Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 198 Cleaning Up the Battlefield (Bonus Chapter 2 for the Silver Alliance's Lawbringer)

These orbs were eerie in color, shimmering with a layer of white light, and flew slowly. The winged mages easily bypassed them and continued their attack on Su Ming.

He also strengthened his shield, and was not afraid of these tracking orbs—although the energy was not low, Su Ming was only at the mid-level.

Su Ming's hand gestures suddenly changed, and a small magic orb shot out at high speed, hitting the Feather Clan mage's shield.

"Dark Beacon!"

The runes released tiny ripples, casting a small dot on the winged mage's shield.

This was a fast but harmless spell that only left a mark. Just as the winged mage was about to dispel it, he noticed that the surrounding orbs of magic were suddenly activated, cracking open and shooting out bone spears.

'Bone Spear - Armor Piercing - Final Stance'

These bone spears were less powerful than those Su Ming normally released, but they were activated at close range and guided by the Dark Beacon. In an instant, these bone spears struck the same point on the Feathered Clan Mage's shield.

The shield, which was a whole level ahead, was breached at one point after blocking a small portion of the armor-piercing bone spears.

The remaining bone spears filed in through the opened holes, piercing through the inner shield.

Then the robes were forcibly torn open. In the end, a bone spear successfully completed its mission, piercing the winged mage's chest.

Su Ming, not one to let things rest, took advantage of the opponent's serious injury and used several more spells to strip away the opponent's flight spell. The bone dragon Violet, which was a little further away, opened its mouth and shot out a dark energy ray, killing the mage who had lost his mobility.

"Su Ming, your combination of skills is incredibly powerful at breaking through defenses!" Zi Jin exclaimed.

"A simulated terminally sensitive munition," Su Ming explained. "A weapon from our Earth."

This tactic also originates from the concept of modern anti-armor weapons. The launched weapon detects the presence of the target in the terminal phase of its trajectory, detonates its warhead towards the target, and releases its submunitions, thereby inflicting precise and lethal damage on the armored target.

Based on this idea, Su Ming improved and combined the bone spear magic, and more than a dozen armor-piercing bone spears focused their attacks at close range, causing even enemies who were a level above him to perish.

After listening to Su Ming's explanation, Zi Jin was deeply impressed. "Your technology in explosives is truly astounding. Compared to you, our most skilled alchemists are like primitive cavemen wielding stones."

"Since we don't have magic, of course we have to get creative with the use of explosives," Su Ming said.

Although this area was far from the main battlefield, there were still a few deserters who had fled in panic. Violet patiently cleaned them up and deliberately damaged the winged mage's wounds.

"Your move is a 'first impression kill,' so you must keep it a secret," she reminded Su Ming.

Su Ming nodded.

****
With the death of the Winged Clan Archmage, the last element of instability on the battlefield was eliminated. Violet returned to her position to complete the remaining cleanup work.

The initial rocket attacks were horrific, but in reality, aside from destroying enemy weaponry, they only resulted in around a thousand casualties. Especially against armored targets, the fragments from the rockets had a very short effective kill distance.

In the ensuing close combat, the skeleton warriors performed poorly, and most of the surviving soldiers managed to escape the battle.

Violet chose the direction where the enemy was most concentrated to pursue them, and used Dark Burst on the skeleton warriors to apply a slow spell to the enemy, finally completing a split encirclement and annihilating about seven hundred fleeing soldiers.

Including sporadic skirmishes, this battle resulted in the deaths of approximately two thousand enemy soldiers, while as many as four thousand escaped.

Su Ming recalled what Catherine had taught him: the greatest casualties in cold weapon warfare occur during the pursuit phase. He and Zi Jin couldn't afford to waste their strength on pursuit, so they could only accept a limited number of enemy casualties.

Such a large proportion of the remaining supplies gave the enemy the possibility of regrouping. Su Ming resorted to his old trick and began destroying the food and winter supplies on site.

Losing these supplies would allow Su Ming and his men to complete their unfinished killing spree, given the harsh environment of the North.

There were still quite a few unexploded alchemical explosives on the battlefield, which Su Ming chose to take away, given that his side had suffered considerable losses this time. He summoned two skeleton servants and ordered them to lead the zombies in their mission.

