"As expected of the Skeleton King..."

  "That aura is truly terrifying..."

  Outside the Death Castle.

  In a small mound just a few hundred meters away from the Skeleton King's lair, Lucas, with only half of his skull exposed, did his best to suppress his aura to avoid detection.

  Not far ahead of him, a massive figure over two and a half meters tall, accompanied by a few warrior-rank skeletons, hurried past and disappeared from his sight.

  This was the Skeleton King.

  The possessor of the Lord-class template.

  The monarch of the skeleton race, the ruler of the Land of Buried Bones!

  Lucas dared not approach.

  Nor could he see the Skeleton King's exact appearance.

  But just the terrifying aura emanating from the Skeleton King... made Lucas's soul fire tremble with fear!

  After all, this was the Skeleton King.

  A being that had existed for an immeasurable amount of time and devoured countless warrior-rank skeletons. Its strength was such that, not only could Lucas not compare, but even among monster lords of the same rank, it was an absolute powerhouse.

  If Lucas were to face the Skeleton King directly... he likely wouldn't even have a chance to strike before being obliterated in a single blow!

  Carefully hiding in the small mound, Lucas watched as the Skeleton King's massive figure slowly disappeared.

  Only after confirming that the Skeleton King had moved far away did he raise his head and slowly crawl out of the mound.

  The soul fire in his eye sockets flickered slightly, and Lucas's mood was one of quiet satisfaction.

  Since the Skeleton King had indeed appeared, it meant his plan had succeeded.

  Over the past few days.

  Lucas had led his skeletal legion across hundreds of kilometers, devouring no less than four of the Skeleton King's skeletal legions! Aside from one Skeleton Commander being enslaved and becoming Lucas's minion, the remaining three Skeleton Commanders and most of the elite skeletons were slain and devoured, becoming experience, attributes, and free attribute points for Lucas's further growth.

  Including the first skeletal legion he had devoured, five of the Skeleton King's eight vassals had now fallen to Lucas's hands!

  Five Skeleton Commanders slain.

  Five skeletal legions devoured.

  Even for the Skeleton King, this was a significant loss.

  When Lucas prepared to target the sixth skeletal legion, the remaining three legions had already gathered under the Skeleton King's orders, patrolling only near the Death Castle.

  Moreover,

  at the slightest hint of Lucas's skeletal legion appearing, those three legions would immediately converge and encircle them!

  Thus, Lucas devised a plan.

  He had the Skeleton Commander minion he had enslaved lead his skeletal legion in a brazen assault on the Death Castle, creating the illusion that they were attempting to seize it.

  Meanwhile, he himself quietly made his way to the Death Castle, hiding in its vicinity in advance.

  The Skeleton King did not know who its enemy was or what rank they held. Upon learning that the enemy was surrounded, it would undoubtedly take personal action to eliminate the audacious foe who dared to challenge its authority.

  And at that moment...

  Lucas's opportunity would arise!

  The situation unfolded exactly as he had predicted. The skeletal legion was surrounded, and upon receiving the news, the Skeleton King left the Death Castle, accompanied by a few of its warrior-rank skeletons, and personally headed to the battlefield!

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  Thus, the greatest threat to Lucas within the Death Castle was removed!

  The Skeleton King had gone to the battlefield.

  As for Lucas, even he could not withstand a single blow from the Skeleton King, let alone his skeleton minions.

  When Lucas conceived this plan, the skeletal legion had already been sacrificed. Their purpose was to stall the Skeleton King, preventing it from returning to the Death Castle too quickly and buying time for Lucas's hunting plan.

  When devouring the four skeletal legions under the Skeleton King's command, Lucas had deliberately preserved skeleton guards and skeleton sentinels—skeletons with strong defensive capabilities.

  Their purpose was to buy even more time.

  Now, with the Skeleton King gone.

  Lucas officially began his hunt!

  No one knew how long the Death Castle had existed.

  But judging from its collapsed walls and ancient, weathered appearance, this decrepit fortress had stood for at least several hundred years.

  After crawling out of the small mound, Lucas did his best to conceal his form as he quietly made his way toward the Death Castle.

  The castle was massive.

  Aside from the collapsed sections, the remaining walls were patrolled by skeleton squads composed of archers and spellcasters.

  As the absolute core of the Land of Buried Bones, the Death Castle had no skeleton soldiers.

  The lowest-level patrol skeletons were advanced skeletons like skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, and skeleton mages; the leaders of these patrol squads were elite skeletons like skeleton generals, bone archers, and dread mages.

  Above them were the warrior-rank skeletons.

  These warrior-rank skeletons, who enjoyed considerable autonomy within the Death Castle, were Lucas's true targets!

  Carefully approaching the castle walls.

  He slipped through a collapsed section and, after a patrol squad passed by with their backs turned to the breach, Lucas quietly climbed up and emerged atop the wall.

  Behind him was a section of collapsed wall.

  Ahead of him was a squad of skeleton archers—including one elite-rank bone archer and ten advanced-rank skeleton archers.

  Skeletons had no flesh.

  On the ground, Lucas could reduce noise by lightening his footsteps, but on this stone-built wall, even his lightest steps would inevitably produce sound.

  Once atop the wall, Lucas abandoned any attempt at stealth and charged directly at the skeleton squad!

  Crack!

  The crisp sound of bone striking stone echoed along the wall.

  The skeleton squad, only a dozen or so meters away from Lucas, was immediately alerted.

  The skeleton archers gripped their bone bows, and the bone archer leader turned around instantly, its pale bone bow shimmering with a hint of death aura as it aimed in Lucas's direction!

  Alerted?

  Facing this expected outcome, Lucas remained emotionless.

  He quickened his pace.

  The bone glaive in his hand slashed out, enveloping the entire skeleton squad in its arc!

  "BOSS skill... Voidrend Slash!"