Chapter 5

"Upgrade all the Skeleton Archers to Heavy Bone Crossbowmen."

Lin Han brought the squad of Skeleton Archers to the cave entrance and issued the upgrade command. Instantly, the cave burst into a bright, eerie glow, and all the Skeleton Archers were absorbed by the light. Soon, the sound of bones grinding against each other echoed from the cave, and a new unit of soldiers appeared before Lin Han.

These Heavy Bone Crossbowmen held massive black heavy bone crossbows, with quivers of bolts on their backs and small black caps on their heads, giving them a somewhat comical appearance. However, despite their comical look, these guys were not to be underestimated!

"Heavy Bone Crossbowmen: Level 4 Elite Reinforced Unit of the Graveyard Race. After multiple battles, Skeleton Archers can be trained into Heavy Bone Crossbowmen. When a large number of Heavy Bone Crossbowmen appear on the battlefield, they can instill unimaginable fear in the enemy. Damage: 4-9, Defense: 2, Health: 50, Movement Speed: 0.6 meters per second, Attack Speed: once every 2 seconds, Range: 30 meters, Ammunition: 8. Special Abilities: 1. Ranged Unit [This unit can perform ranged attacks, but the damage will be reduced by 50% if the target is outside the attack range or in close combat.] 2. Bone Body [The bone body of the skeleton has a chance to dodge ranged attacks, with a 33% chance to dodge each ranged attack.] 3. Penetration [When a Heavy Bone Crossbowman attacks a target, if there are enemies within 5 meters behind the target, they will also take up to 66% of the damage. Each additional target reduces the damage by 33%, with a minimum of 33%.]"

Compared to Skeleton Archers, the Heavy Bone Crossbowmen not only had higher attack power but also a significantly increased range. Most importantly, they had the Penetration ability, which would deal massive damage when enemies were densely packed.

With a squad of 30 Heavy Bone Crossbowmen, Lin Han felt much more confident. The 4-9 damage was sufficient to deal significant damage to any unit below Level 3, and with the boost from the初级死亡之力 (初级 Death Power), it became 5-10! This attack power already exceeded the attack power of the Level 3, Tier 2 unit, the Wraith.

"Attention! The fourth wave of monsters will appear in 1 minute. After the leader is defeated, it will drop treasure and provide a bonus to the evaluation after the defense is completed!"

Another prompt appeared, and Lin Han quickly positioned the Heavy Bone Crossbowmen on the city wall. The Heavy Bone Crossbowmen on the wall locked their crossbows on the distant targets, and with the range bonus from the wall, their range reached an astonishing 45 meters, even surpassing the Wraith Tower.

"Ding! The fourth wave of monsters has appeared to the north of the castle. After several failed attacks, the Skeleton Archer King is enraged and will personally lead his troops to attack. Note: Killing the Skeleton Archer King will grant additional treasure. Enemy forces: 200 Bone Units, 200 Bone Units, 100 Skeleton Archers, Leader-level Creature - Skeleton Archer King, 100 Skeleton Archers, 200 Bone Units."

"Damn!"

When the massive skeleton figure appeared in Lin Han's field of vision, his lips began to twitch. The Skeleton Archer King was one of the leader-level creatures he least wanted to encounter, as he was the most annoying among the lower-level leaders.

"Skeleton Archer King: Level 4 Leader-level Creature of the Level 1 Race. Damage: 50-80, Defense: 5, Health: 7000, Magic: 1000, Movement Speed: 1.5 meters per second, Attack Speed: once every 2 seconds, Range: 40 meters, Ammunition: 30. Special Abilities: 1. Ranged Unit, 2. Bone Body, 3. Penetration, 4. Ice Arrow [The Skeleton Archer King's attacks are accompanied by ice power, dealing an additional 10 damage and slowing the target by 40%. Attacks on defense towers reduce their attack speed by 20%. Each attack consumes 10 magic points.] 5. Evil Aura Level 2 [War Aura, increases the movement speed of creatures within 500 meters of the Skeleton Archer King by 20% and restores 5 health points per second.] 6. Penetrating Shot [The Skeleton Archer King gathers strength and fires a powerful shot at enemies within a 2-meter straight line in front of him, dealing 200% damage to all enemies within 50 meters and 250% damage to buildings. Consumes 250 magic points.]"

"This is going to be a real challenge!"

Lin Han did not expect the first leader-level creature to be the Skeleton Archer King, a super annoying and highly disadvantageous creature for defense. The appearance of the Skeleton Archer King completely changed the battle dynamics.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Before the Skeleton Archer King even approached, the Heavy Bone Crossbowmen began their frenzied attack. The Wraith Towers also emitted black streams of light, which flew towards the Skeleton Archer King as soon as he entered range.

