+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Near the Pratean Valley

Southeastern Ygeia

March 22, 1539 CE

It seemed that the demons were tied up by heavy combat up north.

The months prior during the Nomosian Campaign was a time when the Ygeian Principality sat idly by. With great popular support, alongside tens of thousands of volunteers joining the principality's military which were under the IYC, and the Imperial Ygeian Company now practically completed their takeover.

Officially, they remained a part of the Holy Virtus Empire.

Unofficially, the autonomy they presented meant that to Hans, the soldiers of Ygeia and their new government, now fully headed by a council of IYC and Ygeian human representatives, was de facto independent. And they saw themselves in a new light with their newfound technology and industries.

'The New Heartland', they called themselves. The new heartland of mankind, and therefore, the place where organized resistance to the demonic threat was most stiff.

Their effectiveness has been clear. For days, the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, alongside Hans and Adelyn, diligently waited for a group of demons believed to be attempting to break through the valley in order to once again terrorize Ygeia.

According to the general up north, they were only going to delay and wear down the demons for a bit to assist them, using approximately six regiments of nearly nine thousand troops.

But now…

"They killed seven demons?!"

That surprised reaction from Captain Strobel reverberated in their command tent. He was holding a letter from the commander up north. Even Hans, and Adelyn, alongside the Viceroy, were surprised in a positive manner.

"Wait, is that real?" asked Adelyn.

"No way, I thought they were just weakening them," Emilia gasped.

"It's no surprise," Hans grinned as he raised his hand in Ebert's direction. Captain Strobel immediately handed the letter to Hans, and he gave it a quick skim read. "They've been hard at work since we left to organize against demons. Considering the devastation it caused to Ygeia before we eliminated Desire, that must have placed fear in everyone's minds out there. You give a man a chance to fight back after surviving the worst, and they'll be zealous to fight to avoid the nightmare you saved them from."

"...Still, this is beyond surprising," Ebert said, placing his hand on his chin. "The way they fought here seems reminiscent of how we won. They used the infantry as dug-in bait, artillery to wear down the demons bashing their heads on musketeers, then cavalry and battlemages to kill them when they were forced to retreat."

"I doubt it'd work well against a calamity, but as I predicted, it works well against lesser demons," Hans nodded. "They seem like they don't change their tactics anyway that much unless a calamity is around. It makes sense our improved tactics and equipment will eliminate them."

"In any case, this bodes well for us," Emilia turned a bit giddy, and in a way, excited. "Let's march to Asfaleia at once!"

"Are you sure?" Hans asked.

"Yes. It was the plan anyway. This makes it easier."

"...Alright, let's move quickly," Hans nodded. "To Asfaleia, we'll go at once."

+++

Southern Asfaleia

March 26, 1539 CE

"This place…seems like it's where Injustice passed through during his retreat."

"Seems like it. I just hope most of the people in that city escaped beforehand."

"I hope so, but judging by the damage on those walls…they probably resisted fiercely."

"So they died."

"Most likely."

Adelyn's voice turned melancholic again. Hans on the other hand turned his turret left on the horizon, finishing his scan of the areas ahead of them.

On the road that their two mechs overlooked, heavy-duty carriages from the Ygeian Army passed through.

Unlike the horse-drawn carriages and wagons that the 1st Anti-Demon Unit and its auxiliary forces relied on, a new beast was now being used as a workhorse by one of the elite formations of the Ygeian Imperial Army: land dragons.

Apparently, one of the Dukes at East Ygeia had been breeding these 'lesser dragons' for decades now out of personal interest. Of course, the Vanus noble, for decades, even after the takeover of the Holy Empire, refused to reveal how he did it, or the methods he used to get such powerful monsters working for him.

Even the IYC didn't get that far at replicating his domestication methods in the years before the demonic infestation, even when they really, really wanted it because it would mean that they could ship large amounts of their wares using them.

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Well, now, after the devastation of Ygeia, and the mass levy and mass mobilization of the principality, the Duke had no choice but to give up all his dragons and the secrets to breeding and domesticating them last year.

Now, they were here, starting their debut military use of pulling six-wheeled heavy carriages filled to the brim with either musketeers or their supplies. Some carried multiple light cannons, many of them were so-called 'Minions' with three-inch caliber guns, and they moved fast. So fast, that Hans was practically salivating at the prospect of having them be in use for the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

They not only had an average payload capacity of eight to nine long tons, but they could travel at around thirty to fifty kilometers an hour on the road, using their powerful muscles and some form of innate wind magic that allowed these creatures to shape the air around them in a way that lets them move faster.

As a result, with the reinforced 'Special Transport' six-wheeled carriages behind them, to Hans, these things were practically magical trucks powered by muscle and magic. The fact that a single noble gate kept its usage was atrocious, but now that it was being used in a military context…

If mankind somehow wins, this world isn't far off from an industrial revolution.

