Greycastle, Neverwinter City.

Within a week, the First Army's continuous stream of intelligence not only confirmed the appearance of the Red Mist north of Eternal Winter, but also gave Roland a general understanding of the evacuation situation.

As Edith had predicted, the devils did not wait for the Red Mist to spread completely before invading Eternal Winter. They took advantage of the shortened supply lines and launched attacks on humans from multiple directions, engaging with the First Army's migrating troops—clearly, they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

According to the statistics obtained from Iron Axe, the results of the engagements were not optimistic. During the evacuation of refugees, several detachments were defeated by sudden attacks, and the retreat turned into a rout, with soldiers scattered by the panicked civilians. The confirmed number of casualties had exceeded three hundred, roughly equivalent to the casualties of the night raid during the expedition to Taqila, and the number of displaced migrants was over ten thousand, a devastating loss.

The enemy's swift actions clearly caught everyone off guard.

While dispersing the First Army's advance forces to relocate the population was more efficient, it also reduced their combat capabilities.

Fortunately, Roland had long instilled in the army the concept of preserving strength as much as possible, and that non-man-made failures of grassroots officers should not be punished. The scattered soldiers, at least, did not turn to banditry, but gradually retreated into the Kingdom of Wolfheart and reconnected with the garrison.

Otherwise, given the past situation where a destroyed command system could never be recovered, the army in northern Eternal Winter would likely have been completely annihilated.

These returning soldiers not only quickly formed new combat power, but also brought extremely important intelligence to the command.

Multiple detachments reported that they had encountered mutated beasts not recorded in the manual during combat.

A team that successfully evacuated from the northernmost port of Eternal Winter mentioned that the devils had deployed a new type of spider-like mutated beast in their attacks. Its defensive capabilities were significantly increased compared to the previous two types, and mortars and anti-devil grenades were difficult to disable its movement. Only 152mm fortress guns could inflict effective damage.

The descriptions of several other mutated beasts were limited to their appearance, and their specific capabilities were unknown.

War was undoubtedly accelerating the maturation of these mutated devil beasts.

With the support of intelligence, high-level meetings were held one after another. Ministers from all departments agreed to mobilize a large army as soon as possible to intercept the enemy and buy time for the relocation of the populations of both countries.

After all, the rapid growth of Neverwinter's population and the increasing labor force had brought benefits to the officials—except for the police department and the security bureau.

Roland agreed, but Greycastle's transportation capacity had reached its limit. He would have liked to send tens of thousands of people to Wolfheart in one go, but ammunition and equipment couldn't keep up.

Therefore, although the dispatch order had been issued, the gathering of the main force was a lengthy process. This was different from the expedition to Taqila, which had followed the railway line from the beginning. The Black River trains and Leaf provided supplies wherever they went. Now, before the new transportation equipment was deployed, the General Staff could only think of other methods.

One more point in the report caught his attention.

The detachment that successfully evacuated earlier managed to escape intact thanks to the support of the shallow-water heavy gunships; and the Roland was able to arrive in time because Zoe and Caroll had temporarily abandoned their magic cores, which they regarded as priceless treasures, for the sake of ordinary people. This change in perception made Roland realize that the Ancient Witches might be able to make the relics of the Underground Civilization play a greater role.

He directly contacted three High Witches from Taqila.

Through the light screen, Pasha, Erkhya, and Celine's bodies covered in tentacles appeared on the office wall.

Roland briefly stated his thoughts.

"You mean... to use the Heaven's Wrath Instrument as a kind of ability converter?" Celine was the first to speak.

"Not just the Heaven's Wrath Instrument, but all the magic cores," Roland nodded.

As long as the vortex structure of the core was adjusted, it could theoretically imitate most witches' abilities. Taqila had a total of four of these lost civilization creations excavated from the ruins, the largest of which was the most special—its core vortex was extremely complex from the beginning. According to the deciphered records, it was also the secret weapon that the Underground Civilization had high hopes for, and the Ancient Witches named it the Heaven's Wrath.

However, activating the Heaven's Wrath Instrument required a so-called Chosen One, and Roland, the only seemingly qualified candidate, did not possess magic. Therefore, it had been sitting idle in the underground hall, serving no purpose.

It would obviously be better to change the core into other more useful abilities than to continue letting it gather dust.

The only problem was that magic cores could not be replicated, and losing one meant losing one. For the surviving Ancient Witches, they were the direct cause of the division between Taqila and Falling Star City. Many members of the Union had given their lives for them, and their significance was self-evident.

At the beginning of the alliance, Roland had promised not to force them to hand over their magic cores. Even though the Taqila witches had now sworn allegiance to him, he still intended to obtain their unanimous consent through negotiation.

Erkhya hesitated, "If it were in the Third Border City, Your Majesty could use it however you wanted... but if it's moved outside the cave, what if it gets damaged?"

Even the normally toughest Erkhya did not reject it outright, which made Roland feel hopeful. He pressed on, "Strict protection and supervision are necessary measures. Destruction by outsiders can be basically prevented, but the increased frequency of use will inevitably lead to wear and tear. However, that's better than letting it sit idle now."

Erkhya looked at Celine, "After converting the Heaven's Wrath Instrument into another instrument, how long will it take to convert it back?"

"I think... probably several decades," Celine estimated, "After all, its core vortex is too complex, and with wear and tear, it may never be able to return to its Heaven's Wrath form. However, I still agree with His Majesty's statement—"

"But..."

"That way, the magic core can at least contribute to defeating the devils," Pasha echoed, "...now we no longer need to look for a Chosen One."

Erkhya was silent for a long time. "Okay, since you all agree, let's do that."

For a moment, Roland seemed to see Celine nodding her main tentacle at him individually, "How was it? Was my persuasion effective?"

This was clearly a "private chat."

Before he could figure out what to reply, her next sentence had already been transmitted, "Next time, let the witches of the Exploration Society enter the Dream World more often, Your Majesty."

So this was a bribe.

Roland was momentarily at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Then," Celine put on a casual look, switching back to her usual tone—although it was difficult to see any changes in their expressions and demeanor on their original bodies, "What kind of ability do you plan to transform the Heaven's Wrath Instrument into?"

He had been prepared for this question, "Giving Magnetic Force of Misery Moon, shouldn't be too complicated, right?"

Celine smiled, "Leave it to me, Your Majesty."