Chapter 269: 268 Two-Front Battle and the Return Scroll for “Huo整挺好
Chapter 269: 268. Two-Front Warfare and the Return Scroll – For Brother “Huo Zheng Quite Well” [1820].
What “war correspondent” Da Sheng En can see, Murphy can also see, even see more clearly than the small players.
His other pair of eyes were constantly traveling high in the air looking at everything that was happening on this land, even when Wolfsbane attacked the Scarlet Fortress, Revernor’s eyes were never far away from Murphy’s territory.
In fact the first time the jackals of Andromeda Hills had moved, Murphy had noticed their movements.
That Jackal Warlord, His Excellency Kenpot Bitebone, seemed to know the art of fighting, the Wolfsbane’s attack happened just last night, it could be sure that Scarlet Fort had suffered damage as a result, and right now was the right time to launch a full-scale attack.
In a sense, Kenpot’s strategy was completely correct.
If Murphy’s men were really recruited from the local area, then last night’s chaos would definitely bring a significant impact on Scarlet Fort’s defense at this juncture, and even directly trigger an irreversible rout.
But fortunately, Murphy’s warriors had one life in three days, so the vampire lord was actually not worried about the upcoming duel.
The players would still need two days and two nights to respawn, but honestly, with their current numbers they wouldn’t be able to play any crucial role in a duel between two sides of this scale.
At the very least, on the frontal battlefield, it was still difficult for the players to form a resilient force that could be relied upon.
Murphy and Tris were well aware of this, and they didn’t stop their setup just because the players had been damaged, at this moment, in the Adventurer’s Guild’s camp in the Scarlet Castle’s inner city’s ruins area, the important people under Murphy’s command were all gathered here.
In front of them lay a huge diamond-shaped psychic energy item, which was like a crystal clear natural gemstone carved into an exquisite shape with hundreds of facets.
However, upon closer inspection, one could see the intricate spiritual patterns carved into each facet of the object, and with Tris waving the Serenade Scepter, the levitating object was undergoing its final fine-tuning.
“Serenade Junction! A strategic level item that has protected Cadman City for the past 400 years.”
Missy Femis explained from the sidelines for the administrators unfamiliar with psychic energy and this land:
“What you see before you is one of the seven cores of the Boundary, the one placed here is the main core, the other two psionic conversion cores are placed in the outer city. These three cores have been able to reorganize the Serenade Boundary, creating a wall-like shield for our city.
You will see it soon enough.”
“About seven seconds from now, to be exact.”
Tris picked up on that quietly, and then in the motion of her gripping the Serenade Scepter and tapping it in the air, the main core was activated.
Like a living thing awakened, it began to draw on the free psychic energy of the environment and resonate marvelously with the two cores housed in the outer city in the flickering shimmer of the psychic patterns on it.
Thus, as Miriam and Professor Malcolm watched in amazement, a stream of scarlet light was penetrated into the sky, and with the sky directly above their heads as the source point, a layer of egg-shell-shaped psychic energy shield slowly unfolded in all directions, covering the entire Scarlet Fortress in about a few minutes’ time.
“We only have three cores on hand, so we can only hold up this layer of boundary.
A complete Serenade is a composite protective force field consisting of three layers of boundaries, right now this one’s protection is basically equivalent to an ordinary city wall, so we can only say it’s okay, far from outstanding and perfect.”
Tress very dissatisfiedly patted the Serenade Protection Core that had already begun to operate, the demonic Blood Vulture Archduke said to the surrounding people:
“The remaining four cores are all still buried in the sewer chambers in the inner city, so everyone can just make do with what they have, considering that there are also many ghouls and spirits there and we don’t have enough manpower to bring them out.”
“I’ve never seen anything so exaggerated in Chardonnay Harbor.”
Miriam said softly:
“Will it be able to stop the 20,000 jackal vanguards that are killing their way towards us?”
“Do you think twenty thousand Jackal bands that lack siege weapons and are so poorly organized that they basically amount to staggering stragglers can take the original Cadman City?”
Femis asked rhetorically, and Miriam shook her head and said with certainty:
“With the thickness of the original city’s walls, even without the boundary, they’d have to come twice as many still.”
“That’ll do.”
Missy said in a light tone:
“Don’t worry, Tris is just having high eyes, the current strength of the boundary won’t be any worse than the defense of Cadman City’s walls. But the problem is that we can’t just defend.
This shield won’t protect us forever either.”
These words made Professor Malcolm, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, frown again, and, savoring a hint of ominousness in them, he pushed up his glasses and asked seriously:
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll let Maxim explain that one, he’s the main military officer here.”
