Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Just as Agatha had anticipated, it was uncommon to hear Maggie's carefree roar in the afternoon.
When a witch was engaged in fighting, their highly tense mind would consume not only their magic power but also their physical strength. So, the Union concentrated on the key points needed to make the best use of the fighter's time. Allowing her to relax her mind and restore her physical strength during combat training. After all, when the demons came and swarmed them, only by relying on reasonable shifts and cooperation would they be able to survive on the battlefield.
This meant that while Phyllis was urging and luring the demonic beasts, Agatha would take the opportunity to rest some until several beasts had been gathered together... They took a quick break at noon, only eating dry food with snow for lunch. After Agatha managed to freeze three or four beasts, she would then shape the snow into a smooth ice track that would slide their captures to the Western Region's city wall.
As the sky dimmed and became grey, Leaf informed them that the competition had ended.
When they returned to the starting line, they were surprised to find that there were dozens of demonic beasts trapped in wooden cages. The number of caged demonic hybrid beasts had increased to around 30. The biggest one among them was a wolf-bear demonic hybrid. It was almost as tall as the wall, with limbs as thick as stone pillars, and it was so strong that even a God's Punishment soldier and Devilbeast were unlikely to defeat it.
[Which team caught that one?]
Phyllis's face barely changed, even as feelings of loss flooded her. After all, they had done their best—22 small-sized and medium-sized demonic beasts, a score that she had thought would be high enough to stand out, but now it seemed that their score might be at the bottom.
How were the other two teams able to catch so many demonic beasts?
Wendy walked in front of them, relieved to see everyone safe, "You've all worked hard." Then she pulled out a notebook and began to announce the results.
"Neverwinter, seven points, well done."
[Wait... seven points?] Phyllis thought in shock. [Neverwinter isn't first? Could it be that the remaining 80 beasts were caught by the two members from the Sleeping Island?]
"It's all Maggie's fault," Lightning said, touching her forehead, "If she didn't leave halfway through, to steal eggs from the nest of a winter hawk and then spend two hours roasting them, we would have caught a few more."
"It was you who let me go coo..." the Pigeon perched on Lighting's head grumbled her grievance, "Not to mention, you ate more roasted eggs than me, what's more, you even wanted some Bird Beak Mushrooms, saying that eggs would taste better with mushrooms coo..."
"Nevermind, it's Okay as long as all of you come back safely... well, next is Sleeping Island, fifteen points. Ashes, you really are a fighter," Wendy continued.
"She just ran the captures for us," Andrea griped, "I was the one who knocked down the beasts. Too bad that we came across so few monsters on our way. Besides, she didn't run fast enough."
Ashes shot her a petulant look. "Why don't you try carrying those demonic boars back and forth, 15 times, in the snow?"
"Muscular barbarians are more suitable for this kind of job."
"They are better than someone so delicate and fragile."
"You—"
"Ahem," Wendy quickly interrupted the growing dispute, "the last is Taquila's team with a total of 22 points! Congratulations, the month's share of Chaos Drinks reward is now yours!"
"Ah, so enviable!" Andrea said begrudgingly.
"I want to drink that too coo..." Maggie eagerly looked at Agatha.
However, Phyllis was very startled, "There are clearly hundreds of cages containing demonic beasts..."
"Oh, Leaf caught them along the way," Wendy said waving her hand while smiling.
As the person in charge of the Witch Union said this, every participant automatically turned their eyes to the green-haired witch standing beside them.
Leaf touched the back of her head bashfully as she said, "I was afraid that there would be too many demonic beasts entering the hunting area, so I set a 3,000-foot radius trap on the outer-ring, only allowing some beasts to pass through specific passages. After that, I thought that since the beasts were already trapped in a vine trap, I could simply drag all of them to the edge of the forest and add more targets for His Majesty."
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
Alone she had caught more beasts than the three competing teams combined. Moreover, she had done it while keeping watch over the competition. No one had ever considered that there would be a combat witch that powerful hiding among the higher ascendants in the Witch Union.
Even a Transcendent wouldn't be capable of catching so many demonic beasts within a day.
[Why do I feel unutterably depressed and overwhelmed...? ] Phyllis wondered to herself.
Suddenly, she felt that winning the competition wasn't as important.
***************
The following day, Neverwinter finally finished all of the preparation necessary for the artillery exercise.
When Roland arrived at the West Wall, the top of the wall was packed with 2,000 citizens, in their sold-out seats, eagerly waiting to watch the exercise. According to Edith, 80% of the seat holders were former residents of Border Town. This clearly showed that spending two silver royals to participate in an activity, where the king was present, no longer posed a financial burden for the locals.
The Western Region's weather seemed to accommodate the exercise. After a long night of heavy snowfall, it had stopped at the break of dawn and the howling northern wind had eased as well. The vast field to the west of the city wall seemed to be covered with a layer of silver-white carpet. The rutted track marks and footprints left behind from carrying the demonic beasts had been covered by the snow, making the ground appear clean and untouched.
The Demonic beasts, being the targets, had undoubtedly caught the attention of the audience. The numerous captures had been divided into three rows, each aligned with one of the three firing distances; 1,000, 1,600, and 3,300 feet. The more brutal demonic hybrid beasts had been lined in the rows closest to the attendees. It was obvious that that being able to witness these mighty monsters being turned into a bloody pulp under the heavy artillery fire would bring them unparalleled enjoyment. A sweet revenge for the residents of Neverwinter who had suffered so much during the Months of Demons.
The smaller beasts were meant to be fodder for the embedded gunpowder. It was too far to see any details so it was just for embellishment. However, in Roland's opinion, the number of beasts was more important. In the last row, the cages that trapped demonic beasts lined up with a length up to 330 feet, waiting for the most resplendent blaze.
Iron Axe climbed up the wall and reported loudly, "Your Majesty, the artillery battalion for the First Army is ready."
Roland exhaled a white breath and turned around to look at Echo, who was standing beside him, "Play the Parade March Song."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As the magic power spread from Echo's fingers, the familiar resonance instantly rang out across the wall. Even though Roland had heard this song before, since it was practiced over and over on the school's sports days, his heart still skipped a beat once the melody echoed in the air of Neverwinter. It was as if the song had the power to bolster him as he waited for the soldiers' arrival.
The people who had been chatting were hushed and they all turned their eyes towards the end of the long street that was near the city wall. There they saw a team of soldiers, in uniform, marching up the street towards their positions in an orderly manner.
Roland remembered the first time he experienced the Months of Demons two years ago when the city had been like a palm-sized land. People with less than two months training had to fight against demonic beasts on the rubble-built cement wall with lances and spears. At that time, even a common demonic hybrid could put the Militia into a frenzy. However, now, they would remain calm and composed while faced with a higher level challenge. The seemingly powerful demonic beasts had now become the targets that will help to declare the strength of Neverwinter. The apparent contrast made Roland extremely excited.
As the soldiers slowly climbed up the wall through the gentle slopes, a euphoric applause broke out among the crowd, wave after wave, almost as if it would never stop. He knew that there was no need for him to make a speech at the moment, everyone was waiting expectantly for the melodious roar of artillery.
So, Roland just loudly announced, "Let the artillery exercise begin!"