His boots slamd heavily against the wooden steps.
"What’s going on?!" he barked as he reached the top.
The guard who rang the bell pointed outside the walls with a shaking hand.
"My lord... t-there..."
The Town Lord stepped toward the edge of the tower and looked out.
Then he froze.
His brows slowly knitted together in disbelief.
Outside the town walls...
A dark, gloomy aura spread across the ground like creeping smoke.
Inside that aura marched figures.
Skeletons.
Dozens of them.
Each one carried a sword and shield, their empty skulls staring forward as they marched toward the town.
Among them were several armored warriors.
But sothing was terribly wrong about them.
Like corpses walking.
For a mont, the Town Lord thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Then he whispered slowly,
"...What kind of black sorcery is this?"
Behind him, several body tempering practitioners had also climbed the tower.
One of them narrowed his eyes and stared at the approaching army.
"My lord..."
He pointed toward the front of the formation.
"Those thirteen warriors..."
"They look like body tempering practitioners."
Another cultivator frowned deeply.
"This is strange... very strange."
He stared at the armored undead carefully.
"Why do they look like... dead n?"
Below the tower, the rest of the guards gathered along the walls.
The soldiers looked out and saw the approaching skeleton army.
Murmurs spread quickly.
"W-what are those things?"
"Skeletons...?"
"That’s impossible..."
Fear slowly began creeping into their hearts.
At the front of the undead army stood a tall armored figure.
The Carrion Knight.
Its massive cleaver rested against its shoulder as it stared up at the walls of Stoneford.
The Town Lord gripped the railing tightly and shouted down toward the approaching army.
"HEY!"
His voice echoed loudly across the battlefield.
"Whoever you are!"
"Tell what you’re doing here!"
"Why are you attacking my town?!"
The soldiers behind him waited.
Everyone waited.
But the Carrion Knight didn’t respond.
It didn’t even move.
For a few seconds, the battlefield remained silent.
Then the Carrion Knight slowly raised one arm.
Behind it, the undead army stopped marching.
The knight’s voice finally ca out, low and cold.
"Attack."
The skeleton army surged forward instantly.
"THEY’RE COMING!" one guard shouted.
The thirteen bronze-grade undead suddenly bent their knees.
Then leaped.
Their bodies shot through the air like arrows.
They cleared the town wall easily and landed inside the streets with heavy thuds.
Guards nearby scread in shock.
"BODY TEMPERING PRACTITIONERS!"
"STOP THEM!"
anwhile, the skeleton warriors rushed toward the town gate.
They slamd their shields and swords against the heavy wooden doors.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The gate trembled with each impact.
Inside the town, chaos erupted imdiately.
The Town Lord cursed.
"Damn it!"
He turned toward his cultivators.
"Stop them!"
Nine body tempering practitioners rushed down the tower and charged toward the invading undead.
But at that mont.
A shadow suddenly shot upward from outside the wall.
The Carrion Knight.
With one powerful leap, the massive armored figure soared over the town wall like a dark teor.
It landed inside the gatehouse.
Right beside the chanism used to lower and raise the gate.
Three body tempering practitioners imdiately rushed forward to stop it.
"MONSTER!"
One of them swung his sword toward Carrion’s neck.
Another attacked from the side with a spear.
The third aid a punch toward its chest.
But Carrion didn’t even step back.
The mont they got close.
A terrifying aura erupted from its body.
A thick wave of death energy rolled outward.
The ordinary soldiers nearby instantly froze.
Their faces turned pale.
Cold sweat ran down their backs.
Their instincts scread at them.
Run.
Run now.
One guard dropped his spear.
"I... I can’t..."
Another backed away slowly.
"What the hell is that thing...?"
anwhile, the three body tempering practitioners attacked together.
Carrion moved.
Its massive cleaver flashed through the air.
SHING!
The first cultivator’s sword shattered.
The cleaver continued moving.
His body split in half before he even realized what happened.
Blood sprayed across the gatehouse.
The second practitioner thrust his spear forward desperately.
Carrion grabbed the shaft with one hand.
Then crushed it.
CRACK!
The wooden spear snapped like dry wood.
Before the man could react.
The cleaver swung again, and his head flew across the floor.
The third practitioner froze.
Fear filled his eyes.
"T-this monster—"
Carrion stepped forward.
The man tried to retreat, but he was too slow. The cleaver fell one last ti.
THUD.
His body collapsed beside the others.
Three body tempering practitioners are dead within seconds.
Carrion stood silently beside the gate chanism.
Blood dripped slowly from its cleaver.
Inside the gatehouse, he stood over three fresh corpses.
Without wasting a second, he turned toward the heavy chanism beside the wall.
Thick chains were wrapped around a wooden wheel, holding the gate shut.
Carrion grabbed the wheel with one hand.
Then pulled.
The chains groaned.
CLANK... CLANK...
Slowly, the massive gate began to rise.
Outside, the skeleton army didn’t stop attacking.
They kept slamming into the wood, until suddenly, the gate lifted just enough.
Then higher.
And higher.
A skeleton warrior was the first to slip through.
The undead surged forward like a flood.
From above the walls, one of the remaining body tempering practitioners shouted in panic.
"THE GATE—!"
"THE GATE IS OPEN!"
By the ti they rushed down...
It was already too late.
Nineteen basic-grade skeleton warriors stord into the town, followed by the bronze-grade undead who had already landed inside earlier.
The streets instantly turned into chaos.
"STOP THEM!"
"FORM A LINE!"
"DON’T LET THEM SPREAD!"
Around two hundred guards tried to regroup.
They ford defensive lines, raising shields and pointing spears toward the advancing skeletons.
"Hold your ground!" one captain shouted. "They’re just bones!"
The first clash ca seconds later.
A skeleton slamd into a guard with its shield.
The man staggered back, then stabbed forward with his spear.
CRACK!
The spear pierced through the skeleton’s ribs, breaking several bones.
The skeleton collapsed.
"See?! They can be killed!" the guard shouted.
But before his words could settle.
The broken bones began to move.
They twitched.
Then pulled themselves back together.
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