Chapter 887: Bomber Action
In the large tent at the center of the Northern Region Garrison’s campground, everyone bent over maps and supply lists, readying themselves for what was coming.
Eagle Face was not convinced. “Leave the entire front to the witches? I trust their abilities — but there are at least ten thousand men in the Kingdom of Dawn’s army, and many of them carry God’s Stones of Retaliation. If the witches were drawn into a prolonged fight, we’d have difficulty pulling them out.”
“Those were my own reservations when I first heard the plan.” Edith smiled. “But it isn’t the Adviser Department’s plan. It’s His Majesty’s.”
“Is there a formal record?”
“Here.” The Pearl of the Northern Region passed him a sealed letter, its wax stamped in red. “You’ll notice the final paragraph — the king has temporarily vested command authority in me.”
Under First Army procedure, every pre-battle strategy required paper documentation audited and countersigned at the appropriate officer level. A plan bearing His Majesty’s own signature was to be executed without condition.
Eagle Face confirmed the signature and came to attention, a precise military salute. “The Northern Region Garrison will fulfill the mission.”
“Good.” Edith’s voice remained easy. “But keep this clearly in mind: your purpose is to strike the enemy a devastating blow as they flee in disorder. That precondition matters. If they aren’t running in panic, treat it as a sign of failure and fall back to Cloud Ladder. No unauthorized action. Make sure every soldier understands the order.”
“Fall back?” Eagle Face blinked. “You mean retreat? Is His Majesty uncertain this will work?”
“We’ve never tried it before. Who could be certain? If it fails, we find another approach — that’s partly why His Majesty sent me.” She said it plainly, without apology.
“And the witches? If it fails—”
“They won’t be in any danger even if the plan doesn’t come together.”
“Understood.” He saluted again. “I’ll begin preparations immediately. Troops move out tomorrow morning.”
“This operation is named Bomber Action.” Edith returned the salute. “Once your troops are in position, the battle begins. Go.”
“Yes!”
Eagle Face didn’t entirely know what “bomber” meant, but he had learned enough about the king’s inventions to trust them completely — the steam engine had made a believer of him, and whatever this was, it would prove no different.
After two days in camp, Lightning finally received the order to move.
Sylvie’s voice came through the Sigil of Listening in her palm. “Margie has transported everyone into position. You can set off now. Dawn’s soldiers have struck their tents and are forming up for battle — they’re already moving. Don’t let them get far.”
“We’ll be there soon.” Lightning turned and waved to Maggie and Hummingbird. “Come on — it’s time.”
Over the past two days, she had flown broad survey loops above Cloud Ladder, mapping the surrounding terrain and studying the approaches. His Majesty’s plan was not complicated. The six witches were divided into two teams. The first handled transportation and logistics, organized around Margie’s Magic Ark. Sylvie and Lily served in this group: one to provide long-range detection, keeping the initiative in their hands; the other to contain the church’s demonic plague should the desperate remnants release it against the Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers breaching the old Holy City.
The second team was the operation’s heart.
“Oh!” “Coo!”
Hummingbird sat inside the bomb carrier and gripped the connecting rods on either side of her seat, cycling her power steadily through the iron frame Roland had named The East Wind. Gradually, the weight of the carrier and the eight bombs it held dropped to one percent of their true mass — just within Maggie’s carrying capacity.
The white-haired girl transformed into a great winged beast and crouched over the carrier. Lightning lashed cloth straps and ropes around Maggie and the East Wind together.
Because Hummingbird’s ability didn’t affect living things, what Maggie actually carried was a witch — and an iron structure that now weighed approximately what the witch did. As long as Hummingbird sustained the effect, Maggie could execute precision strike runs for the better part of a day.
Roland had used a hydrogen balloon to bomb King’s City and achieved remarkable results. He had reviewed the post-war reports closely and made adjustments since. Maggie’s role was to replace the balloon: faster, far more maneuverable, and capable of swooping before releasing the payload — which spared Lightning the labor of correcting trajectories and let her focus entirely on detection and navigation.
