+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

It was certainly not looking good at the moment.

The battle continued to develop largely well on humanity's side during and after the barrage, but now that the foot soldiers and cavalry began their treacherous advance, losses began mounting.

Even with their revised strategy of advancing not in straight lines, but instead in scattered squad-level formations that made great use of the terrain and cover—like skirmishers essentially, demons still proved to be a formidable foe.

At this range, their magic constantly struck the advancing human lines. Most of it was basic attack spells, such as fireballs and such. It seemed that the demons were also somewhat adapting to the changing nature of the battlefield.

There were fewer and fewer fancier spells being thrown around, except for the new AoE spells that Captain Weibel's combat mage company, which only used them for special tactical applications, such as area denial or delaying the enemy.

In any case, it made sense to Hans. Basic attack spells largely resembled that of normal projectiles, the same thing that he and Adelyn were constantly sending at the demons in front of them. It was simple, efficient, and deadly, the best three combinations on the battlefield.

Instead of focusing on flashy effects and extra redundant capabilities unless necessary, the demons seem to be sending simple bolts of energy at them that are more powerful than what human musketry or spells could send. The only balancing factor that Hans' team managed to bring into the field was volume.

But to place more volume of firepower on them required more manpower in the field. More manpower attacking meant more casualties when the enemy fought back, and that…was the problem.

This is not going to be sustainable.

Hans moved his mech rapidly again as he tried to search for demonic concentrations to focus fire over there. It was largely exceedingly difficult, as by this point the demons seemed to have attack spells that truly resembled the MPAT rounds that he was firing at them.

Even just a nick of the damned things could spell the end to Hans' Wanderfalke, as unlike Adelyn, he was no angel. He was still operating with a largely normal mech, save of course to its powerful upgrades.

Still, considering the possibility of the fight devolving into a close-ranged melee, he couldn't risk allowing even a single long-ranged attack from the demons to hit him and disable his 'Smooth Response' upgrade's shields. He had to conserve it as best as he could.

"Alright," Hans spoke to his comms, as he pulled his Wanderfalke into a hard break. "We got two beastly type demons here. Seems like Rhinos. They're firing fireball spells at those guys over there. Think we can take them out?"

"I think so," Adelyn's Wanderadler stopped close behind him. "I've got plasma rounds locked and ready. If you can just—"

"Don't worry. I'll take their attention off you. Take them down comfortably, I'm taking the heat all to myself!"

"Damn it! Why do you have to always risk yourself for me? My heart can only take so much, you know?!"

Your fault for trying to fall in love with a soldier like me.

Hans could imagine Adelyn pouting in her seat. But, he charged forward, as two fireball spells flew close to him, exploding on both sides of his mech as he expertly dodged them at the same time. Then, as he got close, he began opening fire with double coaxials.

Paired with the powerful gunfire from Adelyn's mech, all of which were plasma rounds, and Hans' plasma machine gun rounds, it created a beautiful synchronized attack with deadly effects. While Adelyn's attack brought in the big damage, Hans kept them suppressed.

Most of all, whenever she reloaded her gun, Hans' machine guns never went silent. His plasma rounds tore through the demons, constantly and without reprieve, until he ran out right when Adelyn's third shot ripped one of the demons' necks, sending its head tumbling on the ground.

Dead, Hans focused his attention on the last rhino demon, which attempted to angrily charge at him after it fired a fireball spell out of its mouth. Unfortunately, it missed Hans' mech as he zigzagged like a deranged pilot into the raging demon.

He emptied the last bullets of his double coaxials, then, he pulled hard on his control sticks, his mech flying high as it engaged its forward leg razors. The blades cut through the thick skin of the demon as it passed below him.

By the time Hans' mech landed on the ground, turning around to deal a finishing blow, a heavy and powerful volley of musketry came just behind him, peppering the demon's thick skin further with enchanted lead balls. Filled with holes and with a brutal slice wound, the demon collapsed.

"Finish it off with your grenades," Hans graciously advised, as he loaded a new belt of ammunition for his machine guns.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The soldiers took his advice to heart, charging at the demon, each one of them throwing a grenade at the creature. Multiple explosions rocked its body, each of them magically enhanced to send a more powerful shockwave alongside causing fire that burned deep through demonic flesh.

By the time it was over, nothing moved, and Hans was given a notification about the two successful demon kills they had.

+++

+++ Empres Elisa d'Ottavio +++

"I knew it," Sir Marco shouted behind her, as Elisa focused on watching the advance of the relief force using her spyglass. "We should have taken the protection that the gentleman could have offered earlier. Now they're stuck over there!"

