Warhammer: Return of the Dragon.

"Victor...Victor..."

The witch hunter who was sleeping against a tree stump suddenly woke up, drew out the sword beside him with lightning speed, and looked around vigilantly.

The bearded Rick Guard stared at Victor's every move with satisfaction and confusion. This place was close to Wissen Territory, which was considered one of the safest areas in the empire.

"Is there anything unusual?"

Victor raised his sword and looked around. The solemn voice in his mind gradually faded away...

Sigma?
"Knight Howell, do you hear anything?"

"No, it could be you..." Rick Guard wanted to remind you that it might be because you were hunting witches too frequently, causing the dark forces to affect your mind.

But it seems that Rick's guards don't need to worry about this matter. What he has to do is to behead the witch hunter with one sword after he falls into darkness.

"No..." Victor muttered to himself. He could occasionally hear Sotek's call in the Laurenlauren Forest. According to the elves' description, the God of Vengeance liked to chat with his believers.

But Sigmar... the patron saint of the empire whom he had believed in since childhood, had never shown any favor to him.

Blasphemy! How could I have such a thought!
Seeing Victor lost in thought, Howell threw out a package and said, "Since we have arrived at Wissen Territory, we have entered a safe area. We still need to return to Steele to guard against the dark creatures in the east.

Sir Victor, may Sigmar protect you."

"May Sigmar protect you." Victor also made the double-tailed comet salute in front of his chest, picked up the package thrown by Rick's guards, some necessary documents, a bag of gold coins, and the griffin logo symbolizing the guards of the Imperial Parliament's inner court.

As Rick's guards rode away slowly on horseback, Victor, alone, stroked the gauntlet. After using it for a while, he felt more and more in awe of this sacred object.

There was no doubt that this was the armor that Magnus had used, a sacred relic worthy of being displayed in the Reliquary.

"Your Majesty Magnus... please guide me on my way."

He did not take the safe path, the summit was still some time away and the specially recruited inner court guards did not need to be stationed in Altdorf permanently, it was more like a badge of honor.

Following the lingering black smoke of Wissen Territory, Victor witnessed a strange world with his own eyes.

The steam engines that were once regarded as treasures are now placed in the corners of farmlands. Farmers skillfully pour coal into the fuel tank and heat the boiler with the heat provided by the coal. The thick chimneys have been stained black and emit pungent black smoke.

After an hour of heating, when the water in the boiler boils and turns into strong steam, the steam locomotive with a cutting device on the top moves slowly, accompanied by the sound of the whistle, across the golden wheat fields, cutting down pieces of grain that symbolize a good harvest.

The efficiency of the two harvesters was much faster than that of human labor. Victor, who had lived in Ostland since childhood, had hardly seen steam engines used in the civilian field. The Elector spared no effort to use the important equipment supported by the emperor in the military field, and used steam engines to assist blacksmiths in forging the breastplates necessary to resist the Yankee barbarians.

What an amazing scene...

Standing alone in the fields, Victor once again witnessed the power of machinery. When a locomotive that could carry several tons of weight dragged the wheat away with a four-wheeled carriage, he finally understood why the differences between the north and south of the empire became more and more obvious...

He took off his tall hat. The hunters had a bad reputation in the empire. If you wanted to blend into a place, it was better to disguise yourself.

Barton Village is a remote village located on the border of Wissen Territory. However, even though it is so remote, the village can still use advanced engineering machinery. Victor originally wanted to stay here for one night and then set off for Altdorf tomorrow. It is not a wise move to travel at night, and even witch hunters need to find a place to rest.

But as soon as he followed the farmers who were finishing their work into the village, he keenly sensed something was wrong, the subtle sound of burning firewood, and the unique high-pitched tone of praising Sigma...

"She is a witch, a witch not recognized by Sigmar. I saw her burn a wheat field to ashes with her terrible evil power!"

"After her parents died, there were always strange noises coming out of the house. It must be something to do with the monsters!"

Witch Hunt...

As the crowd surged toward the center of the village, Victor quietly followed behind them. The Empire dealt with countless wizards every year. Some of them were mortals who had been desecrated by Chaos, others were people who had a natural affinity with magic... and even more were people who used the name of witch hunting to satisfy their ignorant ideas.

In the center of the village, on a set up burning ground, there was a girl who looked no more than ten years old, her face covered in mud and dirt, her wrists were bruised from being tied to a wooden stake, and her bare feet were covered with scars from being scratched by stones.

The man holding the torch was still accusing the girl of her crimes one by one. He held up an iron double-tailed comet pendant and tried the witch in the name of Sigmar.

There were many people surrounding the stake. Some who probably knew that the girl was innocent could only lower their brows to show that they were powerless, while more people were excited and believed that the witch should be dealt with as quickly as possible.

"Burn her, blasphemy!"

"shame!"

Amid the noise, Victor squinted his eyes and looked at the girl on the stake. The witch hunter did not have any magical powers, nor did he have an affinity for magic, so he could only judge based on experience.

There is no trace of the flow of the Wind of Magic...

As he continued to observe, the man holding the double-tailed comet pendant had already thrown the torch at the girl's feet. Amid her frightened look, his words of justice became louder and louder.

"Purify all magic not recognized by Sigmar! Kill the wizard!"

To save, or not to save...

For Victor, this was not a problem.

He quickly pulled out a pistol from his belt and accurately hit the flying torch in the air from a distance of forty meters.

As the bullets fired, the torch successfully derailed and moved away from the defenseless girl.

Putting on his tall hat, Victor calmly looked at the villagers who were looking at him: "I am Victor Salzpyre, the witch hunter of the church, and the guard of the inner court of the Imperial Parliament... In the name of Sigmar, stop your foolish actions!"

The sudden appearance of witch hunters made the villagers nervous. In order to deal with the influence of chaos, the Silver Hammer Knights made many incomprehensible actions under the orders of the emperor and the high priest.

One remnant of Chaos can destroy an entire family, and if caught by a witch hunter, the entire village will be turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Victor dropped his gun-holding hand to his waist and walked towards the stake step by step. He was a witch hunter, but that didn't mean he could watch innocent people die... (End of this chapter)