Chapter 422: The Emperor’s Descendants: Tarot and the Holy Grail
“Oh, my dear Cindy,” the Harlequin’s mask suddenly came very close, covering his gilded three-cornered hat and half of his snow-white smiling face. The bright red lips on her lower body and the high neckline with triangular grooves were close to the ear of the memoirist. "I have good news to tell you."
Memoir felt that half of his face was numb under the Harlequin's breath. This may have come from the fact that the Harlequin knocked him over with a nerve gun when they first met. Local memory.
At that moment, he thought he was doomed, but the pied-coated alien lifted him from the ground and bowed to him in a flamboyant manner that perhaps only an old Terran noble could appreciate.
"Reminiscence of the Emperor of Mankind," Harlequin said, "We welcome you aboard the Veil of Light. What may I do for you?"
"Uh..." Cindy's words were stuck in her throat.
He was certainly grateful that someone - something - whatever - had rescued him from that unfortunate boat, from having to collide with some universe that was not within the scanner's range. The fate of being destroyed by fragments, but this does not mean that he will not be nervous because of the sudden appearance of the Eldar.
Like most people in the Empire, he couldn't tell them apart, nor did he understand the Harlequin's half-body black and white checkered domino-style costume, nor did he understand the pursuit of these creatures. There was only one thing that made him feel a little relieved, although that might still be nothing more than self-deception.
"Why don't you answer me, human?" The Harlequin shrugged.
"I..." Cindy confirmed that this guy was really speaking Gothic, and he really didn't call him a monkey. He cleared his throat, "This is an Imperial secret."
"Oh, come on," Harlequin cocked his head, and Cindy suspected he was rolling his eyes beneath his white mask.
He took out a set of some kind of hard tarot cards from a dark green leather package around his waist, rubbed them casually with his fingers, unfolded them like a show of skill, and presented the uniform back to In front of Cindy.
“Draw one,” said the clown. "These are your empire's own tarot cards, although they should not have been born yet at the end of this glorious thirty thousand years."
Cindy pinched out the cards from the deck with an ominous premonition. One picture, and then under the gaze of the clown, it turned to the front like a liquid crystal.
It was a dynamic character waving a quill, wearing gilt sapphire lenses, leaning against the parchment and writing furiously. That's who he is in a nutshell.
"Creatio card, Memoir." The clown flicked his sleeves and pulled out the second stack of tarot cards.
The second card depicts a Space Marine. The armor model Cindy did not identify. At this moment, he is holding a bolt gun and shooting at a target in the distance.
"Mastery (Adeptio) card, Space Marine. Are you still interested in drawing the third one, friend of the Empire?"
This time, Cindy recognized the card herself without the clown interpreting it. face role. It was half a pearl-red noble face, with magnificent eyes of unpredictable colors looking straight ahead. The thick red hair was tied up by a gold, white and blue crown and hung down on the character's back. In addition, he drew this card backwards.
"Major Arcana, Magister." The Harlequin took the Tarot card from his hand, "Perhaps I can accompany you to visit the respected Crimson King Magnus. Di. By the way, you can call me 'Ruby'"
And now, after drifting restlessly in Harlequin's boat for ten whole imperial weeks, it seems that the good news of Ruby has finally reached Cindy's ears.
However, out of her understanding of this clown, Cindy couldn't help but blurt out: "Let me tell you the bad news first."
Hongyu stood up straight again without interest. He wasn't much taller than Cindy, maybe there were people in the Eldar who weren't tall enough.
"The bad news is that in the expansion area ahead, the Primarch we will encounter is probably not just Magnus. There is also a... um... a demigod you didn't expect. Their signal has just been sent, and I heard that no one in your empire wants to meet them."
After Cindy was stunned for two seconds, a dark shadow suddenly flashed in her mind. , to be precise, a group.
"Number..." He smoothed his tongue, "Eighth Legion?"
Hongyu jumped over the table filled with swaying divination tools, and crossed his arms listlessly on the seat. leg.
"Yes," Hong Yu muttered unhappily, "Why is the Blood Marquis here? No one really wants to meet him, right? Oh, at least the Crimson King doesn't want to. His cards are not Right. Anyway, wish us good luck."