"Will you calm down please and have some faith?" Elisa frowned, as she watched the two strange metallic things zip through the battlefield, mostly the smaller, less armored-looking one.

Behind though, a better and heavier-looking behemoth was efficiently firing its cannon at the demons that the lighter one was attacking. It seemed like those two had fought gracefully together, without much sloppiness.

She imagined herself in her olden days, before her beloved prince died in battle. Back then, she still had enough power as a mage. She always sat behind, while he fought. Sure, she wasn't the best in one-to-one combat, but she could work with him quite well.

These two, assuming that's the golden angel and the grey knight, must trust each other so much…

"I apologize if I doubt your assumption, Sir Marco," Elisa said, as she lowered her spyglass. "But with those two leading the charge, it's very unlikely that they won't carve a path to get us all out of here."

"We had the best window of escape earlier!"

"And are you going to continue arguing with me about a decision I already made, when you can just continue to fight?"

"Just…I just want to drive this into your head. It's not just about this. You keep risking yourself when you're the most important person on this continent. The next time an opportunity presents itself for you to save yourself, you cannot afford to hesitate."

"Important?" She scoffed. "And what makes you say that? My value is in being a figurehead leader to rally our people. If I do not have the guts to be more than just a design set, then what value are you talking about?"

The two's bickering was interrupted when the relief force resumed advancing again. That pulled Elisa back into watching the battlefield. Artillery, musketeers, mages, all of them worked in tandem and with great efficiency, so that most demons who were once assaulting the walls of her defenses were now forced to focus on this new threat.

"See, they're pulling all of their attention off us," Elisa grinned. "If they can do more of this, I believe I can strike at the right moment and rout those demons."

"Are you suggesting we abandon our defenses to sally forth? From all directions?"

"I only need a limited guard here to protect me until we win. What matters first is that we win. If we time our assault correctly, then we can do so much damage and crush those demons as if they're a sandwich!"

"I can't believe you're this enthusiastic about this…"

The knight behind Elisa groaned, before stiffly saluting.

"Alright. I'll make the preparations for an assault on your call. Long live Her Majesty!"

+++

+++ Colonel Ebert Strobel +++

Man, my artillery game is in decline.

He watched the battlefield with growing unease on horseback. He'd been circling his artillery positions endlessly to keep directing them on whichever demons Hans and Adelyn had been targeting, but it had been so hard.

Hans just kept on closing in on the bastards, so that his window of time to support them was only briefly at the start before he charged right in.

"See that snake demon!" Ebert asked one of his artillery crews as he pointed his spyglass at it. "Lieutenant Hoffman is about to target it, and Captain Wittenstein's already targeting it. I want you to open fire at once on those things!"

"Sir!" The artillery officer nodded, as they turned their guns at the target that Ebert wanted gone.

Around him, another volley of artillery from other units of the Expeditionary Corps rattled fields, sending a hail of heavy enchanted cannon balls at the demons. Naturally, the musketeers at the front briefly ducked down, as the attack tore through the bodies of many demons.

Then, the musketeers stood up, moved forward, and fired a scattered volley with their guns. It was tedious, and many died in the process, but they were inching forward.

In seconds, his guns were ready, and Ebert watched as his line of artillery guns thundered in a synchronized manner, while Hans was still spraying his machine guns at the snake demon. Ebert watched the trails of his enchanted cannonballs until most of them connected with his target.

He laughed in glee.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Hans watched the snake demon with high hostility. He remembered dealing with this piece of crap back then back when he fought Recklessness. This kind of demon looked disgusting.

With a fresh belt on his double coaxials, Hans pushed hard on his gas pedal, his mech revving up forward as his gunfire peppered the snake demon. It sent a fireball hurling towards him, but once again, anticipating it, he dodged it, and the spell flew near his mech's side, blackening the paint job on his turret due to the heat.

Then, as his mech's legs skidded on the dirt, right before he managed to take aim to finish the job, a hail of cannonballs tore through the demon's body. Blood and guts flew in many directions as the damned things pierced the snake like an abused ragdoll.

He was hoping to get the final kill at least for the sweet XP boost by shooting its head, but damn it! One of the cannonballs unceremoniously did the deed, and the demon landed with a bloody splat on the ground.

Before he could shout expletives about his righteous kill being stolen, suddenly, he noticed something coming out of the forts.

"Wait a minute," Hans narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell told them that they should do something like that?"

The Empress' forces—they were leaving their defenses to attack!

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