Chapter 197: Meeting Moves with Counter-Moves

"What's wrong?" Hearing a muffled groan beside his ear, Sinuoli looked down and saw Sitelinge already crouching on the ground, clutching his mouth and nose.

"My, my flow of Rune Power has been, been interfered with! Be careful, cough, cough!"

Sinuoli frowned upon hearing this. To be honest, he did not have a thorough understanding of Vampire unit types, and could only accurately identify the high-level ones.

But the current situation did not allow him to hesitate; the spirits were unilaterally attacking his kin. As a leader, he had to step forward to buy some time.

Sinuoli slowly channeled the Rune Power within his body into the Doom Anvil. Sure enough, he felt some resistance. Having learned from Sitelinge's mistake, he did not rush to activate a rune, but instead followed that force to trace its source.

Sinuoli quickly focused his attention on the Corpse Fire Brazier on the corpse cart; the Dark Fire burning within it was not simple.

The smoke released by these flames, which burned corpses as fuel, was mixed with fragments of Warpstone. This combination of profane powers could temporarily force enemy mages into mental confusion.

"Must deal with that thing first!" Sinuoli muttered.

"Eat hammer!" He suddenly roared, and a Storm Hammer was launched.

That Necromancy tutor had been secretly wary of this move from Sinuoli. He had been present at the previous ambush in the deserted village, and he knew that this Dwarf leader who sat in a convertible carriage had this trick of a flying hammer that could even damage spirits!

"Expected this move!" The bald Necromancer rejoiced inwardly; in his view, Sinuoli was simply too impatient. He jumped directly off the corpse cart and crouched under the physical protection of the surrounding guards.

Necromancy focuses on the power of summoning corpses and vicious curses; its direct lethality is average, and it has almost no defensive spells. Need one look further than the Lord of Undeath Nagash, who has been defeated time and again, only to run off to the underworld to await resurrection?

Those who disturb the rest of the dead are like rats crossing the street everywhere. This Necromancer had been able to grow under the encirclement of the Morr Cult, the Sigmar Cult, the Lady of the Lake Cult, and others. If nothing else, his ability to detect danger and save his own life was top-notch.

However, he waited for a long time but did not hear the hammer fly over his head. Looking up cautiously, he discovered that the Corpse Fire Brazier on the corpse cart had been shattered to pieces. Sinuoli had never been arrogant enough to think he could shatter an enemy leader's skull amidst a million troops; those who could make a name for themselves in this world were not simple.

Without the interference of the Corpse Fire Brazier, Sitelinge calmed his mind and once again released the Rune of Wrath and Ruin to damage the spirits. Just as Sinuoli was also preparing to launch his own rune, he heard a strange noise from above.

Seven or eight long-limbed, winged humanoid beings swooped down from the sky, heading straight for him! These creatures had red hair and were several times larger than a Human.

"Only Vargheists?" Sinuoli felt relieved looking at these creatures. The Vampire army was full of monsters capable of flight; he could not hope to only face Fell Bats.

Sinuoli released the Winds of Magic gathered in the anvil, temporarily imbuing the weapons of nearby friendly troops with magical energy, then jumped down. The flying monsters that had ambushed him also followed in pursuit.

These Vargheists were once Vampires themselves, ordering others about in front of undead slaves. But in the end, they were twisted by their own craving for blood into mindless but bloodthirsty predators.

Relying only on scarlet claws and fangs, these creatures, despite their madness, could not break through the sturdy shields and iron armor of the Dwarfs. Instead, their naked bodies were slashed with wounds deep enough to see bone.

The Red Duke hurriedly ordered them to take to the air again, but they had already been cut down by the Dwarfs during the brief contact. Buluokesen directed the ranged units to quickly organize another volley against them; the wings of the Vargheists were thin, bat-like membranes, and once damaged by projectiles, they would lose the ability to fly.

By the time the Vargheists retreated with shrill cries, their numbers were only half of what they had been before setting out. Watching Sinuoli climb back onto his seat to prepare to release Rune Power, the Red Duke finally could not hold back.

Seeing the Vampire Lord in the distance pull back his Nightmare mount to prepare for a charge and takeoff, Sinuoli secretly cheered for his own strategic decision. He knew that if he hadn't released false information to make the Vampires launch their attack in a hurry, they would have had plenty of time to scour every ancient battlefield and corpse pit in Chalonsenli.

If it had really come to that, Zombie Dragons, Terrorgheists, and Vargulfs would have blotted out the sun and moon. What ran on the ground would likely not be low-level corpse carts; Black Coaches pulled by spirits and Mortis Engines sealed with evil souls might all have appeared.

"Cowardly runt, dare you fight me?"

Seeing that the flying units had achieved nothing in their surprise attack and the ground units were not gaining any advantage in the confrontation, the Red Duke, with a lance in one hand and a sword in the other, hovered in mid-air and pointed his lance at Sinuoli to challenge him.

"Hahaha, why wouldn't I dare? But Your Grace the Duke can see, I am broad and heavy, I cannot fly! Why don't you come over? Let us have a proper spar!"

Sinuoli stood before his seat and laughed loudly. The Red Duke was a Blood Dragon Vampire without spellcasting abilities, so he was not worried about a Curse of Years or anything else being plastered directly onto his face.

In Sinuoli's view, the Red Duke's tactic of wanting to solve problems through a personal duel when the confrontation between troops was not going his way was truly too old-fashioned. With the example of the Grail Knight Yagebu, Sinuoli did not intend to attack with his shortfalls against the enemy's strengths.

As the two challenged each other, the front-line Dwarf troops gained the upper hand after some adjustments and fighting. As Sinuoli destroyed the Corpse Fire Brazier on the corpse cart, Sitelinge, no longer obstructed, used his runes to provide buffs to the troops.

His efforts bought time for the Dwarfs with Rune Weapons to regroup, and once the Barrow Wights were restricted, the momentum of the Undead's attack was curbed.

Upon reaching the front line, the Necromancer first cast Avatar of Fear on his own side to increase combat effectiveness, then repeatedly attempted to use Dark Despair and Soul Siphon to lower the Dwarfs' fighting will and combat power.

But the Dwarfs were inherently firm in will and had high magic resistance; furthermore, because they were close to Sinuoli's Doom Anvil, the effects of the magic were weakened, and he exhausted his magic reserves without being able to stop the decline of his troops.

The longsword in the Necromancer's hand was wrapped and covered in thick Winds of Death; horizontal slashes and vertical cuts were indeed able to cause significant damage to Sinuoli's subordinates.

However, this life-cherishing fellow was just going through the motions. Most Necromancers turned themselves into neither-human-nor-ghost beings because they realized the brevity of Human life and sought eternal life; he and the Red Duke were merely using each other, and he had no desire to risk his life for the Vampires.