Stone Pattern Altar

As dawn broke through the horizon, before the first rays of sunlight appeared, the allied forces of the Rising Sun Republic and the Star Empire were already marching through the desert.

The Bone Machine Second Battalion and Bone Machine Third Battalion set off first, advancing to both sides and flanking from the depths of the desert.

The Star Empire's First and Second Desert Divisions deployed to the left and right, pressing forward head-on.

The four teams formed a pincer movement.

The Desert Independent Regiment of the Chuxu Republic was at the very end, serving as a reserve force.

The yellow sand was trampled and swirled by the various armies, while light cavalry scouts spread out in a fan shape, searching and advancing along the way.

Neither Zijin nor Zhapulai, both Saint Rank, were present.

For safety reasons, Su Ming and Xialike did not leave the army, but instead traveled with the main force.

Yise rode on a sand scorpion, his golden hair tied high, a greatsword strapped to his back.

She glanced at Su Ming, then looked away as if nothing had happened.

Xialike, mounted on his warhorse, noticed this scene.

"Speaking of which, the Star Empire also has a princess on my side," he suddenly said, his tone casual.

Currently, Xialike and Katharine have not dissolved their "marriage," Yise remains the princess of the empire.

Although Su Ming never intervened in this matter, the other forces were completely confused, unable to figure out whether Chu Xu and Stars were involved in something behind the scenes.

What happened?

Xialike was naturally delighted with this.

Su Ming gave him a strange look. "So what if there's a princess?"

"A marriage alliance!" Xialike said matter-of-factly. "It's a standard procedure; it always has to be followed."

"Heh!" Su Ming chuckled lightly, "If you're so capable, send over a formal letter of proposal for marriage—let's see if Zhapulai can protect you!"

Xialike felt a chill run down his spine. "I mean, surely the Scholar Bay Owl wouldn't plant explosives in my palace like the Plundering Clock did?"

Su Ming thought for a moment and decided not to reveal that the matter of planting explosives on the Plundering Clock was actually framed by Bay Owl, as this would affect diplomatic relations between the two countries.

****

Inside the stone-patterned altar, the urgent report was delivered to Hairspring in no time.

"A large number of Bone Model weapons have been discovered to the west, equivalent to at least two battalions!"

"A desert division has been spotted advancing to the north, less than 30 kilometers away!"

Hairspring's face didn't look as bad as everyone had feared.

He simply sighed, then quickly gave the order, "Send word to all nearby Gravel Scale Tribe to assemble."

"Bring all able-bodied lizardmen, regardless of age, to the outer perimeter of the altar and form a battle array!"

"Send out harassment teams continuously!"

"Yes!"

The bell-ringing priest immediately obeyed the order.

The coalition forces quickly saw changes.

Groups of hundreds of lizardmen, wielding crudely made Bone Spear and stone axes, roared as they charged toward the armies in all directions.

There was no formation, no cover.

Their eyes gleamed with a fanatical, hollow red light, fueled by the shamanic ritual, and incoherent prayers escaped their throats.

Several Bone Model stopped, machine guns opened fire, sending up plumes of sand and dozens of mangled limbs.

Or perhaps it was the Stars Army, with archers unleashing a barrage of arrows, followed by a cavalry charge to finish the job.

As the sun rose higher, the Gravel Scale Tribe's pointless charges continued intermittently.

The outer perimeter defense forces rotated to engage the enemy, while the main force advanced toward the target according to the predetermined plan.

****

On Hairspring other side, the members of the Plundering Clock have already assembled.

He was about to lead his team to retreat when he saw the sky suddenly darken.

The sky looked as if someone had suddenly splashed ink on it; thick rain clouds surged in from nowhere, pressing down on the desert.

Then the first raindrop hit the sand.

The rain intensified.

A thick curtain of rain swept across the sand, and large plumes of water vapor rose from the ground.

Hairspring finally burst out laughing.

"Haha - Heaven is on my side!"

"Notify all shamans to immediately cast the rain and sand spell to create a defensive line!"

Upon receiving the order, a large number of the Gravel Scale Tribe shamans arrived at the outer perimeter of the altar, raising their bone staffs high and chanting incantations in unison.

The torrential rain and swirling yellow sand were pulled together by the road, resembling giant, muddy yellow pythons coiling and churning.

Use rain to build walls, use sand to build ramparts.

Before long, temporary barriers rose up from the ground.

For the first time, the advance of the vanguard was truly thwarted.

The two sides began their confrontation, separated by torrential rain and a sand wall.

Upon seeing this, the bell-ringing priest perked up. "My lord, could we stall until the enemy runs out of supplies and is forced to retreat?"

Hairspring glanced at him.

You're overthinking it.

"This rain will only buy us a few hours at most."

Hairspring's gaze passed over the temporary defensive line and landed on the imposing military formation in the distance.

"Tell those priests to find opportunities to launch repeated suicide charges."

"Kill all the lizardmen, take down as many as you can."

