Your war hammer is too fake

"I don't care about your thanks. Just don't curse me every day with those bald guys behind you," An Jiyue waved her hand nonchalantly, "Don't think your troubles are over. In fact, they have just begun. Get ready for the test, Karl Franz."

[Marshal, we are in position. ]

[Very good. Get ready. Don't forget the people who are disguised as Yu Ting.]

Before Hammer 3 came out, the old version of Aurora was very rare, and there were even fewer named Aurora characters. As one of the few old version Aurora characters, An Jiyue had heard of Di Enqing a long time ago. This Tzeentch sorcerer once fought against the Monkey King, and after his defeat, he fled to the Old World, killing the ambassador sent by Aurora to the Empire and replacing him.

The first batch of Jinyiwei sent to Altdorf, in addition to secretly protecting Carl, also had an important task to investigate Di Enqing and collect relevant intelligence. After confirming that there was indeed such a person, and all signs showed that this person was a well-hidden T man as An Jiyue knew, the girl began to plan to kill this guy.

Direct killing is definitely not an option. "The Aurora Ambassador is actually a Tzeentch believer" will seriously damage the image of the Heavenly Court. Therefore, An Jiyue's original plan was to find an opportunity to make Di Enqing die "accidentally" and conceal the secret that this man is actually a Tzeentch sorcerer. As a result, the Jinyiwei discovered some very interesting information during the preliminary investigation.

In order to avoid alerting the target, the Jinyiwei's investigation was very cautious, so the intelligence obtained was not much, and most of it was fragmentary. Even so, the known intelligence was shocking enough.

"Your city will soon be invaded. The enemy will not come from outside the city walls. They will bypass the fortifications that you think are indestructible and appear directly in this noisy and crowded city," An Jiyue raised her hand, motioning Carl to listen to her first. "You must deploy defenses immediately, otherwise everything you are familiar with and value will be burned in the flames of war. Remember, young king, the storm is coming."

After saying that, An Jiyue was ready to give the still lingering spirit a final blow. This thing was much more resistant than she had expected, so it looked like she might have to give it a final blow—

"If this message is triggered, it means my servant has failed." The demon, which had turned into a puddle of mud and whose original appearance could not be distinguished at all, mechanically said, "Hello, an outsider who cannot be observed or predicted. Welcome to join our great game. I wish you..." It dragged out the sound. "Have fun."

An Jiyue's eyes suddenly turned into pure bright silver, which was proof that her mind power was fully activated. Her mind power was released to the maximum extent, forming a transparent barrier in front of her. The girl used the little remaining strength to activate telekinesis to pull all the imperial people behind her. As for Jin Zhifan, the deputy commander silently held a sword in front of An Jiyue, and his nose was almost touching the telekinetic barrier released by An Jiyue.

The thing that used to be a changeling exploded with a bang, and the blue magic torrent washed over the telekinetic barrier like a tsunami. The explosion failed to shake the girl's defense, but that was not its purpose. The explosion temporarily weakened the curtain between the material universe and the chaotic demonic realm. Before the shock wave completely dissipated, An Jiyue sensed the breath of the devil - a miniature chaotic rift appeared in the People's Hall.

The demon that was used as a bomb had its body made of evil ether completely collapsed. This was nothing to the demon, as Chaos Demons were not living things. They were not born, so they naturally would not die.

"It's a good trap." The alchemist girl said, "But you underestimated me."

The governor waved his hand, and the Star Iron Dagger that fell to the ground after the changeling's body collapsed bounced a little, and suddenly leaped into the crack. As a true Tzeentch demon, the changeling is like most demons without a soul. When its material body in the mortal world is destroyed, the demon essence carrying its thoughts will return to the subspace, and reshape its body after a period of time, and resurrect again.

This rogue ability that all Chaos Demons have has helped this little bastard escape death countless times. An Jiyue originally wanted to capture it and study its special abilities, but since it was impossible to capture it alive, it was natural to use the backup plan to end this threat forever.

The next second after the Star-Metal Dagger flew into the Chaos Realm, the entire Warp echoed with the stunned scream of the Lord of Change. He foresaw the fate of his favorite servant, but when he was about to intervene, three very familiar forces appeared at the same time and stopped his attempt to save the changeling.

