While Duanmu Huai and the others were fighting on the front lines, General Paste was not idle either.
Just as he had said before, the Chapter was responsible for striking directly at the enemy's central command, while the rest was left to the army to reclaim. Without their leaders, those stragglers hiding among the ruins naturally posed no threat to the army. At that point, more than half of Mordheim had been reclaimed, and the complete liberation of the city seemed just around the corner.
But General Paste's expression did not look particularly good, and the reason was the letter in his hand.
This was the reply that had arrived along with the reinforcements after he reported to the Crown Prince. In the letter, the Crown Prince first lavishly praised General Paste, urging him to press on and completely reclaim Mordheim. Then, he stated that to prevent future disasters, General Paste must confiscate all [Warp Stones] in Mordheim and send them to Altdorf for sealing.
If this had been before, General Paste would not have found anything wrong with this order. But now… something about it didn't feel right.
[Warp Stones] were of great importance, and Mordheim was far from Altdorf. As a precaution, they should have been sealed on-site.
Why send them all the way to Altdorf?
What was more, the Emperor stated in the letter that this matter was so important that he would rather abandon Mordheim than leave the [Warp Stones] here — an implication that left General Paste deeply uneasy.
As for the [Warp Stones] themselves, General Paste had seen them — mysterious stones filled with strange power — but his impression of them was far from good. Ever since coming to Mordheim, every time he had seen them, they had been used in vile rituals.
For example, the desecration rituals of the Chaos cultists in their temples, the portals that the cultists of the God of Lust tried to open, and now, the worshipers of the God of Slaughter… Hm?
At that thought, a sudden chill ran down General Paste's spine.
Could it be as I feared — that the Emperor has already turned to the God of Deception? Is he planning to use the [Warp Stones] for some blasphemous ritual in Altdorf?!
Once, General Paste would never have dared entertain such treasonous thoughts, but now… his mind had changed.
Especially since he had already pointed out in his earlier report that the Archbishop of the Church of Sigmar was a follower of the God of Deception, urging the Emperor to be on guard. Yet in this reply, the Emperor had not mentioned the matter at all.
Moreover, as a stationed general, Paste knew a few things about the political situation in the Empire. The Emperor's throne was far from secure. Though he was indeed the Crown Prince and rightful heir, he had shown too much eagerness to claim the throne, which had bred resentment. In the previous War of the Three Princes, though it had looked fierce on the surface, in truth it had merely been the three princes and their supporters fighting — most other lords had stayed neutral.
Not to mention, in Altdorf there were quite a few, like General Paste, who suspected the Crown Prince of murdering the Emperor.
After all, all Imperial subjects had been sworn to the Emperor, and for him to suddenly die during the Great Crusade, by assassination no less?
That was a hard thing to swallow.
And the Crown Prince's speed was suspicious — almost as soon as the news arrived, he had declared, "The realm cannot be without a ruler for a single day," and taken the throne, as though he had been waiting for this moment all along.
Thus, in Altdorf, many high officials supported the new Emperor only in appearance, delaying or ignoring his commands whenever they could. The Emperor's seat was indeed shaky.
Wouldn't that drive him to have certain… dangerous thoughts?
Paste knew this well, for he himself was one of those suspicious of the Emperor. In fact, if the Emperor had had more trustworthy people at hand, Paste would never have been sent to Mordheim in the first place.
So, upon hearing that Duanmu Huai and the others had wiped out the cultists of the God of Lust, he immediately summoned them to discuss strategy.
"He wants the [Warp Stones]?"
"Yes."
Paste nodded bitterly at Duanmu Huai's question. He now realized that he himself might be just another pawn in this game. In this city, the followers of the God of Lust, the God of Slaughter, the God of Plague, and the Skaven were all after the [Warp Stones], each representing one faction.
But did their faction stand for the Empire — or the God of Deception?
"This is…"
The Battle Sister and Witch Hunter both frowned. They supported sealing the [Warp Stones] in the monastery, but what did the Emperor want with them?
"Do you have a report on the amount? We've collected quite a lot."
Previously, in the slums, Duanmu Huai had asked Augis to retrieve the large [Warp Stone] from the crater after cutting it apart. That stone had been three to four meters tall — massive. And during their campaigns against the Skaven and Chaos cultists, they had captured many more, along with fragments found by the army throughout the city. It was no small haul.
"Of course. His Majesty said to send them all to Altdorf, to be kept by the College."
The Battle Sister and Witch Hunter's faces grew darker. Everyone had heard of Altdorf's Colleges of Magic, where many Imperial wizards were trained. But that did not mean they were harmless. As clergy, neither of them had a good opinion of wizards.
Especially the Witch Hunter — his very title made it clear: most of his targets were wizards. Letting that pack of lunatics guard the [Warp Stones]?
That was no different from letting the fox guard the henhouse.
"That's simple."
Duanmu Huai seemed unconcerned.
"If they want them, we'll give them — just not the real thing."
"Not the real thing? You mean to give them fakes??"
The Battle Sister looked puzzled. [Warp Stones] weren't ordinary minerals but magic-charged stones — green, glowing. How could they be faked?
"Easy. Grind up some small [Warp Stones] into powder, coat it onto stones, then send those."
It was straightforward enough. Duanmu Huai also distrusted the Emperor's intentions. Truth be told, if I could enter Altdorf now, I'd take my hammer straight to the Crown Prince's door.
Another plan was to bring the [Warp Stones] to the capital and watch in secret, striking the moment the Emperor tried anything.
But… who said it had to be the real thing?
A good fake would do just fine.
Like those gold necklaces — they all looked the same, but who could tell if it was solid gold or just gold-plated?
"That's a good plan."
The Witch Hunter, silent until now, nodded at once. He was a specialist in dealing with wizards and knew magic well.
"If we find some ordinary stones and coat them with powder from crushed [Warp Stone] fragments, we can fool most wizards."
"No problem, we can help."
The Battle Sister nodded as well. The monastery already had many [Warp Stone] fragments the size of pebbles, which were a headache to store. Throwing them away was dangerous, but sealing them seemed wasteful. Grinding them into powder for coating fakes was actually a decent use.
From start to finish, none of them thought there was anything wrong with this plan — a sign of just how little regard they had for the Emperor.
It was quickly decided that the monastery's Battle Sisters would carry out the plan. Using soldiers risked leaks, but the Sisters had the skill, loyalty, and the original responsibility for sealing [Warp Stones], so it was only natural.
The only problem was that, if this scheme were exposed, the Rock Monastery would become the prime target for retaliation.
But… if it were exposed, that would only prove the Crown Prince really did want to use the [Warp Stones] for something sinister.
At that point, Duanmu Huai could pay him a visit and sing him a song of loyalty.
With that problem solved, only one headache remained for General Paste.
The followers of the God of Slaughter.
According to the seer's account, they had used the remains of the Holy Knight to set up a barrier in the barracks. Fighting within it — no matter who died — would increase their strength and eventually open a gate to the Dark Realm.
But avoiding battle was impossible. The barrier was expanding. Were they supposed to abandon Mordheim entirely?
"That's not a problem."
Duanmu Huai was calm.
"I'll take care of it personally. When the time comes, we'll hit them together and wipe out those Chaos cultists once and for all!"
Before, this might have been a tough challenge. But now? He had the [Gravity Gauntlet]. If not for fighting, it could be used for demolition just as well.
After all, in the game, one of the ways players used the [Gravity Gauntlet] was to dismantle buildings — and now, it was finally his turn to enjoy that pleasure!
(End of Chapter)