Chapter 163 Light and Shadow, Twin Sons
The human mind is a strange thing, it always diverges uncontrollably at inexplicable times and places.
Nicholas knew this truth, but it did not prevent him from thinking in the relatively private space of the airborne pod and the meaning of his existence.
It is a wonderful experience to descend from a height of 10,000 meters and experience the feeling of weightlessness under the resistance of the air in the atmosphere.
Time here is full of dualistic contradictions, both extremely long and fleeting.
The air outside the cabin is burning, and the flames are licking the metal bulkheads, while the power armor made of phlogopite in the cabin vaguely depicts the figure of the messenger of the throne under the flickering signal lights.
who I am?
Whose will am I fulfilling?
Can I fulfill my mission?
He always liked to think about these answers to these questions when he was alone, trying to find a deeper understanding in them.
I am his servant.
I carry out his will.
I will complete my mission, no matter what the cost.
The clouds begin to thin, and the surface reflects the visible outline of the star's thermal radiation.
Nicholas knew that his time had come to fight under a Primarch as a Custodes Shield Captain and as a legatee of the Throne.
Shield Captain, this is a wonderful official position.
In the vast size of the Adeptus Custodes and the numerous complex and overlapping groups, it is only proof that a Custodian has served as the leader of a group at some point in time.
Some of these groups will last for a long time, fulfilling the responsibilities for which they were founded for centuries; many more will disappear without a trace after fulfilling their missions, as if they never existed.
The same goes for the title of Shield Captain, which has no other meaning than to prove that its owner has experience in dealing with mortals.
Yes, mortals are always troubled by reputation and rituals in their short lives. They need these things to calibrate each other and distinguish themselves from the existence of others.
This need is more important than their lives, which means nothing in the eyes of the Custodes.
Whether it is the shield captain or the imperial guard, they are just tools to serve him better after becoming his servant.
The surface of the earth was already approaching, and the changing index on his pupils made him constantly revise his target.
The rocket engine outside the empty head cabin was spraying flames to fight against the air and gravity. The model halberd in his hand, Light and Shadow, was slowly grasped by the golden gauntlet.
boom! boom!
Violent tremors caused the entire cabin to shake.
Nicholas knew that it was the improvised explosives installed in the bilge that were working.
The violent deflagration effect always has to choose one to release its kinetic energy between the moist and cold soil and the tungsten alloy cabin. This time, it unexpectedly chose the former.
The obstruction on the surface was broken again, and the empty head capsule was inserted deeply into the ground like a ground-penetrating bomb.
More than ten meters of soil passed by in an instant, and Nicholas and his empty head capsule bypassed the heavy defenses on the outside of the base and unexpectedly appeared directly above the altar.
boom!
The heavy airdrop pod hit the stone floor, and the earthquake-like shaking made the people around them almost unable to stand still.
Before the exploded cabin door hit the ground, a golden figure flashed past the cabin.
The hateful acolytes in black robes were easily chopped into pieces under the storm of the halberds activated by the disintegration stance, and the alien relic equipment surrounded by the Chaos Lord and his guards in the distance was Nicholas' real Target.
The clash of weapons occurred in the next moment. Strength, a confrontation that is easier to distinguish between strong and weak than words, allowed the sharp edge of "light and shadow" to chop off the enemy's head.
In the underground square filled with blasphemous runes, Captain Nicholas of the Imperial Guard Shields skillfully and ruthlessly displayed his killing skills.
It only took a dozen seconds to harvest the lives of six Death Guards. Just as he and his compatriots had been continuously targeted training on beasts like the Astartes for decades, they were full of efficiency.
The only remaining Chaos Lord on the battlefield looked at the golden figure quietly.
The killing did not shake him, just like Nicholas' height of more than three meters, in his eyes it was just part of the lie.
"Slave of the false emperor! Your efforts, like those of your master, are meaningless in front of the gods."
Said this, the descendant of Mortarion and one of the 27 sons of the Pale Shroud, the Chosen Champion of Nurgle.
