Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 133 The Heart of Humus

Grom shared with Kate the detailed information he had gathered at the meeting about the "zombie horde awakening" ritual without reservation.

[Information Compilation: The final stage of the zombie horde awakening ritual... Countdown to launch: Approximately 30 calendar days (within one month)...]

Core energy source: Powered simultaneously by three ancient burial pits (coordinates: deep within the Corridor of the Dead, at the bottom of the Well of Decay, and beneath the Hall of Bones).

Energy extraction channels: must be absolutely unobstructed, with no room for error.

Grom's Legion Mission: Clear the area southeast of Burial Pit 3, eliminate all Hand of Life scout units, and secure the passage...

One month! Time is of the essence!

Alarm bells rang in Kate's mind.

One month from now, the undead lords will unleash a terrifying horde of zombies that could sweep across the entire Eternal Night Canyon and even threaten the southern defense line!

Action must be taken beforehand to cause enough disruption to delay or even stop the ceremony.

To achieve this goal, relying solely on the current "influence" and "trust" of Grom is far from sufficient.

Although Grom trusted him, he still maintained his independent will and judgment.

It is likely to rebel if Kate's orders seriously conflict with the Pale King's decrees or its own core interests.

We need deeper control!

It requires near-absolute control to ensure that Grom and his warband become a sharp blade inserted into the heart of the undead faction at crucial moments, rather than an uncertain pawn.

[Target: Grom. Current Soul Resonance Penetration: 47%. Significant influence can be exerted to guide his major decisions.]

Full control threshold estimation: Requires a threshold of 75% or higher, and the target must be in a state of mental weakness or wavering will.

Opportunities need to be created.

Kate's mind raced, and combining the intelligence she had just received with her previous knowledge of the surrounding area, a plan quickly took shape.

His face showed just the right amount of seriousness. After a moment of contemplation, he said to Grom, "Chief, His Majesty's mission is of paramount importance, and we must give it our all. But before undertaking such a dangerous mission, we must be in peak condition, especially you."

He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Grom: "You've just received His Majesty's promise of advancement, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But advancing to the second tier is extremely perilous; even with the resources His Majesty provides, the success rate isn't 100%. We need to increase our chances of success as much as possible."

Grom's soulfire flickered, clearly having his thoughts exposed: "Increase your chances? Shadowfang, what methods do you have?"

"I remember... you had an old rival in the 'Rotten Woods' to the east?"

Kate spoke slowly, her tone slightly seductive, "That self-proclaimed Lord of the Woodlands, the peak-level first-ring corpse demon—'Rotten Root' Morgh?"

Grom clenched his bone claws, and the eerie green flames on his giant axe surged higher, bursting forth with intense hostility and a hint of... barely perceptible apprehension: "Morg, that damned coward who only knows how to hide in rotten wood and poisonous fog!"

"Hmph, relying on its advantageous location and its venomous nature, it has repeatedly provoked me. I've long wanted to tear it apart."

"As far as I know," Kate continued, lowering her voice as if sharing top-secret information, "the reason why Morgo was able to dominate that woodland and possess bizarre power approaching the second tier is because deep within its core lies an extremely rare Corruption Heart crystal."

This item contains the decay and regeneration power accumulated over ten thousand years in that forest, making it an unparalleled treasure for the undead who cultivate the rules of death and decay.

If you can obtain it, you can use it as an auxiliary material to refine and absorb during your "Bone Ascension Ritual"...

Kate paused deliberately, letting Grom imagine the wonderful scene: "...not only will it greatly neutralize the risk of energy conflict during advancement, but it will also infuse your death rules with a trace of immortal decay," making your foundation incredibly solid and your future potential limitless.

The success rate can be increased by at least 30%!

"A rotten heart?!"

Grom's soul fluctuations instantly became incredibly heavy, and the soul fire in his eye sockets burned almost blazing white.

It had fought with Morge for many years and naturally knew about the other's core treasure, but it also knew how terrifying and difficult it was to take it.

Now that Kate has pointed out its immense value and its direct link to his own promotion, the desire instantly overwhelms reason and fear!

"Thirty percent!!" This number was like a curse, making it impossible to resist.

"But... that guy Morgoth is holed up in his lair, in an extremely harsh environment, rife with poison and plague, and teeming with corrupted treants and zombie beasts under his control... a direct assault would be too costly, and besides, His Majesty has given us time..."

Grom, though desperately craving it, hadn't completely lost his mind.

"It is precisely because it is holed up in its old nest that we have a better chance."

