Sichuan Opera Face-Changing

Same as before, enemies appeared within sight, and the skeletons in the Farmland District hastily withdrew into Kurd City District.

But this time the enemy didn't take the bait. The Blood Crow regimental commander watched the skeletons retreat without pursuing.

Since he had come personally, he naturally wouldn't act rashly or underestimate his opponent.

In his eyes, the master of this necropolis was a formal mage, not a Necromancer apprentice, and definitely not Medivh.

He was here to eliminate the Necromancer and seize the stronghold, not to complete Wester's commission.

"Regimental commander, where do we attack from?"

The Blood Crow mercenaries scouted around and found that the strongholds on the east, west, south, and north sides of Kurd City District, as well as the one at the southeast corner, all had city walls protecting them.

If they bypassed the outer strongholds to attack Kurd City District, they would inevitably be caught between two fronts.

"We attack from here."

Blood Crow pointed at the wall of the Workshop District.

From a terrain standpoint, the Workshop District and West Reservoir District, both on the outskirts with the Farmland District on either side, were the best targets.

These two areas could be attacked from three sides simultaneously.

The East Reservoir District, Livestock District, and Graveyard District could only be attacked from two directions.

Blood Crow's choice to attack the Workshop District wasn't a random draw—it was a decision made after reconnaissance.

As for the reconnaissance method, it was simple: toss a scout high into the air and let them observe the situation inside the walls from above.

The walls of these two districts were only eight meters high, and with Blood Crow's strength, tossing a lightweight scout to that height wasn't a problem.

The West Reservoir District was a stretch of ponds, with skeletons holding the paths between them, making it difficult to clear out.

He didn't want skeletons sneaking out of the ponds to stab them in the back while they attacked Kurd City District.

Medivh held the city and defended from a high vantage point, with a wide field of view. Every move the Blood Crow Mercenary Group made was under the skeletons' watch.

As the Blood Crow Mercenary Group approached the Workshop District, Medivh immediately sent heavy forces to defend it.

He wasn't afraid of the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's guerrilla tactics—when it came to troop deployment speed, the skeletons moving inside Kurd's inner circle were far more agile than the mercenaries running the outer circle outside the city.

The Blood Crow Mercenary Group didn't feint. After building siege ladders, they split into three teams and attacked the Workshop District from the east, west, and north.

"Loose arrows!"

Skeleton archers wouldn't give up their range advantage. Once the enemy entered optimal bow range, they stood at the wall's edge and fired.

Fighting from high ground against low ground gave them a massive advantage. One by one, poorly protected mercenaries fell to bone arrows.

Below the wall, mercenary archers returned fire, but the skeleton archers paid them no mind.

Skeletons weren't made of flesh and blood—the mercenary archers' arrows hitting them were nothing more than a tickle.

Instead, the mercenary archers exposed themselves and were shot down by the skeleton archers in return.

"Regimental commander, there are too many skeleton archers—we can't push through!"

A mercenary group wasn't a kingdom's army; they couldn't afford to support too many people.

The Blood Crow Mercenary Group, from top to bottom, numbered less than a thousand.

After White Crow had lost a quarter of their men, and excluding support staff and those left behind, the Blood Crow mercenaries attacking Kurd numbered just over six hundred.

Kurd's various skeleton archers totaled around five hundred.

Occupying the high ground of the walls, suppressing the Blood Crow mercenaries climbing up was child's play.

The skeleton archers' bone arrows were both accurate and vicious. In no time at all, over a hundred Blood Crow mercenaries were killed or wounded.

The initial excitement of seeing Kurd faded, and the Blood Crow mercenaries began to fear, hesitating to charge.

Squire knights led the charge but couldn't reach the wall. Knight-rank mercenary captains led the assault, trying to climb the walls.

But they didn't succeed. One mercenary captain nearly died from a Bone Spirit Ranger's sneak arrow.

"This really is a problem!"

