The Holy Tree Knight's Mithril armor glowed with a faint silver light under the dim moonlight, like a beacon in the darkness, yet it reined in its sharpness under the premonition of evil.
Shen Mu's scout team—ten Fifth-Tier Holy Tree Knights like silent reefs, twenty equally Fifth-Tier heavily armored Kujit Veteran Horse Archers with bows drawn, and thirty agile Steppe Bandits—streamed out from New Rivadin's sturdy eastern gate, merging into the desolate land severely warped by darkness and the Spirit World.
The air was heavy, permeated with a certain scent of decay. The Kujit warhorses snorted uneasily; only the Holy Tree Knight's mounts maintained a rock-like composure.
Their Mithril barding seemed to soothe the fear of living beings.
Just as Shen Mu expected, at the edge of the darkness, several clusters of eerie green soul fire pulsed erratically in the distance.
Five tall Skeleton Cavalry, clad in hideous bone armor, riding warhorses reduced to massive Skeletons, wandered aimlessly behind a sand dune.
Their hollow eye sockets scanned the surroundings, but they evidently failed to detect the elite human forces who had deliberately concealed their tracks.
“Target confirmed, Khergit Mounted Archer, fifty paces ahead, bodkin arrows, free scatter shot, three rapid volleys.” Shen Mu’s voice was low and clear, conveyed through simple hand signals.
The twenty Kujit Veteran Horse Archers moved swiftly and in unison.
Their heavy lamellar armor made almost no clanking sound, and their blackened composite recurve bows had already been fitted with special three-edged armor-piercing bodkin arrows.
The deep, powerful thrum of the bowstrings was almost swallowed by the wind.
Twenty powerful arrows tore through the air, precisely covering the area where the Skeleton Cavalry were located!
“Whoosh—Thud! Crackle!”
Dull impacts and the sound of cracking bones rang out densely!
These armor-piercing bodkin arrows, imbued with the Kujit warriors' powerful arm strength, demonstrated an overwhelming advantage against bone armor.
The strong impact force instantly pierced through the relatively weak bone plate joints, shattering cervical vertebrae, ribs, and pelvises!
After one volley of arrows, three Skeleton Cavalry, both rider and mount, shattered directly to the ground, their eerie green soul fires flickering violently before abruptly extinguishing.
Although the remaining two were not immediately destroyed, their torsos or mounts were impaled with several penetrating arrows, and their movements became noticeably stiff and skewed.
“Second volley!”
Shen Mu’s command was icy.
The Kujit warriors did not pause; another twenty deadly dark shadows flew out.
This time, the precise follow-up shots completely finished off the remaining enemies.
Shattered white bones lay scattered on the sand, the five clusters of eerie green soul fire completely dissipated, leaving behind only skewed bone armor fragments and a few bone weapons.
“My Lord, targets cleared.” The leading Kujit Mounted Archer reported in a low voice.
The victory was clean and decisive, with zero cost.
However, every Holy Tree Knight in the team became even more tense.
Their azure eyes under their helmets sharply scanned the deeper darkness, and the faint glow on their Mithril armor seemed to become more vigilant.
Shen Mu also frowned; the previous kill seemed... too easy?
The Kujit’s archery was naturally superb, but as bone-armored cavalry that even Bestour found troublesome, they shouldn't have been shot down fifty paces away without any resistance.
Just as Shen Mu focused his senses, a Holy Tree Knight positioned at the front suddenly low-growled, “Evil! Ahead! Ambush!”
Almost at the instant he spoke, a chilling sight appeared!
A patch of low sand dunes less than a hundred paces from where the Skeleton Cavalry had just been shot down, without any warning, seemed to come alive!
The loose sand violently churned and swelled, and dozens, perhaps even more, ordinary Skeleton warriors struggled to “break out of the ground”!
Although their movements were not extremely fast, they appeared extremely suddenly, and their objective was clear—they did not charge towards the scout team, but as they rose, they hurled rusted swords, broken spears, and even rocks at Shen Mu's mounted archer squad!
At the same time, from several hidden sand pits, three Skeleton Cavalry, also clad in bone armor but sturdier in build and wielding massive bone hammers, leaped out!
The soul fires in their eye sockets were not ordinary eerie green, but glowed a heart-stopping dark red!
The targets of these three Great Hammer Cavalry were precisely the Kujit Mounted Archers who had just finished firing and were in the process of re-drawing their bows!
The enemy's tactics instantly became clear.
Use five cannon fodder as bait to attract ranged firepower and expose the archers' positions, use ordinary Skeletons to stealthily approach and launch harassing thrown attacks, while the true killing blow, three stronger bone-armored cavalry lurking deeper and waiting for the opportune moment, would launch a lightning assault during the archers' most threatening yet most vulnerable attack interval!
