Celebration lasted only a short while before the camp bustled with activity again.

Treating the wounded, tallying the results, advancing the railway, clearing the battlefield... all these were pressing matters.

The command was very clear that the victory of this great battle did not equate to the end of Operation Torch. Although judging by the remaining strength of the devils, they were unlikely to launch another attack of such magnitude, taking Taqila was almost a certainty. However, no one dared to let their guard down until the very last step. What's more, the Demon Slayer was still alive. If this threat could not be completely eliminated, it could not be considered a perfect achievement of the objective.

Humanity certainly deserved to celebrate, but that would have to wait until the Graycastle banner was planted at the highest point of the ruins, and they had successfully returned to Neverwinter.

After some discussion, the high command of the united front reached a consensus – after removing the devils eliminated in this battle, the number of enemies in the Holy City ruins should be less than five hundred. From a purely strength perspective, this meant that the enemy no longer posed any direct threat to the First Army.

Compared to the steady advance before, the focus now should be on preventing the Demon Slayer from escaping. The construction of Taq Ten Station could be slowed down to avoid the enemy losing their will to fight too early. At the same time, ambushes should be launched as soon as possible. Even without Sylvie's reconnaissance, the First Army's position was unlikely to be suddenly attacked.

To avoid any unnecessary delays, after a day of rest, the First Army once again bombarded the devils, but this time, they were on the offensive.

Faced with the whistling shells, the only thing the enemy could do was retreat step by step, gradually giving up the trenches and retreating all the way back to the ruins of Taqila.

During this period, only the Demon Slayer could still threaten the defense line, but as a high-priority target, it was difficult for it to even get close to the position, let alone stop the First Army from advancing.

As its repeated attempts proved futile, its appearances became less and less frequent.

On the fourth day after the great battle, the rails finally reached the ten-kilometer firing range.

After setting up the artillery position, Agatha, Phyllis, and more than a hundred others were invited by Iron Axe to stand in a row in front of the fortress cannons.

Since there were not nearly enough cannons, Vanna, the battalion commander of the artillery battalion, had specially prepared more than a dozen hemp ropes, tied to the firing cords. In this way, they could "simultaneously" fire the first shot aimed at the city of Taqila.

Awakened ones born in Taqila, avengers who would purify Taqila... and future builders of the new Holy City, every God's Punishment Witch realized that this would be a moment of great historical significance. Whether they could live to see the end of the Divine Will Battle or not, this scene would be etched in history.

"I must apologize to you," Phyllis said softly to Agatha, gripping the rope. "Four hundred years ago, I used to laugh at you behind your back for employing mortals, saying that entrusting them with important work would only lead to a complete mess."

"Many people did say that back then," the Ice Witch smiled. "And now?"

"Now..." Phyllis curled her lips. "Fighting alongside mortals isn't so bad either."

"Ready—" At this moment, Vanna raised the command flag. "Fire!"

Everyone pulled the firing cords back in unison, and a rumbling sound echoed across the position—more than a dozen shells soared into the air, swept across the plains, and raced to fall into the ruins of the Holy City.

The violent shockwaves spread out with each explosion, sweeping through the ancient ruins that had been left behind for four hundred years, along with the devils hiding within, torn apart by the blast and debris.

...

"It has begun," Sylvie said in a low voice.

"Mm," Andrea responded somewhat absentmindedly. Even without seeing the situation in Taqila, she could tell from the dull explosions—the vibrations were completely different from the rumbling of firing cannons, and even at a distance of seven kilometers, she could feel the power contained within.

It was hard to imagine what it would be like for the devils to be bombarded by the fortress cannons all night.

"This is the fifth day, right?" Maggie muttered. "Will the Demon Slayer come today?"

"Who knows," Ashes shrugged.

"I really want to go back to Neverwinter to eat hot pot and fried dumplings."

"Glug."

Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of rumbling stomachs filled the air.