Murphy, who was carefully observing the functioning ritual stone and trying to parse out the principles of the boundary, said without turning his head:
“Mark, brief our administrative officers on our currently available defense forces and the full plan we have developed for the battle against the Jackals.
Keep it as simple as possible.”
“Yes, Master.”
The loyal servant in full battle armor turned to look at Miriam and Professor Malcolm as he said in a deep voice:
“Currently, the training of the first 500 men of the Cardman People’s Army under my command has been completed, and the number of registered trained militia members is around 1,000, this is the figure arrived at by counting the five collective farms that are still under construction, and the inhabitants of those places are already on their way to Scarlet Fortress, so we can’t just leave them unattended outside of the city.
That would only be feeding the jackals.
I also spoke with President Natalie, and she promised me that the Witch Hunter’s Warband can put together 500 elite rangers, and that’s all the large-scale military power we have at our disposal.”
“That means that the real combat force is only 2,000…”
Professor Malcolm sighed as he shook his head:
“It does sound shabby, but with the current total number of people in the Earl’s Domain, it’s already quite a militaristic level, so there’s no way we’ll be able to field a battle with the Jackals, right?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to say next.”
Maxim nodded as he explained:
“Lord Murphy and I have repeatedly deduced that on this side of the Scarlet Fortress we should rely on the defense of the Serenade Boundary, gather our living forces, and harass and strike the 20,000 Jackalese vanguard that’s running towards us in a guerrilla style.
But it’s impossible for us to fight a protracted battle with them!
What we need to do is to confine this portion of the barbarian vanguard to Count Cadman’s territory and draw them in the vicinity of the Scarlet Fortress, because according to Lord Murphy’s strategy, what will follow will not be a battle of annihilation but a battle of routing.
Transylvania is about to enter a massive construction, and these jackals can be quite a good consumable.”
“?”
Maxim’s statement immediately drew the surprise of Ms. Leonia, who was observing the Serenade Boundary next to him, and the high-spirited Bow Knight said bluntly:
“Are you kidding? This number of us is not even enough to fill the teeth of the Jackals, you should be pragmatic instead of whimsically trying to take prisoners.
This is more than ten times the difference in military strength!
Even the Blood Alliance Knights wouldn’t dare to be so arrogant.”
“This is not arrogance or ignorance, insolent Moon Elf, you better listen carefully!”
Tris said in a ghostly voice.
Maxim also ignored the condescending knight’s skepticism, he would often privately spar against Leonia during this time, and he knew that the bow knight’s condescension did not stem from his nature.
It was just an outward manifestation of her complex character, and there was no malice in her questioning.
Maxim always respected and learned from all who were stronger than him, and Leonia’s loyalty and strength were both things he learned from.
He went on to explain:
“Ms. Lainnia is quite right, with our current military strength against the Jackals, we are unlikely to win in all normal rhythms of war, so the best way to quell this showdown is to find another way. And my master had a secret plan a long time ago.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s one thing in current Transylvania that we can use to our advantage, and that’s the not-so-stable mapping relationship between the real world and the astral plane.
I myself am not a professional psychic, so I am not responsible for explaining the exact principles, I just want to make it clear to you that we will be triggering a small to medium sized tear in the astral realm in three days in a specific area!
It will be launched at the core of the current Jackal camp according to precise calculations, and will be able to reimburse thousands of elite Jackals at one time, even at the worst kill strength.
More importantly, an astral ripping of this scale would create a zone of psychic chaos in the Jackal camp, which would effectively isolate the Jackal Warlord Kenport from his army.
This is our next course of action.
That is, a two-front war!
While holding back and resisting the enemy forces at Scarlet Fortress, Lord Murphy himself will lead his warriors to execute a high level decapitation operation.
Once we successfully execute it, the Jackal army will disintegrate from the core.
Given the chaotic racial nature of the Jackals, it is unlikely that they will be able to reelect a warlord to lead the overall situation in a short period of time, and as the external pressure continues to increase, the large band of Jackals that are still holding together now will then collapse in a very short period of time.
I asked Professor Malcolm about this, and he told me that this is a method of warfare that the Allied Civilizations have often used during the several Black Plagues.
It has been historically proven to be quite effective.”
“The Blood Alliance Knights did often use this decapitation tactic when fighting against the Jackal Horde of the Dark Mountain Range, and it is indeed effective, but I am skeptical that you will be able to accomplish this decapitation, which is quite difficult.”
Ms. Laneia said hesitantly:
“They have sent 20,000 vanguards, but there are still an equal number of elites in the camp, and even if your Astral Rip can unfold successfully, the time left for you to act is quite limited.
On top of that, the Blood Vulture Clan and Transylvania’s warriors have just suffered terrible losses, do you have enough elites to complete this plan?
Shall I do it?”
“We do! And how can we trouble a noble lady to risk her life in such a matter?”
