Chapter 1082: A Battle in the Darkness
The world came back in fragments.
Gravel against her cheek. The smell of turned earth and something sharp — mineral, cold. Her ears were ringing. When Lightning pushed herself upright, she found herself ringed by black needles the thickness of a man’s finger, driven point-down into the soil around the railway — dozens of them, packed tight as teeth, quivering faintly in the ground they’d split. Lusterless. Dark as dried ink.
Then from inside the camp perimeter: more blasts. Not from the sky this time. Through the ground. A deep, rhythmic thudding, as though something enormous was stamping the earth flat.
The Longsong Cannon emplacements.
The Spider Demons had found the camp before striking it. They’d had coordinates. In a pitch-black night, they’d had coordinates.
Why hasn’t the alarm sounded?
“I have to wake everybody up.” Lightning scrambled to her feet — no flight suit, no sigil, both still in her room. Flying through live bombardment without them. The thought arrived and she set it aside. She grabbed for Lorgar’s arm.
And stopped.
A black needle had driven through Lorgar’s leg and pinned her to the ground. The entry point was high on the thigh. Blood soaked her trousers in a spreading dark stain, black as the needle in the moonlight, and it was not slowing.
The world went narrow. Lightning’s lungs refused to operate correctly.
“Don’t be stupid,” Lorgar said. She was already leaning on one elbow, face arranged into something like calm. “The needle would have hit me regardless. Probably worse, if I hadn’t been moving when it landed.” She tested the needle with one hand, assessed the angle. “No black blood on the stone. So — just a scratch.”
A scratch. The volume of blood said otherwise. The needle had gone deep, possibly deep enough to reach the main vessel. It had to be handled carefully, removed carefully — and Nana was somewhere in the camp, which was currently under bombardment, by demons who’d destroyed the outer watchtowers before anyone could sound a warning.
If the Mad Demons pressed through the perimeter—
Lorgar was not going to be moving.
“The armored train,” Lorgar said, cutting through Lightning’s spiral. Her voice had gone flat with effort, the control of someone managing pain the way a rider manages a difficult horse. “Get to the ‘Blackriver.’”
“But—”
“Listen.” The wolf-girl’s hand found Lightning’s shoulder and pressed. “Everybody will be awake now — they’ve heard the bombing. The problem is response, not awareness. Half the enemy’s force has come for the Longsong Cannons. I don’t know what else they’re using, but if they neutralize those guns—” She paused, breathed once. “If they neutralize those guns, the Spider Demons can pour needles into this camp at will. The entire defensive line breaks. You understand what that means.”
Lightning understood.
“And the watchtower—” Lorgar turned her chin, indicating the end of the railway. The wooden lookout tower there had been sheared off at the midpoint, as if the darkness had eaten it.
“Go.” Lorgar’s fingers tightened on Lightning’s shoulder and then released. “To the Blackriver. Only you can do that right now.”
She was right. Flying was the fastest channel available. There was nothing to argue about.
Lightning looked at her for one moment — the needle, the blood, the expression that had closed off everything that wasn’t tactical necessity — and then she turned and launched herself into the air.
Gunshots below. The camp erupting from sleep into motion.
Lorgar had read it correctly: the soldiers were already up, already arming, already yelling for positions. They didn’t know where the enemy was, but they knew they were under attack, and the First Army operated on drilled reflex when knowledge failed. Scattered shots popped from the inner perimeter. The outer watchtowers — all five of them — were dark. Gone.
Concrete blockhouses, and still gone.
Lightning climbed above the camp and looked, and finally understood why no alarm had sounded. The outer ring was blind. The towers had been the eyes.
She dropped into her room fast, grabbed the flight suit, was sealing it before she’d fully registered Maggie — standing in the middle of the floor, pacing in tight circles, feathers out in distress, making a sound between a coo and a whimper.
“Where have you been, coo?” Maggie threw herself forward and Lightning staggered under the impact. The hug was fierce and brief and Maggie was already pulling back to look at her, eyes large. “Why didn’t you tell me, coo?”
“I’m sorry.” Lightning sealed the last fastening. “I have to reach the Blackriver — I’ll explain later—”
“I’ll come, coo.”
“No.” She needed Maggie here. She wanted Maggie with her — wanted it badly enough that she noticed it, named it, and put it away. “Sylvie needs someone to help her watch the camp. The more eyes on the demons, the better our response.”
