"I've been found out!"
Dead Bone didn't panic. This was the perfect opportunity for a strike.
He patted Bone Two, "Feel free to...". He had intended to urge him to just steam ahead, but he felt that a composed skeleton shouldn't use such a reckless tone, so he corrected himself, "Feel free to do your best."
Thus, Bone Two howled and charged forward, expressing his youthful energy and passion without restraint.
He wielded his weapon, the Sword of the Dead, and dark energy began to shimmer on it. Slowly, it grew longer and longer, inch by inch, meter by meter. It vibrated, creating a resonating hum, and cold as the grave spread from it and tainted the earth.
By the time Bone Two charged up to the Earth Rock Dragon, his Sword of the Dead had stretched to over ten meters long.
For the second time, he was abruptly sent flying, only this time he was in a much worse state. His armor, like shattered porcelain, splintered and cracked under the sheer force of the Earth Rock Dragon's attack.
He was critically wounded with just one blow.
But this was all part of Dead Bone's plan.
The Skeleton Warriors began preparing their throws. Black mist floated out of Dead Bone's hand and settled onto Bone Two, who had sustained severe injuries.
Bone Two was instantly resurrected right where he was and started hopping back and forth in front of the Earth Rock Dragon.
Bone Three joined the fray as well.
After several rounds of probing, Dead Bone had gradually gained a grasp of the Earth Rock Dragon's abilities and limits.
"Two skills, one talent."
"The talent is Gravity, and the skills are Smash and Bite."
Mu Yuan muttered quietly, then added, "Also, the Earth Rock Dragon's defense is incredibly powerful. Its body isn't clumsy, or rather... it's inherently bulky, but it uses its Gravity talent ingeniously, allowing it to propel itself forward."
At this moment, the Earth Rock Dragon was like a gecko, racing against the rock walls at an astonishing speed.
Its body was enormous, and merely its sprinting caused a thunderous roar in its wake.
Under the combined effects of Gravity and Smashing, no one could withstand a single blow.
Well, Dead Bone would probably have no problem.
But Dead Bone seemingly didn't want to try. He didn't even step forward.
'In battle, only those who guard their lives can attack.'
'There's no need to observe martial ethics when dealing with the enemy. If a group attack is possible, there's no need for a one-on-one duel.'
'Learn to use all available resources. Only those who survive until the end are the winners.'
When he was first born into this world, the words the Lord had spoken to him were as vivid in his mind as if they were just said yesterday.
He would never forget them, he couldn't forget them.
Of course, he would carry through the Lord's strategies and tactics until the end!
A few minutes passed. Under the harassment of Bone Two, Bone Three, and Bone Four, the Earth Rock Dragon began to roar in growing agitation. Its limited brain couldn't fathom why these tiny opponents could keep standing up each time they fell.
Angry, it continued to use its Gravity talent and Smashing skill.
It let out deep, heavy breaths.
With absolute calm, Dead Bone pulled out his energy potion, unscrewed the cap and gulped it down. The dense, black medicine turned into pure energy the moment it came into contact with his jawbone, pouring into the depths of his bones and his soul.
Feeling that the situation was still not secure enough, he unleashed some excess energy, accumulated beyond his capacity by his 'Death Extraction' talent.
The timing was just about right.
Dead Bone raised Wailing Death high. Faint black energy started to rise from the blade, merging into the dim subterranean space and resonating with the already dispersed strands of undead energy.
An invisible force fell, penetrating the Earth Rock Dragon's sturdy shell and targeting its core.
The Earth Rock Dragon suddenly felt as if it had fallen into a viscous quagmire, and even with its usage of the Gravity ability, it felt obstructed from all sides.
It sensed something was off.
Its keen intuition picked up the faint yet deadly force around it.
It was about to roar...but before it could, invisible curse powers relentlessly fell upon it one after another.
The Earth Rock Dragon seemed to have lost all strength, its roar came out feeble, and the giant claw it dropped down barely knocked the approaching skeletons away by a few dozen meters.
After a fierce battle and repeatedly executing its skills and talent, the Earth Rock Dragon had already exhausted quite a bit of its energy. Now it found its remaining energy was rapidly draining away like a hole had been punched in a pond, and the water level was dropping noticeably.
