With God's Scythe's threat established, Blood Angel turned his attention to the remaining Imperial factions.
He swiped across the holographic screen and highlighted the third and fourth positions.
"As for the third-ranked Sacred Tribunal and the fourth-ranked Second Imperium, both have kept relatively low profiles."
"Neither Chapter has been particularly active so far."
"All we know is that their Chapter Masters, [The Imperium's Purest Inquisitor] and [Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood], both rank extremely high on the Imperial faction's Imperial Coin and merit leaderboards."
He paused before adding another detail.
"One is based on Terra, and the other is on Macragge."
Schrödinger Bro nodded slightly.
"I've investigated both of them through real-world channels."
"[The Imperium's Purest Inquisitor] has reportedly already received a personal audience with the Emperor."
"His position is extremely high, and he can apparently enter the Imperial Palace on Terra whenever he likes."
"He's definitely not someone to take lightly."
"We have more information on [Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]."
"He's already become a provincial governor on Macragge and has earned Roboute Guilliman's considerable trust."
"He's another one we can't afford to underestimate."
"But both of them are genuine Imperial loyalists, not opportunists hiding behind the Imperium's banner."
Blood Angel nodded.
Then he swiped across the holographic projection once more.
The golden leaderboard vanished.
In its place appeared a vast expanse of darkness, resembling a bottomless abyss that threatened to swallow every trace of light in the room.
Blood-red patterns burned around its edges.
At the center, rows of twisted, sinister lettering began to materialize.
[Chaos Faction — Chapter Rankings]
[Rank 1: Bloodshadow Butchers — Lv. 5 — 20,000/20,000]
[Chapter Master: What Is the Emperor But a Corpse]
[Rank 2: Cult of Salvation — Lv. 5 — 11,734/20,000]
[Chapter Master: Invading the Imperial Palace is Easier Than the Entrance Exam]
[Rank 3: Sanctum of Change — Lv. 5 — 10,723/20,000]
[Chapter Master: All According to Plan]
[Rank 4: Wall of Desire — Lv. 5 — 12,438/20,000]
[Chapter Master: Pleasure Is More Than Lust]
[Rank 5: ...]
Blood Angel's expression became even more serious.
"Next, we have the Chaos faction rankings."
"Once again, the four highest-ranked Chapters are the ones we need to pay attention to."
He pointed toward the first entry.
"Number one: Bloodshadow Butchers."
"Chapter Master, [What Is the Emperor But a Corpse]."
Tax Bro frowned deeply.
"'What Is the Emperor But a Corpse'..."
"That username alone tells you the guy's a complete lunatic."
Loyalty studied the name before speaking.
"This bastard is definitely one of Khorne's Chosen."
His gaze grew distant as he recalled something.
"Back during the second update, not long after the second wave of players entered the game, he had the balls to fire a rocket launcher straight at Lucius."
"Blew the guy's hair clean off and left him bald!"
"He's been progressing ridiculously fast ever since."
"And not long after the world chat opened, he started attracting huge numbers of Chaos players who just wanted to swing weapons around, butcher everything in sight, and enjoy the fighting."
Blood Angel nodded.
"That's right."
His voice grew more solemn.
"According to their own boasts in the world chat, they've already massacred the populations of at least one to three planets."
"They've also fought against several Astartes Legions."
[Execute Old Man the War Criminal] slammed his fist against the table.
"Those fucking psychopaths!"
"One of these days, we're going to capture every last one of those bastards!"
"Then we'll turn them into suffering-filled penitent servitors and send them off to grow potatoes!"
"Just like those Chaos players who tried landing on Aurelian IV back then!"
White Scars responded without hesitation.
"Growing potatoes would be a waste."
"We should send them into the mines instead."
"Twenty-four hours a day. No breaks."
Tax Bro nodded.
"Now that's an idea."
Blood Angel raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.
He continued his presentation, moving his finger down the leaderboard.
"Second place: Cult of Salvation."
"They appear to be primarily aligned with Nurgle."
His expression grew darker.
"According to information sent back by our infiltrators, their base of operations is somewhere within Terra's underhive."
The entire conference room fell silent.
Terra's underhive.
The heart of the Imperium of Man.
Right beneath the Emperor's nose.
A group of Nurgle worshippers actually dared to establish themselves in Terra's underhive?
Tax Bro frowned.
"Terra's underhive?"
"Aren't they afraid the Emperor will discover them?"
Schrödinger Bro shook his head.
"The Emperor is completely focused on the Webway Project right now."
"He doesn't have time to worry about what's happening in the underhive."
"Besides, Terra's underhive is enormous. Its population exceeds a trillion."
"Hiding a few hundred thousand people down there would be child's play."
Blood Angel nodded.
"Exactly."
"And they've already grown considerably."
"Apparently, they've been spreading a particular slogan."
He paused before slowly repeating the words.
"Death to the False Emperor, Let the Grandfather rise!"
The conference room fell into another deathly silence.
Schrödinger Bro tapped the table twice, his expression increasingly grave.
"Terra's underhive has a population of more than a hundred billion."
"If those people actually manage to launch some kind of uprising..."
"The consequences would be unimaginable."
White Scars continued in his usual emotionless tone.
"Their Chapter Master is [Invading the Imperial Palace is Easier Than the Entrance Exam]."
"His cult already has several hundred thousand followers."
[Execute Old Man the War Criminal] couldn't help commenting.
"That name is fucking hilarious."
"'Invading the Imperial Palace is Easier Than the Entrance Exam'..."
"Is this bastard seriously planning to fight his way into the palace?"
Blood Angel shook his head and moved on.
"Third place: Sanctum of Change."
"The main force aligned with Tzeentch."
"The core members of this Chapter are the same people who caused trouble within the Emperor's Children fleet."
"They specialize in conspiracies, manipulation, and infiltration."
"During the Davin incident, they worked with Erebus to successfully prevent the Imperial players from rescuing Horus."
Tax Bro frowned.
"Those scheming bastards really are a pain in the ass."
Blood Angel continued.
"Fourth place: Wall of Desire."
"A Chapter aligned with Slaanesh."
"Their methods are... rather distinctive."
"Apparently, they're primarily active on prosperous hive worlds, where they use various means to corrupt ordinary people."
"We don't know their exact military strength, but any Chapter capable of reaching fourth place is obviously dangerous."
He looked around the conference table.
"None of these Chapters should be underestimated."
"They have the direct support of the four Chaos Gods, and the blessings they've received are far more powerful than we originally anticipated."
His gaze lingered on the dark leaderboard.
"These are the main forces currently operating across the three major factions."
"And judging by everything we've discovered..."
"The Chaos faction is going to be far stronger than we ever expected."
--
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