BXBX NOVEL Chapter 139: Corpse Collecting Maniac
Changing direction, the summoning array appeared again, and this time from within the fog of death came the clacking sound of “clack clack,” reminiscent of the whispers of undead.
512 Nether Skeleton Mages, marching out in orderly ranks, with the Power of Death swirling around them, finally converging into a dark cloud of death that floated above the group of skeletons.
This was the first time Zi Liyuan had summoned Nether Skeleton Mages since he unlocked this skill.
[Nether Skeleton Mage, Level 10, Magic Damage 160, Physical 85, Magic Resistance 60, Health 900, Skills: Nether Fire Rocket, Nether Fire Scorch, Death Withering, Dead Spirit Resurgence]
Compared with Nether Skeleton Knights, the Nether Skeleton Mages had slightly weaker attributes, especially since the attack aura only increased physical damage, so it couldn’t benefit them—meaning they missed out on an extra 55 points of damage boost.
However, these creatures also had their advantages, like the area-of-effect (AOE) spell—Death Withering!
Death Withering was a spell where the damage area increased with the level, adding 1 meter of range per level. With a starting coverage of 10 meters, at Level 10, it could now cover an area of 20 meters.
The damage dealt was decent too, 200% magic damage per second, lasting for 15 seconds, with a 30-second cooldown.
Yet what surprised Zi Liyuan the most was the last skill—Dead Spirit Resurgence.
Dead Spirit Resurgence: Summons Skeleton Warriors equivalent to oneself on a corpse, with the number of summons equal to one’s level, sharing the skill amplification boost of the summoner; cooldown 15 seconds. (Note: One corpse can only summon one Skeleton Warrior.)
Undead Army!
Sea of Skeletons!
One phrase after another leapt out from Zi Liyuan’s mind.
“Damn, with Level 10 Nether Skeleton Mages, I can lead 10 Skeleton Cannon Fodder minions, which means the Skeleton Army’s quantity is instantly multiplied by more than ten times!”
He now had 1078 Soul Points, meaning he could summon 1078 skeletons for battle. If he summoned all of them as Nether Skeleton Mages and there were enough corpses, he could effectively explode his army size by tenfold.
Tens of thousands in a Skeleton Army, even if they were just Skeleton Cannon Fodder Legion, it was still an army of one!
“Damn, this means I’m going to become a professional corpse collector, doesn’t it?”
The thought of people calling him a corpse-collecting maniac made Zi Liyuan’s face twitch.
MMP! For his Sea of Skeletons, so what if he becomes a corpse-collecting maniac? Let’s do this!
Shaking his head, he raised his hand and summoned Lao Tie.
Even if the fragile skeletons obtained a template breakthrough, they were still fragile skeletons, good at clearing out ordinary monsters, but against a BOSS, they were done for. He still had to rely on Lao Tie to conquer the battlefield.
Of course, in Zi Liyuan’s eyes, the only creatures worthy of being called a BOSS were those with a hero template or above; the rest didn’t earn the title of BOSS!
“Position the Nether Knights outside the village to exploit the cavalry’s charging force, aiming to kill the minions.
The Nether Mages will go up on the wall, lay Death Withering over the four gates to form a road of death.
The moment you see a corpse, immediately use the ‘Dead Spirit Resurgence’ skill to drag it inside the town to form a Skeleton Warrior Legion.
Once we have enough Skeleton Warriors, release them to charge at the monster army.”
Perfect!
Simple battle tactics. The only potential surprise might be the BOSS that might appear.
But with the super metallic leg of Lao Tie here, barring the emergence of a Third Order Legendary BOSS, he would absolutely be able to stride across the instance dungeon.
Just as he had finished deploying his units, the first wave of monsters began to respawn.
A troop of LV60 rare werewolves howled as they charged out from the monster summoning array, one hundred from each of four different directions, all heading straight for the village.
[Werewolf (Rare)]
[Level]: LV60
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 290, Physical Defense 100, Magic Resistance 70, Health 10,000.
[Skills]: Claw Strike, Tear, Insane Rending
[Combat Power]: 450
In the mental map, information about the werewolves appeared, including level, attack, defense, magic resistance, health, and even skills, all in great detail.
Therefore, Zi Liyuan didn’t continue to pay attention to this and instead took out four flesh and bone pillars, placing them beneath the gaping gateways.
The reason for not using corpses was the fear that a minor mistake from a Nether Mage might drag his BOSS materials up and turn them into Skeleton Cannon Fodder Warriors, which would be a severe loss for him.
The battle quickly broke out.
The 512 Skeleton Knights had already split into two, forming two cavalry units, each charging toward the werewolf teams from two summoning arrays.
As for the remaining two werewolf groups of a hundred each, they were let into the Road of Death laid by the Nether Mages, to experience the forlorn beauty of withering death.
Skeleton Knight VS Werewolf
Individually, the Skeleton Knights were a cut below, but each could inflict over 100 damage on the werewolves, and when using the Charge skill, their damage could double.
When the 256 Skeleton Knights banded together to launch a charge, they immediately caused the werewolf group to shatter into pieces.
Hoof by hoof, the Skeletal Horses trampled over, giving the werewolves, knocked to the ground, something akin to a cavalry-style massage.
By the time the Skeleton Knights punched through the werewolf group, thirty-six skeletons on the outskirts had shattered, but an equal number of werewolves had also been flattened into meat paste.
Almost a one-to-one casualty rate; given the big disadvantage in attributes, the Skeleton Knights were truly awesome!
After several rounds of charging, reducing the number of werewolves to just over a dozen, the Skeleton Knights immediately dispersed into squads of ten, surrounding and hunting down the remaining werewolves.
The Nether Skeletons perched on the city walls began their countdown to cast spells, with the Resurrection of the Dead Spirit skill making a shimmering entrance.
Those werewolves squashed into meat paste exploded with a squelch, and a skeleton framework assembled itself out of the flesh remnants, then slowly rose to its feet.
Two hundred Skeleton Warriors of varying heights and builds under the control of the Nether Mages slowly made their way into the village.
The werewolves from the other two directions were now on the Road of Death that the Nether Mages had long prepared.
Above their heads, a dense flurry of blood-red numbers reading “-250” floated about, with the daunting Power of Death withering their lives away.
The Roof of Withering covered inside the city gates, unknowably layered, a single skill inflicting 250 magic damage per second, as the werewolves charged from the gate into the interior.
The result was that in just under four seconds, they fell to the ground, never rising again, turning into corpses, which were then dragged out by the group of Nether Mages, who extracted the bones and continued fighting.
Indeed, even in death, they had to become laborers!
And laborers at the very bottom of the cannon fodder!
“How come I feel that in this kind of defensive terrain, Nether Mages are more useful than Skeleton Knights?”
After the battle, over a hundred Skeleton Knights had perished, the Nether Mages had zero casualties, and they had even dragged out a cannon fodder group of four hundred Skeleton Warriors.