+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Nomosian Countryside

He watched as his shot pierced the Calamity of Recklessness.

His APFSDS made no joke of the effects it could deal on her, as the round punctured her shoulder and threw her dozens of meters away. Hans laughed internally, feeling the satisfaction of inflicting such excruciating pain on the monster. Two wolves charged in his direction, both seemingly intending to maul him to death.

But Hans finally engaged into a full melee mode. He met their charge, his mech pounding and slicing both monsters with his razors. To conserve more of his ammunition, he went all in with his risky maneuvers, slicing and stabbing wolves left and right as he pounced on them.

Blood painted the armor of his mech, only further indicating the bloodlust coming from him, and he was truly starting to enjoy racking up more and more kills. All of them began going straight into his level's progress, which was great because leveling up was now starting to become truly tedious.

Back then, he'd probably already reached ten levels with the kills he received, but now, it barely even reached two levels since the battle started. The lucky thing however was that he had been racking up a lot of AP from the kills he received.

In a second, the first magical restocking of his machine gun rounds materialized. Unfortunately, it wasn't yet enchanted, but he finally had more munitions in his stockpiles.

He made good use of it. Switching the enchanted bullets for the regular ones, Hans pulled his mech back for a few seconds to buy time, before his double coaxials began opening fire.

This is harder now, huh?

The wolves trying to swarm him were met by a hail of heavy machine gun rounds. It struggled compared to its incendiary ammunition, but it made good work regardless due to its lower numbers. With a hundred rounds, Hans left eight corpses on the fields.

Above him, a barrage of roses descended.

He pulled back again, locking back into the Calamity of Recklessness who had resumed fighting on the frontline. She seemed to be taking concentrated fire from Emilia and Adelyn. Spells and heavy main gun rounds began taking their toll on her, as she visibly struggled to cast her powerful spells using her staff.

"Damn it!" the Calamity of Recklessness shouted. "How are my allies not enough? I bought an entire army."

"Having a crisis of confidence, Ms. Recklessness?" Hans taunted as he charged through a barrage of wooden spikes. His main gun talked as well, sending an MPAT straight at her, and it struck her head-on. "This is the end of the line, and you'll do well to surrender."

"Surrender?!" she cried out, emerging out of the smoke heavily injured. "I came here to win or die, just the same as all you fools."

"Then you're just as reckless as us," Hans replied, peppering her with his coaxial machine guns. "Unfortunately, sometimes, you lose a reckless bet."

He watched as she charged at him, readying her staff. Vines shot out from the ground, all of them attempting to grab or slice Hans' mech. Without many rounds left, Hans couldn't offer a credible deterrence against her attacks, as he was still conserving his main gun's rounds for 'good shots'.

Wasting them was unacceptable, considering how far the next reload from his 'Arcane Autofabricator' was taking. Thus, he was forced to once again temporarily withdraw. Luckily, Adelyn and Emilia once again picked up the slack, intercepting and attacking the demon as best as they could.

Behind Hans, Dragoon Squadron and the supporting mages on horseback began clearing out the few wolf stragglers, allowing him to safely get out of the spells being sent at him by the Calamity of Recklessness.

When he was out of trouble, Hans decided to play safe for a while, waiting for his auto fabricator to churn out a few more rounds.

In the distance, Valeria and Emilia finally clashed head-on with the Calamity of Recklessness once more. Valeria attacked with pure rage using her sword and trying to cut through the demon's sword staff. Behind her, the Viceroy's spells slammed again and again on the Calamity of Recklessness' sides, further suppressing her.

"You're going to die here today!" Valeria shouted as the Calamity of Recklessness blocked another one of her powerful slashes. "You're weakened now. It's over. My friends, they'll finally have payback!"

"As if," the Calamity of Recklessness laughed. "Even if you kill me today, none of you will be able to touch him, and he's coming. He'll come back, and he'll teach you all a good lesson—"

A slice slammed into Recklessness' side, slicing through her torso. Blood splashed on the green fields. She blocked the next attack from Valeria, before pulling away. Vines shot out of the ground, attempting to attack both Emilia and Valeria, but they countered it with their weapons, slicing them either with swords or spells.

"I think I can get a good shot soon," Adelyn said over the comms. "If I can just place an ADP APFSDS on her, I think she'll be dead."

"Unless she pulls another bullcrap out of her sleeve," Hans said, frowning as he tried to maneuver to the flanks of the demon, threatening any escape route that she might take. "But yeah, you're right, she's doomed soon."

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Hans looked to his side. One of the demonic elephants appeared on the horizon, charging hard and fast at him, followed by a wave of monstrous wolves. It seemed that the Calamity of Recklessness was finally diverting her forces from attacking the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, to attack them instead.

"Everyone!" Hans shouted using his speakers. "Enemy reinforcements! Get to your fallback lines at once!"

"Copy that!"

