Chapter 43: Victory and Pursuit

Facing the attacks of the rat-folk, the Dwarfs were not flustered. Relying on Sinuoli's Rune Magic and the firing of the Iron-drake, Grom had gained sufficient time to reorganize the battle line.

What was truly terrifying about the Skaven were their high-tech weapons and their ability to appear and disappear in the underground; without high-tech weapons like the Jezzail, Warp-lightning Cannon, or Shutelinn, without the support of Skaven Magic from a Grey Seer, and exposed on an open battlefield without the advantage of terrain, the threat posed by this group of rat-folk was not great.

Compared to the Liezhua Clan Warlord, who was still a fledgling and a blockheaded rat, the Dwarfs present could be called battle-hardened veterans.

Gold Seeker, as the person in charge of the mining team, had been fighting the rat-folk underground for nearly three hundred years, and Grom had been following Thorgrim on campaigns north and south since he came of age, so he could also be called a veteran of the battlefield.

Soon, the two races' forces collided, and the Skaven Warlord immediately felt the same despair as the Goblin Shaman who had already gone to meet Gork and Mork: the Clanrats under his command could not break through the meteor-iron armor of the Ironbreaker front line with their crude swords and spears!

Watching his remaining strength crash into the Dwarf defensive line like moths to a flame, only to be harvested row by row like wheat, the Skaven Warlord soon fell into agitation, and the morale of the Clanrats began to plummet.

Sinuoli watched the scene before him with cold eyes; due to the lack of a suitable angle for output, he did not even let the Thunderer and Quarreller open fire, and the ammunition for these two units had already been more than half consumed in the previous shooting of the Greenskins.

The Iron-drake conserved their ammunition, firing only when the Clanrats gathered in a heap to burn them to ashes, while the bolt throwers secretly aimed at the Brood Horror and the rat-folk on its back.

This slaughter lasted for two or three minutes, and the Dwarf troops did not even feel any pressure; the damage these Clanrats could cause was completely incomparable to the Greenskins charging down from the mountains!

Finally, the Skaven Warlord could no longer hold back; this young fellow only now realized that the tactic written on military scrolls about using massive amounts of cannon fodder to exhaust the enemy did not work at all times.

It swung the halberd in its hand in a circle, "Damn it! Damn it! The unscrupulous merchant who sold me the book dared to cheat me! I want to, I want to stuff him into the breeding pit!"

It vented its incompetent rage, "By the Great Horned Rat! Go! Go! Cut off the beards of the short things!" As it spoke, it urged the giant rat beneath it, charging forward with the Stormvermin under its command.

The Brood Horror's speed was very fast; it moved its four sturdy legs in a frantic run, soon overtaking the group of Stormvermin that had attacked together.

"Loose!" Sinuoli seized the opportunity and waved his hand, and the Dwarfs operating the bolt throwers released the bowstrings in response.

Two giant Crossbow bolts "Whoosh!" shot toward the charging Brood Horror!

One bolt missed by half a meter, skewering three Clanrats like a rat-kebab, while the other accurately hit the Brood Horror; the bolt carried massive kinetic energy and sank straight in, the beast's charge coming to an abrupt halt, and it twitched on the spot a few times before it began to roll in pain.

The mount's pain and rolling threw the Skaven Warlord directly off its back; it rolled twice after landing before stabilizing its form, though this indirectly saved its rat life.

Afterward, tongues of fire from more than a dozen Iron-drake Handguns followed in succession, and the giant beast was soon burned into a lump of charcoal.

Shaking its head, the Skaven Warlord, having recovered from the shock, opened its eyes to see this scene, and it was scared witless!

"Retreat! Retreat!" Dragging its halberd, it slipped into the tunnel without looking back. Seeing their boss flee in a panic, the already low-morale Clanrat army collapsed instantly.

Some loyal ones continued to follow the Clan Chief's footsteps and fled underground, some who were scared out of their wits began to run around in confusion, and some crazed ones even began to attack their own kin nearby.

These crazed fellows unceremoniously plunged the weapons in their hands into the necks or chests of their kin, just to seize a better Shield or a complete helmet to increase their own chances of survival.

The black-furred Stormvermin, who should have been suppressing this behavior, could no longer care about such things; although they were stronger, tougher, and better equipped than their kin, they were still cowardly rats at heart, and these fellows were also busy fleeing underground.

Watching the crazed, fleeing rat-folk, the Dwarfs pushed forward, stopping after hacking down some of the fellows who were not nimble enough.

The Dwarfs let out a war cry declaring victory, but the old problem remained: the heavily armored Dwarf troops could not catch up with these fellows who had almost no burden and were intent on fleeing for their lives.

Grom, Sinuoli, and Gold Seeker, the three Dwarf leaders, soon gathered together; they needed to discuss the subsequent issues.

Seeing that although his big brother had an extra wound on his cheek and there were many dents and scratches on his helmet and breastplate, his mental state was very good and he had not suffered any major injuries, Sinuoli set his heart at ease.

"We have won! But this is far from enough," Gold Seeker spoke up, leaning his mining pick on the ground to support his body. At his age, participating in a morning of fighting was somewhat taxing.

"Clearing out the remaining Greenskins and pursuing the fleeing rat-folk are both necessary things to do; if we miss this opportunity and wait for them to organize again, Karak-Varn will never have a day of peace!" Gold Seeker continued.

"And cleaning up the battlefield and tending to the wounded!" Sinuoli added.

"How shall we divide the work?" Grom asked, wiping the sweat from his head; having been at the very front of the line and having had a duel to the death with a Greenskin boss over two meters tall, his physical exertion was great.

"Leave the fleeing rat-folk to me! I swear I will return with the Warlord's head!" Seeing the situation, Sinuoli, who had hardly moved during the battle, took the initiative to ask to take on this heaviest task.

"Let me go instead!" Gold Seeker caught his breath and said, "My experience in fighting the rats is not something you two young ones can compare to!"

Hearing this, the brothers both shook their heads, "By comparison, tending to the wounded and organizing the restoration of construction and production is more important, Uncle; I don't have the experience for those jobs and can't do them!" Sinuoli explained.

"That little rat has lost its mount, so its ability is not worth worrying about, and besides, I have the protection of the Eternal Hammer guard!" Hearing the last sentence, Grom's lips twitched, but he finally nodded.

Although there were only ten of them, no Dwarf would doubt the strength of this team.

"I will take stock of the Ironbreakers! You take everyone who can still fight!" Grom said as he turned and left.

Sinuoli looked at the fifty Dwarfs under his command; they were all full of energy and eager to try. Having finally come out once only to hack at some Goblin Wolf Riders, how could this group of Anvil Guard, who had been pent up for a long time, be satisfied?

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