"Waaah—Hu Tao, what kind of magic was that?! That was amazing!"
Down below the city walls, Paimon couldn't see things clearly. All she saw was Hu Tao raise her hand—and Huo Huo collapsed on the spot.
Killing without lifting a finger.
If that wasn't magic, what was?
"Huh??? She fainted?!"
Hu Tao herself was confused. She hadn't done anything special at all. Being taller than Paimon, she could clearly see Huo Huo rolling her eyes back and dropping unconscious.
…Am I really that terrifying now?
I just scared her a little and she passed out?
"I know, I know!" Paimon suddenly shouted excitedly.
"It's that thing Valerius mentioned before! That… that… aura! Yeah, aura!"
Earlier in chat, Paimon had heard Valerius talk about some reward called Conqueror's Haki—the kind where you just release it and people instantly faint.
This looked exactly like that!
Hu Tao shot her a look.
You're really just making things up now. That stuff's a reward—it's not like I can just awaken it on my own.
Still… she couldn't help feeling a little smug.
"Paimon, you did well. Once this mission's done, I'll split off some troops for you. You can go eliminate a few players yourself."
"R–Really?!"
Paimon lit up instantly, looking at Hu Tao like she'd just found long-lost family.
"Then… then what troops will you give me?"
"Hm… let me think. How about a Bone Dragon? If you're not satisfied, I can upgrade it into a Ghost Dragon."
"W–What?! You'd really give me one?!"
Paimon started stammering. She never expected Hu Tao to be this generous—handing over a 7-tier unit just like that!
"Of course."
Hu Tao raised an eyebrow, clearly saying: See? I've got your back.
"Lord Hu Tao, you're way too generous!"
Paimon was over the moon. A seventh-tier unit! Even if she was bad at the game, with something like that she could at least take out one player, right?
"Call me 大神."
"Got it—Hu Tao Dàshén!"
She was thrilled. Right now, in all of Teyvat, only Raiden Ei and Yae Miko had a Behemoth, and they treated it like a priceless treasure.
And she—Paimon—was about to step into the ranks of top-tier players!
She'd decided it already. Once she got that Bone Dragon, she'd immediately go out and eliminate a few players. Maybe even capture some cities and rule over them.
For a brief moment, she even thought—
Following Hu Tao isn't so bad…
She almost didn't want to go back to Lumine anymore.
"No, no, no—I can't think like that!"
She shook her head hard, forcefully kicking that dangerous thought out of her mind.
"Alright, we'll talk about the rest later. I'm taking the city now."
With the enemy commander unconscious, Hu Tao had no intention of waiting around. She immediately ordered the siege.
The skeleton army surged forward again.
Even with a moat and high walls, it did nothing to stop them. Skeletons piled up beneath the walls, and more clambered over the bodies, climbing upward one after another.
On the city walls, after a long while, Huo Huo finally opened her eyes.
"You coward, you're finally awake!" Tail snapped.
"They're already attacking the city—hurry up and command the troops!"
"Attacking… the city?"
She staggered to the edge of the wall and looked down.
What greeted her eyes was a dense sea of pale skeletons, packed so tightly it made her scalp tingle.
Thud.
Her eyes rolled back again, and she collapsed.
"Oh?" Hu Tao blinked. "She fainted again?"
She found it kind of funny.
Was this girl's courage really that small? They were just skeletons—how was she getting scared like this?
Still, seeing that Huo Huo genuinely couldn't handle it, Hu Tao decided to speed things up and end it quickly, so she wouldn't have to scare her again.
Then—
Huo Huo's soft voice rang out.
"Prepare for battle. All Grand Archers and arrow towers, listen up—ignore the skeletons. Target the Dark Knights below."
At the critical moment, Tail took over.
If it let Huo Huo keep flailing around, the enemy would probably take the city with zero casualties.
The situation was clear:
Running wasn't possible.
Defending wouldn't hold.
But even if they were going to be eliminated, Tail wasn't about to let the enemy have it easy.
Huo Huo had chosen the Rampart—the Elven city.
Its ranged firepower was nothing to scoff at.
A single arrow from a Grand Archer could kill a skeleton outright. But with skeletons in such numbers, killing a few meant nothing to Hu Tao.
So Tail set its sights elsewhere—
The Dark Knights.
Even if the city fell, it would take Hu Tao's sixth-tier units down with it.
"You—you tricked me!"
Hu Tao's eyes widened.
That was low! Pretending to faint just to set up a counterattack?!
Tail didn't care in the slightest. It had only one goal—
Take down the most dangerous-looking Dark Knights outside the walls.
Whoosh!
A rain of arrows descended, instantly turning one Dark Knight into a pincushion.
"Good. Next."
Skeletons had already started climbing onto the walls. Luckily, their numbers were still manageable. Tail ordered the Dwarves to hold them back while locking onto another Dark Knight.
Another volley.
The second Dark Knight fell.
"Damn it—just you wait!"
Hu Tao gritted her teeth. Losing skeletons didn't bother her, but Dark Knights were different. She liked those.
After all, the Necropolis's so-called boss unit—the Bone Dragon—was pretty underwhelming. The Dark Knights were what really carried the image.
Losing even one hurt.
Once the skeletons hacked through the Dwarves, they finally broke into the Grand Archer formation, and another massacre began.
"Hmph. Bet that hurts."
Seeing the pained look on Hu Tao's face, Tail felt immensely satisfied. Even if it got eliminated, annoying the enemy like this was still a win.
But then—
The long-ignored Paimon suddenly pulled out a scroll.
"Animate Dead."
Under the spell's influence, the fallen Dark Knights slowly rose back to their feet.
"…Huh?"
"…Eh?!"
Two reactions rang out at the same time.
Tail's was pure shock and disbelief.
Hu Tao's—unrestrained delight.
Even she hadn't expected that the always-overlooked Paimon would deliver such a massive surprise.
To Read advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146