+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

A flash of light streaked through the horizon.

Blinded by it, Hans felt how the world was rocked by its raw power. Even his control screens malfunctioned briefly, that special shot from Adelyn most likely disrupting advanced electronics as a side effect.

Not a single whiff came from the battlefield. All cowered at the power of the Angel of Justice, seemingly now awakened after her integrity was questioned.

But as the flash of golden light disappeared, it was clear that the battle would continue. In the distance, Injustice's mech remained standing. No, in fact, it was glowing with a reddish light, as it began to reconstruct its hull. It was disgusting magic, almost like there was this metallic goo that formed on the massive hole left behind by Adelyn's attack.

What even is this anymore? Hans was completely shaken by all of this. Adelyn awakened her ideal. But it's still not enough?

It must be that problem again. Even if her attack was strong, something truly designed to counter a calamity like Injustice, Injustice was still strong enough to shrug it off.

"I see," Injustice's voice was devoid of emotions as his voice reverberated from his mech's speakers. "This is how we shall do it then."

His gun turned to Adelyn's mech, as everyone, including Alizée, began running away from the Diligence. Adelyn's Wanderadler itself tried to back off into the cover of the ridge she was using to protect herself, but a shot from Injustice's mech darted through the sky.

It was sped up at such insane speeds, that whatever enchanted round it was burned, causing red-hot plasma to form around it. The red light slammed straight into Adelyn's turret, piercing it from one end to another.

Injustice wasn't playing with his food either anymore.

Shit!

"Adelyn!" Hans shouted on his comms. "Adelyn, are you alright? Respond! Damn it."

Hans ignored the warnings on his screens. In seconds, the Peacemaker lunged out of its temporarily downed state, the components of his vehicle practically begging him to not do what he was planning to do. But Hans pushed on. His machine guns and main gun roared as he began to challenge the Calamity of Injustice once more.

Rage filled his veins. This creature, he dared harm his Captain. No, the bastard probably killed Adelyn. That thought, that single thought consumed Hans' mind, that even Injustice, whose machine gun rounds now practically created holes that peppered Hans' paper armor, struggled to counter him.

Shot after shot of APFSDS and MPAT rounds kept rocking the demonic mech, as Hans maneuvered wildly through the battlefield. The Peacemaker's legs, radiator, and engine all protested each high-mobility dodge, drift, and sudden turn he was making, but Hans pushed on.

A second shot came from Injustice's mech, the same special attack that struck Adelyn earlier, but Hans' mech audaciously dodged it, and the round planted itself on a hill behind him, practically burrowing a massive crater on it due to the sheer power it had.

"You damned slimy rat!" Injustice shouted over his speakers. "Where did you even learn how to pilot that thing this way, huh?! As I expected, just as you once tried to break the law and then evade justice, you keep this bullshit up. How unjust! How unjust of you, Grey Knight!"

Hans ignored his tantrums, focusing only on supporting his allies in taking down the calamity. Behind him, while Adelyn was unresponsive, it wasn't like General Ercole's army and Captain Strobel's forces stopped. Their guns continued to pummel the three demons.

Men on horseback fired spell after spell, or in other cases, they fired their muskets like the musketeers on the ground. Even Alizée, who held her crossbow, fired bolt after bolt at the Virtus and Vanus demons, both of them still attacking the normal soldiers at their trenches and foxholes.

Meanwhile, Hans was completely locked in on Injustice. The power difference was utterly absurd. All it would take was a single shot or a few wrong machine gun rounds, and Hans' mech would be nothing but broken slag. His mech indeed was barely holding itself together.

On the other hand, Injustice remained almost untouched. His mech's light armor and light appearance were nothing but a lie. If it was capable of resisting Adelyn's attacks, then Hans' sabots, which yes, penetrated Injustice's mech, were probably dealing small damage.

As more seconds passed, Hans felt his breathing turned ragged. His hands, feet, and body were sore and aching, especially his arms and hands, both of them desperately trying to give the correct inputs to his control at every split-second.

The battlefield demanded the greatest effort. The battlefield drained his mind. The battlefield…

I'm going to die.

His mind turned cold at that thought, dodging another hail of machine gun rounds, replying with his own instead.

I'm going to die.

He fired another sabot round at Injustice's hull, causing a massive hole in it.

I'm gonna die.

Another powerful round from Injustice screamed above his mech, nearly destroying him.

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But I don't care.

Hans turned his mech around, charging in Injustice's direction. His eyes had gone hollow. His mind was prepared for this. Considering Adelyn stopped replying, he wanted this.

He'd kill this asshole next round. He swore by it. He was ready to feel extreme pain once again for a restart, where Adelyn would survive, where—

"I apologize for responding," Adelyn's voice reached out again. "I had to fix a malfunction. I'm not dead yet, and this battle isn't over!"

Adelyn's mech rose from the ridge where she disappeared. Her voice alone pulled Hans out of his suicidal charge, breaking off after dodging another round from Injustice's mech. From the ridge, Adelyn fired an MPAT cryofreeze round straight at the Vanus demon, freezing him and stopping his rampage.

