Inside the Skull Fortress.
The massive Skull Titan led the three remaining Titans over the infantry's heads and entered the fortress ahead of them.
Then, led by Butcher, the Blood God's Machines quickly headed toward the hangars their master had established within the fortress, refusing any repair assistance from allied forces and refusing to let them inspect the Titans' wounds.
After the Blood God drew upon the power of the ritual and carved a canyon into Brumm's dead wastes, the ritual failed. All the Blood God's servants began withdrawing, and the progress of the war came to a halt. At least, there would be no more major battles until someone reached the vicinity of the Skull Fortress.
The atmosphere inside the fortress relaxed somewhat.
Khârn led the Butcher warband into the fortress. The process was somewhat circuitous, because he killed the gate guard who insisted on confirming his identity.
Fortunately, Daemon Prince Ubondrak did not mind Khârn's irritability and madness. He struck up a conversation with this Chaos Lord who had voluntarily come to Brumm to join the war, giving people the impression that he was both foolish and honest.
The Bloodletters and Greater Demons were taken to the areas of the fortress assigned for their stationing.
Inside one of the Blood God's Machines, the Daemon Prince known as Butcher was just preparing to rise from his Skull Throne and discuss the next stage of the war with Ubondrak.
"Master... Master..." A tiny demon holding a wrench crawled over and addressed Butcher in a shriveled, weak voice. "Those enemies inside the Blood God's Machine... hiss... those enemies... should we...?"
"I know there are enemies in my masterpiece!" Butcher rose from the Throne, his roar shaking the entire Titan chassis.
The gust of air from his mouth alone blew the little