Chapter 718: Loyalty to Her Belief
Translator: TransN  Editor: TransN

"I've scored the first point!"

Andrea gracefully lifted her long hair to shake off the snowflakes, turned toward Ashes and said, "It's now your turn to transport it."

"Wait... Why me?" Ashes stared at Andrea.

"Because you're strong," she said flatly, "this is a team competition, and naturally we'll need to work together. Don't forget that we represent the honor of Sleeping Island. If we lose the match because you were too slow in moving the beasts, I'll report you to Princess Tilly."

"Overwhelming victory! Nightingale, did you see that?" Andrea looked proudly toward Ashes and felt an immense satisfaction. Ashes looked displeased yet had no choice but to bend over and carry the unconscious demonic boar.

After all, Andrea would not be able to move such a heavy thing.

"Stay here and don't move. I'll be right back," said the Extraordinary to Andrea, as she placed the sturdy demonic boar rack on her shoulder.

"I know. Hurry up."

After Ashes left, Andrea looked up to the forest and asked, "Leaf, could you please tell me where the next demonic beast is?"

"It's on your right about 450 meters away. It's a snowwolf." The branches swayed. "But aren't you going to wait for Ashes?"

"Of course not. That'd be way too slow." Andrea thought for a moment and said, "Hmm... that's about 900 paces away. I'm going to head off. Could you please let Ashes know my new location?"

Leaf was silent for a moment before replying, "I understand."

"Don't worry. It's only a stupid wolf. With you around to remind me, it can't touch me."

Even the gigantic demonic hybrid she met last time was defenseless in front of her new abilities—the original magic arrows were incredibly powerful but only had a range of 10 paces. Now as long as she had enough power, she could shoot to a distance of more than 100 meters. She even had a derivative skill that allowed her to hit accurately without fail. Even if the demonic beast had two pairs of wings, it would not be able to escape her attack.

This time, she was confident about winning!

*******************

"I'm sorry. I didn't think he'd get you involved in such a trifle." Phyllis looked at Agatha who was walking in front of her and said, "I only casually agreed to it at that time."

When Phyllis first heard about the proposal, she did not think too much about it because she had lost her palate and the Chaos Drinks were no longer appealing. What made her agree to it was simple curiosity—anyway it was better than being idle and she could take the opportunity to observe the Witch Union's fighting ability. She did not expect that this hunting game was actually a competition and that her teammate would be Agatha, once the youngest Senior Witch.

"It doesn't matter. This is much better than staying cooped up in the lab and researching the Magic Stone. It's good to go out and get some exercise," said Agatha, shrugging her shoulders. "If I didn't have time to spare, I wouldn't have promised His Majesty in the first place."

"Is that so? Then... shall we just grab a few demonic beasts to make up the figures?"

"How could we do that? This is a competition."

"But I thought the king of the common people said that friendship was first and that competition came second? The others also agreed to it."

"I don't think that's what they really feel. You could tell from their expressions what they were thinking. Even without the Chaos Drinks as prizes, Lightning and Andrea would still be unwilling to lose." Agatha paused and said, "If it's just a normal game, then that doesn't matter. But now we're a team that represents Taquila, right?"

"Yes..." Phyllis suddenly felt that Andrea was full of fighting spirit.

"In that case, if it's a competition then we need to win." Agatha paused in her footsteps and some crystals condensed in her hand.

Leaf's voice could be heard almost simultaneously. "A wolf-eagle demonic hybrid is 200 meters behind you and approaching quickly!"

Phyllis retreated two steps and looked behind toward the snow-white forest. A slender white-haired monster appeared in the snow with a howl. Its wings glided as if it were sliding on the ground, and the beast made almost no sound. It was no wonder Phyllis did not notice the enemy approaching from behind.

As the temperature near Agatha plummeted, the snow suddenly became hard ice. As the enemy approached, she threw the sharp ice crystals in her hand to force the hybrid to dodge and then caused it to lose its balance on the smooth ice.

The Senior Witch remained stable on the ground. She effortlessly glided to the side of the monster, placed her hands on its fur and instantly turned it into half an ice sculpture.

Phyllis admired Agatha's flowy uninhibited way of fighting and could see why she was a part of Taquila. Although Agatha was a member of the Quest Society and had never experienced a real battle, she could still see that Agatha had put in a lot of hard work in combat training. In particular, when she combined both pace and ability, she was in an advantageous position to take the initiative—any enemy fighting with her on the ice would certainly fall under her control.

