Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 138 Burial Pit No. 3

On the way back to Skullcrushing Canyon, Kate remained silent, but her mind was rapidly summarizing what she had gained from the trip.

The terrifying power of the Pale Lord's incarnation: He personally confirmed the terrifying power of a monarch-level being.

It was not a simple accumulation of energy, but an absolute suppression at the level of rules, especially the ultimate manifestation of the rules of "decay" and "rot". It could wipe out a peak first-ring wizard with a wave of its hand, and its pressure far exceeded that of an ordinary third-ring wizard.

This power is something I cannot currently confront head-on; any future plans must absolutely avoid direct conflict with the monarch's incarnation.

However, its power seems to lean more towards large-scale rule-based suppression and destruction, and in terms of extreme precision, agility, and change, it may not be invincible.

The Wither Legion's combat mode: This is a highly disciplined undead legion with a clear division of labor.

They excel at using large-scale, sustained area-of-effect damage and possess elite assault and harassment units such as Corruption Hounds.

And solid heavy defenses like the Wither Guards, combined with the Plague Priest's curses and buff spells, form a three-dimensional offensive.

Its advantages include strong frontal advance capability, extremely destructive effect on fixed defenses and cluster targets, and high logistical reception efficiency.

The disadvantages are that its overall mobility is relatively slow, it relies too much on a stable energy supply and rear support, and its defense against high-speed mobility, precision strikes, and small-scale elite infiltration may be relatively weak.

Its operations heavily rely on its command system; if its command chain can be disrupted or severed, it could cause considerable chaos.

The contradictions and fissures within the undead: The Pale Lord is arrogant and oppressive towards neutral undead forces that are not directly under his control, forcibly annexing them with ruthless methods.

This will inevitably sow the seeds of resentment and hatred. Beings like the Rusty Lich Lord, though temporarily subjugated, are by no means truly loyal and are merely objects to be exploited.

The undead faction is not monolithic, which makes it possible to divide and weaken them and to secretly plot against them.

The Pale Lord personally went to the front lines to accelerate the consolidation of forces, and everything pointed to the upcoming "Awakening of the Zombie Horde" ritual.

The ritual requires the simultaneous activation of three ancient burial pits, drawing upon a vast amount of energy. This is both the most powerful means for the undead and their most vulnerable moment—if the energy nodes are interfered with or destroyed, the ritual is likely to fail or even backfire.

The Grom Warband's mission is to ensure the passage through the third burial pit area is unobstructed, which is undoubtedly an excellent entry point and breakthrough.

Upon arriving at the stronghold in Burial Pit No. 3, Kate, in her capacity as the strategist of "Shadowfang," first reported the situation to Grom, emphasizing the importance of completing His Majesty's mission and demonstrating their value as soon as possible, further reinforcing Grom and his subordinates' sense of urgency in carrying out the mission.

He then obtained permission to go out for reconnaissance alone, citing the need to further survey the terrain of the mission area and optimize the action plan.

He quietly left Skullcrushing Canyon and arrived at an extremely secluded contact point arranged in advance with the Seventh Outpost—a small cave deep within the Twisted Stone Forest, concealed by natural illusions.

Inside the cave, Evan had been waiting for quite some time.

"Kate!" Seeing Kate return safely, Evan breathed a sigh of relief, then asked anxiously, "How did it go? I heard the Pale Lord's avatar has appeared?"

Kate nodded, her expression grave: "The situation is more serious than we anticipated."

He quickly informed Evan of everything he had observed, especially the terrifying power of the Pale Lord's avatar, the combat characteristics of the Wither Legion, the process of the Rust Alliance being swallowed up, and most importantly, the crucial intelligence that the "Awakening of the Horde" ritual required three burial pits to supply power simultaneously and that the Grom Warband was responsible for clearing the area of ​​the third burial pit.

Evan's face turned pale as he listened, especially when he heard about the power of the monarch's avatar, he gasped in shock.

"Rule-level annihilation—how—how do you fight this?"

"We can't take it on for now," Kate said in a deep voice. "But our goal is not the monarch's incarnation itself, but the ritual to destroy it."

Ritual is its primary concern at present, and it is also the key to its power projection.

If the ceremony is obstructed or even fails, its impact on the entire war situation will be decisive.

