+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Western Asfaleia

July 26, 1539 CE

"May I have your attention please," Hans spoke to the gathered soldiers. "Today, gentlemen of the Ygeian Expeditionary Force, our task is simple."

The opening speech Hans prepared today in Fort Stahl, one of the easternmost positions occupied by human forces, managed to gain the attention of the gathered troops and soldiers.

Considering he was the architect of this plan, it was therefore his duty to deliver it to their men.

"We will ride out in multiple expeditions based on the Empress' telepathic abilities, and capture a demon that'll let us learn of the truth about demons," Hans said, and the soldiers gasped.

For the last few days, a different set of emergency training had been done for most of the men. Instead of being trained about ways to dispatch and eliminate demons, they've been learning instead about how to restrain and capture them.

Due to the lack of proper information from the top, the soldiers and lower officers all found it strange, but they were disciplined men, hardened by war. They'd been fighting, bleeding, and had seen their comrades die in this long arduous journey against demons.

And in exchange for that, they've seen the leadership offered by Hans, Adelyn, and the rest of the gang. They trusted them, and now, Hans was about to make sure that trust was kept by being honest with them.

"I know this is a dangerous task," Hans continued. "But, mankind's survival depends on how well we can capture a demon, and if we can capture a demon who will talk. Think of this as a mission to save your future selves. Without succeeding here, we might all perish in the journey to the east."

There were no murmurs in the crowd. The soldiers all looked at Hans with grim faces, silent and observant, but with a great hint of determination. He may be a Lieutenant, but always, these men always seemed to look up to him at all times. Some even called him 'the shadow commandant', considering how he, a Lieutenant, seemed to be always involved in high-level decisions.

Of course, that was more of an irksome duty for Hans because he preferred being a soldier who focused on fighting, but, well, it is what it is. He may be a junior officer de facto, but he was a senior officer in practice. The fact that the Imperial Army wished to take him in and promote him was indicative of that.

They'd throw an entire brigade at Hans' command if they could. Not that he'd accept that. He'd rather dump that task to Adelyn.

But still…he wanted to lead.

Properly.

"Take this as a new test of our abilities, soldiers. You've been trained, equipped, and supplied with the best gear. You've fought hard already, and slain many demons with your comrades. That, remember, was once impossible. I know what's in your mind, that capturing a demon is impossible.

"But it's time to disprove that now! We will ride out east and take one of them with us, and we'll make whoever unlucky bastard that we catch talk. Because that's our job. Members of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, and now, members of the Ygeian Expeditionary Forces, we'll always carry on the struggle—and as such, make the impossible possible!"

"Glory to the Empire!"

"Long live mankind!"

The soldiers cheered after Hans shouted the last part out loud, their morale overwhelming. Adelyn chuckled beside Hans, and even the Empress on the other side of the stage smiled a bit.

Then, they were out. Hans prepared himself as best as he could. All of his bullets, both Adelyn's and his, were now enchanted. Same with all of his machine gun rounds. On the other hand, Adelyn was the same.

She was fully stocked with pre-enchanted munitions for her main gun. Not a single round in her bustle rack was normal, they were all ready for the fight. Though, one thing she was doing differently now was in the munitions she prepared.

Like Hans, they were both stocked with fewer plasma-type munitions. Instead, they had a lot more cryofreeze munitions. They expected that they'd use it quite liberally in this operation, as their goal wasn't to kill, but to capture.

Within a few hours of final preparations, they rode out, under the directions of the Empress herself. Using communication crystals that resonated with her ability, each brigadier commandant could communicate with her and General Kohler's command staff in real time.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

On the other hand, Hans and Adelyn were also issued the same things. It was a tool that unfortunately wasn't something that the Empress could use earlier well with her troops, so while she could use her ability to hear their foes, she had to speak to her men directly about how they'd deal with them.

Now though, with high-quality magic crystals from the one and only IYC, they had enough powerful 'beacons' for her telephatic ability. Unfortunately, the system was limited. Hans could only talk to the Empress in a one-way communication line, and it was the same with everyone else, so he was still reliant on his radio to communicate with Adelyn.

At the very least, this thing doesn't seem to have a range limitation…

Hans looked at the purplish crystal placed on a steel bracelet on his left hand. It was glowing slightly.

