Chapter 151: Skaven Magic

"Iron-drake Handguns ready, we charge through!" Sinuoli frowned at the sight; to achieve the goal of interception, that Skaven Warlord was willing to sacrifice the lives of his own subordinates to construct a poison gas zone using Poison Wind Globadiers.

Sinuoli had not wanted to force his way through, but on one hand, due to the uncertain fate of the Warrior Priest of Sigmar and the entry of the Grey Seer into the battle, the Human side was under great pressure, squeezed back into the temple to fight around the damaged rear wall.

On the other hand, if they took a detour, Sinuoli felt the Humans might not hold out until they arrived, but the problem was that the Ratmen were faster; they were fully capable of creating another poison gas zone on the new path before the Dwarfs could reach it.

By then, the exhaustion from running back and forth would make it even harder to break through, and the losses might be even greater.

Sinuoli saw the Ratmen leaving behind a ground full of Clanrats with festering skin and miserable deaths as they began to retreat; it seemed that Skaven Warlord did not want to commit all his forces into the poison gas.

The Irondrakes in the rear pushed to the front, and following Sinuoli's order, a dozen tongues of high-temperature fire surged into the not-so-wide road.

The flames heated the air in the alley, which reduced the density of the gas, causing it to float upward; although it could not disperse the poison gas completely, it at least reduced the concentration somewhat.

"Hold your breath, we charge through!" Sinuoli shouted, pulled out a towel to cover his mouth and nose, and charged across.

The twenty-some meters were crossed in an instant; at this moment, the Ratmen in the front row were still struggling to reorganize their lines while coughing painfully. Once that Warpstone poison gas specially crafted by Clan Skryre was inhaled into the lungs, they would immediately be filled with frothing pus.

Sinuoli directly activated the Rune of Wrath and Ruin; the sudden explosion caused the Ratmen's reorganization plan to go bankrupt. This rune also sent the Clanrats who had reacted faster and survived by inhaling less gas to meet their Horned Rat god.

Now, the only rats standing at the front of the line were the stronger and more enduring Stormvermin. These black-furred rats, who had not yet managed to flee after being ravaged by friendly-fire gas and the underground explosion, immediately suffered another round of strikes.

Sinuoli's Hammer Warriors charged quickly; they swung the two-handed warhammers in their hands with a force that crushed everything in their path, smashing the Stormvermin along with their red Plate Armor into pieces.

Having lost the cover of the Clanrats, when these black-furred rats were directly exposed to the Dwarfs' attacks, they could not last many more rounds than their weaker kin.

After Sinuoli broke through the front line of melee Ratmen, he discovered that the ranged Ratmen holding slings had not fled. He protected his face with one hand while using his Warhammer to parry the stones raining down.

These stones made a "patter-patter" sound as they hit his Plate Armor, but they could not cause much damage to Sinuoli.

"Fire! Fire for me!" Sinuoli called out to Buluokesen; he knew that firing when the enemy was bunched together was undoubtedly the most efficient. Soon, two Cannon shells smashed into the pile of Ratmen.

"Boom—!"

The power of the Artillery was displayed to the fullest in such a town; even the fragments from the stone road kicked up by the explosion were enough to leave the Clanrats, who lacked armor protection, wailing in agony.

Although the Skaven Warlord and that young Grey Seer were still frantically shouting to urge the battle on, they had already been swept along by their subordinates, who had lost the will to fight, and were retreating.

Sinuoli noticed that a few Poison Wind Globadiers were left at the back of the fleeing group; these gas-rats could not run fast because they were wearing Rune Armor under their robes for protection.

This was partly because the immense lethality of the poison wind globes always made them the primary targets on the battlefield, and relying solely on rat-strength, these not-strong-enough fellows found it difficult to throw the large glass spheres very far.

To avoid being picked off by enemy ranged fire before reaching a suitable combat position, the Poison Wind Globadiers needed some extra protection.

Of course, the number one arms dealer of Clan Skryre—Skaven Empire, their Warpstone Coins filling the warehouses, also provided the necessary material basis for equipping Rune Armor.

When the armor on ordinary Clanrats was thicker than that of their robust Stormvermin companions, it was very reasonable for them to lag behind during the phase of literally scurrying away.

Sinuoli did not want to just watch them flee clumsily; he threw the Warhammer in his hand and easily knocked down the one running the fastest, and then the Anvil Guard rushed up and hacked the rest to pieces.

"Arrange for a few warriors to strip off their equipment and bring it back; I want to study it!" Sinuoli ordered Qiangsen-Jian Dun while kicking the corpse of a gas-rat to flip it over.

To save their lives in accidental gas leaks, Poison Wind Globadiers all had to be equipped with meticulously crafted gas masks, goggles, and bulky respirators.

Sinuoli was very interested in this set of gear; he knew there would be no shortage of battles with the Ratmen in the future. Besides Clan Skryre, Clan Pestilens, whose main force was in Lustria, were also experts at using plagues. Perhaps this equipment might even play a role when facing the daemonic armies of Nurgle.

The retreating Ratman interception force was clumsily converging toward their main force that was attacking the temple; having their flank quickly broken through by the Dwarfs undoubtedly threw the leading Grey Seer into a panic.

Sinuoli saw from afar that it scolded its Apprentice for a while, then took out some strange things and forcibly shoved them into the young Grey Seer's mouth.

The Dwarfs' reinforcements once again brought courage to the Humans; Viscount Thompson understood he needed to seize this opportunity. If the Dwarf reinforcements were beaten back, the only person he could count on was William III of Altdorf.

And with the most important reliance—the walls of the Sigmar Temple—having collapsed, he had no confidence in holding out until reinforcements arrived.

Admittedly, Montfort Castle, standing at the other end of Axe Bite Pass, was closer to Helmgart, but this Viscount had not sent anyone to seek aid from the Duke of Bretonnia.

To a noble of the Empire of Man, if he did that, it would be better to just fight and die at the hands of the alien race; this way, at least the family's status could be maintained, and his heirs could continue to inherit his title.

For this reason, Viscount Thompson charged out with his most elite troops—a small group of Greatswords carrying two-handed heavy swords and a dozen Reiksguard knights wearing full Plate Armor and equipped with longswords and Shields.

That Bright Wizard had previously cast two spells to curb the Ratmen's frenzied attack under the encouragement of the Screaming Bell, but he had still drained his Winds of Magic to release a Cloak of Molten Fire.

"Aksh protects you!"

Rays of fire surrounded the Viscount and his subordinates, capable of both protecting the body and burning the enemy.

Thanks to Zhi Qiu Zi Shu Wu Tong, Di Di De Qiu Ge, JasonJing, and the book friends for the monthly tickets.