He pointed to a simple diagram drawn on the ground with pebbles: "The three burial pits are key. The third burial pit, with the Grom Warband responsible for clearing the perimeter, is our best chance."

I now have a basic grasp on Grom and can influence the actions of the warbands.

My plan is to operate on two fronts, or even three fronts.

"First line, Grom's Warband. I will guide Grom to deliberately leave a few insignificant loopholes or blind spots while clearing out the Hand of Life scout units, and exaggerate the difficulty and time required for the mission, to create some conditions for a possible counterattack or scout by the Hand of Life, and to keep the main force of the Warband in a logical position that is relatively far from the core of the Burial Pit."

At the same time, I will try to adjust the defenses within the Warband, leveraging Grom's authority, and leave some inconspicuous backdoors or weak points near some key energy flow nodes.

"The second line, the Rusty Lich. I made contact with their lord, and although it was just planting a seed, it's worth a try."

The Rust Lich is skilled in alchemy and constructs, and is sensitive to energy flow.

They were forcibly incorporated into the Wither Legion's logistics, so they were bound to harbor resentment, and were most likely responsible for equipment maintenance or energy guiding.

I will try to use that bone rune to convey a very brief, tempting message with an opportunity for revenge to the Lich Lord at a crucial moment, such as "node overload, you can take advantage of the chaos to escape," or "Eastern Third Meridian, pressure relief can protect you," or other vague but targeted words.

They don't need to directly resist; they only need to deviate slightly from the standard during operation or ignore a small problem during maintenance to trigger a chain reaction at a critical stage of the ritual.

This move is high-risk, with an uncertain success rate, but it's worth a try.

"The third line, which is also the most important line, is ourselves."

We need a truly elite squad to infiltrate the area of ​​Burial Pit 3 as the ceremony is about to begin or in its early stages.

"Exploiting the loopholes deliberately left by the Grom Warband and the backdoors I prepared," they directly penetrated the critical parts of the energy transmission node.

Instead of directly confronting the legion, they can launch precise, destructive surgical strikes, such as disrupting energy conduits, interfering with rune arrays, or even detonating small energy stagnation points.

If successful, it could trigger a massive energy disturbance, severely damaging or even disrupting the ritual.

Evan was stunned, amazed by Kate's boldness and meticulousness.

"This is insane! You're supposed to simultaneously control an entire undead warband, turn a group of recently surrendered liches against their cause, and personally lead a team to sabotage the undead lord's ritual core?!"

"This is a great opportunity." Kate's eyes sharpened. "We must seize the moment when the undead lord's attention is focused on the ritual and his legions are busy maintaining the massive energy flow, which may cause a brief period of stagnation and internal gaps."

"The moves involving Grom and the Lich Lord, if successful, all the better; if not, they will at least distract us and create even the slightest advantage for our final surprise attack."

"I need you to bring this intelligence and draft plan back to Commander Elmer immediately."

We need his full support and the most precise cooperation.

First, the reconnaissance activities at the Seventh Outpost need to be coordinated with my performance. We need to conduct some well-timed harassment reconnaissance around the Third Burial Pit, which will be detected and repelled by the Grom Warband. This will both confirm Grom's report that the mission is difficult and avoid revealing our true intentions too early.

Secondly, I need an absolutely elite squad that excels in stealth and explosive destruction. Each member should be at least at the peak of the first level, and ideally, there should be an expert in energy blasting, rune disintegration, or spatial infiltration.

I personally directed the infiltration at the agreed time.

Finally, command needs to coordinate a feint attack from other directions at the likely time of the ceremony to further divert the forces of the Withering Legion and the attention of the Monarch's avatar.

Evan nodded emphatically: "I understand. I will relay every word to the Commander. Kate, be extremely careful! You're practically dancing on a knife's edge, and right in the Lord of the Undead's lair!"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Kate patted Evan on the shoulder. "Time is of the essence, you should go back now. The next contact time and location will remain the same; we'll await final instructions and personnel arrangements from headquarters."

Without another word, Evan's figure blended into the wind, and he silently left the cave.

Kate calmed himself down, left the contact point, and continued his "reconnaissance," pondering more details of the plan.

Upon returning to the Skullcrushers, Kate immediately "reported" his "reconnaissance findings" to Grom.

