Amidst the blood-soaked battlefield, the Undying King, Ghor, had fully regained his former strength. His hollow eye sockets burned with a blue soul fire, stronger than when Ryan had last faced him.
On the other side stood the world's first vampire, the progenitor of the Lahmian family, the Blood Queen Neferata.
Ryan knew that he had to face both enemies at once. If either one broke through to the expedition's forces, which were already hanging by a thread, the undead would claim victory, and the battle would be lost.
So, bring it on! Ryan gripped his hammer and sword tightly, accepting the challenge with a sense of calm determination.
At this moment, he could rely only on himself.
The Primarch of the Grey Knights and King of Bretonnia finally decided to unleash the full extent of his power. A brilliant blue psychic shield enveloped Ryan, and crackling arcs of lightning surrounded Mjolnir, his warhammer. The silver flames on Vengeance, his sword, burned brighter than ever, infused with legendary power.
He would take on both opponents simultaneously.
"I am the Hammer, the Emperor's Blade, the Light that Pierces the Darkness," Ryan recited the sacred words of the Emperor, psychic power surging through him. Behind him, an ethereal vision of a sword and a book appeared, a sign of some ancient and immense power awakening.
The Warp energy gathered around the Grey Knight Primarch, its force unyielding.
Beneath the flashes of lightning and the hellish landscape within the Dwarven ancestor hall, this epic duel began!
Neferata attacked with blistering speed—so fast that even Ryan struggled to keep up. Her dagger and claws wove a web of blood-red strikes, aiming to tear at his throat and chest. Her razor-sharp claws relentlessly struck at Ryan's psychic shield, while Vengeance met Neferata's dagger repeatedly in a deadly dance, like a mournful requiem signaling the battle's inevitable end.
At the same time, Ghor's attacks came with massive, sweeping blows, raining down like a storm. His serrated black axe, glowing with blood-red energy, smashed toward Ryan's skull. Mjolnir barely held off the blow before Neferata's next assault came flying in. Ryan found himself parrying attack after attack until Neferata blurred forward, her dagger splitting into two red streaks aimed directly at his throat.
"This is the end for you!" Neferata's entire form radiated blood magic, her skin turning a violent crimson. With Ghor blocking Ryan's retreat, her killing blow seemed inevitable.
"Teleport!" Ryan murmured, his body dissolving into hundreds of blue shards that scattered through the air. Neferata's deadly strike hit nothing but empty space. She barely dodged Ghor's axe as it nearly cleaved her in two. Furious, the Lahmian queen searched for Ryan. How could a knight know the teleportation magic of wizards?
"I am the Emperor's Judgment!" Ryan's voice echoed from behind Neferata as he reappeared, Mjolnir crackling with lightning. He unleashed a torrent of electric fury that struck Neferata directly. The Lahmian Queen screamed in pain, forced to her knees by the onslaught. Her skin blistered with burns, and her elegant dress was shredded into ashes. Unable to fight back for the moment, Neferata focused all her energy on dispelling the psychic lightning that ravaged her.
"I am the Flame that Purifies Sin!" Ryan roared, lifting Vengeance in his other hand. A wave of silver fire surged toward Ghor, incinerating undead minions in its path. Ghor, seeing the danger, dodged quickly, as the silver flames scorched the ground, leaving a massive crater in their wake.
"Impossible!" Neferata could hardly believe what she was seeing. How could Ryan, even with his psychic powers, hold off both her and the Chaos Champion Ghor at the same time?
The Lahmian Queen finally dispelled the last of the lightning around her, regaining her composure. She and Ghor launched another coordinated assault on Ryan, who was now encased in a glowing aura of lightning and fire. Despite the relentless attacks, Ryan held his ground, matching them strike for strike.
Neferata's expression grew more serious. She recognized this aura. She had seen it before, in Vlad von Carstein and Abhorash.
Meanwhile, high above, Ryan's gryphon Impris and Neferata's Terrorgheist continued their savage battle. Lightning clashed with sulfuric flames as the two mighty beasts fought in the skies, locked in a deadly struggle.
