+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

"Let me introduce myself!" Cowardice's voice reverberated throughout the battlefield. "I see that you have all arrived here for a truly wondrous occasion! So, to start this off politely, I'll give you all the right to know me. I am none other than the Calamity of Cowardice!"

But before she could continue her speech, Hans interrupted her by pressing on his speakers.

"I am Lieutenant Hans Hoffman of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, attached to the Ygeian Expeditionary Force. We are here to offer you a chance to parley. Come to our custody, and you shall not be harmed."

Gasps came from the soldiers, and even Adelyn, after what Hans did.

Of course, Adelyn must have known by this point that Hans was expecting a calamity demon here, but the fact that it truly happened still would have shocked her, worsened by Hans' seemingly audacious actions.

As for Hans, why did he taunt her? Well, it was simple. She was 'Cowardice', wasn't she? He was hoping that under that mask of confidence, she hid great fear at being the bait of her trap.

He wanted her to fully realize the enormity of what she was facing. If for anything else, it might make her nerves crack, or she'd…

"Lieutenant Hoffman. The lesser demons around you are rapidly converging on your position—"

"No need to tell me more. Order all formations to race after the lesser demons coming our way, and prepare for a pitched battle here. We're going to need everything that we can bear to capture her."

"I see."

"And don't try to analyze her strength," Hans ordered. "Guide all formations as best as you can to us. That is a more pressing issue."

She cracked. A grin grew on Hans' face, as he realized what was happening. That gracefulness, this audacious design, all of it was a veneer to hide a demon that was more afraid than confident.

So you really are a gambler like me, huh?

And she did win that gamble once. Unfortunately, unlike Hans, who could roll the dice forcefully and endlessly until he reached the outcome he coveted, this demon had only a single chance.

It was truly bold, stupid, and suicidal.

You should have run away.

A smoke round rose high up in the sky, fired by the 1st Anti-Demon Unit's musketeers. There were nearly eight of them, all of them directing two cannons each, and they all flew toward Cowadice's position.

She shifted uncomfortably in her position, watching the smoke rounds flying ominously above her.

A show. That was what Hans needed. It had to be as flashy as it was destructive. Cowardice here was his dear audience, plain and simple, and what he intended to do was to convince her of something simple.

Fall on your knees and talk.

"All units!" Hans's speaker carried his voice through the battlefield. "Prepare for battle!"

+++

+++ Calamity of Cowardice +++

Cowardice felt her feet move uncontrollably as she watched that strange machine.

It had kept its distance, watching her without even a twitch. When she introduced herself, instead of fear, the man inside arrogantly demanded that she surrender to them. No, worse than that, he didn't even suggest that they would kill her.

No, it told her that she would be placed under their custody. To think that these human swine dared to believe that she—the Calamity of Cowardice—would somehow end up as a plaything, a prisoner, a gutter rat under their custody, was something that made her blood boil.

But most of all, she hated the fact that she felt convinced by it. She could feel thousands of soldiers, armed and ready, who were racing to get to her. Even if her underlings reached this place first, she was starting to doubt her trap.

What if…even when a battle starts, they'd just overwhelm us?

She gritted her teeth, as suddenly, strange pillars of smoke, colored green, came from the human positions. It raced through the skies, and she craned her head up high, trying to discern what exactly they were planning.

Until her eyes went wide.

The pillars of smoke, it wasn't simply going straight to the skies. No, it was flying toward her direction, and since there were eight of them, each of them practically met each other.

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They could see her here, alone. Of course, she knew that she was nearly surrounded, that was the entire point of her plan. But this little theatrical show made her heart thump, harder, faster, and a bead of sweat trickled down her face.

She realized what they were doing. They were making it clear what she had just done to herself, and that alone was enough to finally make her move out of her position.

She thanked her instincts for that, as right that instant, across the battlefield, from hills she couldn't yet reach with her flail, more than a dozen cannons flashed.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

"They missed" Hans grunted in annoyance. "Adelyn, open fire. Let's place pressure on her."

"Copy that!"

The two, who were at the perfect distance to be out of her flail's range, opened fire in unison. That was taken as a signal cue by Emilia and Valeria, who emerged from the bush they were hiding in to charge forward at Cowardice.

It was a well-synchronized plan. Hans decided that this demon needed a show of force so well coordinated that she'd realize the futility of her action.

But of course, the demon decisively rejected that opening. She flung her flail hard in the direction of the two ladies charging at her, nearly hitting Emilia before she rose to the sky, staff in hand, and flung a barrage of dark bolts into Cowardice.

