"Boneguard" — one of the three fusion spells developed under Zhaolun's command — could be considered his most powerful support spell to date.
Even with his level 12 "Excellent"-grade mana and that repeatedly mutated staff of his, Zhaolun had to expend great effort to just barely cover his elite guard unit with this spell. After casting Boneguard, the skeleton mage had almost completely depleted his reserves of mana.
Still, the effects were impressive. Among all of Zhaolun's forces, this elite guard was by far the most powerful. Though its numbers were fewer—just over two hundred units—every single one of them was a "pureblood," a mutated specimen even before any artificial evolution. The weakest among them was level 8, while the majority ranged between level 9 and 10. On their own, they already posed an intimidating force.
Boneguard temporarily boosted the skeletal hardness of its targets by two to three times. After receiving this enhancement, the combat strength of these skeletons nearly doubled.
On the other side, though the number of attacking nether beasts was considerable, their levels were uneven. And likely due to the influence of some kind of spell, they seemed emotionally unstable — single-mindedly focused on attacking with no thought of defense. Because of this, when they clashed against Zhaolun's elite guard, the ones who suffered the greatest losses were not the defenders, but the nether beasts themselves.
"A pity I don't have any skeletal mages or skeletal archers with me. That would make this a lot easier," Zhaolun muttered as he consumed several energy flames to replenish his mana while closely observing the battle.
The battlefield situation was clear: despite the overwhelming ferocity of the nether beasts, their suicidal assaults were unable to break the elite guard's defensive ring. Thanks to the enhancement of Boneguard, even under the onslaught of a vastly larger force, Zhaolun's troops had sustained minimal losses.
If things continued like this, victory would surely be his. He'd wipe out all these nether beasts sooner or later. But Zhaolun didn't let himself get complacent. While the nether beasts of Zone One posed little threat to his elite guard, that single Bronze-tier nether beast — the one that had clearly demonstrated a degree of intelligence — was still unaccounted for, and that made things tricky.
So Zhaolun continued to recover his mana while staying alert, ready for that Bronze-tier beast to reveal itself at any moment.
What surprised him, though, was that the assault from Zone One nether beasts grew weaker and weaker under the elite guard's relentless suppression. An hour later, they could no longer pose any threat at all. But that Bronze-tier nether beast still hadn't shown itself — no movement, no attack — nothing. It simply watched as the Zone One nether beasts were slaughtered to the last under the pressure of the elite guard, yet it never appeared.
"What's going on? Did it slip away while I was busy with the others?" Zhaolun frowned, baffled by the anomaly. "No… I didn't see it breach the defensive perimeter during the battle. Could it have bypassed my perception somehow?"
Zhaolun quickly dismissed the idea. "Impossible. If it could really do that, it wouldn't have bothered organizing an attack in the first place. There must've been a reason behind its actions." As he spoke, a flash of insight hit him.
"So that's it… Interesting. A mere nether beast, and yet it's that cunning!" A glimmer of realization lit up in Zhaolun's soul-fire. He immediately ordered his skeleton troops to devour the cores of the nether beasts they had just slain, to restore their energy. If his hunch was right, something big was coming — a real battle. They'd need to be fully prepared.
Zhaolun's elite guard, well-trained and highly disciplined, did not simply swarm to consume the cores. They did so in organized groups, ensuring a portion of the force was always on standby to maintain defensive readiness.
Zhaolun was pleased. Watching his troops act with such discipline and order brought him a great sense of pride.
Of course, this orderly process slowed things down. It took nearly ten minutes for the full recovery cycle to complete. And during that time, the Bronze-tier nether beast still hadn't appeared, as if that earlier roar had been nothing but Zhaolun's imagination — as if it had never been there at all.
Regardless, Zhaolun didn't lower his guard. He held position with his elite guard, continuing to slaughter any Bronze-tier nether beasts that emerged from the Purple Brambles.
To his delight, the recent recovery effort had an unexpected bonus: three skeletons that were already at level 10 had reached their peak, and now showed signs of breaking through to Bronze-tier.
Faced with this development, could Zhaolun afford to be stingy? Absolutely not. Without hesitation, he pulled out three Bronze-tier beast cores from his personal stash and handed them over. He moved the three skeletons to the center of the formation, right by his side, and instructed them to begin their breakthroughs immediately. To ensure their success, he even gave them level 12 beast cores.
Moreover, Zhaolun made a bold promise: any skeleton on the battlefield that reached the threshold of advancing to Bronze-tier would be personally supplied with a Bronze-tier core and guided by him through the breakthrough.
This declaration massively boosted the morale of the elite guard. Perhaps to them, the Bronze-tier cores themselves didn't matter as much — what truly drove them was Zhaolun's personal guidance. That was what stirred these little skeletons into a frenzy.
Unfortunately for them, the excitement didn't last long. Although nether beasts continued to emerge sporadically from the Purple Brambles, their numbers had clearly dwindled, and their strength was far inferior compared to before.