The other three devils reacted immediately, controlling the Terror Beasts to scatter and fly left and right in the direction they came from, disappearing into the sky in a short while.

While retreating, one of the devils even turned around and plunged a javelin into the head of its mount, which had half a wing shattered and was spiraling downwards.

Although Andrea kept her eyes fixed on the target, the second coin she tried to stand up never appeared.

"They actually ran away?" Shavi said in surprise, "What exactly were they trying to do this time?"

It seemed that fleeing before a battle was a first for devils. In the past, this ferocious race would never give up without trying to take a bite out of their target. Neither attacking nor scouting, just circling back and forth in one position, which was really quite surprising.

"I don't know..." Andrea released the trigger, "And they seem to have figured out how to avoid sniping. It seems the enemy is learning quickly, don't you think, little Molly?" She smiled and looked at Molly, who was rubbing her ears to the side.

"You should have reminded me earlier," Molly complained. The sound of this weapon was no less than artillery fire, and she barely had time to protect her ears. Even so, the thunderous roar still made her head buzz.

"Sorry, I didn't expect the 'Guiding Line' to appear so quickly, I guess my ability has improved again." Andrea blinked, "To express my apology, how about I give you a special compensation?"

"You didn't do it on purpose, so no need," Molly scratched her head, "After all, repelling the enemy is more important."

"But that would make me feel bad."

"Uh..." Looking at her serious expression, she had no choice but to agree, "What's the compensation?"

"Chaos Drinks." Andrea covered her mouth and said.

"You... are you sure?" Molly said in surprise. During her time on Sleeping Island, she only knew that Andrea not only came from a prominent family, but was also one of the most powerful combat witches, with a status comparable to Ashes. Coupled with the fact that she had always been by Tilly's side, she didn't have much contact with her. It wasn't until she came to Neverwinter that the separation between combat witches and non-combat witches completely disappeared that she realized that the other party was not as cold as she had imagined, but rather an elegant and kind person.

But she didn't expect Andrea to be so generous!

"Yeah, the normal rule is one drink per game of cards. My special compensation is that if you lose, you can get a free drink from me, and if I lose, I'll still mark it down for you. How about that, this is a rare opportunity."

"I see, only taking in and not giving out is indeed... Wait, that's not it!" Molly realized, "In the end, we still have to play cards, this kind of lazy behavior, I—"

"But you already agreed, just now." Andrea showed a "too late" expression, "Stay here and don't leave, I'll go to the command post to report the situation, I'll be right back!"

Before Molly had time to argue, the other party had already jumped off the parapet and disappeared into the end of the storage yard.

She looked at Maggie, who had a look of shared suffering, and finally understood the meaning of "they dragged me here."

...

Forward command post.

In half an hour, all the information about this "unexpected encounter" had been gathered on Iron Axe's desk.

It was Lightning and Maisie who first discovered traces of the enemy wandering outside the alert perimeter.

At that time, the two of them were alternating between traveling through the clouds, and happened to avoid the enemy's sight. After that, they followed the devils from their six o'clock position and sent an alert to Sylvie using the Listening Sigil.

According to Lightning's description, the devil's flight path formed a clear straight line on the map – it connected the railway front and the Taquila ruins. In other words, the other party was not carrying out patrol or alert missions, but was aiming for the First Army from the very beginning.

The entire encounter lasted about a quarter of an hour. The only one who achieved results was Andrea xiaojie – the anti-Terror Beast sniper rifle was the only weapon that could hit flying targets at this distance. After losing one member, the remaining devils immediately chose to retreat, and swayed left and right while fleeing to avoid subsequent strikes. Facts proved that this was an effective method, and Andrea was unable to get another chance to attack.

Sylvie monitored the other party leaving the alert circle all the way.

Lightning and Maisie also did not take any further action.

Fifteen minutes later, the alert was lifted.

Iron Axe put down the report in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the war intelligence integration system formulated by His Majesty Roland – combat units reported their actions level by level, which were finally gathered by the General Staff, and then sorted and refined by the staff to restore the entire process of the battle. When used in conjunction with maps and sand tables, the army command could have a most intuitive understanding of the front line battle situation.

Although he had rehearsed several times before the expedition, the first practical application of this system still made Iron Axe feel deeply – for the first time, he felt that the war was so clear, and he seemed to be standing above the clouds, overlooking the entire process of the battle from the sky.

In Iron Sand City, even battles of hundreds of people between clans could be chaotic. It took time and effort to sort out the gains and losses afterwards, and most of the time only a superficial conclusion could be drawn. But now, both the enemy's actions and his own reactions were truthfully presented in his mind. This feeling of being in complete control made Iron Axe feel that the struggles of the Mogin clan were nothing more than brawls.

Of course, it was not enough to only understand the overall situation. The most important task now was undoubtedly to figure out the devil's intentions.

Iron Axe looked at Edith, who was staring at the map to the side – she was also the only one who was not discussing with other members of the General Staff.

Iron Axe had no regrets about truthfully reporting to His Majesty Roland about his private contact with her. His Majesty was the person he swore to serve for life, and even if he was sorry to the Northern Pearl, he would not have a second choice. However, this move was ultimately a debt, and he was prepared to be ridiculed or ignored by the other party. But the result was somewhat unexpected. The other party acted as if nothing had happened. Even after being punished by His Majesty, she would still invite him to some gatherings of the General Staff, but she would no longer discuss political affairs alone.

Now that he thought about it, he really didn't understand women's thoughts – it had been like this since the Southernmost Region.

"Have you found anything?" Iron Axe walked behind her.

"No," Edith shrugged, "I'm not a devil, how could I know their thoughts with just one glance."

"I thought you had a clue since you weren't discussing with them."

"Discussions without clues are not very meaningful. You can neither prove it nor disprove it, and only increase your worries."

"In that case, I'll take it as the conclusion of the General Staff and report it to His Majesty." Iron Axe nodded. If even the Northern Pearl couldn't figure it out, then this matter would end here.

"Go ahead." Edith paused, "However..."

"However what?"

"I don't think things will end so simply. If the enemy really wants to attack us, they will definitely take action again in the near future."

Subsequent events confirmed Edith's view.

Just two days later, devils appeared again in the northeast direction.

Also four Mad Devils.

And this time, they were even farther from the front line. If you observed them directly with the naked eye, you could barely see four black dots.