Free Web NovelChapter 558: Chapter 479: Fall and Temporary Retreat
The error in the first round of curse probing—lost the combat power of a Seventh Level Wizard and over forty Sixth Level Wizards.
The error in the fight for the line of fate—lost three Seventh Level Wizards.
Just because of this insignificant loss of combat power, the breakthrough speed slowed down slightly when facing the trap deployed by Nolun Workshop’s vanguard legion.
And this slight delay allowed the vanguard legion of Nolun Workshop to deploy three more rounds of traps.
These three rounds of traps slowed down our advance by another 1.2 seconds.
Then came the second round, third round, fourth round...
"One step slow, every step slow."
Modikeyan opened his eyes, bitterness filled them.
In the end, they were delayed by a total of four minutes and seventeen seconds past the "optimal assault time" they had planned.
It was these four minutes and seventeen seconds that turned Nolun Workshop’s defenses from "initial formation" into "impregnable fortress."
It was these four minutes and seventeen seconds that converted what was supposed to be a lightning raid into a brutal war of attrition.
And now, the attrition warfare has been going on for less than twenty minutes, our cannon fodder units have lost over thirty billion.
Even though the majority were Third Level or below grunt soldiers, the number was still shocking.
What’s more deadly is, on the High Tier Wizard battlefield, those Sixth Level Wizards taking turns unleashing high-intensity attacks to suppress Clark were nearly depleted of Spiritual Power.
At most, they can hold on for five more minutes before a large group of Sixth Level Wizards lose their combat power due to high-intensity Spiritual Power exhaustion.
And on Nolun Workshop’s side?
Their defenses grow more solid, and the barrage becomes denser.
Modikeyan even noticed through battlefield monitoring an abnormal artillery frequency at Fortress No. 7: they seem to thrive during battle, and Spiritual Power strength even breakthroughs!
"This initial battle..."
Modikeyan took a deep breath, and his decayed chest emitted a bellows-like hiss.
"We’ve lost."
At the moment of making this judgment, he had no hesitation.
Retreat.
Retreat now, and most of the living force can still be preserved.
The High Tier Wizards, though exhausted, are mostly still alive.
The cannon fodder army lost heavily, but the core High Tier cannon fodder units suffered less than ten percent loss.
Continuing the fight will only lead to increasingly expanding losses, eventually resulting in a potential rout.
"All units..."
Modikeyan’s voice spread through Chaos Secret Sect and Tower of Annihilation Alliance Army’s every wizard via the highest authority spiritual network:
"Execute ’evacuation’ plan."
"High Tier battlefield, maintain suppression, staggered retreat."
"Middle and Low Tier battlefield, cannon fodder units cover the retreat, Wizards’ bodies to evacuate first."
"Repeat, execute evacuation plan, starting now..."
At the moment the order was issued.
The Wizards surrounding Clark experienced an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible "hesitation" in their attack rhythm.
It wasn’t intentional, but rather instinctive.
Upon hearing the "retreat" command, tight nerves involuntarily relax slightly, the will to attack weakens slightly, and the focus on charge diminishes marginally.
For ordinary combat, this momentary hesitation is irrelevant.
But for an existence like Clark...
"Opportunity."
Clark, who had been in a state of passive defense all along, had a sharp gleam flash in his calm eyes for the first time.
He was waiting for this moment.
At the same instant of the attack hesitation among the Wizards surrounding him...
Clark moved.
Facing forward, through the torrent of combined attacks unleashed by thirty-seven Seventh Level Wizards, capable of instantaneously obliterating a Plane Community, he stepped forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The terrifying attacks instantly engulfed his figure.
Amid the chaotic energy flow, came the sickening sound of tearing.
In the next second, Clark’s figure emerged from the other side of the attack torrent.
But at this moment, he was a changed man.
The black Wizard Robe was half destroyed, exposing a body covered with deep, bone-visible wounds.
The left arm was entirely gone from the elbow, the right leg was missing below the knee, he hovered in the air, and his damaged body slightly swayed.
A grotesque wound also stretched from the forehead diagonally to the jaw, where flesh was ripped open, revealing the silver-white bone beneath.
Severe injuries.
Undoubtedly severe injuries.
But Clark’s expression remained disconcertingly calm.
He didn’t even glance at the injuries on his body.
His gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield, through layers of defenses, locking precisely onto Modikeyan.
The distance between them was only twelve hundred meters.
For a Seventh Level Wizard, this distance is no different from facing each other directly.
"Where are you headed?"
Clark’s voice abruptly echoed in Modikeyan’s ears.
It was as if the sentence had been ingrained in Modikeyan’s soul from the start, only to be "played" out at this moment.
Modikeyan’s pupils contracted sharply to needlepoints.
Because the moment he heard this sentence, he saw it too.
