+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Near Asuncion

Another tango with death, huh?

That brief question in Hans' mind was confirmed when he dodged yet another slash from the demon ahead of him. The two creatures rapidly coordinated their movement, moving in tandem on Hans' left and right flanks. He continued pulling his mech backward, attempting to control the two hostiles as best as he could.

I need to get to General Ercole's forces nice and quick!

Hans swiftly turned the tables around, his mech charging forward and dodging the two maid demon's swings. His mech skidded through the ground as he made a tight turn, driving straight in the direction of the kill zones he had established earlier. His turret also rapidly turned around, tracking his two targets as his mech fled the scene.

Deciding to focus on the demon that held the oversized sword, Hans let off the first opening shot of his main gun. A 120mm MPAT round streaked through the afternoon air, exploding brilliantly when it struck his target by only a few meters off, just enough to activate the proximity fuze.

"Damn," Hans muttered, watching as the demon made her way out of the explosion, only a few drops of blood serving as evidence of Hans' successful shot. "They're going to be tough nuts to crack, aren't they."

He grinned.

"More levels then!"

Hans' mech screamed through the fields as he bashed his feet hard on the gas pedal. His mech quickly climbed speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour, causing the two demons chasing him to somewhat lag behind. He capitalized on that weakness, sending round after round of his incendiary ammunition at them.

His precision attacks made their mark clear. The bodies of the two demons weren't exactly impenetrable, nay, he was wounding them, and quite severely if not for the heightened regeneration abilities and durability that the two demons displayed. However, soon, Hans managed to reach the waiting arms of his allies.

Alerted already by the sound of his mech opening fire with his machine guns and main gun rounds, the cavalrymen of the 15th finally greeted his feigned retreat. Quickly, the armed members of General Ercole's force turned their horses around, but not before sending a hail of musketry at the two dashing demons.

They quickly parted off to the sides, as the two demons remained focused on chasing Hans alone. General Ercole's dragoons took great advantage of this mistake, crashing back close to their firing range at the flanks of the two demons, as they unleashed another set of musket fire at them.

Hans on the other hand sent another MPAT at the demon that held the broadsword, only for her to narrowly dodge it instead. An explosion struck the fields behind her, and Hans found himself slightly impressed by the speed and agility of these two demons, even as they found themselves under heavy musket and machine gun fire.

I need to reach the kill zones fast.

Hans continued pushing his feet hard on the pedal, as he maneuvered as best as he could on the rough terrain. Within a minute in the chase, he finally managed to see the distant outskirts of Asuncion, alongside the hills and elevated areas around it. Hans immediately drove straight to the first one.

I hope they can do this as well as the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

"Behind me are two demons!" Hans shouted using his speakers, informing the soldiers of the 15th and 14th Holy Nomosian Regiments. The troops stationed at the 'kill zones' immediately took their posts, guns drawn and aimed at the demons chasing hot behind Hans' mech. "I need fire support immediately!"

At once, the artillery from the 15th and 14th responded immediately. Their guns roared from their firing positions, sending hails of cannonballs and canister shots. They all immediately cracked into the bodies of the two pursuing demons, cutting ribbons and holes through their flesh.

On the other hand, groups of musketeers charged forward, forming a firing line, before sending hails of musket rounds at the demons. That finally got their attention, and one of them, the one holding an axe, turned to charge at one of the hills occupied by three guns.

Hans immediately swerved backwards, facing the demon that held a sword, and dodging her swift slash. On the other hand, the musketeers from the hill that was under attack quickly retreated, as the axe-holding demon charged at them. More potshots of muskets came from their formation until she crashed into them.

Limbs and bodies were dismembered, sending young men flying bloodily through the sky. The singular maid demon feasted on them, blood marking her white, empty, and inhuman face. When she managed to get close to one of the guns, it was just at the same time when a grapeshot was fired.

It immediately cut through both her and the various musketeers unfortunate enough to be standing between the demon and the cannon. Massive holes were left on the demon's body, bleeding her out brutally, but she persevered, charging regardless of the cannon that offended her.

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But Hans finally caught up. With a quick barrage of machine gun rounds, the demon was forced into a hard retreat, his incendiary bullets rapidly placing pressure on the monster. On the other hand, the troops left behind were routed, alongside the gun crews, abandoning their post as the demon right behind Hans clashed with them.

More bodies were left strewn on the fields, not a single man able to even raise his arms against the unstoppable creature that passed by them. The maid demon sliced a dozen musketeers and a few of the running gun crews, before returning to chase Hans.

Hans realized his blunder when his double coaxials ran out of ammunition. In front of him was the axe-wielding demon, who regained the initiative and charged back at him, and behind him was the sword-wielding demon, determined to cut him down and save her comrade.

