Chaos

Thrust!

Thrust again.

Step forward and thrust again!

Battle Squad 3, armed with long spears, thrust their weapons out again and again under the Skeleton Head's command.

Every thrust precisely pierced the bodies of the Black Shadows.

There were quite a few of these Black Shadows, so the skeletons of the battle squad didn't even need to look for their targets—every spear thrust would hit one or two enemies.

Because of the skeletons' height, their spears struck the enemies' chests. Sometimes, with a bit more force, they would pierce through two or three foes at once.

After three thrusts, one Black Shadow finally couldn't withstand the skeletons' assault and collapsed on the spot.

[Skeleton (Summoned Creature) killed Ghoul Shadow (Level 2). You gain 1 point of experience. Battle Squad gains 1 point of experience. Summoned Creature gains 8 points of experience.]

The moment the notification sounded, Gu Xi struck at the spot where the Black Shadow had fallen.

"Lesser Corpse Explosion."

But just as his mana landed on the Black Shadow's position, he heard a soft pfft, and the fallen Black Shadow vanished like a popped bubble.

There was no explosion to speak of. Even the sound was only audible because Gu Xi was focusing on that spot.

This irritated Gu Xi greatly, but there was nothing he could do.

The fact that these Ghoul Shadows left no corpse after death was something he couldn't change.

Left with no choice, Gu Xi altered his plan. His outstretched hand changed from pointing outward to drawing inward.

Just then, another notification sounded.

[Skeleton (Summoned Creature) killed Ghoul Shadow (Level 2). You gain 1 point of experience. Battle Squad gains 1 point of experience. Summoned Creature gains 11 points of experience.]

Gu Xi used the inward motion to grab a few Soul Shards.

Souls, but no corpses?

What a strange situation.

Gu Xi didn't dwell on it and turned his attention back to the battle ahead.

Soul extraction was the most basic skill of any Necromancer. It cost no mana, and as long as an enemy died, it could be done effortlessly.

Since he couldn't use Corpse Explosion for now, and he hadn't released the Summoning Tower in Death City to help extract souls, Gu Xi figured he might as well extract some souls to use as material for later spells. It was something to do while idle.

After all, Gu Xi had no idea what kind of enemies the next two waves would bring. He needed to keep something in reserve.

Either enough mana, enough souls, or enough skeletons.

While Gu Xi was extracting souls, many more Black Ghoul Shadows died under the skeletons' spears. But by now, more and more of them were crowding in from nearby. They had already pushed past the makeshift Roadblocks the skeletons had set up and were even able to strike at the skeletons of Battle Squad 3.

"Battle Squad 4, move up and block them! Battle Squad 1, circle around to the rear! Skirmisher Skeletons, get moving! Did you think setting up one ring of Roadblocks was enough? Can't you set up more?"

Seeing the situation before him, Gu Xi couldn't help but issue more orders.

He even had to stop extracting souls.

Gu Xi realized that Head-level undead were still somewhat stupid. Their brains were only slightly better than an ordinary skeleton's—they had some intelligence, but it was very limited.

Without Gu Xi's commands, they sometimes just stood there, not knowing what to do.

At times like this, Gu Xi had to act as a commander, arranging the enemies and even deciding when to advance and when to retreat.

Otherwise, one unit of undead would be fighting tooth and nail at the front while the rest just watched from the back.

If Gu Xi's undead were a bit stronger, it might have been fine.

But most of them were Level 0 skeletons, not even proper Skeleton Soldiers.

They were all facing Ghoul Shadows around Level 2. If they didn't fight, it was fine. But the moment they engaged, Level 0 skeletons were no match for them.

This was clear when Battle Squad 4 moved up.

Battle Squad 3, being farther away and protected by the Roadblocks, hadn't clashed directly with the Ghoul Shadows.

But Battle Squad 4 was different. They used Sword and Shield. Frontal defense was their fighting style, and the weapons they carried meant they couldn't attack from a distance.

So Battle Squad 4 took the Ghoul Shadows' assault head-on.

In an instant, ten skeletons were killed on the spot.

The moment those skeletons fell, Gu Xi struck.

"Lesser Corpse Explosion!"

Gu Xi aimed at where the skeletons had fallen. Even without corpses, undead bodies could still be used for explosions.

The Ghoul Shadows never expected Gu Xi to use his own minions as bombs. They were still surging forward.

Then came four booming explosions.

Four of the fallen skeletons detonated on the spot. The shockwave sent bone fragments flying, spinning as they sliced into the Ghoul Shadow ranks.

Each fragment flew at least thirty meters. The explosion of four skeletons killed over sixty Ghoul Shadows on the spot.

[Killed Ghoul Shadow (Level 2). Gained 45 points of experience.]

[Killed Ghoul Shadow (Lv.2), gained 33 EXP.]

[Killed Ghoul Shadow (Lv.2), gained 36 EXP.]

[...]

But at this moment, Gu Xi wore a puzzled expression.

"Why only four times? I clearly used Lesser Corpse Explosion five times just now. Could it be that Lesser Corpse Explosion has a chance of spell failure?"

Frowning in confusion, Gu Xi pondered the situation.

Just then, Battle Squad 1 had already circled behind the Ghoul Shadows, hacking at them from the rear with Short Hand Axes and Recurve Blades.

These Ghoul Shadows clearly possessed their own awareness this time.

Though they were drawn in, they were no longer the mindless fools who wouldn't even fight back when struck.

When attacked, they would turn and retaliate.

But what they ran into was Gu Xi's very first battle squad.

This squad had been through numerous fights, and many of their Skeletons had already leveled up.

Their weapons had also undergone more than two transformations, making them the strongest among all the battle squads under Gu Xi's command.

They no longer cared about their own safety, charging straight into the Black Ghoul Shadows and hacking wildly.

This reckless slaughter proved highly effective. Their movements were swift—often one axe swing followed by a backhand slash was enough to bring an enemy's life down to near zero.

If they were a bit faster, the Black Ghoul Shadows couldn't even find a chance to counterattack.

For a moment, the Black Ghoul Shadows' advance ground to a halt, and their already chaotic formation grew even more disordered.

Battle Squad 3 seized this opportunity, thrusting their long spears forward with force, killing another batch of Black Ghoul Shadows.

But just then, the Boss with Spear of Arms among the Black Ghoul Shadows finally made his move.