Chapter 129: Blood Mist Permeates

The Empire is currently in a precarious state.

Although this has been said for nearly a thousand years, it is never too late to say it, for the Empire is indeed in a precarious state. There are the old enemies of Chaos, the Norsca Pirates, the Greenskin Orcs charging out from Black Fire Pass, the various Undead entrenched in the south of the Empire, and the Chaos evildoers, bandits, and even mysterious Forest Elves growing within the vast imperial territory.

The rule of the Empire is often like a corrupt giant, watching its own liver spots with helplessness, yet continuing to walk forward with strength. Because although the Empire is near decay and collapse, its vast population, its powerful war machines, and their Blood Covenant Dwarfs are supporting its skeleton.

No matter how the flesh rots, as long as their skeleton—those endless imperial Humans—does not fall, and as long as the Elector Counts and the Empire as a whole do not collapse, the Empire will continue forever.

At least, that is what the people of the Empire currently believe.

The invasion of the Chaos Warband, which was once closest to the End Times, ultimately returned empty-handed before the Wall of Faith. The high wall standing in the Northland blocked the invasion of Chaos, but to another extent, it also blocked the Kislevites.

Those warriors who stood on the front lines of the Chaos war in the ice and snow were naturally blocked outside the Wall of Faith by the imperial people, causing Kislev to nearly be destroyed. Even though the aftermath has now become history, the Kislevites will absolutely never trust the Empire's promises again.

Yet, they pride themselves as children of the Bear God Ursun, constantly dedicating their blood and lives for Mother Kislev. Whether they are willing or not, objectively speaking, they also forever support the existence of the Empire. They are the Empire's massive defensive line against the northern Chaos Warband. And although the Empire's coastline is repeatedly subjected to looting and invasions by various Norsca Pirates, they are likewise maintaining their own survival.

The Empire can often judge the strategic strength of the other side and respond and change accordingly. For a suspicious trade region like Marienburg, the Empire has not taken any drastic actions at present.

After all, for the Empire today, being able to stand for a thousand years in this precarious world is a matter of great satisfaction.

However, the various news coming from the outside world has clearly placed a huge burden on the Empire's intelligence system.

The initial source of intelligence was a year ago. People claimed that a strange organization had appeared in the far north of Norsca, in the region known as the Chaos Wasteland. The people of this organization claimed that they could bring a better life to the Norscans while simultaneously warring against the Sea Elves.

People did not realize at first what this strange organization was, nor did they think such an organization could accomplish anything major. Some crazed wizards would create organizations in various places every few days.

You also don't know why wizards' heads are always filled with strange, bizarre theories, but they are just able to feel that their achievements are higher than everyone else's.

And often, organizations created by such wizards fall into strange disputes and choices. Then, amidst endless internal friction, verbal abuse, and framing each other with flowery language and conspiracies, they gradually fall apart in such an environment, and there is no more sound. This is the most common ending for wizard organizations.

Although this wizard organization looked unprecedentedly strong, the Empire did not really take such a slogan-shouting organization seriously. A large organization needs at least decades or hundreds of years of operation to become an organization with some slight reputation within the Empire. This is only the first step of starting out.

And the major factions standing in this world, even the youngest, have hundreds of years of history. This is nowhere near that.

But the various messages that followed caused the Empire's intelligence department to suffer several setbacks in a row.

First of all, the Star-Bearer is not a Human organization at all; they are a proper Elf banner. Although it is unknown why they pride themselves on being the most orthodox inheritors and Human culture, their citizens are indeed all Elves. However, why they call themselves Human remains a complete mystery.

Then there is the fact that the Phoenix King's level of care for this organization is far from ordinary; perhaps even when the Elves fought the ancient war against the Dwarf Peaks, there was no such progress in material transport as there is now. Even by the middle and late stages, the Silent King Orivien simply stopped hiding it and took the fleet directly overseas to trade with the Star-Bearer's Golden Fleet.

