[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor":3,"chapter-warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-chapter-496":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1681166,2147,"Chapter 496 - 497: Savior: When the Heir of Asurmen Arrives, Commorragh Shall Know Peace!","warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-chapter-496",496,"\u003Cp>\"The nightmare creature has spotted me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek's face twisted with terror as he barked orders to his cabal warriors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shards of toxic crystal and beams of dark matter lashed out, a cascade of color ripping across the rooftop and obliterating the structure in a single storm of fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the haze of poison-smoke and dust, they saw it again—the twisted shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrake Shadow-Weaver folded its limbs and body into impossible angles and slipped from sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Block it! Don't let that thing in…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek's throat rasped hoarsely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the shadow-creature had not left. It was closing in, its hateful buzzing growing sharper, louder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire palace fortress rumbled as defense fields came to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nightmare guardians and cabal warriors swept their gaze over every corner, weapons poised, waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one dared blink. In this silence, even the pounding of their own hearts seemed deafening. Terror crept in, unseen but suffocating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes passed. No attack came. Yet none dared relax.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's toying with us—breaking down our minds, our very souls.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek upended a goblet of blood-red liquor, then jabbed himself with a stim-needle to stay awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cabal warriors followed his lead. Their limbs trembled with exhaustion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the horror of shadow-creatures. And Mandrake Shadow-Weavers were apex predators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had patience without end. They could stalk prey for eternity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can hold on. Black Heart reinforcements will be here soon,\" Valek muttered, convincing himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood alone in the central hall. Crystal chandeliers and braziers blazed, saturating every angle with light. No shadow could exist here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And without shadow, the Mandrake had no anchor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They weren't immortal—merely cursedly difficult to kill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dark Eldar assassins, even Succubi, had hunted and slain them before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Valek's skin was corpse-pale, sweat soaking his robes. His eyelids grew heavier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So tired… so tired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vile buzzing gnawed at his will. The stim faded, drowned by inexorable sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every thought screamed: bed, darkness, silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body betrayed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chamber darkened. Night pressed close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My palace—how can there be no light?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek jolted awake, heart hammering. He had closed his eyes—slept, even—without realizing it.Googlᴇ search novel⸺fire.net\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he had collapsed, his body's shadow would have been enough. Enough for the Mandrake to strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the blazing lamps kept him safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hhhh—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stretched stiff limbs, exhaling relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"AHHH!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scream ripped up from the lower levels. Gunfire erupted in panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below, cabal warriors fired wildly, eyes wide at their fallen comrades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The enemy was here. Not one Mandrake, but many.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victims first screamed—then shadows split open, birthing black shapes with limbs like blades and torture-implements glistening wet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandrakes clawed out of their victims' shadows, stabbing hearts, severing heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They seeped through cracks, crawling through impossible gaps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lamps burst. Gunfire lit the horror in strobe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lines collapsed. Warriors hacked and shot blindly, barely scratching the predators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandrakes skittered across walls, ceilings, floors—there one heartbeat, gone the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not killing—playing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Die, monster!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Nightmare guard roared and fired a heavy weapon upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The floor shook violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek staggered as a hole cracked open in the marble beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through vox-link he screamed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You useless fools! No heavy weapons inside! You'll bring the ceiling down!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zzzzzrrt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the crystal fixtures sparked, spitting arcs of power. The strike had ruined the circuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Light failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shadow spread across the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek stumbled back as the blackness writhed and breathed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mist curled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A silhouette rose from the stain—runed body glowing with baleful script, crimson bat-wings unfurling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrake Shadow-Weaver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A high Mandrake could drink light itself, crushing even auspex and sensor arrays into blindness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wove darkness into threads, binding the room in shadow-cloth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Guards!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek turned to the door—too late. His Nightmare guards had already been dragged screaming into the dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quick hands drew his Splinterweb pistol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weapon spat a spreading net of monofilament. Nothing could dodge its snare; once drawn tight, even Terminator armor shredded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had butchered foes aplenty with it—even a Chaos Space Marine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The web engulfed the Mandrake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Got you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relief flashed across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The filaments drew taut—only to collapse into nothing. The Mandrake had melted into shadow, vanishing through the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His best weapon was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snatched up a heat-lance pistol. The shot could vaporize Mandrake flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before he could fire, black talons surged from his own shadow, and with a single swipe—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pistol lay in two broken halves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic surged. Valek slammed his personal force field, blasting the creature back in a crackling burst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through hidden corridors, sealing adamant doors behind him. Down, deeper, into his most fortified sanctum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The final vault sealed. He collapsed against it, panting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even armored companies could breach this chamber.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his heart dropped cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No… mistake… this was a mistake…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandrakes couldn't be walled out. He had trapped himself in a coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zzzzt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Runes crawled across the walls. Shadows bled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrake Shadow-Weaver stood before him, dripping with darkness, executioner's tools in hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek pressed against the wall, voice breaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll pay more! I'll sacrifice more! Spare me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Mandrakes never bargained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They only obeyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It advanced, step by step, drowning him in death's reek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No—!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek felt a sudden chill in his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But death never came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something was wrong. Slowly, he dared to look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrake Shadow-Weaver still stood before him—yet made no move to strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, in his hands lay a heavy chest. Inside the crystal canisters shimmered… condensed souls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek froze, confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nightmare creature had just given him a chest? Stuffed with soul-essence, as if forcing a gift into his hands?