"How did you manage to find it?" Phyllis asked curiously.

"I summoned a thin piece of ice at my feet that could help me to detect the enemy as soon as it entered the snow."

"I see..." She looked at the mixed species whose body had been covered with ice crystals, except for its head that was hanging out. "Should I drag it now to the city wall?"

"Just leave it here. Since it won't freeze to death that quickly, we can wait until we catch a few more." Agatha waved her hand and said, "We have to find the next demonic beast as soon as possible."

Phyllis realized that she was serious. This young Senior Witch did want to win the competition.

Is it because she represents Taquila? So in the future negotiations, will her loyalty lie with Neverwinter or the Taquila survivors?

This question left Phyllis feeling uneasy.

She only took a few steps before she could not resist saying, "Lady Agatha..."

"Don't address me like that. Just call me Agatha," she said as she turned her head. "Didn't you say that the Taquila witches were no longer ranked in terms of ability, but that everyone was equal?"

"Yes... there has been a gradual consensus since Lady Eleanor sacrificed herself and fewer and fewer companions have survived... Neither the higher ascendants at the Union nor the most common Original Witches should ever be separated by rank. It was Pasha who suggested 'Every witch is equally important'."

"And I'm no exception." Agatha nodded her head and said, "The people in the Witch Union call each other sisters, and sometimes I think they'll be the heirs of the new era."

"I see," Phyllis hesitated and said, "Can I ask you a question... What exactly do you think of the Taquila Witches and Neverwinter?"

"I guess you wish to find out which side I'm loyal to?" Agatha said as she stopped in her tracks.

Phyllis did not avoid looking at Agatha and this was very important for them.

"I'm loyal to my own belief," Agatha replied.

"Belief?"

"That's right, so I hope you'll be able to move to the Western Region of Graycastle and join hands with Neverwinter in the fight against the demons under the leadership of Roland Wimbledon."

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Chapter 719: "The New Union"
Translator: TransN  Editor: TransN

Suddenly the snow forest became silent. Only the occasional wind brushing against the treetops could be heard.

Phyllis was silent for a long time. "I thought you would stand by Taquila," she said reluctantly, "you were willing to represent the Taquila Witches in the competition and willing to help..."

Her voice quickly lowered. "That's right. I shouldn't impose too much. This is just a game. Compared with the Taquila Quest Society who had ostracized her, Neverwinter that saved her life was certainly more trustworthy. And in Agatha's eyes, they might still not be legitimate successors of Taquila... After all, they have lost the possibility of exerting magic after converting to the God's Punishment Army."

However, Agatha's next sentence rekindled her hope.

"I'm a Taquila Witch and this won't change."

Agatha's voice was smooth and honest as if she were recounting a most simple statement.

"Then why do you think we should accept the leadership of a common person?" Phyllis felt sincerely puzzled.

"Taquila... Starfall City, Arrieta, or the dozens of cities on the Fertile Plains all unanimously decided to accept the leadership of the Union, simply because the Union was established by witches?" Agatha sighed softly. "Did you forget the original purpose as to why the Union was set up?"

The Union's original... purpose, whether it was the roundtable parliament at the very beginning or the Three Chiefs system that was set up later on, was just for one thing. "Overcome the demons," Phyllis said softly.

"Yes, it was to defeat the demons and it had nothing to do with whether one was a common person or not. After the first Battle of Divine Will, the witches diminished the authority of the common people and unified the Fertile Plains, only because they were too weak and their cooperation couldn't help to resist the demon in any way. Now the common people have shown their power, so if we serve the Union and Roland Wimbledon, what difference would that make? Only he can unite the secular regime and at the same time accept the witches of this era."

Agatha's words flashed like a bolt of lightning across her mind—

Phyllis realized that she had apparently misunderstood something, and the newly emerging idea astonished her.

"Do you mean... Neverwinter would be the new Union?"

"It'd be a part of the Union," Agatha corrected and said, "of course, His Majesty may not like the name. But no matter what it's called in the future, its essence is still the same—in order to win over the Gods, Taquila, Starfall City, the Witch Cooperation Association, the Sleeping Island... and the secular kingdoms will unite to fight a bloody battle against the demons. It's not a question of where my loyalty lies, but a question of being able to continue. The only reason I was able to survive the Frozen Coffin was to see the day the demons would be defeated."

