Warhammer Divine Throne

"I see." Teresa adjusted her sitting position to make herself more comfortable. Seeing that Amelia had no intention of starting a conversation, she also fell silent.

The interior of the High Mountain Fortress.

This was a mountainside-built fortress spanning over a hundred meters, consisting of outer walls encircled by high walls, inner vacant space, and three-to-four-story towers. A river from the mountain cut through the fortress, but it was currently frozen.

Laine held the warhammer in both hands. The golden griffin-head warhammer glowed golden under the dim light of the fortress. Following closely behind him was the Half-Elf, with a feathered arrow nocked on the bowstring, watching the happenings inside the fortress cautiously.

The ground of the fortress was covered in withered lichens and alpine moss, making noise under the tread of Laine's boots. White sunlight pierced into the dim interior through the cracks and gaps in the fortress top. The entrance lay empty, with only stones and mud, and weeds scattered around.

"There are traces of battle, but likely from many years ago." Laine squatted down, noticing signs of combat in the fortress's interior. "Estelle, have you found anything?"

"...It feels like it wasn't a battle that broke the fortress, you see, Laine, there are no signs of battle at the main entrance." The Half-Elf inspected the scratches on the walls and pillars, shaking his head. "Clearly, the enemy didn't breach from the outside."

"Hmm, internal conflict? Aren't these people afraid of the Royal Court? Let's check somewhere else." Laine found it odd, but having gained nothing inside the hall, he decided to examine the tower's situation.

"The door is barred; we can't get in." The wooden door leading to the tower was blocked by something, and the Half-Elf couldn't open it despite using all his strength, so he stepped back, shaking his head. "I can't push this door open; by the feel of it, it's not bolted inside, but something is blocking it."

"Step back." Laine raised his warhammer. The Half-Elf instinctively wanted to say that doing this would get them charged by the Nord Army, but glancing at the White Wolf Knight Badge on Laine's chest, he shut his mouth.

"Boom!" The sound of the warhammer hitting heavy objects echoed in the hall.

Simultaneously, disturbances seemed to arise behind the door. Laine narrowed his eyes and gave Aik a look: prepare for battle.

"Boom!" Another heavy blow landed, causing the door to show signs of cracking. Estelle, with a curled lip, bent his bow and drew an arrow. "What a barbarian, so violent."

"We don't have a locksmith. Billger left, dear Estelle." Laine took a deep breath and lifted the warhammer again. "So, keeping it simple is better for us."

"Boom!!!" The third blow finally shattered the tower's door with Laine's attack, releasing a mass of green figures rushing out with swords and knives: "I reckon the ambush failed this time, so, waaaaaaagh!!"

"Waaaaagh!"

Dozens of goblins burst out like a green tide from inside the tower, even a burly Orc among them. This Green Skin, clad in extremely tattered armor and wielding a large machete, emanated a terrible stench as it charged at Laine, "I reckon I'm gonna smack you good here, you damn human!"

It's a Green-skinned Lad! Base soldiers among the Orcs!

"Eat shit~" Laine spat. Before the Green-skinned Lad got close, he swung the warhammer, striking the first wave of three goblins, sending them flying. One hit the wall, then the White Wolf Knight grabbed a goblin's head and, under the gaze of all the Green Skins, crushed it directly and tossed it aside.

The White Wolf Knight stepped slightly back, confronting the Orc alone. The Green Skin was impressively muscular, and its large machete cleaved downward. Laine blocked with the hammer; after the clash, Laine swiftly countered, using his strong arm to overcome the recoil, hitting the Green-skinned Lad's right shoulder.

"Aaaah!" Despite its shoulder wound, the Green-skinned Lad became even more ferocious. Its right arm was crippled, but the machete in its left hand exploded with greater power, forcing Laine to defend, the hammer handle clashing with the machete, sparks flying. Laine caught a goblin trying to stab his back, grabbing it neatly.

Laine flung this goblin towards the Green-skinned Lad, the goblin drawing a graceful arc in the air, its head colliding precisely with the Lad's, crashing to the ground, forcing the goblin's head into the Lad's mouth.

The White Spiritual Blade flickered, piercing through both the goblin's and Green-skinned Lad's heads. With a twist of Laine's right hand, the heads were strung together and lopped off together.

"Oh! Laine! Come and help me!" On the other side, Estelle was already in dire straits. Faced with the goblins' close attack, the Half-Elf barely managed to draw out a pair of daggers from beside his quiver to fend off the goblins' assault, losing all his previous agility and elegance, floundering.

Goblins range in challenge level from ordinary Middle Tier to Elite Initial Tier. Estelle was an Elite High-Tier Half-Elf Ranger, and seeing him struggle this way against a few goblins amused Laine, though it also confirmed a fact for him.

The Half-Elf was utterly inept in melee; while Rangers typically weren't as skilled as melee classes in close combat, they wouldn't usually be as frantic and embarrassed as Estelle, whose leather armor had been slashed in several places.

A big green head was thrown over. Hit in the head, the goblin was about to curse when it saw what hit it, screeching, "Big Guy's dead! Guys, they're tough; bail out, run!"

"Run!!!" The remaining goblins, seeing their leader, the Green-skinned Lad, dead, immediately chose to flee, retreating back to the tower, leaving behind a trail of corpses, vanishing around the first-floor corner.

"Your advanced profession is Jungle Shooter, am I right?" Laine reached out to pull Estelle up, shrugging as he spoke.

"Such... barbaric, crude, and vile combat methods. These Green Skins are eternally detestable, their combat style as repulsive as their stench; the best way is to purify them with fire!" Half-Elf dusted off quite a bit of soil, looking disheveled. "It does seem like there are Green Skins lurking in this fortress."

"So we need to move quickly, barring unexpected events." Laine immediately headed towards the tower.

The Half-Elf, feeling a bit embarrassed, quickly followed.

Descending the spiral staircase of the tower, they were met with a hellish scene: a basement filled with the bones of countless humans and Green Skins. On the basement wall, a massive hollow seemed to narrate the reason for the battle, with human soldiers resisting to the death, all bodies facing the hole, none turning away.

"It's the Green Skins. They dug through to the tower basement; the garrison resisted desperately, but were outnumbered. Some might have retreated; some might not. In any case, Villarld or another lord decided not to send troops to retake it, because who knows how many Green Skins will pour in once the underground tunnels are breached? Today it's goblins, tomorrow Green-skinned Lads, perhaps after it's Green-skinned Big Guys, or even a Green-skinned Army." Laine checked the bottomless pit in the basement, then touched his chin in assessment. "The only option is to retreat. Letting these Green Skins and Beastmen fight is better than depleting precious military forces."

The pitch-black tunnel was bottomless, merely looking at the black road emitted a chilling cold. Laine tried blocking it with materials, but the White Wolf Knight knew this couldn't stop the Green Skins.

"We definitely can't camp here tonight! Let's rest outside and set off immediately!" Laine promptly decided. This High Mountain Fortress was out of the question since it had been forcibly linked to the underground tunnels!

"Let's check upstairs."