When Malcador left the inner room, he saw Hades and Sevatar talking.
Seeing Malcador coming over, Hades raised his eyes and smiled at the old man. The swaying sense of oppression that enveloped the entire hall quickly subsided.
Sevatar wanted to stand up and salute, but was stopped by Malcador with a look. The old man slowly picked a seat and sat down, looking at Hades and Sevatar with his deep eyes.
Hades raised his eyebrows and looked in the direction of the inner room, while Sevatar also looked at the inner room uneasily. Malcador ignored their actions and sighed.
“I underestimated how hard it would be to communicate with them.”
Hades blinked. "At least Mortarion himself has ill will towards you. The fact that he can sit down and talk calmly means that he has tried his best."
When facing the Imperial Regent, Sevatar was much more reserved. He looked silently at the old man, the judge sent by the Empire.
After hearing what Hades said, the old man sighed again. He thought of Leman Russ, a smart boy who was at least willing to listen to him.
And Mortarion and Konrad Curze... they were either citing some ridiculous examples to refute the other side or beating up Malcador.
The position of Regent of the Empire is not easy to hold. When Malcador stands in this position, it is destined that most of the Primarchs will be at odds with him. Few Primarchs can truly understand mortals.
Malcador calmed down. The quarrel between the two Primarchs was really a headache. He spoke up and put things back on track.
"How are you discussing how to deal with the Night Lords?"
He was responded with a teasing look from Hades and a shocked look from Sevatar.
Hades said jokingly,
"I guess they didn't discuss any substantive content or measures?"
Hades said as he glanced at the inner room again. Because of Malcador, he had put away the Black Domain and now could not observe the movements of the three Primarchs.
Malcador looked at Hades calmly. The old man suddenly realized that this kind of provocative cold humor had also appeared in Mortarion and was used by the Primarch against him.
"They are blinded by their own personal emotions and it is difficult for them to calm down and handle the affairs of the Legion."
Hades looked at Malcador.
"It is understandable. For most of the Primarchs, their emotions obviously take priority over other things."
Sevatar remained silent on the other side. From the previous conversation, he had realized that the Death Guard commander did not think highly of the Primarch - which was quite rare.
As far as he knew, the only Space Marine similar to Hades in front of him was Astelan of the First Legion.
But because of this attitude, Astelan, the Space Marine, did not do well in the Legion... And Hades became the second-in-command in the Death Guard Legion... He even had the power to correct the mistakes of the Primarch...
In Hades, Sevatar saw another way to keep the Legion functioning properly... but he didn't dare to slide in that direction... it was unthinkable to go against the will of the Primarch.
Hades took this as a common occurrence. In the conversation just now, Sevatar could realize that Hades was deliberately leading him astray...
Sevatar swallowed his saliva. If...
The wound on his chest ached slightly, but a self-deprecating smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Opposite him, Hades and Malcador had already started talking about some very strange topics regarding the Primarch, but in the end Malcador coughed and changed the subject.
"So did you finally reach a consensus, or are you still the same as your Primarch?"
Sevatar spoke hoarsely,
"The Night Lords... are willing to accept punishment."
Under the hood, Malcador's politician-like face smiled.
"At least this meeting wasn't a waste of time."
The old man looked at Sevatar with encouragement, motioning him to continue.
"The Night Lords are willing to go to those star regions that are difficult to conquer, and exchange their blood for forgiveness..."
Sevatar turned his gaze towards Hades. The Death Guard was also looking at him indifferently. There was no light in his black pupils, which were dark and terrifying.
"The Corps accepts a reduction in logistical resources."
Sevatar continued, smiling like the smile of a corpse being forcibly pried open by hand.
"At the same time, the Midnight Lords are willing to use the adamantium resources of the home planet to compensate the Death Guard and reach a long-term agreement."
"… These punishments will continue until the Legion proves its loyalty to the Empire once again with sacrifice, and the specific time will be determined by the Empire."
Malcador was silent, and the old man asked Hades seriously,
"You came up with all this?"
The inevitable consequence of sending the Night Lords to areas with high intensity of war and reducing material supplies is that the legion will quickly shrink in size in a relatively short period of time.
Malcador did not know the specific situation within the Night Lords Legion. In the old man's opinion, this was already a very severe punishment.
As long as the first two are carried out, all legions will be able to see what price the Night Lords paid for Konrad Curze's madness -
Although Malcador was not sure why the Death Guard was obsessed with Nostra's adamantium mines, Nostra and the Death Guard were far enough apart that they could seek resources within their own star system.
And Sevatar looked at Hades. Did they seem to be in a confrontation
Sevatar had no idea how much Hades knew about the Night Lords. These harsh measures, rather than punishment, were more like a chance for the Night Lords to reshuffle.