From the microscopic Chaos rift came Tzeentch's curses and three different laughs. One laugh was loud and heavy, and every syllable exuded a thick and insoluble blood; one laugh was cold and sticky, and it sounded as if there were thousands of maggots crawling all over the body; the last laugh was delicate and charming, tempting mortals to indulge in the most extreme happiness.

But all this has nothing to do with the imperial people. While taking action, An Jiyue removed the barrier covering the People's Hall and sent all the imperial people out. If they heard the voice of the evil god himself, the best result would be that they would go crazy on the spot.

"Goodbye, the four of you, and the rat who was watching from the dark," said the master of the Supreme War Codex, "You guys go ahead and do your work. I won't bother you anymore."

As he finished speaking, the crack that had just opened was forcibly closed, blocking all noise out of the material universe.

……

Note 1: The hard power of the changeling is actually very weak (by the standards of legendary demons), and it relies on special abilities to get things done.

Chapter 150: The Wind Rises

William raised his head and looked at the palace in the distance.

The Palace of Altdorf is a series of buildings. This magnificent complex is located in the palace district of Altdorf, protected by towering walls and steadfast warriors. Next door to the palace is the Great Temple of Sigmar. Behind the walls are palaces, gardens, courtyards, barracks, warehouses and administrative agencies. It can be said that the palace itself is a city within a city.

According to the plan, the attack would begin after the assassin killed Karl Franz. However, in the early hours of this morning, the Order's ally Di Enqing hurriedly sent a messenger to tell them that the action must be advanced, without explaining the reason.

There was endless debate within the cult. As an underground church that had only risen in the last decade or so, the Paradis Cult was willing to risk everything to participate in this operation because there was reliable evidence that a well-preserved God Engine was stored in the treasure house under the Sigma Grand Temple that contained countless dangerous items.

This ancient device came from the Southland. A team of explorers from Sardenberg found it deep in the rainforest and sold it to an Imperial collector. After several rounds of transfer, it fell into the hands of the Church of Sigmar. The Imperials didn't know what it was. When the priests of Sigmar examined it, they found that it seemed to have a soul... They thought it might be a creation of some kind of Tzeentch witchcraft, so they used various methods to try to "purify" it. Of course, all such attempts failed. Not daring to use violent means to destroy it, the Imperials could only seal it in the treasury.

The Paradis Cult had long learned about the Mind Engine, a strange creation of the Faceless Men, from a severely damaged memory matrix. The leader of the Cult, William's father, Oberstein, believed that the study of the Mind Engine would be the key to unlocking the Faceless Men's legacy. For this reason, the Cult spent many years looking for it, but never found anything, until a certain Bishop Sigma, who was dragged into the water by the Cult, accidentally mentioned this "strange device" at a party.

Paradis, who was about to give up the search, was ecstatic, but after they calmed down again, the high-ranking members of the cult realized that unless they used an entire army to launch a frontal attack, it would be almost impossible for them to snatch this thing from the Church of Sigmar - ever since the year 2453 of the Imperial Calendar, when "Black" Arkhan led the Undead army to besiege Altdorf and took the opportunity to sneak into the underground treasury and steal the Necromancer's Grimoire, the Church of Sigmar has strengthened its supervision of the underground treasury.

After repeated considerations, Oberstein rejected all objections and began to organize the Order's own army.

William took on the task. His plan to use the degraded version of the [Cultivation] technology mastered by the Order, combined with his own researched bio-enhancement technology, to create an absolutely loyal and strong army was unanimously recognized by the top leaders of the Order, including Oberstein. William received a steady stream of funds, manpower, and material resources from the Order to support his research. Oberstein even acquiesced to his interception of public funds to research certain projects unrelated to the military plan during this period. Anyway, William was still sensible and completed the tasks assigned to him by the Order very well.

According to the original plan of the cult, they will launch the attack after winter. By then, the imperial army will be unable to quickly mobilize by land due to the severe cold, and the Reikland Navy (Note 1) has already been infiltrated by the cult. Although it is still a long way to go before the cult can control the Reikland Navy, it is definitely more than enough to just paralyze it for a period of time. More importantly, at that time, the cult will have 7500 regiments, a total of elite infantry.

