Unlike the frantic magical atmosphere in the sky, the atmosphere in Nagashzar City was deathly silent.
Because of the previous war with the greenskins, the Chaos humans had evacuated to their simple fortresses made of mud and bones. The only people who existed here were dead people.
Two mouse figures tiptoed close to a special area in the city.
There are the most skeletons outside, and there may be important military information. As long as you take the things here back, you may be able to know what the terrifying magic vortex in the sky is.
However, when they followed the four corners of the skeleton and entered the room, the situation here was completely different from where they imagined the intelligence was stored.
There is nothing here, among a bunch of glowing runes, there is only a rotten iron cage engraved with dense dots of light.
It's just a piece of rotten meat, what's the point? Could it be some kind of monster whose appearance is concealed?
Stepping over this mass of rotten flesh, I searched the room again, but still found nothing.
The black-robed rat walking in front spat on the ground, risking his life and running for nothing, which really made him feel uncomfortable.
The deeper you go, the defense force will be stronger, and they won't be able to get anything. Maybe...
"You came here? Nagash didn't kill you?"
The rat language, as if there was something wrong with his throat, reached his ears. It was not the voice of his companions.
After looking around, he was unbelievably sure that it was the rotten piece of meat on the ground that was speaking.
"I am the first member of the War Council, the engineering warlock of the Skry clan."
Eski waved a piece of white fur that was still intact and his tail that was covered with sores in front of the other person's eyes, looking at the other person's vigilant look, he said as if he was mocking himself.
"Don't get too close, there's a plague inside me."
Then, he pointed to the magic circle on the ground and the chain hooked to the iron cage above his head.
"You go and smash that damn magic circle and the chains, and you don't have to worry about anything else after that."
However, the Assassin Rats did not move, as if they did not hear what Eski was saying.
"If you don't want to, forget it. Even if you don't help me, I can still find a way to leave."
As if he suddenly remembered something, he coughed up a mouthful of pus and blood in the cage, and Eski continued.
"When you go back, tell Ikrit not to launch an offensive until I come back. All armies should shrink if they can."
"The power of Nagash himself has exceeded that of the Council of Thirteen in the great city."
The two rats looked at each other, slowly approached Eski's cage, took out their own rune daggers, and slowly pierced it into several dense clusters of runes on the ground.
The runes on the dagger flickered slightly, sputtering out a burst of green sparks, and only a few of the runes on the lower array were extinguished.
"My rune weapon is not like this. However, it is a dwarf's weapon. It seems that there is still a big gap between the dwarves' rune technology and ours." ap.
Eski said to himself, resisting the urge to scratch his eyes, and the engineering warlock's ulcerated claws pointed at the corner of the magic circle.
"I won't embarrass you anymore. Just stab the big runes on the right, and then cut off the damn chains."
When the light of the magic circle dimmed again, the iron cage broke, and Eski's legs were crushed into a ball by the weight of the iron cage, making an unusual sound.
This made the Assassin Mouse extremely nervous. He looked outside repeatedly and saw that no elite-looking black skeleton came in, and then turned back.
As if he couldn't feel the pain, Esky pointed to the sky outside, the vortex that could be seen with magic vision even in a dark cell.
"The magic ritual shouldn't be stopped until it's completed, so the perception of these skeletons has been kept to a minimum. You can continue to go deeper if you want."
"The Night of the Horned Rat is tonight, and you still have half a day to leave."
The Assassin Rats heard the warning and did not leave immediately. Instead, they placed a package on the ground and opened it.
The green light and the aroma of the warpstone made the little thing on Esky's body become more and more restless, and gave him a burst of itching.
"Since Pyro has become weak, is this thing useful?"
The Assassin Mouse asked carefully. When he heard that there was an opportunity, he immediately prepared to do something big. The life of a rat man is so short, and it is difficult to find the opportunity to do something big in this life. Maybe if he succeeds, he can extend his life for a hundred years.
Eski looked down and saw that it was a dimensional stone bomb without his unique branding, which meant it was.
"Warpstone bomb? Did you overturn Skary's factory?"
The engineer warlock raised his head and revealed a pair of red eyes, which made the assassin rat immediately retreat two steps.
"Skull's three remaining apprentices are working hard to provide this bomb."
Eski dragged the crippled flesh underneath him, squirming on the ground with pus, and a map composed of pus appeared on the ground.
"The warpstone bomb is useless against Nagash, but if it is placed in this fortress and detonated at several key load-bearing nodes, it may cause the collapse of this fortress."
"His spells should also be affected."
While the conspiracy on the ground was going on, there was silence in the underground fortress.
In the parliament hall made of bones, there was a silence on the round table covered with bright red tablecloth. The parliament that was supposed to be thirteen people now only has eleven people.
The rats took dimensional stone snuff to make their pink noses barely excited, and then continued to be silent.
Ikrit sat alone on the thirteenth seat, looked at the rats, and spoke first.
"The council is short of members. It should be filled as soon as possible, but the situation is urgent, so it is better to hold a meeting first. Regarding the newly submitted bill, whether to abandon the underground fortress, what do the members think?"