That was why she replied that she was faithful to her own belief.

Phyllis finally understood Agatha's ideas.

Agatha hoped to win the competition on behalf of Taquila, yet this was not a conflict with her serving Roland Wimbledon. Just as 400 years ago, all the cities of Fertile Plains were loyal to the Union. The only difference was that the leader of the New Alliance had changed from the Three Chiefs to one common person.

"Your assessment of him is really high," she said in a rather complex mood. "If the goal was only to defeat the demons, we're also constantly working on it, and the situation will be reversed once we find the chosen one."

"But we haven't found it yet, right? Or in other words, we have found an unexpected 'chosen one'." Agatha started to chuckle. "Rest assured, if there's such a witch, His Majesty will certainly not stop you from ending the Battle of Divine Will. In fact, he'll only help you to find her. This is why I hope you'll move to the Western Region of Graycastle—the witches who choose to settle here will surely increase, and you'll have more chances to find the chosen one, won't you?"

Phyllis found herself being convinced. Even if she didn't want to admit it, Agatha did make sense. "The truth is he's really able to stop the demons... do you really have faith in the common people?"

"I think I can expect it from a common person who connects the witches and all the common people together." Agatha raised the corner of her mouth and said, "Isn't His Majesty preparing a gunfire exercise for you? After it's finished, maybe you'll be able to understand where my belief comes from."

The so-called artillery exercises should showcase the key to what she calls "art." Although it was unclear whether the two had anything to do with combatting the demons, but since the genius Senior Witch already said so, she decided to look forward to it as well.

Just then, a string of loud roars came through the forest, causing the branches to tremble—"Ow—Ow—"

Phyllis's expression changed suddenly.

She was familiar with this sound. It was obviously the hissing of the flying Devilbeast. "Why are there demons here?"

"It's Maggie," said Agatha, curling her lips. "Her evolved ability is becoming anything that can fly, and the demon is no exception."

Phyllis let out a sigh of relief when she realized it was caused by magic ability. But soon she frowned again. "In this case, it's too easy for her to seize the demonic beasts, isn't it?"

Lower breed demonic beasts were senseless, so it was easy for them to surrender to more powerful creatures. In the face of the flying Devilbeast, they would only be scared motionless on the spot and be easy prey. Not to mention that transporting prey from the air was much faster than dragging it from the snow. So how could Phyllis and Agatha win?

"Don't worry." Agatha seemed to have looked through her thoughts. "We're not without a chance. Maggie's ability is really convenient. But neither she nor Lightning, nor all the witches here, have ever withstood the rigors of combat training. In other words, they can't use their magic power to its fullest ability."

Whilst Agatha was talking, a black shadow flew over her head, grabbing a wild demonic toward the direction of the city wall—we can see that her stature was staggering, even the adult Devilbeast would be much smaller than her.

"Are you saying... Maggie won't be able to last until sunset?"

"The Devilbeast's breath is too strong, and will expel in advance all the prey in the area of activity. In that case, she will most likely change into the pigeon and join Lightning together to search for targets, and then suddenly evolve into Devilbeast to capture the demonic beasts. Change is a very exhausting process of magic and once her magic power is depleted, it's difficult to rely on Lightning alone to maintain the efficiency of capturing." Agatha smiled and said, "So the next demonic beast will be attacked by you and I'll only be responsible for holding it down."

Phyllis's eyes brightened. For them, learning how to squeeze their potential was a required strategy of combat. At this point, the newly promoted Senior Witches were indeed no different from the fledgling newcomers.

"Yes, leave it to me!"

...

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Chapter 720: The Competition Results and Admission Ceremony
Translator: TransN  Editor: TransN

Just as Agatha had anticipated, it was uncommon to hear Maggie's carefree roar in the afternoon.

When a witch was engaged in fighting, their highly tense mind would consume not only their magic power but also their physical strength. So, the Union concentrated on the key points needed to make the best use of the fighter's time. Allowing her to relax her mind and restore her physical strength during combat training. After all, when the demons came and swarmed them, only by relying on reasonable shifts and cooperation would they be able to survive on the battlefield.

This meant that while Phyllis was urging and luring the demonic beasts, Agatha would take the opportunity to rest some until several beasts had been gathered together... They took a quick break at noon, only eating dry food with snow for lunch. After Agatha managed to freeze three or four beasts, she would then shape the snow into a smooth ice track that would slide their captures to the Western Region's city wall.

