Warhammer Fanfic: Starting with a Core Cabin

With Duanmu Huai's assistance, Cardo immediately and decisively formulated a plan. Their first objective was to reclaim the city hall. According to Cardo's scouts, although most of the city's army had been routed, many civilians and soldiers were still imprisoned in the city hall—being used by the Skaven and evil god cultists for their blasphemous rituals.

Therefore, Cardo's top priority was to rescue those people. On one hand, doing so would replenish their fighting strength; on the other, it would disrupt the Skaven's vile plans. After Cardo explained the strategy, Duanmu Huai received a new quest prompt: [Rescue], which naturally required him to save as many captives as possible.

Hmm, this request is neither too difficult nor too easy.

Due to heavy casualties from the previous Skaven attack, Cardo could only spare a small squad. But Duanmu Huai didn't mind—he had his own ideas anyway.

As night fell, Duanmu Huai led the squad through a street near the city hall. There, he saw a masked, long-eared elf cloaked in black, holding a longbow.

Hmm, looks just like the standard fantasy scout.

"You're the big guy? You really are big," the elf remarked in surprise upon seeing Duanmu Huai. She quickly averted her gaze and began explaining.

"I've scoped out the Skaven's position. After you defeated them, they've holed up inside city hall, not daring to come out. The evil god cultists are inside too. As for the captives, they're being held in the basement by the Skaven. My plan is to infiltrate through the underground sewer system—"

"I'll leave that part to you," Duanmu Huai said, raising his hand to cut her off. "Whatever plan you've got, you go execute it yourself."

"...What do you mean by that?"

The elf's tone turned cold upon hearing his interruption.

"Listen, I know you're powerful, but—"

"Then let me ask you something, Miss Elf," Duanmu Huai turned to look at her, the red glow of his helmet flashing. "Do you think I can stealth?"

"Uh..."

Looking at his massive two-and-a-half-meter frame, clad in heavy, black armor that looked like it weighed half a ton, the elf scout was rendered speechless.

Indeed, with that kind of presence, only a blind person wouldn't see him coming.

"I'll launch a frontal assault to draw the attention of the Skaven and cultists," Duanmu Huai explained simply. "While I keep them busy, you take the soldiers through your planned route, find the captives, and get them out."

He turned to her again.

"No problem, right?"

"I really want to say yes..."

The elf scout hesitated, then sighed and nodded. She shifted her gaze to Olgis, who stood silently beside Duanmu Huai, and frowned.

"What about her?"

"She's with me."

After learning the evil god cultists were active inside city hall, Duanmu Huai had brought Olgis along—just in case they summoned another Chaos demon.

"...Alright."

The elf didn't question it further. Although Olgis looked like a refined young lady carrying a suitcase and a parasol, in the middle of these ruins... well, it was a little too suspicious.

"Then I'll go first. You act according to the situation. Also, if something happens and you can't handle it, find a way to signal me."

After saying this, Duanmu Huai straightened up, his gaze fixed forward.

A crimson glow lit up from his helmet, and the flashlight mounted to the side of his head blazed to life, casting brilliant white light down the dark, decaying street ahead.

Then Duanmu Huai gripped his warhammer and strode toward the city hall not far ahead. Olgis followed silently behind him, like a ghost drifting through the night.

"How peculiar."

Watching Duanmu Huai walk away, the elf scout snorted softly. To be honest, if she hadn't sensed zero Chaos aura from him, she truly would have believed this black-armored knight was summoned from the deepest abyss of hell.

Thinking this, the elf scout turned and looked at the soldiers behind her.

"Follow me."

Duanmu Huai had no idea what the elf scout's plan was. As a Space Marine, his strategy was simple: kick down the door, charge in, and kill everything inside. What else was there to consider? With the armor he was wearing, he couldn't even cross a wooden bridge without breaking it. And besides, Inquisitors never bothered with elaborate schemes—loyalty was all that mattered.

"Boom!!"

Duanmu Huai gripped his warhammer and charged up the steps of the city hall. Then, like a battering ram, he crashed straight into the heavy wooden doors, shattering them into flying splinters.

"Gaaahhh!!!"

In the next moment, amid the screams, several Skaven rushed forward, thrusting their spears directly at Duanmu Huai's chest.

