Chapter 1202 - 192: Old Jasper Approaches (Part 3)

Chapter 1202: Chapter 192: Old Jasper Approaches (Part 3)

The atmosphere in the council chamber was heavy. All the ministers knew that Oerstein was telling the plain truth. The strength of the Hesse Territory lay in its vast strategic depth and abundant manpower, but that also meant that, when faced with a sudden and precisely targeted threat, its greatest weakness was the speed at which it could assemble its forces.

Su Li leaned back in the Lord’s chair, his fingers gently tapping the cold armrest as his deep gaze slowly moved across the map. His promotion as a Divine Chosen had brought him not only Power, but a sharper intuition and a broader field of vision. He was not intimidated by the difficulties before him; instead, in Oerstein’s account he had found a possible point of breakthrough.

"You’re right, Oerstein." Su Li’s voice broke the silence, steady and powerful. "A full mobilization and a frontal clash—there truly isn’t enough time, and it’s not the best plan."

He stood up and walked to the map, his sharp gaze sweeping over the terrain around the Black Forest. "The key lies in prediction!" he said, cutting his words like a blade. "We must know which route Old Jasper and his corpse horde will choose to invade on this Double Crescent Moon Night! If we can determine their main axis of attack in advance, then we can deploy our limited, most Elite forces in ambush at the critical points!"

His gaze shifted to the Half-Elf Arnhoff: "Arnhoff, just now you mentioned that the Night Wanderer Corpses’ routes ’seem to have no pattern,’ but their numbers increase with every appearance. Those tavern tales about bells, wagon wheels, and the places they were sighted... Is there really not a single clue from which we can infer their possible path this time? Think carefully!"

Arnhoff shivered under Su Li’s piercing stare, but when he thought of that Golden Crown promise and the might of the powerful Lord before him, he forced his brow into a frown, straining to recall those half-true, half-false horror stories he had heard in taverns.

"Clues... clues..." he muttered, his fingers nervously twisting the hem of his clothes. "The tales... the tales say they always follow ancient roads, or... or places with a lot of Dead? Because... because they can awaken the ones buried there... Right! There’s also a ballad! I heard a wandering bard sing it recently, one of those really terrifying ones..."

He cleared his throat and, in his thick accent, began humming in that peculiar Half-Elf style—half comical, yet shot through with eerie undertones:

"When twin moons hang in a crescent sky,

Old Jasper claws from the grey stone high.

The corpse-cart creaks, dull bells lament,

Down Crow Ridge slope by the old river bent.

Skirting the woods, it dodges the fields,

Dead-silent hamlets are where it musters its shields.

Hear the bells, quick cover your eyes,

Follow along and you’re doomed where you lie..."

Finishing the last line, Arnhoff shuddered and hunched his neck. "That’s... that’s roughly it. Crow Ridge... old riverbank... and dead-silent villages... these words keep coming up. Our Half-Elf caravans fear most to hear the three words ’Crow Ridge’ when we travel by night—everyone says that’s the marketplace of the Dead..."

"Crow Ridge!" Su Li and Oerstein barked out almost in unison, their gazes instantly locking onto a region on the map marked with the symbol for rugged mountains.

Oliver also strode quickly forward, pointing at the map. "Crow Ridge! It lies on the northern edge of the Black Forest, on the border with our Central Plain! There is indeed an almost abandoned ancient riverbed relic there, called the ’Dry Riverbed.’ More importantly..."

His finger moved across the map, passing over several little skull-marked dots. "Along this route there are several villages abandoned during past Plagues, wars, or Monster attacks! It perfectly matches the description of ’dead-silent villages’! And this route can bypass the main body of the Black Forest, skirt our primary cultivated zones, and stab straight into our sparsely populated but resource-rich northern river valley!"

If they could determine Old Jasper’s line of march this time, then their side would be able to set up a targeted ambush!

As for the Night Wanderer Corpses’ combat strength, Su Li wasn’t too worried. As long as the Hesse Territory could successfully concentrate its main forces, smashing these Skeleton racks would not be difficult.

But when it came to Old Jasper, Su Li had no choice but to be cautious. After all, this was a powerful Legendary Lich!

The last time he fought the mirror projection of a Legendary Level Holy Sanctuary Knight, the battle had been brutal beyond words, and the memory was burned into his mind. If the opponent hadn’t gone easy on them to an absurd degree, the few of them as Divine Chosen Knights wouldn’t have lasted even one hour.

