As if in response to his guess, news came from the Messenger of Mercy that there were no normal humans left in the central tower.
In addition to Nurgle demons, there are Nurgle believers inside, who seem to be preparing a larger-scale sacrifice ceremony.
To be on the safe side, the Messenger of Mercy did not alert the enemy, but only notified Levi immediately and asked what to do next.
What to do? Of course, rush up and kill all the Nurgle demons and completely purify the Brass Fortress!
Levi thought so and decided to do so. The reciter next to him, Vasily, naturally expressed his full support at the first moment.
He is the leader of the Church of Sigmar here. If the Brass Fortress is captured by Nurgle demons while he is stationed there, even if he fights to death, he cannot make up for his mistake.
Even when his soul ascended to Sigmar's kingdom of God, he was still inferior to his other colleagues. Now that the famous Prince Levi was willing to help, he would naturally do his best.
So as soon as Levi went out, he saw two or three hundred bald strong men gathered outside.
Their equipment was extremely simple, but their expressions were full of fanaticism. They were exactly like the flagellants, ascetics, and combat pilgrims unique to many churches.
Since demons and devils, as well as mortals influenced and corrupted by them, often have extra limbs, horns growing on the forehead are the most common.
So shaving your head is, to some extent, a way to declare that you are still pure.
These guys may not be very strong in combat, but driven by their faith, they will definitely be very brave to risk their lives.
Not only are they not afraid of death, they also regard dying in battle as their pursuit, because it can allow them to ascend to the kingdom of God faster, so they are also cannon fodder that many churches like very much.
But Levi no longer needed cannon fodder like them, so he just signaled to the reciter, Vasily, to let these loyal believers of Sigmar protect the church well so that they could have a safe rear base.
This was a little beyond the chanter's expectations. There were actually people who didn't want to be free cannon fodder?
Is he really so kind-hearted, or does he look down on these cannon fodder?
But no matter what, he certainly chose to follow Levi's instructions unconditionally.
A few seconds later, when the chanter saw Levi summoning numerous celestial creatures and constructs with a wave of his hand, most of his doubts were resolved. With these powerful beings, Levi really did not need these believers who voluntarily dedicated themselves to God.
In fact, Levi only needed a guide to show him the way, and a chanter was enough.
So after the summoning was completed, he marched directly to the central tower.
From a distance, this originally majestic building has now been covered by unnatural growths.
Layers of leathery green growths grew on the outer walls, and huge blisters swelled up from time to time, occasionally expanding and bursting, spraying corrosive and foul-smelling pus all over the surrounding area.
In some larger blisters, there may be some low-level Nurglings that appear along with the pus, running around cheering and attacking all non-demon beings.
In addition to blood, corpses and pus on the streets, there were occasionally groups of indigenous adventurers who were working together to deal with these low-level demons.
But for some reason, even though these Nurglings looked hideous and died unwillingly, they gave Levi a rather strange feeling at this moment, as if they were all laughing and celebrating something!
At the same time, at the top of the tower, white lights flashed and explosions were heard occasionally. The Messenger of Mercy and the Messenger were fighting fiercely with the enemy.
The enemy is a legendary Nurgle Demon Prince who calls himself "Withering King". With the advantage of terrain and the reinforcement of the sacrificial array, it is fighting one against two and is not at a disadvantage at all.
But the Messenger of Mercy did not seek more help from Levi. Instead, he urged him to enter the central tower as soon as possible because he noticed that the Nurgle demons were still preparing even more terrifying rituals!
Levi still trusted the judgment of the Messenger of Mercy, so he only sent out the Dragon Head God Messenger and the high-level Red Flame Messenger as assistance, and then took the rest of the people and headed directly to the central tower.
As soon as I entered the door, I heard a series of groans and roars, and hundreds of enemies armed with swords, spears, and halberds, their bodies covered with plague and flies, had already rushed over.
After seeing clearly, the chanter could not help but curse: "These damn demons!"
