Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 284 The Ambush Beneath the Sands, The Gaze of the Revelation Stone

The moment Marquis Monroe heard that Skyfrost City had been lost, his eyes flashed with a sharp light, and an almost tangible pressure caused the great knights around him to take a few steps back.

"it is good!"

The Marquis's voice sounded as if it were squeezed out from a crack in the ice, carrying a chilling coldness.

"very good!"

He almost gritted his teeth as he repeated those words again.

This was the second day after the sky cleared up; the bright sun hung in the sky, and the white snow covered the earth.

The zircon army's camp stretched for miles. Large herds of camels were being driven and shouted at by laborers, reluctantly being awakened from their makeshift pens, their nostrils snorting white mist, about to begin another day of their busy, arduous lives in this harsh land.

However, just as the battle plan was proceeding smoothly and the army was marching in an orderly manner, news came from the rear that Tianshuang City had fallen.

A deathly silence fell over the tent, broken only by the Marquis of Monroe's heavy, suppressed breathing. Then, the Marquis turned his gaze to the two red stone tablets on the table.

Marquis Monroe held a divine office. Because he had pledged allegiance to the Misty Moon Divine Court, the Azure Sky Holy City had given him a minor, symbolic position that carried more weight than actual power.

These two stone tablets, known as the "Stones of Revelation," were a gift from Bishop Aozora to him during his investiture ceremony, accompanied by a somewhat enigmatic smile.

The function is simple yet powerful, capable of predicting whether the fortune of the person seeking divination will be "good" or "bad" in the coming period!
Previously, the Marquess of Monroe had inwardly scoffed at this idea.

Although the Seven-Eyed God is almost omnipotent in the legends of the entire continent, this god, known for his secrecy and insight, is far too stingy with his blessings.

Regarding the grand and mysterious topic of "the course of fate," the Marquis did not believe that the gods would pour much divine power into these two small pebbles.

The stone tablet was only a quarter the size of a palm, its entire surface a bright red, as if soaked in fresh blood. The front of the tablet was engraved with the holy emblem of the Seven-Eyed God—an asymmetrical heptagon, each endpoint marked by a circle representing an eye, as if gazing upon the world of its holder; the back bore the symbol of the legendary abyss demon: a ferocious, forked, twisted, enormous horn!

The divination process was incredibly simple: according to the bishop, one had to "sincerely" pray to the Seven-Eyed God and then throw the stone tablets out.

Both heads facing up is considered "auspicious"; both tails facing up is considered "inauspicious"; one head and one tail is considered "ordinary".

You can have a divination done once every seven days.

Obviously, statistically speaking, it should be normal most of the time, so the Marquis always thought it was a boring little game.

However, the results of the recent divinations have not been very good.

Even during the week that Tianshuang City was captured, when Zircon's army swept through the city with unstoppable momentum and "arrogantly" conquered it, the Marquis enthusiastically performed a divination, and the result was still "inauspicious".

At that time, the Marquis scoffed at it.

But looking back now, I feel somewhat uncomfortable. The easy acquisition of Tianshuang City was clearly a trap.

Marquis Monroe took a deep breath, forcing himself to return to reality. He quickly calculated the distance; advancing forward to attack their final target, Hanhai City, at their current cautious pace, it would likely take another five days.

However, if we were to immediately turn back and retake Tianshuang City, even with a forced march, it would take at least ten days.

This is under the condition that there is no enemy interference.

A jumble of battlefield thoughts flooded his mind; clearly, this timing was also calculated by the enemy!
If we continue to advance into the vast desert, and fail to capture it in a rush, or if we do capture it but the enemy leaves us with an empty city, we will find ourselves unable to plunder in the boundless desert and may face a complete logistical crisis.

If we return to Tianshuang, and the enemy sees that things are not going well, they will burn all the supplies we have painstakingly stored there and then disappear like rabbits. Can we accept the result of returning empty-handed?

This is clearly unacceptable!

The string of victories over the past few years has established the Green Pine Kingdom's formidable military might and the Zircon Territory's reputation for invincibility. How could a mere small territory with only tens of thousands of people possibly force them to retreat in disgrace?

Moreover, if the enemy can transfer tens of thousands of people from Tianshuang City to Hanhai, where can you transfer the people from Hanhai City?

Do they all cross the desert to reach the dark forest?
We must capture the enemy's territory and win this battle!
Even if it's a nominal victory!

The Marquis glanced again at the two "Stones of Revelation," which reflected a blood-red luster under the sunlight streaming in from outside the tent.

Fate, oh, fate can only be held in one's own hands!

