Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 139 Action

Kate's figure blended into the shadows of the Eternal Night Canyon, but his will, like an invisible thread, traversed space, precisely manipulating two key chess positions.

Deep within the skullcrushers' lair, filled with the stench of blood and rust, Grom's massive skeletal form sat upon a rough throne.

But deep within the eerie green soul fire burning in its eye sockets, a faint, cold, and absolutely obedient light flickered—completely different from its usual ferocity.

Kate's will descended directly through the soul imprint.

"Grom"

"Master." A dull response echoed between the thrones, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"The time is approaching. According to the established plan, lead your warband to the designated area southeast of Burial Pit No. 3 on time."

"Yes, Master."

Under the pretext of "Your mission: to purge the reconnaissance units of the Hand of Life and ensure the energy channel remains open," the main force of the War Gang is deployed at the border between "Ash Rift" and "Stinking Mire."

That area is a secondary hub of the energy conduit network of Burial Pit No. 3, and its defenses are relatively weak.

"Once the ritual energy reaches its peak, immediately detonate the withered runestone I had you secretly bury there."

Kate's instructions were clear and ruthless.

"After detonation, chaos was created, claiming that an elite attack by the Hand of Life had been launched and the node had been destroyed."

Then, they immediately requested reinforcements from the Pale King, drawing part of the Wither Legion's reserves in the wrong direction.

"Yes, Master." Grom's soulfire burned steadily, without any doubt or hesitation.

Absolute loyalty ensures that orders will be carried out without fail.

Driven by Grom's will, the entire Skullcrusher Gang began to operate efficiently, like a wound-up war machine.

Although the Shadow Assassin and Blood Priest vaguely sensed that their leader seemed to be more "silent" and "focused" lately, under Grom's formidable authority, they dared not ask too many questions. They simply followed orders, mobilized troops, checked equipment, and prepared to head to the designated area.

Kate left Ash here to monitor everything, ensuring that Kate's will was executed perfectly without any deviation.

Meanwhile, Kate's main body, using her newly acquired spatial affinity and the shallow void path provided by Ashe, silently traversed the Wither Legion's tight blockade and arrived at the new headquarters of the Rust Lich after its integration—a necromancer workshop located in a huge underground cavern, filled with the strong smell of rusted metal and machine oil.

The guards here are the skeleton warriors directly under the Wither Legion, and they are very disciplined, but they are not insurmountable for Kate, who has mastered advanced stealth techniques.

He infiltrated the workshop like a ghost, and based on the soul imprint he had left behind, he accurately located the lich lord who was supervising his subordinates in assembling some kind of large energy converter.

At this moment, the lich lord's massive metal body was marked with conspicuous signs of decay, and his movements carried an undisguised sluggishness and resentment. Most of his trusted liches around him were in the same state.

Kate emerged from a shadowy corner piled with discarded parts, and the Heart of Reincarnation's domain opened slightly, forming a tiny isolation barrier.

"Lich Lord." Kate's voice directly entered the other party's soulfire.

The Lich Lord's massive body stiffened abruptly, its metal head slowly turning to face Kate. Its soulfire pulsed violently, filled with shock and vigilance.

It instinctively wanted to trigger the alarm, but sensing the familiar soul fluctuations that carried a hint of purification and threat, as well as the other party's ability to infiltrate this place silently, it forcibly stopped itself.

"It's you?! That Shadow Fang?! How dare you come here?!"

It lowered its voice, the metallic scraping sound carrying a hint of surprise.

"I'm here to keep my promise and give you a chance to break free from control and regain your freedom."

Kate cut to the chase, her gaze sharp. "The Pale Lord's ritual is about to begin. This is our best, and perhaps only, chance."

The Lich Lord's soul flame flickered: "--What opportunity? The Mark of Withering is deep within my core. If I make the slightest move, the monarch will detect it and annihilate me instantly!"

"What if I could help you temporarily shield or even interfere with the imprints?" Kate said in a deep voice. "When the ritual is initiated, the energy flow is extremely violent, and the perception of all imprints will become dull and unstable."

That was when the imprint was most vulnerable.

He stretched out his palm, and a complex gray-green rune seed, woven from the rules of life and death, appeared in his palm.

"This is my Spiritual Seed. It cannot erase the mark, but it can greatly weaken the connection between the mark and the Pale Lord for ten minutes, and simulate the illusion that you are still under control."

"For these ten minutes, you are free. Enough for you and your trusted subordinates to do many things."

