+++ Colonel Ebert Strobel +++

Warfare against demons had always been such a hard affair.

More so right now. While Ebert and the rest of the higher-ups in the Ygeian Expeditionary Force had been informed earlier about the possibility of this specific 'lesser demon' being a calamity in disguise, that still didn't help them take such news easily.

Especially now that it was confirmed.

Truth be told, yes, Ebert prayed to the gods that the demon in front of them was going to be a normal, lesser demon. The thing was, the idea of capturing a calamity was simply ludicrous to the point of lunacy. How would they even restrain such a powerful creature, and what if it broke free?

Sure, there were now a lot of powerful anti-demon units and equipment with them, alongside individuals trained to fight them, but none of them could contain such creatures.

It was why, even during the drive to this place, Ebert decided to keep himself in denial. Of course, he followed Hans' instructions to the letter, because that was simply what Ebert did. He would doubt the man, at many times, because he wasn't going to be a perfect 'leader'.

But he knew one thing. When Hans said this or that, it almost always happened. How he could do that with such consistency and accuracy, Ebert didn't know. Perhaps he simply was just that kind of genius, even when he wasn't truly strong, outside of his mech of course.

Not though, they were here. They met the demon and did as required of them. Ebert directed his men and artillery to do their best to target 'Cowardice' as much as possible. He did make a mistake earlier, when he positioned a few of his musketeer platoons to areas he thought would make a great firing position, should the demon retreat of course.

And all that resulted was having his men be turned into pink mist. A single strike from that demon, which wiped out nearly everything around her—it was such raw power that Ebert wondered how Hans could even plan to defeat this thing.

Maybe Adelyn again would have a role to play in that? No, he wasn't sure about that. Adelyn kept herself, as usual, at a safe distance, her guns firing incessantly to support her partner, and the two other frontliners facing off Cowardice.

A runner came to Ebert's position as he observed the battle.

As expected, the lesser demons they went past were now racing toward their positions. He had anticipated this, and he followed Hans' recommendations. Nearly half of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit's firepower wasn't just facing inward, but instead, outwards. He had troops who had been doing nothing but digging in furiously in their positions.

He also had artillery prepositioned to open fire at their backs, so Ebert believed that they were ready to absorb anything. Their job here after all wasn't exactly to kill or capture Cowardice.

Their job was to simply cover ground, conduct fire support, and buy the capture team enough time to finish their job.

But when he looked through his telescope, he realized just how hard such a mission would be.

Two. Then four. Then five.

Soon, there were a dozen lesser demons, all charging at them from various directions. He dispatched an order to their casters to begin area denial spells, and that was exactly what they did.

They torched massive swathes of land with powerful infernos, enough that many of the demons were slowed down as they either attempted to maneuver out of the AoE spells, or because the fire damage was so great that the damage it caused harmed them badly.

He also gave the signal to open fire with their artillery, sending shell after shell downrange to overwhelm the demons. But it was hard, especially when soon enough, he could count at least twenty of the damned things about to crash into their lines.

"I need the cavalry reserve," Ebert gritted his teeth as he watched his musketeers and engineer mages, all of which already dug in to their foxholes and trenches, ready themselves and their weapons.

"But sir!" one of his officers rode close to him. "How will we even face something like that?"

"We just need to buy everyone enough time," Ebert said to his men, his face morphing into a massive frown. "If we swoop in after the demons crash to our lines, right in their center, split their attack and place pressure on the flanks of their attack's wings, then we have a chance to disrupt them."

Both Dragoon and Salient squadrons began forming up behind Ebert. At this point, they were now such experienced cavalrymen, that with their skills, enchanted swords, armor, and wands, they were practically the equivalent of powerful Royal Guard knights.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Most of all, they were now a regimental-sized unit combined. Ebert wasn't sure about this, but he trusted his men's ability. Thus, he gave his orders.

"Gentlemen," he raised his saber, as the first waves of demons finally crashed into the musketeer lines, the sound of their guns and the battlemages' spells finally thundering around them. "This time around, you'll fight demons in close melee! I have not much to tell you, other than to trust your skill, strength, and your brothers. For the Imperium!"

He aimed at the center of the demonic line.

"Onwards!"

+++

+++ General Florian Kohler +++

Florian found himself in quite a pickle. As their dragon-drawn war carriage sped through the bad roads, he found himself thinking deeply about the current situation, his eyes briefly glancing at Elisa, who was busy giving orders using the communication crystals.

A calamity is confirmed, huh?