Immediately afterwards, he formally ordered, "Plundering Clock, everyone evacuate!"

Janet was packing her things. She didn't bother to get any food, but instead packed up some important documents, slung them over her shoulder, and followed behind the group.

Hairspring glanced at her briefly before raising her hand.

A burst of energy pierced through her chest in an instant.

Janet's eyes widened slightly, her lips twitched, but she couldn't say anything before her body went limp.

Hairspring withdrew his hand, turned around, and led his team away.

One of the members of the Minute Hand took Janet's backpack off and put it on his own, only to find that it was stained with blood.

"It's in the way," he complained.

****

Amidst the torrential rain, the main force's central section...

Xialike squinted at the suddenly appearing illegal building in front of him.

"How do you plan to break this?"

"If I get involved, these Gravel Scale Tribe will be in a terrible state," Su Ming said calmly. "You guys should go."

Xialike raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Alright, then we'll wait until you confirm the fighter jet."

A strangely shaped Bone Model war machine approached, its outer shell unfolding.

It is a non-line-of-sight multi-function laser radar.

This radar system doesn't have a conventional rotating disk; it's more like an optical experimental setup: a pulsed laser, scanning mirrors, single-photon detectors, lenses/filters, and a reconstruction computer.

It can not only scan out the outline of the target within the field of view, but also piece together the obscured target by using the scattered signals reflected back from rain, sand and dust and the edges of obstacles.

Despite the heavy rain, the battlefield was still clearly visible.

As the equipment started up, the structure of the temporary fortifications opposite and the personnel situation inside appeared on the screen.

"A small group has been spotted evacuating from the southeast corner!" the analysts reported.

"The speed and number of people match up—it must be a high-ranking member of the Plundering Clock!"

Su Ming glanced at it.

"Synchronize the location with the Scholar Bay Owl."

"Yes!"

"Screen out the positions of the shamans and leaders, and synchronize the data with the 'Star Shadow Blade' warband," he added.

"Clear!"

****

The weather in the desert comes and goes quickly.

Soon, most of the dark clouds dispersed, and the torrential rain quickly subsided.

"Now that the leader has run away, it's time to start here."

Su Ming said.

"No problem." Xialike nodded.

Su Ming picked up the communicator, "Start the operation!"

The command was given, and the mages commanded the undead to advance.

The desert is too dry; zombies will quickly lose water and harden.

Therefore, here, everyone has to focus on skeletons.

Fortunately, it's enough.

A swarm of skeletal lizards pounced wildly towards the sandcastle ahead.

The holy shaman who stayed behind Plundering Clock led the shamanic procession to begin the ritual.

Their faces were contorted, they held bone staffs, and chanted the so-called "Decree of the End Charge".

"Listen to the roar from my very marrow!"

"First, when the enemy's blade pierces your throat—bite the tip of the blade and chew!"

"Second, when a limb is separated from the body—have the severed arm grasp the enemy's shinbone!"

"Thirdly, even when the heart stops beating—the spine can still pierce the enemy!"

"Your corpses—are the first crushing marks left by the serpent god as he shattered Taya!"

"Your offering will form the first scale of my God's new life!"

Eerie and insane sounds echoed across the battlefield.

Enveloped by the law, the lizardman's eyes rolled back, his pupils twisted into snake-like vertical lines, and he let out a sharp and frenzied roar from his throat. He even began to discard his weapons and pounce on the enemy with his teeth, claws, and body.

Roll around with the skeleton lizard.

The next moment, the mortars of the Final Bone Mad Machines opened fire in unison.

Bang bang bang bang-!

The shell landed, but did not explode.

A huge cloud of acrid smoke billowed up, instantly filling the entire lizardman position with a gray-white smoke screen.

"Cough--!"

"Cough cough cough--!"

The lizardman coughed violently, tears and snot streaming down his face, and his already frenzied charge immediately went out of control.

The shamans' chanting was also choked and interrupted, with the "The End Charge Decree" being cut off in one section.

In the haze, blurry figures quietly slipped in.

They wore cloaks the same color as the yellow sand, breathing masks tightly covering their mouths and noses, and their faces were painted with special oil paint, suppressing their body odor, scent, and even Magic Power fluctuations to an extremely low level. Strange energy surrounded them, as if they had directly melted into the yellow sand and the air.

The "Star Shadow Blade" battle group is the sharpest hidden blade in the Star Empire.

After entering, the secret agents paused briefly in a secluded corner, using their cloaks as cover to check the target's real-time coordinates on small screens on their wrists.

They quickly confirmed the location.

As soon as a lizard leader raised his bone staff, he felt a sudden chill in his throat, and a thin line of blood ran from his Adam's apple to behind his ear. Before he could react, he fell backward.

Another shaman, who was chanting at the climax, suddenly had a short blade hilt appear behind him, with the blade protruding from his chest.

One after another.

