Chapter 31 – The Might of the Undead General

Mu Yuan had naturally informed the Undead General about the gargoyles long ago—he was the only one in the entire territory with whom he could hold a normal conversation.

His reasoning was simple: if Deadbone believed they could be defeated, the risks were likely within acceptable limits.

Now that Deadbone possessed the Undead Resurrection skill, the subjugation would indeed be more secure.

If nothing else, they could use Bone Two as bait to draw enemy fire… Even if it accidentally fell in battle, it could always be resurrected.

Of course, Mu Yuan wasn’t some devil; if possible, he still wanted to try and save Bone Two.

…

Half an hour later, after meticulous preparations, Mu Yuan had led Deadbone, Bone Two, nine other Skeleton Soldiers, and several newly evolved Large Slimes—intended as meat shields for critical moments—to a spot several hundred meters away from the Ruined Tower.

Hidden in the dense jungle, Mu Yuan continuously switched perspectives using one old and one new War Falcon, observing carefully.

The gargoyles appeared to be in a deep slumber.

However, it was likely that if any one of them was attacked, the others would awaken simultaneously.

As he pondered, Mu Yuan slowly advanced under Deadbone’s protection. Before officially launching the assault, he needed to make one final confirmation.

He needed to determine the Rank of these gargoyles.

Using the innate player ability to appraise at a glance.

Even though he was 99% certain these gargoyles were far from Professional Tier.

…

The monster information appraisal ability innate to players provided significant convenience during early exploration.

However, it seemed incapable of appraising monsters with excessively high energy levels—i.e., those with overly high Ranks—and it also couldn’t appraise units under the command of other players.

It was only useful in the early stages.

It helped players gauge enemy strength, preventing them from charging headlong into battles against clearly superior foes.

In the Late Stage, one would need to rely on paid items.

Musing over this, Mu Yuan finally crept close enough. Squinting at the slumbering gargoyles, he made his move.

Select, observe!

In an instant,

「Gargoyle (Rare★): Tier Zero, Rank 6.」

「Gargoyle (Rare★): Tier Zero, Rank 5.」

「Note: Originally a ??-Rank Gargoyle, but after ages, its energy has depleted, causing its Rank to continuously fall, reduced to a Gargoyle · Chibi Version.」

That’s it? That’s it?

At least half of the gargoyles had Ranks lower than Deadbone’s!

Accustomed to fighting above his level, Mu Yuan felt somewhat unaccustomed facing enemies with both Ranks and tiers lower than Deadbone’s.

Of course, no matter how weak the enemy, one shouldn’t act recklessly. Besides, the eight gargoyles before him weren’t weak.

They were Rare-tier units.

They could also fly.

If they were to face the previous Goblin Camp, they could annihilate dozens of goblins in moments.

It wasn’t that they were weak; it was just that they weren’t as strong as Deadbone.

Yet, aside from Deadbone, among the other units, only Bone Two could prevail in a one-on-one fight.

“Gargoyles are characterized by extremely high defense, especially magic resistance, and they can fly.”

“Fortunately, both Deadbone and Bone Two possess ranged attack capabilities, and since gargoyles are melee units, in a real fight, Bone Three Bone Four and the other skeletons could also step up and land a few saber strikes.”

…

Before the battle began, Mu Yuan slowly retreated again, moving back beyond a kilometer, to a place where the Ruined Tower was no longer visible.Beside him were two Skeleton Soldiers and the massive meat shield, Dolai.

Especially the latter, with its round, enormous bulk, gave Mu Yuan an extremely solid sense of security.

Unable to see the battlefield, Mu Yuan wasn’t worried. Two War Falcons were lurking in the distance, constantly live-streaming the battlefield situation to him.

He didn’t need to worry about commanding either.

Although Mu Yuan possessed exquisite micro-control skills, adept at moving Skeleton Soldiers thirty centimeters to the left, he was still limited by the computer interface and the Skeleton Soldiers’ intelligence. When it came to real-time command, he was slightly inferior to Deadbone, who was physically present on the battlefield.

So he left it entirely to Deadbone.

In the distance, Deadbone and Bone Two were gesturing to each other.

Bone Two: GOGOGO, charge!

Deadbone: Charge your bony ass, stay put!

Deadbone didn’t bring anyone along, stealthily advancing alone to within a hundred meters of the Ruined Tower.

