Skeleton Soldiers

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

Though things like the "Old Gods," "Teleportation Array," "True Words," and "giant spiders" had all been telling him that this was no ordinary world,

none of them had struck him as hard as the dozen or so skeletons before his eyes!

In a relatively normal primitive world, the greatest threats would be natural disasters and man-made calamities within the bounds of common sense, or perhaps some prehistoric beasts.

But once it became a fantasy world, the unknowable factors suddenly multiplied beyond measure.

Take the skeletons before them, for example.

At that thought, Zhou Xu subconsciously glanced at Dashan and the others beside him.

At that moment, Dashan and the others were also staring stiffly at the dozen or so skeletons in the distance, as though they could hardly believe their eyes.

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

In response to the question, Dashan nodded forcefully.

"I'm afraid it is. I once heard the elders in the tribe say that some True Words can control skeletons, but I've never seen it with my own eyes!"

Judging by what he was hearing now, the power of True Words did not seem to appear very often in Dashan and the others' world either.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Xu steadied his emotions. He first cast away all useless distractions and focused his entire mind on the battle before him.

Whether the enemy has discovered us or not, judging from the current situation, they're probably trying to use these dozen or so skeletons to scout the way.

"Tsk!"

At that thought, Zhou Xu could not help clicking his tongue in displeasure.

Needless to say, the enemy's arrangement had immediately thrown his original plan into disarray.

The skeletons advanced slowly. In the meantime, Fei Que and the others, who had carried stone projectiles from the rift cavern, had already arrived behind them, adding considerably to Zhou Xu's confidence.

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

With that thought, Zhou Xu issued his orders in a low voice.

"Dashan, take five men and stand by to the side. Await my command and be ready to charge forward at any time. Now, slingers, prepare!"

Upon receiving the order, the slingers loaded with stone projectiles quickly began whirling their slings, producing a muffled whooshing sound.

They waited until the skeleton soldiers stepped into attack range...

"Target! The skeletons ahead! Fire!"

At Zhou Xu's command, a volley of stone projectiles flew out together, smashing into the advancing skeleton soldiers and sending them reeling.

One skeleton's head was knocked clean off on the spot. It landed on the ground and rolled around like a ball, its mouth still opening and closing with constant clacking, clacking sounds, as though it were convulsing.

Yet the headless body did not stop moving. The headless bones continued wobbling forward.

This eerie sight was more or less within Zhou Xu's expectations.

After all, skeleton soldiers had appeared. What was so strange about a skeleton still being able to walk after losing its head?

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

The moment they attacked, they had effectively revealed their presence. However, the enemies were all hiding behind the Shield Wall, making it nearly impossible for Zhou Xu to see them or determine their condition.

At the same time, the skeleton soldiers moved rather slowly. This greatly eased the pressure on the slingers and gave them ample time to keep firing.

After several volleys of stone projectiles, the skeleton soldiers were beaten to pieces, and the tribesmen's confidence immediately soared.

"These things only look scary. They're not that tough after all!"

Perhaps because he had been frightened by the skeletons earlier, one of the slingers exhaled deeply to relieve his emotions, then laughed and teased them.

But he had indeed voiced what most of the tribesmen were thinking at that moment.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than the scattered bones in the distance suddenly underwent a dramatic change.

As if drawn together by some invisible force, the skeletons that had been shattered by the slingers' stone projectiles rapidly reassembled. Amid a series of clacking, clacking sounds, they returned to their original forms.

The sight instantly froze the tribesman who had just teased them.

"H-How can this be?!"

Faced with this situation, Zhou Xu cursed inwardly, Damn it, and hurriedly spoke up, breaking through everyone's shock.

"What are you panicking for? They're just a pile of rotten bones! Skeletons this frail are completely useless! No matter how many times they get back up, we can knock them down just as easily! Keep attacking!"

After being tempered by the giant spider, Zhou Xu's presence had become a stabilizing pillar for the tribesmen. Just standing there was enough to make everyone feel reassured.

"The chief is right! It's just a pile of rotten bones. It doesn't matter how many times they get back up! Knock them down!"

"Knock them down!!"

With only a few words, the tribesmen's morale was restored. Their earlier tension vanished, replaced by a distinctly feverish excitement.

On the surface, Zhou Xu maintained the composure expected of a chief, lest the tribesmen under him lose their heads. Inwardly, however, he was far from optimistic.

His timely interruption had kept the tribesmen from realizing one problem.

Consumption!

The shattered skeletons could reassemble and launch another assault. That meant the enemy could use this method to wear them down without end.

Of course, Zhou Xu guessed that the enemy must also pay a price to keep raising the skeletons like this. They could not do it indefinitely.

For now, Zhou Xu was simply glad that he had remained sufficiently cautious earlier and had not chosen to conserve their stone projectiles, wait for the skeletons to enter the Black Forest, and then destroy them with melee weapons.

Otherwise, by this point, the skeleton soldiers that had risen again would have appeared directly inside the Black Forest and thrown their formation into chaos!

But the situation was still far from optimistic, because through this incident, he had completely figured out the enemy's tactics.

They were hiding behind a Shield Wall and turtling up defensively, then using skeleton soldiers that could be repeatedly revived to wear them down without end. It was a classic attrition tactic.

This was undoubtedly the enemy's area of expertise. If they followed the enemy's rhythm and fought a war of attrition, that could not possibly be a wise decision.

"Dashan!"

At that thought, Zhou Xu directly gestured toward Dashan.

Dashan immediately understood. With the five brothers under his command, he sprang forward, bypassed the frontal battlefield, and rapidly closed in on the enemy formation from the flank!