"Ding! Your初级 Death Summon Proficiency has activated, and 10 Rotten Zombies have appeared on the battlefield!"

The Death Summon Proficiency activated again, but this time it summoned Level 2, Tier 2 Rotten Zombies instead of Wraiths. Unfortunately, they appeared in the middle of the battlefield and were immediately mowed down by a volley of arrows from the Skeleton Archers, followed by a charge of Skeletons, which quickly dispatched the 10 Rotten Zombies, leaving Lin Han speechless.

However, these creatures did serve a purpose, at least delaying the enemy for a few seconds. During this time, the Wraith Towers and Heavy Bone Crossbowmen began their frenzied attacks, causing the Skeletons to fall in droves, and the Skeleton Archer King's health dropped by a staggering 1000 points.

"All Skeletons and Bones, charge!"

Lin Han's brow furrowed as he watched the chaotic battle. At his command, the black gates slowly opened, and all the Skeletons and Bones rushed out. However, they stopped 10 meters from the city wall and did not advance any further.

This was the best strategy. The greatest threat to the city wall was the Skeleton Archers and the Skeleton Archer King, who had 8000 health and was not easy to defeat. Therefore, Lin Han did not waste too much firepower on the Skeleton Archer King and focused all his attention on the Skeletons and Skeleton Archers. Once these were dealt with, the Skeleton Archer King would be no problem.

"Penetrating Shot!"

Just as the Skeletons and Bones were released, the Skeleton Archer King raised his longbow, drew an extra-long arrow from his quiver, and aimed at the city wall. After a moment of charging, the arrow flew out and struck the wall, shattering over a dozen Skeletons along the way!

"Is that really necessary?"

Lin Han's lips twitched. The Skeleton Archer King's Penetrating Shot had just dealt 200 points of damage to the city wall, which was the highest damage he could deal. The wall had a damage reduction effect, but the Skeleton Archer King's attack was a chaotic attack, dealing full damage to any unit, including the wall!

The most annoying part was the Penetrating Shot's attack method. Although it was a skill, it dealt pure physical damage, and the upgraded granite wall's magic damage reduction was ineffective against it. This guy was clearly out to get Lin Han.

"Damn it! Hit them hard!"

Suppressing his anger, Lin Han controlled the Heavy Bone Crossbowmen to attack the Skeleton Archers fiercely. Under such intense attacks, the number of Skeleton Archers rapidly decreased. On the other hand, the Skeletons and Bones Lin Han had sent out were overwhelmed by the Skeleton Archer King and the Bone flood. A large number of Bones had already reached the city wall and began pounding it, causing the wall's durability to drop rapidly. Lin Han quickly mobilized the small Skeletons to repair the wall.

These small Skeletons had appeared when the city was created. A Level 1 town had 5 small Skeletons, responsible for repairing buildings and the city wall. Each small Skeleton had only 50 health points, no defense, and no attack power. Their only function was to repair buildings, with each small Skeleton restoring 10 durability points to the wall per second. However, the wall's durability was not increasing; instead, it was dropping at a rate of over 10 points per second.

The saying "ants can kill an elephant" was not an exaggeration. The Bones' attacks on the granite wall did not cause much damage, with 1 point of forced damage being the maximum. However, the sheer number of Bones was overwhelming. With over 200 Bones continuously pounding the wall, it lost 200 durability points every 3 seconds, and the 5 small Skeletons could not keep up.

However, Lin Han was relieved that, at the cost of all his Bones and Skeletons, all the Skeleton Archers were eliminated, and the Skeleton Archer King's health had dropped to 4000 under the combined attacks of the Wraith Towers.

"Heavy Bone Crossbowmen, switch targets and attack the Bones!"

With the Skeleton Archers eliminated, Lin Han could focus on the Bones that had approached the city wall. With the Penetration ability, the Heavy Bone Crossbowmen cleared the area quickly, and after several volleys, the number of Bones under the wall significantly decreased, and the wall's durability began to slowly recover.

However, while the wall's durability was recovering, the Wraith Towers' durability was rapidly dropping. The Skeleton Archer King, with some intelligence, targeted the units that dealt the most damage to him. After the Wraith Towers attacked him, he immediately shifted his focus to them.

Although the Wraith Towers were also buildings, their defense was much weaker compared to the city wall. Even without using Penetrating Shot, the Wraith Towers were already on fire from the Skeleton Archer King's attacks.