Coupled with the various scumbags secretly controlled by the cult, as well as dozens of ogre mercenaries who were captured by the cult and had their minds controlled by [Civilization], several noble members with military experience in the cult's high-level leadership unanimously believed that this force was enough to conquer the Great Temple of Sigmar and hold out until the transfer of the Divine Engine was completed.

...But now, all of this has come to nothing.

The Order's plan was forced to move forward. Not only did the Enhanced Human Army only have eight regiments, but the infiltration work on some key positions in Rickland was not yet completed. Carter, a former Imperial General who joined the Order, told Oberstein very clearly that the Rickland Navy would be the key to the success of this operation. The Order's army could not attack the Sigma Temple under the bombardment of naval guns. Even if they managed to take it down, they would not be able to withstand the subsequent counterattack of the Imperial Army due to heavy casualties.

Despite the huge opposition, Oberstein used his prestige to suppress it all. He told everyone that the Order had gained a powerful ally. William once thought that this so-called "powerful ally" was a certain Tzeentchian sorcerer from Zhendan, and secretly wondered what was so "powerful" about Dean Qing... until he found out that Horstmann also had a hand in this operation.

Horstman claimed that he was involved in this for revenge, but William was skeptical. Before today, he had never seen this famous senior in the T circle, but even if he only heard about his legendary deeds, William did not think that this guy would come all the way here just for revenge.

Thinking of this, William turned his head to look at Horstman who was standing next to him. The Chaos Warlock Lord, who was wrapped in a set of enchanted heavy armor from head to toe, was leaning on a staff and gazing at the Altdorf Palace in the distance.

The two stood in the crowded square, but were ignored by everyone. The mental shielding concealed the existence of the two from all mortal senses, and even Horstman's mount, the Chaos Dragon Baldros, failed to attract the slightest attention, so that the brutal beast with two heads could only yawn in boredom.

"The changeling failed," Horstmann said suddenly, "but this was also part of the Lord's plan."

"So, it's your turn." William did not show any respect to the opponent's strength and status, and he knew that Horstman did not care about this at all. "Let your dragon tear down the wall and open up the attack channel."

"Don't give me orders, boy. You should be thankful that the Lord still favors you," Horstman's voice came from the helmet. "You don't want to know how I treat those who dare to disrespect me."

William blinked, bent down, and saluted with his hand on his chest in an extremely exaggerated gesture: "Thank you for your kindness, my good master."

Horstmann glared at William, even though William could not see the eyes of the Chosen One through the observation slit on the helmet. The former dean of the Academy of Light, the biggest traitor in the history of the Imperial Academy of Magic, turned over and rode on the Chaos Dragon. His left hand wrapped in gauntlet grabbed the reins made of iron chains and said, "Get your people ready to attack!"

……

Note 1: Although it is called the navy and they do use sea vessels, these people rarely see the sea and most of the time they operate in the empire's inland river network.

The author says:

Author's words: I caught a cold and had a low-grade fever. I lay down all day...

Chapter 151: Boris the Cat

Karl Franz felt a flash before his eyes.

The demon disguised as the Elector exploded like a bomb, with a power far greater than any war machine the prince had ever seen. However, the prince and others were not hurt at all, as the masked female elf saved them... Then, Karl found that he was no longer in the People's Hall, and Kurt Helberg was looking at him with a worried look on his face.

"Sigma!" Marshal Rick looked relieved: "Are you okay, my prince?"

"Not too bad," Carl replied cautiously. "It looks like a lot of fun here."

"If you don't come out, we'll have to drag the cannon over here," Kurt said, looking at the ticket holders one by one, "Hmm? Where's Lord Koenigwald? Where did he go?"

Carl suddenly felt his heart being tightly grasped. He realized that it was difficult for him to answer this question, especially since the Koenigwald family no longer had a legitimate heir. When a new emperor was elected, he would decide who would become the new Elector of Ostland, and the Koenigwald family, which had no heirs, would become part of history.

"He is dead," Prince Altdorf replied simply, "but we have no time to mourn the passing of Uncle Maximilian. Send out all the runners, Kurt. The troops of Reikland must move immediately."

Kurt did not ask why, but obeyed immediately. When Karl was still an infant, Duke Kurt Helberg was already a veteran who had experienced many battles. One thing he learned from decades of military life was not to ask so many whys. The soldiers of the empire should execute orders first and then think about other things.

