The skies above Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire

“Air region 2, clear.”

“Roger that. Check air region 3.”

Stabal of the 22nd Army Aviation Squadron of the Gra Valkas Empire’s Leifor Occupation
Army finished his task for air region 2 and was moving to air region 3. In order to leave
nothing unnoticed, they flew in formations of 3.

The reason for their advance warning flights is the visit of the imperial family,
particularly that of the Crown Prince, the next-in-line to the throne. In the unlikely
chance that they were to let enemy fighters or enemy ground forces slip past them, it
would be outrageous. They were all fired up more than they would usually be.

It seems that their enemy has introduced a monster called an aerial battleship in the
great naval battle. Furthermore, most of the frontline soldiers have already grasped
that the Valkyries base getting attacked may have possibly been due to a surprise
attack by Japanese fighters. Due to nervousness brought about by their enemy and the
fact that they are the Crown Prince’s shield, he and his comrades were more
concentrated than usual.

The sounds of the radial engine groaning and the winds getting hit reverberated
within the cabin.

“Hm?!”

He felt something off about the sky in front of him. Within the next moment, he felt a
silhouette close the distance towards them at ultra high-speeds.

A flash of light ran across the vicinity from one of his comrades flying in front of him,
engulfing the airframe in a fierce explosion.
“W-woah!!!”

Not understanding what had happened, the terror of a friend suddenly dying ran
through his entire body. Stabal’s instincts urged him to fire his machine guns with all
his might. He knew there was no reason to do something like that, but he nevertheless
gave in to his instincts and fired at the empty sky in front of him.

Ratatatatatata

20mm machine gun rounds were fired forwards followed by the heavy, solid sounds
of the propellant expanding and pushing them out of the barrel.

In the following moment, another one of his comrades flying above to his right was
blown out of the sky after an intense, thunderous sound.

“W-what’s going ooooon?!?!?!”

He shouted as he kept his finger firm on the fire button. What happened right after
will be considered a miracle in the history of air combat. A 20mm round fired from
the machine guns onboard the Antares fighter of Stabal impacted a Type 99 medium-
range air-to-air guided missile (AAM-4) fired from a Japanese F-2 fighter.

A huge fireball manifested in front of him. Metallic fragments dispersed by the

explosion hit his fuselage, producing unpleasant sounds within the cabin. The Antares
fighter that had miraculously managed to avoid getting hit by an air-to-air guided
missile suddenly turned and dropped. With the engine in full throttle, Stabal rapidly
dove.

“Aaaaahhh!!!”

With the surface getting closer and closer, he tried to raise the aircraft’s nose when…

Plop!

With violent vibrations and black smoke beginning to rise from the engine in front,
the propeller that was just spinning so powerfully suddenly came to a halt.

“Wha-!!!”

With the ground getting closer and thick, black smoke blocking his view, he desperately
tried to raise the aircraft’s nose. However…

“Fuck!! It won’t go up!! I’m gonna crash!!!”

Unable to respond adequately to the sudden trouble and reduce his speed, he crashed
into the trees that came into view.

“Uwahh!!!”

Travelling at more than 500km/h, the Antares fighter’s wings were caught in branches,
tearing them off from the plane and trees, respectively.

“Aghh!!!”

The fighter eventually came to a half on top of a tree and everything went silent. For
some miraculous reason, he was safe. He looks up at the sky above.

“Wha-!!!”

Multiple contrails drawn at speeds he had never seen before pepper the skies.

Frontline base Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire

“Huh? What?!”

The comms officer noticed that the radio he uses to regularly contact their patrols was
completely busted. With the Valkyries base’s radar sites destroyed, they rely on radar
information communicated to them from the surrounding bases for their anti-air early
warning. The radio, which was supposed to be lively due to regular activity, was
completely silent.

Thinking that there’s a possibility that it’s a malfunction, he tried contacting the forces
set up within the base. Pressing the press-to-talk button, he speaks through the
microphone in intervals.

“Command to 21st Platoon.”

No response.
“Command to 21st Platoon.”

“This is command to all units. Please respond if you have intercepted any forces.”

Still no response.

“Fuck! Not good!!!”

Thinking of the possibility that an enemy attack is coming, the comms officer
immediately reports to Vice Commander Gaia who was in the same room.

“Vice Commander Gaia!!! I’m getting nothing from the radio! The possibility that
multiple radios have failed is exceedingly low, so this must be radio interference!!!”

“H-huh?! The Crown Prince is here!!! We’re fucked if we’re actually under attack!!!”

“Requesting permission to sound the emergency siren!!!”

“W-wait!!! The siren might scare His Highness and if there was actually nothing wrong,
we’re done for!!!”

“But!!! It would be bad if we do nothing knowing that this might be an attack!!!”

“Use the emergency light signal!! His Highness won’t understand what’s going on
using that!”

“Yes, sir!”

In the event that the siren is broken, the emergency light signal on top of the building
flashes, signalling that there’s an emergency. The meaning differs by how the light
flashes, with the flashing this time signalling the possibility of enemy attack and telling
everyone to get into battle stations.

The lights on top of the building all flash red simultaneously, repeating at set intervals.
Leaving behind others to welcome the Crown Prince, the military personnel hurriedly
run to their positions.
The Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, has landed at the Imperial
Army frontline base of Valkyries. Descending down the flight of stairs attached to the
plane, he was greeted by a thunderous applause as a band started to play music. After
emerging in front of the soldiers, they all saluted to Cabal.

One can infer from the simultaneous salute the high amount of discipline the soldiers
have.

“Hmph. Just as I expect from the elite Imperial Army!”

Gra Cabal mutters as he is guided by base commander Gaoggel to the command room.

“Hm?”

12 Antares fighters were about to take off from the airport. They were mobilized in an
emergency since an attack was expected, but Gra Cabal misunderstood the fighters
taking off as a demonstration for his welcome.

“Hoh! As I expected from the elite Imperial Army Air Corps! What a smooth and
orderly take off!”

The beautiful takeoff scene captured his attention. Within the next moment, 3 fighters
that were trying to take off exploded, falling down on the runway. 2 other fighters that
were trying to take off got caught up in the explosion, crashing down after the first 3.

The fighters that fell on the runway had their fuel ignited, exploding with enough
power to push the onlookers’ bodies from far away and producing huge amounts of
smoke. Unable to comprehend the sudden and somehow unrealistic scene unfolding
in front of his eyes, Cabal froze.

“Y-Your Highness!! Over here!!”

Base commander Gaoggel takes his hand and guides him to the command room which
was in a far more robust building.

“Hey!! What the hell is happening?!”

“It’s an enemy attack!! Please, let’s hurry!!!”

His first ever look at the raw battlefield. There was no way they could have saved the
people who were on board the fighters that crashed. People die too easily.

He has seen with his own eyes the number of people that have died based on reports
from the battlefield. He used to think that such one-digit levels of casualties were
acceptable.

However, 5 people swiftly perished right in front of his eyes. With their level of skill,
they must have done a substantial amount of training. They may have also spent a fair
amount of studying to become Imperial pilots.

They may have also had families of their own.

Gra Cabal has finally realized what the battlefield is like.

“Is… is this war?! I… I didn’t know!!! I was foolish!!!”

Sacrifices needed for the empire to pursue their military rule, whether they be friend
or foe, was inevitable.

That’s what he thought.

It may have been politically correct, but with the absurdity of death that has happened
before his very eyes being limited to simply being sacrificed for the empire and
recorded in reports as the number “5”, his heart may not have been moved at all.

Reason and emotions mixed. Unfinished thoughts run across Cabal’s heart.

Intense, unrelenting explosions continued to successively emerge from the runway.

“Fuck!”

No…! Is this what it’s like to fear getting killed?

Anti-air cannons fire tracer rounds into the sky, drawing bright lines of light throughout
the heavens. The siren has sounded throughout the base, fully mobilizing every
soldier.

Base commander Gaoggel and Crown Prince Gra Cabal enter the robust underground
command room inside the base’s command building. Even if the radio were to be
unusable, the command room is lined with messenger tubes towards the other
encampments, allowing them to maintain contact. They started gathering information
on the base’s situation. A periscope-like installment in the command room allows
them to directly see what’s happening outside. The sounds of explosions from the
outside echo relentlessly within the command room, adding to the dread.

“All AA emplacements are silenced!!!”

“All aircraft within the hangars are destroyed!!!”

“Heavy equipment and tank units are all destroyed!!!”

“The hangars containing the mobile AA guns have all collapsed from the bombing!!!”

“Base radio station was bombed!!! Our radio is gone!!!”

Multiple hopeless reports came in. They were quickly losing their fangs to counterattack.

Gaoggel desperately thought of something.

“Contact the regular units! We have the Crown Prince right here. Get them to get down
to the vicinity of the underground room and tell them to strengthen our defenses!!!”

“Yes, sir!”

The orders are swiftly passed along.

The intense bombing more or less ended and silence almost immediately took reign
over the atmosphere in the command room.

“The first wave seems to have wrapped up. Get me damage reports!!”

At Gaoggel’s commands, damage reports flooded in. Radio, AA guns, aircraft, tanks,
heavy equipment, and mobile AA guns were all destroyed. A bombing unparalleled in
accuracy; the same as last time.

“Incoming reports from lookouts!! The second wave is approaching!! They’re all
biplanes!! We’re counting more than… 300 planes!!!”

“Say that again?! Shit!! They’ve really gone serious now… But 300?! Do they plan to
make this place a wasteland?!”
Sending 300 planes to attack a small base… Mu is serious…

“Hey!! What’s going on?!”

Unable to keep his anxiety in check, Gra Cabal asks Gaoggel.

“Your Highness, this command room is a fortress buried into the earth. Even if the base
above were to be laid to waste due to bombings, we are safe here.”

“I-I see… My bad. Carry on…”

“Yes, sir!!!”

The bombs dropped by Mu bombers whistled as they fell. The sounds of explosions,
as well as sounds of machine gun fire from Mu’s fighters continued on, sending
unpleasant vibrations into the command room. The sounds of biplane engines, which
usually didn’t bother them, now terrified them to their souls.

“Are we really just going to let this pass???”

Gaoggel muttered. As if replying to him, one of the officers in the command room
speaks up to him.

“Commander!! Valyries’s air cover isn’t limited to the airpower we had! We don’t know
the situation since we lost our radio, but our Imperial Army Air Corps will soon shoot
these biplanes out of the sky!”

“…How naive.”

“Sir?!”

“I said that that’s naive! Our air units have been shot down in the first attack and what
fighters we had parked have all been destroyed too. It’s proof that our air cover from
other bases have also been wiped out. If anything, it’s extremely likely that all of our
fighters from other bases have been completely shot down. All we can really do now
is stand firm and not rely on reinforcements.”

A sensation of tragic heroism envelops the command room.

Gaoggel continues.
“Fortunately, the command room is so robust, it might as well be an underground
fortress. It won’t yield from a bombing of Mu’s caliber. Orders were also sent out to
the regular units to retreat underground. However, as for those on top…”

The hopelessness that the base will be wiped out and the reassurance that the place
that they’re in is safe mixed together. Complicated emotions were filling all their
hearts. The seemingly endless sounds of explosions ceased as Mu’s bombers left the
area. Silence wraps the command room.

“What’s the situation outside?”

“I can’t get hold of the lookouts.”

“Is it that desperate? Can we verify the number of regular troops that managed to
evacuate underground?”

“We’re currently verifying. I think there are roughly 350 of them.”

“Wha-!!! We’ve lost so much… What exits remain unfazed?”

“We’re still verifying, but Sectors 12, 18, and 24 all have working exits. Also, we haven’t
been able to ascertain any damages to the tunnels leading outside the base, but all of
them are still up.”

“We’re still expecting more attacks. Get the best among the regulars and form a unit
of 30 to escort His Highness out of the base through the emergency tunnels!”

“Yes, sir!”

Orders were transmitted to the letter and the selection for the escort unit has begun.

Gaoggel turns to Gra Cabal.

“Your Highness, I am truly sorry for showing you such a disgraceful appearance.
However, allow us to place utmost priority on your life and protect you. We have
started to form an escort unit to help you evacuate out of the base using the emergency
tunnels. Will that be alright?”

Prioritizing the Crown Prince’s life, Gaoggel tells Gra Cabal with a little directness.
“Y-yes… Thank you. The formation of the unit will take time, yes? Before it’s done, I
want to see the current state of the base with my own eyes. I will head up top for a bit.”

Gaoggel froze at the completely unexpected reply.

“Please wait! The Army currently doesn’t have air superiority! We are in a state
wherein we cannot deal with sudden attacks from the sky! We cannot let something
unexpected happen to Your Highness! Your evacuation is our priority!”

“I’m sorry, but I… As the Crown Prince, I have an obligation to verify with my own eyes
the raw battlefield and the way of life of those that fight and give their lives for the
sake of the empire’s citizens. Even if my life is in danger, I have a duty to see the
defenders that desperately tried to fight for the citizens!”

“Your Highness, please reconsider!!!”

“Thank you, but I will return with haste.”

It is not only your life at stake! The heads of all the military officials are at stake as well!!!

Gaoggel swallowed the words that were just about to come out

“Well then, I will go as well.”

The Crown Prince, Gaoggel, and the other base officers emerged from the underground
command room to take a look at the nearly destroyed base.

The dirty door of the entrance that was slightly protruding from the ground opened
and some men slowly emerged from the entrance. After some of them had gone out
and verified that it was safe, the Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal,
ascended from the entrance.

“Wha-!!! Is this… war…?”

Clusters of what were once buildings lay burning and demolished, with some of what
had remained being littered with holes. The runway was completely destroyed, with
the Imperial fighters that had once boasted powerful strength now burning on top of
it. The bigger buildings have more or less crumbled under the bombing. Cabal felt the
heat from the thick hot air that arose from all the fire on his cheeks.

Looking around, what may have once been people lie scattered here and there. Those
that were reduced to ashes and those that no longer looked human truly described the
scene as hellish.

There weren’t any other responding people in sight. Valkyries, having suffered
casualties to the point of annihilation, ceased to function as a base, with some ruins
scattered here and there.

Roaaar!!!

They heard a sudden, frightening roar. Within the following moment, lines of fire
erupted towards the sky, followed by light sounds of gunfire.

“Survivors?!”

They looked towards the ends of the lines of fire that emanated from the building.

“Wha-!!!”

The tracer rounds fired from rifles were flying towards something that looked like a
dragon. Using magic isolated from humans, the dragon unleashed a magical flame
bullet. Several flame bullets landed directly on where the sounds of the gunfire came
from, enveloping the place in flames.

“What the hell…”

There were dragons flying all across the sky. There weren’t just one or two, but more
than 100 dragons were circling the skies above the base. It was a terrifyingly shocking
sight.

“Commander!!! Your Highness!!! Please get back underground!!!”

The dragons that were flying in the sky didn’t seem to have noticed them yet. However,
it was still an extremely dangerous place. A soldier looking out from the opposite side
of the building catches the Crown Prince’s attention.

“5 aircraft approaching from the west!!!”

Gaoggel immediately moves to a place from where he can see them.

“W-what are those?!”

With Gaoggel in shock, Gra Cabal joins him to take a look.

“A-are those…?!”

The aircraft had small but wide airframes and they made an unfamiliar high-pitched
sound. Their size betrayed their expectations and they moved at a terribly fast speed.
The aircraft didn’t have any propellers.

“I-it’s so big and fast!!! Whose planes are those?!”

Gra Cabal, which had completely stood up in the open, was approached by soldiers.

“Hurry!!! Please evacuate now!!!”

“We have confirmed red circles on the wings and body of the aircraft!!! It’s a Japanese
aircraft!!!”