The leadership of the lizardmen fell one after another, silently, as if harvested by an invisible scythe.

The priests finally realized something was wrong and were about to flee when a cold glint flashed from the thick smoke.

He is the leader of the "Star Shadow Blade" guild, leading his elite blades into battle.

In the time it takes to breathe a few dozen breaths.

The holy priests were all killed.

The surviving shamans were subsequently wiped out.

Those gruesome rituals have come to an end.

Deprived of their commands, the lizardmen were like puppets with broken strings, bewildered, fearful, and wavering, utterly chaotic in place.

****

Yise led the elite of the First Dawn Desert Independent Regiment, ignoring the chaotic lizards, and charged straight through the battlefield and smoke into the stone altar.

The interior of the altar was in complete disarray.

Before the Plundering Clock departed, it burned all the data.

Burnt paper was scattered all over the ground, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of ashes and ink mixed together.

"It's all destroyed."

A soldier examined the wreckage and shook his head.

Yise was somewhat disappointed, although this was something he had expected.

"There's a dungeon over here!" another soldier shouted.

Yise swiftly drew his sword and charged straight down.

The experience gained during the rescue of those girls in the Northern Lands cannot be wasted now!

Moreover, her movements had been honed to a professional level; with a few nimble steps and a clean twist, she passed through the narrow entrance stairs and entered the passage.

Sure enough, in the dungeon, a holy priest was gathering dark red Magic Power in his palm, aiming it at a blood-soaked lizardman inside the cell—

Yise moved extremely quickly.

A flash of sword light streaked past.

The first sword severed the arm, the second sword pierced the chest cavity.

The holy priest didn't even have time to turn around before he fell straight down.

He was filled with regret as he lay dying.

The esteemed Hairspring had clearly instructed him that if the situation became irreversible, he should kill Shadu on the battlefield and have the shaman use the Saint Rank's corpse and soul as a sacrifice to initiate the frenzy ritual.

But the enemy's attack was so sharp that our side didn't even have time to react, and in just a few breaths, the entire situation was lost.

Yise, unaware of the lizardman's inner thoughts, drew her sword and delivered a final, fatal blow.

It plunged him into complete darkness.

The Gravel Scale Tribe in the cell raised his head. His scales were broken, his bones were dislocated, and he was covered in wounds, but his eyes remained unwavering.

"The Wave Hermit, Master Shadu!" Yise exclaimed in surprise.

This is an unexpected bonus!

She quickly cut off the restraints on Shadu's body.

The soldiers who followed him quickly assembled a stretcher and carried him outside for treatment.

Yise looked around and spotted a familiar face in a corner.

She was covered in blood and sand, and it looked like she had struggled to crawl into the dungeon from somewhere else, seemingly looking for a place to hide.

"---- Janet?" Yise called out, raising his hand to light up the orb.

But Janet had a piercing wound in her chest, the blood had congealed into a dark color, and her breath was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

Yise didn't call for treatment; in this state, there was no hope of recovery.

It's a good thing she hasn't given up the struggle.

Janet opened her mouth and said something, then collapsed and died.

A necromancer arrived, intending to imprison the other party's soul, only to find that the other party's soul exploded in mid-air and shattered.

Leaving the dungeon, Yise continued his patrol.

She saw four skeletons neatly arranged on the stone altar.

Upon closer inspection, the bones were all blackened and had an eerie luster.

Yise frowned; this was not something she understood.

"Go find a few High Rank clergy to handle this!"

"Yes!"

****

Outside the altar, the Star Sand priests cast a soothing spell, calming the effects of the various rituals and witchcraft inflicted on the ordinary lizardmen.

They then distributed antidotes to dispel the hallucinogenic effects of the Plundering Clock.

An elderly priest stood before the Gravel Scale Tribe captives, his voice calm.

"Those cultists are just using your spines as toothpicks."

"They don't care if you live or die, they only care if you're easy to boss around."

"Your blood, your bones, your lives, everything you cherish, are no different from sand to them."

"Now, you have awakened from your delusion—"

Many of the Gravel Scale Tribe knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

Some lizardmen cried, while others stared blankly.

Watching this scene from afar, Xialike remarked, "That ended so quickly."

Two months of preparation, one and a half months of implementation, and the actual battle lasted only a few minutes.

As the main battlefield entered the post-disaster recovery phase, the squad that fled to the southeast corner had long since escaped the effective range of battlefield radar.

However, the Divine Eagle Drone drones took over and caught up with them, continuously guiding Zijin and Zhapulai to intercept and kill them.

The Griffin Squadron of the Heavenly Pivot Battle Group followed closely behind the two, chasing after them as fast as they could.

"Don't worry about your girlfriend. With such ample troops, they'll all drown the enemy." Xialike crossed his arms, his tone relaxed.

Su Ming raised his wrist and looked at the unruly bracelet.

"I'm wondering if I'll be lucky this time and manage to get another Saint Rank -level Clock Hand of the Plundering Clock!"