Chapter 975: A Night in the Wild
If the demon at the forefront had noticed what happened behind it, it could have escaped.
That was the problem with living targets. A floating balloon in a drill couldn’t make decisions. Once Andrea pulled the trigger, the bullet committed to a trajectory—a precise, unalterable path toward a point in space—and if the target chose, in the seconds of the round’s flight, to leave that point, there was nothing she could do about it. She could predict the coin’s face when it left the hand. She couldn’t prevent someone from sweeping it off the table as it landed.
If the lead demon bolted, the Flight Squad would handle it.
Fortunately, it didn’t notice.
It wasn’t carelessness. Flying hundreds of meters above open ground, with the wind hitting your face at speed, the only sound in the world was the rushing air—amplified further by flying into the headwind. Lightning had tested this repeatedly: a demon flying ten meters ahead of a bullet’s path of travel, facing forward, heard nothing when the round passed through the target behind it. The test results had made the rest of the plan possible.
That was why Andrea had taken the rearmost Devilbeast first.
The large-caliber bullet opened a cavity in its belly, destroying the organs as it passed. There was no scream. The demon aboard it was dead and falling before the sound of the shot reached anyone. The lead Devilbeast continued flying, unaware.
A dozen seconds passed.
The second round came from above, struck the lead Devilbeast through the chest, and exited through its spine. The mount folded.
That left the middle one—the Devilbeast carrying a supply pack. It had no rider and no tactical function, but it had instincts. Something had gone wrong with the formation around it. Driven by those instincts, it turned and flew back toward Taquila.
Andrea found it in the silver line’s focus.
The coin turned in the air.
She already knew its face.
Late afternoon. The Ark lifted from the ground and carried the team to their overnight position—a cave in a hillside, its mouth partially obscured by a natural rockfall that the Exploration Group’s maps had marked as reliable cover.
“Are those dried bird beak mushrooms?” Amy crouched at the cave’s entrance, eyes wide.
“I put them there.” Maggie emerged from behind a stone shelf with several glass bottles cradled in her arms. “And there are barbecue seasonings.”
“You have supplies cached at all your stopping points?”
“Of course.” Lightning crossed her arms with the satisfaction of someone confirming the obvious. “And this is one of the sparse ones. If we were at Forest Pavilion right now, we could hold a banquet. Leaf built us a roof and a sunning rack for drying jerky. It’s in a tree near the Impassable Mountain Range—the tree is as big as a castle.”
Countess Spear pressed two fingers to her temple. “I estimate that the seasonings alone cost several gold royals. Any other lord would have both of you simmering in a pot.”
The Chief Butler of Sleeping Island nodded vigorously in agreement.
“I didn’t steal them,” Maggie protested. “They fell on the ground from the kitchen buckets. I collected them.”
“And I didn’t take without paying,” Lightning added. “In the Fjords, map-drawing pays well. I’ve drawn dozens of charts for His Majesty.”
“His Majesty wouldn’t blame you even if you emptied the kitchen,” Sylvie said from the back of the cave, her voice faint. “I’ve seen Nightingale slip into the kitchen six days out of seven for dried fish. She’s even broken into His Majesty’s study to steal—”
Every head in the cave turned.
“To steal what?”
Sylvie went very still. “Ah—I’m just hungry. Let’s start cooking.”
A beat of suspended silence. Andrea felt her moment arrive.
“By the way—do any of you actually want to dig into Nightingale’s private life?”
The witches looked at each other. Then, one by one, they found something else to do.
Sharon went to the fire pit and produced sparks with a gesture. Amy’s knife began moving through the mushrooms with practiced speed. Ashes and Phyllis disappeared into the tree line and returned shortly with a boar between them. Countess Spear found a flat rock and arranged herself on it with the careful deliberateness of someone whose stomach still had opinions.
After a while, the smell found its way to everyone.
Not a castle banquet—not close. But in the wilderness, where most meals were cold pancakes and jerky eaten on the move, the smell of fat crisping in a pan and seasoning hitting hot iron was something that couldn’t be argued with. Ashes fried the boar’s belly in its own grease, then poured the rendered fat over the mushrooms and the remaining meat. The pan hissed.
They ate until the boar was gone.
