It wasn't strange for Zhongli to be puzzled—
the Bone Dragon's stats really were awful.
Attack 17, Defense 15, and a mere 150 HP.
Compare that to the Necropolis's Tier-6 unit, the Dread Knight—
Attack 18, Defense 18, with 120 HP.
Sure, one was upgraded and the other wasn't—but even so, the gap was far too obvious.
A Tier-7 unit selling for 1,800 gold, and an upgraded Ghost Dragon costing 3,000 gold plus one Mercury…
Zhongli felt this price tag was completely unworthy of a "final-tier unit."
With that in mind, he continued scanning the unit list.
Soon, another unit caught his attention.
Vampire Lord.
A Tier-4 unit.
Attack and Defense both 10, HP 40—nothing impressive at first glance.
But its special ability made Zhongli's eyes narrow slightly.
Damage dealt can be converted into resurrection.
"…If these stack up, that'd be terrifying."
At that moment, Zhongli finally understood the true playstyle of the Necropolis.
It wasn't about elite units.
It was about numbers.
Once the undead reached a critical mass, they became a natural disaster.
[Zhongli: Director Hu Tao, I suggest you prioritize building the upgraded Mansion to recruit Vampire Lords. After that, you can distribute resources to the others.]
[Hu Tao: Why should I?]
Hu Tao wasn't happy at all.
She'd worked hard slaughtering monsters and looting resources—why should she hand them over to anyone else?
[Zhongli: Necropolis relies on swarm tactics. Skeletons alone are sufficient. Additional units are merely icing on the cake. However, your excess resources are lifesaving aid to the others.]
[Nahida: That makes sense.]
[Ningguang: We're counting on you, Director Hu Tao.]
[Dehya: Unified distribution, unified distribution! I'm losing my mind over this Evil Eye building—every single resource is required!]
[Candace: Same here. I shouldn't have chosen Dungeon…]
[Furina: I'm stuck at the Mage Tower too—it's even more expensive!]
Furina was on the verge of tears.
She'd just wanted to try controlling Titans—but without a Mage Tower, they were forever out of reach.
"Ugh, traitors…"
She glared bitterly at the Mage Tower blueprint.
It was because of you that she couldn't summon Titans.
[Kaveh: 'The rich lead the poor.' That logic checks out.]
[Hu Tao: Fine. But remember—you all owe me. You're paying this back later.]
Hu Tao might be mischievous, but this was a total war.
She wasn't stingy when it came to helping her side—especially when the enemy still had so many players.
After distributing her surplus resources, Hu Tao headed back into the wilderness.
She needed more Skeletons.
Many more.
For the final battle.
Three days later.
Hu Tao stared at her panel, grinning so hard her face almost hurt.
Over 5,000 Skeletons.
Invincible.
Absolutely invincible.
She'd even run into three wild Black Dragons in the wilderness earlier—
Tier-7 units with 25 Attack, 25 Defense, and 300 HP.
And yet?
They'd been completely drowned beneath the Skeleton tide.
If even Black Dragons couldn't withstand her army, the fate of players who hadn't unlocked Tier-7 units yet was obvious.
Hu Tao stepped into a Tavern and tossed 100 gold onto the counter.
"Give me the intel."
In Heroes III, Taverns were used to recruit heroes.
But here, since players couldn't recruit additional heroes, the Tavern's only remaining function was information gathering.
In Hu Tao's mind, the result was obvious—
she had to be the strongest.
[After accepting your generous payment, the bartender reveals:]
[Player Bronya has the highest level. Her Angels are currently the strongest known units.]
"…Huh?"
That wasn't what Hu Tao had expected at all.
Bronya—strongest?
And Angels?
Shouldn't Skeletons be the strongest?
Those flimsy things wouldn't even be enough to clog her Skeletons' teeth—how were they ranked first?
What Hu Tao didn't know was that the ranking only considered highest-tier units.
Skeletons were still Tier-1, no matter how many there were—so they naturally didn't make the list.
"…That's annoying."
A trace of dissatisfaction crept in.
She couldn't help but suspect that Valerius might be giving Bronya special treatment.
After all, from what she'd seen, their relationship seemed… unusually close.
[Attention: Player Arataki Itto has been eliminated by Bronya.]
[Attention: Player Kuki Shinobu has been eliminated by Bronya.]
[Attention: Player Cyno has been eliminated by Bronya.]
[Attention: Player Collei has been eliminated by Bronya.]
A flood of notifications filled the screen.
The entire Teyvat side froze.
What was going on?!
This wasn't even the final battlefield yet—how had so many players been wiped out at once?!
[Hu Tao: What happened to you guys? How did you all get eliminated by one person?!]
[Keqing: Explain. What exactly happened?]
[Ningguang: Information is critical. Please respond.]
[Kujou Sara: Being eliminated first is a disgrace to the Shogun's name.]
[Furina: Speak! Why is no one talking?!]
[Nahida: There's no need to ask. Their names have gone dark—likely eliminated and unable to provide intel.]
[Zhongli: A pity.]
[Attention: Player Lyney has been eliminated by Bronya.]
[Attention: Player Lynette has been eliminated by Bronya.]
[Attention: Player Freminet has been eliminated by Bronya.]
More bad news followed.
This time, panic truly set in on the Teyvat side.
Bronya was terrifying.
She was eliminating players one after another—alone.
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