Chapter 194: The City Gate Falls

It is the duty of those who possess extraordinary power to resolve situations that conventional forces find difficult to handle. Snorri first applied a Speed Rune to himself, then charged toward the front of the defensive line, releasing a Rune of Wrath and Ruin at a position at the edge of his visual range.

As the earth split open, Snorri leaped down from the anvil, carrying his Tashun. Taking advantage of the enemy's chaotic state and the fact that the stirred-up smoke made it difficult for them to lock onto his position, he charged straight through.

While running, he added his newly acquired skill points into the second level of Thunder Strike in the system. To put it bluntly, he did not want to engage in melee combat with the enemy at this stage and gamble on the probability of triggering a Heavy Strike.

Although every level-up provided a certain enhancement to his various physical indicators, considering the poor foundation of this body and the Rune Smith's positioning as a long-range support, Snorri felt it was better to wait until he had better equipment before allocating spare skill points to Heavy Strike.

Blocking a few stray bullets with the shield in his hand, Snorri himself truly tasted their power. The force of these projectiles was several times stronger than that of a Firearm; even with the protection of a high-quality shield, he still felt his bones ache from the shock of the close-range attacks.

"Die!" After crashing into the pile of enemies, Snorri immediately used Thunder Strike. He slammed his Warhammer into the ground, and a shockwave carrying electric arcs radiated out with him at the center.

The effect of the upgraded skill was gratifying; the surrounding Undead, having just been damaged by Rune Magic, were now shattered all over the ground. Snorri did not stop, swinging his Warhammer and shield, hammering to the left and slapping to the right, killing several guys who had luckily escaped the two rounds of damage.

Looking at the small Artillery scattered on the ground after their users were killed, Snorri stroked the beard on his chest.

"With these bastards' firepower being so fierce, why didn't that Vampire Coast commander bring them out to trade fire with us sooner?"

"These small-caliber short cannons have limited range and couldn't hit us at all just now. These things were probably originally mounted on some fishing boats or small skiffs!" Buluokesen followed up; he was also very interested, squatting on the ground and rummaging through the Artillery.

"Can we use them? I feel this weight is within the range that our clansmen can bear." Snorri picked one up and weighed it; he felt the shooting power of the Thunder Gun was still too small, and it did not perform well when solving large units or enemies in large numbers.

The Dwarf's traditional conservative design was far from bringing the power of gunpowder into full play. Snorri felt that he needed a long-range weapon that was between a Firearm and Artillery, possessing both power and flexibility; this kind of small cannon met his needs.

"Weight is not the main problem; recoil is the core limiting factor. The larger the caliber of the weapon, the stronger the recoil; this is a very simple principle. The recoil of this thing is not something we can withstand; at most, zombies can use it."

Buluokesen's words made Snorri somewhat disappointed, but it was not over yet; the young Engineer tinkered a few more times and further criticized this weapon.

"The barrel is too short, prone to bursting, and such shoddy casting craftsmanship is simply an insult to engineering technology! By Mogelimu, they also lack maintenance..." Buluokesen began to grumble; the young technical worker was very attentive to his field.

"Alright, I know we can't just distribute them to the clansmen to use! So, do we have any firearms with greater power?" Snorri interrupted him.

"Yes, a few years ago a peer applied for a patent, what was it called? Troll Hammer Rocket Launcher, I think. They made some modifications to the Iron-drake Handgun, capable of firing a cone-shaped rocket, and the power is truly not small!"

Before Snorri could be happy, the Engineer changed the subject, "But it hasn't been put into mass production yet; all those safety tests, adaptability tests, process flow checks, etc. —it's really hard for those old guys to come up with so many items!"

Snorri automatically filtered out the latter part; as long as the Engineers ensured they existed, he would think of a way to get them out. The Vampire Coast had already ridden their crabs and run far away; Snorri commanded the Dwarfs to simply clean up the battlefield and prepared to withdraw the troops.

Just as he walked inside the wall, he saw a Knight of the Sea God galloping over on horseback.

"Your Highness, quickly, quickly go to the east to support, the city, the city gate has fallen!"

"What?" For a moment, Snorri was shocked and annoyed. He had finally managed to slay a giant beast and repel the pirates at the harbor, and before he could even rest, the inland defense line sent him bad news.

"What's going on? What is Kangsitanting doing? How are my clansmen? How many enemies are there?" Snorri asked four questions in a row like an Organ Gun, but unfortunately, the Knight of the Sea God could not answer a single one.

According to him, the incident happened suddenly; as soon as the Regent received the news, he immediately took the reserve team to support, and he himself knew nothing except that the city gate on the side of Chalons Forest had been breached.

"By Valaya, the Captain of the Coast Guard has fallen, and Priest Shuman is also injured; you will act as the commander here! Good luck, I hope those pirates don't make a comeback."

Snorri knew he could not divide his troops again, so he could only take a risk and gamble. Dwarf troops were not as impactful as the Knights of Bretonnia; if cavalry found a good opportunity, they could scatter large groups of enemies with very few people.

However, Dwarfs usually defeat enemies in a grinding-like positional battle through their own tenacity and equipment advantages. This combat characteristic requires enough manpower to form a line.

The Dwarfs traveled through the city along the main road straight to the opposite city gate. Along the way, Snorri did not see large-scale panic and fleeing of civilians, nor did he see walking corpses filling the streets. This at least meant that the situation was still barely controllable.

As they gradually approached the city gate, the shouts of battle became clear. Snorri saw Dwarfs and Humans forming a line together, struggling to contain the Undead creatures constantly pouring in from the wide-open city gate.

"By Grimnir! Cousin, it's great that you rushed back; the harbor side was resolved smoothly, right?" Cousin Tomi greeted him. As a merchant, he could have stayed in Weifengbao to do business, but he insisted on coming to Bretonnia to see the scenery of the Knight Kingdom.

Snorri, considering that he had some talent in diplomacy and wanted to give his cousin some opportunities, did not refuse. When he previously arranged the defense, he handed the task of commanding the reserve troops to Tomi; currently, it looked like he had completed the task very well.

"Not bad, the pirates were repelled by me, and that Leviathan was also slain by our combined efforts!" Snorri roared, his words greatly encouraging the allied forces who were fighting.

Just a moment ago, the hearts of every participant were hanging; now that they had no worries and reinforcements had arrived, their fighting enthusiasm soared.