The Black Robed Wizard had already appeared in front of him at some unknown moment.
Less than three meters away.
That scar-covered face seemed about to be right up against his own.
Clark’s only remaining right hand slowly raised, with his index finger aiming at Modikeyan’s brow.
"...You!!!"
Modikeyan wanted to roar, to fight back, to instantly teleport away.
But he was horrified to find that his body... could not move.
His brain issued the command to "raise hand," but this command vanished without a trace the moment it left the conscious layer.
His soul screamed "cast witchcraft," but every rune that constituted the witchcraft model disintegrated the moment it formed.
His soul was wailing, his existence trembling.
At such a close distance, facing an existence that, in its prime, could instantaneously crush seventeen Seventh Level Wizards, even if the opponent was seriously injured, he was not someone he could contend with.
Clark’s index finger lightly touched Modikeyan’s brow.
The action was light and slow, as if touching a fragile porcelain.
But at the moment the fingertip touched the skin...
Modikeyan’s body began to "disappear."
Like a pencil drawing erased by a rubber, eliminated from the level of "existence" in an instant.
Starting from the contact point on his brow, skin, muscle, bone, and viscera... layer by layer turned into nothingness.
Then the limbs, torso, head.
In the end, not even the afterimage of the soul was left, completely annihilated in the void.
The entire process was silent.
Finally, this commander of the Chaos Secret Sect became the first Seventh Level Wizard to fall in this war!
It wasn’t until Modikeyan was completely gone that the surrounding wizards reacted.
"Lord Modikeyan!!!"
"Kill him!!!"
Angry, shocked, and fearful shouts erupted like a volcano.
Nearly a hundred violent attacks were launched at Clark at the same time.
But Clark didn’t even turn around.
He simply watched the place where Modikeyan disappeared, with a hint of thoughtfulness flashing in his eyes.
In his vision, at that position, there was a faint "mark" flickering in the void.
It was a complex three-dimensional symbol composed of thirteen differently colored threads, now slowly dissipating.
"A resurrection item, huh..."
Clark, with his Alchemy expertise, quickly identified what it was, thinking to himself as the incomplete right index finger slightly moved.
In his current state, completely destroying that resurrection mark was not impossible.
But he thought for a moment and lowered his finger.
No need.
The "coordinated war" rules set by the Star Ring Federation were clear: a wizard who has "died" in the already arranged battlefield—whether truly dead or resurrected by revival items—is not allowed to re-enter the same war.
In other words, even if Modikeyan can be resurrected, this war has nothing to do with him anymore.
Since that’s the case, there’s no need for ruthless measures.
After all, this war, in the end, is a "coordinated war" under the supervision of the Star Ring Federation, not an endless civilization extinction war.
Going too far is inappropriate.
With this in mind, Clark’s figure was once again submerged by the violent attacks released by the reacting wizards.
But this time, the wizards who were besieging seemed much more cautious.
They dared not show any slack, maintaining a dense attack to suppress Clark while beginning to retreat in an orderly, tiered manner.
Command for the Chaos Secret Sect and Tower of Annihilation alliance was swiftly transferred to a Seventh Level peak wizard from the Tower of Annihilation.
The tall, thin figure, shrouded in gray mortuary cloth, gave the same command as Modikeyan did, in a dry voice:
"Retreat all forces."
"Maintain vigilance, prevent pursuit."
The command was strictly executed.
In the sky battlefield, the wizards besieging Clark began alternately covering withdrawal.
On the mid-low tier battlefield, the fodder troops began to contract, with high-tier fodder units covering the rear, shielding the wizard bodies’ retreat.
The entire process was orderly, displaying the high military quality of the two allied forces.
On the side of Nolun Workshop, there was also no intention to pursue.
Dionysius Spencer hovered above Fortress No. 7, watching the enemy army retreating like a tide in the distance, gently shaking his head.
"Don’t pursue a cornered foe."
His voice spread throughout the Nolun Workshop’s command network.
"Consolidate the defense line, treat the wounded, and tally the battle damage."
"We’ve won this initial battle. But the war... has just begun."
Inside the fortress, Jeming slowly released his hand from the console.
He opened his eyes to find himself drenched in sweat, his face pale as paper, with a piercing headache stabbing through his brain.
Yet he couldn’t help but let a curve form at the corner of his mouth.
Victory.
Though it was just an initial battle, though it was just a victory in a defensive battle.
But it was a victory.
Jeming took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
Outside the window, under the lead-gray sky, the smoke was slowly dissipating.
On the ground were piled-up fodder unit remains like mountains.
In the sky were the slowly retreating enemy silhouettes.
And behind the steel defense line was the still-standing fortress.
The first battle of the coordinated war thus drew to a close.
But everyone knew...
This was merely the beginning.
