Real Mount and Blade Game

What's even more chilling is that within this rapidly spreading sea of ​​fog, countless twisted figures are coalescing and manifesting at an alarming speed!
Click! Click!
The decaying skeleton pierced through the constraints of the gray fog, and the broken bone fragments rubbed against each other and reassembled.

There were staggering zombies, their clothes tattered to shreds, their flesh withered and clinging to their skeletons, and their eyes flickering with a ghastly green ghostly fire; there were swift skeleton warriors wielding rusty swords, their ribs clad in tattered armor; and there were numerous black-armored skeleton cavalrymen whose upper bodies were visible in the mist—their skeletal warhorses were also clad in simple yet ferocious bone armor, and they gripped bone spears made from sharp leg bones!
The low growls of the dead, the grinding of bones, the deathly still clatter of hooves filled with the stench of decay... countless terrifying noises instantly shattered the tranquility of the desert.

The black mist surged, like a tide of death, carrying this army composed of endless bones and resentment forward!

"Oh no!" Batu exclaimed in horror, "The black mist is coming! They've broken out!"

The twenty veteran Khergit horse archers gasped for breath as the terrifying sight of countless undead swirling in the dark gray mist rushed towards them. As seasoned veterans, they instinctively reined in their horses, quickly creating distance between them.

But the gray fog quickly spread.

The sudden black mist, like a burst dam of death, swept in with the sickening crunch of bones and the howls of the undead. The twenty veteran Khergit horse archers who were retreating were the first to be hit!
"grown ups!"

The eyes of the five Holy Tree Knights suddenly sharpened like eagles. The leader knight once again placed his hand on his chest and pleaded for permission, his voice steady yet filled with an undeniable urgency: "Please allow us to attack, purify the filth in the mist, and bring them back!"

Bestur, standing beside Shen Mu, also had a solemn expression, but he did not eagerly request to fight like the Holy Tree Knight.

The fierce general of the steppe had his eyes fixed on the twenty men being licked by the edge of the black mist. Relying on his years of experience fighting alongside these steppe eagles and his absolute trust in their abilities, he suddenly waved his hand and said in a deep voice before Shen Mu could speak, "It's alright, our Kujit horse archers can hold their ground and come back!"

His voice was like a calming anchor, instantly silencing the slight commotion.

He stared intently at the figures that appeared and disappeared in the gray-black mist, yet maintained a tight formation: "Watch out! These Kujit bastards aren't so soft! Just don't let those dark things get close! Run, spread out, and those tattered misty fogs that look like bone fragments and foot bindings won't be able to catch them!"

As soon as Bestur's voice fell, as if to confirm his judgment, the situation changed abruptly!

The twenty experienced Khergit horse archers, shrouded in the shadows of the gray fog, showed no panic. Instead, they displayed astonishing teamwork, like a startled pack of wolves!

Faced with the surging gray fog and the undead army that was faintly visible within it, they did not blindly accelerate, but instead controlled their warhorses with extreme precision.

The fat and strong Kujit steppe horse beneath them let out a loud neigh, its thick neck raised high, and suddenly exerted force the moment the riders lightly tapped its belly with their ankles!

Despite being clad in lamellar armor, their heavy hooves kicked up clouds of dust on the soft sand, and their massive bodies lurched forward like arrows released from a bow!
The speed suddenly increased! Like twenty ochre-yellow lightning bolts!

Their superb horsemanship was on full display at this moment, controlling the horse and turning in one smooth motion.

With a nimble side slide, the entire team was torn apart from the edge of being swallowed by the giant mouth of gray mist, creating a crucial distance of more than ten steps between themselves and the surging death energy!
Moreover, this distance was slowly and steadily increasing under their precise control of the high-speed movement.

The gray fog's attacks were fruitless, swirling and tumbling futilely behind them like a raging beast being toyed with.

The zombies and skeleton infantry that materialized in the fog could only let out futile roars and were left far behind. Only the skeletal cavalry mounts, also shrouded in black fog, maintained their fierce charge, breaking through the fog barrier, their sharp bone spears pointing directly at the Khergit elite ahead!

Only then did Bestur turn his gaze from his temporarily safe subordinates to Shen Mu, his fighting spirit undiminished, but his tone carrying a hint of caution: "Lord! This black mist is very strange, who knows how many bone fragments have emerged from it! Should we investigate thoroughly and then retreat? Or... take advantage of these blind pursuers in front of us for a bit?"

