Chapter 989: After the War
Roland had never imagined the demons possessed such capacity four hundred years ago. If they had, the Witch Empire would have been erased from the earth within a year or two. The truth was that the Empire had held on for a decade—proof that what he’d just seen was new. A product of centuries of development, not a feature of the ancient enemy.
Once every outpost was protected by a God’s Stone of Retaliation Pillar of that scale, witches would have no path forward.
He knew precisely how difficult it was to carve a God’s Stone of Punishment Pillar to that size. The quality of the original stone determined its durability, and a good natural stone resisted almost everything—when they’d tried blasting the one at the bottom of the North Slope Mine at close range, it had left nothing but a few white marks. The only way to process the material was to corrode the surface with magic blood first. Even the stone in the main hall of the Hermes Cathedral had not approached the dimensions Agatha was describing. By her account, this pillar had been cut directly from a natural formation, as cleanly as a blade through ice. That required either astonishing precision with some kind of cutting instrument, or a far more refined understanding of magic than anyone on the human side had achieved.
For mankind, either explanation was grim.
“The demons’ new weapons make one thing clear.” Roland tapped the desk. “They’ve been busy over the past four hundred years—the same as us. The third Battle of Divine Will is going to be harder than we anticipated.”
His worst fear had confirmed itself. The demons were not the same enemy the Union had faced. They were more cunning and more advanced. The crawling monster was proof enough: a hybrid life form, seemingly purpose-built to neutralize combat witches. It could kill from two kilometers out. At that range, by the time a witch registered the attack, there would be no time to respond. Even a scout of Sylvie’s ability could only protect people within a five-meter radius of herself—she couldn’t shield a whole formation from a long-distance barrage.
“As much as I hate to say it, the demons evolve faster than we do.” Zooey’s voice broke the quiet. “If this had happened in the Union age, we would already have been crushed.”
Roland could see it clearly. Pressed from below by Mad Demons in mass formation, threatened from above by Senior Demons riding armored Devilbeasts, and hammered from range by the crawling monsters—the witches would have faced extinction on three axes simultaneously. No amount of courage could offset that arithmetic.
What he needed to know now was scale. Were the five crawling monsters the full count, or a vanguard? Had the demons developed other war machines? If they had—and the logic of four centuries of preparation said they had—what would those machines look like, and how could humans survive them?
He needed answers. Soon.
Next came the casualties.
Roland had already formed a rough estimate; the actual numbers differed little. The low rate of dead was largely attributed to Nana and Lily.
One hundred and ninety injured. Seventy-five killed in action. The majority of both tallies traced directly to the crawling monsters. The soldiers in the trenches had no way to dodge stone needles falling from directly above. Once the needles hit, they nailed people to the earth—a meter of black crystal through a shoulder or chest, and the victim was pinned. To move the wounded at all, the field medics had to extract the needles first. The extraction caused massive blood loss. Soldiers who might have survived the wound died in those minutes.
Roland would not blame the rescue teams. It had been the field medics’ first time supporting a major engagement, and they had bought time for dozens of men who would otherwise have had none. But he could see where this was going. As the fighting intensified, the ceiling on what Nana could do in any single action would only drop further. At some point—sooner than he would like—the First Army would have to solve the medical problem on its own terms, without relying on a single witch’s healing to carry it.
“Bring the ashes of the soldiers killed in action home,” Roland said quietly. “Graycastle will not forget them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Iron Axe replied, his voice stripped down to its bedrock solemnity.
“What are your plans for the First Army going forward?” Edith asked. “The enemy could not have anticipated losses on this scale. According to Miss Lightning, the Devilbeast patrols near the Taquila ruins have already thinned sharply—she’s only found demons more than a hundred kilometers from the ruins. Miss Sylvie has confirmed that aside from the iron towers, there are fewer than a thousand magic signatures remaining. In other words, the demons have almost no remaining footholds on the Fertile Plains.”
Roland let the silence run for a moment.
