This is somthing I've wanted to write for a while now as im a big fan of warhammer, in particular I'm a fan of the nightlords legion and their primarch, Konrad Curze although he might seem a little edgy at times i find him quite well written and I especially enjoy the descent into madness he shows as the Horus Heresy progresses. Any fans of the early Batman who laughs stuff (before they ruin it in my opinion) should definitely check him out.
WARNING since this is a kuroinu fic expect themes of rape and other horrible things, and combining that with Konrad motherfucking Curze expect some extreme gore.
(Disclaimer i own neither kuroinu nor warhammer 40k both properties are owned by their respective creators/owners)
Fortress city of Ken
It's a beautiful morning in the fortress city of ken, the capital of the Queendom of Eostia. In the lower districts peasants work hard to gain their coin, in the markets merchants haggle and bargain relic and food alike, in the high districts snooty nobles go about preparing themselves for another easy day.
For the top of the hierarchical pyramid, Celestine Lucross the High Queen and Goddess Reborn of the Queendom of Eostia and leader of the Seven Shields Alliance However, things are not going well. You see, instead of her usual morning rituals—waking up, dressing in her admittedly risqué clothing, and opening court—Celestine was struck by a vision: a particularly gruesome one at that.
Celestine's vision had started with thunderclaps, each paired with rending lightning that seemed to tear the hazy night sky apart.
A single shadowy figure stood in the growing storm, making out the details of the figure was hard even with the enhanced vision of a high elf, Celestine was unable to pierce the shadowy vail around this mysterious character.
What really drew her attention however was the mountain of corpses that the figure stood upon, each corpse in various stages of decomposition carrying wounds no sane man nor woman could deliver. Orcs, imps, ogres, trolls, gargoyles, harpies, all forms of monsters desecrated.
With a crash of thunder and another streak of blinding lightning, the vision changed. Instead the mountain was made of humans and elves, halflings, and beastkin, it was crowned by Celestine's closest friends, the Seven Shield Princesses.
Waking from her vision, she jolted and screamed. Celestine wiped sweat from her brow and blinked tears from her eyes, biting back the urge to retch.
It had felt as real as any vision she had ever seen, "We must find this monster first." She muttered amidst panted breaths, as her bedroom door burst open with fretful maids and wary guards.
In the wilds outside of the fortress city of Ur
Contrary to the weather in Ken, Ur was currently experiencing a storm similar to that depicted in Celestine's vision.
Rough winds shook trees and rain pelted the ground, thunder roared a harbinger of indiscriminate lightning.
A figure lay there in the storm, impossibly tall and gaunt with a body that paradoxically borders on malnourishment and yet is perfectly fit, with long, tangled black hair crowning an angular and handsome yet gaunt pale face marred with small faded scars and darkened circles under its eyes, all in all, it was the body of a demigod one sculpted by the emperor of mankind to make an imposing assassin, monster, or weapon capable of striking fear into the hearts of his enemies.
For the first time since his death, since his vindication, black eyes blinked open. The Nighthaunter awoke.
And he bellowed a rage filled cry for his sole desire had been denied, his final rest interrupted, he had been proven wrong.
He wept.
Through the storm he cried, lying there in the wilds naked, once the most feared of the primarchs, the monster of Nostramo, the Night Haunter, butcher of untold thousands.
His brothers would mock him if they saw him now; he realized that he couldn't bring himself to care. He had felt it when the blade went through his neck. He had confronted her, the assassin M'Shen as he knew he would. He let her take his head as he knew he would, and for a brief moment he knew peace and absolution. His visions, his gruesome murders, the horrors he and his sons committed, were all vindicated.
And yet here he was.
His sorrow turned to rage, his face contorted into a snarl, his fists clenched tightly, and Konrad Curze bellowed once more, but this was no longer a cry of grief but a roar of rage.
Konrad was broken; he had known this for a long time from the moment he first met his brothers and realized he was a tarnished silver medal among sparkling golden trophies. They mocked him behind his back, of course he knew that; they were perfect, he was poor, Old Curze, a delusional feral.
He didn't care, of course, so sure was he in his visions of the future. Why should he care about perfect Sanguinius when he would fall to Horus? And why should he care about steadfast Ferrus Manus when he would die so soon into the war against his favored brother, no less?
Thinking of his visions hurt his soul he decided quickly raising himself up from the soil he had curled up into during his fit.
'Killing will help' Konrad tells himself 'it always does'
So he wandered in search of prey, uncaring of the rain striking his nude body.
Even though the smell of rain and lightning covered the scent, he could still find the coppery stench of blood and defilement.
It almost brought him back to thoughts of Nostramo, of home where his pod had landed oh so long ago. When he had fought for justice, not to satiate sadistic desires as he did now.
