Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
“Think about it, the pyramid that is being projected by the mirage is only the tomb of a little Pharaoh, yet the city is already in such a pinch. If it was the scariest Great Pyramid of Giza instead, it would be a disaster for the whole country!” Jiang Yu told him.
Mo Fan nodded. He could easily tell how angry the guard was. It seemed like he had to refrain from saying anything calamitous in a place like this. After all, this was the place where the Curse Element had originated, meaning that whatever he said might actually have a chance of happening!
Mo Fan initially wanted to visit Xinxia, but she was simply too busy with her work. She did not have much time to talk to him.
It seemed like he had to put an end to the war as quickly as possible so that Xinxia could take a rest. Mo Fan did not want to see her worn out.
——
After going back to the team’s camp, Mo Fan heard Guan Yu proposing a plan.
A mirage would usually last for quite a while. If they simply waited until the mirage disappeared on its own, it was likely that the city would be razed to the ground soon.
They had to find a way to get rid of the mirage. Whenever a mirage of a pyramid appeared, the government would send all its soldiers to attack the pyramid, and use a special device to erase the illusionary pyramid. Only then would the undead finally stop appearing.
“The biggest threat to the soldiers are the Poisonous Golden Mummies, because the injuries they inflicted are incurable. The Parthenon Temple can only afford to send a few Healers here, but there are way too many injured. The local government is hoping that we can deal with the Poisonous Golden Mummies and eliminate their biggest threat,” Nanyu said.
“Why do we always have to do the most dangerous job? Can’t they just send some strong Mages of their own army?” Mu Tingying said.
“They did, but it seems like they haven’t returned yet.”
The team’s atmosphere shifted upon hearing this.
Clearly, the Poisonous Golden Mummies were not something they should mess with either!
“Which is why I say, take out the leader, and the rest will collapse. We just need to deal with the Commander of the Poisonous Golden Mummies, and the rest of its army will collapse on its own!” Guan Yu said.
Guan Yu was better at ambushing and assassinating his target. He would rather go and assassinate the Commander leading the Poisonous Golden Mummies than waste lots of time with the entire army. It was very hard to kill undead, and even hard to tell if an undead was dead, as most of them could still rise even after they were torn into pieces. They were basically undying!
“It’s too risky. If we fail, we will find ourselves being surrounded by the Poisonous Golden Mummies, and the local army is going to have trouble rescuing us.” Nanyu shook her head. The risk was too much for her to agree with.
“By the way, can’t we just try and reach the pyramid to eliminate the mirage, and put an end to the war?” Mo Fan asked.
Guan Yu immediately let out a hollow laugh and sneered, “Do you think the undead are just mere decorations? They aren’t afraid of death! They only have one goal in mind, apart from killing everything in their way: to protect the pyramid! Anything that gets within ten kilometers from the pyramid will be immediately surrounded. The path to the pyramid is usually laid down with the corpses of many Mages!”
“He’s telling the truth; don’t ever underestimate the undead even if it’s only a small pyramid. The number of undead surrounding the pyramid is pretty insane, almost on the scale of a horde of demon creatures. Many people are going to die just to clear a path to the most sensitive area for the undead, since they are a lot harder to kill than demon creatures. Many injured that were sent here are from the front line. Currently, it’s still possible to escort the injured back to the city from where the main army is, but once the army advances another few kilometers, it’s basically impossible to escort the injured back,” Nanyu said.
“Is there already an army making their way to the pyramid?” Mo Fan asked.
“Yeah, it’s currently around five kilometers away from the city, but it’s still at least thirty kilometers away from the Pyramid of Habo. Actually, the army has only encountered the undead in the outer ring, but still, there are already so many casualties while the army is only trying to gain a foothold,” Nanyu told them.
The army was advancing like a wave. In simpler words, they would have a team of vanguards clearing a path ahead while the others would set up a temporary camp behind.
