A low chorus of chuckles echoed through the shanty.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam] listened to his brothers' banter, his smile gradually fading. He raised a hand, signaling for quiet. "Brothers, we can't just keep screwing around in this dumpster fire of an Underhive forever."
His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the room. All eyes fell on him.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam] stood up slowly, his swollen frame looking exceptionally imposing in the dim light. "Are you really satisfied with just a tiny taste of power?"
He swept his gaze across the room, studying every face. "This is Warhammer. And we chose the Chaos faction. We looked up the lore for the Cleansing of Laeran—Slaanesh's corruption of Fulgrim, the Primarch of the Emperor's Children, has already begun. Our Chaos brothers have secured the first major victory. Even though we're right in the heart of the Imperium of Man on Holy Terra, and the challenges we face are significantly harder than theirs, we need to step up and put the work in."
His voice grew stern, carrying the solemn gravity of a priest delivering a sermon. "Right now, we're nothing more than the Blessed within Nurgle's cult—the absolute bottom of the food chain. Above us are the Plaguebearers, the Plague Priests, the Prophets of Rot. And above them? Nurgle Champions and Nurgle Daemon Princes."
His gaze swept over everyone, a once-dormant conviction now burning brightly in his murky green eyes. "Sure, we can still use the store to buy body enhancements and mods. But ever since we got Nurgle's blessing, aside from heavy cybernetics or full Astartes augmentation, any standard enhancement pales in comparison to the sheer power we get from spreading plagues, racking up achievements, and earning direct blessings from Nurgle."
He extended his right hand. A yellowish-green aura began to pool within his swollen palm. "Because this is a direct gift from Grandfather. It's a literal... level up at the foundational rule-set of this world."
He paused, lowering his voice into a gravelly whisper. "Brothers! Do not settle for this! Our crusade is just getting started."
A brief silence fell over the shanty. Everyone was digesting his words.
Then, [Can't Repay Grandfather's Love] was the first to speak, his voice laced with excitement. "The boss is right. Our crusade is just getting started. We haven't even made it out of the Eternal City's hive to see the Terran sun yet!"
At this moment, the Chaos player who had just walked in from outside, [New Three Kingdoms Military Strategist], gave a calm smile. "We all get what the boss means. Aren't we already doing it, though? Founding the Church of Grandfather's Mercy under the banner of 'The False Emperor is Dead, the Grandfather Shall Rise.' We've started spreading plagues to these Underhivers under the guise that Grandfather cures all diseases. As long as they're infected with Grandfather's gifts, whatever petty mutant viruses they caught from the pollution get devoured entirely. We're essentially saving their lives in a roundabout way. We're doing a good deed, and we're earning merit points by spreading Grandfather's plagues."
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam] nodded, a faint smile touching his lips. "Exactly."
His gaze grew distant, piercing through the dilapidated walls of the shanty and staring into the boundless darkness outside. "Though we still need to bide our time and build our strength. Our Church of Grandfather's Mercy is still weak, far inferior to the other Nurgle cults. We don't even have a single Plaguebearer. But one day, when we have enough power... when enough people in our cult receive more of Grandfather's blessings, when we birth Plague Prophets, or even a Nurgle Chosen Daemon Champion..."
His voice slowly rose, carrying an absolute resolve. "When that time comes, we will rise up in rebellion. In the name of Grandfather! We will wage a war to slay the False Emperor!"
The breathing of the players inside the shanty grew heavy. Every single one of them stood up simultaneously, their murky green eyes burning with a twisted fanaticism.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam]'s voice drove on, carrying a fiercely infectious power. "We will lead an endless tide of Nurgle cultists! We will smash through the barriers between the Underhive and the Lower Hive! We will surge all the way to the Upper Spire! We will break through the Wall of Eternity! We will breach the Ultimate Wall! We will storm..."
