Chapter 53 – Skeleton Warriors

Cheng Yang’s team consisted of the first batch of people who had undergone their class transitions. After several days of battles, their combat awareness had gradually developed. Although there was still a significant gap compared to Cheng Yang himself, they were no longer the greenhorns they once were.

Niu Bing immediately summoned his Shadow Wolf, which recklessly charged into the skeleton horde. The wolf, as if pumped with adrenaline, frenziedly tore through the surrounding skeletons. Thanks to the Summoner’s attack bonus, each of its strikes instantly killed a skeleton, making it a force to be reckoned with.

The skeleton horde, disrupted by the sudden intrusion of the Shadow Wolf, shifted their focus onto it, momentarily forgetting their charge forward.

Cheng Yang and the others didn’t idle either. The five ranged attackers acted like mobile turrets, raining down attacks on the skeletons. One by one, the skeletons crumbled into piles of bones.

Except for Cheng Yang, the other ranged attackers had limited mana. Even with mana-boosting equipment, they only had around forty points. After seven or eight rounds of intense shooting, they had to rely on ** to restore their mana. However, Cheng Yang had instructed them to stock up on mana potions before setting out, so they weren’t worried about running out.

The other ranged attackers continued their assault, though their damage paled in comparison to the five who benefited from the skill “Transplanting Flowers to Trees.” Once their mana was depleted, they opted to meditate for recovery rather than use potions.

Niu Bing’s first Shadow Wolf had already fallen, but before the skeletons could resume their charge, a second Shadow Wolf emerged. This one wasn’t summoned by Niu Bing, as his skill was still on cooldown.

This new Shadow Wolf wasn’t as formidable as the first. It failed to kill a single skeleton before succumbing to three rounds of attacks from four or five skeletons.

Fortunately, there were several Summoners in Cheng Yang’s team. Before the second Shadow Wolf died, the next one was already prepared.

“Leader, isn’t this battle a bit too easy?” Niu Bing, feeling bored, couldn’t help but complain.

Cheng Yang replied, “Don’t celebrate too soon. You’ll be crying later.”

Twenty seconds later, over a hundred skeletons were reduced to bones, and the battle ceased. It was fortunate that the battle ended when it did; otherwise, with the last Shadow Wolf dead, the warriors would have had to step up.

“Is it over already?” Liu Hao said in disbelief. “I haven’t even had a chance to fight!”

Liu Hao, being a warrior, had been sidelined throughout the battle.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance. This is just the first wave of monsters,” Cheng Yang assured him.

Sure enough, after about half a minute, the ground trembled again about seventy to eighty meters ahead, and a new wave of nearly two hundred skeletons charged forward.

“Attack!” Cheng Yang shouted, signaling the start of another battle.

Niu Bing’s Shadow Wolf was summoned again, but this time it didn’t last long. After killing two small skeletons, it was taken down by two rounds of attacks from four skeletons.

“There’s a mid-tier monster in there. Be careful,” Niu Bing warned. He knew his Shadow Wolf well; for it to be taken down in just two rounds, there had to be more than just ordinary skeletons.

“Old Yu, focus fire on that dark gray skeleton,” Cheng Yang quickly ordered, then waved his staff, sending a magic missile straight at the dark gray skeleton in the horde.

The magic missile hit its mark, but the dark gray skeleton didn’t crumble. Instead, a faint green light flickered in its hollow eye sockets as it prepared to attack the next Shadow Wolf.

However, Yu Kai’s attack followed immediately, an arrow piercing the skeleton’s skull. The green light in its eyes vanished, and its body collapsed into a pile of bones.

With the mid-tier monster gone, the rest of the battle became much easier.

But since Niu Bing’s Shadow Wolf didn’t last long and the skeleton horde was larger this time, the warriors had to step in once all the Shadow Wolves were dead.

This battle lasted about a minute, and all the skeletons were eventually wiped out.

The seven warriors on the front lines were all injured, though none seriously. Otherwise, they would have needed to use health potions to recover.

As soon as this battle ended, the ground trembled again in the distance, and the bones began to reassemble.

“Damn it, is this ever going to end?” Yu Kai cursed. He had planned to meditate to recover his mana, but now he had to stand up again and drink a mana potion.

Cheng Yang, preparing for the next battle, said, “It seems the monsters appear every minute. I just don’t know how many waves there are… Be careful, this time we might face more than one skeleton leader.”