Pollock of the Moss clan glanced at Ikrit, took a deep breath of dimensional stone snuff, and said nothing - this bill was submitted by the Rikek clan, but he didn't understand that Ikrit was trying to test it. Still really want to retreat.
Looking at the black-robed rat sitting in the shadows behind him, it would be better to shut up for now.
On the other hand, the member of the Slippery Clan stood up from his seat and walked forward under the green light of the dimension stone lamp.
"The Slippery Clan won't accept it."
"The underground river that passes through the underground fortress has been developed by the Slippery clan for decades. If we are suddenly asked to give up, we will directly lose contact with the eastern vassals and strongholds."
"Unless, we can continue to contact the East."
There was a crisp sound where Ikrit's gauntlet collided. He pinched his chin and asked.
"In addition, how much price difference do we need to make up for digging underground rivers?"
"Not counting the cost of slave rats, the total cost of various expenses and time is about 300,000 dimensional coins."
"How dare you speak."
Ikrit sneered.
Excluding the additional consumption of Ikrit himself, the total military expenditure of the Rickake clan for a year is only more than 40,000 dimensional coins. The Slippery clan dares to speak.
The lord of the Slippery clan also laughed.
"We accept payment in installments. Originally, the Skuli Mint downstream could produce hundreds of thousands of dimensional coins a year. We don't believe that the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force cannot control Skuli's apprentices."
"The inventory there has been taken away by the stickman monster, so don't even think about the dimensional coins."
Hearing Ikrit's answer, the Slippery clan was not annoyed and continued to propose.
"There are no other ways. The Slippery Clan has always been responsible for the transportation of rivers and underground rivers. If we can involve the ocean."
Hearing this proposal, Ikrit shook his head repeatedly.
"You want me to help you stop the Scurvy Clan? Rickek can't do that, and I don't have the influence in the big city to do that."
"Where is Lord Versky?"
Eshiliga also turned his attention to the member of the Slippery Clan, and it seemed that the other party's goal was Werski.
"He has gone to the big city. Even if he agrees to you, it will be a few months later. I wonder if you can survive a few months."
The betrayer approached the other party and whispered.
"Can't you all see the magic vortex in the sky?"
"Of course I saw it, so I will leave this hellish place tonight."
"You are going to betray the Horned Rat."
A discordant voice appeared, and the lord of the Slippery Clan looked over. It was the Gray Prophet's seat, but now the person sitting on it was just an apprentice.
He let out a high-pitched laugh and said.
"Escape from a situation of certain death is not a betrayal, right, Lord Ikrit."
Then, regardless of Ikrit hiding in the shadows, he turned to the Pollock Green Slicer of the Moss clan.
"Where's the Moss clan?"
Exhaling a mouthful of green mist, Pollock shook his head.
"We must at least evacuate to a safe distance. The Moss clan's combat power is indeed strong, but it is not meant to be used against unreasonable magic."
As he spoke, he looked at Ikrit.
Rikek was originally a clan with more than 20,000 troops. If it hadn't been for twenty-five years of civil war, Ikrit would never have been the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force in his life.
If he gives up this power, Ikrit will carve an epitaph for himself with his own hands.
After thinking for a while, he still said the second half of the sentence in his mouth.
"If you ask me, judging from the current situation, we should announce the disbandment of the expeditionary force. This expedition has been declared a failure. Take away all the dimensional stones we can take away, and then never come back."
There was a sudden slap on the parliamentary table.
"Nonsense! We haven't lost yet!"
The lords looked over and saw that it was a pink paw with gray fur, and it was the gray prophet's apprentice.
Pollock revealed his fangs, which had torn the flesh of countless greenskins.
If it weren't for the fact that he didn't know whether the other party was a serious Gray Prophet, he would have wanted to chop off this thing's head on the spot. Thinking of the consequences of offending the Prophet Council, Pollock still held back and said.
"We have already lost. I have seen members of the Council of Thirteen, and they are not people like Versky who don't even have a little bit of magic."
"Their magic is not one percent as good as the thing above us."
"Are you going to challenge ten councils of thirteen?"
Pollock did not give this Gray Prophet apprentice a good look. If he did not need to give face to the Gray Prophets, he would not have been brought to this meeting.
With so many powerful lords and real parliamentarians, he didn't have to care about what this thing wanted.
However, what he didn't expect was.
"As the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, I give an order that no retreat is allowed."
"Otherwise, it will be regarded as a betrayal of the Council of Thirteen! This order will remain in effect until Lord Wilski returns."
Ikrit said suddenly, turning his head and bowing to the Gray Prophet again.
After completing all these operations that the rats could not understand, he turned towards the rat lords.
"I don't care what methods you use to guard this place. Some of the rules in the big city don't have to work here, such as those in Skull's factory."
"You want us to use magic?"
The Slippery Clan, the quickest to react, immediately glanced at the Gray Seer apprentice, who seemed to have no reaction.
"I didn't say that, you said it yourself."
Ikrit added in a low voice.
"Besides, even if all the rat babies can learn magic quickly, what's the use? We still can't kill the stickman, and we don't even know if we can block the magic above our heads."
