Skeleton Soldier

The sight of skeletons, their eye sockets flickering with ghostly flames as they advanced step by step, made Zhou Xu's eyelids twitch.

Even though things like 'Old Gods', 'Teleportation Arrays', 'True Words', and 'giant spiders' all told him this was no ordinary world.

Still, none of them had the impact on him that these dozen or so skeletons before him did!

If a relatively normal primitive world's threats were, at most, natural disasters and man-made calamities within the scope of common sense, or perhaps some prehistoric beasts.

But once it became a magical world, the unpredictable factors would suddenly become too numerous.

For instance, these skeletons right in front of him.

Thinking this, Zhou Xu subconsciously glanced at Dashan and the others beside him.

At this very moment, Dashan and his companions were also staring at the dozen or so skeletons in the distance with stiff expressions, as if they couldn't believe their own eyes.

"Dashan, is this also the power of True Words?"

In response to the question, Dashan nodded vigorously.

"It probably is. I've heard from the elders in the tribe before that some True Words can control skeletons, but I've never seen it with my own eyes!"

Now it seemed that the power of True Words didn't appear very frequently in Dashan and his people's world.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Xu calmed his emotions, cast aside all useless distractions, and focused all his energy on the battle ahead.

Regardless of whether the other side has discovered us, judging by the current situation, they probably intend to use these dozen or so skeletons to scout.

"Tsk!"

The thought made Zhou Xu involuntarily let out an unhappy sound.

Needless to say, the opponent's arrangement had disrupted his original plan from the start.

The skeletons' advance was not fast. During this time, Fei Que and the others, who had retrieved stone projectiles from the caves and crevices, had already caught up, giving Zhou Xu a significant boost in confidence.

In any case, let's test these skeletons first and gather some intelligence!

With this thought, Zhou Xu sternly issued an order.

"Dashan, take five men and stand by. Listen to my command and be ready to charge at any moment. Now, slingers prepare!"

Upon receiving the order, the slingers, loaded with stone projectiles, rapidly swung their slings, emitting muffled 'whoosh' sounds.

The moment the Skeleton Soldiers stepped into their attack range...

"Target! Skeletons ahead, fire!!"

Following Zhou Xu's command, a volley of stone projectiles was unleashed, smashing into the advancing Skeleton Soldiers and making them sway precariously.

One skeleton's head was instantly knocked off, landing on the ground and rolling like a ball. Its jaw continued to open and close with a 'click-clack' sound, as if spasming.

However, the headless body did not stop moving. The headless skeleton continued to advance, swaying unsteadily.

This bizarre scene was somewhat within Zhou Xu's expectations.

After all, Skeleton Soldiers had appeared; what was so strange about a skeleton walking without a head?

During this process, Zhou Xu was using the power of 'Eye of Insight' to observe the enemy's movements.

Their actions had effectively exposed their presence, but the opponents were all hiding behind a Shield Wall, making it impossible for Zhou Xu to see them clearly or know their situation.

Meanwhile, the Skeleton Soldiers' slow movement greatly eased the pressure on the slingers, giving them ample time to deal damage.

After several rounds of stone projectile volleys, the Skeleton Soldiers were in disarray, significantly boosting their morale.

"These things only look scary; they're actually not that tough!"

Perhaps it was because they had been frightened by these skeletons earlier, but to relieve their emotions, one of the slingers let out a long sigh and then jokingly remarked.

However, he was indeed voicing the feelings of most of the tribe members at that moment.

But no sooner had he spoken than the scattered bones in the distance suddenly changed.

As if pulled by some invisible force, the skeletons that had been shattered by the slingers' stone projectiles quickly reassembled, and with a 'click-clack' sound, they were restored to their original state.

This sight instantly froze the tribe member who had just made the jibe.

"Wh-what's going on?!"

Facing this situation, Zhou Xu inwardly cursed 'Bad!', and quickly spoke out, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"What are you panicking about? They're just a pile of broken bones! Such fragile skeletons are no match for us! No matter how many times they get up, we can easily knock them down! Continue attacking!!"

After the baptism of the giant spider, Zhou Xu's presence was now like a stabilizing force for the tribe members. Just standing there made them feel at ease.

"The chief is right! This pile of broken bones is useless no matter how many times they stand up! Knock them down!"

"Knock them down!!"

In just a few words, the tribe members, their morale reignited, shed their previous tension and became noticeably more energized.

Zhou Xu maintained an outward appearance of composure befitting a chief, so as not to cause his tribesmen to panic, but inwardly, he was not optimistic.

His timely interruption had prevented the tribe members from realizing one problem.

That was the consumption!

The fact that the scattered skeletons could reassemble and continue their assault meant that the enemy could use this method to continuously wear them down.

Of course, Zhou Xu guessed that the opponent must have some kind of consumption issue if they kept raising skeletons like this, and couldn't do it indefinitely.

Right now, Zhou Xu was just glad he had maintained enough caution before and hadn't chosen to save his stone projectiles, waiting for the skeletons to enter the Black Forest before destroying them with melee weapons.

Otherwise, at this point, the skeletons that stood up again would have appeared directly in the Black Forest, disrupting their formation!

But the situation was still not optimistic, because through this incident, he had thoroughly figured out the opponent's tactics.

That was to set up a shield formation and turtle up for defense, then continuously wear them down with skeletons that could be repeatedly revived – a very typical attrition tactic.

This was undoubtedly the opponent's strong suit. If they played a war of attrition according to the opponent's rhythm, it wouldn't be a wise decision by any means.

"Dashan!"

With that thought, Zhou Xu directly made a gesture to Dashan.

Dashan immediately understood and, with his five subordinates, rushed out in a single step, bypassing the main battlefield and rapidly approaching the enemy formation from the flank!