Real Mount and Blade Game

"etc?!"

Eleanor, standing on the city wall, instantly recognized the target that the scouts had highlighted during the day. His pupils constricted sharply: "It's those strange skeletal cavalrymen that were reported during the day! They... they're lurking at such close range!"

These skeleton riders appeared as soon as night fell.

Doesn't that mean the other party is targeting me?
"Form ranks! Guns cocked!!" Eleanor's voice, like an arrow piercing the air, delivered a clear command.

The piercing sound of alarm gongs echoed urgently over the castle.

Outside the city, a squad of experienced Khergit horse archers positioned nearby by Bestur also heard the alarm.

The squad leader in charge of patrolling the area was a trusted confidant of Bestur, a fierce rider with a scar on his face.

A fierce glint flashed across his face as he roared, "Target! Backup brothers! Slaughter these bone fragments! Sound the horn! Khergit warriors, charge with me!"

He spurred his horse and led his dozen or so men, galloping like arrows towards the sand dunes.

On the sand dunes, two fleeing Khergit horse archers looked panicked.

They felt the bone-chilling killing intent and the rapidly approaching wind behind them.

In desperation, the last horse archer suddenly twisted around and tried to draw his sturdy nomadic bow—*thud!*
A sickeningly loud, muffled thud!

The cavalryman wielding the enormous bone blade took the lead, his skeletal warhorse moving with ghostly speed!

It raised its terrifying, fang-like bone blade high, and with a shrill whistling sound that tore through the air, it transformed into a pale white blade of light, slashing diagonally from the upper right to the lower left!

The tough leather armor was easily cut through like paper!

The rear half of the warhorse's hips was also cut open!

And the rider's entire right shoulder and half of his arm!
Large swaths of scalding crimson blood rained down like fountains onto the cold sand. Warhorses and riders collapsed with desperate screams, instantly swallowed by the sea of ​​skeletons behind them.

Another mounted archer, witnessing the tragic fate of his comrade, was filled with rage and despair. He only had time to fire an arrow, its angle twisted by despair, at another bone-armored cavalryman charging from behind the bone-bladed cavalryman!
Ding!
The arrowhead struck the bone-armored cavalryman's breastplate, which was covered with hideous bone fragments, and was easily deflected!

The remaining rusty spears and scimitars, imbued with a strong aura of death, intertwined to form an inescapable net of death, completely engulfing him!
Another short, painful scream abruptly ended.

Two outstanding bandits from the Kujit grasslands vanished in the blink of an eye, like raindrops thrown into a sea of ​​sand.

On the city wall, Shen Mu's eyes were icy cold.

The Khergits' pride in their speed and agility proved so fragile and powerless against the undead's eerie stealth, sudden attacks, and tireless, fearless mobility!

"Fire the arrows!!" Bestur's rough and furious roar rang out outside the east gate of New Rivadin, which had just been hastily opened.

The reinforcement squad he personally led finally arrived at the edge of firing range!

Without any hesitation, led by Bestur, the remaining bandits of the Kujit steppe suddenly reined in their horses and turned around, almost standing upright, and drew their bows towards the distant horde of undead!

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
The sound of arrows piercing the air was dense, like raindrops falling, covering the area where the skeleton infantry were most concentrated.

The arrow strikes were indeed effective!

Ordinary skeleton infantrymen were hit in the leg bones, arm bones, and even skulls by powerful horse archers, their fragile bones shattering and bringing down more than a dozen skeletons on the spot.

The sharp sound of bones cracking was particularly jarring in the night wind.

However, that's about all the effect it has.

However, the effect was greatly reduced when facing those strangely equipped bone armor cavalry!
When most of the arrows struck their dark, twisted bone armor, they only produced a series of dull "clanging" sounds before being deflected!

Only one or two arrows, pierced by a tricky angle, managed to strike the cartilage at the seams of the bone armor or the exposed leg joints of the skeletal warhorses. However, these only caused a momentary slowing and swaying of their movements, and the eerie green soul fire in their eye sockets flickered violently, but their speed was hardly affected in any substantial way!

