Cleaning Up the Battlefield

These orbs were eerie in color, shimmering with a layer of white light, and flew slowly. The Feather Race mage easily bypassed them and continued his attack on Su Ming.

He also strengthened his shield, and was fearless even though these orbs were tracking type - although the energy was not low, Su Ming was ultimately only at the Intermediate Rank.

Su Ming's hand gestures suddenly changed, and a tiny magic orb shot out at high speed, striking the Feather Race mage's shield.

"Dark Beacon!"

The runes released tiny ripples, casting a small dot on the Feather Race Magister's shield.

This was a fast but harmless spell that only left a mark. Just as the Feather Race mage was about to dispel it, he noticed that the magic orbs floating around him were suddenly activated, cracking open and shooting out Bone Spear.

"Bone Spear - Armor Penetration - Final Sensitivity"

These Bone Spear Bone Spear less powerful than those Su Ming normally released, but they were activated at close range and guided by the Dark Beacon. In an instant, these Bone Spear struck the same point on the Feather Race Magister's shield.

Despite being a full tier higher, the shield, after blocking a significant portion of the armor-piercing Bone Spear, was breached at a single point.

The remaining Bone Spear filed in through the opened holes, piercing through the inner shield.

Then the robes were forcibly torn open. In the end, a Bone Spear successfully completed its mission, piercing the chest of the Feather Race Magister.

Su Ming, not one to let things go, took advantage of the opponent's serious injury and used several more spells to strip away the opponent's flight spell. The bone dragon Zijin, which was a little further away, opened its mouth and shot out a dark energy ray, killing the Magister who had lost his mobility.

[Su Ming, your combination skills are incredibly powerful at breaking through defenses!] Zijin exclaimed in amazement.

"[A simulated terminally sensitive munition.]" Su Ming explained. "[A weapon from our Earth.]"

This tactic also originates from the concept of modern anti-armor weapons. The launched weapon detects the presence of the target in the terminal phase of its trajectory, detonates its warhead towards the target, and releases its sub-units, thereby inflicting precise and lethal damage on the armored target.

Based on this idea, Su Ming improved and combined the Bone Spear magic, and more than a dozen armor-piercing Bone Spear focused their attacks at close range, causing even enemies who were a whole level higher to perish.

After listening to Su Ming's explanation, Zijin was deeply impressed. "Your technology in explosives is truly astounding. Compared to you, our most skilled alchemists are like primitive men wielding stones."

"[Without magic, of course we have to get creative with the use of explosives, right?]" Su Ming said.

Although this area was far from the main battlefield, there were still a few deserters who had fled in panic. Zijin patiently cleaned them up and deliberately damaged the Feather Race Magister's wounds.

[Your move is a kill shot on first meeting; you must keep it a secret.] She reminded Su Ming.

Su Ming nodded.

****

With the death of the Feather Race Magister, the last element of instability on the battlefield was eliminated. Zijin returned to her position to complete the remaining cleanup work.

The initial rocket attacks were horrifying, but in reality, aside from destroying enemy weaponry, they only caused around a thousand casualties. Especially against armored targets, the effective kill distance of rocket fragments was very short.

In the ensuing close combat, the skeleton warriors performed poorly, and most of the surviving soldiers managed to escape the battle lines.

Zijin chose the direction where the enemy was most concentrated to pursue them, and used Dark Burst on the skeleton warriors to apply Slow Spell to the enemy, finally completing a split encirclement and annihilating about seven hundred fleeing soldiers.

Including sporadic skirmishes, this battle resulted in the deaths of approximately two thousand enemy soldiers, while as many as four thousand escaped.

Su Ming recalled what Katharine had taught him: the greatest casualties in cold weapon warfare occur during the pursuit phase. He and Zijin could not afford to expend their strength on pursuit, so they could only accept a limited number of enemy casualties.

Such a large proportion of the remaining supplies gave the enemy the possibility of regrouping. Su Ming resorted to his old trick and began to destroy the food and winter supplies on site.

Losing these supplies, the harsh environment of the Northern Lands will help Su Ming and his team complete their unfinished killings.

There were still quite a few unexploded alchemical explosives on the battlefield, which Su Ming chose to take away, considering that his side had also suffered considerable losses this time. He summoned two skeleton servants and ordered them to lead the zombies on their mission.

