Chapter 1395: Close Proximity Interception

There were no test fires or adjustments to the coordinates. The only thing the assault force had to do was to shoot as many artillery shells as they could in the shortest amount of time!

Everyone fully displayed all the techniques grasped from their daily training.

Although the charges had been packaged into smaller quantities that resulted in a reduced launch speed, the artillery elites were able to maintain the standard of four shots per minute with the three cannons. The small disparity between the cannons created a sense of continuity in the firing, producing repeated rumbles that echoed through the mountains like a midsummer thunderstorm.

"They have opened fire, coo!" Maggie could not help but hug Lightning's head.

"Yeah." The latter tersely replied, but she was worried for the First Army. She knew that they had seen the destruction of the decoy location, but even so, the assault force still chose to execute and complete their mission. Evidently, they had steeled themselves. Lightning knew she had to fulfill her responsibilities, to complete the investigation thoroughly.

Despite the few cannons, the power projection produced was in no way lacking. The enemies never expected for the Deity of Gods to be hit by the human's counterattack. When the scattered artillery shells landed around the city, countless demons could be seen scattering in panic. It was evident that aside from the large troops garrisoned within the mobile fortress, there were a large quantity of Inferior Demons.

Aside from that, Lightning caught sight of human figures within the Red Mist.

This confirmed the theory proposed by the General Staff—the demons had a motive in moving and controlling the humans. But there were no regrets or remorse; Graycastle's announcements and evacuation had continued for more than half a year, the majority of those who insisted on staying in Everwinter were the dependents of the nobles, and the nobles were the ones firmly opposed to Roland. They would rather take up arms against their own kind than to resist against the demons' rule.

In Edith's words, they only had eyes left for the little bit of self-profit, and would even sell out their race's future just for it.

The continuous advancement of the Deity of Gods allowed the artillery formation's shells to approach the center of the city, but due to the concentration of the Red Mist, Lightning was unable to observe the results.

Lightning had the choice to call for Sylvie's help, who was currently on board the Seagull, but doing so would most probably alert the Eye Demons hidden in the city. Once their vision interlocked, the Seagull's position would be revealed. Even with the assault force's continuous attack, Lightning's unease did not dissipate, but instead felt that the demons' long prepared attack would not end like so quickly.

In her hesitation, the Deity of Gods suddenly rotated slowly.

Another erected stone pillar took aim in the direction of the artillery formation—

Lightning's heart sank; her worries had come to life. It was impossible for a few Longsong Cannon and Seagulls to stop the enemy from shooting. With the Aerial Knights stuck in combat against the Devilbeasts, the artillery unit were definitely unable to avoid their impending doom.

"Maggie, I'll leave the investigation to you." She gritted her teeth.

"Coo?"

Without any further explanation, Lightning tossed the pigeon on her head high up into the air and charged downwards, accelerating to the speed of sound halfway into the flight. The ground units were not equipped with a Sigil of Listening, leaving her the only one capable of warning them!

She covered the distance of thousands of meters in an instant. As for the gigantic stone pillar, it was shot into the sky with dazzling magic power in tow!

"Everyone—get to cover quickly!" Lightning swept through the formation and screamed at the top of her lungs. "The enemies have noticed this location and the stone pillar is almost here! Quickly find some place to hide!"

"It's Miss Lightning..." Cat's Claw immediately blew into the whistle. "Everyone, leave your positions now! This is an order, evacuate your positions now!"

The gunners immediately turned and ran towards the bunkers at their fastest speed upon receiving the order. At that point of time, the shadow of the stone pillar was already cast upon the center of the formation.

After the successful evacuation of every gunner in sight, Cat's Claw ran for the closest sentry point, but at the same moment, the dazzling blue pillar smashed dead center into the Longsong Cannons with an immense might! The powerful impact caused the entire peak to tremble, while the cannons that took the direct hit instantly turned into scattered components.

This time, the stone pillar did not roll around and instead formed a large hole in the ground—this was the cause for the collapse of the trench and underground bunkers.

