Above the mage

Chapter 847 Entering the Underground

"Holy Empire..."

'

Lorne quickly and concisely explained the situation to Talisin, who immediately gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with anger.

The Holy Empire's schemes were truly insidious.

At the same time, he also understood the deeper considerations behind Lorne's sudden activation of a city-wide alert.

No one knows the specific deployment schedule of the Holy Empire.

The Holy Empire may need some time to prepare, giving them ample opportunity to nip the matter in the bud.

It is also possible that the Holy Empire's overall plan was already complete, and while they were secretly investigating and resolving the matter, the Holy Empire had already launched the insect swarm.

Lorne's choice was, in essence, a perfectly legitimate and open strategy.

Once the city-wide alert was activated, the Holy Empire would surely realize that its plans had most likely been exposed.

They had no way out. If they continued to lie low, they would only wait for the Golden Flower Dynasty's mage legion to completely destroy the secret passage, wipe out the insect nest, and render all their plans useless.

Therefore, they were forced to trigger the insect swarm, regardless of whether they were prepared or not, and to fight a battle against the city of Nashlamay, which was on full alert and had all its magic arrays activated.

From this perspective, the decision to actively force the Holy Empire to trigger the insect swarm and drag Nashlamy City into the war seems to be too radical and reckless.

But Talisin fully understood why Lorne made that decision.

Indeed, by feigning complete ignorance and lulling the Holy Empire's mages into a false sense of security, while secretly dispatching elite mages to infiltrate the underground passages and eliminate the enemy, the entire city could be spared from the flames of war, thus preserving Nashlame City to the greatest extent possible.

However, this plan cannot afford any mistakes; it's a gamble on luck.

What if it's the latter?

What if the clandestine operation is exposed, or what if the Holy Empire happens to have completed all the preparations and detonated the insect swarm first?

Anyone who harbors wishful thinking and tries to gamble, and encounters this situation without adequate preparation, will suffer a devastating blow.

Once Nashlamy City is ravaged by an insect swarm, it may never rise again.

Because this would cause it to lose the trust of others.

The situation and status of Nashlamy City were already awkward and fragile.

Along the coastline of Terra, there is more than one port city:

Founded by the Terrans, Mammoth City boasts a rich history spanning millennia and is widely recognized as the most prosperous port city on the Terran continent.

Yangji City, established by the Holy Empire, rose rapidly with the support of the Empire's national strength.

Nashlamay City was actually just another port city established by the Holy Empire, and it was far inferior to Mammoth City and Sunspear City in terms of scale, size, influence, and reputation.

After taking over, the Plantagenet dynasty aimed to support the rise of Nashlamy City.

Even if it doesn't surpass Mammoth City and Sunspear City, it should at least stand shoulder to shoulder with them, becoming one of the three major port cities on par with them, and firmly establishing itself as a port city on the Terra continent's coastline.

Therefore, there is absolutely no room for taking any chances.

Nashlamy City only has one chance. If it can rise up, great; if not, it will be difficult in the future.

The Holy Empire understood this principle perfectly, which is why it spared no expense in expending enormous manpower and resources to create the insect swarm killing scheme, all in order to destroy the foundation and development opportunities of Nashlamay City.

In addition, the insect swarm most likely comes from underground, which would render conventional defensive facilities such as city walls and magic crystal cannons useless.

Because these are all for defense against enemies outside the city.

In the entire city of Nashlamay, only the protective area of ​​the defensive rune array covers the ground.

Therefore, it is necessary to activate the city-wide defensive rune array.

However, the characteristics of a city-level rune array mean that it cannot operate discreetly.

Once fully activated, the powerful magical fluctuations and the movement of the magic array cannot be concealed at all.

The idea of ​​keeping a watchful eye on things from the beginning was simply not feasible.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, General Lorne quickly made a decision, abandoning any wishful thinking, and decisively issued an order for the entire city to be on high alert.

Using the full strength of the city to confront the potential insect swarm head-on is the safest and most foolproof option.

After communicating with Talisin, General Lorne quickly finalized all strategic deployments and issued several more military orders.

A large number of high-level mages rushed to the city wall defense line, divided the defense zones and positions, and stabilized the frontal defense outside the city.

The land of Nashlame City was solidified by the defensive rune array, making it impassable for sandworms. They could only break through the untouched desert sands outside the city and launch an attack from the front.

