Chapter 90: Chapter 82: Advancing to Formal Necromancer
Their weapons and equipment had been returned, but they remained surrounded by Skeletons.
The Naga leading them, Serena, kept her beautiful face taut. She glanced back from time to time, her vertical, azure pupils fixed in the direction of Red Rabbit.
Every time she saw Her Highness Sea Song practically leaning into that detestable Necromancer’s arms, looking as if she were completely at his mercy, Serena couldn’t help but grit her teeth. Her grip on her twin blades tightened, and her eyes practically shot fire.
But there was nothing she could do.
Her Highness’s life, and the survival of all her people, rested in that Necromancer’s hands.
He hadn’t turned them into Undead Units and had even returned their weapons, only demanding they "assist in combat" for the sake of justice. It was the best deal they could have hoped for under the circumstances.
’Resist? That would only put Her Highness in even greater danger.’
All they could do was endure and cooperate, playing the part of reluctant allies within this Undead Army.
Lynch was well aware of Serena’s furious gaze. From beneath his hood, he even offered her a gentle smile.
In truth, he was quite interested in the Naga as a warrior race.
They were an amphibious force, capable of fighting in both sea and land battles.
Tonight, he would see just how valuable these proud warriors of the Sea Race could be on the battlefield.
Under the cover of night, the force pressed deeper into the forest, heading for the Bloodfang Tribe’s main encampment.
Soon, the rank stench characteristic of a large goblin settlement began to fill the air.
As the strongest tribe within a hundred-kilometer radius, the Bloodfang Tribe’s main camp was a world apart from the messy, crude encampments of other groups.
The camp was massive, large enough to house over a thousand goblins. Its buildings were arranged in an orderly fashion, showing faint signs of deliberate planning.
The camp’s palisade was constructed from thick logs driven deep into the ground, their tops sharpened to a point. Simple watchtowers stood at regular intervals along the wall.
Even at night, goblin archers stood guard in the watchtowers. A single glance told you the place was well-defended and would be difficult to assault.
It was said that in its heyday, the total goblin population of the Bloodfang Tribe—including its main camp and the smaller surrounding outposts—exceeded two thousand.
In the entire Dark Forest region, they were considered a force to be reckoned with.
However, the Bloodfang Tribe had already suffered heavy casualties during the academy’s assessment, and the recent battle on the coastal flats had further weakened their effective fighting force.
According to the intelligence from the bearded man and his companions, the current goblin population at the Bloodfang headquarters was no more than three hundred.
With the right tactics, it was a winnable fight.
Lynch’s forces halted several hundred meters from the Bloodfang main camp.
In one of the watchtowers, a goblin archer, yawning as it clutched a crude bow, suddenly went rigid. A thin line of blood had appeared on its throat.
Before it could even make a sound, it collapsed limply onto the wooden floor of the tower.
Then, the next watchtower...
Like a phantom in the night, Bone Shadow used the shadows and the structures of the towers themselves for cover, nimbly climbing up and down to eliminate one goblin sentry after another.
After clearing out the sentries, Bone Shadow crept to the main gate and assassinated two goblin guards who were dozing behind it.
As a Tier One professional assassin, Bone Shadow’s skills and methods were far superior to Bone Jade’s when it had acted as a temporary assassin. Most importantly, it didn’t require Lynch to micromanage its every move.
By the time Lynch reached the outskirts of the Bloodfang camp, Bone Shadow had already eliminated every last goblin sentry. It gently opened the main gate, allowing the Undead Army to pour inside.
Upon entering the camp, Lynch’s first act was to swiftly release the elite Soul Fire units from his bone bracelet. Immediately after, he unfurled the Death Banner.
From a massive spatial vortex, around three hundred Skeleton Servants surged forth.
At the same time, two militiamen joined the battle lines.
However, their task was simply to douse the fodder Skeletons in fish oil, wrap them in rags, and set them ablaze.
One after another, the burning Skeletons charged into the various flammable shacks.
Soon, fires erupted throughout the camp. The sleeping goblins were startled awake, bursting from their hovels with panicked cries. They scrambled about in a chaotic frenzy, many without even grabbing their weapons, only to be hacked into a bloody pulp by the great Sea of Skulls outside.
And just as the entire Bloodfang camp descended into a chaotic inferno of fire and slaughter...
Suddenly, from within the central tent, a deep and furious roar, filled with primal power, erupted like a clap of thunder.
"ROAR—!!!"
"CRASH!"
An exceptionally tall figure burst through the tent like a war chariot, striding out onto the flame-lit battlefield.
It was a goblin, but its physique far surpassed that of its kin.
It stood nearly two and a half meters tall, its entire body a mass of knotted, bulging muscles like ancient tree roots, straining the hide armor it wore.
Its skin wasn’t the usual grayish-green, but a deep, dark brown with a reddish tint, and it was covered in vicious scars.
Most striking of all were the two thick, long, red tusks that jutted downward from the corners of its mouth.
This was none other than the leader of the Bloodfang Tribe.
Bloodfang Smasher!
A Tier Three Goblin Chieftain.
"It’s the Chieftain! The Chieftain is here!"
Seeing him, the chaotic rabble of goblins instantly rallied as if they had found their backbone.
Seeing this, Lynch, mounted on Red Rabbit, narrowed his eyes.
He couldn’t help but praise it in his mind.
’What an imposing Goblin Chieftain.’
...