As the sky dimmed and became grey, Leaf informed them that the competition had ended.

When they returned to the starting line, they were surprised to find that there were dozens of demonic beasts trapped in wooden cages. The number of caged demonic hybrid beasts had increased to around 30. The biggest one among them was a wolf-bear demonic hybrid. It was almost as tall as the wall, with limbs as thick as stone pillars, and it was so strong that even a God's Punishment soldier and Devilbeast were unlikely to defeat it.

[Which team caught that one?]

Phyllis's face barely changed, even as feelings of loss flooded her. After all, they had done their best—22 small-sized and medium-sized demonic beasts, a score that she had thought would be high enough to stand out, but now it seemed that their score might be at the bottom.

How were the other two teams able to catch so many demonic beasts?

Wendy walked in front of them, relieved to see everyone safe, "You've all worked hard." Then she pulled out a notebook and began to announce the results.

"Neverwinter, seven points, well done."

[Wait... seven points?] Phyllis thought in shock. [Neverwinter isn't first? Could it be that the remaining 80 beasts were caught by the two members from the Sleeping Island?]

"It's all Maggie's fault," Lightning said, touching her forehead, "If she didn't leave halfway through, to steal eggs from the nest of a winter hawk and then spend two hours roasting them, we would have caught a few more."

"It was you who let me go coo..." the Pigeon perched on Lighting's head grumbled her grievance, "Not to mention, you ate more roasted eggs than me, what's more, you even wanted some Bird Beak Mushrooms, saying that eggs would taste better with mushrooms coo..."

"Nevermind, it's Okay as long as all of you come back safely... well, next is Sleeping Island, fifteen points. Ashes, you really are a fighter," Wendy continued.

"She just ran the captures for us," Andrea griped, "I was the one who knocked down the beasts. Too bad that we came across so few monsters on our way. Besides, she didn't run fast enough."

Ashes shot her a petulant look. "Why don't you try carrying those demonic boars back and forth, 15 times, in the snow?"

"Muscular barbarians are more suitable for this kind of job."

"They are better than someone so delicate and fragile."

"You—"

"Ahem," Wendy quickly interrupted the growing dispute, "the last is Taquila's team with a total of 22 points! Congratulations, the month's share of Chaos Drinks reward is now yours!"

"Ah, so enviable!" Andrea said begrudgingly.

"I want to drink that too coo..." Maggie eagerly looked at Agatha.

However, Phyllis was very startled, "There are clearly hundreds of cages containing demonic beasts..."

"Oh, Leaf caught them along the way," Wendy said waving her hand while smiling.

As the person in charge of the Witch Union said this, every participant automatically turned their eyes to the green-haired witch standing beside them.

Leaf touched the back of her head bashfully as she said, "I was afraid that there would be too many demonic beasts entering the hunting area, so I set a 3,000-foot radius trap on the outer-ring, only allowing some beasts to pass through specific passages. After that, I thought that since the beasts were already trapped in a vine trap, I could simply drag all of them to the edge of the forest and add more targets for His Majesty."

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

Alone she had caught more beasts than the three competing teams combined. Moreover, she had done it while keeping watch over the competition. No one had ever considered that there would be a combat witch that powerful hiding among the higher ascendants in the Witch Union.

Even a Transcendent wouldn't be capable of catching so many demonic beasts within a day.

[Why do I feel unutterably depressed and overwhelmed...? ] Phyllis wondered to herself.

Suddenly, she felt that winning the competition wasn't as important.

***************

The following day, Neverwinter finally finished all of the preparation necessary for the artillery exercise.

When Roland arrived at the West Wall, the top of the wall was packed with 2,000 citizens, in their sold-out seats, eagerly waiting to watch the exercise. According to Edith, 80% of the seat holders were former residents of Border Town. This clearly showed that spending two silver royals to participate in an activity, where the king was present, no longer posed a financial burden for the locals.

The Western Region's weather seemed to accommodate the exercise. After a long night of heavy snowfall, it had stopped at the break of dawn and the howling northern wind had eased as well. The vast field to the west of the city wall seemed to be covered with a layer of silver-white carpet. The rutted track marks and footprints left behind from carrying the demonic beasts had been covered by the snow, making the ground appear clean and untouched.