“Return to Neverwinter once all the wounded can travel.”
“Are you concerned about supplies?”
“If we can’t seize the ruins, there’s no point pushing north.” He lifted his tea. “And winter is coming.”
The Months of Demons didn’t always follow the calendar—they didn’t necessarily arrive in winter—but for the people living around the Barbarian Land, winter meant endless snow, low sky, and demonic beasts drifting everywhere out of the white. The First Army would face weather and monsters simultaneously, on unfamiliar ground, with supply lines that stretched thinner the further north they went. There was no guarantee Neverwinter’s food and fuel stores would last if the army were absent through the cold season, and there was not enough ammunition to fight a war on two fronts.
Winter in the Barbarian Land was always perilous. Once the snow was deep, retreat would stop being an option.
“Understood,” Edith said. “The General Staff will work with the Commander-in-Chief on a withdrawal plan.”
“Safety first,” Roland said. He ended the call—and Agatha’s voice appeared in its place.
“Your Majesty. There’s one more thing you need to know.”
“What is it?”
“The Senior Demon defeated by the God’s Punishment Witches is still alive.”
He listened to the full account in silence.
“Is it safe to link the demon with Camilla?”
The channeling ability fused two minds—witch and subject sharing perception and thought. The witch would come to understand what it felt like to inhabit the demon’s body, to sense through the demon’s senses. It would not be a gentle experience. The soul transfers performed by the Taquila witches had demonstrated that any such transfer created confusion and disorientation, and the process was irreversible. Two entirely alien beings forced into the same cognitive space—the collision would be severe.
Spiritual contamination. The phrase surfaced before he could stop it.
“The danger is real,” Agatha said, “which is why Zooey and I have spent time working out a safer approach.”
Chapter 989: After the War
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Roland certainly did not think that the demons had possessed such incredible power 400 years ago. Otherwise, the Witch Empire would have been eradicated from the Earth within a year or two. The truth was, however, that they had ruled the world for a short decade.
After all, it was impossible to compete against the demons with only a few Extraordinaries. Once every outpost was protected by a similar God’s Stone of Retaliation, the witches would have no chance of survival.
Roland knew how hard it was to carve out such a giant God’s Stone of Punishment Pillar. The better the condition of the original stone was, the greater durability it had. They had tried to dig out the Natural God’s Stone from the bottom of the North Slope Mine by shooting at it at close range but had only ended up leaving a few white marks on its surface. The only way to recover the stone was to corrode its surface with magic blood before processing it. Due to the great difficulty in obtaining them, large God’s Stones were particularly expensive.
Nevertheless, even the God’s stone in the main hall of the Hermes Cathedral was not that enormous. According to the Ice Witch, it seemed that the pillar had been directly cut out of a Natural God’s Stone by some sharp weapon. There were only two explanations for this: Either the demons had acquired some astonishing carving skills or they had developed a more profound understanding of their magic power.
For mankind, neither of them was good news.
“We can tell from the demons’ new weapon that they have also been busy over the past 400 years…” Roland tapped the desk. “The third Battle of Divine Will is probably going to be tougher than we anticipated.”
Roland’s worst fear had come true. Compared to the demons back in the age of the Union, the demons nowadays were not only more cunning but also more advanced in terms of their technology. For example, they had created a hybrid life form such as that crawling monster, which was seemingly used to kill regular combat witches. As the crawling monster can shoot the witches from two kilometers away, the witch army would have no time to use their power to fight back when they realized they were under attack.
Even a scout like Sylvie would find it hard to protect her peers when the enemies started mass shooting because her ability was only effective within a radius of five meters.
“As much as I hate to admit it, the demons do evolve faster than us.” Zooey broke the silence. “If this happened in the Union Age, we would have probably been squashed already.”
Roland could easily imagine how slim the witches’ chances of survival would be in this situation. They would be double teamed and outnumbered by the Mad Demons on the ground, threatened by the Senior Demons lurking in midair, and also attacked by the destructive new monsters, the witches would be doomed to fail.
