My name is Bellos von Sharp, one of the accounts of the Eighth Legion. I've been walking with ghosts for years.

For an eccentric person like me, it was quite pleasant. However, if you look into the origins, I am afraid it can be traced back to a mundane Terra late at night, who found me at the bottom of the Hive Capital and asked me through the Forbidden Army if I really wanted to leave Terra.

I agreed.

I shouldn't have lived so many years after the end of reunification, like those vanishing thunders, I should have died in some corner. But I was his standard-bearer after all, and from the beginning of the first war, I stood behind him.

I have seen him fight alongside the Demonic Machado, and I have seen Konstantin Valdo lead the Praetorian Army to tear our enemies apart. I waved the flag for the heroes behind their backs.

So, I always felt that the only reason why I was able to live so long was because I witnessed too many heroes. Their brilliance has influenced me and made me live a long life.

That's the truth, I'm the one hiding behind the hero's brilliance. I'm afraid that I killed less than one-tenth of them, but it's ridiculous that some painters actually painted me in the center of the painting during the commemoration, standing side by side with them.

To get back to the point, this longevity was a pain in the face for me - anyway, after a complicated series of bargains and the snorts of the Janissaries, I immediately began to pack my bags and prepare to leave Terra by boat.

I have never left this planet, I was born here, and I will probably die here. But I didn't think much about it at the time, I just wanted to meet the ghosts as soon as possible.

It was only natural that I arrived in Nostramo, where I was introduced, and I met the Lord of the Blades, the Lord of the Night, Conrad Coz himself.

Frankly, I was shocked, and I think I must have looked ridiculous at the time, otherwise he wouldn't have laughed so much after a short thought.

During the Great Expedition, the Midnight Blades had three expeditions, and I was assigned to one of them. This one is special, but I didn't know the reason for it until a while.

It had been nearly two weeks since I had met Carlil Lohals, and I had followed Yago Sevitaleon to observe the Nightblades in action. All the details fascinate me, I fought for reunification, and now, I realize that they are too.

But the way the Nightblades fought was quite foreign to me, and at times, I almost felt like they were deliberately slaughtering and enjoying the bloody pleasures. In order to verify this, I have deliberately looked into everyone's eyes after many battles.

From the eyes of the dead who were as black as ink, I found only peace.

Then I realized that it was just a means—and something I didn't understand yet, so I started to wait. Time passed, and I finally saw the true use of this method.

Deterrence.

Humans are terrified, and the Nightblades have exhausted themselves into the embodiment of fear.

They are not proud of it, nor do they covet this dark pleasure of dominating the lives of others. They do this with one purpose, to cause as few casualties as possible, and if they can take a planet without a single soldier, they will even celebrate it for a day.

Ah, speaking of celebration, may Keg rest in peace.

Ironic, though? The most brutal of these legions was actually the most merciful of the Astartes. Of course, my statement may be biased, after all, I have been walking with them.

I have published a lot of books, most of them about Yago Sevitaleon. I'm not deliberately promoting an idol that only exists in words, creating a legend of hypocrisy.

Yago Sevitaleone is one of the heroes in his own right, I am sure of it, and I have proof, though it cannot be presented.

In the beginning, I published books about him just for fun, but later on, I started to really write about things that I cared about, like my observations of Conrad Coetzes, my knowledge of Carlil Lohals.

I saved these manuscripts, and I will save them when I finish this one. At this very moment, I am sitting in an underground shelter in Nostramo, writing these words in my notebook.

I knew in my heart that these manuscripts would never be published, but I would write them anyway, and in a narrated tone.

I'm a storyteller after all, and that's my calling. Although I did a terrible job, I wrote something almost uncoherent, and literary critics even said that I didn't know anything about writing. There is neither structure nor body, and it is like a dream.

I admit it, and I agree with them, otherwise why would I spend money on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses when I leave Terra? I want to look at least like a narrator.

But

God, whoever you are, if you're reading this manuscript, I want you to know one thing.

I had a dream last night.

I can't forget it, but I can't mention it to anyone. It's terrifying.

I dreamed of blue light screaming in the dark realm where the stars were extinguished, and my voice was full of pain. A pitch-black flame followed, gnawing at it in the dead silence of the universe.

The blood-blue starlight spreads out over the pitch-black curtain like broken gems, but if you look closely, you will see that these so-called gems are all ugly. It is a bloodsucking worm or a poisonous insect that specializes in biting people, and its eyes are full of greed.

They only existed for a split second before they dissipated, completely reduced to ashes by the flames, but I was sure they saw me.