Hummingbird’s magic had its limits. She couldn’t maintain the weight-reduction on The East Wind indefinitely, and though her endurance had grown considerably since she began practicing with cannon rounds, she could sustain these bulky, dense bombs for half a day at most. Under most circumstances, bomb shells, warheads, and ammunition would be transported separately.
Fortunately, the Kingdom of Dawn’s army was close. Half a day was enough.
“Road is clear. You are go for takeoff. Repeat — go for takeoff.” Lightning pulled on her goggles and leapt into the air.
“Ah… here we go again.” Hummingbird sighed.
“Ow ow ow!”
Maggie in her great beast form beat her broad wings and lifted off, throwing a vast shadow across the camp. The tents shuddered in the gale of displaced air. She banked toward Hermes mountain and climbed.
An hour later, the three witches hung in the sky above the old Holy City. Their target was immediately visible below: an army of more than ten thousand, spread across the ground like a slow river outside the city walls and dispersing into scattered clusters within. Seen from above they resembled colorful ants — moving carefully, methodically stripping the old Holy City’s territory away.
Lightning held no love for the church and felt nothing watching it plundered. But she knew very well that most of the people inside those walls had done nothing wrong — especially the orphans the church had taken into its monasteries.
They shouldn’t have to be buried here with it.
She drew a deep breath and climbed higher, ascending until she felt the first edge of breathing difficulty. Then she spread her arms and dived — cutting straight down the middle of the stream, flying counter to the army’s direction of march.
The plunge drove her organs upward. Not pleasant. She was thrilled anyway.
She didn’t look back. Maggie would be close behind — that she knew without checking. Years of it had made them seamless.
The ground rushed upward. The people and things below sharpened into detail, and she could see the moment individual knights noticed the shadow falling from the sky. She could even read the fear on their faces.
When she and Maggie reached the midpoint of the column, Lightning pulled up hard and shouted.
“Now — drop the bombs!”
Hummingbird, gripping the release lever with both hands, pulled.
Chapter 887: Bomber Action
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
At this time, in a big tent located at the center of the Northern Region Garrison’s camping ground, everyone was busy preparing for the upcoming battle.
Eagle Face was astonished by Edith’s plan. “Leave the entire front to the witches? I trust their abilities, but there are at least 10,000 people in the army of the Kingdom of Dawn and many of them wear God’s Stones of Retaliation. If the witches fell into a bitter fight there, it’ll be hard for us to save them.”
“Those were my initial thoughts of this plan.” Edith smiled. “In fact, it’s not the Adviser Department’s plan but His Majesty’s idea.”
“Do you have a formal record of this?” asked the deputy battalion commander.
“Here you are.” The Pearl of the Northern Region gave him a confidential letter marked with a red seal. “By the way, you can see that in the last part of the letter, the king has temporarily given me the power of commander.”
In accordance with the rules of the First Army, any pre-war combat strategy must have a paper record which should be audited and signed by officers at a corresponding level, and a plan signed by His Majesty himself must be unconditionally executed.
After confirming the validity of the signature, Eagle Face promptly stood straight and made a military salute. “The Northern Region garrison promises to fulfil the mission!”
“Good.” Edith smiled. “But remember, your purpose is to give the enemy a destructive blow when they retreat in disorder. Please note the prerequisite. If they’re not fleeing hurriedly, you should consider it a sign of failure and backtrack to Cloud Ladder. No unauthorized military action is allowed. You must clearly explain this order to every solider.”
“Backtrack? Do you mean… retreat?” Eagle Face was stunned. “Isn’t His Majesty sure about whether this plan is feasible?”
“We’ve never tried this before, so who knows? If it doesn’t work, we must consider other strategies… That’s why His Majesty sent me here.” The Pearl of the Northern Region said sraightforwardly.
“What about the witches?”
“They won’t be in any danger even if they fail.”
“Got it. I’ll go prepare for this task. Our troops will set out tomorrow morning.” Eagle Face saluted again.
“This operation is named Bomber Action and once your troops are in place, the battle will begin.” Edith made a military salute to him. “Well, go.”
“Yes!”
Although Eagle Face did not really know what “bomber” meant, he had faith in this thing. He was firmly convinced that all the kings’ new inventions were extraordinary, just like the steam engine.
