Although it was heard that the miraculous light disappeared suddenly later on, its lingering impact still enveloped this land.

Firstly, the mysterious and eerie magical beasts that were previously scattered throughout the forest inexplicably disappeared overnight, turning the once dangerous dead zone into a lush forest that anyone could venture into.

Moreover, according to investigations by professional magic scholars, after the miracle descended, the concentration and purity of free light elements in this area had skyrocketed, reaching more than five times the normal region!

Perhaps due to this super-high concentration of light elemental environment, various locations in the Forest of Calamity, now gradually referred to as the Radiant Forest, began to exhibit a previously unrecorded magical ore containing extremely pure light elements.

This special ore could extract an extremely precious light attribute magic crystal, believed to have already reached the fifth order, with various remarkable uses and incalculable value.

After all, in this world, the largest and most widely followed Goddess Religion worshipped the Goddess of Light. Whether priests, holy knights, or other affiliated professions, they all predominantly used light-based faith magic, creating a substantial market.

Even without considering that, a fifth-order magic crystal was also one of the necessary materials for forging true spiritual treasures. Even a small piece the size of a fingernail would require thousands of gold coins to obtain.

After the news spread, local residents went crazy rushing into this originally forbidden land, tirelessly searching day and night for the precious ore known as “Radiant Source Crystals.” A large number of prospectors who heard the news also flocked to this barren little country.

However, before they could dig for long, the abyssal tide arrived.

In the current situation, the allied forces naturally couldn’t allow the civilians and opportunists to act recklessly. Most of the latter had already fled north before the war started, and the few who were blinded by greed and attempted to seek wealth in the dangerous situation had already become prey for the abyssal creatures.

The reason why the Human United Kingdom’s army chose to establish defenses in this area was not because they were eyeing the Radiant Source Crystals and seeking riches during the war.

This vast forest almost covered the entire southern part of the Bolt Kingdom. In other words, if one wanted to continue heading north, they had to pass through the area once dubbed as the Forest of Calamity, now gradually referred to as the Radiant Forest.

And the environment here, due to its extremely high concentration and purity of light elements, exerts significant suppression on all undead and creatures of the dark, and it seems the abyssal creatures from the abyss are no exception.

The behavior logic of abyssal creatures is intelligent yet chaotic. They are extremely cunning in battle, but in certain directions, they are incredibly persistent or, one might say, rigid.

The army, as a large and densely gathered concentration of high-intensity life, will spontaneously attract nearby abyssal creatures like sweet fruit pudding, capturing their attention until they are completely devoured, a task they won’t abandon.

Therefore, even in the Radiant Forest, the abyssal tide continues to relentlessly assault them. The Human United Kingdom’s army is able to endure until now precisely because of this.

At times, Bertram truly feels a heartfelt gratitude to the “unknown deity” who, for some reason, bestowed a miracle upon this place, though the Holy Empire insists it is a blessing from the goddess Aurora.

Standing in the front of the command room, gazing at the frontline that is on the verge of collapsing under the assault of the abyssal creatures, Bertram remains silent with a furrowed brow.

At this moment, a dazzling colored light illuminates the sky.

This is not a miracle but a coordinated bombardment by the Human United Kingdom’s mage corps. By infusing special magical energy into the magic cannons, the range, power, and coverage of magic are significantly increased. Only through this method can they disregard the monsters’ absurd self-healing abilities and swiftly kill them.

However, similar equipment is limited, with only five hundred cannons divided into five magic artillery units for the entire Southern Army. Each launch also comes with a cooldown period of more than ten minutes. Considering the formidable nature of the enemy according to intelligence, Bertram brought all of them here this time.

Due to the overly dense concentration of abyssal creatures, this round of bombardment surprisingly achieved excellent results, likely destroying at least a thousand. The entire abyssal tide showed a noticeable interruption, providing an opportunity for frontline soldiers to concentrate firepower and eliminate those engaged in close combat.

After a brief moment of relaxation, it would be followed by more than ten minutes of heavy pressure. Every time this happened, Bertram’s mood became quite uneasy; he was genuinely worried about whether the severely depleted front line could hold on without the support of firepower.

“General! Look at that!”

A startled cry from his staff officer beside him made Bertram quickly turn his gaze, his heart sinking even further.

Adding insult to injury.

Flying in the sky were creatures known as Abyssal Worms, terrifying monsters with a total length of over a kilometer. They possessed at least legendary-level strength, with blade-like limbs capable of crushing steel and boulders. Each appearance inevitably resulted in significant casualties for the army.

Moreover, the presence of Abyssal Worms here meant that “that thing” was also about to arrive.

These giant worms only roamed within a certain radius around it, acting as its guardians.

【Abyssal Demon Island】

It was said to have risen from the depths when the Red Light shattered the Spryce Island and the Abyssal Well opened. It was a presence similar to the floating islands of the Azure Sky Kingdom.

Although it wasn’t as huge as the Spryce Island, with a radius of only about twenty kilometers, it had the ability to move autonomously.

Although its speed wasn’t fast, it could easily surpass the speed of even ordinary humans riding horses on the ground, let alone Abyssal Beasts and Abyssal Worms.

However, 【Abyssal Demon Island】 was like the headquarters of the abyssal tide. Not only did it continuously produce Abyssal Beasts from within, but those Abyssal Worms would also surround the island and attack any life forms attempting to approach.

What’s even more terrifying was the dense gray mist that the island constantly emitted, not only enveloping the entire island, making it difficult to see inside, but also spreading outwards.

Wherever it went, all vitality would be completely cut off, plants would wither, the land would lose its vitality, water sources would turn into murky pools of poison, and all living things would perish.

This is called the Demon Island, a moving realm of death.

Although the movement of the Abyssal Demon Island is extremely slow, if it really reaches this area, even if the defense line is not breached by the Abyssal Tide, the army must evacuate, or they will surely be completely wiped out.

Currently, they haven’t found an effective method against this colossal creature.

Based on experience, there should be a 1-2 day interval between the appearance of the Abyssal Worms and the arrival of the Demon Island, which buys them some time.

The main problem now is that they must stop this Abyssal Worm and must not let it break into the army, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Click… Did they deliberately lure us into firing just now? How’s the recovery of the Second Magic Battalion!”

“General, it might be a bit forced, but… Wait, General, look at that!”

Bertram followed the direction pointed by the staff officer’s finger.

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

“Boom boom boom!!!”

The brilliant thunder, directly hitting the rapidly approaching head of the Abyssal Worm, exploded thunderously. This huge monster, which had always been unstoppable, actually fell down just like that.