Wizard: Starting with Dealing with Magical Plants

Chapter 223 New Instructions

Nights on the Ash Plains are silent, but more dangers lurk beneath the surface.

Ella walked at the front, her steps heavier than when she arrived.

With one hand supporting Rolin, whose steps were unsteady due to exhaustion, she gripped her longbow tightly with the other, remaining alert to any movement in the darkness.

Liana brought up the rear, the faint light from the tip of her staff barely illuminating the uneven ground beneath her feet. Her face bore undisguised exhaustion, and her Purifying Flame power was almost depleted, leaving her with only the bare minimum of sensory purification.

Most of Rowling's weight was on Ella's shoulders, and her mind felt like it was filled with red-hot iron filings, each thought bringing a pricking pain.

The effects of the mental energy recovery potion were frustratingly slow, barely keeping my consciousness from plunging into darkness.

He gritted his teeth, keeping pace with Ella's steps, forcing himself to concentrate and pay attention to the subtle changes in the surrounding energy environment.

It's about 20 miles from the base.

At the current speed and condition, it will take at least another hour.

As the three of them stumbled around a low, hole-filled area of ​​black lava, Ella suddenly stopped, her body tensing slightly.

"What's wrong?" Liana immediately stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Ella didn't speak, but listened intently, her sharp gaze sweeping across a relatively flat area of ​​ashes to her left.

Apart from a few severely weathered boulders, there seemed to be nothing there.

Luo Lin mustered his strength and mobilized what little sense he had left.

In addition to the familiar smells of sulfur and ash, there seemed to be an extremely faint odor in the air, carrying the scent of rust and grease, a smell not commonly found in the monsters of the Scorching Hell.

There was also a barely perceptible, deliberately suppressed energy fluctuation.

Is someone lying in ambush?

Is it a remnant of the pale hand?

Or something else?

Ella gently helped Rolin behind a rock and gestured for Liana to keep watch on the other side.

She silently took down her longbow, nocked an arrow, and aimed the arrow at the seemingly empty area.

"Come out." Ella's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet night, carrying a cold warning.

"Or, I can help you get out."

After a few seconds of silence, the air in the ashes on the ground ahead, near the shadow of a boulder, distorted slightly.

A figure dressed in close-fitting armor that blended almost seamlessly with the ash color and had a dark camouflage effect slowly emerged from the shadows.

The figure was not tall, slightly thin, and wore a mask that covered his mouth and nose, revealing only a pair of calm and sharp eyes.

He had no obvious weapon in his hand, just his hands hanging naturally at his sides, but his posture gave the impression that he could unleash a fatal blow at any moment.

It doesn't have the cold, lifeless style of the Pale Hand; instead, it exudes a sense of efficiency, effectiveness, and—neutral—danger.

"A Shadow Raven wanderer? Or an Imperial sentry?" Ella didn't loosen her bowstring; the arrow remained firmly locked onto her opponent.

The figure did not answer, but simply raised its right hand, palm open, facing upwards.

In the palm of my hand, a small, dark silver badge, engraved with intricate star charts and eye patterns, gleamed coldly in the dim light.

Shadow Raven Tower, the mark of the covert operations force—the Dark Eye!

Ella raised an eyebrow, but the bowstring remained taut.

How did the Dark Eyes end up here? And why were they lying in ambush on their way back to base?

"Identity," Ella uttered two words.

"Dark Eyes Group 7, codename Gray Bug."

The figure finally spoke, his voice neutral with a slight hoarseness, and his pace was slow.

"Under the direct orders of Master Veranika, we are to carry out an independent surveillance mission in this area."

"High-value target signal detected approaching, confirmed to be a member of the Scorching Flame Patrol Team B. Contact confirmation in progress."

Master Veranika gave a direct order?

Independent monitoring?

Lorin leaned against the rock, looking at the Dark Eye member who called himself "Grey Worm".

The other party concealed their aura extremely well. If it weren't for Ella's beast-like intuition and Rolin's sensitivity to energy fluctuations, they probably wouldn't have been able to detect them even if they got close.

This stealth ability is indeed in line with the style of the Dark Eyes.

"Proof." Ella remained vigilant. In a place like this, anything could happen.

The gray worms seemed to have been prepared.

With his other hand, he rummaged through an inconspicuous leather pouch at his waist and pulled out a thin crystal plate that shimmered with a magical glow.

The crystal panel, facing the direction of Ella and her two companions, automatically projected a short, encrypted message stream bearing the unique spiritual imprint of Master Veranika. The message authorized Grey Worms to operate in this area and to make necessary contact with friendly units such as the Scorching Rangers.

The mark cannot be forged.

Ella finally loosened the bowstring slightly, but her eyes remained alert.

What do you need?

"First, confirm your status and mission completion." Grey Worm put away the crystal plate, his gaze sweeping over the weakened Rolin and the exhausted Liana.

"Secondly, convey Master Veranika's latest instructions."

"We got the item, but Rowling was overtaxed."

"The mission is half complete," Ella said succinctly.

"What are the master's instructions?"

Grey Worm nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Rowling's condition.

"Is the stuff safe?"

"Here I am." Ella patted her own skin.

"Very good." Gray Worm took two steps forward, but still maintained a safe distance.

The master's instructions are as follows:

Given the rapidly accelerating energy shift in the throat region of the deceased, the ritual has entered its final preparation stage, and the expected completion time is significantly ahead of schedule.

"Base assessments indicate that the success rate of Captain Blake's A team's forced infiltration and sabotage is less than 10%, and they are likely already surrounded or out of contact."

Ella and Liana's expressions changed simultaneously.

Grey Worm continued in a flat tone, "Therefore, the plan has been changed."

"Team B does not need to return to base, nor does it need to attempt to rendezvous with Team A."

"The keys and items you carry will become the new core of the operation."

"What do you mean?" Luo Lin asked, forcing himself to endure the dizziness.

Grey Worm looked at Rolin: "Based on the latest energy model, the Master and the Research Department believe that the core of the Pale Hand ritual lies in using a key to locate and awaken an ancient being sleeping deep in the crack, and using it as a medium to construct a stable channel for death and corruption."

"The most effective way to disrupt a ritual is not by attacking from the outside, but by interfering with or altering the contractual connection between the key and the target from within."

"Inside?" Liana asked, puzzled.

"How do we get in? And even if we do, how can we disrupt the contract against that kind of being?"

"You don't need to directly confront the ancient beings," Grey Worm explained.

"Based on model deduction and ancient contract theory, at the most critical moment of the ritual, when the key and the target resonate most strongly, the contract connection will briefly materialize and manifest itself in a specific location of the ritual site."

"That is the moment when the contract is most vulnerable and most likely to be interfered with by external forces."

He paused, the light falling on Ella's skin: "Your mission is to carry the key and, as the ritual enters its final stage, infiltrate to the safe limit of the ritual site's perimeter."

"When the resonance between the key and the target reaches its peak and the contract connection manifests, the key itself is used as a medium to inject a powerful energy of order or purification that is completely contrary to the nature of the contract. This attempts to create noise, cracks, or pollution in the contract connection, thereby interfering with the ritual process and possibly even triggering a backlash from the contract."

This plan sounds equally crazy and dangerous.

Bringing the key near the ceremony site is tantamount to making yourself a sitting duck.

Moreover, the difficulty of precisely interfering with an ancient contract in that environment is self-evident.