Hans tried to hold off the tide with his machine gun rounds, but they were forced out of the attack regardless. Fortunately, his Wanderfalke was fast enough to pull it off, and Dragoon Squadron also safely made it out of the danger area.

On the other hand, Valeria and Emilia reluctantly retreated as well, while Adelyn provided long-range fire support. That allowed the two to retreat, as the spell attacks from the Calamity of Recklessness were reduced.

Hans frowned, watching as she hid behind that demon again and the thinner group of wolves in front of her. She certainly was a stubborn one.

+++

"I unfortunately only have six rounds left," Hans reported through his comms. "What about you?"

"I've got nine rounds left in my bustle rack," Adelyn replied. "I'm trying to get new ones using the auto fabricator, but it's going to take some time."

"What about machine guns?"

"Also running low on that, sorry," Adelyn sighed. "A single calamity can surely drain a lot of our munitions…it's somewhat scary."

"I think I should join in now!" Alizée demanded, quite insistent. "You're all already struggling so much. And so many people have already died."

"Not yet," Adelyn refused. "Just stay still. We're managing nicely. Don't worry…victory is close."

"Right," Hans eyed the enemy formation. "She's not even attempting to escape anymore. She knows that she has already lost. Her horde is gone. Her remaining demons are either dead or injured. She's badly injured."

"We sure boxed her well," Adelyn said. "But I'm afraid that we're also equally at our wit's end. I'm not even sure if we have enough firepower to take her down and the demons with her."

"Two elephants, one of that armored knight demon," Hans laughed. "Yeah, no way we're taking 'em all down. It's quite in the realm of impossibility indeed. Regardless though, if we can somehow concentrate everything left on her."

"We can kill her."

"Indeed," Hans turned on his speakers, though it wasn't on full volume. "Ms. Torre and Lady Valeria, how are you two holding up?"

Emilia was standing in front of Valeria, her hands glowing as she tried to give a few healing spells to the mildly injured Valeria.

"I'm down to a quarter of my AP," the Viceroy replied, frowning. "I think I can still keep up if you folks have a plan."

"I still have a third of my AP," Valeria said, tightening her grip on her sword. "And I don't care. If I have to die to avenge Marco and Enrico, then damn it…I'll place every last ounce of strength I have to ensure she's dead."

"Don't say things like that!" Emilia snapped. "We're all getting out of this battlefield, you included."

"What's so special about me dying? Hundreds of your soldiers are probably dead today, Emilia," Valeria said, turning to Hans' mech. "Sir Hoffman, I volunteer myself to charge ahead of the pack. I'll cut through all those wolves and get to her."

"We do need someone to act as the shock force to pierce their lines," Hans said. "But I can do that myself. Not to mention, my mech's faster than you, even if you use your magic to speed yourself up."

"But your mech won't be able to stand up against any significant damage. Even three of those wolves will tear off the unenchanted and thin metal on that vehicle—"

"Then I'll dodge every attack headed my way, just as I always did. Besides, do you think it's only you that's in here for revenge?" Hans laughed. "Believe me, I want to crush her with the legs of this vehicle if I can…"

Behind them, the formations of Salient Squadron from the 2nd Fast Recon Battalion appeared. They were accompanied as well by Captain Weibel's mages. In addition, Captain Strobel and Captain Weibel seemed to be riding in front of the formation personally, their horses galloping close to support the already pre-positioned Dragoon Squadron.

Finally, we have everything now. In the distance, the troops of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, now freed from the grinding assault by Recklessness' forces finally emerged from their dugouts as Hans had ordered. The 15th, 18th, and 22nd Infantry Battalions were already moving to the roads and flanks east and west of the position occupied by the Calamity of Recklessness.

The three batteries of the 22nd Imperial Artillery Battalion were also on the move, their guns already limbered on horses as they tried to get into hills that overlooked Recklessness' remnant forces. The 2nd Specialist Battalion, mostly on horseback, had also arrived behind Salient Squadron, their mages ready for the next phase of the fight.

Within six minutes, the 1st Anti-Demon Unit moved from a defensive stance to an offensive stance. It delighted Hans, especially when he checked his ammunition after the refills.

Four APFSDS, three MPAT. He smiled. Seven 90 mm rounds in total, and five hundred machine gun rounds.

"She has no plans anymore to retreat," Hans said. "Alright, everyone, pick your targets. Dragoon Squadron will take our right flank. Salient Squadron, you folks take our left flank. Valeria, try to support Emilia instead of taking down the wolves on those three demons," Hans locked his turret on the Calamity of Desire, who seemed to be hiding behind her goons. "I'll lock in on Ms. Recklessness."

"But—" Valeria tried to protest.

"No buts. Besides, you already helped kill her," Hans said. "No need to sacrifice your life, when you will have avenged your friends regardless before this day ends."

There was no reply from her. The only response she had was a reluctant nod.

She's my kill.

Hans steadied his hands on the control.

"I have your back, Hans," Adelyn said. "I've got my enchanted rounds ready."

"Then let's do it. One last time. Forwards!"

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