+++ Captain Ebert Strobel +++

En Route to Venido

Forced march.

It was one of the hardest things that members of the military would be subjected to. Each soldier, whether they were on foot or riding a horse, had to march long and fast, all while carrying heavy equipment. It was the same conditions that the 1st Anti-Demon Unit and the other regiments racing to Venido were currently subjected to.

He and his group of officers rode their horses rapidly in front of the columns of musketeers from the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment, all of them breathing heavily as they kept their speedy pace. Beside him, even Captain Weibel sounded a slight groan.

"I'm going to be real," Jonas said. "My ass is sore."

"Maybe you messed up your saddle," Ebert replied with a grin. "Can't really blame the big march for that, you know?"

"Messed up my saddle?" asked Jonas, an annoyed frown on his face. "Oi, you sayin' something over there?"

"Pick up the pace, merc," Ebert shot back.

"We're both mercs now, army man," Jonas laughed behind him. "Doesn't work anymore."

"Tsk, you tell that to yourself," Ebert smiled to himself as he looked ahead. "I tell you what, once all this blows over, I'll probably get a speedy rise in the ranks. General Ebert Strobel, it's got a ring to it, ya know? I wonder what your big plan is in the IYC."

"I don't need no dingy ass ranks from the military," Jonas waved it off arrogantly. "Money is where it's at."

"Merc."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The two stopped, and suddenly, the road was split wide after someone blew a horn. Soldiers, wagons, and horses all went to the side of the dirt road, as two metallic beasts raced, spaced by a few dozen meters apart. Cheers quickly erupted on the road, the soldiers all thrilled at once again seeing the two heroes riding their foreign mechs.

Both Ebert and Jonas stopped their exchange, and Ebert merely shook his head.

"Those two," he laughed a bit as he pushed his horse forward. The sheer speed of those mechs still, to this day, astounded Ebert. While he would never admit it, he dreamt many times before a reality where he'd get his hands on those beautiful machines, and fight inside them. "They're always in a rush to save things, eh?"

"Well, that's their thing," Jonas added, as the two quickly disappeared on the horizon, only leaving dust and plumes in their wake. "They play being a hero so effortlessly. Especially Hans. Man's a reckless beast, ever since we faced off against Desire."

"Eh, I'll say he's been that way since we fought the Rat of Pestilence," Ebert said. "He's always been the bastard who likes to sacrifice himself, only to come back winning the battle for the team. Doesn't help his lady though, she always seems deathly afraid whenever he pulls those stunts."

"Now that you say that, you think something's going on with those two?"

"Bah, I was jesting," Ebert laughed. "It's just speculation. Besides, Lieutenant Hoffman seems like the type to ignore anything but fighting. He's too far gone."

"Aren't you the same?"

"At least I'm self-aware," Ebert countered. "That guy, he seems like he's on a perpetual quest to do nothing but survive. Can't even invite him to drink until he's knocked out."

"Bahaha," Jonas laughed. "I tell you what, maybe we should try to pop a few bottles with the good man once this battle is over."

"He won't join in even if he wanted," Ebert shook his head. "Adelyn will stomp her feet and huff if he tries to even think of it, then he'll fold."

"Women," Jonas groaned. "Why can't they just accept some fun post-battle?"

"It is what it is."

Seeing a group of lagging soldiers, Ebert turned to them, shouting.

"Get those chicken legs moving, men! Those demons ain't gonna come running to your guns by themselves."

"But Captain, they sure as hell do all the time!" one of the more audacious privates shot back with a wince."

"Am I hearing complaints, soldier?!"

The soldier lowered his head and sped his march. Ebert turned his horse to the side with a grin.

"Right, keep up the pace," he shouted at them. "Then, maybe we'll eat at our next positions."

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Hmm…they should be around here, aren't they?

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The two continued scouting the road ahead. Hans imagined that they weren't just the demons active here. Therefore, it might slow the two greatly if they couldn't stop those demons. That, and it seemed that his enemy already made a crucial mistake.

Injustice must have sent them to us. But he's sending his goons piecemeal.

He wondered what tactic that demon must be cooking up. For a calamity, he imagined he'd be like Recklessness, just better. Capable of truly thinking, and organizing. Therefore, this wasn't just a fight of steel, strength, magic, and gunpowder. No, he imagined it was a battle of psychology too.

Perhaps, that's why. He didn't interfere either when we fought Recklessness, and I imagine he could have back then.

Why?

Why was he letting lower demons and even his partner fight and die for him piecemeal, when he could simply overwhelm them with sheer numbers? Hans and Adelyn, realistically, only had enough munitions to kill two or four lower demons. It could be pushed six or seven if they were the weaker types.