The Demonic beasts, being the targets, had undoubtedly caught the attention of the audience. The numerous captures had been divided into three rows, each aligned with one of the three firing distances; 1,000, 1,600, and 3,300 feet. The more brutal demonic hybrid beasts had been lined in the rows closest to the attendees. It was obvious that that being able to witness these mighty monsters being turned into a bloody pulp under the heavy artillery fire would bring them unparalleled enjoyment. A sweet revenge for the residents of Neverwinter who had suffered so much during the Months of Demons.

The smaller beasts were meant to be fodder for the embedded gunpowder. It was too far to see any details so it was just for embellishment. However, in Roland's opinion, the number of beasts was more important. In the last row, the cages that trapped demonic beasts lined up with a length up to 330 feet, waiting for the most resplendent blaze.

Iron Axe climbed up the wall and reported loudly, "Your Majesty, the artillery battalion for the First Army is ready."

Roland exhaled a white breath and turned around to look at Echo, who was standing beside him, "Play the Parade March Song."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

As the magic power spread from Echo's fingers, the familiar resonance instantly rang out across the wall. Even though Roland had heard this song before, since it was practiced over and over on the school's sports days, his heart still skipped a beat once the melody echoed in the air of Neverwinter. It was as if the song had the power to bolster him as he waited for the soldiers' arrival.

The people who had been chatting were hushed and they all turned their eyes towards the end of the long street that was near the city wall. There they saw a team of soldiers, in uniform, marching up the street towards their positions in an orderly manner.

Roland remembered the first time he experienced the Months of Demons two years ago when the city had been like a palm-sized land. People with less than two months training had to fight against demonic beasts on the rubble-built cement wall with lances and spears. At that time, even a common demonic hybrid could put the Militia into a frenzy. However, now, they would remain calm and composed while faced with a higher level challenge. The seemingly powerful demonic beasts had now become the targets that will help to declare the strength of Neverwinter. The apparent contrast made Roland extremely excited.

As the soldiers slowly climbed up the wall through the gentle slopes, a euphoric applause broke out among the crowd, wave after wave, almost as if it would never stop. He knew that there was no need for him to make a speech at the moment, everyone was waiting expectantly for the melodious roar of artillery.

So, Roland just loudly announced, "Let the artillery exercise begin!"

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Chapter 721: Artillery Exercise
Translator: TransN  Editor: TransN

Ferlin Eltek was quite surprised seeing the parade of the soldiers of the First Army climb up the wall in order.

Known as the star knight of the Western Region he was naturally familiar with the training of knights, and knew how difficult it was to ensure that people kept order while marching in a group. Whether for knights or mercenaries, when they were under a Lord's purview, their numbers in each row would be no more than five, for if the horizontal line became too long, it would be very easy to become disordered, giving the audience whose seats were far away the sight of a messy eyesore.

In general, the difficulty of keeping order increased exponentially with the number of soldiers. But in this group, the number of soldiers was over 100, with more than 10 soldiers in each column and row, and all of them were in uniforms of the same color with bright ribbons diagonally across their chests, making them look like a moving square.

This visual impact gave Ferlin an unstoppable momentum, once the formation was maintained, the advantage of keeping a large group became most incisive.

This could also be seen from the enthusiastic response of the crowds around him.

"Look at the third row. There is my boy!"

"They're marching in such good order!"

"All of them look like one person!"

"If two armies are confronting each other on the battlefield, I'm afraid that the enemies will be frightened out of their wits just by seeing this kind of formation."

"Ha, I think they'll be fleeing just on hearing the name of His Majesty."

"What's the name of this song?"

"I don't know, but... I feel full of strength!"

"That's the effect made by Miss Echo's magic power."

"It's a pity that May couldn't witness this," Irene said, holding the arm of Morning Light. "If she were here seeing it, she'd surely have been able to reproduce the exciting scene in the drama."

"She's pregnant. Of course, she can't stand on the city wall in the chilly wind with you," Ferlin shook his head and said with a smiling face. "Rest assured that you'll definitely get another chance. I bet there'll be more and more activities like this in the future."

Both the review of knights and artillery exercises were the means for the lord to show his power. The current strength accumulated in Neverwinter was beyond everyone's imagination. There was no doubt that his Majesty was capable of conquering more territories. With such a troop, it would not be surprising that he could even take all of the four kingdoms under his dominion when the time came. Demonstrations like this one would be absolutely necessary in order to overawe the people.

