Chapter 1461: Before Dawn
As the floating island closed the distance to the demons’ King City, the attacks intensified.
One assault per day became one every few hours. More than once, the island’s defenders caught sight of a second wave cresting the horizon before the first had been put down.
Only at night did the island find quiet.
All unfinished construction was suspended. The crews had concentrated every hand on repairing the runways. But with enemy assaults arriving like surf, Roland could not afford to let the Aerial Knights pursue too far — that left the entire burden on Eleanor alone.
New changes came fast. Senior demons appeared in growing numbers, some physically exceptional, others possessed of strange abilities that defied prediction. As the unmanned gun turrets fell one by one, the pressure on the island’s defenses mounted.
The first wave broke through on the second afternoon. A handful of senior demons drove magic blades into the sealed sluice gates and tore them open. Eleanor’s invasion alarm rang through every passage. God’s Punishment Witches — armed to the teeth — formed the second line of defense, and melee combat erupted across the island’s narrow interior corridors. The scene was something out of the Union’s old records, except the roles had been reversed.
Alice’s plans had cast the God’s Punishment Witches as spears, meant to pierce the demon formation and reach the obelisk and Mother of Soul. Only by using their modest offense to break the enemy’s defenses had humanity ever had a chance. Here, on this island, the demons attacked; the God’s Punishment Witches only had to hold.
Their strength had not diminished for the change. In a particular sense, God’s Punishment Witches were the natural enemies of senior demons. Stripped of their abilities, senior demons could not gain the upper hand against a crowd of Extraordinaries or ancient witches who did not know pain — and now those witches carried guns.
So despite the disadvantage in numbers, the God’s Punishment Witches held the inner region.
On the ground below, demon troops materialized — Spider Monstrous Beasts, predominantly, sparse at first, then spreading into small patches of shifting black.
“Truly like ants scenting a corpse.” Agatha looked down at the scene beneath the island. “If we descended, they would surge forward and strip us to the bone.”
“More are still coming.” Phyllis’s expression had gone tight. “The demons are encircling us. The Union once believed a Transcendent force sufficient to obliterate the demon race. It appears we were naive.”
“Even without Mask or his Symbiotic Demon army, these numbers are beyond anything the Union could have contended with.” The Ice Witch closed her eyes. “We underestimated the Battle of Divine Will. Enormously.”
“At least you kept hope alive,” Roland said. He put a hand briefly on her shoulder. The Witch Kingdom had ended. Humanity had been broken twice. And still the flame of resistance had not gone out. That alone was something that could not be measured easily.
“Your Majesty.” Ferlin appeared with a new report, his bearing composed. “The trajectory of the demons’ floating island has changed. It appears to be moving toward us.”
“Who reported this?”
“Miss Lightning of the Exploration Group. She also noted that the enemy has expanded its Devilbeast patrol radius, and she and Maggie can no longer observe them from a distance. She added that a large concentration of magic power has appeared at the base of King City — large enough that even her limited sensitivity to magic power could feel the pressure.”
Roland looked at Agatha.
“What do you make of it?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “But when they concentrate magic power to that degree, it’s never trivial.”
“I agree,” Roland said.
Was it surprising? Symbiotic Demons. Mass-produced senior demons. The Deity of Gods. The number of new advances the demons had achieved was beyond counting. At the start of the Battle of Divine Will they had thrown bone spears; now even rank-and-file Mad Demons carried spears capable of explosion. The demons hadn’t adopted gunpowder, but they had found their own path toward the same conclusion.
War is the best catalyst for the improvement of civilization, he thought. People had said this often enough, and they weren’t wrong.
He stared into the projection at the darkening sky. God — is this what you wanted to see?
If they simply continued to absorb the enemy’s assaults, the outcome was clear. The floating island moved against a black tide that numbered in the tens of millions. If those numbers swelled further, losses inside the island would compound faster than anything they could bear. And whatever the demons were concentrating at King City meant they had more than one card left to play.
But he had never intended to fight the enemy to the last man on this particular ground.
The mark indicating the floating island’s final destination was close — and since the demons were willing to close the distance themselves, he had been spared some of the effort.
