Section 103 Accident

Oba walked into Ashrufat's tent without armor, so Ashrufat took his crossbow and shot an arrow at his chest. It is a crossbow from the Central Seven Kingdoms, well-maintained and powerful. At medium distances, even Chaos armor can't stop this thing from direct fire - by normal Chaos armor, of course.

He didn't use the sword because he intended for people to see the qiē so that everyone could see how Oba died. Well, a qiē is the same as he thought. Oba groaned, covering his wound with his hand, his eyes full of disbelief. He clearly didn't realize what was happening.

Ashruphat bent down and, like an ordinary man, used his strength to unleash the string of the crossbow, and then loaded another arrow. He couldn't help but feel a little apologetic when he raised his crossbow to his target for the second time. Even if you kill the other party, at least you have to make him an understanding ghost.

"I'm sorry, Oba. Ashrufat said, his face full of regret. "You know, you used to be a little too aggressive. I needed to make an example of the monkeys, so I chose you. ”

"You ......" The Chaos Champion struggled to speak, but blood poured out of his mouth. He gripped the shaft of the crossbow with his backhand and tried to pull it out of himself, but the pain and barbs on the arrow prevented him from doing so.

"I know it may not make you more comfortable, but at least I'll give you a decent funeral. Ashruphat explained. Then he pulled the trigger of the crossbow for the second time.

The arrow was so powerful that Oba staggered backwards as he looked at the second crossbow shot into his chest. Step by step, he retreated far enough—much farther than Ashrufat had expected—and then fell to the ground on his back, his right hand holding the shaft of the arrow, dead and blinding.

All the soldiers outside the tent - half of them were Ashrufat's guards, and the other half had come to the scene to find the origin of the Assassins - saw the scene. A Chaos Champion died in such an unknown way, and everyone was shocked.

Ashrufat threw away his crossbow and strode out of the tent. Everyone's eyes couldn't help but look at the Chaos Lord, and Ashrufat immediately explained.

"He sent these Assassins. Ashrufat said. "But for the sake of his previous record," he said, turning his gaze to Tarek (the Wizard Apprentice was leading someone to inspect the scene of the assassins' assassinations and try to discern their origins), "arrange a funeral for him that matches his status as a Chaos Champion." ”

With that, Ashruphat turned around and went back to his tent.

He's going to let them, let everybody know, that he doesn't need to investigate, he doesn't need interrogation, he doesn't need anything. He's just going to clean up the people he thinks are suspicious. Who knows who the Chaos Lord's suspicion is?

Well, a little trouble solved, he has to think about the next step. He knew before that now was not the time to take the initiative, he needed time to let the news of the death of the Immortal Juggernaut Jax spread throughout the swamp. The Immortal Lord had ruled for so long that he had become a symbol of the swamp power, so after his death, the first reaction of his subordinates must have been disbelief. It will take time for them to confirm the news and pull themselves back from the illusory imagination of "this is a rumor".

And then, what is the effect on the whole swamp? Maybe it's because the subordinates are at a loss to react. Maybe more people want to take the place of the Immortal Lord, and of course, the worst possibility is that the Plague Father will send another Chaos Lord to take over the Immortal Lord's territory.

But either way, the division of the numerous tribes in the swamp is inevitable. Then, there was a breakthrough in things...... But what if you just wait and do nothing......

The curtain lifted, and Ashruphat raised his eyes to see Raphnia coming in from outside. She held a flask in her hand, and the smell of "drunken blood" wafted from the spout.

Looking at her, Ashruphat didn't know why he remembered the star carving. Maybe he shouldn't have come to the realm of Chaos...... Such a thought suddenly flooded through his heart, and then he quickly drove it out of his mind. At the very least, both Slaanesh and Tzeentch have repeatedly assured him that Starmark will not be harmed for the foreseeable time. It is easy to understand why the abusive believers had worked so hard to bring her all the way north to kill her.

"Raphinia," Ashrufat asked suddenly. "Which of the gods do you worship?"

"Me?" Raphinia was stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered her eyes. "Just like you, my lord. ”

"Like me?" Ashruphat smiled, a hint of violence naturally coming out of his smile. "Don't look at me as the Chaos Lord that Tzeentch and Slaanesh agree with, but I don't believe anyone. ”

He thought it would cause surprise, but if Raphinia had been taken aback, at least there would be no expression on her face. "Just like you. She repeated.

"Just like me...... But I ......" Ashruphat suddenly realized that something was not quite right. "Why, why don't you choose one of the gods and worship the Lord God?"

"Maybe I can ask you why?"

