"I hate this kind of fight the most! What are you all standing around for? Fire!" Zhaolun forced his exhausted mind to focus and barked an order at the swarm of skeletons under his command.
At the front of Zhaolun's forces stood the Bone Shield Skeletons, with the Spear Skeletons behind them, and finally the Skeleton Archers forming the rear. It was a standard defensive formation—shielded front, melee center, ranged support in the back. Even if the enemy made it to the front lines, the archers could still contribute. Not that it mattered just yet—the enemy was still over a hundred meters away.
A flurry of whooshing sounds filled the air as forty Skeleton Archers released a volley of bone arrows that streaked across the sky and rained down upon the approaching horde.
Forty arrows might seem substantial, but against an oncoming force of over two hundred skeletons—each at least Level 3—the effect was minimal. Zhaolun's opening salvo brought down just over a dozen enemies. Meanwhile, the enemy had already closed a good ten meters.
"Fire again!"
Prepared for this, Zhaolun kept the archers firing. After several more volleys, roughly forty to fifty enemy skeletons had been taken down—but that was when the horde finally reached his front line.
The mutated Great Axe Skeleton's troops weren't nearly as disciplined. It was a chaotic mash of various skeleton types, all charging forward, weapons swinging wildly. It wasn't elegant—it was sheer brute force.
"Bone Shield Skeletons—charge!"
Anticipating the impact, Zhaolun gave the command with calm precision.
The shield bearers, crouched in readiness, suddenly surged forward, slamming their massive bone shields into the front ranks of the enemy with brutal force. Skeletons were knocked back or down entirely, many stunned or broken under the impact.
"Spear Skeletons—attack!"
With another shout, fifty skeletal spearmen thrust forward like striking vipers. Each long spear pierced through skulls with deadly accuracy, felling one enemy after another. Between the archers, shield charge, and spearmen's assault, the enemy force—once evenly matched—had been reduced by half.
However, after a few more exchanges, the enemy managed to fully engage Zhaolun's line. From this point on, it was pure melee. The archers had no more openings. On the surface, it looked like the two sides were evenly matched again. But Zhaolun knew better—and he was about to prove it.
Over the past few days, Zhaolun hadn't just been identifying and sorting his skeletons. He'd conducted rudimentary training too. And now, that foresight was paying off.
Under his precise command, the fifty Bone Shield Skeletons formed a solid defensive line, halting the enemy advance. Behind them, the Spear Skeletons—freed from concerns about defense—lashed out relentlessly, reaping every skeleton pushed back beyond the shield wall.
Of course, Zhaolun wasn't a perfect commander. Several times, the enemy nearly broke his lines. But he reacted quickly, and though there were losses, the formation held. At this rate, he might actually win this battle soon.
Unfortunately, while Zhaolun was feeling cautiously optimistic, the enemy commander—the mutated Great Axe Skeleton—wasn't nearly as pleased.
With intelligence close to that of Orlis, the massive skeleton watched his troops fall one by one. Burning with fury, it suddenly let out a mental roar, raised its enormous axe, and charged into the fray.
Zhaolun might have looked impressive earlier, but that was only because the mutated skeleton hadn't joined the fight. If it were allowed to break through the front line, he knew his Bone Shield Skeletons would crumble like paper. If that happened, the entire tide of battle could turn in an instant.
"Ice Archers—cast Frost Arrow!"
His elite unit—seven enhanced Skeleton Archers—had been held in reserve. At his command, they raised their bows… but instead of firing immediately, they began a long ten-second chant to prepare the spell.
"Damn it! I completely forgot about the cast time!" Zhaolun cursed himself as no arrows flew. The sudden reminder stirred anxiety in his heart.
Meanwhile, the mutated Great Axe Skeleton closed the distance with terrifying speed. Despite its hulking frame, it moved with shocking agility. In less than ten seconds, it reached the front line.
ROAR!
With a savage bellow, it raised its axe high and brought it crashing down. A thunderous boom followed—several Bone Shield Skeletons were flung aside like twigs. Then it hacked again and again, tearing a gaping hole through the defensive line. Like a demon lord entering the fray, it looked ready to massacre everything in its path.
Swish! Swish! Swish…
At that moment, the seven elite Skeleton Archers finally unleashed their Frost Arrows. The ice-blue bolts streaked across the battlefield toward their target.
"Hit… you have to hit!" Zhaolun clenched his fists, hope surging. His fatigue was temporarily forgotten, his entire focus on those seven arrows.
But fate is rarely generous.
A clang-clang-clang! of bone and metal rang out as the mutated Great Axe Skeleton spun its massive weapon with unnatural grace, knocking five or six of the arrows out of the air. Of the seven shots, only one struck its skull—coating its bones in a thin layer of icy frost.
"Archers, prepare another volley! Spearmen—attack!"
Zhaolun wasted no time, issuing rapid orders.
The Spear Skeletons, already close by, immediately disengaged from the lesser skeletons and charged the frost-covered brute. But Zhaolun had underestimated it. Though slowed by the frost effect, the mutated skeleton was barely injured—it had only taken the movement debuff from the spell.
And it wasn't just powerful—it was smart.
After being hit, it quickly assessed the threat and made a chilling decision: it ignored the Spear Skeletons entirely and, even at one-third reduced speed, began marching directly toward Zhaolun himself.