"Watch out! They're charging again!"

Following Yuwan's loud warning, a dense burst of gunfire erupted from the makeshift defense line composed of less than a hundred people.

Under the barrage of fire, those agile, small Fiends had to slow down, crawling slowly through the flying gravel and dust.

And the two 75mm field guns were waiting for this moment.

With flat-trajectory shooting within a thousand meters, its accuracy was astonishing, and its power far exceeded that of the anti-devil grenades, making it a nemesis of these "stubborn stone monsters."

Soon, the Fiend crawling at the very front was hit by a shell, its body half blown apart, and a leg even landed a hundred meters away.

After losing a few Fiends, the remaining devils retreated back into the red mist.

But everyone knew that this was only a brief respite, and they would come back at any time—from all directions.

This scene was not only happening in the northern part of Dawn, but from Mount Kentor in Wolfheart to Coldwind Ridge in Graycastle, many similar battles were taking place simultaneously every moment, the only difference being the scale.

Therefore, the First Army also adopted corresponding countermeasures. Large forces were used to deal with large groups of enemies, and small groups of intruders were handed over to a few people—the team led by Yuwan was such a blocking squad to fill in the gaps. They relied on cities to intercept devils trying to cross the demarcation line, ensuring that humans gained a foothold in the Red Mist Zone.

Even though Yuwan was just a small officer, he knew that his mission was closely related to the overall strategy—according to calculations from above, in a few months, the red mist spreading from Hermes would be enough to cover Glow City. Therefore, fighting in the red mist was the trend in the future. They had to adapt to the battlefield without witch support in advance and maintain the normal operation of the Kingdom of Dawn.

It must be said that this kind of battle was very passive, after all, no one knew from which direction and in what way they would enter the alert circle. And it was impossible to set up a fixed defense line that stretched along the northern borders of the four kingdoms, as both manpower and logistics were far from enough, so the above plan was quite helpless.

Fortunately, the weapons in the soldiers' hands were becoming more and more sophisticated, and even with only dozens of people, they could burst out with considerable firepower in a short period of time. For example, his squad had three or four general-purpose machine guns, ten horses, and two field guns. As long as they didn't encounter high-level devils, they could basically retreat unscathed after the fight.

In the final analysis, this nearly stalemate situation was due to the First Army's helplessness against the floating land. It was because even if they attacked the Hermes Plateau, they could not destroy that mobile fortress, so everyone could only focus on defense.

Currently, the only force that can actively threaten the devils is the Sky Knight team led by Her Highness the Princess.

"If only I had signed up for the Sky Knight Academy back then," someone said casually.

"Come on, the requirements there are impossibly high. Do you think everyone is like us, able to pass with a simple trial?"

"Actually, joining the First Army is already pretty good. My cousin wants to join but can't get in."

"But Tilly is there..."

This sentence caused a moment of silence.

Even Yuwan's mind couldn't help but conjure up the appearance of Iron Axe and Tilly.

The result of such a comparison was self-evident…

"All of you shut up!" He drove the inexplicable thought of "losing" out of his mind and scolded unhappily, "Sky Knights can indeed compete with devils, but only we can protect the people! The enemy may come again later, pay attention to the sentry's signals!"

"Yes..." Probably realizing that the two were incomparable, everyone changed the subject.

"Captain," Hanson walked over with his gun, "my men reported earlier that there is a steep slope on the west side with a good view. It can monitor the enemy's movements, and the enemy can't easily climb to the top of the slope. As long as we set up a machine gun, we can suppress those stone crawlers."

Finally, there was someone reliable in the team.

Yuwan glanced in the direction he pointed and quickly made a judgment, "I'll take five people up there. Leave the front line to you. You should know when to retreat and when to fight."

"Are you going yourself?"

"This is the first time we've been here. I can only feel at ease if I watch it myself."

The flank was often more important than the front, and he knew his deputy's character very well. Hanson, who had good marksmanship, was steady and cautious enough to control the defense line.

"I understand," Hanson saluted to show his acceptance of the order.

Yuwan nodded and quickly selected five soldiers, including the scout, and climbed towards the top of the hillside.

This raised area was somewhat reminiscent of Looking North Slope. It rose gently at first, then stopped abruptly, forming a cross-section with a height difference of twenty to thirty meters. The top of the slope was densely wooded, making it ideal for hiding.

The only drawback was that the fog was also very dense. The red mist that had settled here was difficult to flow, so the visibility in the forest was poor. Although it did not affect their observation outward, being surrounded by the humid red mist was not a good experience.

"Light a fire to dispel the fog and clean up the surroundings," Yuwan found a suitable shooting position and put down his machine gun.

This place was indeed good. The protruding top of the slope was simply a natural suppression point, especially for the Fiends whose backs were almost undefended. While the enemy had not yet launched a new attack, he planned to mark the point on the map, which might be useful in the future.

However, after the teammates dispersed for a long time, Yuwan did not hear the crackling sound of burning he had expected.

What's going on? It shouldn't take that long to collect a pile of firewood, right?

He frowned and called out twice, but the forest was silent, without even a trace of echo.

Yuwan instantly became alert.

This was not right…

Even if there were enemies, the teammates wouldn't be unable to fire a single shot.

Moreover, neither Hanson's men nor the six of them had found any traces of enemies on the way up. This sudden silence was too strange.

Just then, he suddenly heard an extremely slight "kasha" sound from his right, as if something had gently stepped on the grass.

Yuwan turned around abruptly and raised his machine gun at the same time—

He saw a shadow flash in front of him, and the cold light even made his cheeks feel a slight sting.

"Crack."

The weight in his hand suddenly lightened, and the machine gun was split in two and fell to the ground.

A very tall "woman" appeared in front of him. Her skin was azure blue, her feet were bare, and she was wearing very thin clothes. Except for the long sword in her hand, she had no metal objects on her, which was probably why she was able to move silently.

It's over.

Only such a thought flashed through Yuwan's mind.

Humanoid form was a characteristic of high-level devils. According to the brochures from above, the more human-like the devil, the stronger its strength. Except for the height and skin color, the other party could hardly be distinguished in facial features, so its ability was conceivable.

Unexpectedly, when he was about to die, he didn't feel scared. The only thing he was thinking about was how to let his teammates know that a high-level devil had sneaked into this area.

However, the sword did not slash at him.

The other party took out a piece of paper from its arms and threw it in front of him.

"Take this back. Hand it over to the Witch Triad."

The tone was strange, and the words were not fluent, but it was indeed human language.

"I don't know who you're referring to as the Witch Triad..." Yuwan quietly reached for the gun at his waist, "And I will never—"

"Send, your comrades not die." The devil's words made his hand stop abruptly, "Triad is commander, you take back, naturally have person know."

Then, a purple magic gate appeared behind it.

It slowly backed into the door and soon disappeared without a trace along with the door.