At this time, he has completed most of his plan. There is only a thin line between him and the demon, and he can no longer be called a human being.
A muddy and filthy voice came out of his body, and the overlapping voices made people feel dizzy at first listen.
Nicholas felt like his brain was like a bottle of viscous fluid, shaking under the ubiquitous subspace interference.
This is a battle of wills between him and the demon, and the spiritual invasion and corruption begins the moment Nurgle's Chosen speaks.
The battle begins from this moment and is no longer limited to the realm of reality that Nicholas is good at.
The Custodes are essentially not afraid of subspace contamination. This comes from their genetic debugging and modification that they have started since childhood and are more thorough than the Astartes.
Their spirits were almost completely separated from the subspace. Since the transformation was completed, they almost no longer dream for the rest of their lives, which is a symbolic manifestation of this ability.
But nothing is absolute. When the enemy he faces is an evil existence that is only a thin line away from the Demon Prince, Nicholas's spiritual defense also appears to be in danger.
The adamantine foundations began to waver under the corruption of the power of Chaos, and the foul waves of the etheric ocean swept against Nicholas's defenses.
The sting of the broken spiritual boundary every moment, and the malicious mocking eyes from the other party were squeezing the remaining will in his soul.
He clearly felt that his memory was being searched and plundered, and the spiritual wealth that only belonged to him was being turned over and trampled wantonly.
Without the Sisters of Silence as a partner, the Custodes were so passive in the face of Chaos. He could only destroy the enemy before he was completely destroyed.
"Ha! Do you like studying potions? This is the opposite of a loving father. Your soul should be the collection of a loving father."
Under the dual alternating attacks of reality and spirit, the Chosen God of Chaos said so with extra strength.
The two men's weapons were approaching, and the confrontation of strength and spirit tested Nicholas' will all the time.
"You can completely let go of yourself and understand the truth of the universe! As long as you are willing to embrace the gift of a loving father, even your brother who died in the trial will not be unable to return to you..."
The devil's whispers surrounded Nicholas' ears, and the stolen memories became a breakthrough for it to try to knock Nicholas down.
The Shield Captain struggled to maintain his will, and while rejecting the pressure and temptation of Chaos, he interrupted the other party's words angrily.
"Shut up, evil spirit! You are of no use to me in seducing me!"
"Really? Think about it again? As long as you are willing, many regrets in your life can be made up for..."
Nicholas smiled and suddenly stepped back. The "light and shadow" of the halberd in his hand rotated, blocking the vicious rays shot by Nurgle God's Chosen, and then raised his head to look at the opponent's ugly face:
"Do you really know my memory? Or are you just a thief who steals other people's memories?"
The sudden change in tone and wording made the devil feel stunned, and Nicholas's completely different temperament at this time made him think of some possibility.
"Soul Twin..."
It read out its thoughts subconsciously, but before it could finish speaking, it fell into the storm of Nicholas's martial arts that were completely different from before.
Yes, two souls, one body.
In other words, what should have been a complete soul was accidentally split into two incomplete existences in the mother's body during the ten-month pregnancy. This is the true state of Nicholas and his frail brother.
They were supposed to be one person, and only by becoming one person could they stand out in the cruel selection of the Forbidden Army.
Both he and his brother knew this clearly, and it was only before the final trial that the physically weak brother chose the destined sacrifice.
This is a secret that belongs to Nicholas alone. Apart from himself, only Trajan, the commander of the imperial army who selected him from the crowd, knows it.
From then on, Nicholas was the same person, a two-faced soul.
He kept moving around within the large and complex establishment of the Throne Court, playing completely opposite roles among different organizations and comrades-in-arms.
Most of the time Nicholas is on the light side:
He was diligent, friendly, tenacious, and kind, and was praised by countless brothers who worked with him, and eventually became a glorious Shield Captain;
The dark side of Nicholas is much simpler. During the long millennium dominated by his brother's personality, he only had a hidden professional resume.
That is the Throne Court's prisoner for all demons - the Shadow Wardens: The Demon Warden.
