The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 16

Chapter 16: Melee (Seeking Continued Reading)

2024-09-02

Chapter 16: Melee (Seeking Continued Reading)

Stab!

Stab again.

Take a step forward and stab again!

Under the command of the Skeleton Captain, Combat Squad 3, armed with spears, repeatedly thrust their weapons.

Each thrust accurately struck a black shadow.

The number of black shadows was considerable, so the skeleton squad didn’t need to aim; their spears always hit one or two enemies.

Due to the skeletons’ height, their spears struck the enemies’ chests. Sometimes, with a little more force, they would pierce through two or three enemies.

After three thrusts, a black shadow finally couldn’t withstand the skeletons’ attacks and fell.

[Skeleton (Summon) kills Shadow (Level 2), you gain 1 experience, Combat Squad gains 1 experience, Summon gains 8 experience.]

The moment the prompt sounded, Gu Xi acted, targeting the spot where the black shadow fell.

“Minor Corpse Explosion.”

Just as Gu Xi’s magic reached the fallen shadow, a *pffft* sound was heard, and the fallen black shadow vanished like a bubble. There was no explosion; Gu Xi only heard the sound because his attention was focused there.

This annoyed Gu Xi, but he couldn’t help it.

The fact that these shadows left no corpse upon death was something Gu Xi couldn’t change.

With no other choice, Gu Xi altered his plan, changing his outstretched hand from a pointing outward gesture to one drawing inward.

Just then, another prompt appeared.

[Skeleton (Summon) kills Shadow (Level 2), you gain 1 experience, Combat Squad gains 1 experience, Summon gains 11 experience.]

Gu Xi used the inward motion to collect some soul fragments.

Souls, but no bodies?

A strange situation.

Gu Xi didn’t dwell on it, instead focusing on the battle ahead.

Soul extraction is the most basic skill for all Undead Mages; it doesn’t consume mana and can be easily done whenever an enemy dies.

Since he couldn’t use Corpse Explosion, and Gu Xi didn’t have a Soul Summoning Tower in Death City to help with soul extraction, collecting some souls to use as materials for later spells was a way to fill the time.

After all, Gu Xi didn’t know what kind of enemies the next two waves would bring; he needed to stockpile resources.

Whether it was sufficient mana, enough souls, or a large number of skeletons.

While Gu Xi was extracting souls, more black shadows fell to the skeletons’ spears. However, more and more black shadows crowded in from the surroundings, breaking through the haphazardly placed barriers set up by the skeletons, even managing to reach Combat Squad 3.

“Combat Squad 4, move forward to block them. Combat Squad 1, flank around to the rear. Scattered Skeleton units, get moving! Are those barriers enough? Can’t you create more barriers?”

Seeing the situation, Gu Xi issued more commands.

He even had to stop extracting souls.

Gu Xi found that even the captain-level undead were somewhat dull-witted; their intelligence was only slightly higher than ordinary skeletons – a little, but limited.

Without Gu Xi’s instructions, they sometimes stood still, unsure of what to do.

At this point, Gu Xi had to act as a commander, meticulously planning enemy engagements and retreats.

Otherwise, these undead would create a situation where one unit fought valiantly while the others watched.

If Gu Xi’s undead were stronger, it wouldn’t be a problem.

But most of his undead were level 0 skeletons, not even Skeleton Soldiers.

They faced level 2 Shadows; if they engaged, the level 0 skeletons were no match.

This was evident when Combat Squad 4 charged.

Combat Squad 3, due to distance and the barriers, hadn’t directly clashed with the shadows.

But Combat Squad 4 was different. They used swords and shields; frontal defense was their method. Their weapons prevented ranged attacks.

Therefore, Combat Squad 4 immediately came under attack.

Ten skeletons were instantly killed.

As these skeletons died, Gu Xi acted.

“Minor Corpse Explosion!”

Gu Xi targeted the fallen skeletons. Even without bodies, undead corpses could be used for explosions.

The shadows didn’t expect Gu Xi to use his own troops as bombs; they continued their advance.

Then, four booms echoed.

Four of the dead skeletons exploded, the blast scattering bone fragments that spun into the shadow horde.

Every bone fragment flew at least thirty meters, and the four skeletons’ explosions instantly killed over sixty shadows.

[Kill Shadow (Level 2), gain 45 experience.]

[Kill Shadow (Level 2), gain 33 experience.]

[Kill Shadow (Level 2), gain 36 experience.]

[……]

However, Gu Xi was puzzled.

“Why only four explosions? I clearly used five Minor Corpse Explosions. Could Minor Corpse Explosion have a chance of failure?”

Gu Xi pondered the situation.

At that moment, Combat Squad 1 had already flanked around to the shadows’ rear, wielding short axes and scimitars, hacking at the shadows from behind.

These shadows clearly possessed greater awareness.

Although drawn in, they no longer acted like mindless fools.

When attacked, they fought back.

But they encountered Gu Xi’s first combat squad.

This squad had seen many battles; many skeletons had leveled up.

Their weapons had also been upgraded multiple times; they were now Gu Xi’s strongest squad.

They disregarded their own safety, charging into the black shadows to hack and slash.

Their reckless attacks proved effective; they moved swiftly; one axe blow followed by a backhanded cut, and the enemy was nearly finished.

If they were faster, the black shadows wouldn’t even have time to retaliate.

The black shadows’ advance stalled, and their already chaotic formation became even more disordered.

Combat Squad 3 seized this opportunity, thrusting their spears forward, killing another wave of black shadows.

However, at that moment, the shadow captain, wielding a spear made of arms, finally attacked.

(To be continued)

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