He deliberately described the complex terrain, chaotic energy flow, and signs of activity by a suspected elite squad of the Living Hand in the area of ​​Burial Pit No. 3, emphasizing the difficulty and necessity of the mission. He suggested increasing patrols and reinforcing defenses in several key areas, and expressed his "deep concern" that it might take longer than originally planned to completely clear the area.

Grom, who was already completely under Kate's control, naturally adopted all of Kate's suggestions and adjusted the deployment accordingly.

Using her position as strategist, Kate arranged for some less vigilant or more "obedient" undead squads in the areas traversed by several secondary energy pipelines when adjusting the defenses. She also implied that they should focus on external threats and report any minor anomalies in the internal energy facilities "later."

At the same time, through the soul connection, he continuously strengthened Grom's dedication to completing the mission and his desire for self-ascension, ensuring that Grom would completely obey his guidance.

Meanwhile, at the Seventh Outpost Command, Commander Elmer fell into a long silence after listening to Evan's detailed report.

He was deeply impressed by the importance of the intelligence Kate had obtained and the audacity of her plan, but he also felt immense pressure and risk.

But he knew that Kate's judgment was likely correct. A passive defense, waiting for the undead to complete their ritual and launch a full-scale attack, could very well lead to the collapse of the Seventh Outpost and even the entire Night Canyon defense line.

Taking the initiative and risking everything is the only chance.

He made a decision immediately.

"The draft 'Spine Breaker' action plan has been approved. I will personally assume command."

"Immediately select the most elite personnel from the outpost garrison and the recently rotated and rested 'Sharp Blade' squad:"

Murphy, a second-circle wizard skilled in breaking protective runes and channeling energy; Lina, a first-circle pinnacle assassin skilled in shadow stealth and critical strikes; and Harmon, a first-circle pinnacle battlemage proficient in elemental blasts and especially adept at creating energy turbulence.

Including Kate herself, they formed a four-person assault team.

"Reconnaissance units, in coordination with the operation, conducted logical provocations and withdrew from the designated area."

"At the same time, I will report to headquarters and request that during the general offensive, a division-scale feint attack be launched in the direction of the first and second burial pits to contain the Pale Lord's avatar and his main army!"

"Tell Kate that command will fully support him. He can make all the decisions on the spot."

The time is set for 15 days from now, when the energy tide of the next Shadow Moon reaches its peak.

That is likely the moment the ceremony begins.

The order was relayed swiftly and covertly.

The entire Seventh Outpost, and even the command post further back, began intensive preparations for this high-stakes gamble.

Kate received the secret message from Evan and felt reassured.

He knew that the most crucial moment was about to arrive.

In the days that followed, Kate continued to act as the strategist of "Shadowfang," consolidating her control over the Grom Warband and making strategic plans, while also using meditation to adjust her state and maintain the power of the Heart of Samsara at its peak.

He also took a moment to send a very brief and weak message through the bone rune he had left for the Lich Lord. The message contained only a few vague undead words: "—Third—Node—Overload is Freedom—"

He couldn't be sure if the other party would receive it, let alone understand it or be willing to take the risk, but this seemingly insignificant move might bring unexpected chaos at a crucial moment.

As the Shadow Moon cycle draws ever closer, the atmosphere in the Eternal Night Canyon grows increasingly oppressive.

The darkness in the sky seemed to thicken, and the flow of death energy became more active and orderly, as if it were being guided by some enormous force, converging in several specific directions.

The Grom Warband has fully moved into the outer area of ​​Burial Pit 3.

The so-called "purge" mission was "extremely difficult," with sporadic "reconnaissance squads" of the Hand of Life constantly harassing them. Although they were "repelled" each time, they could not be completely eradicated, which made Grom quite irritable and he relied more on Kate's plans.

Kate then dispersed the main force of the War Gang to several key outer points, seemingly defending them tightly, but in reality making the defense of the core area of ​​the Burial Pit relatively weak, especially near several secondary energy pipes.

Finally, the Shadow Moon arrived.

That night, the darkness of the Eternal Night Canyon reached its peak, and even the undead felt a tremor from the depths of their souls.

The immense death energy, like rivers flowing into the sea, surged wildly towards the three ancient burial pits.

Deep within the third burial pit, the enormous energy vortex suddenly accelerated its rotation, emitting a suffocating light and buzzing sound.

The runes on the ground lit up one by one, connecting to form a huge network that continuously transmitted energy to the distance.