You can’t drag everyone’s feet anymore. She told herself this clearly, without flinching from it.
“I need you to do one thing first.” She took Maggie’s face in both hands, turned it up, held her friend’s eyes. “Promise me you’ll succeed in this. It’s the most important task the Exploration Group has right now.”
“Coo?” Maggie’s brow creased.
“Find Nana. Take her to the far end of the railway.” She pressed her forehead briefly to Maggie’s. “Lorgar is down there with a needle in her leg. Bring Nana to her. Promise me.”
Maggie’s chin came down once, decisive. “Coo.”
“Then I’m counting on you.” Lightning pulled back and went through the window in one motion, climbing fast.
She cleared the roof and finally saw the shape of the problem entire.
All five outer watchtowers: destroyed in the first volley. No web wire yet, no complete fortifications — Station No. 0 was still barely begun. And the gunshots from the inner ring were the sound of soldiers fighting in the dark against demons that had somehow passed the defensive line without triggering it.
How had they gotten through?
She didn’t have an answer for that. She had a bearing — the Blackriver, somewhere along the railway west of here — and she had speed, and she had a choice about whether she was going to use them.
Yes, I’m a coward.
Yes, the Senior Demon broke me.
But there’s still something I can do.
She pushed harder. The night air streamed past her face, cold and absolute, and she thought: I just need to fly straight. I don’t have to look north. I don’t have to face regular demons. I just need to fly straight to the railway.
No excuse left to be timid. Not anymore.
Faster.
Just a little faster—
The fear was still there. It was always there. But she pushed through it the way a swimmer pushes through the surface tension, the way you cross the threshold before you’ve decided to cross it — and something happened.
The night went quiet.
Not silent. Quiet — in a different register, beneath the wind and the distant shots and the blood in her ears. The way the world goes quiet when nothing interposes between you and what you’re doing.
For the first time since she’d been broken in the Misty Forest, Lightning slipped past her own resistance and felt the Realm of Silence open around her.
She was flying again. Actually flying.
The forest along the Black River blurred past below, and she flew.
Chapter 1082 - A Battle in the Darkness
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“What just happened?”
Lightning felt her head swimming. By the time she returned to the present, she found herself surrounded by numerous long black needles as thick as a man’s finger. These lusterless crystals landed in the vicinity of the railway, point down, quivering like black swords.
Then, a few more blasts from the encampment shattered the silence of the night.
“This is… an attack!”
The enemy had sent the Spider Demons to attack the Expedition Corp!
By the time Lightning realized what had happened, the enemy had started their second round. This time, however, the noise did not come from the sky but traveled through the trembling ground underneath, thudding as if a heavy object were smashed into the earth.
“Oh, no…” Lorgar muttered under her breath. “That’s where the Longsong Cannons are.”
It appeared that the demons first located the encampment before they attacked the cannons. Could they really do that in such a pitch-black night?
“Why hasn’t the alarm gone off yet?”
“I’ve got to wake everybody up!” Lightning yelled. Since she did not take her flight suit or sigil with her when she sneaked out, she had to fly back to the
campsite against the heavy fire above the encampment. At this thought, Lightning grabbed Lorgar by her arm, trying to hoist her up to her feet.
“You…” Lighting turned around. To her great surprise, she saw a long needle half buried in Lorgar’s leg, nailing the wolf girl into the ground. Blood oozed profusely from her wound and soaked her pants.
Lightning suddenly felt suffocating.
It was her fault that Lorgar got hurt…
“Don’t be stupid,” Lorgar said, grinning. “The needle would get me regardless. Probably my condition would have been even worse if I didn’t meet you. Fortunately, there’s no demons’ blood on these stone needles, so I just got a scratch.”
“What scratch! Your bone is broken,” Lightning said within herself. From the volume of the blood, the needle might have reached Lorgar’s main blood vessel. If that was the case, it should be handled very carefully. However, where could she find Nana now? If the Mad Demons came back, Lorgar would literally become a sitting duck, completely vulnerable and defenseless!
Lightning revolved a multitude of thoughts in her head rapidly but could not find a solution.
