Luthor stiffened his thoughts. He hid his fears, his undeserved shame, and finally even the chaos of his thoughts pressed into his heart.

His heart rate is rising, and a person can pretend to be calm, but the physiological reaction caused by emotions cannot be hidden.

His breath began to fluctuate little by little, and a bitter smell of almonds spread across the tip of his tongue. The world in his eyes began to fade into color, and only the bloody face of the undead remained real.

His only remaining eye hung out of his socket and stared at Luther, his nose and chin long gone, and the ribcage of his upper body shattered to a limit. A sword cannot create such a wound unless the person holding the sword tries to desecrate the deceased.

"Lord Luther?" The corpse greeted softly. "What's wrong with you?"

"I—" Luthor spat out a single word, and jerked the other words back into his stomach.

He heard his own voice at this moment, and that voice shouldn't have been on him. The voice sounded cowardly, and shame mixed with anger crept up and broke through the fence of his fear.

The shock of witnessing the bizarre scene should have alarmed him, but Luthor controlled himself with reason.

Not only that, but he even had other things under control. He took in a breath of air, changed his voice, and when he spoke again, he sounded the same as he had been a few minutes ago.

"—what do you mean by that?" Luthor forced himself to look into the corpse's face and eyes, and he stared, or rather, at the one-eyed, and spoke sharply.

"Is this an illusion, or is it a threat? How could a guest who came to visit do such a rude thing to his host! ”

The corpse laughed, and even though Luthor couldn't catch any smile from that shattered face, he 'felt' it, and not only that, but he even heard it afterward.

The corpse vibrated its throat and spoke again in a way that transcended reason, laughter. Its sound sounded muffled and indistinct, like that of a poisonous snake spitting out a message, or a promethium flame launcher warming up.

Then, in the next second, the pale giant that Luthor had seen in the surveillance footage returned.

The blood-drenched appearance passed quietly, like snow melted by the sun. In the blink of an eye, they disappear without a trace.

If you're lucky, you'll even catch a little bit of water. Unfortunately, you'll have to touch the ground with your hands to see the evidence that snow has ever existed.

And Luthor was absolutely unwilling to touch the ground with his hands.

"Neither, Lord Luther." Carlil said. "Just a confirmation."

"Confirmed? What to confirm? Luthor snapped.

"Acknowledging something that could have a great impact on the Dark Angels is, of course, understandable that you are upset by it. I apologize for the offensiveness of my actions, and in fact, the fact that this could even lead to bloodshed, Lord Luther. ”

Luther's chest heaved a few times, and he used his reason to restrain his emotions. Also, although he won't admit it, Carlil's words are actually another help to bring him back to his senses.

He began to think quickly about Karil's actions and words, thinking about what was hidden behind it, this matter was not difficult for him, he was the chief knight, the great teacher. Moreover, long before joining the Dark Angels, he had commanded many people.

Political tricks and intrigue were no strangers to him, and Luthor frowned, and quickly asked in a calm voice.

"Offensive, potentially bloodshed, what is it that makes you willing to take such a risk to cast that illusion on me?"

"That's not an illusion." Carlil said, but also didn't explain more on the matter.

"You are a man of dignity and principle, Lord Luther, and I admire such a person. So I didn't have an easier way to determine these things. I'm a stupid person, and I like to do things the old stupid way. As it stands, my old tricks are still working. ”

Luthor was silent for a while, a mixed emotion blooming in his eyes. After a few seconds, he spoke again: "How important is this?" ”

"These are the things." Carlil corrected. "They're very important, Lord Luther. We're here with orders from Terra, and you should have known about it. ”

"Come and judge sinners?" Luther asked a little sharply.

"Nope." Carlil smiled, and denied it cleanly. "If that were the case, I wouldn't be talking to you here. It didn't get to that point, but it couldn't go any further."

"Let's get out of the way, Lord Luther. I know the duties and missions of the First Legion, so I'm not going to ask about the things you're responsible for keeping, and I'm not going to try to figure out some clues that I should have known, and this is a concession from the Eighth Legion. ”

"So, what do you need?" Luthor asked cautiously, maintaining a serious posture and expression, his arms crossed and hung over his chest, his chest straight. His voice at the moment was as strong and calm as his own.

