40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 788 9. Discussion on Evil
"So, he is really dead?" asked Iskandar Khayon.

Sevatar nodded.

The stars fell, the mechanical engines roared, and the four wheels turned in unison, making smoke and dust fly like rain. Strong winds passed by, and the unique smells of the desert drifted in, entering their senses and being broken down into various information one by one.

They sat in the back seat of the huge machine, strapped to their bodies, their backs pressed against the wall, staring at each other face to face.

The War Dogs' spy was driving in the front seat. She was a highly skilled driver and could drive in the harsh terrain of the desert with ease.

They were expected to reach Barasto in another ten minutes.

"I thought it was just my illusion," Qianzi said softly. "Good kill."

He had actually cast a spell to mask the sound of their conversation, but he still maintained his whispers, as if he was on guard against creatures that did not exist in this world.

Faced with these words, Sevatar just sneered.

"Was it a good kill? He lived a full ten thousand years longer than I expected. For a full ten thousand years, a hundred centuries, I chased him like a wild dog, and this beast was extremely cunning. He never left any traces. Yes, I found him many times, but that was only because he wanted to be found by me, that's all."

"But he is dead," Khayon said with extraordinary calmness. "And he was killed by you, that's enough."

This sentence seemed to provoke something, so that Sevatar frowned.

He seemed to have something to say, but he couldn't say it. In the end, he just shook his head, closed his mouth, and stopped talking, returning to his expressionless look.

Khayon looked at him carefully for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"I have been investigating him for a long time. I think you should know this. The files on him stored in the Inquisition, those about his childhood and adulthood, were found by me. There is everything in the vast ocean, Sevatar. I want to say that what I found makes me unwilling to believe that he is human."

Sevatar looked up at him.

"At the time, he felt that he killed the real owner of the name he stole because he was jealous of the good life he would have in the future, but that was not the case. I delved into those memories under the ceremony presided over by the Master of the Seal, and the answer I came to was that he was not jealous at all."

"He drew a blueprint for himself. In that blueprint, as long as he killed the young man and took his place, he could go to the gathering place of the acolytes, replace him as a member of the monks, and then naturally become a priest, enjoy himself, amass wealth, have many wives and concubines, and fill his luxurious mansion with slaves."

"But he didn't want any of this, not from the beginning."

"Do you know what he did after he entered the temple and became a formal student? The answer is to study, and he studied more seriously and diligently than anyone else. There are thirty hours in a day in Colchis, and the daylight occupies nineteen hours in summer and fourteen hours in winter. Regardless of whether it is winter or summer, he will study for twenty-five hours a day."

"He maintained this life, which was even harder than that of an ascetic, for three whole years. He finally stopped only after he became the top student."

"At the banquet to celebrate his first place, he did not relax, did not get to know beautiful young women or men, and did not curry favor with the old priests and pastors who had already dropped hints. Instead, after three rounds of drinks, he walked up to a student with whom he had a good relationship, and then pretended to be epileptic, foaming at the mouth, screaming incoherently, and identified the student as a devil, a thief, a murderer, and a rapist."

"He pinned the most horrifying crimes on the student, and then used what he had learned about his past from their daily conversations to bolster the accusation. His lies were so real, and his behavior made people think he was possessed by a god, so people rushed over and killed the student with torches, forks, boots, and fists. His body was torn into pieces and thrown into different bonfires. His blood was splattered on the ground, covered by the dust raised by the footsteps of the passing people."

"Just like that, the man died, people were horrified, but what about him? He lay on the ground with an expressionless face, sleeping on the spot where the student was dismembered, his heart full of peace."

"He doesn't care what the consequences are, he doesn't care what his future will be like, so why would he do it? The answer is he thinks he can."

Khayon lowered his head, his hands clasped together in disgust.

".For this, he has to try, he has to try."

"He knew very well that this was an unforgivable crime, and that the student would die for it, but he didn't care. He wanted to give it a try. In the best situation to weave the veins of power for his future, when his three years of hard work finally paid off, he only did two things."