"Because in the eyes of the gods, mortal believers are just pawns. Ashrufat said. "And I don't like to be a pawn. The gods didn't need us in the first place, but because they held each other back, they used us as a tool for gambling and used gambling to settle disputes between them. He spread his hands. "If the gods really value their adherents, at least, they will arm every believer with Chaos armor. ”

"My reasons are similar to yours. The law of chaos didn't bring me any benefit, it killed both my parents and wiped out my kin. So I guess it makes sense that I don't like the laws of chaos. ”

"Even if that means you'll always be a slave and not free?"

"Even if I respect Chaos, will I be free?" Raphinia asked rhetorically.

This answer made Ashruphat bored. Chaos is so troublesome because you don't even know if you're hearing the truth. Especially the followers of the Lord of Deceit, who welcomes any kind of lie, including falsely claiming that he does not believe in Tzeentch. Worst of all, they're always ready to lie – mentally and logically – so hard to pry the truth out of their mouths with a surprise attack or torture. But since Raphinia said so, he didn't ask.

"How's things going with Oba?" he asked. "What do you think?"

"A lot of people in the camp are talking," Raphinia replied. "But it seems that many people agree with your judgment. ”

As she said this, she placed the flask on the table. Ashrufat's tent was small, but still big enough for a table.

"My lord, should we leave?"

"Leave?" said Ashrufat, slightly stunned by the word.

"I thought you were leaving. Raphinia said. "Didn't you already kill Immortal Juggernaut Jax?"

"Killing him is just the beginning. Ashrufat replied. "What I need is not the death of the Immortal Master, but this swamp. Conquer it, control it, and make all the tribes of the swamp bow to my feet, that's what I'm going to do. Eventually, I guess I'll have to make a path through the swamp that runs through it. I still have a lot of work to do to achieve this. Now a qiē has just made a start. ”

"But...... Since you've killed the Immortal Lord," Raphinia asked. "Then why don't you replace him?"

"Replace?" Ashruphat made an uncertain gesture in surprise. "I'm not a believer in the Father of the Plague, how can I replace it? If I do, I can replace Astianna—but it doesn't make sense. Astiana was no threat or interest to me, and even further, as long as the city of Perilous Peaks could provide me with the logistics, it would be much better for Astianna to be alive than dead. ”

"I'm sorry, I just thought so. It seems to me that the gods like this. As long as a Chaos Believer can kill a Chaos Believer of the same class, he can take the place of the dead. This seems to be a rule of Chaos. If there is a difference in status between them, then at least he can get the smile of the gods. ”

After Raphinia left, Ashrufa set his mind. Although he had just said this, it was undeniable that Raphinia's words had sparked a thought. The idea had been whispering before, only now it became more explicit and concrete.

He pulled out the loot he had received from the Immortal Juggernaut, a necklace, from his pocket. The necklace pendant is engraved with the emblem of Nurgle. Chaos cultists always carry such things with them - some even tattoo the emblem of the gods directly on their bodies. Those who worship all the gods of chaos at the same time either hang an eight-pointed star representing the unity of chaos, or simply put the emblems of the four evil gods together.

The necklace pendant in his hand was metal, and it looked inconspicuous, even a little dirty and rusty, but as a magician, he could clearly feel the faint wind of magic hanging over it. This is a treatment that only Chaos Lord-level believers can have.

Can it be done? Ashruphat asked himself in his heart. It should work, if he can communicate directly with Slaanesh and Tzeentch, why can't he communicate directly with Nurgle? They clearly saw Ashruphat as an important pawn - but Nurgle was different. The Father of the Plague had already made it clear that he was not going to interfere, and he didn't seem to have much thought about Aerufat. Besides, Aeruphat had just killed the Immortal Lord Jakes—the Chaos Lord was said everywhere to be Nurgle's darling, and the Father of Plague never hesitated to give him smiles and rewards. Although Ashrufat felt that the appearance of the Immortal Lord had nothing to do with "favor" at all, but was an outright puppet, whether it was a darling or a puppet, since he was killed by Ashrufat, then Nurgle had enough reason to look at Ashrufat unpleasantly. From this point of view, Ashrufat's approach is risky.

He held the necklace pendant in his hand and thought twice. Finally, he pressed the necklace pendant to his forehead.

Then he felt a strange tingling in the skin of his forehead, completely different from the previous feeling of Tzeentch and Slaanesh, and a voice appeared in his head.

"You called me, child. The voice was neither as indescribably seductive as Slaanesh, nor as cold as Tzeentch, but as affectionate, tender and loving.