He did have reason to curse, because even though their bodies were swollen and rotten, and large and small devil horns had grown on their foreheads, he could vaguely tell from their filthy uniforms that they were originally the troops stationed here.
They are not pure demons, but some Nurgle carriers.
But looking at their current appearance, they are obviously hopeless. The only thing we can do is to free them as soon as possible and let them die!
Levi also keenly noticed that some of the creatures had marks unique to Nurgle on their bodies, which could further enhance their upper life span, defense, recovery ability, etc.
However, in front of Levi and his team, these enemies are still not worth mentioning. Even during the battle, Levi and his team need to use high-power magic more cautiously, otherwise accidents may easily occur in such a confined space.
The tower is not made entirely of rock, but also of flammable wood.
Due to the absolute crushing strength, these corrupted beings were almost killed in just a few breaths.
At this moment, there were suddenly some sporadic gunshots heard in the distance, and then they became more and more frequent, and closer and closer to Levi and the others.
Levi suddenly felt a little strange, because so far, they had not found any Nurgle demons or those corrupted by Nurgle who could use bows or muskets as weapons.
Perhaps their swollen fingers are no longer strong enough to support them in completing the actions from winding the bow, to aiming, and finally shooting, so even if they use long-range weapons, Nurgle demons or beings corrupted by Nurgle mostly use throwing axes or javelins, but in fact the latter are still very rare.
It is unheard of to see Nurgle demons using muskets, so the most likely possibility is that the other party are some resistance fighters!
The chanter next to him was also delighted: "Prince Levi, the sound is coming from the dungeon. It is possible that it is the undefeated archers led by Lord Durz Ganderman."
"After the Nurgle demon showed up, they responded immediately. I thought they had all met with misfortune, but I didn't expect there are still survivors!"
Levi had also heard of this name. In addition to the unique arms of each church and a large number of knightly orders, the twelve provinces of the Sigma Empire all had their own special arms.
The Undefeated Archers are a special type of soldier in Hawke's territory. They are musketeers who are good at forest warfare.
This one sentence alone is enough to illustrate their extraordinary qualities. After all, muskets cannot be projectiles. The fact that they can successfully fire in the forest without being blocked by trees already reflects their strength from the side.
Durz Gunderman is the commander and trainer , but it is worth mentioning that he is not part of the Sigma Empire army, but a mercenary.
Being a mercenary yet risking his life like this, there might be some other hidden secrets, so Levi immediately dispatched Shadow Elements and others to rescue him.
Elegy and Mortidi also volunteered, even though fighting against the Nurgle demons was extremely stimulating to their vision and sense of smell.
But with the magic such as the air filter bubble that Levi had cast in advance, and the experience from several recent battles, they gradually adapted a lot.
Levi led everyone to follow behind. Except for the hall at the entrance, the interior of the central tower was mostly divided into many densely packed small rooms. No one knew if some powerful enemies would suddenly jump out from inside, so it was better to be cautious.
But with the current strength of Elegy and the others, dealing with a few Nurgle demons was no problem. They quickly killed the few Nurgle demons that followed them as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, and rescued dozens of Musketeers.
The bearded man in the lead suddenly brightened his eyes when he saw Levi: "I am Durz Gunderman, thank you very much for your help in this critical moment!"
As he said this, he showed Levi a special token in the blind spot of the reciter's vision, which represented his identity as a member of the Harpist Alliance.
Levi raised his eyebrows. Well, now he had a rough idea about the whole thing.
The Harper Alliance has always been committed to nipping danger in the bud. It is estimated that they had already noticed that the Brass Fortress might undergo changes, but they were not capable enough and ultimately failed to prevent it.
But it is also understandable that the Harper Alliance is a large organization spread across the main world. Their actions and beliefs are supported by many races, but they have two obvious weaknesses:
Firstly, because there are too many areas to focus on, their strength is extremely dispersed. It may be okay to deal with ordinary evil, but when dealing with powerful demon lords, they often need to call on friends and seek reinforcements, which may lead to the loss of opportunities to fight.
