Chapter 826, Exaggerated Combat Power
When they saw the target clearly, both sides were startled.
A skeleton over three meters tall, shaped like a giant insect, stood in the center of the battlefield.
Its iron-grey bones glowed with a cold, eerie light under the night sky, as if coated in iron armor.
Two pairs of wings vibrated rapidly, stirring up a fierce wind.
Reinforcements from the other side?
The same thought arose in both parties' minds simultaneously.
"Kill~!"
On the battlefield, someone shouted.
The stalled battlefield plunged into chaos again. Shouts, screams, and weapon clashes filled the area once more.
Buzz~!
'Shiny' scanned its surroundings with its hollow eye sockets, the blue soul-fire within exuding a chilling aura of death.
Then it locked onto a black-robed figure wielding a short sword in each hand.
With a light step, it shot out again like a flash of flowing light.
"Damn it!"
The black-robed man cursed and raised both swords to block.
Bang~!
The next second, immense force slammed into his chest, and his body was blasted backward like a cannonball.
The warriors of the Ekow Kingdom were stunned.
Their reinforcements!
There was no time to rejoice.
The towering insectoid skeleton appeared again before another kingdom commander.
Bang~!
The 18th-level commander in kingdom armor spat blood and was hurled into a pile of rubble, dust rising.
The skeleton didn't stop, charging through the ranks of 18th-level Professionals like a ricocheting marble.
It sent anyone fighting or just getting up flying again.
Like a marble bouncing back and forth.
By now, everyone realized—
A third faction had entered the fray, and its identity wasn't hard to guess.
The skeleton from Rentam City.
That tiny border city that had taken several strongholds in under a month.
When did such a powerful skeleton appear over there?
Just one could suppress both sides' 18th-level Professionals.
"Protect the commander..."
"Scatter! Don't bunch up."
"Use iron chains! Lock it down!"
The scene became even more chaotic. Everyone scrambled to evade the giant skeleton's charges while trying to counterattack.
The two previously hostile sides had to set aside their grudges and join forces against this immediate threat.
"Suspicious person spotted in the rear—should be a necromancer."
......
Rear of the battlefield.
Wu Heng and two wraiths had distanced themselves.
Glenda had used [Possess Corpse] to possess a Secret Cult corpse and hadn't come along.
If she canceled the skill, the corpse would be unusable.
One man, two wraiths—all watched the battlefield ahead in shock.
"Wow! Shiny's amazing, bouncing around like a marble!" Xiaoxiao said excitedly.
After all, she named it. Seeing it beat down multiple 18th-levels made her feel strong by association.
Beni chimed in, "Is Shiny's combat power always this exaggerated?"
Shiny had acted before, but only in sneak attacks against lone targets.
Defeating enemies in a few moves never revealed its true strength.
In Wu Heng's view, leveling to 20 was so hard there had to be a huge jump in power.
But now, a single skeleton was rampaging through the field, tying down six 18th-level Professionals.
Even Wu Heng was a little shocked.
At that moment, Kashu joined the battle, engaging the enemy.
......
"Uncle, guards incoming," Xiaoxiao warned.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!
Just as she spoke, several bolts came whistling over.
Wu Heng dodged slightly. Ding ding ding! They embedded in the tree behind him.
Directly ahead, a wave of guards charged, shouting to kill the necromancer and the human traitor.
Not stupid—they knew killing him meant the skeleton would die too.
Kill the necromancer, and the skeleton dies.
"Kill~! Death magic for the win!" Xiaoxiao shouted and dashed forward, possessing a soldier and snapping his neck.
Beni followed, targeting high-level enemies for solo kills.
Wu Heng pulled out a machine gun from his spatial ring, cast [Summon Arrows] on it, and pulled the trigger.
The first shot spread like a shotgun blast thanks to [Summon Arrows]—soldiers were blown back, dead or wounded.
Then the muzzle flared again, though the spell's effect had ended.
Still, he swept the front line.
Soldiers dropped in waves.
Within minutes, corpses littered the field, blood thick in the air.
Wu Heng glanced at the battlefield and activated [Battlefield of the Dead].
The sound of bones grinding echoed across the area.
Armored skeletons wielding swords rose one after another.
"Encircle the front."
Crash~!
The skeletons instantly spread out, surrounding the rubble pile.
......
In the rubble pile.
Only four 18th-level Professionals could still stand.
One was buried, the other pinned under the insectoid skeleton's foot.
All around, every soldier had turned into a skeleton. In the dark, soul-fires glowed blue, linking together.
Densely flickering, sending chills down spines.
Behind the skeletons, a young man in ornate robes silently watched from the night.
Like the grim reaper in the dark.
Among the black-robed figures, the witch Viola's eyes widened under her hood, full of shock.
It really was that kid.
Just a Deputy Steward of Gold-Silver Island using dirty tricks.
So he was behind the missing officials.
But how did he grow so fast?
Did the Adventurer's Guild give him that skeleton? It can fight so many 18th-levels!
"Let's work together and break out." The 18th-level Warrior in a black cloak tossed aside a potion and spoke solemnly.
Beside him, the kingdom commander leaning on a wall nodded. "Anyone pulls tricks—they won't die easy."
"Agreed!" The Warrior nodded.
The commander took a deep breath and said coldly, "Break out left."
As the words fell, they all rushed left.
Wu Heng saw them charging and ordered, "Attack!"
Crash~!
All skeletons surged toward the center.
The insectoid skeleton Shiny turned into a streak of light, scattering the four, joining the rest in surrounding them.
The four 18th-level Professionals had no choice.
Each used their abilities, still trying to escape.
......
"Uncle, that smoke ball ran off!" Xiaoxiao cried, pointing ahead.
Wu Heng focused his gaze.
Amidst the chaos, a gray-white smoke mass darted between skeletons, using the dark to escape.
Once past the skeletons, it morphed into a running smoke-wolf and sped up.
That witch!
Wu Heng's face froze.
It had to be her—he remembered her vividly.
This time, he wouldn't let her go.
A glance at the battlefield showed only three Professionals left, now completely surrounded.
Unless they had some secret trick, they couldn't escape.
"Stop her!" Wu Heng shouted, then took out a flying carpet from his spatial ring.
The carpet lifted him high, and he chased after the escaping smoke.
The two wraiths sped up as well, trying repeatedly to possess the target.
But in smoke form, she differed from living beings.
Neither Xiaoxiao nor the now-20th-level Beni could possess her.
Beni flew back, anxious. "We can't possess her—it's all on you."
Wu Heng sat on the carpet, fired a few rounds at the smoke. The bullets passed through, stirring dust but doing no harm.
"Uncle, what now?" Xiaoxiao returned too.
"Follow her. No way she can keep that form forever," Wu Heng replied.
Then he raised his hand and summoned [Summon Lightning].
Whoosh~!
The sky darkened with clouds.
Crack! Crack~!
Bolts of lightning rained down toward the fleeing smoke.
Thanks to 08a for the reward.