“Please evacuate!!!”

Planes and dragons all flew in the sky. The soldiers irritatedly urged the officers and
the Crown Prince to evacuate.

At speeds that betrayed their common sense, the aircraft reached the skies above the
base and suddenly dropped in speed.

“They might start bombing!!! Hurry!!!”

By the time that Gaoggel and Gra Cabal started to run for the entrance, several white
flowers bloomed across the sky. As the aircraft circled, flowers successively opened
up in the sky. A marvelous and eye-catching sight.

“T-they’re people!!! Paratroopers?! They’re sending ground troops now?!”

The 1st Airborne Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force conducted a
parachute drop around the vicinity of the base. Their numbers slowly increased.
They promptly ran back down to the underground command room.

The Gra Valkas Empire was also in possession of paratrooper units in its Army.
However, parachuting from the sky was dangerous and required lots of practice while
those that can conduct parachute drops were not much experienced in ground
warfare.

They must also not have a lot of experience…

“No! I must get rid of these naive thoughts!!! They’re Japan, for crying out loud! They’re
an enemy that betrays common sense!”

Gaoggel thought that if they shut themselves underground, they’d be safe. As they
were not expecting the deployment of ground troops, Gaoggel’s already sweaty face
became even more sweaty.
“Those guys are monsters. I can’t help but feel that they’re cyborgs or something.”

One SDF soldier remarks.

Another one testifies.

“We carried out training one time where we were defending an airbase from an enemy
attack. OPFOR consisted of several elements of the 1st Airborne Brigade, while us, the
ASDF as BLUFOR, numbered around 200. While there were only a few of them, we
expected that a decent number of us would be killed due to their somewhat elite
nature. But in reality, they managed to gain control of the airbase without suffering a
single casualty… Yeah, they really are monsters.”

As dragons danced around the sky, 5 C-2 transport planes flew past them. From all 5
of these planes, the 1st Airborne Brigade parachuted down into the base below. If
there were any enemies left in the base, the dragon knights would burn them to ashes
with their magical flame bullets. Eventually, several of Mu’s own transport planes
appeared in the skies above the base, opening up even more white flowers throughout
the sky.

After a successful parachute drop, Yagi of the GSDF’s 1st Airborne Brigade swiftly
moved to position to ensure his safety. His movements were nimble due to numerous
training sessions, allowing his trained muscles to bring along heavy equipment without
difficulty. There were no longer any enemies within his vicinity, with the strong stench
of burning earth brought about by the airstrikes and flame bullets stinging his nose.
He quietly scanned the area for any enemies that may have survived the previous
onslaughts.

With hardly any resistance, their deployment concluded far more smoothly than
expected.
“We have confirmation on the entrance to the underground. Breaching in 18 seconds.
Team A, advance to point B2!”

With the utilization of bone conduction earphones, orders are promptly transmitted
without making extra noise. Without making much noise, they proceeded to advance
to the entrance.

An unpleasant explosion sound echoes across the command room.

“Door No. 12 has been breached!!!”

“The enemy is here!! Maximum caution!!!”

“W-what the?! Is this-Ack!!! Is this poison-Argh!!!”

The radio continues to blast out messages within the command room.

“We’ve lost contact with Squad 6!!!”

“We’ve ordered Squad 7 to brace for contact!”

“What’s going on?!”

Gra Cabal worrily turns to Gaoggel.

“We’re still grasping the situation.”

Gra Cabal was clearly standing in the way, preventing Gaoggel from making precise
orders. Gaoggel could barely hide his irritation.

“We’ve lost contact with Squad 7!!!”

“Squad 9 is unresponsive!!!”

“Fuck! They’re advancing too fast!! How are they doing this so easily?!”

The sound of occasional gunfire could now be heard in the command room. With the
enemy closing in, the fear of death rapidly engulfs the room.
The troops of the Imperial Army are not weak. They are basically elite troops with a
high-level of skill.

They’ve come to understand that the enemy is far better in aircraft and tank
technologies. However, they were also moving so quickly on the infantry level that it
felt like it hardly mattered whether the Imperial Army troops had guns or not. It
wasn’t supposed to be like this. They didn’t even know how many enemy troops there
were, but their takeover continued unabated.

“We’ve lost contact with Squad 19.”

Despite the Imperial troops lying in wait, concealed in the dark, the enemy advanced
as if they weren’t there at all.

“Why?! Why are we losing even at the infantry level?!”

They couldn’t understand.

“Your Highness! The troops are ready! Please evacuate now using the emergency
tunnels!!!

Oi!!! Come here and accompany His Highness!!!”

Without hearing Gra Cabal’s response, Gaoggel decides for him. As if they were shooed
away, the soldiers grabbed Cabal’s hand and made haste for the emergency exit.

Base commander Gaoggel closes his eyes and says something to himself in a soft voice.

“This is it, huh… I guess my life amounted to nothing…”

In the following moment, the command room’s door blew open with a bang, followed
by something being tossed inside. A horribly intense light lit up the command room,
making the people inside subconsciously clutch their faces.

Gaoggel, too, fell from the unbearable intensity. His sense of sight and hearing were
done for. Having temporarily lost his awareness, Gaoggel, who had fallen on his back,
returns to his senses.

“!!!”
A person wearing green clothes and a helmet had their muzzle pointed at him. With a
chilling voice, they gave him a single command.

“Hands in the air!”

Descended upon him was a fear of death; something he had never felt before. He felt
that if he didn’t surrender now, the man in front of him would mercilessly pull the
trigger. This was the impression that he felt.

“So this is it… I surrender. Don’t shoot me… monsters…”

Gaoggel raised his hands.

On this day, the command room of the Gra Valkas Empire’s Valkyries frontline base fell
under enemy control and the base as a whole followed suit.

“Hah… Hah… Why?! Why are the elite Imperial troops losing?!”

Gra Cabal continued to run through the darkness of the emergency tunnel. His heart
beated as though it were about to burst and he was out of breath. He felt as though he
were suffocating.

However, he imagined the thought of being captured by the enemy. There are a lot of
countries that hold a grudge against the empire. Once they realize he’s the Crown
Prince, they might tear him from limb to limb.

The fear of death drove him beyond his limits. As he ran out of breath, sweat
accumulated on his face and body.

Thoughts ran throughout his head.

“We don’t know what will happen if you go to the frontlines! Please reconsider!”

He remembers the face of an assistant that desperately tried to stop him from going
to Valkyries.

“Don’t go. They will have to spare manpower just to prepare for the visit of the imperial
family.”
His father, Gralux, also tried to stop him.

Shaking it off and pushing forward his own thoughts, he ended up where he is at this
moment.

He had the chance to turn back. He was advised to do so countless times. However, in
the end, he ended up coming to the frontlines. He had believed that his visit was for
the sake of the soldiers… For the empire… In reality, all his visit had done was get in
the way of the soldiers’ jobs with the possibility of him getting killed in the event an
enemy country captured him. There was also the chance that instead of killing him,
they’d undoubtedly use him as an extremely valuable diplomatic card.

With their successive victories against the barbarians of this new world, he had ended
up looking down on the enemy.

Even if he were to be sorry for and regret his past self being so stubborn, he couldn’t
wind back time.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

Out of breath, laden in sweat, and his legs worn out, he had come to the point where
he complained that he couldn’t run any longer. Still, with the fear that death would
catch up to him if he stopped, he forced his legs to move with all his might.

The empire’s elite troops had lost.

This was proof that there exists someone among the enemy forces that possess skill
and equipment that surpass their own. Up to now, he, the military, and the rest of the
empire never imagined that those same troops would lose to someone else. If they
don’t re-evaluate the enemy this point forward, the damage to the empire will be
catastrophic.

While he suffered as he ran beyond his limits, he was calmly analyzing the enemy in
one nook of his mind.

“Your Highness, over here!!”

They had finally reached a flight of stairs leading up to a door which one of the soldiers
opened.
“Ah!!!”

Having grown accustomed to the darkness and the faint light of their flashlights, their
eyes were enveloped by sunlight, taking all of them aback. As he slowly got himself
used to the blinding light, Gra Cabal stepped out of the door.

They emerged in the middle of the forest around 3km away from the base with no
enemies in sight. With trees blocking their line of sight, they couldn’t grasp the
situation in the air and of the base. Looking in the direction of the mountains, they
sighted a small rocky hill.

“We might be able to get a better view from there…”

Climbing up the rocky hill, Gra Cabal tried to verify the state of the base. The Imperial
Army soldiers were ultimately soldiers and so they knew in their hearts they couldn’t
bring themselves to suggest that the Crown Prince’s actions were dangerous or that
they couldn’t curtail the Crown Prince from doing as he pleased. In the end, they too
accompanied the Crown Prince and climbed up the rocky hill to look at their
surroundings.

“Huh?! What the-!!!”

The base was engulfed in flames. He turns to look up at the sky.

Dozens of medium-sized piston engine aircraft flew in the skies. Accompanying the
hundreds of biplanes were several hundred dragons. Furthermore, more than a
several thousand giant birds flew among them, dropping several parachuted troopers
on top of the base.

All sorts of weapons from the different levels of civilizations merged together as they
filled the entirety of the skies. It was truly chaotic.

“The enemy has gone all out!!!”

From the base’s expanse, the amount of personnel the enemy deployed was nothing
short of excessive, showing that they are serious with capturing the base.

“Alright. We gotta survive first.”

Gra Cabal and several Imperial Army soldiers began to move to try to survive.
Mu Expeditionary Force, Magikaraich Community

Private Ballaster of the 32nd Division trembled in fear as he rode on top of a giant
flame bird. As a soldier, he wasn’t afraid of charging in against their enemies. He was
simply afraid of heights.

“Sir Ceta… I hate you so much…”

Having declared that he was afraid of heights, he was originally removed from the
parachuting force. Without counting the amount of time needed for training, they
were still technically counted as ground troops. However, an incident occured 2 days
before the operation was carried out.

Out of nowhere, his senior in the parachuting force, Ceta, collapsed from food
poisoning from eating the food he himself brought in. With the fever brought about by
the bacterial nature of the food poisoning, they couldn’t let him participate in the
operation.

Due to the excessive amount of troops being deployed, if this had been a regular
operation, they would proceed even with one less person. However, the current
operation had them cooperating with their allies, with the superpower Mu throwing
in an unprecedented amount of troops and firepower. Due to diplomatic concerns, the
Magikaraich Community couldn’t let itself underdeliver the amount of personnel
requested of them by Mu, and with Ballaster having done several drops beforehand,
they ended up choosing him as Ceta’s replacement.

The operation only required him to jump out from a big bird, pull a string and properly
set his direction as he descended to the base, which he had practiced numerous times.
With hundreds of other soldiers having already dropped and were now safely at the
enemy base, it seemed like there wasn’t any particular danger.

Still, he was afraid of heights.

Being on top of a bird is already frightening in itself, but now I have to jump from it…
The last time was scary as fuck, but now I have to do it again…

“We’ll reach the drop point in a while!”

3 people led by a squad leader are to descend from the bird.

“3! 2! 1! Go, go, go!!!”

They jump out of the bird in order. With his turn to drop, Ballaster committed to his
will and jumped from the bird.

Despite the fear of falling and his acceleration due to gravity being higher than
imagined, he used his skills to lessen his acceleration to the point where gravity and
aerodynamic drag were in equilibrium. Due to being dropped at a high altitude, he
approached the surface at a slow pace, making it feel as though he were flying.

“Alright… 5! 4! 3! 2! 1!… Now!!!”

He pulled on a string, opening his parachute. He felt a sudden jerk from all across his
body as if the sky pulled on him.

“Huh?”

His squadmates that had jumped before him were still descending.

“Ah shit…”

They were ordered by their squad leader to open their parachutes simultaneously
after 40 seconds. Due to his uncontrollable fear, he counted the seconds too fast as he
simply focused his thoughts on opening his parachute.

“Heh. I’m gonna get clubbed by the squad leader later…”

Their demonic squad leader, Geira, was a dreaded character who drilled any
subordinate who had committed a mistake in the battlefield to the point of carving out
their souls.

“Huh? Wait, what’s going on???”

His parachute started to get dragged along by the wind. He was supposed to have been
on course towards their drop point but now he was getting farther and farther away.

“Magi 5-8!!! What the fuck are you doing?! Change your heading back towards the
base!!!”
Hearing his name over the radio, he also heard his squad leader’s unpleasant voice
ring out.

“I-I’m being swept by the wind!!!”

He was being swept away towards a direction where he didn’t intend to go. There was
little he could do to stop it.

All they heard from one of the people over the radio was the sound of the wind.

“I was swept by the wind and now I’m alone! Requesting for support!”

“A greenie? Damn. You’re showing off how embarrassing the level of skill the soldiers
of the Magikaraich Community are, dumbass… Gotta hand it to him later…”

Naniega, commander of the 1st Dragon Knights Squadron of the Magikaraich

Community, surveyed his surroundings from his wyvern.

“Is that…?”

He saw that someone had opened their parachute earlier than expected and was now
being swept away to the west of the base.

“Fuck’s sake… Huh?”

Also to the west of the base, he sighted some figures on top of a boulder. He descended
down to verify.

As he slowly descended from high altitude…

“!!!”

The figures were pointing their guns towards him.

Hostiles!!!

In the following moment, something grazed his cheek. Afterwards, the sound of
gunfire echoed throughout the vicinity.
There was a slight scar that ran from the front of his cheek to the back. Comprehending
that he could have died a moment prior, sweat flowed from all over his body. He
immediately climbed up into the skies far from the range of the enemies’ rifles.

He then swiftly turned around and dived, ordering his wyvern to fire a magical flame
bullet. The wyvern opened its mouth, creating a ball of flame at the end.

“Fire!!!”

The wyvern, possessing magical powers isolated from humankind, sent a viscous,
magical fireball from its mouth. The fireball rapidly descended on the enemy, finding
its mark on the rocky hill and causing an explosion.

The figures that were brandishing rifles were engulfed in flames. There seemed to be
several more but it also seems that they were engulfed in the explosion. Having
snuffed out all resistance, Naniega raised his wyvern up.

“That… was close…”

Moving forward, he decided in his mind that he will be even more careful and vigilant
against attacks from the ground.

Having been swept by the wind, Private Ballaster of the Magikaraich Community
landed in the forest 3km west from the base. The parachute got caught in the branches
of the trees, severing the cloth in the process.

“Guess my chute’s done for, huh…”

He ended up breaking one of the equipment entrusted to him.

Wonder how angry they’ll be…

While he thought so, he turned on his comms equipment.

“This is Magi 5-8 to Magi 5-1! I successfully landed without any abnormalities but the
parachute broke… I’m currently at…”

He promptly reported his present situation.

“This is Magi Combat HQ to Magi 5-8, there may be concealed enemies around 600m
SW of your position. They’ve already been attacked by our wyverns, but since it’s
possible there may be enemies left, you are to head over to investigate!”

“Roger!”

The transmission ended.

“Ah fuck… This is the worst… Do I really have to do it by myself?”

Having been swept away was his fault. He understood that, but being sent alone to
deal with concealed Gra Valkas Empire soldiers, which even the superpower Mu
couldn’t deal with, was too much to ask. He felt nothing but life-threatening danger
with this order.

Still, as ordered, he headed southwest. His hands slightly trembled as he struggled

with his fears.

20 minutes later~

Only 20 minutes had passed, but for him, it felt like an eternity. He pushed his way
through the thickets as he advanced through the difficult forest terrain. Since he kept
watch for enemies as he advanced, it took him longer than he thought to reach his
destination. If he were to give away his position, there’s no doubt that he will instantly
get showered by bullets.