"You don't have to go," Cindy tactfully concealed his nervousness. "I am the one who needs to find out the story and truth of the legion. For the sake of saving me, I advise you to say this..."
In fact, if only Qianchen Zhiyang, who has always been easy to talk to, is here Here, he was not so worried about being caught red-handed by the original body and colluding with the aliens.
But the existence of the famous Night Ghost Blood Marquis made Cindy curious about which ships she would be hung on.
Hongyu's lips turned into a slender smile. "Unfortunately, I must remind you, my friend the Remembrancer, that the person who just received the Eighth Legion's communication, spoke, and was asked to stand in front of the Primarch is standing right in front of you."
——
The liaison officer is a Nostramo. That pale, malnourished face is representative of the entire empire's administrative system. It is like a weakened shadow of the legendary Night Ghost Blood Marquis, exuding a ghostly, non-existent the smell.
This characteristic of theirs is said to be closely related to the characteristics of the home planet before the return of the Eighth Primarch. Otherwise, it would be difficult to imagine that the extremely wealthy Evernight planet could actually raise such a group of people who are completely intact. Two fleshy half-skeletons.
When he got close enough, Cindy's stomach began to twitch for no reason, a cold feeling of foreboding jumping up and down in his stomach, reminding him that his morning oatmeal was about to come. His fingers that were cuffed behind his back began to unconsciously pull at the iron ring on his wrist.
I knew it, Cindy whispered in her mind, this is the consequence of being handcuffed to the Primarch's flagship with an alien.
“A reminiscence envoy belonging to the Fifteenth Legion?” the liaison officer said. A typical Nostramo accent, with a viper-like hiss and cold, complex consonants.
"Yes," Cindy swallowed the word "adult" that followed and forced a smile from her face. The friendly opening remarks he was going to give to the Fifteenth Legion were shoved back in his throat with a look from the liaison officer in front of him.
"I come from the Court of Memories of Terra, and I thank you for your welcome... But on the way to the Legion of the Thousand Dust Suns, my patrol ship encountered..."
"What about you, Zephyr Hongyu?" The liaison officer tilted his head and coldly and accurately reported the full name of the Eldar. "The Midnight Gospel Theater Company is not on the visitor registration list."
Cindy's stomach ached again, and he hoped that the registration list the liaison said was just a bad joke.
"I am just a messenger this time, a respected friend of the empire, here to make some small... necessary help for the human empire."
Ruby's lips are in the half-face mask Scroll down, Cindy bets that this guy can undo his restraints in an instant, and it's probably enough to take out the twenty laser pistols pointed at them around him in half a minute, but this is Nightfall, this is crazy The guy is not going to be stupid enough to die.
It seems that the liaison officer did not immediately order the shooting of the suspected alien due to his professionalism. At least from Cindy's perspective, that's probably what happened.
Instead, he turned back to Cindy and asked a strange question.
"My lord has entrusted you with the privilege of his tolerance, Remembrancer, but do you have the courage...to witness the fall of night with your own eyes?"
"Uh...yes?" Xin Dee said uncertainly.
The liaison officer laughed softly, nodded to him, and then retreated into the shadows behind him. The more than twenty gun-wielding mortal guards around them also escaped lightly and lightly into the ubiquitous curtains and shadows of the Night Veil, leaving only the scraping sound of heels and the caress of clothing like the fluttering wings of bats.
There is also Cindy standing under the only central light source in the rotunda, her heart beating non-stop, and the clown who doesn't know what he is thinking - Cindy still doesn't understand how this guy dares to be alone Came to the night number.
The memoirist's arms were shaking, and the handcuffs and chains behind his back were clanging noisily.
If - never mind why, if the fall of night contains some kind of permanent midnight hint, and the Eighth Legion really wants to peel off his skin as rumored, he hopes that they at least Wait until he is dead before peeling it off...
Then, two vague outlines gradually emerged in the darkness.
One is a giant. The dark black silk ceremonial robe is embroidered with a ferocious bat-winged skull, and occasionally midnight blue lightning flashes with his movements. Those inhuman eyes lowered their gaze ruthlessly and unstoppably, and a long scar penetrated his pale side face, like a spider's long legs, twisting and dark.