"Anyhow, we'll have to drive forward again and continue the recce," Hans said over the comms. "The vanguard units are probably a kilometer or two ahead of us at this point."

"I was hoping to cool down my engines for a bit more, but sure…"

"Are they struggling?"

"A bit. I haven't used my AP to repair them yet. It seems like it'll cost me seven hundred AP for the full mech repair option. The damned plasma and cryofreeze rounds I'm trying to produce are still eating up my mana for me to do that…"

They had a short engagement yesterday with two demons, where Adelyn and Hans had to expend quite a bit of their munitions, Adelyn especially. So it made sense that she was still trying her best to recover.

Still…

"Do you need a break then?"

"No. I should be good. Besides, I have….a good feeling that I'll manifest my ideal when that guy is near us. I seemed to feel that way when I saw him last time."

"Now that we're talking about that, how did that happen?"

"I…I don't know. Just that, when I saw him, talking you down and insulting you, I felt an overwhelming urge to just shoot him."

"Okay, but I feel the same when that happens."

"No, it's not just that! It's like, I felt like my skin crawled. I was so repulsed by his words that suddenly, I really, really wanted to rip him apart. Then this screen appeared in front of me. It asked me whether I wanted to kill him…"

"And?"

"I said yes. Then it granted me my ideal!"

"That's it?"

"I guess?"

That…sounded a bit more different than what happened to little Alizée's ideal manifestation. Hans placed a hand on his chin, intrigued by it. For a few seconds, he was silent, watching the convoy of speeding carriages in front of him.

"Hey…what? You've gone silent?"

"Apologies. I was just…noting it."

"Hehe, what, are you trying to figure out a way to copy it?"

"Knock it off. You know I'm not like you. I'm just…"

Hans stopped.

Lies…again. The Angel of Truth, and the Calamity of Lies, all at once. Of course, even now…he still did this.

"A nobody. At the end of the day, I'm just a mundane mech pilot. I'll do what I can to support specials like you two, is all."

"Come on. I'm sure under the right circumstances, you'll be worthy of getting such power too. I mean, you have strong convictions in some things too, right?"

"And what gave you that idea?"

"The fact that you fight so fearlessly. I don't believe any soldier or warrior just 'loves to fight' or whatever crap they claim. I think that's just what happens when someone wants to hide from their feelings."

"Hah…come on, platitudes again—"

"What I'm saying is, I know you're not just some mindless guy following me at fighting against injustice or whatever. You, you're fighting for something important too, no?"

"I just want to protect you two, that's all," Hans turned his mech away, moving to the road, and riding away. "Hardly an 'ideal'."

Adelyn, on the other hand, before driving forward, spoke.

"Isn't that a strong reason to fight already? Who knows, maybe you'll be the Angel of Fighting for the Innocent one day!"

"Don't fancy yourself as 'innocent'. You flatter yourself too much."

"Hans! You meanie!"

+++

"We still cannot contact the Asfaleian Army," declared Ebert in another meeting at a hastily set up command post.

They've already advanced northwards through southern Asfaleia, but it seemed like the principality was…eerily empty.

Corpses were found in a lot of towns and villages they passed through. Obvious signs of fighting were in many sites, with bodies still rotting in the fields.

It reminded Hans too much of early Ygeia. The hopelessness. The lack of credible resistance from human forces. It was too obvious down here.

"...We'll probably need to continue advancing forty miles more," Emilia lamented. "But everyone's too tired already."

"Not in the 4th, 6th, and 7th Anti-Demon Brigades, they're not. The entire 1st Ygeian Expeditionary Corps seems to be moving in dragon-drawn carriages," Hans said. "Unless I'm lacking some information here, they can probably move faster than the 1st Anti-Demon Unit."

"I already talked with their general earlier," Captain Strobel shook his head. "Their land dragons eat through tonnes of salted meat to keep them going. The corps can push onward as planned, but they'll have to stop at thirty miles at most and wait for the next meat resupply."

"That just sounds like refueling," Hans laughed, and so did Adelyn.

It felt like home. Like when their units advanced too far in the enemy's direction, they suddenly lacked fuel and supplies to keep moving.

"Anyhow, for now, I think a good idea would be to advance ten more miles on foot or carriages in their case, then settle down in defensive positions," Captain Strobert said, pointing at the map. "That should be a good stopping point. I'll send their officers a runner to inform them of this."

"...Alright. We really ought to meet with their commanding officer too, Adelyn," Hans said.

"Later. We should scout out the areas ahead of us first to confirm if it's safe. Then we'll dig in," Adelyn nodded. "That should be a safe plan for now."

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