Chapter 28 - Stomped to Death

There were three more missions that remained uncompleted on the list.

Han Wu’s spiritual flames flickered in his eye sockets. He was currently placed third with 3,480 points. The student in first place had 3,610 points, so to win first place, he needed an extra 130 points.

However, only three missions remained, all of which were extremely difficult to clear: a 100-point mission to eliminate a Demigod Dark Frogman and two 90-point missions to eliminate Minotaurs and Evil Treants.

Han Wu wasn’t worried though. After all, he had increased the number of his skeleton army to 20 million after so many days of eliminating other races. His current army had 2 Heroic life forms and 190 Unique life forms, which was equivalent to the strength of many Demigods.

“I should kill the Minotaurs first, since they are closest.”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Han Wu made his decision and ordered his skeletons to march forward. The sea of skeletons marched orderly towards the Minotaurs’ camp.

***

A fierce battle was taking place in the Minotaur camp. As the strong Minotaurs repelled the invading Hellhounds and Lizardmen with the help of totems, a Heroic Minotaur simultaneously battled against Zhang Xiaolong’s Demonic Drake and Xu Sun’s Liger Beast.

Displaying incredible strength, the Heroic Minotaur wielded a massive totem and fought against the two Unique life forms single-handedly on equal footing.

The Demonic Drake and the Liger Beast were existences on par with weaker Heroic life forms, and their combined attacks would have dealt severe damage to normal Heroic life forms. The Heroic Minotaur, however, did not falter or lose ground.

Zhang Xiaolong grew increasingly panicked since it was taking much too long to take down the Minotaurs. Han Wu’s rapid rise in the rankings scared him. If he once again won first place, he would amass so many resources that he could easily overpower all his mates.

Zhang Xiaolong knew there was nothing he could do by then.

So, in order to ensure that Han Wu wouldn’t be able to secure the first position, Zhang Xiaolong contacted Xu Sun, who also had a grudge with Han Wu, proposing an alliance to complete the mission together and take Han Wu down. Xu Sun gladly agreed and led his Lizardmen to battle.

Despite combining their forces, they still couldn’t beat the Minotaurs. They were too powerful—each adult Minotaur had the strength of an Elite unit. Their tough skin and strong muscles made it very difficult to kill them.

Though they had been fighting continuously for four hours, the situation remained unfavorable for the two students. Despite their injuries, the Minotaurs continued to fight valiantly. Zhang Xiaolong and Xu Sun’s allied forces, on the other hand, were steadily losing strength. Should their current situation persist, their forces were sure to face total annihilation.

Having just experienced how strong the Minotaurs were, and concluding that Han Wu wouldn’t be able to defeat them anyway if even their allied forces couldn’t, the two decided to retreat for now.

However, it was solely upon issuing the command for their armies to withdraw that they perceived something was amiss. Neither of them had noticed a massive skeleton army which stretched all the way to the horizons encircling the Minotaur base.

At the sight, the two almost fell over from despair, thinking they had encountered an undead natural disaster. The skeletons launched an immediate assault, igniting a chaotic three way battle among skeletons, Minotaurs, Hellhounds, and Lizardmen.

The battle was fierce, with the other races easily smashing numerous skeletons like clay in the process. Seeing how weak they were, Zhang Xiaolong and Xu Sun attempted to break through the skeleton army’s encirclement, but Han Wu didn’t give them that chance, immediately instructing his Heroic Osteomancer to step up to the battlefield.

The Osteomancer waved its arm and gathered the numerous bone fragments scattered on the battlefield around its bony body, transforming into a 20 meter tall bone giant within seconds. Marching onto the battlefield, the bone giant demonstrated its immense power by causing significant devastation with a mere strike of its fist.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Skeleton Knights, using the Skeleton Summon skill, resurrected the dead units as skeletons and ordered them to join the battle. As the battle dragged on, more and more skeletons emerged, much to the dismay of Zhang Xiaolong and Xu Sun.

