Chapter 6: Chapter 5: Lizard Robbers
A band of drifters less than ten strong? He wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Even if they were a bit tough, he, Li Ziyu, was no pushover. With 200 Skeleton Undead at his command, including 20 newly-created Sword-Carrying Undead, he could simply overwhelm them with numbers.
He couldn’t just let prey slip through his fingers!
As Undead, his minions were especially sensitive to the aura of life. Darkness was no obstacle; they could still sense the distant presence. The enemy likely hadn’t spotted his Mobile Fortress.
’Instead of a brazen charge, I should sneak up on them and catch them completely off guard.’
With that, Li Ziyu issued another order. The Undead in the Mobile Fortress switched to silent mode, suppressing their Soul Fires and drawing the flames deep inside their skulls until not a single glimmer of light remained.
Suppressing their Soul Fire was instinctual for the Undead and didn’t diminish their combat effectiveness in the slightest. It did, however, make a sneak attack possible.
The Mobile Fortress accelerated to top Speed. Its Bone Wheels ground against the earth, producing an incessant KAKA-KAKA sound.
As they drew closer, the Undead relayed new intelligence: the drifters ahead were a group of Lizardmen. This only strengthened Li Ziyu’s resolve.
Lizardmen were common Natives in the Wasteland. They were widespread, living in Tribes and subsisting on the hunt rather than production. Hunters by day and robbers by night, they had a notorious reputation across the Wasteland.
"Did you hear something?"
"Yeah! Over there!"
"We’ve got company! Spread out and get ready!"
Even with the Undead in stealth mode, the sound and vibrations of the Bone Wheels grinding against the ground still alerted the Lizardmen. They glanced toward the Mobile Fortress, quickly fanned out, and dropped low, waiting for their prey to enter the trap.
The moon was hidden by clouds, plunging the Wasteland into pitch Darkness. The Lizardman Robbers had decent night vision, but without any Moonlight, it was limited. All they could make out was a massive, dark shape on the move.
The lead Lizardman flicked its forked tongue a few times and immediately relaxed. It wasn’t a Fierce Beast; it lacked that terrifying aura. ’We can attack.’
’A creature this big should feed us for days if we kill it and drag it back. It’s just too dark to see what it actually is.’
"Charge! Sss-ha~"
Seeing the behemoth enter their encirclement, the lead Lizardman gave the signal to attack. The eight Lizardmen instantly dropped low and charged from eight different directions. Their bellies nearly scraped the ground as their splayed legs churned, their Spears aimed at the prey in the Darkness.
Just as they charged, points of eerie blue light flared to life all over the black behemoth—like countless pairs of eyes, staring right at them.
"What is that?!"
A Bone Mountain?
’Why is a Bone Mountain moving?’
The Lizardman leader, now close enough to see the Mobile Fortress clearly by the eerie blue light, froze in stunned confusion. He muttered in disbelief as the other Lizardmen also hesitated, their ready Spears halting in mid-air.
There was nothing to stab!
’How do you even attack a Bone Mountain? It’s not alive. A stab anywhere would be pointless.’
The Lizardman Robbers were stunned, but the Undead were not. They poured off the fortress, landing on the ground, and after a brief crackle of joints, charged the Lizardmen.
At the same time, Li Ziyu dispatched the 20 Sword-Carrying Skeleton Undead. ’Time to show them what we’ve really got.’ He himself stood at the window, peering outside.
Just then, the clouds parted. The bright moon once again hung in the sky, illuminating the Wasteland and revealing the eight Lizardmen in plain sight.
These Lizardman robbers looked like upright lizards. They were dark green, covered in fine scales, with Beast Hide wrapped around their waists and packs on their backs. They held long, thin Spears meant for throwing and had Curved Sabers tucked at their waists.
The Skeleton Undead didn’t care who their opponents were. The City Lord’s command was absolute. If the City Lord said kill, they killed. Without hesitation, they charged straight at the dumbfounded Lizardmen, claws outstretched.
"The bones are moving?!"
"These bones are alive!"
"Undead—"
The other Lizardmen were startled by the Skeleton Undead, but their leader recognized what they were. He couldn’t help but cry out, his voice trembling and laced with the characteristic Lizardman hiss.
The leader had heard the rumors about Undead. Legends of unkillable, moving bones that swarmed in hordes, of floating spirits impervious to swords and spears. They were the Undead, one of the most terrifying beings in the world. Not even Fierce Beasts were their match.
He had always dismissed such tales as nonsense. The world couldn’t possibly have moving bones, much less spirits that blades couldn’t harm. The so-called Undead existed only in legend because no one had ever actually seen them.
He never thought he would see them today, with his own two eyes.
’Why did we have to run into Undead in the Wasteland of all places?!’
The leader cursed inwardly as he watched the surging Skeleton Undead, but he still had to fight. He put a Bone Whistle to his lips and blew, simultaneously raising his Spear and thrusting it viciously at the foremost Undead.
It was his first time facing an Undead, and he was understandably tense. His thrust went wide, the Spear passing clean through the gap in the Undead’s ribcage, causing no damage whatsoever.
The Undead paid the Spear no mind and swiped its claws at the leader.
"Get back!"
With no time to retract his Spear, the Lizardman leader kicked out.
The kick was just a panicked reaction, but to the leader’s surprise, the Undead was sent flying. It hit the ground with a CLATTER, collapsing into a heap of bones.
Huh?
Huh?!
’Wait... these Undead don’t seem as strong as I thought.’
After landing the kick, the leader froze for a second before being overcome with elation. He never imagined that the terrifying Undead of legend would be so weak. ’The rumors were all lies!’
"TOOT-TOOT-TOOT—"
"Attack! Don’t be afraid! They’re weak!"
As he blew furiously on his Bone Whistle, the leader bellowed, "Don’t fall back! Charge them! If we retreat from an enemy this weak, we’ll never live it down!"
His words jolted the other Lizardmen. These Skeletons in front of them didn’t seem so tough after all. They were easy to fend off, and their attacks were simplistic—just swiping with their claws. ’What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s get ’em!’
The Lizardmen were fired up. They used their Speed to dodge the Skeleton Undead’s attacks, sneaking in a kick whenever they saw an opening. They quickly discovered that against these Undead, kicks were far more effective than Spears.
A Spear thrust, even if it landed, meant nothing to the pain-immune Undead; they would just keep swiping their claws. A well-aimed kick, however, could knock the Skeletons to pieces.
Seeing how easy the Undead were to handle, the Lizardman Robbers’ fear evaporated. They began to treat the fight like a game, having the time of their lives as they fought.
But they had overlooked one thing: the numbers. More and more Undead were closing in, surrounding them. The leader also noticed another detail, one that sent a renewed chill of fear down his spine. The Undead truly could not die.
An Undead kicked to pieces would quickly reassemble itself. The skeleton would stand, pick up its skull, press it back onto its neck bone, and just like that, it was a perfectly whole, battle-ready Undead once more.
No matter how many times he kicked an Undead apart, the damn thing would just get back up!
’This is bad. This is very bad. The Undead might not be strong, but in a battle of attrition like this, we’ll eventually be exhausted, surrounded, and killed!’
