Chapter 149: Temple Defense

Facing the Skaven's assault on the walls, Viscount Thompson inside soon made his response. Although this temple had always been under the protection of Divine Art from successive Priests of Sigmar,

Helmgart had been captured by different forces many times since its completion due to its important strategic position, and the temple had consequently suffered repeated damage, so counting on the walls themselves was just seeking one's own death.

Sinuoli did not know exactly what Viscount Thompson had done, but he could hear dense footsteps and loud, chaotic shouting, which put his mind at ease.

Sinuoli's reinforcements arrived quickly; from the moment the explosions signaled the start of the night raid to him gathering his troops, receiving the request for help, repelling the interception, and occupying the high ground, just over an hour had passed.

Now, the Evil Moon Moersilibu was still shining with its greenish radiance in the middle of the sky. Sinuoli believed in Viscount Thompson and the Human defenders here; they should not be unable to hold out for even this long.

"Dong, dong!" The back wall of the temple was teetering.

"Man-things! Die, die!" The rat-folk cheered at the sight. They seemed to have already caught the scent of victory.

"Boom!" After two more Heavy Strikes, the wall finally could not bear the load; it collapsed, and bricks fell like rain.

Rat Ogres crowded into the breach of the collapse, all of them impatient to tear the Humans inside to shreds and satisfy their own twisted hunger.

However, what these beasts could not understand was that the tender white meat-sausages inside were not like the same kind they had seen before. They did not collapse on the ground trembling, wailing strange sounds, nor did they leak yellow fluids.

"Boom!"

"Whoosh!"

"Cackle!"

Sinuoli saw a burst of fire erupt from the breach in the wall. Following the sound was a cackling Burning Head; with a burst of joyful shrieks, it leaped into the group of Rat Ogres, bouncing happily.

"Wizard-things!" The spell Burning Head was not very effective against large units, but under its ricocheting, several Moulder Clan Beast Tamers wailed as they were burned to charcoal.

Although they were already genetically twisted creations, the biological instinct to fear fire still existed within the Rat Ogres.

"Lads, kill all these Chaos creations! Aksh is with you!" Behind that Burning Head, a sturdy man wearing a fiery red robe, with an exaggerated torch-shaped hairstyle and beard dyed brass-colored, charged out.

In one hand he held a torch-shaped wand, and in the other, he gripped a sword burning with fire. The Halberdier regiment that charged out with him had the same magical effect on their weapons.

"Ruinous Flame Sword, there is actually a Bright Wizard here!" Sinuoli praised.

He knew that magic; users of the Lore of Fire bound the Lore of Fire from the Eight Winds of Aksh onto their allies' weapons, which could make them ignite with raging flames, adding a burning effect on top of greatly increased power.

"Is the Empire Magic Academy in Altdorf now?" Sinuoli turned his head to ask the Reik Knight beside him. He certainly knew that holy land for training mages, but he was not quite sure where that place was now.

"Uh, yes, initially, at the request of that great High, uh, no, that treacherous pointy-eared mage," the Reik Knight felt the unkind gazes of the Dwarfs around him halfway through his sentence and hurriedly changed his words.

But Sinuoli certainly knew who he was talking about: the High Elf Archmage Teclis, the supreme leader of the Tower of Hoeth in Ulthuan.

He might be the most powerful spellcaster alive today; perhaps only the most powerful of the second-generation Slann—Lord Mazdamundi, who sat in the Star Chamber—could compare to him.

Besides that, Teclis was also Lilisi's chief sycophant, flaunting the Moon Staff—a powerful wand that, besides containing the eternal magic of the Elf goddess, was also carved with a bust of her naked torso.

"The late Emperor Magnus the Pious established the Magic Academy in Altdorf, though to be honest, we mortals have never truly seen those academies," the Reik Knight added.

"That is very reasonable!" Sinuoli nodded. Magic cast using Aksh is extremely aggressive, destructive, and full of vitality, so Fire-type wizards are often conscripted by lords or Empire generals to serve as Battle Wizards.

Sinuoli watched as, under the amplification of the Bright Wizard, the Halberdiers killed several Rat Ogres, and the remaining beasts, having lost the control of the Beast Tamers, followed their instincts and fled in terror.

Just as Sinuoli rubbed his nose and prepared to take another sip of wine, he heard a sound of bells.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

"Screaming Bell!" Captain Gelunsen had returned; he warned after hearing the bell. "Master, let us move out; the man-pups might not be able to hold on!"

"How so?" Sinuoli was a bit surprised. Seeing the Warrior Priest and the Bright Wizard, Sinuoli still had confidence in the defenders inside.

"This thing can make the rat-folk become increasingly crazed! When the ocean-like rats overcome the cowardice in their hearts, then they really can swallow everything like the ocean."

The old Dwarf used a metaphor; the vast majority of the Sons of the Mountains do not like water or the sea. Not being able to stand on solid ground makes many Dwarfs feel uneasy.

"Only those grey-furred rat spellcasters know how to build this kind of bell; generally speaking, it has to be one of the more powerful ones inside who can afford to build it!" Qiangsen-Jian Dun had also returned; as an Ironbreaker, he had fought the Skaven many times.

"Ding! Ding!"

Between their words, the bell ringing did not stop but instead seemed to become increasingly urgent. Sinuoli discovered that the eyes of the rat-folk were becoming increasingly red with the terrifying tolling of the bell.

"Squeak!"

"Die! die!"

"Move! move!"

The screams of the Skaven slowly converged into a chorus: for whom does the knell toll? They knew clearly.

The Humans in the temple also became visibly nervous; this bell ringing seemed to be boosting the Skaven's morale while also making enemies with less firm minds feel fear.

Sinuoli noticed that the bald Warrior Priest began to recite the doctrines in his hand to counter it, but it seemed that under the illumination of the Evil Moon, his power was inferior to that of the Grey Seer ringing the bell.

"Man-things! Your god, abandons, abandons you!" A sharp voice rang out along with the rhythm of the bell; the bell seemed to amplify this volume.

"Great Horned Rat, walks among us! Helmgart belongs to us!"

"Bullshit! Sigmar is with us!" The Warrior Priest was not to be outdone, and he also roared.

"Die! die!" Sinuoli finally saw the Screaming Bell; a bell emitting green light, clearly made of Warpstone, was placed on a small cart and entered the battlefield.

Thanks to Vitamin, Chumo Weiliang, and Beautiful Boy of Moe for the monthly tickets.