"That's not necessarily true," Agatha shook her head, "Based on the experience of the Second Battle of Divine Will, if they want to scout human towns, their actions shouldn't be so casual."

"What do you mean?" the prince asked quickly.

"In order to bring back information, such reconnaissance is generally composed of two to three squads, mostly equipped with Evil Beast mounts, and they won't be too far apart—at least within the range of the Javelin Berserker." She said slowly, "To annihilate these squads, the Union often dispatches Flying Witches to outflank them from the rear, while the front deploys twice the number of Holy Guard Warriors to capture them. Towards the end of the war, the size of the reconnaissance teams grew larger, even featuring Mind Eater Demons and Flying Devils. There's no reason why they would only send two ordinary Berserkers without support to scout now, and their attire is also… somewhat shabby."

"Could it be that the devils think Border Town doesn't need them to put in much effort to check, so they just sent two people at random?" Ashes said.

"That doesn't make sense," Agatha thought for a moment, finally denying it, "In the Union era, even the smallest town, as long as it was on the border, would have witches stationed there. The devils couldn't possibly understand the changes in the human world over the past four hundred years, so the reconnaissance should still be carried out according to the arrangements of the Second Battle of Divine Will."

"You mean… they weren't intentionally scouting the town, but just happened to run into it?" Roland couldn't help but feel relieved.

"It's very possible," she frowned, seeming to be thinking about something, "The devils probably don't know that a human town has been built here, and are just exploring the area around their camp. The main enemies they might encounter are Evil Beasts, so they didn't bring Power Accumulation Magic Stones that can't be used continuously—that is, javelins, but instead chose the more convenient Lightning Stone."

"Wait…" Roland paused, "You said the devils' camp?"

"Of course, otherwise how could they travel thousands of miles to get here," Agatha said matter-of-factly, "Only after establishing a base on the Fertile Plains can the devils use it as a springboard to go to the Wilderness… oh, I forgot it should be called the Four Kingdoms now."

Damn it, that's the big deal! Enemies set up a base at his doorstep, how would he live in the future? The prince glared and asked, "Like the camp behind the Snowy Mountain?"

"Almost, during the war, a forward outpost would have at least several Mist Storage Towers to store Red Mist, plus a couple of hundred devils stationed there," Agatha nodded, "But considering that the Red Moon hasn't descended yet, they are unlikely to build a new high tower fortress on the Fertile Plains, and the transportation of Red Mist is also very inconvenient, so the camp size shouldn't be large."

"What are you going to do?" Tilly looked at Roland with some worry.

"First find the camp—if it really exists," he paused, "Then… get rid of it."

"A decisive choice," Ashes raised the corner of her mouth and said, "That's what a lord would do. Don't worry, we will also help you."

If Agatha's judgment is correct, the devils won't be able to extend their tentacles to the entire Fertile Plains before the Third Battle of Divine Will officially begins. So, after removing the stronghold near the Western Region, he can at least get a few years of peace—even if the other party wants to send troops to retaliate, they won't be able to.

Of course, this is not without risk. At least the other party will know that to the east of the Misty Forest, there is a group of humans stationed, and they have the ability to actively attack devils.

But if he allows the camp to expand, it will only bring him more trouble. After the first batch of scouts disappear, they are likely to send more people, and Border Town's exposure is only a matter of time. And as the strongholds grow larger, there will only be more and more devils. When the Evil Moon ends, he will still have to deal with enemies who come to harass him at any time, which is a bit of a loss—if the First Army is held back in the town and can't move, how can he complete the planned spring offensive?

After Roland returned to his office, he immediately called Lightning and Macey and explained the matter.

"Remember, this time you must not engage with the devils without authorization. Return immediately after discovering the camp. They may have Flying Beasts, so protecting your own safety is the top priority."

"Yes!"

"Goo!"

He paused for a moment and added, "If you can successfully find the target, the desserts for the next week will be ice cream bread."

Macey stretched her neck straight, "Leave it to us, goo!"

…

Three days later, Roland received Lightning's report that a suspected devil camp had been discovered in the Wilderness, about one hundred and thirty kilometers away from Border Town.

After marking the approximate location on the map, he noticed that this location was exactly in front of the Co-Aid Association's route—less than ten kilometers away from the location where the Co-Aid Association encountered the devils.

"Why suspected?" he asked Lightning, "Did you see a black stone tower?"

The little girl shook her head with a strange expression, "I only saw a… wreckage."

"What?"

"Black stone fragments, broken fences, and… huge holes," she rubbed her forehead, "Just like the scene I saw earlier at the ruins where Agatha was found. I didn't continue tracking, I just walked around the camp wreckage twice and came back."

Another hole? Roland was stunned. Could there be a giant crawler in this hole as well? If the crawler swallowed the ruins stone tower last time, then what about this time… did it pack up the devil camp as well?

Did he miss any important information between the two incidents?

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing the doubts in his mind, "Besides that, did you find anything else?"

"No… the entire camp was empty, and not a single devil was seen."

"Didn't find any shiny magic stones either, goo!" Macey added.

"I see," Roland thought for a moment and quickly made arrangements. He looked at the white-haired little girl, "First, take Nightingale and Soraya to this location, draw all the scenes of the site, and then take Nightingale and Sylvie to check if there are any omissions."

"Why not just let Soraya and Sylvie go?" Lightning asked.

"In case you encounter a devil's Flying Beast, Macey can't shake them off." Roland explained simply, "In this case, Nightingale can use the mist to cover the witches and escape the pursuit, and you can directly accelerate away in the air."

…

Soraya's "photos" were quickly placed in front of Roland.

Just as Lightning said, in the center of the crooked fence, there was a large hole about five or six meters in diameter, and the surrounding snow and soil were mixed together, as if they had been stirred by something. The shattered black stones were scattered aside, most of which were crushed into the soil. Undoubtedly, only a huge creature could cause such damage.

Sylvie's discovery made him even more uneasy—the underground passage was heading towards the mountains along the Snowy Mountain line, which was exactly the same direction as the cave that appeared in the ruins of the Misty Forest.

They all point to the same location.

.().