The two of them decided to abandon their respective armies and escape the encirclement alone. The bone giant, however, having already predicted their escape attempt, intercepted them just as they moved. The two, afraid and confused, instantly turned their heads towards the shoulder of the bone giant, recognizing a familiar voice.

Han Wu smirked. “Hello, Zhang Xiaolong and Xu Sun.”

They were stunned to spot a dazzling jade-like skeleton perched on the bone giant’s shoulder; upon closer inspection, they discerned Han Wu's indistinct features hovering above it.

“Han Wu!” Zhang Xiaolong’s Demonic Drake furiously howled and clenched its teeth with such force that they nearly fractured.

Xu Sun’s Liger Beast, on the other hand, was astonished. “Isn’t your core race the locust? How did you become a Skeleton Lord?”

Han Wu didn’t bother responding, instead issuing an order for the bone giant to trample Zhang Xiaolong’s Demonic Drake into a bloody pulp. Without the capacity to mount any defense, the Demonic Drake instantly perished. It might have had the strength of a Heroic life form, but an Osteomancer’s bone giant was way stronger, especially when surrounded by bone fragments. The gap between their respective strengths was astronomical.

“Goodbye, Zhang Xiaolong.”

Han Wu had barely spoken to Zhang Xiaolong, yet had swiftly executed him on the spot. Just how bad was their relationship? Xu Sun, horrified by Han Wu’s decisiveness, shuddered at that thought.

Han Wu waited for a while, but Zhang Xiaolong didn’t appear with his physical body. Recognizing that Zhang Xiaolong had probably withdrawn from the exam, he checked the ranking board. Sure enough, Zhang Xiaolong’s name had turned gray. It seemed Zhang Xiaolong understood that he wouldn’t be able to win anyway, even if he continued the exam with his real body, so he withdrew.

Realizing this, Han Wu scoffed, turning to look at his classmate, Xu Sun, who once tried to scam him into selling his Divine Essence at a cheap price.

“Xu Sun,” Han Wu said, the bone giant lifting its massive foot.

Xu Sun surrendered, pleading, “Han Wu, we don’t have any major grudges between us. I apologize for the previous misunderstanding. However, I want to make it clear that my death will benefit you in no way.”

The bone giant froze, its foot suspended in the air.

Han Wu replied, “But I will gain nothing from sparing you either.”

Xu Sun, swallowing his pride, opted to trade some of his possessions for the chance to live. “You can have thirty percent of the treasures I’ve obtained from this exam as long as you let me go.”

Han Wu sneered, “Thirty percent isn’t enough to ensure the survival of your Liger Beast.”

“W-wait! How about fifty? I’ll give you fifty percent!”

After descending upon the Demonic Civilization, the Liger Beast had absorbed many treasures. As long as it could return alive, it would definitely ascend into a Heroic life form in the future. Xu Sun would willingly relinquish half his accumulated treasures if it meant securing a future Heroic life form.

Han Wu agreed in the end and chose to let him go. After all, unlike Zhang Xiaolong, who had shown hostile intent, Xu Sun hadn’t actively tried to harm him.

Also, since Xu Sun had accumulated 3,020 points, Han Wu was certain he would gain a lot of good stuff, even if it was just half of Xu Sun’s treasure.

Xu Sun sighed in relief when Han Wu agreed. While ensuring the survival of the Liger Beast was important, it was equally vital he survive until the test’s conclusion, given that his performance would dictate potential recruitment by prestigious colleges. From the recruiters’ perspective, surviving the test and deciding to withdraw prematurely represented entirely different scenarios.

Fearing that Han Wu might kill his Liger Beast when his guard was lowered, Xu Sun proposed, “Let’s sign a contract so neither of us will go back on their words.”

Han Wu didn’t trust Xu Sun’s contract, so he produced one from his landing pod instead.

After signing the contract, Han Wu allowed Xu Sun to leave with his army only after leaving half his possessions behind.

Xu Sun fled hurriedly. Han Wu, however, focused on eradicating the Minotaurs.