Considering the enemy's long preparation time for this battle, the possibility of them hiding supplies could not be ruled out. Su Ming dispatched a drone to conduct another SAR scan of the surrounding area, and sure enough, they found several supply storage pits.

There's nothing to say, just dig it up and burn it.

The bone dragon flew back to the Youth Civilization, followed by a steady stream of skeleton warriors. The quality of the soldiers this time was much worse; Zijin only left half of them. Considering the losses and casualties, the number of skeletons in this battle was even.

Although the discarded skeletons can be used to replenish the White Bone Fortress, the battle is not over yet, and it would be unwise to waste unnecessary Magic Power.

Su Ming suddenly noticed a few discordant features on the bone dragon's body—the energy flow in the three ribs on its left chest was stagnant. It was originally inconspicuous, but it began to become apparent as the white mark upgraded.

"Are you injured?" Su Ming asked.

"[Yes, it was interrupted and lost. I repaired it with another bone," Zijin replied. "[It was fine at first, but now that my dark power has upgraded, the replacement isn't keeping up.]"

Where did I lose it? Is it possible to find it?

"It's in the Hard Rock Canyon of the Northern Lands," Zijin replied. "I don't know if we can still find it."

Su Ming recognized the place name. "[I remember you mentioned Galio and Russell's secret hideout, is it also nearby?]"

[That's right, we were besieged there a year ago. Galio gathered a lot of necromancers there and held out for half a year before finally having to escape.]

Galio's lair was a must-visit spot on this trip to the Northern Lands. It contained not only magical data and various materials, but also a powerful magical gem called the "Myriad Phenomena Prism," which Zijin longed to possess. Every time she saw Galio studying it, she felt a pang of envy.

Despite all these years, Galio hasn't come up with anything significant.

However, considering the train's load capacity, Su Ming plans to go on the return trip. At that time, the train's route will mainly consist of downhill sections, which will greatly improve both its range and speed.

Zijin switched to human form and began rummaging through the battlefield for spells and alchemical materials; there's never too much of these. She found several tamed Frostmane Giant Wolf, Zijin gladly accepted.

Su Ming also climbed onto a position, where a strong smell of blood and burning flesh assaulted his nostrils. This was the most heavily attacked area; more than 20 rockets had exploded in the trenches, leaving behind large piles of limbs and flesh, some of which were still howling in agony amidst the corpses.

Modern trench design follows a winding, meandering principle, prohibiting straight lines to prevent the spread of shock waves and shrapnel during artillery fire.

But this is another world, where people haven't yet been ravaged by industrial warfare and haven't learned to defend against warfare methods that primarily use explosives.

Su Ming suppressed his nausea and stepped inside. He quickly found his target: an officer dressed in the most splendid attire. According to SAR's reconnaissance, this was the most heavily guarded position, and he immediately had a gut feeling that there was a big fish here. He also found a structure resembling a command post and immediately set his sights on this target.

The officer was completely dead. Su Ming tried to stun him by covering him with the shockwave of a rocket so he could be captured, but the enemy's aim was just too perfect.

Su Ming checked the military rank on his clothes and found that he was the highest-ranking commander here, the warlord Fyodor.

Su Ming was slightly disappointed; it wasn't Jimite, but only a lower-ranking warlord. Although intelligence indicated he was with the second echelon, what if that wasn't the case?

Su Ming activated his Spirit Vision but couldn't find the warlord's soul. Upon inspection, he found that the warlord's badge was imbued with a ritualistic spell to prevent his soul from being imprisoned after death.

That's really well-prepared!

****

In the deserted command post, Su Ming discovered that all the data had been destroyed. Before fleeing, the officer had activated the cleanup array.

The military mobile communication tower was also deliberately slashed a few times. It can be repaired, but it will take time. Su Ming felt a little regretful; if he had known, he would have covered the area with rockets immediately, and the damage might not have been so great.

Su Ming climbed out of the trench, then vomited with a "whoosh" sound.

The ground was littered with gruesome fragments of corpses; he felt he had already exceeded his usual standard by enduring this long.

"Not bad!" Zijin landed beside him and chuckled, "Guest from the Kingdom of Peace, I thought you'd throw up in the last match." She handed him a handkerchief, which Su Ming took and used to wipe his mouth.

"How many killings have you been through?" Su Ming replied after a pause. "The last time, the corpses were intact, but this time, there are too many pieces." He looked at the girl with some curiosity, "And you, have you ever thrown up because of something like this?"

