Section 104 Loving Father

What kind of existence are the gods of chaos, and what is the relationship between the evil gods and their believers?

Ashrufat had considered this question more than once. It is an obvious fact that these gods do possess supernatural abilities beyond human comprehension. If nothing else, the Chaos armor alone is magical enough. Among the Chaos cultists of the North, it was considered common for the gods to bestow armor - because there were so many examples that everyone had already seen it.

But in the eyes of an outsider, Ashrufat, the fact that the Chaos Armor alone shows that these gods are very, very powerful. Obviously, since a heavy metal armor can be delivered to you quietly, a bottle of poison, a dagger, a barrel of gunpowder, and even a cannon with an arquebus lit will be delivered to you (of course, the cannon is a bit exaggerated, but since the Chaos Gods can make metal armor, it will certainly not be a problem at all). From this point of view, even if the Chaos Gods have no other power than this, they can have the power to kill anyone, at least those in the Chaos Realm.

Of course, the Chaos Gods are capable of much more than that. At the very least, Ashrufat was able to determine that they had the following three abilities, the first being omniscience. They know all sorts of things happening within the Chaos Realm...... Well, at least know the vast majority of things. And this ability does not require a guò believer to attain. Eshuruphat was sure that he had quietly arrived in the Realm of Chaos, but as soon as he arrived, he fell into the sight of Slaanesh and Tzeentch. In addition, the Bloodfang Lord is a cultist of Chaos who worships abusiveness, but Tzeentch is also well aware of his whereabouts. If I'm not mistaken, the god even has the ability to see into the future.

The second is to give strength to mortals. Naturally, such examples need no further mention. Eshurufat has seen enough. Those high-level Chaos Believers, such as Chaos Champions, almost all possess strength, agility, reflexes, and sharp five senses beyond the limits of normal people. Some people are even able to change their body shape - their bodies become taller, stronger, and even weird limbs like tentacles. In addition to that, there are many special abilities, such as immortality, such as dark vision, and so on.

The third is to be able to have that kind of spiritual communication with believers. At first, Ashruphat thought that this communication had to be through guò (i.e., the ornaments with the emblems of the evil gods that the cultists of Chaos usually carry), but later he realized that the evil gods did not need such things. Or at least the evil god doesn't need it at all if he wants to take the initiative to find him. The consciousness of the evil god can penetrate his mind and talk to him anytime and anywhere.

Of course, in addition to the above, the evil god has many other abilities. However, these abilities were either not verified by Ashrufat himself, or he was not 100% sure. But he has now gradually confirmed one thing, and that is the believer...... Maybe to the evil gods, it doesn't matter.

Speaking of which, God needs believers. It's so ingrained that few people ask a "why". Why does God need followers? Ashrufat had a vague impression that God had to rely on the faith of mortals—or that God itself came from the faith of mortals.

Yes, faith. It is precisely for the sake of faith that God will protect mortals, create miracles, manifest in the human world, and emerge various religious organizations. Therefore, it is easy to deduce this logic: from God's standpoint, the more believers in mortals, the better, and among the believers, the more devout believers, the better. The more believers and the more devout their faith, the greater and more secure the power of God.

But it is clear that the evil gods do not fit this logic. Whether he had heard about it in the south or experienced it firsthand in the Chaos Realm, Ashruphat could be sure that there was no relationship between the power of the evil gods and the believers, at least not directly.

In other words, based on what he had seen and felt during this time, Ashruphat was able to think that believers were not necessary for evil gods. Their attitude towards believers - and as he had felt before, was an inexplicable attitude, on the one hand they seemed to value believers, and on the other hand they did not take believers seriously at all, and it did not matter how much they died. In a sense, it seems that the evil gods only want to enjoy the supremacy of their own power and the pleasure of mortal believers singing the praises of their reputations, rather than planting and harvesting from their believers to get the power of faith.

Eventually, Ashruphat came to the conclusion that the believers were merely pawns of the Chaos Gods in order to resolve their contradictions.

The power of the evil gods is too strong (although it is unknown where their power comes from) that they cannot clash directly, or risk destroying the world (destroying themselves?). However, as people know, the four evil gods themselves are by no means monolithic, but have deep contradictions. In order to resolve these contradictions, the evil gods adopted the so-called "Law of Chaos" method, using the battle of mortal believers to decide the winner.

To use an analogy, mortal believers are to the evil gods the cards on the table, the chess pieces on the chessboard. It's important to say it's important, and it's not important to say it's not important. This is also why Ashruphat is obviously not a Chaos believer, but the gods will work so hard to hand him an olive branch.