Kate's eyes gleamed with wisdom. "Hasn't it been coveting your Soul Crystal Mine and harboring resentment over your last victory against it?"

We can take advantage of this. Send out a small team, disguised as a convoy transporting mineral resources, to inadvertently reveal their presence at the edge of the woodland, creating the illusion of weakness and complacency.

Given Morger's greedy and vengeful nature, he would most likely personally take action to attempt looting and revenge.

We set up an ambush in the area outside the woodland that it was most familiar with and where it was most likely to let its guard down.

You will personally take action, swiftly and decisively defeating it and seizing the crystal core.

Strive for a swift victory, never linger in battle, and withdraw immediately after achieving your objective.

This approach avoids the enormous costs and risks of a direct assault on the forest, while achieving the objective as quickly as possible, ensuring that His Majesty's mission is not delayed.

They fully exploited the opponent's weaknesses and chose to fight on territory outside the opponent's territory, thus avoiding environmental disadvantages.

Grom found it increasingly feasible, and his fighting spirit and greed were completely ignited.

"Good, good plan! Shadowfang, we'll do as you say. I'm getting my hands on that Corrupted Heart of Morger!"

It let out a deep, murderous roar, its bone armor crackling with excitement.

[Target: Grom. Greed and fighting spirit are extremely high. Soul Resonance penetration has slightly increased to 49%. The desire to execute this plan is extremely strong.]

The plan was quickly formulated.

A transport convoy consisting of dozens of skeleton warriors and a small number of zombies, seemingly lax in its guard, was escorting several carts of soul crystals that shimmered with an eerie light. Of course, most of them were actually inferior goods and illusions in disguise. The convoy slowly set off from Skullcrushing Canyon and headed towards the Rotten Woodland.

Grom personally led his most elite Dread Knights, Shadow Assassins, and Blood Priests to lie in ambush at the designated location—a dry riverbed near the woods, relatively open in terrain but with enough rocks to provide cover.

Kate naturally stayed close to Grom.

The transport team indeed "accidentally" exposed their location and "panickedly" tried to speed away from the edge of the woodland.

The news quickly reached the depths of the decaying woodland.

Just as Kate had predicted, the ghoul Morgo, who was extremely greedy for soul crystals and harbored a deep grudge against Grom, could not resist such temptation.

It sees this as a slip-up by Grom’s carelessness, a perfect opportunity for retaliation and the seizure of resources.

It immediately summoned its most elite Corrupted Tree Spirits and Venom Lurkers, and personally led the team, like a foul-smelling green torrent, rushing out of the woods and attacking the "weak" transport team.

However, as they rushed into the dried-up riverbed area, just as they were about to catch up with the transport team—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground suddenly cracked open, and the pre-laid undead traps—[Pain Spikes] and [Wailing Array]—activated instantly, tearing apart or imprisoning a large number of low-level corrupted creatures.

"Morger! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

Grom's roar was like thunder, and his massive figure leaped out from behind the rocks, his burning giant axe cleaving Morgar with devastating force.

Elite Dread Knights charged forward, Shadow Assassins reaped the chaos of their enemies like phantoms, and Blood Priests unleashed weakening cursed blood mist.

The ambush broke out instantly.

Morog was both surprised and furious. It had not expected Grom to be so cunning as to have set up an ambush.

It screamed, unleashing a dense, highly corrosive, dark green cloud of poisonous mist around itself, attempting to force Grom back, while simultaneously wielding its enormous arm made of twisted ancient wood to smash towards Grom.

It is a peak-level corpse demon, and its strength should not be underestimated, especially in this area near its lair, where it can mobilize some of the decaying power of the forest.

The battle was extremely fierce.

Poisonous mist intertwined with eerie green flames, and decaying giant trees clashed with burning bone armor.

Grom was incredibly brave, but Morger's plague was extremely troublesome, constantly eroding his bone armor and soulfire, making his movements slightly sluggish.

The shadow assassin attempted a sneak attack but was whipped away by the poisonous vines surrounding Morger.

The Dread Knight's charge was also desperately blocked by a large number of Corrupted Treants.

The battle seemed to have reached a brief stalemate, with both sides rapidly expending resources.

Kate observed calmly from the side.

He didn't act immediately, but waited for the best opportunity.

He was analyzing Morger's attack patterns, looking for weaknesses, while also carefully observing Grom's condition.

Grom's anger and greed intensified during the battle, but the erosion of the plague continued to weaken his strength and mental focus.

