Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 551 Wardmaker: This unfolding is completely different from what I expected.

After the joint meeting between "Shadow of Order" and "Space Wolf," Wolf Lord Amlodi Skasen Skasenson went straight back to the mid-deck.

His rune priest, Oshel Wardmaker, did not leave with the Wolf Lord; instead, he followed the Think Tank.

“Okafor, we should talk before we arrive in Skaford.”

Seeing that Okafor had stopped, Wardmaker continued.

"There are too many disagreements among our legions, but this stems from a lack of understanding of each other."

"You and I can break down our prejudices against each other."

Wardmaker shook his long staff, which was topped with a gold and silver eagle emblem, and spoke with great passion.

"Imagine the friendship we have forged will be remembered."

Okafor stared at Wardmaker, who had a shaved head and wore a plain leather hat. Unlike the other wolves, he had no beard and seemed more friendly.

But his father's orders made the mind-body psychic observe Wardmaker with a more cautious eye.

Beneath his warm exterior lurks the shadow of a venomous snake.

Okafor glanced at the amulets hanging from the iron-gray armor; the rune priest had far more than any wild wolf.

Most of them correspond to the runes that the Primarch's servants obtained from the Tomb of King Fenris and recorded in the Treasury.

He discerned five of the amulets as being related to mental defense, cautiously avoiding any spreading consciousness, and probed Wardmaker's thoughts.

"Wodemaker, come with me."

Wardmaker strode toward Okafor, his iron-grey armor almost rubbing against the black armor.

"The Fenris call us the Sons of the Storm, and to us, the Sea of ​​Souls is as familiar as the oceans surrounding Asaheim."

"The storms of time surge ceaselessly, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing, but they are forever intertwined with the great legends of the vast universe."

Okafor listened intently to Wardmaker's understanding of psionic energy, a concept not found in the runes.

The Fenris' understanding of psychic power was far more rudimentary than the Legion system and the "Thousand Sons" system based on the Vladimir and Eldar, but it gave him some fresh and profound insights.

Wardmaker spoke "frankly" all the way until Okafor opened the door to the room and entered the meditation room, at which point he believed he had won some of Okafor's trust.

“Okafor, now I’d love to hear your thoughts.”

Okafor stared at Wardmaker and uttered the words he had been preparing for.

My father once said that knowledge contains power.

"Read about those geometrically growing possibilities and get an overview of the fluctuations caused by the entire knowledge system."

“Each combination will produce eleven different results, no matter how similar the starting conditions are. He called this fractal geometry.”

When Wardmaker heard that it was Ninglu who said it himself, his eyes immediately lit up, and he carefully considered each word.

The connection between Legion numbers and knowledge gave him a sense of mystery.

Fractals. 11, 121, 1331...

It develops rapidly, but will eventually decline due to loss of control, much like the conquering advance of the "shadow of order."
Thinking of this, he asked a leading question.

"The collision of fractal patterns triggers geometric growth and knowledge fission?"

Okafor smiled and glanced at Wardmaker. "That's right."

He continued, his eyes gleaming.

"But the first thing my father told me was that the most important thing was to adhere to the precept of order."

"The secrets to be discovered require a firm will to master."

"Having just completed the path of the 'Secret Seeker,'" Okafor remarked with a sigh.

"Therefore, he learned techniques for forging will from the ideas of Thelma."

The light in Wardmaker's eyes was now obscured by a layer of gray shadow.

After a standard ship time, Wardmaker dragged his heavy steps back to the sixth deck of the middle deck.

Stepping onto the deck, the rune priest felt a sense of tranquility, as if no one else was around.

Sanchez's honor guard and think tank members reside on the upper deck.

The wolves did not receive the same preferential treatment as the Brotherhood; the officers of the "Katachan Jungle Warriors" and "Attila Barbarians" resided on the first to fourth decks of the middle deck.

They were placed on one of the middle decks, with the upper and lower decks occupied by the chapter's servants.

Aside from essential tasks like delivering food, no one wanted to approach their hideout.

Wardmaker stepped into the shadows, and four giant wolves with their fur standing on end approached him.