At the same time, the screams of the blue starlight began to become more and more intense. I can't describe the sound at all, if I had to describe it, it would be like the noise of hundreds of storm birds streaking overhead at the same time.

It will make you wonder if you have a perforated eardrum, and you will not know if you still have hearing until it has completely dissipated and you and the person next to you greet each other with a pale face.

But I don't have such a pale-faced friend to greet me.

Last night, the first time I woke up from my dream was 1:23 a.m. on Standard Terra, my bed was completely soaked, and I looked into my hands.

Do you know what I see, dear reader?

I saw my bones and blood vessels come to life under the almost completely transparent skin. I unfastened my clothes and looked at my body, and so did it.

A sudden premonition rose from the bottom of my heart, I don't know where it came from, it said a lot, but I only understood one.

It said, "My time is near."

I don't understand what this means, maybe it's a death bulletin? I don't have an answer, and I don't have it now. I heard that, and then I fainted again, and saw the blue light and the black flames again.

This time I realized something, because those black flames were all too familiar to me. Anyone, once they have seen it, will never forget it again.

But what exactly is this vision that appears in my dreams?

I had a question, and it was answered right away.

A person, no, no, a . Something, appeared in front of my eyes.

It's not an illusion, it's something that really exists. It heard my voice on the other side of the universe, and it came to my head and spoke to me in my dreams.

It was covered in blood, but it was still smiling.

"This is the process in which your god is slaughtering me, Bellos von Sharp. Hello first meeting. ”

It greeted me kindly, but I felt chills all over my body - I had never believed in any god in my life, and what was it?

"I'm afraid I can't tell you the answer to this question, you're going crazy." It groaned in reply, as if it knew what I was thinking.

I looked at its face, and the never-ending change of light slowly turned into a face on a recruitment poster I had seen before, an officer, from the Ministry of Military Affairs.

He posed valiantly on the poster, inviting the subjects of the Empire to join the auxiliaries. And this thing became his form, and took the same pose.

The recruiter smiled at me.

"I've chosen an image you can accept to talk to, Narrator."

He rubbed his hands together, his white gloves soaked with blood. His seven orifices were bleeding, and shards like starlight were pouring out of his throat.

"I'm sorry to come without permission, but I need to borrow your mind to avoid him. I shot myself in the foot, you know? This little world you live in—"

He narrowed his eyes, and seemed to crack open his bloody mouth with pleasure, and I saw the withered yellow teeth tremble gently like jagged teeth. He stretched out his right hand and made a gesture of pity.

"—is being overrun by a storm of chaos." He chuckled. "It's a good thing to get me around the curtain briefly, but he can too."

He spat out a mouthful of blood and wiped his mouth nonchalantly. I saw his flesh trembling, I stared at the face, and some of the words I had heard in the past, and some of the stories he had told us by the fire came to mind at this moment.

It must be an evil spirit, and an old evil spirit, I thought. It must have been devouring flesh and blood for a long time, thirsting for life.

"That's right." He coughed in approval. "I'm ancient, I'm an evil spirit—ah, it hurts, he's catching up with me."

He was half-kneeling, weakly clutching his neck. The clothes on his back began to swell, and a broken crown broke through his clothes and flesh, and blood appeared.

It appears to be made of ore or thorns, and its surface glows a dark red. Then, a pale bony hand jerked out of the crack in the recruiter's body.

The hand pressed against the edge of his body, and began to gradually carry his master out as he screamed. It was so terrifying, I thought I would see a monster, but I didn't expect to see a familiar person.

"Of course you know him! Idiot! ”

The recruiter laughed contemptuously at me. He screamed and laughed, and I couldn't understand how he did it. But I'm not in the mood to speculate anymore, because I've seen Karil Lohals.

Wearing the face of a skeleton, the unjust soul was guarded, and the dark mist spread from his bloodied feet, creating a horrific slaughter in my dreams.

He looked at me and sighed slowly.

"Stand farther away." He said with a slight warning. "Don't let yourself get into these nightmares, Belloth."

"Don't listen to him, come here, narrator! Don't let him tell you what to do! People have to have free will, free will, you understand?! ”

The fleshy recruiter yelled at me as he lay on the ground, and the flesh had fallen from his face.

For some reason, I think he's weak, and isn't that the fact that he's no longer able to maintain his human form is the best proof?

It gave me courage, and I spat on him – standing behind Instructor Carlil, of course, as always.

Alas, I wish I had a flag in my hand at that time.

"Oh, you mortal of great courage!"

The recruiter burst out laughing harshly again, flesh dissolving in my saliva and bones exposed. He was still calling, still trying to persuade me.

