Chapter 811: Battle in the Mist
“You mean these things can crack the mountain and the earth?”
Elena’s eyes went wide. She rounded on Agatha with something close to fury. “What if they had exploded inside Fran’s stomach? Who in their right mind—”
Fran’s vast body gave an involuntary shudder.
“That’s the lab sample that ignites easily,” Agatha said, rummaging through the box. She produced a small bag of copper pipe and held it up. “Not these. These won’t fire on ordinary impact or heat. The only trigger is inserting these pipes into the explosive containers.”
The God’s Punishment Witches crowded closer, drawn by curiosity. They had heard Phyllis describe the artillery exercise long ago — that spectacle of fire and thunder — and had watched the First Army repel demonic incursions more than once since settling in the Western Region. Gunpowder was not entirely foreign to them. But they had never been this close to it.
“Is it really safe to burn? Something that makes such a noise when it goes off must be terribly volatile.”
“It looks exactly like a brick…”
“Does it explode the moment you insert the copper pipe?”
“Who would dare try?”
The questions troubled Agatha too. Her knowledge of His Majesty’s firearms extended to general principles — no further. She knew no more than her Taquila sisters about the practical use of this weapon.
“The one with the red mark is the detonator that must be lit,” Lightning said, leaning in with the air of an expert. “The blue-marked one uses a pull-cord trigger. There’s also a yellow type activated by electric current, but this bag only has red and blue.”
Agatha stared at her. “How do you know that?”
The girl touched her nose. “Because I’m an explorer. I was present at practically every new weapon test the First Army ever ran.”
“So—” Elena pressed, working the problem aloud. “Do we plant the explosives at the cave mouth beforehand and blow our way out? Or cast them as we retreat and carry Fran along? If the explosion holds the enemies back long enough, ten God’s Punishment Witches can manage her.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just leave—”
“Shut up!” Elena’s voice was flat and final. “We don’t abandon companions easily. Have you forgotten what Lady Eleanor told us?”
“Every witch is of equal importance.” The others joined in, a quiet chorus.
“I’m afraid neither plan will work,” Lightning muttered. She looked at the shovels and spades scattered across the ground. “One bag of these in an enclosed space this size would tear us all to pieces. But in a larger cave the blast dissipates too quickly — effective killing range is barely ten paces. These aren’t weapons. They’re mining tools. The fire and pressure won’t stop a swarm commanded by whatever’s on that dome.”
Silence.
They all understood. An ordinary demonic beast might break before the noise and heat. But a swarm marshalled by something intelligent, something that had already summoned hundreds of hybrid creatures from every crevice of this mountain — that was another matter.
“Maybe there is one more option.” Nightingale’s voice cut through the quiet. “Kill the commander.”
“You mean the thing on the dome?” Elena’s brow furrowed. “We can’t fly.”
“Even if you could, it’s too dangerous.” Agatha spoke before Lightning could. “This isn’t a defensive engagement where you can call for support. Hybrid beasts fly too. Lightning’s speed drops sharply when she’s carrying weight, and the moment the enemy spots her they’ll swarm. She’d never close the distance.”
“I’m not proposing Lightning.” Nightingale spoke each word with care. “I’m going myself. I’ll put a bag of this explosive directly into the monster — into whatever serves it for a mouth, if it has one.”
“You?” Agatha’s voice cracked. “You know perfectly well that your Mist is no protection against Magic Eyes. Wherever you can see it, it can see you.”
“Seeing me and stopping me are two different things. Its underlings can’t locate me in the Mist — I’m certain I can get through them, even if it orders them to intercept.” She paused. “And the Mist does a great deal more than conceal.”
“But—”
A sound swallowed her next words.
It came from deep inside the rock formation: a vast, layered grinding, as though ten thousand insects were consuming stone simultaneously — gravel cracking, being crushed, powdered. The witches knew it instantly.
“They’ve sent a devouring worm.” Elena’s face set like iron. “The enemy is moving. Prepare yourselves.”
