"Don't move," Elena's voice came from beside her.

Then came two quick swooshes as a stone needle was severed. The numbness gradually subsided, replaced by excruciating pain that went deep into her bones.

Andrea gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. She looked up and saw the ground where they had been standing was now filled with the Spider Demon's long needles. If not for the Judgment Witch's rescue, she would have been nailed to the spot.

However, even with skills surpassing ordinary people, it was extremely difficult to completely avoid such a wide-ranging attack. While being carried away by Elena, a stone needle pierced her outer thigh at an angle, running through both her legs and knees. After the needle was cut, the rolled-up flesh and bone were vaguely visible. Patches of fresh blood soaked her pants, and the wound looked like a bloody mess.

Elena wasn't much better off. Her abdomen had been pierced by a stone zhenci, and only half the needle was blocking the way, preventing her internal organs from spilling out. Fortunately, the body of a Judgment Army soldier felt no pain, which allowed her mind to remain highly focused.

In just a few seconds, Andrea felt her forehead covered in cold sweat. She struggled to pull out a painkiller pill specially made by Yezi from her pocket, and the bitter, astringent taste pulled her somewhat scattered consciousness back.

Over there, Ashes had already engaged the Demon Slayer.

The others, protected by the Judgment Witches, had temporarily escaped this disaster. But everyone was quite embarrassed, with many new wounds added to their bodies. If another volley came, the consequences would probably be dire.

New footsteps came from the woods.

Obviously, Ursrook's long-prepared trap couldn't have just two Spider Demons.

And the Judgment Witches were held back by the wounded, unable to fight freely.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for them.

Andrea grabbed Elena's hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Get everyone together and retreat west, or it'll be too late!"

"West?" Elena was stunned. "The First Army's forward pick-up point is to the south..."

"That road is no longer passable. Returning the same way will only lead to being surrounded by demons. The only way out is the Miasma Forest to the west—" The underground passage probably contained not only ambush troops but also a sufficient amount of red mist canisters. If they were surrounded by enemies without any worries, the consequences would be imaginable. Going west would take them further and further away from the pick-up point, but it would also lengthen the enemy's attack distance, provided they could hold out until then.

Now that she thought about it, the Demon Slayer's previous wait wasn't entirely because their reinforcements hadn't arrived, but because the personnel it had deployed also needed time to converge. The numerous passages dug by the enemy should extend to various areas behind them—only in this way could the enemy approach silently, regardless of where they were ambushed.

And the signal for the demons' actions was probably the moment the "Substitute" flew out of Taquila.

"I understand," Elena nodded and began to summon her companions to gather around her.

Under the bombardment of xiàndàn guns, Ursrook always roamed in the wàiwei area, using magic to stir up strong winds and exhaust everyone's stamina. Although barriers of languang often appeared on its body, there were no signs of injury—obviously, stray bullets could hardly cause fatal damage.

When everyone gathered together, the figure of the Mad Demon also appeared in the woods.

"Watch out for the spears!" Ashes shouted and raised her giant sword to split an incoming bone spear in two.

The Judgment Witches responded with single-soldier grenades, and the scene became chaotic for a while.

Andrea knew they still had a more deadly crisis to resolve.

She took the Listening Seal from Ashes and shouted at Lightning, "Go find those two Spider Demons and kill them!"

"But—"

"Only you and Maisie can do this—go quickly, that's the biggest help you can give us!"

The interval between the Spider Demon's launches was about half a quarter of an hour. Three minutes had passed. If they couldn't eliminate their opponents before the next launch, the possibility of them dodging the rain of stone needles with their damaged bodies was slim.

"Tell Tilly to leave here too!" Ashes shouted without looking back.

"I..." Lightning hesitated for a few seconds before gritting her teeth and replying, "I understand—you must hold on!"

"Of course," Andrea forced a smile. "Now is not the time to give up..." She shouted to the Judgment Witches, "Give me a weapon!"

"Can you do it?" Elena, who was carrying her, frowned. "If you don't hold on tight, you'll be thrown off."

"Don't worry, one hand is enough."

She took the bolt-action buqiang handed over by the Judgment Witch, bit the bolt with her teeth, and pulled it back violently to push the bullet into the chamber. Then, she rested one hand on Elena's shoulder—even though she had lost her legs, her magic was exhausted, and the pain of her wounds and the dizziness of overexertion were tormenting her, she was still a sharpshooter that made her enemies tremble.

The barbarian Ashes was still fighting bloody battles.

How could she give up first?

...

"Lightning... what should we do, gu?" Maisie asked anxiously.

"Don't panic, calm down first," Lightning said, looking at the dozens of Mad Demons running wildly through the jungle and the bàozhà smoke plumes rising from time to time in the distance, forcing herself to concentrate. She knew Andrea was right, her only advantage was speed. Once the Demon Slayer broke her abilities, it would be difficult to fly again.

The more such the situation, the more calmness was needed! Judging the situation and taking the most correct response was what an explorer should do! In the impossible situation of taking them away to escape, eliminating the Spider Demon was undoubtedly more helpful. And to kill that monster covered in stone, you had to have His Majesty's newly developed grenade launcher.

"You go find the location of the Spider Demon, I'll contact the Seagull first, Tilly has the weapons we need!" Lightning quickly sorted out her thoughts.

"Understood, aoo!" Maisie transformed into a gray-tailed hawk and flew towards the sky.

She increased her speed to the limit and arrived next to the glider hovering outside the sniper point in the blink of an eye.

"Where are they? How's the situation?" Wendy asked worriedly as she opened the hatch.

"No time to explain, I need spare weapons!"

Lightning climbed into the cabin and carried the launcher and grenades behind her. At this time, Tilly said, "The situation is very bad, right?"

The little girl hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded, "Yes, Ashes told you to leave this place as soon as possible."

"I know, I'm leaving now."

Lightning and Wendy couldn't help but be stunned.

"Because being here will only be a burden to her, and it won't help in any way..." Tilly's tone trembled slightly, as if trying to suppress something, "Reason tells me that returning to the camp immediately is the most reasonable choice."

"Your Highness..."

"But remember to tell her that I will definitely come back! It won't be long before the Seagull comes with new reinforcements, tell them to hold on until then!"

At this time, the cry of a hawk came from the horizon.

"I'll tell Ashes," Lightning gave Tilly one last look and jumped out of the cabin.

The weight on her body made it impossible for her to maintain her current altitude, and she fell almost like a stone from a height of more than ten meters before she barely managed to stabilize herself. If the Demon Slayer came to catch her at this time, even running away would be a luxury.

——Trust your partners, trust the courage they give you!

Lightning took a deep breath and flew straight towards the direction Maisie indicated.

Thirty seconds later, she visually captured the target—it was a Spider Demon lying on the ground, spitting out black crystal stones bit by bit. The ground around it had sunk into a large pit, and several holes could be vaguely seen at the bottom of the pit, seemingly connected to other places.

There were two Mad Demons guarding the Spider Demon. Lightning ignored them and flew along the canopy to the top of the target. Without hesitation, she aimed at the shell and pulled the trigger of the firing mechanism at the undefended, deformed monster.

With a soft "poof," the grenade penetrated the Spider Demon's body at an angle—the hot energy ejected from the energy-gathering warhead instantly pierced its abdominal cavity, crushing the muscles and blood vessels under the obsidian!

The Spider Demon, mortally wounded, collapsed with a wail.