The decaying core of Long City trembled.
The army commanded by Shen Mu, like hot molten steel poured into concrete, was relentlessly hammering towards the heart of this city of death with an unstoppable momentum.
Although the resistance encountered was more tenacious than expected, with the appearance of Black Iron Skeleton Guards, well-equipped and with tactical skills far superior to the miscellaneous troops on the periphery, the destructive power unleashed by Deherim's elites was still astonishing.
"Holy Tree Knight! Crush them!"
"Swadian Heavy Cavalry! Flank left! Cut off their retreat!"
"Rodok Sharpshooters! Aim at the shadows behind those bone frames, find me the spellcasters!"
Orders echoed over the ruins, mixed with the clang of armor, the neighing of warhorses, the crunch of weapons cutting into bone, and the piercing screams of the undead before their demise.
On the wide central avenue, a grand medieval battlefield was unfolding.
The iron-clad spearhead formed by five hundred Holy Tree Knights launched another charge, their heavy Mithril warhorses thundering on the ground, and their Mithril lances, shining with holy light, held level, like a moving wall of steel, slammed into the Black Iron Skeletons attempting to re-stabilize their defensive line.
Boom!
The bone shields that the Skeleton Guards relied on for resistance shattered under the Holy Tree Knights' absolute power and holy attribute suppression, tearing a huge gap in their formation.
The dark gray Skeleton Warriors were like rotten wood struck by a heavy hammer, their Skeletons twisting, breaking, and turning into a spray of bone fragments upon impact.
But the remaining Black Iron elites, fearless of death, wielded heavy bone hammers and broken bone blades, enduring the burning sensation brought by the holy light, attempting to counterattack.
However, Deherim's war machine was far from relying solely on the Holy Tree Knights.
On both sides, the already deployed Swadian Heavy Cavalry regiments, like two curved sabers forged from fine steel, began to close in amidst the roars of their officers.
They wore plate and chain composite heavy armor, abandoning impractical ceremonial lances, and wielded heavy knightly swords more suitable for cleaving or heavy and sharp armor-piercing warhammers.
The sound of hooves, like rolling thunder, fiercely cut into the flanks and rear of the scattered Skeleton formation, which had been disrupted by the Holy Tree Knights' frontal assault.
"For Lord Shen Mu! For Deherim!" The sound of the steel torrent impacting was teeth-grating.
Knightly swords slashed down fiercely, and even thick bone armor could not fully withstand the full force of a swing imbued with the momentum of a warhorse's charge, causing the arms and heads of the Black Iron Skeletons to be severed one after another.
Warhammers were even more effective smashing weapons, embedding themselves deeply into chests or skulls with a dull "thud," shattering the bones of seemingly sturdy Skeleton Warriors.
Behind the lines, Vigia Sharpshooters occupied the high ground.
Their eyes were as sharp as eagles, their breathing steady, and their longbow strings were drawn almost to a full moon.
Specially made triangular armor-piercing arrows left the string with a piercing shriek amidst the explosive sound of the bowstring tightening and instantly releasing.
"Whoosh—thud!"
Arrows precisely pierced through gaps in cover, or soared over the chaotic battlefield, cunningly embedding themselves in the skulls of Skeleton Mages and spearmen hiding in the shadows of buildings, attempting to cast spells or throw bone spears again.
The eerie green soul flames were extinguished like candlelight under the armor-piercing arrows.
Rodok Sharpshooters, on the other hand, suppressed dangerous targets with more stable, more penetrating single shots.
Adamantine crossbow bolts engraved with anti-magic runes, designed specifically to deal with elite undead, could effectively penetrate the relatively weaker bone armor at the joints of Black Iron Skeletons, or firmly pin spellcasters hidden behind piles of corpses to the wall.
Soldiers were advancing, fighting, and also… transforming.
The intensity of the battle far exceeded that of normal training and defensive battles.
Every successful dodge, every fatal kill, every time an elite undead charge was withstood, it transformed into invisible experience, rapidly accumulating under the rules of the Mount & Blade System.
On the battlefield, faint golden light could occasionally be seen flashing across ordinary soldiers.
That was a symbol of breakthrough on the edge of life and death!
A Rhodok Veteran Spearman, originally only a third-tier soldier, under the cover of his comrades, stubbornly withstood the heavy bone hammer impact of a Black Iron Skeleton Warrior with his long spear.
The "crunch" of breaking bones sounded, but the long spear did not leave his hand! He stood firm, his strength seemingly skyrocketing instantly, and he roared, pushing the Skeleton Warrior back, then precisely thrusting his spear into its soul fire eye socket!
