Chapter 496: The Greater Daemon Enters the Field

"Silence!"

After Sinuoli made a gesture, he crouched on the ground and touched it with his hand; the slight tremors of the stone bridge deck were transmitted to his heart. The Star Bridge of Itza was sufficient to bear the carriage of the Old Ones, and this tremor meant that a massive object had stepped onto the bridge.

"Alert! Prepare the artillery!"

The power of the Storm carried his roar into the ears of every warrior who was beginning to tire under the dual pressure of body and mind—the Greater Daemons behind the fog of war had finally accumulated enough power to turn the tide of the situation.

"We have cultivated a perfect plague for this occasion!"

A large group of Plague Drones and Plaguebearers rushed out, forming a neat military formation—the green wave blocking the bridge deck surged forward. Behind them, multiple Great Unclean Ones strolled out; as the good children of the Father, they were the only ones among the Greater Daemons who liked to huddle together and rub against each other.

"Charge! Charge quickly, my children, and bring the Father's salvation to those poor wretches!"

The leader shook the plague bell in its hand, and visible green rings of light surged out wave after wave; it used the dark energy stored within its body to buff the troops, making them even more swift.

"Fire! Try to attack those Greater Daemons!"

"Hiss~ Fire!"

Sinuoli and the Great Beastmaster Mukanpu gave orders quickly, and the roar of artillery was accompanied by the breath of Ancient Salamanders and Troglodons. The so-called Troglodon had nothing to do with the High Elf Dragon; it was a grim, giant creature that looked somewhat like a Spinosaurus.

They spent most of their time wandering in underground caves, so they had evolved skin that secreted slick mucus and feathery whiskers and forked tongues to replace vision.

"Thank you, little lizard, this makes Nurgle happy!"

The venom sprayed from their poison sacs might be fatal to other creatures, but to the Nurgle daemon army born from corruption, it was no different from a tonic. Mukamp was a gifted Skink who understood the languages of all giant beasts, but limited by his race, he had not had the chance to participate in the great wars of the past.

"Creak! Clang!"

"Hurry up, lads! Adjust the artillery angle!"

Malakai was busy running around at the Dwarf artillery position; although they were very resilient, the Great Unclean Ones also knew to let cannon fodder share the long-range fire for them. The artillery that had been firing horizontally needed to adjust its angle to strike effectively.

"Pururu!"

"Hmm, return, return to the Father's embrace!"

The Great Unclean One casting spells by shaking the bell moved to meet the artillery fire; its already unstable body completely disintegrated and scattered into a sky full of poisonous miasma, which had a bit of the sentiment of "turning into spring mud to protect the flowers."

"Move aside, you little runts! Well come! I am Grimm Ironfist of the Dragonbeard Clan! Fiend, come forward and die!"

The Slayer King pushed aside the adventurer leader who had come up to relieve him, then held his axe and roared. Yisitelanna led a rain of arrows to shoot over the cannon fodder directly at the Greater Daemons, which gave the armored Slayers a chance to use the Nurgle Toads to loosen up their stiff limbs first.

"Not just one family! Is the ritual about to end?"

The large white lizard turned its neck and glanced at the Slann at the top of the pyramid; behind the dozen or so Great Unclean Ones, it saw the figures of the Slaanesh daemon army. These guys lacking protection were undoubtedly going to use the cover of the Nurgle legion to get close to the Order front line before acting when the opportunity arose.

The Greater Daemons of the Four Gods all had distinct characteristics: slow magic tanks; fast assassins proficient in both physical and magical combat; warriors capable of flying, tanking, and hacking; and flying mages. This led to their rather poor compatibility, producing an effect of 1+1+1+1 < 4.

Right now, N'Kari's troops encountered this problem; although they let the green ones take a few steps first, the huge speed difference caused them to catch up in the middle of the Star Bridge, and they were subsequently blocked by the slow Nurgle army and subjected to long-range artillery fire.

"Not sure, but I am certain that we must have the air force on alert to seal the airspace. Give the order!"

Sinuoli focused on sensing the operation of the surrounding ley lines; they were still steadily supplying energy to the remains of Keluoka, without any overload or violent fluctuations. Gor-Rok blew the horn, and the Lord of the Heavens responded quickly; a large number of Terradons took off from the pyramid.

On their flanks, Auerte-Yanmei's helicopter squadron and the High Elf Great Eagles rose into the air together to provide cover. The Order side had sufficient reason to believe that the Khorne legion would not stand by and watch.

"What, do you want to prove that you are stronger than Kugasi?"

The approaching Great Unclean Ones clearly tilted toward their left, which was the Dwarf defense zone. Sinuoli muttered as he left Gor-Rok's command platform and moved toward his own position.

"The Runes on the Dargo Axe are trembling! Slayers, I know you want nothing more than to bury your axes in the Chaos scum. Then go! Bring back glory, bring death!"

Agelimu's loud war cry drowned out the muttering prayers of the Great Unclean Ones. He brandished the ancestral battle axe, quenched in Dragon Blood and tempered with the Iron Oath of vengeance, stepped on two toads, leaped high, and slashed down a Greater Daemon with all his might.

The fat and bloated Great Unclean Ones could not unfold their strength on the narrow front line, and the Slayers wove between their legs, which were as thick as giant trees. These guys also had a very clear goal—not to get entangled with the cannon fodder and to break through the front line as quickly as possible—the Slann at the top of the pyramid were their main target.

"He is quite a character; well, Teclis cannot come in person, so he must have sent his right-hand man to his brother."

On the High Elf side, Namati kicked his sword out of its scabbard and fought among the daemon army with a flowing set of swordsmanship. With the help of the rain of arrows, he held off the two Great Unclean Ones charging toward that side, buying time for Tyrion to adjust the formation.

The greatswords used by the Swordmasters of Hoeth were almost as tall as they were, and the clubs and such wielded by the Lizardmen also matched their height of over two meters, while the Dwarfs, limited by their height, did not have very pleasing results when killing large units even when using two-handed weapons.

The armored Slayers of the Dragonbeard Clan were already tangled with the Nurgle daemon army; with the stride of a Greater Daemon, they could step over their heads in two or three moves. Prince Sitelinge stood on his Doom Anvil and commanded the Ironbreakers to form a shield wall to meet the attack.

"Brothers! Load the Broad-blade Muskets with buckshot."

Accompanied by the heart-stopping creaking sound, the Nurgle Greater Daemons rolled over like steamrollers. The artillery fire and the swinging of weapons caused them to burst out poisonous mist and pus, and the Dwarf defense line was inevitably squeezed backward.

"Clang!"

Gor-Rok scraped his warhammer against the serrations on the edge of his Great Shield, announcing his arrival with a harsh noise. The eldest son of the Old Ones could not sit by and watch the reinforcements from afar fight; he, a lizard, took the lead and inserted himself from the flank into the Nurgle daemon army that was trying to chisel through the Dwarf defense line.

"Hmm."

The strong Lizardman warrior squeezed past Sinuoli, but this Dwarf King's attention was focused on the Elves on the far left. He knew the grudge between N'Kari and the Taishi Xiongdi well; would those hoofed, pink, greasy monsters attack the same side as the Nurgle army?