The Lich Lord stared intently at the rune seed, his soul fire filled with both longing and immense fear.

"What's the price? What do you need us to do?"

"It's simple." Kate pointed to the depths of the workshop, to the huge, assembling energy converter, and even deeper, to the main energy pipeline interface from which a roaring sound came.

"This is an important auxiliary energy distribution station for the No. 2 Burial Pit, the Well of Decay. I want you to connect this energy overload induction device to the main pipeline when the ritual energy reaches its peak."

It would silently channel excessive energy into this diversion station, exceeding its capacity, thereby triggering a chain of explosions and severely damaging or even paralyzing part of the functions of Burial Pit No. 2.

"At the same time, I will coordinate from the outside to attack the main shield generator. It's a coordinated attack from within and without."

The Lich Lord gasped, "This—this will render the entire distribution station completely unusable! And we will too—"

"So you need to evacuate via this secret route I've provided before the explosion. This route will bypass most of the guards and lead directly to the ground."

After that, whether you take advantage of the chaos to flee far away or seek another way out is up to you.

Kate stared at it: "This is a gamble with everything at stake. But if you succeed, you can escape slavery and perhaps even take revenge on the Pale Lord. If you fail, you will be utterly annihilated. What will you choose?"

The Lich Lord was caught in a tremendous struggle.

It looked at Kate, then at the several equally nervous confidants around it, and then at the humiliating, withered marks on its body.

The yearning for freedom and the resentment towards the Pale Lord ultimately overwhelmed the fear.

"—Alright! Let's do it!" It clenched its massive metal fist. "But if you lie to us, or if the plan fails—"

"Then we'll all die together," Kate calmly interrupted. "Now, accept this seed, familiarize yourself with it, and await my signal."

He implanted the Spirit Pivot Seed into the core of the Lich Lord.

The Lich Lord's body trembled as it felt a strange power temporarily envelop the Withering Mark, giving it a long-lost sense of "relaxation," though extremely brief and unstable.

"The signal was—when the first loud explosion came from the direction of Burial Pit No. 3."

After Kate finished speaking, her figure slowly retreated into the shadows and disappeared again.

The atmosphere inside the command post of the Seventh Outpost was extremely tense.

Commander Elmer stood before a massive magical sand table, on which three huge red dots were clearly marked: the Corridor of the Dead, the Well of Withering, and the Hall of Bones.

The surrounding area was covered with densely packed defensive markers of the undead army.

The information provided by Kate has been repeatedly verified and analyzed.

"Gentlemen, the moment of final battle has arrived." Elmer's voice was calm yet powerful. "The ritual to awaken the undead lord's horde is about to begin. Our goal is not to defeat their endless army on the front lines, but to sever their source of power!"

His gaze swept over the elite squad assembled in front of him.

The core of the team consists of "Runebreaker" Murphy, "Shadow" Lina, "Shockwave" Hamon, and Evan and Elena, who are in excellent form.

In addition, there are ten first-ring wizards who are best at attacking and destroying, and a support team of fifty elite fourth-level apprentices.

"Our mission is to raid the core energy pool of the 'Corridor of the Dead' in Burial Pit No. 1!"

"According to Kate's intelligence, the Corridor of the Dead is the most heavily defended of the three nodes, but it is also the place with the most concentrated energy."

Once the core energy pool is destroyed, the resulting energy storm will be the most intense and will have the greatest impact on the ritual.

"Master Murphy, you are in charge of leading the task force to break through the outer protective array of the core energy pool as quickly as possible."

"Harmon, your mission is to create a controlled, but massive, attention-grabbing explosion to cover the assault."

"Lina, you are responsible for clearing out sentries and warning points along the way to ensure the operation remains covert."

"Evan, Elena, you are responsible for overall awareness and support, especially early warning of possible intervention by the monarch avatar."

"I will personally lead the team to defend you against the strongest guard."

"Remember, our window of opportunity is extremely short. We must launch this attack simultaneously with Grom and the Lich Lord's actions, utilizing the chain reaction of chaos to maximize our gains. Once we succeed, we must immediately withdraw along the predetermined route, without lingering!"

"For the Hand of Life! For the Southern Region!" Elmer raised his staff.

"For the Hand of Life!" they roared in unison, their fighting spirit surging.

Shadow Moon, the ritual begins!

In the sky above the Eternal Night Canyon, the eternal shadow moon seemed to grow even deeper, almost as if it were dripping ink.

An unimaginable amount of death energy began to be drawn from every corner of the canyon, flowing wildly towards the three nodes like rivers flowing into the sea.