The pioneers, wearing breastplates and carrying muskets, mounted their horses and hurried to the various military camps in the city with orders. As for the garrison of the palace itself, they had been mobilized after the incident in the People's Hall. Because the witch hunters had received reports that there were suspected traces of cult activities in the sewers of Altdorf, Rick's army had already made a series of adjustments, and all key locations had strengthened their defenses. Cannons were even set up at the entrance of the Great Temple of Sigmar.

Boris Todbringer's supporters, those followers of Yurik, claimed that this was a sign that the damned Rick was preparing to attack them, while the bishops of the Church of Sigmar retorted that only followers of Yurik would abuse violence. For this reason, the two sides have had many conflicts during this period, and various fights of all sizes have been going on from morning to night without a moment's peace.

When Karl thought of the Elector of Middenland, he subconsciously turned his head to look over there. The Wolf Lord was surrounded by a group of White Wolf Knights and Teutonic Guards. He was still holding his legs together, blushing and cursing in Middenland slang.

It seems that his rivals are still alive and kicking, Karl thought. He did not want to participate in any elections. The people of the Empire generally believed that he was too young to bear the burden of the emperor. Coincidentally, Karl himself thought so. It was time for another dynasty to wield the hammer. The Holstein-Schlistin family had ruled for long enough.

"That's her!" Karl suddenly heard Boris shouting, "Catch her!"

Prince Aldolf turned around in some surprise and found that the masked female elf who looked like Asrai and her maid with superb martial arts skills had appeared in front of the gate of the People's Hall at some point.

"Rick Guard!" Carl heard his own voice shouting, "Stop those wolf cubs!"

Although they were somewhat confused, the Reik Guards still executed the order without hesitation. The Reik Swordsmen holding halberds formed a human wall, blocking the followers of Ulric and the two female elves. The Reik Knights jumped on their horses and put down their armor. They took the lances from the squires and prepared to launch a devastating charge.

"Believe in comets, kid!" Boris's old face loomed among a group of White Wolf Knights: "Do you want to start a war?!"

"This elven lady stopped a terrible conspiracy against the entire empire and saved us all," Karl shot back in an equally resonant voice, "Is this how the followers of Yurik treat their savior?"

"She was rude to me!" The Wolf Lord said with undiminished momentum: "I won't kill her, but she must be punished for her rudeness!"

The Reiksguard and the White Wolf Knights were facing each other, the latter bared their teeth and stared at the Sigmar followers with ill intent, while the former stared back without giving in. Since the announcement of the Electorate Conference, the Yurik followers had created countless public security cases in Altdorf, and these bullshit incidents were basically handled by the Reiksguard... It can be said that the Reiksguard had been holding back their anger for a long time, just waiting to give these wolf cubs a good beating.

"Ah~" a female voice chuckled, "Are you a little confused about the situation?"

An Jiyue's feet were off the ground, suspended 20 to 30 centimeters above the ground. She looked at Boris with a playful expression: "In my impression, wolves are cunning creatures. Didn't Yurik only teach you to be brave and not to use your brain more? With these wild monkey warriors, do you think you can defeat me?"

"You still have time to surrender now," Boris said coldly, "In the name of Yurik, I will spare your life."

The girl didn't want to waste time talking to this man anymore. Karl saw that things were not going well and was about to come out to smooth things over when he saw An Jiyue disappear from the spot. The next second, the White Wolf Knights and Teutonic Guards flew up to the sky with their hands and feet dancing, and then fell heavily to the ground like a sack full of grain. Big Yurik rushed over with a mace, but the girl just glanced at him lightly, and the most loyal servant of the White Wolf God was blown away by telekinesis, knocking over a group of Teutonic Guards like a bowling ball.

"Do I have to act as brutal as Druzy so that you will be afraid of me?" An Jiyue sighed faintly, "Foolish monkey lord, my name is Deedlit, Deedlit of Rhodes Island. When you put a bounty on my head, don't get my name wrong."

After saying that, the girl used telekinesis to pinch the Wolf Lord's entire body, making it impossible for him to resist, and then launched her spell.

Under the stunned gaze of the onlookers, a pair of soft black cat ears grew on Boris' head, and at the same time a black cat tail squeezed out of his pants and swayed flexibly behind the Wolf Lord.

