Free Web NovelChapter 563: Chapter 481: Flaws and Schemes
Outside the Nolun Workshop front line, in a valley surrounded by three low rocky mountains.
The alliance army of the Chaos Secret Sect and the Tower of Annihilation established a temporary command camp here.
Hundreds of stone platforms, temporarily shaped by witchcraft, floated in midair, with High Tier Wizards standing or sitting on them to participate in the meeting.
The atmosphere was so sullen that it seemed almost tangible.
"I believe there is no need to continue launching a frontal assault on the Nolun Workshop front line."
The speaker was a tall, thin figure wrapped entirely in gray shroud cloth, with a voice as dry as sandpaper scraping against bone.
He was the general commander of the Tower of Annihilation in this war, Seventh Level peak wizard, "Ash" Saladin.
After Modikeyan’s death, Saladin had taken over as the new commander of the alliance army.
As he spoke, the gaze of over five hundred Seventh Level Wizards from the surrounding platforms focused on him.
"The reason is simple." Saladin raised his shroud-wrapped right hand and traced a pattern in the air, unfolding a semi-transparent battlefield situation chart, "In the first battle, we gathered over 1.5 million main forces and launched a surprise attack before the opponent’s front line was fully formed, but the outcome..."
He pointed a finger, causing a series of blood-red numbers to appear on the chart:
"Our side’s losses: Third Level and below cannon fodder units were thirty-seven billion, Fourth Level cannon fodder units were six billion two hundred million, Fifth Level cannon fodder units were eighty-nine million, Sixth Level cannon fodder unit loss rate was 12%, Seventh Level cannon fodder unit loss rate was 3%."
"Wizard body losses: Third Level Wizard one thousand three hundred, Fourth Level Wizard one hundred twenty-seven, Fifth Level Wizard three hundred forty-four, Sixth Level Wizard two hundred nine, Seventh Level Wizard... one."
The final number made the faces of all the wizards present grow even darker.
Seventh Level Wizards are an absolute elite force within any influence.
The time needed to cultivate a Seventh Level Wizard is measured in thousands of years, and the resources consumed are enough to build a new plane.
And in what should have been a "probing attack," they actually lost a Seventh Level Wizard, and one of their commanders, Modikeyan!
"As for the opponent’s losses?" Saladin continued to slide the chart, "According to battlefield monitoring and curse feedback statistics, Nolun Workshop’s losses of Third Level and below cannon fodder were about 60% of ours, Fourth Level cannon fodder about 50%, and Fifth Level cannon fodder about 40%. Wizard body losses... Sixth Level Wizard seventeen, Fifth Level and below don’t even need mentioning."
"In other words," Saladin withdrew his hand, his eyes under the shroud sweeping across everyone, "We fought a battle with higher casualties without achieving any tactical objectives — no breakthrough of the front line, no severe damage to the opponent’s living force, and not even a delay in their construction progress."
He paused, his voice growing colder:
"Now, the completeness of Nolun Workshop’s front line and super-large complex array has exceeded 45%, and is still increasing at a rate of about 0.8% per hour. What do you think will be our losses if we launch a second or third frontal assault? And what will we gain?"
Silence.
Suppressive silence.
A few seconds later, a Seventh Level Wizard from the Chaos Secret Sect broke the silence, his body surface covered in wriggling tumors, his voice as if layered with multiple tones:
"Lord Saladin makes a valid point. But have you ever considered... why is the Nolun Workshop side delaying at such a high cost?"
He stood, pointing towards the direction of the Nolun Workshop front line on the situation chart:
"Building the front line so crazily, organizing defenses so meticulously, even speeding up construction after our retreat! This is clearly buying time for some ’need long-term preparation’ fallback!"
"If we stop the attack now, it means we’re allowing the opponent to complete that fallback. By then, once they reveal their trump card, won’t we be even more passive?"
This statement gained quite a bit of agreement from the wizards.
"That’s right! The opponent is surely preparing some high-power strategic level witchcraft, or setting up a super-large ritual array!"
"We can’t stand idly by!"
"We must keep the pressure on and not allow their preparation to go smoothly!"
But opposing voices immediately erupted:
"Keep the pressure on? With what? Using our Wizards’ lives to fill the gap?"
A Seventh Level Wizard from the Tower of Annihilation retorted coldly:
"Ladies and gentlemen, war is not about stubbornness. Without knowing what the opponent’s trump card is specifically, how powerful it is, or when it will be completed, if we rashly continue to launch strong attacks, we will only keep consuming our own strength."
"Furthermore..." He intensified his tone, "Don’t forget, both of our influences also have their own ’trump cards’ in preparation. Nolun Workshop has a trump card, do we not?"
"Once both sides’ trump cards are ready, it’ll be two against one! I refuse to believe that with two against one, we can still lose!"
