Chapter 1482: Pincer Attack from the Air and Ground
“Sixth Battalion reporting — moving to eleven o’clock.”
“Third Battalion has secured the one o’clock position.”
“Large magic source inbound — flagging the Aerial Knights for intercept.”
“Lightning here. Understood.”
“Tanks 19 and 20 engaging. Target: blade beasts.”
The command center filled with voices the moment ground troops came through the Distortion Door, correspondents sorting the incoming reports and pressing them upward to the General Staff, who pressed them back down to the sand table, where the strategists watched the shape of the battle shift in real time. The map was filling: red flags for infantry, red squares for armor and artillery, all of them spreading outward from the center of the Bottomless Land in slow, deliberate arcs. The plan’s opening moves were holding.
The Sky-sea Realm noticed the troops immediately. Most of the monsters that had been converging on the floating island peeled away and redirected. But the perimeter encampments had hardened quickly, and the scattered attacks that reached them accomplished nothing except to teach the monsters, lesson by lesson, that rushing organized lines was a way to die. The Distortion Door kept feeding soldiers through. The island absorbed them and the fighting positions grew.
The operation was moving toward its most uncertain phase: the search.
No one knew where the Guardian was. No one knew whether she would appear at all, or in what form, or whether she would open the path to the Realm of Mind even if found. The plan had a hard edge here — solid strategy on one side, open water on the other.
“I’ll hand command to you.” Anna turned to Iron Axe and Edith.
Wendy’s expression tightened. “Must you go yourself?”
“We agreed on this.” Her voice didn’t rise. “I’m no use directing a battle. And the Guardian’s appearance may depend on who is present — if we stay in the air we may miss her entirely.”
“I’ll take care of her.” Nightingale was already in combat clothes: the pistol Roland had given her on her hip, a semi-automatic rifle slung across her back, a sword beside it.
Wendy stepped forward and folded Anna into an embrace. “Come back safe, Your Majesty.”
“I will.” Anna said it without hesitation, meaning it completely. Then she turned to Phyllis. “Are the God’s Punishment Witches ready?”
“Ready.”
“Then let’s go.” She walked out of the command center without looking back.
“This is from Malt.”
“Thank you.” Danny accepted the round, chambered it, and put a bullet through the skull of a sea ghost that had come within twenty meters.
As an elite sharpshooter operating as a wandering unit, Danny chose his own terrain. He had chosen this: the outer edge of the armor advance, behind the tanks, in the gaps where the steel machines had no eyes. The tanks were imposing in the way that anything large and loud and armored was imposing, but their flanks were exposed, and the steles erected across the island’s interior blocked the crew’s sightlines from inside. Blade beasts had learned to use that.
This ground was made for him.
“Blade beast. Hundred and fifty meters, your right.”
“Got it.”
Danny eased around a stele and spotted it — medium-sized, moving in the exaggerated lateral arc that blade beasts used when they were circling to take a vehicle from behind. Their heads were armored against conventional rounds; their legs and flanks were fast. The war tactics manual was specific: do not engage blade beasts alone. Wait.
He let it move. He tracked it with the barrel but didn’t acquire the head. The creature felt no threat. It reached the angle it wanted, opened its light wings, and lunged.
Danny fired.
The bullet struck exposed forehead — exposed because the beast had committed to the pounce, every inch of attention given to the tank and none to the margins. The blade beast froze mid-leap, skidded forward on momentum, and crashed into the ground near the tank’s tread. Its body convulsed once. Then nothing.
“You’re still so accurate.”
“Because you keep watch for me.” Danny scanned for the next target and caught it immediately: more than ten sea ghosts, closing from the direction he hadn’t been watching.
They came while I was focused on the blade beast.
“Qu.”
He pulled Malt behind him and pressed against the stele, rifle up. No escape route. He counted the targets and counted his rounds and calculated how many he could kill before they reached him.
Then the sea ghosts turned on each other.
It lasted seconds. When the last one fell, the ground around them was soaked and reeking. Not one intact body remained.
A platoon emerged from cover — First Army uniforms, but something about their bearing was different. Southern troops. Mojin’s soldiers.
The soldier in front glanced at Danny’s rifle and insignia. “Marksman? You’re out here without a protection unit?”
Another soldier grabbed his sleeve from behind, embarrassed. “Farry — if you don’t mind,” he said to Danny, “you’re welcome to move with us.”