The insidious and vicious nature of their tactics far exceeded the chaotic instincts of low-tier undead!
“Bandits spread out to the right flank, horse archers counter enemy infantry! Kujits re-sheathe bows, draw swords and retreat!” Shen Mu reacted with lightning speed: “Holy Tree Knights! Charge with me! Target the Great Hammer Cavalry! Shield wall!”
As soon as the command was given, the well-trained elite legion immediately executed it.
The thirty Steppe Bandits, like a startled flock of birds, instantly dispersed to the right flank of the formation, gracefully creating distance while their short bows were already strung with light arrows. A rapid volley of arcing shots precisely covered the cluster of Skeleton infantry who were throwing weapons.
Although it could not cause devastating damage, it successfully disrupted their attack rhythm, forcing them to be unable to form continuous ranged suppression.
The twenty Kujit Veteran Horse Archers, on the other hand, demonstrated the qualities expected of elite veterans. The moment they heard “draw swords and retreat,” they re-sheathed their bowstrings, simultaneously drawing the Kujit scimitars hanging from their saddles. With a squeeze of their legs against their horses' flanks, they spurred their mounts to retreat rapidly and uniformly to the side and rear, increasing the distance from the charging Great Hammer Cavalry.
At the same time, Shen Mu and the ten Holy Tree Knights around him were like ten Mithril giants suddenly activated!
“For the Holy Tree!” The leading Holy Tree Knight let out a battle cry as low as rolling thunder, his Mithril lance pointed straight forward.
Ten lances radiating a divine glow were simultaneously leveled, and ten heavy Mithril kite shields instantly formed an impregnable, shimmering silver, moving wall on their left arms!
The ten men moved as one, the sound of their horses' hooves suddenly accelerating, transforming into a silver torrent, charging head-on towards the three Great Hammer Skeleton Cavalry who were swinging massive bone hammers and charging with a furious aura of death!
“Boom—!!!”
A dull, soul-shaking collision instantly drowned out all other sounds of battle!
The Holy Tree Knights' Mithril kite shields slammed squarely into the undead cavalry's massive bone hammers!
The anticipated shattering of shields and death did not occur!
Piercing tearing and scraping sounds accompanied dense bursts of sparks! The Mithril's property of increased damage to evil was fully demonstrated at this moment!
The bone hammers of the Great Hammer Skeleton Cavalry, imbued with immense power, struck the Mithril shields. Not only did they fail to break through, but they instantly melted and charred at the point of contact, like a branding iron meeting ice and snow!
The Mithril shield surfaces were incredibly smooth; most of the immense impact force was dissipated by exquisite force-deflecting techniques and shield wall conduction, while a small portion of the force was consumed and offset by the Mithril's own divine scorching effect on evil energy!
The Holy Tree Knights' lances, at the moment of the shield collision, precisely thrust out like venomous snakes through the gaps in the shields!
These Mithril-tipped lances effortlessly pierced through the seemingly sturdy sternums and ribcages of the Great Hammer Skeleton Cavalry!
Like ice water injected with boiling oil, the pierced bone armor and bones furiously emitted thick black smoke, making a “sizzling” corrosive sound!
“Roar!!!”
The dark red soul fires in the eye sockets of the three Great Hammer Skeleton Cavalry flickered wildly, emitting silent, distorted roars!
Their power was severely weakened under the suppression of Mithril and divine power!
One of them was simultaneously pierced in the core of its sternum by two lances; its bones extensively charred and shattered, and after a violent struggle, its soul fire extinguished with a “puff,” and its heavy Skeleton collapsed with a crash! The other two also suffered heavy damage, their bone hammer swings appearing to lack follow-through.
But this was not the end.
A Holy Tree Knight on the innermost side of the charge, while colliding with an enemy and destroying one cavalry, lightning-fast drew the knight's sword hanging from his mount's side with his Mithril-clad right hand!
The knight's sword, infused with the full power of a Fifth-Tier Knight and an extreme hatred for evil, cut a dazzling silver arc like an angry thunderbolt, and with a “bang,” it slammed heavily onto the head of another Great Hammer Skeleton Cavalry, which had been pierced by a lance and was attempting to counterattack!
“Crack—Shatter!”
The head, countered by Holy Tree power, shattered instantly!
The dark red soul fire burst and dissipated like a smashed light bulb!
The sword's momentum did not diminish, smashing and cutting through arm bones and chest bones, completely destroying the upper body of the entire Skeleton Cavalry!
Only the isolated lower body Skeleton and the damaged bone horse remained in place.
The charging formation of ten knights almost without delay crushed the three bone-armored cavalry!
