As Chen Xu traversed nearly half of the snakemen's territory, the total number of his skeleton army reached 150,000.
When Chen Xu attempted to cast Raise Skeleton once more to generate more soldiers, a sharp sting pierced his mind, causing the skill to be interrupted mid-cast.
"Is this the limit?" Chen Xu rubbed his head, suddenly remembering that a Necromancer's summons have a cap related to their spirit attribute.
He had been churning out troops so relentlessly that he hadn't hit a bottleneck until now, which had made him forget about this restriction entirely.
"But I recall that an average Level 1 Necromancer can only handle a few hundred. I have 150,000 at Level 1. It seems that besides my talent and class, my personal attributes are also those of a one in a million genius!"
Unfortunately, personal attributes could only be viewed once a person reached Level 2.
Originally, there was no such restriction, but in the past, some humans had avoided entering dungeons entirely, relying solely on experience items to level up.
This had enraged the world's consciousness, which responded by stripping those individuals of their levels and classes.
At the same time, experience items and the attribute viewing function were locked until Level 2.
The scholars at the academy theorized that dungeon invasions were both a disaster for the world and an opportunity for its advancement, with humans being the chosen collaborators of the world's consciousness.
Humans gained extraordinary abilities and advanced their civilization through the world's consciousness, with the price being the conquest of dungeons to help the world ascend.
Those who only consumed the world's gifts without doing the work of clearing dungeons were naturally punished.
"Since I've reached the limit, I'll just head over to Bone Guard One. I can cast some curses and maybe level them up once or twice."
With that, he redirected his skeleton mount and headed toward Bone Guard One.
...
"Zhu Wuneng, I heard your territory was also hit by skeletons?" A bearmen clan leader, standing five meters tall and covered in black fur, patted Zhu Wuneng's shoulder. "Will this year's grain supply be affected?"
"Hmph, whether it is or not is none of your business," Zhu Wuneng snapped back.
"The Tiger Emperor has arrived!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
A young tigermen boy with a petite build and a youthful face took his seat on the throne.
"My dear subjects, the snakemen lands in the southeast have been swallowed by a skeleton calamity. Not a single soul remains in their territory."
"What! The snakemen... are all gone? Even if they were slaughtering pigs, they couldn't have killed hundreds of thousands that quickly!"
"You clumsy elephantmen, watch your mouth!"
The court fell into a chaotic din, filled with either shock or the fear of the unknown.
"Subjects!" The young emperor raised his voice and gestured for silence with a downward press of his hand.
"According to reports from the scouts sent by the Hawk General, the land of the snakemen has indeed been completely slaughtered. The skeleton calamity is now attacking the territories of the bullmen and ratmen. Their numbers are massive, reaching over a hundred thousand."
"The bullmen and ratmen have been forced to retreat to their capital cities, relying on siege weaponry to hold out, but it is estimated they won't last much longer."
"Chancellor Dog." The young emperor signaled to the dogmen chancellor.
The dogmen chancellor bowed slightly to the emperor. "Everyone, the origin of this skeleton calamity is unknown, but its progress is fierce. The bullmen and ratmen are in desperate need of support. I urge every race to send troops to assist them."
"Agreed!"
"Very well."
In the face of a natural disaster, even if the races were not of one mind, none of them wanted the tragedy of the snakemen to befall them.
...
【Raise Skeleton (Level 20): Summons a skeleton. If a corpse is consumed for the summoning, an extra bonus is granted based on the quality of the corpse. Current enhancements: Cold Enhancement. Current hero units: Bone Guard One (Level 9)】
【Raise Skeleton has reached Level 20. The 996 talent has triggered, granting the effect: Overtime Pay (Do you really not value your life? How long have you been working overtime?). Choose one of the following three enhancements.】
【Hardened Skin: Increases the defense of skeleton soldiers and grants immunity to some low level control skills.】
【Aura of Cold: Skeleton soldiers gain a chilling aura that periodically freezes nearby enemies. The closer the enemy, the higher the damage received.】
【Magic Resistance: Increases all resistances of skeleton soldiers.】
Raise Skeleton had finally reached Level 20, providing another opportunity for an attribute enhancement.
Hardened Skin and Magic Resistance were both defensive upgrades.
However, Chen Xu wasn't worried about the consumption of low level units like skeleton soldiers, so he chose 【Aura of Cold】.
Combined with the Cold Enhancement attribute, it would be ice upon ice, ensuring the enemy would be completely bogged down.
As soon as Chen Xu selected the enhancement, the power of the attribute surged through every skeleton soldier.
Outside the capital of the bullmen and ratmen, groups of skeletons had piled themselves against the walls to form ramps, allowing the soldiers behind them to rush up.