"Of course, teppanyaki meat is also good, and it would be even better if we could have an ice cream bread—um—"

Ashes stuffed a piece of dry food into Maggie's mouth. "If you're hungry, eat more of this. It doesn't taste very good, but at least it can fill your stomach."

"Also, everyone, don't forget that we are still on a mission," Camilla Dary added. "You can think about food when we get back. Now, please focus your mind and complete your duties seriously."

This guy was still so serious, even though her throat had moved just now. Andrea shook her head inwardly and shifted her attention back to Taqila.

When the First Army switched from defense to offense, the Special Operations Group also left the camp according to the planned schedule, bypassing the Taqila ruins and lurking in a forest on the west side of the supply line. Since they couldn't determine the Demon Slayer's intentions or the time of its retreat, they could only wait patiently here for an opportunity to arise.

Although wilderness survival was not difficult for the witches, considering that there were still terror beasts in the sky, they didn't even have a tent to shield them from the sun and rain, let alone start a fire to roast wild game. Every night, everyone slept wrapped in thick cloth in the trees, and when they were hungry, they nibbled on two wheat cakes. Naturally, it wasn't very comfortable.

Honestly, when she heard Maggie's words just now, she suddenly felt a strong longing for Neverwinter. When she first followed Tilly from Sleeping Island to Neverwinter City, she thought it was just another new place to settle down, and that the so-called "Witch's Home" was just the ruler's boast. If Tilly decided to leave one day, she would follow without hesitation. But now, when faced with this question, Andrea was not so sure...

Soft beds, a wide variety of delicious food, automatically flowing hot and cold water, and heating that allowed her to walk barefoot in winter—even though she had been a member of the Quinn nobles, she had never enjoyed such a comfortable life. It wasn't just luxury piled up with gold dragons, but a thoughtful and exquisite experience from beginning to end. The thought of completely abandoning all this made it difficult for her to make a decision.

Fortunately, Tilly and Roland got along well, so she didn't have to worry about where to go for the time being.

Once they dealt with the Demon Slayer, she would definitely ask His Majesty Roland to reward her properly, Andrea thought to herself.

The ideal result was that the target would defend Taqila to the death and be blown to pieces by artillery fire. The next best was that it would escape without noticing the ambush group and be shot down in the air by a God's Punishment bullet. The worst was that it had already noticed that they had the ability to snipe accurately from a long distance and used ground-hugging flight and constant changes in direction to evade, in which case they would have to rely on Seagull to intercept it.

However, she didn't have much confidence in the first two scenarios. During the night battle five days ago, the Demon Slayer had once approached the position from the sky above Taqila, but it maintained erratic movements throughout, never giving her a chance to attack. Was this a coincidence, or was it deliberately guarding against her?

"Aooo Woooo Ooooo Ooooooo—"

Suddenly, a strange shriek entered everyone's ears.

"What's going on?" Ashes asked.

"A shell hit the giant skeleton!" Sylvie exclaimed. "A large hole has been blown open in its back, and oh my god, that thing... is howling!"

"So it can feel pain too? Just looking at its appearance, I thought it was just a dead thing with an empty frame."

"Red mist is spewing out of the place where it was hit, like... blood." Sylvie stared solemnly in the southeast direction. "The Demon Slayer has also moved out, it's heading towards our position."

"Hopefully someone can take it down with one shot," Andrea said, spreading her hands.

"Wait... no, the Demon Slayer turned back halfway!" Sylvie frowned after observing for a moment. "What's going on? The skeleton seems to be retreating! Some devils are trying to stop the skeleton, but they're being trampled into mincemeat—the ruins are in chaos, what are they..."

After a long while, she said in an uncertain tone, "Are the devils killing each other?"

Andrea and Ashes exchanged a look. From any perspective, this was a sign of collapse—could it be that the enemy had finally succumbed to the pressure and completely lost their will to fight?

Soon Sylvie's words confirmed this idea.

"The Demon Slayer is fleeing Taqila!"