Battle Squad (Seeking Support)

When the Skeleton Head killed the cultist, Gu Xi's movements were anything but slow. With a backhand motion, he pulled the soul from the freshly slain cultist.

"Summoning!"

[You have successfully used Summoning, obtaining one Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.]

[A same-race Head has been detected. Would you like to form a squad?]

"Form squad."

As that cultist transformed into a new skeleton, another message popped up before Gu Xi.

But the moment Gu Xi's words fell, the newly generated skeleton actually had a dagger in its hand identical to the one the Skeleton Head carried, and its movements had become noticeably more agile.

Clearly, this freshly converted skeleton had been influenced by the Skeleton Head.

[Battle Squad (Level 0, Unnamed, Trait: HP +1): Captain (1/1) Level 0 Skeleton Head, Members (1/30) Level 0 Skeleton]

"What's the point of adding HP to a skeleton?"

Gu Xi grumbled as he moved swiftly, rapidly casting Summoning on the nearby corpses of slain Black Robe Cultists, converting them into skeletons and adding them to the newly formed Battle Squad.

[You have successfully used Summoning, obtaining one Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1. Added to Battle Squad. Squad Members +1.]

[You have successfully used Summoning, obtaining one Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1. Added to Battle Squad. Squad Members +1.]

[You have failed to use Summoning. Summoning Experience +1.]

In the blink of an eye, this newly formed Battle Squad already had nine skeletons.

Each of them held a club in their right hand and a dagger reversed in their left. As they moved forward, they always clustered in groups of three or five, their movements nearly identical, making it impossible to tell which was the Head and which were the members.

Those who had just emerged from the secret passage saw Gu Xi gain so many minions in an instant, and he was still slaughtering wildly. Their legs could barely support them, and they leaned against the wall, unsure of what to do.

Fortunately, Jack gathered his courage and cautiously approached Gu Xi.

Before he could get close, Luna drifted in front of Jack, her hollow eyes fixed on him.

"Master Mage, Mas—"

"Wait, this place will be cleared soon."

By now, Gu Xi had already fought his way to the position where they had retreated last time.

With a Battle Squad under his command, Gu Xi was brimming with confidence. Even if he encountered an attack like the one last time, he was sure he could win.

After all, a Necromancer was the epitome of growing stronger the longer the fight went on.

"No, Master Mage, we—" Jack tried to say something more, but Gu Xi had already led the Battle Squad charging back into the Underground Space.

As Gu Xi led the squad in, the Black Robe Cultists near the passage who had been standing facing the Abandoned Gate all turned their heads at once, fixing their gazes on Gu Xi.

Gu Xi understood. Having suffered a loss once, the Black Robe Cultists no longer dared to let their cultists run wild like last time, only counterattacking when struck.

Now their reactions would be much sharper. The moment they sensed something off, they would turn their attention toward it.

Seeing a group of skeletons wielding clubs and daggers appear, several nearby Black Robe Cultists drew their weapons and surged forward.

"Kill!"

Gu Xi, seeing this, decided not to hold back any longer. He pointed at the enemy, and the Skeleton Head led the Battle Squad charging out.

At the same time, Luna appeared at the very front of the Battle Squad.

"Aah~"

The Banshee's Wail activated, and the Black Robe Cultists rushing toward them stumbled in their steps.

Seizing the opportunity, the agile skeletons dashed forward, plunging their daggers into the bodies of the Black Robe Cultists.

[Skeleton Head (Summoned Creature) killed Cultist (Level 2). You gain 1 Experience. Summoned Creature gains 10 Experience. Due to Combined Kill, Contract Undead gains 10 Experience.]

[Skeleton (Summoned Creature) killed Cultist (Level 2). You gain 1 Experience. Summoned Creature gains 13 Experience. Due to Combined Kill, Contract Undead gains 9 Experience.]

[...]

Gu Xi, following behind, continuously extracted souls and summoned, replenishing the Battle Squad's numbers.

Gu Xi found this kind of battle far more satisfying than fighting personally.

Although using Summoned Creatures to kill enemies only gave him 1 Experience per kill, the number of skeletons kept growing.

Right now, with only a dozen or so skeletons, the rate of Experience gain was naturally slower.

But once Gu Xi had three, five, or even ten Battle Squads under his command, and the number of controllable undead summons exceeded ten thousand...

Then his Experience would increase by the tens of thousands.

Just thinking about it felt satisfying.

With that thought in mind, Gu Xi's movements grew faster and faster.

The actions of soul extraction and summoning were quickly becoming second nature to him.

Just as the ding ding ding sounds rang in Gu Xi's ears, he suddenly felt a tremendous force from behind, followed by a crack at his back.

The next instant, Luna, who had been fighting at the front, appeared behind Gu Xi. Touch of Frost activated, striking toward empty air somewhere.

With one blow from Touch of Frost, an ice-blue figure materialized.

By this point, Gu Xi had already snapped back to his senses. Without a second thought, he grabbed his dagger and hurled it behind him without looking.

The dagger struck the enemy square in the chest.

This foe wore no armor—just the simplest cloth garments. To keep his body light and nimble, he hadn't even prepared a single piece of leather protection.

When Gu Xi's dagger pierced his chest, the enemy tried to dodge, but struck by Touch of Frost, his movements were noticeably sluggish. Even with the intent to evade, he couldn't escape the blow.

Gu Xi didn't let his guard down just because he'd landed a hit. The moment the dagger struck, he lunged forward and slashed his scimitar across the enemy's neck.

[Killed Royal Spy (Level 2). Gained 18 experience points. Due to combined kill, Contract Undead gains 11 experience points.]

As the kill notification chimed, Gu Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But in the next instant, his heart seized up.

A spy? And a royal one at that?

What the hell was going on?

Before Gu Xi could figure it out, the Battle Squad fighting at the front noticed the anomaly. They quickly retreated to Gu Xi's side, forming a tight circle to shield him.

Even Jack and the others were blocked behind the Battle Squad's defensive line.

The Black Robe Cultists didn't care why the skeletons had fallen back. All they saw was the retreat of the undead.

They saw the enemy right in front of them. So the Black Robe Cultists gathered together once more, surging toward Gu Xi like a tide of walking corpses storming a city.