Release that Witch

At the Northernmost Port in the Kingdom of Everwinter.

“Don’t push. Stand in line!”

“Abandon the luggage! The King of Graycastle will provide you with sufficient food and clothes. If you want to survive, throw your luggage into the water!”

“Hurry up! Ladies and children first!”

The port was filled with refugees who were swarming toward the ships. Had the First Army and the lord’s guards not maintained the order, those refugees would have probably trodded on each other to board the ships.

“Captain, we probably… can’t accommodate so many refugees,” the chief guard said apprehensively as he looked backwards at the ships packed with refugees that were now slowly departing from the port.

“It’s very brave of them to come to the Northernmost Port at this time of year,” Uncle Sang commented as he gazed at the front. Within three to four days, the Red Mist had spread out from the crest of the Impassable Mountain Range. The sky was awash with a crimson color, which cast a shadow over everybody’s heart.

“Captain… save a spot for me,” someone muttered.

Uncle Sang said with a smile, “If Nail asked me, I would definitely save a spot for him, even if that means I have to get off the ship.”

Over half a month ago, they had received instructions to leave the Hermes Plateau for the city at the far north of the Kingdom of Everwinter to carry out the immigration compaign. Compared to defend the Holy City, Nail preferred this task a lot better. He felt more relaxed after taking this mission and also became more communicative during the voyage. As soon as he reached the Northernmost Port, he started the campaign.

They were not the first Graycastle men that arrived at the Kingdom of Everwinter. Many of his colleagues had visited the kingdom and evacuated the cities ahead of time. The evacuation work did not go very well at first until the Bloody Moon emerged. Rumors were circulated among the community that the “Bloody Moon” represented the end of the world. Therefore, when local residents saw the crimson moon in the sky, they were terrified and immediatley asked the soldiers stationed there to get them out of the city.

Unfortunately, the situation turned for the worse.

Four or five days later, they were informed of the presence of the Red mist.

On the same day, the First Army encountered demons.

They did know the outcome of the battle, but the advance team started to retreat to the south, and Nail’s team also received instructions to retreat to the next port.

In the meantime, there was a huge increase in the number of refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people rushed to the Northernmost Port every day and asked the soldiers to take them away. Nail could not ignore their pleading, so he asked his men to build up a defensive line while at the same time asking the army at the rear to send him more ships via the carrier pigeon. Because of this, their retreat plan was delayed for several days.

Uncle Sang knew that once the news of the Red Mist was spread out, fewer ships would come to the north. Those Chambers of Commerce retained by His Majesty would not risk their own lives to carry out the mission. They would probably, very reluctantly, agree to sail out, but they would never reach here. These were probably the last ships that came to rescue.

Nail had foreseen that this would happen beforehand, so he had asked his team members to prepare some explosives in advance. They could not only ignite the explosives in the event of an attack from the demons but could also destroy the equipment on the ship that was not easy to take away to prevent the demons from obtaining these technologies.

“Captain, there’s smoke at the front!” someone shouted.

“Again?” Uncle Sang said. “Everybody, man your post!”

Shortstaffed, with no witch scouts to help them, they had to rely on the traditional means of communication to deliver messages.

This was not the first time that the demons had visited the Northernmost Port. There were actually a few demons’ bodies outside the town. According to the manual distributed by the management team, these demons were mostly Mad Demons. Although the enemies were scattered around and appeared not to be very powerful, it did indicate that the demons had set foot on the Kingdom of Everwinter and that they were slowly approaching as the Red Mist permeated.

As a troop that had been stationed at Hermes ever since the battle at the Coldwind Ridge, Nail’s unit did not participate in the Taquila battle. Although Uncle Sang had told him a lot about the war, this was, essentially, his first time to confront the demons. After several fights, Nail concluded that as long as the Mad Demons were more than 200 meters from the defensive line, they were easier to deal with than the church’s God’s Punishment Warriors.

Uncle Sang was not too worried about the beacon. Instead, he was more concerned about Nail’s decision. Without a doubt, it was impossible to take all the refugees away with only two ships. What would the captain do with the people left behind? Would he abandon them to their fate or take them to the south?

Just then, he saw a Mad Demon outside the barbed wire erected on the street.

Uncle Sang frowned.

Like most of the port cities, the Northernmost Port did not have a city wall. Therefore, they had built the defensive line at the dock. Apart from refugees, all the residents were gone. Naturally, the city attracted demons. However, to Uncle Sang’s dismay, the scouts were gone, too. Technically, they should have retreated after seeing the beacon and returned to the defensive line faster than the enemies.

Gradually, more Mad Demons appeared and swarmed toward the dock.

“Fire!”

The two machine gun squads opened fire together, and shells rained down at the demons. The demons were swift too. They immediately took refuge in the buildings nearby. After the dust and smoke dissipated, there were only two bodies left on the barbed wire.

Gun shots soon rented the air.

Apparently, the sniper team opened fire at the demons who lurked on the roof.

This was their military tactic. Considering that they did not have a broad view in the urban area, they had set up many obstacles over the past week. The soldiers had blocked most of the streets and alleys with garbage and property debris. These obstacles could not completely stop the demons but could hold them back. If the demons did not want to waste their time on removing obstacles and clearing the road, they would have to confront the machine gun squads directly.

Then, they would face a bitter and ferocious fight. Since there were not many demons, Uncle Sang did not think that the demons would dart to the front and spear. The demons should have retreated considering they were outnumbered. However, they were sticking to this hide-and-seek game, as if they intended to exhaust the First Army’s ammunition.

The demons today were apparently more persistent than those a few days ago. It seemed that they had a lot of war experience.

Uncle Sang sneered. Had the God’s Punishment Army been so persistent, they would have had a difficult time. Nevertheless, the First Army was now better equipped. They had 100 soldiers, four Mark I Machine Guns, and ammunition that could last at least one day. Uncle Sang was sure that the demons would end up dying here if things continued like that.

However, the situation suddenly changed.

With a loud bang, dust was stirred up in the residential area in the north of the dock. A huge armored monster broke through the stone walls and rose on its rear from the debris.

“Spider Demon?” a soldier asked in surprise.

“Load the anti-demon grenade!”

Uncle Sang’s heart sank. The manual did mention a type of demon that resembled a spider. However, this demon was a little different from the Spider Demon he knew.

Its limbs were covered with much thicker black stones that almost took up half of its body.