"Did you hear any sound?" Edith looked at Brian who was instructing the soldiers to arrange an underground defense line.

"Any sound?" Brian stopped what he was doing, looked around in puzzlement, and said, "No, Miss Edith, I haven't heard anything except the sound of running water."

"Really?" Edith frowned. "Am I mistaken?"

"What kind of sound was that?"

"Like the sound of a horn, very m.u.f.fled... similar to the sound of water," Edith paused. "It seemed to come from the south."

That was the direction where the witches went for a deep exploration. The turbulent underground river went from north to south, and disappeared in the pitch-black underground cave. Although there were weird illuminating plants on both sides of the river, they could not provide light for far away places. The entire waterway was like an entrance to an abyss which devoured everything she saw.

"That... I think probably because we're deep in the mountain, which deprives us the vision of the sky, plus the lack of the light of a fire, you might be hallucinating." Brian smiled thoughtfully. "For the soldiers who have been to a battlefield, this isn't a big problem. It's no wonder that you might feel nervous. If you feel uneasy, Miss Margie can accompany you to return to the aisle exit."

A familiar look, familiar words... Edith was not surprised by the speech of the Gun Battalion commander. Although she was in light leather armor and a helmet, with a walking sword hanging on her waist, most of the people there still took her as an observer from the City Hall, or... as a pearl-like girl, just like her t.i.tle, pretty and fragile. That was also the reason why people cared and pleased her all the way.

What those people did not understand was that the pearls produced by the giant clams in the Northern Region had been soaked in blood.

The blood of fish, of water beasts... or even of the fishermen.

That was why they could grow so big, into the size of a fist.

Roland Wimbledon was probably the only one who ignored her appearance in the beginning and even took her as an opponent.

"Thanks, but I'm better off here. If I run back, doesn't it mean I'll humiliate His Majesty's City Hall?" Although Edith did not tell Brian what was in her mind, she rejected his suggestion with a smile. For a moment, Brian was lost in her smile. After a long while, he shunned away in embarra.s.sment.

"I don't think His Majesty or Barov would mind it..." Brian coughed twice. "I just don't understand why you came with the First Army to such a dangerous place?"

"For only in this way could you trust me," Edith said frankly.

"W... What?"

"You must have heard of the Battle of Divine Will," she said calmly. "When such a battle that determines human's lives comes, it'd be hard for His Majesty to consider every aspect of the war situation. He'll need many officers to a.s.sist him to command the army, and the army will depend on the City Hall for logistics. By that time, will you trust an officer who has fought with you shoulder by shoulder or one who sits in the office every day dealing with paperwork?"

Brian was startled. After a moment, he said, "You're really brave to make such a speech."

Edith understood what he was referring to. Even an indigenous former Patrol Leader understood what she meant. At best, what she wanted to do was called a.s.sistant commanding... or it could be called power interference, which was totally unbearable in the eyes of other lords who claimed total control of their knights.

But now, the number of soldiers of the First Army had exceeded 5000, so the knightage's management method was obviously outdated. As a matter of fact, the Adviser Department a.s.sembled by His Majesty was an organization between the army and the City Hall, which was eventually under Roland's control but the commanding right underneath would further spread. Because Edith understood Roland's ideas, she dared to make that speech. It was not that she intended to join the Adviser Department, but she wanted to extend her influence as much as possible.

"If it was any other kings, I'd definitely not do that, but His Majesty is different..." Edith said, smiling, "You know that it was me who proposed that anyone who wants to be promoted in City Hall needs to go to a battlefield first. This being said, it's better that I set an example for the others."

"Has His Majesty... agreed?"

"Not really, but he didn't object to it."

"Um, doesn't it mean that he agreed?" Brian asked confusedly.

"In politics, you can't interpret things this way," Edith said with her hands laid out. "Even an oral commitment may change anytime before it gets written down, let alone the silence the king gave me for my asking."

"I see..." The Gun Battalion commander said with mixed feelings, "Politics is really complicated."

"That's true."

Apart from that, she also planned to get closer to the witches, to understand their abilities and characters, and to spend more time with them.

Undoubtedly, His Majesty had exerted big efforts on the witches, and the construction of Neverwinter could not carry on without the witches. To reach the peak of power, she would need their support.

So far, her plan had gone very smoothly. Probably because they were the same gender, her contact with the witches did not draw their rejection, yet Barov was not that lucky.

"Are the G.o.d's Punishment Witches the next batch to come?" Edith changed the subject.

"Yeah, I think so. Miss Margie can only deliver five to six people per time. To set a sentry post, she would have to run about 10 times," Brian replied accordingly. "Where do you think the second machine gun should be positioned?"

"Somewhere high... Um, I remember there is a suitable location near the rock behind..." Right when she turned around to observe the cave behind her, an illuminating plant seemed to distort in a certain way, as if something broke the stability of the air, making everything look blurry.

"What's that?" she asked.

Before she could alert the First Army soldiers, the air was again acutely distorted. This time the air behind the machine gun squad members rippled.

A light sound came, then a soldier's head fell off his neck, with a smile frozen on his face.

"Enemy attack!" Edith shouted out, "It's invisible!"

Almost at the same time, two more soldiers' chests were pierced through. When their blood spurted, the ripple was dyed red.

"There is more than one!"

Edith thought swiftly. Throwing a dagger with one hand toward the place where the first soldier fell, she pulled out her sword and raced to the enemy. When her dagger was knocked away by the invisible thing, she p.r.i.c.ked her sword to the root of the ripple from another angle.

Edith clearly knew that if they chose to retreat, they would end up being attacked from front and back. There was a bonfire at this place, which was their only source of light to find the enemies' whereabouts. Without light, they could find no way to resist these nearly invisible monsters, so escaping should be their last choice!

While they could roughly locate the enemies, offense was their only chance to win!

Through the sword-tip came a sense of softness, as if it was p.r.i.c.ked into some skin and flesh, which thrilled Edith.

If she was not wrong, whether humans or beasts, the contacting point of a weapon and a body was definitely a weakpoint—such as a hand holding a sword or a tip of a claw, which if hurt, would not regain its attacking ability in anytime soon.

Just as Edith was about to draw back her sword, a chilly wind swept towards her from another direction, coming at a speed that was so fast that she felt coldness. .h.i.tting right on her face.

"d.a.m.n it! This thing has two weapons?"

Years of experience in fighting and killing made her subconsciously loosen the sword-holding righthand and roll on the ground. At that moment, she felt something touching the back of her head and then her long hair flew about like fallen petals scattering everywhere.

Having no time to get up, she shouted at Brian, "Now, shoot in my direction."