"The first is drinking, and the second is doing evil, and there is no reason for either. He thought of it, and he did it, it's that simple."

He raised his head, hatred burning in the eyes of the Thousand Sons. Even though the person he was analyzing was actually trapped in a nightmare, it could not dispel the hatred in the slightest.

"In the years that followed, he did just about every evil thing he could think of. He killed little children, turned wives against husbands, strangled dogs in their sleep, stoned blind men passing by, and drowned a respected priest in a cesspool and boiled him down to feed hungry children."

"When I was looking at these memories, I kept asking why. If I could, I really wanted to ask him in person, why did he do these things?"

"I can't find the answer at all, because he didn't even smile when he was doing evil, and there was no joy in his heart afterwards, as if he was just exercising a right he was born with. And if you want to say that he did this because he was inspired by the four evil creatures in advance, I have to tell you that you are wrong."

He approached Sevasta, his face tight as a mask.

"He never believed in them from the beginning, not even at the beginning. He killed, deceived, and committed adultery all for himself, without asking for anything in return or considering the consequences. He is not a human being at all. He is evil, the embodiment of it."

Khayon panted and sat back in his chair, not speaking any more. After a moment, Sevatar kicked his leg with his toe.

Qianzi raised his head and glared at him a little annoyed, but saw a slightly strange smile.

"You are clearly traumatized," said the Night's First Son, stifling a laugh. "You went to Terra on your own accord, passed the Sigillite's test, dug up his past, and were so shocked by what you found that you even had delusions. Damn it, Khayon, that beast was of course a human, because I killed him."

"You don't understand at all!" Khayon shouted.

"No, I understand, I understand what you are saying. I just don't care." Sevatar said, and raised his finger to point at himself. "You are different from us, do you understand? If you are rich young masters, then we are a group of street kids."

Khayon looked at him angrily, but Sevatar continued nonchalantly.

"Listen, the way you used to conduct war was through negotiation, threats, psionics, or at worst, bombing. Most of the time you didn't even have to dirty your hands to get what you wanted, and then you just read books in the library."

"In other words, Iskandar Khayon, you have never seen such a scumbag before. But this scumbag started from the smallest place and almost single-handedly destroyed the vision of all of us."

"After countless people's hard work, countless deaths, sacrifices and displacement, such a huge empire and dream collapsed just like that."

"So you can't accept it, so you want to find evidence. You try to prove that this bastard is not human, as if you will feel better, as if as long as your conclusion is proven, our failure is excusable. But I want to tell you, Erebus is a human."

After he said the name, he deliberately waited for a moment under Khayon's suddenly alert expression. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. The night was still silent, with only the rumbling of the car's engine.

"Look." Sevatar grinned. "I said his name, so what? What happened?"

The corner of Khayon's eye twitched, but he still tried to defend himself: "What you are doing will definitely have an impact on mysticism-" "-So?" Sevatar spread his hands. "What kind of bullshit impact will it have? Don't think too much, my dear cousin."

"Although I understand that the shame and trauma your legion has suffered is unparalleled, so you want to find a scapegoat to take the blame for everything. But, to be honest, everything you have experienced, those tragic, unfortunate and horrible things, are largely your own fault."

The Qianzi, dressed in full costume, took a deep breath and clenched his fists in anger.

"If you don't want to see him."

"You can duel anytime you want, I don't care." Sevatar narrowed his eyes. "I can even impose restrictions on myself to make this duel fairer."

He waited for a few more seconds, until he saw Khayon restrain himself with great willpower, then he smiled sincerely, and his smile was even full of approval.

"Okay, let's move on now." He raised his hand and gestured. "Back to the point. Like I said before, you haven't seen a bastard of his level before, but I have, cousin. I've seen thousands of them."

Qianzi gasped, folded his hands, and looked at him coldly, as if wanting to know what else he could say.

Sevasta lived up to his wishes.

