Chapter 185: The Spirit Attack

"It is still a day and a half's journey from the castle; we will have to spend the night in the wild no matter what."

"Isn't it just a fight? Those bags of bones can't even leave a scratch on our armor!"

"If you want something exciting, it has to be Orcs. Back in the day..."

A simple victory made the Dwarfs a bit relaxed; such was their nature, and had Sinuoli not intentionally suppressed them, they would likely have started a victory banquet.

"If it's a day and a half, we can walk a bit slower, find a village along the way to camp for the night, and arrive at the castle by the evening of the second day, right?" Sinuoli calculated while looking at the map.

"Then that's what we'll do!"

At dawn, the army set off once again. Sinuoli looked back at the castle, which appeared very peaceful in the winter mist, and suddenly an ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

"Perhaps I didn't rest well?" Sinuoli shook his head and dismissed the thought.

"Master Sinuoli, I fear we have been discovered by those bastards who desecrate the dead!" Just as they were eating lunch, several Rangers acting as scouts ran over to report.

"What a huge bat!" Buluokesen exclaimed as he looked at a bat the Rangers were carrying, which was about the size of an adult Dwarf's torso.

"The Fell Bats in the eyes of a Vampire are like the precious hunting falcons in the eyes of a Bretonnia lord!" Sitelinge's advisor explained.

"Expected," Sinuoli muttered. "There might even be ones as big as a Dragon; have the Artillery and ranged units prepare for battle!" he ordered, looking back.

A large part of the reason why simple war machines like Artillery remain in the Dwarf order of battle is their ability to fire at high angles, which is very effective against aerial units.

As the army continued to advance, almost all the sharp-eyed Dwarfs noticed the large bats in the sky, which were blacker than midnight. They circled the formation, and although the marksmen shot one or two down from time to time, new ones soon emerged from the woods.

In the afternoon, the Dwarfs arrived at the village on the map. The villagers had already been gathered into the capital, and all that remained here were empty buildings.

"Sure enough, that Vampire judged that we would spend the night here!" Sinuoli sighed as he looked at the obviously damaged walls and the buildings that were reduced to mere ruins. Marching while completely losing air superiority was like this.

"The graveyard has been desecrated, and the wells have been poisoned!" The Rangers brought back two more pieces of bad news in succession.

"Pass the word: do not touch the wells, and don't touch any remaining food in the village. Reinforce the walls slightly and get the Artillery into position!" Sinuoli issued a series of commands; having traveled this far, he already had some experience in commanding troops of this scale.

"Sitelinge, let's go take a look at the graveyard! Everyone else, rest in shifts; I expect there will be no sleep tonight, and we have to continue our march tomorrow."

Under the protection of the guard, the two Rune Smiths arrived at the graveyard adjacent to the village. It was a mess, with coffin lids pried open and tombstones toppled everywhere.

"Those who disturb the rest of the dead should be wiped from this world, leaving none behind!" Every Dwarf was furious at the sight; who would want to be driven by the enemy after death?

"Ha, look, just as recorded in the military manuals!" Sinuoli said to Sitelinge, pointing at some of the graves. Along this journey, he had studied some of the experiences left behind by the ancestors of Kalake-Zifulin in fighting Vampires.

"Indeed, he did not raise all the corpses, but left a portion to be raised during the battle to catch us off guard!" Sitelinge jumped into a grave pit to take a look; he was very happy to learn through these opportunities.

"Come, Hearth and Home Rune; it can curb the occurrence of such desecration rituals." Sinuoli rubbed his cheeks and began his work; the sunlight on the surface combined with the winter wind made his skin condition poor.

"I might as well take the nickname 'One-Brow Daoist'!" Sinuoli couldn't help but want to laugh as he looked at himself, covered in dust and grime, drawing Runes in the graveyard.

The graveyard was not large, and the two worked together to complete the carving of the Runes quickly. Sinuoli simply found a building that still had a roof to rest in. As night fell, the number of bats in the sky increased.

"Cousin, they're here!" Balin woke Sinuoli, who was dozing.

"Keep some distance from me, my colleague!" Sinuoli stood on the Doom Anvil and reminded Sitelinge. He felt that the enemy might use flying units to raid him, the commander.

Through the low walls, Sinuoli saw a group of Skeletons and Zombies emerging from the woods, slowly approaching the village.

"The same old routine, using cannon fodder to exhaust our stamina and ammunition! But we Sons of the Mountains are different from the man-cubs!" Captain Gelunsen struck his breastplate.

Since the Dark Age, the main opponents of the Dwarfs had shifted to Greenskins, primarily Goblins, and Skaven; they had thousands of years of experience in dealing with cannon fodder swarm tactics in a defensive posture.

Sinuoli was also at ease; these mindless cannon fodder could not cause any harm to his subordinates at all. They only needed to continue swinging their weapons lightly to crush them.

After a brief contact, the Vampire lurking in the forest had already lost hundreds of summoned creatures, but for a probe, the cost was still within a controllable range.

"Ah! Awoo!" A shrill and eerie wail suddenly sounded. Sinuoli felt as if he had heard the Doom Bell of Helmgart again. Although his own magic resistance was high, Sinuoli still felt uncomfortable.

"A Banshee? I thought it was a Terrorgheist!" Sinuoli watched as a female spirit in a long dress, glowing green in the moonlight, floated quickly toward them in the air with a twisting, eerie posture.

"She is an Undead spirit! This poor soul has almost no physical form; except for magic and enchanted weapons, conventional weapons are hard to cause her damage." Sitelinge shouted. This Rune Smith picked up his newly arrived Warhammer, ready to join the battle.

"There are similar ones at sea, though the energy feels weaker than hers, but they usually appear in swarms!" Kangsitanting added. Sinuoli knew he was talking about Deep Sea Sirens.

"There are more behind!" The warriors in the front shouted with all their might to make their voices heard over the Banshee's shriek.

"Barrow Wights! Have the warriors with Rune Weapons gather here!" Sinuoli shouted, looking at a group of spirits behind holding two-handed scythes, their cloaks fluttering.

He suddenly felt that the Vampire Lord was slightly stronger than he had estimated. These two types of Undead spirits were not easy to find. Only those whose souls were powerful in life—usually those with some ability to manipulate the Winds of Magic—could form them after death.