Considering the enemy's extensive preparation time for this battle, the possibility of them hiding supplies could not be ruled out. Su Ming dispatched a drone to conduct another SAR scan of the surrounding area, and sure enough, they found several supply storage pits.

There's nothing to say, just dig it up and burn it.

The bone dragon flew back to the Youth Civilization, followed by a steady stream of skeleton warriors. The quality of the soldiers this time was much lower; Violet only left half of them. Considering the losses incurred, the number of skeletons in this battle was even.

Although the discarded skeletons can be used to replenish the bone fortress, the battle is not over yet, and it would be unwise to waste unnecessary mana.

Su Ming suddenly noticed several discordant features on the bone dragon's body—the energy flow in the three ribs on its left chest was stagnant. Originally inconspicuous, it began to become apparent as the white mark upgraded.

"Are you injured?" Su Ming asked.

"Yes, it was interrupted and lost. I repaired it with another set of bones," Violet replied. "It was fine at first, but now that my dark power has upgraded, the replacement isn't keeping up."

Where did I lose it? Is it possible to find it?

"It's in the Hard Rock Canyon of the North," Violet replied. "I don't know if we can still find it."

Su Ming recognized the place name. "I remember you mentioned Galio and Russell's secret hideout; is it also nearby?"

"That's right, we were besieged there a year ago. Galio gathered a lot of necromancers there and held them off for half a year before finally having to flee."

Galio's lair was a must-visit spot on this trip to the North. It contained not only magical data and various materials, but also a powerful magical gem called the "All-Seeing Prism," which Violet longed to possess. Every time she saw Galio studying it, she felt a pang of envy.

Despite all these years, Galio hasn't come up with anything significant.

However, considering the train's load capacity, Su Ming plans to go on the return trip. At that time, the train's route will primarily consist of downhill sections, greatly improving both its range and speed.

Violet switched to human form and began rummaging through the battlefield for spells and alchemical materials; there was never too much of these. She found several tamed Frostmane Giant Wolves, which she gladly accepted.

Su Ming also climbed onto a position, where a strong smell of blood and burning flesh assaulted his nostrils. This was the most critical area of ​​attack; more than 20 rockets had exploded in the trenches, leaving behind large piles of limbs and flesh, some of which were still howling in agony amidst the corpses.

Modern trench design follows a winding, meandering principle, prohibiting straight lines to prevent the spread of shock waves and shrapnel during artillery fire.

But this was another world, a place untouched by industrial warfare, where people hadn't learned to defend against explosive-based warfare. Su Ming suppressed his nausea and stepped inside, quickly locating his target: an officer dressed in the most splendid attire. SAR's detection indicated this was the most heavily guarded position; he immediately sensed a big fish was there. He also spotted a structure resembling a command post and immediately focused his attention on this target.

The officer was completely dead. Su Ming tried to stun him by covering him with the shockwave of a rocket so he could be captured, but the enemy's aim was too precise.

Su Ming checked the military rank on his clothes and found that he was the highest-ranking commander here, the warlord Fyodor.

Su Ming was slightly disappointed; it wasn't Dimitri, but only a lower-ranking warlord. Although intelligence indicated he was with the second echelon, what if that wasn't the case?

Su Ming activated his spiritual vision but couldn't find the warlord's soul. Upon inspection, he found that the warlord's insignia was imbued with a ritualistic spell to prevent his soul from being imprisoned after death.

That's really well-prepared!

****
In the deserted command post, Su Ming discovered that all the data had been destroyed. Before fleeing, the officer had activated the cleanup array.
The military mobile communication tower had also been deliberately slashed several times; it could be repaired, but it would take time. Su Ming felt a little regretful; if he had known, he would have used rockets to cover the area immediately, and perhaps the damage wouldn't have been so severe.

Su Ming climbed out of the trench, then vomited with a "whoosh" sound.

The ground was littered with gruesome fragments of corpses; he felt he had already exceeded expectations to have endured this long.

"Not bad!" Violet landed beside him and chuckled. "A guest from the Kingdom of Peace, I thought you'd throw up in the last match." She handed him a handkerchief, which Su Ming took and used to wipe his mouth.

"How many killings have you been through?" Su Ming replied after a pause. "Last time, the corpses were intact, but this time, there are too many pieces." He looked at the girl with some curiosity. "And you, have you ever thrown up because of something like this?"