Some claim they are trading Elves for Elves, but this sounds like madness, so it is not considered. However, most people believe that the Star-Bearer is an organization specifically created by the Phoenix King.

The general purpose, according to the current Phoenix King's personality, is also quite clear; it is mostly for more ecological vitality for the Elves, or to give young Elves a certain degree of help and encouragement. Stories about the Silent One Orivien are heard even by Humans. This mad Phoenix King even tried to make all the Elves he deemed impure shut their mouths forever, but no matter how many assassinations occurred, this Phoenix King would always return alive.

Therefore, after careful analysis and judgment, Human diplomats and intelligence officers finally concluded that the Star-Bearer is very likely a model of a new force that the Elves intend to use to change the stale drawbacks of the past and adopt a new model to fight against the Chaos Demon.

This is also good news, and everyone likes it. They also feel there is no big problem. Elves and demons are old rivals, and it has nothing to do with the Empire.

But one big news story after another made the Empire truly unable to sit still.

First is the migration of the Underground Kingdom.

The End Times had not arrived, yet the Skaven and the Empire had indeed recognized each other. The Empire felt immense headaches regarding the countless shifty-eyed Skaven hidden beneath their own national land, often dispatching Witch Hunters and mercenaries to hunt these infinitely breeding monsters. But recently, they formally dispatched diplomatic envoys to come.

These Skaven claimed they wanted to return to their ancestral land, to return to Skavenblight. But this was not without cost; the Skaven demanded that the Empire pay ten carts of Warpstone for every underground city.

This was a very cost-effective deal, and the Skaven took a Soul Oath in the name of the Great Horned Rat.

After the attention and improvement of many generations of mages and gods, the current Soul Oath is no longer the simple thing it used to be, but truly involves faith and the connection between gods. Swearing in the name of a god proves that the Skaven are seriously intending to leave this territory of the Empire this time.

This made the Elector Counts overjoyed, and they hurriedly gathered thousands of carts of Warpstone. But after the largest wave of Warpstone was sent out, the Skaven envoys and related members suddenly disappeared mysteriously one day. People gathered the courage to go to the Underground Kingdom only to find that the vast, interlocking network of the Underground Kingdom had long been abandoned. Only the passage leading to the depths of the earth was blocked by a Doomstone.

These bold Skaven did not know what they sensed, so they decisively abandoned the operation of all Underground Kingdoms within the Empire's territory and ran away without even saying a word.

This is very inconsistent with the characteristics of the Skaven; these treacherous Skaven would take risks even if there were a one-in-ten-thousand chance. But this act of disappearing without a sound does not conform to the consistent tradition of the Skaven. Unless these Skaven firmly believe that no matter what they do, they cannot make up for the problem.

Only under such conditions would the Skaven abandon everything without hesitation and start running away.

And just when all the imperial people felt a bit suspicious and uneasy, the Wood Elf hidden in the forest also began to show abnormal movements. These long-eared Elves who lived in the forest before the founding of the Empire walked out of the forest one after another, began to board ships transformed from natural trees, and started heading toward the Elven gathering place, Ulthuan. They claimed that the purification of the Elves had begun, and the original decay had gradually been purified.

These Wood Elves, for some reason, believed that a huge purification ritual was waiting for them. After the Wood Elves who did not want to be involved in the war left, the next to leave were the Orcs. Those arrogant and warlike Greenskins claimed that the war in the Badlands attracted their attention more, so countless clans began to head south.

For a time, it seemed that apart from monsters evolved from Chaos like the Beastman, and local trash like bandits and vampires, there were no monsters in the entire Empire. Those problems that had plagued the Empire for countless years just disappeared like that.

However, good times did not last long; with the start of the Great Conquest of the Norsca Hell Peaks, the Empire began to feel a heavy pressure.

Artillery as precise as if it had its own intelligence, unimaginable formations and ordnance, and that unreserved malice toward Chaos and the determination to kill and extinguish Chaos. When the Star-Bearers truly showed their strength, the shock was epoch-making.