Golden light flashed around him, and a new sense of power, along with the feel of heavy scales and a tower shield, surged through his body—he had broken through to become a fourth-tier Rhodok Veteran Spearman!
Elsewhere, two Khergit Mounted Archers, responsible for suppressing the street flanks, were approached by an incredibly fast Skeleton Stalker while performing a circling archery maneuver.
In a moment of desperation, one of the Mounted Archers erupted with astonishing courage and skill, instead of retreating, he charged forward at a small angle, drawing his steppe bow to its fullest while on the bumpy horseback!
The arrow left the string, almost grazing his comrade's scalp, and precisely struck the cervical spine joint of the Skeleton Stalker, which was exposed during its jumping movement!
The black iron bones broke in response!
Golden light flashed, and the leather armor on this ranger became more exquisite, a bag of specially made conical arrows appeared next to his saddle, and his eyes changed from a hint of panic to extreme sharpness—he had been promoted to a Kujit Veteran Horse Archer!
More examples were silently occurring on the battlefield.
Swadian Light Infantry, while covering the heavy cavalry charge, successfully outflanked and eliminated several Skeleton soldiers, promoting to Swadian Infantry.
Originally somewhat clumsy Rhodok Crossbowmen, led by veterans, successfully withstood a small zombie horde attack, and after successfully killing several zombies, their movements became brave and precise, promoting to Rhodok Crossbowmen.
Even a few Swadian Militia responsible for transporting arrows and supplies in the rear, when encountering scattered Skeletons attacking from the sewers, remained calm in the face of danger, successfully cooperating to kill them with their simple long spears, and even had golden light flash on their bodies, upgrading to Swadian Light Infantry, and were quickly replenished into the combat sequence!
Shen Mu stood at a high vantage point, observing the battle, his eyes sharp beneath his cold iron mask, capturing all of this.
He had long since grasped another core value of this war—a training ground!
Watching soldiers rapidly grow and transform in the crucible of blood and fire, and the elite force expand like a snowball, a cold sense of control spontaneously arose in his heart.
The large number of promotions for low-level soldiers and the expansion of the elite force would not only create an increasingly overwhelming advantage in this battle but also accumulate valuable capital for subsequent, more brutal battles.
Sacrifice?
Under the rules, expending a portion of the troops to gain a more elite, battle-hardened army that had undergone a baptism of fire was an incredibly worthwhile trade.
Advance! Advance! Keep advancing!
Under absolute power and efficient tactical coordination, the undead resistance line continuously contracted and collapsed.
One day of fierce fighting, the target locked—a super-large commercial complex named "Cosmic Center."
It was once a gigantic mall that integrated shopping, dining, and entertainment, like a city within a city, but now it was a nest of the undead, and the black mist seemed particularly viscous in its depths.
The afterglow of the setting sun struggled to penetrate the leaden clouds, dyeing the entire giant building a depressing orange-red, forming a strange contrast with the gray-black death aura emanating from the building itself.
The building's glass curtain wall had long since shattered, standing like a huge, gaping black Skeleton with its flesh removed.
"Clear target: Cosmic Center!"
"Rhodok Crossbowmen, take the top floor of the opposite office building! Vigia Sharpshooters, control the high ground at the east and west street corners! Suppress all windows with firepower!"
"Swadian Infantry, Rodok Sergeant! Form a shield wall and advance to the first-floor lobby entrance!"
"Holy Tree Knights, bring up the rear, guard the street and sewer entrances behind!"
"Wood Elf Rangers! Spread out, responsible for clearing high-speed targets attempting to leap from upper floors or break through walls!"
Orders were delivered in an orderly fashion.
The soldiers proceeded systematically, quickly completing the three-dimensional encirclement of the Cosmic Center.
The first-floor lobby, once brightly lit, now resembled the entrance to hell.
Collapsed pillars, shattered marble floors, and piles of decaying counter fragments lay everywhere.
A strong stench assailed them.
The soldiers held their breath, raising torches high, cautiously advancing in the flickering light.
"Splash!" From behind a seemingly harmless pile of debris, dozens of putrid Ghouls suddenly surged out!
They were not fast, but corrosive slime dripped from their bodies, and they rushed towards the soldiers with greedy hisses.
"Shield wall! Hold the line!" Rodok Sergeant roared, his tower shield hitting the ground heavily, instantly forming a wall of steel.
Long spears thrust fiercely through the gaps in the shields!
"Thud! Thud!"
The sound of rotting flesh being pierced was incessant.
The Ghouls' claws scraped against the tower shields with a grating sound, and their slime corroded the paint on the shield surfaces.
But the well-trained Sergeants stood firm, the front row stabbing, the back row immediately filling in.