The second point is that they don’t have any particularly powerful backers.
Although they have been extremely secretive, they cannot hide from the eyes of the gods. After years of investigation, Lilith is now almost certain that the leader of the Harper Alliance is a human demigod - Vander Dragonthorn.
He was originally a bard. With the help of the goddess of luck, he killed an evil god and became a demigod, and thus became the servant of the goddess of luck.
Also worth mentioning is his ministry, one of which is the transformation of art, which is no different from garbage, there is nothing much to say.
The other one is more special: from decay to rebirth.
If she could get in touch with the other party through this, then maybe the corrupt divinity that Lilith had just obtained from the Corrupted Dragon God could be marketed.
Vander Dragonthorn himself is only a demigod and may not be able to provide enough exchange items, but the goddess of luck who helped him ascend to godhood can definitely provide some.
And there are rumors that Vander Dragonthorn has been very close to the Moon Girl, Su Lun, recently, and it is very likely that he has hooked up with a rich woman.
If either of these two goddesses of medium power chose to stand up for him, Lilith would definitely have a satisfactory harvest.
As for why the other party would reveal their identity to him so easily, it was of course because the druid Nar and the light mage Lily, who were loyal to Levi, had always been members of the Harpist Alliance.
At Levi's instruction, they also cooperated with the Harpists in the Underdark and helped them establish several secret small strongholds.
They also cooperated with the followers of Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden of the drow elves, to fight against the evil drow elves who believed in Lolth, so the relationship between the two sides has always been good.
As his mind raced, Levi waved his hand: "Forget the polite words. Our current goal is to destroy the demons and quell this riot. What's going on next?"
Durz Gunderman heard Levi's subtext: kill the demon first and talk about other things later.
So he didn't waste any words: "The culprit behind all this - Samuel, is currently trying to sacrifice a large number of beastmen and ratmen to create Nurgle Forsaken and Nurgle Chaos Eggs!"
There is no need to say much about the Chaos Spawns. They are completely twisted, mindless monsters that never know fear.
The Forsaken are somewhere between the Plague Carriers and Chaos Eggs. Their bodies have also undergone severe mutations due to the demonic power, but have not yet been completely distorted, so their combat effectiveness is somewhere between the two.
Even as he spoke, large numbers of Nurgle Plaguebearers, Forsaken and Chaos Spawn had swarmed in. Even though there was still some distance between them, the air around them had become noticeably more polluted.
Elegy, Mortidi and others rushed over to greet them immediately, but Levi was more concerned about two other words: "Where did the beastmen and ratmen come from in the Brass Fortress?"
This fortress was originally built to defend against the beastmen. If the facts are as the other party said, doesn't it mean that the Brass Fortress has long been infiltrated like a sieve?
"Samuel used his identity to bring him in. Those fools might have had some unrealistic fantasies and thought that Samuel was an avenger who hated the Empire. But they didn't expect that Samuel actually turned to the Nurgle demon."
Hearing this, the chanter who was casting protective and buffing spells on the front-line soldiers also felt something was wrong: "How do you know so much?"
What he didn't say was, did you also expect this? Then why didn't you inform the Sigma Church immediately?
But Durz Ganderman just glanced at him, and then continued to say to Levi: "We tried to assassinate and stop it, but unfortunately failed, so we immediately notified the paladins of Tyr, and they are on the way now."
The chanter's eyes suddenly widened. The Sigma Sect has always believed that there should only be one sect in the Sigma Empire, and that is Sigma.
Even though Tyr is synonymous with kindness and justice, he will never back down when it comes to a struggle of faith.
Now the other party's actions immediately aroused his strong dissatisfaction and even hostility.
If the situation was not critical and Levi was not by his side, he would have every reason to arrest the other party in the name of the Church of Sigmar based on what the other party had just said!