He silently advanced.

Hearing nothing but his heartbeat, his breathing was elevated.

Rustle!!!

After hearing the sound of grass rustling to his west, he stopped and looked closely.
Several wild animals had run past him.

“What the hell… Fucking scared me…”

For a moment, he was relieved.

“Ugh…”
“!!!”

For a moment there, he heard the sound of someone groaning. He went closer towards
the direction of the voice. The smell of grass burning fills his nose. He deduced that it
must have been a direct hit from one of their wyvern’s flame bullets. It was close.

He slowly moved forward without a sound.

He was currently deep in the forest where weeds grew on the surface, but here there
were patches of grass burning.

“Ugh…”

A single man was groaning as he lay fallen on top of the grass some distance away from
the patches of grass that were burning.

“Are they…”

The burnt corpses of what seemed to be Gra Valkas Empire soldiers lay scattered near
the fallen man. It seems that he was the only one breathing. He couldn’t discern any
wounds to the man’s face but parts of his clothing were severely burnt. It seems that
the man has suffered substantial burns.

“A survivor?…”

Upon closer inspection, the man was clearly different from the other soldiers and
while they were covered and stained in soot, he seemed to be also wearing
adornments.

“Must be a high-ranking person…”

Ballaster immediately reported the situation through radio while gathering the
weapons of the Gra Valkas Empire soldiers. Having found one prisoner of war, he
called in for support.

The wounded prisoner of war, which has since fainted, was immediately transported
to the railroad town of Kielseki where Mu’s frontline command is. However, the man’s
wounds were much more serious than previously thought, surpassing the capabilities
offered by field hospitals and simple recovery magic.
With the high possibility that the wounded man is a VIP, he was transported to a
hospital in the Mu capital of Otaheit. Unable to fully care for the person in that same
hospital, Mu had him handed over to Japan, which had better medical technology than
any other country that participated in the war.

Capital Avest, Magikaraich Community

The Magikaraich Community, located on the southeast portion of the Second

Civilization Area, operates through a system called an academic system, a rarity in the
new world, which allows its provinces to operate independent government functions.
The aggregation of those independent governments, known as the Magikaraich
Academic Union, is recognized as a state by other countries under the name
Magikaraich Community.

Blending together magical technology and mechanical engineering, they developed

something called magic-guided engineering, which was recognized by even the Central
World.

Gathered at the capital of the Magikaraich Community, Avest, were the academic
leaders of every province. The sound of the clock ticking, signifying the passage of
time, resounded across the silent conference room where everyone waited for the
results of the operation that will decide the fate of their country.

Their enemy is the great, powerful empire from another world: the Gra Valkas Empire.

Having driven back even the World Union Fleet led by the main force of the Holy
Mirishial Empire, the enemy was strong beyond comparison and someone they could
no longer afford to look down on.

“If we lose this one, what the hell do we do…”

Someone whines.

This was a counterattack operation where the superpower Mu and the Second
Civilization Area put an unprecedented amount of their strength and spirits into.
Along with the entire might of the Second Civilization, the country of Japan, which
possessed scientific prowess that surpassed that of Mu, was participating in the fight.
If they were to lose in this operation, the Magikaraich Community would have lost its
sole means to fight.

“Let’s believe that… we’ll win.”

The conference room returns to silence.

“Hm? Incoming magical transmission!!!”

Everyone looks to the direction of the comms officer.

“I will read it out loud!!! The allied forces of the Second Civilization Area carried out
their attack on the Gra Valkas Imperial Army base Valkyries. Much of the enemy’s surface
installations have been destroyed and the parachute operation was successful!!! They
are now in control of Valkyries!!! Furthermore, one of our new recruits has secured a
high-ranking prisoner of war! Our country has managed to recover several of the
empire’s weapons in working condition!”

“Nice!!!”

The conference room erupted in excitement.

“Great!!! I am truly proud that our country’s soldiers managed to capture a high-
ranking prisoner of war! Let this new recruit be rewarded! As for the weapons, send
them immediately to our research agencies!!! We must analyze them and have them
mass-produced!!!”

Without being punished, Private Ballaster of the Magikaraich Community was

rewarded for his efforts.

Prime Minister’s residence, Tokyo, Japan

All the ministers have gathered here for an emergency meeting. With so many meetings
that decide the country’s fate lately, they have gotten accustomed to everything being
an emergency.

“…and so, the allied force that took off from Kielseki managed to completely seize the
Gra Valkas Empire’s frontline base of Valkyries. Aside from 1 person, a total of 1623
prisoners have been transferred to the detention facility in Mu.”
Subsequently, it was reported that that 1 person is currently receiving medical
attention at a hospital in Japan.

“The prisoner that was sent to us wore clothing that was clearly different from the
other prisoners and is highly likely to be a VIP. Furthermore, the person didn’t have
anything that could help us identify his identity and the other prisoners won’t tell us
anything regarding his identity. It is thought it would be best to wait for the recovery
of this person before moving on to verify their identity.”

Without any particular interest from the ministers, the topic of the meeting moves on.
The SDF’s executives reported on scheduled operations and on future policies
regarding the Gra Valkas Empire. It was at that time when someone from the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs entered the room and whispered something to the ear of the Foreign
Affairs Minister. The Foreign Affairs Minister, which usually looked pale, got even
paler.

“A-are you sure?! If so…!”

He asked in a loud, surprised voice.

“What’s the matter, Foreign Affairs Minister?”

The Prime Minister asks.

“The prisoner of war in Japan’s custody has woken up.”

“Really? Have they managed to verify his identity?”

“Y-yes… We have confirmed that the prisoner is Gra Cabal, a part of the Gra Valkas
Empire’s imperial family, and their current Crown Prince.”

“!!!”

Every minister was shocked. With this shocking revelation, they now have an
overwhelming advantage in diplomacy. There also exists the possibility that, depending
on how the enemy reacts, they just exposed themselves to a full-on attack.

With the Japanese government now in possession of an incredibly powerful

diplomatic card, the room went silent from how they would use it.
“What a terribly powerful diplomatic card we have… One wrong move and we end up
digging our own graves… We must properly consider all possibilities and take the
most appropriate solution…!”

The Japanese government now troubled itself over what to do. The ministers took the
shocking information back to their own ministries and came up with plans on what to
do moving forward.

The government’s anguish continues.

“Where… is here?”

Gra Cabal’s consciousness slowly returned.

The ceiling is white. The bed is white. Even the clothes I’m wearing are white. Have I
finally ascended to paradise?

His consciousness still wasn’t completely clear.

The formal suited-person that approached me a while ago… He said he was with Japan’s
Foreign Affairs…

Since he spoke to him in a polite tone, he unwittingly gave away his identity.

Was I too hasty…?

He regrets it a bit.

With his head in pain, he couldn’t think properly.

“I didn’t get to ask where I was…”

Kachack!

The door opened and in came a woman wearing a white coat. Looking his way, the
woman made a surprised face.

“Are you awake?”

The woman asks him.

At this point, he understood that he had been saved.

To grasp his current situation, he cranked his mind into full gear.
【
】
His memories were slowly starting to come back to him.

He was desperately running away from an enemy that was chasing after them.

Eventually, one of the dragons closed in on where they were.

He couldn’t tell whether the enemy had noticed them or not.

However, the Imperial Army soldiers that were with him concluded that the enemy
had noticed them since it was heading straight for them.

“Your Highness, please run away from here!!! We will draw their attention!!!”

One of the soldiers commits to his duty and climbs on top of the boulder on the rocky
hill. Meanwhile, he ran for his dear life. In the following moment, the sound of
gunshots rang out. In retaliation, the enemy dragon unleashed a fireball, causing a
great explosion.

“Was I… caught in the blast…”

An enormous wall of flame closed in on him, sending him flying. He hit his head on
something and lost consciousness. While his memories weren’t clear, he could
remember some bits of conversation which he had overheard.

“It’s no use!!! The burns are so bad, this field hospital doesn’t have the equipment!!!”

“Not good! Our hospital can only do so much! Only Japan can patch these burns
completely!!!”

The sound of an airplane…

A faint, yet warm comfiness…

And then, the white ceiling…

Gra Cabal’s mind has begun to function normally again.

A woman wearing a white coat enters the room.

“Are you awake?”

A voice asks him.

“Yeah…”

A surprised expression shows up on the woman’s face.

“Doctor! Doctor!”

Eventually, the figure of an old man wearing a white coat appears.

The doctor, perhaps…

Beside the doctor stood several robust men in formal clothing.

“Are you with us?”

“Yeah. What will happen to me?”

“I’m a doctor. The government has placed its trust on me to take care of you. As for
your current condition, there is nothing serious that will threaten your life. I will do
my best to take care of you.”

Cabal’s question held a lot of meaning but the doctor answered him in terms of his
condition.

“Okay. Thanks.”

His entire body is in pain. Although wrapped in bandages, his pain receptors
complained of serious pain.

“So… What do the gentlemen next to you want from me?”

One of the men in suits that kept to the doctor’s side began to speak.

“I am Takada of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I presume you are Sir Gra Cabal,
Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire. Am I correct?”

The man asked to confirm his identity.

I must have said something. Or maybe one of our own that was taken prisoner must have
talked.

At this point, Cabal understood that lying would only serve to disadvantage him, so he
replied honestly.

“Yeah, I am. What of it?”

“The Government of Japan would like you to know more about our country.
Unfortunately, war has begun between our two nations. We would like to talk about
how to end this war and look at measures and policies for the empire to take
afterwards. Don’t you think that it will be more beneficial for the both of us to sustain
only shallow wounds in comparison to ending the war on a peace treaty with
immensely unequal terms against you?”

What the hell is he talking about?

Cabal was shocked at the words that felt too distant from his sense of reality.

The Gra Valkas Empire is a nation that is invincible not only in this new world but in
the previous one as well. The empire’s power comes from how it possesses
overwhelming technological prowess against other countries and how it can mass
produce weapons, battleships, and other weapons of war that capitalize on their
strong production capabilities.

It seems that the so-called Government of Japan has gotten the feeling that they’ll win
over us just because they captured one of our bases.

“How laughable. Such are the words of a fool that does not know of the empire’s true
power. Do you perhaps not know of what happened to this world’s superpower,
Leifor? Or what happened to the Paganda Kingdom? Or what happened to the World
Union Fleet which was even led by what this world calls its strongest? If you are aware
of all of that and yet you continue to spout such nonsense, then you are indeed
foolhardy.”

“Ah, oops… My apologies.”

The Foreign Affairs staff member, speaking with victory as their set policy in mind,
contemplated his rash wording.

“The Gra Valkas Empire is indeed powerful. Having subdued your neighbors and
possessing national power that was clearly above the average for this world’s
superpowers is something that our country has acknowledged. We are truly
impressed by your national power, which has allowed you to take control of Paganda
then lay waste to Leifor and station tens of thousands of modern troops there. In the
connotations of subjugation and governance, the Gra Valkas Empire truly is strong.”

“Naturally.”

Gra Cabal felt good at the fact that his empire was being praised.

Takada continues.

“Still, we want you, the Crown Prince, to know more about our country’s national
power. In your case, you can even call it a good chance to know your enemy. After you
get to know us, maybe you will ponder more on how to approach us and the world.”

“I see… However, before that happens, won’t Japan be reduced to ashes?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The people of the empire admire the imperial family. With that in mind, once they
realize that I, the Crown Prince, was captured by another country, they will throw a fit
that is equivalent to that of a raging fire. There is no doubt that the empire will demand
for my safe handover. In passing, there is no meaning in holding me hostage. The
empire will absolutely never make concessions to anyone who takes hostages and this
is the same even in my case.

In the event that you do not agree to hand me over, our Home Fleet, which is honored
by the empire’s immense production capabilities, will attack your capital in full force.
They’re a force powerful enough to push aside the World Union Fleet that had tried to
stop it. Your capital, Tokyo, will be reduced to ashes.”
Cabal continues.

“Even if you yield to the empire’s demands and hand me back over, the fact that I have
sustained injuries will not change. Our attacks on this world will become all the more
severe and fierce. Until the countries that participated in the counterattack such as Mu
and Japan have surrendered to us, you will be bathed in the flames of our cannons. To
the empire, distance does not matter. No matter how many tens of thousands of
kilometers there are in between our countries, our fleets will readily bridge that
distance.”

“Really, now? So you’re saying that if we do not hand you over, the main force of the
Gra Valkas Imperial Navy will come here?”

“Absolutely. I am the Crown Prince, after all… Our Home Fleet prides itself on
possessing overwhelming numbers which even the Kain Divine Kingdom of our old
world couldn’t resist. No country in this world could possibly go against such power.”

“I am merely a staff member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and so I do not know
what kind of measures the Japanese government will take from this point forward.
However, our orders at this point in time are to restrain you. We currently cannot hand
you over to the Gra Valkas Empire.

Well, I haven’t been able to confirm that part yet but…

I will ask you again. In your judgement, a great fleet will come, yes?”

“Yes, they will. And…”

Even if they hand him back, there is no doubt that they are a country that has
physically wounded someone from the imperial family. There is no doubt that even if
they were to surrender, a massive punitive force will come.

Gra Cabal wanted to say more but he swallowed these words for the sake of his safety.

“I see. In that case, it is all the more better for you to know more about our country.
Once you have been treated, I will serve as your guide. Please take note.”

“Alright. I guess sightseeing in another country seems good.”

Although he has been captured, Crown Prince Gra Cabal’s words and actions are filled
to the brim with confidence.

Office of the Sovereign, Imperial capital Ragna, Gra Valkas Empire

The meeting room was dead silent.

In the presence of the Secretary of the Office of the Sovereign, Kurtz, military officials
including the Three Great Generals, the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and
officials from the Imperial Family Affairs Office, someone was giving an unbelievable
report; one that will shake the empire to the core.

“…and so, our frontline base Valkyries in Leifor has fallen into enemy hands. His
Highness, the Crown Prince Gra Cabal, who was visiting the base at the time, is
believed to have been captured by the enemy.”

The one giving the report sweated profusely as he spoke.

The Secretary of the Office of the Sovereign grew pale and shook endlessly at the
unprecedented situation that someone from the imperial family had been captured.

“Why?! Why couldn’t the military defend the base to the last man?! Isn’t our military
the same military that couldn’t lose to the barbarians of this world?!”

The officials of the Imperial Family Affairs Office lashed out at the military officials.

To protect the imperial family is to be expected, so getting attacked was out of the
question. The mere fact that the Crown Prince was taken prisoner was something that
never should have happened.

“We have done all that we can. Furthermore, due to the danger posed by the possibility
that the frontlines will get overturned by even a small amount of enemy forces, we
have asked the Imperial Family Affairs Office countless times to reconsider the route
that will be taken by the Crown Prince.”

The Imperial Army HQ was 99.9% sure that the base wouldn’t be attacked. A possible
cause would be that the Navy did not divulge the information to the Army that the
Colonial Escort Fleet had been wiped out by the enemy. Finding out that the enemy
may have been aiming for Valkyries all along, the Imperial Family Affairs Office was
set to oppose the Navy on not divulging such important information but has ultimately
decided to keep mum about it.

“Tsk!!! That still doesn’t explain the fact that no matter how many of these barbarians
band together, the base should have held!!! The military has been negligent!!!”

The shifting of blame has begun.

After a brief silence, the previously silent Kurtz has begun to talk.

“His Highness… His Highness has been captured!!! Don’t you understand that?! I’m
sure even the Imperial Family Affairs Office understands the bottomline that the
frontlines are dangerous!!! Even with a meager amount of enemy forces, the frontlines
can be pushed back!!! Why didn’t you stop His Highness from going?!”

