+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

"I'm going to try to regroup with—"

"Don't! Focus on the Calamity of Hate," Adelyn's voice cracked over the radio. "I'll deal with them all!"

"On your own?!"

"Of course. Hans, what am I good for as the Angel of Justice, if not for crowd control? So please—go away and focus on your own fight!"

Hans dodged another torrent of attacks from Hate's powerful fire-based spirits. He gritted his teeth.

The idea of Adelyn conducting a dangerous maneuver on her own to deal with hundreds of monsters created by these demons was enough to make him puke. He fought for her. The entire reason he always charged ahead was for her.

He wanted to protect her, because…because of what?

He buried those thoughts again. Of course it was obvious, because Adelyn was very, very important to him. He would blow his brains off to do a restart if she died.

That was who Hans was. He was a silent asshole, someone with the emotional capability of a brick, but if there was something he was at least redeemable at, it was trying his best to protect Adelyn and Alizée.

"Adelyn," Hans breathed out deeply, worried. "Is there really no other option?"

"Trust me, please. That's all I'll ask."

"...Alright." Hans turned his attention back to Hate. "Don't you dare die, Captain."

"Same to you, Lieutenant. Please—learn to rely on us, just this once."

"I will."

And with that, Hans screamed as he charged headfirst into Hate. He'd do his part, just his part, for the first time. It was up to fate now whether Adelyn and Alizée would succeed.

And if they didn't, he sure as hell would blow his brains off to ensure that fate bent itself to his will.

"Come at me, you bastard!" Hans shouted using his speakers. "I'll kill you."

"Grey Knight! Finally, you've stopped running and grown some balls," the calamity demon snarled. "I can finally kill you!"

While she readied her scythe and the fire spirits, Hans opened fire with his 90 mm main gun before unleashing a heavy torrent of his machine gun rounds.

He'd win, damn it.

He'd win, for them and for mankind.

+++

+++ Captain Adelyn von Wittenstein +++

Adelyn took a deep breath.

There it was. She now ensured that both Hans and Alizée would stay away from her. All that was left was to take this horde's attention.

Activating all the powers that her ideal as the Angel of Justice offered, Adelyn steadied her hands on the control sticks.

She felt a surge of divine magic coursing through her and around her as her mind and soul practically melded together with her mech. The golden outlines on the Diligence shone brighter.

Her body itself also became covered in an elegant, white metallic suit. It was her angelic armor, and while it fully covered her, an advanced HUD was shown through the visor of her helmet.

I've rarely summoned this…

Adelyn took a deep breath.

I'm not even sure what it can withstand.

She watched as the horde neared her.

But Hans, the man I love, placed his trust in me.

I won't fail him.

Fight, fight, fight.

That's what he always says and does.

It was her turn to do the same, wholeheartedly.

[Attract Demons]!

Shouting that special skill that the Diligence's full ideal form offered, a loud, high-pitched noise was emitted by her mech's speakers.

Then, she lunged forward. The speed of the Diligence was practically tripled, no, quadrupled, so when she activated two new controllable blades on the sides of her mech, she sliced through the horde with ease.

Not a single monster stood a chance against her. Their blood and cut bodies were left in the wake of her mech as she tore through the center of the horde, attracting them all away from Fort Patricia.

Soon, she managed to get closer and closer to Serenus itself. When she judged that the monsters were now all far enough away from Fort Patricia that [Divine Judgement] wouldn't affect anyone in the rear, she enacted the final part of her suicidal plan.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

At this point, the enemy's attacks, both magical and physical, drained so much of her AP. She had to constantly repair damage, all while maintaining [Attack Demons] and [Greater Propulsion Boost].

I'll just put my trust in Hans and Alizée to protect me after all this.

She then turned on her final skill, which cost her considerable AP each time she activated it. It was called [Zoom], a teleporting skill similar to Alizée's [Blink Step].

The two women trained using this back then before setting out on the expedition. While Alizée could use her skill quite liberally, Adelyn, as the Angel of Justice, was different.

It turned out, teleporting a mech hundreds of meters forward with each [Zoom] was quite intensive in AP usage. But it was her only choice now.

She turned off [Attract Demons].

Here goes nothing.

[Zoom], [Zoom], [Zoom].

The Diligence began to rapidly zip through the battlefield southwards, taking the monsters by surprise. Anyone who managed to catch her in between [Zooms] found themselves getting cut by her blades and machine guns.

Once that was done, she travelled a few kilometers back into the cleared area near Fort Patricia.

All that was left when she was done was to take aim at the still disoriented monsters. She placed all of her remaining magic into [Divine Judgement], and when charging, it was done.

She pulled the trigger seconds before she blacked out.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

He'd been battling the Calamity of Hate for a while now.

