Nobles who could enter the castle's meeting hall were basically supporters of the three major families of Glow City. Many of them had also participated in the construction of the North-South artery, making a fortune by importing steam engines and producing calcined cement. Most had been to Thorns Town and witnessed the aerial knight training up close. Hearing the King of Graycastle's confidence, the anxiety on everyone's faces finally eased a little.

In any case, this kind of open and honest meeting, which only discussed data and details, was definitely a rare experience for the Dawn nobles. Compared to drawing big pictures or empty words of comfort, precise arguments were inherently more persuasive.

"Then... what do we need to do?" someone asked.

"Maintain the status quo," Roland said bluntly. "A stable Dawn is the greatest help to the war."

"But the panic has already begun to spread. If we take coercive measures, it will probably only have the opposite effect on those refugees..."

"That's because the devils used the Blood Mist to invade the border territories, but this situation will not continue to worsen," Roland comforted. "Graycastle will also do its best to help you stabilize the situation."

"Territories threatened by devils will be exempt from tribute to the royal capital, and subsidies will be provided as the situation warrants," Horford added in a timely manner. "Everyone, this is a war concerning the fate of everyone. No one can stay out of it. I, Horford Quinn, hereby swear in the name of my ancestors that no matter what the outcome, I will never leave Glow City! If Dawn is destroyed by devils, then this castle will be my tomb!"

...

After the nobles, who had been assured and slightly relieved, left the hall, the meeting quickly entered the second part.

Those who remained in the room, apart from the Lord of Dawn, were all high-ranking officials of Graycastle.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to take full responsibility for the previous blocking battle—" Iron Axe and Edith stood up at the same time, then looked at each other in surprise.

"No one could have predicted what kind of offensive methods the Gods' creation possessed," Roland shook his head. "Don't tell me that when you first formulated the plan, you never considered the possibility of the reserve team being attacked or even annihilated."

"..." The two could only remain silent.

A small team to probe, multiple teams to move according to the situation – this was a common practice when formulating tactics, but it would be foolish to assume that the losses would only occur in the probing team. He believed that the General Staff Department would not make such a low-level mistake.

"In other words, the moment you decided to implement the plan, you also defaulted that the significance of the plan outweighed the risks that these two troops needed to take. Otherwise, the plan should not have been approved from the beginning. Rest assured, I will not measure your merits and demerits by the number of casualties, even if it is indeed the First Army's largest battle in terms of losses."

"Your Majesty..."

"But don't forget," Roland said, withdrawing his relaxed expression and his tone becoming serious, "these soldiers also have their own families. Don't treat their sacrifices as mere numbers on paper. I hope you will keep this in mind every time you formulate an action."

"As you command, Your Majesty," Iron Axe and Edith said in unison.

"Then let's talk about your views on the subsequent battles first."

"Yes." The Pearl of the North replaced it with a new map. "After analysis, the General Staff Department believes that there are two most likely places for the Sky Fortress to go after turning: one is the Cage Mountain border, and the other is the Hermes Plateau. The former can ensure the capture of Wolfheart and threaten the Dawn Kingdom at the same time; the latter can allow the Blood Mist to invade the four countries at the same time, making the Endless Mountains a passage connected to the spine of the continent. However, it has already crossed the border of Dawn. According to the trajectory, it is most likely heading for Hermes."

Roland nodded. "How is the evacuation situation there?"

"Very smooth," Agatha replied. "Isabella is now the de facto leader of the church. Their actions are far more efficient than the average person. It is expected that the evacuation of the old and new cities will be completed in two to three days."

"That's good."

"Before your 'Radiance of the Sun' is completed, we are powerless to stop the Sky Fortress from advancing," Edith continued. "Once it occupies the Hermes Plateau, the Blood Mist is likely to flood over the Silverlight City line, and Dawn will be completely swallowed up. If we lose the support of the witches, we will inevitably fall into an extremely passive situation."

It still came to this point.

Roland sighed inwardly. After all, erecting an obelisk in the Holy City of Taquila would pose a great threat to the human kingdoms, let alone directly inserting it in front of their faces now.

Of course, the obelisk of Taquila could directly harm Neverwinter City, while the obelisk on the Hermes Plateau could only cover Silverlight City, which was the biggest difference. Once the only industrial zone was invaded by the Blood Mist, the consequences would be disastrous. The rapid increase in the strength of Graycastle today is inseparable from the witches – in Neverwinter City, the Sleeping Curse has been involved in all aspects of urban development, such as clearing ship hull parasites, relieving worker fatigue, assisting in precision processing, planting coral reefs to expand shallow beach areas, and so on... Although core industries such as steelmaking can be maintained without witches, a significant reduction in overall efficiency is unavoidable.

Fortunately, whether it is a steam engine, an internal combustion engine, or a magic cube power source, they can all operate normally in the Blood Mist, which gives humans the greatest trump card to fight against.

"It seems that we will be fighting the enemy in the Blood Mist for a period of time before the Gods' creation is destroyed." His eyes swept over everyone in turn. "In addition, I also brought a good news this time. The 'Radiance of the Sun' has completed the final design, and a new round of principle experiments will be launched soon. If it succeeds, this Sky Fortress will not last until the day the Blood Mist swallows Dawn!"

Everyone immediately showed joy.

"Really?"

"This is great!"

Roland also showed a hint of a smile. "Then, how to complete this decisive blow can now be put on the agenda."

...

After an afternoon of discussion, a general plan was basically determined.

Due to the particularity of the Gods' creation, the First Army actually did not have many choices. Either pre-set the detonation device to destroy the core by going upstream from the Blood Mist exit below the continent, or drop it from a high altitude to destroy the obelisk in one fell swoop. Other than that, other methods can cause extremely limited damage to the Gods' creation.

The advantage of the former is that it is easy to implement and does not require the prerequisite of a bomber, but the effect is also difficult to guarantee – the Hermes Plateau is quite wide, and no one knows where the Gods' creation will eventually stop. Once it deviates from the Blood Mist discharge port, the explosion effect will be greatly reduced.

Besides, it is still a question whether Radiance of the Sun can turn the Blood Mist waterfall into a high-temperature jet of fire. The farther the floating land is from the ground, the greater the uncertainty. In addition, Lucia has only refined so much pure uranium, and the plan was finally rejected.

Airstrikes still have dual difficulties in terms of technology and implementation, but as long as it succeeds, the bomb will detonate in a position close to the Blood Mist Lake, which can ensure its power to the greatest extent.

"Since this is the case, let's formulate a plan according to this conclusion." Roland slapped the table with one hand. "In addition, the air strike rehearsal and principle sample bomb test will be carried out simultaneously – the debt lost from the devils should be taken back from the devils!"

"As you wish, Your Majesty!" Everyone saluted in unison.