"My dear, would you like to join this team?" Irene asked abruptly.

"What?" Morning Light was a little shocked.

"I can feel it," Irene said, smiling at him. "Your heart is beating fast."

"Is it..." Ferlin exhaled a white breath. He realized that even if his father did not say the words at that time, he would not be a teacher for his whole life.

Sir Eltek was right. If he really liked books, he would not have decided to be a knight at the very beginning and would not have done his best to earn the reputation, the well-known Morning Light.

The army was the best place for him.

He wanted to join the First Army and become His Majesty's sword, to fight for the king and to play a role in expanding the kingdom's territory to an unprecedented scale.

Although His Majesty had said that he, a knight who had surrendered, would have no chance to pick up a weapon again, there were other ways to join the First Army, according to his father.

He wondered to what extent His Majesty's Adviser Department had developed now.

He watched the artillerymen entering the shooting positions as if he had seen himself in the future.

...

The music stopped.

This was an indication to be ready for the firing.

Van'er gave the order to take aim.

Six Longsong Cannons that were set at the widened area of the city wall dropped the barrels to point at the cages 300 meters away—a distance to which shells would keep flying straight to the target without falling. Because it was uncertain whether the demonic beasts' bodies would trigger the fuze, they must keep the muzzles lower so that the shells would hit the snow under the cages.

"My God, this one is so ugly." Nelson whistled. The mortar team he was in charge of was aiming at a large wolf-bear hybrid. The beast probably had felt a gloomy foreboding and was struggling to get rid of the shackles. The huge body crashed hard against the bars, making the cage shake constantly.

"Be serious," Van'er frowned and warned. "This isn't the usual training. Everyone is watching us."

"I'm a little nervous," Cat's Claw said, his voice a bit stiff. "Being stared at by so many people makes me want to pee..."

Many members at the scene shared the same feeling.

"Yeah, it's more uncomfortable than confronting the duke's knightage before."

"If you miss the target, you'll be laughed at by all of the citizens."

"Just do it as you did in the previous exercise. No more nonsense!" Van'er shot Cat's Claw a glance, "Remember not to mistake the live shell with the headless shell. If something goes wrong, detention will be waiting for you. Now, load!"

After entering the loading process, everyone at the spot suddenly got busy. No matter how they felt now, they had been so familiar with the procedure after the long period of training that they would be able to complete it even with their eyes closed.

The loading of the 152-mm Longsong Cannon was much faster than the twelve-pound field artillery cannon. After all of the six cannons were ready, Iron Axe's voice of countdown was heard from the top of the wall.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

At the same time, the noise of the audience came to an abrupt end, as if everyone was waiting for the moment when the muzzles burst out flames and thunder.

But Van'er was unexpectedly calm in his heart. Looking at the demonic beasts roaring crazily in the cages, he recalled the days four years ago when his younger brother had died of famine and cold in his arms, when he had practiced day and night for eating one more egg, when he had fought the demonic beasts on the rubble-built city wall with pikes.

The changes that had taken place in recent years were vivid before his eyes.

"Five, four, three..."

He had only been an ordinary miner in the old street of Border Town. He did not make up his mind to stay in the Militia to defend His Majesty's land against demonic beasts until His Majesty had said to him, "I have faith in you. Keep it up." But even so, he did not expect things to come to this state today.

Van'er secretly turned his head and looked at the gray-haired man in the distance, Roland Wimbledon, who had made him calm. As long as His Majesty stood behind him, no matter what kind of enemy stood in front of him, he would not retreat.

"Two, one! Fire!"

"Fire!"

Van'er waved down his arm abruptly.

At the same time, six Longsong Cannons spewed out long flames and green smoke, accompanied by the huge boom that turned the snow on the wall into flying white mist. Within a blink of an eye, the shells shot across the distance of 300 meters. When people heard the deafening bombarding bang, the shells had dropped in front of the hybrid demonic beasts.

The compressed fuze triggered the double-base gunpowder in the warhead, blasting away six mud pillars in a flash and smashing the wooden cages—the beasts' seemingly sturdy bodies were like paper swirling in front of rampant waves. The flakes of wood mingled with hot and bloody flesh were flying straight up into the sky. Meanwhile, intestines and broken limbs scattered all around.

The crowds suddenly burst out fanatic cheers.