His mech was badly whittled down. All the breakneck and high-G maneuvers he conducted strained his machine's legs, engine, and other parts. His fuel was also running low; he now had to begin using [UPG: Arcane Autofabricator] to regenerate his fuel stocks.

It was the same with his machine guns and main gun. He was completely out of his cryofreeze rounds, and he was down to four APFSDS and six MPAT rounds.

He still fought, though, even as he tried to make some distance between him and the Calamity of Hate. She was also already quite badly wounded, as multiple rounds from his main gun managed to nail her. It seemed that MPAT rounds were especially quite effective.

Quite frankly, she was probably less durable than all the other calamities before her. It was just that the spirit beasts she kept creating took much of Hans' attention and greatly reduced his munitions.

But now, they were largely on even ground.

"Damn it," Hate let out a cough of blood from her lips as her spirit beasts surrounded and protected her. "You sure are tough, I'll give you that."

Hans' mech was now only seven hundred meters away from the Calamity of Hate, and he was retreating at an obviously slower pace. It would be difficult to try dodging her again, so any offensive action was impossible.

To be fair, he only really charged in on her to keep her pinned, thus ensuring she wouldn't be able to target Alizée and Adelyn.

But it was now difficult to keep things up. Not even [UPG: Arcane Maintenance System] could fix the damage he inflicted on his mech, and his [UPG: Smooth Response] was too drained after multiple attacks from Hate.

All in all, he was nearly out of options.

All he could do was keep firing and retreat, all while Hate tried her best to dodge his bullets or use her spirit beasts to block them.

They were at an awful stalemate.

Something, something had to change.

Then, that was when it happened. A flash of light erupted near the walls of Serenus. The sound and shockwave were so powerful that even with the distance, Hans' mech was mildly rattled by it.

Hate, who found herself looking at the massive explosion, used her gloved hand to protect her eyes from the blinding flash of light. When it was done, her eyes were wide open.

"I-it can't be!"

"Adelyn! Captain!" Hans shouted on his radio. "Are you alright? Respond, over!"

"..."

"Adelyn! Adelyn, respond, over!"

"..."

Hans bashed his hands on his control panel. Then, without thinking, he rushed forward straight at the Calamity of Hate, who was still distracted.

Unleashing a torrent of gunfire, he managed to pin her just in time for him to slip past her, rushing straight to the side of Fort Patricia, where Adelyn fought.

He needed to get to her.

Behind him, on the other hand, Hate shouted the name of the Calamity of Avarice.

It seemed like they too were now equally worn down.

+++

+++ Alizée Amboise +++

Alizée emerged from a broken house after being flung away by Avarice hundreds of meters away. She felt her bones crack as she regrew her flesh.

She was bloodied, bruised, and heavily injured, but she still stood. Her tiny body practically screamed in protest due to her injuries, the pain so great that most girls her age would lie down and mewl.

But Alizée was different. She knew that Sir Hans and Lady Adelyn were still fighting hard out there, not to mention the soldiers inside Fort Patricia who were in an equally deadly situation as her.

She could even hear them, their shouts, their guns, and the explosions from the grenades of the few brave musketeers who tried to get close to Avarice.

Holding her sword with a tighter grip, she looked up at Avarice right after he was hit by a cannonball straight in the face, causing him to fall from the top of a building.

Another volley of musketry rang out, and he let out a powerful roar as blood flowed up from his hundreds of wounds.

He was utterly covered in blood. His left eye was gone, cut off by Alizée's blades. Even his massive claws had three claws cut from them, two on his left hand and one on his right hand, courtesy of Alizée as well.

Both her blood and his blood dripped from those shiny white appendages.

But still, the two continued to fight. It was the only way forward.

"You damned little rabbit," Avarice pulled out a boulder from the ground. "How can you even challenge me?!"

Right as he threw the boulder straight at Alizée, she used [Blink Step] to close the gap in an instant, her swords clashing rapidly again with the titanic monster.

She screamed her lungs out as she tried to find an opening before slicing his feet, then his arm, then he jumped high, spinning, and cutting off a huge chunk of Avarice's face.

Unfortunately, she made another mistake, and she was hit by his hands, flinging her straight off into the ground.

She picked her up off the crater, while Avarice rushed for the final kill.

Before anything could happen, though, a cannonball struck the beast's face, stopping him. The soldiers behind her immediately cheered in an uproar, as musket fire supported her once more.

Emboldened by the adults' support, Alizée picked herself up and pointed her sword at Avarice.

"You're not getting out of here," Alizée declared. "This will be our victory!"

"Go, Alizée!"

"You may be the youngest, but you're the Angel of Purity!"

"We know you can do it! We have your back!"

And she tried her best to live up to the praises given by those soldiers. Practically flying up high, she spun rapidly, using both of her swords to lop off the head of the Calamity of Avarice.

Then, she punched his head off, sending it straight into the northern wall of Fort Patricia. That was when a powerful explosion from outside thundered around her.

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