"Indeed, with our prepared trump card, if it really succeeds, that fortress group would be of no concern!"
"Is two against one guaranteed victory?"
Another voice chimed in, this time from a female wizard of the Chaos Secret Sect. Half her face was beautiful like an angel, the other half decayed to the bone:
"In a situation where we don’t know what the opponent’s trump card is, how can you make the judgment of ’certain victory in two against one’? What if Nolun Workshop is preparing some kind of forbidden witchcraft that can instantly change the battlefield situation? What if their trump card is completed faster than ours? What if..."
"Enough."
Saladin’s dry voice interrupted the increasingly heated debate.
He slowly stood up, his gray eyes under the shroud sweeping over every wizard present.
"Gentlemen, arguing won’t solve the problem."
He raised his hand and unfolded a more detailed analysis map of the battlefield in the air.
This time, it showed the energy fluctuation distribution map of the High Tier Wizards from the Nolun Workshop.
"During the previous battle, I was constantly observing." Saladin’s finger traced over several areas on the map, "The total number of Seventh Level Wizards that Nolun Workshop sent out was three hundred eighty-eight. But according to intelligence before the battle, their total number of Seventh Level Wizards entering this plane should be four hundred seventeen."
"Which means twenty-nine Seventh Level Wizards... are missing."
His finger moved to the data column of the Sixth Level Wizards:
"Similarly, there were about six thousand six hundred Sixth Level Wizards deployed, but the total entering this plane should be around seven thousand one hundred—missing approximately five hundred."
This data made the wizards present narrow their eyes simultaneously.
"At first, I thought these missing High Tier Wizards were hiding inside the fortress group, responsible for operating some large defensive arrays, or were preparing some highly confidential backup measures."
Saladin’s voice was calm and unwavering:
"But after the battle began, I purposely conducted seven rounds of ’wide-range soul detection’ and ’presence scanning’ over the entire Nolun Workshop defensive line area."
He paused and slowly said:
"The result confirms — those missing High Tier Wizards are not within the defensive line."
Dead silence.
Then a gasp of realization.
All present were Seventh Level Wizards, with wisdom and experience far exceeding ordinary people.
Saladin’s words had already made them fully understand the implication.
"Not within the defensive line..." muttered a wizard from the Chaos Secret Sect, "It seems our breakthrough of the defensive line also exceeded their expectations..."
"Exactly!" A wizard from the Tower of Annihilation sneered beside him, "These wizards must have left the main force early, hiding in some corner of this abandoned plane, to conduct some ’trump card setup’ that requires being far from the main battlefield to be safely implemented!"
"No wonder Nolun Workshop wants so desperately to delay time! Because their real main force isn’t on the defensive line at all! Those defensive fortifications, those turrets, those cannon fodder troops... are all just ’disguises’ to buy time for the real main force!"
"This also explains why Nolun Workshop has been so ’aggressive’ in building the defense line... They probably didn’t expect the line to hold so firmly themselves. According to the original plan, the line might have been meant to delay us for a few days, then be breached. But now, due to various unforeseen circumstances, the line held, which has disrupted their plans..."
The wizards analyzed quickly, their eyes shining brighter and brighter.
Saladin nodded, confirming their speculation:
"That’s right. That part of the High Level Wizards from Nolun Workshop who disappeared never intended to participate in the frontal defense from the beginning. They left the main force, hid in other areas to carry out preparations that require a long time and cannot be disturbed."
"And now, because the defensive line unexpectedly held, they face a dilemma..."
He raised one finger:
"First, interrupt the setup, immediately return to the defensive line, participate in defense, and simultaneously conduct new trump card setups within the line. But the cost of this is that all previous preparation work is wasted."
He raised a second finger:
"Second, grit their teeth and continue the setup, betting that the line can hold until the moment their setup is completed."
"What do you gentlemen think those old foxes at Nolun Workshop will choose?"
The answer was self-evident.
When Nolun Workshop, along with Chaos Secret Sect and the Tower of Annihilation, initially combined forces, it was because the three wizard influences had similar levels of high-tier technical proficiency.
This also means that even if the opponent has unique trump cards, the setup time wouldn’t be much faster than our side.
In such a race against time, suddenly losing so much time, especially the most crucial early setup time, or hastily interrupting the setup could even damage materials used for those rituals or arrays.
With such a huge price, the opponent’s choice doesn’t require any thought.
"They will continue," said a wizard from the Chaos Secret Sect deeply, "Once a trump card setup of this level begins, it cannot be easily interrupted. Moreover, we are also conducting our own trump card setups simultaneously. If they interrupt now, it’s tantamount to voluntarily giving up this trump card, leading them to absolute disadvantage in the subsequent decisive battle."
