Chapter 710: He Needed To...

While the center of the plain shook under the fists of the Drowned Procession, the flanks had already turned into slaughter.

On the left, the undead Horn Lizard King planted its feet in the sharp sand and swung its massive cudgel in a flat, sweeping arc.

The weapon crashed into the first Fallen to reach it, and the sound cracked across the dark like a snapped tree.

Bang!

The Fallen’s ribs caved in, and a spray of rust and gray bone burst from its side. It was thrown several meters back.

Its chains whipping behind it as it skidded across the sand in a cloud of dust. The undead Horn Lizard King did not watch it land.

It was already turning, because three more were coming.

They did not charge in a line.

They spread out, their green sockets burning, their chains trailing behind them like long iron tails.

The first swung low.

A thick chain tore across the sand at ankle height, and the undead Horn Lizard King lifted one leg and stamped it down, pinning the links against the ground. Sparks burst under its heel.

The second Fallen struck high.

Its chain lashed overhead and wrapped around the undead Horn Lizard King’s horned head, and the third drove its fist into the exposed side of its ribs.

Crack!

Armor plates split.

The undead Horn Lizard King grunted, a deep, rasping sound, and its soul fire stuttered. It dragged its cudgel up and smashed it into the third Fallen’s skull.

The head burst apart like rotten fruit, and the body collapsed in a heap. But the chain around its head yanked backward, and its neck bent at a terrible angle.

It roared and tore free, leaving a fragment of its own flesh tangled in the chains.

The undead Horn Lizard King spun and swung again, catching the second Fallen across the jaw.

The Fallen reeled, but another stepped in to take its place, and another behind it.

There were too many.

For every one that fell, two more closed the gap, and the dark was filled with the rattle of chains.

One of them struck from behind.

A heavy anchor, torn loose from its back and swung on a cable, slammed into the undead Horn Lizard King’s spine.

Boom!

The impact drove it forward onto one knee, and cracks spread across its back plating like a spider’s web.

Pieces of armor flew off in every direction.

Before it could rise, a chain whipped around its right wrist and pulled. Another snapped around its left.

The Fallen heaved from both sides, and the undead Horn Lizard King’s arms were dragged wide, its cudgel trembling in its grip.

A fist slammed into its stomach.

Bang!

A second hit its chest.

A third struck its jaw.

The blows came one after another, each landing on a different part of its body, and with every one, more cracks spread across its hide.

Its soul fire flickered, flared, then guttered again.

It dug its heels into the sand and strained against the chains, its muscles bulging, but there were too many hands holding it down.

On the right, the undead Scorpion Men King was fighting a different kind of war.

It moved in a blur, its gauntlets flashing in the dark. The first Fallen to reach it received two punches to the chest before it could raise a hand.

Bang! Bang!

The ribs shattered, and the Fallen folded in half.

The undead Scorpion Men King pivoted on one foot, and its segmented tail snapped forward like a whip, its barbed tip spearing through the next Fallen’s throat.

Rust and dust sprayed from the wound. It yanked the tail free and spun again, driving an elbow into a third Fallen’s temple.

For a few heartbeats, it seemed unstoppable.

But the Fallen did not fear.

They did not hesitate.

They came in waves, and every one of them was a level above the undead Scorpion Men King. A chain lashed out from the left and caught it across the knee.

Crack!

Its leg buckled.

It dropped low, and a second chain whipped over its head and missed by a finger’s width.

It rolled away, but the third found its mark, a heavy link slamming into its shoulder and tearing a plate of armor free.

The undead Scorpion Men King snarled and surged back to its feet. It lunged at the nearest Fallen and drove both fists into its stomach, lifting it off the ground and hurling it into two others.

But the pack closed around it.

A chain wrapped around its tail and held fast.

Another coiled around its waist.

A fist hit its back, and another hit its ribs. The Fallen swarmed in from every direction, hands and chains and anchors falling at once.

Clang! Bang! Crack!

The anchor came down on its like rain. The strike drove its head into its shoulders, and a web of cracks spread across the visor.

Its soul fire flickered wildly.

A fist slammed into its jaw, snapping its head sideways. Another landed on its thigh, and bone splintered beneath the plating.

The undead Scorpion Men King lashed out with everything it had. It tore its tail free in a burst of sparks and drove the barb through a Fallen’s eye socket.

It caught a descending fist in its gauntlet and crushed the fingers. It punched a Fallen’s chest so hard that the ribs burst through its back.

Still, there were more.

Its movements slowed.

Its guard dropped, little by little.

Every blow it landed cost it three in return.

One chain lashed across its chest and ripped a deep gash through its armor. Another struck the back of its knee, and a third hammered its ribs from the side.

Fragments of metal rained across the sand, glinting in the faint light of its own soul fire.

Back on the left, the undead Horn Lizard King was still pinned.

Its arms trembled, held wide by the chains. Its legs were buried in sand, one knee cracked and bent.

Thoren watched both flanks with his jaw clenched.

Every instinct told him to pull them back, but he could not. He wished to summon more undead for support but he managed to suppress the thought.

He watched the battle with a cold and clear mind. He was calculating each of the battles.

He needed to find a guarantee battle strategy that could wind against the Drowned Procession and any other abomination he might encounter during this exploration.

And after watching this battle for long agonizing minutes, he came to a conclusion.

He needed to...