Chapter 40, Huh?!

With a crisp, sharp sound, the thrust skill, which Xiao Yang had previously dismissed as utterly pathetic, began to work wonders in the current situation.

Xiao Yang slammed "Condolence of Justice" fiercely into the back of the skeletal knight's head, striking its mottled, rusted helmet. The thrust dealt two points of damage that bypassed defense. Combined with his Elite Killer and Undead Killer (Skeleton) bonuses, a number popped up: nine points of damage.

This damage output was certainly not very high, but the level gap between the two sides was simply too vast. Xiao Yang had been fighting monsters well above his level all along, taking on a level-twenty enemy while only at level eight.

Without a moment of hesitation, his overwhelming agility granted him a blistering attack speed. One strike, two, three. Wielding "Condolence of Justice" in a reverse grip like a dagger, Xiao Yang thrust repeatedly. His attacking movements at this moment bore a striking resemblance to a praying mantis, executing a continuous stream of rapid jabs.

The Divine Game was not entirely like a traditional game; skills did not have absolute cooldowns in the conventional sense. As long as you were willing to pay the price and endure the consequences, every single skill could be used as a basic attack.

The barrage of continuous jabs produced an ear-piercing, grating sound from the skeletal knight's neck. Xiao Yang's movements disturbed the other monsters lurking in this dim corridor. They were blood-thirsty bats, clinging to the shadows like cockroaches on a ceiling, their presence dotting every corner.

With piercing shrieks, large black bats flapped their wings and lunged out of the darkness, flying straight toward Xiao Yang's face. Xiao Yang ignored the incoming blood-thirsty bats, though the timing of the damned creatures' attack was truly impeccable.

With his vision blocked, the skeletal knight reacted at that exact moment. Its body, encased in heavy armor, spun around in a powerful, heavy sweep. The heavy flail slammed fiercely into Xiao Yang's chest, the immense force sending him stumbling backward several steps until his back crashed hard against the damp, cold wall.

The skeletal knight turned back around, its eerie blue soul fire flickering. The blood-thirsty bats assaulting Xiao Yang had disrupted his rhythm, but instead of pressing the attack, the skeletal knight began to summon its minions.

Not far away, the skeleton warriors in the plaza had been alerted by the commotion here, and a gray-white magic circle slowly materialized beside the skeletal knight, from which several skeleton warriors began to crawl out.

Xiao Yang grabbed a blood-thirsty bat that was flailing wildly against his face, squeezed hard with all his strength, and amid a flurry of small red numbers, the bat struggled and went limp. Bare hands could, of course, deal damage, but the output was simply too low.

The damage conversion for bare-handed combat was roughly a quarter of one's strength. This conversion ratio was far too low. Lacking specialized skills and targeted attribute bonuses, it was best not to casually choose bare-handed combat if possible.

The skeletal knight quickly raised four skeleton warriors. Fortunately, it was currently fighting alone; if it had been left to mingle within that small skeleton army, its threat level would have at least doubled, given its ability to command skeletons and raise skeleton warriors.

The sweeping blow from just moments ago had dealt damage to Xiao Yang that far exceeded the skeletal knight's listed base attack power.

The very situation Xiao Yang least wished to face had come to pass. The stronger the enemy, the more one's stat panels could only serve as a loose reference. Powerful enemies would not stand around stupidly comparing numbers with you; they likewise possessed various skills, trait enhancements, and equipment.

Having summoned its retainers, the skeletal knight marched forward with heavy, dull footsteps, leading the four skeleton warriors in a charge. The four skeleton minions summoned by this knight were not of a single type: there was one skeleton archer, two skeleton swordsmen, and one skeleton spearmen.

The two skeleton swordsmen took the lead, charging straight at Xiao Yang. Indeed, these fellows clad in tattered leather armor and wielding only a single saber were undeniably the fastest runners among the skeleton warriors.

Exhaling a breath, Xiao Yang violently tossed the corpse of the blood-thirsty bat aside, having zero intention of wasting time on these foot soldiers. His exorbitantly high stats gave him immense confidence; the sword-slashes of the skeleton swordsmen could not even break through his defense, with zeros popping up continuously. Coupled with his health pool of two full hundred points, he looked far more like a true boss than the skeletal knight did.

The preceding flurry of attacks had stripped the skeletal knight of a quarter of its health. Xiao Yang swung his club at a blistering pace. Of course, he wasn't truly an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron; the spear-wielding skeleton warrior thrust fiercely into him, shearing off five points of health in a single hit.

Xiao Yang shot a fierce glare at the spearmen skeleton. Clearly, this type of skeleton warrior possessed armor-piercing capabilities and would need to be dealt with as a priority in the future. He lunged at the skeletal knight once more. The skeletal knight's martial prowess was evidently far superior to Xiao Yang's.

As expected of a monster possessing knightly instincts, when Xiao Yang deliberately closed in for close-quarters combat, the creature even delivered a vicious elbow strike. And make no mistake, that was an actual skill—Xiao Yang was visibly staggered by the blow. Seizing the moment, the surrounding skeleton warriors immediately swarmed forward, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

If Xiao Yang hadn't grabbed one of the skeleton swordsmen and tumbled to the floor together with it, creating a gap in the swarming onslaught, he might genuinely have been subdued by these skeleton warriors.

This was the first time Xiao Yang had encountered such a situation. As expected, enemies with intelligence were the most troublesome to deal with.

He had to admit, this was the most arduous battle Xiao Yang had fought in the skeleton dungeon—even more difficult than the encounter with the Dungeon Guardian. It forced him to marshal every ounce of concentration, treating the enemy as a dire threat.

Yet, in truth, there was no need for such excessive caution. As long as he wasn't genuinely trapped and swarmed by the entire mob of skeleton warriors to be farmed like a world boss, it was genuinely difficult for Xiao Yang to fall into any real danger. Despite the skeletal knight and its underlings unleashing a myriad of martial arts and a flurry of fierce attacks upon him, Xiao Yang's current health had only dropped by a mere quarter.

No, not even a quarter yet, as he had just regenerated a bit of health shortly before.

The eerie blue soul fire flickered. The skeletal knight delivered yet another sweeping blow, knocking back the fellow clad in light leather armor. The skeleton warriors around it surged forward in a mad rush once more, yet they utterly failed to halt the intruder's advance. Forcibly squeezing his way through once again, Xiao Yang roared as he brandished the short, thick black club in his hand.

At that exact moment, inexplicably, a trace of hesitation flickered within the skeletal knight. The moment that sliver of hesitation emerged, it was accompanied by a voice ringing out in surprise.

"Huh?!"