The Imperial Family Affairs Office officials that wouldn’t stop lashing out and the
military officials that allowed the counteroffensive to happen all turned pale at Kurtz’s
anger. The Office of the Sovereign held a far higher position than any of them.

“Are you certain that His Highness has been captured?!”

“There is no doubt. Multiple, varying sources are saying the same thing. We also have
unverified information that His Highness has suffered severe burns and was sent to
Japan for medical attention.”

“What?! His Highness has suffered severe burns?!”

Everyone in the room trembled in anger at the fact that the empire had been dealt a
humiliating attack.

“Well then, what do we do about it?”

The Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry raised their hand at Kurtz’s question.

“If it is true that His Highness is being held by Japan, we will promptly contact them,
verify his condition, and then order for His Highness’s transfer.”

“And what if they don’t agree to transferring him to us?”

It is already well understood by everyone that the empire will never respond to a
hostage situation. This is a principle that the empire has abided by and will continue
to abide by even if His Highness, the Emperor, was captured. However, Kurtz still asked
to verify if this was indeed the case even with the unheard of situation that the Crown
Prince was the one that was captured.

He continues.

“Many barbaric countries in this world do not understand the power that they wield.
Normally, we would remind them of their place with the staggering disparity in our
combat capacities.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Besides the officials from the Navy, no one knew of the true, frightening capabilities of
the Japanese military.

Someone from the military makes a statement.

“We will intimidate them with our military and get them to guarantee His Highness’s
safety. If they don’t agree to this, we will have the Navy sortie in full force against
Japan… and reduce their capital to ashes.”

Japan is powerful. The Navy thinks so at the very least. It’s been getting harder to tell
whether this analysis is on point. First, there was the annihilation of the Colonial
Escort Fleet Ishtam, then the interception of the invasion force escorted by Antares
fighters, then the complete wipeout of the 4th Division, the empire’s strongest and
sole mechanized division. Finally, there was the capitulation of the Imperial Army’s
Valkyries base.

Before these info had been gathered, it was thought that the Holy Mirishial Empire
was the sole hindrance to their plans, but the tone in the upper echelons of the military
has drifted to assuming that Japan is the true enemy to look out for.

However, investigations have still made it clear that the number of warships at their
disposal is exceedingly small.

Stating that it is difficult to work out a plan against Japan due to their power in front
of the other officials is something that will never be accepted.

Still, no matter how powerful they may be, ammunition is finite. With the Gra Valkas
Empire’s overwhelming number of ships in their arsenal, they can sweep away the
insolent and numerically challenged Japanese military and attack their capital en
masse. The military officials believed that it was still possible even with a slight
disparity in weapons performance.

“After the clash with the World Union, we have already ordered for the increase in
production of warships, so there are no objections in our combat capabilities.

At any rate, we must bring home His Highness from Japan!! We absolutely must!!!”

The Secretary looks over to the Three Great Generals.

“Sir, yes, sir!!! We will definitely bring His Highness back!!!”

The empire’s plan of action has been set.

The Gra Valkas Empire’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has promptly sprung into action.

Japanese embassy, Capital Otaheit, Superpower Mu, Second Civilization Area

A clear, blue sky unraveled above them with a faint, dry, and refreshing wind blowing
across the city. Birds were chirping as everyone’s peaceful day-to-day life began.

Asada, who was coming in to work a bit early, brings a mug of morning coffee to his
lips. With little to find off about the flavor, it was great. He peruses through a Mu
newspaper.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.”

His subordinate, who had come in earlier than he did, was preparing to start the day’s
work.

“The war has begun in earnest, huh. I guess Foreign Affairs will be taking the backseat
for this one.”

“Huh… I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a bad hunch; the kind of hunch that
says “bye-bye days off”…”

“Please stop! With you getting all intuitive after moving across so many countries in
this world, I’m starting to think you’re on point with this one!

Your hunch that our vacation days will just poof hits too close to home. Are you
perhaps some sort of wizard?”

“Yeah, and I must have learned how to use magic!”

Jokes aside, his subordinate boots up their computer and checks their mail.

“Uhh…”

Upon looking at the inbox, the subordinate froze.

“Are you kidding me…”

He talks to himself.

“What’s wrong?”

“They sent out an urgent directive. It seems that we have captured the Gra Valkas
Empire’s Crown Prince, Gra Cabal, and he is now a POW. This seems to have happened
more than a month ago, but since they took the time to treat his medical conditions
and verify his identity, the directive only seems to have been sent to us now. Since the
empire may try to contact us, they have approved sending us details later so that we
can report back soon.”

Asada held his head.

“The Crown Prince… If it’s someone from the imperial family, they will naturally try to
reach out.”

The telephone on his desk rings out.

Another bad hunch.

“Yes, this is Asada.”

“We have received an urgent message from Mu. A single battleship from the Gra Valkas
Empire flying a wartime diplomatic flag is making its way north along Mu’s eastern
seaboard. They think that it is the Grade Atlastar. Since it seems to be heading for the
capital, not to mention that it is flying a wartime diplomatic flag, the Mu National Navy
is scheduled to make contact with them 100km off the coast.

Their diplomats have stated that Mu will have them escorted to the capital, else they
will sink the escorts.”

“A wartime diplomatic flag… As expected of this world… I’ll keep in touch with Mu and
figure out what the empire wants.

Crap. I guess things will get a lot more busy.”

Asada drinks up all of the morning coffee left and proceeds to get on with work.

Several hours later…

“Ambassador Asada!!!”

His subordinate, having been given a message by Mu, calls him with a loud voice.

Although feeling a bit irritated, Asada looks in his direction.

“It’s a message from Mu! On board the Grade Atlastar are Gra Valkas Empire
ambassadors and the goal of their visit is to see Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs!!!”

“Huh?”

They broke the ice by boarding a battleship towards the capital of Mu. It is truly
astonishing, but it makes sense that in the current state of war in between the two
countries, the embassy at Mu serves as their diplomatic window.

“So it’s my job, then…”

Resolving himself that things will get even more busy, Asada arranged to have the Gra
Valkas Empire ambassadors come to the Japanese embassy.
A colossal warship never before seen in this world advances through the sea. It makes
its staggering presence known as it parts the waves. It single handedly laid waste to
Leifor and sent countless enemies to the depths of the ocean.

This battleship from another world, which has sent even the aerial battleship of the
ancient sorcerous empire under possession of the Holy Mirishial Empire to the depths,
has since become a living legend and has become the epitome of terror in the hearts
of the people of this world. The battleship is the Grade Atlastar, the Gra Valkas
Empire’s largest and strongest battleship.

On board the deck of this colossal warship were men in formal suits looking across
the ocean.

“We’d be landing in Mu in a while…”

Diplomat Dallas looked across the ocean as he reminisced. He was given the big task
to have Japan hand them back the Crown Prince safely.

They have ordered Japan to approach them via their Foreign Affairs sub-branch in
Leifor, but the Japanese government simply replied with a notice saying “If you have
something you want to talk about, then come to us”. It was a blatant disrespect to the
empire.

His anger towards Japan and the painful reality that a part of the military had lost
mixed up in his heart, giving him complicated feelings.

The ship eventually came to a stop and was greeted by a small Mu ship. After informing
them concisely of our purpose, an agreement to see the Japanese ambassador was
secured.

Boarding the small ship, they were then ferried into the capital, Otaheit. It wasn’t as
developed as the cities in the empire, but there was a sense of history and cleanliness.
The cars that ran along the roads had an old sense of fashion and performance.
“They are truly behind us by 50 years.”

Dallas looked outside the car window towards the Japanese embassy. With the sight
of people happily walking by, it felt as if time passes by more leisurely than it does in
the empire.

“I swear we’ll subjugate Mu and have those foolish smiles on your faces turned to
sorrow!”

Dallas muttered to himself.

A white building eventually came into view. A white flag with a red circle on its center
fluttered in the wind above the building.

“So we’ve come… How dare they capture His Highness… I will never forgive you…”

He glared at the Japanese embassy with hostile intent.

Finally, the doors of the Japanese embassy were opened and the ambassadors were
guided inside.

Japanese embassy, Capital Otaheit, Superpower Mu, Second Civilization Area

8 men were seated in a conference room.

On one side were Asada, responsible for interactions with the Gra Valkas Empire,
Mizono, responsible for interactions with Mu, and their subordinates. On the other
side were Parguerre, Undersecretary of the Gra Valkas Empire Foreign Affairs Ministry,
ambassador Dallas, and their subordinates.

The ones on the Imperial side had sharp expressions and a tingling atmosphere. Asada
found that the woman who had an impressionable aura was not among them.

“Hm? Cielia couldn’t come this time around?”

“Cielia has other duties. I, the undersecretary Parguerre, and Dallas, the one in charge
of you, have come.”
With the young executive diplomat Cielia searching for Gra Cabal’s whereabouts, she
was busy coordinating with multiple government agencies and countries, and so she
couldn’t participate in the big task of notifying Japan. Still, the Crown Prince’s life was
staked on this big task. If they screw up and have him get executed, it would become
horrendously scandalous. Unable to simply leave the task to the one in charge, the
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary came along.

Asada felt a bit restless at the wording used that was meant for ambassadors towards
other countries. Parguerre was a bit short, around 160cm, had a receding hairline, and
had a gentle aura around him.

“Okay…”

With the unexpected appearance of the undersecretary, the ardor behind the
negotiations at hand seemed genuine and there was no doubt that they had come to
negotiate the return of the Crown Prince.

Undersecretary Parguerre slowly began to speak.

“Is Japan in custody of His Highness, Gra Cabal?”

“In custody? That isn’t true.”

“So, you are not in custody of His Highness?”

“He is a non-combatant. Having been caught up in the operation to recapture Valkyries

and sustaining injuries, we have been contacted to treat him. Since he couldn’t be
saved without our medical technology, he has been transferred to us.”

“I see, so the fact that he is in Japan isn’t wrong?”

Parguerre moved in to verify.

It was completely silent for a moment.

“Yes. Your Crown Prince is being treated in our country.”

Parguerre’s expression changes.

“Okay, then I will command you. With haste, hand back His Highness to us safely.”
The look in his eyes sharpened. With what felt like a killing stare and a threatening
voice, the atmosphere in the room immediately worsened.

“He is currently being treated. Since he is a non-combatant and there are health
considerations with being a patient, we cannot hand him over in the meantime.”

“Our medical care is superb. There is no need for your medical attention. This is an
order. You are to hand him over, now.”

“Though you may be an enemy country, are you perhaps taking a commanding tone in
a diplomatic situation?”

In diplomacy, showing respect for the other party is key. Though they may be enemies,
the undersecretary of the Gra Valkas Empire Foreign Affairs Ministry that has taken a
commanding tone is far higher in rank than they are, but they aren’t subject to him as
they are under different countries.

Asada takes a slight, provocative stance.

“We are the Gra Valkas Empire. I heard that Japan is also a transfer nation, but you are
merely a minor country in the east with little holdings to show for. The exact opposite
of the empire. Since you have captured His Highness, our great armies will move
extremely swiftly. We are currently in a state of war, but due to your distance, your
country has been put off for later due to strategic reasons. It is laughably simple to get
rid of your country had it been our priority.”

Asada’s discomfort elevated.

“The Government of Japan intends to keep the Crown Prince in Japan for a while after
his treatment. After a certain period of time, this matter will be up for negotiations
once again.”

Pargeurre’s expression further worsens.

“Keeping His Highness hostage… Do you understand the implications of such an act?!
A minor country… A country as insignificant as goldfish shit whose actions are
irrational for not joining the World Union… A weak country that cannot even vassalize
its enemies… Understand the implications of you taking into custody His Highness!!!”

“How foulmouthed. The peak of impoliteness. It would be better for your country to
learn a bit of manners before talking to us.”

“Asshole! Do you not get it? Do you not hear what you’re saying as the representative
of Japan in front of someone who wields considerable influence in the empire’s
decision making? Depending on how you answer, we will reduce Tokyo to ashes.”

Asada raises an eyebrow.

“Hmm… So you intend to use nukes in Tokyo?”

“New-ks…?”

There weren’t any particular reactions to the word nuke.

Thinking they may not know what it means, Asada changes his wording.

“My bad. I meant to say, “Do you intend to attack Tokyo in force?””

“Depending on how you answer, a great fleet will fill the shores of Tokyo. The distance
between us will not hinder our invasion. Seriously speaking, the empire doesn’t care
about distance. There will be a powerful great fleet, boasting immense numbers you
have never seen before, raining shell after shell on Tokyo. It will be completely
different from the single-ship attack experienced by Leiforia, the capital of Leifor.”

He spoke as if he were well versed in it.

Asada understood that Japan possessed overwhelmingly powerful military technology

against their Gra Valkas Empire peers, but…

Do we have enough ammo?

He feels a faint anxiety from what is happening. Still, he must properly convey the
government’s intentions.

“Our will will not change. At this point in time, we cannot hand him over. We will see
after some time has passed since his treatment. Ultimately, we have the say over this
matter, not you.”

“Do you mean to say you are holding His Highness hostage?”
“No. He is not a hostage. He is also a non-combatant. As long as he does not commit
any crime, we can guarantee his safety.”

“That’s the same thing! If you will not hand him over or clarify the time when you will
hand him over, we will bury you in the ferocious flames of war. Are you sure about this?!”

“Our will does not change.”

“Are you fucking sure?! The one you’re keeping in custody is His Highness!!! The one
next in line to the throne!!! Do you not fucking get what that means?!”

A shout reverberates across the conference room.

“If anything happens to His Highness… You would be incurring the raging wrath of His
Highness, the Emperor!!! He will not settle for your surrender! He will not even settle
for terms that will have your entire population enslaved!!! Know that your words
could mean the doom of your people!!!”

Asada didn’t flinch.

“Let me reiterate. Our will does not change.”

Silence.

Parguerre then clears the silence with a low, threatening voice.

“I see. You have just ordered the execution of your citizens. There is nothing more to
say!!!”

The negotiations broke down.

The Undersecretary of the Gra Valkas Empire Foreign Affairs Ministry requested the
military to commence an all-out attack on the country of Japan.

High-end traditional restaurant Miltcomo, Imperial capital Ragna, Gra Valkas

Empire

Two men were talking with one another.

“And so begins Japan’s end. Thanks to the idiot Crown Prince going to the frontlines in
the name of justice, the arms industry is swimming in money. Hey, El Chilgo, they’re
really gonna go all out now, aren’t they?”

The man in formal wear called El Chilgo smiled in a vile manner.

“It will be scandalous if word gets out that you are bad mouthing His Highness, Mr.
Undersecretary of the Office of the Sovereign. You better take care now.”

“Ah. My bad. Anyways, you said that you’re getting a lot of money?”

An expression of greed appears on his face.

“Indeed. To you goes my long lasting gratitude. Because of your considerations, Mr.
Oldeika, Karslein Co. has been brimming to the top with orders.”

The Gra Valkas Empire has entered its wartime mode. With the world as its enemy and
a grand invasion of the eastern ends planned, their mass production has kicked into
gears it has never used before. Karslein Co. used to have been at a disadvantage against
its competitors in terms of technology, but with Oldeika, the Undersecretary of the
Office of the Sovereign, leaking to them the go-betweens of the orders and the
estimated price of the bids, they were now getting rich.

El Chilgo of Karslein Co. bowed deeply to Arsen, the Secretary of the Office of the
Sovereign.

“With the mass production of shells and even warships, it is no stretch to say that we
have entered general mobilization. That’s just how much Cabal’s capture means to this
country. Well, there were means to forcefully block the imperial family from going to
places with imminent danger. There were cases where they were stopped by the
authority of the Office of the Sovereign, and while there were some who did try to stop
him this time, I just had them taken care of.

