Chapter 428 Chaos and Action
After speaking with the wizard Artorias, Jemin kept a close eye on any potential problems.
But he didn't expect the other party to be so fast.
Just one month later, the peaceful routine of research was disrupted by an urgent order.
Commander Frost's voice, delivered through the magic network terminal, resounded throughout the army in an unusually somber tone:
[Attention all units. Immediately enter maximum surface and underground alert status. The Scythe-Skull Clan has detected large-scale, high-precision tunneling operations outside and deep beneath our camp. The target is suspected to be… severing the geological connections between the area within a radius of tens of millions of kilometers of our camp and the main continental landmass. Repeat, maximum alert!]
The command included some detection data.
Jemin quickly glanced at the document, a chill running through him.
The images show that countless specialized "Digger" variants of the Scythe-Skull Clan have built a vast and complex underground network thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers below their camp.
Their objective was not to dig attack tunnels, but to create a series of encircling "isolation zones" centered on the camp.
These isolation zones are gradually severing the mechanical connections of the Earth's crust and drawing away the energy from the earth's veins flowing through the region.
Because it goes deep enough underground, the project is extremely well concealed.
It wasn't until recently, when the camp's large protective array began to fluctuate periodically due to unstable energy supply, that the wizards followed the clues and discovered this astonishing conspiracy hidden underground.
"Trying to 'sever' our foundations on a physical and energy level?" Jemin frowned.
This tactic may seem cumbersome, but given its depth and scale of execution, it is indeed difficult to stop in a short period of time.
Unless a super-powerful sorcery capable of triggering localized geological disasters or even damaging the very essence of the plane is used for a comprehensive bombardment, it is impossible to interrupt the opponent's nearly completed project.
But the question is, what is the point of the enemy doing this?
Even if this area is successfully "cut off," resulting in a decrease in the effectiveness of the camp's protective array and changes in the terrain, the impact on the overall battle situation will be limited.
Wizards rely not only on fixed fortifications, but also on their own mobility and extraordinary technology.
In head-on battles in the open, wizards have never been afraid.
unless……
A sudden inspiration struck Jemin, and his gaze quickly fell upon several key nodes on the camp's internal deployment map.
There, marked the "Basic Law Anchoring Array" and the "Anti-Space Disruption Generator" to maintain the spacetime stability of the entire camp.
While these facilities cannot counter dimensional time reversal, they are sufficient to isolate conventional spatial teleportation, time slowing, or local time loops and other small-scale spacetime operations, ensuring the absolute stability of the command and research system within the camp.
“Chaos…” Jemin muttered to himself, a clear intention emerging in his mind.
What the entity behind the scenes might want is not to cripple the wizard through the excavation project itself.
What it wants is a brief period of "chaos" that covers the entire camp the moment the project is completed, caused by drastic changes in the geological structure and disorder in the earth's vein energy!
In this level of chaos, the camp's sophisticated spacetime protection system would inevitably experience momentary fluctuations, overloads, or brief periods of inactivity.
Although this window may only last a fraction of a second, or even less, it is enough for an entity that can manipulate time.
This method allows it to bypass conventional defenses and launch an "unconventional elimination" of a specific target at the optimal time.
But who is the target of this elimination?
Naturally, without a doubt.
Jemin remained silent, neither sharing his speculations with anyone through any channel nor showing any extra vigilance.
Without knowing the extent of the other party's information surveillance, any unusual reaction could alert them.
He continued his research as usual and participated in tactical discussions.
Time passed in a state of apparent calm amidst turbulent undercurrents of waiting.
The omens began a day later.
First, a slight, continuous tremor came from the soles of my feet, like a giant beast turning over deep in the earth.
Some of the high-precision monitoring instruments in the camp began to show reading drift, and the concentration of elements in the air began to fluctuate irregularly.
Frost continued to issue instructions, adjusting the output mode of the protective magic array and reinforcing key facilities.
The battle wizards were all on high alert, and the cannon fodder legion was deployed to the edge of the camp, ready to deal with any possible attack that might be launched directly from underground.
The vibrations grew stronger, changing from continuous muffled thuds to intermittent, violent shaking.
Above the camp, the light from the multi-layered energy shields began to flicker irregularly, emitting a hum that seemed strained under the strain.
Cracks began to appear in the ground, initially as thin as a hair, but quickly expanded into shocking ravines.
"They're here!" someone shouted over the communication channel.
The next moment...
Rumble!!!
A tremendous cracking sound came, as if the entire continental plate was tearing apart.
Centered on the wizard camp, the ground within a radius of thousands of kilometers arched upwards like the edge of a cake cut by an invisible giant blade, and then collapsed!
Countless enormous cracks, each over a hundred meters wide and seemingly bottomless, instantly covered the area like hideous scars.
The earth's energy surged out of the cracks like a flood bursting its banks, carrying scorching magma and toxic gases into the sky!
The camp itself did not collapse instantly due to the powerful protective array and prior reinforcement, but it was like a lone boat in a storm, rocking violently.
More than a third of the rune towers went out of light, and temporary structures collapsed in large numbers.
Under the dual pressure of drastic changes in physical structure and energy shocks, the energy shield's flickering frequency reached a dangerous level.
Almost at the same time, from those countless enormous abysses, came the sound of flapping wings and climbing so dense it was terrifying!
Black tide, a tide made of flesh and blood, burst forth from every crack!
That was a massive army of sickle-headed hordes that had been preparing for a long time.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the earth tearing apart, they ignored the outer defenses of the camp that would have required a huge price to break through, and emerged directly from the cracks inside and around the camp, like a black volcanic eruption, instantly engulfing the entire wizard camp in a sea of insects!
The battle erupted in an instant!
The wizard's roar, the screech of the Scythe-Skull Clan, the boom of energy explosions, and the deafening crash of collapsing buildings intertwined in an instant, creating a symphony of death!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Chaos, noise, energy turbulence, visual obstruction... reached its peak.
Jemin stood up during the initial tremor, a faint protective aura emanating from his body, preparing to take to the air to observe the situation and join the battle.
Just as his feet were less than half a meter off the ground, his body about to move, his attention drawn to the enemies surging in from all directions and the carnage of the camp...
He disappeared.
It's like in a moving picture, a figure is being gently erased by the painter with an eraser.
The nearest wizards were focused on dealing with the enemy that was bursting out of the crack in the ground, and the violent energy explosion and shockwaves masked all the subtle anomalies.
No one noticed that one person was missing from the lab.
(I'm taking a day off tomorrow. Although my fever has subsided, my throat is still incredibly sore, to the point where I can't speak. I'll go to the hospital tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)
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