Tilly cried intermittently for nearly an hour before calming down. When Roland placed her on the sofa, he realized she had fallen asleep. As they separated, the mixture of tears and snot even created several thin strands between her cheeks and clothes.

Such an "undignified" appearance was naturally not suitable for the Sleeping Spell witch to see. Roland thought for a moment and ultimately called Anna to help him carry Tilly to the large bedroom on the third floor of the castle.

After wiping her cheeks, Tilly's breathing returned to normal, but she still showed no signs of waking up, indicating that she was indeed exhausted. Relying on busy work to numb herself was a common form of shock therapy, and it was likely she hadn't rested properly since learning of Ashes' sacrifice.

"Sleep with her tonight," Roland sighed, "This is the worst time to be alone. You're the only one who can take care of her right now."

"Don't worry, I can understand her feelings and know what to do." Anna nodded gently. "What about you?"

"I'll go sleep in Third Border City. I've been spending the last few days there anyway, so it doesn't matter if I stay a little longer," Roland replied. "Besides, the news of the Torch Operation's victory should be shared with them as soon as possible—I think those Ancient Witches have been waiting for this day for a long time."

"Mm." Anna walked over and kissed his cheek. "Although I don't really want you to leave, these things are indeed more important..."

"Sorry, it's rare for you to return from the front lines."

"Don't be silly, my lord, there's still a long time ahead."

As Roland reached the door, Anna stopped him again.

"Oh, don't forget to call Nightingale," she said seriously. "You're the only one in this city who can't afford to have an accident."

Looking at her clear gaze, Roland agreed and closed the door.

...

As Roland entered Third Border City with a large group of personal guards, Pasha appeared before him immediately.

"Your Majesty, has any new information come back from the front lines? How is the situation?"

From the way her whiskers were swaying, it was clear that she was uneasy and agitated.

Roland didn't intend to keep her in suspense and replied directly, "We achieved a complete victory—the demons in the plains have been wiped out, and the Demon Slayer failed to escape. Tachila is now under the control of the First Army."

Pasha's tentacles froze instantly.

After a few seconds of silence, she said excitedly, "Is that true! Your Majesty, please forgive my impoliteness... I don't doubt you, but I really don't know what to say—can you tell me more details?"

After more than four hundred years of training, very few things could cause such a significant change in the emotions of these high-level witches. This was the first time Roland had seen Pasha lose her composure. "Of course. But—"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll go tell everyone the good news!" Before he could finish speaking, Pasha zoomed away towards the top of the cave.

Roland was stunned for a moment and could only shake his head helplessly.

When he entered the underground hall, not only Pasha, Er'xia, and Celine, but all the remaining God's Punishment Witches had gathered in the center of the hall, lined up in a straight horizontal row, waiting expectantly for him to speak.

This made it difficult for Roland to complete the second half of his sentence.

"Just let it be," Nightingale whispered, "Or tell Pasha and the others separately through consciousness later."

That was the only way. He nodded, stepped forward, and began to recount the general process and outcome of the final battle—although the detailed statistical report had not yet been released, and Leaf's relaying was full of omissions, those data and gains were not important to them.

For this group of survivors who had been waiting for more than four centuries, victory was the most important thing.

By the time he finished sharing the little news he had, the crowd was already in an uproar.

Cheers rang out, and many witches were in tears, but whether they were crying or laughing, everyone was expressing the same emotion.

A joy that had been freed from the constraints after centuries of silence.

"Please forgive me for my past impoliteness and offense to you," Er'xia took the initiative to come to him, deeply lowering her main tentacle. "From today onwards, there is no longer any need for a united front to exist. You are the sole ruler of Tachila, and our will as well."

Pasha and Celine did not interrupt, apparently agreeing with her statement.

This was tantamount to acknowledging that Tachila would henceforth exist as an inseparable part of the Kingdom of Graycastle.

After Roland nodded in acceptance, Er'xia straightened her main tentacle.

"There is one more thing I must tell you," he gathered his spirits and informed the three of Elena's news.

"Is that so... so it was her." Pasha said slowly.

Somewhat to Roland's surprise, they did not show much emotional fluctuation.

"You... knew this already?" he couldn't help but ask.

"No, we were just prepared for it." Er'xia said frankly, "The ambush squad was deliberately surrounded by demons. If it had been during the Union era, there would have been virtually no chance of survival. To be able to preserve everyone at such a cost is already a great fortune."

"You may not understand, but death is commonplace for us," Celine continued. "After all, everyone here survived voluntarily through soul instruments and vessel fusion, a process equivalent to being screened by death once already, not to mention the heavy casualties faced in the God's Will War. The only thing we fear is dying meaninglessly."

"And Elena simply made the choice that every Tachila warrior would make," Er'xia said finally. "Therefore, you don't need to feel guilty about it."

So... was he being comforted instead?

Roland felt quite emotional and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Of course, this doesn't mean we won't be saddened by the passing of our comrades, but war has taught us restraint." Pasha looked at the witches who were still celebrating. "I'll take care of telling them about this—but for this moment, let them enjoy the joy of victory to the fullest."

...

Five days later.

As the frontline troops gradually returned, the news of the Northern Expedition's great victory gradually spread in Neverwinter City.

Although it wasn't as intuitive and shocking as defeating the demonic beast tide or Duke Ryan, nor did it cause a city-wide celebration, the people still pieced together the true face of the enemy little by little from the mouths of family members and neighbors who had returned from the army—fierce, powerful, and fearless, far from being comparable to mixed breeds and ducal knights. Coupled with the testimony of eyewitnesses to the Terrorbeast attacks, the image of a powerful enemy that perfectly matched the demons of hell was gradually established.

Even more so, some exaggerated it into the legendary calamitous monsters, describing them as being hundreds of feet tall and breathing fire, descriptions that quickly became one of the most popular topics in the streets and alleys.

Even such an enemy was still defeated by the First Army, and decisively so from thousands of miles away. This greatly boosted the morale of the people—if even demons from hell could not compete with the Graycastle army, who else could be their opponent?

The *Graycastle Weekly* also exerted its efforts, starting to use large layouts to publish accounts from frontline soldiers and reconstruct the entire war process.

For a time, the slogan of enlisting in the First Army and expanding the territory for His Majesty became popular throughout the city.

But the high-level officials in Neverwinter City were well aware of what the real challenge they were about to face was.

West of the city, the public cemetery.

Starting with the placement of the first tombstone five years ago when the Evil Moon fell, this place had transformed from a patch of overgrown wasteland into a now green-covered cemetery park.

And today, four hundred and twenty-six more tombstones were added here.

Most of them were empty underneath, because the limited transportation capacity was simply unable to bring back all the bodies, but no one felt that the sacrifices had been abandoned—the names on the tombstones recorded their honor and achievements.

Ashes' and Elena's tombstones were also among them.

They looked no different from the other tombstones, the only difference being that a melted sword hilt was inserted in front of Ashes' tombstone.

"Salute!" Iron Axe shouted loudly, then forcefully raised his arm.

All the high-level officials followed suit with a military salute—even though their positions and status were above the vast majority of soldiers.

This was a memorial, and also a reminder.

—The God's Will War that would determine fate was far from over.

After the funeral, Roland immediately called Barov, "Summon all the ministers, I have new tasks to assign."

This challenge had only just begun.