Chapter 271 - 153: Sudden Attack
The sun set, leaving behind a sky of fiery clouds.
The Undead Fortress deactivated its Hibernation Mode, resuming its fortress appearance.
His mind on the recent haul from the Underworld, Li Ziyu didn’t stay in Hibernation Mode for as long as he usually did. He was up early and ready to work.
The corpses of the Demonized Creatures had already been hauled out by the Undead and piled high upon the Bone Plate Platform. They formed a small hill that reeked of blood and rot.
Li Ziyu checked the tally. They had harvested over 7,000 Demonized Creature corpses. Among them were nearly 2,000 of the large-type Demonized Creatures he had been most excited for—the Demonized Minotaurs, Demonized Hill Giant Demons, and Demonized Ogres. Most of them had been killed covering the retreat as the others fled.
Large Demonized Creatures were incredibly fierce in battle. Tough and durable, with immense Power, they served as both meat shields and Warriors. But when it came to fleeing, they were at a huge disadvantage. Their large bodies made them easy targets, and their Speed was low. While other Demonized Creatures could escape, they were left behind as cannon fodder.
Li Ziyu was already quite satisfied with a haul like this. Once he converted them all into Undead, his forces would receive another major boost in combat power. After all, he had previously spent a massive amount of Soul Energy and only managed to create 3,000 Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors.
"System, decompose all the Demonized Creatures."
[Decomposed Demonized Minotaur +1. Obtained: Demonized Skeleton x2, Mutated Soul Energy x60, Dark Magic Energy Rune Fragment x1]
[Decomposed Demonized Giant Tusked Boar +1. Obtained: Demonized Skeleton x2, Mutated Soul Energy x10, Frenzy Magic Energy Rune Fragment x1]
...
The decomposition logs kept scrolling by, and a wide grin spread across Li Ziyu’s face. A bountiful harvest always put him in an excellent mood.
Waiting for the decomposition to finish was pretty boring. ’Last time I experimented with triple Enchantments, the success rate was devastatingly low,’ Li Ziyu recalled. He had tried to enchant over a hundred Desert Grey Rats, but only a handful had been successful. The waste of resources had pained him so much that he had even forgotten to test the success rate for a double Enchantment.
’Since I’m in a good mood today, it’s the perfect time to test the success rate for a double Enchantment. Hopefully, the rate is a bit higher. It would be the icing on the cake.’
’I’ll use the Desert Grey Rats for the experiment again. They’re numerous, so I won’t feel bad about wasting them. More importantly, they’re cheap. Summoning a Skeleton Desert Grey Rat only costs two units of Mutated Soul Energy and Soul Energy combined. Even with a double Enchantment, the total cost would only be six units of Mutated Soul Energy and Soul Energy.’
Having learned his lesson, Li Ziyu didn’t bother doing them one by one. He summoned them in batches of ten. For the first Tattoo, he still chose Plague. For the second, he chose Constitution. Then, he began the summoning.
Seven of them were successful.
Li Ziyu’s eyes lit up. ’Just as I thought! The success rate for a double Enchantment is much higher than a triple. I just wish I knew the exact percentage. This damn system always hides key information. It tells you there’s a failure rate but never what that rate actually is.’
He experimented with summoning another twenty Skeleton Desert Grey Rats. The summoning process itself was always successful, and the rate of successful double Enchantments was consistently above 50%.
Even a 50% success rate for a double Enchantment was enough to make Li Ziyu ecstatic.
This higher success rate meant that previously useless Undead, like the Desert Grey Rats, could finally be put to good use.
’This trip to the Demonized Creatures Dungeon has yielded a truly substantial haul. Not only can I create many new Alien Undead, but I also obtained a large quantity of Runes, boosting the Power of my Undead to a whole new level.’
After amassing 100 double-enchanted Skeleton Desert Grey Rats, Li Ziyu stopped. Seeing that the decomposition process was still ongoing, he returned to the main tower and sat upon his White Bone Throne to review the recent battle.
He didn’t know much about Demonized Creatures. In fact, few within the Undead faction did. The one who knew the most was Tas Tuling, thanks to knowledge passed down through his bloodline, but even that was unfortunately limited.
Li Ziyu felt that something about the Demonized Creatures from the Underground City was... off. He felt like he was overlooking something important, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
’The Demonized Creatures’ attack on the Undead must have been premeditated and organized, not a chaotic assault like those of the Demonized Beasts. That means as long as my Undead are here, they’ll likely keep attacking. I can essentially trade my Skeleton Undead for their corpses and use them to build up an Alien Undead Corps.’
In truth, he didn’t have that many Demonized Creature corpses yet. What he did have were tens of thousands of Demonized Beast corpses—all a result of his Skeleton Undead clearing out the tunnels recently.
The haul from these Demonized Beasts alone made the entire expedition worthwhile.
As his thoughts drifted, the system finally finished decomposing all the Demonized Creature corpses.
Li Ziyu checked his current resources. He summoned eighty Ox Demons with the Constitution Enchantment, expanding his number of meat shields to one hundred. He also brought the numbers of his Hill Giant Demons and Ogres up to fifty each. These large Alien Undead had been outstanding on the battlefield and were excellent additions to his army.
He couldn’t neglect the Skeleton Beasts, either. The Skeleton Desert Wolves and Skeleton Giant Tusked Boars had repeatedly proven their worth. Although they were somewhat Low Level, their performance was still outstanding. Their capabilities were a cut above the standard Skeleton Undead, and they had their own unique strengths.
Deciding to go all in, Li Ziyu bolstered the ranks of his Skeleton Desert Wolves and Skeleton Giant Tusked Boars, bringing their combined numbers to 2,000 and giving his Skeleton Beasts some real intimidating power.
The combat power of a single Wild Beast was limited, but if they formed a Beast Tide, their effectiveness would skyrocket. Li Ziyu had never witnessed a Beast Tide of Demonized Beasts, but now, he intended to see what a Beast Tide of Skeleton Beasts could do.