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Chapter 722: Resplendent Blaze
Translator: TransN  Editor: Meh

According to Roland's plan, the firing would not stop once it had started.

The first, five rounds of the volley turned around 20 beasts, in the first row, into ashes. Then, in the free shooting time, the rapid firing, emptying ammunition, paired with the ignition of black powder, created a grand roaring momentum.

Thus, as the firing continued to ring out, the atmosphere created by this scene ushered in a new upsurge. The frequent blasts created a cloud of almost endless dust that made the surrounding 1,500-foot radius look like an impending doomsday. Occasionally a ricocheting stone would crush a cage and if the beast survived it would flee, choosing to run away, instead of rushing to the wall.

Fear had overridden their bloodthirsty instincts.

However, only a few would escape this land of the dead.

The strong waves radiating from underground had already begun to rupture their guts, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. Most of the fleeing beasts did not make it far before they fell back to the ground, where they were devoured by the continuing explosives.

"This is nothing when compared to the war against the church," Andrea shouted while covering her ears, her face full of pride. The witches from Wolfheart stared at Andrea, eyes wide with shock. "At that time there were only two cannons, but we still had hundreds of flintlock gun and iron cannons of a smaller sizes. The enemy wasn't demonic beasts in cages, but the men of God's Punishment Army who were fast and strong. At the moment when the battle was most fierce, the bullets were flying all around the entire battlefield. If anyone were to poke their head out from the cover they would definitely get themselves killed. That was a real battle."

Amy looked shocked, "Really?"

"No wonder the church lost the battle." Hero sighed, "It's beyond any human being's skills."

"Aren't you afraid of seeing such a scene?" Broken Sword looked admirably at Andrea.

Andrea smoothed down her billowing hair during an interval between the explosions and said, "Of course, you'll become accustomed to it after you've seen more. I have witnessed the whole process of a battle and personally killed two soldiers of the God's Punishment Army!"

She had completely forgotten that she had been as just shocked and astonished by the scenes of battle when she climbed up the city wall for the first time. It seemed that she now regarded Neverwinter as her second home and she couldn't even control her feeling of pride when she was talking about its weapons.

Most of the witches only stood there watching the show, however, Phyllis observed the events more carefully.

When the demonic beasts in the first row were bombarded, she didn't care too much—Mad Demons from this distance would also threaten the soldiers on the wall with their spears. When the common people were confronted with the bone spears, that dropped from above as violently as a Mighty Storm, how long would they be able to hold their defenses against the enemy even though their weapons, the so-called Longsong Cannon, were dramatically more powerful?

However, when they turned their fire to the second row of cages, her expression changed.

Was that the common king's reasoning for arranging the beasts in this manner? So he could gauge the cannon range? The last row of cages was over 3,000 feet from the wall. If the Longsong Cannon was able to hit that area, it meant that the cannon had a shooting range that rivaled that of the Siege Beasts', with a much higher lethality.

The Siege Beast had always been the most troublesome demon weapon for the Union. This weapon has a striking distance that is farther than any mangonel or ballista. Which made the witches have no choice but to rely on Transcendents to lead the Blessed Army to charge into the enemy's position. In this way, even if they succeeded in crushing the Siege Beasts, they would not be able to avoid a large number of casualties. However, if they had a long-range striking weapon like this, it wouldn't be impossible for them to successfully defend the Holy City of Taquila.

Phyllis wondered if this was the ultimate weapon of Neverwinter as well as the reason why Agatha had such faith in Roland.

After she asked Ice Witch this question, she just shook her head and smiled.

"Setting the target 3,000 feet away was only to meet the needs of the audience... because a target further away would affect the view of the exercise. According to His Majesty, the shooting range for the new cannon was over six miles, ten times further than its present range," Agatha turned her head to whisper in Phyllis' ear, "In other words, it could hit somewhere out of the manipulator's sight."

Ten times?  Phyllis was astonished. Although she did not quite understand what foot and mile meant, a distance that was ten times that of the current range could cover some of the demon's outposts. Did that mean, if the cannons were placed on the wall of Taquila the shells could directly hit the demons' lair?

How was that possible?

How could they ensure that the weapon would hit an enemy that's out of our view?