Murphy turned back to him as he waved his hand:
“I’ve already sent an invitation to the tribe of mountain folk where my warriors are from, and in two days time there’ll be another tough, elite group involved in this battle.
Countess Phemis and I, along with Baron Kudel, will personally lead them into battle.
We also have the advantage that all three of us have experienced the entirety of Kadman City’s engulfment by the Astral Plane, and we are well versed in fighting in the shadow of the Astral Plane and know how to protect ourselves from the wash of tainted psychic energy.
I don’t think the Jackals can be uneducated in this as well.
There is no need for any other forces to be involved in this battle other than my warriors, not to underestimate you, but because while I risk my life, you will have to shoulder quite dangerous duties as well.
Star Realm Rip
Even a small or medium-sized astral tear is not that easy to accomplish, and the amount of psychic energy needed to destroy the mapping between the material world and the astral world is astronomical.
Of all the means we currently have, there is only one thing that can do this in a short period of time.”
As the others watched, Murphy patted the core ritual stone hovering above the ground beside him as he said:
“This is the thing! The fact that the three psychic cores can hold up the boundary that envelops the city means that they can also be used as a substitute for a temporary source of psychic energy.
Before the operation begins, we need to put all three psionic cores into temporary overload at the same time as a means of providing a psionic storm that can break the astral barrier.
Tris will be in charge of advancing this ritual, and there is no need for you all to worry about that.
However, this also means that the entire Scarlet Fortress will be undefended for the duration of time it takes for the three psychic cores to recover and re-support their shields.
I realize that asking you to fight 20,000 Jackals with 2,000 soldiers in that situation would undoubtedly be asking you to die, but that’s the way it is in Transylvania.
It has also become a time when you cannot survive without fighting.
Gentlemen, we are once again standing at the crossroads of fate .”
“Have you ever had even one battle that was easily resolved?”
Baroness Miriam spat:
“I’ve followed you all this way, and I’m basically certain that you’ve made a home and built a house at the crossroads of destiny, Murphy, your bad luck has infected everyone.”
This comment made the Lord Lord roll his eyes, but he had nothing to say, President Natalie behind Miriam smiled as she asked:
“So how long do we need to hold out against the vanguard onslaught of Jackals?”
Murphy looked to Tris, the psychic master estimated, she said:
“One hour at the shortest, three hours at the longest, the Spiritual Energy Transformation Cores of this grade won’t be damaged that easily, but it will also take more time to restart them.”
“And how long will your decapitation take?”
Count Andre, who was still recovering, looked a little pale as he asked:
“Do you need help from the Thorn Clan that specializes in assassination operations?”
“No, you guys stay here and defend the city, you’re needed more here.”
Murphy said shaking his head:
“I will end the battle as fast as I can, but any faster may take hours, and there is no way for me and my warriors to move back quickly .”
“There is a way, use this!”
Tris took something out of her psionic bag and handed it to Murphy, the lord was surprised and took it in his hand activating the item identification then a label popped up:
Name: Tris’s trial “Return Scroll”.
Quality: Alchemy consumable
Effect: Bind the return coordinates for the return scroll, and use the scroll within its permitted range to release a temporary portal that allows 1-3 people to pass through and send the user back to the bound coordinates.
Tip!
The item’s psychic spell is based on Madame Tris’s research on psychic teleportation theory, which has yet to be finalized, coupled with the unique instability of psychic teleportation when traveling through the astral realm, there is a small chance (around 1%) that the user will enter the [Astral Lost] state when using this item.
Tip!
The item’s return coordinates can be bound to the tester’s most recently visited archive point.
Crafted by [Archduke Bloodwyvern] Tris Cavendina Ka Lorraine Le Sombra
Item Description:
[Know why the world has never had a mature system of teleportation psychic energy? Use this scroll once and you’ll know why. If you are extremely lucky to be sent to the Astral World, then don’t rush back to the Material World and see more of the rare scenery of the Astral World.
Oh yeah, another name for this thing is ‘Star Realm Day Trip’ one-way ticket.]
“Emmm, I feel as if this thing is a bit risky.”
Murphy blinked and said to Tris:
“Why don’t we do it another way?”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to use it!”
Tris said, rolling her eyes:
“Let them use it and then submit some usage experiences and reports to me, I’m still waiting to improve my teleportation spells. As long as they use this thing enough times and bring me detailed enough usage experiences, then that ‘Hearthstone’ you were talking about before, I’m also confident that I can make it oh.
As for the risk
Don’t worry about the risks!
The exploration of the mysteries of spiritual energy always comes with risks, it’s rare that you have a group of warriors under your command who aren’t afraid of death. Look, what a fine test subject.”
(End of chapter)