Even if he is not wearing armor, the Remembrancer knows that this must be a certain terrifying night ghost. Commonly known as the Eighth Legion Astartes...
As for the strange man next to him, covered in robes, spikes and decorative chains, with an iron mask on his face, he is probably the "Sons of the Muses", the strange auxiliary army of the Night Ghost King.
Even though the dome of the Night Veil is unreachable, the thick darkness compresses the space infinitely and is further squeezed by the Astartes. As soon as they stood in front of the Memoir, the fear in Cindy's heart began to increase, squeezing his throat fiercely. Every time the folds of Night Ghost's clothes trembled slightly, Cindy felt like she had been punched hard in the chest.
"You, follow him." Night Ghost glanced at Harlequin, and every word he said was like a murderous announcement with little interest.
Hongyu had somehow moved his handcuffs from behind to the front of his body. The son of Muse grabbed the chains between his wrists and roughly led him away. Cindy couldn't imagine what would happen next.
Now, only the Astartes and the Memoirs remain.
"Hello," Night Ghost lowered his voice slightly, even though this could not alleviate Cindy's fear that was about to overflow, "I am Yago Severtalion. Since you have the courage to face the night with your own eyes... I will You lead the way, the Emperor's messenger."
"I..." Cindy's teeth chattered. He regretted it. He just came to see the Sun of Thousand Dusts. He didn't want to witness the midnight of the Eighth Legion at all. Even if he joined the Terra Memories Court with the purpose of pursuing more truth in the dust, he still has some nostalgia for his own life...probably.
"Huh?" Savita Leon snorted softly and walked around behind him.
"I...praise...the Lord of the Night..." Cindy squeezed out the rest of her words desperately.
Click.
His handcuffs were removed.
——
Besides removing his handcuffs, the second thing Savita Leon did was to give him an injection.
At first Cindy thought this symbolized the beginning of torture, but then he silently and gratefully praised the Space Marines for their unexpected kindness - because it was this shot of chemical that stopped the Memoirs from turning upside down. of stomach pouch.
"Don't say thank you, Reminiscence," the Space Marine spoke with absurd calmness, walking slowly. His fingers gently stroked a snow-white skull embedded in the wall, his gesture almost loving.
"Yes, sir..." Cindy said bravely.
“Why don’t you just call me ‘Sevita’?” Sevita Leon turned his face and stared at his face. "I am not your boss, nor your master."
"Yes..." Cindy found that she had to choose between looking directly at the darkness in front of her, and looking directly at the pale outline of Sevita's face. Make a choice.
He neither wanted to be forced to guess how much more soft leather lay hidden within the dark curtain that would suddenly drape over his head, nor did he want to end up irritating the Space Marine by staring at him.
He had been waiting for a chance to clear himself of any suspicion of being in the same boat with the aliens, but Sevatar didn't seem to care about that matter at all, so much so that he didn't even bother to ask a question.
"Excuse me, where are we going now?" Cindy trotted to keep up with the Space Marines. Something rolled under her feet like broken stones, and then quickly transitioned to some kind of elastic material surface, like a picture. The pulled cloth... He didn't want to know what it was, let alone join in it.
"I'll take you to complete your work, Chronicler." The Space Marine said softly, his voice gently stirring the silence in this long and narrow tunnel, "What else?"
"But..." Cindy swallowed a bitter mouthful of saliva, "I'm here to see the fifteenth primarch, Sevatar..."
When he successfully said the other party's name, Cindy Di wasn't sure if Sevita actually laughed, but the vague urgency suddenly relaxed, giving Cindy a chance to breathe.
"This is exactly where I'm going to take you, Cindy," Saiveta said.
"Then what is here..." Cindy suppressed a scream, and the rough section of a broken bone scraped his arm.
"The reward for daring to face the night." Sevatar shrugged slightly, stopped, and used a knife to pick out the candle wick on the passage next to him. "The Night Veil is not open to mortals, but today, the Blood Marquis is in a bad mood."
Conrad Curze is in a bad mood, why are mortals allowed to look directly at these unique arts of the Eighth Legion!
Cindy heard her heart screaming.