A worm carrier was little threat on its own. But once it broke through and revealed their position, the demonic swarm would pour through without end.
Nightingale was already moving. She packed four bags of explosive into her satchel and bound it tight across her back. “Don’t worry,” she said. “No one is better suited to this. Back when the Witch Cooperation Association still operated in the old king’s city, I was known across the central region.” She lifted her chin. A ghost of a smile. “They called me Shadow Killer.”
“Wait—”
“I’ll finish that deformed thing before the worm breaks through.”
Before Agatha could form another word, Nightingale was gone.
The last thing Agatha saw was a thumbs-up.
In the world of black and white, direction meant nothing.
Here, everywhere was flat if she chose it. The cave dome and the cave floor were interchangeable; the underground river hung like a ribbon pressed against a vertical wall; the subterranean lake spread above her like a great dark window.
She felt, in this world, like its maker.
She passed straight through the collapsed stone, stepped onto the sheer cliff face as though it were level ground, and drove upward toward the dome.
Then the monster came into view — and it had her in view as well.
Nightingale did not look away.
She fixed her eyes on its stars of scarlet and accelerated. In the Mist, the creature’s Magic Cyclone blazed like a bloody moon, vast and outshining every other light point in the dark. No ordinary hybrid demonic beast burned this bright.
Its magic power outperforms even Anna’s.
For a moment — a single, strange moment — she felt the distance between them collapse. Not physically. Something else. A sensation as of two minds brushing against each other, formless and impossible to name. What came through was unmistakable: hostility, naked and undisguised, flowing in both directions.
She grinned.
The monster raised its tentacles.
With one low, reverberant roar, the demonic beasts in the cave turned and came for her.
Chapter 811: Battle in the Mist
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“You mean these things are capable of cracking the mountain and the earth?”
Elena widened her eyes after she heard the Ice Witch’s concise introduction about the explosives. She condemned angrily, “What if these things explode in Fran’s stomach? How could they not think of that?”
Fran’s giant body could not help quivering at the thought.
“It’s the lab sample that easily explodes,” Agatha said as she rummaged through the box for a bag of copper pipe and showed it to Elena, “not these kind of explosives, which won’t ignite on ordinary impact or heat. The only way to make them explode is to put these pipes in explosive containers.”
The explosives had aroused the other God’s Punishment Witches’ interest, who had heard of the splendid scene of the artillery exercise long ago from Phyllis, the God’s Punishment Witch who they called No. 76. They had witnessed the First Army’s battle against the incursion of demonic beasts a few times since moving to the Western Region of Graycastle and were not unfamiliar with gunpowder. But this was their first time to be so close to this kind of weapon.
“Is it really okay to burn it? The thing that can create such a loud sound when it explodes should be very volatile at ordinary times.”
“It looks very much like a brick…”
“How to make it work? Does it explode once the copper pipe is put into it?”
“Who dares to do that?”
The questions troubled Agatha too, for she only knew the general principle of those firearms that His Majesty had made. Her knowledge of how to use it was no more than her Taquila fellows.
“The thing with the red mark on it is the detonator that must be ignited for it to work.” Lightning suddenly leaned over and said professionally, “The bluemarked one is the detonator that is needed to pull out the string to trigger it. I remember there is another kind of detonator with a yellow mark that will be activated by electric current, but this bag only has the red and blue ones.”
That got Agatha amazed, and she blurted out, “How did you know that?”
“Because I’m an explorer!” The young girl touched her nose. “I was basically present at every new weapon test that the First Army held.”
“So, should we bury these things in the cave mouth beforehand and blow our way out or cast them along the way as we retreat and carry Fran with us?” Elena tried to work out a solution. “If the explosive could hold back the enemies, I believe 10 God’s Punishment Witches are able to move Fran.”
“It doesn’t matter, leave me behind…”
“Shut up!” Elena cut in. “Even though we’re not afraid of sacrifice, we’ll never give up our companions easily. Don’t forget what Lady Eleanor has told us.”
“Every witch is of equal importance.” The rest of the people joined in and nodded.