“Inform everyone to gather in the meeting room,” Roland told Ferlin. “It’s time.”
Every person in the command center stopped what they were doing.
The room went very quiet.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The knight squared his shoulders and bowed.
A few minutes later, the senior staff assembled at the top of the bridge.
The sun was going down behind the horizon, bleeding the sky red. The field below was carpeted with demon corpses, and the color of the dying light turned the whole scene desolate.
“Tonight, our enemy will enter our final attack radius.”
Roland looked at each face in turn. Two rows around the table — the Witches on one side, Anna, Wendy, Agatha, Phyllis and the others; the army commanders on the other, Iron Axe, Edith, Brian, Ferlin. Every eye held the same quality — not bravado, not resignation, but something quieter and harder to name. The enemy could blot out the sky with its numbers, and no one in this room showed a trace of the desire to run.
“There’s no need for me to go through the plan again. Everyone in this room had a hand in making it.” He spoke without hurrying. “I was the one who proposed it. It would never have existed without the work every one of you put into it.”
The prototype bombs, the calculations, the configuration choices, the airdrop tests — even with the full support of the Design Bureau of Graycastle, it had moved step by careful step, from experiment to weapon, tested until it worked, so that it would not fail when it mattered.
“To minimize the risk of detection and avoid unnecessary losses en route, the fleet will launch at around five in the morning. Night navigation is extremely dangerous. I trust that Tilly will bring the Aerial Knights through. If everything goes as it should, a new sun will rise tomorrow morning.”
No one objected.
Roland stood.
“Then I announce the official commissioning of the Glory of the Sun.” He paused. “Remember — the darkest hour is exactly the one before the dawn.”
Chapter 1461 - Before Dawn
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
As their distance from the demon’s King City narrowed, the floating island encountered even fiercer attacks.
From having one attack a day, it increased to once every few hours. More often than not, the floating island would catch sight of the second wave in the horizon even before completely dealing with the prior wave.
It was only during the night did the floating island have peace.
All the incomplete projects and ground facilities were basically halted, and the construction team had already focused all their manpower on repairing the runways. But against the attacks of the enemy which was akin to a tidal wave, Roland did not dare allow the Aerial Knights chase too far out as it only placed all the burden onto Eleanor.
Another change was the rapid increase in the number of senior demons appearing, some of which were physically stronger, or had strange abilities and were unpredictable. Following the increasing losses of unmanned machine gun turrets, the pressure placed on the defenses magnified.
The first wave of enemies broke into the floating island’s interior on the second afternoon. When a few senior demons used magic blades and sliced open the sealed sluice gates, Eleanor immediately sounded the invasion alarm. God’s Punishment Witches armed to the teeth formed the second line of defense as melee combat occurred across the narrow passages. The scene resembled the battlefield set up by the Union several centuries ago; just that this time, the roles of both parties were exchanged.
In Alice’s plans, God’s Punishment Witches were the spears to penetrate the demon’s formation and destroy anything in relation to the obelisk and Mother of Soul. Only by using their weak offense to break apart the enemy’s defenses did humanity have a shot at winning. But on this island, the demons became
the attackers, while the God’s Punishment Witches only had to impede their advancements.
However, their strength did not drop as a result. In a particular way, God’s Punishment Witches were the bane of senior demons. Having their abilities sealed, it was difficult for them to gain the upper hand when facing a crowd of Extraordinaries or ancient witches who did not fear pain. What’s more, they held guns in their hands.
As a result, despite the disadvantage in numbers, the God’s Punishment Witches were still able to keep the enemy out from the inner region.
At the same time, traces of demon troops appeared on the ground, the majority of which were Spider Monstrous Beasts. They appeared in sparse numbers in the beginning, and later formed small patches of “black puddles.”
“Truly like ants waiting for corpses.” Agatha glanced down at the scene beneath the floating island.” If we were to descend, they will definitely surge forward and rip us all to shreds.”
“There are even more demons en route; it seems like the demons’ plan is to surround us.” Phyllis’s expression turned serious. “The Union used to believe that a Transcendent force was enough to obliterate the demons. Now, it appears like we were too naive.”