"I took it step by step and adapted quite well," Zijin recalled. "However, the first time I encountered that kind of treatment where you poke a hole and pus oozes out bubbles, I still vomited a lot."

Su Ming, who had already calmed down, couldn't help but gag again upon hearing this.

Zijin covered her mouth, making her smile less unrestrained. "So, you see, you still need to practice."

"... Thank you so much!" Su Ming gritted his teeth and straightened up.

In the distance, the bone dragon had already collapsed onto the train, Younier was arranging for the zombies to restore the amethyst stones in the carriages. Closer by, skeleton servants were leading zombies back and forth. Several fires flickered on the snow slope, making crackling sounds. As expected of a supply train, the amount of things that needed to be burned was astonishing.

"I've laid an ambush here with some autonomous skeletons," Zijin said, "To block the returning soldiers."

These fortifications on the battlefield, with a little repair and maintenance, could serve as shelters against the cold. The routed soldiers would come here to spend the night and regroup after they left. Zijin left behind skeletons to drive them away, which could slow down this process.

Skeletons have very limited combat power without command or magical support. However, the chaos and psychological intimidation they create can lead to the deaths of hundreds more people.

"I've arranged for explosives to be left in the tunnel, set up as booby traps," Su Ming said.

Zijin nodded. In this way, this unit was completely rendered useless in terms of its order of battle.

Several prisoners were brought in, and after a brief intimidation by Su Ming, they confessed. Much of the information matched the deductions; the third echelon was indeed the last interception unit.

There were also tens of thousands of troops or transport teams performing logistical tasks, scattered along the supply lines from Black Territory. But these were the only forces directly involved in the fighting in this campaign.

At the same time, it was confirmed once again that Commander-in-Chief Jimite was not here, but was advancing with the second echelon.

"No wonder the second echelon's tactics were executed so thoroughly," Su Ming said. "It really was him personally in charge."

The Feather Race Magister's body was recovered, but his soul remained; he wasn't equipped with a badge of salvation. Zijin instructed Su Ming to interrogate him.

"You want me, a novice, to touch the soul of High Rank combatant?" Su Ming asked in surprise. "Aren't you afraid of getting me killed?"

"I'm afraid the Divine Favor weapon will cause some trouble again!" Zijin sighed. The last time the Divine Favor Scepter devoured Yexiya's soul and then spat it out, she was still a little scared.

"My situation isn't much better," Su Ming said, extending his wrist. "I still have a Dawn and Dusk Bracelet."

"Alright, let's go together then," Zijin said helplessly.

Weapons will fight over corpses; necromancers are the kind of people who would go to such lengths.

****

Zijin restored her bone staff, sat down lightly, and then reached out to pull Su Ming up. Su Ming was much more skilled this time and immediately wrapped his arms around her waist.

The two figures soared through the air over the devastated battlefield. In the dim light, the smoke of battle had not yet dissipated, and broken weapons and twisted armor were scattered everywhere, with many corpses remaining in their final moments.

After a brief retreat from the fireworks, frost descended once more, sealing those eyes, frozen with resentment and fear, within pale ice crystals. Dark red bloodstains congealed in the cold wind, becoming the cheapest battlefield decoration of the night.

Beneath a corpse, a faint pulse of life could be felt. Zijin raised her hand and shot out a dark magic orb. The soldier who had narrowly escaped the skeleton's search and was feigning death instantly stiffened, then withered and shriveled at a visible speed.

A moment later, a brand new skeleton pushed away the corpse that was pressing down on it, its eyes filled with a bewildered soul fire, and stood up unsteadily.

Su Ming instinctively covered his mouth, forcefully suppressing the urge to vomit.

"You don't like this?" Zijin's voice drifted on the wind.

"The rational mind can accept it, but the body needs more time," Su Ming sighed and looked up at the night sky as he answered.

"You hate me for doing these things?"

"How could that be? Absolutely not!" Su Ming said hurriedly.

"You loosened your grip on my waist," Zijin presented as evidence.

"... I was afraid it would interfere with your control."

"Su Ming, we have vastly different understandings of many things," Zijin's voice carried a hint of concern. "I'm very worried."

"What are you worried about?" Su Ming's ears perked up.

"I'm worried that if I go to Earth, I might do something that breaks Earth's laws because of the difference in our understanding," Zijin sighed softly. "What else could it be?"