Chapter 153: Skaven Counterattack

"Rat-spawn, die!" Sinuoli let out a roar and slammed the warhammer in his hands hard into the earth. A shockwave rippled out with him at the center.

Affected by the Thunder Strike, the charging rats slowed down visibly, and some who lost their balance fell to the ground. The ratmen behind, having fallen into a frenzy, did not retreat or yield, simply trampling over them.

Looking at the rats before them, the Dwarfs around Sinuoli were not nervous. To tell the truth, the clansmen who could become Anvil Guard and Hammer Warriors were all sufficiently strong in body and possessed considerable combat experience.

Especially those from the capital of the Mountain Kingdom, Karaz-a-Karak; there were no shoddy individuals among them. Even if larger, stronger, and more "waaagh" Orc Big 'Uns came charging, they could fight them without changing their expression, let alone these larger rats.

The Anvil Guard did not retreat a single step and began to fight them. For a time, the "squelch" of battle axes hacking into flesh and the "hiss" or "clang" of ratman weapons scraping or stabbing against Meteorite Iron Armor rang out one after another in the street.

Sinuoli twisted his body and smashed a hammer into the waist of a Stormvermin in front of him, knocking it to the ground before backhanding to parry a spear thrust at him from an angle.

Sinuoli extended his left hand to let the spearhead pass, then grabbed the wooden shaft. He pulled hard, and under the superior strength and mass of the Dwarf, even with the enhancement of evil magic, the Clanrat behind the spear was dragged over, stumbling.

"Puff!" Sinuoli smashed that fellow's head with a hammer. In its frenzy, the rat did not dodge or evade the hammer Sinuoli raised in his right hand, focusing instead on gripping the spear shaft with both hands to wrestle with him.

"Lads, the back row move up, the front row go to the back to rest!" Sinuoli roared. He knew that after dealing with this group of rats, there was still a bitter battle to be fought under the Screaming Bell, and he needed his subordinates to conserve their strength.

Taking a few sips of ale and resting to recover some stamina while finding a gap on the battlefield was not a difficult task for the Anvil Guard. When patrolling underground, they often needed to maintain vigilance day and night.

Sinuoli knew that for some Ironbreaker units that had been established for a long time, they trusted their comrades beside them enough that the warriors in the back row could doze off during battle.

The Dwarfs quickly shifted their formation. These well-trained warriors made no extra sound other than the noise of iron boots stepping on the stone floor.

As time passed, the effect of the death frenzy magic cast by the Grey Seer Apprentice weakened. The remaining ratmen, gradually waking from their madness, could not help but shiver as they looked at the severed limbs and broken arms of their kind covering the ground.

What made them fear even more was that the Dwarfs opposite did not seem to have suffered any losses. The expressions on those fellows' faces under their masks were unclear, and the armor on their bodies was stained a mess with the blood and brains of their own kind, as if they had just crawled out of the realm of the Blood God.

"Beard-things, strong, strong!"

"Charge, charge, we will, die, die!"

The ratmen were afraid; they began to hesitate. At this juncture, the firearms and crossbows of the Dwarf ranged units resumed firing. Clearly, with the help of the melee troops, they had dealt with or driven away the surrounding Night Runners and Gutter Runners.

These assassins of Clan Eshin charged high prices, were few in number, and would simply slip away the moment the situation looked bad. They took money to do work and had no loyalty to speak of.

"Bang! Bang!"

A volley of gunfire completely shattered the ratmen's will to resist. They were no match when there was no ranged fire suppression, and now there was even less point in fighting.

Perhaps fearing that running back would lead to being executed by the angry Grey Seer Lord as a sacrifice to the Rat God, the remnants of these sniper units scattered directly into the building complex of Helmgart, and some of the smarter ones even pried open sewer covers and jumped inside.

"Grimnir's fury!" Sinuoli cursed. He threw his hammer, attempting to take out one of the two lead ratmen, but because there were too many rats, he could not aim properly and could only smash a Stormvermin to console himself.

After the ratman flank was routed, Sinuoli began to observe the battlefield again. He saw Viscount Thompson and his subordinates caught in a bitter struggle; the Humans were somewhat clumsy in fighting the ratmen due to the difference in height.

However, the height difference was only one aspect; the other was the issue of weapons and equipment. Because the attack came suddenly, the Reik Knights did not have time to mount their horses, so they abandoned their customary lances and switched to one-handed swords and shields.

Compared to the foot knights, who were in full plate armor and could still hold the line despite their awkward weapons, the situation of the Greatswords was even more awkward.

This was a group of elite heavy infantry capable of serving as the personal bodyguards of Human lords on the battlefield. Unlike the knights composed of noble sons, they were composed of the most skilled veterans within the Provincial Regiment.

Relying on the experience honed in bloody battles, the masterwork plate armor from the hands of Dwarfs, and the giant two-handed swords in their hands capable of splitting a Greenskin Big 'Un in two, they could fight against the vast majority of bloodthirsty savage tribes and mutated hoofed beasts in the forest.

However, when facing the frenzied ratmen, the Greatswords' powerful lethality seemed somewhat excessive, while their weaknesses were exposed even more obviously—

The full plate armor they were equipped with actually left one arm and one leg exposed to facilitate their operation of the weapons. The frequency with which their massive weapons were swung was relatively slow, which exposed them to quite a few openings.

The cunning nature of the Skaven was brought into full play in close-quarters combat. They targeted the parts of the Greatswords that lacked protection, and after fighting for only a short while, these elites suffered no small losses.

This made Viscount Thompson feel extreme heartache, as these veterans enjoyed higher pay, could live in the comfortable barracks in his own castle, and enjoyed better food.

However, these Greatswords remained high in morale, because every time a soldier officially joined the Greatsword regiment, he was required to take an oath never to retreat.

Sinuoli realized that now was the perfect time to launch a general attack to rout the ratmen. Although the Humans were caught in a bitter struggle, the ratmen were also extremely exhausted. The ringing of the Screaming Bell could excite their spirits, but spirit could ultimately not transcend the flesh.

Sinuoli noticed that many ratmen were already plagued by the Black Hunger, and their madness could no longer conceal the weakness of their limbs.

Although the Humans had lost the support of their spellcaster, that Grey Seer Lord also seemed exhausted. Even if it had a large reserve of magic, continuously casting spells was undoubtedly a great burden on its fragile body; it was sitting cross-legged under the bell.

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