Chapter 482: Flaws and Plans

Outside the defensive line of the Plane Nuolun workshop, in a valley surrounded by three low rock mountains.

The coalition of the Chaos Secret Sect and the Tower of Extinction established a temporary command camp here.

Hundreds of stone platforms temporarily shaped by wizardry hovered in mid-air, with high-tier wizards participating in the meeting standing or sitting on the platforms.

The atmosphere was so dull that it was almost condensing into water.

"I think there is no need to continue launching a frontal assault on the defensive line of the Plane Nuolun workshop."

The speaker was a tall, thin figure wrapped in a grey shroud, his voice as dry as sandpaper rubbing against bone.

He was the supreme commander of the Tower of Extinction in this war, a peak Tier 7 wizard, "Ashes" Saladin.

After Mo Erdi's death, Saladin replaced him as the new commander of the coalition.

Following his words, the gazes of over five hundred Tier 7 wizards on the surrounding platforms focused over.

"The reason is very simple." Saladin raised his right hand wrapped in a shroud, drawing virtually in the air, and a translucent battlefield situation map unfolded accordingly, "In the first battle, we assembled over 1.5 million main forces and launched a raid when the opponent's defensive line had not yet fully formed, but the result..."

His finger pointed, and a string of blood-red numbers jumped out on the chart:

"Our side's losses: 3.7 billion cannon fodder units below Tier 3, 620 million Tier 4 cannon fodder units, 89 million Tier 5 cannon fodder units. Tier 6 cannon fodder unit loss rate 12%, Tier 7 cannon fodder unit loss rate 3%."

"Wizard body losses: 1,300 Tier 3 wizards, 127 Tier 4 wizards, 344 Tier 5 wizards, 209 Tier 6 wizards, Tier 7 wizard... one."

That last number made the faces of all the wizards present even gloomier.

Tier 7 wizards are absolute high-end combat power in any force.

The time required to cultivate a Tier 7 wizard is counted in thousands of years, and the resources consumed are enough to pile up into a new plane.

And in the battle that should have been a "probing attack" just now, they actually lost a Tier 7, and it was one of the commanders, Mo Erdi!

"And what about the opponent's losses?" Saladin continued to slide the chart, "According to battlefield monitoring and curse feedback statistics, the Plane Nuolun workshop's cannon fodder losses below Tier 3 are about 60% of ours, Tier 4 cannon fodder is about 50%, Tier 5 cannon fodder is about 40%. Wizard body losses... 17 Tier 6 wizards, and Tier 5 and below go without saying."

"In other words." Saladin withdrew his hand, his eyes under the shroud scanning the audience, "We fought a battle with higher casualties that did not achieve any tactical goals—did not break through the defensive line, did not severely damage the opponent's effective strength, and didn't even manage to delay the opponent's construction progress."

He paused, his voice colder by a few points:

"Now, the completeness of the Plane Nuolun workshop's defensive line and super-giant composite array has exceeded 45%, and it is still continuously improving at a rate of about 0.8% per hour. Do you think, if we launch a second or third frontal assault, what will our losses be? And what can it exchange for?"

Silence.

Oppressive silence.

A few seconds later, a Tier 7 wizard of the Chaos Secret Sect broke the silence, his body surface covered with wriggling tumors, his voice like multiple voices superimposed:

"Lord Saladin's words make sense. But have you ever thought... why the Plane Nuolun workshop side is so desperate to delay time?"

He stood up and pointed in the direction of the Plane Nuolun workshop's defensive line on the situation map:

"Building a defensive line so crazily, organizing defense so tightly, and even after we retreated, the construction speed actually accelerated! This is clearly striving for time for some 'backhand that requires long-term preparation'!"

"If we stop attacking now, it is equivalent to letting the opponent complete that backhand. When the time comes, once their trump card is out, wouldn't we be even more passive?"

These words aroused the approval of many wizards.

"That's right! The opponent delaying time must be preparing some kind of high-power strategic-level wizardry, or setting up a super-large ritual array!"

"We cannot sit idly by!"

"Must continue to apply pressure, cannot let their preparation work proceed smoothly!"

But immediately, opposing voices arose:

"Continue to apply pressure? Use what to apply pressure? Use our wizards' lives to fill it?"

A Tier 7 wizard of the Tower of Extinction retorted coldly:

"Everyone, war is not about being angry. Without knowing what the opponent's trump card is, how powerful it is, and when it can be completed, if we rashly continue to launch a strong attack, we will only continuously consume our own strength."

"And... don't forget," he emphasized his tone, "our two forces also have our own 'trump cards' in preparation. The Plane Nuolun workshop has a trump card, do we not have one?"

"Once both sides' trump cards are ready, it will be two against one! I don't believe that two against one, we can still lose!"

