The Lord's Castle, the First Army camp, and the Third Border City received the message almost simultaneously—in these days, Roland had added two more short-distance lines, allowing the Garrison Command and the survivors of Taquila to contact him as soon as possible.
"This is too fast," Pasha's voice sounded somewhat doubtful. "According to previous experience, their second threat should be in half a month to a month, especially for cities like Neverwinter that cannot be reached in a day."
"Why?" Roland asked.
"For the fermentation of *yulun*. Once the news spreads, no matter what promises the lord makes, the second attack will further undermine the confidence of mortals, so the waiting period is necessary," Pasha explained. "The demons' actions seem too hasty."
"I see," Roland nodded. Indeed, for an ancient city, the news might only be circulating among underground rats and a few taverns for five days. The information blockage for those who work all day just to have something to eat is unimaginable to modern people.
He now somewhat believed the ancient rumor Pasha mentioned. After all, the other party's approach was too similar to human style. If someone wasn't guiding them from behind, how could the demons understand the human world to this extent?
"What are you going to do?" Elhia interjected.
"What else can we do but eliminate them!" Roland said without hesitation. Although this time was quite rushed, the new sight was only installed on the Mark I yesterday, and the temporarily selected *jiqiang* team had only done one simulated firing using balloons, many witches had returned. With Nightingale, Lightning, and Maggie, this time it wouldn't be a passive defense at least.
He looked at Nightingale and the others, "You can act according to the planned schedule. Remember, the most important thing is always..."
"Safety. Lightning understands completely!" The little girl raised her hand.
"Maggie understands too, goo!"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of these two little ones," Nightingale smiled.
"Who's a little one?" Lightning raised her chin in disapproval.
"Of course it's you, goo."
"Why?"
"I'm bigger than both of you combined after I transform! Goo goo!" Maggie made a flapping motion.
"That's not what I meant—ah."
Before the two could finish speaking, Nightingale grabbed one in each hand and carried them out of the meeting room.
"Then the defense of the city wall is entrusted to the Sleeping Island witches," Roland continued, addressing Tilly.
The latter agreed readily, "They will do everything they can."
"Very good. I'll be waiting by the phone for your good news," he said, word by word, "Now, take action!"
When only Roland was left in the meeting hall, Pasha said in a deep voice, "Are you really going to do this? The large appearance of witches will cause the demons to revise their previous judgment—this is not a city ruled by mortals, but a city of witches. Their countermeasures will be completely different then."
"You've already reminded me of that," Roland sighed lightly. When formulating the defense plan earlier, the ancient witch had said that if the demons believed Neverwinter was a holy city ruled by the Association, they would raise the level of both defense and offense, treating it as a normal opponent. In other words, the demons didn't take ordinary humans seriously at all.
"I thought... the human kingdoms always avoided this war if they could."
"But it will come sooner or later, won't it?" He got up and walked to the French window, looking towards the border, "In that case, it's better to fight a prepared war than an unprepared one. The First Army wasn't so powerful from the beginning. At first, they were just ordinary hunters, miners, and farmers. And now they are facing completely different enemies. One more battle experience will give them more confidence, so they won't be caught off guard before the true Divine Will arrives. The so-called elite warriors are just people who have had one or two life-and-death experiences."
"I must say, your determination moves me," Elhia flicked her tentacles all over her body. "Based on this alone, you've drawn a line between yourself and most mortals."
"Mortals are called mortals not because they are incapable, but because there are too many of them," Roland shook his head, "And that's why their strength is easily overlooked. There are records in the Dream World that those immortal beings who underestimated this point, whether they were ancient gods or flame dragons, were beaten into history by forty mortals."
"There's such a legend?"
"That's right, and with the advancement of technology, it only takes twenty-five people later," he shrugged, turned around, and said seriously, "In addition, misleading the demons into thinking Neverwinter is an Association city is also a deception. In this way, they will attribute the strange attacks they suffer to the witches' abilities, thus ignoring the most important point—Neverwinter is neither a past lord's city nor belongs to the Association, but an industrial city that combines the two."
*******************
Yuwan widened his eyes, staring intently at the northern prairie, afraid of missing any trace of the enemy.
Although he had heard His Majesty mention the demons as enemies a year ago, the encounter five days ago was the first time he had truly seen what demons looked like.
When the bone spears thrown by the other side pierced through his comrade's chest like a ghost, Yuwan had to admit that he felt a long-lost fear. That was definitely not an action that humans could do, and evil beasts could not threaten the city walls at this distance. Since joining the army, this was the first enemy that could compete with the musket in terms of attack range. But the weapon in his hand could not launch a counterattack against the enemy due to the shooting angle. If he continued to stay on the city wall, it would be tantamount to being a living target in the enemy's eyes.
At that moment, Yuwan even wanted to turn around and run away.
But his well-trained body forcibly held him back, and then came the intense anger and disgust. He was angry at the death of his comrades and disgusted with himself.
He used to be a well-known coward in the old district of Border Town. No matter where he went, people laughed at him. He once thought he was indeed cowardly and incompetent, until he joined the militia team formed by His Majesty under Vanna's instigation and the temptation of two eggs, everything changed. Although he was so scared that he wet his pants during the first city wall confrontation with the evil beasts, after being carried down, no one ever ridiculed him in person again.
Now Vanna has become the battalion commander of the artillery battalion, and he has only been transferred from the musket team to the *jiqiang* team, serving as the leader of a group. Yuwan had no complaints or jealousy about this. Vanna's ability was much stronger than his. Just being able to talk back to His Majesty in person was something he would never be able to obtain, but that didn't mean he didn't want to go further.
Since following His Majesty, the things he had seen in these three years had exceeded his imagination in the first half of his life—he had taken a stone ship that could travel upstream without sails to attack the royal capital where nobles gathered, defeated the invincible Hermes Church, and brought the southern desert land into the territory of Graycastle.
He had seen so much of the world, why should he be frightened by demons?
"Attention, ten o'clock direction! Suspected targets have appeared!" The lookout suddenly shouted.
At the same time, Yuwan also noticed several faint black spots on the horizon.
He pulled down the bolt and raised the muzzle of the Mark I.
Although no one knew, he still regarded the cowardice five days ago as his shame.
—And this shame can only be washed away with the blood of the enemy!