[Target: Grom. Status: In the heat of battle, 35% energy depleted, Soulfire slightly eroded by the plague, mental focus reduced, emotions at their peak of anger and greed.]

It's now!

A glint of light flashed in Kate's eyes.

He quietly moved to the flank of the battlefield and locked onto a giant corrupted dryad that was frantically waving poison vines, trying to entangle Grom.

"Spatial flicker!"

Swish!

His figure vanished instantly, reappearing behind the tree spirit's trunk.

"Death Resist - Annihilation!"

He pointed his fingers like a sword, and the highly concentrated power of the rules of death, mixed with a trace of life energy drawn from the Heart of Reincarnation, silently entered the core of the tree demon.

puff!

The tree demon froze abruptly, its massive body withering, shattering, and turning to ashes in an instant!

This attack was perfectly timed, freeing Grom from a critical binding threat. The timing was impeccable, appearing as if it were a perfectly coordinated effort.

Grom, relieved of the pressure, roared and swung his giant axe to deflect Morger's attack. He then seized the opportunity to cleave Morger's arm, leaving a deep wound from which putrid fluid spurted out.

"Well done, Shadowfang!" Grom roared, his attacks becoming even fiercer.

Kate didn't stop, her figure moving like a ghost along the edge of the battlefield.

Instead of attacking Morger's main body directly, he continuously eliminated the elite corrupted creatures that caused the most trouble for Grom. Each move was extremely precise and efficient, as if he could predict the development of the battle.

His actions, in the eyes of Grom and all the undead, made him an exceptionally good support, perfectly creating opportunities for the main force and maximizing the chances of winning the battle.

But in reality, Kate was secretly making some underhanded moves.

Each time he made a move, his Samsara Heart Domain subtly and imperceptibly influenced the energy field around Grom.

He wasn't enhancing Grom; rather, he was exacerbating Grom's depletion and emotional fluctuations.

He used an imperceptible flow of life energy to subtly stimulate the "burning pain" in Grom's soulfire caused by the plague, making Grom even more irritable and angry.

He used subtle spatial disturbances to slightly amplify the penetrating effect of the Morger Mist, causing Grom's defenses to require more energy.

He even used the technique of soul resonance to amplify Grom's greedy thoughts of "seizing the Heart of Corruption" and violent emotions of "killing his old rival," making it more focused on offense and neglecting defense and its own condition.

This effect was so subtle that it was completely imperceptible amidst the intense energy fluctuations of the battle.

Grom felt increasingly excited and furious as the fight went on, his attacks becoming more and more ferocious, but his energy consumption was also increasing rapidly, and the corrosive effects of the poison seemed to be more severe than expected.

[Target: Grom. Status: In the midst of intense battle, energy consumption is accelerating (reaching 62%), the Soulfire is being further eroded by the plague (mildly damaged), the mind is in a state of high excitement and slight confusion, and the desire for the Heart of Corruption has reached its peak.]

Soul resonance penetration increased to 53%.

The time is becoming increasingly ripe.

Finally, with a frenzied, almost exhausting slash from Grom, which severely injured Morger once again and sent him flying, Morger, now wide open and with his soul fire flickering violently, let out a desperate scream. His chest suddenly split open, and a dark green crystal core, like a beating heart, exuding an aura of terrifying decay and eerie vitality, emerged—it was the Corrupted Heart!

It's going to make a final desperate attempt, detonating a portion of the crystal core's power!

"Stop it!" Grom roared in alarm and anger, but his old power had just been exhausted and new power had not yet been generated, making it difficult to intercept it effectively immediately.

At this critical moment!

"Seed of the Spiritual Pivot - Mental Impact!"

Kate finally launched an attack on Morger's main body.

An invisible, highly concentrated spiritual seed instantly entered the core of Morger.

It was not a direct attack, but rather a severe disruption to its will and energy guidance to detonate the crystal core.

Moerger's body stiffened abruptly, interrupting the self-destruction process.

"Chief! Now!"

Kate shouted, her voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of urging.

Grom wasn't about to miss this opportunity. It roared, squeezing out its last bit of power, burning with soul fire, and its giant axe transformed into a ghostly green lightning bolt that tore through space, slashing fiercely at the stiff-moving Morger!

Crack—Boom!

The giant axe struck Morgoth's core with pinpoint accuracy—the Corrupted Heart!

A terrifying power erupted, and Morger let out a final, piercing scream as his massive body was instantly torn apart and disintegrated by the raging death energy.

Its consciousness was completely annihilated.

Only the dark green, decaying heart, though cracked, was not completely shattered and fell out from the center of the explosion.