But now, neither Levi nor Durz Gunderman cared much about the reciter anymore.
For Levi, he found a more suitable guide, and Durz Ganderman had already made the decision when he said those words just now.
If he was lucky enough to survive after this incident, the worst that could happen to him was to leave the Brass Fortress and the area ruled by the chanter.
Anyway, with his abilities, he can do well in any province.
It is even possible that the Elector of Hawke would protect him and even negotiate with the Church of Sigmar to transfer the reciter away from here.
Because replacing a chanter in the Brass Fortress is insignificant to Hawke's territory, but without Durz Gunderman, Hawke's territory will permanently lose a special type of soldier!
In comparison, Samuel, the son of the Elector of Hawke, is not that important.
Whether he did it on his own initiative or was tempted by the demons, once he decided to join the Nurgle demons, he had already become an enemy and a dying man to the Elector.
After a brief pause, Levi continued to ask: "Who are our enemies?"
The strength of the Harper Alliance may not be that good, but their intelligence system is still very developed and worth looking forward to.
"The dungeon and the first floor we are on are full of corrupted and transformed Nurgle Plaguebearers, Forsaken, and Chaos Spawn. Their commander is Samuel. It seems that they only want to delay time and prepare for a larger-scale sacrificial ceremony."
"The top one is the Blight King. Prince Levi may already know that it is powerful enough to fight against two powerful celestial beings for a short period of time. It is a legendary demon prince of Nurgle."
"The second layer is the Corruptor - the demon army led by Volot. The Corruptor might have been a chieftain from Norsca."
At this point, Durz Ganderman paused for a moment and said, "As for Doctor Festus, we have reason to suspect that the reason why the Nurgle demons acted so ostentatiously is probably to upgrade this 'doctor' to the Nurgle Demon Prince."
Before Levi could speak, the chanter next to him couldn't help but shout, "How is it possible? Even in the capital of Altdorf, Dr. Festus is the kindest and most famous doctor who has saved the most people. He is also the best doctor at treating plague. How could he degenerate into a Nurgle demon?"
Durz Gunderman finally answered the other party's question this time: "So, this kind doctor, can you cure Nurgle's plague?"
The chanter was speechless for a moment. He seemed to vaguely understand why the doctor had fallen.
Because no matter how famous he is or how skilled his medical skills are, he is just a mortal after all. He has no way to crack the Nurgle plague that combines magic and demonic power.
How desperate must he be as a doctor as he watched his patients being tortured to death by the plague, or even being corrupted into Nurgle demons, and he was helpless to do anything?
Despair is the devil's food. It is only natural that the Nurgle devil took advantage of the situation and taught everyone knowledge about diseases, thereby corroding the famous doctor's body, mind and soul.
Levi couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. Did Sigmar specifically ask him to come here just to destroy the Nurgle demons and prevent the Brass Fortress from being captured?
If this was done by other legends of the Empire, or by Sigmar's Celestial Legion such as the Punisher, they could also do it. The only difference is that the time and price they pay might be different.
Combined with my own disaster avoidance book...
Therefore, the key point of the matter may lie in this famous doctor - Festus!
Thinking of this, Li Wei directly ordered: "We will split into two groups. Cindy and I will go to save the famous doctor."
"Everyone else should follow Dirge and Penthesilea to the dungeon to eliminate Samuel and stop the Nurgle demon's sacrifice ritual. Then we can sweep upwards and defeat the remaining demons. Does anyone have any different opinions?"
Wange and the others shook their heads. Although they were somewhat worried, they also knew that with Levi's current strength, he was able to protect himself when facing most enemies.
At worst, they can do their job better and then go to support Levi as soon as possible!
Penthesilea was a little hesitant because her current identity was still Levi's bodyguard, but soon after looking at Levi, she understood what Levi meant without saying a word.
Compared to herself, Elegy, Mocuiti and others need her protection more.
