Under a carefully planned conspiracy, Dunwich's loyal forces were dealt a devastating blow before they could even react. The Civic Temple also suffered heavy losses in the Blood-Worship Cult's surprise attack, even losing a Titan.
However, the Blood-Worship Cult's plan to wipe out the loyalist forces did not entirely succeed. At the critical moment, the First Division, which should long since have been "completely wiped out," emerged from the Dunwich Grand Library once more, now equipped with many advanced—even bizarre—weapons and devices.
At Mountbatten's call, the surviving loyalist troops quickly gathered within a six-kilometer radius centered on the Grand Library and established a solid defensive line.
Upon receiving news of the frontline troops' mutiny and senior generals' betrayal, the New California Republic's presidential office reacted immediately. It intended to abandon Dunwich and establish a new defensive line in Morzoia, sixty kilometers away.
But before the orders could be delivered, unrest erupted in the New California Republic's capital and swiftly escalated into riots.
Blood-Worship Cult elites embedded within the Internal Guard attempted to storm the presidential office amid the chaos and carry out their assassination plan. However, the conspiracy was foiled by the large number of paladins and inquisitors the Kaimon Temple had positioned there in advance. The vice president, who had served as the cult's inside man, promptly fled the capital afterward.
Before the chaos had even subsided, more cultist uprisings broke out across cities and towns throughout the New California Republic. The situation, already tense due to the Ork invasion, was instantly ignited.
The presidential office had no choice but to pull troops from the front lines back to the rear to suppress the rebellion, completely derailing the plan to build a new defensive line.
At that point, their only hope was that Dunwich's loyal garrison could hold out