When the light of Divine Will dissipated, the sky, heavily shrouded in clouds, regained its brightness.

Tens of thousands of devils stood in the distance, silently witnessing the battle between the two Grand Dukes.

The original grassland had vanished, replaced by scorched earth. Each descending ray of Divine Will seemed to contain unstoppable power, shattering rocks, igniting trees, leaving a trail of utter desolation.

Yet the bloody, massive body charged through the golden lightning, seemingly unconcerned by the damage inflicted by Divine Will. It, too, left countless marks on the earth, the wide trenches, several people across, being the masterpiece of its vaunted brute strength.

However, it was the latter that ultimately fell first.

The Silence Disaster's attacks were not only immensely powerful but also possessed speed no less than Unintentional. Each strike left a wound on the Bloody's body. Magic power consumption had its limit, and even a high-level Hell Lord known for its regenerative abilities would eventually be exhausted. When Silence brushed past its opponent, severing its thick hind leg, the outcome was already clear.

"This was not a commensurate battle," Deathscar murmured.

The Bloody's abilities were extremely similar to those of humans' transcendents, with most of its magic stone focusing on itself, making it nearly invincible on the battlefield. Whether it was gold, iron, or magic attacks, it possessed extremely strong resistance, and once it launched a charge, few things could stop it.

The Silence Disaster, on the other hand, was the best of individual strength. The talent of Demon Slaughtering could enhance the effects of its abilities, and its keen perception and physique ensured it could evade those heavy and fatal attacks.

The result of the two compared naturally could not be called equal.

"Not necessarily," Hexode said, "Look."

"Cough… cough…" The Bloody was covered in gashes, blue blood gushing out like a mountain spring, clearly indicating that its injuries far exceeded its self-healing ability. It leaned on its long axe, barely supporting its upper body, with a strange look of satisfaction on its face. "Not bad, worthy of the genius known as Sharyta! I've long wanted to fight with you, to see who is… cough… the bravest warrior of the clan."

"…" Silence was not unscathed either, with many dents in its armor and one arm completely broken, dangling at its side. "If I hadn't experienced a near-death battle recently, the outcome of this confrontation might have been uncertain."

"That's the… pleasure of a fight, isn't it?" The Bloody coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Compared to surrender, such an end suits me better."

Silence took a breath and walked towards its opponent, sword in hand.

"Cough… one last question, will you also use the fate of the clan as a reason, like those wastes, to kneel and surrender to humans?"

"No, I'm just doing this for Vakiris." After saying that, Silence swung its sword down, cleaving into the Bloody's chest.

The ripple of magic once again swept through the consciousness world.

No one dared to stop it, and no one wanted to stop it, as if such an ending had been tacitly agreed upon from the beginning of the battle.

"…What should we do next?" Deathscar frowned and remained silent for a long time before speaking. "All the soul mothers that need to be transplanted are on the God of Creation, and only three birth towers that can produce ephemera remain. Moreover, the stronghold closest to the northern end will fall into the hands of the Sky-Sea World sooner or later. Once Anletta and your Sky Dome City fall, we'll have nowhere to retreat."

"There's a lot that needs to be done," Hexode sighed. "You have to settle a large number of troops withdrawn from the rear, and then establish a supply line between the two cities. The fragments of inheritance must be firmly controlled in the hands of the clan, as far away from humans and the Sky-Sea World as possible. In addition, the clan needs a new king to maintain the continuation of future generations…" It paused, "Of course, the first thing to do is to negotiate with humans."

"I hope Vakiris hasn't chosen the wrong path." It turned and walked towards the camp, the clan members surging to open a path.

The Lord of the Sky Dome looked at the bloody dawn in the east, without answering.

…

Luo Lan walked into the airfield early – upon learning that the air fleet was about to land.

In fact, he was not the only one; the First Army, the Engineering Corps, the Logistics Personnel… everyone ran onto the ground, waiting for the return of the air knights.

When the first biplane landed bumpily on the floating island runway, a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd!

After waiting for a long time, Luo Lan finally saw Seagull and Phoenix – compared to the glider that had not changed much from when it departed, the latter appeared much more mottled, but its posture was still stable, as always. Soon, the two planes landed in front of him one after another.

Before the ladder was even set up, he had already strode towards the runway.

"Wait, wait –" Tili reached out to stop him after landing. "Don't come over!"

"Why?"

"Didn't you say that there would be dangerous contamination after the explosion? Although Phoenix is further away from the target, it can't be guaranteed that it won't be stuck on it. Now that I've touched it again, if you come over—"

Before Tili could finish speaking, Luo Lan hugged her tightly.

"Who cares."

He said with a smile.

The crowd quickly noticed this scene, and then more people surged towards the tarmac, opening their arms and embracing the returning air knights, finally lifting them up and throwing them into the air!

The airfield suddenly became a sea of jubilation.

"Uh, didn't you say that after they came back, they should first undergo disinfection and inspection work?" Nightingale pouted.

Anna shook her head amusingly, "You've set a terrible example."

"It seems so…" Luo Lan couldn't help but rub his forehead.

"Hoo-yah—" At this moment, Lightning descended from the sky and pounced directly on him, "We succeeded!"

"Goo-goo! Won goo!" Followed by Maisie.

And the other witches also came up.

"Aren't you going to stop everyone?" Nightingale shrugged.

Tili thought for a moment, then smiled, "Who cares!"

After a long period of commotion, the airfield returned to normal. According to the air knights' report, the logistics divided all returning aircraft into several batches, determining the degree of disinfection based on the distance from the explosion point. As for the Fury of Heaven, piloted by Good and others, it was directly scrapped and discarded due to its proximity to the God of Creation.

The high-ranking officers of the First Army soon received the final statistics. A total of one hundred and forty-six aircraft safely returned, which meant that Neverwinter lost nearly one-third of its air power, most of which were the older generation's Skyfire. Clearly, the number of high-level devils guarding the King's City was completely on a different level from the Western Front Army. If only conventional methods were used, this war would be difficult to end in a short time.

In addition, only the Kunpeng successfully returned of the two bombers. When Sylvie spoke of Eagle Face's last words, there was a brief silence in the conference room.

"Graycastle will not forget them," Luo Lan said in a deep voice. "When we return to Neverwinter, I will make everyone remember their names – whether they are the sacrificed or the living warriors. But before celebrating, we must first ensure the physical condition of the air knights."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, the Logistics Department is ready," Iron Axe replied.

These were all part of the contingency plan, including tracking observation, and isolation treatment for those exposed, etc. For heroes with the ability to transfer diseases and Nana Wawa with perfect removal methods, radiation sickness was not without countermeasures. Although the process may be quite long and expensive, Luo Lan did not intend to give up on anyone.

"Of course, before that, I allow everyone to have a small celebration tonight," he slowed down his tone and said with a smile, "For this hard-won victory."