+++ General Allesio Grimani +++

Regisa City

The West rebelled.

That was the only information that General Allesio Grimani received. He was a virtus member of the Imperial Army, and a high-ranking one at that, and some could even say the highest-ranking one in this region, considering his proximity to the Imperial Capital and his duties.

But now, he received a new task, but not from the pope's guards, who were the only ones that could even be remotely trusted, but from clueless low-level officials, who had survived the demonic onslaught and the 'westerner attacks'.

The fortress of Regisa was the only thing standing between the westerners now and the Imperial Capital. It was also a major hub for refugees attempting to travel to reach Serenus, all in a search for salvation.

That was why Allesio stubbornly held his post even if fleeing was a better option. This was one of the last bastions of mankind left, and whether it be rebels or demons, he'd hold this place steadfastly.

The pope, after all, the highest authority of the Holy Church, commanded them to do so. After the Empress fled to the west, there was no one left to lead mankind, but him.

Allesio, bound by his duty to the Holy Empire and to mankind, therefore had only one option—to defend the pope and the Imperial Capital, here, in Regisa.

But how would he do it? He had received reports about the enemy. They were now standing alone to face off against three 'angels'—purity, justice, and love. While the angels of virtue only started to appear with the seven demonic calamities, General Allesio understood that they were, generally, just as strong as a calamity demon.

If this fortress struggled to resist even lesser demons, to ask them to resist against three angels of virtue, which seemed to have been recruited by demons—assuming the west truly became puppets of the demon scourge—it was simply going to be impossible.

"Then we shall buy time," the general declared over his gathered officers, all of their eyes sunken, as if their lives—worthless and meaningless lives—were flashing before them before they died.

"T-then," one of the captains, a human, squirmed. "Are you asking us, your men, to fight to our deaths?"

"Yes," Allesio declared. "The Imperial Capital is still trying to dig in as well for a prolonged battle, or, if the worst came, a final siege."

"But, general!"

"Thus, we have no other choice but to stand and fight!" the general shouted. "If I shall die here today, then I'll know I did it with the knowledge that I protected mankind till my last breath. With the gods as my witness, I vow that Regisa will hold on for as long as it can.

"Gather the men. Instruct them of their duties, their last duties. We cannot falter here, we cannot buckle or yield. We must fight, because behind us is our last hope. This fortress managed to deter dozens of lesser demons and two calamities already. We may not kill their 'angels', but we will deter them for as long as we can!"

The officers in front of Allesio became deathly silent, as if they couldn't believe his words. They were now in a strategically iffy situation. While they were indeed dug in, they were also becoming surrounded.

If there was a chance of escape from the hell that might befall them soon, it was now. But, instead, here was General Allesio, the commandant of fortress Regisa, ordering them to fight to the last.

It was insane.

"But…I guess this has been the demonic war," one of the officers muttered as he looked down. "We have to sacrifice everything for mankind."

"Indeed," the general followed with a nod. "Our dignity, our pride, our sweat and tears, our blood, everything must be sacrificed for every inch mankind takes to defend itself. The pope's plan may not be perfect, but if sacrificing ourselves will be the only way it works, then…we shall do it."

"They have the Empress," one of the colonels muttered on the side, his face neutral.

All turned to him as he said that.

"We don't know if she's compromised," Allesio declared, and all of the officers turned back to him.

"And we don't know if she's not," the colonel shot back.

"You will follow your orders," Allesio coldly spoke, shooting down his subordinate's protests. "I understand why you're saying this, but this is a time where mankind's fate hangs in the balance. Both humans, virtus, and vanus are at risk of extinction. Unity is the only way forward."

"Yet we're about to shoot each other, while our races are about to perish," the colonel suddenly gave a toothy grin. "I suppose that's quite the fitting end though."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

"Under the authority of Her Imperial Majesty, we implore you, open your gates and allow our safe passage! For the defense of all mankind, unity is the only way forward—"

The specialist mage giving that speech was interrupted when a barrage of artillery rounds flew around them, all of them originating from the distant fort. Hans was standing on Caecum Hill alongside dozens of officers observing the proceedings.

And as he lowered his binoculars, his face only showed disappointment.

"Well, that's that then," Hans said, as the enemy's cannon balls struck their forward positions. "We're gonna have to commence bombardment."

Signal flares rose high up into the sky, all instructing the artillery to open fire on Regisa. And at once, they did. Thunderous booms surrounded the human fort, as superior cannons from the YEF answered the loyalists' opening shots.