Cheng Yang was referring to the mid-tier skeleton they had just faced, which had a specific name: Skeleton Warrior.

This statement shocked everyone. They looked ahead and saw two skeletons with different colors from the rest, identical to the one Cheng Yang and Yu Kai had just killed.

Having learned from the previous encounter, they were prepared this time and wouldn’t let the same thing happen again.

Cheng Yang and the other four high-damage ranged attackers unleashed their power. The two Skeleton Warriors had just entered their range when they were instantly taken down, collapsing into ordinary piles of bones.

This skeleton horde was even larger, numbering around two hundred and fifty.

Facing such numbers, relying on one or two Shadow Wolves to hold them off was impossible. Cheng Yang had no choice but to order the team to tighten their formation, with all the warriors and Shadow Wolves forming a defensive circle to hold off the enemy.

With the rear secured, Cheng Yang and the others launched a frenzied attack.

After several intense battles, over two hundred skeletons were defeated, and the only cost to Cheng Yang’s team was some mana potions. In this regard, humans had a significant advantage. Without potions, even a single demon beast would be a challenge for a warrior of similar strength. But with **, thirty people could easily take down over two hundred demon beasts. While Cheng Yang and his five companions played a crucial role, the effectiveness of the potions couldn’t be denied.

“Leader, there’s not going to be another wave, is there?” Liu Hao collapsed to the ground, groaning.

Cheng Yang smiled and said, “Didn’t you say you hadn’t had a chance to fight yet?”

Liu Hao replied bitterly, “I was just talking nonsense. I’ve been on the front lines the whole time. This high-intensity battle is draining my stamina.”

Cheng Yang looked ahead and said, “Your jinx is quite accurate. There is indeed another wave.”

Liu Hao looked up and saw the bones on the ground beginning to move frantically again, forming into skeletons that quickly arranged themselves into a neat formation, exuding a battlefield’s killing intent.

“What kind of big shot are we facing this time?” Yu Kai, seeing the scene, immediately sensed something was wrong.

Cheng Yang said, “You guessed right. This time, there’s a late-tier Skeleton Hero in the horde, along with three mid-tier Skeleton Warriors.”

Yu Kai and the others’ expressions changed. “How do we handle this?”

Cheng Yang replied, “First, take down the Skeleton Hero. It has about 120 health points. If the three of us focus fire, we should be able to take it out. The other two can focus on the Skeleton Warriors, leaving only two of them. The skeletons aren’t fast, so we should have time for one more attack before they reach us. After that, it’ll be a tough fight. There are about three hundred skeletons, and we’ll have to rely on the warriors to hold them off.”

“That’s the only way,” Liu Hao said, lifting his shield. “Warriors, we can hold off the skeleton horde, right?”

“Right!” all the warriors shouted in unison.

At that moment, the skeleton army in the distance had finished assembling. A black bone sword rose from the horde, and the entire skeleton army charged toward Cheng Yang and his team.

“Attack!” Cheng Yang and the two other mages simultaneously launched magic missiles at the pitch-black Skeleton Hero. Meanwhile, the other two ranged attackers targeted another Skeleton Warrior.

Everyone hoped these two big threats would be taken down quickly. But when Cheng Yang and the others’ attacks hit the Skeleton Hero, a gray light enveloped it, instantly absorbing the three magic missiles.

After the attacks dissipated, the Skeleton Hero stood unharmed. The Skeleton Warrior they had targeted, however, crumbled instantly.

The warriors behind them were stunned. What was going on? Was this thing immune to attacks?

Cheng Yang’s expression also changed. Although he had faced this dungeon before, back then they were already at late-tier strength. A barrage of attacks would have taken down the Skeleton Hero before it could react. It had never been this leisurely in continuing its charge.

But Cheng Yang was experienced. Seeing the skeleton horde advancing another ten meters, he decisively shouted, “Keep attacking!” He launched another magic missile, and the other two mages followed suit, sending two more missiles flying.

“Thud… thud, thud…” Three consecutive muffled sounds later, the Skeleton Hero finally collapsed.

By then, the other two ranged attackers had taken down another Skeleton Warrior.

But after this round of attacks, the skeleton horde’s vanguard had reached Cheng Yang’s warriors, and a fierce battle erupted.

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