"You greatly underestimate the limits of human malice," he said softly. "You live in a civilized world, where everything is regulated and governed by law. You can understand things like people who need money stealing, people who are too angry killing, or powerful generals rebelling in order to rule everything."

"But you can only understand this much. You have never seen anything so illogical and unreasonable. You have never experienced chaos yourself, Khayon."

"If you had fought a real war in the past, you would at least understand it now, because you would see what humans do without rules and bottom lines. Unfortunately, you haven't. In most cases, you only need to use a few spells, and those people will tremble and surrender to the gods and angels they imagine."

"Take that back!" Khayon shouted again. "We still recovered many worlds after the Council of Nikea!"

Sevatar smiled and shook his head: "Without using any psychic power?"

Khayon suddenly fell silent.

"You see, you are still using psionics. This is where your confidence and arrogance come from, so I understand, I understand why you can't give it up. You are special because of it, you identify yourself with it, how can you really abandon it? Even if the Emperor issued a ban, even if the Primarch was imprisoned on Terra, you must still use it, at most you will not be as ostentatious as before."

As he was speaking, he suddenly stopped. The Thousand Son, who was immersed in his thoughts, did not notice this small pause, so he could not see the shock on Sevatar's face.

However, even if he could, he would never be able to see the red figure that appeared without warning, and the bitter plea on his face, like Sevatar did.

The shadow spoke silently.

[Let him go, Yago Sevitarion. He has suffered a lot in the past ten thousand years. I can't bear to let him fall into self-doubt again on the eve of dawn.]

The voice that only Sevatar could hear came little by little, hoarse and sincere, carrying the weight of a father. Then, the shadow immediately dissipated.

Iskandar Khayon looked up in confusion, his face still brimming with anger. He looked at Sevatar, snorted coldly, and asked, "Why are you done? Have you finished your story?"

After a few seconds, Sevatar slowly shook his head.

"I have nothing more to say." He looked up with disinterest. "It has been a pleasant conversation, cousin, and I apologize for mocking you so much."

Khayon's expression was as if he had witnessed with his own eyes hundreds of years ago Azek Ahriman and the wolves cursing and falling into a heap at the banquet.

"but--"

As expected, I knew you wouldn't let me go like this. Qianzi's eyelids jumped, and he sat up straight with a serious look, ready to endure the next words.

He actually knew that what Sevatar said was not a problem, but who could remain calm when it came to matters concerning themselves? It was already very difficult to be like him.
However, he did not expect that Sevatar would express his agreement.

"——You are right about one thing."

"Which sentence?"

"Erebus does evil without asking for anything in return and without regard for the consequences." Sevatar said softly. "I have seen many people who can compare with him in terms of bastard level, but I am afraid that there are really few who can compare with him in terms of purity. At least not in terms of doing evil."

Not to mention Kayan's strange expression, the car they were riding in slowly stopped.

The reason was simple. They had already reached the first checkpoint of the city of Barasto. Judging from the soldiers walking around and the war machines that had been driven out, the situation in the city was probably not optimistic.

Lula Salin's voice came from the cockpit.

"We are here, my Lords."

They unbuckled their seat belts, stepped out of the car, and stood there waiting.

The negotiation was naturally handed over to the spy lady. She had notified the city of Barasto early on, and was now meeting the soldiers at the security checkpoint with her ID.
The night breeze blew gently, Sevatar looked up at the starry sky casually, and heard Khayon's slightly nervous question in his ears.

"Will I look too much in this outfit?"

Sevatar glanced at him and shook his head.

"Just right, cousin," he whispered. "Your tight court-dress will surely remind him of the past."

For a moment, Ka Yang was unsure what he meant by this description, so he had to ask again hesitantly.

"What do you mean? Was he a nobleman?"

Sevatar slowly turned his head, stared at him, and smiled.

"Yes, and it's not small." He nodded. "You can try to greet him with noble etiquette later."

Khayon heaved a sigh of relief and expressed his sincere gratitude to him. Sevatar held back his emotions, raised his head, and remained silent.

(End of this chapter)