Chapter 14: The First Trump Card

At dusk, Far Mountain Pass, under a gentle hillside.

The members of the crusade team gathered here, quietly waiting for the battle to begin.

After two days of trekking, the faces of the adventurers from both the main and support groups showed traces of fatigue.

But this did not affect their determination to kill the Corpse Demon!

Taking advantage of the extremely slow climbing speed of the skeleton soldiers, they were led by the scout team, taking a shortcut and finally reached this low mountain area.

This was the westernmost point of the southern mine.

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Going further west, there would be the [Bone Burial Ground] where ghosts and undead monsters were rampant and the [Dragon Slaying Mountain Range] where monsters thrived.

Those were places where even 2nd circle adventurers would be discouraged from approaching.

“Based on the current estimation, the number of skeleton soldiers is about 150, and the number of ghost guards is 17.”

“According to the plan mentioned before, the support team is responsible for containing some skeleton soldiers, but don’t get close to the ghost guard! Those monsters shall be handed over to the main forces to be dealt with, understand?”

“The task of dividing the battlefield will be left to the Hawken brothers. No need to save on the scrolls. Compared to the success of our crusade, scrolls are insignificant…”

“After the Hawken brothers take action, we will execute the decapitation plan. Roger, I, and Uncle Terry – we will deal with the Corpse Demon and the bodyguard beside him that seems like a suture monster as quickly as possible.”

“Once the Corpse Demon dies, the Skeleton Army will be nothing to fear!”

…

Dorothy was still repeatedly confirming the battle plan with the members of the crusade team.

Although it was the third time in an hour, no one looked impatient.

If you want to survive on this land, just being cautious was not enough——

You must be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious!

Roger did not relax either.

He was putting holy water on the arrowhead of White Feather Arrow conscientiously.

This time, he was responsible for the decapitation of the Corpse Demon.

He was mainly responsible for long-range fire cover, clearing obstacles for Dorothy and Terry who were in charge of the advance.

This was not difficult for him.

In theory, since there were two 2nd circle adventurers, Dorothy and Terry, teaming up, the success rate of killing the Corpse Demon was very high.

But Roger knew very well that there was often a big gap between theory and reality.

He must do all the preparations.

Accidents might happen.

And quite often, at that.

He couldn’t help but glance at the dark clouds in the sky again.

…

“They’re coming!”

The vanguard group sent out a signal.

Everyone adjusted their breathing, going to their positions with excitement written all over their expressions.

Because of the existence of ghost guards, any raiding methods that were too concealed were doomed to fail.

Roger climbed to the top of the mountain and locked the ghost guards in the vanguard troop with his Qi Divination Technique.

He was silently calculating the enemy’s detection range.

In the narrow pass, the figures of the skeleton soldiers became clearer and clearer.

“Now!”

Roger shouted behind him.

Dorothy was holding a sword in her right hand, and a small round shield in her left hand, and in a hoarse voice she gave the order, “Do it!”

The girl in chestnut leather armor, carrying the anger that was caused by the death of her brother, took the lead and charged.

The rest followed.

…

But Roger was not impulsive.

He stepped down from the heights methodically and slowly approached the enemy along the mountain.

The raid of the crusade team seemed to be completely beyond the expectations of the Corpse Demon.

Facing the attack of the adventurers, the skeleton soldiers had no idea how to deal with it.

The phalanx of skeleton soldiers became a mess from within.

Hoo!

Hoo!

Two consecutive thick walls of fire rose from within the phalanx, successfully dividing the enemy into two pieces.

And that was the reason why they chose to attack here——

The terrain in the pass was narrow, and two walls of fire were enough to complete the task of cutting the enemy formation.

Roger glanced back.

The Hawken brothers’ expressions were very excited.

They were one of the few mage apprentices in Tongma Town, and the only spells they mastered were [Rapid Fire Ball] and [Mage’s Hand] etc.

For 2nd circle spells like [Wall of Fire], they could only perform them with the use of the power from the spell guide scrolls.

