bookbashuk Page 780
Page 780
"It's indeed very similar."
Sevita cautiously stated that while the Necromancers of the cosmos do not have blood, they do leave behind a foul-smelling liquid resembling blood when fighting Khorne.
"But... what is Chaos doing here?"
Sevita looked at Conrad, and saw his Primarch facing the wind, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
If it were anyone else, they would have assumed that the Primarch was deep in thought at this moment, but Severta knew that Conrad was either daydreaming or savoring the taste of Eldar opium.
But I have a bad feeling about this.
....................................
Another Fate Line
Primarch Conrad Cots, the eighth Primarch, was originally conceived by the Emperor as a judge of sins.
Therefore, during that month or so on Terra, the Emperor focused on teaching Koz many things, including justice and conviction.
After the accident, Conrad Coz was thrown to Nostramore by the warp storm.
Nostradamus at that time was filthy, decadent, and utterly corrupt. People in the dark alleys fought like wild beasts, gangs ran rampant, and the rentier class treated human life as worthless.
Even in the chaotic 30k Empire, Nostramore can be undeniably called the moral sewers of human history, a burial ground for justice.
but.
Conrad Coz arrived in Nostramo.
The Grand Inquisitor, the Judge, the terminator of evil and wickedness, has arrived.
Since a single ray of starlight pierced the darkness.
Nothing happened in Nostradamus for five days.
Five days later.
The trial has begun.
At midnight, amidst the torrential rain, in Nostradamo's largest industrial city, a long-abandoned clock struck, accompanied by the death of the head of Nostradamo's largest gang.
A gaunt, ragged monster stood at the highest point of the planet, ominous white lightning flashing around him. To the astonishment of the crowd, he uttered his first words since arriving in Nostramore.
He says,
On the first day, according to the law, anyone who kills more than one hundred people will be hanged or executed by slow slicing; those who refuse will be executed by slow slicing.
A purge even more profound and bloody than the rainy night began.
At first, people were astonished.
The gang then began hunting down the monster—but against the Primarch's immense power, it was all futile; he vanished into the darkness like a ghost, never to be seen again.
Initially, no one listened to him seriously.
But the first person to be subjected to slow slicing had already appeared. People found him kneeling in agony in the very center of his magnificent office, his flesh and blood meticulously peeled back layer by layer, with his white skeleton at the center, and lotus flowers of flesh and blood blooming in layers.
Even more terrifying was that he was still alive when people found him.
The creature with bits of flesh and blood still clinging to its skull trembled, its half-shaved lens staring terrifiedly at the approaching people from its eye socket.
The last words of the first person to be executed were:
"Kill yourself quickly."
Then, bang!
The skeleton crashed down amidst the blood and flesh scattered on the ground, sending gore flying.
Countless similar scenes are unfolding on Nostrama. No one knows how the monster manages to kill so quickly, but when they open the door, all they see are skeletons and corpses.
The first day passed in a flurry of panic, with no knowledge of the rules whatsoever, all within the rain.
The torrential rain washed away the blood, but a faint smell of blood lingered in everyone's nostrils, refusing to dissipate all day.
At midnight on the second day, the monster reappeared beside the abandoned clock. This time, people did not gather; they dispersed in astonishment, but it was all in vain.
Beside the corpse that had been subjected to slow slicing, he uttered his second sentence.
The following day, according to the law, anyone who committed more than fifty murders was to commit suicide by shooting themselves; those who refused were to be whipped to death.
And so the rainy night continued.
The next day, the first suicide occurred. The gunshot rang out so clearly through the rain, bang!
Then, gunshots rang out as frequently as raindrops falling to the ground, and large drops of acid rain pelted the awning with a crisp, loud sound.
The rain is still falling.
At the last moment of the second day, Nostrama's population had decreased by one-tenth. Perhaps some had not yet violated the "law," but in extreme fear, they chose to die.
Countless human fragments, scattered by the whip, blocked the sewers with the water, rodents squeaked, and the water level on the street began to rise.
Some of the men who had been cut in half were still screaming in agony, a sound that sent chills down one's spine; those men had already been judged and sentenced to death.
Day three.
On the third day, according to the law, those who commit more than ten murders shall jump from a building to commit suicide; those who refuse shall be flogged to death.
The rain gradually subsided.
But the sound of the rain was even more torrential.
People have replaced raindrops.
Corpses piled up in the streets, corpses everywhere. In order to avoid being killed by the monster in an extremely painful way, countless people stepped onto the high platform and jumped off in an extremely tense state of mind.
The streets of Nostrama were deserted, littered with the dead. Honest slaves huddled together with rats in the shadows, and old women wept, covering the eyes of their young children.
Monsters, monsters have descended upon Nostramore.
Fourth day.
The rain stopped.
The crowd that had fled in terror and fear gathered again, sparsely at his feet. Some smeared strange writing on their bodies with blood; some raised torches and shouted “Law!”; some knelt in his shadow and wept, begging him to spare them.
But so far, no one has told them what the law actually is.
He simply spoke again.
On the fourth day, according to the law, the murderer was to be burned at the stake; those who refused were to be beheaded.
And so, raging fire replaced the whole world.
Burn, burn, the night of the fourth day is bright, the day of the fourth day is bright, the firelight shines on people's turbid eyes, stinging their eyes and scorching their souls.
So the raging fire just burned on its own.