The undead army's objective is exceptionally clear!
More than fifty skeleton infantrymen, like solid meat shields, ignored their fallen comrades and the slight obstruction brought by the sparse rain of arrows, firmly protecting the five elite bone armor cavalrymen at the core.

Like a swarm of evil spirits that have caught the scent of freshest flesh and blood, they ignored the attacks of Bestur's squad and did not slow down at all.

With unstoppable momentum, they rushed straight toward the newly opened but not yet fully closed east gate of New Rivadin!

Deep within the hollow eye sockets of the skull, eerie green soul fire remained firmly locked onto the open city gate and the few Khergits rushing out to offer assistance, as if it were certain that this was the ultimate source where all living souls converged.

Bestur and his men also realized the intentions of the undead legion, and without hesitation, they turned their horses around and rushed towards the city gate.

After all, they were light cavalry, and they could move very fast.

The previous bandits were killed because they charged forward and didn't react immediately when they first saw the skeleton cavalry. They were caught up by the sudden burst of speed and killed because they were relaxed.

If it were a real speed contest, these light cavalry could indeed escape as quickly as rabbits.

After all, the grassland bandits were essentially the most agile light cavalry.

So, under Bestur's orders, they left the undead troops, a mix of infantry and cavalry, far behind and rushed into the city gate.

"Close the city gates! Charge forward!"

Then, Rezarit's calm and powerful command rang out from the city wall, carrying an unquestionable calmness.

The soldiers operating the winches roared as they strained, and the heavy city gate creaked and groaned as it slammed shut inwards. Inside the gate, several Swadian infantrymen and light infantrymen gritted their teeth and exerted all their strength, pushing the heavy wooden spiked chevaux-de-frise into position at the gate with a thunderous crash!
This means that the new Rivadin is now completely safe.

Once inside the city gate, Bestur spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. His coarse cloth shirt under his armor was soaked with sweat, mixed with sand and a very faint, non-living burnt smell.

But Bestur did not hesitate.

He strode up to the main tower of New Rivadin, his usual arrogance replaced by a rare solemnity and frustration.

Behind him were several equally disheveled bandits from the grasslands. Although their eyes were fierce, they could not hide the shock of surviving a calamity.

“My lord!” Bestur’s rough voice broke the stagnant air on the city wall. He bowed with his hand on his chest, his movements still carrying the fierceness of a Khergit, but his tone was unusually heavy: “These bone scum… weird! Fuck weird!”

Shen Mu had his back to him, his gaze still fixed on the dark sand sea outside the city that was gradually returning to deathly silence, and the spot where his two comrades had disappeared in the distance. His ice-sculpted profile was obscured by the flickering torchlight, and only in the depths of his eyes did the darkest ice seem to be solidifying.

"Speak." Shen Mu's voice was completely calm, yet it carried an invisible pressure that made the other generals on the city wall hold their breath.

“Those skeleton cavalry… speed! Power!” Bestur gritted his teeth, trying to describe it in the most intuitive way a Khergit could: “Normally, those bone horses are slower than our trained warhorses, at most they can wear down their opponents by not knowing fatigue, but just now… just before they caught up with Amutu…”

He took a deep breath, his face showing a mixture of anger and a barely perceptible look of surprise: "I saw it with my own eyes! Right after the little green flame in their bone eye sockets suddenly contracted, a... a... black light, like ink splashed into water, but faster! It burst out of them in a flash! It was incredibly fast, just for a short while!"

His deputy nodded vigorously in agreement, adding in a heavily accented Mandarin with a heavy nomadic accent, "Yes! Sir! The moment that black light appeared, those five skeletal cavalrymen, and the skeletal frames of their broken horses, looked like their backsides were on fire! Damn, their speed more than doubled! I've never seen skeletons run that fast! It's scarier than the wildest charge of the wildest horses on the grasslands! Brother Amutu was caught completely off guard..."

“Power too!” Bestur interrupted, pointing to a shallow, fresh cut on his arm from bone fragments—a mark left when he parried a passing bone spear with his scimitar in a moment of panic. “When that black light possessed them, the force of the bone blades they swung out! It made my hand go numb! It was at least twice as strong as when they charged at me! I almost dropped my blade! And killing Amutu with those bone blades was even more incredible; it felt like it could cleave a city gate in two!”

