Chapter 230 - 229: Super Enhanced Version
The Bone Centaur’s attention was completely focused on Marcus and Maki.
It wanted nothing more than to tear these two annoying pests to shreds.
For this very reason, the Bone Centaur hadn’t condensed its dark energy into a barrier to defend against Zelir’s Magic attack.
This was a perfect opportunity!
The beam struck the Bone Centaur’s head, and violent Magic Power surged forth, pouring its full force into the monster!
BANG!!!
The surging Aurora Energy Beam instantly destroyed the better part of its bone skull, obliterating the scarlet light within its eye sockets along with it!
"Success!"
Seeing the Bone Centaur’s skull burst open like a watermelon, Marcus’s and Maki’s faces lit up with wild joy.
From the rear, Zelir watched the scene unfold, his expression tense.
’But his intuition told him things weren’t that simple.’
Zelir didn’t dare relax in the slightest. Without even pausing for breath, Night Peace immediately began to concentrate a second Aurora Energy Beam, preparing to deliver a finishing blow.
After taking what should have been a fatal blow, the Bone Centaur’s movements stiffened for a moment, and it froze in place.
But soon... something happened that made everyone’s blood run cold.
From the fractured opening of the skull, which was still shedding fragments, new, ghastly-white bone began to sprout and extend.
In the blink of an eye, before their horrified gazes, the Bone Centaur’s shattered head restored itself, becoming completely whole once more.
The two scarlet flames in its eye sockets flared back to life!
And it wasn’t just the skull; even the leg joint Maki had wounded was completely repaired.
It stood tall and proud once more, an invincible presence, as if what had just happened was merely an illusion.
A low rumble emanated from the Bone Centaur’s chest cavity.
It turned its head as if to mock the three of them.
"What the hell is with this regeneration ability..." Maki muttered to himself as he watched.
Most Demons had strong self-healing abilities, but to witness a head regenerate in the blink of an eye was truly demoralizing.
’Doesn’t that mean all our attacks are pointless?’
"Is it an ability granted by this Array?"
Marcus looked down at the ground, which was still pulsing with a dark red light.
"No..."
Zelir’s eyes were glued to the Bone Centaur. "It must be the core in its chest."
He had clearly seen it just now: inside the Bone Centaur’s chest, shrouded by layers of ribs and dark energy, an eerie purple light had flashed for an instant.
Only then did the Bone Centaur’s body fully recover.
That must be the source of its terrifying regenerative ability!
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, the battle against the Skeleton People on the flanks and in the rear was just as intense.
There were no Magic bombardments like Zelir’s here—only the purest clash of steel and bone!
CLANG!
Gray stepped forward, putting all his strength into a vicious swing!
His Longsword whistled through the air and crashed down hard on a Skeleton Person’s neck.
The impact sent a shower of sparks flying.
But that was all.
Gray could clearly feel it—the strike felt like hitting solid rock.
A powerful shockwave traveled up the blade, nearly splitting the webbing of his hand and sending a numbing jolt up his entire arm.
Even such a powerful blow, aimed at the most vulnerable part of the neck, had only managed to cut halfway through before it could go no further.
For some reason, Gray was suddenly reminded of when Marcus had been fighting the Fog Demon in the Gray Wood Forest.
His blade had gotten stuck in its neck, too.
Before Gray could press his attack and try to sever the spine, the sharp Bone Blade in the Skeleton Person’s hand was already in motion.
Wreathed in a sinister wind, it launched a silent, cunning slash from below!
"Tch...!"
Frustrated and helpless, Gray knew he had lost his opening and had no choice but to abandon the attack.
He yanked his Longsword free and was forced to fall back to dodge.
’At least the blade didn’t get stuck between the damned bones...!’
As Gray retreated, an Arrow crackling with lightning shot past him from behind!
The Thunder Arrow flew past his shoulder and buried itself directly in the Skeleton Person’s eye socket.
BANG!
The moment the Glazed Armor-piercing Arrowhead, infused with Thunder Fighting Qi, penetrated the skull, it detonated with a deafening bang!
Only then was the Skeleton Person’s skull blown to smithereens.
Having lost its central control, its entire body fell apart with a loud CLATTER.
After a few rounds of fighting, Gray and Valles had started to get a handle on them.
These Skeleton People, shrouded in dark energy, had similar characteristics to ordinary Skeleton Soldiers.
They felt no pain, knew no fatigue, and could be killed simply by shattering their skulls.
But... they were a hundred times tougher than ordinary Skeleton Soldiers!
They were faster, and their movements and swings had almost no stiffness.
They were stronger; every clash of weapons made Gray feel like he was wrestling an enraged bull.
Most importantly, their bones were much harder!
These things were basically super-upgraded versions of Skeleton Soldiers!
Gray’s prized Wind Stream Swordsmanship was completely useless; he couldn’t even break through their defense, and his attacks failed to cause any effective damage.
Just like before, even a full-power strike couldn’t sever one of their supposedly vulnerable necks.
On this battlefield, only Valles’s Thunder Arrows, filled to the brim with Fighting Qi, could manage a one-hit kill.
And even then, it had to be a precise shot to an eye socket.
And now, the Skeleton People’s encirclement was tightening like a noose...
There were more than a dozen Skeleton People participating in the deadly encirclement!
"Nice shot!" Gray yelled without turning his head.
"Less talk! Two more on your left!"
Valles shouted in warning.
He immediately drew a Glazed Armor-piercing Arrowhead and began infusing it with Fighting Qi, preparing to provide support.
Beads of sweat were already forming on Valles’s temples. This kind of sustained, high-intensity output was a huge drain on him as well.
With a cry, Gray instinctively dropped low to dodge. A second later, two sharp Bone Blades scissored through the air where his head had just been!
His role was no longer that of a flexible support who could advance or retreat, but more like the team’s Vanguard.
Gray had to charge in, draw the Skeleton People’s attention, and tie them up in a chaotic melee to create openings for Valles to attack from the rear.
However, at his current level of Power, Gray had a hard time dealing with even one of them on his own.
Faced with the combined pursuit of two Skeleton People, all he could do was run for his life.
As Gray fell back, he swung his Longsword forward in a wide arc.
CLANG!
His Longsword clashed with both Bone Blades at once.
Unquestionably, Gray was completely outmatched in terms of Power. His Longsword was knocked aside.
An irresistible force traveled up the blade, and Gray’s weapon was nearly knocked from his grasp.
"Damn it! Why are the dead stronger than the living?!" Gray roared.