From a distance, it resembled a cone permanently fixed amongst the clouds, its downcast shadow blocking out a third of the Kingdom of Dawn, resulting in an earlier nightfall by several hours.

If not for the prior preparations done by the higher-ups and the order pa.s.sed down for the civilians to stay indoors, with martial law imposed on the various cities, just the sight of the Deity of the G.o.ds would had caused social order to collapse.

Following that, the Deity of G.o.ds began moving towards Graycastle, the moving shadow outline formed a new distinct 'day and night line' for the people on the ground. Although Silent Disaster and Sky Lord were unable to operate the core apparatus, they were able to close the Red Mist valve, which could be considered the only good news. At the very least, they prevented the spillage of Red Mist everywhere.

Besides monitoring the Deity of G.o.ds, the Witch Union and Graycastle's Administrative Office did not stay idle. The alliance of both parties were able to transfer a magic power core and an operator up onto the floating island after traversing the majority of Graycastle in a short span of two days.

Opening the sealed wooden crate, Roland saw Celine inside the temporary warehouse.

"Phew… Although I don't have to breathe, the feeling of being transported in a narrow s.p.a.ce felt terrible." She extended her tentacles, as though performing a large stretch.

"It was tough on you," Roland replied earnestly. He knew how it felt to be sealed and be immobilized inside a wooden crate—such an experience was enough for someone with claustrophobia to go crazy. If not for the urgency, they would have waited for the large aircrafts to be completed as a mode of transport and not agree to transporting this ancient witch using such a method.

"Compared to the things we suffered in the past, this little discomfort is nothing." Celine looked to her left and right. "Come to think of it, it is even more surprising that we are actually collaborating with the demons, Your Majesty." She lowered her main tentacles and consciously suppressed her voice to the lowest. "Are you sure of this? They are heartless and merciless enemies; cheating and lying is considered ordinary to them. To be honest, if this idea didn't come from you, Alethea would have never agreed to this."

"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Roland used his consciousness and replied seriously. "The Deity of G.o.ds absolutely cannot fall onto the Four Kingdoms, we cannot bear such a loss."

"To choose the lesser of two evils, this is something the Three Chiefs had to frequently do." Celine's voice suddenly turned more gentle. "I believe in your judgment."

"Fortunately, the one to operate this apparatus isn't Alethea." Roland laughed bitterly. "Otherwise I would be in for a huge headache."

"That is where you are wrong." Celine smiled. "After learning of the matter, she was definitely furious, but the person who stuffed me into the crate was none other than her."

Roland was surprised, and warm emotions surged in his heart.

"Alright, where is the Senior Demon you spoke of? I can't wait to go up the floating city."

"Erm…" Her reaction was out of his expectations. "You really want to go up there?"

"Of course! It is a new opportunity to study a brand new core! To utilize the G.o.d's Stone of Retaliation to control magic power and transform it into a powerful buoyant force, the thought of it thrills me!" Celine's emotions took a huge turn. "And that is a Demon city, a city! One has to understand that in the entire history of the Battle of Divine Will, no one has ever attacked a Demon City, much less occupy one!"

"Fine, what you said is indeed very reasonable…" Roland turned and walked towards the corner of the warehouse. "Follow me."

After pa.s.sing through a unique door, Hackzord and Serakkas appeared in the middle of the room waiting for the mission to begin. They were surrounded by 10 G.o.d's Punishment Witches and both parties were constantly eyeing each other—although it was a collaboration, both parties could never be at ease with the other.

"This…" The moment he saw Celine, Hackzord raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The carrier body of the underground civilization? A Witch merged with it?"

"You've never tried it before?" Roland asked out of curiosity.

"Only Na.s.saupelle has the interest and joy in turning himself into a monster." Sky Lord did not seem to put much thought into the question. "Since you're ready, let's begin."

"We have gone through the details for this mission. For everyone's sake, I will once again repeat the major procedures." Roland glanced around. "The core to controlling the Deity of G.o.ds is situated at the lowest level of the obelisk which is filled with Red Mist, so the main force to enter will be G.o.d's Punishment Witches and the First Army. There lies the possibility of enemies there, mainly the Symbiotic Demons, or the Monstrous Beasts, so do not advance prematurely. The First Army will establish defense positions at crucial points and wait for the area to be declared safe before we go near the core. The main task of the G.o.d's Punishment Witches is to protect Celine. I will leave it to the both of you." His eyes stopped at Phyllis and Zooey.

The two bowed in unison. "Yes."

According to Hackzord, the early implementation of Plan B meant that over ten thousands of Inferior Demons and thousands of Mad Demons were left stranded on the floating island. They took orders from senior lords and did not form any obstruction. As for the senior demons that took orders from Mask, they were 'convinced' by Silent Disaster. The only ones that were uncontrollable were the Monstrous Beasts that were created. Despite Hackzord's early closure of the main nesting grounds doors, no one knew how many were left to guard the city.

"In that case… move out!"

Roland gave the order.

Hackzord snapped his fingers, instantly conjuring a dark screen of magic power that opened behind him while leaking red mist.

The two senior lords disappeared through the Distortion Door first.

They were then followed by the G.o.d's Punishment Witches and Celine.

Soon after, the doors of the warehouses opened as a thousand soldiers fully equipped with all sorts of equipment entered the Distortion Door.

Operation City Capture had officially begun!

…

"So this is… the interior of the demon city…" Celine gasped. It was her first time stepping into the enemy's core region, and also the closest she had been to the obelisk. Despite knowing its immense size, the close proximity caused shocks to reverberate through her.

Especially when they were situated at the bottom of the large pit, where the large obelisk had protruded out of the Red Mist Lake like a pillar that touched the heavens.

"What do you plan to do?" Phyllis looked around cautiously and voiced out.

"We have to first sense where the control core is." She looked at the magic power cores revolving around the obelisk above her. "The core apparatus can trans.m.u.te all sorts of abilities, so we have to try using 'balance' or 'observation' to find out if it works."

"Measurement? Isn't that the name of the magic stone?"

"In some sense, the magic power core and magic stones are the same thing; the largest difference lies in the complexity and scale. In fact, after seeing Isabella's research notes, I think that they aren't much different from Witches. In essence, we all use the same method to activate magic power."

Phyllis remained silent for a moment, then changed the topic. "What happens after a connection is established?"

"Once connected, I can take the next step to a.n.a.lyze the demon core's composition, just like how we use magic stones to a.n.a.lyze a Witch's abilities. His Majesty requests for this entire floating island to land smoothly then we can achieve that by slowing this thing down. This will be much easier than creating a new ability."

"Miss Phyllis and Miss Celine." Brian walked over. "The First Army has laid out its defenses, the next step is up to you."

Celine nodded with her main tentacle and raised up the magic power core she brought along.

Very quickly, the core blossomed with a resplendent blue light and gradually floated in midair.

A thin line appeared silently and pointed straight to the obelisk—the peculiar sight attracted everyone's attention. It was like a suspended thread above the Red Mist Lake that looked as though it had been there the entire time, only to have revealed itself then.