Chapter 218 - Skull Guillotine
The bone giant shattered and reassembled itself repeatedly during the battle, showcasing its infamous resilience.
Bao Xiren’s stamina dwindled as the fight wore on, and he steadily lost ground.
Han Wu called his sole Lord Giga Osteomancer to the front. The 100-meter-tall behemoth thundered across the battlefield and brought its massive foot down on Bao Xiren’s barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier as the troops struggled to sustain it. The nine battalions started to falter, but Han Wu knew this was only the beginning.
The Osteomancers led the melee assault while the half-dragons and lizardmen unleashed a relentless hail of ranged attacks from a distance. Soldiers fell within Bao Xiren’s ranks, even as the six Spirit Generals worked tirelessly to shield him. Blades clashed in the air, and waves of flying slashes swept through the battlefield.
Both sides sustained heavy injuries. Seizing the moment, the Holy Skeleton and Crystal Lich summoned more skeletons from the corpses littering the ground. Unique Skeleton Knights crawled from the remains, and Han Wu quickly merged them into new Osteomancers, which used the surrounding bone fragments to turn into their bone giant forms and charged into battle.
Bao Xiren finally showed signs of strain when he witnessed the enemy’s relentless advance. His foe’s endurance bordered on miraculous. Though their forces had once seemed evenly matched, the balance slowly tipped in Han Wu’s favor as more Osteomancers entered the fray.
The Holy Skeleton and Crystal Lick even extended their bony claws over the corpses of Bao Xiren’s soldiers. New skeletons emerged from the fallen, turning on their former comrades with brutal efficiency.
Bao Xiren grew even more stunned as he watched his battalions descend into chaos. He had no strategy to counter such a relentless army. The six Spirit Generals understood that Bao Xiren had lost; pressing on would only drain their remaining strength. They swiftly lifted him and fled. As long as their general survived, they could rebuild their army.
Han Wu sent his Osteomancers to pursue them, but the Spirit Generals moved too quickly. Frustrated at losing Bao Xiren, Han Wu unleashed his fury on the remnants of the defeated army, reducing them to dust.
Back in the Meditation Palace, Bao Xiren’s eyelids snapped open. He sighed in disappointment.
The Song Kingdom’s invigilator noticed his mood and asked, “Xiren, what’s wrong? How is it going on your end?”
“Master, I’m fine. I’ve just hit a temporary wall. I can keep fighting,” he replied.
Zhao Cheping exhaled with relief and was thankful that Bao Xiren remained in the tournament. The Song Kingdom would have faced ridicule if he had been eliminated so early.
Suddenly, Bao Xiren made an unusual request. “Master, may I visit the Divine Civilization once this tournament ends?”
“I will allow it.”
Meanwhile, Han Wu turned all the corpses into skeletons to replenish his army, including those Bao Xiren had slain. Yet the number of reanimated skeletons fell far short of his expectations.
It seemed Bao Xiren’s three guillotines carried the essence of some form of judgment. Once judged, the fate of the being could no longer be altered.
Han Wu had started with nearly 2 million skeletons, but now fewer than 20,000 remained. The rest of his army had dwindled to barely 100 units. Every unit of the Worker, Physician, and Technician castes had been wiped out.
Han Wu and Duan Meng had lost all of their support-type units. Without the ample food and supplies Han Wu had brought, surviving an entire month in this place would have been impossible.
Duan Meng voiced her concern. “We have so few units left. If we encounter another strong enemy, I’m afraid we won’t survive.”
“That may not be true,” Han Wu replied calmly. “Though we’ve lost many, the ones left are our elite forces. Their strength is formidable. Besides, my skeletons can replenish as long as they keep fighting. We will rebuild our army soon enough.”
Duan Meng had no choice but to trust him, silently praying their next foe would be weaker. Somehow, the Will of the Warring Kingdom Civilization seemed to answer her plea. The enemies they faced afterward were all weak, falling swiftly to Han Wu’s skeletons. He even collected abundant treasures from their remains.
Despite the loot, Han Wu’s mind lingered on Bao Xiren’s three guillotines, which appeared to wield the power of a Divine Aspect. In his spare moments, he spent Divine Points trying to replicate their power. He also incorporated everything that he had learned about the Destruction Aspect into this effort.
It took him twenty-eight days before he finally grasped the Skill’s mechanics. Just minutes before leaving that space, he succeeded in researching a new Skill on his own. He had tried to reproduce all three guillotines but managed to form only one. The result was a completely black guillotine with a skeleton as its lever, which he named Skull Guillotine.
[Skull Guillotine: Your enemies shall receive the judgment of destruction regardless of their rank. All stand equal before destruction.]
Han Wu had only comprehended the basics, so the chance of killing an enemy with it stood at just 1%. That meant only 1% of an army would perish if he used the Skull Guillotine. Whether it struck cannon fodder or generals depended entirely on luck.
He noticed fifteen minutes remained before they would be transported out of this place. Glancing at his army of 1.2 million skeletons, he sighed with relief. Their numbers were fewer than he had hoped, but he had managed to restore his overall fighting force.
He was beginning to think the second calamity had nearly passed when his scouts raised the alarm—another army was approaching. This one looked formidable, fielding seven full battalions.
After battling many armies, Han Wu developed a rough sense of how a force’s strength correlated with its battalion count. Usually, the stronger an army, the more battalions it fielded. Exceptions existed, such as generals from noble families who often had Spirit Generals or treasures guarding them.
Still, battalion count usually provided a reliable measure. A general commanding seven battalions was quite powerful, but Han Wu considered them slightly below his level.
Soon, the two sides met, and the enemy general introduced himself first. “I am Thunderfire General Luo Wulei of the Wei Kingdom. You scum, state your name!”
Han Wu frowned. He’d heard that name before. The bandit king had begged for his life and claimed he was an informant for Luo Wulei. Han Wu hadn’t expected to meet the man in person today.
“Luo Wulei? I’ll send you to your informant so you can speak with him again.” He summoned the Skull Guillotine, and it materialized above him.
Luo Wulei gripped his Yellow Thunder Spear tightly. He didn’t know what the Skull Guillotine was, but the black blade and skeletal motif were enough to convince him it was dangerous.
He raised his spear to summon lightning when a skeleton apparition suddenly appeared overhead. The skeletal claws dropped and phased through his skull without resistance. Luo Wulei died instantly, claimed by the Skull Guillotine’s judgment.
Upon witnessing their general’s death, his soldiers scattered in fear. Han Wu ordered his Osteomancers to pursue them and turn them into skeletons. Meanwhile, he approached Luo Wulei’s corpse and claimed all the treasures for himself.