Warhammer Divine Throne

"I was impulsive, Duke Hagen, please forgive me." Kaled had no intention of internal conflict before the great battle, especially since Hagen was not his match. A true duel for honor where Kaled knocked him off his horse would easily complicate matters.

Hagen possessed an admirable quality; the Duke of Jisoleox was somewhat like the former Duke of Atuo, Zilfroy, mentioned earlier, in that he had extraordinary personal bravery and leadership skills but was remarkably inept and naive in internal affairs.

However, Duke Hagen had self-awareness compared to Zilfroy. He knew his internal affairs skills were lacking, so he never managed them personally but rather delegated authority by appointing regents and deputies, listening to their opinions, and adopting their decisions. Duke Hagen’s perspective was that since he was not knowledgeable, he would let those who were knowledgeable manage things. He only needed to control the military and personnel appointments.

After a brief quarrel, the group returned to the previous topic. Lorne frowned, aware of the trouble these refugees could bring the army, yet he had no choice but to bring them along to avert future disasters. Upon hearing Kaled’s argument, Lorne understood that training a capable peasant army in a short time was unlikely; he didn’t have much meat here, even if he imported much grain from the empire, it would soon be consumed.

He was caught in a predicament, and there were many factors contributing to Lorne’s plight. The southern knightly path armies had already captured Sharp-Top Palace, causing Lorne some instinctive anxiety, but at this point, he could only remain calm, ordering a large group of soldiers to first besiege Richard Castle, awaiting the empire’s reinforcements while constructing fortifications. Lorne’s plan was to avoid field battles or sieges with the undead army until the imperial reinforcements arrived.

It’s not only Lorne who was in a predicament, but Mathew Bade as well.

Musillon’s Viper had just been defeated at Sharp-Top Palace, and the Black Knight faced another significant setback in his life. In Mathew Bade’s view, the gate had already been broken, the defending army exhausted to the extreme, while his undead army was continuously prepared to enter the castle.

With Celestial Ghost and Fear Beast charging in, how could he lose?

Yet lose, he did. Facing Laine’s counter-charge, Mathew Bade lost utterly. When he wanted to counter-attack again, the siege on Richard Castle smacked him directly in the face, and after weighing his options, he could only choose to retreat.

With Sharp-Top Palace fallen, he doubted he could rely on a counterattack to retake it, bolstered by the Lake God Battle Banner. However, Richard Castle was still in his hands; should it fall, both north and south of Musillon’s gates would be open, a very unfavorable situation.

Mathew Bade remained clear-headed. Sharp-Top Palace’s fall was a sunk cost, and he needed to stop the losses quickly. Hence, the undead army immediately turned back toward Richard Castle.

Along the way, Mathew Bade felt an inexplicable fury burning within him, growing angrier as he thought, reflecting on himself, why did he always lose in front of Laine?

If it weren’t for Laine, he would surely have met Marchioness Surya earlier. Without Laine’s severe injury serving as inspiration, he would surely have won the knight tournament and had a great chance to win Surya’s favor.

If it weren’t for Laine, Lake God Witch Mogiana would have been sacrificed to Nagash by now! Without Laine, he would have surely seized the Staff of Nagash from La-Mesnil Abbey!

Damned! Damned! Damned!!! Mathew Bade only felt his anger reaching its peak; he stretched out his hands, wanting to tear everything apart, the unnamed fire nearly consuming his thoughts.

Can I still defeat Laine?!

Yes! I definitely can! But I need to change! Musillon’s Viper’s thoughts began a profound transformation, some things started eroding his soul.

What he didn’t know was that as his furious and intense emotions reverberated in the Subspace, in the void, a certain presence cast its gaze upon Mathew Bade.

It was the God of Deceit, whose mastery of magic was akin to the Master of Magic, also understanding fate, history, and various intrigues. Understanding the changes and laws of the universe’s myriad things, its plans spanned millennia. It even knew the ultimate fate of each distant star, every person’s ultimate fate was insignificant to it.

Mathew Bade’s endless despair, collapsed mindset, and the hope born from rebirth allowed it to sense tremendous energy, and it knew its plans could begin.

"Change is a good thing!"

"My plan is about to begin."