Marquis Monroe straightened his imposing frame: "Give the order: have the children pick up the pace and speed up!"

"Mio!"

"My subordinate is here!"

"You will lead your main legion as the vanguard. Within three days, I want to see Zircon's military camp laid out beneath the walls of Han Hai!"

"As ordered!"

Chief Knight Mio, his armor clanging, knelt on one knee, accepted the order with both hands, and then strode out of the tent without looking back.

As Sir Mio's banner began to move forward, the most elite "Purple Zircon Legion" of Zircon Territory embarked on the final leg of their desert journey to the Vast Ocean Territory.

Then, as expected, they were attacked.

Logically, it is extremely difficult to set up an ambush in the vast desert. With its open view and flat terrain, a simple scan of the undulating sand dunes by scout cavalry or any air unit would reveal no terrain suitable for an ambush.

However, the battles fought in the Han Hai region are not governed by common sense.

There were not only ambushes along the way, but many more.

They're all dead!

On the first day of the expedition, the Second Company of the First Cavalry Regiment of the "Purple Zircon Legion," which was at the forefront, ran headlong into a trap carefully set by the undead forces.

The Second Cavalry Squadron followed a trade route worn into the desert by caravans. Over the years, due to the large-scale trade between the Han Hai region and the north, the constant flow of caravans had carved out a hard, sand-free road in the desert, which naturally became the cavalry's first choice for advancing.

The outpost had already deployed the "Zircon Legion" five kilometers away, never expecting to be attacked in the middle of the road.

With a piercing explosion, countless pairs of bone claws suddenly emerged from beneath the flat gravel on both sides.

If Zircon hadn't brought back a seasoned and disciplined veteran, the camp would have been thrown into chaos.

People can't hide under the sand, and the undead don't care. With the completion of the Return Cemetery, waves of visitors from the Exile have arrived in the Vast Sea, and the undead creatures that the lord can command are no longer what they used to be.

In this siege of the "Purple Zircon" cavalry regiment, the Vast Ocean Territory deployed more than 700 skeleton spearmen, 36 withering skeletons, 24 liches, a squad of black warriors, and even two terrifying knights riding nightmares.

A huge death trap had been laid long ago on both sides of the trade route.

As plumes of yellow sand shot into the sky, rows of pale, skeletal warriors rose from beneath the sand, instantly encircling the cavalry regiment from both flanks. The cracking sound of bones grinding against each other echoed throughout the slightly agitated desert air, creating a chilling cacophony.

"Form ranks! Move closer to me!" the commander of the First Cavalry Regiment roared as he drew his longsword.

Eager to make a name for himself, the cavalry regiment commander personally led the team. He never expected that they would be besieged in such an area, which had been repeatedly confirmed as safe by scouts and the air force.

Cavalry stretched out in a long line along trade routes are easily cut off by the enemy. Therefore, the most reasonable course of action is to immediately regroup on the spot, form a cohesive unit, and then launch a charge.

But the undead army had no intention of giving them that chance.

Skeleton spearmen lined both sides of the road, their bone spears forming a dense forest, quickly creating a loose encirclement. Meanwhile, the withering skeletons in the rear crouched slightly, aiming the skeletal catapults on their heads at the cavalry regiment.

Each Wither Skeleton has three heads, which means it has three skeleton catapults. These are similar to miniature catapults, capable of launching small objects tens to hundreds of meters away.

In the undead world, wither skeletons usually launch stones or bone spikes, though some undead lords also have specially crafted attacks. But in the Vast Ocean, there is only one type being thrown.

Hand grenades! And defensive hand grenades at that.

A wild metal storm swept through the scene.

The mounts were the first to suffer fatal blows. Although the warhorses of the Zircon "Purple Zircon Legion" were also armored, they carried relatively light leather armor while on the march. In such a short time, they were hit by a dense barrage of hundreds or thousands of steel balls. Most of the warhorses only had time to let out a short, mournful cry before they fell heavily to the ground.

Further away, the liches emerged from the yellow sand and began releasing "clouds of death," a cloud of negative energy, towards the center of the encirclement.

The corrosive energy attack is specifically designed for these fully armored cavalrymen with their superior physical defense.

Amidst the cavalry commander's roar, some of the fallen knights immediately launched a counterattack. These well-trained professionals, their attacks brimming with fighting spirit, could cleave a skeleton in two with a single stroke, or even slice the spines of those pesky skeletons in half.

But what good is that? Once you're entangled by a few skeletons, the "cloud of death" will mercilessly descend upon you.

