Chapter 465: Skarbrand

"Clang! Clang!"

Skarbrand leaned forward slightly, taking long strides as he rushed straight toward Sinuoli like an enraged bull. The Dwarf King secretly rejoiced; if not for the fact that his wings had been destroyed and he had lost the ability to fly, he would not even have had the chance to retreat three paces now.

After being ambushed, Khorne seized the throat of this foolish Greater Daemon, expelling all its personality and thoughts, leaving behind only endless rage. He then dragged it to the top of the Brass Citadel and, before the witness of all Daemons, cast Skarbrand out of the Realm of Chaos.

It burned in the fires of destruction for eight days and eight nights, like a meteor filled with rage streaking across the domains of the Chaos Gods; the place where it landed was carved into a great canyon, and his wings were torn apart by the force of the impact.

"You all move aside, don't clash with it head-on!"

Others might retreat when faced with the charge of a Bloodthirster, but the pilots of the two Rune Colossi would not. They abandoned the Gork and Mork Colossus they had been grappling with for half a day, raised their giant blades, and prepared to meet it.

"Gork and Mork? Die!"

How could Skarbrand distinguish between friend and foe? This was a creature that would even hack at Khorne when worked up! With a "Boom!", the Greater Daemon roared, lowered its shoulder, and charged like Gonggong angrily crashing into Mount Buzhou. The already teetering body of the Gork and Mork Colossus trembled twice and collapsed, with falling rocks raining down in an instant.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"Boss, don't close the gate! Let us in!"

"Have Gork and Mork abandoned us!"

Once the Colossus fell, the medium between the Greenskins and the Great Green was severed, and their exceptionally high morale collapsed along with it. Sinuoli, in his Stone Form, ignored the falling rocks and plunged into the scattered, fleeing Greenskin army, heading straight for the gate of the Eight Peaks Fortress that had not yet been closed.

"Interesting! A mountain of experience delivered to my doorstep!"

Suddenly, the head of the Colossus, its divine light dim and looking like an ugly giant face, fell in front of Sinuoli. He immediately smashed it with a hammer and claimed the kill, the experience provided by the divine beast allowing him to break through the level nine threshold.

"Get out of my way if you don't want to die!"

Entering the interior of the fortress, Sinuoli did not linger in the spacious hall, pushing aside the chaotic routed troops and heading upward along the stairs.

Several warlords and shaman-like figures on the stairs were leading more elite Night Goblin Fanatics or Orc Big 'Uns down from the upper levels, attempting to stabilize the routed troops. Sinuoli did not wait for them to react, killing a path through with three hammer strikes and two axe blows before continuing forward.

"Thump, thump! Creak!"

"Swish! Pfft!"

Running along the path indicated in the map preserved by the Angrund Clan in his mind, Sinuoli heard the heavy footsteps behind him, the groans of the long-neglected stairs under heavy treading, and the muffled sounds of armor and limbs being shattered. He knew that the enraged Skarbrand was enthusiastically accepting these heads delivered to him.

"Keep your head on your neck for a while longer! Run? Where can you run to?"

With the Stali Boots adding to his speed, Sinuoli moved quickly. After passing the corridor before entering the throne room, he caught sight of the back of that fat Goblin retreating, surrounded by a group of guards.

"This is intolerable! These things just go wild whenever they get a chance!"

Carrying respect for the magnificent hall that had been sung of in countless epics, Sinuoli wiped the bloodstains from his body and straightened his attire before stepping inside. Even though he was mentally prepared, the utter devastation made his own rage nearly equal to Skarbrand's.

The precious gems embedded in the dome had all been pried off, leaving behind only ugly pits. The reliefs that the most brilliant craftsmen had spent hundreds of years completing had been desecrated and defaced.

A few Snotlings were sneakily trying to pick up scraps from the tables. The rustling sounds they made reminded Sinuoli that now was not the time for nostalgia or mourning; the Evil Moon Tribe could barely handle an ordinary Bloodthirster, let alone Skarbrand.

Walking to the edge of the extended balcony and looking out from the position where Iblit had previously commanded the battle, Sinuoli saw everything he wanted to see—

The giant, stripped of all armor, already lay decapitated to the side. The Rune Colossi were working with other War Machines to destroy the Greenskin fortifications, and the warriors were charging into the fortress to mop up their living forces.

"Nowhere to run, coward! I'm starting to doubt if your head is really that attractive!"

Skarbrand's roar rang out. After drinking its fill of blood, the aura of his twin axes grew even more intense. Crushing all the Greenskins encountered along the way seemed like a light warm-up for this former top general of the Warp.

"Bring it on! I have banished the armies led by Kugasi and Kairos, and Amnak has just fallen under my hammer! How do you, a stray dog, compare to them!"

"Ahhh!"

The words "stray dog" drove The Exiled into a frenzy. He kicked off the ground, covering a hundred meters in an instant. His twin axes, taller than Sinuoli in his Stone Form, crossed, ready to shatter the one who dared to provoke him into pieces.

"Bang!"

Sinuoli held his breath and focused, meeting the blow with his hammer and axe. He had to test how much strength Skarbrand still possessed.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump!"

After the first contact, the difference in strength was immediately apparent. Sinuoli retreated four or five steps, leaning against the balcony railing before he could barely dissipate the force, while the Greater Daemon only swayed slightly. That was not all; just as Sinuoli wanted to shake his numb arm, he heard a *snap*—the axe in his hand had been shattered by a single confrontation.

Skarbrand's twin axes, named Slaughter and Carnage, had a long history. When he was about to reach the peak of his blood-soaked path of glory, he sought out the most favored Greater Daemon under Khorne at the time.

In the "Battle of the Hell Plains," Skarbrand defeated the two strongest of his bloodthirsty kin in one go, seizing their souls and binding them into his own weapons. They could even hack cracks into Khorne's brass armor; how could anything of the mortal world contend with them?

"Weak mortal..."

Skarbrand twisted his bull-like, thick neck, slowly approaching amidst the bone-chilling popping of joints. Watching the once-arrogant enemy tremble under his rage brought him a sliver of pleasure.

"Crunch!"

When the blood-scented air puffed from his nostrils onto his face, the fear in Sinuoli's eyes turned into killing intent. He reached out and squeezed, triggering the pre-buried Rune of Wrath and Ruin, and the balcony hanging outside the mountain collapsed.

The previous battle against the Greater Daemons of the three gods and the vast war memories of Miaoying made him realize that a mortal fighting a giant on flat ground was not a good choice. The Greater Daemon could afford countless mistakes, but even with precious armor, how many mistakes could he afford to make?

When he saw Skarbrand's broken wings, Sinuoli had already planned its burial ground. Hovering in the air via his Storm Authority, he watched it fall freely amidst the clanking of chains caused by its futile flapping, and the Dwarf gripped his remaining divine hammer tightly.