Because a large force of reinforcements had arrived in the valley, the ratmen had been forced to split into two groups for their evening assault. But that wouldn't affect their destructive power, because there were simply far, far too many of them!
They might have built a nest nearby, or they might have dug their way here from somewhere else using their supposedly miraculous "tunnel warfare" skills. But one thing was certain: these creatures weren't very intelligent.
Someone had to be controlling them.
And under the cover of the thick fog of war, the gloomy Twilight cultists atop the high wall at the valley entrance seemed to have realized that something was amiss today.
"Bang!"
The door to the only intact room at the top of the watchtower swung open. A panting gnoll cultist stood in the doorway and shouted to the old human man holding a dusky purple crystal inside:
"Things are bad, Explorer! The ratmen attacking the Transian vampires outside are falling apart! They still have the numbers, but their minds have been broken. Several tunnel controllers even suffered psychic backlash and turned into drooling idiots.
The ratmen out there might scatter any moment now. You'd better make a decision!"
"What decision do you expect me to make?"
The old human man known as the "Explorer" stared expressionlessly at the purple crystal in his hand. His voice was gloomy as he said:
"This was only a 'combat experiment' to begin with. It's already gone well enough. The Scholar has collected the data needed to optimize the ratmen's combat patterns, especially their experience fighting vampires. That's a very important part of the process.
We'll need to optimize and revise their combat patterns further afterward.
These inferior creatures still have a long way to go before they can become true