"Cough, cough..."Cat's Claw coughed while climbing out of the snow pile. The violent tremors that surged from his feet through his entire body was definitely unbearable. He even felt as though his organs had shifted at that instant. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be wrong with him aside from his trembling hands and legs.

"Give me a sitrep on the casualties and pull out according to plan." Cat's Claw yanked a soldier over and ordered, "Spread the word!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Jop, where are you? Cough... there's sound there!" Just as Cat's Claw attempted to call for Jop, the clear sound of a machine gun entered his ears.

What's going on?

Are the enemies attacking the peak?

Even before Cat's Claw could make any sense of the situation, Lightning's warning came out from above.

"Be careful, the pillar has demons hiding in it! They are the real concealed attack!"

Demons... are hiding in it?

Cat's Claw promptly drew the rifle from his back, disengaged the safety mechanism, and ran towards the appointed retreat venue. The Artillery Squad was mostly at the rear and had little to no opportunity of using their guns, but under the consideration of the risk entailed with the close proximity of this mission, not only were every soldier of the squad equipped with rifles, they were equipped with a pair of flintlocks for protection.

The first to react was obviously the experienced gunmen that had gone through actual combat with the flintlocks.

When spray of thrown-up snow settled slightly, Cat's Claw found a few machine gun squad members already in a crossfire, blocking the region that connected the bottom of the mountain to the center of the formation.

The enemies were never-seen-before, miniature Spider Demons.

The Spider Demons crawled out of the opened stone pillar and pounced towards the defensive line against the hail of bullets. The Spider Demons were less than half the height of a human and were extremely similar to the heavy-armored Spider Demons that previously appeared at the Northernmost Port. Their heads and front legs were covered in considerably thick Blackstone slabs that were capable of withstanding a few bullets while still moving agilely.

Aside from that, they were capable of shooting stone needles like ordinary Spider Demons as a form of long-range attack, but they required the opening of the stone armor on their heads, giving the soldiers an opportunity to deal fatal strikes.

Cat's Claw and the flintlock team regrouped and participated in the interception with their rifles. Although the number of monsters hidden within the black pillar was uncertain, the mountain road was the only path of retreat. Soldiers capable of moving naturally converged towards this point. Be it the rescuing of others or the waiting for reinforcements, they had to defend the crucial checkpoint.

"Pay attention to your barrels, do not hold onto the triggers!"

"Ammo, we need ammo here!"

"Anti-Demon Grenades ready—fire in the hole!"

The repeated shouts and gunfire formed a hubbub, while many Spider Demons on the site had stopped moving completely.

Cat's Claw reloaded with a new magazine after emptying one. He noticed that although the Monstrous Beast in front of them were far more capable of experiencing hits than Mads Demons, they were unable to move an inch against the intense firepower. The Blackstone armor on their bodies were incapable of completely negating the penetration of the bullets and soon cracked from the barrage of bullets. If one bullet was not enough, then ten or a hundred bullets would do the trick. It was not difficult for the elite assault force who were equipped with superior weapons to accomplish that.

Besides the tempest of bullets was sufficient to suppress their enemies completely. The main defense of the miniature Spider Demons were concentrated on their heads and forelimbs. If they engaged in their high speed bursts, their weak and defenseless interiors would be exposed, so the Spider Demons were forced to advance forward against the curtain of bullets, which gave the anti-demon grenades excellent opportunities and sufficient time to be cooked and thrown.

After grasping the clear traits and patterns of their enemies, the humans employed the machine guns to seal the enemy movements and threw grenades to finish them off. This became a highly effective and time-saving battle strategy.

But the Spider Demon's largest weakness were on their backs—

A girl with short and golden hair swooped down and flew through the Spider Demons like a specter, opening fire ferociously at their heads with her dual pistols. Perhaps to ensure their agility, the Spider Demons' backs were left almost completely defenseless like Mad Demons. Her pistol bullets easily ripped through the thin epidermis and blasted their backbones and brains into a paste.

Every time she made a move, the defensive line would erupt into enthusiastic cheers.

The majority of the soldiers were all too familiar with the nimble figure.

She was Miss Lightning, the one they were most proud of!