"What just happened?"
Lightning felt her head swimming. By the time she returned to the present, she found herself surrounded by numerous long black needles as thick as a man's finger. These lusterless crystals landed in the vicinity of the railway, point down, quivering like black swords.
Then, a few more blasts from the encampment shattered the silence of the night.
"This is... an attack!"
The enemy had sent the Spider Demons to attack the Expedition Corp!
By the time Lightning realized what had happened, the enemy had started their second round. This time, however, the noise did not come from the sky but traveled through the trembling ground underneath, thudding as if a heavy object were smashed into the earth.
"Oh, no..." Lorgar muttered under her breath. "That's where the Longsong Cannons are."
It appeared that the demons first located the encampment before they attacked the cannons. Could they really do that in such a pitch-black night?
"Why hasn't the alarm gone off yet?"
"I've got to wake everybody up!" Lightning yelled. Since she did not take her flight suit or sigil with her when she sneaked out, she had to fly back to the campsite against the heavy fire above the encampment. At this thought, Lightning grabbed Lorgar by her arm, trying to hoist her up to her feet.
"You..." Lighting turned around. To her great surprise, she saw a long needle half buried in Lorgar's leg, nailing the wolf girl into the ground. Blood oozed profusely from her wound and soaked her pants.
Lightning suddenly felt suffocating.
It was her fault that Lorgar got hurt...
"Don't be stupid," Lorgar said, grinning. "The needle would get me regardless. Probably my condition would have been even worse if I didn't meet you. Fortunately, there's no demons' blood on these stone needles, so I just got a scratch."
"What scratch! Your bone is broken," Lightning said within herself. From the volume of the blood, the needle might have reached Lorgar's main blood vessel. If that was the case, it should be handled very carefully. However, where could she find Nana now? If the Mad Demons came back, Lorgar would literally become a sitting duck, completely vulnerable and defenseless!
Lightning revolved a multitude of thoughts in her head rapidly but could not find a solution.
"Look," Lorgar said feebly as she put her hand on Lightning's shoulder. "You need to get to that big machine on the railway..."
"Do you mean the 'Blackriver'?" Lightning asked in surprise. "But..."
"Everybody should have heard the bombing by now," the wolf girl said painfully. "The problem is how we're going to deal with it. If my assumption is right, at least half of the enemy are coming for the Longsong Cannons. It seems to me that they're also using weapons other than stone needles. I don't know what's happening there, but if... if the demons get what they want, we would lose the only weapon that has a chance to repulse them. You know its possible consequence, don't you?"
If that happened, the Spider Demons would be able to pour down black needles at the encampment unscrupulously and break through the entire defensive line.
Lightning nodded.
"Aargh... then hurry up..." Lorgar urged, pushing Lightning on the back. "Although this is the first place being attacked, it's actually the safest. I'm not their target anyway... Look over there..."
Lightning looked in the direction Lorgar pointed at and saw the wooden watchtower at the end of the railway had been chopped off by half as if it were engulfed by the darkness.
"So, run! To the 'Blackriver'—" the wolf girl shouted at the top of her lungs through her teeth. "Only you can do that now!"
She was right. Flying would be the fastest way to deliver a message to the armored train traveling between the front and Station No. 0.
Lightning clenched her fist. She cast one last glance at Lorgar before turning around reluctantly. Within a second, she soared into the air and zoomed toward the encampment.
A few gunshots reached her ears.
As Lorgar had predicted, the whole campsite was awakened. Although the soldiers did not know where their enemy came from, they all scrambled to their feet and armed themselves for the upcoming battle.
So did the witches.
God's Punishment Witches were always the first ones to get themselves ready. They were light sleepers who kept their armors on even in their sleep. When Lightning dashed back into her room, she found an anxious Maggie pacing up and down in agitation.
"Where have you been, coo?" Maggie asked, throwing herself onto Lightning in a hug that nearly knocked her flat. "Why didn't you tell me you were out for a walk, coo?"
"I'm sorry, but I have to head to the 'Blackriver" now. I'll fill you in later," said Lightning with a surge of guilt. She had thought that tactless as Maggie was, she would never understand what fear meant. However, she had been wrong. Maggie might not necessarily feel scared, but she did care for her friend.
"I'll come with you, coo."
"No, they need you here," Lightning said, although deep down inside, she really wanted to have Maggie in her company. "Sylvie needs you to help her monitor the encampment. The more people keep an eye on the demons, the better!"
"Cheer up! I can't drag everyone's feet anymore," Lightning reminded herself.
"Also, I need you to do one thing for me first," Lightning added as she put on her flight suit as fast as she could. She brushed Maggie's long hair from her forehead, held her face with both her hands and said, "Please promise me that you'll succeed in this mission. It's the most important task of the Exploration Group."
"Coo?" Maggie asked while blinking.
"Please find Nana and take her to the end of the railway. Lorgar is seriously injured and is currently lying there. Please make sure you bring her back, ok?"
Maggie bent her head firmly and said, "Coo!"
"Then I'll entrust the matter to you," said Lightning as she gently pressed her forehead to Maggie's. She then flew straight out of the room.
As she climbed, she noticed the reason why the alarm had not gone off in the first place.
The five watchtowers in the outer ring of the defensive line were now all gone. Apparently, they had been destroyed during the enemy's first attack. Those watchtowers should have been fortified strongholds equipped with concrete blockhouses. However, since they had just started the construction of Tower Station No. 0, they had yet to erect web wires on the outer side of the trenches, let alone a complete set of fortifications.
What further unnerved Lightning was that the gunshots appeared to have come from the inner circle of the encampment, which meant that the soldiers were currently fighting against someone. Nevertheless, she had seen no sign that indicated the defensive line had been broken through so far. Although the enemy was still attacking the campsite, they seemed to be quite far away. So, who were the soldiers fighting against?
She started to understand how important her role was.
"Yes, I'm a coward."
"Yes, I lost to the Senior Demon."
"But there's still something I'm capable of..."
"Which is flying!"
"I admit I'm scared."
"As long as I don't look toward the north, I should be fine."
"I don't even need to face regular demons."
"I just need to fly straight to the railway. There's no excuse for me to be so timid anymore!"
Lightning sped up as she zoomed toward the forest along the "Black River".
"Faster, just a little faster!"
As she kept pushing herself, gradually, she felt her power come back. When she overcame her fear, the whole world around her became silent.
For the first time in such a long time, Lightning entered the Realm of Silence again after her awakening!