In order to compete for this important chess piece, the evil god can be said to do everything.

Tzeentch relied on profit to attract him, Slaanesh relied on desire to attract him, and this time, Eshuruphat came into contact with a third evil god.

"Child?" Nurgle's salutation surprised Ashruphat slightly. Tzeentch calls him by his first name, Sanein calls him "my knight", and Nurgle calls him "child".

"Yes, my child. Nurgle spoke softly, "I know why you're calling me, and I'm waiting for you to call me. ”

"You know what I want?" Ashruphat hesitated, then realized that this was normal. Honestly, it wouldn't be normal if Nurgle didn't understand what he was here for.

"I know, you want to rule this swamp. Nurgle said. "I know it's Tzeentch's arrangement, but I don't object to that. Maybe you're the right person. ”

This one...... It's too simple, isn't it? Ashruphat subconsciously felt that something was not right. Truth be told, in his expectation, Nurgle would come and bargain with him, and even extort something from him. Let's say some promises, let's say let him complete a certain task or something. Things are too smooth, but it makes people a little unbelievable for a while.

"You...... That one...... The ...... of the Immortal Lord" Nurgle's calmness made Ashruphat feel a little uneasy. According to the principle of treating others with himself, he subconsciously felt that this matter must not be simple. Is this another ploy, or is it just an old trick to get away with?

"The kid died. Nurgle replied, his voice full of sadness. "It's a shame. He died a heroic death. But since he died in a face-to-face, honor-filled battle, at least I can talk to comfort me. ”

"The rain...... Did you get it?"

"Yes, kid. Because I tried my best to stop you, but I couldn't. This battle will make me sad no matter who wins or loses. You don't need to be embarrassed, I know what happened to you and Tzeentch......" Nurgle said. "In my name, all the children in this swamp will obey your orders. His voice changed. "And it's not just the swamp. I can give you an army for as long as you want...... All my believers, if you wish, are at your disposal and can join you in the war of the future. ”

"Oh...... "Well, so far, Ashrufat really hasn't heard such generous terms. Both Tzeentch and Slaanesh were made to do one thing after another to help, and Nurgle was unimaginably generous. It is really only a loving father who gives such a generous and unrequited gift to his beloved son.

That's right, "Father Namgle". Ashruphat had heard the followers of Nurgle call their god that way. He didn't pay much attention at the time, but in retrospect, maybe Nurgle was such a god. After all, no believer has ever called Slaanesh, Tzeentch, and Sadism "loving fathers."

However, in the next moment, Ashruphat remembered the Nurgle cultists he had seen, the boils, pustules, and all kinds of strange lesions on the Nurgle's body, and of course, the immortal lord Jax who he had killed.

"You misunderstood me...... Nurgle seemed to have insight into Ashrufat's thoughts (which is not surprising, of course), "that is the nature of life...... It's just that the way of expression is beyond the prejudice of mortals...... Well, if you don't want to understand you don't have to. Child, believe me, my blessings are with you. "At the time of the last sentence. Nurgle's voice in Ashrufat's head became solemn.

Nurgle's blessing? Ashruphat wanted to refuse. It is said that although the followers of Nurgle were outwardly afflicted with all kinds of diseases, they did not actually do any harm to them...... Well, no matter how he actually felt, he didn't want to be one of those sick people anyway.

"Don't say no, in fact, there's no need to say no. For my blessing was with you long ago. Nurgle said. "You may not understand it yourself, but in every tiniest piece of flesh and blood in your body, there is the ultimate vitality...... Far beyond others. I'm sure you're aware of it. ”

"Same as Jakes?" Ashrufat asked. Speaking of which, he does have superhuman healing abilities.

"No, he's nowhere near yours. Nurgle replied. "My child, I know your goal. Sadism has built a fortified castle on top of the high mountains. That battle will never be won lightly, but go for it, kid. I will support you, and you can call upon my help in your time of need. ”

"Wait......" Ashrufat's mind flashed. He really didn't expect Nurgle to be so talkative, and in that case, he might as well ask more. "Nurgle...... Dad. He felt compelled to cater to Nurgle's name. "Why did he do that, what did he do when he took Star?"

"He wanted a template. Nurgle replied. "Your wife, that woman, is a fitting specimen. Fear of sadism violates the laws of chaos, and he is proud of his power and wants to change it. ”

"Template?sample?" Ashruphat felt that this seemed beyond his comprehension. He wanted to ask again, but suddenly realized that this communication between the two sides had disappeared. Because of the necklace pendant in his hand, I don't know when it has turned into a ball of metal powder.

Above that ring, a third emblem has been revealed. That's Nurgle's emblem.