Real Mount and Blade Game

The decaying core of Longcheng City is trembling.

Commander Shen Mu's army, like molten steel poured into concrete, was relentlessly hammering into the heart of this city of death.

Despite encountering stronger resistance than expected, including the presence of the well-equipped and tactically superior Black Iron Skeleton Guard, whose forces far surpassed the outer garrisons, the sheer force of Deherim's elite troops still displayed astonishing destructive power.

"Sacred Tree Knight! Crush them!"

"Swadian heavy cavalry! Flank them on the left flank! Cut off their retreat!"

"Rhodok sniper crossbowmen! Aim at the shadows behind those skeletons and find the spellcaster!"

Commands echoed over the ruins, mingled with the clanging of armor, the neighing of warhorses, the cracking of weapons piercing bone, and the piercing screams of the dead.

On the wide central avenue, a grand medieval battlefield is unfolding.

The Iron Wall Spear, composed of five hundred Holy Tree Knights, charged once more. Their heavy mithril warhorses thundered as they pounded the ground, and their mithril lances, gleaming with divine light, were held high, forming a moving steel wall that crashed into the group of black iron skeletons trying to rebuild their defenses.

Boom!

The bone shields that the Skeleton Guard relied on for resistance shattered under the absolute power and divine attributes of the Holy Tree Knight, tearing a huge gap in the line.

The dark gray skeletal warriors were like rotten wood struck by a heavy hammer; their skeletons twisted, broke, and turned into a shower of bone fragments the moment they collided.

But the remaining elite Black Iron warriors, fearless in the face of death, wielded heavy bone hammers and broken bone blades, braving the scorching heat of the holy light, and attempted to fight back.

However, Deherim's war machine is far more than just the Tree Knights.

On both sides, the already deployed Swadian heavy cavalry regiments, like two curved steel blades, began to close in amidst the officers' roars.

They wore heavy plate and chainmail armor, abandoned the impractical ceremonial lances, and wielded heavy knight's swords or heavy and sharp armor-piercing warhammers, which were more suitable for slashing.

The sound of hooves thundered like rolling thunder as they fiercely cut into the rear of the skeletal formation, which was scattered by the frontal assault of the Holy Tree Knights.

"For Lord Shen Mu! For Deherim!" The sound of the steel torrent crashing against each other was enough to make one's teeth ache.

The knight's sword slashed down fiercely, and even the thick bone armor could not completely withstand the full force of the swing, which contained the momentum of a charging warhorse. The arms and head of the black iron skeleton were severed off one after another.

The warhammer was an even more formidable weapon, smashing seemingly sturdy skeletal warriors with a dull "thud" sound, shattering their bones and embedding them deep into their chests or skulls.

Behind the lines, the Vikya sharpshooters occupied the high ground.

Their eyes were sharp as eagles, their breathing steady, and the bowstrings of their longbows were almost fully drawn.

The specially designed triangular armor-piercing arrow flew away with a piercing whistle as the bowstring tightened and was released in an instant.

"Whoosh—Pfft!"

Arrows pierced precisely through gaps in cover or swept across the chaotic battlefield, nimbly embedding themselves in the heads of skeletal mages and spear throwers hiding in the shadows of buildings, attempting to cast spells or hurl bone spears again.

The eerie green soul flame was extinguished like a candle flame by the armor-piercing arrows.

Rhodok sniper crossbowmen, on the other hand, suppressed dangerous targets with more steady and penetrating bursts of fire.

The adamantite crossbow bolts, engraved with anti-magic runes, are designed specifically to deal with elite undead. They can effectively penetrate the relatively weak bone armor at the joints of black iron skeletons, or pin spellcasters hiding behind piles of corpses firmly to the wall.

The soldiers were advancing, fighting, and also... transforming.

The intensity of the battle far exceeded that of regular training and defensive battles.

Every successful dodge, every fatal kill, every time you withstand the onslaught of elite undead, transforms into intangible experience, rapidly accumulating under the rules of the Mount & Blade system.

On the battlefield, faint golden light could be seen flashing across the bodies of ordinary soldiers from time to time.

That's a symbol of breaking through the edge of life and death!

A skilled Rhodok spearman, originally only a third-tier warrior, managed to withstand the heavy bone hammer impact of the Black Iron Skeleton Warrior with his spear, under the cover of his companions.

The sound of bones shattering rang out, but the spear did not leave his hand! He took root in his feet, his strength seemed to surge instantly, and he roared as he pushed the skeletal warrior back, then thrust the spear precisely into the eye socket of the Soulfire!
A golden light flashed around him, and a new sense of power and the feeling of thick scales and tower shields surged through his body—he had broken through to become a fourth-tier Rhodok veteran spearman!