Hades, what are you thinking
Nostram, which was the source of soldiers for the Midnight Lords, had long since betrayed the Legion. The corrupt nobles took control of the planet again. They left those people with high moral character for their own families and sent a large number of criminals to the Midnight Lords as the source of soldiers for the Legion.
After those criminals become Night Lords, they will use their identities as Space Marines to profit for the families they are affiliated with on their home planet.
By the time Konrad Curze became aware of this, the Legion was already filled with violence and depravity.
Sevatar suggested that Konrad Curze eliminate these low-moral criminals, but the mentally disturbed Primarch refused him.
So they watched soberly as the legion gradually decayed...
This is punishment, for it will inevitably result in bloodshed, and the Night Lords will be despised by the Empire for a long time, watching their legions shrink step by step and spend every late night with shortages of supplies.
But this is also... some hope that Sevatar... no, Konrad Curze can completely manage the Legion.
If it were only the first two punishments, Sevatar would still think that Hades might simply want to punish them.
But the third punishment is aimed directly at the home planet of the Night Lords, Nostrum.
If the Legion wants to supply the Death Guard with large amounts of adamantium, it must regain control of its homeworld...
Even... the time Hades proposed for punishment is almost enough to clean out the rotten flesh of the Legion...
Sevatar felt his brain trembling.
This Death Guard, Hades, what does he know? Why does he know so much about the Night Lords? Or is this just a coincidence that he's overthinking
And if everything was as Sevatar thought, then why would this Death Guard who was injured by his father help them
Hades, what on earth was he...what on earth was he thinking? !
Sevatar couldn't figure it out. The only thing he couldn't understand was Hades' stance and position. All he could do was think about how to keep the Midnight Lords when Hades proposed every punishment measure.
He had no idea what Hades was doing, he could only tell that Hades's ill will towards him was not so obvious.
Perhaps he had been staring at Hades for too long, and Hades smiled at him naturally, a smile that was obviously much more natural than Sevatar's... Sevatar rarely saw this kind of smile in the legion, because most of the experienced old warriors did not smile.
Hades smiled and didn't look at Sevatar again. He turned his head to look at Malcador and spoke,
"Does the Empire allow this kind of punishment?"
Malcador paused.
"If both legions agree, then the Empire will recognize the legitimacy of the agreement."
But... why did the Night Lord agree to such a cruel punishment without even a struggle
Malcador frowned and questioned Hades with his eyes, but Hades still had that cheerful expression of "I know nothing".
"Trust me, Lord Malcador."
Hades said briskly, his pupils bottomless.
Hades smiled. In the eyes of outsiders who didn't know the inside story of the Midnight Lords, this would be a very harsh punishment imposed by the Empire on the Midnight Lords, as a punishment for Conrad Curze's unauthorized use of swords against his brother.
The Corps will be rapidly reduced in size until the stipulated time limit is reached.
For Sevatar and Konrad Curze (assuming he is awake), this is a chance for them to cleanse their legion, but the process is also accompanied by a lot of blood and pain.
As if he was afraid that they might have the wrong idea, Hades proposed a third point that seemed vague.
The Night Lords could use the excuse of war and reducing supplies to consume those scum warriors, while also conquering more territory for the empire.
When the stipulated time limit arrives, the Night Lords can gradually restore the size of their legion, and in the future when the home planet is regained, the legion will obviously become healthier.
But if that was all Hades thought of, he would be a little too merciful—
Hades would not be such a person. In a situation where there is an obvious conflict between the Death Guard and the Night Lords, the first thing he has to ensure is that future Night Lords will not threaten the Death Guard.
Hades's game is not over yet.
His final step is hidden in the duration of the punishment. When these scarred bats are about to complete their atonement and gain a new life, they will find that -
The great rebellion began.
Of course, this assumes that the Heresy began around that time, but even if it was delayed, the Night Lords would not have restored their legions so quickly.
By then, the Night Lords will be the weakest of the great rebellion forces, and even if they rebel, they will not pose a threat.
Hades did not leave them no way out. If the Night Lords really repented, they could just retreat back to their home planet Nostram. After all, Nostram was remote enough.
Hades smiled, giving his kind smile.
"I'm glad that my conversation with Sevatar went well and my cousin understood my good intentions."
Yay!
3.2k words today
There may be more, but don't wait, your hands will hurt.
The big group has exploded. I will create another group with 500 followers tomorrow. I won’t edit it today.
There is still one ordinary book lovers' full subscription group left.
As for why the group exploded... I hope everyone will be careful with what they say and do, and why did a bunch of people who haven't read my books join in and post their own designs? They can go to other specialized Warhammer groups.
(End of this chapter)