A single head-on clash, relying on the extraordinary properties of their equipment, perfect coordination, and the counter-effect of divine power, instantly annihilated three enemies!
Their side was completely unharmed! The team, like a wedge, broke through the undead's meticulously designed counter-attack spearhead.
Shen Mu did not join the core collision of the charge. He stood on his horse behind the formation, his keen gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield.
The Kujit Mounted Archers had already completed their retreat and regrouping simultaneously with the Holy Tree Knights' charge.
Under the continuous suppression of the Bandits' arrows, the group of ordinary Skeleton infantry, though numerous, were slow-moving and weak in attack, posing no substantial threat. However, behind the team…
“Screech—!”
A sharp, ear-splitting, teeth-grinding sound of a bowstring vibrating suddenly came from the deeper darkness! The target was precisely the flank of the Holy Tree Knight formation, which had just completed its charge and had not yet fully dispersed!
It was a Skeleton archer!
At least an elite archer clad in bone armor! This ultra-long-range arrow was aimed at a weak connection point in the Holy Tree Knight array!
A moment of extreme peril!
An outer Holy Tree Knight, relying on his keen perception of evil, instantly detected the deadly threat locking onto him. He almost instinctively swung his Mithril shield sharply towards the direction of the incoming threat!
“Clang—!!!”
A thick, bone-made heavy arrow, its arrowhead glinting with an eerie cold light, slammed like a battering ram onto the edge of the Mithril shield that had just been deflected!
The immense force caused the heavy Mithril shield to vibrate violently!
The arrow tip scraped across the edge of the shield, creating a dazzling streak of sparks and leaving a deep scratch!
Although it failed to penetrate, the powerful impact caused the Holy Tree Knight's body on horseback to suddenly sway, nearly unseating him!
His companion beside him immediately spurred his horse closer, covering his flank with his shield.
“Conceal! There's a high-tier undead archer in the dark!”
Shen Mu's voice carried icy anger, his gaze, like a hawk's, locked onto the general direction from which the arrow had come in the darkness.
He did not order a pursuit of the hidden sniper.
This precise long-range strike, and the complete tactical chain of bait-lurk-counterattack-sneak attack that had just been exposed, unequivocally indicated one thing.
Behind the undead army, there indeed existed an intelligent command core with considerable intelligence and keen battlefield insight!
This commander was calm and cruel, knowing how to use low-tier cannon fodder for attrition and probing, then using elite units to seek opportunities for a fatal blow.
“Retreat! Bandits' arrow rain cover the Skeleton horde, cover the rear! Kujit, Holy Tree, maintain formation, alternate covering fire to evacuate the battlefield! Target New Rivadin!”
Shen Mu decisively issued the retreat order.
The reconnaissance objective of this sortie had been achieved.
It confirmed that among the undead, there indeed existed an elite, terrifying, intelligent undead capable of commanding coordinated operations!
It was not advisable to engage the enemy's main force late at night when their strength was unknown, especially since the enemy possessed long-range strike capabilities that could threaten Holy Tree Knights.
The value of intelligence far outweighed an adventurous pursuit.
The Steppe Bandits' arrow rain shot even more densely towards the group of ordinary Skeletons attempting to pursue them. Although the lethality was limited, it effectively slowed their pursuit.
The Holy Tree Knights and Kujit Veteran Horse Archers, in a standard tactical alternating cover formation, calmly retreated.
The Kujit Mounted Archers put away their scimitars and re-strung their Nomadic Bows, their icy arrows pointed in all directions of the darkness.
The Holy Tree Knights' Mithril shields, meanwhile, consistently formed a solid mobile bulwark, vigilant against possible incoming arrows or new charges.
When the flickering lights of New Rivadin's city walls reappeared in his sight, Shen Mu looked back at the shadows of the battlefield enveloped in death and darkness.
The night was deeper now, but the evil will hidden behind bone armor and sand dunes, like a cold viper, had firmly locked onto New Rivadin.
The first round of probing skirmishes between the two sides had ended. The Deherim Legion, relying on its advanced preparations and elite combat strength, had won a minor tactical victory, but a far more brutal war of attrition, centered around this isolated frontier city, had just begun.
The undead commander's patience and precision foreshadowed that the next engagement would inevitably be more intense.
He needed to quickly convert this valuable, hard-won intelligence into practical defensive countermeasures.
The fortress walls could be rebuilt, but against such cunning and powerful enemies, the advantage of information was sometimes more crucial than a steel barrier!
“As I thought, as the Spirit World begins to change the Blue Star World, stronger enemies are appearing faster, more frequently, and becoming more common!” Shen Mu took a deep breath of the air, which carried the scent of decay, then shook his reins, controlling the warhorse beneath him, turned, and led his team back into New Rivadin.