Elsewhere, two Khergit horse archers responsible for suppressing the flanks of the street were approached by a swiftly moving skeleton hunter while flanking and shooting.

In a moment of desperation, one of the mounted archers displayed astonishing courage and skill, advancing instead of retreating, charging at a small angle on his horse, drawing his steppe bow to its fullest extent while bouncing on the horse's back!
The arrow flew off the bowstring, almost grazing its companion's scalp, and precisely struck the cervical vertebrae exposed during the skeleton hunter's leap!
The black iron skeleton also snapped in response!
A flash of gold, and the ranger's leather armor became even more exquisite. A bag of specially made conical arrows appeared beside his saddle, and his eyes changed from slightly flustered to incredibly sharp—he had been promoted to a senior Khergit horse archer!

More examples are happening silently on the battlefield.

While covering the heavy cavalry charge, the Swadian light infantry successfully flanked and eliminated several skeleton soldiers, thus being promoted to Swadian infantry.

The initially clumsy Rhodok recruit, under the guidance of the veteran, withstood a small zombie horde attack and successfully killed several zombies. His movements became brave and precise, and he was promoted to Rhodok spearman.

Even a few Swadian militiamen responsible for transporting arrows and supplies in the rear, when they encountered a few skeletons that suddenly attacked from the sewers, were able to fight back bravely and successfully kill them with their simple spears. They were even upgraded to Swadian light infantry and quickly added to the fighting ranks!
Standing on the high vantage point, Shen Mu's eyes, though cold and hard, sharply observed everything beneath his iron-faced demeanor.

He had already discerned another core value of this war—the training ground!

Watching soldiers grow and transform rapidly through the baptism of blood and fire, and the elite force expands like a snowball, a chilling sense of control arises in my heart.

The large-scale promotion of lower-ranking soldiers and the expansion of the elite soldier force not only create an increasingly overwhelming advantage in this battle, but also accumulate valuable resources for the more brutal battles to come.

sacrifice?

Under the rules, sacrificing some manpower to acquire a more elite, battle-hardened army is an incredibly worthwhile trade.

Push forward! Push forward! Push forward again!
With overwhelming power and highly efficient tactical coordination, the undead's resistance line continued to shrink and collapse.

After a day of fierce fighting, the target was locked on—a super-large commercial complex called "Global Center".

It was once a giant shopping mall that combined shopping, dining, and entertainment, like a city within a city, but now it is a lair of the dead, and the black mist seems to be particularly thick in its depths.

The last rays of the setting sun struggled through the leaden clouds, painting the entire skyscraper in a somber orange-red hue, creating an eerie contrast with the deathly gray aura permeating the building itself. The building's glass curtain wall was completely shattered, standing like a gigantic, bloodless skeleton, its walls a dark void.

"Target for elimination: Global Center!"

"Rhodok crossbowmen, take the top floor of the office building across the street! Vigia marksmen, control the high ground on both the east and west street corners! Suppress all windows with fire!"

"Swadian infantry, Rhodok sergeants! Form a shield wall and advance towards the entrance to the first-floor lobby!"

"Holy Tree Knights, hold the rear! Guard the streets and sewer entrances behind us!"

"Wood Elf Hunters! Spread out and eliminate high-speed targets attempting to leap from above or breach walls!"

The orders were conveyed in an orderly manner.

The soldiers proceeded methodically and quickly completed the three-dimensional encirclement of the center of the universe.

The lobby on the first floor, once a brightly lit place, now resembles the entrance to hell.

Collapsed pillars, shattered marble floors, and piles of decaying countertop fragments lay everywhere.

A strong stench hit me in the face.

The soldiers held their breath, held their torches high, and cautiously advanced in the flickering firelight.

"Whoosh!" From behind a pile of seemingly harmless junk, dozens of putrid ghouls suddenly emerged!
They were not fast, but their bodies dripped with corrosive slime, and they lunged at the soldiers with greedy roars.

"Shield Wall! Hold on!" Sergeant Rhodok roared, and the tower shields landed heavily, instantly forming a wall of steel.

The spear thrust out fiercely from the gap in the shield!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The sound of rotting flesh being pierced was incessant.

The ghoul's claws scraped against the tower shield with a harsh sound, and its slime corroded the coating on the shield's surface.

But the well-trained soldiers remained unmoved; as the front row stabbed, the rear row immediately filled in.

