After Lightning's warning, she carried a Graycastle soldier and flew to the edge of the mountaintop. The instant their feet were off the ground, the duo plummeted tens of meters in a breath before slowing to a stable speed.

By the time his feet were on the ground again, the soldier's face was palish white. "Thank… thank you, Miss Lightning, I… ugh—"

"Take a few deep breaths, your body will recover in a bit."

With that, she flew back up the mountaintop and continued her search for stranded survivors.

Cat's Claw's guess was proven to be true. After the sudden attack of the stone pillar, a few soldiers were left stranded on the other side of the field and scattered by the a.s.sault of the Spider Demons. Although a few were successful in getting past the blockade and joined up with the defense force at the stipulated location, many others were pinned down. Some were unwilling to abandon their wounded comrades, and some engaged in bitter struggles against the Spider Demons, to the point of not being able to withdraw despite hearing the retreat signal.

Now, with the bulk of the troops retreating in batches, Lightning's appearance gave them hope.

Although the upgrade and adulthood did not increase her strength, it was enough to save the men by being able to fly ten meters off the ground.

The only problem was her ability to carry one person at a time. Additionally, the substantial descent off the cliff that was not a problem for Lightning who was used to flying alone, but the act of carrying a soldier each time was a plummet in every sense of the word.

The gunshots at the artillery position gradually ceased. Clearly, regardless be it the demons or the members of the a.s.sault force, there were few left. Lightning successfully found about ten soldiers and placed them on a small path on the back of the mountain.

"Phew, I think that's the last one." After dropping the last survivor, she heaved a sigh of relief. "You guys can find your own way down the mountain, right?"

"Thank you for your help!" Everyone saluted at attention, and someone asked. "Do you know the location of the main troops?"

"They are currently on the other side of the mountain, positioned to fight against Spider Demons coming from the north." Lightning gave a rough explanation of the situation, "There's no way to do a detour here; just go straight down the mountain, quickly get to Metalstone Ridge before the floating island pa.s.ses the Impa.s.sable Mountain Range."

"I see… we understand." Everyone's expression became heavy, they were able to survive due to the heroic sacrifice of their comrades. Mixed emotions and indignation surfaced on their faces from the fact that they were unable to contribute while the others were still engaging the enemy.

But no matter how regretful they felt, they knew that they could not be a burden on the main force.

"Oh right, Miss Lightning." Just as they were about the separate, the soldier who vomited hesitated before speaking. "When the stone pillar fell, the tremors collapsed the concealed structure for Cannon No. 3. I saw a few soldiers hiding around there while running, I'm not sure if there would be survivors in there…"

"Cannon No. 3's shelter, got it." Lightning nodded. "I'll take a look."

After watching the group turn and retreat down the mountain, Lightning soared into the air and returned to the artillery formation.

Meanwhile, Maggie's voice came out of the Sigil of Listening with a new warning.

"Be careful, coo. The demons are going to release the third stone pillar!"

"Can you judge its target?"

"Unsure, but I don't think it is the mountaintop, coo!" Maggie's voice suddenly trembled. "It's coming, coo!"

Lightning soared back into midair, only to witness the black pillar drawing a long arc towards the Impa.s.sable Mountain Range.

The demons did not aim for the a.s.sault force, which meant they were most probably targeting the troops retreating down the mountain. The terrain there was extremely complicated, and the casualties suffered by the humans would only increase substantially if the Spider Demons breached their meager defenses. The only good news was that the due to the undulating terrains around the path that acted as shelter, it was improbable that the demons had accurate aim to land the stele right on top of the troops.

She immediately made the decision to return and support the a.s.sault force at the mountainside.

Right at this moment on the Seagull, Sylvie suddenly opened her eyes. "Heavens…"

"What happened?" Andrea exclaimed in surprise. To avoid being discovered by the demons, Sylvie had kept her eyes closed, the theory being that it would remain so long as she was unable to see the situation beneath the clouds.

"There is an extremely powerful magic power feedback!" she muttered to herself in disbelief, "It is speeding towards the Impa.s.sable Mountain Range!"

Magic power feedback? Andrea was startled.

The term made her recall Ursrook's curse—in the last battle of Taquila, the other party had made use of a decoy to release magic power to deliberately lure the ambush team.

But the decoy magic power source was completely different from the original. It was possible that Sylvie would not be able to distinguish the fine details across a distance of over ten kilometers, but under the current circ.u.mstances, she was likely capable of determining if the source was genuine or not.

In other words, the anomaly captured by the Eye of Magic was most probably a genuine Senior Demon.

Although it wasn't clear why the enemy had chosen to reveal their ident.i.ty at such a moment, the people onboard the Seagull knew that they could not sit idly since it had taken action.

Right from the beginning, their targets had been the most difficult demons which appeared on the battlefield.

Andrea had long waited for this very moment.

"It's our turn to perform now!"

But Sylvie continued staring at the floor of the cabin with beads of perspiration trickling down her forehead. "Is that really a demon… How is it possible for its magic power to be that strong…"

"Uh… how strong?"

"Far stronger than Ursrook—" Sylvie bit her lips. "I'm afraid that only Leaf in her Heart of the Forest state can compare to that…"

"What did you say?" Andrea was stunned.

She had witnessed the rich magic power Leaf possessed when she occupied a corner of the Misty Forest. To call it vast was still an understatement, but it was an outcome achieved by relying on external forces. But for a single individual to wield such a power? "Hey, hey… are you exaggerating a little bit too much?"

Wendy immediately activated all the Sigils of Listening. "Your Highness Tilly, Lightning, Maggie, this is Seagull! Sylvie detected an enemy approaching the mountain range. From the magic power feedback, the enemy is most probably a Higher Ascendant-ranked Senior Lord! Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage!"

"Then what do we do?" Shavi asked timidly.

"Do I have to answer that?" Andrea clenched her fists. "Only such enemies are worthy of receiving the bullets formed by our sisters' blood, sweat and tears."

…

"Boom—!"

The third stone pillar pa.s.sed through the gap between two mountain peaks and swept through the dried up and rotten trees, devastating everything in its path until it ultimately rolled down a hill into the valley. The long and brown path formed by a mix of soil and branches drew a huge contrast against the snowy background.

Cat's Claw let out a sigh of relief.

He felt that giving the orders for a quick retreat was the correct decision—the time interval between the third stone pillar and the second was far longer, and there were only a few enemies left on the mountainside. At present, the time they fought for gave them enough time to face the new enemies.

Besides, the stone pillar had landed coincidentally between them and the reserved troops. Not only did the difference in height provide the shooters better conditions for firing, the distance of over a kilometer made it relatively easier to distribute the firepower, unlike the two sudden battles from before.

But Cat's Claw found it a pity that they were not equipped with the 75mm cannons, which could be aimed directly at the giant stone pillar. To be able to destroy the disgusting bugs the moment they revealed their heads would have definitely allowed them to expel the anger in the soldiers.