As for him personally, he did not go to the city gate.

Because he had something more important to do:

Find the passage through the city that leads to this underground tunnel.

The insect infestation on the surface is only a superficial danger.

The underground passage that runs through the Gobi Desert and leads directly into the heart of Nashlame City is the most deadly hidden danger.

The Holy Empire's original plan was to use the characteristics of the sandworms to bypass the frontal reconnaissance and defense of Nashlame City through underground tunnels, allowing the swarm to break out directly in the city.

I don't seek to destroy Nashlamy, but only to cripple it through immense destruction, stripping it of all its inhabitants.

The defensive rune array is now activated, preventing the sandworms from breaking through, but it also fails to eradicate the hidden danger.

Because the defensive rune array requires a large amount of magic crystals to operate.

Even a wealthy and powerful dynasty like the Golden Flower Dynasty cannot keep the rune array running indefinitely; this hidden danger must be eliminated.

Therefore, the most crucial and urgent task is to completely locate, block, and even destroy this underground passage.

The city walls were already filled with mages, all focused intently on the movements outside the city and on the vast, boundless yellow sand.

calm.

The land, covered by yellow sand, was utterly peaceful.

There was absolutely nothing unusual about it, let alone any fatal danger.

But no one took it lightly.

These mages, who were transferred to the Terra continent by the Golden Flower Dynasty to expand the territory and guard the cities, were all battle-hardened and experienced elites.

The military commander issued an order for a city-wide state of emergency, and no one would easily doubt the decisions of such a figure.

"There seems to be a sound." Just then, a high-ranking mage with special expertise on the city wall noticed the anomaly first and couldn't help but speak up.

He can detect subtle sounds that others cannot.

"There's something, something moving underground, moving towards us." He was initially somewhat uncertain and wary, but just two breaths later, his tone turned to absolute certainty.

"A large number of living units are rapidly approaching! All personnel on alert!" another high-ranking military mage who knew his abilities shouted.

All the monks who heard his reminder focused their attention on the place where the anomaly had been discovered—the open field outside the city.

A dry, hot wind blew by, raising yellow sand and dust, turning the sky and earth into a hazy yellow, obscuring everything.

The sense of oppression instantly reached its peak.

Although the view was blocked, the strange noise became clearer.

At first, there were only sporadic, fine sounds of rocks and soil rubbing together, like a large number of insects digging and moving through the sand.

Soon, the sounds increased, layering and intertwining, converging into a continuous, muffled hum, giving people the eerie illusion that the entire earth was writhing.

The next moment, lumps suddenly bulged up on the nearby ground.

The compact layer of yellow sand suddenly shattered and exploded.

One by one, insects with yellowish shells and bodies covered in fine sand emerged from the soil.

Gravel worm.

Their mouthparts open and close alternately, their sharp jaws gleaming, as they climb from the ground to the surface.

One, ten, a hundred... until they were completely uncountable.

The boundless yellow sand seemed to have been half-blown away, and countless sandworms emerged one after another, like a flood bursting its banks, their numbers exaggerated to the extreme.

A cacophony of insect chirping rose into the sky.

Inside the temple, General Lorne stepped out of his room.

Gaode was waiting outside the door.

"Let's go, follow me." Lorne glanced at God, but didn't stop walking.

Gaode followed in his footsteps.

Gaode is the only person who has explored this underground passage extensively and is most familiar with its specifications, features, and so on.

This will be of great help to Lorne in finding the location of the underground passage and in dealing with the pest infestation later, so Lorne needs to call on Gaode.

Nashlamy is a very large city, and it's impossible to conduct a thorough search of it; that would be too inefficient.

Lorne had already combined the Holy Empire's schemes with the city's defenses of Nashlame, listing the areas that best fit the secret passage's entry route and were most easily disguised and hidden, and arranged them from highest to lowest probability.

Now he's taking Gaode Maps to the top-ranked block.

That was the commercial district in the west of the city, where a large number of shops were opened by merchants from Terra and even other continents.

After they took over Nashlamy from the Holy Empire, they must have conducted a thorough search of the city.

However, this area was not investigated as thoroughly as other areas.

Even though the Plantagenet dynasty was powerful, if it wanted to establish a large port city, it had to consider the "business environment" no matter what.

Gao De and Lorne soon arrived at the West City Commercial District.

