The First Trump Card

Dusk.

Far Mountain Pass.

At the foot of a gentle slope.

The members of the Subjugation Squad had gathered here, quietly awaiting the coming battle.

After two days of travel, exhaustion showed on the faces of both the main force and support group Adventurers.

But it did nothing to shake their resolve to kill the Corpse Demon!

Taking advantage of the Skeleton Soldiers' particularly slow climb, they had finally followed the scout team along a shortcut to this low-lying stretch of mountains.

This was the westernmost edge of the Southern Mine.

Further west lay the ghost-infested Land of Buried Bones and the monster-ridden Dragon Slaying Mountain Range.

Even Second Ring Adventurers balked at entering those places.

"Initial estimates put the Skeleton Soldiers at around 150, while there are 17 Ghost Guards."

"According to the plan we discussed, the support group will hold back part of the Skeleton Soldiers, but do not get anywhere near the Ghost Guards! Leave those monsters to the main force, understood?"

"The Hoken Brothers will handle dividing the battlefield. Don't skimp on the scrolls. Compared to the success or failure of this operation, the scrolls are worth nothing..."

"Once the Hoken Brothers make their move, we'll carry out the decapitation plan. Roger, Uncle Terry, and I will take down the Corpse Demon and the suspected Flesh Golem bodyguard beside it as quickly as possible."

"Once the Corpse Demon is dead, there'll be nothing to fear from the Skeleton Soldier horde!"

Dorothy was still repeatedly going over the battle plan with the members of the Subjugation Squad.

Though this was already the third time within an hour, no one showed any impatience.

To survive in this land, being meticulous alone was not enough—

You had to be meticulous, meticulous, and more meticulous! Roger did not relax either.

He carefully coated the heads of his White Feather Arrows with Holy Water.

In this decapitation operation against the Corpse Demon, his role was to provide support.

He would mainly be responsible for long-range fire support, clearing obstacles for Dorothy and Terry, who would charge in.

This was no difficult task for him.

In theory.

With two Second Ring Adventurers, Dorothy and Terry, working together, the chances of successfully assassinating the Corpse Demon were extremely high.

But Roger knew very well that theory and reality were often worlds apart.

He had to make every possible preparation.

Accidents could happen.

And there might be more than one.

He could not help glancing at the dark clouds on the horizon again.

"They're here!"

The scout team sent the signal.

Everyone adjusted their breathing, their expressions taut with excitement as they took up their positions.

With Ghost Guards present, any overly covert ambush was doomed to fail.

Roger climbed to the mountaintop and used the Qi Divination Technique to lock onto several Ghost Guards in the vanguard.

He silently calculated the enemy's detection range.

Within the narrow pass.

The figures of the Skeleton Soldiers grew clearer and clearer.

"Now!"

Roger shouted over his shoulder.

Dorothy held a sword in her right hand and wore a small round shield on her left arm as she gave the order at the top of her lungs:

"Attack!"

Driven by the fury born from the death of her brother, the girl in chestnut leather armor led the charge.

The others followed after her.

Roger did not rush in recklessly.

He descended from the high ground in an orderly manner, slowly approaching the enemy along the mountainside.

The Subjugation Squad's ambush seemed to have completely caught the Corpse Demon off guard.

Faced with the Adventurers' attack, the Skeleton Soldiers had no idea how to respond.

Chaos actually broke out within the Skeleton Soldier formation.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two thick walls of fire rose in succession from within the formation, successfully splitting the enemy into two groups.

That was why they had chosen to strike here—

The terrain within the pass was narrow, and two Fire Wall Spells were enough to divide the enemy formation.

Roger glanced back.

The Hoken Brothers looked excited.

They were among the few mage apprentices in Tongma Town, and the spells they had mastered were limited to things like Rapid Fireball and Mage Hand.

To cast a Second Ring Spell like Fire Wall Spell, they had to rely on spell-guiding scrolls.