Their muscles are taut, like pistons on an airplane deck ready to fire at any moment.

Wardmaker nodded to the tall warrior in iron-gray armor who appeared next, and then walked into the camp.

Skarsen disregarded the ship's owner's wishes, dismantling all non-supporting structures and opening up the entire deck.

He arranged his soldiers in concentric circles as was customary, with himself sitting in the center.

A totem made from a giant wolf skull stands tall, with a wolf tail as long as a human leg and blade-like fangs hanging from it.

The remains of the burning promethium jars resembled furnaces of Fenris.

The lumen lights were deliberately disrupted at intervals to create a dim, nest-like atmosphere.

The scanning system that monitors temperature and other conditions was found and completely destroyed.

Wardmaker knew this was Skarsen's way of venting his frustrations with the shadow of order, Nimrod, and especially Sanchez.

He approached his wolf lord, Skarsen, and asked in a cold voice in the war language of Fenris, rather than the everyday Hearth language.

Have you uncovered their dark secrets?

“No, Okafor is very cautious.” Wardmaker shook his head, sat down, picked up a bowl of Fenris mead, and gulped it down.

“I told you, your plan won’t work,” Skarsen said coldly.

"Sanchez has no chance of beating me except by using their witchcraft tricks."

"We will naturally obtain the evidence we want."

“They used to be called ‘The Reapers,’ and even if they’re called ‘Shadows of Order’ now, it’s just a name change. Sanchez’s kids will never hold back their power.”

Wardmaker nodded. "You're right, Sanchez also calls himself the Reaper Lord."

"I think they will definitely expose their abuse of witchcraft on the battlefield."

“You don’t need to worry about winning; I have a way to help you.” “Stop talking nonsense; I don’t have the patience right now.” Skarsen swirled the mead in his glass.

"Wolf Lord, the Wolf King and Nimrod are betting on the merits of Sanchez and you."

"It's not just about Stafford, it's about the whole war."

"Before you understand the alien prey, let the Shadows of Order be the first to pounce, and then you can hunt at will."

“I don’t need these petty tricks.” Skarsen’s mind flashed back to Fenris’s Wolf King’s Palace, and Sanchez’s repulsive expression and tone.

Back then, he could only watch angrily from the sidelines; now he is the offspring of the Wolf King, a true space wolf.

Skarsen drew his giant axe from behind and hurled it at Wardmaker.

The giant axe cleaved the deck, cutting in several centimeters.

"You will eventually win and reclaim the Rus Wolf Helmet."

After twenty-five standard ship cycles, the Combined Fleet defeated the Alien Fleet and launched a landing operation.

Wardmaker's gloomy expression vanished the moment he stepped onto the ground with Okafor.

"Think Tank, we should carry out the orders of Lord Ninglu and the Wolf King to wipe out the aliens."

“That’s right.” The offensive has begun. “Woldmaker, listen, the sound of warhorses’ hooves.”

The space wolf heard a thunderous roar in its ears, and the sandstorm swirled and churned in the sky.

Wardmaker looked around and quickly climbed the hillside for a wider view.

Wardmaker knew that the "Shadow of Order" possessed several powerful mortal auxiliary armies, some of which were said to be as strong as the elite of the "Sun Auxiliary Army".

He neither believed nor thought these mortals had anything commendable about them.

Humans cannot keep up with the wolf's swift pace, which is why its wolf lord never fights alongside mortals.

Driven by a sense of responsibility and curiosity about his mission to the Wolf King, Wardmaker scrutinized Attila's barbarian cavalry.

Wodmek was first drawn to the horses; compared to the warhorses he had seen before, the Attila's horses were robust and wild.

The think tank observed traces of biochemical treatment on them, indicating that these warhorses were clearly trained for combat.

Their barbaric, weathered faces bore a resemblance to those of the Fenris, giving Wardmaker a sense of familiarity.

On their similarly dry faces, everyone had prominent ritual scars, and small mustaches that were distinctly different from the thick beards of the Fenris people.

Their scent is strong, and to the nose of an ordinary person it would be similar to that of a wild wolf.

