Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: 10. Skeleton Heavy Hammer_3

The most critical part was that the heavy hammer thrown by the Big Skeleton hit the metal gate with a critical strike, causing severe deformation of the door hinges.

The distorted door hinges got stuck with the door in bad luck.

Despite Noland Lee and the soldiers’ best efforts, they could not push the metal gate any further…

“I’ll break the door hinges, you guys keep pushing the door!”

Corporal Mars pulled an engineering hammer from his backpack and began hammering away at the misshapen door hinges.

Noland shook his head, flicking away the beads of sweat dripping from his eyebrows, then glanced at the scene behind the door, and immediately felt a chill down his spine.

In front of the Big Skeleton’s skull, a bizarre purple-black light sphere was rapidly condensing.

At this moment, the soldier responsible for shooting was reloading ammunition and didn’t notice the Big Skeleton’s abnormality.

Corporal Mars was also hammering the door hinges from behind the door and couldn’t see the enemy’s movements.

Only Noland detected this anomaly.

Thinking of the death-related spells mastered by the Big Skeleton, he immediately realized what was about to happen.

Noland decisively let go of the door handle and pulled the nearest soldier back:

“Everyone, be careful! Something’s wrong with that Big Skeleton!”

His words reminded the other soldiers, but it was still a little late.

A black lightning bolt instantly passed through the door gap, bringing with it a wave of death and filth.

The black lightning pierced a soldier’s chest, and before it could stab into the heart of a second soldier, it dissipated due to its exhaustion of energy.

The soldier pierced by the black lightning looked down in disbelief at the black-glowing hole in his chest.

He wavered for a few moments before collapsing to the ground as weakly as a falling autumn leaf.

He wailed, convulsed, and struggled, but it was all too late.

In just five seconds, his body had completed the process from decay to rot, turning into a foul-smelling “mud” mixed with gray-white bone fragments.

Was this the power of death-related spells?

Just a Level 1 “Death Pulse” alone could kill a soldier instantly?

Noland let go of the soldier’s right hand and nodded in response to his grateful gaze.

The clattering sound of teeth chattering rang out as a Private Second Class turned pale, his teeth violently quivering.

He looked at his comrade turned to dust in horror and stammered:

“It-it’s a Big Skeleton with casting abilities…the Spirit Pivot on Tomb Level Three is at least Level 5…it’s highly likely that a Death Priest guarding it…do we really have to face such an enemy?!”

The commotion on the other side of the metal gate grew louder.

The Big Skeleton and a dozen fast-moving Skeleton Warriors were about to reach the door.

Now was not the time for panic; the soldiers needed to act quickly.

“Calm down.” The only sergeant on the scene pressed his palms.

Mars issued a command in a somber tone:

“Listen up, everyone, immediately retreat and cover each other back to the surface area. One person should quickly return to the surface to report the situation to Sergeant Major Alvin Stafford. I’ll cover the rear for you.”

According to the Imperial Army’s combat guidelines, the higher one’s military rank, the greater their responsibility.

Although the sergeant was the highest-ranking officer on the scene, he did not enjoy any special privileges.

On the contrary, he had to stay at the back of the team, covering corporals and Private Second Class soldiers – this was the sacred mission entrusted to him by the Imperial Army.

Just like him, the Sin Soldier had to stay at the end as well.

Corporal Mars glanced at Noland, his eyes full of appreciation.

Noland’s reactions were quick, and he was quite reliable.

If he hadn’t pulled another soldier back while retreating just now, that unexpected black lightning might have claimed two soldiers’ lives at once.

Corporal Mars was grateful that the other person saved his teammate.

Seeing Noland unarmed, he handed over his engineering hammer:

“Here, take this hammer. Since you can save your teammates in times of crisis, I think I can trust someone like you to have my back.”

After finishing his words, Mars gave Noland a wink.

Obviously, his rhetoric was deliberately said for the team to hear, intending to help Noland integrate into the squad more quickly.

…

PS: Panel information obtained from deconstruction does not count as part of the main text. I will ensure that each chapter still contains two thousand words of content after deducting panel information.

Also, after going on the shelves, panel information will not be placed in the main text; I will move it to the related works section. VIP chapters will only feature key content from panel information.