Every spell-guiding scroll was worth more than 200 Copper Coins.

Fortunately, the scrolls had been supplied by the Lord's Manor. Otherwise, they would surely have gone bankrupt after this battle.

Under the cover of the fire walls, the Adventurers swept aside the Skeleton Soldiers guarding the outskirts of the Flesh Golem.

Whenever a powerful monster tried to interfere, Roger's unexpected arrows sent it on its way.

Before long, Dorothy and Terry successfully fought their way to the Flesh Golem.

They engaged it in a fierce struggle.

The monster possessed incredibly tenacious vitality. Ordinary weapons could do nothing to it.

Fortunately, they had Holy Water.

Relying on Holy Water's suppression of undead creatures, Dorothy finally succeeded in piercing the Flesh Golem's heart with her sword.

With a boom.

The bloated monster crashed to the ground and lost its ability to move.

Its body still twitched, a testament to its astonishing vitality.

"Where's the Corpse Demon?"

After bringing down the Flesh Golem, Dorothy nervously looked around.

Whoosh! Amid the chaos, a White Feather Arrow pointed her in the right direction.

Not far away, the lame Skeleton Soldier had been struck by several arrows but still remained standing, emitting an evil buzzing sound.

It seemed to be trying to escape.

Dorothy's eyes instantly reddened.

She threw aside the small round shield in her hand, then grabbed the blade of her sword with her left hand and drew it lightly across her palm. Blood immediately flowed.

The rage in her eyes seemed almost tangible as she muttered a brief phrase.

Blood flowed backward along the blade, forming a crystalline edge.

Fluorescence flickered at the sword tip, strange and unfathomable.

"Die, monster!"

Dorothy charged forward, slashing and thrusting with her longsword, directly hacking the lame Skeleton Soldier into fragments.

But she quickly realized something was wrong.

"No! It isn't the Corpse Demon."

Dorothy crouched down and rummaged through the fragments. A moment later, she pulled out a torn corner of parchment.

Faint purple patterns blurred across the parchment.

"Doppelganger Magic Crest?"

Beside her, Terry gritted his teeth and looked around uneasily. "How does the Corpse Demon know the secret arts of the Magic Crest School?"

No one could answer his question.

The Skeleton Soldiers, which had seemed weak and helpless moments ago, suddenly turned vicious and launched a powerful counterattack against the Adventurers who had penetrated their formation!

"Hee hee..."

At that moment, a chilling voice came from all directions. "Tongma Town's Subjugation Squad? Heh! What a childish joke."

"Surely you don't mind letting my subordinates play with you?"

The words had barely fallen.

When a rumbling sound suddenly rose from beneath the earth.

On the eastern side of the pass, a pitch-black tunnel exit appeared.

From deep within the tunnel came the furious roars of some unknown creature.

Then, a large number of Skeleton Soldiers poured out of the tunnel! They were packed together in a dense mass.

There were even more of them than the ones in the valley! "Damn it, we fell into a trap."

Terry's expression turned ugly.

But even amid the chaos, he still tried his best to gather the members of the Subjugation Squad.

"Now this is more like it!"

Roger, standing on the slope, instead revealed a delighted expression.

In his view, if the Corpse Demon had really been that easy to kill, that would have been far more suspicious.

After all, he knew Kane's strength very well.

Whether in cunning or actual power, this monster should have vastly exceeded everyone in the Subjugation Squad's expectations!

Now it seemed.

Doppelganger Magic Crest was the Corpse Demon's first trump card.

The only question was whether it had a second, a third, or even a fourth! Faced with the charging Skeleton Soldiers, the Subjugation Squad's morale sank somewhat.

They did not even know where the Corpse Demon was hiding.

Just as everyone began to feel helpless, Roger finally moved!

He took off his cloak and removed most of his equipment.

Then, alone, he fearlessly charged at the Skeleton Soldier army of more than 200!...