The observers had never seen such a battlefield. Iron rain falling from the sky extinguished the demon's fire; countless pale, terrifying warriors wearing heavy Rune armor walked out of steel meteorites, using weapons that released light and heat to eradicate the demons one by one. Even in many cases, their strikes affected the imperial army.

Of course, according to the image data provided by the Star-Bearers, most of the time it was the imperial army that overestimated its own strength, or received some secret orders, intending to take a step ahead to occupy Norscan villages. But once Chaos pollution was discovered, these Elves would launch steel bombardments without hesitation, blowing all enemies back into a state of minced meat. To say that things could be stabilized at this time would definitely be nonsense.

But their own army was attacked; such a thing could not be a small matter for diplomacy. After the diplomatic notes initiated by the Human Elector Counts to the Phoenix King Orivien were completely ignored, they decided to solve this problem themselves.

The Star-Bearer represents the will of the Phoenix King; although the current Phoenix King is mostly a madman, he is still the Phoenix King. Humans were not prepared for a full-scale war with the Elves, let alone the performance of the Star-Bearer Elves, which could be described as extremely bizarre. The Elector Counts must, like in the old days, face the potential imperial crisis and finally choose a powerful Emperor to make the final decision.

Therefore, within a month, the various Elector Counts set off one after another and began to gradually gather in the cathedral of Middenheim. These Elector Counts holding Rune Fangs would talk secretly in a closed-door meeting and finally compete for an Emperor with true leadership significance, then lead the Empire out of this part of the crisis. Even if an Emperor was not elected, they would definitely bring good news.

Inside the cathedral, there were guards every three steps and sentries every five steps; the Magic Barrier and the Chaos detection barrier were kept open permanently. Over a hundred of the secret figures rarely encountered, like Witch Hunters, also came to investigate and monitor everywhere.

It just so happened that while the Elector Counts were discussing how to deal with the Star-Bearers inside the Cathedral of the Empire's Patron God, a small team transporting artifacts and Imperial College of Magic props also arrived inside the cathedral. This small convoy with the mark of the Imperial College of Magic was in a sorry state, having finally walked to the front of the cathedral.

But this group of people looked at the stern guards and could not help but reveal a look of despair. One could tell at a glance that there were definitely big shots inside talking about things. But three months ago, no one told them that big shots would be having talks at this time?

And the current relic seal was at a critical time; if it were delayed, I am afraid a big problem would also occur.

"... You said the Book of the Necromancer in your hands was being drawn by a vampire using secret arts, and if you don't put it in, it will trigger an Undead plague to curse the current land?"

The officer in charge of site security looked at the members of the escort team in front of him, the expression on his face a bit strange.

"Yes."

The members of the artifact escort team were covered in dust and nodded hard at the supervisor in front of them.

"And not only that, there is also a bandit who calls himself the Phantom organization eyeing us, intending to rob our artifacts on the road. Although I don't know why they haven't acted yet, the risk is very high if we continue to stay, and we also have some Rune props here that will expire and explode in the near future..."

"..."

Are you guys determined to deliver explosives today?

Listening to the series of descriptions, the person in charge's expression became increasingly subtle. If it weren't for the certainty that these people who set off three months ago had no way of knowing about this gathering, the supervisor would definitely have thought these people were attackers.

However, even if they weren't attackers, I'm afraid the nature was not much different. Looking at the black magic book that was emitting invisible screams, the whole book turned pitch black, and was jumping around in people's hands, the person in charge who mastered the Wind of Heaven saw at a glance that if this thing really exploded, I am afraid that apart from the cathedral, there would not be many living people left in the entire Middenheim.

Looking at the members of the artifact escort team who were covered in filth and even had reduced numbers, the person in charge sighed with some pity.

"Alright, no need to say more, I'll take you in."

"Ah? Must we go in at this time? There is a group of big shots inside talking about things..."