Afterward, the witches arranged themselves in the cave and went to sleep. The cave had that quality of nighttime wilderness—a silence that wasn’t quite silence, threaded with breathing and the slow work of the fire.
Ashes and Phyllis didn’t sleep. An Extraordinary and a God’s Punishment Witch had more endurance than the others, and they took the watch.
“I’ll take the first half,” Ashes said, adding a branch to the fire. “Tilly told me your kind is more vulnerable to sleep deprivation than you appear—even though you need less sleep overall, the deficit accumulates faster and affects your motor control.”
“That’s accurate.” Phyllis settled against the wall. “But it’s still early. I’ll stay up a while.”
Ashes nodded and said nothing more. She wasn’t a talker. Even with Tilly, she was mostly a listener—present, attentive, never filling silence that didn’t need to be filled.
The fire worked quietly. Outside the cave entrance, the dark plains stretched north.
“They’re so close,” Phyllis murmured, looking at the sleeping witches. “Even in the Taquila age, I never saw a unit like this one.”
Ashes let her eyes move across the cave. Lightning lay sprawled on an animal skin, one arm flung out. Maggie had curled against her, and the little girl’s white hair had tumbled loose across both of them like a quilt, impossibly soft-looking against the rough hide.
The corner of Ashes’ mouth moved. “She wasn’t like this at the beginning. Before we took her in, she’d lived as a pigeon for years—alone. She’d nearly lost the ability to speak. At the time, even the smallest unexpected sound would send her into a panic.”
“I hope such closeness lasts.” Phyllis lowered her eyelids. “I hope this Battle of Divine Will is different from the ones before.”
Ashes looked at her. “What do you mean? Faced with a common enemy, we’ll hold together—won’t we?”
“Yes.” Phyllis exhaled. “But the war changes witches. Haven’t you noticed? Magic affects more than just our abilities.”
Chapter 975: A Night in the Wild
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
If the demon flying at the forefront noticed what happened behind, it would have been able to escape. Although Andrea could easily shoot down a floating balloon from the air during previous live-fire drills, she noticed that it was much harder to predict the movements of a living being.
Once she pulled the trigger, the bullet would dart toward a definite position. She could not control the situation if the target left that position on its own. Thus, if a living being became aware of the danger and suddenly decided to change its path, her bullet would most likely miss the target.
She never missed a close target and always knew the result shortly after an attack was launched. Now, however, she needed to wait patiently for the result as the bullet had to travel five kilometers to hit its target.
She could determine which side a coin would land on when it was tossed onto a table, but she could not glue them down to ensure the result. If someone suddenly tapped the table or flicked the coin with a finger as it landed, it could still cause the coin to flip to the opposite side. Thus, she would not feel surprised if the demon escaped.
If it did try to escape, the Flight Squad would swoop down to take care of it.
Fortunately, the demon did not notice anything unusual.
It was not because the demon was not vigilant enough. By flying hundreds of meters above the ground, it could hardly hear anything except the wind whistling. Additionally, as it flew facing the wind, this whistling would be further amplified. When they had started to prepare this combat plan, Lightning had concluded from repeated testing that as long as the demon was
flying 10 meters ahead of the target, it would not hear anything when a bullet went through the target behind it.
That was why Andrea chose to shoot down the demon flying at the end of the row first.
The big bullet left an opening in its belly and completely destroyed its inner organs. After they fell out of its body, it could not even make a scream.
Given that, the demon flying in the front did not notice anything abnormal and thus missed its only opportunity to escape.
After a dozen seconds, another bullet came from above and shot into its chest, passing through its body before breaking the spine of the mount below.
The devilbeast who flew in the middle carrying a pack on its back now noticed something was wrong, but it was not intelligent enough to understand the current situation. Driven by its instincts for survival, it turned around and flew toward Taquila.
Andrea locked onto it.
She foretold the coin’s face for the third time.
…
In the late afternoon, the Ark rose from the ground again.
According to the map drawn by the Exploration Group, the sniper team had safely arrived at their resting place below a cave which had naturally collapsed.
“There are dried bird beak mushrooms?” asked Amy with great surprise.
“I stored them here,” said Maggie as she dug out several glass bottles under a stone. “We even have barbecue seasonings here!”
“Do you prepare these things at all your bases?” asked Amy.