That made him truly, gravely, concerned. This battle, truthfully, wasn't where the General's mind was. Instead, it was about the problem with the pope.

It was clear that 'Hubris' must have known that the Empress escaped, and that she was going to return to him. While most of his underlings thought of this entire situation as a trap, a battle where they could be annihilated, Florian dismissed that case personally.

No, this was a misdirection. It had to be.

There was no way that the pope, who seemed like a truly devious, yet ingenious individual, would send one of his underlings unsupported here. Unless he was playing some sort of long game.

But what?

"General!" the Empress called out to him. "T-they're in truly big trouble. Even with Valeria and Emilia over there, they're struggling. Even Adelyn, who manifested her ideal, is unable to hit Cowardice!"

"Just press on the attack," Florian said, his gaze neutral. "We have the bastard surrounded, and all of the reinforcements are now just minutes away. She's going to run out of AP and we'll capture her."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

Florian crossed his arms, as he looked to his side. Indeed, he was sure of that. What he wasn't sure about, was whether they could actually make a creature sent on a clear suicide mission talk.

The fact that Cowardice ventured this far from her allies meant that this individual was quite brave, contrary to her name. He wouldn't be that surprised about it. Just because she bore the title 'Cowardice' did not mean it could be ironic. These damned demons had a lot of bullcrap tricks up their sleeves that Florian was never going to be surprised by.

Thus…

I don't think even if we capture her, she'll talk…

Maybe, that was the plan. Not only would she delay them by draining their supplies, she'd also delay them due to her being non-cooperative under their custody, and in the end, once she's dead, they would have gained nothing but time lost.

Unless of course, if somehow, the results of this battle became fruitful should that Lieutenant do something miraculous. It wouldn't be the first nor last time this happened. Maybe his sudden ersatz plans were designed for that?

Florian didn't know.

"How far away are we?" Florian asked the coachman about their vehicle.

"We should be only twenty minutes away from them, sir!"

He could already hear the loud bangs of artillery and gunfire in the distance, though faint, it was clear how much of a hard-fought battle it was. And, judging by Elisa's facial expressions, it must be quite gruesome already.

This better be worth it, damn it.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Fight!

Hans dodged her attack again.

Fight!

Then, he charged forward, his guns blazing in rage.

Fight!

And, as his mech's legs screeched, and Cowardice spun for another attack, his mech lunged upwards, deploying its forward razor blades just in time that when Cowardice's flail struck him—

He parried it off.

He parried off a damned attack from a calamity. Hans ran out of words to describe it, but he felt like a deranged maniac.

"I got you!" Hans screamed using his speakers, as his mech fired an MPAT round point blank, rattling his mech, then his blades sliced through the shoulder of the demon.

"What did you just do?!" Cowardice spun from the force of that attack, her bloodied hands throwing a follow-up attack with her flail on his rear.

Unfortunately, he dodged it cleanly as he fled, and the flail struck Valeria instead.

"Adelyn! Do your job!"

"I have her in my sights!"

As Hans, Valeria, and Emilia retreated to make distance, a flash of golden light zipped through the air, and then all was bathed in light. The shockwaves of the powerful shot nearly pushed Hans' mech into a collision course with a nearby tree.

But his mech held on, and he made sure that his head wouldn't hit anything sharp.

It took nearly five minutes, and by the time it ended, it was almost like a small mushroom cloud rose from the impact point. His mech, utterly devastated by the powerful shockwaves alone, limped forward, its legs and mechanical components malfunctioning.

"Work, work, work!" Hans methodically turned on diagnostics, auto-repair, and everything else to get his mech in working order. On the other hand, as the smoke cleared out, there emerged a single creature, limping due to the wounds she sustained.

Burns, lacerations, all filled her shambling body. Even with her flesh restoring itself, her previous noble grace was gone, and she looked like a husk that survived a nuclear explosion.

Divine Judgement is now way too strong, I guess…

Adelyn must have given her all from that attack, as by now, her mech was unresponsive, and she wasn't able to respond to his radio. That meant it was now their job to finish the restraining phase.

As his engine, radiator, and legs fixed themselves, Hans' mech emerged and walked toward Cowardice with an ominous pace. On the other hand, both Valeria and Emilia also came out of their cover, ready to support Hans should anything wrong happen.

Cowardice's eyes darted left and right, panic clear on her face, that no matter how hard she tried to hide it, it was clear that she was trembling in fear.

"I…" Cowardice was about to speak when Hans's speakers interrupted her with the same message he had given her earlier, his tone just as cold and robotic.

"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."

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