Chapter 50 - 32: Skeleton Horde

The group quickly approached the altar, the ground around it densely littered with white bones.

CLACK~ CLACK~

As they neared the alert range, a grating sound of bone on bone arose. Amidst a faint purple glow, all the surrounding skeletons stood up, leaving only a few scattered bones on the ground.

Five hundred skeletons might not sound like a lot, but gathered together, they formed a vast, white mass—an incredibly intimidating sight.

"Rock Druid, go. Test their attack power first."

Kirkland’s voice called out from a distance.

A huge brown bear strode forward, its body enveloped in an earthen-yellow light that greatly boosted its Defense Power.

The horde of skeletons naturally swarmed it. The few closest to the brown bear raised their decayed scimitars and, with a WHOOSH, slashed down at it.

The brown bear was unfazed. The earthen-yellow light around it flared brighter as it rose onto its hind legs, raised a massive paw, and slammed it down.

’According to the advance scouts’ report, these skeletons have low attack and defense stats, and not much health either.’

It had no fear of the impending attack, imagining the scene of a single swipe sending a pile of skeletons crumbling to dust.

The massive paw struck the skeleton’s skull first. Then, the brown bear’s expression changed. It felt as if it hadn’t struck a fragile bone, but a hard stone—and no ordinary stone at that.

’With its transformed strength and defense, it could normally crush a boulder to dust with ease.’

But now, when its paw struck this skeleton’s head, the skull didn’t shatter. Instead, it felt like being pierced by needles as sharp points dug deep into its paw.

’Shit, its Defense Power is this high??’

The brown bear cursed inwardly, lamenting how wildly inaccurate the scouts’ information was.

The next moment, it changed its downward strike to a grip, seized the skeleton’s head, and, using all its might, performed a sweeping motion, intending to knock away the other skeletons lunging at it.

’If their Defense Power is this strong, their attack power can’t be weak either.’ A sliver of doubt crept into the brown bear’s mind about whether it could withstand the coming blows.

Although the skeletons’ defense was far beyond the brown bear’s expectations, they were thankfully very light. Under its immense strength, they were easily sent flying.

Finally, just before the skeleton in its grasp could strike, the bear hurled it into the distance.

Only then did the brown bear breathe a sigh of relief and prepare to return and report the skeletons’ abnormal properties.

"Watch out!"

A comrade’s panicked shout came from behind.

The brown bear’s expression changed. It frantically looked around and spotted a short skeleton raising a small knife to strike at its belly.

It was too late to dodge. The brown bear frantically channeled its energy to its abdomen, where the earthen-yellow light coalesced into a shield.

SHLK~

A faint tearing sound echoed, as soft and almost inaudible as the rustle of leaves in the wind.

But to the brown bear, the sound was deafening. It couldn’t believe that all its concentrated energy couldn’t stop the small knife.

The small knife sliced through the earthen-yellow shield, leaving an incision as smooth as a mirror. The cut surface was tinged with a layer of purple, making it look strangely alluring.

The knife continued forward, soon making contact with the brown bear’s body. The tough hide it was so proud of was like tofu before the blade; it was sliced open with ease.

Just as the brown bear was about to be disemboweled, a flash of light shone, and the massive beast vanished. In its place stood a squirrel with a wounded abdomen.

It leaped into the air and, scrambling on all fours, scurried back to the main group in a flash.

The gap it left was instantly filled by a rhinoceros from the rear.

Having lost its target, the small skeleton’s knife struck the ground, instantly carving a fissure in the earth that was dozens of meters long and over ten centimeters wide.

"The fuck? I thought you said they couldn’t take a single hit? Is *that* what you call a single hit?"

Lin Yu stood in the distance. Chenxi had cast an Eagle Eye buff on him, and seeing this scene from so far away, he couldn’t help but curse loudly.

"My Lord, that was probably one of the skeleton’s skills," Chenxi speculated.

"Possibly. Let’s see how Kirkland responds."

By now, the squirrel had reverted to his human form. With the help of his surrounding companions, his wound began to heal.

This Druid was also a young man. He, too, saw the fissure in the ground, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.

Thankfully, he knew not only the brown bear transformation, but also a squirrel Transformation Technique, which had allowed him to avoid being gutted.

The primary skills of Shape-shifting Druids were still based on transforming into various animals, but every Druid had their own additional abilities. It wasn’t like an assembly line where everyone’s skills were exactly the same.

It was just that to obtain the Shape-shifting Druid title and receive the attribute bonuses, one had to learn the specific abilities required for that role.

For example, the Druid healing him now was not actually a Healing Druid, but a Fierce Raptor Druid, a type of Shape-shifting Druid. Of course, his healing wasn’t as strong as a true Healing Druid’s, but it was more than enough.

Once his wound was stabilized, he hurried to report his experience from the fight to Kirkland.

Even though he had witnessed the entire sequence of events, Kirkland fell silent after hearing the Rock Druid’s description.

He had been one of the initial scouts. Along with the others, he had easily defeated several skeletons. It had been effortless, nothing like the perilous situation this Rock Druid had just faced.

He thought for a moment but couldn’t figure out the reason. Finally, he transformed into a cheetah and reached the front line in a few leaps. He was still skeptical and prepared to test them again himself.

Ripples spread across the cheetah’s body, and within a few breaths, its figure vanished. It had turned invisible.

These skeletons seemed to have a strict territorial range. Although they had all been roused from their slumber by the Druids’ arrival, they wouldn’t attack as long as the Druids didn’t step within the altar’s range.

The invisible cheetah stealthily approached the skeleton horde. Even after stepping into their attack range, the skeletons did not attack.

’Whew... they haven’t spotted me.’

Kirkland breathed an inward sigh of relief.

Next, he raised his right paw. Golden light gathered, turning his claws a sharp, metallic gold. He began to build up energy; with the added defense-ignoring effect of an attack breaking stealth, he refused to believe he couldn’t take down this skeleton.

As if sensing something was amiss, the skeleton in front of him shifted uneasily, wanting to move. But it was surrounded by other skeletons and was blocked every time it tried to change its position.

When the golden light reached its peak, Kirkland aimed for the skeleton’s neck and struck with full force.

SCREEECH—

A harsh grinding sound erupted between his claws and the skeleton’s neck, sending sparks flying as if two pieces of metal were scraping together violently.

Kirkland gritted his teeth and put in more force. At last, his golden claws broke through the skeleton’s defense and sliced through its neck, sending the skull tumbling to the ground.

Kirkland was visible now. He hurriedly snatched up the skull in his jaws, swiftly dodged the attacks from the surrounding skeletons, and with a few nimble leaps, returned to the Druids’ position.