On the battlefield below, Ryan, Ghor, and Neferata clashed in a blur of red, black, and blue light. The sight of their king holding his own against two such formidable enemies inspired the soldiers of the expedition, bolstering their morale. Neferata, momentarily distracted, could no longer direct her forces, causing the undead's assault to slow. The expeditionary army finally stabilized its lines.
Amidst the hellish scene in the ancestor hall, Strigoi Ghoul King Uruk, riding atop his massive Terrorgheist, dove toward Calard. Uruk had marked the Grail Knight, who had already slain seven or eight vampires, as his prize. Neferata had promised him, "Silver Pinnacle will help you rebuild your lost empire."
But Uruk had chosen the wrong opponent.
As the Terrorgheist swooped down toward him, Calard was ready. He turned and, with a swift slash of Durandal, the flaming, glowing blade blessed by the Lady of the Lake, he struck the beast's face, shattering its fangs and splintering bone. The holy magic of the sword, lethal to undead, severed the necromantic bonds animating the beast, causing it to collapse in midair.
Uruk crashed to the ground with his mount, momentarily dazed. Struggling to his feet, the Ghoul King tried to issue a knightly challenge, fumbling for his white glove to throw down. He was too late. Calard, without a word, decapitated him with a single stroke of Durandal.
The Strigoi Ghoul King's head rolled across the battlefield, coming to rest at the feet of a tall, white-haired vampire in high heels, holding a slender sword. It was Aemanthe, Neferata's lieutenant and the steward of the Lahmian Sisterhood.
She had just killed two more expedition knights.
Without a word, Calard engaged her in a deadly duel.
Meanwhile, the Lahmian vampires continued their vicious assault, tearing through anyone in their path. Only the Grail Knights stood firm, their blessed weapons the only true counter to the undead monstrosities.
At the front, Baron Lopus, leading his halberdiers, fought with all his might. His arms felt like lead, but his determination held firm. His men, inspired by their baron, fought to the last, refusing to retreat.
"Hold the line, soldiers!" Lopus shouted through parched lips, swinging his halberd. "Today is a good day to die!"
"It's a good day to die!" his soldiers echoed.
But the undead were relentless. After wave upon wave of skeleton warriors fell, the elite Grave Guard charged into Lopus's formation. Armed with heavy weapons, they smashed through the halberd formation, slaughtering the soldiers in droves.
Lopus fought to the very end, cutting down two Grave Guard before multiple rusted halberds impaled him. Blood poured from his wounds, and just before he succumbed, his head was cleaved off by a massive axe.
Thus ended the life of Baron Lopus, a loyal servant of Ryan for nearly twenty years.
Also fallen was Denis, the veteran ranger knight and captain of the longbowmen. His curved blade was knocked aside by a Lahmian vampire before her dagger pierced his chest. Even in his final moments, Denis punched the vampire in the face before being thrown into a pile of ghouls, who tore him apart.
Amade, another decorated knight who had fought in every war alongside Ryan since his arrival in Bretonnia, was also killed, cleaved in two by a Grave Guard.
No one retreated. The bloody battle raged on.
The dwarfs fought with undying resolve. Belgar, King of Karak Eight Peaks, continued to swing his hammer, smashing enemy after enemy. Even the vampires who approached him met their end at his hands. Empowered by the blessing of Valaya, the dwarfs held the line, their wounds healed, their strength renewed.
Valaya's Gate had now fully opened. The dwarf Rune Priest, Sluud Honest, was deep in a trance. In a vision, Valaya herself appeared before him, teaching him long-forgotten master runes. The divine power of the Ancestor Goddess blessed the dwarfs, filling them with endless strength. Sluud chanted the sacred rune songs, the lost and forgotten verses now clear in his mind.
As the final verse was sung, Sluud was officially elevated to Rune Master and Rune Lord.