And Old Jasper would absolutely not be going easy on anyone. How to deal with him would be the key to deciding this battle.

Su Li asked, "Have you seen Old Jasper yourself?"

"I... I have... my cousin saw him once." Arnhoff lifted his head. "He said a bunch of Skeletons in ragged clothes appeared by the graveyard and started dancing. When the village Guards went to deal with it, it told the Guards it was taking away their corpses, then jumped over the blasted wall. Its voice was as shrill as a wailing ghost."

"So how strong is Old Jasper, exactly?" Su Li frowned. He felt this Half-Elf still hadn’t given him any solid reference—what could a bunch of Guards prove?

"My cousin, he said he didn’t sleep all night, just listened to the bell ringing outside. He tiptoed to the window and opened the shutter—of course only an inch—and Jasper was right there."

The Half-Elf shivered. "He was riding on top of the carriage—but ’this carriage had no horses.’ Only a pair of Dead were dragging it along. Old Jasper was the hooded one, whipping them on. The coach was full of... bodies. Piles of bodies, all crying and screaming, reaching desperately through the gaps between the boards. My cousin must have been scared out of his wits, so he let out a gasp. That was when Old Jasper looked at him! By the next day he was dead, like a rabbit."

Su Li and Oliver realized the crux of the issue at the same time. "If your cousin died, then by the leather sword-hilt of Violet, how did you ever hear his story?"

This Half-Elf’s tale was far too horrifying!

Just a single glance, and a Half-Elf’s life was taken?

If it came to a battlefield, wouldn’t their ordinary soldiers just serve as an endless supply of fresh corpses for him?

To deal with such a thing they would probably need large numbers of Elite Knights just to withstand his damage.

Then all the Divine Chosen Knights in the Territory would have to be committed, staking everything on a decapitation strike.

Plainly, compared to all that, Su Li and the Knights were far more inclined to believe this Half-Elf was lying!

"Ha, obviously he told me beforehand," Arnhoff shot back at once, full of bluster.

Demster felt a chill run down his spine, but he couldn’t admit that a mighty Mole’s Chosen One was spooked by some half-man-half-ghost thing. He leapt out and said, "Bah, you sure this isn’t just a ghost story you’re telling?"

"It wouldn’t even scare my daughter’s wet nurse! Come, let me tell you a story I heard in the Southern Empire about a Cavalry troop that spread Plague."

To Su Li’s growing astonishment, the council very quickly degenerated into a contest to see who could tell the most terrifying tale. Demster’s story described a gorgeously decorated carriage roaming the Empire, draining the lives of those Cursed to follow it.

The Dwarf Dorglin refused to be outdone and shared a tale from the underground corridors—a vast subterranean network linking the Dwarf Fortress together—about travelers who heard the dull thud of pickaxes drawing nearer and nearer, only to find, once their lantern went dark, that they had come face to face with those who had perished there, and then died in the Darkness, cold and alone.

Curiously, this actually dispersed the tension that had shrouded everyone ever since the Night Wanderer Corpses appeared, as if by telling these stories they dragged the terror back into the realm of imagination.

It was clear that the Legendary Lich had brought immense psychological pressure to these Knights and Dwarves alike.

If they couldn’t find an effective countermeasure, their own morale would be severely affected.

Su Li slammed his right fist down hard on the armrest, his presence fierce as he said, "Although Old Jasper is a Legendary Lich, I don’t believe he’s invincible."

"Since war is inevitable, we’ll strike first and knock the edge off his momentum. We’ll use the Elite Knight Order to shatter his vanguard, then lure them into a battlefield of our own choosing."

"And once they’re on that battlefield, the Dwarves will unleash every kind of gunpowder and shell in concert with our decapitation strike on Old Jasper! I need you to bring out everything you’ve been hiding in your chests!"

Dorglin thumped his chest with a heavy fist, his beard bristling. "Leave it to us, Lord! Those Skeleton racks and those bastards who toy with death—the Dwarves’ hammers and Runes will teach them the meaning of eternal silence! I’ll head to the workshop right now and dig out all the ’good stuff’ we keep for old liches!"

The Knights’ battle spirit flared as well. Since even a Legendary Lich cast a shadow over the Territory, then they would use victory to stir the hearts of men and raise their morale!