A Knell from the Sky

The hot air balloon was soaring over 2,000 meters above the ground. This number was measured by Lightning when she flew perpendicularly.

The sky was loosely specked with puffs of white clouds that seemed so close to her that she almost felt they were within her reach. If she really wanted to touch them, however, she had to fly up for another several hundred meters.

The entire hot air balloon was colored in white and blue, perfectly fused with the sky from a distance. Like the "Easterly Wind No.1", Lightning was also in camouflage. Since His Highness had told them that the raid must be quick and unexpected, the First Army landed before the boat arrived at the pier of Silver City and marshaled toward the backside of the mountain ridge nearby on foot.

Thanks to Sylvie's monitoring, the army successfully reached the camp unnoticed. After tents were pitched, the "Cloud Gazer" slowly rose and was ready for bombing the following day.