Chapter 552: Gork and Mork

"WAAAGH!"

Tiepi did not answer, only brandishing his Battle Axe to attack relentlessly; as a Greenskin Demigod, his Authority was naturally a combination of slaughter and strength. But with the "Heavy Strike" blessing, Sinuoli's striking power was not the slightest bit weaker.

"To put it nicely, it's broad and open; in reality, it's just that the techniques haven't been polished to perfection."

The stone statue commented in a loud voice while parrying, and given that neither side had the upper hand in power with their dual-wielding weapons, and there was a gap in skill and defense, the result of a head-on collision was obvious.

"Fork!"

Tiepi was a pure warrior with no extra tricks; all he could do was borrow as much of Gork's power from the Great Green as possible. Shouting the god's name, his burly figure swelled another circle, and Waaagh energy wrapped around his entire body and coiled around his great axe.

"Still not giving up? Looks like I have to bring out some real skills!"

Tiepi's true strength was only that of a low-tier Demigod, and it was only through the energy gathered by the army and Gork's cost-no-object blessing that he had forcibly raised himself by two minor tiers, gaining the capital to go toe-to-toe with Sinuoli.

"Swish! Swish!"

The Dwarf Demigod pushed his hands horizontally, his Wealth Authority driving the Wind of Metal to transform into a storm of golden sand that assaulted Tiepi, rapidly wearing down the divine power blessed by Gork.

"The fire of Justice burns upon my Warhammer!"

With another flick of his hand, milky-white flames covered his warhammer and axe. Although Greenskins were not purely evil creatures like Daemons or Undead, the Justice Authority could still enhance his lethality.

"Me hardest, me strongest!"

"With the Great Vortex here, I'd like to see how long They can keep you going!"

The last time he had such a hearty, unbridled fight was against Skarbrand before the Silver Abyss; Sinuoli found joy in the hunt and his fighting spirit soared. His left-hand axe focused on defense, while his right-hand hammer struck wildly, either smashing down on the head or sweeping across the waist.

"Witness the wrath of the Ancestor Gods!"

Besides his Authority, Sinuoli also had the Runes inscribed on his equipment to use. Admittedly, ordinary Runes had little effect, but the Beard Ring left behind in the Mortal World by the God of War Grimnir was not among them.

A rain of fire poured down from the sky, and Tiepi, already overwhelmed, could only rely on his armor to take the hits. The Runes on his Blood-Forged Armor gradually dimmed as they were worn down—the power attached through blood sacrifice was powerful, but without effective maintenance, it was ultimately water without a source.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

Grimgor no longer exhaled white mist from his nose in his signature style, but panted like a broken bellows. Sinuoli was the first Demigod Tiepi had fought to the death, but the reverse was certainly not true.

"I'll dismantle your turtle shell first, then slowly deal with you!"

Seeing the green energy wrapping the armor failing to keep up and growing thinner, the stone statue roared, and the warhammer, infused with the power of the storm, smashed into the Warlord's chest at close range. With a crisp "Crack!", the armor the Demon Smith had been forced to tailor for him shattered piece by piece.

"If this keeps up, I'm done for! Scraped for so long, and only left some white marks! Blame this axe for being useless."

Rolling to the side to dissipate the impact, he stared straight at the armor shards scattered on the ground, the monstrous rage in his eyes rapidly receding. After decades of time, fear surged into the heart of Grimgor Ironhide once again.

"If you don't want to die, kneel and beg for mercy!"

A veteran of the battlefield would not give his enemy too much room to breathe; the stone statue took a large stride and charged, the warhammer smashing down from above. In his haste, Tiepi blocked with his battle axe, the impact numbing his arms—he realized a terrifying fact: as his defeat became apparent, the Waaagh energy began to "recede."

"DaImmortulz, Move!"

The Warlord called for his Immortal Guard at the first opportunity; he could feel the stone statue's killing intent—no one would pass up the chance to eliminate a major threat, and shouting for surrender would not stop the attack.

"Boom! Zzz!"

Stomping hard to stir up a circle of lightning arcs, the Thunder Strike failed to effectively restrict the Immortal Guard; these fierce, wolf-like Black Orcs rushed up to protect their boss behind them.

"Hmph!"

Sinuoli deactivated his Avatar of the Gods, expressing his disdain toward the disheveled Tiepi and the vigilant Skab, who was clutching his single-handed sword, before raising his hammer and axe above his head to declare his victory to both armies.

"Praise the invincible Restorer!"

"The Ancestor Gods protect us, the Mountain Kingdom has eliminated another great enemy!"

"The territory of the Golden Age is almost fully recovered! In less than a hundred years since he started his southern campaign, I wouldn't even dare to dream of such achievements even after drinking a carriage-load of beer!"

The Dwarfs mimicked Sinuoli's movements and cheered fanatically; only a very few of the most perceptive ones caught that Sinuoli had fallen into a brief stiffness. At this moment, his consciousness was pulled into a verdant space, landing before a rugged throne.

"Waaagh-gaga! Hello there, interesting little stuntie!"

"Don't dawdle, he's a tough nut from the inside out!"

Two massive figures sat firmly on the throne; the one with bulging muscles was Gork; the one slightly leaner but with a head a circle larger was Mork. They were not sitting very properly; Mork even rested a Big Foot on Gork's leg.

Mork swung a short staff that looked like bone in his hand; it was likely he who had used magic to pull Sinuoli in. Under Gork's feet, a stone club leaned against the base of the throne. Below them, a game of Blood Bowl was in full swing.

"Me thinks you're cruel and cunning!"

"Me thinks you're cunning and cruel!"

"Me likes big and hard fellas!"

"Me likes fellas whose brains turn and know how to think!"

Gork and Mork spoke to themselves; this pair of savage Great Gods seemed ready to fall into an argument at any moment. Sinuoli listened with a smile and great interest; perhaps being recruited by them could be traced back to the karma before Fearless Fort all those years ago.

"I have to be a Greenskin, at least?"

"Your home isn't in this dump anyway, why not follow us and wreck the heavens and myriad worlds?"

"As long as it's enough Waaagh, it's fine, me not picky!"

"Haha, I appreciate the kindness of you two, but I still prefer to be a Dwarf."

Sinuoli refused very decisively; times had changed, and he now stood at the pinnacle of the Mortal World—how could he defect to the Greenskins, who were unwelcome everywhere?

"Us two are more stylish than those grass-roots gods in this dump!"

"Even in front of those four old things, us two can cover you!"

The two Great Gods were about to persuade him further when Sinuoli's mind stirred, and his Oath Authority activated to resist the pull of the Great Green. Even with the energy channel gathered by the Waaagh tide, Mork had only managed to pull him in across the Great Vortex by taking advantage of the brief weakness after the intense consumption.

"Kid, do me a favor and don't move him, I'll make him keep his word!"

Seeing the Dwarf before him becoming increasingly faint, Gork kicked away Mork's Big Foot and stood up. To them, a pawn with Demigod status also required some opportunity to cultivate; it could not be lost easily.

"Me concede, lads, retreat!"

"Are we really just letting him return to Black Rock Fort? There are quite a few dangerous passes along the way; if we could get the Airship to reach them first and destroy the path, perhaps there would be a way..."

"Winning is easy, but staying is hard; you don't want him to take advantage of me returning to the Old World to come and gut you, do you?"