Facing the mercenary captain's complaints, Blood Crow stared coldly at the Bone Spirit Ranger on the wall, who kept firing arrows.

Every bone arrow that flew meant another elite warrior or squire knight captain fell.

If he didn't deal with them, the Blood Crow mercenaries assaulting the city would be picked off one by one.

"Forget it, I'll do it myself."

Blood Crow looked back but didn't see Night Crow's figure. That assassination-loving bastard had probably hidden himself somewhere again.

With Night Crow absent and the other knight-rank mercenary captains driven back by the Bone Spirit Ranger, he had no choice but to step in himself.

He had to admit, that Necromancer had some skill—he actually had several first-rank low-grade skeletons under his command.

That was normal, though. Without some strength, you couldn't hold your ground in Odyssey, and this stronghold would have been taken long ago.

Blood Crow didn't retreat due to the failed assault. He was a second-rank knight—how could he be scared off by a few first-rank low-grade skeletons?

If he left today, where would his authority be? If word of this got out, he'd become a laughingstock in the Pioneer Territory.

[Oh, isn't this Blood Crow the leader? I heard you got chased off by some skeletons, hahaha!]

The mocking faces of the other Pioneer Territory mercenary leaders already flashed through his mind.

"Die!"

Blood Crow charged up the siege ladder as if it were flat ground, rushing toward the Bone Spirit Rangers on the wall.

Battle Qi coated his body as he swung his longsword left and right, knocking aside the bone arrows flying at him.

With a loud shout, he leaped onto the wall and brought down a heavy slash, aiming to cleave the Bone Spirit Ranger in two.

"Woom!"

Midair, Blood Crow's mind went blank. His eyes bloodshot, he twisted his head to stare at the skeleton warrior on the inner side of the wall.

On that skeleton warrior's back gleamed a Taunt Totem, radiating a strange spiritual light.

As if he had spotted his father's murderer, Blood Crow chased after that skeleton warrior, sword raised.

The skeleton warrior didn't block. Under Medivh's command, it jumped down from the wall.

"Damn it, mental magic!"

Blood Crow wasn't taunted for long, but by the time he snapped out of it, he had already followed the skeleton warrior off the wall.

Below the wall, a crowd of skeleton warriors awaited him.

Blood Crow landed in the encirclement of thirty-six Minotaur Skeleton Warriors. On the flat ground stood various support totems—Healing Totem, Earth Totem, Holy Shield Totem, and more.

"You don't actually think this will kill me, do you?"

Trapped in the skeleton warriors' circle, Blood Crow showed no fear. Instead, he let out a contemptuous laugh.

He admitted the Necromancer had some strategy, instantly cutting him off from any support.

But thinking a few dozen low-tier first-rank skeletons could kill him? That was pure fantasy.

He was a dignified second-rank knight. How could he lose to a handful of low-tier first-rank skeletons?

He would make the Necromancer understand that before absolute power, all schemes were meaningless.

"Damn, how are they this tough? These skeletons are wrong!"

The next moment, Blood Crow pulled off a perfect face-turn, like a Sichuan opera mask change.

He had expected his Battle Qi-charged sword strike to easily dismember a skeleton warrior.

But when the blade landed, it only left a gash on the skeleton warrior's Bone Armor, reinforced by the Earth Totem and Holy Shield Totem.

The gash wasn't deep. It hadn't pierced the Bone Armor. To the skeleton warrior, it wasn't even a light wound.

And that gash was slowly healing under the green glow of the Healing Totem.

His full-power strike had dealt limited damage, nowhere near enough to cripple or kill a skeleton warrior.

When the skeleton warriors' Mountain-Splitting Bone Axes and Bone Hammers came swinging, he parried—and the force made his wrist tingle.

These high-attack, high-defense skeleton warriors made Blood Crow feel the threat of death.

His sense of superiority was gone. All he wanted was to break out of the fight and get far away from these bizarre skeletons.