Jack slowly drew out his dark sword, a sinister grin playing on his lips as he spoke, "Toby, what do you think—should I cripple them all, or simply eradicate them completely?"
Toby smacked his small lips, a look of disdain on his face as he scoffed, "Though they are a bunch of worthless cowards, letting them leave alive will surely bring us great trouble in the future." His meaning was crystal clear—leaving no root behind would avoid endless future woes.
"Very well, then. Eradicate them completely," Jack shouted, stepping forward, his right hand driving the sword towards the middle-aged man with ruthless intent.
Meanwhile, Alex, Ben, and Carl led their respective skeletal squads into the fray. The over one hundred human mercenaries were quickly trapped in a tight siege. Their only choice now was to fight with all they had.
But could they truly break through the encirclement? In terms of numbers, they were no match for their opponents, and as for strength, they were far inferior to the undead. Within moments of engagement, over thirty human warriors were cleaved in two by a single stroke, blood spraying in all directions.
The middle-aged man, stunned and consumed by rage, watched in horror as his mercenary group, which had been established for a decade, was reduced to mere fodder before these undead creatures. Their battle prowess had once rivaled that of a small army, yet here, before the undead, they were utterly helpless.
With a roar, he saw Jack's sword aimed at his chest and hastily drew his own sword to block.
Clang!
The clash was deafening, and the middle-aged man's sword shattered instantly, pieces of it falling to the ground with a metallic clatter.
In terms of actual combat ability, Jack was no match for the middle-aged man. His training had never followed the structured regimen of a professional soldier; at best, it had served to strengthen his body and accumulate some battlefield experience, but compared to a true warrior, the gap was vast.
On the continent of Orcsos, warrior ranks were clearly defined, beginning with novice warriors, then intermediate, advanced, swordsmen, great swordsmen, sword masters, great sword masters, sword saints, and finally, sword gods, a total of nine ranks. The first three ranks were easily attainable by any soldier with moderate effort, but swordsman and great swordsman levels were far more difficult to attain, requiring both luck and insight. The rank of sword master was the lifelong pursuit of many warriors.
Achieving the level of sword master granted the ability to wield the first traces of fighting energy, transforming one into an extremely formidable warrior.
Jack, however, lacked any formal instruction in the ways of Oksas, and thus, did not understand the concept of fighting energy. No matter how hard he fought, he would only ever reach the level of a great swordsman, unable to break through to the rank of sword master.
But the middle-aged man had already attained the level of a sword master, though only a novice one, he was still capable of releasing a weak fighting energy. Unfortunately, in his panic, he failed to summon it in time, and his sword, inferior to Jack's, left him vulnerable to nearly being slain.
"You... you are a great swordsman?" the middle-aged man stammered in disbelief.
Jack's black sword, forged from an unknown material, was not only incredibly sharp, able to cut through iron like mud, but every swing of it seemed to flash with a faint black shadow, leading the opponent to mistakenly believe it was a manifestation of fighting energy.
On the continent of Oksas, it was not unheard of for a person to possess dual professions, such as both a necromancer and a warrior, though such dual-class individuals were typically of modest achievement. Someone like Jack, who could "summon" over three hundred skeleton warriors and was mistaken for having reached the level of a great swordsman, was truly unprecedented—no wonder it shocked everyone present.
Though Jack did not understand the gibberish about fighting energy, seeing the fear in his opponent's eyes, he seized the opportunity and attacked once more.
"Element of Fire, from the depths of nature, I call upon you—use your power to obliterate this darkness before me..."
"Element of Water, from the depths of nature, I call upon you—use your power to cleanse this darkness before me..."
"Element of Wind, from the depths of nature, I call upon you—unite and form a powerful wind blade..."
At this moment, the only three mages in the mercenary group began their chants in unison, and their target was none other than Jack. To them, they believed that if Jack were to fall, the skeleton warriors would collapse on their own.
These three mages were no weaklings; each had reached the level of intermediate mage, and their combined attack was formidable. A barrage of wind blades, fireballs, and water orbs hurled towards Jack.
"Boss, be careful! These mages are so vile, ganging up on you like this! Teach them a lesson, turn them into pig heads!" Toby chattered loudly from the sidelines.
Jack, well aware of the power of magic, felt a cold sweat on his forehead as he quickly dodged the incoming spells. With a sharp command, he called out, "James, it's your turn to shine. Deal with these bastards."
The ring on his left hand glowed brightly, emitting an overwhelming aura. More than fifty skeleton mages, tightly gripping their black wands, charged out from the spatial ring with fierce determination. James, in particular, was furiously enraged, his dark, hollow eyes glowing ominously.
"What? Fifty Death Mages?"
The three mages, witnessing such a large force of skeleton mages for the first time, were so terrified they forgot their own incantations, standing frozen in place like statues.
In Orcsos, mages were extremely rare, and in a mercenary group of over one hundred, only three intermediate mages existed. But the enemy had summoned more than fifty skeleton mages, a sight that left them utterly stunned.
James, gripping his wand tightly, pointed at the mages and rasped, "Kill... Kill..."
Though he had reached the rank of silver skeleton mage, his speech was limited to simple words and phrases, though this was still far superior to most skeleton warriors.
The fifty skeleton mages raised their wands high, their jaws subtly moving as incomprehensible, arcane characters spilled from their mouths. Pale fire flickered from their wands, quickly forming into a mighty inferno, hurtling toward the enemy.
"It's Hellfire! Everyone, get back!"
The three mages, pale and panic-stricken, turned to flee, abandoning their spells. But they were no match for the speed of the hellfire. Before they could even cover five or six meters, they were consumed entirely, reduced to ashes, their very souls annihilated.
The middle-aged man and several other high-ranking members of the mercenary group, close by, were similarly incinerated in an instant, not even able to release their fighting energy. Chaos erupted in the mercenary group as the remaining warriors screamed like madmen. Faced with the overwhelming skeleton warriors, their cries were in vain.
Surrounded by three hundred skeleton warriors and more than fifty skeleton mages, the remaining mercenaries either fought to the death or begged for mercy, wailing in desperation. But Jack, having learned from Toby's words, knew that Orcsos was a land of the strong devouring the weak. If he spared them today, they would surely cause him endless trouble in the future. Coldly, he watched as the numbers of the mercenaries dwindled, his expression as indifferent as ever.
In just ten minutes, one hundred and twenty mercenaries had been cut down by the skeleton warriors. Following that, more than fifty skeleton mages, under James' command, unleashed another wave of Hellfire, burning the bodies to nothing, leaving not even the smallest trace behind, as though they had never existed.
Alex, Ben, Carl, and James led their squads to report their successes, their voices raspy as they recounted the annihilation of every last enemy.
Jack, looking at their slightly smug expressions, couldn't help but smile faintly. He patted their bony shoulders and praised, "Well done, well done. Truly, these soldiers of mine are something else. Once we have the time, I'll find a nice skeleton wife for each of you. Ben, Carl, and James, return for now. Alex, come help me free those dwarves."
Ben, Carl, and James nodded and led their squads back into the spatial ring.
Alex and his squad moved toward the over two hundred dwarves. As the dwarves looked on in terror at the "demons," Alex and his team swung their swords and shattered their shackles, setting them free.
Jack smiled as he surveyed the pitiful dwarves. Though they were skilled artisans, crafting rare armor and weapons on Oksas, their lowly status and tragic fate were a reflection of their non-human nature. Perhaps this was what they called destiny.