fate?"

"No, I defy destiny, but I obey the future I forge with my own hands."

"But all you did was to make it all happen in a cycle - Kelly became Calistarius, Calistarius became Mephisto, and then went back in time to make sure he entered the Blood Angels safely, watching over him until the moment of his sacrifice."

The angel, who was as handsome as his father, sighed sadly.

".The person who helped me in that demonic realm was you, right?"

Mephisto nodded firmly.

"So, my sacrifice was influenced and planned?" asked the Blood Angel.

Mephisto immediately rejected this suggestion: "No, I can only help you, not influence you. To you, I am just a weapon, just like the sword you once carried with you. It can only kill when it is in your hands and dances for you. The same is true for me. My help will only work if you are willing to sacrifice for humanity."

"But I remember clearly." Calistarius frowned hesitantly. "It was the Emperor who extended a helping hand to me."

"He did what he could," Mephisto said. "But the one who made the choice was you, and it always has been you."

A roar interrupted their conversation. The two of them raised their heads at the same time and stared into the distance; even the arc of their movements was exactly the same.

The source of the roar naturally came from the two huge beasts. They were biting each other, their sharp teeth piercing deeply into the muscles, and their claws scratching each other's bodies - ferocious and cruel, but unable to cause any substantial harm to each other.

No matter how or what they do, there will never be a true winner in the battle between them.

Calistarius raised his hand, pointed at the blood-red end, and asked, "What does it represent?"

"Can't you feel it?"

"Of course I can, but I am a think tank, and I use reason to drive my psionics. I need precise descriptions and descriptions, not vague adjectives like anger, bloodlust, and primitive violence."

Mephisto was silent for a moment, then answered slowly.

"It is one of the things that is in the heart of our father. It comes from his soul and blood. It is a part of him. It represents the most primitive and pure anger, and the desire to kill without asking for reasons or seeking targets, just to release the violent nature."

Calistarius took a deep breath. "This doesn't sound like something that should appear on the Primarch."

"The Emperor shaped him, and his brothers. He took their essence from the gods of the Warp, just as Prometheus in old mythology stole fire for humanity. In this respect, the Primarchs are no different from the fire itself. They are both double-edged swords, which can help humanity or burn it to death."

"You seem to be saying something." The Blood Angel pursed his lips. "I mean, I don't know these things, and even if I knew, I would never say them in this form."

"You will know all of this," Mephisto said sternly. "When you become me, this knowledge will come naturally to you. You don't need to learn or understand it. It's just there."

"Okay—what about the black one?"

"It represents the darkness of Sanguinius. We have the urge to drink blood, remember? This is the source of this urge." "The taste of blood is varied and novel. The strong are mellow, the beautiful are sweet; children have a special fragrance, the old are spicy like strong wine, the seriously ill are bitter like good medicine, and the dying have a sense of dusk. Drinking it will make people sad. We were once called ghouls. At that time, the Ninth Legion would even devour friendly troops. In that era, they were completely swallowed up by this darkness until our father returned."

Calistarius clenched his fists in unbearable pain halfway through his words, but Mephisto would not take his feelings into consideration. By the time he had finished speaking, the Blood Angel had become temporarily mute.

He looked as if he wished he didn't have ears, but he was the one asking the question, and Mephisto was simply telling the truth.

Therefore, no matter how complicated his feelings were at the moment, Calistarius did not show any anger.

The silence lasted for a long time, until the two beasts were tired of fighting and returned to their respective stone pillars to rest for a while, then Calistarius spoke again.

"So, what now?"

"How is it now?"

"Has the Primarch now escaped their influence?"

Even someone as ruthless as Mephisto seemed to be touched by these words—the corners of his mouth curled up slightly for a moment.

Calistarius knew that he had asked a stupid question, and he couldn't help laughing. There was self-mockery, joy, and unspeakable bitterness in his laughter.
The two beasts began to fight again.

"Never ending." Mephisto opened his lips slightly, his voice solemn and dignified, like a priest standing beside the throne and sacrifice in an ancient sacrificial ceremony.