“Yes, even without Mask or his Symbiotic Demon army, this number isn’t something the Union can ever contend with…” The Ice Witch closed her eyes. “We have underestimated the Battle of Divine Will far too greatly.”
“At least you guys kept your hope,” Roland consoled her and patted her on her shoulders. Regardless of the end of the Witch Kingdom and the two experiences of utter defeat for humanity, they kept the flames of resistance going and never gave up. That alone was no easy feat.
“Your Majesty!” At that moment, Ferlin walked over with a new report. “The trajectory of the demons’ floating island has changed, it seems to be coming towards us!”
“Who was the person who reported this?”
“Miss Lightning from the Exploration Group. She even said that the enemy has expanded their patrolling radius of the Devilbeasts, so she and Maggie are no longer able to observe them from a distance. Miss Lightning also added that a large amount of magic power has appeared at the bottom of King’s City. She claimed that even her weak sensitivity to magic power was enough to sense the stifling aura.”
Roland looked at Agatha.
“What do you think that is?”
“I don’t know…” The latter shook her head. “But since they are converging their magic power to this extent, it’s definitely not something trivial.”
“I agree,” Roland replied.
Wasn’t it surprising?
Symbiotic Demons, mass production of Senior Demons, Deity of Gods… the number of new advancements the demons had succeeded in could be said to be innumerable. Compared to the bone spears used in the beginning of the Battle of Divine Will, they were now equipped with improved spears capable of explosion, even though not every Mad Demon had one. Although the demons had not used the gunpowder of humans, they were bound to receive relevant inspirations.
In the past, people often said that war was the best catalyst for improving civilization, and from the looks of it, there’s some truth to the matter. Roland looked into the projection towards the dusky sky. God… is this what you want to see?
Without question, if they continued their advancement, there was no chance of winning if they only continued resisting the incoming attacks. At the moment, the floating island was going against the current, which was the black tides of tens of millions of demons. If the numbers increased by a few folds, the casualties within the island would only increase exponentially.
And for a strong magic power disturbance to occur at the demons’ King’s City meant that they had more than a single trump card.
But… he never had the idea of fighting the enemy to the death.
The symbol that marked the final location for the floating island was very close, but since the demons were willing to initiate the bridging of the distance, he saved on the effort required.
“Inform everyone to head to the meeting room.” Roland ordered Ferlin. “It’s time.”
Everyone in the command center stopped everything they were doing and moved over.
The room instantly became extremely serious.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The knight puffed up his chest and bowed.
…
A few minutes later, the higher-ups gathered at the top of the bridge.
The sun was setting behind the horizon, dying the horizon blood red. With the entire field filled with demon corpses, it increased the desolation of twilight.
“Tonight, our enemy will enter our final attack radius.”
Roland looked at each and everyone. They were gathered around the table in two rows, with the Witches on one side—Anna, Wendy, Agatha, Phyllis, etc —and on the other side were the army commanders—Iron Axe, Edith, Brian, Ferlin… All of their eyes brimmed with unspeakable confidence. Even though the enemy numbers were enough to blot out the sky, no one revealed any intent of retreat or unease.
“There’s no need for me to repeat this plan again. Since its inception, everyone played a part in it and witnessed the entire process,” Roland said unhurriedly. “Although I was the one who suggested the plan, it would never have come to fruition without everyone’s hard work.”
The prototype bombs, the calculation of the parameters, the choice of the configuration, and air drop tests—even with the support of the Design Bureau of Graycastle, he had steadily taken a step at a time, completing a full set of tests as it went from something experimental to an actual weapon. It was just so that no accidents would occur on the real battlefield.
“To ensure a low possibility of detection and to prevent any unnecessary waste en route, the fleet will move out at around five in the early morning. Navigating in the night is extremely dangerous, but I believe that Tilly will be able to lead the Aerial Knights to success. If everything goes smoothly, a new ‘sun’ will appear tomorrow morning.”
Seeing that no one objected at the meeting, Roland stood up and said, “Then, let me announce the official commissioning of the Glory of the Sun!” He paused for a moment. “—Remember, the darkest period is precisely right before dawn.”