He has completely shaken off his previous emotions.

Instead of answering him immediately, Carlil turned his perspective to the bottom of the tower. He couldn't see anything here, no doubt, but he stared at the wooden platform with great fascination. Seconds later, Luthor got an answer.

"Maybe we should go out and talk about it." Carlil said. "It would be better to talk under the watchful eye of the Dark Angel Legion's genetic protogen, what do you think, Lord Luther?"

Luther inevitably felt a hint of apprehension.

——

The lion's footsteps were loud in the corridors of the Indomitable Truth, and he was still wearing the ornate armor, but the burqa was long gone.

The beast glittered in his armor and roared silently. The knights in the winged helmets bowed their heads to their primordial bodies and saluted silently.

Conrad Coetzes followed behind the ship's owner, walking with a calm expression.

The hallway wasn't very bright, and the only light that lit it came from the brilliant light refracted from the portholes. The light that can be captured in the universe itself is obscure enough, and it becomes even more dizzying after the reflection of glass.

They were on their way to the Audience Room, which would normally not be open on the Indomitable Truth. If the warriors within the legion need to report to the lion, they can go to him directly, rather than relay it through the squire, and then have the lion go to the hearing hall to meet them.

Imperial officials may need to use this facility to meet the lions, but only a handful of visitors do so. But, regardless of what happened before, it has now been reactivated.

Under the will of Léon Al-Johnson, it will be the center of a storm of defense and questioning. However, when they arrived at the Audience Hall, Coates found that it was already occupied.

It's Carlil, and an old knight. They stood under the stained-glass windows, in front of the conference table, and it looked like they had been waiting for a long time.

Kotz focused his gaze on the old knight, who was frankly not old, at best a middle-aged man.

His face was weather-beaten, but it was by no means 'old,' and Coetzes called him that way in his heart only because of his eyes.

Those eyes were very tired and depressed at the moment, as if they had foreseen something.

"Luther!" The lion raised his hand, he was greeting, but his voice sounded full of power and authority.

"I have something to ask you—" He approached Luthor and put his hand on his shoulder. He glanced at Carlil, his expression not pretty, and then looked down heavily at Luther's face.

The latter was uncomfortable with his obvious concern for such an occasion, and his eyes were evasive, but the lion did not let Luthor go. He didn't let go, but pushed harder.

"—are you okay?" The male lion asked with a frown.

"I'm fine, Leon." Luthor said. "I just don't understand why we're reopening the Audience Hall, what's worth talking about here? This shouldn't be a place for you and Mistress Koz to talk to each other. ”

"I need a solemn and solemn occasion." The lion replied briefly. "It's a perfect place to be, it carries the power of an oath, and its tiles come from Caliban. I want to wash away the shame here. ”

Luther's heart shuddered, and his worry grew even greater—he looked up at Leon El-Johnson, who was unaware of what was contained in his gaze. The lion had already turned his head and exchanged glances with his brother.

Luthor began to chew on those four words in his heart: Wash away the shame?

What shame?

He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Karil Lohals, who was standing under the stained-glass with his hands behind his back, the distorted light not changing him. He looked at Luthor thoughtfully and nodded.

"Anyway, I have something to ask you." After a moment of silent communication, the lion spoke, his voice still with a strong sense of confidence. "It's a big deal, a lot of people are involved, and with those two things in mind, I think you're the right fit."

"What's the matter?" Luthor asked again. "What's the matter, Leon?"

"Don't worry, let's find the mentors, lieutenants and non-commissioned officers of the six wings one by one, I have a lot to ask them first."

Luther masked his true thoughts with a look of surprise, and the worry began to expand and proliferate, creeping like a cancer cell in his mind.

He couldn't understand why the lion was acting so unusually today, even to do such an unprecedented thing in front of someone who came on behalf of Terra. He could read people's hearts, always to, but he never read the thoughts of Leon El Johnson.

As before, at this moment.

Luthor took a deep breath and nodded, "I'll go and inform, I'll call them all." ”

"Try to be as fast as you can." The lion said majestically. "This matter must be resolved as soon as possible."

Also, three chapters today.

(End of chapter)