“I’m afraid… neither of your plans work,” Lightning muttered. “One bag of explosives is enough to tear us into pieces if you set it to work at the mouth of such a small cave. But if we put the explosives in a larger cave, the explosion will be unsatisfying.” She looked at the shovels and spades on the ground and went on, “The explosives should have been used to make caves or open passages. They’re not formal weapons, and the fire and air current created in the explosion is only able to kill the beasts within 10 paces.”
A silence came over them, who knew that the explosion might be fearsome enough to drive away general beasts, but not the swarm of demonic beasts that were obviously summoned by the monster on the dome of the cave. They’ll never stand a chance to get out unless most of those demonic beasts were destroyed.
“Maybe we have one more choice.” Nightingale chimed in suddenly. “Bring down their boss.”
“You mean… the monster dwelling in the dome?” Elena frowned. “We can’t fly.”
“Even if you could fly, that’s too dangerous!” Agatha said before Lightning found her words. “It’s not a defensive battle where we have support whenever we ask. We all know that it’s not uncommon that some hybrid demonic beasts are able to fly, and Lightning loses her speed and flying height considerably as long as she’s load-bearing, so it’s highly possible that she’ll never get herself close to the monster once the enemies spot her and besiege her.”
“I’m not proposing to make Lightning do it,” Nightingale said word by word. “I’m planning to put this bag of explosive into the monster’s mouth with my own hand, given it does have a mouth.”
“You?” Agatha was shocked. “Don’t be ridiculous… You should know that your Mist can’t hide anything in front of Magic Eyes. Wherever you see it, it notices you too.”
“Its ability to see me doesn’t mean that its underlings can notice me. I’m confident that I can get through them, even if they are under their boss’s order to intercept me.” She paused. “Do remember that the Mist can do much more than concealing.”
“But…”
A cacophony coming from the rock formation interrupted Agatha’s next words. It sounded as though numerous cicada were eating leaves, or gravel was clashing, being smashed and ground.
The witches’ faces changed. The sound was not unfamiliar to them.
“Damn it. They’ve sent the devouring worm,” Elena said with a stern face. “The enemy is coming. Get yourself ready.”
A worm carrier was hardly a threat, but as soon as their concealed vantage point was uncovered, they were to be faced with endless demonic beasts that traveled through the worm’s stomach.
“Don’t worry about me. No one is more competent in this kind of mission. Back at the time when the Witch Cooperation Association was running in the old king’s city, my title was well-known everywhere in the central region of the kingdom,” Nightingale said as she packed four bags of explosives in her bag and bound it tightly on her back. “At that time, people used to call me ‘Shadow Killer’.”
“Wait…”
“Rest assured. I’ll finish that deformed thing before the worm tunnels its way here.”
Before Agatha could say anything to stop her, she disappeared into thin air.
The last sight Agatha had of Nightingale was a thumbs up.
…
In the world of black and white, directions meant nothing to Nightingale, and everywhere would become flat and level if she wished.
It felt as though she was the manipulator of this world where everything was under her order.
Passing through the collapsed stones, she straightway jumped up to the steep cliff and rushed to the dome of the cave.
Suddenly, her vision changed the angle by 90 degrees. The monster that should have been above her hid somewhere was ahead of her now. The
turbulent underground river looked like a ribbon beset on the precipice, while the broad subterranean lake now rose up like a huge window.
By then, she had caught sight of the monster, and it had her in sight as well.
Nightingale did not look away.
With her eyes fixed on the monster’s star-like eyes, she sped up to it. In the Mist, the glare radiated from the monster’s powerful Magic Cyclone and looked like a bloody moon, outshining the crowded light spots.
This monster could not be a simple hybrid demonic beast, she thought.
Its magic power outperformed even Anna’s.
For a moment, Nightingale sensed her mind had been connected with the monster’s.
The feeling was chaotic and unspeakable, but she was sure that both of them had received the undisguised hostility from each other.
She grinned.
The monster raised its tentacles.
With a low roar, the demonic beasts in the cave flocked to her.