As Roland was struck, Nightingale felt her chest tighten abruptly.
The surrounding clamor instantly faded into the distance. She reached out to help, but found his body frozen stiff with icy cold, his hands trembling. Beyond the initial involuntary cry of alarm, even taking a single step forward now felt like an impossible task.
She feared Roland would gradually lose his warmth in her arms.
She was afraid he would never wake up again.
The mere thought of it made Nightingale gasp for breath.
She has never been so overwhelmed since she could remember.
Anna was the first to react—crouching down, she covered the entire wound with a ball of black fire. Under the dim flames, white smoke rose in thick plumes while hissing sounds erupted. When the black fire dissipated, Roland's severed arm had been reduced to a charred black mass.
The trickle of blood stopped.
By the way, these were the emergency measures he taught in the first aid class. What should we do next? Cover the wound and rush to the hospital to find Nana Wa... Nightingale swallowed hard, glanced at the stretcher basket, but no, Nana Wa wasn't on the hot air balloon—she was in Border Town.
I have to go back.
You must get back as soon as possible!
As she slowly turned her head toward the southeast, where the small town lay, the Nightingale's eyes were once again drawn to the grotesque, clawed form of the Devil, which instantly pulled her thoughts back to the hanging basket.
The frantic cries of the Witches, gunshots, and the enemy's low growls echoed in their ears again. As the chill faded, the chaotic thoughts in their minds finally coalesced into one sentence.
"Unless we defeat Devil, we won't make it back to Border Town." "Lightning!" Anna cried out in panic, "Protect the hot air balloon!" Though her face was pale, the little girl glanced at the unconscious Roland, gritted her teeth, nodded, and leaped out of the basket.
No way, the Nightingale thought. Her appearance alone proved she couldn't handle the Devil. Like most witches, Lightning had no combat experience against true enemies.
Only you can defeat Devil here.
The Nightingale drew a deep breath, forcing herself to temporarily forget the sight of Your Royal Highness's injuries. The two Devils still pressed in a pincer attack, their spear-armed limbs as gaunt as firewood—recovery would likely take a long time. The enemy was over fifty meters from the hot air balloon, a distance she couldn't reach. In the high-altitude fog, she risked a fall at every turn. The higher she flew, the fewer those fleeting 'lines' she saw. Staying on one line for too long meant she'd be torn apart when changing direction or altitude.
The enemy must have realized the balloon's landing could lead to trouble. A Devil with only three fingers on its left hand shouted a warning, then yanked its mount and charged straight at the balloon.
The other creature lunged at the lightning, its massive wings flapping like a falcon catching a fledgling, leaving her momentarily flustered. As the Nightingale had foreseen, the lightning could barely aim accurately beyond its own agile movements. The other witches, fearing to accidentally harm the young girl, all ceased their fire.
The Devil, charging toward the hot air balloon, drove his mount to attack the airbag with frenzied bites and clawing. Fortunately, Soroya's coating was tough enough to resist the hybrid monster's claws and teeth. Seeing no success, the beast roared and flew away, apparently trying to knock the balloon off balance with a crash.
The Nightingale has seen the best opportunity.
As the mist lifted and a faintly glowing thread appeared overhead, she stepped forward without hesitation. Seizing the moment when the hot air balloon's silhouette shifted, she landed directly on the airbag. Though her body was parallel to the ground, she moved as if walking on flat ground, swiftly reaching the balloon's summit.
The Devil was coming straight at me at that moment.
In the monochrome world, the Nightingale was astonished to discover a faint swirl of Magic Power slowly spinning within the other's body, while a gleaming stone was embedded in that emaciated arm.
They actually possess Magic Power?
But now wasn't the time to focus on this. To her, the ten-meter sprint was but a fleeting moment. As Devil was about to collide with the hot air balloon, Nightingale leaped out of the mist and appeared behind Devil.
The giant-winged demon beast's body lurched downward as its load suddenly increased. Devil, as if sensing something, jerked his head back—only to be met with the thunderous roar of a.12mm pistol.
"Go to hell." The bullet burst through the flames and smoke, with overwhelming force piercing Devil's skull and creating a bowl-sized hole at the back of his head. Thick blood splattered everywhere, and a pungent stench of blood filled the air.
The enemy convulsed and collapsed, while the demonic beast swerved off course, passing sideways of the hot air balloon. Just as the Nightingale was about to return to the top of the airbag, an accident occurred. The tilted corpse pulled on the reins, causing her mount to suddenly roll sideways and hurl her outward.
Before she could react, she had already left the safe distance from which she could return on her own.
Despite the continuous descent of the hot air balloon, it remains hundreds of meters above sea level at this moment. Entering the fog during the fall is tantamount to suicide—without control of its trajectory, any thin line would be severed upon impact.
"Nightingale!" She heard her sisters 'frantic cries, but it was too late. Lightning was locked in a fierce battle with Devil, and even if Maxie transformed into a sea eagle, she couldn't lift herself. She knew exactly what awaited her next.
The speed of her descent grew ever faster. As the Nightingale looked down, the once-hazy sea revealed its true form—the rolling water and waves became distinctly visible, as if not she were falling, but the ocean itself was accelerating toward her.
The more she thought about it, the more it became clear in her mind.
The nightingale closed her eyes, and the scene of her meeting Roland flashed before her. She sat by the bed, fiddling with the dagger in her hand, waiting for the gray-haired Fourth Prince to knock on the door. The flickering fire, the creaking door, and the bedroom faded away, leaving only the other's smiling face.
The only regret is that I couldn't stay with him until the end.
"Chirp-chirp!" Suddenly, a series of high-pitched cries echoed in her ears. The nightingale opened her eyes and saw a white figure swooping down, landing directly on her chest.
It's Maxie.
As she was about to speak, a blinding white light erupted from the pigeon. Its body instantly swelled, and a pair of enormous fleshy wings unfurled from its back. Feathers fell in disarray, and its head twisted into a grotesque, terrifying shape—now resembling a flying demon beast!
"Oooh!" Maixi let out a deafening shriek, her claws gripping the nightingale and hurling it upward with force. The bird rolled half a circle in midair before landing squarely on the broad bird's back.
What the hell is going on? Nightingale was completely stunned.
"Oooh!" Maxie turned her head and shouted again, as if to remind her of something.
This time, even without translation, she understood the meaning behind the words. Though she couldn't quite grasp why Maxie had turned out this way, defeating Devil was her top priority right now.
"Go!" she shouted.