Chapter 3350: Delaying Probes, Blooming Everywhere

————It will be later~~

————

If Xia Duo were casting the spells himself, he could of course use dimensions of perception that a High Mage would not think of or would find difficult to evade to conduct the detection, but since he is currently using a field team to cast, this is all that can be done.

To think that a group of half-baked ordinary Mages could handle a High Mage standing at the peak of magic in the Main Plane—even Xia Duo would not dream of such a thing.

However, two large-scale Archmages "cobbled together" by a group of half-baked ordinary Mages through Mind Link and Coordinated Casting are enough to go toe-to-toe with a High Mage for a little while.

The reinforcements behind are already on the way; by stalling for a bit, there might be a chance to eliminate an enemy at the level of a High Mage. Capturing them alive is unlikely unless Xia Duo takes action himself, and even then, it would only be possible with a sneak attack.

Xia Duo is currently directing Spellcasting Team 1 to use conventional Scrying spells to inspect the bottom of the lake, with the goal of lulling the ritual officiant into a false sense of security and stalling for time until the reinforcements arrive.

Of course, it is even more important to wait for him to develop a proper plan to handle those four Magic Artifacts and the associated ritual here. If he cannot even come up with a handling plan and goes to stop them out of pure passion, he might end up doing more harm than good.

Xia Duo does not do such things; he would rather do less or nothing at all than rashly engage in something that has a high probability of being a trap, unless there is truly no other way, in which case he would have to force his way through despite knowing it is impossible.

……

Of course, considering the suspicions of the ritual officiant at the bottom of the lake, Xia Shao did not let the newly arrived reinforcement team check in exactly the same way as Spellcasting Team 1 had previously; he also slightly increased the intensity.

If the opponent's core location cannot be found after being completely worn down, the outcome will likely be very bad.

It is just that if he increases the intensity now, the ritual officiant hiding at the bottom of the lake might immediately run away, and Xia Shao does not want to attempt a capture; at the very least, he wants to kill or force the opponent to their death.

Coordinated Scrying with the participation of a veteran Mage is different; Xia Shao's methods can be perfectly replicated on the front line through these support Mages.

From this, it can be seen that the Darkness Society's plan is effective and has already been wearing down the Northland Alliance's mobile forces, including Xia Shao, bit by bit.

……

……

"Bangdi, how much longer? I am in the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory network; you first synchronize your current research progress. I have already received the progress from the other Mages; I am just waiting for yours."

There is a lone one right now. Although Xia Shao is not sure if the opponent is a High Mage, being able to preside over this ritual alone means they are at least a veteran Mage. Taking them out is definitely a profit, and if they can be captured alive, it is a huge profit.

The Magic Artifact he studied before is not the same as the four discovered under Tear Drop Lake now; they do not even share many commonalities, and the similarity is more in the style of the Magic Artifacts.

Spellcasting Team 1 by the lake has already announced its dissolution and returned to its original establishment, and the newly arrived reinforcement team has replaced Spellcasting Team 1 to begin a new round of Scrying on the lake bottom.

If the opponent has already appeared, mastering the surrounding environment becomes the opponent's primary goal for spellcasting. In such a situation, Xia Shao would have no opportunity to arrange things, or rather, in such a situation, it would directly enter a "melee" of a Spell Duel.

Therefore, to properly handle those four Magic Artifacts and the variant time-related magic, the strong assistance of other Alliance Mages is needed, just like Mage Bangdi, who is a member of the Alliance's Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory.

Either a single powerful Spellcaster or an even more powerful special Magic Artifact—no matter which one it is, as long as it is taken, it will add a little more weight for the Alliance's subsequent decisive battle with the Darkness Society.

"Almost there, give us a little more time."

To be precise, Xia Shao cannot even conclude that the four Magic Artifacts on the altar at the bottom of the lake are definitely what the Darkness Society will leave behind.

This team is led by a veteran Mage and composed of twelve Elite Mages; even without Xia Shao, it is enough to compete with a High Mage.

If there were no assistance from the intelligence brain and the Computing Power Pool, Xia Shao would not doubt that he would fall into a system crash. Even now, he feels a bit overwhelmed.

But just a little bit, carefully maintaining a slight sense of crisis for the opponent, without over-stimulating them, so that the opponent feels the situation is still under their control.

At this current time node, if Tear Drop Lake were not the first real Time-Involving Signal Source that Xia Shao noticed, he might not have been able to wait for such a force!

As for the possibility that the opponent is not one person, that possibility is almost non-existent. One must know that the just-dissolved Spellcasting Team 1, under Xia Shao's command, was almost equivalent to a large-scale Archmage, and an Archmage with the peak magical attainments of the Plane at that.

The current support force is still slightly thin, but this is already the greatest effort of the various countries of the Alliance. Currently, each country is still recruiting support forces within their own borders, but this takes time.

Of course, Xia Shao's task is not light at all. Tear Drop Lake is just one typical case initially determined to be real among the large number of time-related signals detected by the Alliance at the moment.

In such a situation, even conventional Scrying is not something a group of Spellcasters can easily dodge.

The final decisive battle between the Alliance countries and the Darkness Society is about to begin. In such a situation, being able to clear out a strong main force of the opponent in advance is completely acceptable for the Alliance, even at the cost of paying a certain price.

"Mage Bangdi, how much longer do you need on your end? Tear Drop Lake cannot be dragged out for much longer!"

Of course, winning is still almost impossible unless it is a Strategic Support Mage unit that has undergone long-term training and possesses War Magic Artifacts, but that would at least include three veteran Mages and over forty Elite Mages.

Western border of Yierlan, Tear Drop Lake.

Unless the opponent has planned it out long ago and leaves on time, it is still very difficult to make the opponent relax their vigilance.

Currently, having to be responsible for both research and communication coordination, the task is also very heavy.

In such matters, Xia Shao alone is not more useful than nearly a hundred Mages combined, even though he has previously conducted certain research on the Darkness Society's Excited State Magic Artifacts.

Instead, lengthening the distance can reduce the probability of being discovered by the ritual officiant at the bottom of the lake; it is precisely because the opponent is still in a hidden state and unable to effectively detect the surrounding environment that Xia Shao can prepare so unscrupulously.

"Five more minutes. If there is nothing, I can only start the action."

Besides Tear Drop Lake, other places have also discovered real time-related signals, and those time-related signals also require Xia Shao to direct the nearby field teams to investigate, or even design spell sequences and direct the spellcasting.

Actually, according to the Alliance countries, the most ideal situation is a direct exchange of pieces. Even if it is ten for one, as long as the Darkness Society can be resolved, it is quite cost-effective for the Alliance.

Time passed bit by bit. The newly arrived reinforcement team has already begun to set up a spellcasting home field outside the lake surface, at a relatively far distance. With a veteran Mage leading the team, there is no need to worry about this bit of spellcasting distance.