Chapter 467: Chapter 403: Current Situation and Deployment

"I am Artarius." The old man’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly reached everyone’s ears, "Commander-in-chief of this ’Reincarnation Plane’ expeditionary army."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.

"The mission brief you’ve received should already outline the basic situation. However, circumstances have changed..."

Artarius’s voice echoed across the wasteland, each word striking the consciousness of the wizards like cold metal.

"The enemy is already prepared for us. At this stage, if our High Tier Wizards take full action, it will inevitably trigger a time reversal. Therefore, except for one Seventh Level Wizard, we won’t make a move at other times."

The old man’s gaze swept over the three thousand newly arrived supporters below the stage, his eyes reflecting the weariness and sharpness accumulated from countless cycles.

"Moreover, after hundreds of cycles, those Reaper Race individuals—or rather, those awakened and memory-retaining members in this timeline—are already well-acquainted with ’our’ tactics, habits, and even thought processes."

His tone carried a rare solemnity.

"In that cycle, they know the patrol routes of every Wizard Squad, can predict the Seventh Level Wizard’s Law coverage range, and have even researched biochemical resistance variants against specific witchcraft. Every inch of land we advance is paid for with increasing cost."

A suppressed intake of breath echoed from the crowd below.

Jeming silently processed the implications behind this statement.

Hundreds of cycles... This means that for the Reaper Race in that timeline, they have already battled with the same batch of wizards hundreds of times.

It’s like players repeatedly challenging the same level, always finding the optimal solution.

"So, you are the ’variables’."

Artarius raised his hand, drawing thirty bright trajectories with his fingertips in the air.

"Thirty thousand supporting wizards, divided into thirty tactical squads, each with a thousand people. You won’t be deployed all at once—every time the plane completes three cycles, we’ll deploy a new squad."

"This serves two purposes: first, to introduce unpredictable new variables to the enemy; second, to allow you ’newcomers’ to quickly understand the battlefield’s anomalies through observation."

He looked at everyone, his tone resuming the absolute calm belonging to an Eighth Level Grand Mage.

"Your task is simple: by any means necessary, unravel the mechanism of time reversal. Collect all knowledge samples of the Reaper Race civilization, search for anomalous individuals or relics that could trigger a reversal. If any signs of a suspected ’time source’ are found, report immediately, and the command will allocate High Tier forces to handle it."

As soon as the words ended, the Magic Network Terminal on everyone’s wrist simultaneously vibrated.

Jeming looked down, the light screen unfolded: 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

[Combat Sequence Allocation Completed]

Squad Number: First Tactical Squad

Captain: Jeming (Fourth Level Logistics Element Wizard)

Composition: 1000 people (including 23 Third Level Wizards, 477 Second Level Wizards, 500 First Level Wizards)

Attached Units: Alchemy War Puppets, Elemental Summoning Array, Biochemical Giant Beasts...

Teleportation coordinates locked, please await teleportation command.

First Squad Captain.

Jeming wasn’t surprised by this assignment.

After all, among the thirty thousand people present, there weren’t many Fourth Level Wizards, and his rating as an "Elite Combat Unit" within the military system should be quite high.

But truly commanding a tactical squad of a thousand people was a first for him.

"It’s not light pressure," he muttered to himself, but a gleam of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Being the first to go, although the risk is not low, the opportunities are equally plentiful.

At this moment, Artarius raised his hand again.

The lead-gray dome of the sky suddenly became transparent, and a massive light screen unfolded across the view.

The image showed a dark red world—the real-time image of the Reincarnation Plane.

Visible was a densely packed Wizard Legion advancing, all colors of witchcraft lighting up like rain pouring towards the distant blackish-purple insect tide.

The shells of the Reaper Race shattered under the energy bombardment, but their numbers seemed endless, emerging from the ground, behind mountains, and even from spore clouds in the sky.

The battle didn’t appear difficult.

The wizards’ front was steadily advancing, with Sixth and Seventh Level Wizards hovering high above, occasionally eliminating gathering High Tier Reaper Race.

But Jeming frowned.

He noticed several details.

The charge formation of the Reaper Race was changing, seeming to predict the witchcraft’s impact point, dispersing in advance.

Some individuals’ shells revealed targeted elemental resistance patterns; there’s even a squad of Reaper Race subterranean units, skillfully bypassing the wizards’ vibration-sensing barriers.

"This is the battlefield of ’being adapted’..." Jeming’s heart chilled.

Nevertheless, even so, the wizards, relying on their powerful pressure, continued advancing, soon breaking through the final defense line.

Yet, just then, the screen suddenly began twitching.

It wasn’t signal interference, but the entire plane twitching.

Mountains, rivers, shattered shells, yet undissipated witchcraft aftereffects...

Everything replayed like a reversed video, retreating towards the ’past’ at an irrational speed.

The dead Reaper Race stood up again, consumed magic energy returned to the spellcaster’s body, even the flattened terrain quickly restored to its original state.

The overall process only lasted three seconds.

When the screen stabilized, the battlefield returned to the ’initial state’: the wizards had just completed teleportation assembly at the plane’s cleft, the Reaper Race’s main force was still surging on the distant horizon, as if that hour-long intense battle had never happened.

Only the solemn expressions of the wizards on the Ship Plane proved it wasn’t an illusion.

"Cycle one hundred and thirty-seven, ended." Artarius calmly announced, "Cycle one hundred and thirty-eight, begin."

He turned towards the thirty thousand below the stage.

"First Tactical Squad, prepare for teleportation."

Jeming took a deep breath, grasping the Magic Staff in his hand.

Behind him, the squad of wizards lined up, and various cannon fodder units were fully prepared.

On the edge of the light screen in the sky, a massive black crack slowly tore open.

Dark red light currents surged within the crack, faintly audible were sounds of fighting and energy explosions from the other side.

"Remember," Artarius said one final time, "You’re new variables but also new prey. The Reaper Race will study you, adapt to you at the fastest speed. Each cycle, they will understand you a bit better."

"So, don’t give them too much time."

The terminal’s countdown for departure reached zero.

Jeming raised his hand, his voice spread through the amplification array to the entire First Squad:

"Attention all, follow me, charge formation!"

He didn’t choose a conservative defensive formation but directly adopted the most aggressive wedge-shaped charge formation.

Since the enemy was already familiar with "old wizard" tactics, the first contact must disrupt the opponent’s rhythm in the most unpredictable way.

A thousand wizards simultaneously activated protective witchcraft, various energy halos brightened.

Five thousand Alchemy War Puppets started accelerating with heavy steps, their shells streaming the latest anti-bio-acid coating.

Elemental Summoning Array began chanting, coagulating fire elemental giants, wind blade hawks, rock golem prototypes in the air.

And the cannon fodder army behind Jeming, like a silent black tide, began surging.

"Go!"

He was the first to rush towards the black crack in the sky.