Ground-Hugging Nightmare

"Cluck... Squeak--!"

The sticky, bone-grinding sound from the depths of the Gray Fog suddenly drew closer.

On the Inner Fortress tower, the warning bell suddenly rang.

The Auxiliary Soldier and bricklayers who were clearing corpses outside the trenches just moments before immediately put away their long-handled iron hooks, pushed their wheelbarrows, and retreated into the defensive line, scrambling and crawling back.

"Let them in! Prepare for battle!" Kyle's roar echoed through the ditch.

He lowered his shoulder and exerted force, suddenly sideways to clear a narrow gap in the ditch, past the Ironbound Oak Shield.

The Auxiliary Soldier pushed wheelbarrows filled with severed limbs and pieces of flesh into the tunnel, and only after the last person rushed in did Kyle swing his shield back to smash it down.

"Bang!" The heavy oak shield snapped back into the mud wall, sealing the breach once more.

The sound of bones grinding against each other, crawling close to the ground, grew louder and louder, like a group of things crouching and crawling closer in the mud.

Todd instinctively held his breath, his eyes fixed on the edge of the Gray Fog.

Soon, dozens of thin, dark-haired figures slid out of the fog.

They moved close to the ground at an astonishing speed, looking from a distance like clumps of skinned black flesh, clinging to the Frozen Tundra.

Their numbers weren't large, far from the overwhelming pressure of a wolf pack charging into battle, but they didn't take any detours, rushing straight down this defensive line.

Kyle's breathing quickened as he stared intently at the approaching shadowy figures, his facial muscles tensing sharply, a rare look of surprise flashing across his eyes.

"Damn! It's Falling-Bone Beast!" Kyle's voice was chilling. "Listen up, all of you! Don't stab its stomach! There are no organs inside, just cartilage and mutated tendons! Straight thrusts won't work, aim for the joints and neck!"

After another three or four seconds, as they got closer, Todd was able to see the monsters clearly.

They looked as if their entire skin had been peeled off, their scarlet, gleaming muscles exposed directly under the Blood Moon, their outlines resembling elongated, deformed lizards.

His limbs were excessively thin, and his chest and abdomen were taut, making his whole body resemble a fully drawn fleshy bow.

As they pounced onto the First Ring of ice, the group barely paused for a moment.

They simultaneously retracted their limbs, pressed their thick, slimy bellies against the ice, and slid down the slope in one go.

"Sizzle--"

The wet, scraping sounds continued one after another as dozens of Falling-Bone Beast rushed down the ice shell, crashing into the bottom of the ditch in the blink of an eye. Only a dozen or so unlucky ones were pierced through on the spot in the Ground-Spike Trap Trench.

However, many more of the Falling-Bone Beast curled up into a ball the moment they landed.

Their skeletons were eerily soft; their limbs and waists retracted instantly, their entire bodies appearing as if forcibly kneaded into a bone ball.

After hitting the spikes and rocks, it bounced violently and rolled continuously at the bottom of the ditch.

In a short time, dozens of monsters, relying on their strange elasticity, managed to leap over the spikes and rocks, bouncing forward along the trench.

The trap that had just shredded the Night Wolf was now slipping through their fingers.

"Watch out!" Kyle's shout had barely faded when he raised his shield and thrust it upwards, lifting the shield wall that was firmly blocking him by half an inch.

The hooks on both sides immediately retracted their long poles and changed to an upward angle, waiting specifically for the moment these things fell.

The greatsword and axe-wielders in the back row took a half-step forward through the gap, moving up to their positions that were originally meant to deliver the final blow.

Although the change of formation in the Fang-Splitting Formation was hasty, the formation itself was not completely disrupted.

Using the rebound from the Groundspike Formation, several Falling-Bone Beast suddenly leaped into the air, their bodies spreading out as they crashed straight into the blind spot of the trench in front of Kyle's squad.

But as soon as they landed, Finn on the left, his eyes bloodshot, swung his hook and sickle fiercely at them. The iron hook slammed into the hind leg joint of a Falling-Bone Beast and pulled it down hard.

The creature tilted to one side, about to spring up, when Barris's hook slammed down from above, plunging half its body into the mud.

"Neck!" Kyle roared.

Todd's heart tightened suddenly. The first movement was indeed a little slow, and his eyes instinctively followed the erratic movement of the bones for a moment.

But the month of training hadn't been in vain; after a brief moment of panic, he managed to regain his composure.

With his legs planted firmly, the spearhead sank, and the Silver-Plated Iron Spear in his hand lashed out along the angle of Kyle's shield.

"Pfft!"

The spear tip didn't aim for the belly, but instead plunged deep into the soft bone seam below the neck of the Falling-Bone Beast.

