Chapter 186: Arrival at Last

Watching those drifting ghosts, the Dwarf warriors from the World's Edge Mountains all felt a bit of trepidation; they had never seen such things before, but fortunately, Sinuoli's orders came in time.

Very quickly, the clansmen possessing Rune Weapons gathered from all over and greeted that Banshee with the gear in their hands. However, as a spirit, the Banshee was extremely agile; she dodged and weaved among the Dwarfs, not taking many hits within two or three rounds.

"Let me!" Sitelinge squeezed up from the crowd; the Barrow Wights were slower than the Banshee, so they had opened up some distance. Seeing that his subordinates were struggling to deal with the Banshee, Sitelinge decided to do something.

"Release your fury!" He triggered his Rune of Wrath and Ruin; those Barrow Wights were blasted until they staggered, but not one was dispersed. After all, these already counted as high-level Undead, and Sitelinge's runes were not yet very strong.

"A bit troublesome, that thing seems capable of directly harming the soul!" Two or three clansmen were pierced by the longsword in the Banshee's hand, which was likewise a spirit form; their shields had no runes attached, so they provided no protection and were pierced straight through. They had no wounds on their bodies, but they fell down stiffly.

"Valaya above! Captain, you take your men and send these wailing souls to their rest!" Sinuoli, seeing the Wights in the distance wobbling as they climbed up and approached the village again with scythes in hand, gave the order.

"Yes!" The Eternal Hammer Guard charged up in unison; they were different from those clansmen who had gathered temporarily and lacked coordination with one another.

Seven or eight Two-handed War Hammers engraved with three ordinary runes struck at the Banshee from all directions, completely blocking her room for movement. Just then, as if receiving some instruction, she let out a sharp shriek and spun into the air.

"Shorty, my master says that although you lot aren't big enough, putting two of you together can still make one skeleton soldier!" After the Banshee spat out that harsh threat, she tried to pull away and retreat.

"Come when you want, leave when you want? Do you think this is your grave?" Sinuoli roared from his anvil; he triggered a skill, and a Storm Hammer was fired off.

The Warhammer dragged the glow of its runes across the night sky like a meteor, striking the Banshee in mid-air; although the hammer itself passed through, the extraordinary power attached to it still caused no small amount of damage to the Banshee.

The Banshee had a hole punched directly through her spirit form by the Warhammer, but after all, the Storm Hammer still relied on the hammer itself to cause damage, so it did not directly kill this Banshee.

The Barrow Wights didn't even engage before covering the Banshee's retreat; the Dwarfs cheered for the victory, but Sinuoli suddenly hammered his seat's armrest.

"What's wrong?" Balin asked in a low voice.

"This is the enemy's probe; our results are so small they can be ignored, yet they basically achieved their goal! Our elite troops and extraordinary powers are completely exposed!"

Sinuoli reproached himself; this was an open plot. Even though he had seen through it beforehand, he still had no particularly good way to deal with spirits that could not be harmed by physical means; the most he could do was expose a little less.

"Don't lower your guard; the vampires have flying units, they could organize another attack at any time!" Sinuoli looked at the cheering clansmen outside and reminded the commanders around him.

Perhaps believing they lacked sufficient troops to take down this Dwarf army, the following night passed peacefully. The next day, under the surveillance of bats, a tall and prosperous castle appeared in their field of vision.

"We've arrived! Everything looks normal!" Kangsitanting's hanging heart finally dropped; his journey to seek reinforcements had been a fast-paced ride, but on the return trip with the army, he couldn't ride his horse and could only fret in his heart.

"Let's enter the city; we'll have a formal dinner tonight!" The two sides parted at the city gate, and after Sinuoli stationed his army, he headed toward the Dwarf residential area here. Along the way, Sinuoli felt the prosperity of Bordeleaux.

With the help of a natural deep-water harbor, maritime trade here was very developed, and a large number of merchants gathered here from all over the world. The wealth of the Knight nobility deeply attracted them.

Although there were still many ports in the north of the Old World, the Claw Sea was always under the threat of Norsca raiders; relatively speaking, unloading cargo here was safer for ocean-going merchants.

"Is this silk?" Sinuoli rummaged through the goods at a stall.

"Honorable elder, you are truly knowledgeable; this item comes from the Cathay Empire in the Far East. The people there used miraculous magic to weave them; that is a transformation from cocoon to butterfly..."

This merchant was from the Southlands; he clearly knew that Dwarfs had plenty of gold coins and actively promoted his goods to Sinuoli. However, when he quoted the sky-high price of one hundred gold coins, Sinuoli decisively refused.

After booking a hostel in the residential area and resting briefly, the Dwarfs headed to the Duke's mansion. This was a city-within-a-city built right against a cliff; once the outer city was breached, they could rely on the terrain to organize a defense again.

Walking all the way to the banquet hall, Sinuoli felt that Bordeleaux Castle lacked some of the historical accumulation of the previous Bastogne, but had a bit more opulence. Kangsitanting, dressed in formal attire, welcomed his helpers outside the door.

Aside from a Grail Knight who had been guarding a holy site and came to support upon hearing the news, the participants from the Human side were all believers of Sea God Mannann. They were the high-ranking Sea God priest Lady Shuman, the Captain of the Harbor Guard, and Sir Lamosi, the person in charge of the Ocean Chamber of Commerce.

The Ocean Chamber of Commerce was named a chamber of commerce, but in reality, it was more than that; it was a semi-official organization supported behind the scenes by the Duke of Bordeleaux to indirectly control various industries under the Authority of the Sea God. As the Duke's family representative on this side, Kangsitanting himself also held some positions within it.

"Thank you, Dwarf friends, for coming from afar to provide your full support!" Following a simple opening and introduction, the banquet soon officially began. Everyone present had things on their minds, and Sinuoli certainly hadn't crossed three duchies to get here just for a dinner, so everyone ate quite quickly.

"Everyone, we have gathered here mainly for two major matters!" As the attendees successively put down their knives and forks, Kangsitanting raised his wine glass. In Bordeleaux, having a drink before discussing serious business was a form of etiquette.

"At sea, filthy vampire pirates are prowling! Half of our fleet has sailed to transport military provisions; the remaining forces can only do their best to stop them from rushing into the harbor, and this still relies on the help of Lady Shuman and her followers' spells!"

"And in the shadows of the Chalons Forest, evil is also brewing! News of graves being looted and temples being desecrated is coming from almost every village along the forest edge!"