Chapter 74

In a hastily constructed command post filled with jackal-man style decor, Gisk was listening to his subordinates report on pre-battle preparations; he planned to deploy an eleven-member jackal-man scout team to clear the Spirit Link Tower—the signal tower used by high-level necromancers to control low-tier undead, a structure scattered across the entire plane.

Gornor stood straight before a wooden table covered in maps, holding a thin wooden rod like a pointer, reporting the positions and operational plans of each squad; he wore custom leather armor from the Duke’s domain but draped over his shoulders was a human officer’s cloak, and at his waist hung a standard military hand-and-a-half sword—a bizarre combination that immediately revealed who he was imitating.

“Report! General Gisk! Regarding… uh… the preliminary preparations and deployment plan for the Spirit Link Tower clearance operation… it is… uh… finalized!”

He paused, as if recalling rehearsed phrases, then pointed his rod at several marked points on the map: “Based on preliminary reconnaissance and intelligence analysis, the target area contains three primary Spirit Link Towers arranged in a triangular formation. Outside activity by undead is frequent, with signs of elite units stationed. We plan to first clear them, then proceed with further actions based on combat outcomes.”

“To this end, I propose deploying three fully manned combat squads to execute this clearance and suppression mission.”

He puffed out his chest, trying to appear more authoritative:

“Squad One, commanded by veteran Gray, equipped with standard mixed-class personnel, will assault Tower 132. Squad Two, led by my deputy Motaq, an expert in siege warfare, will take Tower 130. Squad Three, as the mobile reserve, will provide immediate support and clear wandering threats between the towers. After the first two are cleared, Gulo will lead the assault on Tower 131.”

As he reported, he stole a glance at Gisk, who was smoking a cigar; seeing no reaction, he continued.

All squads have been issued additional holy water, anti-magic arrows, and limited negative-energy resistance potions provided by the Armory Department. The soldiers’ morale is high, eager to prove your exceptional leadership and our soldiers’ worth with the shattered bones of these skeletons!

Gisk slowly set down his cigar and moved his booted feet off the table, studying the intelligence reports on the three squads before speaking: “Good. Proceed as planned. Activate the observation crystal. The Duke said this clearance is a rare combat opportunity—every soldier must learn from it.”

“Report, General—the crystal is ready. Please follow me!” In a nearby room, a group of jackal-men indeed gathered around a crystal ball, utterly focused on its contents.

Under the leadership of battle-hardened squad leader Gray, the team had reached the perimeter of the target Spirit Link Tower. The tower stood at the center of a destroyed village—once human dwellings, now only crumbling walls that offered perfect cover for defenders.

Broken bones and rusted weapons littered the ground; the air reeked of ozone and dust. A dried, dark-stained negative-energy pool sat in the center of the square, radiating an unpleasant chill. The Spirit Link Tower itself was black and cracked, its windows like hollow eye sockets, faint ghostly flames flickering within.

The squad entered the ruined square in standard search formation. Two rangers, sharp-eyed, noticed unnatural arrangements of bones beneath their feet. “Ambush!” The rangers had barely warned when a rapid “clack-clack” echoed from all around the ruins.

Over thirty skeletal warriors surged from rubble and broken walls! They moved in small groups, attempting to split and surround the squad. Captain Gray and two warriors immediately stepped forward, forming a solid triangular defense, using shields and broadswords to block the skeletons’ strikes and create space behind them.

The two elemental mages swiftly cast spells. One summoned a wall of searing fire, temporarily blocking skeletons from the left; the other froze the ground with frost, causing skeletons on the right to slip and pile up, immobilized.

The priest of the God of War raised his holy symbol and chanted a prayer; a radiant red light of righteous fury spread outward from him. Skeletons caught in the holy light moved noticeably slower, their soul flames flickering wildly as they struggled against this repulsive positive energy.

The rogue and assassin moved along the battle’s edges, using daggers inscribed with the Church’s purification runes to strike precisely at the cervical joints of skeletal soldiers—single kills. The battle was brief but fierce. Through the squad’s skilled coordination, the thirty-plus skeletons were reduced to fragments within minutes. But before they could catch their breath, the lower door of the Spirit Link Tower slid open silently, and heavier footsteps approached.