"Not bad, with the trump card prepared by our side, if it is really successfully completed, that fortress cluster is simply not worth worrying about!"

"Two against one must win?"

Another voice intervened, this time a female wizard of the Chaos Secret Sect, half of her face was as beautiful as an angel, but the other half was decaying to the bone:

"Without knowing what the opponent's trump card is, how can you make the judgment that 'two against one is a sure win'? What if the Plane Nuolun workshop is preparing some kind of forbidden wizardry that can instantly change the battlefield pattern? What if their trump card completion is faster than ours? What if..."

"Enough."

Saladin's dry voice interrupted the increasingly fierce argument.

He slowly stood up, his grey eyes under the shroud scanning every wizard present.

"Everyone, arguing cannot solve the problem."

He raised his hand and unfolded a more detailed battlefield analysis map in the air.

What was shown this time was the energy fluctuation distribution map of the high-tier wizards of the Plane Nuolun workshop.

"In the battle just now, I have been observing." Saladin's finger swept across several areas on the map, "The total number of Tier 7 wizards sent by the Plane Nuolun workshop is 388. But according to pre-war intelligence, the total number of Tier 7 wizards they entered this plane should be 417."

"In other words, twenty-nine Tier 7 wizards... are missing."

His finger moved to the data column of Tier 6 wizards:

"Similarly, the number of Tier 6 wizards sent was about 6,600, but the total number entered should be around 7,100—missing about 500."

This data made the wizards present narrow their eyes at the same time.

"At first, I thought these missing high-tier wizards were hiding inside the fortress cluster, responsible for operating some large defensive arrays, or preparing some backhands that require high confidentiality."

Saladin's voice was calm and waveless:

"But after the battle started, I specifically used 'large-scale soul detection' and 'existence scanning' means to conduct seven rounds of scanning on the entire Plane Nuolun workshop defensive line area."

He paused and said slowly:

"The result is confirmed—those missing high-tier wizards are not within the defensive line."

Dead silence.

Then came the gasps of sudden realization.

All those present were Tier 7 wizards, and their wisdom and experience far exceeded ordinary people.

With Saladin saying this much, they had completely understood the meaning.

"Not within the defensive line..." a wizard of the Chaos Secret Sect muttered, "It seems that we didn't break through the defensive line, which also exceeded their expectations..."

"That's right!" A wizard of the Tower of Extinction sneered nearby, "These wizards must have left the main force in advance, hiding in some corner of this abandoned plane, carrying out some kind of 'trump card deployment' that needs to be far away from the main battlefield to be safely implemented!"

"No wonder the Plane Nuolun workshop wants to delay time so crazily! Because their real main force is not on the defensive line at all! Those fortifications, those turrets, those cannon fodder legions... are all just 'decoys' to buy time for the real main force!"

"This can also explain why the Plane Nuolun workshop is so 'aggressive' in defensive line construction... They probably didn't expect that the defensive line could be guarded so stably. According to the original plan, the defensive line might just be used to delay us for a few days, and then it would be broken. But now because of various accidents, the defensive line was guarded, which disrupted their plan..."

The wizards analyzed quickly, their eyes getting brighter and brighter.

Saladin nodded, confirming their speculation:

"That's right. That part of the high-level wizards missing from the Plane Nuolun workshop never intended to participate in frontal defense from the beginning. They left the main force, hid in other areas, and carried out preparation work that requires a long time and cannot be disturbed."

"And now, because the defensive line was accidentally guarded, they are facing a dilemma..."

He held up a finger:

"First, interrupt the deployment, immediately return to the defensive line, participate in defense, and at the same time carry out new trump card deployment inside the defensive line. But the cost of doing this is that all previous preparation work is wasted."

He held up a second finger:

"Second, bite the bullet and continue the deployment, betting that the defensive line can hold until the moment they complete it."

"Everyone, how do you think those old foxes of the Plane Nuolun workshop will choose?"

The answer was self-evident.

The reason why the Plane Nuolun workshop and the three major forces of the Chaos Secret Sect and the Tower of Extinction could get together in the first place was because the high-tier technical levels of the three major wizard forces were about the same.

This also means that even if the opponent has a unique trump card, the deployment time will not be much faster than their side.

In such a race against time, suddenly losing so much time, and it was the most critical early-stage deployment time, and even a hasty interruption of deployment is very likely to damage the materials used for those rituals or arrays.

With such a high cost, the opponent's choice simply doesn't need to be thought about.

"They will continue." A wizard of the Chaos Secret Sect said in a deep voice, "Once this level of trump card deployment starts, it cannot be easily interrupted. And our side is also carrying out our respective trump card deployments, and everyone is synchronized in time. If they interrupt now, it is equivalent to actively giving up this trump card, and they will fall into an absolute disadvantage in the subsequent decisive battle."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 483 =====