Chapter 156: Hammer of the Storm

Every Dwarf present knew they could not let the rat-men escape, especially since the rat-men's leader had not been slain and their unit formation had not been scattered.

Relying on the rat-men's incredibly fast reproductive rate, it was foreseeable that it would not be long before the leading Grey Seer pulled a new force out of nowhere.

Sinuoli knew, based on the knowledge he had learned in the past years with this current body, that the reproduction of rat-men was carried out by mother rats deep within the Breeding Pit.

It was unknown whether this was the result of natural evolution or if some male rats had deliberately done it through vicious biotechnology. For the mother rats in the breeding pits, reproduction was the only meaning of their existence.

They averaged over a dozen pups per litter, giving birth to four or five litters a year, and rat-men pups only needed two years to grow into adult rat-men. Give a mother rat one year, and it could breed hundreds of little rats.

"Charge! Crush them in the name of the Mother Goddess!" Sinuoli reached out to recall his Warhammer, then took the lead and charged toward the clumped-together rat-men.

"O Earth, unleash your fury!" As he approached the line that had become even denser after the Skaven contracted, Sinuoli activated the Rune of Wrath and Ruin, which had already cooled down.

The power of the rune disrupted the rat-men's formation, and Sinuoli's subordinates began to hack and slash.

"Boom!" Sinuoli smashed down with his hammer, only to find the white-furred rat before him parrying his hammer with the two-handed halberd in its claws.

"Ha!" Sinuoli pressed his left hand onto the hammer handle as well, exerting force with both hands to press down. The rat was very nimble; instead of clashing head-on with his strength, it took a step back to dissipate the force.

Sinuoli shook his head, reset his hammer stance, and moved in small steps to look for a new opportunity. The level of elite status of this group of Council Guard surpassed any enemy troops he had seen since he transmigrated.

Their equipment seemed to have been enhanced by the Skaven's unique enchantment technology, and they were superior to their kind in both technique and physical fitness. Fortunately, however, their numbers were few.

Sinuoli looked around and discovered that his Anvil Guard were also finding it difficult to break through the line quickly. The short-handled weapons they were equipped with were suitable for fighting in narrow underground spaces, and their armor-piercing effect was not particularly good.

Although the Hammer Warriors had stronger lethality, and a single strike from their rune hammers could almost make a rat lose its combat effectiveness, they had to dodge the rats' attacks in a slightly clumsy manner.

Like the Human Greatswordsmen, in order to facilitate the handling of the powerful two-handed war hammers in their hands, their armor had also undergone some modifications; there was no plate armor protection at the shoulder and elbow joints, only lined chainmail.

And those Council Guard holding halberds soon discovered this weakness of the Dwarfs, aiming their relatively longer weapons directly at their arms. Their muscles, combined with the specialized halberds, had already injured several of Sinuoli's subordinates.

"Fire the cannons! Give me the flame..." Sinuoli roared halfway before remembering that he no longer had Flame Cannons, and Buerjin had also taken away the supporting munitions when he returned to Karak-Norn.

"Fire the Iron-drake Handguns with everything you've got!" Sinuoli immediately changed his words; dealing with these elites was better done with technological weapons.

When a dozen tongues of fire appeared on the plaza, these white-furred rats, no matter how brave, could not withstand the high-temperature flames. They began to retreat, and gradually, the organized retreat turned into a rout.

Sinuoli could only sigh as he watched the situation; his troops still lacked the ability to pursue. After symbolically chasing and killing them for a few hundred meters, he withdrew his troops and returned to the front of the temple.

"May your souls receive the protection of Sigmar!" Sinuoli stood before the corpses of Viscount Thompson and the Warrior Priest, who had just been pulled out of the ground fissure, and offered a prayer.

Viscount Thompson was a temporary commander dispatched by William III; his viscountcy was not here, and Helmgart, as a strategic and trade hub, was currently under the direct control of the Prince himself.

Therefore, Helmgart currently had no substantive Human troop commander. If that Priest of Sigmar had not died under the earth-splitting spell, he might have been able to obtain command by virtue of his prestige and religious status.

But now, the Empire Captain responsible for commanding the Provincial Regiment could not mobilize the private forces Viscount Thompson had during his lifetime—the Greatswordsman guard he had hired and that Bright Fire Wizard who served as a magic consultant.

And the private army captain of Viscount Thompson clearly had no authority to command the Provincial Regiment formed by the Prince of Reikland.

Of course, both sides also understood that while that Grey Seer was still alive and its Council Guard had not been completely wiped out, pursuing alone had a much higher probability of delivering a midnight snack to the rats than successfully avenging the lord.

Sinuoli knew the principle of "strike while the iron is hot," but given his own sensitive identity at the moment, there was no way for him to organize Human cavalry to pursue.

After a brief communication, Sinuoli learned that the military forces here could only return to normal operation after William III appointed a new lord of Helmgart, and Viscount Thompson's private army would also leave here to return to his territory to continue fulfilling the remaining contracts for his family.

This meant that if his caravan also left, Helmgart would have a window of vulnerability in its defensive strength. Those rats were originally fleeing in all directions, and it was unknown whether they would launch a counterattack.

Sinuoli did not want to leave just like that; if he did, his bloody battle tonight would likely be all for nothing. Having lost their leader and spiritual pillar, the Humans might find it difficult to withstand a counterattack from the rat-men.

But he also needed a reason to stay. Although he was already Sinuoli the "Generous One," if he were to shamelessly volunteer to help a Human force burdened with a Grudge treaty defend the city, it would likely cause his reputation to develop in strange directions.

Just as Sinuoli was struggling with how to proceed, the Reik Knights, who still possessed a sense of patriotism, helped him solve his troubles.

These Empire Knights were all young nobles from Reikland, and they were directly under the command of the Prince of Reikland himself. Their appearance here was, on one hand, to strengthen Viscount Thompson's defensive forces, and on the other, to monitor him.

Knight Walter, who had previously come to the Dwarf settlement to seek reinforcements, had gone through a breakout and witnessed the rat-men's military strength from outside the temple; he had a more intuitive understanding of the power of these man-walking big rats.

Amidst some whispering, he persuaded his comrades-in-arms. These Empire Knights invited Sinuoli's caravan to stay and assist in defending Helmgart in their own name, and they pooled their private money to pay for the hiring fees.

Sinuoli accepted this act, which carried a sense of "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell." He stated that since they sincerely requested it, he would reluctantly stay behind to protect the city until the new lord arrived.

Thanks to the book friends, Tangmen—Jinghou, Igneed, and the book friends for the monthly tickets.