After two days of waiting in the camp, Lightning finally received the order to take action.
Sylvie’s voice came through a Sigil of Listening in her hand. “Margie has transported all the people into place. You can set off now. The Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers have taken down their tents and packed. They are beginning to form up for battle. Hope you can catch up with them.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be there soon.” With these words, the little girl turned back and waved to Maggie and Hummingbird. “Come on. It’s time to go!”
In the past two days, she had flown in the sky to check the map of Cloud Ladder and survey the situation of all the surrounding areas. His Majesty’s plan was not complicated. The six witches were divided into two teams. One was in charge of transportation and logistics and thus mainly relied on Margie’s Magic Ark to complete their task. Sylvie and Lily were also in this group. The former was able to detect distant enemies to ensure that they could seize the initiative on the battlefield. The latter could prevent the church’s demonic plague in case the church got desperate and spread it to kill the Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers who broke into the old Holy City.
The other team was the heart of this military operation.
“Oh!”
“Coo!”
Hummingbird sat in the bomb carrier and held the connecting rods on both sides of her seat. She made her magic power constantly circulate throughout this iron structure which Roland named “The East Wind”. Soon, the weight of this bomb carrier and the eight bombs it carried was reduced by 99% and was just within Maggie’s carrying capacity.
The white-haired girl transformed herself into a big beast and leaned over the bomb carrier. Lightning went to tie the cloth straps and ropes, binding Maggie and “the East Wind” together.
As Hummingbird’s ability could not effect on the living things, Maggie was actually carrying a witch and “the East Wind” which was now as light as the witch. As long as Hummingbird could maintain the weight-reducing effect, Maggie would be able to perform precision strike missions for a long time.
Roland had used the hydrogen balloon to bomb the king’s city and had achieved remarkable success. Based on the post-war reports of that attack, he had made a few improvements.
Maggie’s role in this mission was to replace the balloon since she flew faster and moved much more flexibly. More importantly, she could swoop before dropping bombs, which would save Lightning the trouble of revising the direction and allowed her to focus on detection and navigation.
Limited by her magic power, Hummingbird was unable to sustain the weightreducing effect for “The East Wind” throughout the day. Though her power had increased a lot since she had started to practice carrying cannons, she could only manage to lift these bulky, heavy bombs for half a day at most. After all, most of the time, the bomb shells, warheads, and ammunition were transported separately.
Fortunately, the Kingdom of Dawn’s army was not far away. Half a day was enough.
“The road is clear. You can take off. Repeat, you can take off!” Lightning put on her goggles and leaped up into the air.
“Ah… it’s coming again.” Hummingbird sighed.
“Ow ow ow!”
Maggie, now in the form of a giant flying beast, flapped her broad wings and took off, casting a huge shadow on the ground. The tents in the camp had begun to shake due to the airflow caused by her wings, which was as strong as a howling gale. She adjusted her direction and headed for the Hermes mountain.
An hour later, the three witches were in the sky above the old Holy City and easily spotted their target, an army of over 10,000 people. As seen from above, this army resembled a stream outside the city but inside it, the soldiers dispersed. They seemed like colorful ants creeping around slowly and nibbling the old Holy City’s territory away.
Lightning did not like the church at all and felt no pity seeing it suffer from this plundering. However, she also knew that countless people inside the city were innocent, especially those orphans who had been taken to the monastery by the church.
She thought they should not be buried here together with the old Holy City.
The little girl inhaled deeply and kept ascending until she felt some breathing difficulty. She opened her arms and dived along the middle of the stream of people, moving in the opposite direction to the army of the Kingdom of Dawn.
This sharp descent made her feel as if all her internal organs were moving backwards. It was not a pleasant feeling but she was still thrilled by the high speed.
She did not look back for she was sure that Maggie must have been closely following her. After spending these years together, they could cooperate flawlessly.
The people and things on the ground rapidly became clearer and some knights apparently also noticed the shadow falling from the sky. She could even see the scared looks on their faces.
When the girl and the beast flew down to the middle part of the stream of people, the girl suddenly flew up while shouting. “Now, drop the bombs!”
Hummingbird, who was sitting in the bomb carrier, immediately pulled the switch.