The Corridor of the Dead, the Well of Decay, and the Hall of Bones all erupted with towering, eerie green pillars of light. Within these pillars, countless tormented souls seemed to wail and struggle, only to be crushed and assimilated into pure energy.

The entire Eternal Night Canyon trembled, the air thickened like a swamp, and the terrifying pressure made all living beings tremble.

The ceremony has begun!

The avatars of the Pale Lord and the Shadow Assassin hovered above the Hall of Bones, coldly watching the energy converge, waiting to finally awaken the terrifying horde of corpses slumbering deep within the canyon, a horde capable of engulfing everything.

action!

Just as the three beams of light reached their most dazzling moment, "Now! Grom, detonate!" Kate's will, like a cold arrow, pierced through space.

"For His Majesty! For the Warband! Detonate!" Grom roared at the same moment.

Boom!

Outside the No. 3 burial pit, at the junction of the Ash Rift and the putrid swamp, several huge streams of eerie green energy suddenly gushed out from the ground, mixed with fragments of broken runestones, forming a violent energy storm!

"Enemy attack! Node damaged!"

The Grom Warriors shouted in a panic and bravely tried to "rescue" the situation, while simultaneously sending an "emergency appeal" to the Pale Lord via bone runes.

Almost simultaneously!

Burial Pit No. 2, inside the Diversion Station of the Well of Decay.

The Lich Lord heard the distant explosion, and his soul fire suddenly blazed!

"Now!"

It roared and activated the Spirit Seed left by Kate, instantly feeling the binding force of the Withering Mark greatly reduced!

"Let's do it!"

It and its trusted henchmen immediately inserted the "energy overload inducer" into the main energy channel of the howling wolf.

The device instantly turned bright red, emitting a piercing shriek! Vast amounts of energy were being frantically extracted and injected into the already overloaded distribution station system.

"Warning! Energy overload! Uncontrollable!" The control runes of the diversion station flashed wildly, emitting a piercing scream.

"Retreat!" Without hesitation, the Lich Lord led his men toward the secret passage provided by Kate.

A few seconds later—

Boom! Rumble! ...

From the direction of Burial Pit No. 2, a loud bang, even more muffled yet more terrifying than the explosion at Burial Pit No. 3, came.

The distribution station of the Well of Decay burst open like a balloon that had been blown up! The terrifying flow of death energy went out of control, rushing wildly in all directions like a runaway horse, severely disrupting the energy stability of the main node.

The pillar of light from the Well of Withering swayed violently, flickering unpredictably.

"What's going on?!"

The avatar of the Pale Lord abruptly turned its head, looking towards the direction of Burial Pit No. 2 and No. 3, and for the first time, a trace of shock and anger appeared in its cold will.

It immediately diverted a portion of its thoughts and power to try to stabilize the chaos, and dispatched a portion of its direct legions to investigate and provide support.

And at this most crucial moment when its attention was diverted—

"For the Hand of Life! Charge!" Commander Elmer roared, leading the charge.

The elite commando team of the Seventh Outpost, like venomous snakes that had been lying in wait, suddenly pounced out from a hidden canyon that was the closest to the Corridor of the Dead node.

"Hurricane Shield!"

Evan unleashed his full power, enveloping the entire assault team in a powerful wind force that resisted the pervasive energy erosion and greatly increased the team's speed.

"Stars guide, shadows vanish!" Elena's Nebula Crystal burst forth with dazzling light, illuminating not only the path but also temporarily dispelling the vast swath of undead fog ahead, interfering with the undead's perception.

"Silent Stealth!" Lina's figure was like a ghost. Wherever she went, the patrolling undead guards fell silently, with a tiny wound appearing on their throats or soul cores.

"Molten Core Explosion! Clear the way!" Hamon laughed wildly, hurling a highly compressed ball of fire energy at the undead legion and fortifications blocking his path, creating a massive explosion and chaos that drew a large amount of firepower.

"Rune Disintegration!" Master Murphy, with a clear objective, rushed straight for the outer protective array of the core energy pool. His crystal compass spun rapidly, and beams of disintegration beams were precisely aimed at the key nodes of the array.

Commander Elmer was like a war god, wielding his ancient wooden staff. The emerald green life energy clashed violently with the raging death energy, purifying and repelling the onrushing undead elites in droves.

"Stop them!" The Death Knight Marshal, who was in charge of guarding Burial Pit No. 1, was both shocked and furious, and personally led his team to charge forward.