Agatha noticed her abstraction and continued to elaborate, "But, to hit a target so far away is not easy. It requires a lot of calculation and improvement of the aiming equipment, and I've heard that the astrologers are working on it. It appears that His Majesty intended to write a shooting range list from which they will be able to calculate the location where the shell will hit on the basis of the pre-launch data. Through this method, the shell should hit the enemy precisely, even if it is thousands of feet away."

"Are you sure?" Phyllis clenched her teeth. "Doesn't that mean that as long as we make a few more cannons, the demons won't even be able to get near the city wall?"

"Yeah, His Majesty said that this kind of strike would be called a scrubbing..." Agatha shrugged and said, "probably a name pulled from the idea of 'scrubbing' dirty things on the ground. It's a little hard to pronounce but it sounds very appropriate."

Phyllis hesitated for a second before whispering close to Agatha's ear, "Er... Can you make the cannons?"

Agatha looked at her for a moment and waited for a new round of explosions to pass before saying, "I know what you are asking. I did provide some of the materials in the shell, however, it takes way more than two people to make it."

"Even witches?"

"Far from enough... Do you know how many common people work in the chemical plant of Neverwinter? Nearly 2,000 people and the number is still growing!" Agatha sighed, "But, what they do there is no more than make explosives from acids, greases, and gases, while the production of a cannon is a completely different system. The necessary mine and smeltery have more than 3,000 people working in them, the processing plant has over 1,500 workers, and corresponding technicians to maintain and operate the finished product. How many common people do we have that could work for us even in the Taquila age?"

Phyllis became silent. After Arrieta and Starfall City fell, one after the other, the human beings' territory retreated to the corner of the plains with a plummeting population. By the time Taquila became the last shelter for all people, the number of the common people controlled by the Union was a mere 30,000 to 40,000. However, they were playing the role of supporting the combat witches, logistics, and keeping the city on course etc., it would be impossible to find enough people to manufacture the Longsong Cannons. If Agatha didn't lie to her, even the witches of Taquila at that time were unable to make it, let alone the ones who had been struggling to survive in the underground maze.

Suddenly, the booms from the cannons stopped.

The demonic beasts, in the first two rows, had completely merged with the snow, turning into puddles of blurred flesh and blood. An unearthly silence hung over the wall and no one there spoke. Everyone was staring at the furthest cages as if they were waiting for something.

Phyllis looked quizzically at Agatha, who just smiled back at her.

"Key is coming."

Before Agatha finished speaking, a bright light radiated from the ground, glimmering like a shining sun!

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Chapter 723: Power to Shake the Sky
Translator: TransN  Editor: Meh

There was no sun in the Months of Demons, which was something that had not changed for thousands of years.

The sky was always like a gloomy dark curtain where the snow was invariably flying and swirling in the wind. People barely noticed the difference in the weather other than the intensity of the snow. Like the weather today, that only one or two occasional snowflakes drifted down might be regarded as a sign that the snow had stopped. Most of the time, the white snow would swarm the entire sky, the heavy fall of snow would float and cover the whole land at all times.

Therefore, this white light was particularly eye-catching under such a background. The moment it broke out of the earth, the glow brightened the surrounding snow in an instant, as if the entire gray world was lit up slightly.

Phyllis could not help but hold her breath.

Her gaze was fixed on the light in this moment when everything seemed swift and yet slow.

As the light dimmed quickly and turned into an orange fireball, the ground 1,000 meters away from the wall was rooted up!

This was not an illusion. She clearly saw the flat snowfield rising upwards and forming a soft arc as if the land under the snow was not made of soil and rocks, but made of water that could randomly change its shape. At the top of the arc, the red fireball was rising as if it wanted to get rid of the shackles of the earth.

It succeeded! The next scene happened almost in the blink of an eye. Smoke and clouds of dust and flames erupted from the ground and tore the curved surface into pieces! The fireball skyrocketed, along with billows of black smoke rising tens of meters high, spreading a high wall that almost obscured the original light of the sky in Phyllis' vision. Both the cages and demonic beasts turned into ashes in front of the fireball. By then the earth-shattering roar came to her ears, making her tremble and her heart thud.

"Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly, the earth shook!

Phyllis subconsciously clutched Agatha, to whom she moved her lips and wanted to say something but was blocked by the coming airflow. The people on the city wall also reeled from the blowing and did not come to themselves until a long while later. They, stunned by this scene, had forgotten to cheer and applaud. The only thing they could do was look up at the rising wall of smoke.

"Is this... Key?"

Swallowing, s