…

When the Divine Will’s lights dispersed, the sky which was covered in layers of dark clouds regained its brightness.

Tens of thousands of demons stood a distance away, silently witnessing the battle of two senior lords.

The grasslands which originally stood there was gone, and replacing it was a scorched earth. Every time the Divine Will fell, it was represented by an indomitable force. Boulders would be shattered and trees would be set alit. Their trajectories leaving a wake of destruction wasn’t even enough as a description.

But Blood Conqueror’s massive body was barging about in the golden lightning as though unfazed by the damage the Divine Will brought to him. He similarly left countless marks on the ground—craters which were the length of several meters wide was the masterpiece of the tremendous strength he was proud of.

However, the first to fall was the latter.

Silent Disaster’s attacks were not only formidable, but it also had a speed which wasn’t inferior to Undeserved’s, allowing her to leave a wound on Blood Conqueror with every attack. There was a limit to the expenditure of magic power, so even the recovery abilities of a senior Lord of Hell was eventually unable to keep up with the expenditure. When Silent Disaster brushed past him, her blades sliced off his thick calf, making victory a given.

“This is not a commensurate battle,” Death Scar whispered.

Blood Conqueror’s abilities were extremely identical to human Extraordinaries. His magic stone mainly acted on his body, leaving him invincible on the battlefield. Regardless of it being a metallic weapon or a magic strike, he possessed extremely strong resistive abilities. Once he burst into an assault, few things could stop him.

As for Silent Disaster, she had excellent stamina. Her talent at culling could enhance her abilities and her sharp senses and figure allowed her to avoid potent, critical strikes.

In the battle between the two, it was naturally incommensurate.

“Not necessarily,” said Hackzord. “Watch.”

“Cough! Cough… Cough…” Blood Conqueror was covered in wounds as blue blood spewed out like fountains. Clearly, his injuries far exceeded his recovery abilities. He propped himself up with his ax, but his face wore a baffling look of joy. “Not bad. As expected of a Charita genius! I’ve long wished to battle you to see who… Cough… is the strongest warrior in the race.”

“…” Silent Disaster was not without injuries either. Her armor had several indentations and one of her arms was completely fractured, and it drooped down by her side. “If I had not experienced a near-death battle recently, I might not be too certain about the outcome of this fight.”

“This is… the joy of slaughtering, isn’t it?” Blood Conqueror coughed out a mouthful of blood. “Compared to surrendering, this suits me better.”

Silent Disaster calmed her breathing and held her sword with one hand as she walked towards her opponent.

“Cough… Final question. Are you also going to be like those trash, using the fate of the race as reason to kneel to the humans in submission?”

“No, I’m only doing this for Valkries.” After saying that, Silent Disaster swung her sword downwards, slashing straight into Blood Conqueror’s chest.

The ripples of magic power swept through the Realm of Mind once again.

No one dared to come forward to stop them, nor was anyone willing to stop them. It was as though the outcome of the battle had already been decided from the beginning.

“… What do we do next?” Death Scar frowned silently for a period of time before asking. “The Mothers of Soul which need transplantation are all on the Deity of Gods. Currently, there are only three Birth Towers which can produce Red Mist. Furthermore, the stronghold closest to the north will land in the hands of the Sky-sea Realm sooner or later. Once Arrieta and your Sky City falls, we would have no place to retreat to.”

“Many things need to be done.” Hackzord sighed. “You have to settle down the massive number of troops that are retreating from the rear. Then, you need to establish a supply line between the two cities. The legacy shard has to be held firmly in the hands of the race, as far from the humans and the Sky-sea Realm as possible. In addition, the race needs a new King, so as to ensure the continuation of future generations…” He paused. “Of course, the first thing that needs to be done is to negotiate with the humans.”

“I hope that Valkries didn’t make a wrong choice.” He turned to walk towards the camp as the race stirred to make way.

Sky Lord looked east towards the blood-red dawn without giving a reply.

…

Roland had woken up early and entered the landing site when he learned that the fleet was about to land.

In fact, he wasn’t the only one. The First Army, the engineering team, the support crew… Everyone ran to the surface and awaited the moment of the Aerial Knights’ return.

When the first biplane unstably landed on the floating island’s runaway, a resounding cheer erupted from the crowd.

After waiting for a long while, Roland finally saw the Seagull and Phoenix. The glider didn’t look too different from when it first set off while the latter appeared mottled. However, it was in stable condition like it usually was. Soon, the two planes landed in front of him.

Before the staircase was raised, he had already taken wide strides towards the runway.

“Wait, wait—” Tilly rejected his extended arms when she landed. “Don’t come over!”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you say that there would be dangerous contamination after the explosion? Although the Phoenix was rather far from the target, there’s no guarantee that it wasn’t tainted. Now that I’ve touched it and with you coming over—”

Before Tilly finished her sentence, she was pulled into a hug by Roland.

“Who cares,” he said with a laugh.

The crowd soon noticed this scene. Following that, more people surged towards the tarmac and opened their arms to hug the returning Aerial Knights. Some even threw them high into the air!

The landing area immediately erupted into a sea of cheers.

“Uh, didn’t you say that they have to undergo cleansing and inspection once they return,” Nightingale asked with her lips curled.

Anna shook her head in amusement. “It looks like you’ve set off a bad example.”

“Apparently…” Roland could not help but hold his forehead.

“Woo!” At that moment, Lightning descended from the sky and pounced onto him. “We succeeded!”

“Coo! We won! Coo!” Maggie followed closely behind.

The other Witches also came forward.

“Aren’t you stopping everyone?” Nightingale asked with a shrug.

Tilly thought about it before laughing. “Who cares!”

After quite a period of buzz, the landing area finally returned to normal. According to the reports of the Aerial Knights, the Logistics team split the returning planes into batches. They determined the degree of cleansing based on the planes’ distance from the explosion. As for the Fury of Heaven planes which Good and company flew, they were immediately decommissioned due to their close proximity to the Deity of Gods.

The higher-ups of the First Army quickly obtained the final tabulation. A total of 146 planes returned safely, which meant that Neverwinter lost nearly a third of its aerial forces, with a large number of them being first-generation Fire of Heaven planes. Clearly, the number of senior demons protecting King’s City was completely on a different level as the Western Front’s army. If they had used normal measures, this battle would probably not have ended in such a short period of time.

Out of the other two bombers, only Kun Peng returned safely. When Sylvie mentioned Eagle Face’s last words, the meeting room fell into a brief moment of silence.

“Graycastle will not forget them,” said Roland heavily. “When we return to Neverwinter, I will make everyone remember their names—be it those who sacrificed or the warriors who survived. But before our celebrations, we need to ensure the physical condition of the Aerial Knights.”

“Your Majesty, rest assured. The Logistics team has already made preparations,” Iron Axe said.

These were part of the plan which included tracking and observation, so as to quarantine the exposed. For Hero who possessed the ability to transfer illnesses and Nana who could perfectly eliminate illnesses, radiation sickness was not something that left them helpless. Even if the process might take some time, and the cost was significant, Roland had no intention of giving up on anyone.

“Of course, before that, I permit everyone to have a mini celebration tonight.” He slowed down his tone and smiled. “For the victory that didn’t come easy.”