However, the bullmen, who were even taller than the pigmen, held massive shields and continuously swatted down the skeleton soldiers attempting to climb the walls.
Behind them, ratmen operated defensive siege engines, firing a continuous stream of giant bolts that slowed the momentum of the skeleton attack.
The battlefield had reached a stalemate, but suddenly, the power of the aura erupted from within the skeleton soldiers as the chilling halos expanded.
The bullmen soldiers on the walls were hit by the first wave of the impact. The power of the cold ignored their armor, directly eroding their bodies.
This caused the bullmen's movements to become sluggish.
The skeleton soldiers seized the opportunity and lunged forward. The bullmen, their reactions slowed by the frost, were easily bypassed and decapitated from behind.
As one skeleton soldier crested the wall, it was like a dam breaking; more and more skeleton soldiers shattered the defensive line.
Bone Guard One also sensed the power of the aura within the skeleton soldiers.
He immediately activated Vanguard's Courage, leading 9,000 commanded soldiers as they transformed into a heavy juggernaut once more, charging toward the bullmen's capital.
Instantly, the defensive line crumbled, and the bullmen's capital fell.
"Clan leader! This is bad! The walls... the walls have fallen!" A ratmen scout rushed into the central manor of the capital.
"What!" The ratmen clan leader and the bullmen clan leader both jumped up in shock.
They had originally planned for the ratmen to abandon their city so both races could defend the bullmen's capital together until reinforcements arrived.
They never expected it to be breached so soon.
"Those skeletons suddenly became much stronger! They even have something similar to the energy projection used by our generals. The surrounding clansmen were all affected by the invading cold!"
"Brother Rat, let's gather our elites and break through toward the imperial capital. We have to hope we can meet up with the reinforcements."
"Sigh, that is our only option," the ratmen leader lamented helplessly.
"Jiejiejie, I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere!" Bone Guard One's voice drifted in from the distance.
Before the two leaders could react, Bone Guard One charged into the manor, his shield instantly smashing the ratmen scout who had just delivered the news into pieces.
"A skeleton that can speak?" The bullmen leader grabbed a totem nearby, but even with a weapon in hand, he couldn't drive away the fear in his heart.
"You... you have intelligence! This isn't a punishment from heaven and earth!" The ratmen leader was equally terrified.
They had assumed this was a natural disaster, a punishment from the heavens, like a falling star, an earthquake, or a violent gale.
"I am Bone Guard One, the first general under the command of the great Lord of the Undead."
"Please, both of you, become a mere footnote on my epic path." After speaking, Bone Guard One raised his arm and delivered a Shield Bash, instantly stunning the bullmen leader.
Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the ratmen leader immediately leaped into the air, bursting through the roof to escape.
But just as he broke through and was still in mid-air, he heard the sound of something whistling through the wind behind him.
The ratmen leader looked back to see a ferocious blade, longer than his own height, flying toward him.
Even though the ratmen leader tried to dodge, Bone Guard One's blade was too long. At a terrifying speed, the ratmen leader was sliced in half, his body falling onto the roof.
The bullmen leader had just regained his senses and swung his totem at Bone Guard One.
Bone Guard One blocked the totem with his shield and thrust his right hand directly at the bullmen leader's throat.
Thud!
A layer of what looked like rocky earth covered the bullmen leader's body, blocking Bone Guard One's attack.
"The power of the earth... you bullmen truly are blessed by the gods."
Since the attack failed, Bone Guard One quickly retracted his hand and focused on defending against the bullman's berserk assault with his shield.
"Hmph, ignorant skeleton! This is my clan's ancestral Earth-Walking Heart Scripture, not some 'power of the earth' you speak of."
The bullmen leader pressed his advantage, swinging the totem like a violent storm against Bone Guard One.
Without his blade in hand, Bone Guard One couldn't break through the bullman's defense with just his skeletal claws.
Bone Guard One gripped his shield with both hands, and as the aura of Vanguard's Courage expanded, he forced his way through the bullmen leader's attacks to get close.
Then, with both hands on the shield, he delivered a Shield Bash, then another, and another, and another.
Outside, the skeleton soldiers had already fought their way into the city, and the aura of the undead permeated the air.
As the commander of the skeleton soldiers, Bone Guard One could recover energy from the deathly essence dissipated by his troops.
Ten Shield Bashes, twenty Shield Bashes... fifty Shield Bashes.
The bullmen leader was knocked back bit by bit until he was pinned against a wall.
Bone Guard One continued to use Shield Bash relentlessly, his massive bone shield slamming into every part of the bullman's body. The crowd control effect of the skill left the bullman unable to move.
Eventually, the totem was shattered, and the bullmen leader's body was beaten into a pulp, his breath fading away.
Rate on N.U.