Then, her main gun turned to Injustice's mech. In just four seconds, almost as if her autoloader sped up, she fired an APFSDS plasma round, piercing Injustice's mech. That instantly slowed the demonic vehicle, and Hans found a good opening.

"I almost thought you were dead there," Hans said on his comms, his mech stopping a bit to turn his turret to Injustice's mech. "I don't know what your plan is, but I'm draining this bastard!"

Hans fired an APFSDS round at Injustice's mech, causing it to stagger further. Sparks came out of the demonic mech, its moving parts practically screeching as it continued to move.

"None of this is just at all!" Injustice shouted, turning his main gun at Adelyn. A shot from him once again pierced her mech, and the Diligence practically tumbled as it drove down the hill. Yet, in seconds, she recovered, and the Diligence fired another powerful shot that blinded everyone on the battlefield. "You damned brat!"

Hans quickly restarted his electronics, that attack once again disrupting his display screens so badly. The closest thing he could compare it to was an EMP attack, which Hans didn't understand. At least, until he noticed something.

No one was firing their wands anymore. Even the Vanus and Virtus demons struggled to recover from their injuries, and they began retreating.

"Damn it," Adelyn spoke, her voice practically pained. "I'm using too much AP, and my mech is consuming ambient AP from the environment."

"What?"

"Every shot of 'Divine Judgement' is too costly—it's eating up nearly fifteen thousand AP."

"Fifteen thousand?!"

The fact that this demon withstood two hits already worried Hans. That meant, even Adelyn's ideal, and that 'Divine Judgement' shot from her mech was not breaking it. Now, no one was firing their wands, which meant the magical energy around them was being used up fast.

Then how is that demon able to keep fighting?

He watched as Adelyn switched back again to her normal APFSDS plasma rounds, while Injustice began retreating. Hans tried to follow the demon, sensing that maybe this would be an easy win if he was also affected by Adelyn's AP usage, as Hans remembered that AP recovery came from absorbing AP from the environment.

Unless this bastard gets AP like how I get AP from my kills—purely rewarded by the system.

Regardless, Hans fired shot after shot as their foes retreated. As of this moment, Injustice seemed to be focused on returning fire at Adelyn's mech, each shot nailing her and disabling her briefly.

But it seemed that she could recover from it. Hans took more and more dangerous maneuvers, practically getting himself out into the open, but then, the enemy mech's turret turned to him.

Hans pulled away at the last second, as a shot exploded practically a few meters near him, rattling his mech so badly that he barely managed to move into a crater to hide the rest of his mech.

Damn it.

In a few moments, they rapidly retreated out of their engagement range. Hans bashed his fist on his controls as if nothing could chase them. Not Adelyn, even with her ideal manifested, and certainly no one in the rest of the Army.

"I ran out of AP," Adelyn said. "Damn it."

"We'll get him next time," Hans vowed. "At least you're a full-blown angel now, Captain."

+++

February 7, 1539 CE

Near Venido

"Now that was just ass," Captain Weibel scratched the back of his head as they surveyed the damage ahead of them. Hans on the other sat in front of his mech's leg, silently smoking a joint as he did. "They say they can't locate them anymore."

The cold breeze of the morning air moved through the fields. Hans watched as the smoke from his cigarette turned to the side before his eyes fell on the remnants of the battle yesterday. Three demons were killed throughout the front lines. In exchange, nearly four hundred men lost their lives.

Another costly battle.

"It's to be expected," Hans said. "It wasn't like our encirclement was perfect. They probably fled us and then sneaked through a breach in our lines."

"...At least Venido isn't under attack," Adelyn's voice came from the side. She kneeled near Hans, offering him a cup of coffee. "Here. You should have breakfast first."

"...Thanks," Hans took it gratefully. "I was planning to make my own though already."

"No worries. It's fine. You seem down from the inconclusive results last night anyway," she smiled. "Just relax yourself. You gave it your all."

"You were struck by his main gun," Hans said, his lips forming a thin line, shame clearly on his face. "I—"

Before he could continue, Adelyn placed her finger on his lips, silencing him. She tilted her head a bit.

"Planning to blame yourself?" she frowned. "Don't do that. It was my fault, I was too slow. Besides, it didn't kill me, so we should be fine."

Hans looked down.

"Still…" Hans sighed. "That was the…first time you could have really, really died."

He saw her get close to death many times. Sometimes dying even. But… all those timelines were gone. In this timeline, however, she was struck and could have died. But she lived.

He felt as if there was now a true stain in his near spotless record, and that bore down on him.

"Well, now you feel how I feel," Adelyn said. "It's not fun, isn't it?"

"...I guess."

On the side, Captain Weibel grinned as he watched the two of them. Not making a word, he simply looked away, a smile on his face.

"What's with that guy?" Adelyn curiously and innocently asked.

"I don't know," Hans took a sip of his coffee. "This is nice."

"You're welcome," she stood up. "Now, just prepare yourself. General Ercole is going to order a general push in an hour or so. There might still be demons on the way."

"Right. I will."

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