So Penthesilea immediately kept silent, and at the same time some inexplicable emotions surged in her heart again.
Since when did he and Levi have such a tacit understanding? It was obvious that they had only known each other for a short time!
Durz Ganderman raised his hand and said, "Prince Levi, I can take you up there. I am familiar with the terrain there!"
After hearing this, the chanter gave up his original plan and said, "Prince Levi, if that's the case, then I will guide Lord Elegy."
Although he felt a little resentful towards Durz Gunderman and had some doubts about his true identity, he knew what was the most urgent task. He would not delay the important matter of saving the Brass Fortress because of this matter, nor would he disobey the distinguished guest specially invited by Sigma in public.
"Okay, then everyone, set off immediately and meet up at the top floor later!"
"Yes!" "Okay!" "No problem!"
Following a series of responses, Elegy and Penthesilea took the lead and rushed towards the dungeon, while secretly making up their minds.
We just hit a wall with the God of Decay, so let us vent our anger in the next battle and let the chanter see our strength!
Levi also summoned all the war dance spirits and snake girls, and then began to march towards the second level.
Both types of soldiers are known for their flexibility and speed, and are the nemesis of the slow-moving Nurgle demons.
In addition, their strength is strong enough, so although there are various enemies blocking the way, it basically does not delay them much time.
Seeing this scene, Durz Gunderman was also stunned.
Having managed to obtain his current special status, he is certainly not an ignorant person. However, the information in the intelligence and the Prince Levi that he saw with his own eyes now are completely different.
He didn't even cast any attack spells along the way; he handled everything just by summoning creatures!
Add to that the two powerful beings currently fighting the Withering King, if the situation continues like this, there's probably no need to wait for Tyr's paladins to arrive, and the danger to the Brass Fortress will have been completely eliminated, right?
Levi was also looking at these special undefeated shooters. Their names were a little exaggerated, but their strength was indeed good. They were level 4 troops announced to the public, but these elite troops following Durz Ganderman were basically level 5.
At the same time, unlike most ranged troops, they are very flexible and their survivability should be good. No wonder they have become the exclusive force of Hawke's territory.
Compared to bows and arrows, the sound of musket shooting is too loud, and even if their muskets are enchanted, they are still not as powerful as those of the Avalon sisters.
As for the firing rate, it is even further behind.
The good thing is that the undefeated shooter should be able to be mass-produced.
It may take decades to train a qualified Avalon, but it may only take a few months to train an undefeated shooter.
The same principle applies to many other aspects, which is one of the important reasons why humans, a young race, can quickly catch up with the elves.
As for the other reason, it is naturally because of human gods.
They crushed their way through the enemy lines with ease and soon reached the entrance to the second floor. Behind them was a road paved with all kinds of demonic filth.
Levi slowed down his pace a little, allowing Durz Ganderman and the others to catch their breath, and then asked casually: "With your strength, you must have a high status in the Harpist Alliance, right? "
Durz Ganderman calmed himself down and said, "We are a relatively loose organization. There is no strict hierarchy. I am only the person in charge of Hawke and Midden."
Levi chuckled, that's all, it was used very cleverly.
The Sigma Empire has only 12 provinces in total. If you take a single province, its area might be larger than the overall area of ​​some small countries. He is no small figure.
"In that case, you must be able to contact Lord Vander Dragonthorn, right?"
"Are you talking about the legendary demigod? How could I be so worthy!"
Durz Gunderman shook his head and smiled bitterly, and there was no change in his breathing rhythm, as if he was not lying.
But his disguise was nothing in front of Levi.
"Well, I came here with good intentions. I said my goddess has what he wants. The corrupt divinity is hard to come by."
What else could Durz Gunderman say? He could only smile bitterly again, but this time it was no longer a pretense, but came from the heart.
"Yes, Prince Levi, I will tell my God the truth."
Levi nodded slightly, then signaled the two war dancers to push open the door.