Hans immediately fired an MPAT round at the demon facing him head-on, the explosion rattling the demon's body, before his mech swiftly dashed right beside the disoriented creature. Luckily for him, two distant guns opened fire on the two demons as he narrowly escaped, sending another rain of lead balls from their canister shots.

He could only thank the gun crews as he managed to run out of the first kill zone.

+++

"Come on! Come on!" Hans' mech screeched as the fifteenth minute of the battle continued. Already, casualties had perhaps a hundred dead. Both the 14th and 15th Holy Nomosian Regiments struggled to even have a chance at truly resisting the two demons.

Hans on the other hand was constantly chased. The only way he managed to respond was to keep his guns firing, both his double coaxials and main gun. Without Adelyn and other more robust magical support, trying to fight demons was certainly a difficult affair.

He passed by another kill zone, where multiple guns opened fire from the hills. Musketeers ducked hard on the ground, as hail of lead balls from the canister shots slammed into the two demons. Gunfire emanated afterward from them when they stood up, sending a wall of bullets straight at the two demons.

The delay between the two creatures was barely perceptible. Sure, they bled, and they were significantly slowed down. But within seconds, they already managed to recover and attack the musketeers at the hill. The human soldiers tried their best to resist, but truthfully, a mortal simply stood zero chance against the two demons.

Bodies and limbs flew everywhere, as the two monsters drenched the field with crimson red blood, their maid uniforms, torn and burned, became coated with blood and guts. Hans naturally swerved back to support his allies, his mech's guns opening fire rapidly, focusing on the demon that held the broadsword.

After a split-second burst from his coaxials, Hans took an opportunity that was presented to him. He sent a quick APFSDS round straight at the demon, piercing her body brutally and sending the creature tumbling dozens of meters away. Her comrade immediately realized that, and swiftly turned away from the musketeers to Hans.

Within seconds, the demon crossed the distance between the beleaguered musketeers and where Hans' mech was standing, her axe swinging wildly through the cold January air as Hans pulled his mech backward.

She's getting close to me. Hans dodged another slash, his mech nearly tumbling at the pressure being placed on its legs. But whatever, I already dealt with this back then!

Aiming his main gun at a place where he predicted the creature would find herself, Hans sent an MPAT round quickly. The demon dashed right exactly at the place where Hans predicted his round would intercept her, causing an explosion on the fields.

The demon, already badly wounded, stopped, receiving a hail of incendiary gunfire from Hans' mech. Before he could fully exploit it, however, the demon that held a broadsword finally recovered, charging in on him at full speed.

Right as Hans turned his attention to it, however, the powerful guns from the 14th and 15th opened up. Two cannonballs struck the maid demon's body, sending blood flying everywhere. Even the demon who held the axe was struck as well by lead balls from another canister shot, finally making her scream in pain.

This is it. They're so badly damaged already!

Hans revved his mech up. Now, he would be the one on full offensive.

Gunfire from his double coaxials roared, aimed straight at the head of the demon holding an axe. Her head finally gave in, and she fell on the ground, burning and bleeding—dead. Hans passed by the dead demon rapidly, before charging in on the last one.

Sending maximum power on his legs, the Peacemaker jumped through the afternoon sky, its blades finally showing itself. Then, with an ugly crunch, his mech sliced through the last demon's body, diagonally separating it as he dragged her briefly on the Nomosian soil.

When he was done, all that was left were two ugly corpses on the green fields. Hans…breathed out a sigh of relief.

I almost died there again. He laughed. But I didn't. Hah…hahaha…

He was starting to truly enjoy murdering demons.

[2 DEMONIC ENTITIES LIQUIDATED!]

[LVL UP! NOW LVL. 14!]

[PROGRESS TO LVL.15: 85%]

[AVAILABLE AP: 1480 PTS]

+++

+++

"One hundred sixty-eight soldiers died today," General Ercole said as they walked toward the temporary tents set up a few kilometers from the battlefield. "Quite the tough day."

"And how many were wounded?" Hans asked.

"Roughly a quarter of that," the general darkly chuckled, his voice weary. "Truthfully, your average soldier simply has no chance to even last against these monsters to be 'injured'. It's one swift slice in the air, and they're dead."

"I'm not really that far," Hans admitted. "All it would take is one wrong move and these creatures can kill me. I am but a glass cannon."

"So I've heard," the general laughed. "Still, that was a damn good performance you did there son. Nomos will remember this heroism."

As they reached the tent, however, something appeared on the road, driving rapidly toward them.

It was Adelyn's mech.

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