Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone

Chapter 659 - 443: Combat Power Surges, Challenging the Skeleton Lord!

He was powerless to stop it. The dazzling, dark-red Light Blade exploded. Accompanied by two fleeting flashes of cold light, the Mutated Skeleton in the third Skeleton Battle Group was slain by Fang Zhou, crippling the entire unit. A triple kill, accomplished right in front of the Skeleton Lord.

After accomplishing this, Fang Zhou glanced at the Skeleton Battle Groups madly encircling him under the Skeleton Lord’s command and once again initiated Death Charge. This time, his target was the space behind the Skeleton Lord. This time, he intended to face the Lord head-on!

The Skeleton Lord was charging as well. However, its speed had never been a match for Fang Zhou’s, let alone now that his Attributes had exploded and he possessed a mobility Divine Skill like Death Charge. Watching helplessly as Fang Zhou slaughtered its subordinates, the only thing it could do was order the Skeletons in its Battle Groups to trap Fang Zhou at all costs while it made its way over. The Skeleton Lord itself knew that with such an elusive movement Skill, the chances of trapping Fang Zhou were almost nonexistent. But it was its only option. What caught the Skeleton Lord completely off guard, however, was that after slaying the Mutated Skeleton in the third Skeleton Battle Group, the lowly skeleton didn’t continue to massacre its underlings. Instead, it chose to face it directly!

With a single stride, Fang Zhou appeared behind the Skeleton Lord. Before the Skeleton Lord could react, the Corpse Long Spear in Fang Zhou’s hand erupted with a pitch-black glow as he slashed toward its tall, massive back.

"Death Energy Slash!"

After all, this was a Skeleton Lord. Even after crippling its Skeleton Battle Groups and slaying its Mutated Skeletons right before its eyes, Fang Zhou never once underestimated it. He opened with his strongest attack.

A series of pitch-black Light Blades connected into one, slashing toward the Skeleton Lord. To Fang Zhou’s surprise, just as the attack was about to connect, five heavy, semi-transparent Bone Shields materialized around the Skeleton Lord’s massive body. The pitch-black Light Blades struck one shield repeatedly as the other four began to rotate around the Lord’s gigantic frame, protecting it once more. Each strike caused the targeted Bone Shield to dim. By the time all ten Light Blades from Death Energy Slash had landed, the shield shattered with a bang. This was the Bone Shield, the Skeleton Lord’s first Skill, and a defensive one at that, now on full display before Fang Zhou.

Using the buffer provided by the Bone Shield, the Skeleton Lord brought its charge to a halt. Without turning, it swung the two-meter-long Two-Handed Battleaxe in its grasp in a great arc. The weapon tore through the air with a howl as it smashed toward Fang Zhou.

Normally, Fang Zhou should have dodged. But with the life-saving Divine Skill of Death Charge ensuring he had a safe escape route, he instead stepped forward. He poured all his strength into the Corpse Long Spear and met the incoming Two-Handed Battleaxe head-on. A direct clash! He wanted to know for himself the exact gap in raw power between him and the Skeleton Lord.

Time seemed to slow. Outside the Bone Castle, within the encirclement formed by the three crippled Skeleton Battle Groups, the Corpse Long Spear—infused with all of Fang Zhou’s strength—rose to meet the descending Two-Handed Battleaxe. They drew closer, bit by bit, inch by inch.

BOOM!

When the Corpse Long Spear finally met the Two-Handed Battleaxe, a tremendous roar echoed, spreading far and wide and kicking up a great cloud of dust. Fang Zhou blocked the blow. Yet in this pure collision of strength, the Skeleton Lord’s enormous body merely swayed while Fang Zhou was forced to take a step back to dissipate the immense force that surged from the Two-Handed Battleaxe.

The Skeleton Lord turned, Two-Handed Battleaxe in hand. Its mountain-like body stood not far away, scarlet Soul Fire flickering in its eye sockets. Its pale mandible moved slightly, as if mocking Fang Zhou’s audacity. If the skeleton chose to run, the Lord knew it had no way to stop him. But a head-to-head clash... In this vast expanse of the Corpse Hills, no Undead had ever been qualified to match it in strength!

Meanwhile, after dissipating the immense force from the Two-Handed Battleaxe, Fang Zhou smiled. He was clearly at a slight disadvantage in that pure clash of strength. His gaze swept over the Corpse Long Spear, and he noticed a nearly imperceptible, hairline crack. He had lost, not only in strength but in constitution as well.

The Two-Handed Battleaxe was unbelievably heavy; compared to this true heavy weapon, even the Corpse Long Spear was like a light weapon. With the force from the axe’s own weight added to the blow, the Skeleton Lord—which had reigned supreme for who knew how long—had only managed to push him back a single step, not send him flying. This meant the Skeleton Lord’s Power Attribute, just as he’d guessed, was higher than his own, but the gap was nowhere near large enough to be overwhelming.

The Skeleton Lord had existed for an unknown length of time. Meanwhile, Fang Zhou’s Corpse Clone had evolved from the weakest Apprentice-level fledgling Skeleton to its current state in less than a year. For him to now engage the Skeleton Lord in a direct contest of strength was tantamount to pitting his own weakness against the Lord’s greatest strength. Even with such a foolhardy action, the Lord still couldn’t completely overwhelm him. Fang Zhou smiled. The outcome of their clash of strength was far better than he had anticipated.

Next up was a duel of Skills! His powerful Skills were the source of his confidence, the reason he dared to challenge the Skeleton Lord now!

BOOM!

The earth began to roil. A violent shockwave burst forth from the point where the Two-Handed Battleaxe struck, spreading out like an ocean wave toward Fang Zhou’s position at incredible speed. A shockwave! After the contest of strength, the Skeleton Lord, intent on killing this skeleton who had offended its majesty, immediately unleashed its second Skill.

When the Two-Handed Battleaxe smashed into the earth, a terrifying force rushed out with the shockwave. This made the ability not just a powerful Attack Skill, but also a mid-range Control Skill. Fang Zhou immediately recognized that it was similar in nature to his own Death Stomp. Any enemy hit by the shockwave would not only suffer massive physical damage but would also be knocked airborne and left briefly helpless. With the Skeleton Lord’s terrifying strength and the devastating power of its Two-Handed Battleaxe, the moment an enemy was knocked into the air, they would be met with a furious barrage of strikes!

Unfortunately for the Lord, its opponent was Fang Zhou. As the violent shockwave began to spread, Fang Zhou had already taken a step, vanishing from in front of the Skeleton Lord and reappearing behind it.

The Corpse Long Spear slashed out, unleashing Deadly Strike once more. Against the Skeleton Lord, with its powerful physique and fortified by the White Bone Shield, Fang Zhou’s regular attacks were almost useless. Even a Skill like Death Tornado was too diffuse to cause any real harm. Only Deadly Strike could pose a genuine threat and inflict actual damage on the Skeleton Lord! Fighting the Skeleton Lord was never going to be a swift victory. Long before arriving at the Bone Castle, Fang Zhou had already prepared himself for a prolonged battle, or even the possibility of retreat.

BOOM!

A pitch-black Light Blade slashed out. Amidst the Skeleton Lord’s furious roar, the White Bone Shield circling it shattered once again. And without using its Skills, the Skeleton Lord, significantly slower than Fang Zhou, didn’t even have the ability to land a blow on him