48: Chapter 48 Crushing

The gate rose.

Five skeletons walked out from the shadows beneath the stands and stepped onto the dark yellow sand.

The five on the opposite side entered at the same time; their bones were a darker yellow, and they were a size larger than this side.

The one in the middle was the tallest and strongest, carrying a two-handed bone hammer with dark green crystals embedded in the head.

There was a skeleton to its left and right, wielding a bone axe and a bone blade, respectively. On the far ends were two more: one with a bone shield and a short bone sword, the other holding a bone spear.

The roars from the stands were overwhelming. Minotaurs scraped the stone steps with their hooves, werewolves howled, and Vampires leaned out of their boxes, holding wine glasses.

The roars from the stands gradually died down. A hoarse, drawn-out voice fell from above, suppressing the noise of the entire arena.

It was a Vampire wearing a dark red robe, standing on a protruding stone platform directly above the arena, arms spread wide, his robe billowing in the night wind.

"Five vs. Five—No-Holds-Barred Match—Begin!"

The entire arena erupted in roars.

Zhen Lu's body launched instantly, and he was already sprinting out.

The speed effect of the Eight-Step Cicada Chase exploded under his feet, and he shot forward like a bone-white cannonball, crashing straight toward the three skeletons on the left—the bone axe, bone blade, and bone spear users.

The Summoning Master's order was to stall the three, but when his body executed the order to "attack," it never dragged its feet.

He spun the bone spear half a circle in his hand, the tip pointing forward, waiting for an opportunity.

The first skeleton raised its bone axe and swung down. Zhen Lu did not slow down or dodge.

He thrust the spear tip toward the axe blade, trading injury for injury. At the exact moment the bone axe struck Zhen Lu's shoulder, the spear tip had already pierced through its sternum.

The scratch on his shoulder didn't even leave a crack, but after the opponent's sternum was pierced, its skeleton fell apart directly. The upper and lower halves separated, the bone axe flew out of its hand, flipped twice in the air, and embedded itself in the sand.

One spear, one down.

Before the stands could even gasp, Zhen Lu twisted his waist and turned.

The spear shaft swept out with the force of his waist's rotation, slamming right into the side of the second skeleton's waist.

The bone blade skeleton had just raised its blade and hadn't even had time to react to defend before its lumbar spine was snapped.

Its skeleton broke in the middle, the upper body sliding down diagonally to the ground while the lower body remained standing. The bone blade flew out of its hand, hitting the third skeleton's bone spear and bouncing off.

Two spears, two down.

The third skeleton's bone spear had already thrust forward, the tip aiming straight for Zhen Lu's eye socket.

Zhen Lu tilted his head, and the bone spear grazed past his ear, the tip scraping against his temporal bone with a sharp screech.

While tilting his head, he gripped the end of the spear with both hands and swung it upward, slicing into the center of the opponent's pelvis. The tip traveled all the way up, passing through the lumbar spine, sternum, and cervical spine, before exiting through the mandible.

The entire skeleton was hoisted and split in two from head to toe, bone fragments exploding outward and scattering across the ground.

Three spears, three down. From the moment he charged out until all three fell apart, less than ten seconds had passed.

Zhen Lu had too many skills, and the bonuses to his physical combat were all-encompassing. If he were controlling it himself, it might be slightly worse, but currently, he was in instinct-burst mode. His combat power was off the charts.

If he had a notebook, he would have started taking notes.

Zhen Lu's body did not stop.

He turned and charged toward the center of the arena, where the Bald Skeleton was trading blows with the sturdy skeleton wielding the crystal bone hammer.

The Bald Skeleton struck the sturdy skeleton's shoulder with a hammer; the sturdy skeleton staggered, then backhanded its crystal bone hammer into the Bald Skeleton's ribs. The Bald Skeleton was knocked back two steps, with several cracks appearing on its ribs.

Both sides were using a brutal, head-on fighting style, but the Bald Skeleton's strength was clearly slightly inferior.

The sturdy skeleton's crystal bone hammer swung down again, this time aiming straight for the Bald Skeleton's skull.

The Bald Skeleton raised its twin hammers in a cross-block, the bone hammers colliding with a dull, explosive sound.

The sand beneath the Bald Skeleton's feet was blown outward in a circle, and several more cracks appeared on its arm bones.

Then Zhen Lu arrived.

He cut in from the side, slamming the bone spear horizontally into the sturdy skeleton's wrist.

A cracking sound echoed from the joint, and the sturdy skeleton's crystal bone hammer, along with its hand bone, flew off, slamming into the stone wall of the stands and embedding itself into the wall.

The sturdy skeleton had lost a hand, but its combat instinct remained. It turned and swung its other fist at Zhen Lu, the bone fist whistling through the air.