At this moment, more than a dozen military mages are conducting an investigation.

"General, we are investigating the abnormal underground structure," the mage leading the team reported hurriedly in a deep voice upon seeing Lorne.

Lorne waved his hand, signaling the other party to continue the investigation and focus on the task at hand.

The military mages cast the [Trap Finder] spell.

Man-made underground passages can, in a sense, be considered a type of trap, and can be detected using this spell.

This is a highly efficient screening method.

It just so happens that Gaode also knows this spell.

So when he saw this, he didn't hesitate and followed the military mages' actions, casting [Find Trap].

This made Lorne glance at Gao De again.

He never expected that a powerful and young battle mage like Gao De would learn such a functional spell that had no use in combat.

You have to understand that at his age, he doesn't even have the leisure to learn how to "find traps".

The magical aura spreads out from the caster as a center, permeating the earth like ripples on water.

The power of magic precisely scans the geological structure, and any anomalies detected are immediately relayed to the caster's perception.

The area that Gaode Maps detected was normal, with no magical feedback whatsoever.

However, at that moment, another military strategist suddenly stopped and spoke up, saying, "General, there is a serious anomaly underground here. A regular artificial fault has been discovered."

A glint flashed in Lorne's eyes.

Without the slightest delay, he immediately sent a message via SMS to the main runemaster controlling the city's rune array.

"Partial lifting of restrictions: Block 723 in the West District, the solidification of the strata has been temporarily lifted."

A moment later, in Godmandora's magical vision, the magical fluctuations that had enveloped the land before them quickly dissipated.

Without the defensive array's solidification, Lorne raised his hand to activate the spell.

A powerful and potent earth elemental magic surged into the ground, silently tearing it apart.

The reason he was chosen as the military commander of Nashlame City was not only because of his rich experience and ability, but also largely because he was a mage who practiced earth-based cultivation methods and was skilled in earth magic.

This is most suitable for the environment of Terra.

Under Lorne's large hands, the gravel and sand rolled and peeled away on their own.

In just a few breaths, a straight and neat vertical shaft appeared out of thin air, leading straight to the ground.

A chilly breeze came from the shaft.

Gao De, gazing intently, saw through the shaft the faint but orderly characteristics of earth element particles.

This was exactly the same feature he had previously discovered when he entered the underground passage.

Facing Lorne's questioning gaze, God nodded with absolute certainty, unwavering: "Yes, that's it."

o

Lorne lowered his eyes and looked into the shaft, where the power of a high-level mage emanated from him.

"You are familiar with the layout and situation of the secret passage. Come with me inside to eliminate any hidden dangers," he said to Gao De.

Gaode nodded in agreement.

As a military general, Lorne is not only an outstanding military and political leader, but also an incredibly powerful battle mage.

Although the gravel worm swarm is so terrifying that even Milton avoids its attacks.

But for a battle mage of Admiral Lorne's caliber, it was far from an unsolvable dead end.

Although the sheer number of gravel worms made it impossible for him to wipe them out, at least escaping unscathed wouldn't be too difficult.

With such a powerful battle mage leading the way, Gao De wasn't too worried about his safety; following along and earning some military merits would be a good thing.

He knew perfectly well that this was an opportunity that others could only dream of.

Although my familiarity with the secret passage as the person involved was an important reason, the passage had already been discovered, so it wasn't necessary to bring me along.

Lorne's reason for bringing him along was largely because, as a mage from the Royal Crown family, Lorne intended to promote him, give him extra military merit, and help him advance further in the Light Sentinels.

Gao De followed Lorne and jumped into the dark shaft.

Just as the two figures disappeared into the vertical shaft, the previously unsealed geological strata on the ground suddenly flashed with light.

The rune array restarted, and runic light spread across the area, sealing it off once again and preventing the sand worm swarm from entering the city from here.

Darkness descended instantly, and there was no light from the earth below.

But Gao De and Lorne were completely unaffected.

Dark vision is an essential ability for battle mages.

Everything before their eyes transformed into clear gray-white images, appearing before their very eyes.

Before the two even landed, they heard a dense, fine friction sound.

He looked down.

Countless sandworms were crawling rapidly through the secret passage, their yellowish-brown bodies densely covering the passage floor and rock walls.

Their numbers were terrifying, surging forward like a tide into the depths ahead.