The son of the God-Emperor in Warhammer Fantasy

"The barracks! The barracks are on fire!"

"By Charlemagne, what is all this?!"

"It's bad! Rats! So many rats!"

"Help!!!"

Chaos erupted on the streets of Helmgarde as swarms of Skaven surged out from the shadows like a tidal wave.

Most of these ratmen wore tattered tunics and wielded only rudimentary weapons; under normal circumstances, humans should not be so powerless to resist.

But there were too many of them! Far too many. Ryan alone could see hundreds of Skaven crowding and even attacking each other in their frenzy.

"Damn it! What's happening?!" Rudolf and Wagner were still donning their armor with help from their squires, their minds struggling to grasp the situation. "Skaven? But... why now?"

"Stop asking why, get ready to fight!" Ryan dashed to the inn's doorway and unleashed a psionic storm.

The powerful psionic storm swept through all the Skaven in the alley, stripping flesh from bone and incinerating them into fiery ash.

Ryan's first psionic storm obliterated hundreds of Skaven.

"Damn it, what has Count Reinhardt been doing? How could such a massive evil force enter his city unnoticed?" Rudolf shouted angrily. "And the garrison! What are they doing?"

"The garrison is clearly compromised. Look towards the barracks!" Wagner, now armored, pointed in the direction of the barracks.

Billowing smoke covered the area where Helmgarde's barracks once stood, a clear indication of the catastrophe that had befallen it.

"Light of Exile!" The women upstairs, who had been chatting, were now fully aware of the tumult. Veronica leaned out the window and unleashed a potent spell. Three beams of light shot into the crowd of ratmen, causing a massive explosion.

The immediate vicinity was cleared of Skaven by Ryan's psionic storm and Veronica's Light of Exile, but this was only a temporary respite; the city was already overwhelmed by the tide of ratmen.

Theresa conjured an ice wall to block the alley's entrance. Militia tried to fend off the Skaven assault, but these sporadic resistances were quickly overrun by the relentless horde.

Seizing the moment, the group quickly armed themselves. Sulia, confused, asked, "Skaven? Why attack Helmgarde?"

"Helmgarde lacks sufficient food supplies and has no warpstone mines," Veronica said, donning her red battle leather. "It's really strange, Ryan. Are you cursed? Why does everywhere you go end up in battle?"

"They came prepared." Ryan didn't address Veronica's remarks. He quickly donned his power armor and gripped his thunder hammer. "They targeted the barracks first, swiftly overpowering the garrison. We don't know the full extent of the garrison's losses, but it doesn't look good... there might not be many survivors."

"Your assessment is probably right." They moved to the third floor of the inn. "The town is collapsing!"

With no more responses from the barracks and sporadic gunfire retreating towards the city center, the entire city seemed to be falling under the Skaven's assault, engulfed in flames and smoke.

"What do the Skaven want in Helmgarde?" Ryan furrowed his brow, turning to the panic-stricken innkeeper. "Where can we hold out?"

"There's... the barracks, and... the Count's castle," the innkeeper stuttered, nursing a bump on his head from a fallen wine bottle. "Those are the only places."

"The barracks have fallen, and the Count's castle?" Ryan shook his head. "Impossible! The Skaven wouldn't overlook the castle. What else is there, think!"

"There's... the Church of Justice on the cliff!" The innkeeper recalled. "It's situated on the edge of the city walls, on a cliff! It's easily defensible, and the Church of Justice has at least several dozen holy knights and battle priests stationed there!"

"One side is mines, the other sewers, good. Rudolf, Wagner, and Theresa, escort the servants and horses, gather civilians, regroup the defeated troops, and lead all survivors and resistances to the Church of Justice to organize a defense!" Ryan ordered.

"Understood!" The guards nodded; as professional soldiers, they knew the urgency.

"Sulia, Veronica, come with me. We're going to the Redberry Inn on the west side of town to find Abel." Ryan then instructed Veronica and Sulia. "Demon hunters can determine where the Skaven warlords are. We must locate the Skaven warlord; only by defeating him can we end this plague. Otherwise, under his command, the Skaven forces will be endless."

Theresa's ice wall creaked ominously as it was clear that the Skaven had discovered their hideout and were furiously attacking the robust barrier.

As a legendary high-tier ice and psychic sorceress, Theresa's ice wall was incredibly strong, repelling even the clan rat soldiers, who could do little more than chip away at it.

But this didn't mean the Skaven were helpless against it.

Amidst their shrieking and squabbling, a Warpfire Thrower appeared.

This Skaven, clad in armor, wielded a copper-barreled weapon connected to a curious backpack device. This backpack, topped with a large chunk of warpstone, seemed to be gathering energy from it.

Warpstone, a peculiar mineral not mined from ordinary veins but from the realm of Chaos itself, carried with it immense chaotic energy when Chaos winds passed through ancient interstellar gateways left by the Old Ones into the mortal world. While immensely powerful and usable directly, warpstone exposure also risked severe mutations, most of which were horrendous except for rare beneficial transformations like those seen in Griffons. Most mutations rendered creatures far more monstrous and twisted.

Yet, under these conditions, the Skaven had managed to harness warpstone energy for various technological inventions, such as the warpfire thrower currently aimed at them and the warpstone bombs that had devastated Helmgarde's barracks.

"Humans, hide, mighty, big rat, use fire, diedie!" The Skaven activated the warpfire thrower, and with energy gathered from the warpstone, it began to melt the ice wall with its fiery blast.