The robust armor that clad the Earth Rock Dragon, looking like a chunk of mountain and being many times harder than stone, with only a couple of scratches on it, decayed at a rapid pace. It appeared as fragile as rocks weathered for hundreds and thousands of years, with cracks starting to spread like spiderwebs across its surface.
The bone spear cut through the air, much like an artillery shelling, which created a small dent in the carapace of the Earth Rock Dragon.
What followed was an onslaught of bone spears that tore through the air like a torrential downpour of snow-white raindrops.
"First round of attack!"
"Second round of attack!"
"Third round of attack!"
By the time the first round of attacks was unleashed, Bone Two, Bone Three, and Bone Four couldn't hold back their aggression. The Earth Rock Dragon roared charging towards the Skeleton Corps hiding in the dark on a higher terrain.
It stomped on the rocky wall, moving around freely. Despite its exterior armor falling apart, it could not suppress its relentless desire to destroy everything in its path.
It seemed as if it had managed to shrug off a significant part of the weakening curse too.
After enduring just three full rounds of attacks, the Earth Rock Dragon climbed the steep rocky wall, breaking countless stalagmites and coming very close to the Skeleton Corps.
Its two half-red eyes were like crimson moons in the night sky, a symbol of ominous danger and ferocity.
The Skeleton Corps had the advantage at this point, but if they were to be attacked by the Earth Rock Dragon, their casualties would be high in a single round.
Dead Bone stood at the forefront of the corps, looking directly at the rising crimson moon, with its black cloak fluttering in the wind.
Engage in a head-on combat?
There were not enough debuffs on the enemy.
It allowed its thoughts to flow freely.
An apparition in red hung upside down from the forest of stalactites at the top. She was Hong Yi, whose blood-thickened skirt produced pleasing sizzling sounds as droplets of blood fell on the ground.
While it seemed that there was no change in her appearance, gazing upon her filled one with a sense of impending malice and dread.
'Evil Spirits: Hong Yi'!
Excellence one-star Hong Yi!
This was the Hong Yi that Mu Yuan evolved using an Undead Evolution Point after meeting the three essential elements of an undead, with one of the zombies in his possession this morning!
Filled with flowing blood, they were even more crimson and much larger than those of the Earth Rock Dragon.
They appeared to encompass the entire space and the whole world.
All sin was reflected in her eyes.
Through her eyes, everything was contained as the focus of an intense gaze and all witnessed were isolated and confined within.
Endless retribution seemed to be tormented and burned, as myriad chains flew out from all around, piercing the Earth Rock Dragon's massive, coiled body.
The Earth Rock Dragon's eyes showed fear, struggle, yet sensed that something was not right.
It struggled even more.
The confusion in its eyes gradually cracked, but when the confusion cleared, what appeared in front of it was...
"Shadow Accumulation!"
An invisible power emerged from countless Skeleton Warriors and ghosts, flowing into Dead Bone's body.
Its cloak was fluttering, and then suddenly stopped. The underground space became silent without a sound, as if space had solidified at that moment and time also only tilted slowly following its raised sword.
The sword fell on the Earth Rock Dragon's huge head, encountering slight resistance, then, under the multiple energy outbursts from Dead Bone, it cut straight through as if through some robust hide, cutting till the end.
The river of time seemed to flow again. The huge body of the Earth Rock Dragon fell heavily to the ground, causing the underground to roar and small pebbles to scatter.
Soul Sand and Remnant Souls were extracted from the huge creature.
Furthermore, a noticeable deep green light ball appeared.
'Heart of the Earth Rock Dragon (Rare)'
'Description: A rare material that can be used to forge equipment.'
Even the Great Lord Shepherd saw this additional drop for the first time. It was evident that the Earth Rock Dragon was indeed a BOSS, a BOSS capable of ruling the Land of Filth alone.
With the fall of this BOSS, the door to the Root of Corruption now stood wide open.
Dead Bone moved forward, ready to purify it.
Bone Two and the others gathered the armor fragments and broken bone spears, which could still be used after repair.
Hong Yi was hanging upside down on the stalactite, her crimson eyes blinking as if in thought, considering and verifying something.
A few Hurricane War Hawks also loyally fulfilled their duty as cameras.
Duo Lai, looking left and right, had a big question mark appearing on his forehead.
What about it? What was it doing here?