Meanwhile, the veteran spearmen in the back row leaped over the gaps in the shield wall and slashed fiercely with their extended halberds, smashing ghouls down in droves.

At the top of the escalator on the second floor, several black iron skeleton warriors took advantage of the high ground to throw heavy concrete blocks down from above.

"Watch out for falling rocks!"

"Boo! Hah! Hah!"

The Sharpshooter of Vaegir's armor-piercing arrows arrived just in time, accurately knocking them off the ladder and scattering them into bones amidst the rubble on the ground.

The wood elf hunters crept along the higher beams, their sharp eyes searching for any undead assassins attempting to ambush them.

The battle is progressing deeper into enemy territory.

Every shop unit and every passageway has become a slaughterhouse of blood and bones.

From their elevated vantage point, the Rhodok crossbowmen displayed astonishing accuracy in their firepower within the complex interior environment, relentlessly pinning down the undead who attempted to conceal themselves in the darkness and behind obstacles.

The Viktor, on the other hand, creates a covering barrage of arrows in the more open space of the building.

Suddenly, an exceptionally shrill and piercing howl erupted from the top floor! A necromantic aura, even more powerful than the Black Iron Skeleton, spread out!
"Warning! High-energy reaction detected at the top!"

A piercing, shrill scream tore through the thick darkness at the top of the center of the universe.

The chilling necromantic energy suddenly intensified, carrying a chilling malice, and instantly locked onto the advancing human soldiers below.

Immediately afterwards, a chilling sound pierced the air, not the sharp whistling of an arrow, but a dull thud like rotting leather flapping violently!
Shen Mu suddenly looked up.

Above the enormous central atrium of the universe, in the area of ​​light and shadow framed by the hollow dome and shrouded in dust and an aura of death, dozens of eerie black shadows suddenly appeared!

They didn't climb up from below, but rather "emerged" without warning from the shadows of broken beams, shattered skylights, or even empty elevator shafts on the top floor!
what is that? !

The slender, deformed bones were faintly visible in the dim light, piecing together a torso resembling that of a humanoid creature. But behind them—stretched out wings made of thick bones, covered with a dull, decaying membrane that looked like dried blood!

The membrane was tattered and riddled with holes, yet it flapped wildly at an unnatural and powerful frequency, each flap bringing with it a gust of air mixed with bone powder and a fishy stench!

Skeletons! Skeletons with wings! In their hands they tightly gripped short, crude, blackened bone bows!
"Enemy attack! Above!!" A Vikjani archer responsible for guarding the top of the courtyard screamed in alarm as his pupils constricted.

The instant his roar faded—

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The piercing sound of bowstrings vibrating echoed under the dome!
They didn't even need to land; while hovering or circling, they fired a dense volley of bone arrows at the chaotic crowd below!

The target was not the Rhodok sergeants forming a shield wall below, but the ranged soldiers who were moving quickly between the shop units or firing from high ground!
Precise and insidious!
"Pfft!" "Hah!" "Sizzle!"

Bone arrows rained down from the sky with a piercing shriek! Several Rhodok crossbowmen who were shifting positions at the second-floor railing were caught off guard and were instantly struck in the shoulder, arm, or leg!
"Ugh!" A crossbowman groaned as the bone arrow pierced the seam of his arm armor, but was held in place by the tough lining and locking ring, preventing it from penetrating deep into the bone. However, it did leave a bloody gash, and the intense pain caused him to drop his crossbow.

Another crossbowman's helmet was scraped on the side, leaving deep scratches and flying sparks.

An Swadian infantry officer directing operations at the entrance of the building was in an even more perilous situation. An arrow grazed his neck armor, leaving a glaring white scratch on the cold metal!
Thanks to their superior armor, no fatal wounds were inflicted, but this sudden and deadly attack from the overhead defenses instantly disrupted the advance, causing immense chaos and panic!
The soldiers were forced to seek cover, and the shield bearers instinctively raised their shields above their heads, causing the formation to briefly break apart.

"Hold your ground! Raise your shields! Seek shelter under the support pillars and beams!" Rodok, the sergeant in charge of this assault, roared, his tower shield held high in an attempt to provide protection for the soldiers around him.

Shen Mu's gaze pierced through the chaotic crowd, cold as iron, locking onto the monsters above, flapping their wings and soaring up and down in the vast space, as agile as ghosts.

"Winged skeletal archers... is this their last trump card?" He quickly assessed the characteristics of these new enemies, his face growing more serious. (End of Chapter)