Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 155 Repairing Nodes

However, just as he was about to step into that area of ​​abnormally chaotic energy fluctuations, a sudden change occurred!

Awooo—!!!

Two terrifying roars, a mixture of soul shrieks and energy explosions, that no known creature could produce, suddenly erupted from either side of that twisted node.

On the ground where the node is located, the dark gold metal and luminous crystals that were originally dull and twisted seem to come alive, melting, writhing and rising violently like wax figures thrown into boiling magma.

Two extremely concentrated, blacker than the surrounding gray origin, viscous substances that seemed to contain all the evil and destructive will suddenly burst out and instantly shaped into two hideous monsters.

The one on the left is relatively slender, like a shadow weaver that has been stretched and twisted.

It has no fixed form; its body constantly flickers and shifts between solid and illusory forms. Countless jet-black tentacles, like the forked tongues of venomous snakes, extend from its body, dancing wildly and emitting strong mental pollution and soul-absorbing fluctuations.

Its "head" consists of only a constantly opening and closing crack, from which it spews out silent yet soul-freezing wails—this is the [Void Howler], skilled in mental attacks and energy interference, capable of directly striking the caster's focus and soul essence.

The one on the right is as imposing as a small giant, forcibly fused together with solidified darkness and broken metal debris.

It has thick, insect-like armor covered with spikes and twisted runes, and its arms are two huge, deformed bone axe blades that constantly drip corrosive black liquid. Its heavy footsteps make the ground tremble slightly.

On its faceless head was only a single, enormous, constantly rotating eye radiating a crimson, destructive light—this was the [Rotten Trample], a pure physical destroyer, terrifying in strength, astonishing in defense, and its attacks contained a strong law of decay that could accelerate the decay of all things.

These two monsters were clearly elite guards created instantly by the Dark Source after it sensed Kate's threat to the core node, specifically designed for interception and destruction.

As soon as they appeared, their terrifying pressure instantly locked onto Kate, like a cold shackle, abruptly halting his forward momentum.

"Damn it!" Kate's pupils contracted, and she cursed inwardly.

These two monsters were both at the peak of the first ring in terms of energy level, and even faintly touched the threshold of the second ring. Moreover, their attributes complemented each other, one being magic and the other being combat, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

We absolutely cannot be trapped here; time is of the essence!

Kate's eyes flashed with a fierce light. Instead of retreating, she pushed her speed to the limit, and the Samsara Heart Domain erupted with unprecedented intensity.

"The Heart of Reincarnation - Suppressing All Phenomena!"

hum! ! !

The complex force field composed of silver-blue, emerald green, and gray-dark light streams expanded instantly, enveloping both monsters along with himself.

Within the force field, space is forcibly anchored and compressed, and the rules of life and death violently clash yet reach a strange balance, creating a powerful suppressive effect.

"hiss--!"

The Void Howler let out a sharp screech, and the invisible ripples of its howl collided with the Samsara Domain, as if hitting an invisible dam, and were violently distorted, weakened, and rebounded.

But its waving tentacles immediately changed tactics, piercing the barrier of the domain like countless poisonous needles, attempting to penetrate and directly attack Kate's soul.

At the same time, the decaying tramplers roared and launched their charge.

Its massive bone axe blade, carrying the force to tear everything apart, slashed fiercely towards the domain!

The heavy force crashed down, causing the entire domain to tremble violently. The halo on the surface flickered erratically, and the accompanying decaying rules made the domain's barrier emit a "sizzling" sound of erosion.

Kate groaned, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth.

Facing two equally powerful and bizarre first-tier monsters simultaneously put immense pressure on him.

His spiritual power poured out like a flood.

But he cannot retreat! He must finish this quickly!

"Life draws, roots entwine! Death resists, touch of annihilation!"

Kate used both hands simultaneously. Her left hand unleashed countless emerald green energy roots composed of pure life rules, like a living forest python, instantly coiling around the limbs and torso of the decaying trampler, frantically absorbing its death energy and restricting its movements.

With his right hand, he unleashed a highly concentrated, dark and lifeless power of death rules, transforming it into several silent, shadowy touches that pierced the ever-changing core of the Void Howler.

*Pfft! Sizzle!*

The decaying trampler was entangled by the roots of life, its movements suddenly halting. The dark energy on its body surface was frantically extracted, causing it to roar angrily and struggle desperately, its roots constantly breaking and regenerating.

