’It’s over. I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die...’

Liu Xingxing squinted sideways, straining to look up. He saw the ferocious Headhunter Clan member, its face streaked with blood from three long claw marks. One of its hands was choking the Catman’s neck, while the other raised a Bone Rod, ready to smash it down viciously.

He could already picture the scene: his own head being smashed open, blood splashing everywhere. He closed his eyes in terror, awaiting death’s arrival.

The Catman who had been operating the mechanical arm jumped up in a panic. A downward strike now would surely hit the Headhunter Clan member, but it would also smash his companion and the City Lord to death. The Catman leaped from the control platform, about to jump down to rescue his companion and the City Lord.

’There’s no time! It’s too late!’

No matter how fast he was, he could never make it before the City Lord was bludgeoned to death by the Bone Rod!

Just as Liu Xingxing resigned himself to death and the Catman was at a loss, a whistling sound cut through the air.

SWOOSH—THUMP!

A Spear flew in from a distance, viciously piercing the Headhunter Clan member’s body and sending it stumbling.

Liu Xingxing felt the foot on his head lift. Without bothering to see what had happened, he scrambled to the side, his forehead’s cold sweat mixing with the dust on his face until he looked like he’d rolled in mud. He got up in a panic and looked back at the Headhunter Clan member, his heart still pounding with fear.

The Spear, carrying immense force, had pierced straight through its body at an angle. It was this very Spear, shot from a distance, that had saved him from the fate of being bludgeoned to death by the Bone Rod.

That direction is... the Undead Main Tower!

’The boss made his move!’

Liu Xingxing whipped his head around and saw a High Level Skeleton Warrior, wearing a helmet and Bone Armor and carrying a Shield, drawing a Bone Saber from between its ribs as it walked menacingly in their direction.

Behind the High Level Skeleton Warrior were several Intermediate Skeleton Warriors, with Low Level Skeleton Warriors following them.

The Headhunter Clan member, impaled by the Spear, swayed a few times before steadying itself. It looked down at the long spearhead protruding from its body, its teeth grinding audibly. With a flick of its hand, it tossed the Catman aside. It turned to face the direction the Spear had come from and was about to charge when it heard another sound of something cutting through the air.

SWOOSH—THUMP!

Another Spear traced a parabola through the sky, arcing down to pierce its abdomen, going straight through.

Its tough hide and fine scales, which it took pride in, were utterly useless against the immense force and momentum of the Spears.

The Headhunter Clan member’s body faltered as if it were about to fall, but it struggled to stand upright, glaring furiously at the approaching High Level Skeleton Warrior.

’I won’t accept this!’

’I don’t want to die here!’

’I still have to roam the Wasteland! This is not where I’m meant to end up!’

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH—

Several more Spears flew in, piercing it with ease.

The Headhunter Clan member, with several Spears sticking out of its body, now looked like a Hedgehog.

Blood dripped from the spearheads onto the Bone Plates below. The Headhunter Clan member kept its mouth clamped shut, but blood uncontrollably trickled from the corners. The fury in its eyes gradually faded, becoming dull and murky.

No matter how evolved it was, no matter how tenacious its Life Force, being pierced by Spears again and again had finally brought it to the end of its life.

The High Level Skeleton Warrior walked up to the Headhunter Clan member, swept its Bone Saber across, and grabbed its bare head. With a slight exertion of force, it twisted the head off, and without a second glance at the corpse, turned and strode toward the battlefield.

The headless body swayed and fell backward. The Spears impaling it propped it up against the ground, preventing it from collapsing completely. It remained leaning at an angle as blood gushed from the wound at its neck, pooling on the ground.

When the Headhunter Clan member had tossed the Catman aside, Liu Xingxing had seized the opportunity, lunging forward to catch him. He then watched, dumbfounded, as the Headhunter was impaled by one Spear after another, before the approaching High Level Skeleton Warrior beheaded it with a single slash and even took its head. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Ngh... Meow..."

The Catman in his arms let out a faint cry. Jolted back to his senses, Liu Xingxing quickly looked down. The Catman’s eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.

"You’re okay! That’s great!" Liu Xingxing’s face lit up with relief and joy as he spoke.

"City Lord..." the Catman murmured softly. He still remembered what he saw before he closed his eyes: the City Lord rushing out, holding a Spear, and charging the Headhunter Clan member.

’The City Lord is okay. That’s a relief.’

’Since the City Lord is fine, then...’ The Catman struggled to turn his head to the side, and then he froze.

’That corpse, pierced with all those Spears, its head gone... the City Lord did that?’

’When did the City Lord get so badass?!’

The Catman stiffly turned his head back, staring at Liu Xingxing with wide eyes.

"What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?" Liu Xingxing asked frantically, seeing the Catman’s shocked and terrified expression.

"City Lord, did you kill that thing?" the Catman asked, utterly astonished.

"Uh... hehe..." Liu Xingxing laughed awkwardly, scratching his face with his index finger.

’This is unbelievable, incredible. Could it be that the City Lord really did kill that thing? Good heavens, I’ve really underestimated the City Lord.’

Then, the Catman heard the City Lord, who had suddenly become so great in his mind, say, "No, it wasn’t me. The Undead killed it."

The little stars that had started to sparkle in his eyes vanished instantly. The Catman tilted his head back, his face a picture of desolation.

’I knew it. How could it be the City Lord? He’s such a coward, so useless all the time. Besides that dumb ’hehehe’ laugh, he can’t even operate a mechanical arm. Killing enemies? You can’t possibly count on him for that.’

’I was overthinking it. I really was just overthinking things.’

The Catman went limp like a noodle in Liu Xingxing’s arms, his eyes filled with disdain for his City Lord. Yet, the image of the City Lord rushing out with a Spear in hand during his time of need kept replaying in his mind.

’Well, even though he’s useless trash, completely good for nothing, he can be brave sometimes. He knew it was a suicide mission, but he still came to save me. That’s enough...’

’Meow.’

Li Ziyu watched Liu Xingxing kneeling on the ground, frantically holding the Catman, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

’This kid’s not bad. He can be reckless when it counts. At least he’s not a coward who’s afraid of death. And he knew to protect the Catman. Not bad at all.’

He glanced over at the Minotaurs, where the battle had also ended. The reckless Headhunter Clan People who had charged over there were surrounded and beaten by the Minotaurs, smashed into meat paste by Mumu and his kin swinging their Totem Poles.

’Hmm... I wonder if the bones are shattered. Can they still be used?’

The smile vanished from his lips, his expression turning icy. Li Ziyu’s gaze fell upon the gathered Headhunter Clan People who were fighting the Undead.

’Alright, I’ve seen what I needed to see and tested what I needed to test. Now, it’s time to wrap this up. The Skeleton Warriors have been dispatched; the battle should be over soon.’

The Headhunter Race had, after all, evolved from Humans. Compared to the Lizardmen and goblins, they were clearly much smarter. In the course of battle, they had already discovered the Skeleton Undead’s weakness: shatter their skulls to let the Soul Fire dissipate, and the Undead would die permanently.

By exploiting this weakness, they had already turned many Undead into piles of what looked like scorched bone fragments. Even if collected, they could no longer be used to create new Skeleton Undead.

The gathered Headhunter Clan People were now fighting with greater strength than before. Having discovered the Undead’s weakness, their morale was greatly boosted. But all of that changed with the arrival of the Skeleton Warriors.