Felix Jaeger was running with all his might.
An entire squad of Skaven elites—those Stormvermin with black fur, wearing black armor, as tall and strong as men—were chasing him down.
He constantly regretted why he had followed a cloaked Skaven appearing on the surface, to the point where he became the primary witness to the Skaven’s general assault on the city of Nuln.
However, as the primary witness, he hadn’t been able to warn anyone.
When he saw a single Skaven daring to emerge openly from the sewers, it meant at least a dozen more had already appeared elsewhere in the city.
This number was increasing exponentially with time.
Felix heard the roars of the enemies behind him and the screams of those unfortunate enough not to escape.
He risked a glance back and saw those Skaven indiscriminately killing every human they saw.
No soldiers stepped forward, not a single one, because the soldiers were all in the Palace District protecting the Countess and her distinguished guests.
Before the Skaven launched their general assault, a series of unusual events had occurred in the city: disturbances in the sewers and a Black Death sweeping the town.
But those nobles didn’t care at all about the lives of the common folk; even now, a grand masquerade ball was being held in the palace.
Felix ducked into a dead end and hurriedly vaulted over into a narrow alley.
He had mostly shaken off the pursuers close behind because he wasn’t wearing heavy armor like those Stormvermin, and those Stormvermin were also slowed down by the unarmed people they encountered.
Felix knew that without those innocent people, he wouldn’t have been able to escape so smoothly.
He had a plan; he had to warn his companions—the Dwarf Gotrek Gurnisson and the other mercenaries.
He only prayed he wouldn’t get lost in the maze-like alleys and run into another Skaven army roaming the city.
— Eerie green flames continued to spread; this city had already become a hellscape.
The Skaven were conducting a massacre.
“How did you get here?” “I don’t know, I just blinked,” Wilden replied.
Mia and Wilden were also moving through the city.
The guidance of the grace was abstract, like a compass, merely pointing out the direction.
She had to find the path that led that way herself.
She perhaps didn’t even realize that at this critical moment, where only she could lead her teammate to their destination, she was exceptionally calm and clear-headed.
“Where’s Kalé?” “We were waiting for him to return before being teleported here.
I don’t think he’s here.” Wilden held his dual swords, closely guarding Mia’s side.
For the time being, they hadn’t encountered any Skaven, but it was only a matter of time.
Mia wasn’t holding her spear; instead, she had drawn the golden sword.
This was a rational judgment made after observing the current situation: the sword’s blade was longer, its horizontal attack range was wider, and its efficiency when used one-handed was higher than a spear’s.
For an individual rather than a battle formation, a sword was a more effective self-defense weapon than a spear when facing a large number of Skaven.
Mia heard a tide-like, piercing war cry just a few streets away.
“We need to pick up the pace.” Mia wasn’t sure if dying in this world would allow her to revive in The Lands Between, so it was best not to die.
Wilden hid his face in the shadow of his helmet’s brim.
This city was causing bad memories to resurface from the depths of his mind.
At the beginning of the Shattering War, the Royal Capital was just as chaotic as this city.
That seemed to be something from thousands of years ago.
In his long life, most of what Wilden remembered was war.
Everything about the Royal Capital was just a flash of inspiration triggered by the scene.
They weren’t the only ones running.
In fact, as soon as the two left that alley, they encountered the humans of this world.
Their physique constantly reminded Wilden that this was no longer The Lands Between.
After the Skaven launched their attack, all the citizens still on the streets were fleeing for their lives.
The idea of hiding in buildings was unwise because there were no soldiers fighting the Skaven; the Skaven could brazenly break into private homes, looking for any fresh thing they could eat.
The green balefire spread faster than the Skaven army.
Mia was somewhat surprised to find that the direction people were fleeing happened to be the same direction she needed to go.
“Help!
Someone, help!” A woman had fallen by the roadside.
The fleeing crowd had overturned a roadside shop, and half her body was pinned under it.
“Help me!” she pleaded with the people running for their lives, but not a single Soldier was willing to stop.
Mia and Wilden stuck to the path right against the buildings, trying their best not to be noticed by others.
But they also heard the woman’s desperate pleas.
Mia understood the language the woman spoke.
“Wilden?” Mia called out softly.
The soldier stopped.
“Help her out.” If they left the woman alone, she would die once the Skaven army burst out of the alley.
Wilden nodded and walked over with large strides.
When the woman saw an exceptionally tall, fully armed man walking toward her, hope flared in her eyes like something tangible.
But when she saw Wilden’s face, she let out a short, sharp gasp.
“Don’t be afraid, he just looks a bit old!” Mia quickly ran up to reassure her.
Mia had already felt that Wilden’s Hollow face was much fuller than when they first met.
Using ‘looking old’ as an explanation seemed plausible enough.
Wilden sheathed his weapons, grabbed the overturned shop, and easily lifted it off.
This act saved the woman.
“Praise Sigmar!
I thank you, old knight of Bretonia!” It seemed that because of Wilden’s attire, the woman had mistaken the Royal Army soldier—wearing a surcoat with a tree and lion, and equipped with plate bracers and greaves—for a feudal noble from another country in this world.
Mia immediately realized this was an opportunity.
Without giving Wilden any time to try and explain that he wasn’t a knight, she immediately followed up on the woman’s words.
“We are from Bretonia.
Where are you all running to?” The direction these humans were going was the same as where the grace was leading her, so Mia decided to ask where her destination was.
“The Palace District!” the woman replied anxiously, not wanting to delay for a moment if possible.
“The only place in all of Nuln that still has soldiers is there!” Then, from far behind them came the roars of Skaven, and terror immediately spread across the woman’s face: “Good knight, I beg you, please help us again!” With that, she took off running.
It was time for Mia and Wilden to head in that direction as well.
From what had just been said, Mia had gathered some more information.
This was Nuln, and as someone well-versed in warhammer fantasy, she naturally knew that this was the second-largest city of the human Empire in this world, the crown that shone with a thousand jewels.
And now, this city was under attack by Skaven.
Mia dared not gamble on whether this attack was the thwarted invasion of 2499 I.C., or the total, world-ending assault launched by the Skaven during the End Times of the warhammer fantasy world in 2525 I.C., which had aimed to completely destroy Nuln.
Being human, Mia wanted very much to help the innocents in this city being trampled by the Skaven…
But this was not her world.
If things went as expected, she should be in The Lands Between, not here.
If this Skaven invasion was the former, it would be fine, but if it were the latter…
Mia was unwilling to lose her life for this; she had no idea if she could still return to The Lands Between if she died here.
“Wilden, you had better cover your face.” Since they had to follow the flow of people, it was impossible to avoid being seen, especially with Wilden’s astonishingly tall frame and his fully armed attire; he was absolutely a walking magnet for attention among the fleeing crowd.
“Understood.” Wilden’s reply sounded somewhat sullen.
But it wasn’t dissatisfaction with Mia’s request, but rather with himself, or perhaps…
he felt unpleasant about the thing that had made him look like this.
He tore a piece of cloth from the stall he had just knocked over and wrapped it around his face as a mask, revealing only the pair of golden eyes beneath his helmet.
“Let’s go!” After Wilden finished, Mia was the first to rush into the flow of people.
“Someone is running back?” But in that instant, amidst the bumping and shoving of the crowd, the young girl felt this confusion.