“I’m not operating alone, but I’m grateful.” Danny had registered what the one named Farry was the moment he watched those sea ghosts. Not an ordinary soldier. “I’d prefer to keep moving freely—”
The tank unit ahead erupted.
A rolling salvo, then the grind of tank treads reversing in formation — not retreat, the specific ordered dispersal of armor facing a high-priority threat. Danny turned and saw them along the horizon: more than ten Nest Mothers advancing behind a screen of blade beasts, the blade beasts’ rib structures splayed open, organs visible and pulsing.
Venomous variants.
“Seek cover!” Farry’s arm went up. “Anti-demon rocket-propelled grenades, now!”
Ordinary fire was insufficient. The tanks were pulling wide and backing, creating distance and spread, trying to deny the Nest Mothers a concentrated target. The blade beasts came on regardless, absorbing rounds that slowed but didn’t stop them.
Then the planes came.
Two biplanes dropped out of altitude, steep and fast, and released their bombs directly over the Nest Mothers’ cluster. The explosions didn’t just detonate — they burned, the incendiary cling of it smearing across whatever it touched and refusing to release. The Nest Mothers screamed and rolled, but land took their mobility and gave them nothing back. They burned. They slowed. They stopped.
The troops around Danny erupted into noise — cheers and whistles cutting through the smoke.
One of the pilots banked low on the pullout, close enough that Danny could see the raised thumb before the plane climbed away.
The Fury of Heavens reformed overhead, turning into their next run, the pincer closing from above while the ground forces pushed from below.
Anna moved through the island’s interior with Nightingale beside her and the God’s Punishment Witches fanned out ahead, the sinkhole drawing her eye whenever the treeline broke.
The fighting sounds reached them in pulses — concentrated where the perimeter held, quieter deeper in, quieter still in the places that felt, inexplicably, like they were waiting.
She searched.
She had not yet found what she was looking for.
Chapter 1482 - Pincer Attack from the Air and Ground
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“This is Sixth Battalion reporting, we are heading in the direction of eleven o’ clock!”
“Third Battalion has occupied the one o’ clock position!”
“We are sensing a large magic power source approaching; we have to inform the Aerial Knights to demarcate the signal and intercept it!”
“This is Lightning, roger that.”
“Tanks 19 and 20 have engaged the enemies, target, Blade beasts!”
Following the entrance of the ground troops, the command center immediately became rowdy as correspondents responsible for receiving information had to reclassify them and hand them over to the General Staff members, who would in turn send the information back to the sand table, so as to allow the strategists to make judgment.
At present, the map had the additional of dozens of red flags and square pieces that represented different units of the First Army; for example, the infantry, artillery, and armor units. From the general situation, the plan had made smooth preliminary progress, the red labels were starting to gradually spread out from the center of the Bottomless Land.
The Sky-sea Realm had obviously sensed the sudden appearance of the troops, with a majority of the monsters moving to new targets and towards the First Army. But against the encampments that quickly took form, the sporadic attacks ended as nothing but an exercise for the monsters to end their own lives.
Through the Distortion Door, the troops moved into the isolated island in an endless stream. According to the plan drawn up, the operation would quickly fast-forward to the searching phase.
This was the part that had the most uncertainty—No one knew where the Guardian was, how he or she would appear, or whether or not the Guardian would open the path to the Realm of Mind.
“I will hand over command to you guys.” Anna turned to Iron Axe and Edith.
“Must you do this yourself?” Wendy’s expression was of worry and reluctance.
“We already agreed on this.” She did not speak aloud, yet her voice remained firm. “I am not good at leading soldiers in battle and am of no help here. Furthermore, the Guardian’s appearance might differ from person to person, if we continue staying in the air, we might miss the opportunity of meeting the Guardian.”
“Let her go, I’ll take care of her.” Nightingale had already changed into her combat clothes, not only with the pistol that Roland had gifted her, but with a semi-automatic rifle and a sword on her back.
Wendy hugged Anna. “Come back safe, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, I will,” the latter replied earnestly, then turned to Phyllis. “Are the God’s Punishment Witches ready?”
Phyllis nodded. “Everyone’s ready.”
“Very good, let us go!” Anna walked out of the command center without hesitation.
…
“This is a gift from Malt.”
“Thank you.” Danny accepted the round and loaded it into the chamber, then shot the head of a sea ghost that approached.