Like the Grand Inquisitor [Conrad Coates].
The flames raged for a day and a night, and as the fifth day approached, a sudden clap of thunder and a sudden downpour washed everything away.
On the fifth day, the survivors gathered in the square and knelt before him.
He remained standing there, unbiased, his gaze piercing.
On the fifth day, according to the law, your death sentence is commuted, but you are still guilty.
Labor and terror will be inflicted upon you until your sins are washed away—but the guilt is so great that your generation can never atone for it.
Your children will be born guilty, and this guilt will continue until they fully grasp the hilt of justice, until my own eyes witness their virtues.
So, on the fifth day, the Nostramo people began to work.
Under fear.
..............................
【now】
That eccentric guy...
Covered in bloodstains, the armor a dried, dark red, [Korax] spoke softly.
He felt his sharp claws stirring, and he longed to see the corpse hanging high in the sky, reflected in the red sun, dripping with blood.
Khorne's darling was breathing heavily, as if he wanted to rush out and fight at any moment, but his snow-white spine rose and fell with his breath.
To be fair, as the prince of Khorne, Corax's appearance is not too exaggerated. Compared to his brothers, Corax's appearance can even be described as simple.
But the simple and easily overlooked [Corax] is the most bloodthirsty among them, perhaps only Saint Gilles can rival him.
[It's hard to imagine... what you would look like here, Conrad?]
Grand Inquisitor Conrad and Corax have always been at odds, their relationship a mix of enmity and friendship.
Upon arriving on his home planet, Corax, instilled with shadow and slaughter by the Emperor, immediately began to fight. He lurked in the mines, taking pleasure in killing those who passed by.
Primarch #19, [Corax], is known for his bloodthirstiness.
When the Imperial ships found him, the population of Redemption was almost zero, with only a powerful dark psionic energy moving ominously through the planet's complex mines.
All advance teams sent to explore the planet disappeared without a trace. Finally, the Lord of Humanity determined that one of his offspring was on this planet.
The Emperor was greatly disappointed by Corax's actions. He had taught Corax to kill, but he did not intend for him to become a Death Star.
Because of the time constraints of the Great Crusade, the Lord of Mankind did not speak with Corax in person. Instead, he sent Conrad, the child who had been with him at the time, to retrieve Corax.
The High Inquisitor Conrad made a promise before the Lord of Mankind that he would bring back Corax.
No one knows what happened between them, but it's certain that the fight between the brothers was intense.
A few days later, what appeared in people's sight was the battered and bruised [Corax], dragging the heavily injured and nearly lifeless [Conrad], collapsed in front of the Imperial Guard's ranks.
No...don't let him die.
[Corax] spoke incoherently, and then they both collapsed to the ground.
After that, it was only natural that [Corax]'s return to the Empire for further studies was handed over to [Conrad].
It is worth mentioning that when the Empire found Conrad, Nostramore had already become a well-ordered planet. Minerals were produced efficiently, no one committed crimes, no one committed suicide, and people worked diligently, resulting in short lifespans due to overwork and fear.
As a planet that efficiently produces adamantite, Conrad was naturally stamped with the Emperor's mark of competence.
Compared to his other brothers, Conrad preferred black clothing adorned with adamantine and enjoyed trials and the study of the law.
Therefore, for a long time, he was on good terms with Guilliman, who had approached Conrad many times to discuss and study the Imperial Law.
In addition, Conrad occasionally discussed the law with Luo Jia and Magnus.
Conrad also had a close relationship with Mortarion. In fact, during the Great Crusade, not many Primarchs disliked Mortarion, a truly polite, gentle, humble, and good listener.
Conrad originally thought that the Primarch he would get along best with was Guilliman, but then someone so similar to him appeared—
In the bloodthirsty and chaotic [Corax], [Conrad] saw another destiny, the wrong path he might have taken.
It was after Corax returned to the Empire that Conrad awakened his prophetic abilities and, as time went on, became increasingly mired in the quagmire of prophecy.
But initially, perhaps for similar reasons, Conrad earnestly guided Corax, the shrike from the shadows of the mine, on how to integrate into society.
In Conrad, Corax sensed a kind of kinship. The beast was gradually tamed, returned to the human empire, and even learned to clumsily care for his brothers.
This is extremely rare, which means that another possibility originally existed for [Korax], but with the accumulation of deaths on Redemption, that possibility is no longer likely to reappear.
Although he would sometimes still seek thrills at Saint Gilles or Anglon.
until--
[Killiman] ordered [Corax] to kill [Conrad].
By then, Conrad had gone completely insane because of the prophecy and was no longer of any use to the Empire. Because of his fear of Conrad's prophecy, Guilliman personally sent Corax to kill Guilliman's so-called best friend.
In the end, Corax did not retrieve Conrad's body. Instead, he presented Conrad's lungs to Guilliman and promised that he had turned Conrad into a Blood Eagle.
Blood Eagle breaks the ribs of the sacrificer, pulls out his lungs, and arranges them like an eagle spreading its wings to take flight.
But was Conrad really killed?
No one knows.
Only in Corax's unclear, bloodthirsty eyes would something occasionally come to mind.
【sky……】
The bloodthirsty birds were vague, but anyway, [Killiman] told them to mobilize, and he himself went to the battlefield to kill a few, which was quite appropriate.
When did Conrad become so slovenly?