Chapter 160 - 159: The Great Battle

Chapter 160: Chapter 159: The Great Battle

The moment the van burst out from the Black Fog, the Lizardmen on the battlefield turned as one.

Dozens of pairs of amber, vertical pupils locked onto the three vehicles that had appeared so abruptly. Beneath their dark purple scales, lines of energy began to glow.

The lead van didn’t slow in the slightest.

The ram on its front, welded together from crisscrossing Beast Bone and Metal, aimed straight for the nearest Lizardman.

The Lizardman tried to sidestep the blow, raising its right claw to tear through the van’s metal shell.

But the van was far faster than it had anticipated. A dull thud and the CRACK of breaking bones rang out simultaneously as the ram struck its side with precision. The dark purple scales shattered. Its body was thrown over ten meters, slamming hard against the wreckage of a Mobile Castle. Its limbs twitched twice before falling still.

The second and third vans followed close behind.

After sending three Lizardmen flying, the three vehicles came to a sudden halt, and Black Fog billowed from their chassis!

The next second, the vans vanished, and three groups of figures charged out from the Black Fog.

Suburban Wolf took the lead, shooting like an arrow straight into the enemy’s flank with his twenty-five Skeleton Warriors close behind him.

Plague Corpses was already brandishing his Warhammer the moment he landed, a heavy Wooden Shield held before him. He led the Walking Dead Warriors in a frontal assault, each step sending rubble flying.

Meanwhile, Broken Bones led his squad in a flanking maneuver from the other side, advancing along the edge of the small Mobile Castle’s ruins.

The Lizardmen gave the Undead Team no chance to catch their breath.

The lead Lizardman let out a piercing shriek. Over sixty Lizardmen sprang into action, scrambling on all fours and darting rapidly through the ruins.

The three at the vanguard were the first to crash into the Walking Dead Warriors’ shield wall.

Sharp claws met Wooden Shields. The tips of the claws gouged deep furrows into the shields’ surfaces, sending splinters flying.

One Lizardman used the momentum to leap into the air, its tail sweeping sideways like a steel whip and viciously striking the edge of a Shield.

The Walking Dead Warrior staggered, but it had already swung the Warhammer in its right hand in a wide arc. The hammerhead struck the Lizardman squarely in the side, denting and cracking its dark purple scales. The blow sent the creature flying sideways for several meters, where it crashed into one of its kin.

As it recoiled, however, its claws raked across the Walking Dead’s upper left arm, tearing open three wounds deep enough to expose bone.

On the flanks, the Skeleton Warriors had also engaged the enemy.

Three Skeletons simultaneously engaged a single Lizardman—two pinning it from the front while one flanked from the side.

One of the Skeletons at the front raised its Shield, bracing against the claws. The impact sent a shudder through its arm bones, making them CREAK. In the same instant, it thrust its right-hand Bone Sword forward. The tip plunged precisely into the Lizardman’s left eye and pierced through the back of its skull.

The Lizardman’s massive body crashed to the ground. But the flanking Skeleton was tackled by another Lizardman, which grabbed its skull with its claws and squeezed. Amidst the CRUNCH of shattering bone, the Skeleton’s eerie green Soul Fire flickered twice and went out.

Within minutes, the battlefield descended into a chaotic melee.

The Walking Dead Warriors’ shield wall was breached in several places. The Lizardmen exploited their speed and claws to break into the formation.

A Lizardman pounced on a Walking Dead Warrior and began smashing its head. One blow, two, three—the Walking Dead’s skull caved in and deformed.

But as it brought its claws down for a fourth time, a pitch-black Warhammer slammed into its ribs from the side.

Three of its ribs shattered. It twisted its head and let out a shriek. Just as it began to turn, a second hammer blow landed, snapping its spine.

It collapsed, limp but not yet dead, its claws scratching uselessly at the ground.

Another Walking Dead Warrior rushed forward, dragging its Warhammer. When the third hammer fell, the Lizardman finally stopped moving.

Without a moment’s pause, the three Walking Dead turned and lunged toward the next target, Warhammers in tow.

Just then, a strange commotion erupted in the center of the battlefield.

A Lizardman, charging with particular ferocity, suddenly froze. Its limbs began to tremble uncontrollably. Its once-swift pounce became sluggish, and when its claws tore at a Wooden Shield, they clearly lacked force.