Cowardice quickly changed course, charging toward the position occupied by Hans and Adelyn, most likely in an attempt to hit them. But Hans ordered Adelyn to pull back so that she'd finish manifesting her ideal, while Hans' mech lunged forward into the fray.

Supported by heavy artillery in the flanks, not even Cowardice managed to keep up with her godly speed. There was just too much firepower that she had to dodge, and too many targets bearing down on her, that even when she sent her flail's striking head nearly every split second, it was not doing much.

Until she dodged another MPAT round from Hans, spun, and sent her flail circling the battlefield in the blink of an eye. It was as if a flash of light sliced through everything, and a few unfortunate musketeers in range turned into nothing but blood stains on her chains.

Hans was lucky to dodge it in time, and his mech screeched as he landed. He turned to his side, watching as Lady Emilia floated higher into the sky, her protective magic keeping her safe. Some of her shadowy bolts of light were finally hitting Cowardice, which slowed her down a bit.

Enough that in a few seconds, Valeria's blade struck Cowardice's flail. Cowardice pulled back, and just as quickly, sent a horrifying barrage of strikes straight at Valeria. Valeria parried them all, before the last strike pummeled into her blade, sending the woman flying for nearly half a mile backward.

That little exchange allowed Hans to flank the calamity from the left, and he charged in range, allowing his plasma rounds to finally nail the demon's body. But just after it struck Valeria off, Cowardice turned to Hans with a rapid swirl, and he watched as the round striking head raced to his mech.

[SMOOTH RESPONSE II] activated, but Hans wasn't keen on using up his damned shield so easily, so his mech's legs sidestepped, and Cowardice's flail struck an unfortunate tree.

She pulled the flail back, its chains nearly striking Hans' mech in half, but he managed to make it jump high enough that the chains only slid on his mech's rear legs, sparks flying everywhere.

"Grr," the demon growled as her flail returned to her. "You damned mutt! Where do you even get the courage to charge at me like that? Do you not know you'll die from one mistake?!"

Hans' mech landed on the ground, smoke plumes covering him and it drifted to the side.

Then, he pressed on his speakers.

"You're surrounded. I suggest you surrender, or you'll get hurt," he coldly warned, as his turret turned to her.

"As if I care if I am hurt! I will serve my master till the end!"

"You do care—"

That blunt response from Hans was answered by her flail flying straight to his mech, but as usual, he dodged it, diving down into a depression on the terrain to confuse her. Right then, a shot from Adelyn's mech flew in Cowardice's direction.

But she parried it off, a plasma round, using her flail. The striking head glowed red from the heat of it, but then she used the momentum of that strike to spin, and send the molten flail near Hans' position.

An explosion from the sheer impact force alone rattled Hans' mech, and when she withdrew her flail, there was a massive crater behind him.

Goddess damned it…she's like…

Hans watched as she was attacked again by Valeria and Emilia. The duo got to work, combining both Emilia's shadow magic to debuff the demon, and Valeria took the frontliner role. Hans decided to use that lull to reposition, trying to get into a position with a good arc of fire and cover.

On the other hand, Valeria found herself struggling. While she was practically a swordswoman with power beyond most Royal Guard knights after fighting side-by-side as a frontliner with Hans and Adelyn, to face off against a calamity was still tantamount to suicide.

Each time she parried the rapid strikes from Cowardice, it clearly bore hard on her blade, pushing her back further and further. Worst of all, there was no way for Valeria to fully capitalize on any openings, if there were any.

Cowardice was powerful, her range was ridiculous, and her speed was truly monstrous. It was as if they were fighting against a demigod incarnate, so that to any onlooker, the title 'Cowardice' was but a ridiculous irony.

Cowardice sped up her attacks, breaking up Valeria's desperate parries, until out of nowhere, her flail flew in another direction. It struck right at the position held by Lady Emilia, and even with her powerful protection magic, it shattered and she flew back into cover.

After Emilia was struck down, Cowardice retracted her flail in a way that its chains struck Valeria directly, who ducked down as she parried it off one last time. She rolled away just in time too, as Cowardice's flail flew up, and its striking head landed on the ground with force enough to create a twenty-meter-wide crater.

Hans and Adelyn's turn returned, and the two began opening fire with their guns, forcing Cowardice to break off her attack against Valeria and Emilia, with one of Adelyn's plasma rounds nailing Cowardice right as she tried to hide behind a massive boulder.

Hans managed to catch a glimpse of a pained grimace from the Calamity of Cowardice, and it made him feel good. He was about to send a follow-up attack when suddenly, a red smoke flew from the positions held by the musketeers.

The lesser demon horde was about to crash into the 1st Anti-Demon Unit's rear.

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