Power amplification...speed multiplication...a burst of black light...

These words, like cold steel needles, pierced precisely into the core of Shen Mu's mind.

His pupils contracted very slightly.

The scene described by Bestur stirred up a memory deep within him that was both familiar and strange.

He had witnessed this special light-emitting power before.

As he spoke, he also gained control of the power within the swamp.

Although the form and essence may differ due to the different radiance, the pattern of "instantly drawing upon some kind of primordial energy to attach to oneself and unleash power far exceeding the norm" is remarkably similar!
This is not a simple necromancy enhancement, nor is it an inherent ability of skeletal creatures.

This is magic!

A kind of extraordinary power that, when applied to undead creatures, can instantly and dramatically enhance their basic physical abilities!
“Signs of extraordinary power.” Shen Mu uttered these words slowly and clearly, as if they had solidified into ice crystals in the cold air, falling into everyone’s ears.

Rezarit's grip on the sword hilt tightened abruptly: "Spell amplification? These low-level undead skeletons can also withstand spells?"

Elaine's expression was grave: "A new undead army... a new enemy."

Shen Mu did not deny Elaine's intuition, but his voice became even colder, with a sharpness that dissected the essence: "It seems so."

He turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over Bestur and the group of shaken mounted archers: "Their objective was clear. They sacrificed a large number of low-level skeletons for cover, just to allow these five elites to use their extraordinary bursts to break through the city gate and create chaos. If the city gate hadn't been closed in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

This analysis sent a chill down everyone's spines.

The enemy not only possesses unimaginable mobile elites, but also precise and ruthless tactical minds!
Bestur rubbed his face hard: "Next time I see that black light appear, my men will stay far away! But their arrows... are too ineffective against that skeleton!"

“Their core lies in their bone armor,” Rezarit concluded immediately. “Ordinary arrows and slashes are insufficient to penetrate their defenses; only blunt force or greater penetrating power is required.”

Eleanor looked at the Vikya archers below the city wall: "Our elite archers, using heavier armor-piercing arrows, might have a chance if they focus their fire on the joints."

Shen Mu's gaze returned to the darkness outside the city: "They won't give up. Tonight is just a test."

His instructions were cold and clear:
"Transmit my orders: raise the alert level of all city wall sentry posts to the highest level, set up hidden sentries 500 meters outside the city, connect the warning line with steel bells, and reinforce the east gate! Install a second simple iron fence on the inside, dig horse traps in front of the city gate and bury barbs."

"All Vaegir archers and heavy crossbowmen, receive armor-piercing spiked arrows. And order Deherem to summon a contingent of Swadian soldiers!"

"Bestur, have your scouts expand their reconnaissance range, paying particular attention to any unusual energy fluctuations. If any signs are detected, send a message immediately and retreat at any cost."

Shen Mu's voice was resolute and left no room for doubt: "We will make these new undead legions crash into the anvil that Deherim has prepared for them. The next time they try to use it to advance, they will have to pay the price... the cost of shattered bone armor."

The crowd responded in unison, and a chilling atmosphere filled the city walls.

A fire reignited in Bestur's eyes, a bloodthirsty anticipation of an impending, more brutal clash.

Only Shen Mu's eyes held an even deeper, cold darkness, as if silently deciphering the malice and hidden rules from the deeper realm of the spirit world represented by the black light of the dead.

The night grew even darker.

The cold wind swept across the sand dunes like the wailing of the dead, foreshadowing the next clash brewing in the darkness.

Shen Mu stood atop the city gate, watching the retreating skeleton cavalry outside the walls of Wading and the skeleton infantry around him. His expression grew increasingly grave: "How interesting. I thought I had Longcheng completely under my control, but unexpectedly, a new enemy has appeared. This is truly a bit of a headache for me."

Despite saying that, Shen Mu's face showed no fear or distress, only a cold expression.

It must be said that Shen Mu really enjoys this kind of challenge.

Now, a new challenge has arrived for Shen Mu. Leading an even stronger force of Deherim to meet this challenge is a rather pleasant prospect. (End of Chapter)