"Be careful, the next section of the road descends quite rapidly. Close your eyes if you're scared."

After Lightning finished instructing, she lifted a Graycastle soldier and flew off the edge of the mountain. The moment their feet left the ground, they plummeted straight down, dropping dozens of meters before slowly stabilizing.

When he stepped back onto solid ground, the soldier's face was pale. "Th-thank you, Miss Lightning, I... ugh—"

"Take a few deep breaths. You'll recover after a short rest."

Then she flew back to the mountain peak position, continuing to search for new stragglers.

As Cat's Paw had anticipated, after the stone pillars were inserted into the position, some soldiers were separated onto another half of the battlefield, and subsequently scattered by the attacks of the spider demons. Although some people successfully passed through the blockade and joined the guarding troops at the assembly point, there were still some people trapped in place and unable to move – either they were unwilling to abandon their wounded teammates, or they were targeted by several spider demons and were caught in a fierce battle, so that they could not evacuate the position at the first time after hearing the signal.

Now that the main force had begun to retreat in batches, Lightning's appearance undoubtedly gave them a glimmer of hope.

Even though her weight-bearing ability had not been greatly improved by the Adult Ceremony, a height of ten meters above the ground was enough to take people out of danger.

The only downside was that she could only transport one person at a time, and there would be a significant drop when flying over the cliff. This was nothing for Lightning, who was used to high-speed dives, but for the soldiers she was carrying, it was a real fall.

The gunfire on the position gradually subsided, and it was obvious that there were few demons or sniper units left. Lightning had also found ten or so people one after another, and placed them all on the path on the back slope.

"Huff, that's the last one." She let out a sigh of relief after putting down the newly found straggler. "You should be able to find your own way down the mountain, right?"

"Thank you for your help!" The soldiers bowed and saluted. "Do you know where the main force is now?"

"They are blocking the spider demons pouring in from the north on the other side of the mountain," Lightning explained the situation in general terms. "It is impossible to detour here. Just go down the mountain and try to reach Goldstone Ridge before the floating land crosses the Endless Mountains."

"So that's how it is... We understand." Everyone's expressions could not help but become a little heavy. Their ability to hold out until the rescue was based on the heroic sacrifice of their companions. Now that the main force was still fighting the enemy, they could not contribute their own strength. This mixture of sadness and unwillingness appeared on everyone's faces.

But no matter how regrettable it was, they all understood that not holding back the main force was the only thing they could do now.

"By the way, Miss Lightning." As they were about to part, the soldier who had vomited spoke hesitantly, "When the stone pillar fell, it collapsed the concealed fortifications of No. 3 gun emplacement. I saw several soldiers hiding in that area before. I don't know if there are any survivors inside..."

"No. 3 fortification, huh?" Lightning nodded. "I'll go take a look."

Watching everyone turn around and retreat down the mountain, she soared into the air and flew over the position in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Maggie also issued a new warning to her through the Listening Spell.

"Be careful, goo. The demons are about to launch the third stone pillar!"

"Can you determine the landing point?"

"Not sure, but it shouldn't be the mountaintop, goo!" Maggie's voice suddenly trembled. "The stone pillar is coming, goo!"

Lightning suddenly climbed into the air, and saw a black pillar drawing a high arc, flying straight towards the Endless Mountains.

Since the demons were not aiming at the sniper position, then it was most likely the retreating troops down the mountain – the terrain there was difficult to deploy. If the spider demons rushed into the crowd, casualties would inevitably increase sharply. The only good news was that there were undulating mountains on both sides of the road in the middle of the mountain to provide cover. It was almost impossible to land accurately on top of the team.

She immediately made a judgment and decided to go to support the sniper troops on the mountainside first.

At that moment, Sylvie on the Seagull suddenly opened her eyes, "Oh my god..."

"What happened?" Andrea asked in surprise. In order to avoid being discovered by the demons, Sylvie had been keeping her eyes closed. In theory, she should not be able to see the changes taking place below the clouds.

"It's a strong magic reaction!" She murmured in disbelief, "It's rapidly approaching the Endless Mountains!"

Magic reaction? Andrea was slightly stunned.

This reminded her of Ursrook, the Demon of Curses – in the last battle in Taquila, the other party used a substitute to release magic to deliberately lure the ambush squad into a trap.

However, the disguised source of magic was not exactly the same as the main body. Sylvie might not be able to distinguish the details at a distance of more than ten kilometers, but within this distance, she should be able to distinguish the authenticity of the source.

In other words, what the Eye of Magic captured was most likely a genuine high-level demon.

Although it was not clear why the enemy chose to expose their identity at this time, now that it had been dispatched, the Seagull would not stay in place and stand idly by.

From the beginning, their goal was the most difficult guys on the battlefield.

Andrea had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"It's our turn to perform next!"

But Sylvie stared at the bottom of the cabin, sweat breaking out on her forehead, "Is this really a demon... How can its magic be so vast..."

"Uh... how strong is it?"

"Far stronger than Ursrook—" Sylvie bit her lip, "I'm afraid only when Leaf is in the state of Heart of the Forest can it be compared..."

"What did you say?" Andrea was stunned.

She had seen how thick the magic possessed by Leaf, who occupied a corner of the Maze Forest, was. It was no exaggeration to describe it as vast, but that was achieved by assimilating external objects after all. Reaching this level by one person alone? "Hey hey... Can you be any more exaggerated?"

Wendy directly activated all the Listening Spells, "Princess Tilly, Lightning, Maggie, this is the Seagull! Sylvie has detected a new enemy approaching the mountains. Judging from the magic reaction, the other party is likely to be a Grand Lord-level high-level advanced! Do not engage it head-on!"

"What should we do then?" Savia asked timidly.

"Is there even a need to ask?" Andrea clenched her fists. "Only a guy like that is worthy of the bullet in my hand that has fused the blood of my sisters."

…

"Boom————————!"

The third stone pillar passed through the gap between two peaks, swept across a large area of forest with a destructive force, and finally slid down the hillside to a valley. Behind it, the overturned soil and tree roots mixed together to form a dark brown "broad road", forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding snow scene.

Cat's Paw breathed a slight sigh of relief at this moment.

Ordering a quick retreat was obviously the right decision – the shooting interval of this round of stone pillars was significantly longer, and there were few enemies left coming from the mountainside. The time difference they had seized at this moment was enough to deal with the new enemy.

Moreover, the location where the pillar landed was exactly between them and the reserve team. The height difference between the two could not only provide the shooters with a good field of vision, but the distance of more than a thousand meters could also allow them to arrange firepower in a relatively unhurried manner. At least they didn't have to face the enemy in such a hurry as before.

It was a pity that this operation was not equipped with 75mm field guns. Otherwise, firing directly at the giant stone pillars at the foot of the slope and destroying those damn stone crawlers in the early stages would definitely be a good way to vent their anger.