Then, Sevita patted him on the shoulder just right, and a blast of cold air almost froze half of Cindy's shoulders.
"If you had chosen to refuse at that time -" Sevita said slowly, a fake smile on his slightly curled lips.
"I understand, Sevatar." Cindy nodded with self-knowledge, abandoning the terrifying furnishings around her and staring directly at the dark black clothes of the Space Marines. Then he would definitely be doomed.
“——You will lose this precious opportunity. We will blindfold you, plug your ears, and then carry you into the Xuemou’s reception room, put you in a bag, and wait for the gene The Primarchs ended their family gathering." Sevatar blinked, "After that, you will meet the Crimson King of your dreams in order to complete your work."
"Also, if you choose now. It's not too late to give up the gift in your hand," Saiweita said. His hand was closer to Cindy's neck. With just one long press of the right strength, Cindy would fall down peacefully and wait for the night. The ghost’s further arrangements.
As long as the reminiscence envoy agrees.
It is said that in Nostramo, this short sleep is called "the kiss of the night".
——This is not what the Memoirs of the Eighth Legion said. In fact, no one in the Memoirs Court of Terra has heard of the existence of the Memoirs corresponding to the Eighth Legion, even the Night Ghost King’s Court. That particularly flamboyant regimental record is being stuffed into the archives these days.
Perhaps the person who wrote that record has become a meal on the plate of Savita Leon or Konrad Coze, or the latest small decoration in a dark room.
"How?" Savita asked leisurely.
"If..." Cindy hesitated, "If I go now...would I have the honor to hear what the Primarchs are arguing about?"
"Argument?" Ye Gui tilted his head, and the fake smile disappeared from his face in an instant.
"Yes," Cindy said, and he didn't know where his courage came from. "The alien's divination hinted at their discord... I want to know the truth, Sevatar. This is I join the pursuit of the Court of Remembrance."
He paused and comforted himself: "Anyway, the furnishings of Nightfall are just static works of art, right?"
"Oh, "Savita chuckled again, stared into Cindy's eyes, flicked her other wrist, and a thin rope was thrown straight out, tightly entangled in the darkness high in the sky. "They are..." he said, "but we are not."
Cindy subconsciously continued to step forward. Suddenly, his feet were empty, and his whole body immediately fell down.
He may have let out a scream, but Sevatar had already grabbed him by the collar, and the sudden sound of wind cut off the Memoir's wail.
"If we go fast enough," Sevatar murmured, "you can still catch up with the end of the truth, Memoir. And you may also be the first human being to have the honor of recording the story of the Eighth Legion. ”
Following the sling in the darkness, they quickly descended towards the lower level of the Night Veil.
——
"You can't convince me with the potential contained in it. An inaccurate judgment can bring endless disasters. This is a consequence we cannot bear."
"This is also the only way to expand the empire's territory. , you should be able to understand that we cannot stand still..."
"No! Unnecessary destruction will come to us..."
"Risk and opportunity are mutually exclusive, good wine. The blood flows from the Holy Grail, and my legion will bear the consequences. My brother, the expedition is a journey to open up the frontier, and the expansion area will be transformed into a star area by time... Yes, the stars are already foreshadowing the dark disaster, only Only by descending into the abyss of Hazeroth can the soul and truth be brought into the world..."
"Listen to your words, what soul, what omen! You already hold too many dangers in your hands, brother, you. Walking on the edge of darkness and heresy..."
"When did you become the more cautious one among us, Magnus?"
Conrad Curze chuckled, his voice coldly sweeping through the empty space and darkness. The drawing room echoed quietly in Magnus' ears.
“When did you become a conservative who resists the truth, a warden guarding knowledge, a gatekeeper who snatches keys?”
“It’s always been the case, rules are rules,” Mag Nuss stood in front of Konrad, the flowing spiritual light floating on the outer layer of the armor in his angry mood, his eyes fixed in a red deeper than his skin color, staring closely at Konrad who was half lying lazily in the bone chair. Ladd Koz.
The latter was wearing a clean pure black silk robe, with a sarcastic smile on his pale face.
"Rules are rules, laws are laws..." Cozz chewed these words as if he was tasting them over and over with his tongue, "And I, I have my own rules of conduct..."