He took a deep breath, his voice detonating like thunder. "The Imperial Palace! We'll make those aristocrats who have lived for generations in the upper spires understand the fury of the common man! We will take that high and mighty False Emperor..."
He reached out and clawed at the empty air, as if he had already taken hold of the figure upon the Golden Throne. "...and drag him off the Golden Throne! We'll make him understand... what it means to feel Grandfather's love!"
The moment his words fell, an invisible force abruptly descended.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam]'s body suddenly went rigid. The power cascading from the void was decaying yet deeply affectionate, embracing all things. It felt like a mother cradling her infant; like rot nourishing new life.
A sudden epiphany hit him, and he instantly roared, "Everyone, immediately start chanting the Nurgle litanies from the Sacrifice Method!"
The dozen or so players present all felt the descent of that immense will at the same time, instantly plunging into a frenzied state. Almost entirely on instinct, they closed their eyes and began to chant...
They chanted the Nurgle litanies detailed in the Chaos Cultist Emotional Faith Sacrifice Method.
Low murmurs echoed through the shanty. No mortal could possibly comprehend these words. It was the whispering of the Warp, the ancient tongue through which Grandfather communicated with his children.
The temperature inside the shack plummeted. Yet, wrapped within that chill was a reassuring, festering warmth.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam]'s body began to violently convulse.
The three pustules on his forehead suddenly flared to life... Not with ordinary bioluminescence, but with a radiance born from the deepest abysses of the Warp.
The Seven Avatars of Plague.
Seven facets of Nurgle's will. Seven forms. Seven tangible manifestations appearing in the mortal realm. At this very moment, they simultaneously descended upon this cramped shanty.
The power was too utterly immense—so vast that the walls of the shelter began to tremble. The structure of scrap iron and plastic sheeting groaned under the overwhelming pressure, sounding as though it might collapse at any second.
But no one opened their eyes. No one stopped chanting. Because in the deepest recesses of their souls, every single person felt it... Grandfather's gaze.
It felt as if an eternity had passed. Or perhaps only a fleeting second.
The Seven Avatars of Plague slowly dissipated. The suffocating, oppressive aura receded like the tide.
Inside the shack, the dozen Nurgle players opened their eyes at the same time.
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam]'s body shuddered. The three pustules on his forehead abruptly ruptured, thick yellowish-green fluid trailing down his cheeks.
But he felt no pain. Because this was a blessing. It was glory. It was direct acknowledgment from Grandfather himself.
The other players in the shack went wide-eyed. They could feel it... the sheer plague energy erupting from their boss.
It was violent and tempestuous, bearing the mighty power to rot any living creature. Yet, buried within that violent storm was an indescribable... affection. Like the warmth of a father embracing his child.
"Holy shit!" [Can't Repay Grandfather's Love] bolted upright. "Boss, is this..."
[Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam] abruptly opened his eyes.
Deep within his murky green pupils, seven blurry phantoms were reflected. The Seven Avatars of Plague. They were the manifestation of Nurgle's power, emissaries sent down into the mortal realm by Grandfather himself. At this very moment, they were circling him, gazing at him affectionately with eyes made of pustules and maggots.
Then, they slowly faded away.
The violent plague energy began to retract and settle, ultimately merging completely into [Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam]'s body.
He slowly lowered his head, staring at his own hands. They were even more bloated and sickly than before.
But he could feel it... The concentration of disease within his body had increased by at least three times. The boils on his skin were more pronounced, and the plague contained within each one was potent enough to turn an entire Lower Hive block into a dead zone in just three days.
The range of his Disease Aura had expanded from three meters to thirty meters. Furthermore, he could now actively unleash viral plagues. It was no longer a low-toxicity infection that spread passively. It was a true toxin of Nurgle. A terrifying substance that could make even an Astartes pale in fear.
"A Second Blessing..." [Breaching the Imperial Palace is Easier Than Passing the Exam] muttered to himself. "I... I became a Plaguebearer?"