Four towering, thick-boned Bone Guards, wielding rusted great axes, stepped out with heavy strides. Behind them came over a dozen skeletal archers armed with bone bows, quickly taking elevated positions among the ruins.

“Raise shields! Defend against arrows!” Blake bellowed.

Bone arrows rained down, clattering against the warriors’ shields. The rangers began dueling the skeletal archers. Their arrows were more precise, piercing through skulls with ease—but the enemy outnumbered them, creating overwhelming firepower.

One mage began chanting a powerful ice ray, precisely targeting the Bone Guards. The extreme cold made their bones brittle and movements sluggish. The priest’s holy prayer worked again, weakening the undead while providing slight healing and spiritual encouragement to the front-line warriors; the assassin and rogue seized the chance to flank and eliminate the remaining archers.

Just as the battle stalled, the true threat arrived silently. A vast, nearly invisible soul-web suddenly unfurled behind the squad! It was the Bone Weaver! It had been lurking atop the tower, observing the battlefield through the “eyes” of its lowly servants.

The priest felt his connection to the deity grow hazy; the holy light dimmed instantly. The two mages’ mana flow became sluggish, as if their thoughts were entangled in sticky spiderwebs—this was the soul-web’s signature, designed specifically to disrupt weak-willed spellcasters.

Seeing the danger, the druid transformed into a ferocious brown bear, roaring as it charged the front-line Bone Guards, using its massive body and claws to temporarily block them.

The two elemental mages, gritting their throbbing heads, each unleashed area spells: massive fireballs and hailstorms of ice spikes appeared between the Bone Guards and skeletal archers, instantly clearing a wide area and giving the assassin a chance to withdraw.

The assassin moved like a ghost through the battlefield, using the chaos from the explosions to silently scale the outer wall of the Spirit Link Tower, attempting to slip through a window and locate the Bone Weaver’s true form. The Bone Weaver inside had not anticipated such swift, decisive action after the mental assault. By the time it sensed danger and tried to relocate, it was too late.

As the assassin’s dagger, glowing with anti-magic light, pierced its soul core, the Bone Weaver emitted a piercing, furious, mocking soul-scream. Its form did not collapse as expected—instead, it violently disintegrated into countless gray-white, wailing soul-threads, exploding outward like a shattered web!

Most of these soul-threads were decoys, meant to disrupt vision and spiritual perception. But its true core—the source of its consciousness—slithered like a venomous snake, moving at near-invisible speed along the darkest shadows within the tower, racing toward a pre-set escape rune: a short-range teleportation point it had long prepared, linked to the wilderness.

“Hey, look what I got.” The jackal-man rogue held up a skull inscribed with the escape rune—he had, at the last moment, activated his Swap ability and placed a regular skull there.

Sensing his backup had been discovered, the soul-core tried to flee—but was struck by a special arrow and instantly dissolved. Without its commander, the skeletal soldiers, facing the disciplined jackal-man squad, offered no further resistance and were swiftly slaughtered.

On another front, a similar scene unfolded. The Bone Weaver’s power could not match a professional killing squad. After a night of battle, when the sun rose on the horizon, the Spirit Link Tower was left with nothing but scattered bones and rusted, broken weapons—though of course, no sun could be seen in this plane.

“Your men performed well. Proceed to the next phase. I need you to clear three hundred Spirit Link Towers scattered across the plane within three days. Can you do it?”

“Report, General—no… problem. My men will complete this… mission perfectly.”

“Good. Gornor, understand this: these Spirit Link Towers are our communication nodes for the full-scale cleansing of the plane. On a battlefield this large, anything can happen—you must ensure flawless coordination to respond instantly.”

“Understood. Uh… General, the next phase mainly involves lizardmen—what about our jackal-men? Are our tasks getting too light?”

“Combat duties are still yours. The Duke says ogres have terrible discipline and will turn everything into chaos. Lizardmen are assigned to reshape the plane—remember, the plants here eat people. If we sent goblins, they’d vanish without a trace.”

“I knew it—the scout teams are always the Duke’s finest soldiers.” The young jackal-man warrior leapt up in excitement; their thirst for slaughter was etched into their souls.

“Don’t get too cocky. If you mess this up, you’ll regret it. And if you delay me returning to the Duke’s domain to fight demons, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”