If the devil flying at the front had noticed the change behind him at this moment, there would have been a sliver of a chance to evade the gaze of death—during the test firing, Andrea had noticed that if the target was an inanimate object, such as a balloon swaying in the wind, there would be almost no surprises, but it was different with conscious living beings.
Living things that drastically change their movement routes when they realize they may be in danger are not within the scope of the ability's determination. Still, the saying goes—as long as you shoot, the bullet will definitely land somewhere; once she pulls the trigger, the corresponding landing point is already destined, and if subjective factors cause the target to leave the predetermined point of overlap, it can dodge this inevitable blow.
Before, everything from shooting to hitting happened in a flash, so she had never missed. However, when the distance expanded to five kilometers, this process seemed a bit too "long."
Andrea wasn't surprised by this situation. After all, her ability was to choose the coin that would inevitably land facing up, not to smear glue under the coin. If someone suddenly pulled away the carpet underneath, or touched the coin with their finger, it would still fall.
The flight group was guarding against this very outcome.
Unfortunately, the devil remained indifferent.
It's not to blame for its lack of vigilance. Even just staying hundreds of meters in the air, the howling wind makes it difficult to talk, let alone when the Terrorbeast is flying against the wind. Lightning had repeatedly tested this point during the plan's formulation, and the final conclusion was that as long as the two were more than ten meters apart, the sound of the bullet penetrating the body could be completely drowned out by the wind noise.
This was also the reason why Andrea prioritized targeting the last devil.
The large-caliber bullet that drilled into the Terrorbeast's body from its abdomen completely destroyed its organs. At the same time, the oblique side attack caused its stomach to rupture, not only emptying its internal organs but also depriving it of the ability to scream.
The devil, unaware of any abnormality, missed its only chance of escape in this way.
A few breaths later, a bullet falling from the sky shattered its chest cavity, and then broke the spine of its mount.
The burden-bearing Terrorbeast in the middle of the formation finally noticed something was wrong, but with its intelligence, it simply couldn't understand what was happening before it. Driven by instinct, it merely turned around and flew towards Taqila.
In Andrea's eyes, this was no different from an inanimate object.
She tossed the third upright coin.
...
In the evening, the Ark surfaced again.
According to the map drawn by the exploration team, the sniper squad safely arrived at the resting base—the lower level of a naturally collapsed stone cave.
"There's actually dried Bird Kiss Mushrooms here?" Amy exclaimed.
"Gu, I collected them!" Maisie also dug out a few glass bottles from under a stone. "There are even spices for barbecue!"
"You guys wouldn't have hidden these things at every base, right?"
"Of course," Lightning said proudly. "This is already considered simple. If the base is at «Lingge», the food stored inside could probably support a banquet!"
"Lingge?" Sharon asked curiously. "Where is that?"
"A giant tree near the Endless Mountains, gu. The trunk is about as thick as a castle," Maisie gestured. "We asked Leaves to build a roof on top and also opened up a drying yard, specially used for drying meat that we can't finish, gu."
"I'm afraid only Roland can tolerate you stealing his refined salt and spices," Earl Sper rubbed his forehead. "Just these few bottles are probably worth several gold royals. In other territories, the lord would stew you alive."
The chief steward of Sleeping Island nodded in agreement.
"I didn't steal them!" Maisie protested. "Those spices were all picked up from the ground, gu!"
"Picked up?" Sper looked doubtful.
"The buckets in the kitchen that hold spices always leak some out, ah. I just collected them."
"Besides, we didn't take them for nothing," Lightning added. "In the fjord, any explorer can exchange their drawn sea charts for generous rewards. I've drawn many maps for His Majesty."
"Actually, even if you emptied the kitchen, His Majesty wouldn't blame you," Sylvie interjected weakly. "Collecting spices is nothing. I've seen Nightingale go to the kitchen six times a week, sweeping away all the honey-glazed dried fish the chef made. And it's not just dried fish, even His Majesty's room..."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
"What about the room?"
Only then did Sylvie come to her senses. "Ah—no, nothing... I'm just starving. Let's hurry up and make a fire to cook!"
Andrea's timely rescue attempt also dispelled everyone's curiosity.
"Speaking of which... do you really want to inquire about Nightingale's secrets?"
So everyone extinguished their questions in their minds and busied themselves separately.
Sharon lit the firewood pile with electric sparks, Amy neatly chopped the mushrooms, Phyllis and Ashes carried back a wild boar, and Sper. Pasci was still seasick... Before long, an enticing aroma spread throughout the stone cave.
Although it lacked many dishes compared to a castle banquet, it was a rare delicacy compared to the flatbread and dried meat strips that were usually eaten in the wild.
Especially when Ashes used the few pieces of fat under the wild boar's belly to fry oil, and then sprinkled it on the half-burnt mushroom and meat skewers, everyone couldn't help but drool.
In the end, the wild boar was eaten completely, not even the hooves were spared.
After filling their stomachs, the people who had been on the go all day quickly fell asleep, leaving only the most energetic transcendent and the God's Punishment Witch to keep watch.
"I'll take the first half of the night," Ashes added two logs to the fire. "Princess Tilly told me that although your sleep time is shorter, not getting enough rest affects you much more than the average person."
"In severe cases, it can even cause this body to lose control," Phyllis admitted frankly. "But it's still early, it doesn't matter if we sleep later."
Ashes nodded and said nothing more—she herself wasn't a talkative person. Even in front of Tilly, she mostly just listened and shared.
The cave was momentarily filled only with the crackling of the flames and the slight breathing of the witches.
"Their feelings are really good," Phyllis murmured, looking at the sleeping little girls beside her. "In the era of Taqila, I'm afraid it would have been impossible to find partners as close as them."
Ashes followed the other person's gaze and saw Lightning lying sprawled on a piece of animal skin, with Maisie curled up on her stomach. The latter's white hair, which reached the ground, was scattered around like silk quilts covering their bodies, looking incredibly warm.
She couldn't help but smile, "This guy wasn't like this from the beginning. Before being accepted by the witches, she almost lived alone like a pigeon for several years and almost lost her ability to speak. At that time, let alone being close to people, even the slightest noise could make her panic."
"I just don't know if such closeness can still be seen in the future..." Phyllis lowered her eyes. "I hope this battle of divine will can bring some change."
"Why do you say that?" Ashes raised an eyebrow. Although she didn't want to ask too much, this sentence still made her couldn't help but open her mouth. "Wouldn't a common enemy make everyone even more closely united?"
"That's true," Phyllis sighed. "But it will also gradually change the witch group—haven't you noticed that magic affects more than just our abilities?"