The son of the God-Emperor in Warhammer Fantasy

The rat swarm continuously assaulted the staircase leading to the cathedral entrance. The long staircase had over thirty steps, and behind it, human soldiers used tables and various carriage remnants to construct a defensive position, making a last stand.

Protected by Teresa's ice wall, the ratmen frantically attacked the only passage, disregarding their casualties.

"Fire! Fire!" shouted the officers. Dozens of musketeers fired relentlessly. Wave after wave of ratmen charged, only to be mowed down. Under the Reiksguard's command, the human soldiers stood united, resisting the Skaven assault.

The path to the cathedral, reduced to half a staircase, forced the ratmen to squeeze through the narrow walkway towards the human defenses. The musketeers of the Mackensen regiment aimed at a single point, and the volleys proved devastating. The Skaven launched numerous attacks, leaving behind heaps of corpses but failing to break through.

At this point, the Skaven's weaknesses were fully exposed.

What advantages do Skaven have over humans in war?

Primarily two: superior technology and overwhelming numbers.

The sheer number of Skaven can often overwhelm human armies. Human forces, surrounded by ratmen, typically become disorganized, and Skaven high-tech weapons can wreak havoc on human troops.

The Skaven nearly defeated the Empire once. Five hundred years after Emperor Charlemagne's disappearance, the Empire began to decline. The Skaven, through the "Black Plague," nearly brought the Empire to its knees. As the Empire's armies were ravaged by disease, the Skaven launched their war, sweeping across the Empire, which struggled to resist.

However, humanity's last stronghold gathered in Middenheim, led by Elector Count Mandred. Under strict sanitary regulations and ruthless extermination of the infected, Middenheim became the Empire's last bastion. The Skaven army tried to storm the city, but Middenheim's position atop a thousand-meter-high mountain, with hundreds of meters of mountain paths and high walls, made it a formidable challenge.

The most infamous aspect was the White Wolf God's holy fire, eternally burning on the mountain top. The temple, built into the walls, allowed any soldier of Middenheim's garrison to easily receive the White Wolf God's powerful blessings (equivalent to a substantial buff to all attributes).

After several months of fruitless siege, the Skaven ran out of supplies and were forced to retreat. Mandred launched the "Howling Hills Campaign," decisively defeating the Skaven army. This earned him the nickname "Rat Slayer," and he was elected Emperor, known as the "Wolf Emperor."

Unfortunately, Mandred only ruled as Emperor for about twenty years before being assassinated by the Skaven's Eshin clan. After his death, the Elector Counts, distrusting each other, failed to elect a new Emperor, leading to the era known as the Time of Three Emperors.

What are the Skaven's weaknesses?

Firstly, their poor morale and discipline. The Skaven are a rabble with extremely poor morale and discipline, easily collapsing if the battle turns against them.

As seen now, the ratmen repeatedly attacked the human positions but retreated in disarray before even reaching the defenses. As more ratmen fell, their morale wavered, leading to a complete rout.

The Stormvermin had to expend far more effort to regroup their troops than to command them in an attack.

Secondly, the Skaven have an extremely vile trait: they love infighting. Since their inception, the Skaven have never ceased their internal conflicts. Clans wage relentless wars, and warlords mistrust each other.

For instance, the Skaven warlord commanding the army, Orsid-Deep, was such a warlord. While anxious about the persistent human stronghold, he hesitated to deploy his elite Stormvermin and Rat Ogres. Instead, he kept these troops in reserve, sending only clan rats and slaves to die.

The Skaven's strategy was war of attrition, but Orsid's reluctance stemmed from self-preservation. Winning against humans would be a victory for the Skaven, but the loss of troops would be his personal loss, threatening his position. If he lost too many loyal soldiers, he risked betrayal and assassination by his subordinates.

Orsid-Deep angrily stomped his feet. "Damn-damn Grey Seer Spat-Spat! Where are it and its army? The bell sounds but no response! No-no! Unacceptable!"

Orsid didn't want to lose too many troops to take the fortress. His plan was simple.

Skirmish without committing, conserving strength.

Let Grey Seer Spat-Spat and its army fight the humans to the death, then take over the spoils! Perhaps even eliminate Spat-Spat, taking its Plague Monk regiment and siege weapons, becoming the most powerful Skaven warlord in the Grey Mountains! Yes-yes!

The thought made Orsid's rat face grin, knowing he had already hired the Eshin clan's assassins.

However, seeing the current situation, Orsid couldn't smile.

Spat-Spat's treachery was worse than his own! While Orsid merely wanted Spat-Spat to die fighting, Spat-Spat didn't show up at all!

That sly Grey Seer!

Orsid vowed to make Spat-Spat pay.

As the human fortress continued to hold, Orsid faced a dilemma. The Skaven Council of Thirteen ordered the complete capture of Helmgart, demonstrating the Great Horned Rat's power and abducting enough human children. The Skaven planned to use warpstone, genetic engineering, and alchemy to corrupt human genes and create new horrors.