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air itself was thick with the perfume of spirit-energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was no ordinary cache—these souls were pure, refined, worth decades of his cabal's raiding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After paying the dreaded tithe—the Elevenfold Tax to the Supreme Overlord—he had never seen so much left over in one place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be? Was this entire siege… only to deliver this gift?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind reeled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the Mandrake rasped—voice like a blade dragged over stone. It struggled to form syllables:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah… Man…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek forced his terror aside, straining to catch the sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"—Asur… men?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow-Weaver nodded. Its lips curled into something hideous, almost like a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It pointed to the chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…Gift.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vox-channel crackled alive. Reports came in:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrakes had vanished. No mass slaughter, no massacre. The only casualties were those cut down in the confusion by their own panicked comrades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So that was it. The Mandrakes' only mission these last days was to break his defenses and… hand him this chest?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That could only mean one thing. Their true master was not Commorragh's Overlord—but the Heir of Asurmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow-Weaver dissolved into the floor, gone to find its next target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valek collapsed where he stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The box gleamed before him, overflowing with pure souls. Greed sparked in his eyes—this treasure was beyond imagining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then dread returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Supreme Overlord had commanded all Drukhari to destroy the Heir of Asurmen. And yet here he was, clutching a gift from that very enemy. Was this treason?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the Overlord discovered this… Valek's death would be exquisite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again—he was in a sealed vault. No one had seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And more importantly—this was untaxed income. Pure, untraceable profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could anyone resist such wealth?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed, torn between fear and temptation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That Heir of Asurmen… so lavish. With one gesture he gives more than the Overlord grants in a century…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His thoughts turned bitter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Supreme Overlord demanded endless service and crushing taxes. No reward. Only chains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that tyrant ever fell… perhaps throwing in with the Heir wouldn't be such a poor choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But until then—who would dare?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the chest, trembling between greed and terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a remote webway passage of Commorragh…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Perfect. Sending the Shadow Corps as couriers was genius.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eden smiled, scanning the incoming intelligence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrakes were unstoppable messengers. No fortress could bar them, no defense hold them back. His \"gifts\" arrived precisely in the hands of his chosen targets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were, he mused, the perfect delivery service—operating twenty-four hours a day, never tiring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Emperor preserve us…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ilyss, his Lhamean secretary, could scarcely believe what she was witnessing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These Mandrakes were among the most feared assassins of the galaxy—yet her master used them… to deliver presents?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She glanced at one now: a black shadow-thing crouched behind Eden, dutifully massaging his shoulders and chilling bottles of spiritwine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that moment, even their monstrous faces seemed almost… pleasant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus began Eden's plan: the Shadow Corps had become his Enforced Recharge Division.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No assassinations. No massacres.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such bloodletting could never conquer Commorragh. Dark Eldar lords were as strong as Mandrakes; mass assassinations would only provoke ruinous losses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And worse—such cruelty would make Eden no different from the Overlord. Commorragh's citizens would only hate him, siding with the tyrant against him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So instead, Eden turned their power to something more insidious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandrakes now delivered lavish soul-gifts to archons and nobles. Alongside each gift, a heartfelt letter promising more to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was bribery—but forced, unavoidable bribery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either the lords admitted they had taken Eden's gift, or they concealed it. In either case, trust between them would rot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one would ever know how many \"traitors\" sat among them—who had already been bought by the Heir of Asurmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And none dared confess it to the Supreme Overlord. To admit receiving Eden's gift was to invite death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the hunger for souls gnawed endlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Elevenfold Tax bled Commorragh dry, just as surely as Imperial tithes bled mankind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eden was not playing the part of the Overlord who hoarded everything. He was the Robin Hood who redistributed wealth and won hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His next step would be to strip the mask from the Overlord, to expose his weakness and cruelty before all of Commorragh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear would give way to defiance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city would rise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, the Heir of Asurmen would march openly through its streets, cheered as savior, striking the final blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>High-spires, Tower District.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the nightmare creatures withdrew, people crept back onto the streets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They whispered of shadows and horror, of how close death had come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They're back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic. Screams. The Mandrakes returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shapes clawed out of shadows once more. The crowd shrieked—until the creatures… slapped posters onto walls, and stuffed leaflets into trembling hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then vanished again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back and forth they went, posters spreading like wildfire across every boulevard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was no slaughter. This was propaganda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow Corps had become Eden's Propaganda Division.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some delivered gifts. Some posted broadsheets. Others crawled sewers and ruins, assisting Custodians in their hunt for the Emperor's clone-body and the Black Throne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the Propaganda Division, their task was simple but vital: cover Commorragh in Eden's message. Posters, handbills, signs—even, if possible, plastered on the Overlord's own palace gates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normal agitators would be flayed in hours. But Mandrakes could not be stopped. They appeared, posted, and vanished again before anyone could react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one was better suited for the work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one street corner, a child wailed at the sight of a nightmare shape. The crowd froze, fearing the creature would dismember him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mandrake shoved a vial into the boy's mouth. A soul elixir—Dreamfang Series, extra-strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy nearly fainted as power flooded his withered body. His pallor faded, his frame revived, life surging anew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And into his hand, the Mandrake pressed a leaflet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Heir of Asurmen's gift…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd stared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A nightmare monster that healed instead of killed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the starving poor, a drop of soul-essence meant more than life itself. Under the tax, most children withered before adulthood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, they tasted plenty—for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear gave way to awe… and hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, people reached willingly for the leaflets, trading their terror for the promise of a soul-dose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when they read the bold words scrawled across the flyers—some shivered anew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow war of Commorragh had only just begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on \"Zaelum\"]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Thanks for Reading!]\u003C\u002Fp>",2035,"2026-06-06T13:29:01.689Z",1,"novelbin.me","9295bb41e370b91cf77d945eecedb02d12dce4e0d71ea099e22fc2ad40c33494","warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-chapter-497","warhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-chapter-495",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-starting-as-a-planetary-governor-cover.jpg"]