The current problem was whether the five crawling monsters were the only ones in possession of the demons or just a very small part of their advance force. Had demons developed any war weapons other than those crawling monsters? If they had, what would they look like and how were they going to deal with them?
Roland needed all of this information right away.
Next came the casualties of the First Army.
Roland already had a rough estimate of the number after the war. There were indeed few discrepancies between his number and the actual statistics obtained four days later. Without a doubt, the low casualty rate was largely attributed to Nana and Lily.
There were 190 people injured and 75 killed in action, and most of the casualties were directly caused by the crawling monsters. It was impossible for the soldiers down in the trench to dodge the stone needles raining down from the sky. Once the needles had penetrated human bodies, they had, pretty much, nailed the people to the trench. In order to transfer the wounded to the shelter, the field medic must have had to pull the one-meter long needles out first. This operation had, consequently, resulted in a large amount of blood loss. Due to the mishandling, many soldiers had died within a few minutes.
Roland would certainly not blame the rescue team. In fact, it was the first time for the field medic to provide assistance to the war effort, and they had actually bought a lot of time for the wounded soldiers. As Nana was not able to treat so many people at a time, she had had to treat those who had suffered fatal injuries first, leaving those who had sustained minor injuries to the rescue team.
Roland could envision that as the war became increasingly intense, what Nana could do in the future would be increasingly limited. At the end of the day, the First Army would have to solve the medical problem themselves.
“Please bring the ashes of the soldiers killed in action back,” Roland said in a low voice. “Graycastle won’t forget them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Iron Axe replied solemnly.
“So… do you have any plans for the First Army in the near future?” the Pearl of the Northern Region asked. “The enemies definitely did not anticipate such a great loss. According to Miss Lightning, the patrolling Devilbeasts near the Taquila ruins have reduced significantly. She only found demons more than 100 kilometers away from the ruins. Further, Miss Sylvie has also confirmed that except for the towering iron monsters, there are less than 1,000 specks of magic glow. In other words, the demons now have very few footholds on the Fertile Plains.”
After a long pause, Roland made his decision. “Head back to Neverwinter when all of the wounded recover.”
“Are you concerned about the supplies?”
“If we can’t seize the ruins, there’s no point advancing to the north.” Roland sipped the tea. “Plus… winter is coming.”
Although the Months of Demons did not necessarily arrive during winter time, for people living around the Barbarian Land, winter meant endless snow and an overcast sky.
During the Months of Demons, the First Army not only had to deal with the harsh weather but also watch out for the demonic beasts that lurked everywhere. There was neither any guarantee that both food and winter supplies would be sufficient in Neverwinter, nor was there ample ammunition for the army to wage a multi-faceted war.
Hence, the winter in the Barbarian Land was always perilous.
By the time the ground was covered by thick snow, it would not be that easy to retreat.
“I see,” Edith said. “The General Staff will collaborate with Mr. Commander-in-chief and work out a retreating plan.”
“Safety is our top priority,” said Roland. After he finished the “conference call”, Agatha suddenly cut in.
“Your Majesty, there’s another thing that you need to know.”
“Really? What is it?”
“Well, the thing is that the Senior Demon defeated by the God’s Punishment Witches is still alive…”
After hearing the full account, Roland was astonished.
“Is it fine to connect the demon with Camilla?”
The channeling would enable the channeling witch and the demon to share their minds and be fused into one. In other words, the witch would be able to learn what it felt like to be a demon once the two were connected. It was definitely not going to be a pleasant feeling. The soul transfer of the Taquila
witches had shown that any transfer would create confusion and that the process was irreversible. As such, it was certain that the clash of the two entirely different living beings would be a disaster.
This reminded Roland of the word “spiritual contamination”.
“It’s dangerous, so Zooey and I had a thorough discussion and came up with a relatively feasible way to do this.”