“I took it step by step and adapted quite well,” Zijin recalled. “However, the first time I encountered that kind of treatment where you poke a hole and pus oozes out bubbles, I still vomited a lot.”

Su Ming, who had already calmed down, couldn't help but gag again upon hearing this.

Zijin covered her mouth, making her smile less unrestrained. "So, you still need to practice your skills."

“…Thank you so much!” Su Ming gritted his teeth and straightened up.

In the distance, the bone dragon had already collapsed onto the train, and Yunier was instructing the zombies to restore the amethyst stones in the carriages. Closer by, skeleton servants led zombies back and forth. Multiple fires flickered and crackled on the snow-covered slope. As expected of a supply train, the amount of stuff to be burned was staggering.

“I’ve laid some autonomous skeletons here to block the returning soldiers,” Violet said.

These fortifications on the battlefield, with a little repair and maintenance, could serve as shelters against the cold, where routed soldiers would spend the night and regroup after they left. Violet's leaving behind skeletons as a form of eviction could slow down this process.

Skeletons have very limited combat power without command or magical support. However, the chaos and psychological intimidation they create can lead to the deaths of hundreds more people.

“I’ve arranged for explosives to be left in the tunnel, which will be used as booby traps,” Su Ming said.

Zijin nodded. In this way, this unit was completely rendered useless in terms of its order of battle.

Several prisoners were brought in, and after a brief intimidation by Su Ming, they all confessed. Much of the information matched the deductions; the third echelon was indeed the final interception unit.

There were also tens of thousands of troops or transport teams performing logistical tasks, scattered along the supply lines from Blackfield. But these were the only forces directly involved in the fighting during this campaign.

At the same time, it was confirmed once again that Commander-in-Chief Dimitri was not here, but was advancing with the second echelon.

"No wonder the second echelon's tactics were executed so thoroughly," Su Ming said. "It really was him personally in charge."

The winged mage's body was recovered, but his soul remained; he wasn't equipped with a badge of salvation. Zi Jin instructed Su Ming to interrogate him.

"You want me, a novice, to touch the soul of a high-level combatant?" Su Ming asked in surprise. "Aren't you afraid of getting me killed?"

"I'm afraid the divine weapon will cause some trouble again!" Violet sighed. The last time the divine scepter devoured Yeshia's soul and then spat it out, she was still a little scared.

“I’m not much better off,” Su Mingdao said, extending his wrist. “I still have a dawn and dusk bracelet.”

“…Alright then, let’s go together.” Violet said helplessly.

Weapons will fight over corpses; necromancers are the only ones who would go to such lengths.

****
Zijin restored her bone staff, sat down lightly, and then reached out to pull Su Ming up. Su Ming was much more skilled this time and immediately wrapped his arms around her waist.

The two figures soared through the air across the devastated battlefield. In the dim light, the smoke of battle had not yet dissipated, and broken weapons and twisted armor were scattered everywhere, with many corpses remaining in their final, dying poses.

After a brief respite from the fireworks, frost returned, sealing those eyes, frozen with resentment and fear, within pale ice crystals. Dark red bloodstains congealed in the cold wind, becoming the cheapest battlefield decoration of the night.

Beneath one of the corpses, a faint pulse of life could be felt. Violet raised her hand and fired a dark magic orb. The soldier who had narrowly escaped the skeletons' search and was feigning death instantly stiffened, then withered and shriveled at a visible speed.

A moment later, a brand new skeleton pushed away the corpse that was pressing down on it, its eyes filled with a bewildered soul fire, and stood up unsteadily.

Su Ming subconsciously covered his mouth, forcefully suppressing the urge to vomit.

"You don't like this?" Violet's voice drifted on the wind.

"I can accept it rationally, but my body needs more time," Su Ming sighed and looked up at the night sky as he answered.

"You hate me for doing these things?"

"How could that be? Absolutely not!" Su Ming said hurriedly.

“You loosened your grip on my waist,” Zijin presented as evidence.

"...I was afraid of interfering with your control."

“Su Ming, we have huge differences in our understanding of many things.” Zi Jin’s voice carried a hint of concern. “I’m very worried.”

"What are you worried about?" Su Ming asked, his ears perking up.

"I'm worried that if I go to Earth, I might do something that breaks Earth's laws because of the difference in our understanding," Violet sighed softly. "What else could it be?"

(End of this chapter)