The Terrorgheist was a creature that was dragon-like yet not a true dragon. Its appearance was similar to a dragon's—two wings, two legs, a lizard-like body, and a tail. However, the Terrorgheist was not of the dragon race. It was more like a species cobbled together from the corpses of various animals, then reanimated through necromantic magic.
Of course, while it wasn't a dragon, it still possessed formidable strength. With a furious roar, the Terrorgheist plummeted from the sky, diving straight toward Duanmu Huai and the Metallic Mystery Dragon beneath him. Its claws slammed heavily against the steel beast's body, causing the Metallic Mystery Dragon to shudder—but, as expected, it still suffered no damage at all.
At the same time, Duanmu Huai raised his Thunder Warhammer.
In that instant, [Against All Odds] + [Rage] + [Psychic Duel] all activated!
[Against All Odds: When surrounded, +60% melee damage]
[Rage: Each kill grants +1% critical chance and damage for 5 seconds (+150% critical chance and attack damage)]
[Psychic Duel: Each point of Warp Heat increases weapon attack damage by 1% (+60% weapon attack damage)]
"Haahhhhhhh!"
With a roar, Duanmu Huai brought the hammer down on the Terrorgheist's skull. In that instant, 270% attack damage exploded forth.
Bang!!
The thunder-charged warhammer smashed into the Terrorgheist's head, and the undead beast's skull burst like a balloon. At the same moment, its rotting, grotesque, massive body began to swell.
[Thunder Warhammer: 15% chance to cause a slain enemy to explode, dealing area damage equal to 50% of its HP (stackable)]
Boooom!!!
Whatever the Terrorgheist's HP had been, the explosion swept through everything nearby. The violent shockwave, mixed with the stinking blood and shredded flesh of the beast, blasted out in all directions, instantly sweeping away the surrounding skeleton soldiers and zombie horde.
Even Mannfred von Carstein had not expected his prized Terrorgheist to be annihilated in an instant. Though he didn't know exactly what method his foe had used, he made his decision immediately—
Run.
As a Vampire Count, Mannfred was well-versed in this art. He was not one of those brainless fools who stood their ground to the bitter end. Seeing the situation turn dire, he knew that a swift retreat was the best choice. Without a word, his body dissolved into a great swarm of bats that shot up toward the sky.
Trying to run?!
By the time Duanmu Huai realized Mannfred's intent, the explosion had already erased the undead army around them, slowing his reaction by a beat. The bald-headed foe had already transformed into a swarm of bats, flying into the night sky.
But Duanmu Huai would not let anyone who attacked him simply get away.
"Haah!"
At his command, the folded wings of the Metallic Mystery Dragon snapped open, beating hard. The steel beast leapt high, soaring after the swarm. At the same time, Duanmu Huai raised his warhammer again and swung.
Soulflame!
Blazing white fire erupted from him, flowing down his weapon and spraying forward like the flame from a flamer, engulfing the bats. The white fire surged like a tide, sweeping over most of the swarm.
"Aaahhhhhhh!!"
The air filled with shrill, agonized screams as large swaths of bats were burned to blackened cinders. A small portion, however, managed to escape the range of the Soulflame, disappearing desperately into the distant night.
"Tch."
Seeing his enemy flee, Duanmu Huai was displeased. Unfortunately, his own psychic attack ability was not especially powerful—I really do need a mage to help with situations like this.
The problem was, back in Mordheim, he had found no trace of anything related to the Magic Kingdom of Manaria. Now, his only hope was to find some lead in Altdorf.
If I still can't find a clue there… that's going to be a headache.
Just as Duanmu Huai returned to the ground, the system responded again.
[Relic signal detected. Location locked.]
"A relic?"
He was somewhat surprised. He didn't remember seeing any relic just now—where had this come from?
Following the system's guidance, Duanmu Huai searched and soon found, lying on the ground not far away, a dim, sickly green short sword that looked like nothing good. If not for the system marking its location, he might never have noticed it.
"What's this?"
He picked it up, and the system displayed a prompt before his eyes.
[Acquired Relic: "Blade of Corruption"]
"Blade of Corruption?"
Scratching his head, Duanmu Huai put the short sword away. If he guessed right, this relic had probably belonged to the bald-headed foe just now—most likely dropped in his hasty escape.
And indeed, Duanmu's guess was correct. This Blade of Corruption was one of the artifacts Mannfred intended to use in his scheme to resurrect the necromancer Nagash. It had an unusual history—once, Nagash had cooperated with the Skaven, summoning an undead army to dig up wyrdstone for trade with them. But the Skaven eventually discovered Nagash's ambition to turn the entire world into a realm of death.
The Skaven, loathsome as they were, still valued life and had no wish to see the world become a grave. They forged the Blade of Corruption from wyrdstone, then persuaded one of Nagash's servants to strike during a moment of weakness—when the necromancer had exhausted himself casting a great summoning spell. With the blade, they slew Nagash and hacked his body to pieces.
In a way, the Skaven had even saved the world once.
Regardless, now that this artifact was in Duanmu Huai's possession, it would never be used to resurrect some doomed necromancer again. He had already decided—once he had the time to return to the space station, he would dismantle it for building points and use them to construct the Void Barracks.
It was time to let this world's barbarians experience the justice of firepower.
When Duanmu Huai returned to the convoy, the battle was over. With the instigator gone, the undead—stripped of necromantic control—had crumbled to dust. Thanks to his speed, the soldiers guarding the transport had suffered few casualties, and Olgis and the others were unharmed.
Fiya was the exception—she had ignored orders, charged out, and died three times before settling down.
If he'd had the right card in hand, Duanmu Huai would have recalled her right then and there.
In any case, after a short rest, they set off once more.
At last, they reached Reikland—the heart of the Empire and home to the Imperial capital.
Altdorf was already in sight.