One after another, grotesque, detestable gargoyles—with nine thousand nine hundred reasons they deserved to die—clearly came into view within its eye sockets.

Slowly, Deadbone drew three Silver Javelins from its back. Energy surged along its arm bones, pouring into these three hard, incredibly sharp Bone Spears.

The Bone Spears, perfectly suited to it, began to hum and vibrate.

A terrifying Aura, as if dragging all enemies into the abyss, erupted from Deadbone, and the surrounding world seemed to sink into darkness.

At the same time, perhaps intimidated by the Aura, the eyes of several gargoyles nearby gradually lit up.

Dust cascaded from their bodies as they began to tremble, causing the ground to shake as if they would awaken at any moment.

But!

However!

The silver Bone Spears were hurled violently, piercing through the air like cannonballs, exploding in circles of white Qi waves and emitting a sharp, tearing shriek. In a thousandth of an instant, they slammed fiercely into a gargoyle that was about to awaken.

Shattering it… into pieces!

Boom—

The entire stone statue exploded, scattering gray-black debris, while a broken half of a stone wing tumbled endlessly in the dust before finally snapping apart.

This was not the end; it was only the beginning.

Without pausing, Deadbone, having thrown that terrifying spear, unleashed two more bursts of energy.

Triple Spear Throw!

Just as eight gargoyles were awakening from their slumber, three of them exploded, leaving not even a complete skeleton behind.

Their stone heads were utterly bewildered.

Where are my companions? Where are my so many companions? How did they vanish the moment I opened my eyes!

By then, the deafening roar had only just echoed into the distance, startling a flock of birds into flight.

…

A short while earlier,

To the south of the Ruined Tower, several thousand meters away, several players were riding dire wolves through the mountain forests, escorted by Lancers, archers, sentinels, Skeleton Soldiers, Great Goblins, and other units, killing the monsters that darted out from the woods.

“This location is already quite deep into the Wilderness. Are we almost there, boss?”

“Almost, almost. According to the map marker, the target Mage Tower is just ahead… Though after all these years, the Mage Tower might not even exist, and we might come up empty-handed, but…

“But as long as there’s a sliver of possibility, it’s worth our effort.

“If we don’t strive, we’ll just waste half our lives like other players. Can you bear to catch a glimpse of the supernatural world but never find the way in?””If we don’t take risks, when will we ever reach Professional Tier? When will we get to personally experience the scenery of the Eternal World?

“As players from common backgrounds, we have no choice but to gamble! And this ancient map we stumbled upon is our best—perhaps only—chance to leap through the Dragon’s Gate!”

As long as it doesn’t kill you, push until you’re nearly dead!

The eyes of several players burned with fervent light.

They were veteran players who had been in the game for half a year, yet they were still small fry among the player base. They couldn’t even afford a single set of Breakthrough Materials.

They were tired of living like this.

They wanted to climb step by step, step by step until…

BOOM—!!!

A tremendous roar echoed from the distance, shaking the leaves into a rustling frenzy.

The veteran players were both startled and panicked. They had already left the borders of human nations and ventured deep into the Wilderness. Their greatest fear was encountering monsters they stood no chance against.

And now…

“It’s the rare unit—Gargoyles!”

A player who had inherited the Archer class, possessing exceptional eyesight, shouted, “And that direction… seems to be exactly where we’re headed?”

No sooner had he spoken than a silver-gray figure abruptly leaped into the air. A Greatsword drew a several-meter-long arc of black Sword light, slicing through the waist of a Gargoyle flying not far away.

The hard stone body cracked! Shattered! Then crumbled into dust!

Under that black Sword light symbolizing death, it was cleaved in two with a single strike!

BOOM—

Another explosive roar echoed from afar, assaulting the fragile nerves of the players.

They exchanged glances, their eyes meeting, wanting to speak but holding back, trembling uncontrollably.

Finally, the Archer player opened his mouth and said, “Boss, do we still go for it?”

“Hmph! Today, your boss will teach you the fourth lesson: when we common-born players encounter such unexpected situations…

“We still have to know when to back down.

“That’s called rationality.”

Beep beep beep, starting tomorrow, the update schedule will change. Updates at 11:30 AM, with two chapters released together for now. Tentatively set like this~

(End of Chapter)