"Don't rush. It hasn't arrived yet," Roland sighed, watching the lightning that was about to strike.
Who would have thought she'd be so intrigued by the challenge of the evil beast? Though clearly not a combatant, she showed no trace of the fear ordinary people feel when facing such creatures. "Follow the same approach we used against the first one. Don't overextend yourself—you're just luring it into focusing on you. Stay alert! Though it can't fly, its leaps are quite formidable!" "Got it, got it," Lightning said with confidence. "I figured out its tactics when the first one came. Rest assured, it wouldn't even touch my clothes." As he spoke, the hybrid evil beast approached the wall, cleared an obstacle zone, and leaped into the unguarded section, scaling the wall. This time, however, the militiamen paid no heed. They remained in their assigned areas, awaiting the Hunter Observer's next command to strike.
"Then, the special operation against the hybrid evil beasts begins now!" Roland declared in a solemn voice.
The lightning bolt that had already flown out suddenly stopped, then turned to look at Roland.
"What's wrong?" "Your words..." Lightning paused, then shook his head. "They're... a bit odd. Never mind, I'm off." Watching the little girl's figure fade into the distance, Roland gave an awkward smile and turned to Anna and Nightingale behind him. "You find them strange too?" "Yeah," they nodded in unison.
Well... Even in another world, those middle schooler-style lines still sound childish. "Then you go too, just be careful." "Your Highness," the Nightingale said, bowing before taking Anna's hand and entering the mist.
Roland stood with his hands behind his back, bracing himself against the wind to embody the grandeur befitting a great boss. Knowing many would steal glances at him during the battle's lull, he remained at the city wall's peak despite his trembling feet, making it clear to all—Prince was with them at every turn. Though he couldn't fight himself, this stance served as a powerful morale booster.
The current invasion of evil beasts has surpassed all previous attacks in intensity. According to Iron Axe, during the entire Evil Demon Month in past years, only one or two hybrid beasts would emerge. Yet this year, Border Town has encountered four hybrid evil beasts. The duration has been exceptionally prolonged, with the beasts continuously appearing from the Hidden Forest in groups of dozens, relentlessly advancing toward the city walls.
Fortunately, the recent surge in flintlock production has equipped the hundred-strong musket corps. Without this, maintaining such lethal efficiency would be impossible. As for bows and crossbows, they might struggle to draw even. In prolonged combat, the muskets 'advantage of minimal physical strain becomes increasingly apparent. Of course, the explosive growth in gunpowder consumption is already giving Roland a headache. He's considering dismantling all twenty-plus explosive packages in the warehouse to replenish the muskets' ammunition.
Meanwhile, Lightning had already landed on the head of the hybrid demon beast. She pulled a stone from her pocket and hurled it at the creature. The stone struck the beast's head with pinpoint accuracy, sending it reeling backward in surprise—only then did it realize the attack had come from the air.
The lightning-like creature swooped down provocatively, cutting through the air before gliding low over the town center. Though the hybrid demon possessed some level of cognition, the young girl before it was clearly deemed harmless. It lunged forward with wings spread wide, gliding nearly a hundred meters in a few leaps. The lightning instantly lifted it, spinning mid-air as it circled around the bungalows and veered into another street.
After a series of winding maneuvers, she lured the enemy to the town's central square—the very spot where she and Nightingale had planned their attack. Given the lion-headed hybrid's razor-sharp senses, even the fog-dwelling Nightingale would be detected. Thus, before Nightingale and Anna could strike, she had to keep the demonic beast's attention firmly anchored.
The lightning strike was flawless. The hybrid beast now roared furiously, its growing fury drowning out the scant rationality. With its mouth agape, it leaped skyward repeatedly, yet the weightless lightning proved far more agile than the demonic beast. It circled above and below, playfully teasing the opponent, making every leap futile.
The Nightingale had also reached the square from another direction—unlike the lightning, after entering the mist, she completely ignored the houses and fences along the path, moving forward in a straight line. Anna's flames were only ten steps (5 meters) away, and she had to approach from behind the tail to reduce the chances of being spotted by the evil beast.
The first hybrid beast had thrown her off several times, but Nightingale had now mastered Anna's attack patterns. When the beast was thirty paces away, she accelerated to her maximum speed. The ground seemed to shrink in an instant, and she covered the remaining distance in a single stride. By the time Anna turned around, the monster's tail was nearly touching her face.
"Now!" The Nightingale cried.
The black-and-white world around Anna receded like a tide, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself back at the familiar town square. A green flame flickered at her fingertips, then swelled into a colossal flame cage that engulfed the evil beast headfirst.
The nightingale retreated rapidly, and the surging heat wave that hit her face had already caused her to feel a burning pain.
In the scorching heat that could melt steel, the evil beast had no time to struggle before it transformed into a blazing ball of fire and crashed to the ground with a thunderous crash.
"Looks like they've got it sorted," Wendy said with a pout, watching the emerald flames rising in the distance as Nightingale's temporary guard. "I guess I didn't play much of a role..." "If I could, I'd hope none of you would have to go to the battlefield," Roland said, still standing with his hands behind his back, feigning nonchalance. Though he said this, he knew deep down that without the Witch joining the defense line today, the militia would have been thrown into disarray against the hybrid demon beasts capable of leaping over the walls.
Nanava had already arrived at the city walls, where Baron Tigu swiftly tended to the wounded warriors under his protection. This marked Roland's first public demonstration of the Witch's power before all militia members, a moment he found deeply gratifying. Nanava, revered as the Healing Angel in the ranks, had undoubtedly elevated the Witch's collective prestige to new heights. When Anna and Nightingale joined forces on the walls to eliminate the first hybrid creature, cheers erupted from the crowd.
Of course, he was well aware that not everyone could remain indifferent to this situation, which was already quite rare. Once a preliminary consensus was reached within the militia, his subsequent plans would be much easier to implement.
Suddenly, the gunfire on the city walls grew sparse. Roland noticed the demonic beasts began to withdraw from the walls. They were actually retreating? He could hardly believe his eyes. At that moment, a beam of light pierced through the thick clouds and fell to the ground, followed by a second, a third... Soon, the gray sky was pierced by countless beams of light, leaving it riddled with holes. All the light merged into one, blinding and indescribable. The earth suddenly brightened.
"The day the sun rises again marks the end of the evil moon." A brief silence fell over the city walls, then waves of cheers swept through the border defenses. Gradually, townspeople began to emerge from their homes, joining the jubilant shouts. They celebrated the long-awaited sunlight, their safe passage through winter, and their Prince. All the voices merged into a mighty torrent, echoing across the entire frontier town!