With the gunshot, a goblin major who had yet to react was instantly shot through the head by a sniper round.
"Enemy attack! Everyone, raise Iron Wall Magic immediately!"
Having reacted, Garl immediately shouted a warning. Then, his gaze swiftly turned toward the direction the projectile had come from. Once he realized the attack had originated from the sky—
In an instant, he understood that the enemy ambushing them was the Empire's Mage Corps.
"Damn John Maslow!"
Garl cursed inwardly, but there was even more helplessness than anger.
He knew that even if he immediately arranged for someone to deploy the Anti-Air Device, the full three minutes needed to activate it would already be enough for those mage soldiers, whose minimum flying speed could reach supersonic levels, to withdraw at leisure.
In other words, they had no way of dealing with those damned mage soldiers right now.
They could only take the blows passively.
And if he wanted to minimize their losses as much as possible, the best choice would be to immediately lead his troops into the Quartz Valley ahead, use the cliff walls as cover, and fire back at the enemy.
After all, once they entered the valley, if those mosquito soldiers wanted to continue attacking, they would have no choice but to gather above the valley passage. With their maneuvering space reduced, the heavy artillery units' rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns, originally intended for driving enemies away, might be able to inflict considerable casualties.
But clearly, that was exactly what the enemy wanted to see.
The reason the enemy had deliberately exposed themselves and risked being shot down by concentrated fire to harass them was to make him fall for it and step into the trap they had prepared ahead.
If he had not temporarily knocked Zalga unconscious and