The green warpstone flames were rapidly melting through Theresa's ice wall.

Inside the ice wall, the fully armed figures prepared for combat.

"Are you ready?" Ryan, holding his warhammer, was the first to step out from the alley, facing the bewildered mass of clan and slave rats with a brutal grin.

"The battle starts now."

With the God-Selected Champion Ryan in full armor, the resplendent knight Sulia, and Veronica in her fiery red leather, surrounded by flames, they presented a formidable front.

"Charge!" Ryan led the charge, sweeping his Thunder Hammer and sending about two dozen Skaven flying. With one mighty swing, he crushed the Warpfire Thrower into a pulp. Sulia brandished her Leonathal sword, its flames blazing fiercely; any Skaven that came close to her were instantly incinerated.

"Firestorm!" Veronica raised her Wand of Cyndinys, and a vortex of red flames engulfed the entire block.

The Skaven tide near the Oliver Inn was temporarily cleared.

"Split into two groups, move!" Ryan commanded.

"Affirmed!"

…

Helmgarde, Redberry Inn

The inn was in chaos as enormous Skaven tried to breach the dilapidated establishment. Despite the inhabitants' efforts to barricade the door with tables and wood, it was barely holding against the relentless attacks, the sound of blades cutting through wood piercing the air.

"What's going on? Where is the Count's army?"

"Mister Demon Hunter, please save us!"

Inside the inn, cries of women and children filled the air as people huddled in corners, awaiting their grim fate.

Demon hunter Abel, stern-faced, clutched his fine silver sword and a short musket.

It was Skaven! Abel leaned against the back of the door, peering through the window slits at the chaos outside.

The streets were overrun with Skaven who slaughtered adults and dragged away children and youths into the sewers and ditches, never to be seen again.

Too many! Abel's heart sank as he watched the tide of rats, gripping his sword and musket, wondering how to respond. With the barracks engulfed in flames, how could he expect the garrison to come to their aid?

Even as a legendary-tier demon hunter, Abel doubted his chances of surviving this overwhelming Skaven assault. On the ground, rooftops, in the gutters and sewers, Skaven the size of men were everywhere.

One versus one hundred was a wholly different proposition!

"Thump, thump, thump," heavy footsteps above signaled Skaven digging through the ceiling.

"Crack!" A green glass orb fell through a small hole in the ceiling, shattering on the floor and releasing a cloud of poisonous gas.

"Poison gas orbs!!!" Abel shouted, "Take cover!"

But it was too late; the inn was too crowded, and in the ensuing panic and stampede, people couldn't escape the spreading green gas.

Within seconds, coughs filled the air as people's skin erupted in boils and blisters, the elderly struggling to breathe and see.

Another green orb fell, and Abel, knowing the inn was lost, rolled to dodge the gas orb, focusing on the ceiling.

There, a Skaven with green glowing eyes wearing a gas mask and carrying a large backpack filled with green glass orbs looked down menacingly.

Abel raised his musket.

"Bang!"

A shot rang out, and the Skaven's head burst open, its body thumping onto the floor.

But it was futile; more Sk

aven stormed in. They had finally broken through the ceiling and door, swarming in with cruel and cunning ferocity. Even as the adults wielded makeshift weapons to fight back, the cunning Skaven didn't give them a chance. Each clan rat attacked from the front while more slave rats sneaked in from the sides, quickly overwhelming the defenders. The slave rats frenziedly devoured the human flesh.

The inside of the inn turned into a macabre scene of carnage.

Abel roared as he charged forward, his fine sword precisely gouging out the eyes of two slave rats, dodging a sneaky spear thrust, and delivering three swift strikes with his sword.

Three slave rat heads rolled, and Abel thrust fiercely, pushing back nearby rats.

It was no use. Despite Abel's valiant efforts, the Skaven pouring into the inn seemed endless. The battle line was constantly pushed back, and with the toxic gas weakening many adults, they quickly succumbed to the rat tide, the Skaven dragging away children with cold laughter.

"Damn it! Damn it!" The inn had become a hell of blood and flesh, Abel fought desperately as the rat tide cornered him.

Then, from behind the swarm, a Stormvermin wielding a halberd and clad in red armor directed the Skaven.

"Humans, weak, die!" 

That must be the leader of the swarm! Realizing the typical nature of rats, Abel decided to take a gamble.

He swung his sword to repel the surrounding Skaven, drawing a specially crafted musket from his coat. This musket was rune-enchanted and loaded with mercury bullets.

Mercury bullets were expensive, but Abel had no other choice.

"For Emperor Charlemagne! For the Empire! For humanity!!!" The musket fired, the projectile hurtling towards the Stormvermin.

"Pop!" The Stormvermin's head exploded, spraying brain and blood, killed instantly by Abel.

"Ooh! Humans, strong, strong! Skaven, weak, weak!" The effect was immediate. With the Stormvermin quickly taken down, the entire Skaven swarm descended into chaos, their feeble courage shattered. The ratkin began to hesitate, unsure whether to continue the attack or fight among themselves for leadership.

This was the nature of Skaven—bullying the weak and fearing the strong, always scrambling for power. Now, their intent on slaughtering humans was momentarily disrupted by the battle for leadership.

This moment of hesitation saved the Redberry Inn.

"Skull of Blazing Fire!" With a sorceress' cry, a massive flaming skull swept across the street, incinerating all Skaven in its path.

Reinforcements had arrived!

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