“Look,” Lorgar said feebly as she put her hand on Lightning’s shoulder. “You need to get to that big machine on the railway…”
“Do you mean the ‘Blackriver’?” Lightning asked in surprise. “But…”
“Everybody should have heard the bombing by now,” the wolf girl said painfully. “The problem is how we’re going to deal with it. If my assumption is right, at least half of the enemy are coming for the Longsong Cannons. It seems to me that they’re also using weapons other than stone needles. I don’t know what’s happening there, but if… if the demons get what they want, we would lose the only weapon that has a chance to repulse them. You know its possible consequence, don’t you?”
If that happened, the Spider Demons would be able to pour down black needles at the encampment unscrupulously and break through the entire defensive line.
Lightning nodded.
“Aargh… then hurry up…” Lorgar urged, pushing Lightning on the back. “Although this is the first place being attacked, it’s actually the safest. I’m not their target anyway… Look over there…”
Lightning looked in the direction Lorgar pointed at and saw the wooden watchtower at the end of the railway had been chopped off by half as if it were engulfed by the darkness.
“So, run! To the ‘Blackriver’—” the wolf girl shouted at the top of her lungs through her teeth. “Only you can do that now!”
She was right. Flying would be the fastest way to deliver a message to the armored train traveling between the front and Station No. 0.
Lightning clenched her fist. She cast one last glance at Lorgar before turning around reluctantly. Within a second, she soared into the air and zoomed toward the encampment.
A few gunshots reached her ears.
As Lorgar had predicted, the whole campsite was awakened. Although the soldiers did not know where their enemy came from, they all scrambled to their feet and armed themselves for the upcoming battle.
So did the witches.
God’s Punishment Witches were always the first ones to get themselves ready. They were light sleepers who kept their armors on even in their sleep. When Lightning dashed back into her room, she found an anxious Maggie pacing up and down in agitation.
“Where have you been, coo?” Maggie asked, throwing herself onto Lightning in a hug that nearly knocked her flat. “Why didn’t you tell me you were out
for a walk, coo?”
“I’m sorry, but I have to head to the ‘Blackriver” now. I’ll fill you in later,” said Lightning with a surge of guilt. She had thought that tactless as Maggie was, she would never understand what fear meant. However, she had been wrong. Maggie might not necessarily feel scared, but she did care for her friend.
“I’ll come with you, coo.”
“No, they need you here,” Lightning said, although deep down inside, she really wanted to have Maggie in her company. “Sylvie needs you to help her monitor the encampment. The more people keep an eye on the demons, the better!”
“Cheer up! I can’t drag everyone’s feet anymore,” Lightning reminded herself.
“Also, I need you to do one thing for me first,” Lightning added as she put on her flight suit as fast as she could. She brushed Maggie’s long hair from her forehead, held her face with both her hands and said, “Please promise me that you’ll succeed in this mission. It’s the most important task of the Exploration Group.”
“Coo?” Maggie asked while blinking.
“Please find Nana and take her to the end of the railway. Lorgar is seriously injured and is currently lying there. Please make sure you bring her back, ok?”
Maggie bent her head firmly and said, “Coo!”
“Then I’ll entrust the matter to you,” said Lightning as she gently pressed her forehead to Maggie’s. She then flew straight out of the room.
As she climbed, she noticed the reason why the alarm had not gone off in the first place.
The five watchtowers in the outer ring of the defensive line were now all gone. Apparently, they had been destroyed during the enemy’s first attack. Those watchtowers should have been fortified strongholds equipped with concrete blockhouses. However, since they had just started the construction of Tower Station No. 0, they had yet to erect web wires on the outer side of the trenches, let alone a complete set of fortifications.
What further unnerved Lightning was that the gunshots appeared to have come from the inner circle of the encampment, which meant that the soldiers were currently fighting against someone. Nevertheless, she had seen no sign that indicated the defensive line had been broken through so far. Although the enemy was still attacking the campsite, they seemed to be quite far away. So, who were the soldiers fighting against?
She started to understand how important her role was.
“Yes, I’m a coward.”
“Yes, I lost to the Senior Demon.”
“But there’s still something I’m capable of…”
“Which is flying!”
“I admit I’m scared.”
“As long as I don’t look toward the north, I should be fine.”
“I don’t even need to face regular demons.”
“I just need to fly straight to the railway. There’s no excuse for me to be so timid anymore!”
Lightning sped up as she zoomed toward the forest along the “Black River”.
“Faster, just a little faster!”
As she kept pushing herself, gradually, she felt her power come back. When she overcame her fear, the whole world around her became silent.
For the first time in such a long time, Lightning entered the Realm of Silence again after her awakening!