And the end result: empire-wide general mobilization and your… enrichment, as a
pleasant side effect. Speaking of which, do you have any proof that you are indeed
swimming in money?”

“Forgive me, Mr. Oldeika. Where are my manners! I will provide proof this instant. This
isn’t thanks, but I think these are sweets that you may absolutely love. Please take it.”
Something wrapped in paper placed on a tray was placed in front of Oldeika. He tore
open the paper wrapping. Inside the paper wrapper were banknotes of the Gra Valkas
Empire’s highest denomination of currency.

His face softened.

“This is just a mere manifestation of our feelings. Eventually, I will have a truckload
carrying a hundredfold of what we have here sent to you.”

Even if he were to mess about his entire life, this was a sum of money that he could
not completely use up.

“Hohoho… Am I being demanded of something?”

“No, no! Gracious, no! This is just our mere feelings. Even if you were to request it, we
would never ask for anything in return. By the way, Mr. Oldeika, regarding the 3rd
order…”

“I get it! I get it! Hohoho… Still, El Chilgo, you too are a pretty malicious character
yourself!”

“Not as malicious as you, Mr. Oldeika!”

“Hahahaha!”

In the darkness that crawled beneath the empire, some people welcomed the grand
invasion with open arms.

Castle Albion, Imperial capital Runepolis, Holy Mirishial Empire

In the imperial castle of Albion in the Holy Mirishial Empire, a meeting before the
Emperor was being held.

Lined up along the seats of an elliptical table with Emperor Mirishial VIII at one end
were Peclas, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arneus, Director of the empire’s Intelligence
Bureau, Harkon, Secretary of the Imperial Ministry of Countermeasures Against the
Ancient Sorcerous Empire, Schmill Pao, Minister of Military Affairs, Agra, Director of
National Defense, and several other green military officials.
They were reporting on the results of the skirmishes between the Gra Valkas Empire
and the Second Civilization allied forces and the recent movements of the Gra Valkas
Empire. Everyone was silent while they read through the summary documents.

“Well then, is it true that the combined forces of the Second Civilization Area and Japan
have destroyed the enemy mechanized division, successfully secured the empire’s
frontline base Valkyries, and then captured the enemy Crown Prince, Gra Cabal?”

Foreign Affairs Minister, Peclas, asked the Intelligence Bureau Director, Arneus.

“It is as written. The enemy mechanized division was destroyed by an attack from
Japan, and with the Japanese air force securing air superiority, they followed up with
airstrikes on the base, reducing it to a point where it could not retaliate and allowing
the Second Civilization Area forces to converge all their forces to wrestle control of the
base.

At that point of time, whether by coincidence or not, the enemy Crown Prince was
present in the base. Getting caught up in the fighting and suffering injuries, which Mu’s
medical tech couldn’t reliably treat, he was then sent to Japan.”

Leading the World Union, they have once tried to strike back against the Gra Valkas
Empire. Taking extra precautions, they have even deployed the aerial battleships of
the ancient sorcerous empire. However, the result of the clash ended in a draw,
exacerbated by the disgrace of having one of the aerial battleships getting shot down
and sunk. It is not an exaggeration to say that the operation has caused the Holy
Mirishial Empire to fall from its position as a unifying force.

In the midst of this shame, they received word that the enemy base had been captured.

In what should have been a call of triumph for the Holy Mirishial Empire, a difficult
and delicate atmosphere enveloped them instead, being excluded from the great
results of the operation.

“The Intelligence Bureau has managed to acquire more information.”

A paper with a red seal stamped to the upper right was distributed to everyone. It was
a sign that the information is of the utmost secrecy and required no further
explanation. It couldn’t be copied by magical duplication and it won’t be reflected on
magical photographs. Time-sensitive disappearing ink was also used.
“The Gra Valkas Empire has demanded Japan to hand over the Crown Prince, but the
government of Japan has refused to do so. One of our investigators embedded in Leifor
has learned that, in the name of punishment, the Gra Valkas Empire has decided to
commence a grand-scale attack on the Japanese capital. Furthermore, due to the
unprecedented situation that their Crown Prince was captured, the scale of the fleet
being sent far exceeds the amount of ships in the fleet that clashed with the World
Union.”

They were all silent due to shock.

The enemy possessed that much firepower tucked away in their homeland.

“Japan sure has some nerves. What cocksure confidence…”

“Still, the number that they’re gonna send is too much, isn’t it? Japan’s main force of
ships doesn’t even hit the hundreds, right? When they sunk the enemy Home Fleet
that aimed for Mu’s capital, I recall that there weren’t even many ships to contest, let
alone the presence of battleships in the enemy fleet.”

“According to the analysis of the military, they may be able to inflict a certain level of
damage against the Gra Valkas Empire fleet, but they won’t be able to stop them
completely, resulting in the shelling of cities in their mainland. Still, the damage the
empire will inflict will change depending on which city they aim for…”

The place erupted in hushes.

Mirishial VIII raises his hand, quieting the meeting room.

“We shall wait and see what becomes of the enemy invasion. Naturally, once we verify
that an invasion will happen, we will inform Japan. After knowing that their cities are
at stake, they too will naturally get serious. Up to this point, we have reacted just like
everyone else. However, we as a country cannot afford to sit still. Once they shell Japan
and run out of ammunition, we will flawlessly rain down on their fleet. By then, we
will have secured a grand victory.”

The Emperor’s words were heavy.

Everyone prostrated themselves before His Excellency.

With the enemy’s invasion and return routes still unclear, attacking them will be
challenging, forcing them to make some predictions and conduct surveillance, further
complicating the nature of their battle plan.

Despite this, the military officials simply swallowed their words.

The Holy Mirishial Empire has decided to watch how the Gra Valkas Empire’s grand
invasion unfolds.

Intelligence Bureau’s technology department, Gra Valkas Empire

“I-is it true?! We don’t even know the weapons used by their main force, yet we have
already commenced our invasion?!”

Tech officer Naguano doubts what he heard from his boss.

“It may have started in earnest but this is simply just air bombings by the Navy Air
Corps and the shelling and destruction of enemy cities by naval bombardment. A land
invasion is obviously difficult given the circumstances.”

“I know that. Still, our information on the Japanese military is only as good as one
magazine, and with an actual invasion, we could suffer great casualties!!!”

They once got their hands on a Japanese book called Treasure Continent. If the
performance of Japanese weapons detailed in the book were true, they would be dealt
a serious blow. His head writhes in pain as he worries over the fact that they are
moving in earnest despite such dangerous red flags.

“The capture of the Crown Prince is an even bigger problem than the casualties we’d
suffer. This is also the will of His Highness, the Emperor. The military would naturally
go all out. It cannot be helped that all of this has been set in stone already. In the
meantime, we are currently looking for duties which only the Intelligence Bureau do.”

“What the hell… In that case, are we really ready to suffer the consequences?”

“At any rate, the distance that will be covered by this operation is humongous. It seems
that for that fact, they are resolute, even upon suffering casualties…”

It was exceedingly difficult to tell whether they could do anything. Even with just a
certain level of damage sustained, it will still amount to a tremendous amount of
assets lost.

“There must be something we could… Ah!”

“What?”

“I don’t know how to tell you but there is a way!! There is!!! We may be able to lessen
the damage they inflict!!!”

“Well then, compile all the necessary documents by tomorrow!”

“Understood!!!”

Tech officer Naguano switched his head into overdrive for the sake of his country.
Namba, Osaka, Japan

To experience the local cities of Japan, Gra Cabal, Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas
Empire, visited Osaka’s Namba district accompanied by Japanese guides. Despite
feeling quite disgusted by the enormous number of people, the large circular spinning
steel structure called a ferris wheel, the seemingly unorganized yet natural townscape,
and the unending subway lines, Gra Cabal showed an interest in the national power of
this enemy country.

“Huh… Japan has done quite well for itself.”

He was particularly surprised by the existence of a subway. Commuter transport in

the Imperial capital relied primarily on tramcars with underground railways still a
concept.

“Something caught your eye?”

“I don’t really hate this downtown-ish aura… Oh? Can I try some of that?”

Cabal was pointing at a kushikatsu1 shop. It looked like a venerable kushikatsu shop
that was established in the late 1920s.

They lined up along with commoners. Well built and taller than the average Japanese,
Cabal stood out in line. However, with the likes of elves and dwarves becoming very
common since the transfer, the Japanese had come to see many other sorts of species.
A foreigner-ish face like Cabal wasn’t a curious case any longer and he didn’t attract
much attention.

Cabal was then able to get his hands on an ice-cold alcoholic beverage called beer and
the kushikatsu that had caught his eye just before. He chugged down on the beer.

“This is fantastic!!! I don’t usually get to consume this sort of commoner taste! Ah, hell.
If it weren’t for these burns, I would have been stuck with the food back home. The
food served in the hospital must have been commoner food too, but the taste was so
bleak that I can’t even bring myself to say that they’re great even if I were to be polite!”

Cabal nodded as he satisfyingly ate and drank.

He was convinced that Japan was a lot more well off than other countries.

In the end, however, superiority in military power determines everything. He felt

disappointed at the prospect that such delicious and tasty food will have to be lost
when they invade, but it was something that cannot be helped.

Leaving the store, he then got his hands on food called takoyaki2. The great flavoring
of the sauce, the sweetness of the mayonnaise, and the faint fragrance of dried green
seaweed. Matching together in subtle yet superb fashion, it was overwhelmingly
delicious.

“This takoyaki thing… Surely it doesn’t have to be an octopus all the time, right?”

Going through the list, he found that their sausages, meat, and noodles were also
fantastic. He gave his frank impressions on each food item while savoring the great
taste. After some time, his sightseeing in Osaka had come to an end.

“Moving forward, we will now go see the capital of Japan, Tokyo.”

Their next stop would be Tokyo.

“The capital, huh. How far is it from here?”

“Around 500 kilometers.”

“I see. I guess we will be going by plane. I am looking forward to what sort of aircraft
Japan has.”

“Not necessarily. We will be heading to Tokyo by train, particularly the Shinkansen.”

Cabal felt slightly horrified by the guide’s words. He didn’t like the idea of taking a
train to traverse 500km. It would simply take too much time.

“Won’t it take more than 6 hours by train? Isn’t there an airfield nearby? What a
blunder in your city planning!”
“Tokyo is roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes by Shinkansen. Although we will also stop
at stations along the way, it’s not a problem. The bullet trains run at around 285km/h.”

Thinking he heard it wrong, Cabal clarifies.

“What was that? This train runs at more than 280km/h?”

“Indeed.”

He heard it correctly.

However, the faster a train goes, the higher the risk that it will derail.

“How many derailment accidents does this high-speed train get in a year?”

“It has been around 54 years since the Shinkansen was established but there hasn’t
been a single death brought about by a bullet train in that time. As for derailment, the
Shinkansen has derailed only twice while in operation. Both were due to earthquakes.”

“Preposterous! One way or another, the risk of derailment goes higher the faster a
train goes. It is not possible for a train running at that speed to not derail. Are you
saying that the wheels and tracks of these trains are that smooth?”

“The primary cause of high-speed derailment is vibration. Pursuing the smoothness

of the tracks or wheels does not solve the problem but if one were to resolve the
problem of vibration, derailment is much more unlikely to occur.”

“What?”

Speeding up trains is an urgent matter even in the Gra Valkas Empire. However,
without the control technology and derailment accidents already occur occasionally,
simply speeding up trains would just cause hundreds of deaths. Since no railway
engineer in the empire had determined that vibration is the cause, Cabal felt speechless
at the possibility that they may have already found the cause for the unexplainable
derailments.

If what the guide is saying is true, then Japan may have the upper hand in railway tech.

His pride creaked a bit.

“Enough of that. Why don’t we go then?”

Entrusting himself to his guides, Gra Cabal made his way to the capital of Japan, Tokyo.

Embarking on a train called the Nozomi3 from Shin-Osaka station, they made their way
east to Tokyo. The coffee placed on his table didn’t shake nor spill and the ride felt
abnormally comfortable.

Astonished by the exceedingly fast, overland speed of 285km/h, the materials that
composed everything, and the electronic noticeboard on top of the aisle, Cabal
recognized that these techs are beyond what the empire can do and felt a little bit
impatient at what the capital had in store.

Recalling his experiences in Osaka, there were TVs that were so flat that he barely
recognized them, their so-called asphalt pavement had little to no wear, and the traffic
lights weren’t bulky. In just those areas, the empire was behind.

On the other hand, if there was one thing the empire had done well in, it would be the
height at which their buildings stand.

The empire’s architectural technology was second to none. Thinking that they were
ahead in that arena, he looked at the buildings that unfolded outside his window and
was blown away.

Tokyo Skytree, Sumida District, Tokyo, Japan

“Wha… Wha… What is this…?”

Gra Cabal was looking up at the Tokyo Skytree from the ground. His legs shook at the
sight. The highrise buildings that cluttered around it were also exceptionally tall.

However, the Skytree still overwhelmingly dwarfed them. It was an inorganic

structure that seemingly budded from the ground and has touched the heavens. Even
his own sense of perception and depth had gone numb at the extreme height of the
tower that stood at 634m. At that point, anything that the empire has that reaches
634m are none other than mountains.
“Bullshit!! Are you telling me that this is manmade?!”

Cabal, who has a bit of knowledge in architectural engineering, felt a great terror at
the building’s height, the materials that went into its construction, and the economic
might that managed to prop it up in the first place.

They headed up to the observation deck.

He cannot help but feel the greatness of national power on the journey up. The
elevator moved at high speeds and the LCD screen showed unbelievable fluidity and
color. Everything felt so futuristic. His feelings were reinforced when they arrived at
the observation deck. From the midair hallway, he cast an astonished look at the
concrete city that sprawled out unendingly as far as the eye can see with the
occasional high-rise buildings that interrupt the sea of buildings.

As the guides indifferently continued on with their tour, Cabal followed them from
behind.

The Japanese cities far surpass the level at which we have and are able to build our own.

Cabal could not stop thinking of this thought.

In the event that their military tech, too, far surpasses their own, the empire is
doomed. Gra Cabal was determined to know more about Japan.

The next day, Hyakuri Air Base

At one of the rooms in Hyakuri Air Base, Gra Cabal was being shown a movie on the
summary of the Self Defense Force’s weapons. Gra Cabal stared intently at the display
as if he were to pounce on it.

Japan’s history was shown first.

The video began with the forceful opening of the country from its isolationism.
Western superpowers had long encroached on Asia, colonizing most of its peoples and
nations. And then war broke out between Russia and Japan… The video showed
human-wave tactics and the Japanese victory at the Battle of Tsushima. Securing a
narrow victory against a Western power, they have shown the rest of the continent
that there is hope against the West.

Eventually, footage of the Second World War played out.

An endless barrage of anti-aircraft gunfire swept across the skies, detonating midair
and showing the proximity fuzes at work. It seemed like a movie shot from one of the
empire’s aircraft carrier task forces.

A single plane penetrated the wall of fire.

Its airframe resembled that of the Antares fighter. As the sound of its engines grew
higher due to the Doppler effect as it closed in, the aircraft showed no signs of raising
its nose.

“Ah!”

The plane never raised its nose. It would slam into the aircraft carrier, triggering an
explosion followed by a massive column of flame.

The pilot was determined to die.

An unbelievable mental capacity to carry out a similarly overwhelmingly strong will.

It was an attack that conveyed one’s staggeringly intense volition.

A suicide attack… Gra Cabal couldn’t bring himself to accept such tactics.