The rhythm of the battle began to change since then, and the devil's whispers could no longer penetrate Nicholas's mental defenses.
And the warden's unique martial arts skills are like a butler's ability to untie an ox, crushing the devil's resistance with overwhelming force.
This is a skill that belongs to the dark side of Nicholas, and it is also a manifestation of his daily relationship with the devil for thousands of years.
"Keep talking? Say something? Anything?"
During the fight, he casually picked up the body of a defender with his toes to block the evil energy shot by the demon, and then waved the halberd called "Light and Shadow" that corresponded to his life.
With just one blow, the folding shield on the demon's shoulder armor shattered.
Nicholas, who didn't hold back, cut off its arm from the base of the dark green shoulder armor.
It is no longer possible for Nurgle's Chosen to win with only one arm, and defeat is only a matter of time for it.
Nicholas, who was so rested, made the above-mentioned joke to the embarrassed devil.
The status of each other was exactly the same as a few minutes ago:
As a blessing or a misfortune, the reversal at this moment was full of black humor and irony in Nicholas's eyes.
But the demon was not as panicked or violent as he imagined. It abnormally put away its anger and looked at Nicholas in front of him and said:
"I may die here, but my loving father's will will not be changed. Do you remember your mission here? You are destined to fail."
"Um?"
After receiving the reminder, Nicholas immediately looked at the device behind the demon, where his original target was.
The artifact that could not be traced back to any civilization was standing quietly in the center of the altar as when he first arrived.
But the bottle placed on the equipment wheel that symbolized Nurgle's plague, the green liquid inside was trembling slightly, as if something was about to wake up.
"What have you done?" Nicholas asked the demon.
"You are all late! The teleportation process has been started long before you arrived! You are destined to be unable to stop the glory of the Lord of Life from spreading on this land!"
Said the Chosen of Nurgle.
His ascension to the demon may be doomed to fail, but the mission entrusted to him by the loving father is about to be completed.
The fact is just as it said;
After a long period of preparation, the preparation work of the relic equipment has been completed.
The program in the equipment is now being started unstoppably. The dim metal inlays on the ground turned out to be the pipeline for its energy input. At this time, it also became red and hot under the huge energy torrent.
The roulette in the center of the huge equipment began to light up, and the surrounding space was no longer stable under the halo of the Orpheus star map lit on the roulette, and it seemed that the barrier of time and space could be broken at any time.
Nicholas took a step in that direction and was immediately stopped by the Chosen of Nurgle.
"Don't even think about passing! The will of the loving father is unshakable! You know! Everything is allowed! Everything is false!"
As the demon roared, the dark green psychic wave spread from its feet. The dead Death Guards and Acolytes of Hate around Nicholas were revived by its power and turned into zombie-like existences, firmly blocking his way.
What to do! It should be a quick battle!
Watching the relic equipment being activated, the rune symbolizing ultra-long-distance transmission began to light up, but Nicholas, who could not stop it, was filled with anger and regret.
He almost wanted to give up his reason and fight the demon in front of him to the death in order to stop the operation of the equipment, but how could the opponent who had been planning for a long time give him this opportunity?
Just when he was anxious about the impending failure of the mission, a new sound appeared on the dome of the square where he came from!
A heavier empty cabin fell from the gap opened by Nicholas, and after the hatch opened, it was Calvin's tall figure that could not be ignored.
The relic equipment had already started to operate at this time. Calvin, who had no time to chat, only had time to give a positive look when passing by Nicholas, and then walked towards the equipment.
The plague bearer zombies with diseases blocked him one after another, but turned into ashes under the hammer he swung casually, and even Nurgle's Chosen God could not stop him for a second longer.
But Calvin was still a little late. When he stood in front of the device and reached for the plague bottle on the operating table, the violent energy fluctuations had already surrounded the device and him standing next to it.
In a hurry, Calvin threw the bottle at Nicholas, and then disappeared in the teleported energy field amid the exclamations of the Grey Knight and Nicholas who came later...
Two-in-one, update and vote. Last month's grades were poor, and I was deeply shocked. I am so miserable!!!