"Is your rule to use psychic divination to convince me?"
Magnus narrowed his eyes and his chest kept rising and falling.
"Father made a big exception for you, Konrad. He allowed you to kill, he allowed you to use your auxiliary army, he allowed you to travel through the webway, he allowed you to disrupt everything in the empire, but you brought Empire what? Only more danger, my brother!"
"Listen to what you say, Magnus, even if you are so angry, you are still calling me brother"
"Conrad Curze!"
Magnus waved to the Harlequin who was standing at a low table with his hands raised in a submissive sign of surrender. Azhak Ahriman stood upright, his staff tilted slightly forward, tilting dangerously in the direction of the Harlequin.
"You just used a set of divination cards to convince me to support you in developing the Holy Grail expansion area?"
"He used this set of divination cards to find you and me, Magnus," Cozz put his hands in front of him, sighed softly, and glanced at the location of the Harlequin with his deep eyes, "Look at him, his existence... He proves that I know what I am doing."
" Can he prove anything, prove that humans can also be clowns?" Magnus almost yelled this sentence.
Zephyr Ruby licked his lips, "Hi," he said with a smile.
"Shut up your...your person!" Magnus gritted his teeth. His voice vibrated the air in the room, making the darkness gradually heat up. "I don't understand where you get your confidence. Conrad, I don't understand how you dare to waste the Emperor's grace like this... The Holy Grail Expansion - there is only one dead empire, and countless legendary aliens, ghosts, subspace anomalies... everything that can cause soul abnormalities. Danger! And you can’t even take out a piece of STC taken from the ‘Holy Grail Expansion’, the remains of the great dark empire in your mouth!”
Kurze tilted his head.
"Are you listening, Curze!" Magnus roared. His noble face was illuminated by an unfamiliar anger, which made him no longer look like a gentle scholar.
"Of course," Curze came back to his senses, "but you got a lot of things wrong, Magnus. First of all, Zephyr Ruby..." The Blood Marquis snorted coldly, " He should not have been born at this time, and it was not by my hand."
He suddenly raised his hand and pulled out a broken bone from the Bone Throne. It was like throwing a dagger, and it instantly pierced the Harlequin's chest.
Zefro Ruby fell down laughing, gasping and twitching on the ground. The Emperor's Tarot slipped out of his unsealed leather pouch, and three of them drifted to the ground.
"Flay him, Chief," said Curze, "and look at his heart."
Ahriman stared at the Harlequin and stepped back. "He's still alive..." he said incredulously, surprised by Curze's cruelty.
"If your heir dares not peel another man's breast, don't let him stand here." Curze said to Magnus.
Ahriman had to squat down, put down his staff, and crack open the human clown's sternum. He stopped in surprise when he saw the contents.
"Take it out." Magnus restrained his temper.
Ahriman bit his lip and took out a heart from Zephyr's chest - a crystal heart, emitting colorful and complex light, like a delicate prop on the stage, and Organs of flesh and blood that are not necessary for human survival.
Listening carefully, he seemed to be able to hear a thin and crazy smile from the heart, lingering on the edge of hearing, mercilessly rubbing against the fragile nerves of the listener. Some extremely high being controls its puppet and directs its gaze here.
"Okay, put it back," Coates said.
Ahriman quickly stuffed the crystal heart back into Harlequin's chest. Ruby blinked and pulled up the skin on her chest like putting on clothes. "This hurts so much," he complained.
"What do you want to say?" Magnus asked.
"I want to say that someone made the bet earlier than us - maybe, more than one person."
Koz stood up, his thin body like a wandering spirit approaching easily Magnus.
"Why did West Gaule send his actors? Why did the map of the Webway, drawn by humans, appear in the hands of aliens? The Emperor knows that map, and he has everything under control."< br>
Curze asked questions one after another, and Magnus stepped back from his press. "I don't believe in coincidences of fate, Magnus."
Magnus frowned and said defiantly: "You are exploring too many secrets, Konrad Curze, your Spiritual energy is still hurting you, and your prophecy is still misleading you. "
"My prophecy? No... this time, I'm not that prophet." Coz sneered, "Look into the brilliant light, I'm no longer the real prophet."
