Warhammer Divine Throne

Chapter 1233: Chapter 532: It Was All Tzeentch’s Scheme

The initial minor victory in the Battle of Richard Plains brought joy and excitement to Lorne and his troops. Everyone believed that capturing Richard Castle was only a matter of time. Since the Knights could defeat the Undead Army in direct combat, as long as Mathew Bade’s Undead Army was willing to fight the Knights in the open, defeating the undead and reclaiming Musillon was only a question of time.

However, the situation caught Lorne off guard. After suffering a setback in the initial battle, Mathew Bade abandoned plans for a decisive battle with Lorne. Instead, Musillon’s Viper Sect dispatched numerous Blood Knights and Black Chalice Knights to attack the supply lines of the Northern Knight Path army from behind. Suddenly, the supply lines established by Lorne were under a series of attacks, and whenever Lorne sought a decisive battle with Mathew Bade, Mathew Bade would retreat. When Lorne attempted to advance on Richard Castle, Mathew Bade would attack Lorne’s supply lines again, sending vampires to corrupt and incite refugees to revolt.

Thus, the two sides harassed each other for several days, both falling into difficult situations. Mathew Bade’s assault teams suffered heavy losses, and the Alliance Army, comprising the Imperial and Brittania forces, became exhausted from the harassing warfare.

Richard Castle remained unconquered, with the war seemingly entering a stalemate. Both Lorne and Mathew Bade sought opportunities for a decisive battle favorable to themselves.

Lorne was anxious because his greatest fear was Mathew Bade choosing to forgo a decisive battle and retreat into Musillon City for a last stand. To capture Musillon, Lorne needed to annihilate the main force of the Undead Army here.

However, Mathew Bade did not provide Lorne with an opportunity for a decisive battle. Repeated attacks on the supply lines not only left Lorne frustrated but also rendered his earlier minor victory on Richard Plains meaningless. The Imperial Army was indeed courageous and skilled in warfare, and the Brittania Knights were undeniably strong, but humans simply couldn’t outrun the undead.

But compared to Lorne, Mathew Bade was actually even more anxious.

Clearly, Mathew Bade could retreat to Musillon City, but retreating would inevitably result in a loss of prestige. His rule in Musillon was already unstable, and in this crisis, he absolutely could not retreat.

With Sharp-Top Palace already lost, Mathew Bade was acutely aware that Laine’s troops were temporarily fatigued and insufficient in number to advance, presently recuperating and waiting for reinforcements and supplies. If he couldn’t defeat Lorne’s army here, once Laine regained strength, he would face an attack from both fronts. Considering the remaining Undead Army in Musillon, Mathew Bade already lacked the capability to fight on two fronts.

As for attacking Laine’s supply lines, Mathew Bade hadn’t even considered it... This was because Laine’s supply lines transported materials along the forest trails of Charon Forest. Laine dispatched the Charon Forest Patrol Battalion and a troop of Rangers from the Wood Elves, ”Emerald Wind,” to oversee the safety of the supply line. The vampires were at a significant disadvantage in forest battles; the Rangers could attack directly from beyond visual range.

Moreover, vampires always had an ominous fear of Charon Forest, which needed no further explanation.

The two sides thus found themselves in a stalemate and predicament, each searching for their own solutions.

Curiously, Mathew Bade began to appear more gloomy and silent, often locking himself in his main tent all day without any movement. Whenever he emerged from the tent, all sorts of ingenious and bold plans always left the other vampires in awe. For this reason, the two armies were never able to truly determine a victor.

But even so, the situation faced by the Undead Army grew increasingly challenging. Confronted with the powerful firepower of Imperial reinforcements, Richard Castle was almost reduced to ruins as the two sides collided on the castle’s remnants several times.

Unnoticed by both, March arrived.

Subspace, Chaos Domain, Tzeentch’s labyrinth.

Tzeentch’s crystal labyrinth was situated on the endless Rainbow Plateau; it appeared as though it traversed all Demon Realms, with crystalline passages alternating in every color bending and crossing through Tzeentch’s territory, connecting the ever-changing Chaos Realm into one through secrecy and deceit infiltrating the other Evil God domains.

No demons existed within the crystal labyrinth; the labyrinth’s own illusionary paths were sufficient to obstruct intruders not controlled by the strongest mental imagination. The shimmering corridors not only reflected light but also hope, pain, dreams, and nightmares. The crystal labyrinth didn’t merely reflect; it distorted and transformed the goals and aspirations of intruders into madness and despair, influenced by Tzeentch’s unconscious scheming. The crystal labyrinth moved and reorganized continuously, with every path, turn, and dead-end being a fleeting whim of the Master of Destiny. Those who lost their way inside the labyrinth would roam endlessly, their minds wavering amid the repetition of their own failures, dreams withering away.

And now, the great Master of Destiny, Lord of Change, Messenger of Hope, Deceitful Strategist, Supreme Eagle, Master of Deceit, Celestial Venerable Qingbao (as called by the Zhendan people), King of Eagles (as called by the Norsca people) was seated within his fortress of despair, where Tzeentch, one of the Chaos Four Gods, resided.

Tzeentch was the strangest among the Chaos Four Gods. His skin crawled with continuously shifting faces, which sneered and mocked those daring to look upon them. When Tzeentch spoke, these faces repeated his words in subtly different tones and provided annotations that cast doubt upon the original words, baffling the listener. Tzeentch’s shriveled face emerged from his undefined torso, thus rendering his head and body as one. Above Tzeentch’s burning eyes leapt two sweeping horns, whose spinning ends blazed with mysterious fire.