"There are - there are dimension stones, there are veins of dimension stones! Don't worry about the loss of mana! Win this holy war for the Horned Supreme!"
The voice of the Gray Prophet's apprentice rang again. This time, his voice
He became more and more manic, sounding like the Quickwall he once was.
The rat lords looked over in surprise, but they did not see the thin ears and gray-white sarcoma. Some of them were still the young apprentice,
This time the rats immediately exploded.
"Grey Prophet?!"
"Apprentice of the Gray Seer."
"His teacher is dead, he is the real Gray Prophet."
"It has not yet been recognized by the temple and the Council of Prophets."
"You're going to betray the Horned Rat!"
"How could I betray the Horned Rat? I think you are the traitor."
The quarrels among the rats became louder and louder, as if they had forgotten the threat above their heads.
"shut up!"
The tone of the Gray Prophet's apprentice became more and more violent.
Suddenly, he sprinkled a large bag of green shiny dust on the ground. The lords were surprised to find that the familiar powder that made the rats feel happy was high-purity dimensional stone dust.
Under the rat-eyed gaze that turned to confusion and horror, the Gray Prophet took out a dagger and stabbed his own artery. The elastic blood vessels immediately retracted under the skin, and blood spurted out.
Blood sprayed on the dimensional stone, causing the Gray Prophet apprentice who was about to become a corpse to stand up. A green phantom with long horns almost appeared behind him.
A crack opened in the air, and a pillar no thicker than a rat man's waist, about four meters high, and engraved with fine runes accurately smashed through the round table of the parliament.
Under the bewildered eyes of a member of the House of Representatives, the Gray Prophet's apprentice's body began to burn, and his hoarse voice was almost transmitted from his mind to the surrounding rats.
"All rats in this fortress, touch the Pillar of Commandment and bring back the Skaven named Eski Ivo."
In the green flames and with the scalding heat, the Gray Prophet's body turned into flying ash.
Ikrit swallowed hard and said in a hoarse voice.
"You have all heard the oracle of the Horned Supreme. Let your men touch it, otherwise no one will be able to get out of this city alive."
As he spoke, his eyes also looked to the top of his head. Although he could not see magic, the wind of life also brought him the feeling of the wind of magic.
Apart from the magic vortex, the horned rat thing in front of me is equally dangerous, so I have to find a scapegoat to try it first.
However, everything in the underground fortress is not unknown.
Nagash, who was far away in the fortress, opened his skull slightly and let out a burst of laughter.
And his laughter was caught by another gaze.
In the boundless chaotic demon realm, there is a palace that can bring endless joy, fighting against the six desires of mortals: greed, appetite, lust, power, pride, laziness.
Here they discuss with their gods novel desires beyond those mentioned above.
A strange, constantly deforming cloud of human-shaped lightning sat cross-legged in the pink-purple palace and spoke to the pink-purple figure that stood out among the crowd of mortals and demons.
"The plague father's garden was burned down, the mouse that was wallowing in his own dung was beaten, and there was also a dead man who became arrogant after getting the news. So many changes, it's really interesting."
As he spoke, he pointed at the fat thing wearing purple armor lying at the feet of the pink and purple figure.
"Prince of Darkness, your new toy looks good. It's another change. Maybe it has appeared in other possibilities."
The thing kept eating the flesh of various mortals, demons, and other creatures, and even wanted to take a bite of the pink-purple figure's feet from time to time. However, these attempts were stopped by a whip with a six-shaped underhook. .
The charming female voice contained some strong male voices, as if two voices, no, it was a melodious mixture of countless voices echoing in the hall.
"If you come here to act crazy..."
The humanoid lightning turned into two lightning tentacles and formed a smiling face.
"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, I'm here
Congratulations to Nurgle for his misfortune. "
An interesting thing happened in the Chaos Demon Realm not long ago.
The defenders of Nurgle's Plague Garden went to fight in the real world. It happened that a nearby Lord of Change, who had been defeated by the Great Keeper, retreated into the Plague Garden. Two Chaos Demonic armies took advantage of the situation and entered Nurgle's garden. field.
This originally only caused a little trouble for Nurgle, but suddenly from the portal, a big man wearing a Slaanesh Daemon Engine fell out.
This big guy didn't have much strength at first, but he started fighting with the three armies as soon as he landed.
After killing the weakest group of desire demons in the demon armies from all sides and devouring them alive, the big man suddenly became stronger and cut off the head of the Great Unclean One who rushed out, and put the big unclean man in his arms. The unclean ones eat it clean.
Obviously, the transformed lightning humanoid was very interested in the big man in front of him.
"The combination of the demon engine and the ogre can produce new changes. I have a plan. How many changes will there be when the lizard man and the demon engine are combined?"
"How many times will a star explode? Once? Or nine times?"
As he spoke, the Lord of Changes suddenly transformed into a smooth blue translucent head covered with deep ravines, stretched out a smooth tentacle and approached the Prince of Darkness.
The Prince of Darkness glared, then retracted the smooth tentacles, and put on a new pair of pink and purple pants on his legs, the Prince of Darkness responded.
"Maybe six times, depending on the desire already on stage."
