Scorchwind felt like he'd been living inside "Battlefield: Warhammer 40k" these past few days. The exhilaration of his first Astartes experience and the subsequent frustration of being drowned in a daemonic tide had given him a whole new appreciation for the game's complexity and depth.
After Medici promised during his livestream that a "special mechanism" would go live, he'd been on high alert, carefully observing almost every match, trying to figure out what this new thing that would "affect high-level Chaos gameplay" actually was.
However, after several days, aside from the servers seeming a bit more stable and some skill descriptions being slightly adjusted, he couldn't find any obvious, systematic "new mechanism."
Players on the forums were hotly debating it too, with all sorts of speculation but nothing concrete.
"Brothers, what do you think Old Devil Medici actually implemented?" Scorchwind grumbled to his livestream audience while controlling his character as it crept through the dark, damp passages of the hive city's mid-levels.
"During his stream he was being all mysterious about it, talking about 'high-level gameplay' and 'affecting all factions,' getting me all excited. And now it's been days? Haven't seen jack shit! No announcement, update notes written like they said nothing at all. Don't tell me he was pulling our leg and just fixed a few bugs?"
The chat actively responded, with some joining in the complaints, others speculating about hidden content, and still others suggesting it might not be fully released yet.
---
This match, Scorchwind was playing on the "Death Hive" map, having chosen the Genestealer faction.
He hadn't gone with the early game cautious, time-stalling "summoner build," but instead relied on his solid skills to actively hunt down isolated Skitarii squads and servitors early on, rapidly accumulating points.
Just ten minutes ago, he'd splurged 1000 points to purchase a special identity: Purestrain Genestealer Patriarch.
The transformation this identity brought was massive. Not only did his own attributes skyrocket, with thicker carapace, sharper talons, and a more penetrating tail spike capable of soloing low-tier daemons at the Bloodletter level, but more importantly, he gained command authority over a brood of up to a hundred Genestealer hybrids (cannon fodder).
Although these hybrids had limited AI intelligence, under his macro commands they became a true swarm, capable of overwhelming small Skitarii exploration parties and even threatening light vehicles.
He was currently leading this surging, hissing hybrid flood in an abandoned factory hall, ambushing a Mechanicus detachment led by a special Tech-Priest and equipped with several Kastelan robots.
---
The battle was intense and bloody.
The hybrids used numbers and frenzied charges against the robots' firing lines, while Scorchwind transformed into the deadliest assassin, using the Patriarch's formidable body and speed to precisely tear apart Skitarii soldiers amidst the chaos. He even tanked the robots' fire to pierce through a Kastelan's core with his tail spike.
When the last robot fell, sparking with electrical fire, and the Tech-Priest was pounced upon and devoured by the hybrids, Scorchwind's kill count jumped to 88.
Battle time: exactly the eighth minute since the start.
Just as he was about to order the brood to scatter and search for the next prey, habitually glancing at this somewhat "auspicious" kill number,
Sudden change!
---
The edges of his entire field of vision, without any warning, became saturated with a thick, dark red color like freshly flowing blood.
This red rapidly spread toward the center, not covering the entire screen but coalescing into an independent blood-colored panel with a style completely different from the game UI.
The panel's frame was composed of twisted skull and burning chain relief carvings, with viscous "blood drop" effects constantly sliding down from the edges, dissipating and then regenerating.
The panel's background was constantly churning dark red and orange-yellow halos like molten lava from hell.
Most striking was the upper left corner of the panel, where a bronze skull emblem, outlined in pure red light and filled with an aura of brutality and rage, pulsed faintly like a heartbeat.
Lines of text formed from burning flame runes, carrying scorching heat and a clanging sound as if from deep within a furnace, lit up one by one on the panel:
[Sufficient slaughter!]
[Searing blood!]
[Fragrant skulls!]
[Mortal flesh... you have pleased the supreme Blood God!]
---
The text paused, and the bronze skull emblem suddenly blazed with blinding blood-light.
[The great Lord of Skulls, incarnation of battlefield and rage, has cast an approving glance upon you!]
Immediately after, an even more striking title, as if branded with molten iron, emerged:
[Legendary Quest: Activated!]
[Quest Name: The Eightfold Path]
Quest details unfolded, each word seemingly carrying the echo of clashing steel:
[Quest Objective: In the next eight independent matches, accumulate more than eight hundred eighty-eight (888) skulls. The higher an enemy unit's value, the more its "skull" count (e.g., regular soldier = 1 skull; elite unit = 2 to 5 skulls; vehicle, hero, or daemon = 10 to 50 skulls; Titan or Greater Daemon = 100+ skulls).]
[Current Progress: 0/8 (matches), 88/888 (skulls). This match's count has been recorded.]
[Quest Declaration: The Blood God cares not from whence the blood flows! He cares only that blood can flow forever, scorchingly, surging onward! Pave your sacred path with endless war and destruction!]
[Quest Reward: Upon completing "The Eightfold Path," you will receive a trace of "divine favor" from the great Blood God, Khorne (effect unknown).]
---
Scorchwind was completely stunned, even forgetting to control his character. He stared dumbly at this blood-colored panel filled with violent aesthetics and religious fervor, his brain momentarily crashed.
The livestream chat absolutely exploded. The refresh rate of comments was too fast for the naked eye to catch:
"Holy shit!!! What is this?!"
"Special mechanism! It's the special mechanism!"
"Legendary quest?! The Eightfold Path?!"
"Blood God Khorne?! Directly issuing quests?!"
"888 skulls?! And you have to play eight matches?! This quest..."
"Kill count just hit 88, triggered at the eighth minute? There are trigger conditions!"
"Patriarch identity! High-intensity kills! Definitely hidden conditions!"
"Old Devil Medici is awesome! He actually made the Chaos Gods into a quest system?!"
"This is what 'affecting all Chaos high-level gameplay' means! A faith system?!"
"Scorchwind triggered a Blood God quest! Amazing!"
"What about the other gods?!"
---
Scorchwind finally came to his senses, his heart pounding violently with excitement.
He understood.
The "special mechanism" Medici mentioned wasn't a regular game system update at all, but instead turned the Chaos Gods' "attention" and "blessings" into legendary-level personal quest chains with extremely hidden and stringent trigger conditions.
This was no longer simple faction confrontation, but now added the dimension of "divine favor."
Complete the quest, and you could obtain "divine favor" that could seemingly have a massive effect on your character's abilities.
---
"Brothers..." Scorchwind's voice was hoarse with excitement as he looked at that blood-colored panel and the words "The Eightfold Path," his eyes igniting with unprecedented battle intent.
"Found it. Old Devil Medici's hidden 'killer content' was here all along!"
"The Blood God wants me to offer 888 skulls? And play eight consecutive matches?"
He grinned, revealing a smile bordering on fanatical.
"Then let's slaughter for him to see!"
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones