The mad demons guarding the area let out furious roars, grabbing bone spears as their arms rapidly swelled.

If it were the old Lightning, her first thought would definitely be to drop all her burdens and escape as fast as possible. But at this moment, her mind was surprisingly clear. There was still one Spider Demon left, and without weapons, she couldn't stop it. She couldn't abandon them, no matter what! Then, the only way was to use the difference in visibility to evade it.

She deliberately flew out in a straight, ascending path. When she passed the treetops and disappeared from the enemy's sight, she suddenly reversed direction, changing from ascent to level flight almost simultaneously. As expected, two bone spears arrived, penetrating the branches and shooting past her feet towards the clouds.

Lightning exhaled a long breath, flying towards the next location indicated by Maisie without looking back.

However, when she saw the second Spider Demon, her heart sank.

The crystal pillar on its back was fully grown and raised high. The blood vessels covering it emitted a bright blue light, clearly on the verge of firing!

And she hadn't loaded a new grenade into the launch tube yet.

Too late.

"Maisie! Disrupt it, don't let it launch the stone pillar!"

"Awoo!"

The hawk hovering overhead suddenly swooped down, its body rapidly expanding. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a terrifying beast.

The mad demons guarding the Spider Demon were also a little stunned, seemingly not understanding what was happening.

Maisie's massive body slammed into the target's side, its force no less than that of a cannonball! Amidst flying sand and gravel, the Spider Demon lying on the ground staggered, its body tilting to the side, almost flipping over.

At that moment, the stone pillar was launched almost parallel to the ground. The mad demons who were poorly positioned became the first victims. The nearly sweeping pillar rolled over their location like a crushing stone, then crashed into the forest without slowing down, rolling for dozens of meters before stopping. It not only broke into several pieces but also cleared a wide fan-shaped area.

"Well done!" Lightning landed and deftly loaded a warhead, released the safety, and aimed the single-soldier grenade launcher at the Spider Demon. The latter was still waving its short legs, struggling to get up, but she certainly wouldn't give it the chance.

The grenade accurately hit its unprotected abdomen. The flames and shockwaves produced by the explosion shot out from the other side, blasting a gaping hole through its stomach.

After confirming that the target was silent, Lightning pulled up Maisie, who had returned to normal, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I used the thickest part of my shoulder to hit it!" She rolled up her sleeves and nonchalantly swung her arm in a circle, but as soon as she raised it to the highest point, she suddenly froze, her face contorted in pain.

"Looks like it's not thick enough..." Lightning touched her head and said softly, "I'll grill you more game in the future, so you won't be afraid of hitting anyone... But now you have to persevere a little longer, okay?"

"Okay!" Maisie nodded vigorously.

"Then come on," Lightning squatted down and put the little girl, who had turned into a pigeon, on her head, "Let's go support everyone in the Neverwinter Exploration Team, let's go!"

...

"!"

Andrea pulled the trigger, knocking down a devil that had poked its head out.

How many times had she fired?

She numbly bit the gun bolt, loaded the gun, her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood, her tongue covered in fine debris. She didn't know if it was rust or her own broken teeth.

Probably dozens of rounds?

Even if only one in ten hit, that was still a dozen devils, but the enemy's offensive showed no signs of weakening, but rather becoming more fierce.

The mad demons she had previously disregarded had now become extremely difficult opponents. Due to their numerical advantage, the enemies could stretch the battle line without any consideration, flanking from the sides. If it weren't for the difference in weaponry, they wouldn't be able to stop the enemy's pincer attack.

And fighting in the forest greatly reduced the effectiveness of the guns. The mad demons made use

of trees to avoid bullets, while unexpectedly launching a wave of javelins. The attack direction from all sides was hard to defend against, and the God's Punishment Witches, covered in firearms and lacking shields and other defensive equipment, could only rely on their agility and skill to evade.

What was even more deadly was that in addition to the relentless Demon Slayers, there was also a high-level devil present. It was probably transformed from a Hell Lord, still maintaining the appearance of a four-legged demon, although its abilities were far inferior to Ursrook, its physical qualities were particularly strong. It often threw large trees as javelins, and each attack required several God's Punishment Witches to work together to block it. At the same time, it could summon earthen walls to provide cover for its kind's attack. Under the constant consumption, everyone's defense was somewhat overwhelmed, and the speed of retreat was getting slower and slower.

Each time loading, aiming, and firing seemed to become a mechanical action. The throbbing pain of the wounds and the fatigue of the body constantly assaulted her brain, and Andrea gradually felt her consciousness becoming a little trance-like.

"Andrea, watch out on the right!" After two waves of javelins, Sylvie, who was protected in the center of the team, suddenly shouted.

A team of mad demons rushing up attracted most of the God's Punishment Witches' firepower. The Demon Slayer blocked Ashes' greatsword and darted like a ghost in front of Elena and her.

Andrea raised her gun, but Ursrook sliced it in two with a claw.

Then came the fatal second strike.

Everything happened in a flash, the scene seemed to freeze there. She could see the blue light blooming on the other's palm, the condensed magic turning the five fingers into an indestructible blade. As long as it was swung down, it could put her to death.

It's over.

She tensed her body slightly, waiting for the heart-wrenching pain to arrive.

However, the expected death did not come.

At the last moment, Elena suddenly turned around and took the blow for her.

The devil's claws slashed a terrifying wound across her chest, exposing ribs and organs. Even with the God's Punishment body, she could no longer struggle to fight through such an injury.

Elena fell.

"No!" Zoe angrily turned her gun and fired several shots at Ursrook. Even a Demon Slayer couldn't completely avoid such close-range grenade fire. The barrier on its body was finally shattered, half of its body covered in bullet holes, blood gushing out.

But surprisingly, the enemy, who had flown out dozens of meters, did not show pain, but grinned and inserted its hand into its damaged body. Under the wildly surging magic, its body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Monster..." Sylvie couldn't help but cry out in despair at the sight of this.

"Plundering life, endowing myself, is the ability I obtained from ascension. Calling me a monster is really too impolite." Ursrook retreated to another high-level devil and changed the gas tank passed over by the other party, and said leisurely, "Every wound on your body, every ounce of power lost, will become a part of nourishing me! After fighting until now, you should already be able to predict the ending, struggling will only increase the pain. If you surrender now, I can let you die without pain, as a reward for your heroic struggle!"

"Bullshit!" Zoe cursed, "I will never submit to the devil, even if I die a thousand times, ten thousand times, I will tear you to pieces!"

Andrea didn't hear any of this... Gunshots, roars, screams, warnings, all of this seemed to become extremely distant. She slowly crawled to Elena's side, turned her over and held her in her arms, muttering blankly, "Why... did you save me?"

"Cough cough..." Elena coughed up a few strands of blood, and smiled softly, "Dying in battle is our destiny, the only difference is what we can get in return. Our limits have already been determined, but you have unlimited potential. Isn't it obvious what to do?"

Looking at the sad Andrea, the God's Punishment Witch stretched out her hand and gently stroked her face, "Don't be sad for me, because it doesn't hurt at all. Really, it doesn't hurt at all... I'm just... a little sleepy..."

Her voice gradually subsided, Elena's breathing calmed down, as if she had really fallen asleep.

Andrea grasped her hand tightly, her vision blurred.

At this moment, the team's movement had completely stopped, and two more God's Punishment Witches were knocked down by the Demon Slayer. The enemies encircling the flanks were completing the encirclement little by little.

Is this the end...?

The burden on the body finally exceeded the limit, and the strong dizziness made her unable to maintain her sitting position, shaking and falling to the ground.

The sky was already covered with dark clouds, as if a storm was about to come.

And in that thick, dark cloud cover, she vaguely saw flickering golden streamers.

This was the last scene engraved in Andrea's mind before losing consciousness.