"It is precisely because it is this time that it is covert. Do you really want to make the transport of treasures a matter of common knowledge? Now that it is heavily guarded and the detection mechanisms are all functioning perfectly, why hesitate instead of taking this opportunity to leave those petty scoundrels helpless? Wouldn't it be better to just contact the Imperial Guard and have them send us in?"

"Th-then, let's do that."

The few of them exchanged glances, and under the strange gazes of many guards, they pushed a large cart slowly toward the deepest part of the entire building.

Under the gaze and blessing of the gods, the power of Chaos cannot interfere here without a medium. And a medium could not possibly manifest on such historical artifacts; as the person in charge of the Wind of Heaven, one could clearly feel the weight of history and the intense danger upon them.

Rather than worrying that these things are Chaos interference, it would be better to worry about when these things might explode.

Looking at the coffin-like object exposed in the wobbling cart, the person in charge still couldn't help but ask: "Just sending these things in? Are you sure you want to send so many things to be guarded under the gaze of the gods? These things don't seem that important."

"Yes, although they are not important, they are very rare."

The member of the artifact squad wiped the sweat from their forehead and said very seriously: "It's just a player's skeleton, plus some black ointment of unknown composition found beneath a Lizardman temple, a soon-to-be-scrapped Rune weapon obtained from the Norscans, books from the hands of vampires, and some bricks and tissues from that cursed city in Kislev."

"I see, those are indeed some rare items..."

The person in charge looked at the items on the cart and nodded.

Setting aside the others, the Lizardman temple ointment, the player's skeleton, and the tissues from the cursed city are indeed quite difficult to handle in the current situation.

Especially the players; this unique population with very distinct characteristics is almost impossible to hunt, and one can only extract individual skeletons through torture. And doing so easily leads to the skeleton itself wearing down or shattering.

To truly understand the state of this creature, which is no different from a Human but possesses vastly different physical capabilities, one can only torture it to the point of mental collapse while the player is still alive; only then can one obtain a complete player skeleton. Seen this way, even the tissues from the cursed city are not that rare.

"The College of Magic will come tomorrow to carry out the second transfer. Actually, we intended to try sealing it ourselves at first, but our capabilities were insufficient, so we need to transfer it here to..."

As they spoke, the group pushed the cart and soon reached the very bottom of the temple.

And just as everyone was exchanging pleasantries, no one noticed that in the cloth-covered coffin, the skeleton covered in countless gelatinous substances suddenly sprouted some blood vessels.

The player's extraordinary flesh-regeneration ability began to brew, and countless filling flesh began to support the skeleton and internal organs. The fleshy brain, vocal cords, and a series of organs were gradually reviving in the surroundings. And this player, tortured to the point of collapse, stretched out a palm in the darkness, looking at the dark Xu Jing with hatred.

"It is time for revenge, Empire man."

In the container, the skeleton that had grown flesh grinned, pressed its bones and blood against a Brand carved inside the skull, and poured all its hatred into the eight-fold Path.

And the next instant, the Veil between reality and the Xu Jing was shattered in an instant, and a torrent of energy rushed in all directions along this small area in the blink of an eye, leveling the entire defensive zone in almost a split second. There was no sound, no huge light, just a heat flow from the Subspace that swept through instantly.

The cathedral, which carried thousands of years of history, had the favor of the gods, and possessed extremely powerful defenses, thus turned into a piece of trash mocked by the Chaos gods in full view of everyone. A scarlet blood-mist emerged from the rift, dyeing the sky a strange crimson red. The infinite hatred and flames of anger guided the avenger, and the arrival of the god of blood caused it to grin as it blasted the temple into fragments.

The Empire Elector Counts were wiped out in an instant.

Countless alarms sounded throughout the Empire, and endless Beastmen howled, surging toward major cities like a tide, announcing the arrival of the Chaos catastrophe.

I'm a bit stuck on the writing, I deleted what I wrote before, I am truly very sorry! (End of chapter)