West of the Western Region, the Fertile Plains.

Guided by Sylvie, the designated sniper squad quickly arrived at their firing position—a small grove of trees away from the First Army's main force.

A range of five kilometers wasn't safe. In good weather and with no cover, the Terror Beasts could still spot the First Army.

After all, a team of a thousand people moving would be a relatively conspicuous target, even from over ten kilometers away.

Therefore, the General Staff's plan was to intercept them ahead of time, and halt the march for ground concealment.

On the one hand, utilizing the witches' high mobility—the Sky Team composed of Lightning and Maggie, and the Ark Team centered around Maggie would proactively strike, striving to eliminate opponents outside the safety distance and guide the enemy into misleading areas. On the other hand, each participant was issued a special camouflage zhifu called "Jungle Camouflage." Not only was the surface dyed in strange colors, but the material also looked unusual.

Regarding the latter point, the Sky Team gave it high praise. According to the two young girls, during action it was fine, but once they stood still, it was almost impossible to discern the wearer's silhouette from high altitude, as if they had vanished into thin air.

Andrea was wearing the same clothes now.

But she didn't like the thing.

The straight sleeves and pant legs had no design sense to speak of, and the patches of twisted brown-green spots looked more like randomly applied graffiti. Not only that, but the stiffness of the fabric felt like tree bark. If it weren't for the special lining made by Soraya underneath, she feared she would lose a layer of skin. No matter what body type you had, you basically looked the same after wearing it. She didn't know where His Majesty found the material that could make clothes so rough.

Of course, despite her internal complaints, she wouldn't say them out loud. Aside from the fact that nobles should maintain elegance no matter the situation, Ashes wouldn't miss the chance to mock her.

Something like an unseasoned delicate young lady, or that the trip to Dawn had restored her to her original form. Just thinking about it, she could guess several lines, and even simulate the tone in her brain.

Clearly, she had made great contributions in this attack on Dawn, while Ashes had been idle by Lady Tilly's side...

"The demons are thirty kilometers away from entering the firing range. We can prepare," Sylvie's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Now, raise the Ark."

"Yes, Ark raising. Barrier will be deactivated in five seconds. Please prepare for the impact," Maggie replied.

"Oh oh, that's the tone!" Lightning clenched her fist on the side. "Sounds very professional—you're learning fast."

"Is that so...thank you." Maggie touched her head shyly, probably because she had never received such praise at the church.

Andrea couldn't help but hold her forehead. Where exactly did such a stiff way of speaking sound professional? And prepare for the impact—as the ability was deactivated, everyone swayed slightly due to inertia, and then steadily landed on the ground—come on, this degree of shaking was not as strong as Ashes' roar.

"Next, it's the flying team's turn," Lightning gave everyone a thumbs up, then pulled down her goggles and leaped up. "Runway is clear, green lights all on—Lightning, take off!"

"Maggie, follow gu!" Maggie also transformed into a hawk and followed closely behind. Soon, the two disappeared into the clouds.

"What is a runway? Is it a road specifically for running?" Amy looked around in confusion. "And where are the green lights?"

"Maybe it's a new training method?" Phillis, No. 76, the protector, tilted her head and said, "I heard His Majesty say the same command in the castle. It seems to be special terminology prepared for flight training. But what's strange is that the witches who listened to him explain it at the time, besides these two little ones, were Wendy and Anna as well."

"Eh? Can others learn to fly as well?"

"I don't know about that."

"If I could learn it too, what should I say?" Amy stroked her chin and said, "Hmm...Amy, replenish mana?"

"That's quite a novel phrase," Sharon's eyes lit up. "Help me think of one too!"

"Hey, don't disturb Sylvie xiaojie's observation." Phillis smiled.

"Understood!"

Watching this scene, Andrea couldn't help but sigh. According to the plan, once the operation began, they would be moving further and further away from the main force in the coming week, and would try to pull the demons' focus of reconnaissance to the northwest. In other words, it was like going deep into enemy territory alone. No matter what kind of enemies they encountered, they could only rely on their own strength to avoid or repel them.

The sniper squad was facing a dangerous and arduous battle, so why was the atmosphere so carefree...

Suddenly someone patted her on the shoulder. Andrea turned around and saw Iffy give her an "I understand you" look.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of great comfort.

That's right, it couldn't be helped... Since long-distance sniping required a lot of magic power, the team had to bring several auxiliary witches in addition to the necessary combat personnel to ensure continuous fire. And idle people like Amy and Sharon were undoubtedly the most suitable choices.

Compared to those sophisticated great nobles, she still lacked a sense of composure, like Count Sperl, who had barely spoken.

"Let's begin too," Andrea took a deep breath. "The demons should be arriving soon—"

"Wait a moment..." Sperl suddenly said in a low voice, "I'm old, I'm a little seasick..."

She was speechless.

Fortunately, assembling the anti-Terror Beast sniper rifle didn't take much effort. To minimize the installation steps, His Majesty only disassembled the weapon into two parts, the gun body and the stand, which were carried by Ashes and Phillis respectively.

Andrea completed the pre-shooting preparations in the shortest possible time—compared to the bolt-action rifle she had used before, this sniper rifle without a scope was easier to operate. After pushing a special bullet, which was as long as a palm, into the chamber, she nodded to the chief steward Camilla Dairye.

The latter closed her eyes and extended her hands to her and Sylvie.

In an instant, the scenery in her vision fluctuated, and the outlines of everything seemed to overlap. She couldn't tell whether her soul was being pulled away from her body, or whether another soul was squeezing in—this strange intersection caused her a slight dizziness, but after repeated training, she could control herself to ignore this slight discomfort and focus her attention on a farther place.

Her thoughts were instantly felt by Sylvie.

The vision zoomed out rapidly, or rather, it switched directly. The surrounding trees and grass disappeared without a trace, leaving only a vast expanse of white clouds.

And in this sea of clouds, three floating black dots came into her mind.