Both the 2nd Holy Asfaleian Brigade, and the 3rd Holy Nomosian Brigade of the II Expeditionary Corps had been chosen for this task. Collectively, they were equipped as of now with forty-eight artillery pieces.

They were organized under two artillery battalions, arrayed in batteries of four guns each. They were fearsome weapons, that when the first volley arrived, the bluish barrier of the city buckled from the bombardment.

Its defenders replied in kind, trying their best to hit the YEF's artillery, but unfortunately, their guns and munitions were simply too outdated.

They were completely, and utterly outranged.

"When am I going to fire 'Divine Judgement'?" Adelyn asked beside Hans, her face empty. It seemed that for all her bluster earlier, she was still quite squeamish at the idea of killing fellow humans.

Hans on the other hand felt at home. This was human against human warfare, something which, even after his long stay here, was familiar to him. He knew how to fight against humans well, because like him…

They have a threshold when they'll break.

"Give the artillery corps twenty minutes," Hans replied, as he continued observing the bombardment with his binoculars. "This is a show of force. Not just to weaken the city barrier, but also to show them how bad their situation is."

"...They think they are fighting demons. Well, people who are manipulated by demons at least."

"That's what they said. Doesn't mean they'll continue believing that once reality hits them."

"You make it sound so simple…you and I fought in our home'd war too. Neither side broke because of 'shows of force'."

Hans remained silent, as another devastating volley rocked the bluish barrier.

The enemy, he observed, was cowering. Each barrage made the soldiers in their lines flinch, hide, or worse, freeze.

"You're right," Hans said. "The difference is in Terra, both Flandria and Lotharingia were equal in strength. We have overwhelming firepower. Second of all…"

Hans paused. Another barrage struck the enemy.

And he smiled.

"They know they're not fighting demons, but humans. They're not a cornered rat right now."

+++

+++ General Allesio Grimani +++

"The barrier! It cannot hold much longer!"

"What? Impossible, it was crafted by the great Archmage Lena Crivelli!"

"It does not matter. We have insufficient mana crystals to keep it fueled. The enemy's firepower is too immense for what we have."

"Then our main walls shall hold!"

"You are out of your mind. If the main barrier is faltering, our walls are no better—"

The two bickering officers were suddenly interrupted when the general, who had been observing the battle from the observation area of Regisa's frontmost bastion, cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen," Allesio called out. "How long will the barrier hold?"

"A-at this rate, if they keep this up, it will only do so in four hours."

"Four hours?"

"Yes, general."

Allesio watched as another barrage from the enemy struck them. His men were now so badly demoralized and frozen that moving individual units was proving to be too difficult.

He'd even seen some fainting from their posts when the enemy's artillery struck the barrier.

Indeed, the force of each shot was so powerful, it was almost ridiculous. He imagined a lot of lesser demons could be torn apart by those things, and that even calamity demons would find it a great nuisance.

No…not a nuisance…it seems lethal.

General Allesio wasn't a clueless man. He knew weapons and warfighting. One of the main problems the army faced was that their artillery corps simply couldn't keep up with the durability and magic of the demons.

But in this case, as was rumoured earlier, the West indeed had developed powerful weapons.

Anti-demon weapons.

…He'd been holding off this hunch of his for a while. He had a duty to follow as a soldier, and thus, he religiously believed in the chain of command. With the Empress vacating her post, the chain of command was now taken over by the church.

Of course, he still doubted that the pope was a demon, and that contributed to his decision to doggedly resist here, but the questions in his mind were growing.

Why was this force presenting such firepower?

It wasn't like they were using some sort of weird demonic magic either. He was a bit of a mage himself, and he analyzed the mana signatures of their shots. It was, to put it mildly, artisanal in nature.

That is, it seemed like it was created in the workshops of human enchanters. He knew how demonic magic worked. It was a bit different. If human magic was more like formulas that manipulated mana, demonic magic, a lot of times, felt more…erratic.

It was how great spirits, magical creatures sometimes used as powerful familiars, used magic. They shaped mana not by formula, but by pure mental will.

In this case, however, the magic being presented to him was made by man, pure and simple. Thus, if they were using newly developed powerful magic not given to them by demons…

Then—

"General, something is advancing in the middle of Caecum!" one of the officers called out, lowering his telescope as he pointed at the main road. "I-it's a metallic machine!"

"That's…" Allesio grimaced a bit, a rare break for his normally impassive face. "The chariot of the Angel of Justice…"

And she was now aiming her gun straight at him.

He needed to act now.

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