"Come and witness this battle of the gods, Belloth! You won't regret it, this slaughter show is definitely worth the ticket price! We're in your brain, and we're going to fight in a way you can understand, so you'll see me mutilated by him, slaughtered by him! You will see all the worst punishments in human history! ”

His words were crazy, but Instructor Carlil seemed unmoved. I saw him step on the recruiter's head and then stop moving.

For at least a few minutes, he didn't say a word, just stared somewhere through the empty eye sockets of the skull mask. I followed his gaze, but there was nothing but pure nothingness.

It was a long moment before he bowed his head and spoke to the thing, his voice making me shudder, and I could barely think he was the 'instructor' I knew

"What are you going to do with Nostramo?" I heard Instructor Carlil ask.

"Doing nothing, old friends I rarely see."

He replied weakly, the smile in his voice still clear.

"You should ask yourself what you did to it, you chased me around the galaxy at all costs, but did you ever wonder why I didn't just run back behind the Veil? Your power has spread now, and you will reap the consequences. ”

Instructor Carlil seemed to smile under his mask, and with a wave of his arm, the spirit poured out of the void and began to gnaw at the recruiter's body, screaming like never before - I didn't understand why he was in pain until I remembered his words.

They were in my brain, and they were playing out the fight in a way I could understand.

So, if I wanted to see the truth, what would I see?

The thought just started to take root in my mind, and my body took an uncontrollable step forward.

I immediately woke up, and Instructor Carlil looked at me, but didn't say anything, and the thing under his feet laughed again, deliberately putting on a pitiful look.

"Leave me alone, huh? Friends? You can't kill me, and it's just a waste of time to continue torturing me and bleeding me. Go back to Terra, if it's too late, you may be doomed."

"Then I'll make the whole galaxy burn." Instructor Carlil said. "If the future of humanity is completely cut off, how can anything else live? I'll kill until the galaxy is empty, and then beyond the galaxy. ”

"Oh, don't put on a show, you won't do that. I didn't do anything to your anchor again. ”

"Are you going to make a bet?" Instructor Carlil asked softly.

Over the years, I've become accustomed to the whispers of the Nightblades talking to each other, sneering, and swearing at each other. But I rarely heard such a tone, and not even in those terrible eighteen years, I had never seen him speak to anyone like that.

I was stunned, and the thing with the recruiter's skin on it seemed the same.

"I know what you're going to do, you want to hold me back with yourself so that your plan will succeed, and the Nostramo will be shattered and the Eighth Legion will be completely destroyed. But I don't like that. ”

He smiled again, this time so obvious that even I could hear the merciless smile.

"So you only have one choice. Now, take your pick. ”

A burning black flame began to appear under his feet, dusty and hanging upside down, and I couldn't take my eyes off the flames, I couldn't understand anything at the time, but I still remembered everything I saw, including what appeared in the flames.

I saw the burning Terra without a doubt, and then I heard the recruiter's voice again, only this time, his voice had changed.

It became muffled, as if it had been echoed from eternity. I looked at him and saw a mirror in which the man had no face, like a dummy or a model, but he could breathe and spit out patches of white mist that came from nowhere.

"You're not going to do that." I heard the dummy say this in a firm tone.

Instructor Carlil's bones, half of which had dissipated into flames, were indifferent. His voice was silent, dead and cold.

"Why don't you give it a try? You can see the past or the future, you can see the threads that stretch out from the present and see where things are going, so try to read my heart, the Great Lord of Change. ”

"You can't give up this little hope!" The dummy in the mirror roared.

"You're just as stupid an idealist as he is, you should leave Terra and go back to Nostramo, you should come to your homeland and tear this world to shreds with your own hands! Do what I planned, you foolish god! ”

"Stop pretending." The skeleton said calmly. "You're not angry, you're just pretending, trying to make me think I'm in control, Tzeentch, while you still can."

I don't know how long the stalemate lasted, because my mind was already in disarray—in my memory, I think they talked longer and revealed more words, but that's all I can remember.

Ah, yes, there's one last frame.

I saw the mirror shatter, and the dummy fell to his knees, ripped open his chest with both hands, pulled out a large cloud of starlight, and crushed it in front of us.

He dissipated, and the sound of the wind howling as he left will never be forgotten by me.

I know, it's a victory, and once again I've witnessed a victory brought by a hero.

Then I woke up and saw a rain of fire falling outside my window.

It's war, it's been five hours since someone started a war against Nostramo, but I know we're going to win.

We're going to win.

There is one more chapter

(End of chapter)