At the same time, the veteran spearmen in the back row reached over the gaps in the shield wall, fiercely chopping with their extended halberds, knocking down Ghouls in swathes.
At the second-floor escalator entrance, several Black Iron Skeleton Warriors, using the advantage of high ground, threw heavy concrete blocks from above.
"Watch out for falling rocks!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Vigia Sharpshooters' armor-piercing arrows arrived in time, precisely knocking them off the escalator, where they fell into the rubble on the ground, turning into scattered bones.
Wood Elf Rangers, meanwhile, stealthily moved along higher beams, their sharp eyes searching for any undead assassins attempting to ambush.
The battle pushed deeper.
Every shop unit, every corridor became a slaughterhouse of blood and bone.
Rhodok Crossbowmen, from their elevated positions, demonstrated astonishing accuracy in the complex internal environment, continuously pinning down and killing undead precisely, who tried to hide in the darkness and behind obstacles.
Vigia Sharpshooters, in the more open floor spaces, formed a covering arrow rain suppression.
Suddenly, an unusually shrill and piercing howl erupted from the top floor! A deathly fluctuation, even more powerful than that of the Black Iron Skeletons, permeated the air!
"Warning! High energy reading on the top floor!"
A piercing, shrill shriek tore through the dense darkness on the top floor of the Cosmic Center.
The cold, deathly fluctuation suddenly intensified, carrying a heart-pounding malevolence, instantly locking onto the human soldiers advancing below.
Immediately after, a scalp-tingling whooshing sound, not the sharp whistle of arrows, but a dull sound like the violent flapping of decaying leather!
Shen Mu suddenly looked up.
In the vast atrium of the Cosmic Center, in the dusty, death-infused light and shadow area framed by the hollow dome, dozens of eerie dark figures suddenly appeared!
They did not climb from below, but rather "emerged" without warning from the broken beams on the top floor, shattered skylights, and even the shadows of empty elevator shafts!
What was that?!
Slender, deformed bones faintly appeared in the dim light, forming humanoid torsos, but behind them—horrifyingly, wings stretched out, with thick bones as their framework, covered in a dull, rotten membrane that looked like dried blood!
The membrane was tattered and full of holes, yet it flapped wildly with an unnatural, powerful frequency, each beat stirring up a current of air mixed with bone dust and a foul stench!
Skeletons! Skeletons with wings! In their hands, they tightly clutched short, crude, bone bows emanating black energy!
"Enemy attack! Above!!" A Vigia Sharpshooter responsible for guarding the top of the atrium's central area, his pupils constricted, let out a heart-wrenching warning.
The moment his cry fell—
"Snap! Snap! Snap!"
Piercing bowstring vibrations exploded beneath the dome!
They didn't even need to land, but from their hovering or circling positions, they unleashed a volley of dense bone arrows at the chaotic crowd below!
Their targets were not the Rodok Sergeants forming a shield wall below, but the ranged soldiers quickly moving between shop units or guarding and shooting from high ground!
Precise and insidious!
"Thud!" "Clang!" "Rip!"
Bone arrows descended from the sky with a piercing shriek! Several Rhodok Crossbowmen, who were relocating their positions at the second-floor railing, were unable to dodge and were instantly hit in the shoulder blades, arms, or legs!
"Ugh!" A Crossbowman grunted, the bone arrow's tip penetrated a gap in his arm guard's joint, but it was caught by the tough lining and rings, failing to penetrate deep into muscle and bone, but it still left a gash, the intense pain causing his crossbow to fall from his hand.
Another Crossbowman's helmet was grazed on the side, leaving a deep scratch and flying sparks.
A Swadian Infantry officer commanding at a staircase entrance had an even closer call; an arrow almost grazed his neck armor, leaving a dazzling white mark on the cold metal!
Thanks to their excellent armor, no fatal injuries were inflicted, but this sudden, deadly attack from the overhead defense line instantly disrupted the pace of the advance, causing immense chaos and panic!
Soldiers were forced to seek cover, shield bearers instinctively raised their shields over their heads, and the formation temporarily scattered.
"Hold steady! Shields up! Seek cover behind load-bearing pillars and beams!" The Rodok Sergeant in charge of the assault on this floor roared, his tower shield tilted upwards, attempting to provide shelter for the surrounding soldiers.
Shen Mu's gaze cut through the chaotic crowd, cold as iron, locking onto the monsters above, flapping their wings, soaring up and down in the vast space, as agile as ghosts.
"Winged Skeleton Archers… Is this their final trump card of resistance?" He quickly assessed the characteristics of these new enemies, a hint of solemnity appearing on his face. (End of Chapter)