“Of course,” Lightning replied proudly. “This place is poorly-equipped compared to the other bases. If we were at Forest Pavilion now, we’d be able to hold a banquet with the amount of food we’ve stored there!”
“Forest Pavilion?” Sharon asked whilst intrigued, “Where’s it at?”
“It’s near the Impassable Mountain Range in a big tree that’s as large as a castle,” said Maggie while drawing an invisible outline in the air. “We asked Leaf to build a roof and a sunning ground to dry our jerky.”
“I’m afraid that only His Majesty Roland can tolerate you stealing his salt and spices.” Countess Spear rubbed her forehead. “I estimate that these seasonings cost several gold royals. If you do this to any other lord, he’ll definitely throw you into a boiling wok.”
Chief Butler of Sleeping Island nodded in agreement
“I didn’t steal them!” Maggie retorted. “I just picked them up from the ground.”
“You picked them up?” Spear asked doubtfully.
“They leaked from the buckets in the kitchen. I just collected them,” said Lightning.
“And I didn’t take them without paying,” Lightning added. “In the Fjords, any explorer can earn lots of money by drawing maps, and I’ve drawn many maps for His Majesty.”
“Well, His Majesty would never blame you even if you ransacked the kitchen.” Sylvie interrupted in a weak voice. “Collecting some spices from the kitchen is nothing. I’ve seen Nightingale sneak into the kitchen six times a week to take all the dried fish. She has even broken into His Majesty’s study to steal… ”
Everybody looked grave now.
“To steal what?”
Sylvie realized that she had spilled the beans. “Ah, no, nothing… I’m just starving. Let’s get ready to cook!”
After that, Andrea said something to quickly dispelled everybody’s curiosity.
“By the way… Do you really want to pry into Nightingale’s private life?”
All the witches immediately gave up the thought and began to find something to occupy themselves.
Sharon went to make a fire with her electric sparks. Amy swiftly chopped mushrooms. Phyllis and Ashes caught a boar for dinner. Spear Passi remained as she still felt sick… After a while, the tantalizing smell of food spread throughout the cave.
Unlike a banquet in the castle, there were not many dishes in this dinner, but their food tonight was delicious enough for a meal in the wilderness. Most of the time, when in the wild, they could only eat pancakes and jerky.
Ashes fried the boar’s belly and sprinkled the grease from the pork onto the frizzled mushroom and meat. Seeing that, everyone’s mouth kept watering.
In the end, they ate up the whole boar.
After their stomachs were full, the withes quickly fell asleep, except for the Extraordinary and the God’s Punishment Witch. They were more energetic than the others and would keep watch during the night.
“I’ll be on watch for the first half of the night,” said Ashes as she added some wood to the fire. “Her Highness Tilly told me that you are more vulnerable to the effects of lack of sleep, although your sleep time is shorter than ours.”
“That’s true. Sleep deprivation will make it hard for us to control our bodies,” Phyllis admitted. “But it’s still early, I’ll go to sleep later.”
Ashes nodded and stopped talking. She was not talkative. Even in front of Tilly, she was mostly just a good listener.
Now, all was quiet except for the sputtering fire and the breathing noises of the witches.
“They’re so close,” whispered Phyllis whilst looking at the sleeping girls beside her. “I’ve never seen such a tight-knit team like them, even in the Taquila age.”
Ashes looked to the side and saw Lightning lay sprawling on an animal skin and Maggie lay huddled up on her belly. The little girl’s white hair tumbled down and covered both of them like a quilt which looked very warm.
She could not help but smile. “She wasn’t like that in the beginning. Before we took her in, she had lived alone as a pigeon for several years. Back then, she almost lost the ability to speak, not to mention being close to someone. At that time, she would be alarmed by even the littlest rattling.”
“Just, I don’t know how long such intimacy between them will last…” Phyllis dropped her eyelids. “I hope this time the Battle of Divine Will will be different.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Ashes with her eyebrows raised. She did not want to make this conversation sound like an interrogation, but she just could not suppress the question. “Faced with a common enemy, we’ll all stick together, won’t we?”
“Yes, we will,” said Phyllis with a sigh. “But the war is also going to change the witches. Haven’t you noticed that magic power affects more than just our ability?”