The movie played on to show planes slam into aircraft carriers one after another.

Eventually, the scenes changed to that of a torrent of bombs falling upon a town. Below
the footage were the words Great Tokyo Air Raid written in the Gra Valkas Empire’s
language.

Then, the movie wraps up.

“So Japan has also lived through a bloody history…”

“Indeed. With the defeat in the war that had left most of our homeland in flames, it
seemed that at that time, Japan had lost everything. However, the survivors would put
all of their effort into rebuilding. After the war, Japan achieved rapid reconstruction.
Well then, we will now provide a summary on the weapons our country uses.”
The display on the screen changed and the exposition of modern Japanese weaponry
started. One of the first weapons that were shown is a guided munition called a missile,
a foul weapon that follows its target even if it tries to move away. In particular, there
exists a kind of missile called an anti-ship missile that flies at ultralow altitudes to
escape radar, has an accuracy of nearly 100% and has a range that far exceeds naval
artillery, and a single missile has enough power to sufficiently damage a cruiser.

Footage of a target ship getting hit was shown. The explosion left a massive break in
the large ship’s hull.

The disparity in technology far exceeded his imagination. Drops of sweat formed on
Gra Cabal’s forehead.

“A-are these… things… true…”

“Yes. Of course.”

“I-if… such weapons were made real…”

If such weapons were made real, the landscape of war would no doubt change in an
instant.

Cabal swallowed his words.

If Japan were indeed in possession of massive quantities of these missiles, it would be

extremely horrible.

“Also, since we have received confirmation that the Gra Valkas Empire has ambitions
to launch an attack on the Japanese mainland, the Japanese government has directed
every heavy industry to mass produce all sorts of missiles. As for Japan’s production
facilities…”

An explanation on the scale of manufacturing and production started.

He didn’t understand the numbers behind it all, but he was still able to understand
that their manufacturing capabilities are by no means inferior to the empire. He could
no longer hope that they’d run out of missiles.

“Moving forward, we will be showing you what kind of fighters our country utilizes.
Please proceed to the exterior of the building.”
Following the guide, Cabal ascended to the roofdeck of the building and looked at the
runway. At the end of the runway were two planes that didn’t have any propellers.

“They will now take off.”

After a high-pitched shrill, the sound of something that seemed like an explosion
echoed across the base. Two jets of flame were produced from the back of the fighters
on the runway as they sped up. Their speed had already far surpassed an Antares
fighter’s by the time they raised their nose, climbing up at high speeds.

Whooooooooosh

A thunderclap reverberated. The fighters that had risen at unbelievable speeds

climbed further away until they disappeared from sight.

“Wha… Wha… No…”

The very dimension at which it travels is far too different. If Imperial Antares fighters
were to try to duke it out with one of these fighters, they would be completely shaken
off. Before long, cold sweat gushed out from every pore on Gra Cabal’s body. He faintly
trembled at the stark disparity in their military strength.

Fuck! This is far worse than the worst outcome that I’ve been expecting! If nothing
changes, the empire will commence a large-scale assault on Japan! If they do wipe out
the fleet, they’d give the Holy Mirishial Empire an opening to exploit! If we perhaps
devote ourselves to defense, we should be able to survive since the Japanese army is
pitifully small… Argh! There’s no way to phone home!!!

He wondered why Japan’s power has gone awfully unnoticed.

The Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, decided to pursue negotiations
with Japan to save his home.

Kingdom of Riem, Third Civilization Area

At the Kingdom of Riem in the Third Civilization Area, a meeting in the presence of the
king is being held.
General Rival of the Army Under Direct Control of the King has concluded his
announcement of the war situation.

“So what you’re saying, Rival, is that once the Gra Valkas Empire has subjugated the
Holy Mirishial Empire, they will move on to take the Third Civilization Sphere… It is
sufficient to say that their strength is far better than that of Japan.”

“Yes! The results of the comparison of the firepower of both countries’ ships is that
the battleships of the Gra Valkas Empire possess overwhelmingly advantageous gun
calibers with firepower being proportional to the cube of the caliber. From this same
matter we have deduced that the Gra Valkas Empire is a far more dangerous threat!

Furthermore, regarding the defensive capabilities of their ships, their power to mass
produce them, as well as the number of ships in their possession, the Gra Valkas
Empire comes out on top. The speed of their ships are also almost the same. The Gra
Valkas Empire also possesses several aircraft carriers while Japan doesn’t.

In a battle at sea, Japan cannot be victorious over the Gra Valkas Empire. We could also
say the same thing in land warfare. There isn’t that much of a disparity in the equipment
of their foot soldiers and both countries possess vehicles called tanks.”

“Is this analysis correct, Rival? This Japan is the same country that swept over the
Parpaldia Empire like it was nothing. I also heard that Japan’s escort ships have
pulverized an Imperial fleet off Mu. This information is important to how we manage
the country and making a mistake in the analysis is no laughing matter.”

“Your Highness, I am certain. Regarding what happened at Mu, Mu’s aircraft have
taken part in the attack. I am certain there. At this rate, the Gra Valkas Empire too will
sweep the Holy Mirishial Empire like it was nothing and the now weakened Parpaldia
Empire will be completely wiped off the map. If we let this opportunity go by, we will
be snuffed out with the rest of the Third Civilization Area. We have to act now.”

“Hmm…”

The King pondered.

A delegation from the Gra Valkas Empire that visited the Kingdom of Riem the
previous week discussed a plot of land that faced the sea, an important asset to a
landlocked country. They were ordered to hand over the rights to utilize the land. They
also demanded to surrender to them the airfield utilized by Mu.
This plot of land was maintained as a port facility by the Kingdom of Riem for the
tankers they have bought from Japan for ocean transportation. The Gra Valkas Empire
intends to utilize the port as a resupply base.

“It’s for our attack on Japan.”

He remembers the Gra Valkas Empire delegation saying that plainly.

If he were to give in to their demands, not only will they lose their diplomatic relations
with the second strongest superpower Mu but also with Japan, the country that had
easily toppled the Parpaldia Empire.

However, there was no denying that the Gra Valkas Empire was also strong.

Subjugating the countries surrounding them in the blink of an eye and conquering
even the civilized Paganda Kingdom in a short amount of time, they sent a single ship
to lay waste to the superpower Leifor. Their legendary strength knows no bounds,
enabling them to even strike the world’s strongest country, the Holy Mirishial Empire.

The enraged empire led the World Union Fleet to annihilate the Gra Valkas Empire
fleet off Leifor and was even adamant enough to send the aerial battleships of the
ancient sorcerous empire. However, the clash seemed to have ended in a draw. The
superweapons of the ancient sorcerous empire were things they cannot make. With
that in mind, it was virtually a victory for the Gra Valkas Empire.

With the threat ever looming, it was exceedingly difficult to decide which direction to
steer the kingdom in.

“Rival… The empire has promised… not to interfere in my… in the royal family’s rule
once we allowed them the use of the port and the airfield, along with the expulsion of
Mu diplomats. Right?”

“Yes! There is no doubt that the Gra Valkas Empire recognizes the Kingdom of Riem as
a special case.”

The King shuts his eyes.

If he refuses, they would probably be thrown under the bus.

However, if they comply, they’d incur the wrath of the Second Civilization Area
superpowers, Japan, and maybe even the Holy Mirishial Empire.

The King opens his eyes.

“I hereby recognize the rights of the Gra Valkas Empire to utilize the port.
Furthermore, I order the expulsion of Mu’s diplomats and the freezing of Mu’s and
Japan’s assets. I will also order the airfield to be handed over to the Gra Valkas Empire.”

The meeting room filled with hushes.

The King continues.

“Even if Japan were to come and ask why, do not give them a clear answer. Let them
know that our kingdom has no volition to attack them. By the time the Gra Valkas
Empire attacks, it will be the end of Japan.”

The Kingdom of Riem of the Third Civilization Area has decided to bow before the
guns of the Gra Valkas Empire.

Preparations steadily continued.

Dragon’s Ale tavern, royal capital Jin Hark, Louria Kingdom

With the invasion of the Principality of Qua Toyne ending in failure, the Louria
Kingdom faced the humiliation of the unprecedented fact that their king had been
captured. While there had been chaos following the drastic reduction in military
spending, the citizens enjoyed a never before surge of wealth due to the kingdom’s
proximity to Japan and the exceedingly low damage suffered by the kingdom’s
infrastructure and civilians.

While they still carried the title of kingdom, they were virtually being governed by a
conference of civilians. With a non-aggression pact signed with the Principality of Qua
Toyne and the Quila Kingdom, diplomatic relations normalized and the Louria
Kingdom began to prosper as a hub connecting Japan, the Central World, and the Third
Civilization Area.

The port facilities in every country has developed to a level incomparable to before,
but with the bread basket that is the Principality of Qua Toyne being their neighbor,
they took advantage of the characteristics of their continental reach and used the
immense amount of land at their disposal to construct humongous storage facilities
that take in all sorts of goods, home appliances, cars, and others. These national
policies further stress their effectiveness as a hub.

At the royal capital of this country outside the civilized areas that’s finding its footing
again, there exists a famous tavern known as the Dragon’s Ale. Several drunkards were
talking amongst themselves.

“Looks like the Gra Valkas Empire has manifested their raging flame-like anger on
Japan.”

The slightly plump merchant from the Third Civilization Area was starting to talk. A
slender-built soldier took a gulp of ale and answered him.

“We, the citizens of Louria, have experienced the horror of Japan so much that we
downright hate it. Japan will finish them off hands down.”

Bam!

The sound of a table being hit.

Those in the tavern looked at the direction of the sound. A man in a robe was
trembling. His face, which came to light from time to time, showed pitiful scars from
burns. The man began to speak.

“The Gra Valkas Empire is powerful… I participated in the great sea battle as one of
the captains of the ships in the World Union Fleet.”

This was the tale of a naval battle that they were hearing of for the first time. Those in
the tavern focused their attention on him.

“I cannot say where I came from. I’m on the run, you see… A deserter… The World
Union Fleet was an impressively outstanding one. Its numbers filled away the ocean
and the wyvern lords and fighters of Mu’s aircraft carrier task force was nothing short
of magnificent. It felt as if the fleet would strike down any opponent in a single blow.
Everyone felt that way.”

The man immediately began to shake.

“But then… Those bastards… Those bastards were powerful! No! They were too
powerful!!! Get it? The Mu fighters which far outperform the wyvern lords were
helplessly shot out of the sky! The proficiency at which they drop their explosives is
great, landing many of them on our ships and wiping out several hundred men!

Hundreds of men were killed at breakneck pace! The power of their guns, their range,
and the speed of their ships… They were all outrageous! Not even Mu could do much!”

His voice trembled. It was clear that the man was truly clouded in dread.

“Our ships were set ablaze by just the bullets of light launched from those bastards’
aircraft! We… we were all helpless in front of them!! Japan will win, you say? Hah! You
lot are far more naive than children believing in fairy tales!

The Gra Valkas Empire has won over the World Union Fleet. Going by numbers alone,
there is no doubt that the Gra Valkas Empire is on top! They’re also on top with their
firepower! Still, it seems that their defensive capabilities and speed are a match. I
acknowledge that Japan is good in those areas but still, the empire commands the
most important factor which is the number of ships!”

The tavern was silenced by the deserter’s words.

“Once the empire attacks, we too will be attacked due to our massive possession of
Japanese goods. We’d be in a tight spot if Japan doesn’t win.”

The Louria Kingdom merchants let out an impression of anxiety.

“It seems that the empire’s guns being more powerful than that of Japan’s is true.”

Someone else mutters.

The citizens of the Louria Kingdom were overcome by the shadow cast by the Gra
Valkas Empire.
Capital Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem, Third Civilization Area

Feldas, Chief of the Foreign Diplomatic Measures Department’s Maritime Nations

Division, was preoccupied with his thoughts. They have just been ordered by the King
to expel Mu diplomats and freeze the assets of Japanese businesses and citizens. They
were to implement these measures soon but the expulsion of Japanese citizens in the
kingdom was postponed for later. In the letter issued by the King, they were told to
absolutely convey the thought that they bear no hostile will against Japan.

However, from whatever angle anyone approaches this, it is clear that what they’re
doing conveys hostile intentions. Still, they were ordered to say otherwise. The
Japanese ambassador was scheduled to come and likely discuss this matter.

“Hm. Whatever. We won’t be attacking their country in any form whatsoever.”

Feldas, who has been in deep shit before, was brimming in confidence.

Knock knock

Someone was knocking on the door.

“Chief Feldas, the Japanese ambassador has come to see you.”

“So they have…”

Bracing himself, he headed for the reception room.

Japanese ambassador Shirokawa waited in the reception room. From the moment he
entered the room, he felt tense and tingly. Since Japan is considered a major power, it
would be division chief Feldas and his subordinates who will be taking point for the
side of the Kingdom of Riem. Their talks started with the topic of economic measures
towards Japan.

“Regarding the freezing of Japanese assets, what do you intend to convey with such
action? The Government of Japan expresses its regret and dissatisfaction with your
country’s behavior. We would like you to promptly lift these measures.”

Fielding a terrifyingly menacing look, Shirokawa requested the rollback of Riem’s

measures from Feldas. His large build added to his sense of intimidation, enough to
convey his vigor.

“This is for the Kingdom to decide. It is too late to overturn.”

Feldas asserts.

Japanese businesses have moved to all sorts of countries and the Kingdom of Riem
was no exception. With many businesses having found their footing in the kingdom,
they were boosting both the Kingdom’s and Japan’s economy. If their assets were to
be frozen, the economic damage would amount to several tens of billions of yen,
making life for the individual Japanese citizen in Riem far more unbearable.

“That is undoubtedly regrettable. When you do get to the point that you freeze our
assets, Japan will be forced to take retaliatory measures, such as an export ban and
the freezing of your assets. I am requesting that you immediately lift these measures.”

“There is… no other way.”

“Then, for all intents and purposes, we will consider that your country is taking a
hostile stance against Japan. Are you certain about this?”

Dropping his tone, Shirokawa glared at Feldas. Feldas returned the glare by looking
down on Shirokawa.

“How scandalous. We are not taking hostile measures against you. It is simply our
opposing economic opinions. It doesn’t mean that we have taken up arms against you.”

“Then I will ask. Your country has given the port of Xenia to the Gra Valkas Empire and
has also severed diplomatic relations with Mu. If other countries were to see this, how
many of them do you think would think that your country bears no hostile intention?
Every single one of them would come to the conclusion that you are taking a hostile
stance.”
“The only country we have severed ties with is Mu. We are still open to Japan.”

“That is simply sophistry. Mu and Japan are allies and we are currently at war with the
Gra Valkas Empire. You have given your ports to a country we consider an enemy and
have expelled Mu, the owner of an airfield located in your country. No matter how you
put it, this is preparation for an attack by the Gra Valkas Empire on us.”

“We cannot say for sure. You may judge our actions to be hostile, but our country
doesn’t intend to rise in arms against you.”

“In that case, you will not permit the entry of warships and warplanes into your
territory, right?”

“If they’re stating that their war machines will enter our country for the purpose of an
attack, we will naturally decline. However, if they are simply visiting out of goodwill,
then we will also naturally accept.”

“So you’re basically still letting their military forces in??? Even if you change the way
you call it, it’s still the same. The Government of Japan will deem these actions as
hostile.”

“It won’t be an attacking military force. In the end, as long as it is a goodwill visit, we
will accept them. Let me repeat once again, we bear no hostile intention.”

Feldas broke into an unpleasant grin. He then started to speak in a manner that felt
retentive.

