"…I was like you before," Pasha suddenly said after a moment of silence, "Every time a companion went on an expedition, I would guard the city gate. The Association even built a tall tower there for everyone to rest, so we could know immediately if a team returned."

"Are you talking about Taqila?" Tilly asked.

"That's right, but after a few years, few people went there except for the garrison. Do you know why?"

"…" She didn't answer, but her heart had already guessed the answer.

"Because what we always got in the end was disappointment and sorrow." Pasha put her tentacles on her shoulder, "The identification between witches transcends bloodlines. Magic connects us. Whether they are ordinary combat witches or members of the Holy Guard, most of them become as close as siblings after spending some time together. But this kind of relationship also filled the tower with negative emotions, especially when the return day finally came, but all we saw were corpses being transported back. When the outer defense line was compressed step by step, and no one needed to go on expeditions anymore, the Association ordered the demolition of that tower."

"Are you saying that waiting is unnecessary?"

"Quite the opposite, what I want to say is don't resist waiting, it proves that you haven't really experienced the feeling of loss." Pasha's tone was slow and gentle, "I also hope that you will never become like me – indifferently treating sacrifice as commonplace."

It's not that I haven't lost anything. Whether it was leaving the royal palace or going to the Sleeping Island, I have made many decisions, many of which concerned gains and losses, or even giving up some of my kind... As long as I can walk in the right direction, I won't hesitate too much. But some people are different, there are always one or two special people who make me upset. Tilly squeezed the lightning magic stone ring on her hand – if it was her, she could easily alternate controlling two magic stones, but if it was Ash, she could only fly straight down, so this ring was left in her hand.

But she didn't say these thoughts, just nodded lightly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll go check the excavation progress of the despair defense line. There is a lounge at the entrance of the hall. You can go there at any time if you want to sleep."

"I understand."

After Pasha left the way she came, Tilly suddenly felt a chill in her palm.

She opened her hand, and saw that a corner of the ring that fixed the magic stone had peeled off at some point, piercing her skin and leaving a small drop of blood on the surface.

…

"It's the fifth day today, why haven't we seen the ruins yet?" Lian muttered, "I'm getting moldy from being stuck underground every day."

"How would I know? Anyway, I go wherever you dig," a girl with a head full of braids shrugged, tossed a piece of jerky into the air, and then opened her mouth – the jerky flashed a blue light and disappeared instantly, and her cheeks puffed up, "Um… No-Winter City’s reputation is well-deserved, even jerky can be made so delicious."

"D-digging? Are you treating me like a mole!"

"It's about the same."

"That... you better save some," Ifi sighed, "I don't want to go hungry when we go back."

"Hmph, I don't want to listen to the lectures of the Bloodfang witches," the other party turned her head, "I heard that you once had designs on Princess Tilly, if it were me, I wouldn't even give you wheat cakes, let alone jerky."

Ifi immediately rolled her eyes.

"Enough," Ash said helplessly, "It's not their fault for joining the Bloodfang Association. If Tilly heard this, she would definitely teach you a lesson again."

"Uh... okay." She only calmed down when the Fifth Princess was brought up.

Another energetic guy, Ash sighed in her heart, this witch who knows how to be worry-free by looking at her outfit is Trajectory, but she is an indispensable role in this operation.

Trajectory's ability is incredible. Before adulthood, she can use magic to create invisible channels connecting two locations. The channel cannot be seen with the naked eye and has no distance – in other words, she can instantly arrive from one location to another. If there are obstacles such as doors and walls between the two, Trajectory seems to disappear suddenly. As long as the ability is maintained, the channel will always exist.

However, the limit of magic still exists. The length of the two places cannot exceed twenty steps at most. If she is the starting point, this distance will be shortened to ten steps.

After adulthood, Trajectory's awakened branch ability, "Magic Mark", greatly improves the practicality and scope of the channel – by giving the mark, she can allow others to see and use the channel. People without the mark cannot prevent her free movement even if they know where the channel is.

Of course, this ability also has certain dangers. For example, if you give a mark and let the enemy enter the channel, and cancel the ability before the other party has completely crossed, then what you get is half a body that appears in two places.

Relying on the cooperation between Lian and Trajectory to open up a secret and undetectable broken-bridge channel underground is the plan formulated by Tilly. Even if the enemy can find a cave, they cannot use it to locate the witch. By the time the demons realize that there are many such caves, they have already fled several miles away, so theoretically it is an absolutely safe plan.

The route of the group's action is from the Hidden Forest, with Agatha's stone tower as the origin, and heading northeast. The advantage is that the forest near No-Winter City is completely controlled by Leaves, so there is no need to worry about the threat of hybrid monsters.

However, in actual operation, Ash discovered a tricky problem. In the drills, there was almost no deviation in the distance of hundreds of feet, but after being extended dozens of times, it was difficult for them to confirm their position. Although they would correct the direction through the stars every night, no one was sure whether it was right.

"Why don't we check the map brought back by Logar again?" Lian looked at Ash, "Maybe we can find one or two landmark locations. As long as we can determine the location, we can know how far the ruins are from us."

Ash nodded, but didn't have much hope in her heart.

Are those bird nests, beehives and bear dens drawn on the surface really used to point the way? I'm afraid only Lightning and Maisie can find the right direction according to the map.

"Shh!" Ifi suddenly made a gesture of silence.

The three immediately quieted down.

Soon, they heard heavy footsteps overhead. The steps were chaotic, proving that there were at least four or five people. Considering that hybrid monsters rarely act in groups, the source of the sound was likely from a demon patrol.

Soon, the footsteps moved away from them, obviously the enemy did not notice the mystery hidden underground.

This is the second time today.

Probably the wolf girl's attack made them increase the number of guards.

It was not until the sound completely disappeared that Ifi breathed a sigh of relief, "At least this proves that we are in the right general direction."

"The problem is that we can't see the city ruins and can't accurately place the light curtain," Lian shook her head, "If we want the illusion instrument to play a warning role, the light curtain should be five to six miles southwest of the ruins. In this way, as long as there are terror beasts flying to the Western Region, they can be seen by the Taqila witches."

Ash thought for a moment and decided, "Let's go for another night today. At dusk tomorrow, I will fly to observe the direction of the Taqila ruins."