The Blood Angel glanced sideways and saw his grim future shedding tears. The Librarian's instinct moved his mind, and he immediately bent his fingers and formed a seal.

However, before he could release it, Mephisto looked over, and his tears condensed on his gray skin, turned into frost, and fell into the sea.

"The battle between them will never end, Calistarius. It should be an eternal battle, tearing at the soul of your father and mine. One day, he will be captured by one of these two creatures, a beast of slaughter or a slave to blood."

"In fact, he has already fallen into one of these traps. If it weren't for your sacrifice, he would have turned into ashes under the tombstone. But have you ever thought about how this will end?"

"You become their jailer, and stay here with them. For a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, until time wears away your mind, destroys everything you have, until your memory is reduced to fragments of ash - have you ever thought about these questions?"

Mephisto asked very seriously: "If you also fall into madness and take the initiative to walk towards them, what will happen then?"

"You will kill me," said young Calistarius.

"I can't." Mephisto shook his head. "You are my past. I can't influence you."

"So, you will replace me?"

"Neither can I. I have been influenced by them. How can a bearer of the curse fight against them? If I come here to replace you, I will be eaten by them the moment I take on this responsibility. These two will once again flow into the blood of you and my brother, causing them to commit evil deeds in the future."

"Then why are you here?" Calistarius asked in great confusion.

"You have neither a solution nor any means to exterminate these two evil beasts once and for all. Could it be that you came to chat with me on purpose to relieve your boredom? Is your popularity so bad that there is not a single brother in such a large war group with so many sub-groups that you can talk to?"

Mephisto's right eye twitched noticeably, and his expression turned gloomy - given his appearance, this gloomy look on anyone else would have been considered murderous intent, but Calistarius laughed heartily as if it didn't matter at all.

He has always been a warm and cheerful person, and even though he was locked here, this precious quality has not left him.

"So, tell me?" Calistarius asked. "Why are you here?"

"To bear witness," Mephisto said.

Witness what? He no longer needed to answer, as a black shadow fell from the sky. Before it landed, the sea of ​​blood began to boil, but the two beasts knew nothing about it and were still busy fighting each other. It was not until the two stone pillars collapsed and the impact caused a world-destroying wave thousands of feet high that they finally realized something.

It's too late.

A strange muffled sound came from the depths of the sea of ​​blood, and some kind of fire surged up in an instant, causing a hole to appear out of thin air in the center of the boundless ocean. A man stood in it, holding two iron chains in his hands.

They were so big that he couldn't hold them so easily in his hands, but that was the fact - then, the chains themselves began to burn, starting from his hands and quickly spreading to the other end.

They were originally wrapped around the necks of the two beasts, and now they were burning their flesh and blood with a hissing sound. Calistarius knew that this was only an outward manifestation, and the real battle must have been beyond his cognition.

He couldn't help but start to wonder, who could kill two concepts so easily?
"Not to kill, but to tame," said Mephisto.

What he said was true.

The beasts began to wail and rolled in a sea of ​​blood, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies, but how could the dark rage be solved with such trifling means?

It was not shaken at all, just burning with concentration. In a short while, the sea of ​​blood was burned dry, the flesh and blood disappeared, leaving only two huge skeletons remaining in the place. The black shadow raised his hand and pulled the iron chain in his hand, causing them to suddenly fall apart, leaving only two spots of light flying in his direction.

He raised his hand, grabbed them together, and clenched his fist tightly.
Calistarius heard Mephisto let out a long breath.

"Is this the end?" asked the Blood Angel in disbelief.

"Yes, it is over - no more jailers or torture, Calistarius. A third solution has been offered to us."

Mephisto forced a smile on his stiff and lifeless face. He walked towards the Blood Angel, turned into a point of light, entered the latter's body, and disappeared.

Calistarius wanted to say something, but the world had already begun to collapse, and all he could see was darkness.
He didn't know how long it had been before he woke up again and saw a familiar face in front of him.

Sanguinius looked at him with concern and whispered, "Are you alright, my son?"

(End of this chapter)