“This is Sixth Battalion reporting, we are heading in the direction of eleven o’ clock!”

“Third Battalion has occupied the one o’ clock position!”

“We are sensing a large magic power source approaching; we have to inform the Aerial Knights to demarcate the signal and intercept it!”

“This is Lightning, roger that.”

“Tanks 19 and 20 have engaged the enemies, target, Blade beasts!”

Following the entrance of the ground troops, the command center immediately became rowdy as correspondents responsible for receiving information had to reclassify them and hand them over to the General Staff members, who would in turn send the information back to the sand table, so as to allow the strategists to make judgment.

At present, the map had the additional of dozens of red flags and square pieces that represented different units of the First Army; for example, the infantry, artillery, and armor units. From the general situation, the plan had made smooth preliminary progress, the red labels were starting to gradually spread out from the center of the Bottomless Land.

The Sky-sea Realm had obviously sensed the sudden appearance of the troops, with a majority of the monsters moving to new targets and towards the First Army. But against the encampments that quickly took form, the sporadic attacks ended as nothing but an exercise for the monsters to end their own lives.

Through the Distortion Door, the troops moved into the isolated island in an endless stream. According to the plan drawn up, the operation would quickly fast-forward to the searching phase.

This was the part that had the most uncertainty—No one knew where the Guardian was, how he or she would appear, or whether or not the Guardian would open the path to the Realm of Mind.

“I will hand over command to you guys.” Anna turned to Iron Axe and Edith.

“Must you do this yourself?” Wendy’s expression was of worry and reluctance.

“We already agreed on this.” She did not speak aloud, yet her voice remained firm. “I am not good at leading soldiers in battle and am of no help here. Furthermore, the Guardian’s appearance might differ from person to person, if we continue staying in the air, we might miss the opportunity of meeting the Guardian.”

“Let her go, I’ll take care of her.” Nightingale had already changed into her combat clothes, not only with the pistol that Roland had gifted her, but with a semi-automatic rifle and a sword on her back.

Wendy hugged Anna. “Come back safe, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, I will,” the latter replied earnestly, then turned to Phyllis. “Are the God’s Punishment Witches ready?”

Phyllis nodded. “Everyone’s ready.”

“Very good, let us go!” Anna walked out of the command center without hesitation.

…

“This is a gift from Malt.”

“Thank you.” Danny accepted the round and loaded it into the chamber, then shot the head of a sea ghost that approached.

As a wandering unit on the battlefield, the elite sharpshooters were free to move around and choose their own battles. Just as before, he chose the most dangerous periphery region, following behind the steel war machines that pushed forward.

These regions did not have machine guns or cannons for coordinated and suppressive fires; thus, the pressure from the enemies were the highest. He had long noticed that although the tanks of the First Army were imposing, their lack of protection at the flanks and rear, especially with all the different steles that stood erected around them prevented the people inside the vehicles to notice any approaching enemies.

This sort of battlefield was specially designed for him.

“Pay attention to the big guy a hundred and fifty meters to your right.”

“Understand.”

Danny poked out from behind a stele and noticed a medium-sized blade beasts stealthily sneaking and detouring around a tank with the intent of an ambush from the back.

Although the monsters were not made out of metal, their ability to kill and flexibility were not to be underestimated, especially for the scythe-shaped blade at the front that was capable of piercing into the tank’s defense upon being filled with magic power.

He loaded a new bullet into the chamber and slowly raised the rifle up—but Danny did not aim for the target, and instead moved towards the sky. According to the war tactics manual’s description, blade beasts had their heads completely wrapped up in armor, preventing conventional bullets to be fatal to them. And before engaging in any attacks, blade beasts would always raise their guard against any potential threats around them, they were enemies that infantries were not recommended to fight alone. Thus, Danny had to wait for a better opportunity.

And that was the moment to sneak an attack on the enemy.

The blade beast did not sense Danny, who remained as still as a statue. It crept until it arrived at the optimal ambush position, spread its light wings, and suddenly pounced towards the tank!

Right at that moment, Danny squeezed the trigger.

With a loud gunshot, the bullet accurately struck its exposed forehead. The blade beast froze for a second as its entire body glided a few meters forward due to inertia before crashing heavily into the ground—but aside from its convulsions, it no longer posed any threat.

“You’re still so amazing.”

“Because you’re watching out for me.” Danny patted Malt’s head. While searching for his next target, he suddenly realized that more than ten sea ghosts were rushing over.

They came while I was focused on the blade beast…

“Qu.”

Danny pulled his partner behind him, then leaned against the stele and held his rifle up.

It was impossible to escape, but he wanted to know how many sea ghosts he could kill.

But right at this moment, an unbelievable scene occurred right before his eyes. The sea ghosts did not pounce and rip him into shreds, but instead started biting each other! The ground was instantly filled with the pungent stench of blood. When the last sea ghost fell, not a single body was left intact.

Soon after, a platoon walked over from their hiding spot—although they were dressed in First Army uniforms, they looked distinctively different.

They were Mojin’s troops that came from the south.

“Marksman?” The soldier in the lead stole a glance at his weapon and badge. “Why are you out here alone? Where’s your protection?”

“Farry—” Another soldier pulled on the former’s sleeves and spoke with what looked like an apparent embarrassment. “If you don’t mind, you can travel with us for now.”

“I’m not acting alone, but I have to thank you guys.” Danny realized that the warrior named Farry was not an ordinary person. “I hope that I can continue moving freely—”

“BOOM!”

The tank unit in front suddenly unleashed a series of salvos.

Everyone turned their heads and saw more than ten hideous Nest Mothers appearing along the horizon. They were escorted by a group of blade beasts that went against the cannons as they crawled forward. The blade beasts had exposed the underneath of their opened ribs, revealing what seemed like internal organs.

“Those are venomous Nest Mothers!” Farry frowned and waved an arm. “Quick, seek protection! Get those anti-demon rocket-propelled grenades here!”

Those were targets that ordinary weapons couldn’t handle.

The tanks started to separate and reverse in a unique order.

At this time, the screams of the Aerial Knights came from above—

A few biplanes swooped down and unleashed their bombs on the Nest Mothers, instantly transforming the land into a large flaming pillar! Under the intense explosion and blast, the raging flames corroded anything it touched and stuck onto the enemies tightly. The enemies screamed and roared, attempting to escape the sea of fire. Unfortunately, they were on land, where their mobility was slowed to the point of being comparable to worms. In a short moment, the Nest Mothers turned completely silent.

The troops burst into cheers and whistles.

Danny caught sight of one of the pilots as the planes flew at low altitudes, who had raised his thumb up, proud of what they had achieved.

Following that, the formation of the Fury of Heavens changed as the planes turned and carried out the pincer attack.