It was still dark, with some time left before dawn. We ran through the forest and arrived at the encampment of the enemy’s main force, led by the crown prince, the future emperor himself. The enemy had about two thousand soldiers. As expected of the main camp, security was tight, with many sentries on watch even at this hour.
Considering the risk of friendly fire in a chaotic battle, I decided not to bring any humans with me this time. Our forces, including the five hundred elves provided by the elven chieftain, numbered only about six hundred and fifty. Under normal circumstances, engaging would not have been advisable.
That was precisely why we chose to strike at this hour.
This early in the day, we could create Black Skeletons to even out the numbers, and the surrounding darkness would allow us to continually replenish our magic, minimizing our energy expenditure. Since humans relied solely on campfires and similar sources of light, once they were extinguished, darkness would descend, providing us (with our night vision) with a significant advantage.
However, we couldn’t rush in blindly. The enemy had a slave unit composed of monsters with abilities on par with, or even surpassing, ours. They needed to be dealt with first to avoid significant trouble.
To start, I decided to send in Black Skeleton Assassins, my doppelgangers, and the Lower Ninja Kobold. Our target was the person controlling the slave unit, as per the information extracted from the Dull Iron Knight. The slave unit obeyed because of their Subjugation Collars; if we removed them, they would be able to act freely. They might still be hostile, but that was a risk I was willing to take.
Luckily, our target happened to be a mage controlling a chimera. Once the collars were off, killing the mage would stop the chimera, and by devouring the mage, I might gain the ability to control the chimera myself or acquire other new abilities.
Unfortunately, my optimistic plan hit a snag. After killing the handlers and removing the slaves’ collars, the chimera sensed its master’s death and went on a rampage, attacking everyone indiscriminately. The chimera, a six-meter-tall creature combining features of an elephant, a tiger, a snake, and a crab, first targeted the former slave soldiers trying to escape.
Caught off guard, many of the ex-slaves were trampled, slashed, strangled, and crushed in various ways by the chimera. Within moments, dozens were dead. The resulting chaos at once reduced our number of potential temporary allies and revealed our presence to the enemy, throwing our plan for a stealthy, gradual assault into disarray.
Resigning ourselves to the situation, we launched our attack anyway. The chimera, being the biggest threat, was our primary target. Despite its tough hide, we managed to crush its elephantine legs, peel off its tiger claws, sever its snake-like tail, and shatter its giant pincers, ultimately tearing it apart.
Adaptability is key to survival on the battlefield.
As the sun rose, the chaos continued.
The sunlight shone brightly, significantly hindering the Black Skeletons’ movements and causing their numbers to diminish rapidly as they were destroyed. The human army, sensing an advantage, began pushing back, letting out war cries to boost morale. However, we had already devised a solution to counter the sunlight problem; it was merely a part of the plan to briefly expose the Black Skeletons to daylight.
The sunlight countermeasure was simple: I gave my avatars a slime-like form to coat the entire surface of the Black Skeletons, effectively blocking the sunlight. Fortunately, there was plenty of blood scattered around, providing the raw material needed to create and sustain a large number of doppelgangers.
Once shielded from the sunlight, the Black Skeletons quickly regained their original mobility, cutting down the attacking enemies. The human soldiers, caught off guard by this sudden recovery, suffered heavy losses. The piles of corpses mounted. Targeting and eliminating the enemy officers was particularly effective.
The slime avatars also extended tendrils that lashed out like whips, increasing both the number and power of their attacks. The enemy’s morale plummeted rapidly, palpably.
Imagine the scenario: the human soldiers, already struggling against our skeletons, now faced opponents sprouting multiple highly acidic tendrils, tirelessly and relentlessly coordinated in their assault. It was no wonder their morale crumbled. Some soldiers even started to show signs of resignation, and the battle’s momentum swung completely in our favor. It seemed like the fight might conclude sooner than expected.
Just then, it appeared.