Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1056, page 9 of 1055: 'The Abyss of Gambling'

Horatio, his face grim, slowly removed the ring from the middle finger of his left hand.

His movements were as gentle as if he were touching a most sacred relic.

He carefully placed the ring on a clean handkerchief to protect it from the oil and wine stains on the table before pushing it over.

"Oh~"

With his short, chubby, furry hands, the Lightling ratman eagerly picked up the engagement ring that Falida had given to Horatio.

The ring band is made of pure gold, and like the night sky, it is sprinkled with exquisitely cut precious gemstones of various colors, which reflect a dazzling light like the stars in the Milky Way under the dim candlelight of the tavern.

"Put it down."

Horatio's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a cold dagger piercing through the surrounding noise: "If you touch this ring again before I completely lose it, I'll chop off your hand."

"Eek~ How terrifying!~ Hahahaha!" Lightling and his group of cronies burst into a loud, unrestrained laugh, but they wisely refrained from touching the ring again.

*Snap!* *Splash!*

*Snap!* *Splash!*

A new round has begun.

The atmosphere became heavy and tense. This time, Horatio narrowly won by a mere 100 points of luck.

"Oh ho~ Big guy, you're just one more round away from getting this silver coin~" The Lightling ratman showed no sign of frustration at losing money, but instead spoke in an even more tempting tone.

He skillfully twirled the strange bird claw-shaped silver coin on the back of his hairy hand.

As the silver coin flipped, Horatio's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw the other side of the silver coin—a hunchbacked vulture-like man with a hooked nose!
A cold glint instantly flashed in his eyes.

The floodgates of memory burst open, instantly pulling him back to when he first arrived in this world. In the filthy cult lair of Abyss Harbor, he and Farida, then a vigilante, had discovered an identical silver coin! Engraved on it was this sinister and eerie vulture symbol!
He had thought that after the Abyss Port incident, he would never encounter these strange things again.

Unexpectedly, I saw it again on this remote planet, located on the westernmost edge of the hazy star field, countless light-years away!
"I want my ring back," Horatio said firmly.

He reached out and retrieved the wedding ring, carefully covering it again with a handkerchief to prevent any dust or alcohol fumes from tainting the sacred ring that held such significance for him.

Falida once said that she hoped her comatose father, Lieutenant General Alexander Hood, could witness her wedding.

Therefore, she and Horatio never had a formal wedding.

Horatio was willing to wait for her, until the day Lieutenant General Hood woke up.

Therefore, she designed and customized these wedding rings herself.

On a quiet night, in the small private chapel of Hood's residence, the two exchanged engagement rings bathed in moonlight.

The significance of this wedding ring has long surpassed its intrinsic value.

It is a token, but more importantly, it is a man's unwavering promise to a woman regarding duty and protection, a promise that lasts until death.

"Ready to win this silver coin from me? Or... let me win back your beautiful ring?" The Lightling Skaven licked his lips greedily, pushing the stakes to a fever pitch. "Final round, 5000 points to decide the winner!"

“Come on,” Horatio said coldly.

Blah blah blah!

“四个‘4’（4*100*2）！！！1200分！”莱特林鼠人如同魔怔了一般，歇斯底里地大喊道。

Blah blah blah!

“四个‘2’（2*100*2）！800分！还有一个‘1’（100）！900分！就差300分了，加油啊哥们！”波尼亚托夫斯基紧张得手心冒汗，死死地关注着霍雷肖的摇骰结果。

"1600 points!" one of Lightling's companions screamed.

"1500 points! Keep it up, Horatio!" "400 points! 3200!" Another of Lightling's companions shouted along.

"600 points! Well done Horatio! We're just a little bit ahead, almost tied!"

The crowd of onlookers, caught up in the tense atmosphere, began shouting and yelling.

The atmosphere in the tavern suddenly became extremely heated, turning what was supposed to be a dice game into a highly exciting arena.

Fine beads of sweat had already formed on Horatio's forehead.

He had commanded bloody battles involving tens of thousands of people on the most brutal combat command sand table, and only then would he shed so much sweat. Now, however, he felt the pressure of sweating profusely once again at a small dinner table.

"1000 points!" The Lightling ratman's voice grew increasingly ecstatic, a ecstasy tinged with the morbid obsession of a gambler.

"1000 points!"

"Let's decide the outcome with this final blow!!! The ring is mine!!!" The Lightling Skaven grabbed the dice cup and shook it wildly with all his might, as if he wanted to shake his own soul into it as well.

He slammed the dice cup down, but didn't immediately lift it back up.

He quietly lifted a tiny, almost imperceptible slit and peered inside with his sharp, rat-like eyes.

As the onlookers around them curiously lowered their heads, trying to see how this round would end, the cunning rat-man slammed the gap shut again.

He grinned mysteriously, his face radiating smug satisfaction.

He licked his chapped lips, and even arrogantly picked up the glass of ale that belonged to Poniatowski on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

Then, he suddenly flipped open the dice cup.

“结束了！1、1、1、1、1、1！六个‘1’！王炸！8000分！游戏结束！”

He laughed wildly and impatiently reached out his dirty, yellow-fingered hand to snatch the wedding ring from Horatio's face.

His pale tongue darted out from between his black and yellow teeth, ready to lick the ring, a symbol of sacred significance, as if savoring the most delicious food, before biting into its material to see if it was real gold.

Snapped! ! ! !

Suddenly, a deafening roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, exploded right in front of the Leytelins.

The Leyterian's tongue froze in mid-air as he stared at the man before him in astonishment and disbelief.

Horatio's face was extremely gloomy.

His steel left hand slammed hard on the table, instantly turning the entire dice cup, along with the six bone dice underneath, into dust!
"what is this?"

From the pile of dry powder mixed with sawdust and bone meal, he expressionlessly pinched out a small, still slightly warm, magnetic device.

The Lightling ratman froze on the spot.

But soon, a more delusional, morbid smile appeared on his face: "What's wrong? Big guy, can't take a loss, want to break the contract? How do I know you're not a repeat offender who, when you lose, smashes the dice with a slap, then pulls a magnet from your sleeve, points it at the winner's nose and says, 'You cheated! You cheated!'"

He deliberately pinched his throat, raised his ugly, blistered nose, and put on a miserable look, speaking in an extremely disgusting tone.

Snapped!
"what!!!!!"

A piercing scream, mixed with the crisp sound of a bottle shattering and the dull thud of a broken nose, erupted simultaneously!

"Kurwa!! You bastard! You cheated and then dared to turn around and accuse me! I'll teach you to cheat, you son of a bitch!"

Poniatovsky was furious. He gritted his teeth, rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the bottle on the table, and with all his might, slammed it into the rat-man's face!

Horatio caught the wedding ring that Poniatowski had snatched from his hand in mid-air and carefully put it back on his own finger.

Then, with a backhand punch, he slammed a burly man next to him, who was about to swing a chair at Poniatovsky, into the face. The force sent the man flying through the air. Then, he kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying and crashing heavily onto another empty table that had just been wiped clean, landing face-first in the dirt.

Immediately afterwards, the rest of the ratmen grabbed whatever was at hand and charged forward with shouts, and a violent brawl broke out without warning!
(End of this chapter)