"Enough," he murmured to himself, "those memories only bring pain."
He was close; now he decided, his pitiful reminiscing had driven him closer to the blood and smoke.
A burning village, he thought as his mind switched to the tactical side. All primarchs had been given, from his position on a small overlook, he could count the invaders.
Six green-skinned ork-like creatures, he thought to himself. They were taking turns satisfying themselves by raping the women, who had likely once lived in the village. All the while, they were eating and roasting meat over a large fire, which he suspected was once the men.
For the first time in a long time, Konrad felt sorrow at the loss of life and rage on behalf of humanity. It was a strange feeling and one he shook off quickly. He had killed many more than these ... things likely ever could.
Now knowing the locations of the pigthings and that they were distracted, the Nighthaunter slunk into the settlement on quiet and agile feet—more at home on a cat or a fox than they were on a 11-foot-tall primarch.
He was behind one now the biggest of the group he noted, good likely the boss going off ork logic, and with practiced ease showing his strength ripped its head clean off as though it was a simple every day act. before swiping the axe at the beast's side.
Slipping back into the shadows of a burnt home was as easy as breathing for the demigod. This was his skill after all. Briefly, he calculated the angle and threw the severed head from the ruins with such precision that it splattered into the back of one of the orks' head. "Oi! Who threw that?" The ork he had hit cried, pulling out of the woman it had been raping and turning to see where he had been hit. Seeing only the headless corpse of its boss remained.
"Someone killed Chief Beef!" it screeched, and the rest of the pig creatures heard this. Quickly, they finished their business and approached the corpse with their weapons in-hand.
"Need to find who did it quick", the new biggest greenskin declared, the others quickly agreeing, still visibly spooked from the sight of the strongest of them being killed so silently.
"Think it got thrown from over there" the creature Konrad had hit, pointing to the charred house he hid behind.
"Frig and Stig you two check it out" the new biggest ordered quickly taking charge.
"Yes, boss" they both chimed as they headed to Konrad's position, rounding the corner he chopped one's head off before the other could even react, giving the first just enough time to let out a cry before doing the same to it.
The remaining orcs all ran over to the position, finding only two headless bodies.
'What the fuck is going on' the new boss cried, Konrad took this chance to attack, jumping from his cover and splitting the new boss in half with the axe he had stolen. He spun around in a show of skill and threw the weapon through the next one's head. The last didn't even attempt to attack; he chose to turn and run. It didn't get very far before Konrad pulled the axe from the split head of the last and threw the axe once more, putting an end to the last orc.
Kneeling by the closest dead orc, Konrad peeled its head open, cracking the skull in half using the large hole made by the initial axe strike that had killed it. He then tugged out its brain before consuming it piece by piece.
This was both an ability granted by his father to the primarchs and their sons, allowing them to absorb the memories of those they consumed, and a form of sustenance.
Suddenly, memories of an army of monsters surviving a dark queen's command filled Konrad's mind. These were young Ork scouts, a small scouting party that had disobeyed orders to instead raid and pillage a small frontier village he found himself in.
Walking from behind the burnt building, Konrad must have made quite a sight to the surviving women, whose sanity was still intact, like an angel of death or an omen of mercy.
He killed them quickly, and they accepted it, many of them were already pregnant with monstrous children. Many more were driven mad by the murders of their sons and husbands.
Having looted the orc's for some weapons and a fur loincloth, he got ready to continue his journey. But before he could leave, Konrad was struck with a vision.
Konrad's vision had started with thunderclaps, each paired with rending lightning that seemed to tear the hazy night sky apart.
A single shining figure stood in the growing storm, making out the details of a figure that was hard even with the enhanced vision of a primarch who was unable to pierce the blinding light around a mysterious character.
What really drew his attention however was the mountain of corpses that the figure stood upon, each corpse in various stages of decomposition, bearing wounds no sane man or woman could inflict, human and elf, halfling and beastkin, and crowning it all was who he could only assume to be the ruler's of this land.
Would he be forced to repeat his actions again? Konrad wondered.
Suddenly, with a crash of thunder and another streak of blinding lightning, the vision changed. Instead of the mountain being made of orcs, imps, ogres, gargoyles, hapies all forms of monsters desecrated.
He was filled with hope; maybe he could choose his own future this time.
End of Chapter 1
Please let me know any way to improve, and I'll make the changes as soon as I can. Thank you for reading!
Update log for chapter 1
Uploaded 21st Feb 2024 - At 7:30 am on zero sleep and a dream.
Updated 22nd Feb 2024 - grammar and spelling improvements as suggested in comments and added a update log to help old readers with random updates.