Section 89 Experience

Ashruphat remembered the map that Slaanesh had shown him. It's hard to describe, it's like a strange memory being crammed in, and it's not a nice feeling. But the effect was amazing, and until now, Ashrufat remembers every detail of the map clearly. If he had enough paper, pen and paint, he could even draw a complete map.

The distribution of chaotic forces is different from the impression that many people think that "chaotic tribes live together at will", and there is also a clear division of forces in the chaotic realm. If that map is correct, take this swamp as the boundary, and enter the realm of Nurgle. This is not to say that outsiders are denied entry, but rather that the tribes of the "mixed faith" have become scarce, and the number of tribes that worship the Father of the Plague alone has greatly increased. However, this is not an isolated phenomenon, as the other three evil gods are.

"That's all there is?" Astiana asked. "Let me ask you first, why are you here, and is this the end of the path of conquest that the gods have shown you?"

"Nope. Ashrufat said. "In the north. However, even with the guidance of the gods, my current strength is far from enough. I need more strength to join me. ”

"You want the followers of the Father of Plague to follow you, and if that's the case, you're going to have a tough challenge. Astiana said. "This swamp also has its owner. ”

"Master?" Ashruphat couldn't help but frown. Dealing with scattered tribes is a completely different matter from dealing with a unified force.

"A powerful Chaos Lord named Jesk, known as the 'Immortal Lord'. He was the favorite child of the Father of Plague and was deeply gracious. Some say that he has long surpassed the status of the Chaos Lord, but he still calls himself the Chaos Lord. ”

"'Immortal Juggernaut'? Does this title have any special significance?"

"Yes. Legend has it that he was also blessed by the Father of the Plague to overcome the inevitable death of mortals, just like you. Although he has not been promoted to the rank of Demon Prince, he has not aged naturally and died. He is the master of this swamp, and all the tribes that inhabit it are ...... and they all obey his commands. ”

"Is this claim of the 'Immortal Master' an unfounded rumor, or is there a solid basis?"

"When I was very young, he was already in control of all the tribes in the swamps. After all these years, after I am old, he is still the same. It is reported that half a year ago, he appeared on the battlefield and killed at least twenty people with a long-handled battle axe covered with green rust and pus-emitting forever. ”

A Chaos Lord killing twenty enemies on the battlefield is really nothing. But this incident is enough to prove the claim of the "Immortal Lord" - because the Immortal Lord Gersk is still above Astiana. Even the fact that human beings are gifted differently does not explain this.

"How strong is he?" asked Ashrufat. "Everybody says you've fought with him, but it's not up or down. ”

The aged Chaos Lord sighed. "I also wanted to control this swamp, and I fought him many times for this. I managed to gain the upper hand on the battlefield more than once. But after all, the swamp is his home turf. So he was able to come back after every failure. Although I have inflicted heavy losses on his army more than once, I have never been able to bring him to his knees. Eventually, I gave up on the idea. Perhaps it is because of this weakness of mine that I have lost the favor of the Lord of Deceit. ”

"Is the Immortal Master's army very powerful?"

"Strong in the swamp. Astiana said. "Actually, there are two real enemies, the army of the Immortal Lord, and the plague caused by that damned swamp. The latter is much more difficult to deal with than the former. ”

"Plague...... Is it the power of the Father of the Plague?"

"Maybe, maybe not. As you know, even without the power of the Father of Plague, unclean food and water can easily cause disease. You can't find clean food or clean water in that damn swamp. The army could only stay at the edge of the swamp for a short time - because a little deeper, food and water became a big problem. Each time, I tried to draw the army of the Immortal Lord to the edge of the swamp and then attacked. His abilities on the battlefield...... In my opinion, too, it is so-so. But as long as he withdraws with the remnants of his army, I will not be able to pursue him. In fact, you can't stay long even on the edge of the swamp, because the plague doesn't know when it will break out. The losses inflicted by each plague were even worse than those inflicted by the armies of the Immortal Lord. Young man, although you are full of confidence, I still want to sue you...... Let's put it this way, it's easy to defeat the army of the Immortal Lord, but it's hard to conquer this swamp. Unless the blessing of the Father of Plague is with you, I really can't think of a way to conquer this swamp. ”

The phrase "blessed ...... the Father of the Plague" reminded Ashrufat of those who had been blessed by the Father of the Plague. Seriously, Tzeentch and Slaanesh's blessings didn't turn him off at least, but he really wasn't interested in those blessings from Nurgle. Although Ashruphat had been living in the Chaos Realm for quite some time, until now, he still couldn't understand why a blessing from the gods was counted as a blessing to be covered with sores and disgusting pus.