He glanced at the thirty or forty black mist skeleton cavalrymen who had charged out of the gray mist, grinned, and revealed a bloodthirsty smile.

Shen Mu's gaze swept over the relentless, clinging Black Mist cavalry, his icy face devoid of any emotion. He merely nodded slightly, his voice calm yet carrying a metallic, decisive edge: "Since they've delivered themselves to our doorstep, let's accept them."

"Yes, sir!" Bestur's eyes flashed with ferocity as he abruptly turned his horse around and roared thunderously at the Khergit warriors behind him who were already poised to attack: "You bastards! Your chance to fly kites has come! Let these bone fragments taste our arrows! Shoot them—!"

"For the Khergit!!!"

The mounted archers, who had been holding back their anger, responded immediately!
The fifth-tier Kujit veteran horse archers, the fourth-tier ordinary horse archers, and even the fifteen grassland bandits who were shocked by the Holy Tree Knight and were now full of fighting spirit, all needed no further orders; their hunting instincts, ingrained in their bones, were instantly activated!

Dozens of elite mounted archers executed fluid, almost simultaneous movements. Turning their horses, they pressed their bodies against their backs as they galloped, forcefully twisting their waists to draw their compound bows to their full extent in an instant!
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!!"

A dense, rain-like sound of something tearing through the air ripped apart by the howls of the dead!

The Kujit people's unique talent for mounted archery and their seamless coordination with their warhorses were on full display at this moment! They did not engage in a direct confrontation on the spot, but instead, while galloping at full speed, they drew a huge reverse arc like a flock of eagles circling their prey, maintaining the ideal shooting distance from their pursuers while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of deadly arrows backward!

The arrows weren't just randomly aimed at covering everything!
Whether they were seasoned archers or bandits from the grasslands, their sharp eyes were fixed on the two faint yet incredibly conspicuous ghostly green flames beneath the helmets of the black-mist cavalry!

Precision! Deadly precision!

One powerful arrow after another, like iron nails attracted by a magnet, pierced the skulls and eye sockets that were slightly exposed due to the high-speed charge at incredible angles!

“Puff!” “Puff!” “Puff!” “Puff!” “Puff!”

A dense, crisp sound, like rotten wood cracking, echoed across the battlefield!
With a chilling sound of bones cracking, the charge of the black mist skeleton cavalry came to an abrupt halt!

The soul fire that struck their eye sockets went out completely with a "whoosh" as if an oil lamp had been punctured! What followed was the cracking of their skulls and the inside of their cranial cavities!

The arrow, imbued with armor-piercing power, exploded inside the skull, instantly shattering its core!

Without the sustaining power of the soul fire, the thick black mist surrounding them dissipated rapidly into the air with a hissing sound, as if it had lost its source.

The lifeless skeletons, along with their equally collapsed skeletal mounts, crashed onto the sand like sacks stripped of their bones, kicking up dust and shattering into piles of smoking bone fragments and scattered pieces of black armor. This echoed the remains of the five knights previously purified by the Holy Tree Knights. The pursuing black tide, faced with the Khergit elite cavalry's precise and deadly "kiting" tactic, crumbled rapidly as if hitting an invisible reef!
In just a few rounds of attacks, the thirty or forty menacing black mist cavalrymen were reduced to a pile of bone fragments emitting wisps of smoke, no longer posing any threat.

The few remaining riders tried to turn back and escape into the depths of the gray fog, but were caught up by elite archers at a greater distance with more cunning arrows that pierced through their souls, and followed in their companions' footsteps.

The battlefield suddenly fell silent.

All that remained were the resentful churning of gray mist in the distance, the low whispers of the dead, and the heavy panting and barely suppressed roars of the warhorses beneath the Khergit warriors.

The golden rays of the setting sun cast a cruel yet magnificent glow upon this site of carnage.

"Very good." Shen Mu watched as Bestur's elite mounted archers completed their hunt with fluid grace, a barely perceptible hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

He reined in his horse, his gaze lingering for a moment on the distant skeletal castle and the restless gray fog, his voice calm yet undeniable: "Alright, now that we've investigated the situation, let's go back."

"Yes, my lord!" Bestur responded, waving his hand, "Everyone! Follow Lord Shen Mu closely!"

