That's How We Necromancers Do Things

Chapter 168: Chapter 100: Pale Elegy: Only I Can Touch My Little Mouse

Although a single arrow couldn’t deal a fatal blow, each one inflicted a wound deep enough to expose bone. The death energy they carried continuously eroded Hog’s life force and stamina, leaving him covered in more and more wounds and making his movements increasingly sluggish.

Even the fifty new recruits led by Aus pressed forward under his command.

They took up positions in recesses and on high ledges along the mine’s rock walls, raised their crossbows, and fired volley after volley of crossbow arrows at the massive figure struggling to fend off the undead siege.

Add to that the surging tide of cannon-fodder Skeleton Servants, the bone spears, arrows, and a bombardment of all sorts of miscellaneous Magic.

Even with the might of ten thousand men, Hog was now like a wild beast caught in a mire—all he could do was roar, powerless to escape the hopeless web of death.

「Soon.」

As expected,

its massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Gnoll Chieftain Hog was dead. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Furthermore, just before he died, the young Vampire, Esther, had latched onto him from behind, tightly gripping his neck. Her two sharp fangs pierced the blood vessels on his neck as she greedily drank every last drop of his scalding essential blood.

This was the essential blood of a Tier Four expert—a truly potent tonic for Esther.

When she finally released Hog’s cooling corpse, she let out a loud, satisfied burp.

A faint blush spread across her once porcelain-white face, and the crimson in her eyes grew deeper and brighter.

This essential blood alone would take her quite some time to digest and absorb. Once she had fully processed it, her power would likely reach the mid-stage of Tier Three.

This young Vampire was really living the good life with Lynch. In just four short months, she had grown from the low-stage of Tier Three at her creation to the brink of mid-stage Tier Three. Her life was far more comfortable than that of many wild Vampires.

And with Hog drained dry by Esther, the battle was officially over.

Next, of course, came the part most familiar and enjoyable to any Necromancer: cleaning up the battlefield and reaping the spoils of war. freewebnøvel.coɱ

Lynch first commanded the Skeletons to gather all the Gnoll corpses—aside from Hog’s—into one place. Then, he raised his skull-topped Magic Staff and began to chant an incantation.

To conserve Mana during combat, he often had his skeleton mages perform battlefield resurrections. But now that the fighting was over, Lynch naturally wanted to grind some experience for his Skeleton Resurrection Skill.

The higher the skill’s level, the more Skeletons could be raised at once, and the more of their pre-death strength they would retain.

「It was said.」

When top-tier Necromancers cast the Skeleton Resurrection Skill, they could cover a vast battlefield. The Skeletons they raised were said to be nearly as strong as they were in life, with an increased chance of awakening a Soul Fire.

However,

Lynch still had a long way to go.

He had to cast the Skeleton Resurrection Skill three consecutive times to convert all twenty-odd Gnolls of considerable strength into Skeleton Servants.

These Gnolls had robust skeletons, with even the shortest standing nearly two meters tall. Their strength was comparable to that of advanced Skeleton Soldiers, nearly on par with Bone Jade’s level before its promotion to Skeleton Warrior.

Five or six of them, with exceptionally burly frames, even reached the level of Tier One Skeleton Warriors.

To Lynch’s greater surprise, the largest of the Gnoll Skeletons had awakened a Soul Fire in its eye sockets!

In life, it had been Hog’s second-in-command, a Tier Three warrior.

However, it had been scared witless during the previous battle and then tragically sacrificed by its own Chieftain, dying a deeply humiliating death.

Now, converted into a Skeleton, its luck had turned. Not only did it possess a Soul Fire, but it had also retained its strength at Tier Two.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

Lynch was quite pleased to have another capable commander under his banner.

He had it kneel on one knee, then patted its shoulder. "From now on, you will be called ’Bone Jackal.’ All Gnoll Skeleton Soldiers are under your command."

Bone Jackal’s Soul Fire flickered slightly as it bowed its skull to Lynch.

Lynch combined the newly converted Gnoll Skeletons with those transformed by his skeleton mages during the battle, organizing them into a squad under Bone Jackal’s command.

The squad had a good mix of unit types: some for fierce melee assaults, some skilled at pouncing and harassing, and even three spellcasting units. Overall, it was now the most powerful and versatile Undead Corps in Lynch’s command.

As for Hog’s corpse, Lynch certainly wouldn’t let it go to waste.

The corpse of a Tier Four Gnoll Chieftain was absolutely a Top Grade material for creating a zombie.

If handled properly and with sufficient resources, it would undoubtedly become another "tank" in his forces, perfect for spearheading assaults. If it managed to awaken a Soul Fire, its potential would even surpass that of Zombie Blood Fang.

However, creating and nurturing a zombie of this caliber would require a considerable amount of resources.

Even for Lynch, who was now fairly well-off, he would have to budget carefully and make long-term plans. He couldn’t be as casual with it as he was when raising an ordinary Black Corpse.

Without waiting for Lynch’s command, Aus directed his men to wrap Hog’s corpse in burlap, bind it securely, and prepare to take it back for processing.

Having won the battle, most of the human Soldiers were visibly excited. Those hailing from Lakefront Town were especially ecstatic, their morale soaring.

As for the dozen or so officers Lynch had "borrowed" from Catherine, their morale wasn’t low either. This was mainly because they had been eating and drinking well in Lakefront Town and hadn’t been mistreated.

Besides, not only had they just won a major victory, but their group of fifty hadn’t suffered a single injury. It was a real eye-opening experience for them.