“We will declare to the world that our country bears no hostile will against Japan. I
believe that your country is not barbaric enough to launch a preemptive strike on our
port simply because there are enemy ships in it. Since it is important that we say it
clearly, I will repeat once more: Our country bears no hostile will against Japan. We
will absolutely never forgive you in the event that our country suffers any damage. In
the unlikely event that the forces of the Gra Valkas Empire that are visiting our country
attack your country out of their own will, that is their fault and not ours. We absolutely
do not condone any attack against our own.”

“What sophistry… Let me tell you that it is permitted by law in Japan to launch an
attack on military forces that have displayed an intent to attack us.”

“Wouldn’t that only apply to the country of interest which is trying to attack you? I
don’t think you have any laws permitting you to attack a country which bears no
hostile intention, no?”

“You have given us enough information on the attitude your country has taken. I will
contact you regarding the opinion of Japan at a later date. There is nothing more to
say.”

Ending the meeting short, Shirokawa leaves the room.

Left in the room is the Riem faction. One of the younger staff worriedly asks Feldas.

“Are you sure about this, chief? If our port gets attacked, we will suffer horrendously!
At this point in time, Riem’s might is incomparable to that of Japan’s!”

“Hmph. Those guys are bound by their laws. Despite their power, they’re incredibly
stupid. They will never attack first. By the time the Gra Valkas Empire goes all out on
them, their power to resist will be wiped away clean. We don’t know how many ships
the empire has, but what we do know is that they possess so much more than what
Japan has. Their impressive production capabilities are second to none. While their
ship speeds are largely the same, the empire’s firepower wins. The results of a naval
battle between them are as clear as day… In the end, the kingdom is secure.”

He continues.

“Even without Japan, our country will benefit from developments that the Gra Valkas
Empire will introduce to us. With early stage technology transfer, we will be
incorporated into the Gra Valkas Empire, and by the time they subjugate the entirety
of Philades, everyone else will become slaves to our impressive industrial might. Even
those bastards from Japan will be forced to bow down to us! We will be swimming in
the success of our development! Hahahaha!!!”

Negotiations between the Kingdom of Riem and Japan broke down. The Japanese
government worried over their actions.

At a later date, the Gra Valkas Empire donated a large quantity of vessels to Riem.
Under the name of the Kingdom of Riem, vessels went back and forth between the
countries, enabling the redevelopment of port facilities and their airfield.
Ministry of Defense, Japan

Suzume, who works for the Ministry of Defense, was going through his usual routine
of watching over the pictures taken by their reconnaissance satellites. He was amazed
by the speed of the recent buildup of destroyers by the Gra Valkas Empire as well as
the conversion of their tankers into light aircraft carriers. However, the location of
their production facilities have already been pinpointed and the ports where the ships
have been gathered identified.

It was his usual job to monitor the massive fleet moored in Leifor as well as the Gra
Valkas Imperial Navy bases. As if he were expecting nothing new, he nonchalantly
looked over the images.

“Hm?”

The things that he always expected to see weren’t reflected in the images. He tried
reloading them again but the images nevertheless showed nothing.

“Does this mean…?! They’ve already moved!!!”

He immediately hurried to report this development to his superiors which reached

the Prime Minister on that same day.

Prime Minister’s residence, Tokyo, Japan

An emergency meeting between the ministers was held to determine the road Japan
will take. Officials from the Ministry of Defense were giving an explanation of the
summary.

“We have confirmed that early yesterday, the aircraft carrier task forces of the Gra
Valkas Empire have departed from every single port within the empire. Furthermore,
the majority of the fleet deployed at Leifor has also disappeared. We’ve already
confirmed beforehand that they were ready to do so and it appears that they have
finally done it.”

“Where are they heading?”

“They appear to be heading east, but we have not yet pinpointed their specific
location.”

“How many are they?”

“Their number is considerably large. It also appears that the entirety of the fleet
deployed to the west has also moved, and if every ship that has disappeared were to
take part in the attack, we are looking at 98 aircraft carriers including light aircraft
carriers, 23 battleships, 74 cruisers, 828 destroyers, and an unknown number of
supply ships. If we also include the bombers and fighters offered to the Kingdom of
Riem for use, we are looking at a 1620 strong air force. It is a considerably large force.”

Silence.

Under the pretext of provisions, the Gra Valkas Empire has built up an airbase in the
Kingdom of Riem that can accommodate fighters and bombers. They are nominally
under the military of the Kingdom of Riem, but they are practically at the disposal of
the Gra Valkas Empire.

“Wait! The number that you have mentioned just now far exceeds the expected
number of enemy ships from the previous report! What happened?!”

The Prime Minister shuddered in fear at the actual force deployed which far exceeded
their expectations.

“It seems that they have forcibly converted tankers into aircraft carriers in a short
amount of time, similar to what the United States had done in the Second World War.
We are assuming that, just like before, their defensive capabilities are low and are slow
to move. Furthermore, they have mass-produced a massive amount of destroyers,
inflating their numbers at an unbelievable pace. A considerable amount of time has
also passed since the world conference, so it is believable that they have increased
their numbers in that window of time.”

Having entered into a wartime regime, the Gra Valkas Empire has pumped out massive
amounts of converted aircraft carriers along with destroyers. The overall firepower
encompassed by these new additions far exceeds their initial assumptions.

“Are they really going to attack?!”

“The Ministry of Defense is assuming that they will.”

“Tsk! Will… will we be able to fend off such a massive fleet?”

A massive force for violence which could only be described as staggering. While they
enjoy an advantage in having more advanced weaponry, the number of Japan’s proud
escort ships pale exceedingly in comparison to that of their enemy.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that we exist simply for this purpose. We will
undoubtedly force them back.”

“I admire your spirit, but what about the problem at hand?”

Improvements to the anti-ship missile launchers of the escort ships are still not ready.
With the tremendous disparity in numbers, it cannot be straightforwardly said that
they’d be able to carry out their task without anxiety.

The white-bearded, sharp-eyed Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications

suddenly stood up. After catching everyone’s attention, he began to speak.

“We will certainly defend Japan! I am not exaggerating when I say that this is our first
true military crisis since the transfer! An invasion of the mainland… In the great war
of 70 years ago, Okinawa fell. What everyone witnessed was nothing short of hell.
However, in the 70 years since then, we have the technology that we have fostered and
cultivated. We must absolutely never let a single Japanese citizen die at the hands of
the enemy! In this time of national crisis, it is imperative that we unite!”

The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications turns to the Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister, at this point deep into the crisis, you won’t restrict the use of
weapons, no?”

“Of course I won’t!”

The Prime Minister’s loud voice trembled across the room. The normally benign Prime
Minister set his foot down and put strength into his words. With the room now quiet,
the Prime Minister began to speak with strength.

“There will be no restriction on the use of weapons! I hereby order all facets of the Self
Defense Force to defend Japan with every inch of firepower at their disposal! I am also
directing every single related ministry and agency to aid the Self Defense Force and
utilize every single asset in Japan to drive our enemy away!”

“Of course!!!”

The Government of Japan moved in its entirety to stand against their looming enemy.

Capital Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

Inside the royal study, King Banks satisfactorily perused through the documents on
his table.

“Hahaha! It’s not that I know that the kingdom is secure or I know what will happen
to Japan… All I know is that to make an enemy out of the Gra Valkas Empire is nothing
short of pitiful.”

From within the tranquill study, the faint sound of voices from the other side of the
door could be heard.

“Out of the way! It’s an emergency!”

“But His Highness isn’t scheduled to meet with Sir Kirtana today…”

“The future of the kingdom is at stake! Move!”

With a knock on the door, Kirtana, one of the lords of the capital entrusted with
general affairs, enters the room. His face was blanketed in sweat.

“Your Highness! Please forgive my sudden intrusion! After some investigation after
the reports, I came as soon as I could so as to not hamper the kingdom’s affairs!”

One could guess that something of the essence had occurred from Kirtana’s
expression.

“What happened?”

“This morning, we have received 2 messages of interest. The first is from the Gra
Valkas Empire. They said that in a month, 52 destroyers and 12 supply ships will arrive
at the port that has been established beforehand…”

“Oh? Wasn’t that already decided in the talks? With the discussion over, it was now a
matter of when they will come, no? If they make use of the port to its fullest, we might
just be able to accommodate that much.”

“Yes. However, the empire stated that en route from the empire to the kingdom, the
ships will be provided to us. Once they enter the port, they will be returned to the
empire.”

“What do they mean by that?”

“In other words, en route to us, they will be flying our flag. Once they enter the
kingdom, they will be raising their banner instead.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if they had the guarantee of safety? If they were harassed by the
Holy Mirishial Empire, these destroyer types of ships would surely get beaten up easily.
Still, they’re so few. I was expecting a lot more… Wait, does that mean Riem isn’t the
only port they got their hands on?”

“I don’t know, but they may have given thought as to keeping their number few.
Anyway, the real problem is with the other message.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a message from the Holy Mirishial Empire.”

Kirtana shows the message they got from the magical comms.

~~~

Document from HME to 3CIV, No. 12545

Holy Mirishial Empire Foreign Affairs Ministry, Department in Charge of the Third
Civilization Area, Philades Continent Division

We are requesting your country to rectify the decision it made the other day to accept a
fleet from the Gra Valkas Empire. We recognize that the distinction between preparation
for military attack and that of a goodwill visit is nothing but sophistry. In the unlikely
event that the Gra Valkas Empire fleet visiting your country for “goodwill” purposes does
not return to its port of origin and attack another country, we will recognize your
country as belligerent to the attack and an ally of the Gra Valkas Empire, prompting us,
the Holy Mirishial Empire, to issue a declaration of war on your country.

~~~

“What!!! This…!!! No!!!”

King Banks’s understanding could not keep up. The Holy Mirishial Empire and by
extension the Central World isn’t as much of a threat as the Gra Valkas Empire, but
they were still a nation that held exceptional power. Before the Gra Valkas Empire
appeared, they were none other than the world’s most powerful. Adding insult to
injury, the Holy Mirishial Empire is merely a hop across the great ocean from Philades
and represents a far closer threat to home.

“Your Highness! The Holy Mirishial Empire isn’t as naive as Japan! Something on the
level of toppling a country from the Third Civilization Area will be easy for them! Once
they identify us as an enemy, whether it be a merchant ship or a warship, they will
surely be sunk one by one! The citizens of the kingdom that are in the Holy Mirishial
Empire and by extension the Central World will be taken captive!”

King Banks found himself lost in thought. The influence the Holy Mirishial Empire
possessed over countries was also nothing to snuff at.

“Your Highness! If the Holy Mirishial Empire will get serious in taking measures,
things will go south! Can’t we reconsider the arrival of the Gra Valkas Empire fleet?”

“It’s… no use… Even if we rise up in arms, their airbase lies at the heart of our kingdom!
If we resist, those bastards will simply crush this castle!”

“Then what if we take hold of their weaponry…”

“Do you really think we’ll win? We are going up against an enemy that is far better
than those Parpaldians ever were in their heyday! Ugh… We have no choice but to
press forward. Not even the fleet of the Holy Mirishial Empire could easily reach us
with the Gra Valkas Empire stationed here. They’re also exhausted due to the recent
great naval battle. They shouldn’t be able to touch us within the next few years!!!”

The King of Riem spent the following night unable to sleep.

In the waters east of the Central World

A large number of wakes trace along the ocean surface. If there was somehow an
enemy lookout looking at the scene that unfolded, they’d probably be correct in saying
that they couldn’t see the sea. A massive fleet, the largest in the history of the Navy of
the Gra Valkas Empire, advanced across the oceans of the new world towards the east.

The seabirds that leisurely floated on the ocean surface were startled by the march
and immediately took flight.

To the inhabitants of this New World, the fleet is the strongest in recent memory. To
the Japanese, the massive fleet felt like it dwarfed the US Navy fleet that had
participated in the Battle of Okinawa.

The Gra Valkas Empire’s Japan Invasion Fleet marched to lay waste to the mainland
cities of Japan.
【 】
Castle Albion, Runepolis, Holy Mirishial Empire

An emergency meeting was being held at Castle Albion in the imperial capital
Runepolis. At the head of the meeting was Emperor Mirishial VIII. The attendees
included Minister of Military Affairs Schmill Pao, Director of National Defense Agra,
and several other military officials.

Notable mentions, which usually don’t meet in the same room, are Director of the
Antiquities Department of Ancient Arms Analysis Tactical Operations of the Imperial
Ministry of Countermeasures Against the Ancient Sorcerous Empire Hirkane Parpe,
Captain of the Pal Chimera aerial battleship that went toe-to-toe against the Gra Valkas
Empire Meteos, Intelligence Bureau Director Arneus, and finally Foreign Affairs
Minister Peclas and Supervisor Liage.

Many other distinguished and first-rate members participated in the meeting. What
they were about to discuss is a matter so important that the Holy Mirishial Empire
couldn’t ignore…

“We will now commence this meeting.”

Intelligence Bureau Director Arneus took the role of presiding over the meeting and
declared its commencement. The report regarding the movements of the Gra Valkas
Empire was first on the agenda. Characters began to magically emerge on the stone
tablets that everyone was holding.

“A short while ago, the magical ocean surface detectors we have installed in the non-
civilized country of Meiss have detected a large group of people advancing through
the ocean. Due to the enormous scale, the lack of any other magic sources, and the
speed at which they move, we have deduced that this is no doubt the Gra Valkas
Empire. We have ascertained that this massive fleet is currently east of the Central
World travelling eastward. Furthermore, we have estimated their speed at 13 knots
and they number in the thousands.”
The room erupted in hushes.

“There’s even more of them this time in comparison to when they fought with the
World Union Fleet!!!”

“How in the world did a fleet this massive get past the Central World?!”

Arneus continues his explanation.

“The fleet appears to have circumvented the Central World. The fleet that we have
discovered this time far exceeds the military scale that the Intelligence Bureau has
expected. In the event that the entirety of this fleet attacks Japan, the Intelligence
Bureau has analyzed that while the fleet will suffer a considerable amount of damage,
the Japanese capital will be burned and leaving a lot of their warships sunk or at the
very least heavily damaged.

Furthermore, their industrial areas will be levelled beyond recovery by bombings and
naval bombardment. The enemy’s force has deviated so much from our expectations
that I think it will be necessary to rethink our decision to deploy.”

A question popped into National Defense Director Agra’s head.

“How are those bastards able to supply themselves? Even if this great fleet is made up
of mechanical warships, will supply ships alone be sufficient in powering a fleet this
enormous?”

“We are assuming that their preliminary source of replenishment are their supply
bases in Leifor. There’s also the fact that Riem in the Third Civilization Area and Qaiz
and Groot on Newland Island outside the civilized areas have virtually become subject
to the Gra Valkas Empire. Since they have built ports in these countries that are able
to accommodate their ships and have readied them as supply bases, we are assuming
that they will stop by these bases at least once.”

“So their supply problems are also taken care of…”

Even if they were to attack them now, the scale of the enemy force is too big, and by
the time they form an attack force, the enemy will have already completed their
resupply and will have departed for Japan. Since the Emperor had already said in their
previous meeting that they will instead just watch as the fleet attacks Japan and aim
for the ammo-depleted fleet that will return after the attack, Agra had nothing more
to say.

The room further erupted in hushes.

With a raise of his hand, Emperor Mirishial VIII quiets the room.

“So if things go as they are, Japan will be reduced to a state beyond recovery?”

“Yes. That is how massive the fleet of the Gra Valkas Empire is this time.”

“Well, what will happen if, although unlikely, the fleet will be wiped out?”

“Naturally, with such a massive fleet, we don’t know how many ships there are left in
their homeland, but just like any other country, if a fleet this enormous gets wiped out,
it will take a considerable amount of time for them to rebuild!”

