Han Wu’s mood visibly lifted the moment he gained a new slave. At least now, he’d recovered from the loss of a Blood Skeleton and his black greatsword.
“What powers do you possess anyway?” Han Wu asked the metal-lump-reduced Anu curiously.
Bound as his slave, Anu had no choice but to answer honestly. “Master, I am a demon of the Rust Bloodline. I can transform my body into rust flakes and corrode both metal and living matter.”
Han Wu nodded thoughtfully. The Rust Bloodline sounded formidable, offering both defense and the ability to reduce objects to rust. The only weakness was its vulnerability to heat and fire. Once melted, the demon became nearly useless in battle.
He knew many people commanded fire-attribute races in the Divine Civilization, making it one of the most common attributes. That reality dulled Anu’s value somewhat.
Anu, unaware of Han Wu’s train of thought, mistook his silence for disdain and quickly added, “Master, if you allow it, I can become your weapon. With my power, I can rust any weapon I touch.”
Han Wu was intrigued by the idea. He could already envision the power of the ability that turned an enemy’s weapon to rust. It was a clever trick that was difficult to defend against. Convinced, Han Wu decided to adopt Anu’s suggestion and forge it into his weapon.
Anu sighed in relief and slowly changed its shape, morphing from a lump of metal into a greatsword. Han Wu estimated the transformation would take about ten days. Finding that too slow, he commanded Divine Hammer to carry Anu into the cave housing the vast sea of fire. The intense heat would make Anu more malleable and speed up the process.
In just three days, Anu had transformed into a greatsword. Han Wu seized the new weapon and ordered his skeleton army to scour the land and kill as many native life forms as possible. The skeleton army swelled steadily, eventually reaching 500,000 strong. However, the cost of such rapid growth was the complete loss of stealth.
Soon, a group of humans discovered the vast skeleton army. In nearly every civilization, the undead were universally regarded as enemies. Upon learning of the undead threat, the humans hurried to report it to their city’s leaders. The City Lord wasted no time and dispatched scouts to verify the reports.
When the scouts returned with confirmation, the City Lord studied the news with grim resolve. The skeleton army numbered roughly 500,000, while his own forces totaled only 50,000 guards. Even if he hired mercenaries, his forces would barely reach 100,000. The skeleton army was nothing short of a disaster.
The City Lord swiftly issued orders forbidding citizens from approaching the sites where the skeletons had emerged. Simultaneously, he dispatched urgent requests to neighboring cities, calling for a united front against the undead threat.
Reinforcements arrived quickly from the neighboring cities. Within three days, the city had assembled an army of 300,000 guards and mercenaries, backed by 50,000 priests from the church. At last, they had enough forces to confront the skeletons.
With the army gathered, the City Lord commanded them to advance and annihilate the skeleton army. The human forces advanced steadily into the territory overrun by skeletons.
Han Wu’s scouts had already informed him about their plan against his skeletons. He had expected a confrontation with the Rune Civilization’s main race as the invasion dragged on, but he never imagined it would come so soon.
He ordered his skeletons to launch a preemptive ambush on the human army. At the same time, he summoned Niu Fang to fight alongside him, promising that the spoils would go to whoever killed the enemy unit.
Having witnessed Han Wu’s strength, Niu Fang didn’t hesitate to accept. She rubbed her fists eagerly, ready to harvest as much Warfront Essence as possible.
Soon, word of the ambush reached them. The humans had fallen into the skeletons’ trap, losing 150,000 soldiers. The skeleton army also suffered devastating losses. The priests had cleansed nearly 250,000 skeletons, eradicating them forever.
Han Wu felt the sting of losing so many skeletons, but the rewards were substantial. Slaying 150,000 humans earned him 5,000 Warfront Essence. This amount was enough to summon all his high-value combat units from his divine realm.
The humans of the Rune Civilization had no idea a far stronger force was about to descend upon them.