"Lieutenant Hoffman, I advise you to move forward now. There's a wolf-like lesser demon four miles northeast of you, and it's moving in your direction."

"Copy that," Hans replied, then he pressed the radio for Adelyn. "Hey, you heard that?"

"Yep. We'll move on. Seems like she's ordering our component brigades to avoid that demon too."

"Right-o."

Hans immediately revved up his engine and followed Adelyn. They were testing their new system already should they traverse to the Imperial Capital soon. Instead of wasting time and munitions fighting demons head-on, the units in their expedition were now moving with rapid pace in clear areas.

They had to advance nearly twenty miles eastward to target what appeared to be four humanoid demons, all of them either in a state of hibernation mode (he didn't know they had a mode like that) or were just shambling around, seemingly in patrol mode.

Between those demons were what appeared to be fourteen lesser demons all scattered in a frontage nearly a hundred miles wide. With the Empress' help, however, they were practically speeding through the gaps like nothing, and right now, that was exactly what Hans and Adelyn were doing.

Right behind them too was the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, their land dragon convoys most likely speeding through clear roads to catch up to them.

"Nature's not so bad, huh?" Hans said as he looked around the abandoned countryside. "It feels different right now. It's like…I'm not on the edge."

"Hmm, why is that?"

"I don't know. I guess since our first demon fight started, I've always been on the lookout for demons, and I can somehow sense it if something's nearby…"

"Do you sense anything?"

"No, not really. Been hours of us following her instructions. It's working somehow."

"Heh, guess that rescue mission was worth it then."

"Lieutenant Hoffman. Conduct another detour. A flying lesser demon is around three miles northwest of your position."

"Copy that, Your Majesty," Hans said, as he made a turn, overtaking Adelyn's mech. She followed him closely, as they moved through thick, abandoned wheat fields. Then, within a few minutes, they were on another road, safely speeding through without incident.

Again, it was mostly peaceful, aside from the fact that they were passing through what was essentially badly abandoned towns and villages. At some point, Hans and Adelyn stopped in an ambush position as they waited for the rest of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit to catch up.

They camped on top of a hill that overlooked the road they would pass through, all while receiving constant updates from Her Majesty herself. Now that Hans had a better picture of her abilities, combined with Adelyn, Alizée, and everyone else, he was truly feeling confident about a possible push eastward.

It probably shouldn't be too hard if they advanced this smoothly with such a nice pace. It had only been a few hours since they set out, and they were practically two-thirds of the way to their targets.

Within a few minutes, the 1st Anti-Demon Unit's transport convoys finally began to pass through the road that Hands and Adelyn watched, and they quickly got out of their ambush position and sped ahead of the pack.

"I have a query," Hans said, using his bracelet. "What's the status of the other formations?"

"No fighting has occurred. We're all getting close to our designated targets."

"I see…"

Hans pushed harder on the pedal, as they moved toward another road after they switched from the path they were taking earlier. They received an alert after all that they were heading straight into another lesser demon that wasn't humanoid form, so they avoided that.

Soon, as the afternoon passed by, Hans and Adelyn got closer and closer to their target. Unfortunately, it was moving slowly away from them, so the distance that they had to cover grew a bit.

But right around sunset, Hans received a warning.

"Lieutenant Hoffman, Captain von Wittenstein. You're both only five miles away from your designated target. Please exercise caution."

"Copy that," Hans replied.

"Noted," Adelyn followed.

Hans sped up through the fields, finally getting his act together. He turned on every necessary mech upgrade he had, both 'Eye of Paranoia' and of course, 'Smooth Response'. He also loaded a fresh MPAT round into his chamber.

Readied on his machine guns were belts of plasma rounds. He planned to whittle down the bastard first, then…

"Adelyn, you finish the job, alright?"

"Gotcha. I trust you."

Hans nodded, as his mech jumped into cover. In the far distance, a single young woman who resembled a Vanus noble stood in front of a ruined mansion. She was pale, at Adelyn's age, and her red hair was neatly tied.

She seemed almost human, but from the way she moved, and that permanent smile plastered unnaturally on her face, it was clear she was not.

On her hands was what appeared to be an oversized flail. That certainly posed a challenge, but Hans wasn't deterred as he aimed his guns at her.

Let's see if I can make you talk.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.