As a wandering unit on the battlefield, the elite sharpshooters were free to move around and choose their own battles. Just as before, he chose the most dangerous periphery region, following behind the steel war machines that pushed forward.
These regions did not have machine guns or cannons for coordinated and suppressive fires; thus, the pressure from the enemies were the highest. He had long noticed that although the tanks of the First Army were imposing, their lack of protection at the flanks and rear, especially with all the different steles that stood erected around them prevented the people inside the vehicles to notice any approaching enemies.
This sort of battlefield was specially designed for him.
“Pay attention to the big guy a hundred and fifty meters to your right.”
“Understand.”
Danny poked out from behind a stele and noticed a medium-sized blade beasts stealthily sneaking and detouring around a tank with the intent of an ambush from the back.
Although the monsters were not made out of metal, their ability to kill and flexibility were not to be underestimated, especially for the scythe-shaped blade at the front that was capable of piercing into the tank’s defense upon being filled with magic power.
He loaded a new bullet into the chamber and slowly raised the rifle up—but Danny did not aim for the target, and instead moved towards the sky. According to the war tactics manual’s description, blade beasts had their heads completely wrapped up in armor, preventing conventional bullets to be fatal to them. And before engaging in any attacks, blade beasts would always raise their guard against any potential threats around them, they were enemies that infantries were not recommended to fight alone. Thus, Danny had to wait for a better opportunity.
And that was the moment to sneak an attack on the enemy.
The blade beast did not sense Danny, who remained as still as a statue. It crept until it arrived at the optimal ambush position, spread its light wings, and suddenly pounced towards the tank!
Right at that moment, Danny squeezed the trigger.
With a loud gunshot, the bullet accurately struck its exposed forehead. The blade beast froze for a second as its entire body glided a few meters forward due to inertia before crashing heavily into the ground—but aside from its convulsions, it no longer posed any threat.
“You’re still so amazing.”
“Because you’re watching out for me.” Danny patted Malt’s head. While searching for his next target, he suddenly realized that more than ten sea ghosts were rushing over.
They came while I was focused on the blade beast…
“Qu.”
Danny pulled his partner behind him, then leaned against the stele and held his rifle up.
It was impossible to escape, but he wanted to know how many sea ghosts he could kill.
But right at this moment, an unbelievable scene occurred right before his eyes. The sea ghosts did not pounce and rip him into shreds, but instead started biting each other! The ground was instantly filled with the pungent stench of blood. When the last sea ghost fell, not a single body was left intact.
Soon after, a platoon walked over from their hiding spot—although they were dressed in First Army uniforms, they looked distinctively different.
They were Mojin’s troops that came from the south.
“Marksman?” The soldier in the lead stole a glance at his weapon and badge. “Why are you out here alone? Where’s your protection?”
“Farry—” Another soldier pulled on the former’s sleeves and spoke with what looked like an apparent embarrassment. “If you don’t mind, you can travel with us for now.”
“I’m not acting alone, but I have to thank you guys.” Danny realized that the warrior named Farry was not an ordinary person. “I hope that I can continue moving freely—”
“BOOM!”
The tank unit in front suddenly unleashed a series of salvos.
Everyone turned their heads and saw more than ten hideous Nest Mothers appearing along the horizon. They were escorted by a group of blade beasts that went against the cannons as they crawled forward. The blade beasts had exposed the underneath of their opened ribs, revealing what seemed like internal organs.
“Those are venomous Nest Mothers!” Farry frowned and waved an arm. “Quick, seek protection! Get those anti-demon rocket-propelled grenades here!”
Those were targets that ordinary weapons couldn’t handle.
The tanks started to separate and reverse in a unique order.
At this time, the screams of the Aerial Knights came from above—
A few biplanes swooped down and unleashed their bombs on the Nest Mothers, instantly transforming the land into a large flaming pillar! Under the intense explosion and blast, the raging flames corroded anything it touched and stuck onto the enemies tightly. The enemies screamed and roared, attempting to escape the sea of fire. Unfortunately, they were on land, where their mobility was slowed to the point of being comparable to worms. In a short moment, the Nest Mothers turned completely silent.
The troops burst into cheers and whistles.
Danny caught sight of one of the pilots as the planes flew at low altitudes, who had raised his thumb up, proud of what they had achieved.
Following that, the formation of the Fury of Heavens changed as the planes turned and carried out the pincer attack.