Two weeks after the counterattack plan, named "Operation Summit", was launched Roland received a report from Lightning, who was scouting on the front line. The battalions of the First Army had successfully completed the first step of the program and joined forces at "Forest No. 2+1.76" of the Misty Forest.

He borrowed the naming system of the turning points from the railway mileage identification method. The first half was the planned sectional station and the second half was the revised distance. That was to say, the turning point was located 1.76 kilometers ahead of Station No. 2 of the Forest Railway. The advantage of this method was that Roland could accurately see the military's route on the big map.

It was also the end of the current tracks. From here, the First Army would begin the second step of the plan—to leave the Misty Forest and march toward the northeastern direction of the Barbarian Lands without cover from Leaf.

Whether they could destroy the demons' outpost depended on this step.

As long as the Longsong Cannons and machine guns were set up, they could return to their tried and tested battle tactics from their training and previous encounters.

"I got it," Roland said, making a mark on the map. "How about the demons? Is there any sign of a response from them?"

Lightning's reply rustled through the Sigil of Listening, "Sylvie said that they haven't made any kind of response. They're still concentrating on building their own outposts, and have set up several black stone pillars. In addition, the red mist supply line has appeared behind the outposts. The Adviser Department's judgment is that the number of those long-legged monsters is limited."

This was good news, as Agatha had once stated that the only thing that limited the demons from overthrowing the humans was the Red Mist. If they had found a way around this restriction by the third Battle of Divine Will, it would spell bad news for everyone. For example, the mobility of the flying Devilbeasts and the horrifying fighting capacity of the Senior Demons would make the long border of the four kingdoms impossible to defend.

Roland now knew that the stone pillars at the outpost were different from the legendary Blackstone PaG.o.da, though they had much in common. The former could only store Red Mist and slowly release it to form a special mist environment for the demons to absorb. Within this environment, the demons' strength and self-healing abilities would be enhanced. In other words, it a.s.sisted the demons in battle.

The stone pillar could double the effect of the Red Mist; however, it could only consume reserves of it. On the other hand, the original Blackstone PaG.o.da could generate the Red Mist and also had much broader coverage, so it basically formed the core of the demons' main cities.

In addition, the stone pillar could not begin working as soon as it was planted. It had to be cultivated for about a month after being planted before it could release Red Mist. Until then it could only be used as an enlarged Red Mist can.

Sylvie's observations made him more confident about his judgment. No one wanted to see their enemies come back again after being driven away for a few days. It would be worse if they could recover and bring a bunch of reinforcements. At the current rate of railway construction, the First Army should be able to launch an attack on any new outpost before the stone pillars begin functioning at full capacity.

"In that case, keep up the scouting and let me know if you find something new. Remember that safety should always be the first priority."

"Roger that. Lightning out."

Then the light of the Sigil of Listening went out.

Roland picked up a ruler and measured the distance on the map. The First Army was supposed to enter the demons' reconnaissance perimeter in six days, by the beginning of late autumn.

Even for the army that was accustomed to fighting on the ground, this would be a tough challenge.

"Why are you worried?" Nightingale put away the Sigil and asked, "Weren't the results of the new weapon's tests pretty good?"

"In the end, that was just a test. No one can know what will happen in a war before it has even begun," Roland shrugged and said, "Not to mention that Sylvie will be occupied with the fight in the air, so the First Army has to depend on themselves to set up and maintain the defensive line."

"It's already pretty incredible that Andrea could consistently hit a balloon five kilometers away. She won't let us down as long as she has that weapon," Nightingale smiled and said, "Though Sylvie won't be available to keep a lookout for the army, Lightning and Maggie are still there. Hasn't the First Army experienced a scenario like this before?"

Roland raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, "When did you learn to comfort others?"

"I'm just being honest," Nightingale whistled and said, "Of course, I'm also good at persuading people. I remember that every single n.o.ble I ever visited agreed with what I had to say."

Uh... that's just because of direct intimidation.

"Ahem, I guess you're right," Roland said, twitching his lips, "I'm going to have a nap in my office. Don't wake me up unless there's some urgent news."

Nightingale seemed to realize that something was unusual and asked, "Right here? Should I inform the Taquila witches?"

"No," said Roland, "Don't even allow them to be near the castle."

"I see," she understood and said, "Don't worry. I'll make sure no one walks into the range of the light beam."

Roland rarely napped, unless he was particularly tired or for a special reason.

For example, this time was a special reason.

It had been a month since the last time he talked with Garcia in the Dream World. Now she had returned from her Headquarters. She had promised that she would bring back the book that was written half a century ago which first mentioned the Battle of Divine Will. For some reason, Roland felt it better to not let the Taquila survivors know about it for the moment.

He had considered it for a long time. No matter what he found in the book, he would probably be able to remain calm, while those witches who regarded the Divine Will as their ultimate fate could not. There was a battle looming on the horizon, so it would be better to not bother them with this.

Entering the Dream World was more like flipping a switch in his mind now. As long as he concentrated on it, he could fall asleep within a few seconds, which saved him the trouble of tossing and turning for hours.

After Zero went to school, Roland could not wait to pick up the phone.

"Hey? Did you get the book?"

"If I say no, would you be so disappointed that you'd throw your cell phone?" He soon heard Garcia's familiar sarcasm, "Relax, you reminded me three days ago. I'm not so forgetful that I'd eat my words, unlike a certain someone."

Roland was relieved and replied, "I won't. I still need to feed my family. I can't afford to throw it."

"Feed your family? Isn't the salary of martialist enough for you? Hey... Have you gone down the wrong path somewhere?"

"What are you imagining?" He whispered in his heart, "I'm trying to feed a group of people who haven't eaten for hundreds of years." He said, "I have to say, even if we are acquaintances—"

"Now you're going to accuse me of slander? It's a new era. Stop using this cliché, okay?" Garcia interrupted him.

Roland almost choked on hearing her words. It felt terrible being mocked about clichés by a woman from the middle ages...

He simply asked, "All right, so where's the book?"

"Of course, it's in my apartment. Come and get it." She replied.