The clamor of Psionic Energy lingered in the air. Even though the Soul Returner couldn't understand the skeletons' way of communicating, they could sense that these skeletal figures were currently in a state of shock and rage.
If they were still in their original state, with some hair on their heads, many players would believe that they would be able to witness the literal meaning of "hair standing on end in fury" right now.
As if suppressing his anger for a long time, the roar of the fortress knight Colin came from his throat, echoing throughout every corner of the first floor of the sandcastle:
"Tear it down! Tear it down carefully! Tear it down meticulously! Send all the skeletons back to Sand Capital! No, send them to Lord [ Hard Armor ] first!"
"Yes!"
The skeleton soldiers and some deeply immersed Soul Returner straightened their backs and then stepped forward to carefully dismantle the mound of skulls that had not yet been filled with lime and mud in the crevices.
Everyone was busy at work when they suddenly heard a chaotic and rapid sound of horses' hooves.
Because the Imperials and players from the opposing faction cause trouble every now and then, players who joined the Alliance faction are now somewhat allergic to the sound of horses' hooves.
However, upon closer listening, one can discern that the sound of hooves likely originated from a skeleton horse.
In other words, reinforcements have arrived yet again.
Colin immediately ordered his men to provide support, and they saw a cavalry force of over three hundred men advancing rapidly through the rolling yellow sands to the east.
Although this force was roughly equal in number to Colin's total forces, a closer look revealed that the skeleton soldiers' armor was not as simple as it seemed.
All the skeleton soldiers held a long-handled weapon, the tips of which were inlaid with sharp crystal clusters of different colors.
Each skeleton rider also carries a short sword on their lower back; some are bone swords that players have seen before, while others resemble crystal cluster weapons.
In addition, their armor was extremely strange, with a pale white color that resembled bone, yet the shape of bones was completely indistinguishable. Upon closer inspection, one could also see the dazzling light reflected by clusters of crystals.
Even the horses ridden by this group were equipped with armor similar to that worn by humans.
"What exactly is this...?"
The strategist [ Ginseng Rooster ], who had never seen such a display before, was utterly astonished—he never expected to encounter such a clearly recognizable elite force within the Skeleton Alliance.
In most cases, the Soul Returner cavalry, who are immune to pain and can regenerate health, can completely overwhelm an equal number of Skeleton cavalry.
But these guys in front of me...
[ Ginseng Rooster ] swallowed, his throat tightening slightly, but he already realized:
When numbers are equal, this heavily armored cavalry force in front of you will definitely be able to crush the player's cavalry unit, and the more numerous they are, the more obvious the difference in strength will be!
"Where did these cavalrymen come from?"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] quickly took a few screenshots, and after calming himself down, he finished the first half of his sentence.
Colin, the fortress guard standing in front of him, explained:
"Those are the elite troops under the command of Councilor [ Hard Armor ]."
Upon hearing this, [ Ginseng Rooster ] looked again at the heavily armed cavalry, which was practically armed to the bone, and his tone suddenly became very confused:
"Because he's wearing heavy armor, does that mean he's under Lord [ Hard Armor ]'s command?"
Colin glanced sideways at the [ Ginseng Rooster ], his gaze unreadable:
"That's outrageous."
"It is precisely because they are under the command of Lord [ Hard Armor ] that they possess such heavy armor."
What does that mean?
[ Ginseng Rooster ] was stunned upon hearing this.
Although Colin had simply rearranged the word order of his words, upon closer examination, it seemed to convey the same meaning.
Ultimately, aren't these guys just [ Hard Armor ]'s subordinates?
etc...
[ Ginseng Rooster ]'s pupils suddenly contracted, and the names published on the official website involuntarily flashed through his mind—
[ Hard Armor ], [ Giant Arms ], [ Divine Wings ], [ Whale Tail ], [ Crown ], and the latest addition... [ Nether Crossing ].
According to the logic in Colin's words, these skeletons are under the command of [ Hard Armor ], which is why they wear such heavy armor.
So, are the [ Giant Arms ]'s subordinates a group of four-armed skeletons?
Are [ Whale Tail ]'s subordinates a group of mermaid skeletons?
Are [ Divine Wings ]'s subordinates a group of angel skeletons?
These thoughts instantly popped into [ Ginseng Rooster ]'s mind. He suddenly realized that these four councilors seemed to correspond perfectly to land, sea, and air, and the land portion even made a detailed distinction between soldiers and tanks.
That's easy to understand, but how should we interpret "[ Nether Crossing ]" and "[ Crown ]"?
Even if Sailesi, in his Incarnation as [ The Nether Crossing ], doesn't yet have his own loyal followers, can everyone truly have a [ Crown ], a symbol of power?
It's not like they're Crown biscuits, how can it be so cheap?
Thinking of this, [ Ginseng Rooster ] suddenly felt that there was an intricate connection between the senator's code name and the Skeleton Alliance's army, but now was not a good time to ask.
After much deliberation, he suppressed his thoughts and continued to probe indirectly:
"The elite troops of Lord [ Hard Armor ] are here. Could it be that Lord [ Hard Armor ] has come in person?"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] thought to himself, "Thank goodness [ Practice More If You're Bad ] ran fast enough, otherwise, regardless of whether [ Hard Armor ] came or not, we might have all been wiped out here today."
Colin, who was standing in front of him, shook his head.
"Impossible. Lord [ Hard Armor ] is stationed in the core area of the central border region. He wouldn't come here personally just because a sandcastle has been breached."
"According to the defense division, the force that has arrived here to provide support at this moment should be..."
At this point, Colin seemed hesitant about how to address the person, and after a moment's thought, he said:
"It should be my superior officer, ' Bastion Lord ' Gelan, of Sandcastle Number Fifteen on the central border."
The skeleton knight sighed almost imperceptibly:
"Come with me to greet Gelan."
[ Ginseng Rooster ] sensed the helplessness in Colin's words and could roughly understand that feeling.
Even before I arrived at Fortress Number Fourteen to join Colin, this war zone had already suffered repeated losses due to the opposing players' tactics.
At first, it was just small-scale skirmishes between scouts, then it was ambushing an entire patrol and not letting a single person escape, and later it was directly breaching Fortress Number Fourteen and looting it.
To this day, the opposing players have set their sights on the medium-sized sandcastle garrisoned with over three hundred troops, and are no longer even bothering to avoid them, launching a direct assault in broad daylight.
Previously, they weren't this blatant; they only used underhanded tactics like hiding in the dark of night or sneaking in to trick people into opening the city gates.
Now look what's happened. They stormed a sandcastle, slaughtered everyone, built a mound of corpses, and then left triumphantly.
Who could stand this?
Even if Bastion Lord Gelan himself could tolerate it, Colin, as his subordinate, would surely harbor resentment.
At this point, [ Ginseng Rooster ] suddenly had a good idea--
How could we not seize such a golden opportunity for a thrilling underdog victory?