Attila's barbarian cavalry mostly wore leather or animal skin coats, leather riding gloves, boots, and traditional, distinctive wide-brimmed fur hats.

Wardmaker saw that the cavalrymen were grouped into squads of ten, clustered together with the other units, forming a wide line.

Rows of cavalrymen surged toward the slave army like the Fenris Ocean.

A hint of admiration flashed in Wardmaker's eyes. He had to admit that the sight of more than 100,000 cavalrymen charging as a single unit was truly awe-inspiring.

Dozens of company commanders, leading the charge, brandished their sabers.

The first rank of Attila's barbarian cavalry simultaneously laid down the hunting lances made by Incaladion, and the hunting lances, propelled by the impact of their warhorses, slammed into the enemy.

The fragmented spearhead detonated, instantly blasting the enemy into a bloody mess.

In an instant, Wardmaker saw the enemy lines being torn apart.

Okafor walked past him and leaped down. "Action."

The rune priest excitedly followed the think tank, his iron-gray armor slamming heavily onto the ground.

As he ran, he saw that Attila's barbarian cavalry had scattered into different-sized units, flanking and attacking, dividing the slave army into independent positions.

These barbarians are actually quite capable.
While Wardmaker was pondering, he followed Okafor's steps.

He widened his eyes in excitement when he saw the think tank members raise their staffs in unison.

The next moment, he saw the humans enslaved by the neural collars descend into chaos.

Nearly half hesitated and lingered, about a third left their weapons behind, and the rest rushed forward.

Wardmaker's head throbbed, and he stared wide-eyed at Okafor.

"You... liberated the enslaved humans?"

“That’s right.” Okafor retracted the Staff of Osiris, and released his full psionic power, causing a throbbing pain in his temples.

He immediately switched to the Magnus state of mind and entered the Thelma state of mind to calm his pain.

Wardmaker froze, unsure how to carry out the mission, when he suddenly saw a dozen or so aliens rush out from the slave army.

The rune priest's eyes lit up, and he raised his staff.

The leaping bolts of lightning struck several aliens, while simultaneously keeping an eye on several more that were charging toward Okafor.

The newly appointed "fighting scholar" remained calm. He swung the Staff of Osiris, knocking down an alien, then dodged the incoming claws and clenched his right fist, smashing it down on the alien's head.

Wardmaker was taken aback when he saw Okafor swiftly take down several aliens.

While he was distracted, a strange claw came slashing down.

With a loud bang, the three amulets on his body shattered, and he was thrown away.

[Alien Overlord.]
Instead of being alarmed, Wardmaker was delighted. He stared intently as the monster swung its claws and lunged at Okafor.

The "Fighting Scholar" swung his staff to block the claws, and at the same time swung his arm to slam into the alien.

With a loud bang, the overlord's personal energy shield shook.

The "Fighting Scholar" activated the "Eye of Mystery," and the invisible energy shield instantly transformed into barriers of varying depths.

The "fighting scholar" launched a flying kick, sending the opponent flying backward with a loud bang, followed by a series of powerful blows.

Wardmaker watched as the think tank, like a skilled fighting wolf, Bringa, was sometimes ferocious and sometimes swift, defeating the alien overlord without any chance to fight back.

Amidst a series of loud bangs, he finally smashed the alien overlord's head with a vicious uppercut.

[This...the way it unfolds is completely different from what I expected.]
With a complicated expression, Wardmaker walked toward Okafor.

Suddenly, he heard the whistling of the wind. He turned his head and saw a giant wolf, much larger than his wolf master Skarsen's wolf, rushing towards him.

Wardmaker recalled the scene at the camp and immediately recognized it as the thunder wolf that Sanchez had tamed in Fenris.

A giant wolf, over six meters long, carried its master, its enormous yellow eyes gleaming coldly.

Wardmaker stepped aside, secretly speculating.

[Attila's barbarian cavalry scattered the slave army, and Okafor and other think tanks tore apart the lines, creating conditions for Sanchez to directly attack the alien commander?]
(End of this chapter)