The Void Howler was struck by the Touch of Death, its illusory body twisting violently as it emitted a painful scream, momentarily interrupting the mental attack.

But these two monsters were extremely tenacious and quickly adapted to the rhythm of their attacks.

The Void Howler's body suddenly exploded, transforming into dozens of shadow clones that simultaneously unleashed mental shrieks from different angles, interfering with Kate's judgment.

The Decaying Trample roared, and a thick, decaying black mist erupted from its body, forcibly corroding away the life roots on its body. Dark red flames of destruction ignited on its bone axe blade, and it slashed down fiercely once more.

boom!!!

The Samsara Realm shook violently, and Kate coughed up another mouthful of blood, her face paling even more.

This can't go on!

He absolutely cannot win a war of attrition against these two monsters whose energy is virtually unlimited and powered by the Dark Source.

We must find the weakness and strike decisively!

"The Seed of Origin, Overload Analysis!"

Kate roared inwardly.

[Command received - Overloaded operation - Parsing in progress -]

[Void Howler: The core energy conversion node is located three inches below its constantly opening and closing crack, with minute fluctuations every 0.3 seconds.]

[Rotten Trample: The right knee joint is a structural weakness, having suffered an old injury. There is a 0.1-second delay in the flow of decaying energy to this point.]

Kate's eyes flashed with a sharp light. In the instant when he had withstood another heavy blow from the Decaying Trample and his domain was on the verge of shattering, he suddenly withdrew most of his defenses and concentrated all his power into one point.

"Spatial flicker!"

Swish!

His figure vanished instantly, appearing behind and to the side of the Void Howler's true form, precisely at the moment the energy node fluctuations appeared!

"Seed of the Spiritual Pivot - Mental Explosion"

A highly concentrated silver seed, imbued with the will of life and death, silently disappeared into its node.

At the same time, his left leg swept out like a battle axe, the toe of his foot, covered in golden thorn armor, wrapped with the ultimate power of the rules of death, and kicked with perfect precision at the tiny delay point of the decaying trampler's right knee joint.

Bang! Pfft!

The Void Howler's body stiffened abruptly as its core node was instantly detonated by a highly concentrated mental shock. Its entire illusory body twisted and collapsed violently like a punctured balloon, letting out a final, extremely mournful howl before being completely annihilated.

The decaying trampler's knee joints emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound. The condensed power of death instantly disrupted its structural balance. Its massive body lost its balance and collapsed to its knees with a painful roar.

Without pausing, Kate lunged forward, her fists burning with a gray-green flame that mingled with life and death, relentlessly pounding the massive, one-eyed eye of the Decaying Trampler like a pile driver.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With its mobility lost and structure damaged, the Decay Trampler is unable to defend itself effectively.

Its single eye was instantly shattered by the violent force, and the destructive energy inside went out of control and backfired, completely blasting it apart along with its head by Kate's fist, which contained the rules of reincarnation.

Its massive body swayed for a moment, then collapsed helplessly to the ground, turning into scattered black fragments that quickly dissipated.

After taking down the two elite guards, Kate was almost exhausted. She knelt on one knee, panting heavily, and her Samsara Domain became extremely dim.

But he dared not pause for a moment and immediately pounced on the critical node that was still emitting unstable and distorted fluctuations.

However, when he placed his palm on the dim, damaged, and even slightly misaligned runes, attempting to infuse them with his own power to repair them, his expression instantly turned extremely ugly.

[Warning: The target node structure is in an extremely unstable state.]

The external reversed energy flow and the internal residual sealed energy flow form a fragile dynamic balance.

Forcibly injecting energy or altering the structure will most likely trigger an energy explosion, completely destroying the node and the surrounding magic array structure.

Risk rate: 98.7%.

"Damn it!" Kate couldn't help but curse under her breath.

This node is like a bomb with immense internal pressure, but its structure is already riddled with holes, barely managing to stay afloat.

Any external disturbance, even the slightest one, can be the last straw that breaks the camel's back, leading to disastrous consequences.

He needs to be like a top micro-sculptor and bomb expert, repairing the misaligned rune connections bit by bit with unparalleled precision, without detonating it, clearing the stagnant energy, and correcting the flow of energy.

This requires unimaginable precision, patience, and an extreme understanding of energy flow and rune structure.

Worse still, the distant Dark Source seemed to sense the death of the Guardian and Kate's attempt to seize the Node, and became even more violent.

The bubbling and boiling sound intensified, and more dark matter churned and condensed, but for the time being, it did not give rise to the elite monsters that had just appeared.