The value of each Spell Guide Scroll was above 200 copper orders.

Fortunately, these scrolls were provided by the lord’s mansion. Otherwise, they would go bankrupt after this battle.

…

Under the cover of the wall of fire, the adventurers wiped out the skeleton soldiers guarding the periphery of the suture monster.

Occasionally, a powerful monster would obstruct them, but it was soon sent away by Roger with a few sudden arrows.

It didn’t take long for Dorothy and Terry to successfully clear their paths to the suture monster.

Then they started a violent fight with the suture monster.

This monster had a very tenacious vitality, and ordinary weapons would have no effect on it.

Fortunately, there was holy water.

Relying on the weakening effect that the holy water had against the undead creatures, Dorothy finally successfully pierced the heart of the suture monster with a sword.

After a loud boom, the bloated monster suddenly fell and lost its ability to move.

Its body was still twitching, showing its amazing vitality.

“Where is the Corpse Demon?”

After knocking down the suture monster, Dorothy looked around nervously.

Swoosh!

Among the chaos, a white feather arrow pointed the direction for her.

Not far away, the crippled skeleton soldier was still standing upright though stabbed with numerous arrows, and he was making an evil buzzing sound.

It seemed to be planning for escape.

Dorothy’s eyes turned red instantly.

She threw away the small round shield in her hand, suddenly grabbed the blade with her left hand, and swiped against the edge lightly, and her blood immediately flowed out.

The anger in her eyes was so dense that it seemed to be taking a physical form, and her mouth was mumbling some short phrases.

On the blade’s edges, the blood flowed upwards along the blade, condensing into a crystal-clear sword’s edge.

The tip of the sword shimmered, making it look mysterious and unpredictable.

“Monster, die!”

Dorothy rushed over, the long sword in her hand slashing and stabbing, directly cutting the crippled skeleton soldier into crumbs.

But soon, she realized something was wrong.

“No! It’s not the Corpse Demon.”

Dorothy squatted down and touched the crumbs, and she immediately felt a piece of parchment.

There were some fuzzy lavender lines on the parchment.

“[Body Double Magic Pattern]?”

Terry, who stood next to her, gritted his teeth and looked around anxiously, “How can the Corpse Demon learn the secret technique of the Magic Pattern Field?”

No one could answer his doubts.

All the skeleton soldiers who previously seemed weak and easily bullied suddenly fought back fiercely and launched a powerful counterattack against the adventurers who burst into the battle!

“Hee hee…”

At this moment, a wretched voice came from all directions, “The crusade team in Tongma Town? Ha! What a naive joke.”

“I hope you wouldn’t mind having my subordinates playing with you?”

Just as the voice fell, a rumbling sound came from under the earth.

On the east side of the pass, a dark tunnel entrance appeared.

From deep in the tunnel, the angry roars of unknown creatures resonated.

Then, a large number of skeleton soldiers emerged from the tunnel!

These skeleton soldiers were densely packed.

In terms of quantity, they were more numerous than those already in the valley!

“Damn it, it’s a trap.”

Terry’s face turned grave.

But he still tried his best to gather the members of the crusade team among the chaos.

…

“This feels more right!”

Roger on the hillside showed joy instead.

In his opinion, if the Corpse Demon was really so easy to kill, then something would be very wrong.

After all, he knew Kane’s strength very well.

This monster, whether in terms of cunningness or true strength, should far exceed the imagination of everyone in the crusade team!

And now it seemed that the [Body Double Magic Pattern] was the first trump card of Corpse Demon.

But he didn’t know if there would be a second, third or even fourth one!

Facing the menacing skeleton soldiers, the morale of the crusade team was a bit low.

They didn’t even know where the Corpse Demon was hiding.

Just when everyone was a little helpless, Roger finally moved!

He took off his cloak and removed most of his equipment.

Then, alone, he blatantly charged towards the Skeleton Army with more than 200 soldiers!

…