Although the attacks target the undead along with the undead, the negative energy attacks do not cause any damage to the undead.

From this perspective, the undead suddenly seem to have a sinister yet righteous quality!

At the two ends, one at each end and one at the other, stood a terrifying knight and six black knights, respectively, the only possible way for the knights to break out of the encirclement.

In the human race's army formation, this would be a high knight leading a first-class swordsman to block the way.

Even though the cavalry captain was a first-level expert, he had no hope of escaping.

The outcome of the battle was already decided the moment the undead rose from beneath the sand.

Under the continuous pincer attack, the Dread Knight's heavy blade, which tore through the air, cleaved the cavalry commander into a human fountain. The battle, which lasted less than ten minutes, came to an end, and the Second Cavalry Company of the First Cavalry Regiment of the "Purple Zircon Legion" in Zircon Territory was completely wiped out.

At the same time the siege was launched, the transport convoy of the Vast Ocean Territory was already on its way.

Not long after the job was finished, the skeleton gunners, wither skeletons, and high-level undead creatures on site were the first to leave in bug carts, followed by the corpses of the zircon knights and their horses.

A dozen or so sand beetles, each with a long, magnetic mop attached to its rear, marched in an orderly line from one end of the trade route to the other, sucking up all the steel balls left on the surface and turning over the loose sand on the ground.

When the Zircon Territory's reinforcements arrived, they looked around blankly at the area where warning magical beacons had been lit. The scene was so clean that not even a trace of blood could be seen.

On this day, the Zircon Territory army, which should have been advancing at full speed, once again came to a halt. Experienced scouts and officers searched back and forth across the land, but even as night fell, they could not find their missing cavalry.

On the second day of the march, Zircon learned his lesson and had scouts follow behind each marching column within their line of sight, with scouts followed by scouts.

The moment the magical beacon rises, the location of the attack is immediately determined through relay, and then the mage team in the camp spares no effort to remotely cast a large number of "Eye of Reconnaissance" spells on that area.

A bloody massacre unfolded before Marquis Monroe and his knights of Zircon Territory.

They could clearly "see" how their soldiers were overwhelmed by the skeletons that sprang up from the sand, how the withering skeletons covered the position with those evil weapons that could explode, and how the lich's death cloud caused his elite warriors to fall in droves...

They understood the enemy's attack methods, but then what? What should they do?
We can't possibly turn over all the sand on both sides of the road, can we?
Zircon Territory can only choose to further increase the size of its vanguard and widen the distance between its advancing troops. With a large number of troops and a loose formation, the enemy will be unable to launch an effective ambush.

But they were overthinking it. Just half a day later, the marching army was attacked again.

This time there were no high-level undead, and no need to clean up the battlefield. It was just a hundred or so skeleton soldiers lying in ambush by the roadside, who continued to lie in wait, letting wave after wave of zircon teams pass by. When the supply wagons passed by, they emerged from the gravel and detonated the incendiary bombs hanging on their bodies.

Death is the best teacher!

Next, the marching style of the Zircon Territory became increasingly bizarre.

The vanguard marched past in a loose, scattered formation, their hearts pounding. Behind them, at intervals, followed a scout carrying a magical beacon, ready to release a signal at any moment.

On both sides of the road, an even more absurd scene unfolded: rows of human soldiers no longer marched forward with their heads held high, but rather, like blind men groping their way, they raised their spears with each step and thrust them forcefully into the sand in front of them, trying to get rid of the "damned undead" that might be buried under their feet by sheer luck.

The Marquis's face grew increasingly grim, and the bloodshot in his eyes became more pronounced.

But in any case, the zircon army is still moving forward steadily, step by step.

On another morning with the sun rising, the Marquis of Monroe's main force finally set foot on solid ground.

This is the northern part of Hanhai City. With the continuous sand fixation and clearing efforts over the past few years, the entire perimeter of Hanhai City has expanded into a sand-free zone of tens of square kilometers.

The grid and bushes on the sand dunes, the endless harvested fields, and the distant city with no walls but only towering buildings in the distance all gave the soldiers who set foot on this land for the first time an unprecedented sense of shock and amazement!
Marquis Monroe tossed the Revelation Stone in his hand once more.

It's still those two annoying, forked horns!
The Marquis tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of water, wiped the water droplets from the edge of his beard, and kicked the two "Stones of Revelation" far away.

The bright red stone slabs lay on the shifting sand of the dunes, resembling two crimson eyes.

Under its gaze, the earth trembled slightly.

One after another, large, oddly shaped machines slowly came into view.

(End of this chapter)