Graycastle, City of Neverwinter.
Within a week, the First Army continuously sent back intelligence that not only confirmed the appearance of the Red Mist in the north of Everwinter, but also gave Roland a general understanding of the evacuation situation.
Just as Edith predicted, the demons did not wait for the Red Mist to completely disperse before invading the Kingdom of Everwinter. They took advantage of the shortening of the supply line to attack the humans from multiple directions, and even clashed with the migrating troops of the First Army. Evidently, they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
According to the statistics obtained from Iron Axe, the outcome of the battle was not optimistic. In the process of evacuating the refugees, several units were suddenly defeated by the sudden attacks, and the retreat turned into a rout. The soldiers were also scattered by the panicked citizens. Currently, the confirmed number of casualties had exceeded 300, almost equivalent to the casualties of the night attack during the expedition to Taquila. Furthermore, the number of refugees exceeded 10,000, and it could be said to be a heavy loss.
The swift movements of the enemy had clearly caught everyone off guard.
Although it was more efficient to break up the advance troops of the First Army to evacuate the population, it also reduced their combat ability.
Fortunately, Roland had long ago instilled in the army the idea of preserving their strength as much as possible, and that the grass-roots officers and soldiers who failed should not be punished. The defeated soldiers did not turn to become soldiers or bandits, and instead retreated into the Kingdom of Wolfheart one after another, reconnecting with the garrison.
Otherwise, according to the previous situation where the command system could no longer be called back, the army in the north of Everwinter would probably be completely wiped out.
Not only could these escaped soldiers quickly form a new fighting force, but they also brought extremely important intelligence to the command center.
For example, many units reported that they had discovered Monstrous Beasts that were not recorded in the manual during the battle.
A unit that successfully evacuated from the Northernmost Port of Everwinter mentioned that the demons had used a new type of spider-like Monstrous Beast during the attack. Its defensive ability was much stronger than the previous two types. Mortars and anti-demon grenades were unable to paralyze its movements, and only 152mm Longsong Cannons could cause effective damage.
As for the other types of Monstrous Beasts, there were only descriptions of their appearances, and their specific abilities were unknown.
The war was undoubtedly speeding up the maturity of these Monstrous Beasts.
With the support of the intelligence, several high-level meetings were held, and all the ministers agreed to send out the army to stop the enemy as soon as possible, so as to buy time for the evacuation of the two countries.
After all, the population of Neverwinter was growing rapidly, and there were more and more workers, which gave the officials a taste of the benefits — except for the police department and the Security Bureau.
Roland also thought so. Unfortunately, Graycastle's transport capacity had reached its limit. He wanted to send tens of thousands of people to the Kingdom of Wolfheart in one go, but it would be useless if his ammunition and equipment could not keep up.
Therefore, even though the order had been issued, it was still a long process to assemble the troops. This was different from the Taquila Expedition. The Taquila Expedition had been following the railway from the beginning, and no matter where they went, they had to rely on the Blackriver train and Leaf to supply them. Now, before the new transportation equipment was deployed, the General Staff had to think of other ways.
There was another point in the report that caught his attention.
The squad that had successfully evacuated previously was only able to escape unscathed because of the support of the shallow water gunboat. The reason why the Roland could arrive in time was because Zoey and Carol had temporarily abandoned their priceless magic power core for the sake of ordinary people. This change in perspective made Roland realize that the ancient witches might be able to make the relics of the underground civilization play a greater role.
He directly went to the three Senior Witches of Taquila.
Through the light screen, Pasha, Alethea, and Celine's tentacle-covered bodies appeared on the wall of the office.
Roland briefly stated his idea.
"You mean … to use the Instrument of Divine Retribution as an ability converter?" Celine was the first one to speak.
"Not just the Instrument of Divine Retribution, but all the magic power cores." Roland nodded.
In theory, as long as the cyclone structure of the core was adjusted, it could imitate the abilities of most witches. There were a total of four Taquila artifacts excavated from the ruins, and the largest one was the most special. Its core cyclone was extremely complicated. According to the deciphered records, it was also a secret weapon that the underground civilization had high hopes for. The ancient witches named it the Instrument of Divine Retribution.
However, only the so-called Chosen One could activate the Instrument of Divine Retribution, and the only one who seemed qualified, Roland, did not have magic power. Therefore, it had been placed in the underground hall and did nothing.
If the core could be changed into other more useful abilities, it would obviously be better than leaving it to collect dust.
The only problem was that the magic cores could not be replicated. Losing one meant losing one. For the surviving ancient witches, the magic cores were the direct cause of the division between Taquila and Starfall City. Many members of the Union had sacrificed their lives for them. The significance of this was self-evident.
As early as the beginning of the alliance, Roland had promised that he would not force them to hand over the magic power cores. Even now that the Taquila witches had sworn their loyalty to him, he still intended to obtain their unanimous consent through negotiation.
Alethea was a little hesitant. "If it were in the Third Border City, Your Majesty, you could use it however you want … But if it is transported outside the cave, what if it is damaged? "
Even Alethea, who was usually the toughest, did not immediately object, which made Roland feel that there was a chance. He struck while the iron was hot and said, "Strict protection and supervision are necessary measures. The damage from outsiders can basically be eliminated, but the wear and tear caused by the large number of uses is inevitable, but it's better than leaving it empty and useless now."
Alethea looked at Celine. "How long will it take to transform the Instrument of Divine Retribution into another instrument and then back? "
"I think … about a few decades." Celine estimated. "After all, its core cyclone is too complicated. If we add the wear and tear, it is very likely that it will never be able to transform back to the form of Divine Retribution. But I still agree with Your Majesty — "
"But …"
"That kind of magic power core can at least contribute to the defeat of the demons," Pasha echoed. "… Now we don't need to find the Chosen One. "
Alethea was silent for a while. "Well, since you all agree, let's do it. "
For a moment, Roland seemed to see Celine pointing her main tentacle at him. "How is it? My persuasion is very effective, right? "
Obviously, this was a "private conversation".
Before he could think of what to say, Celine's next words came to him. "Next time, let more witches from the Quest Society enter the Dream World, Your Majesty. "
It seemed that this was also a kind of bribe.
Roland did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"So," Celine pretended to be indifferent and said in a normal tone, although it was difficult to see any changes in their expressions and demeanor on the original carrier, "what kind of ability do you plan to transform the Instrument of Divine Retribution into? "
He was already prepared for this question. "Mystery Moon's magnetic power shouldn't be too complicated, right?"
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