"What did you do to me, meow?! Damn it, what happened to my voice, meow?!" Boris was furious at first, and then his anger turned into boundless confusion and even... fear. He touched the top of his head, and then, in An Jiyue's half-surprised, half-approving eyes, he used the Midden Rune Fang to cut off the cat ear on the right side of his head.

Just as the Wolf Lord was about to attack the cat ear on the left, he felt an unbearable itch on the top of his head. The cat ear that had just been cut off regenerated within a few seconds.

Boris held the sword in his right hand and touched his head with his left hand. He lowered his head, and the bloody cat ears were still lying at his feet, as if it was just an extremely real illusion.

"This is just a small punishment to warn you not to provoke those who you cannot afford to offend," he heard the voice of the elven witch say, "As long as you shout three times in front of at least ten thousand spectators, 'I'm sorry, Master Deedlit, I was wrong, please forgive the poor stupid dog', the spell will be automatically lifted."

“You…you…” Boris took a deep breath and rushed over almost crazily: “You witch who deserves to go to hell, meow!!”

An Jiyue dodged nimbly: "Otherwise, this spell will last a lifetime~"

"That's enough, Boris!" The Great Ulric of the Ulric Church, Emil Valjir, put away his hammer and axe and rushed over, hugging Boris: "That's enough, can I handle it?"

Without waiting for Boris to answer, Great Ulric raised his head and stared at An Jiyue: "Deedlit of Rhodes Island, right?" He emphasized every syllable: "You are causing trouble for your people. Ulric's followers will never tolerate such humiliation. While there is still time, remove this damn witchcraft so that we can resolve this matter peacefully. Otherwise, the imperial army will flatten the Athel Loren Forest. As far as I know, you are not good at fighting in winter, and winter is ruled by my Lord."

"You are much calmer and more rational than the one in your arms," ​​An Jiyue said, "but you are wrong about one thing. I don't care what happens to Athel Loren, let alone what happens to those guys who spend all day with wood. If you are going to send them to see the Pale Queen, please do so."

Carl felt that he had to intervene. He naturally disliked Boris, but politics was not about likes and dislikes. "Ms. Deedlit," Prince Altof motioned everyone to stay where they were, and he walked towards An Jiyue alone, "To be frank, I am happy to see the wolf cubs of Midden Territory suffer."

Big Yurik immediately cast a dissatisfied look at the prince.

"But this level of... punishment is too much anyway. Listen, ma'am, I know that no self-respecting lady likes Boris Todbringer. He has no respect for women," Karl said. "Excessive punishment will only lead to more resentment and hostility, which will not help solve any problems facing contemporary people. You have already made him lose face in front of the most powerful people in the empire."

The ticket holders nodded with complicated expressions.

"Please stop, my lady. Boris has already paid the price for his offense." Carl slowly pulled out the rune tooth of Rick Territory and assumed a ready posture for the Imperial Court Swordsmanship. "I am very sure that I cannot defeat you, even with all the soldiers loyal to me here. However, as an elector, there are things I must do."

"Are you sure?" An Jiuyue asked.

"I'm sure." Carl nodded.

"Okay." So the girl stopped asking questions. Just when Carl thought the matter was resolved, he saw the girl suddenly raised her head and pointed at him with a smirk on her face: "You insisted on coming up here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a pair of majestic white wolf ears grew out of Karl Franz's head. A shiny white wolf tail grew out from behind the prince, swinging back and forth gently.

Boris, who was originally mumbling incoherently due to excessive stimulation, suddenly broke free from Emil's hands and jumped up from the ground: "Damn it! Elf witch, I want this meow!" He pointed at Carl's wolf ears and tail, his eyes shining: "Change it to this, and I will forgive all your offenses to me meow!"

Big Yurik suddenly had a strong urge to chop this guy with an axe.

An Jiyue looked at the man speechlessly, and just as she was about to answer, she suddenly turned around and looked towards the south of the palace. Noticing the elven witch's action, Carl, who was still in shock and had not yet fully recovered, mechanically followed her and looked over.

In the sky, a two-headed Chaos Dragon was swooping down, opening its bloody mouth full of fangs, and blue and red flames plowed through the walls of the palace, leaving a charred black mark.

"It seems that the war has already begun," An Jiyue said, "Get ready for battle, young king."