"Clues to the truth? Apart from the rumors of dark prophecies wandering around the borders of the Empire, what else do we have?"
"If this rumor was born in the same year that the Second Primarch disappeared, it is more than just a rumor..."
"You're simply fascinated!"
"Then just think of me...as a pure sailor into the darkness, Magnus," Curze said, laughing. Open up territory for the empire and launch an expedition. Isn't this the mission he gave us? He didn't allow me to kill and unleash my bloody nature. Instead, I listened to you! Insisting on a bloodbath at the borders of the empire, Magnus, this is really turning everything upside down."
"Besides..." He turned around and looked at the tarot cards scattered on the ground.
"I guess - you know how to interpret them, right, Remembrancer?" he said into the empty darkness.
Memories made Cindy being carried out of the darkness by Savita, her face turned pale. This may not just be due to the complex internal environment of the Nightshade.
"Koz..." Cindy said this word, and then immediately stopped, looking like she wanted to slap herself. This is the drawback of inertial thinking caused by calling First Company Commander Sevita by his real name along the way.
"My lord," he cleared his throat, "yes, Harlequin taught me."
"Do it," Curze said, Magnus standing beside him .
The Memoir took a deep breath, mustered up the courage, and first picked up the card closest to his feet.
"The Discord card," he said, "the warp traitor."
"The throne is up there..." Magnus sighed, "We actually started playing cards..."
Cindy clutched the tarot cards, her hands so wet that she was almost sweating. He knelt down and grabbed the second one.
"Major Arcana, High Priest."
Magnus's expression was suddenly filled with uncertainty. "Where's the last one?" he asked.
Cindy picked up the third card and turned its face towards the Primarch.
"The Major Arcana," he said tremblingly, "The Emperor."
"No," Curze suddenly interrupted anyone who might have spoken: "Don't explain."
He immediately turned around, raised his head, and looked directly into Magnus' face.
"You are not the only one who can talk to my father, Magnus, and you are not the only one who has seen through all the disasters and dangers about subspace," Coze said, a trace of pain suddenly flashed across his face, "You are still Such high self-esteem, whether it is due to trust in psychic powers or current opposition... But, you see, the throne is looking at me."
——
"You have checked the records I want to hand over." Cindy was depressed and aggrieved. "I didn't mention a word about colluding with aliens, playing with psychic powers, or quarrels between demigods..."
"But yours Thoughts are very noisy." Sevatar sat calmly across from Cindy, and it was something Cindy had never imagined that a Space Marine could show such a careless expression and make such casual jokes.
"I..."
"The dark secret cannot yet be revealed to the public." Savitar declared without any doubt.
"Okay, okay," the memoirist wrung his hands together, "then you can erase my memory. Really!"
"Hmm..." Saiweita's black eyes began to stare at his head.
“What are you going to do!” The memoirist hugged his precious head.
“I don’t have the right potion on hand, only a knife,” Sevita curled his lips, and the scar on half of his cheek moved, “You can choose to let me destroy your frontal lobe.”
"The throne is upon you!"
"Or..." he said, "The other way is to ensure that you will no longer be associated with the people of the empire."
"Uh..." Cindy shuddered and put her hand across her neck, "What do you mean?"
"Absolutely." Saiveta said, rubbing her fingers gently on the knife. "To be specific, you will never have the opportunity to return to the empire in your lifetime."
"I think I understand what you mean." Cindy's eyes lit up a little.
"Let's talk about it."
"Go to the Holy Grail Expansion with you, right?" Cindy said hurriedly, "And station there?"
< br>
"You guessed it right." Sevita took back the blade, obviously disappointed. "Where did your fear go?"
"Uh...because I longed for more facts, more truth...so I forgot about it?"
"Even if you get the truth , will never be published, or even, you may not find anything?"
"I enjoyed the whole excavation process," the memoirs shrugged indifferently.
Sevita lowered his head and said a few vague words to the communication button on his clothes.
Then he looked up, "Cindy will die of severe stomach disease caused by years of hard work. Give yourself a new name, clerk."
"Cindy..." He repeated the word, "Cindy...Xin...Cintila. Xintila."
(End of this chapter)