The monster convulsed, barely managing to utter a half-groan, when the greatsword user in the back row stepped forward and chopped down heavily on the seam between its head and neck with his broadsword.

The first head was instantly severed in two!

"The second one! On the right!" Kyle roared, making the entire trench tremble.

On the right, another Falling-Bone Beast suddenly twisted its body using the mud wall, trying to flip over the shield.

But just as it sprang up, its forelimbs were locked by two hooks on the left and right, and its whole body paused in mid-air.

This time, Todd didn't hesitate. He turned his spear and plunged it straight into the monster's raised jaw. The axemen in the back row followed up with an axe, slicing off half of its neck.

Black blood sprayed all over the wall.

The third one was even more ruthless, burrowing right into a corner near the feet, trying to bite the person's leg.

Kyle reacted faster, slamming the Ironbound Oak Shield down and burying its entire head in the mud with a thud.

In just a few breaths, three heads had already fallen to the ground around them.

The Falling-Bone Beast is indeed strange; it bounces fast and its bones are soft. Once it falls into this narrow ditch, it's even more troublesome than Night Wolf.

However, the Fang-Splitting Formation was specifically designed by Shien to block narrow terrain.

At first, they were caught off guard, but once Kyle caught up, the shields, hooks, spears, and swords in the trenches started their coordinated attack again.

Every time the Falling-Bone Beast charged halfway, they would be forcibly pinned down and killed halfway.

Todd's forehead was covered in sweat, and his arms were numb from the impact. He was still a little flustered, but he gradually found his rhythm and started fighting methodically.

The trenches were filled with the sounds of panting, roaring, clashing weapons, and churning blood; no one noticed something burrowing along the muddy ground.

The mud behind the Falling-Bone Beast suddenly exploded, and a dark shadow sprang out from the blind spot.

It was as fast as a metal bullet launched close to the ground.

This is Throat-Ripper Juvenile!

This thing is much smaller and is most easily missed when mixed in with a large group of Magic Creature.

It was only the size of a human head, with pitifully short limbs that were almost entirely tucked under its belly, like a lump of flesh about to explode. A huge mouth was split open in front of its head, with the entire mouth turned backward and filled with rings of barbed teeth.

A foul-smelling, cold wind rushed towards him, Throat-Ripper Juvenile maw that took up most of its body suddenly opened to its limit in mid-air, revealing all the inverted serrations inside, lunging straight for Todd's throat.

At the critical moment, Kyle suddenly roared, the sound so loud it made the entire trench tremble.

He decisively shifted his weight off the Falling-Bone Beast, and with a flick of his wrist, the Ironbound Oak Shield, wrapped in Platinum Battle Aura, was fiercely swung upwards.

The edge of the shield narrowly grazed the Throat-Ripper Juvenile in mid-air, knocking it off course by an inch.

But this thing was very strange. It suddenly contracted its body in mid-air, and its spring-like hind legs pushed off the slippery mud wall. Using the force of that rebound, its whole body turned back and lunged straight to the right.

Barris was thrown off balance by the broken- Falling-Bone Beast and hadn't even regained his footing.

"Pfft."

The Throat-Ripper Juvenile bit into Barris's neck!

The inward-growing, sharp teeth tore open the trachea and aorta on the spot, and scalding blood gushed out, splattering all over Todd's face.

A few drops of hot blood slid down his eyelashes and into his eyes, blurring his vision into a red blur.

Barris instinctively covered his neck with his hand, his mouth wide open, and only the sound of air leaking out of his throat like a broken bellows.

Just moments before, he was squatting in the trench, gulping down hot soup and winking at Todd.

Now, however, he crashed straight into the mud, his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

Todd thought he had gotten used to the way of life on the Eternal Night Wall.

But when someone you've been with day and night suddenly falls at your feet, their throat ripped open, blood gushing out like a fountain, your mind still goes blank for a moment.

"Stop spacing out!" Kyle's roar came crashing down like a slap across Todd's face.

Todd flinched, finally regaining his senses.

The young Throat-Ripper Juvenile had just been flung off Barris's neck, blood still trickling from its mouth, and was lying close to the mud, gathering its strength to pounce again.

Todd let out a hoarse growl, the veins in his arms bulging, and he thrust the iron spear forward with a vengeance.

Thump!

The silver-plated spearhead, skin and bone intact, pinned the thing firmly into the mud wall.

But Todd didn't stop; he gripped the spear shaft tightly with both hands and twisted it inwards with all his might.

The Throat-Ripper Juvenile struggled twice, its hind legs kicking wildly, blood and bits of flesh flowing down the spear shaft.