But it was pointless.

Such primitive, medieval attacks meant nothing to power armor from the cosmic era. Duanmu Huai didn't even bother to dodge. He simply watched the spears strike his armor—only to immediately snap on impact. At the same time, he raised his warhammer high and brought it crashing down.

"Boom!!!"

The warhammer struck the ground with a deafening impact. Instantly, lightning burst outward, engulfing the surrounding Skaven. Most of them screamed and turned to ash under the electric blaze.

A few Skaven, however, suddenly began to swell—then exploded like grenades, scattering red-hot flames in all directions. At the same time, several dark green glass bottles were hurled from behind, smashing against the floor and releasing thick, poisonous gas that quickly enveloped Duanmu Huai.

These were the Skaven's infamous gas bombs. The Skaven race had survived for so long not only because of their terrifying reproductive rate and talent for reverse-engineering technology, but also because of their mastery of poison—though, of course, rats using poison wasn't exactly a surprise.

But Duanmu Huai didn't even flinch. His power armor's internal circulation system made him completely immune to ordinary poison gas. Without hesitation, he charged straight out of the green mist, lunging at the grenade-throwing Skaven behind it—and crushed them into meat paste in just a few swings.

Naturally, his intrusion drew even more attention. Soon, hundreds of Skaven emerged from the shadows, weapons raised as they surged toward Duanmu Huai like a living tide.

But Duanmu Huai didn't need fancy tactics to deal with them.

Who doesn't know how to play whack-a-mole?

He raised his warhammer high and smashed it down. Then raised it again—and smashed again. Each time he swung, lightning erupted. Each time it struck, the Skaven exploded like they'd been hit by grenades.

[Thunder Warhammer (Melee, Two-handed, Heavy Strike)]

[+15% chance for enemies to explode upon death, dealing area damage equal to 50% of their health (stackable)]

Although the chance wasn't particularly high, the sheer number of Skaven made it incredibly effective. Moreover, the Thunder Warhammer already had psychic properties that unleashed lightning. Combined with this explosive special effect, Duanmu Huai was having the time of his life smashing these "moles."

Each swing of his hammer resulted in a bloody sweep and detonations everywhere. In just a few breaths, the hundreds of Skaven swarming from all directions were wiped out completely. But the Skaven weren't the only enemies lurking in the dark.

"Hehehe...!"

While Duanmu Huai was in the middle of crushing the Skaven horde, a fat, cloaked wizard suddenly appeared out of thin air behind him. Holding a staff in one hand, he chanted blasphemous incantations, then stretched out his other hand, reaching through the air to grab Duanmu Huai.

As the spell activated, Duanmu Huai's massive body trembled—and then froze in place. The next moment, he was yanked into the air, pulled straight toward the wizard.

But just as he was about to reach his target, Duanmu Huai let out a roar. In the next instant, a surge of psychic energy burst from his body.

Psychic Shockwave!

The wizard clearly hadn't expected this warrior to also be a psyker. Caught off guard, he was thrown backward by the shockwave, the invisible force binding Duanmu Huai instantly dissipating. With his body freed, Duanmu Huai sprang forward and brought his warhammer down with a thunderous crash—smashing the fat black wizard into a heap of mangled flesh.

"Damn wizard..." Duanmu Huai spat.

Space Marines had naturally low resistance to magic, which was exactly why he'd invested heavily in boosting his defenses. With his power armor, he could fight Skaven and even minions of the God of Tyranny without issue—but against mages and psykers, the armor was nearly useless.

This was the main reason he always kept Olgis nearby. If he ran into a spellcaster he couldn't handle, it would be her time to shine.

Fortunately, he didn't need her just yet.

After dealing with the fat wizard, the interior of the city hall was a complete mess—Skaven corpses and dead cultists were strewn everywhere. But Duanmu Huai didn't give them a second glance. He simply strode forward, then, based on the elf scout's earlier report, located the basement entrance.

With one punch, he smashed the basement door wide open.

Peering inside, he saw the elf scout standing ready, bow drawn, already aiming in his direction.

"Yo," Duanmu Huai greeted casually. "You guys got here pretty fast."

(End of this chapter)