After placing his mount order with Badi, Duanmu Huai opened the door and returned to Mordheim.
The feeling of going from a beautiful scenic tourist area to a filthy slum in an instant was really unpleasant.
"Did anyone come looking for me?"
Duanmu Huai stepped out of the teleportation gate and looked at Olgis, who was quietly reading at the table, and asked. She thought for a moment, then nodded.
"General Pastel sent someone to inform you there's a meeting this afternoon."
"Alright, I'll go check it out."
Duanmu Huai glanced at the time, then patted Olgis on the head and turned to leave the house, heading to General Pastel's headquarters. After reclaiming the market district, General Pastel had repurposed the city hall as his base of operations. Since the facility was fairly intact, it saved them a lot of trouble.
Upon entering the city hall, Duanmu Huai immediately saw General Pastel and several other warband representatives. There was also a new face—a woman clad in heavy armor. She was the head of the Rock Monastery and a senior Sister. After the previous archbishop was revealed to be a cultist, she had joined the alliance as a representative.
Everyone welcomed her, of course—having local support always made things easier.
"You're here, Iron Warrior."
General Pastel nodded and greeted Duanmu Huai.
"Perfect timing. We were just discussing our next operation."
"Our next operation?"
Duanmu Huai walked up to the table and looked at the map of Mordheim spread out on it.
"That's right. With the help of the Battle Sisters from the Rock Monastery, we've gained a preliminary understanding of the current situation in Mordheim."
As he spoke, General Pastel pointed to the map.
"From what we can tell, the followers of the Chaos Gods have each taken control of different areas—the followers of the God of Desire occupy the noble district, those of the God of Tyranny have taken the military district, and the slums, devastated by the comet strike, have now become the domain of the God of Decay."
"But the situation is quite dire."
At this, the senior Sister spoke up as well.
"According to the information we've gathered, these cultists intend to use Mordheim as a base to construct portals to the Warp, hoping to win the favor and blessings of their insane gods. They are currently gathering dimensional stones scattered throughout the city to achieve this goal."
"Well, that's just..."
Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes.
So-called dimensional stones were fragments left behind when the comet crashed into the city—stones imbued with mysterious and powerful energy, usable in various ways. The cultists clearly intended to use them as conduits to open gateways to the Warp.
These mama's-boy cultists were beyond saving.
"Before your arrival, the chaos cultists here had been both fighting over the dimensional stones and attempting to build the portals. The followers of the God of Tyranny even tried to wipe out everyone else in the city to use them as sacrifices to open the portal, but they failed. They ended up clashing with the followers of the God of Desire, the God of Decay, and the Skaven. All sides suffered heavy losses. That's also why, until recently, none of them focused on attacking the Sigmarite Church."
Good grief. Classic God of Tyranny fanatics. Twisted loyalty to the extreme. They deserved a medal for that level of dedication.
But Duanmu Huai wasn't surprised. In the chaos army's typical internal brawls, the God of Tyranny and its followers were often half-allies to players anyway.
"However, with our arrival, these factions have accelerated their efforts to construct the portals."
Hmm. That was definitely bad news.
"So our next move is to destroy the cultists and sabotage their rituals?"
"Pretty much. But before that, we need to take care of something else."
General Pastel extended a hand and pointed at the map.
"Our first step is to reclaim this bridge and drive out the Skaven—our scouts discovered they've been poisoning the river. If this continues, even our drinking water will become a problem."
"Shouldn't we prioritize the slums?"
In Duanmu Huai's opinion, the slums were the greatest threat. That was where the comet struck, and it was crawling with the God of Decay's cultists. As annoying as the rats were, they didn't seem as dangerous compared to the God of Decay.
"We can't."
At that, General Pastel furrowed his brows and shook his head.
"The impact zone is saturated with a terrifying and strange energy. Anyone who enters experiences severe discomfort, illness, or even mutations. In fact, only the followers of the God of Decay can survive in that place."
Not surprising. The God of Decay loved mutations. By the sound of it, the radiation levels in the slums were completely off the charts.
"Then let me go to the slums."
With that in mind, Duanmu Huai made his proposal. The others were visibly shocked.
"You can?"
"Of course. My armor can resist that kind of energy, and my companions will be fine too."
His Inquisition power armor could survive atmospheric reentry—its anti-radiation capabilities were top-tier. As for Lorena and Melody, they were technically projections, so radiation didn't affect them. And Olgis and Fia? They were puppets. Wood didn't care about radiation.
"Then we'll leave it to you."
General Pastel exhaled in relief. To be honest, the slums were a huge problem, but even the soldiers didn't dare get close. With no solution in sight, Duanmu Huai's offer to investigate lifted a weight off his shoulders.
Meanwhile, deep underground, dozens of meters below their feet, a swarm of eerie shadows scurried through a system of tunnels.
"Wyrdstone! Wyrdstone! Wyrdstone!"
A Skaven waved its spear in fury, hissing and shrieking.
"Man-things! Bad-things! Stop-good-clan! No-wyrdstone! Warlord-angry! Need-more-wyrdstone! More! Man-things! Bad! They-want-to-kill-Skaven! Wipe-us-out! Skaven-won't-allow-it! Take-wyrdstone! Become-best-clan! Best-best-clan!"
As the Skaven screamed, the others raised their heads in unison.
"Iron-skin-ghost! Scary iron-skin ghost! Can't-win! Thick-thick iron skin! Can't-kill-him! Man-thing's iron-skin ghost is strong!"
Hearing this, the lead Skaven stomped its feet in frustration—but had no solution. The Skaven had carved out a decent chunk of territory in Mordheim, but it didn't help much. The comet shards were scattered across the surface, and to claim them from the other factions, they had to fight.
But after several battles, the clan had taken huge losses. What was once their chance to rise in power had turned into a swamp dragging them down.
Especially that terrifying iron-skin ghost—it brought unimaginable fear. Swords couldn't pierce it, arrows bounced off, and poison didn't work. Every time the iron-skin ghost swung its massive hammer, several Skaven were turned into paste—bones, skin, even guts—completely pulverized.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da!!
Just as the Skaven were venting their anger, a burst of frantic footsteps echoed through the tunnels. A Skaven scout dashed in from the far end, excitedly pointing behind it.
"Big-wyrdstone! Scout-rat found it! Very-very-big!"
"Big-wyrdstone?"
The lead Skaven's eyes lit up.
"Good-good! Go now! Dig-up big-wyrdstone!!"
(End of Chapter)