But on the other hand, he also knows one thing, that is, those guys who are full of abscesses and blood blisters, and the skin surface is full of eczema and lumps, have abnormal vitality. But this is not incomprehensible - ink dripping into the water immediately stains the water, while dripping into the same ink does not change at all. If your internal organs are already rotten, then even if a knife pierces your internal organs, it is not a big deal.

"Is there anything else you can do?" said Ashruphat softly, as if asking the other man, and as if he were talking to himself.

"I've been fighting him for at least 10 years, but I can't really think of anything that works. ”

"Kill him on the battlefield?"

"It's hard. He's a powerful Chaos Lord, and with the blessing of the Plague Father with him, trying to kill him won't be easy. I set a trap to lure him into an ambush. But in the end, he broke through. That was the closest I was to my goal. He hasn't been fooled since. ”

"That is, he is a turtle. Ashrufat said. "This swamp is his tortoise shell. As long as he retracts into a tortoiseshell, he is almost invulnerable. For it would be extremely difficult for any foreign army to gain a foothold in the swamp unless it was blessed by the Father of the Plague. ”

"If you change 'turtle' to 'crocodile', I think it's more appropriate. Because he bites people, he is ruthless enough. ”

"If you can kill him......

"At least I'm sure there's never been a man among his men who can inherit his position in terms of ability and prestige. So if he dies, I guess there's at least a seventy percent chance that his men will fall apart and fall into civil strife. Maybe by that time, even outsiders will have a chance. ”

Next, the conversation began to turn to something more nuanced, and the Chaos Lord Astiana was not hiding anything, and he told Ashrufat everything he knew. When the conversation was over, Ashruphat stood up and took his leave. Astiana put on a helmet and sent him all the way out. There was no need for anything else, this attitude alone would show that the two Chaos Lords had reached some kind of agreement.

This kind of thing is not uncommon, because war and alliance are twin brothers, and chaos will be no exception. The two Chaos Lords won't necessarily meet and fight each other to the death.

The gates were opened a second time, and Ashruphat came out of it. Tarek, who was waiting outside, hurried to catch up. The group returned to the camp.

Compared to a city like Dangerous Peak, the barracks of Ashrufat, an army of only about 10,000 men, looked small and shabby. His subordinates, though confident in Ashrufat, were also privately concerned about such a disparity in battle. But now, seeing Ashrufat come out of the city safe and sound, and realizing that the current tension of the enemy at the head of the city had disappeared (because the garrison at the head of the city had been greatly reduced at once), the men outside the tent let out a cheer.

"Sir, the situation ......"

"It was even better than expected. Ashrufat didn't mean to hide it.

"How's the city going, Lord Astiana......"

"He agreed to our request and will provide us with soldiers, supplies, and guides and intelligence. Ashrufat said. Although Astiana himself admits that he has never been able to go deep into the swamp, there must be some of his scouts who are accustomed to operating in the swamp - in fact, Astiana's tribe belongs to the type of "mixed faith", so it is not unusual for him to have a group of scouts who have been blessed by the Father of the Plague.

"So, we ...... What should I do for him?"

"We don't have to do anything. Ashrufat smiled and replied. "Astiana and I have come to an agreement. He had promised that starting tomorrow, my soldiers would be free to enter and leave the city. Flint!" he shouted loudly.

Flint walked in from outside. As mentioned earlier, he was the first willing to follow Ashrufat, so although he was only a Chosen Warrior at this time, he had already been appointed as the captain of Ashrufat's guard. Normally, a Chaos Lord's guard captain should be a Chaos Champion.

However, Ashrufat did not have a Chaos Champion who could serve as the captain of the guard. Organizing a Chaos Legion was more cumbersome than commanding the armies of the Central Seven - because at Gruni's time, Eshurufat, as a general, had the authority to promote soldiers to officers. To become a lieutenant general or something high-level may require the queen's permission (of course, if Eshurufat really makes such a request, the little girl will never object), but to become a mid-level and low-level officer, it only takes a word from the commander-in-chief. But in the midst of chaos, such promotion is impossible. A marauder, no matter how talented he is in tactics and how talented in command, will not be able to make a chosen warrior bow down to his orders. Conversely, no matter how many brains a Chosen One has (and sadistic believers usually have more muscles than brains), he can still command a group of low-level believers, and even let his own stupidity kill them all.

This is an unshakable hierarchical difference, one of the most important laws of chaos.

Unfortunately, the Silent Panic Tribe can't provide him with a Chaos Champion. As mentioned earlier, two successive waves of Chaos Legion's southern invasion have almost swept away all those restless people in the Chaos tribes in that area, eager for higher fame and glory, and the rest are content with the status quo. So in the end, apart from Sag, no other Chaos Champion was willing to defect to Ashrufat. He traveled all the way north, although he also absorbed some power from various tribes, but no Chaos Champion joined.