Durz Ganderman immediately concentrated all his attention and prepared to resist the enemy's sudden attack, but unexpectedly, there was no enemy at the door and they walked up very smoothly.
But under their feet, there was a giant carpet of flesh and blood that seemed to be made of internal organs.
In many places, bile is used to describe poems of praise and eulogy, but they are not dedicated to Sigmar, but to the Chaos God - Nurgle.
So in the eyes of Durz Gunderman, these praises and eulogies immediately became blasphemies.
Durz Ganderman immediately felt that it was a right decision not to let the chanter follow him. Otherwise, after seeing this scene, he would probably rush forward and die in order to defend the glory of Sigmar.
On the ceiling more than ten meters above the ground, there are hundreds of giant green cocoons. Judging from their size, there are either corpses or some Nurgle demons inside. In short, they are definitely not good things.
At the same time, the plague and miasma condensed into entities like mosquitoes and could be seen almost everywhere, even faintly forming some special patterns, which were obviously not just simple decorations.
Even without trying it directly, Levi could vaguely feel that in this special place, his space-related magic was suppressed and affected to a certain extent.
And a hundred meters away, there was an army ready for battle.
Nurgle beasts, plague toads, chaos spawn, these are just regular troops.
Among them are three Great Unclean Ones of Nurgle. When we first meet them, they may be considered difficult enemies, but now it seems that they are just more resistant to beatings.
But in addition to this, there is also a group of about 800 elite warriors, arranged in neat formations, fully armored, and armed with axes and shields or two-handed giant axes.
If their armor wasn't all green, and there wasn't green pus oozing out of their bodies, as well as the mark of Nurgle on their bodies, there would definitely be people who would believe them even if they were told that they were the royal guards of some country.
Seeing this, Durz Gunderman's face also changed drastically. He said in a slightly dry voice, even moaning: "They are the Chosen of Nurgle. There are so many of them..."
To other gods, the Chosen Ones are extremely noble and rare. A god is usually considered good if he or she has three or two Chosen Ones. Some demigods may not even have a single Chosen One.
Because for the gods, only those who are endowed with divinity, who can walk on the earth on their behalf and spread their glory, are worthy of being chosen by God.
There are many demigods and weak divine powers. He himself doesn't have much divinity at all, so it is naturally impossible for him to be generous enough to give it to mortals.
But for the Chaos Gods, especially Nurgle, the meaning of the Chosen One is very different:
Anyone who is favored by them, regardless of their strength, can be called the Chosen One, and they will all be granted power.
This results in the fact that compared to other gods, the Chosen Ones under the Four Chaos Gods are simply overwhelming, such as the 800 Chosen Ones of Nurgle in front of us.
The Four Chaos Gods probably also wanted to use this method to undermine mortals' faith and piety towards other gods.
Of course, even the Four Gods of Chaos do not have that much divinity to bestow, so what they bestow is the power of the devil, which can also greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of these chosen ones.
Depending on the amount of demonic power bestowed upon them, as well as individual tolerance and talent, the strength of the Chosen Ones under the Four Chaos Gods could vary greatly.
But in Durz Ganderman's opinion, the chosen ones of Nurgle before him were most likely the most elite plunderer champions from the Norse region. After being blessed by Nurgle, they were most likely elite units of level 5.
In addition, with such a large number of them, let alone this kind of surprise attack, even if it is a frontal attack, it is not sure whether the defenders of the Bronze Fortress can hold out.
Moreover, their leader is the nearly five-meter-tall Corruptor, Volot, who was already famous in the Norse region!
But Levi's gaze just passed over them. He just looked further away, at an altar, where a man dressed as a doctor was surrounded by several Nurgle believers who were suspected to be mages.
The Nurgle believers did not use force against the doctor. They seemed to be simply explaining something to him. No, it seemed more like they were spreading the faith of Nurgle to him.
Levi immediately knew that if the other party was the famous doctor, then perhaps it would still be in time!