But dozens of decaying hounds and shadow scouts of various shapes and sizes, made of pure gray energy, had already taken shape, emitting low growls, and rushed towards Kate like a tide.

It was simply impossible for him to perform such precise operations under such siege.

"There's no other way, Ashe! Come out!"

A resolute glint flashed in Kate's eyes, and without hesitation, she summoned her last trump card.

hum!

Amidst the spatial fluctuations, Ashe's crystal-clear plant body, shimmering with starlight and spatial runes, instantly appeared beside Kate.

After advancing to the second ring, her aura became vast and profound, causing the branches and leaves to move without wind and radiating a powerful spatial pressure.

"Kate!" A mental wave came from Ashe, carrying concern and an eager fighting spirit.

"Aishie, Amber! Buy me time, hold them off. We can't let any of them get through to me."

Kate growled, then immediately sat cross-legged, placed her hands on the node again, closed her eyes, and focused all her attention on overloading the Seed of Origin, beginning the delicate repair work that was like dancing on a knife's edge.

"Leave it to us!" A dazzling silver light shone through the branches and leaves of Aisha.

"In the name of the forest!" Amber raised her staff, her face filled with a firm will to protect.

The battle erupted instantly!

"Starlight Imprisonment Field - Deploy!" Aisha shouted, and her mid-level domain with a radius of ten meters instantly expanded.

Within the domain, the space became incredibly viscous, causing the speed of all the decaying hounds and shadow scouts that rushed in to plummet, as if they were sinking into an invisible swamp. Their attack trajectories were severely disrupted, and they even collided with each other.

"Crystal Barrier!" Ashe's main trunk shone brightly, and countless crystal-clear spatial leaves detached from the plant, instantly forming an incredibly thick, transparent wall with flowing spatial ripples in front of her and Kate.

The attacks of the decaying hounds and the energy beams of the shadow scouts struck the walls, only creating ripples and failing to advance an inch.

"Crystal Leaf Storm!"

Aisha's attack followed closely, and more crystal leaves seemed to come alive, transforming into silver storms that tore through space and precisely swept into the monster horde.

These crystal leaves, imbued with the power to cut through space, were extremely powerful. Wherever they passed, decaying hounds were easily sliced ​​into pieces, and the energy bodies of shadow scouts were forcibly torn apart and annihilated.

Meanwhile, Amber was not idle either.

She chanted ancient songs, and as she waved her staff, emerald green light shone down.

"Natural Entanglement!" The ground cracked open, and countless tough, glowing vines sprouted, binding the greatly slowed monsters and further restricting their movements.

"Life blossoms!" She infused pure life energy into Aisha's crystal wall and Kate's body, helping them quickly recover from their depletion and stabilize their defense.

The two worked together seamlessly, one focusing on defense and the other on support, one on spatial control and the other on life support, and managed to temporarily hold off the overwhelming tide of dark monsters.

However, the attacks from the Dark Source are endless.

More monsters were spawned, including plague spitters that could spit corrosive liquid orbs from a distance and shadow jumpers that could teleport short distances, putting immense pressure on Ashe and Amber.

As Aisha's crystal walls were constantly corroded and impacted, her light gradually dimmed, and she needed to continuously consume energy to repair and replenish her crystal leaves.

Amber's forehead was also covered in sweat; maintaining such a large area of ​​natural magic and life support was also extremely taxing on her.

But they all gritted their teeth and stood firmly in front of Kate, not retreating an inch!

They knew that what Kate was doing was the key to victory!

At this moment, Kate's mind was completely absorbed in that fragile and dangerous energy node.

Under the overload of the Seed of Origin, his senses were amplified to the extreme.

What lay before him was no longer cold runes and metal, but a vast and chaotic ocean of energy.

Countless energy streams with diametrically opposed attributes and varying in intensity surged and twisted wildly within the narrow rune passage like out-of-control ferocious beasts!

The reversed, dark energy is violent and corrosive, attempting to break through all obstacles.

The remaining energy of the order seal originating from the high elves within the magic circle, though weak, was exceptionally resilient, tenaciously guarding the last line of defense, forming countless tiny, constantly arising and ceasing energy vortices and conflict points.

Kate's mental energy transformed into billions of sensory tentacles, finer than a hair, carefully penetrating the runes, avoiding the dangerous energy turbulence, like probes scanning every inch of the rune structure, analyzing the flow, frequency, and intensity of each energy.