Zhen Lu sidestepped, and the end of the spear tapped sharply into the sturdy skeleton's knee pit.

The fascia of the knee joint snapped upon impact, and the sturdy skeleton's knee buckled, its entire body dropping by half.

Zhen Lu did not give it a chance to adjust its posture; he thrust the bone spear into its temple, the tip piercing through the skull and exiting the other side.

The sturdy skeleton froze, then the soul fire in its eyes extinguished, and it shattered with a boom.

The Bald Skeleton stood up from the ground and shook the bone fragments off its ribs.

The battle on the right side of the arena was still continuing.

The last skeleton from the opposing side had been cornered by three teammates.

Its bone shield was half-shattered, and although it still held the short bone sword, it no longer had the ability to attack.

The Tall Thin Skeleton cut in from the side and flicked its bone blade, snapping the opponent's wrist joint and disarming the short bone sword.

The female skeleton's bone claws immediately locked onto its other arm, and the young skeleton took the opportunity to pierce through its sternum with a sword.

The bone shield skeleton fell apart.

The Colosseum was silent for about two seconds.

Then it exploded. The Minotaurs stood up and beat their chests with their fists, the werewolves howled at the top of their lungs, and the Vampires threw wine glasses out of their boxes.

The dark green orb of light flickered a few times amidst the roars, as if trembling along with the noise.

The five skeletons stood in the center of the arena, surrounded by bone fragments. The sandy ground was cratered in several places, with bone shards scattered in and around the pits, their edges gleaming with a cold white light under the green glow.

The Summoning Master stood on the inside of the gate, his hood obscuring most of his face.

But his shoulders were shaking; he was extremely excited.

"Very good. Very good." His voice sounded simultaneously in the consciousness of all five skeletons. "Return."

The five skeletons turned and walked out of the arena. The audience in the stands was still roaring, and some were throwing things into the arena.

When Zhen Lu reached the gate, a hoarse voice called out from behind.

"Skeleton! Skeleton!"

He did not turn back.

After returning to the manor, the Summoning Master rarely did not make them stand in the corner.

He had the five skeletons stand on either side of the main building's entrance like five bone-white statues. He paced back and forth in the courtyard, flipping his short staff between his fingers.

Darkness fell, and dark green flames lit up on top of the stone pillars at the manor entrance. The carriages arrived.

There were more people tonight than the previous two days. Zhen Lu scanned the guests entering one after another; there were at least thirty or forty of them.

Dark Elves, werewolves, Vampires, several fellow Necromancers wrapped in black robes, and even a Snake-man who hadn't come to the last banquet—with a human upper body and a snake tail for a lower body, the scales pitch-black and shiny.

The Colosseum was the largest entertainment venue in the city. After the battle that day, the crushing victory of the five skeletons had clearly become hot news, and all the guests who received the news wanted to join in on the excitement.

Three long tables were set up in the front courtyard, piled high with food and wine on dark purple tablecloths.

The dark green flames burning on the candelabras dyed everyone's faces with an eerie color, but no one found it strange; here, the eerier it was, the more normal it was considered.

The Summoning Master stood in the center of the courtyard, accepting congratulations from various guests.

He held a wine glass, having changed into a new black robe, still wearing his hood, but the exposed part of his chin was smiling uncontrollably.

Zhen Lu stood on the right side of the main building's entrance, his bone spear propped on the ground.

The Succubus was wearing a wine-red dress tonight, tighter-fitting than the one from the day before.

The hem of the dress reached the upper part of her thighs, and every step she took seemed to fall in rhythm with everyone's gaze.

Her horns curved in smooth arcs on her head, and her tail drew lazy circles behind her.

She held a glass of deep purple wine, walked straight through the crowd to the entrance of the main building, and without greeting the Summoning Master, stood directly in front of Zhen Lu.

Those pale purple eyes met the two dark green points of light. She stared at him for several seconds.

Then she reached out, her fingertips sliding down from Zhen Lu's cheekbone, along the edge of his jawline to the tip of his chin, and gave a gentle hook. "Your performance today," she said, her voice very soft, audible only to him, "was amazing."

She turned and walked toward the Summoning Master. The two stood in the center of the courtyard and exchanged a few pleasantries, their voices kept very low.

"How about lending him to me for another day? I'll definitely return him tomorrow."

After some more wheedling and coaxing, the Summoning Master was silent for a moment, then pulled the bone token from his sleeve, re-injected Mental Power into it, and handed it to the Succubus.

"You must return him to me tomorrow morning," the Summoning Master said. "I have a use for him."

The Succubus took the token, touched her finger to the rune, and the dark green light was replaced by deep purple.

Control switched again, and that soft, sweet consciousness reconnected to Zhen Lu's soul link.

"Come on, let's go home," she said. The Succubus giggled and walked out of the manor, with Zhen Lu following closely behind.