A Necromancer, cloaked in a voluminous black robe and shrouded in a deathly aura so thick it was almost tangible, stood surrounded by layer upon layer of Skeleton Servants.
’That must be the Necromancer, Anthony.’
However, to Lynch’s surprise, the number of Skeleton Servants his opponent had summoned from an artifact resembling a Death Banner... wasn’t exactly staggering.
It looked like a mountain of skeletons, a sea of bones—a massive horde.
But by Lynch’s experienced estimation, there were a thousand of them at most, perhaps closer to eight hundred.
Moreover, the vast majority were common Skeleton Servants, their bones bleached white, their weapons crude, their movents stiff and sluggish.
Although the base quality of these Skeletons seed a cut above the cannon fodder Lynch could raise, that was only because his opponent had a greater mastery of the Skeleton Resurrection Skill, allowing him to more effectively preserve the strength the bodies had possessed in life.
But Low Tier was still Low Tier, and there weren’t that many of them.
’This... is a bit underwhelming for soone of his supposed stature.’
After all, even Lynch, a freshly-promoted Tier One Mage, commanded a standing army of over five hundred Skeletons, and that was far from his limit.
Given the foundation of power his opponent was displaying, it shouldn’t have been difficult for him to casually raise several thousand Skeleton Servants, even without deliberately trying to build up his forces.
’Ah, but on second thought, it makes sense.’
Unlike Lynch, who considered himself a Necromancer with a legitimate background, Anthony was different.
Saint Roland City was one of the core cities of the Grimsby Empire.
This location wasn’t too far from Saint Roland City, which housed both the Holy Light Church and the Extraordinary Academy.
A Necromancer of unknown origin could get away with so minor clandestine activities, but amassing an Undead Army on a large scale would quickly bring an extermination force down on him.
That explained why his contingent of Skeleton Servants was so pathetic.
Most likely, his Death Banner-like artifact could only hold a thousand or so of these motley Skeletons.
However, while his opponent’s common Skeletons were sowhat lackluster, the High Tier Soul Fire units under his command made Lynch green with envy.
Four Skeleton Commanders stood guard around him.
Those Skeleton Commanders stood nearly three ters tall. Their bones were incredibly thick, with a texture like cast iron, and their joints bristled with nacing bone spurs.
The sickly green Soul Fire within their eye sockets burned with vigorous, dynamic life.
Their weapons were just as extraordinary: there was a massive bone blade, a bone hamr wreathed in black flas, a bone spear of astonishing length, and another that wielded a nacing Bone Shield.
An aura of savage power radiated from them, lending them an imposing and majestic air.
It was said that a Skeleton Commander’s power started at Tier Five. Not only were they formidable warriors in their own right, but more importantly, they possessed the innate ability to command vast numbers of Low Tier Skeletons.
If equipped with Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Guards as mid-to-low-ranking officers, a single Skeleton Commander could easily assemble a battle group of two to three thousand Skeletons. It could command them as an extension of its own will, forming powerful, synergistic battle formations—truly a one-skeleton army.
’Compared to this Skeleton Commander, my own highly anticipated Bone Jade Skeleton King has instantly gone from a "future Legend" to a "country bumpkin." The difference is just too vast!’
And that wasn’t all.
Drifting at the Necromancer’s side were several erratic, almost transparent Shadows.
They had no fixed form, at tis coalescing into vague humanoid shapes, at others dispersing into patches of cold mist, all while moving in complete silence.
These were Ghosts, and likely very powerful ones.
A chill ran down Lynch’s spine.
This type of Spirit Body Undead was the most difficult to deal with. Physical attacks were nearly useless against them, they excelled at ntal assaults and life-draining, and they were notoriously unpredictable and impossible to defend against.
They were ideal tools for ambushes, assassinations, and disrupting the flow of battle.
Soon, however, his "gaze" was drawn to another eye-catching behemoth.
It was a massive, bloated "mountain of flesh," its body oozing a viscous, dark-green liquid.
Its form was vaguely humanoid, but it stood over five ters tall. Its corpulent body was covered in festering pustules, and a foul, green, toxic mist constantly stead off it, creating a dead zone in its imdiate vicinity.
In a radius around its position, the surrounding weeds had swiftly withered and died, and even the surfaces of nearby rocks showed signs of corrosion.
This was one of the Necromancer’s special units—a Plague Zombie, and a massive one at that.
This made Lynch not only envious but also deeply wary.
This special type of zombie was a veritable mobile bioweapon. Its lee prowess might not match that of a Bronze-Armored Corpse, but the plague and toxic fog it spread would be absolutely devastating to large-scale, Low Tier forces.
Beyond that, there were also small squads of Skeleton Cavalry on the battlefield, mounted on Skeleton Warhorses and wielding bone lances. They were swift, coming and going like the wind, and their charges carried an unstoppable montum.
And behind the Skeleton horde stood a few scattered Skeleton Mages, holding Magic Staffs aloft as the Soul Fire in their eye sockets leaped with concentration...
Though not nurous, the units were well-combined and clearly layered, a far cry from the crude "Sea of Skulls plus a few elites" model of Lynch’s current Undead Corps.
Taking all this in, Lynch couldn’t help but be impressed. He now had a rough assessnt of Anthony’s strength.
According to this world’s system of Extraordinary Levels, Tiers One through Three were considered Low Tier practitioners.
Tiers Four through Six were mid-tier—the backbone of their respective professions and powerful enough to beco local hegemons.
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