With Helmgart mostly fallen, only the human fortress remained. Should he attack or not?

Attacking would result in heavy casualties, unacceptable to Orsid, who viewed troop losses as his personal loss.

Not attacking meant defying the Council's orders, with dire consequences. Orsid knew his subordinates coveted his position, and his peers wanted him dead. While they feigned friendship in meetings, behind his back, assassination, kidnapping, threats, blackmail, and poison were the norm. Each warlord sought to become the most powerful.

He couldn't give them an excuse to attack him!

Shaking his head, Orsid summoned his lieutenant, a cunning Stormvermin.

"Found a way? Tunneling, climbing?" the warlord asked.

"Tunneling, humans patrol, kill-kill! Climbing, human fortress iced, break-break! No-no!" The lieutenant shook his head.

Translation: tunneling attempts were intercepted and destroyed by human patrols, and climbing attempts were blocked by ice walls, which they couldn't break through.

Holding his halberd, Orsid signaled the army to continue the assault.

Large groups of slave rats and clan rats attacked the human positions again, repeatedly failing. Soldiers moved ammunition from the walls to the cathedral, showing no signs of running out of bullets.

Orsid felt something was wrong. Despite his calls, Grey Seer Spat-Spat and its army in Helmgart hadn't responded.

Could Spat-Spat be planning to exhaust his forces and then "deal with" him?

Orsid-Deep thought so.

The Skaven warlord, desperate, realized his army lacked siege weapons and magic users, making the siege a drawn-out battle.

Surely a human wizard was using magic to block the Skaven advance.

Frustrated, Orsid decided to change plans. He signaled to a shadow in the corner, a small, masked ratman in yellow and black tight clothes.

"Find the human spellcaster and eliminate them!" Orsid ordered.

"Yes-yes!" The small ratman vanished in a puff of green smoke, disappearing from view.

The Skaven army continued their assault.

...

Atop the Cathedral of Justice, beneath the golden dome.

The siege had lasted most of the day, now reaching early morning.

Teresa stood on the central platform, leaning on her staff, eyes closed, sensing the Skaven movements around the cathedral.

With many potential entry points, Teresa focused intently. She sensed numerous ratmen trying to enter through windows, back alleys, and basement entrances.

The sorceress continuously cast ice walls to block the threats, rapidly depleting her magic. Fortunately, her reserves were still better than Veronica's, who had used many large spells.

The main entrance saw intense fighting. Teresa knew she couldn't be careless.

Originally, Sulia had assigned soldiers to protect Teresa, but the cold aura from her ice magic made it unbearable for them. Preferring solitude during casting, Teresa now stood alone on the platform. The front lines demanded reinforcements, leaving her unguarded.

Unbeknownst to her, a black shadow moved silently atop the golden dome, swift and quiet.

"Whizz, whizz, whizz," the small ratman used a grappling hook to climb the walls and windows of the cathedral, moving like a phantom, blending in when needed.

Hours of climbing brought the ratman to the dome, evading Teresa's wards and Abel's patrols, hiding behind a fresco, waiting for the right moment.

Now, the opportunity came. The sorceress's magic reserves were nearly depleted, the frost aura thinning. The ratman drew three warpstone daggers, one in each hand, and the third held by its tail.

"In the border of light and dark lies shadow, yes-yes!" The ratman saw the rising sun, casting shadows inside the cathedral.

The assassination began!

The ratman lunged, darting from the shadow towards the sorceress maintaining the ice wall.

"Who's there!" Teresa sensed the approaching danger, but the ratman was already within meters!

"Ice Arrow!" Teresa stopped casting, hurling a spinning frost bolt at the ratman, leaving a trail of ice.

The ratman somersaulted mid-air, evading the attack, closing

 in on Teresa.

Ice Shield! Teresa summoned a frost shield, wrapping herself in an ice cloak.

The ratman threw poisoned shurikens, but Teresa's shield blocked them. As she prepared to call for help, the ratman formed a spell sign.

"Shadow!"

In an instant, the ratman slid through the air, appearing behind Teresa, thrusting the three daggers at her heart.

The warpstone daggers pierced Teresa's ice cloak, shattering it.

Two daggers stopped at the ice shield and cloak, but the tail-held dagger drove deep.

Damn! Teresa instinctively reached for her gun, but her right arm was still bandaged. In desperation, she dropped her staff, throwing herself sideways.

Off-balance, she grabbed her rune gun with her good left hand—Blue Beloved.

Feeling the dagger pierce her chest, drinking her blood, Teresa aimed through the pain, pulling the trigger.

"Bang!" The gunshot and the sound of blades cutting flesh rang out simultaneously.

Updated! Please vote! To know the sorceress's fate, stay tuned for the next chapter!

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