Undead Mage from a Cell

Chapter 23: Chapter 21: Skeleton Soldier

With the first Skeleton Soldier successfully promoted, more and more skeletons, having gained enough Experience and absorbed enough Mysterious Power, successfully promoted to become Skeleton Soldiers.

In choosing the promotion paths for the Skeleton Soldiers, Gu Xi focused on enhancing strengths rather than balanced development, choosing paths that highlighted each group’s Traits.

Thus, each of the four Combat Squads had Skeleton Soldiers unique to them.

Combat Squad 1’s Skeleton Soldiers wielded a War Axe in one hand and a Curved Saber in the other, now with Leather Armor on their bodies and three Throwing Daggers at their waists.

This type of Skeleton Soldier had learned methods of Ranged Attack, albeit only about ten meters, but ranged nonetheless.

[Skeleton Soldier (Level 3, Summoned Creature): Experience (13/500) Attack 3+1 (Close Combat Weapons), Defense 1+1 (Armor), Ammunition 3 (Daggers), Life 19, Skills: Undead Creatures, Backstab, Throwing.]

Combat Squad 3’s skeletons were completely different; all their enhancements focused on the Long Spear.

Last time, their Skeleton Boss acquired a Long Spear, and now, after absorbing enough Anomalous Qi, this Long Spear had become even more powerful.

[Skeleton Soldier (Level 3, Summoned Creature): Experience (19/500) Attack 3+2 (Bone Arm Spear), Defense 1, Life 19, Skills: Undead Creatures, Disarm, Thrust.]

As for Combat Squad 4’s Skeleton Soldiers, they were the opposite of Combat Squad 3’s Skeleton Soldiers, enhancing the defensive effects of their Shields and also adding a thick layer of Armor.

If they weren’t holding Longswords, one might mistake them for heavily-armored defense-type Skeleton Soldiers.

[Skeleton Soldier (Level 3, Summoned Creature): Experience (6/500) Attack 3, Defense 1+3 (Shield + Armor) Life 24, Skills: Undead Creatures, Shield Wall, Temporary Life.]

After several types of Skeleton Soldiers had been promoted, Gu Xi checked the status of the four Combat Squads.

Combat Squads 1 and 2 had suffered heavy losses, but Combat Squads 3 and 4 were relatively intact; this battle saw almost no losses, and the Skeleton Boss’s Upgrade actually created quite a few more slots.

[Combat Squad 1 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Life +3, Attack +1, Experience 18/200): Leader (1/1) Level 1 Skeleton Boss, Members (22/33) Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (3), Level 2 Skeletons (13), Level 1 Skeletons (6)]

[Combat Squad 2 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Attack +5, Defense +1, Experience 26/200): Leader (1/1) Level 1 Skeleton Boss, Members (21/39) Level 3 Skeleton Warrior (1), Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (9), Level 2 Skeletons (6), Level 1 Skeletons (5)]

[Combat Squad 3 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Attack +3, Life +4, Experience 198/200): Leader (1/1) Level 1 Skeleton Boss, Members (28/33) Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (8), Level 2 Skeletons (14), Level 1 Skeletons (6)]

[Combat Squad 4 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Defense +6, Experience 74/200): Leader (1/1) Level 1 Skeleton Boss, Members (40/45) Level 3 Skeleton Warriors (6), Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (9), Level 2 Skeletons (21), Level 1 Skeletons (4)]

The troops were uneven.

Looking at the information on the Combat Squads before him, Gu Xi couldn’t help but sigh.

He had no idea what the third wave of enemies would be like.

Then Gu Xi commanded with a gesture, having them rearrange once more. The dead skeletons were redeployed onto the street, and tables and chairs from nearby rooms were moved out to serve as barricades.

Combat Squad 3 stood behind Combat Squad 4, while Combat Squads 1 and 2 lay in ambush in the rooms.

As soon as the enemy appeared, Gu Xi could once again drag out the enemy, prioritize taking out their Boss, and then use the skeletons to grind down the black Deceitful Shadows.

But Gu Xi never expected that, when the fifteen minutes were up, the Deceitful Shadow before him would be in this state.

This time it wasn’t a large batch of three or four hundred black Deceitful Shadows, but a single gigantic Deceitful Shadow Fusion.

This Deceitful Shadow, like the ones before, was entirely black, but it was incredibly large and did not walk upright, rather it crawled on the ground with its back turned, joints reversed.

Beneath it were eight enormous arms, moving like those of a Spider.

Among these were three pairs of arms holding three human heads.

These three heads were also entirely black, but their size and appearance suggested they respectively belonged to a man, a woman, and a child.

Its size was like that of a massive dump truck, adorned with numerous twitching arms—a sure sign of trouble.

Upon entering the district, this gigantic Deceitful Shadow charged forward like a train.

The barricades set by the Combat Squads could not hold for an instant, shattering immediately upon impact.

Gu Xi reacted the fastest, upon seeing such a situation, he pointed at the skeleton corpses in front of the Deceitful Shadow and chanted a spell.

”Secondary Corpse Burst!”

But the Deceitful Shadow moved too quickly; even though Gu Xi aimed it at the shadow, by the time the Corpse Explosion occurred, the Deceitful Shadow had already rushed past the blast range.

”Combat Squad 4, hold your ground!”

Gu Xi shouted while simultaneously casting a Bone Shield on himself and charging forward with a wooden rod.

The wooden rod in Gu Xi’s hand was the previous Deceitful Shadow Boss’s weapon. When wielded by Gu Xi, it rapidly shrank to a size suitable for him.

[Broken Bone (Green, Wooden Rod)]

[Attack: 2-3]

[Equipment Requirements: Power 2]

[Special: Cripple, when attacking an enemy, there’s a 50% chance to shatter their bone, Armor, or other defensive structures.]

[Note: Don’t underestimate the power of the wooden rod, many have died under it.]

With the rod in hand, Gu Xi found the courage to join the battle.

Although the Deceitful Shadow hadn’t launched an attack yet, based on its movement speed, Gu Xi recognized it as a high-agility Deceitful Shadow.

Typically, high-agility foes have low Life Force and Attack Power.

They usually dodge enemy Attacks and strike multiple times in a short period.

So long as they can be confined, there’s a chance to defeat them.

That’s why Gu Xi directed Combat Squad 4 to the front; their Shield Wall could withstand the Deceitful Shadow’s Impact.

As long as its speed decreased, Gu Xi could get a shot in, using the Bone-breaking Wooden Rod to break one of its legs.

Then it would be a classic Boss fight; though losses were significant, with 111 Skeletons still on his side, Gu Xi believed there was no reason they couldn’t defeat one Deceitful Shadow.