In the newly built areas of Kurd Nine-Grid, most of the city walls were still little more than outlines. Some sections were only a meter high.
The Blood Crow Mercenary Group's thugs could see plenty of skeletons working in the fields, planting potatoes.
Others were digging clay to make bricks, then hauling them over to build the walls.
Riding on horseback, they looked out over Kurd City. There were a great many skeletons in plain sight—more than a thousand.
White Crow and the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's thugs weren't afraid in the least. Their eyes were filled with excitement.
"Here's our chance to get rich! Charge! Smash every skeleton and wipe out the Necromancer!"
White Crow shouted and led the charge toward a low section of the wall.
The Blood Crow Mercenary Group's thugs laughed as they followed.
It wasn't more than a thousand years ago anymore. The age of the Necromancers had long since ended.
Among humanity's supernatural professions, Necromancers had long since fallen to the bottom.
Mediv was only a Necromancer Apprentice. What kind of strength could the skeletons he'd resurrected possibly have?
There might be more than a thousand skeletons inside the walls, but even a group of country bumpkins could probably take this camp.
The Blood Crow Mercenary Group was a major force in Pioneer Territory. Its deputy leader, White Crow, was a First-Order High Knight, and he'd brought along several First-Order mid- and low-level Knight Captains for this operation.
With strength like this, they couldn't see how they could lose!
"Lucky kid, your luck ends here!"
As the Blood Crow Mercenary Group reached the Farmland District, Mediv stood atop the high wall of Kurd City District, watching the battle.
To make sure the Blood Crow Mercenary Group killed the right person, Wester had given them a portrait of Mediv.
White Crow met Mediv's gaze from afar and confirmed that the Necromancer in this camp was the one they'd been looking for.
A Necromancer Apprentice who'd only been enrolled for a short while had evaded their search and put down roots in Odyssey. He certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve.
But Mediv's growth ended here. White Crow would crush his skull.
White Crow made a throat-slitting gesture toward Mediv, then laughed wildly as he rode over the barely one-meter-high wall.
"Run! Go on, run!"
Just as before, Mediv had lured them into the trap, ordering the skeletons in the Farmland District to retreat into Kurd City District.
As they watched the skeletons pour through the city gate, the mounted thugs, White Crow among them, roared with laughter and chased after them.
"Ha! The captain's going to love this place!"
"What a fine place!"
Riding into Kurd City District and seeing a castle standing in the center, White Crow was even more delighted.
He had to hand it to that kid from the Hobarton family. In just one year, he'd built such a well-equipped stronghold.
On the way here, White Crow had passed through the Farmland District, the Workshop District, and the central district.
This was no longer a simple Drifter Stronghold. It was a small city, self-sufficient and well defended.
Their captain was always complaining that their camp was cramped. This city was practically made for them. The whole Blood Crow Mercenary Group would be grateful to Mediv for all his hard work.
As thanks, White Crow would send Mediv to meet the Goddess of Light without any pain!
The battle hadn't even begun, yet White Crow and the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's thugs were already imagining what it would be like to live in Kurd City.
"What the hell are those things?"
While they were gloating, the ground suddenly shook.
They looked back and saw several Minotaur Skeleton Warriors leap down from the wall, blocking the gateway.
In their minds, skeletons were short and frail.
The Logistics Skeletons they'd seen earlier had been somewhat tall, but still within the bounds of an ordinary skeleton.
The five-meter-tall Minotaur Skeleton Warriors, clad in thick Bone Armor and wielding twin axes for cleaving mountains, shattered their expectations.
How could such terrifying skeletons still exist? Weren't Necromancers supposed to have fallen to the bottom?
"Don't be fooled by their height. They're all just for show. Those skeleton frames will shatter with one hit!"
As their leader, White Crow couldn't afford to show fear.
He called the Minotaur Skeleton Warriors paper tigers to boost morale.
"Archers, loose!"
Mediv didn't care what they thought. Now that they'd entered the city gate, it was time to close the doors and beat the dogs in the trap.
At his command, the Skeleton Archers took their places between the crenellations and fired down at the thugs below.
"Defend!"
Bone Arrows rained down. White Crow shouted for the mercenaries to raise their shields.
"Damn it, are these really skeletons?"
The mercenaries' small shields offered little coverage and couldn't stop the dense storm of arrows.
One mercenary after another fell beneath the arrows. Seeing these skilled fighters die, White Crow's eyes turned bloodshot.
He knew he'd been reckless. He shouldn't have underestimated Mediv and charged straight into Kurd City District.
It was bad enough that ordinary fighters couldn't withstand the rain of arrows. But when he saw Apprentice Knights in the group block the Bone Arrows with their shields, only for the arrows to pierce through and explode their heads, White Crow's eyelid twitched.
Some of the Skeleton Archers had terrifying strength!
The Skeleton Archers who pierced the shields were Bone Spirit Rangers. They were First-Order Transcendental Skeletons, and their Bone Arrows, imbued with Bone Spirit Power, couldn't be stopped by ordinary iron-rimmed wooden shields.
"Charge with me!"
The Bone Arrows kept coming, and the Bone Spirit Rangers picked off the Apprentice Knights one by one.
White Crow knew that if this went on, the ordinary fighters and Apprentice Knights would all be dead.
He shouted and called the other First-Order Knight Captains to charge with him. They would storm the wall, kill the Skeleton Archers, and capture Mediv.
Clang...
A gust of wind swept in. White Crow raised his sword to block, but a deafening clash sent him stumbling backward.
He glanced at the gash in his greatsword, then at the unmoving Minotaur Skeleton Warrior, utterly stunned.
He was a First-Order High Knight, yet in a clash of blades, a First-Order Low-level Skeleton had driven him back several steps.
Those skeletons, so imposing they were at a glance, really weren't ordinary.
"Damn it, we've been tricked!"
Among the hulking Minotaur Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Knights, Bone Spirit Warriors, and other Transcendental Skeletons were closing in around them.
On the wall, the Bone Spirit Rangers kept picking them off, while the swift Bone Spirit Assassins and Spirit Cat Warriors slaughtered the ordinary mercenaries.
With so many Transcendental Skeletons appearing at once, White Crow realized Wester had deceived them.
Could a Necromancer Apprentice really control so many Transcendental Skeletons?
No wonder Wester had paid so readily. He'd laid a trap and waited for them to walk into it.
"Scatter and run!"
At this point, White Crow didn't think they could capture Mediv, or even protect the ordinary mercenaries he'd brought along.
He told the Knight Captains to split up and flee with him. Every one who got away was a win.
Crack!
White Crow had barely turned and run a few steps when a gray Bone Carved Totem fell from above, locking onto him.
White Crow turned against his will and attacked the totem.
He'd been mentally controlled by the Minotaur Skeleton Shaman's Taunt Totem.
Then a green Healing Totem, an ochre Earth Totem, a red Inspiring Totem, and a blue Windfury Totem landed one after another, empowering the skeletons.
Every time White Crow tried to break away from the battle, the Taunt Totem would forcibly control him and drag him back into the fray. He could only fight the skeletons to the death.
"Damn it!"
The longer White Crow fought, the more agitated he became, and the more terrified his eyes grew.
He couldn't destroy the Taunt Totem. Even if he managed to destroy it, another Skeleton Shaman would put one up in its place.
He had the advantage in level, but he could barely pierce the thick armor of the Skeleton Warriors.
On top of that, with the Skeleton Shamans boosting them in all sorts of ways, the damage he dealt with all his strength barely seemed to hurt them. A moment later, the Healing Totem restored them.
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