Chapter 249 - Death’s Gaze
Han Wu applied the Upgrade Stone to his Skeleton Tower, transforming it into an Iron Skeleton Tower.
[Iron Skeleton Tower (Elite)
Armor: 300
Attack: 20
Defense: 30
Attack Method: Bone Fragment Toss
Range: 10 km
Attack Rate: 1 second
Skills: None
Sacred Object Slot: 2]
The upgrade boosted the tower’s base stats, raising its Armor, Attack, and Defense beyond those of the Common Skeleton Tower. Still, Han Wu felt disappointed that the upgrade didn’t unlock any new Skills. To compensate, he equipped the Wind Sparrow Feather and Slinging Manual onto the tower.
This boosted the Iron Skeleton Tower’s Armor by 40 and raised its Attack Rate by 35%. It could now strike three times within two seconds. The moment the Iron Skeleton Tower was built, Han Wu noticed the blackness marking his territory slowly spreading along one side.
His land expanded gradually—from 10,020 to 10,050, then to 10,090—as he seized parts of the adjacent white land. Then something caught his eye. At the edge of his spreading territory, a tower emerged!
The tower resembled a bird’s nest, and every five seconds, a Wind Sparrow fluttered out from it. Han Wu realized this tower belonged to one of the God King of Life’s representatives. Curious, he checked the data on the nest-shaped tower for more details.
[Wind Sparrow Tower (Elite)
Armor: 700
Defense: 18
Attack Method: Summon Wind Sparrows
Attack Rate: 5 seconds
Skills: None]
Han Wu’s eyes widened as he examined the Wind Sparrow Tower’s data. The towers of the God King of Life and the God King of Death showed clear differences, but that detail meant little to him. He planned to attack regardless.
He commanded his Iron Skeleton Tower to launch an assault. Each strike dealt just 2 Damage, barely scratching the Wind Sparrow Tower, but Han Wu stayed the course. Four minutes of steady attacks would be enough to bring it down.
He couldn’t see what was happening deeper inside the white territory, but he knew the Wind Sparrow Tower’s owner was furious. A massive swarm of Wind Sparrows surged toward Han Wu’s territory, reclaiming much of the land.
Han Wu held his ground. He ordered the Iron Skeleton Tower and the remaining Skeleton Towers to counterattack. The towers tore through the Wind Sparrows with ease while Han Wu gathered the Energy and Sacred Objects they dropped.
In the end, he gathered five Elite Wind Sparrow Feathers and merged them all into a single Wind Sparrow Feather +4. This upgrade granted the equipped tower +100 Armor and boosted its Attack Rate by 25%.
He replaced the Wind Sparrow Feather +1 on the Iron Skeleton Tower with the new +4 version, and the tower’s Attack Rate surged to an astonishing +45%, nearly doubling its previous speed.
With this power, the Iron Skeleton Tower shredded the Wind Sparrow flock effortlessly, and the black territory gradually expanded toward the Wind Sparrow Tower again. This time, the Iron Skeleton Tower took less than two minutes to bring it down.
After demolishing the Elite Wind Sparrow Tower, Han Wu gained 1,000 Energy, two Elite Upgrade Stones, and a Unique Wind Sparrow Feather. The reward made him realize just how quickly and efficiently he could earn by destroying enemy towers. If he had waited for his Energy to accumulate naturally, it would have taken sixteen full minutes to collect the same amount. At that rate, building higher-ranking towers would’ve taken forever.
With that realization, he immediately constructed two additional Skeleton Towers along the edge of his territory and used the Upgrade Stones to enhance them. The Iron Skeleton Towers locked onto enemy towers within the white territory and hurled volleys of bone fragments their way.
Now, his rate of territorial expansion surged.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield and hidden from all eyes, Death dressed in black and Life clad in white sat facing each other. Between them lay a black-and-white chessboard. If one looked closely, the black and white squares changed constantly.
Han Wu would have been shocked to see it—its movements mirrored the ongoing battles on the ground. The chessboard served as the true battlefield where the wargame unfolded.
Life spoke with a confident edge. “Death, you should concede now. It’s barely been three days, and already 200 black squares have fallen to white. The rest are slowly being purified by my faction. You have lost.”
Their opposing Divine Jurisdictions bred constant conflict, fueling a grudge that had sparked over 800 wargames between them.
Now, the momentum clearly favored Life. At this pace, Death’s defeat seemed inevitable.
Yet Death remained unfazed as he met his rival’s gaze. “We have only passed the early stages of the wargame. It is far too soon to declare a winner.”
His eyes then fixed on a rapidly expanding black square. “This child... intriguing...”
Life studied the spreading black tile with keen interest as well. He grew perplexed watching Han Wu merge lower-quality Sacred Objects into higher-quality ones. He then used his authority and checked what powers Han Wu had used.
“His talent... It’s outstanding. I must nurture him!” Life exclaimed. “His skills are tied to the very essence of energy and life. He’s destined to be with me. Once this wargame ends, I will personally invite him to join my faction.”
Death growled, “No. He belongs to my faction. Don’t you dare try to take him away.”
“He’s still a student,” Life replied calmly. “He hasn’t officially joined any faction yet. Besides, he shows no trace of the Death Mark. How can you claim he belongs to yours?”
Death’s eyes flashed with alarm. Life’s reasoning was sound, but it did not stop him from trying to recruit Han Wu. He examined Han Wu carefully, then used a fragment of his authority as a God King to access Han Wu’s information. Methodically, he scanned through the profile until he uncovered a detail that worked in his favor.
“Who said this child lacks my mark?” He pointed with slender white fingers, and a video recording materialized.
The footage showed the moment Han Wu struck a pact with the Wisdom Tree. It revealed the Wisdom Tree handing Han Wu a recommendation pendant to meet the God of Death. Since the God of Death answered to the God King of Death, that pendant served as an official invitation from the God King to recruit Han Wu into his faction.
Life’s expression darkened with disappointment. A candidate of incredible potential had slipped into his rival’s grasp so easily. Still, he didn’t consider it a devastating loss. Han Wu was only a Demigod, and Life already had many others of equal strength in his ranks.
Life chuckled quietly, pleased to see Life’s enthusiasm so thoroughly snubbed. He gestured toward the black tile that belonged to Han Wu and said, “Since this child is part of my faction, I see no harm in granting him a bit of my blessing.”
Han Wu was absorbed in commanding his towers when a notification echoed in his mind.
[The Great God King of Death is watching you. Obtain special status: Death’s Gaze.]
[Death’s Gaze: Large Domain
Effect 1: Increases Energy, Sacred Object, and special object acquisition within the domain by 50%.
Effect 2: Infuses towers with Death’s Breath. Grants a 20% chance to execute lower-ranked enemies, 5% chance to execute same-ranked enemies, and 0.01% chance to execute higher-ranked enemies.
Effect 3: Towers have a 1% chance to permanently increase one of their stats after killing a target.
Effect 4: Towers have a 10% chance to unlock a special upgrade path.]
Han Wu stared at the four effects, stunned by their overwhelming power.