It opened its mouth to shriek but only managed a hoarse gasp.

Then a second one, and a third.

At some point, Plague Corpses had broken deep into the enemy ranks. His Warhammer was smeared with a yellowish-green filth, and every swing kicked up a fine, hazy smoke.

The surrounding Lizardmen instinctively fell back, giving his position a wide berth. They were afraid of him.

But their path of retreat was sealed.

The Suburban Wolf Squad had flanked them, cutting off the several Lizardmen that tried to scatter.

The Lizardmen were naturally fast, but the toxin had slowed their movements. They had just turned when Bone Swords pierced the backs of their necks.

Plague Corpses continued his advance. Wounds accumulated on his body. His upper left arm was torn open, nearly exposing the bone, and three deep claw marks scored his Chest Armor. But he didn’t stop.

With every Lizardman he struck down, the others nearby took another step back.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Skeleton Warriors’ losses were mounting rapidly.

Groups of three to five Lizardmen had formed, specifically targeting isolated Skeletons.

Their tactic was to have one attack from the front to draw its attention while the others struck from the sides and rear. They would grab its arms and snap them backward, pin its spine and twist. Once the Skeleton could no longer resist, they would smash its skull. Shattered bones began to pile up among the ruins, with Bone Swords and Shields discarded all around.

Suburban Wolf let out a low hiss.

The Walking Dead Warrior formation began to contract. Their Wooden Shields reformed into a solid wall. No longer seeking kills, they focused entirely on defense.

The Lizardmen that had broken through the line were now trapped.

Three or four of them were trapped in the center of the shield wall, surrounded on all sides by raised Warhammers.

They attacked frantically, their claws tearing through one Wooden Shield, then through the body of a Walking Dead Warrior. But more Wooden Shields immediately moved to fill the gap, and more Warhammers came crashing down.

One Lizardman fell under the blows of no fewer than ten hammers, its upper body reduced to a bloody pulp. Another attempted to break out, tearing through two Wooden Shields and piercing the neck of a Walking Dead Warrior with its claws. But it too was struck by three or four Warhammers at once, collapsing just short of the shield wall’s edge.

One last Lizardman held out the longest, felling several Walking Dead and tearing through multiple Wooden Shields before it was finally overwhelmed, struck by several Warhammers at once. It never rose again.

Outside the shield wall, the surviving Skeleton Warriors were still fighting desperately to hold back the main Lizardman force.

They were no longer trying to kill, but simply using their bodies to block the enemy.

A Skeleton was impaled through the chest by claws, but as it fell, it locked its arms around the Lizardman’s leg in a death grip. Another Skeleton lunged, plunging its Bone Sword into the Lizardman’s side.

The Lizardman roared and twisted, shattering the Skeleton’s skull with a sweep of its claws, but the corpse on its leg did not release its grip.

A third Skeleton charged, driving its Bone Sword into the Lizardman’s neck from the side. The creature struggled forward two more steps before finally crashing to the ground.

When the Walking Dead Warriors’ shield wall broke apart again and their blood-soaked Warhammers re-entered the fray, the Lizardmen’s fate was sealed.

The ones trapped within the shield wall were long dead, and fewer than twenty enemies remained on the battlefield.

They were caught between the Walking Dead Warriors and the Skeleton Warriors. Behind them lay the smoking wreckage of the Mobile Castle; before them, the relentless advance of Shields and Bone Swords.

The last one standing was their leader. It stood a full head taller than an ordinary Lizardman, its scales a deep purple that was nearly black. On its back was a triangular pennant, marking it as a Minion and proving its status.

But its status was meaningless now. Its subordinates had all been annihilated, and it was alone.

It let out one last shriek and charged the shield wall of the Walking Dead Warriors.

Its claws tore through the first Wooden Shield and ripped open the chest of the first Walking Dead Warrior.

A Warhammer slammed into its shoulder, shattering its scales, but it didn’t stop. Another crashed against its ribs, breaking them, but still, it didn’t stop. A third, a fourth, a fifth...

It reached another Walking Dead Warrior and pierced its skull with its claws, but its own legs could no longer support its weight.

It collapsed to its knees amidst the ruins. It raised its head, its amber vertical pupils sweeping over the surrounding Undead Warriors as it let out a low growl.

Several Warhammers fell at once.

The battle was over!