Release that Witch

Roland knew what the Pearl of the Northern Region was referring to.

He had encountered many technical difficulties during the manufacturing process of the God’s Stone bullet, such as the caliber and casing. He was trying to make the God’s Stone as large as possible, but large stones normally generate a large anti-magic area. Also, a large caliber weapon would inevitably be heavier than normal ones and was a lot harder to hide, transport, and use.

In the past week and after numerous tests, Anna, Agatha, Lucia, and Andrea had finally nailed the parameters of this new weapon.

To make sure that an equal force was applied to the bullet, the God’s Stone of Retaliation was shaped into a cylinder with a width of 30mm coated with copper and equipped with a sharp bullet head. The bullet itself had a caliber of 35mm.

This was the only way the God’s Stone inside wouldn’t be crushed by the gunpowder.

The ”black hole” created by the God’s Stone would be around one and a half meters, which meant that the barrel of the gun should be at least two meters. Due to its huge size, the parts of the gun had to be detachable to fit in the Magic Ark.

Furthermore, as the gun would have a high recoil due to its huge caliber, a special mount would be employed when using this weapon.

Because of the above-mentioned technical difficulties, the final version of the gun was abnormally colossal. It was simply impossible for a sniper to reach the bolt and load the cartridge by himself. The gun was nearly as heavy as two grown men put together and required more than one person in the Special Unit to operate. Although the gun was equipped with a muzzle brake and a buffer, the shooter could still sustain injuries from the recoil.

Fortunately, one good thing about this new weapon was that they only planned to use it once. With this in mind, these drawbacks became acceptable.

A large caliber also had a few advantages.

The biggest strength was a longer shooting range or, more precisely, a longer effective shooting range. A bullet would normally deviate from its original course beyond a certain point and become ineffective. However, Andrea could direct any bullets precisely to their designated landing spots. That was why this new weapon had, theoretically, a shooting range of over ten miles.

Now, Roland understood why Edith had chosen the jungle as the ambush location.

As this weapon required a much longer time to assemble and prepare before use than Ashes’ gun, the operator had to take some cover to avoid the demons’ scrutinies.

”Lastly is the retreat route, ” Edith said as she pointed to the map. ”After the battle at Taquila officially begins, the First Army will dispatch a unit to support the retreating Special Unit at five to six miles from the left. As for when we should launch the ambush, it really depends on how the demons react. That’s all for the plan.”

The plan, which had taken Edith a week to finalize, was soon approved. After a brief discussion, Edith nailed the members of the two teams.

The ambush team was comprised of Sylvie, Andrea, Camilla, Margie, and Ashes. The former four would mainly be responsible for the ambush while Ashes would be the general protector. Lightning would be the scout. She could transport the God’s Stone bullet that Maggie could not. The God’s Stone would not affect her as long as it was hung by a rope.

Otherwise, the team had to walk to the ambush area.

There were ten people in total in the Seagull team. Maggie was the scout. Apart from Tilly and Wendy, the rest of the team were all God’s Punishment Witches, of whom Zoe was the leader. Roland expected to have more people on the team. However, since the big caliber gun, grenades and armor had taken too much space, Roland had to cut down the number, not to mention that Hummingbird had already reduced the weight of these supplies.

No strategies or tactics were needed for such a direct confrontation. The only thing they needed to do was to take things slow and advance step by step.

The entire operation almost exhausted their resources, which forced Roland to rethink about their transportation facilities. Currently, the First Army solely relied on the inner river and the railway to transport supplies and troops. If they had an armored cavalry, they simply needed to send the armored cavalry to cut off the demons’ supplies and envelop the enemy from the rear. In that case, the Magic Slayer would be very likely cornered due to the lack of Red Mist.

At the end of the meeting, Edith rose again and shot Roland a hesitant look.

”Anything else?” Roland asked, his brows raised.

”After the final battle begins, I hope you and the City Hall could move to the Third Border City for the time being.” She paused for a second and then went on, ”Also, the witches in the Castle District should do so as well.”

”What do you mean?” Barov, who had been wanting to interrupt, finally seized a chance to cut in. ”Are you ordering His Majesty?”

A little flustered, Anna asked, ”Do you think the demons will attack Neverwinter?”

”Very unlikely, but there’s a possibility,” Edith replied placidly. ”The Red Mist supply line doesn’t necessarily equal to the exact number of the demons. For example, it could be either 3,000 demons or just 1,000 demons having an expedition. The demons have been to Neverwinter once anyway. However, this time, they aren’t just going to warn us but are coming straight to the Castle District. What if they aren’t Mad Demons but Senior Demons...”

There was a short strained silence.

”They won’t mind abandoning Taquila?” Agatha questioned as she frowned.

”If a loss is inevitable, they won’t care that much.”

”I see,” Roland said, smiling airily. ”Let’s do it. Barov, you take care of the City Hall. You know what to do, don’t you?”

”Yes, of course, Your Majesty.”

Indeed, even if Edith did not make the suggestion of relocating to the Third Border City, Roland was still planning to spectate the unfolding of the war in the hall. Although he could only see a small part of Taquila, this was a very rare opportunity to watch a ”live” battle.

”So, everyone, I know what you’re all thinking about,” Roland announced as he straightened up. Beyond a doubt, everybody would devote themselves to the war that would determine their very survival on this planet after this meeting. He knew it was time for him to make a closing statement. ”You’re right. We’re now very close to our victory. Although few people know about this war, and even fewer understand its implication, I’m sure this war will be remembered by the entire human race at one point in the future! We started preparing for it even before the Battle of Divine Will starts and have successfully kept the demons away from the Fertile Plains. Whether the demons are held up in the Sky-sea Realm or not, we’ll win! I just feel sorry that I can’t come with you to the front.”

The hall was dead silent. Roland could see everyone was excited, their eyes glistening.

”Beat the demons and take Taquila. I’m looking forward to this battle!” Roland shouted while laying delicate stress on each syllable as he surveyed the room.

”As you command!” everyone chorused.