Those two however aren't of the weaker types. They're the ones who have the strength near the upper limit of a lower demon.

One of the small issues they faced in this war was that—classifying demons. Seemingly, some demons would struggle to fight against even machine gun rounds, melting from a few bursts from his guns. Some were in the middle, capable of devastating towns and villages by the dozens, but stoppable by improved tactics and weapons from the Imperial Army.

The last ones he faced that were close to that were those maid demons that he dispatched. It was a bit tricky, but he did it by himself, with some support from two regiments.

Then, there were the strongest ones, something like the great eel that attacked Rousselot, or that floating metal demon that fired lasers they met before fighting Desire. That kind of demon requires both of them, alongside sustained and effective support from the Imperial Army.

He tried to remember the movements of those two demons they met in his last life, trying to gauge where they would be on the strength scale, and his conclusions were simple.

They're probably at the strongest cadre.

That meant it would be difficult to dispatch them as a duo if they were caught in surprise. But of course…

We're not going to be caught by surprise today.

"Captain," Hans said to his comms. "Have you got that cryofreeze round loaded?"

"Yeah," Adelyn replied. "Are you sure about this? This is supposed to be a finishing round. I don't have many of them."

"Yes, I just need one to get a good opening, I think," Hans said. "Just, if we meet something on the road, I'll mark it for you. Fire it, then I'll take care of the rest."

"Are you expecting an ambush?"

"Are you not?"

"I am."

Hans chuckled.

"Smart cookie."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing," Hans reduced his teasing remarks. "Just…keep yourself alert. We'll get through this."

"I know," Adelyn replied, her voice warm. "I trust your judgment."

"I appreciate that," Hans said. "Though, it's a bit strange how you can let your junior dictate everything nowadays, don't you think?"

"Lieutenant, I only have my rank because I'm a noble," Adelyn countered, her tone turning a bit self-deprecating. "And I see that now. I feel like all I'm good at is providing fire support, and talking, and talking, and talking—"

"Don't sell yourself short," Hans replied. "Administrative duties are just as important as the tactical. Whenever I'm back at the rear, I can always rest easy knowing you work your ass off for us. So, don't worry."

Hans pushed his feet harder on his gas pedal, his excitement for the upcoming battle increasing.

"I'll keep making sure you won't worry when we're out here at the front!"

+++

A Virtus demon stood hidden behind a bush, watching the horizon with a calm gaze. Her order was to test the two foreigners who rode those infamous demon-slaying vehicles.

Demon slaying, huh?

She planted her sword on the ground, lowering her head as she did. As part of the Imperial Mage Corps, she once served her Empress with distinction, slaying the Republic's soldiers in the thousands with her blade.

Yet now, she didn't vow to the Empress, nor did she pray to the gods—instead, with trembling hands, she deludedly began to call for good fortune from the patron of her master: the Archdemon of Injustice.

"They are about to arrive," the Vanus demon said beside her, his back planted on a tree he was using to hide himself. "I'd like to see how you'll face your equal, Imperial."

"Tsk, I can do this better than you," the silver-haired demon replied, as she stood up. "I already know who my target is."

"The Golden Angel is Injustice's," the Vanus demon said. "What even is your obsession with her? She's just another bearer of false virtue, no different from the angels we killed."

"The rumors that I hear about her remind me of myself," she looked back at the Vanus demon, her sickly pale face's blackened cracks growing slightly. "It annoys me. If I can't push her weak heart into corruption, then it would be better if I kill her myself."

"Disobeying Injustice's commands out of pettiness?" the Vanus demon gave a weak laugh. "I see."

She readied her sword, her eyes locking on two distant figures rapidly driving toward them on the horizon.

"I see—"

+++

"Sighting is clear!" Hans shouted over the comms, as his thermals locked in on two humanoid contacts, nearly two and a half kilometers away from them. "Adelyn, zero in on those fucks. Ready your MPAT cryofreeze."

The two then quickly stopped, forming a side-by-side formation.

"Copy that, I'm taking my aim!"

Hans waited, as he aimed his main gun straight at the distant figure. His high-resolution thermals soon picked up and the creature pulled its sword off the ground.

"APFSDS ready!" Hans shouted. "Let's do this!"

"Opening fire!"

The grass around Adelyn's mech moved away from it, the force of her 120mm main gun creating thunder in the battlefield, and in a split-second…

A bluish explosion appeared in the distance, the temperature dropping near absolute zero on Hans' thermals.

A massive grin appeared on his face.

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