North of the Fertile Plains.

Since the day they left Neverwinter, Lightning and Maggie had been flying intermittently for nearly ten days.

They patrolled over the plains at a speed of a hundred kilometers, which was their "economic speed" for flying, and the magic power recovered at night was enough to support the day's needs. They only landed when they needed to camp or hunt.

Now, the expedition had entered a region never before explored. Although they held maps from the Federation era, centuries of change had left roads desolate and canals dry. Most towns had been swallowed by weeds and bushes, rendering them useless as landmarks. The only things guiding them were the constellations in the sky and the distant, hazy spine of the continent.

At this distance, the Listening Ear mark was no longer able to transmit messages. The vast land seemed to hold only one person and one bird. This sense of insignificance and loneliness was a major obstacle to adventure. If it weren't for the companionship of her partner, Lightning didn't know if she could have persevered alone.

The purpose of their trip was clear: to determine the location and route of the demons' new Divine Construct, and to "light up" the wastelands of the plains beyond Taquila.

That being said, finding a floating landmass on such a vast expanse of land was no easy task. To reduce mineral vein losses, the enemy's royal city would certainly not fly too high, and might even fly close to the ground. In this way, the Divine Construct would look no different from a small hill from a distance, and the target could only be confirmed by the red mist when within a hundred kilometers, and that only under good weather conditions.

Therefore, to avoid passing by the Divine Construct, Lightning chose a broken-line flight path, with the edge of this line being the spine of the continent.

"Grumble..."

Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the gray hawk's belly above her head.

"Are you hungry again?" Lightning looked up.

"Awoo." Maggie nodded repeatedly.

"You haven't even moved much, why are you hungrier than me?"

"Because I've been staring at the ground, awoo!" She leaned down and rubbed Lightning's cheek, "The eyes are connected to the brain, and the book says that people who use their brains work the hardest, awoo!"

Wait, that's not what *Natural Science* says at all... That passage clearly stated that even when motionless, the brain is the most energy-consuming organ in the body, which doesn't mean that people who move don't need to use their brains.

However, the itching on her cheek made it impossible for Lightning to fly properly, so she had to slow down and descend to the ground. Judging from the sky, they could only fly for another half an hour at most, and resting early wasn't a big problem. Moreover, the jerky in her bag was running low, and it would be good to take this time to replenish their supplies.

Of course, the most important thing was that she couldn't bring herself to refuse Maggie, who was trying so hard to please her.

"Then, same as always, you go hunting, and I'll make a fire. Contact me immediately with the Listening Ear mark if anything happens, understand?"

"Completely understand, awoo!"

Before she finished speaking, Maggie had already taken off, transforming into a Terrorbeast and flying towards the earth.

Lightning helplessly found a windbreak and began to prepare for dinner. With Roland's technical support, adventure essentials such as flint, tinder, and torches had been replaced by more compact and refined industrial products, such as windproof matches only half a palm's size, flashlights using disposable dry batteries, and a multi-functional knife with multiple parts that every adventurer loved...

These things could all fit in one pocket, which was why she replaced most of the space in her backpack with various spices, and could completely make a table of non-repeating dishes as long as there was enough time. Sometimes Lightning wasn't sure whether she was better at adventure or had more talent for food.

The reason why Maggie was so hungry was probably related to this.

Everything went smoothly. The little girl quickly caught a wild bull and used her claws to cut it into several pieces. Lightning then took the essence of the meat, either smoking it or burying it in the mud to bake. They had repeated this process countless times, and their cooperation was seamless. By the time the campfire died out, they had not only filled their stomachs, but the dwindling bags of jerky had also been replenished. Everything seemed to have returned to the moment they set off, and the only thing that hadn't made much progress was probably the goal of their trip.

However, this little bit of guilt was soon masked by the drowsiness that came after a full meal.

After setting up the Screaming Ear mark, Lightning hugged Maggie and crawled into her sleeping bag, quickly falling into a dream.

The next day, when she groggily opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that there seemed to be a shadow on the distant horizon.

Lightning rubbed her eyes in confusion – that area should still be a plain. She had repeatedly confirmed the surrounding terrain yesterday and shouldn't have missed this small hill.

After taking several minutes to adjust her sleepy eyes, she looked again, and couldn't help but be stunned in place - through the thin morning mist, the outline of the mountaintop was incredibly straight, not at all like something naturally formed. What was even more surprising was that it had grown larger in just a few minutes, meaning that the shadow was approaching them.

And Lightning only knew of one "mountain" that could move on the entire Fertile Plains.

She shook Maggie awake in disbelief, "Pinch me."

"Goo." The latter bent her index finger and flicked it hard on her forehead -

The pain was clear.

This was not an illusion.

At that moment, a morning breeze swept past them, lifting Maggie's long white hair.

Also dispersed was the veil-like mist.

In an instant, the shadow revealed its true form - on top of an inverted triangular cone-shaped black mountain body, stood a huge pyramid-shaped creation. It was made entirely of obsidian, and its size was incalculable. If the center of the previous Divine Construct was a demonic city, then it would be enough to cover the entire city within it.

This was probably the reason why there were no signs of red mist spreading from the top of the "mountain".

Two cones, one large and one small, inverted against each other, filled this floating land with a sense of oppression. The previous Divine Construct still had some semblance of a mountain range, but the new royal city was completely unnatural. Whether it was the regular surface lines or the symmetrical overall structure, it seemed to be demonstrating the power of the demons.

She never expected that the second Divine Construct they had been searching for would appear directly in front of them like this.

Lightning didn't even bother to pack up her sleeping bag, grabbed Maggie and flew up into the air.

As they continued to gain altitude, the scenery behind the royal city gradually revealed itself.

Dense black dots surged across the plain like a surging tide. Interspersed between the tides were countless red lines, which together with the black dots formed a cloth that devoured everything. Lightning couldn't help but swallow her saliva. If those were all demons, their numbers were likely to be many times greater than the total population of the Four Kingdoms!

Without a doubt, this was the main force of the enemy's migration!