After setting up the camp, they would send out another wave of Mages to the camp, and continued to advance forward to push the wave further ahead…
When they reached the third destination, they would continue to hold their ground and wait for the next troop to arrive from the city, before pressing forward again…
This way, as the army was advancing, it would still maintain a clear path between the city and the army, allowing supplies to be delivered and the injured to be escorted back. Those that were worn out could be relieved, to prevent the army from running out of energy. After all, if the energy of the soldiers was depleted when they were deep in the undead’s territory, the whole army would simply be wiped out!
The strategy was what the Egyptians had come up with after fighting against the undead for millennia. When Mo Fan recalled the situation in the Ancient Capital, the strategy might actually work in their favor too, meaning that… hang on, it might not work because they only had limited time back then!
“The first camp has been set up. We’ll be following the army as they press forward tomorrow. They want us to take out the Poisonous Golden Mummies to reduce their casualties,” Nanyu said.
“It’s a war, many are going to die again,” Jiang Yu sighed.
“Anything is better than getting wiped out.”
——
Early next morning, just after the sun had risen, a huge army had already gathered to the west of the city. It mainly consisted of the Battlemages of the local government.
Many had come to send them off. Everyone was well aware of how dangerous the war would be, as no one could guarantee they could return safely. That being said, someone had to take out the mirage of the pyramid. The soldiers were fearless and less hesitant then small individual teams. Most thought of the chance to destroy the mirage as the utmost glory!
The Chinese team had come to provide assistance, and were told to advance with the army. The team had met the commander of the operation, General Fenna, a woman in her forties. They did not detect any hint of womanliness from her, but an experienced and fierce aura that came from fighting in wars for a long time!
“Just follow the army as it advances; we’ll leave the Poisonous Golden Mummies to you.” General Fenna’s voice was fairly hoarse. Her face always had a stern expression.
“We’ll do our best,” Nanyu replied.
The path had already been cleared once, thus there were not many undead between the city and the camp. They quickly arrived at the camp five kilometers away from the city.
As the second troop arrived, the main army began to advance. Their goal was to reach a high ground around fifteen kilometers away from the pyramid. They had to gain a foothold there before advancing any further!
“There’s a bunch of Poisonous Golden Mummies on the other side of the hill. They are experts at using poison, and are extremely cunning, too. They like to hide behind the piles of corpses and cast their poison while we are unaware. The army will approach the hill from the front and set up a formation that will prevent the undead from approaching. Meanwhile, our team will make our way across the hill to take out the Poisonous Golden Mummies. Once the main army is able to gain a foothold on the high ground, we will retreat inside the barrier. We don’t necessarily have to kill all the Poisonous Golden Mummies,” Nanyu explained to the team.
The national team consisted of proud and overbearing talents. Nanyu did not want any of them to die while trying to show off their strength. They were currently in the middle of a cruel war, not a child’s playground. As someone from the military, Nanyu would not allow anyone on the team to disobey her orders!
Guan Yu smacked his lips. He did not seem to agree with the plan.
The others did not have any comment. While the main army was approaching the high ground, the national team was sneakily making their way around the hill with the cover provided by a few Shadow Mages.
After crossing the hill of yellow sand, they immediately saw a vast, golden-green land glowing under the sunlight.
The team realized that the place was only shiny because of the reflective, golden skin of the mummies. The strange-behaving mummies were lying down on the other side of the hill filling up almost every inch of the land. From afar, it looked like the hill was covered in golden-green tiles…
Somehow, the sight of countless mummies lying still on the ground was indescribably eerie, with the strong poison emitted by their bodies lingering in the air.
—
“General, are you sure those students are able to handle those terrifying creatures? If they fail to take care of the creatures before we reach the hill, wouldn’t it mean a lot of our men are going to die? I have to be honest; I don’t think it’s smart to allocate such an important task to a bunch of unreliable students!” Captain Wankos spoke up.
“We have to believe in them if we have asked them for help.” General Fenna scanned their surroundings to roughly estimate the number of undead that had shown up in just the last minute.
“We still need to plan for the worst. Isn’t it meaningless if we still have to provide them with backup?”
“You seemed quite biased toward them.”
“It’s not me being biased. I’m just worried that they will actually be of no use to us in this serious situation. So what if they are the national team from China; they are only a bunch of inexperienced Mages!” Captain Wankos snapped.