“Aight! That’s it; we’re done!”
“…Finally, it’s over. Report the extent of the damage.”
As the last drone, which had been struck with a massive axe by Gora just before its self-destruction, exploded in the sky, Marcellus instructed his n to report on the damage. According to the report, around 30 people were seriously injured, and eight people died. It seed impossible to avoid any casualties when facing a self-destruct attack.
Furthermore, due to self-destruction, the bodies of our comrades were in a grueso state. I carefully wrapped each of their bodies in sand, forming makeshift coffins before sinking them into the sea. It was the least I could do to pay my respects. In that brief mont, we mourned the loss of our comrades.
“Let’s get back to destroying the weapons. We should stay close to our allies if possible… Wait, enemy reinforcents!”
“Armored soldiers, huh? What’s the plan?”
“While our mission is to destroy the weapons, we can’t expose our backs to the enemy for that. We intercept them!”
From then on, we continued to defeat the appearing enemies and destroy the weapons on the deck. The battle dragged on, and the number of wounded gradually increased. There were no new casualties yet, but fatigue was undeniably taking its toll. I, too, had grown quite tired, and many of our comrades were audibly panting for breath.
One person who exhibited especially visible signs of exhaustion was Marcellus. He wasn’t a demon. As a result, his ordinary physical strength and healing abilities couldn’t match those of a demon.
Of course, he had been one of the soldiers fighting on the front lines in this invasion war from the start. He possessed the strength to be considered elite, and even now, as the regintal commander, he continues to train. When compared to ordinary people, his endurance was unmatched.
However, demons, even if they were amateurs, were considered disposable assets on this battlefield. Those of us who were originally combatants, like , a forr battle beast, and Tigar and the others who had been Atonent Soldiers, had our abilities enhanced when we beca demons. Given the limits of enhancent and recovery through fighting spirit, it was challenging to compete with demons who had been purposefully created to specialize in combat.
“Reinforcents again! This ti, it’s those drones!”
“Huff… huff… Look at that! Everyone, rejoice! The Imperial Battleships are approaching! There’s an opening in the bombardnt!”
As the drones appeared to compound our troubles, Marcellus, who had reached the limits of exhaustion and was on one knee, gazed toward the sea with a glimr in his eyes. Without moving my head, I shifted my attention in that direction with my compound eyes at the back of my head, and indeed, Imperial battleships were unmistakably beginning to move in our direction.
Up to this point, we had destroyed nurous gun emplacents; other demons had likely accomplished this as well. Our relentless destruction efforts seed to have borne fruit as the barrage had finally thinned enough to allow the battleships to approach.
However, not all the emplacents had been taken out, so the Imperial battleships were still subjected to intense, heavy fire. It seed that the imperial battleships’ defenses had been reinforced by spiritualists, but so of the battleships were hit and sunk before their defenses could hold.
With that, most of the individuals aboard those battleships might have perished. Their remains would go unburied, becoming food for the fish… Ah, I wish for a more peaceful end. Is it really possible for to live for over 100 years and die peacefully?
Regardless, the Imperial battleships were getting closer to us, even though so parts were damaged. Our mission was nearly accomplished. From this point forward, our objective should be to survive. Perhaps Marcellus shared the sa sentint, as he ordered us to gather closely.
“Form a defensive circle! Strengthen our defenses!”
“Leave it to .”
“Sand sure cos in handy, huh…” Leo muttered.
“I’ve never seen anyone besides the Boss handle it so proficiently. Instead, I think you should hone your spiritual arts of fire and light.” Sharl said.
“Y-yeah, I know that, Mom.”
With everyone gathered tightly, I constructed a wall of sand around us. Leo looked at with envy, but Sharl gently reassured her son…. subtly reminding him to focus more on honing his spiritual arts.
Observing that family interaction, a faint smile briefly crossed our faces, but this had no relevance to the drones, our enemies. Relentlessly, they fired bullets and beams of light at the sand wall I had constructed, and the wall steadfastly absorbed their onslaught.
Stopping the bullets was no issue; they were easily absorbed by the wall. However, the beams of light posed a challenge as they exploded, causing the sand wall to scatter and thin with each detonation. I found myself constantly repairing the wall whenever the light beams burst.
“Counterattack! Concentrate your attacks and take down one drone at a ti!” Marcellus said.
“Co on! Don’t rely too much on the boss, guys!” Tigar shouted.
“The injured should concentrate on healing their wounds now. Just because the main force is coming doesn’t an we can afford to stand down.”
While I fortified our defenses, Tigar and the others followed Marcellus’s command to initiate a counterattack using spiritual arts from inside the wall. Lightning strikes, fireballs, and rocks were unleashed upon the drones simultaneously, causing the lead drone to crumble within monts.
When I wasn’t there to focus on defense, the special operations unit mbers had to allocate their attention to defense as well. However, at this mont, they could channel their entire effort into the offensive. With around sixty individuals focusing their attacks, excluding the wounded, the increase in firepower was expected. I was fortunate to be skilled in spiritual arts that complented our tactics.
During that ti, Zaldo had begun treating the wounded. Though it couldn’t be called healing, with the healing powers of a demon, applying bandages to the deep wounds to stop the bleeding made a big difference. Ergency treatnt couldn’t be underestimated.
“Get on board! Take control of this battleship!”
“””Ooooooh!”””