"Yes!" everyone responded.

Dozens of warhorses, their hooves clanging in unison, formed a resolute torrent, galloping relentlessly towards the direction of New Rivadin, kicking up clouds of dust.

On the sand dunes, only ashes and broken bones, symbols of death, remained, and beneath the dark clouds in the distance, the cold castle exuded an even deeper and more oppressive deathly silence.

……

Shen Mu's elite cavalry, like a steel torrent cutting through the desert, sped toward New Rivadin.

The easy victory over the skeleton cavalry and the black mist undead, though successful, made everyone's hearts even more heavy—the threat lurking in the depths of the bone fortress and the black clouds was indeed a troublesome matter.

The column maintained its alert formation, its hooves thundering and kicking up a trail of dust.

As the group once again passed over the ruins of the village that had once sheltered Chen Ping and his companions, an unusual sound shattered the tranquility of their return journey.

"Ping! Bang! Crack!"

A violent clanging of metal, a roar, and a teeth-grinding, rattling sound, like wet wood snapping, came fiercely from behind several crumbling walls.

Interspersed among them were the dwarves' distinctive, muffled roars, like muffled thunder, and the humans' screams filled with fear and despair.

"Something's up!" Bestur instantly became alert, his eyes flashing towards the source of the sound.

Shen Mule raised his hand slightly, and the galloping troops, as if receiving an invisible command, instantly slowed down and finally stopped at the edge of the ruins. The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves slowly settled, revealing the scene of the battle inside the ruins.

Behind the half-collapsed brick wall, Chen Ping, seven dwarf warriors, and a dozen or so other Earth survivors who were still able to fight were locked in a fierce battle, their backs against the wreckage of an abandoned truck.

Their opponents were not the undead skeletons they had expected, but a group of twisted and terrifying creatures!

There were about ten of those things.

Their skeletons seem to have come from various different creatures, including the thick leg bones of cattle and sheep, the arm bones of humans, and the skulls of beasts. But what is most terrifying is what wraps around, or rather "parasitizes" these skeletons—slippery flesh covered with wriggling black bumps and dark red blood vessels, like skinned frog meat.

These "muscles" do not grow on the bones, but rather wrap around, entwine, and even invade the gaps in the skeleton like living things, forming a deformed symbiosis.

They move swiftly but contortedly, wielding bone blades or spraying out a highly corrosive, dark green slime.

The dwarves fought back with brute force and sturdy oak shields. The heavy warhammers slammed into the bones covered in disgusting membranes, producing a dull cracking sound, but the splattering dark green liquid and shattered black flesh also carried a burning stench.

Several blue-planet men, armed with crude steel bars, crowbars, and even iron pots, desperately stabbed through the gaps in the dwarfs' protective circle. One of the young men had his arm burned by the dark green slime and let out a painful scream.

Chen Ping was pale, but his eyes were firm. He was directing the remaining men to throw stones and debris at the truck wreckage from a distance to create distraction.

The battle was fierce. The parasitic monsters were fearless and their severed limbs would quickly grow back from the tumors to replace the damaged ones. The dwarves and survivors were clearly at a disadvantage, and their territory was being squeezed smaller and smaller. They were on the verge of collapse.

Just then, the sharp-eyed Chen Ping caught a glimpse of a figure sitting upright on a magnificent warhorse, as solid as a rock, at the edge of the ruins in the setting sun.

"My lord! Lord Shen Mu!! Help me!!!" In despair, Chen Ping roared with all his might, his voice sharp and distorted with excitement and fear.

The seven dwarves also saw Shen Mu, and the well-equipped, imposing elite cavalry behind him. Their weary, desperate eyes instantly blazed with an intense will to survive. While frantically smashing a monster's head with their hammers, they roared in unison, their voices like the grinding of rocks, "Human Lord! Help!!!"

That cry for help was like a spark thrown into a pot of boiling oil.

The parasitic monsters that were attacking him visibly froze. One of them, which looked slightly different, had a skull resembling that of a skinned wild boar, with more and deeper black tumors covering it. It suddenly turned its head, its small eyes, gleaming with an eerie green light, staring intently in Shen Mu's direction.

Then it opened its mouth, full of sharp teeth, and made a clicking sound, sending a signal. (End of Chapter)