Release that Witch

Sylvie, who was observing the battle, could finally breathe out a sigh of relief. The Mad Demons’ first volley this time did not cause as much damage as compared with their previous attack. With the help of the witches of the Sleeping Island, the spears were either blocked or strangely missed their targets. Only one spear managed to hit a heavy machine gun and shatter it, blasting the splinters everywhere. The explosion forced the squad to cease fire temporarily, but none of the soldiers were fatally wounded. Nana would be able to heal them all as long as they held on until the end of the battle.

The Mad Demons had to let their swollen arms recover before they could attack again, while the First Army could just keep firing. The longer the demons stayed in one spot, the easier a target they became for the First Army gunners. Sylvies knew then that the enemies’ defeat was inevitable.

The demons seemed to sense that too. As a horn rang out, the surviving Devilbeasts scrambled to turn around and accelerated away towards the west.

Compared to the evasive movements the devilbeasts displayed when attacking, the beeline they made in the air after turning tails turned them into easy targets for the soldiers. The hail of bullets managed to snap off one escaping Devilbeast’s wing. The beast then fell into the Misty Forest with its body bent in an odd angle.

By now, there were only five flying Devilbeasts left, and only three carried the Mad Demons.

Sylvie informed the last of the Neverwinter attackers, who were currently lying in ambush about this information through the Sigil of Listening.

They were the last nail in the coffin for these demons.

”Copy that,” said a familiar voice from the other end of the Sigil. ”I’m on it. Enjoy the show of a great explorer!”

”Be careful...” Before Sylvie could even finish, sounds of wind whooshing past already blocked out the rest of her words.

That was a signal of falling from the high sky, and an omen of death for the enemies.

The last thing the demons controlling the devilbeasts expected was that someone would attack them from above. They were proud of their natural ability to strike from the air. However, in the face of the witches above the clouds, the odds were not in their favor this time.

Lightning accelerated so fast that the goggles started to crack.

120 kilometers per hour!

That’s almost twice as fast as Maggie in the Devilbeast form.

If she flew any faster, the turbulent airflow would very likely blow away her wind goggles.

What she needed to do now was no different than what she did to blow up the king’s city.

Adjusting the horizontal direction of the ”bomb” so that it would hit the flying demons.

But, the ”bomb” she carried this time was Ashes.

It was a tentative decision to add an Extraordinary in the battle. Ashes could fly with the help of the Stone of Flight, but she could not fight while she was controlling the stone. It would be a waste to leave such a mighty warrior on the ground, so they finally came to a solution where the little girl would carry Ashes to attack the enemies. This operation turned out to be surprisingly smooth. Ashes could keep floating in the air by her will so that she would not be a burden to Lightning, and at the same time, the Extraordinary’s body was strong enough to bear the violent airflow due to high-speed flight.

As they broke through the thick clouds, their vision suddenly cleared up.

The five Devilbeasts Sylvie had told them about appeared in front of them.

The enemies were still unaware of what was happening above them.

Lightning mustered all her strength and threw Ashes towards one of them.

Ashes unsheathed her long sword and slashed at the demon head-on.

It was not until the demon had heard the blade whistling through the air did it finally become aware of the danger that was fast approaching. But by then, it was too late. The demon swelled its arm and put the spear in an attempt parry the strike, but Ashes’ slash was unstoppable. Her sword cut through the spear before cleaving the demon in half. The last thing the demon saw was the Extraordinary’s pair of golden eyes.

The rest of the demons were startled, and they screamed out as they made their devilbeats swerve to the sides. They all raised the spear, ignoring the Devilbeast whose master had just been slaughtered. At that moment, a terrifying roar distracted them.

”Woo——Ooo——!”

The giant Devilbeast that Maggie had transformed into dashed out of the thick clouds and swooped towards the demons.

The enemies could not help but put their focus on the gigantic Maggie instead of Ashes. They knew that it was not a real Devilbeast, for they could see a witch on its back.

Two spears hurled by the demons sped towards Maggie like a pair of shadows.

The next second, the Devilbeast suddenly vanished and the spears passed through thin air. The demons then saw a white pigeon floating proudly where the Devilbeast had been.

”Coo!”

Just in a flash, Nightingale showed up in front of the enemies.

Although the peculiarness of the misty world had restricted her movement in the air so that she could not act as freely as she could on the ground, she would not let any enemy within one ”flash” escape.

As long as the enemy was pulled in the misty world, Nightingale would dominate the battle.

Without God’s Stones of Retaliation, the demon would never see her. The Devilbeast’ narrow back was as large as a town square to her.

While Nightingale shot down the demon with her revolver, she pulled the reins on the devilbeast that is now masterless and had it crash into the last devilbeast still with a rider. The Mad Demon atop the last beast attempted a desperate struggle and threw two spears towards NIghtingale while paralyzing its own arm. As the Magic Stone was flashing blue, it did not only drain the demon’s magic power but also made half of its body wither up.

Nightingale, however, did not even dodge the spears. She merely turned the black and white world upside down so that the sky became the ground, she then stood on the abdomen of the Devilbeast who, instead, took the spear for her.

The turbulent misty world also concealed Nightingale and her mount. Then abruptly, the Devilbeast, controlled by Nightingale, smashed into the last pair of the enemies.

The misty world absorbed the demon in instantly.

This was a strange world for the demon, and the distorted space and lighting of this world instantly distracted it. By the time the demon realized what had happened, the borderlines that were fine as silver yarn flooded over it like a tsunami.

When the enemies reappeared, both the Devilbeasts and the Mad Demon had been minced into pieces, and their remains showered down to the ground below.

Maggie re-transformed into the beast and quickly caught Nightingale who was falling, while Lightning flew to catch Ashes, who had finished dealing with the other Devilbeast.

”Two to one, I win.” Nightingale showed two fingers to the Extraordinary.

Ashes shrugged without a comment.

After they landed safely on the ground, Lightning produced the Sigil of Listening from her bag. ”Sylvie, can you find the other two escaped Devilbeasts?”

There was a moment of silence before Lightning heard the answer. ”Yes, I see them. They are about 2,500 meters away to the Northeast of you.”

”Great, please guide me there.”

”You want to go alone?”

”No, Maggie’ll go with me. Don’t worry,” Lightning said as she clapped her chest. ”They’re just two beasts without a master.”

”Noone will escape!” Maggie returned to a pigeon, fluttered to the top of the little girl, and said with her erect bird head.

”Be careful with the red mist cans. Remember not to come into contact with the mist.” Nightingale warned.

”Retreat immediately if you see any new enemies,” Ashes added.

”Got it. You can count on me!” Lightning raised a thumb and took off with Maggie, heading to where the enemies were fleeing.

...