……

Note 1: The more I learn about white people, the more I find their way of thinking incomprehensible. White people will fear those who are not strong enough but cruel enough, and at the same time, they will have no respect for those who are strong enough but not cruel enough.

Chapter 152: Showdown (Part 1)

An Jiyue is a little confused now.

The Changeling was dead, completely dead, and the girl's Supreme War Codex had already received its points; but Tzeentch immediately sent a Chaos Warlock worth a lot of money, plus a Chaos Dragon as a gift. The Lord of Change couldn't have been unaware that this guy couldn't beat him. It was true that Horstman was a powerful Chaos Warlock, with first-class magic power and cunning, but this guy could only hold him back for a while at best...

Wait, hold on?

The governor soared into the air, while her deputy maid escaped into the void and waited for an opportunity to strike. Every breath of the Chaos Dragon could turn a small group of soldiers into charcoal, melting the full body armor made by the dwarf blacksmiths into orange liquid, and even the solid stones would be burned and cracked. The defenses on the south side of the palace were collapsing, and the defenders tried their best to fight back but to no avail: the cunning Chaos Warlock had been maintaining his flight altitude, and the cannons deployed on the city wall did not have enough elevation angle to hit him.

The musketeers and crossbowmen suppressed their fear of the behemoth and shot at the target in the sky with fearless courage, but the lead bullets and crossbow arrows bounced off the dragon scales of Baldros, unable to stop the rampage of this ancient monster. While they were busy reloading, the Chaos Dragon swooped down, and its dragon breath swept through the ranks of soldiers with a heavy roar, drowning the screams of mortals in the rolling heat wave.

Sitting on the saddle on the back of Baldros, Horstman watched his mount's killing with satisfaction. The Chaos Warlock Lord did not take part in this one-sided massacre, but was waiting for something. According to the information revealed to him by the gods he served, there was a very powerful opponent waiting for him here... The Lord of Change had been whispering in the warlock's ear, promising him that as long as he could defeat that existence, he would grant him the supreme honor of being promoted to the Demon Prince.

For some reason, Horstman always felt that Tzeentch was particularly sincere this time. None of the Chaos Gods were the ones who kept their promises. They were fickle and inconsistent. But the Chaos Warlock had a hunch that if he really did what Tzeentch asked, this lying God would definitely keep his promise.

The Chaos Warlock had always wondered why he felt this way, and even suspected that Tzeentch might have secretly influenced his thinking. However, when he saw An Jiyue with his own eyes, all his doubts disappeared, and he finally understood why Tzeentch was so generous this time. After all, what's the point of caring about a promise that doesn't need to be fulfilled?

Horstmann clenched his staff. He neither cursed nor tried to escape. The former was meaningless, and the latter would only result in him turning into a Chaos Spawn immediately - Tzeentch must be watching him at this moment.

"Elves," the Chaos Warlock said in a very standard Elthalin accent, "your beloved forest is not here, why do you want to interfere in the affairs of humans? Ah, yes, Wood Elves love to meddle in other people's affairs, you always have. But have you ever thought that such reckless behavior will bring you the wrath of Chaos? Or do you simply not understand what you are doing?"

An Jiyue continued to approach. This was her first time using the [Flying Spell], and she was not very proficient in using it. There are many kinds of flying spells of the alchemists, but except for [Soaring on the Clouds and Driving the Mist], the appearance rate is basically not very high, even for the [Flying Spell] which is on par with the [Escape Spell]. This spell cannot carry people like Soaring on the Clouds and Driving the Mist, and except for the more flexible flying posture, it has no obvious advantages over Soaring on the Clouds and Driving the Mist.

"See this army behind me?" the Chaos Warlock continued, gathering the winds of magic at the same time. "This army will destroy the Imperial Palace, then the temple of the false god Sigmar, and finally all of Altdorf. Can you stop this? Foolish man, don't you understand that I am trying to save your life?"

As the Chaos Warlock and his dragon mount rampaged on the palace walls, many houses near the palace were suddenly knocked open from the inside. In the rising dust, some ogres, wrapped in uniform heavy steel armor and holding giant maces, rushed out shouting, followed by teams of soldiers in white armor, marching in neat steps out of the tunnel and forming several rectangular formations in the square in front of the palace.