The gates of Sand Capital closed slowly behind the five square formations, without a single Skeleton Man turning back to look.
The positive buff brought by such a powerful army is obviously amazing. In fact, [Thousand Faces] only manipulated a few of the bodies. For most of the Skeleton Man, he chose to relinquish control to the souls that already existed within the bodies.
Under his previous reinforcement and brainwashing, these Skeleton Man are currently in a semi-hypnotic state, with little of their own thought, which is [Thousand Faces]'s favorite state.
Adhering to the principle of completing the performance completely, [Thousand Faces] issued another order:
"[Thousand Faces] Legion, heed my command—annihilate the invading enemy!"
Colin's vanguard watched as five hundred Skeleton Man calmly arrayed themselves before them.
Although some Soul Returner cavalrymen went forward to harass them, their numbers did not have a significant effect.
Moreover, according to reports from returning cavalry players, although these Skeleton Man were slightly slower than ordinary Skeleton Man, their level was astonishing.
In combat, this means that this batch of Skeleton Man has incredibly high health and attack power, only their agility might be slightly lacking.
After listening to the player's report, [Ginseng Rooster] frowned slightly.
He looked at Colin beside him, or the new [Broken Sword] councilor, and asked:
"Does Sand Capital really have such an elite force?"
Colin was still in shock, but unlike the Skeleton Man on the city wall who were overjoyed, Colin was terrified.
"No... I've never heard of it, and even the locals in Sand Capital probably don't know about it."
"All right."
[Ginseng Rooster] sighed.
Is there no other way?
Colin suddenly asked in a low voice:
"If it's too difficult to fight, we can retreat first. The main force hasn't arrived yet. As long as we keep what's happening here a secret, we'll be fine."
"Otherwise, if we lose the first battle, the subsequent battles will be much more difficult."
Clearly, Colin had also seen the problems with the current Soul Returner Vanguard.
Although the number of Soul Returners was ten times that of the Skeleton Man in front, the average level of the players was far below level fifty.
Level 50—that's a level only the top tier of players in the current World of Disorder can reach.
Players at that level are either battle maniacs, quest masters, or professional players; most of them are currently wreaking havoc in the Demon Realm or posing as Demon Servants under the empire's command.
The average level of the players brought in by [Ginseng Rooster] is only around level 30. Although the proportion of Middle Tier is not low, it must be admitted that without quest rewards, it is indeed impossible to attract the most powerful players.
But it's okay.
[Ginseng Rooster] turned his head to look at Colin, giving him a confident look:
"Rest assured, sir, those Soul Returner never retreat!"
"The troop strength in this major battle is five thousand to five hundred, the advantage is on my side!"
He then opened the player panel, displaying enemy information to every member of the vanguard, along with a crucial hint—
"Everyone, open the [Blood Pool]!"
"Blood Pool" is a new ability that the Soul Returners acquired just a few days ago.
After Ed made Hall Number Two into Cordyceps sinensis and enjoyed it, he also gained the corresponding ability and was able to share it with his players to some extent.
After all, Ed, who already possesses two kinds of vampire Authority, is also, in a sense, the master of the lineage.
The players are the Blood Corpses in his lineage, so the rules of vampires apply equally to Ed and the players, and are even more effective because Ed personally sculpted the players' bodies.
After the Blood Pool is activated, players of the same faction will share the damage they receive as long as they are within each other's Blood Pool area.
Based on this ability alone, [Ginseng Rooster] dares to challenge this elite team in front of him squarely.
After all, from another perspective, they are not five thousand people now, but -- one person.
The players in the midst of the charge received the message and all looked at their player panels.
With each opening of a Blood Pool, everyone was connected by an invisible domain beneath their feet.
The more than 5,000 Soul Returner had effectively become one, leaving only Colin alone who did not receive the damage reduction benefit.
But that's okay, Colin is High Tier.
The distance between the two armies was getting closer and closer: one hundred meters, fifty meters, twenty meters...
In the instant before the clash, Colin's eyes flashed with a brilliant light, and he leaped high into the air, his hands clasped together in front of him, revealing a greatsword.
"Boom!"
With the power of his first all-out attack since ascending to the High Tier, Colin was surrounded by dazzling light as he smashed directly into a square formation, instantly turning several people in the center into dust. The shockwave overturned more than a dozen Skeleton Man around him, shattering their spines.
The surrounding Skeleton Man pounced on him instantly. Colin drew his sword and slashed horizontally with a backhand motion, his body spinning so that the sword could circle around once, sending seven or eight heads flying high into the air at the same time.
"I am Broken Sword!"
"Follow me and kill!"
"Kill!!"
A tremendous response came from not far behind Colin; the army of Soul Returners had officially engaged in battle with the [Thousand Faces] Legion.
This battle is a battle between order and chaos. Although the side representing chaos is incredibly orderly, and the side representing order appears extremely chaotic, this fact remains unchanged.
Players surged into the [Thousand Faces] Legion's formation like a tidal wave, but were not separated by the rocks like a tide, and showed no signs of fatigue.
On the contrary, the [Thousand Faces] Legion, which was the "reef", showed obvious deformation after withstanding the first wave of impact.
Although the rear guard members quickly filled in, the originally well-organized formation began to show signs of loosening.
The reason why the Soul Returners achieved such results in their first assault is quite simple: as the front line with the highest casualty rate, not a single Soul Returner died.
The damage they sustained was evenly distributed across the entire team of five thousand, to the point that their most efficient slashing attacks failed to inflict significant damage on the Soul Returners.
The moment the Crystal Cluster longsword was drawn, the wounds of the Soul Returner were already mostly healed. Some even tried to use the blade to sever the Soul Returner's shoulder, only to find that the wound had already healed completely before the other side was severed.
At this moment, the health bars of five thousand people were stacked together in the Blood Pool, making them appear incredibly heavy, like a BOSS with numerous clones that could heal each other. In any game, such a BOSS would be considered a complete monster.
But now, this dung monster is the player themselves.
If the Skeleton Man also had a health bar display, perhaps they would see that the health bar in front of them would stretch across the entire field of vision, all the way to the other side of the Sand Capital...