It seed that our efforts to buy ti had paid off. While we were engaged in battle, the imperial battleships ca alongside the massive battleship with such force that it seed like they were going to crash into it. So of them collided so forcefully that their bows and sides cracked, and their masts broke.
Unlucky Imperial soldiers were thrown into the sea due to the impact, and it seed like they had only thought about getting on the battleship. There wasn’t a single intact battleship, and in so cases, there were battleships already sinking.
“Finally, the main force has arrived. They seem eager, and once they destroy the drones we’re fighting now… Wait, the drones all moved over there.”
“It’s because of the difference in numbers. It’s natural to be more cautious of an aggressive majority than a small number holed up.”
Just monts ago, there was a swarm of drones attacking us, but now their focus had shifted away from us and towards the Imperial soldiers who had recently boarded nearby. It was only natural to be more wary of the spirited reinforcents Asumi had ntioned than those of us who had been rely enduring. Even if we were in their shoes, we would likely think the sa.
However, if it were us, not everyone would head in that direction. So of us would stay behind as a diversion. But all the drones that had been attacking us seed to have disappeared sowhere. Wasn’t there any thought of leaving so for surveillance purposes?
No, perhaps they didn’t even have the ti to assign so of them to surveillance. With a large number of Imperial soldiers on board, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were overwheld, leaving no room for such considerations.
“For now, there don’t seem to be any drones targeting us. We’ve got the advantage of a wall made of sand that’s hard even for our allies to see through. Let’s take a break for a while.”
“Got it. Then, let’s keep the sand wall up for a little longer.”
“That’s a relief. It’s a short break, but we can use it to check our weapons.”
And so, we took a brief respite. Being right in the heart of the battlefield ant that shouts, screams, gunshots, and explosions were constantly echoing, and we couldn’t let our guard down. However, by harnessing our fighting spirit, we managed to alleviate so of the physical fatigue.
During that ti, sothing large erged from the thick black smoke that billowed up. For a brief mont, we thought it might be an enemy, but it turned out to be a battleship bearing the Imperial flag.
While we were curious about why it had arrived slightly later, what truly astonished us was its sheer size. It was more than twice as large as a typical Republic battleship.
Aside from its clearly distinctive size, there were virtually no signs of damage or repairs. It was likely a newly constructed vessel for the Imperial fleet. Compared to the Republic’s steel battleships, it may have looked less robust, but it certainly appeared stronger than the other Imperial battleships.
“Oh? Could that be…”
The newly built ship sailed at an unexpected speed, suddenly changing course to dock with the massive battleship. From the new vessel, soldiers clad in armor with a design slightly distinct from the rest of the Imperial forces leaped on board.
While I don’t know much about weapons, I could sense a level of fighting spirit and spiritual power emanating from these soldiers that far exceeded the average Imperial soldier on the frontlines. It would be no exaggeration to say that they were the strongest unit within the Imperial ranks.
Normally, that would have been the end of it, but I happened to spot a familiar face among them. His na was Remus… the man whom I had left battered and half-dead when I was brought before the Emperor.
We hadn’t crossed paths since that encounter, but it seed he had grown considerably stronger since then. The wild fighting spirit and spiritual power, which he made no effort to conceal, were just as potent as before, if not more so. With his current power, I doubted I could simply overpower him as I had back then, even if I were to catch him off guard.
“Do you know his highness? Well, he’s quite the famous figure…”
“His Highness? Is Remus in a position of such prominence?”
It seed Marcellus noticed that I was looking at Remus, and he nodded several tis with a complicated expression on his face. Judging from his reaction, it appeared that even though he was famous, that wasn’t in a positive sense. He was a man who had referred to as a “freak” the first ti we t, and personally, I wasn’t surprised that he was infamous.
I knew his na, but I didn’t know who he was as a person. Marcellus gazed at with curiosity, considering my lack of knowledge. Then he proceeded to enlighten about Remus.
“Just recently, he beca the commander of the ‘Imperial Sword Knights’; it is a newly established elite unit directly under His Majesty the Emperor. He’s also the twelfth prince, a legitimate mber of the Imperial family. You knew him personally, yet you didn’t know his title… What kind of situation were you in?” Marcellus said.
“An Imperial prince, and a direct one at that…”
I couldn’t help but be surprised. I had never imagined that Remus, with his rough deanor, would be a mber of the Imperial family. Actually, upon closer reflection, I recalled how he spoke to the Emperor rather casually. Perhaps it wasn’t the Emperor being lenient, but the fact that Remus was an Imperial prince that allowed such familiarity.
In that case, it ant the Emperor hadn’t so much as flinched when his son was being beaten in front of him. If it were my comrades from the special operations unit, they would have imdiately retaliated if their child was attacked. But the Emperor seed far from lenient; in fact, one might even describe him as cold-blooded.
Or was that just how rulers of mighty nations behaved? Perhaps he valued the usefulness of the demon that was doing the beating more than the fact that his son was being assaulted. It was beyond my comprehension.
“So, where did you see him? Did you et on so battlefield? I didn’t think the Special Operations unit had ever been dispatched to the sa battlefield as His Highness…” Marcellus said.
“A few years ago, I left him half-dead in front of the Emperor.”
“Addressing His Majesty so casually… Wait, what!? Half-dead!?”
This ti it was Marcellus who asked, and I answered honestly and concisely. In response, Marcellus seed to forget that we were on a battlefield as he let out a horrified exclamation.
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