Chapter 3: The Battle at the Tomb

When the Graveyard Fiend set out again the next day, several of Li Bin’s heroes had already visited the Heroic Mausoleum and successfully retrieved nearly ten thousand gold coins from within. As a player, Li Bin hadn’t even lifted a finger and yet was handed three thousand gold coins for free, leaving him so exhilarated he scarcely knew what to do with himself.

Soon, the Graveyard Fiend brought Li Bin and his troops before the Heroic Mausoleum. Gazing confidently at the dilapidated dungeon before him, Li Bin brimmed with self-assurance. Judging by the reports from his returning heroes, the mausoleum’s level wasn’t particularly high and was unlikely to generate the top-tier vampire encounters. With his recent windfall of three thousand gold coins, Li Bin’s resources had grown considerably, and for the first time, his personal troops outmatched those of his two elite heroes.

But when Li Bin attempted to wheel his undead ballista into the mausoleum, the system notified him that war machines could not be used within the dungeon. This unexpected restriction left Li Bin troubled; most of his strength lay in the use of war machines, and now, with a single rule, his power had been cut by more than half.

Nevertheless, Li Bin trusted in his newly recruited troops and his own command skills. He had the undead ballista retreat automatically to the Graveyard Fiend and led his forces into the Heroic Mausoleum himself.

_____________________________________________________________________

The interior of the mausoleum was a vast stone chamber, spanning nearly ten thousand square meters. Apart from a lone stone coffin at the center and a floor thick with cobwebs, not a single pillar stood within.

Following the system’s prompts, Li Bin led his group to the stone coffin. At that moment, a deep voice echoed in his ear: "Do not disturb the hero’s slumber!"

Li Bin sneered coldly and opened the stone coffin, but his laughter soon died in his throat. As the system announced the start of battle, six bats in the southwest corner of the chamber transformed into humanoid figures.

At a glance, Li Bin realized he’d run into real trouble—the highest-grade defenders the Heroic Mausoleum could muster. Sure enough, in the other three corners of the chamber, six squads of skeletal warriors, four squads of corpse soldiers, and two squads of wraiths appeared. The chilling presence of these spectral troops instantly dropped the room’s temperature by more than ten degrees.

Despite the overwhelming force arrayed against him, Li Bin did not retreat in the slightest. Instead, he summoned every unit at his disposal: two squads of skeletal warriors, two squads of skeletal archers, two squads of iron-armed corpse soldiers, one squad of steel corpse soldiers, a squad of undead steel-clawed wraiths, and one squad of wraiths.

Li Bin quickly assessed the strength of both sides, realizing that his own forces were outnumbered in every corresponding category. He made a bold decision.

"Skeletal warriors, intercept the vampires! I don’t care how many of you fall—just hold them there for me!" With a furious roar, Li Bin launched the battle.

——————————————————————————————————

At his command, the skeletal warriors quickly engaged the vampires, who, though the most powerful combatants, were the fewest in number. The heavily armored steel corpse soldiers and their iron-armed counterparts took on the largest contingent: the skeletal warriors. The undead steel-clawed wraiths, leveraging their speed, lured the enemy corpse soldiers on a chase around the chamber, while Li Bin himself led a squad of wraiths to face off against the enemy’s two squads of wraiths.

It was clear that the undead within the mausoleum lacked higher intelligence, responding only to the nearest foe. This allowed Li Bin to seize control of the battle’s tempo. The six vampires, trapped within the sea of skeletons, could not use their mobility and were forced into brutal exchanges of wounds. No matter how powerful their attacks, they could only slay two or three skeletal warriors at a time. Meanwhile, a single volley from the skeletal archers behind the warriors could leave a vampire reeling.

After losing a squad of skeletal warriors, the vampires—considered the mightiest creatures within the mausoleum—were reduced to ashes. Only then did the battles raging in the other three corners truly begin.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

With the vampires eliminated, Li Bin quickly ordered the remaining squad of skeletal warriors to regroup in front of him. The wraiths, drifting ominously in midair, had caused him no small amount of trouble in their earlier engagement.

Both sides had opened the battle by bombarding each other with curses of withering and death. But once the enemy wraiths closed in, everything changed: Li Bin’s wraiths were clearly outnumbered. After losing five of his own, he managed to bring down only four of the enemy.

Had the vampires not been annihilated at that precise moment, Li Bin himself might have been exposed to the enemy wraiths’ deadly claws.

As Li Bin’s skeletal warriors arrived, the tide shifted again. The enemy corpse soldiers, previously lured away by the undead steel-clawed wraiths, somehow caught on to Li Bin’s plan and suddenly charged toward the three squads of corpse soldiers battling the enemy skeletal warriors.

This unexpected move startled Li Bin into action. He abandoned control of the fight against the wraiths, bombarding the enemy skeletal warriors with a flurry of curses to hasten their destruction, while simultaneously rushing toward the enemy corpse soldiers—hoping to draw their attention to himself as bait.

Li Bin’s gamble succeeded: the enemy corpse soldiers, just about to join forces with the skeletal warriors, turned to pursue him instead. Without hesitation, Li Bin ordered the undead steel-clawed wraiths to attack the enemy skeletal warriors, buying himself precious time.

————————————————————————————————————

With the reinforcement of the undead steel-clawed wraiths, Li Bin’s iron-armed corpse soldiers swept through the skeletal warriors with increased speed. Finally, just as the enemy corpse soldiers were about to catch Li Bin, his forces had ground the six squads of skeletal warriors to dust.

Seeing the enemy skeletal warriors vanquished, Li Bin led the pursuing corpse soldiers toward his own troops—but at that moment, disaster struck. Four or five enemy wraiths suddenly lunged at his side.

To his shock, all seven of his remaining wraiths and a squad of skeletal warriors had been slain by the enemy wraiths. Previously, Li Bin had ordered the skeletal archers not to engage the enemy’s main force without a proper frontline to shield them.

Was this really the end? The thought left Li Bin deeply unsettled. He lashed out instinctively, landing a heavy punch on an onrushing wraith. Incredibly, luck favored him once more—the wraith he struck was already severely wounded and dissipated into mist at his blow.

Li Bin seized the opening and dashed through, while the swiftest undead steel-clawed wraiths rushed in to intercept all pursuers.

Taking refuge behind the steel corpse soldiers, Li Bin finally breathed easier. The enemy now had only three wraiths and four squads of corpse soldiers remaining, while Li Bin still commanded two squads of skeletal archers, one and a half squads of iron-armed corpse soldiers, eight steel corpse soldiers, and eight undead steel-clawed wraiths.

The scales of victory had tipped decisively. As Li Bin’s cold laughter echoed through the chamber, the counterattack began!