Once more, the master rune of Valaya erupted with radiant blue light, washing over the dwarfs. Their fatigue disappeared again, their wounds healed, and, most importantly, an even stronger protective aura enveloped them.
The Lahmian vampires found the dwarfs nearly impossible to kill. Their armor had become nearly invincible, and their ancient vampire magic lost its potency against Valaya's divine power. Even the Grave Guard and undead warriors began to slow down, their movements sluggish under the weight of the goddess's blessing The Master Rune of Valaya shone with an intense light, banishing the darkness from the entire hall. Rune Lord Sluud Honest channeled his rage into his rune hammer, which glowed brightly with magic. As he raised it high, arcs of lightning danced around it, causing the undead to tremble in fear.
"Die!" Sluud slammed his hammer onto the Anvil of Doom, sending out a series of massive lightning bolts. The bolts tore through the undead ranks, vaporizing skeletons, grave guards, and even Lahmian vampires. Two Lahmian vampires were obliterated in an instant, their bodies and souls consumed by the devastating power. The remaining Lahmian Grave Guard, which had taken millennia to assemble, was almost entirely wiped out.
The sudden blast of power reinvigorated the expedition's forces. Their triumphant cheers echoed through the shattered ancestor hall, and the undead assault faltered. The battle seemed to shift in their favor as the dwarfs, humans, and elves fought on with renewed determination.
In the heart of this chaos, Ryan continued his epic duel with Neferata and Ghor. His psychic shield was beginning to fracture, and his once-shining armor was battered and bloodied. Still, the King of Bretonnia fought on. Every time his warhammer met Ghor's black axe, sparks flew, and the very air seemed to crackle with energy. Every strike of his sword against Neferata was filled with the Emperor's righteous fury.
Neferata's face twisted with fury as she watched her army get decimated by the dwarven lightning. "You stubborn fools! What are you even fighting for?" she shrieked as she darted in again, her daggers aimed at Ryan's throat.
Ryan gritted his teeth as he blocked her strikes. "For my people! For the Emperor! And for hope!" His warhammer crashed into Neferata's side, sending her stumbling backward, smoke rising from the scorched impact.
At that moment, Ghor, freed from Ryan's psychic grip, swung his axe with all his might. It cleaved through Ryan's psychic shield, the serrated edge biting deep into his armor and sending blood spraying across the battlefield.
Ryan roared in pain, but as he staggered, he retaliated. His warhammer smashed into Ghor's chest, the force of the blow crumpling the Chaos champion's baroque armor. Ghor was sent tumbling across the battlefield, leaving a trail of broken stones and crushed bodies in his wake.
"You'll need more than that to stop me!" Ghor growled as he rose to his feet, undead energies surging through his body. But even as he spoke, Ryan could see the damage taking its toll on the Chaos warrior.
Panting heavily, Ryan stood tall despite his injuries. "I'll fight you both… to my last breath!" His voice echoed across the hall, bolstering his troops' spirits.
As Neferata and Ghor prepared to attack once more, a sudden, powerful horn blast echoed through the hall—the ancient horn of the Nehekharan dynasties.
"What is this?" Neferata's eyes widened in horror. She turned toward the entrance of the hall, where an army of undead warriors marched in, clad in the ancient armor of Nehekhara. At their head rode the Queen of Lybaras, Khalida, atop a giant necrosphinx.
"Khalida…" Neferata hissed in disbelief and anger. "You've come for revenge."
"I have, dear cousin," came Khalida's cold, venomous response, her voice filled with centuries of hatred. "For too long, your treachery has gone unpunished."
Ryan, bloodied but resolute, watched as the ancient army entered the battlefield. The arrival of Khalida's forces brought a new wave of hope to the embattled expedition. The undead of Nehekhara turned their sights on Neferata's forces, creating chaos among the Lahmian ranks.
Ryan wiped the blood from his face and stood tall once more. It was time for the final phase of the battle. With Khalida's forces now in play, Neferata's reign of terror was nearing its end.
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