A suppressed laugh, marked by a distinct breathy sound, suddenly rang out in the deathly silent ambush point.

Everyone turned their heads in astonishment, only to see their leader, Lin Feng—who was always calm, composed, and decisive—clamping his hand tightly over his mouth, though his shoulders were uncontrollably twitching.

It was like a string that had been pulled taut for too long, suddenly plucked in some bizarre way, resulting in a near-uncontrollable, relaxing laugh.

His laughter left Zhao Hu and the others completely bewildered. Had the leader been traumatized? Or was he driven mad with rage?

"Cough... cough cough..." Lin Feng finally managed to stop laughing. He rubbed his aching eyes and exhaled a long, deep breath of turbid air.

"So it can be like this..." He shook his head.

"Nightmare World... your rules really are... simple, crude, and utterly unreasonable."

This laugh and his mocking remark were like a spark dropped into solidified grease, instantly shattering the freezing panic and solemnity that had gripped them.

Zhao Hu stared blankly. Seeing Lin Feng's rare and even somewhat "undignified" smile, the tense muscles on his own face involuntarily relaxed a bit.

Thinking about it carefully, wasn't this whole situation absurd?

They had meticulously planned to take advantage of a fire, but when the fire finally came, it was a towering inferno that could burn them to ashes as well. And the reason was simply because they were "close by" and thus "counted as one group"?

Tie Dun scratched his head and muttered, "It... does seem pretty ridiculous, doesn't it?"

The corner of Shadow Snake's mouth curved imperceptibly before she quickly regained her icy expression, but the heavy gloom in her eyes seemed to have been diluted by Lin Feng's laugh.

Jian Yan let out a soft sigh of relief and gripped his longbow firmly once more.

The panic and aimlessness that had almost solidified within the team dissipated by more than half without them even realizing it.

The leader was still laughing and calmly complaining, which meant... the sky hadn't fallen yet, and there was still a chance to turn things around.

Lin Feng suppressed his smile, but the sense of ease in his eyes didn't completely fade. The excessive tension that had accumulated over ten days of planning and pressure seemed to have truly been cracked open by this absurd "accident."

He turned his gaze back below.

Outside the west gate, the moat had already been filled. The skeleton vanguard had made contact with the rain of arrows, rolling logs, and falling stones launched from the Black Wolf Den. Dull thuds and the sound of shattering bones could be heard faintly.

Two Centurions began to move forward slowly, while the Skeleton Five Hundred Lord remained seated upon its skeletal warhorse. Its ghostly blue gaze coldly scanned the walls of the Black Wolf Den, seemingly searching for a weakness, having not yet made a move.

Although the resistance from the Black Wolf Den was somewhat panicked at first, they managed to stabilize their footing for the time being thanks to their sturdy fortifications and numerical advantage. The battle quickly entered a white-hot phase of attrition.

"Whether we've been 'counted in' or not isn't important right now."

Lin Feng's voice returned to its usual calm, even gaining a touch of clarity and sharpness from being "relaxed." "What's important is the scene before us."

He pointed at the meat-grinder of a battlefield below. "The strength of the Black Wolf Den is greater than we anticipated, and their fortifications are sturdier.

However, the intensity of this Nightmare Tide also far exceeds their past experience. That Commander of Five Hundred hasn't moved yet—that is the real trump card."

"For us, this unexpectedly strengthened Nightmare Tide is both a massive risk and potentially... a greater opportunity."

Lin Feng's eyes flashed with sharp light. "The Black Wolf Den will inevitably have to reveal all their hidden cards. Their exhaustion will far exceed any of our previous estimates. The degree to which both sides are wounded will likely be much deeper."

He turned back to look at his teammates, who had regained their composure. "The original plan remains unchanged. Continue to stay hidden and observe carefully.

Now, we need to assess not just the extent of the Black Wolf Den's losses, but also when that Skeleton Five Hundred Lord will strike and how the Black Wolf Den responds.

And... in what manner this strengthened Nightmare Tide will eventually end, and whether it will spill over to our side."

"Everyone, maintain maximum vigilance. Do not make any unauthorized moves without my command.

Our primary task right [N O V E L I G H T] now is to 'watch'—to understand exactly how much this unexpected tide will sweep away and what it will leave behind."

"Yes, Leader!" The group's response was low and firm. Their gazes refocused on the battlefield below, with less panic and more scrutiny and calm.

Lin Feng also lowered his body again, his eyes locking onto the death-intertwined battlefield like a hawk, though a faint, inscrutable curve still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

The Nightmare World truly never played by the rules.

But this... seemed even more interesting.

He just wondered what the three Masters of the Black Wolf Den were feeling right now, facing this 'unexpected surprise'?

Outside the west gate, the symphony of death had already reached its most tragic movement.

Skeleton Soldiers were like a grayish-white tide, wave after wave crashing against the wooden walls of the Black Wolf Den.

Arrows fell like rain, and rolling logs and stones sent bone fragments flying, yet more skeletons stepped over the shattered remains of their kind, surging forward in silence.

The two Skeleton Centurions were like mobile battering rams. Every swing of their heavy war halberds made the wooden walls vibrate violently, letting out groans of being overburdened.

The resistance of the Black Wolf Den could not be called anything but tenacious. Crossbow bolts from the arrow towers specifically focused fire on the Centurions, and the guards atop the walls threw everything they could find with desperate shouts.

They even poured boiling oil down, igniting a sea of fire at the base of the wall, which temporarily halted the skeletons' advance.

The battle fell into a cruel war of attrition. Every second, skeletons were shattered, and guards from the Black Wolf Den fell from the wall with blood-curdling screams.

However, the balance of the battlefield was completely shattered as that dark-silver figure seated upon the skeletal warhorse began to move. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Skeleton Five Hundred Lord moved.

It didn't charge straight for the base of the wall like the Centurions. Instead, it lightly nudged the skeletal warhorse beneath it.

The warhorse, burning with ghostly blue soul fire, let out a silent neigh and suddenly accelerated, turning into a silver-grey afterimage. It actually charged up a relatively gentle slope on the outer side of the city wall, striking from an angle!

It was too fast! Like a bolt of deathly lightning in the dark night!

"Stop it!!" From the west wall of the Black Wolf Den came a roar of utter terror.

Countless arrows and javelins were fired toward that figure.

But the three-meter-long horse-slaying spear in the Commander of Five Hundred's hand merely swept lightly, releasing a grey, arc-shaped blast of energy that knocked away most of the ranged attacks.

The warhorse's four hooves tread upon the nearly vertical wall surface, leaping up several more meters as if it were level ground!

The next moment, both rider and horse soared into the air, clearing the hideous wooden spikes atop the wall and crashing into the defensive crowd inside the Black Wolf Den like a meteorite!

Boom!!!

The terrifying impact force instantly shattered the bones of four or five guards, sending them flying.

The moment the Commander of Five Hundred landed, its horse-slaying spear swept out. Living beings within a five-meter radius fell like mown wheat, as severed limbs and broken bodies rose into the air amidst screams of agony.