“Hmm…”

Mirishial pondered.

“Just as I thought. We can’t let it get to the point where everybody else says that we
just let an ally get attacked. We should at least do the bare minimum… Inform Japan
of the scale and direction of this new Gra Valkas Empire fleet. As for our military…”

The Emperor turns to Agra.

“We won’t make it in time.”

“Indeed, Your Excellency!”

“Well, ready our forces for when they’re en route back home. While we’re on the
matter, Hirkane…”

“Yes, Your Excellency?”

“Will the aerial battleship Pal Chimera be on time if it sorties now?”

“The unit is currently being readied! Even if we were to deploy at once after we finish
changing the components and replenishment, we will still be able to reach the
mainland of Japan in time. Even if the replenishment were to take longer than
anticipated or the unit were to take the longer route around the Rodenius continent,
we would still make it to Tokyo in time.”

“Good. Sending one is just fine. However, Meteos…”

“Yes, Your Excellency?”

“Our goal this time is to show Japan and the world that the Holy Mirishial Empire will
come to their aid. It would also be useful for us to show Japan our power. This time,
however, I will not tolerate you getting too close and being shot down like the other
unit. You must pick your fights, even if it takes longer to achieve. In the event
ammunition or fuel is low, don’t force yourself into a tight situation and return home
promptly.”

“As you command, Your Excellency!”

The Emperor continues to issue orders.

“Liage…”

“Yes, Your Excellency?”

“Tell this to every country outside the civilized areas: If you do so much as sink even a
single ship from the Gra Valkas Empire, your country will be elevated from a 5th class
status to a 3rd class status. Also, tell the other countries on Newland Island that if they
start an attack on Qaiz and Groot, the Holy Mirishial Empire will send for support later
on. Any country that will take an attitude with us will be stomped on. As for Riem, the
Holy Mirishial Empire will crush them.”

In the empire’s diplomacy, there exists a class/rank system. Japan and the other
superpowers are considered special class countries. The 11 countries that participate
in the world conference and the rest of the Central World are considered 1st class
countries. Those in the Second Civilization Area are considered 2nd class countries.
Those in the Third Civilization Area are considered 3rd class countries. Those
belonging to outside the civilized areas are considered 4th class countries and below.

Most of the countries outside the civilized areas and those on the fringes of the Third
Civilization Area fall under the lowest class, the 5th class. Once these countries sink at
least a single Gra Valkas Empire ship, they will be elevated to a 3rd class country,
putting them on the same level as those from the Third Civilization Area. Due to the
higher degree of technological outflow that will be allowed, their national power will
be greatly increased. From the perspective of these non-civilized countries, this will
be an exceptional, special advantage that allows them to possess and edge against
their neighbors.

“A-are you certain, Your Excellency?”

“Yes. With the emergence of Japan, the balance of power in the near future will be
shaken. It’s about time that we use our influence on the non-civilized countries. While
we’re on the subject, tell the adventurer guilds and associations in the eastern
countries that if they’re able to land at least a single magic flame bullet or a magic shell
from their cannons on a Gra Valkas Empire ship, the Holy Mirishial Empire will bestow
upon them a great reward.

This reward is open to everyone, regardless of their status. In particular, if the guilds
from Qaiz and Groot are able to land a successful attack, they will receive not only a
reward, but a 3rd class citizenship under the Holy Mirishial Empire. Make sure this
also gets to the pirate guilds.”

“With haste, Your Excellency!”

The results of the meeting were swiftly decided. The Holy Mirishial Empire has
finished concocting its scheme.

Steel Claw tavern, a certain northern town, the island kingdom of Nahanath

Located 400km south of the Rodenius continent is a small island where the Nahanath
Kingdom, a country outside civilized areas, resides. Represented as a mere dot on any
world map, the 70km wide island serves as the bridge between the Third Civilization
Area and the southern world. Famed for its great meals and alcohol, the Steel Claw
tavern was brimming with life.

“Oy, oy!!! Did you hear the stuff down at the adventure guild?!”

An adventurer-esque man was talking to a pirate-esque man.

“Uhuh. A GVE or whatchamacallit-empire fleet will pass through here. It seems that
the Holy Mirishial Empire will reward anyone who could simply just land an attack on
that fleet. Not only that but this offer is up for anyone, right? That means that even I, a
pirate, am eligible for that reward. With that reward from the Emperor, anyone is set
for life.”

“Yeah! I’m all fired up now… All I need to do is land a shot with my wyvern and pull
back immediately. This’ll be easy.”

The drunkards continued to talk about their fantasies.

“Hol’ up. It couldn’t be that easy, right?”

“Oh? Why it ain’t the commander of the dragon knights! What? You came here to arrest
me? Oh? Is that alcohol I see in your hand? Are you sure someone of your caliber is
permissible to drink here?”

“Nah. I recognize for now that you pirates and adventurers are important for this task.
The kingdom is in a frenzy… HME has also told our country that if we could sink at
least a single ship, they’d consider us a 3rd class country… The royal palace suddenly
roared to life. Once we become a 3rd class country, we’d all be filthy rich. We’d be so
rich that we could rub them riches on the face of other countries!”

“Well ain’t that great?!”

“Yeah but it ain’t that straightforward. Without any magical display devices or radio,
info doesn’t spread to this part of the world as quickly, so it’s only natural that y’all
don’t know that… the Gra Valkas Empire is the same country that toppled the
superpower Leifor. Man, at least get to know that much…”

“R-really?”

“Those guys from the Central World and the Holy Mirishial Empire itself led a fleet
under the banner World Union Fleet to try to oust the Gra Valkas Empire. I heard that
even when they deployed the ancient superweapons, they still didn’t manage to push
the bastards out. That’s the kind of monster we’re dealing with here.”

The men who dreamt of fantasies were suddenly silent.

“Emperor Mirishial sure knows his tricks. I can’t believe he even told the adventurer
guilds and such. Normally, there are many countries who are afraid of being attacked
back helplessly knowing that they’d lose a lot. However, by getting the adventurer
guilds to act, no matter what country they’re from, they’d act swiftly and attack those
bastards with their wyverns. With that said, naturally, the countries that lie on the
path of the empire have to brace themselves for a counterattack. In the event that they
are attacked, they’d be forced to bring in everything they got… Still, they’re up against
those monsters.”

“And what about Nahanath, sir dragon knight?”

“Heh… Actually, a few months back, we were approached by a country calling itself
Japan. I heard that those guys were able to crush a Gra Valkas Empire fleet in Mu.”

“Ah! Those guys! They’re the ones that pummelled the superpower Parpaldia Empire
to the ground as if it were nothing!”

“Yeah, yeah. Do you remember that big Mu port in the town to the east and the airfield
used by mechanical planes?”

“Yeah. I heard that we are letting them use it. I think it was in preparation for the
invasion. Since they offered a hefty sum for those places, I think they’re someone you
don’t wanna mess with. Even the King recognized that. Already there are 9 steel ships
anchored off the harbor and 12 iron dragons stationed at the Mu airfield. There also
seems to be a group from the Japanese army hiding out in the forest in the northeast.
In addition to them, I heard that a 120-strong Mu fighter force will arrive here as well.
They’re probably gonna pick off the straggler ships after Japan pulverizes most of
them.”

“H-huh…”

“What’s with that face? This is our chance!!!”

“???”

“You’re so slow, brother! Once the Japanese army attacks, there’s sure to be some
stragglers who will survive the onslaught! Attacking those stragglers still counts to the
reward, right? If anything, the navy also plans to sortie after the Japanese attack! Even
if we were to attack those retreating ships, a sunk straggler is still a sunk ship!”

“Ohh!!! I see your point now!!!”

Their interpretations of the conditions matched with one another.

Mainland Defense Command, Ministry of Defense, Tokyo, Japan

With the threat of the Gra Valkas Empire taking center stage and an invasion
imminent, the Japanese government established the Mainland Defense Command to
centralize the information collected by the different facets of the Self Defense Force
and allow for swift decision-making. All information related to the Gra Valkas Empire
is gathered and processed here. Experts and military officials from the JGSDF, JMSDF,
and JASDF are all gathered here as well.

“Foreign Affairs has received an emergency notice from the Holy Mirishial Empire.”

Using a computer, they opened the email. The urgent message was sent to them from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a PDF and was promptly printed and distributed to
everybody in the room. Everyone quickly perused through the paper. The Holy
Mirishial Empire had detected a fleet that consisted of more than a thousand ships.

“So even the HME detected them…”

They have already confirmed via their reconnaissance satellites that multiple advance
fleets have already arrived at the ports at Riem, the Qaiz Kingdom, and the Groot
Knightland.

“They may have secured resupply ports in other countries… It’s definitely possible
that once they wrap up their replenishment, fleets from multiple ports will converge
and attack us in a single sweep.”

So far, they were able to confirm 56 ships in Riem, 230 ships in the vicinity of Qaiz,
210 ships in Groot, and 996 ships cruising through the east of the Central World.

“The empire may swing around south of Rodenius. There’s too many islands scattered
to the north. It makes me feel uncomfortable that we have to intercept them before
they even link up.”

“Yeah. As much as possible, I would want to only have to shoot down 300 or less. It’d
be bad if they all converge at once.”

“Still, we are only able to secure permanent bases in Altaras, Qua Toyne, Quila, and
Nahanath. The rest are all temporary licenses…”
“There’s just too many of them this time. Still, we mustn’t lose heart!”

The discussion continues.

“Hm?”

Mitsugi from the Ministry of Defense reaches the last part of the document.

To help dampen the enemy fleet, we will send out a single unit of the aerial battleship
Pal Chimera.

“How worrisome. Do we have any enemy-friendly distinction protocols for the HME’s
aerial battleships?”

“Obviously not. Them sending one of them is proving to be a headache…”

As of now, they have already completed the mid-air targeting programming for their
guided anti-ship missiles, but since the invasion came before they could upgrade
existing platforms, there was no way that their anti-ship missiles would accidentally
home in on an aerial target. However, they still couldn’t rule out the possibility that an
anti-air missile may accidentally hit their allies.

“And then there’s this…”

“Yeah. Due to the Holy Mirishial Empire’s directive, we should be seeing intermittent
wyvern attacks on their fleet from every country that could field them. It’s only gonna
result in friendly fire if they decide to attack them near one of our bases. Visible anti-
air combat is no joke either. We have to get Foreign Affairs to send out a notice to
everyone not to enter within a certain radius from our bases.”

“But sending out a notice like that means that we’d be giving off the locations of our
bases to the enemy.”

The Ministry of Defense continued to worry over the information that kept on coming
in.
Qaiz Kingdom, Newland Island, outside the Third Civilization Area

Adventurer Alhaw flew through the skies of the Qaiz Kingdom in his wyvern.

“You on the dragon over there! Turn back this instant!”

He ignored every message he heard over the magic comms that started coming in a
while ago. He was confident that the arm that can control a wyvern will never lose. As
the commander of the oversight troops under the Royal Dragon Knights, there was no
way he would lose. In his 18 years in the adventurer business, there was only one
instance where they were able to participate in something big.

When the wicked dragons came, with the help of his fellow brethren and his wyvern’s
reliable magic flame bullet, they were able to save the kingdom. At the time, the King
bequeathed upon him a handsome reward, allowing him to pursue his dream of
becoming an adventurer and finding a bride. However, his life as an adventurer didn’t
go well, plunging his wife and child into a life of subsistence.

In the midst of their suffering came the talk of a reward from the Holy Mirishial
Empire. Adding to their fortunes were rumors that the Gra Valkas Empire was in port
in Qaiz.

Whether they are superpowers or not, to him they were sitting ducks. Their iron
dragons may be strong but there was no way they’d win over someone who can
control a wyvern as skillfully as he could. All he has to do is launch a magic flame bullet
from above and pull back. This was something even he could do.

Once he reaches his maximum height, the reward is as good as his. With citizenship
from the Holy Mirishial Empire, his wife and child are set for life.

It certainly felt like a dream.

Alhaw cut through the air as he controlled his wyvern.

“Hm?”

Multiple dots appeared in front of him.

“So those are the rumored iron dragons?”

Just in case, he immediately dropped his altitude to a point where he seemed like he
crawled across the surface. However, the iron dragons followed suit, dropping in
altitude and facing his direction. A bad premonition surfaced in his mind telling him
to jerk his wyvern to the right.

“Wha-!!!”

Bullets of light rained down on the path he would’ve taken just moments before,
raising up clouds of dust as they individually landed on the ground below. After they
unleashed their barrage, the iron dragons raised their noses and climbed at divine
speeds.

“T-they’re quick!!!”

Alhaw quickly changed stance and unleashed a magic flame bullet at his enemies.
However…

“T-that’s ridiculous! Did they just dodge that one that easily?! Not only is it fast but it
turns superbly as well?!”

Its nose soon faced his direction. The high-pitched shrill of the iron dragon further
exacerbated his dread. The ground was covered in sand and there was nowhere he
could hide.

“F-fuck!!!”

He feels that death is coming for him. The bullets of light that were hurled by the
enemy seemed so agonizingly slow as he stared at them. His life flashed before his
eyes. He felt as if he had seen the weeping faces of his wife and child at the end.

“I-I’m sorry…”

An intense sensation of heat ran through his body before the feeling disappeared
together with his sense of consciousness. In the end, all that Alhaw thought of was his
family.
1st Advanced Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire Combined Fleet

Following the capture of the Crown Prince, the higher ups have decided to attack Japan
by deploying a fleet so large that it dwarfed every other operation before it. Leaving
only the Capital Defense Fleet and the Leifor Defense Fleet, the Imperial Navy has
mustered every single bit of firepower it has for the unprecedented operation.
Organizing a Combined Fleet, the higher ups assigned Caesar, the one with the highest
number of battles fought among the Three Great Generals, as commander.

However, the Combined Fleet this time had an abnormally high number of destroyers.
After declaring war on the entire world at the World Conference in the Holy Mirishial
Empire, they focused on mass producing destroyers. The reason for this is due to the
limited number of civilizations that are able to reliably sink a single destroyer. While
the new class of destroyers have been commissioned into service, their ammo
standard differs from their established classes. Since mass production of their ammo
hasn’t kept up to speed, the new class of destroyers weren’t counted as combat-ready.
With reserve ships being dragged out for the fight, their fleet had swelled in size but
its composition was dominated by destroyers.

Mirkenses, the sole woman among the Three Great Generals, was given command of
the 1st Advance Fleet.

“How long till the resupply is finished?”

“Ma’am! We will be done in about an hour!”

Due to the fleet being exceedingly exposed and weak during resupply, Antares carrier-
based fighters were sent out to patrol the skies above the fleet in the harbor. The
sounds of gunfire reverberated across the ocean as sailing ships sank under
bombardment.

“Not again… Idiots…”

Since some time ago, wyverns that intermittently break into the no-fly zone have been
shot down by their guns. They’ve already shot down 13 of them. 12 sailing ships,
which arrived without prior notice, have also been sunk.

“Let’s wrap this up quickly. I don’t want to waste any more ammo. It seems that these
irritating attacks will continue until they actually hit a ship.”
The Gra Valkas Empire is troubled by the attacks of impatient adventurers.
The ocean south of the Rodenius continent

Not a single cloud obscured the great sky. The grand, blue heavens unfurled toward
every single corner and the waves across the ocean gently rocked back and forth.
Seabirds leisurely floated on the ocean surface. The serene and heavenly landscape
suddenly changed as those people arrived.

Parting the waves, a powerful, strong iron ship advanced through the ocean. Great,
steel birds appeared over the skies as if to watch over the ships that travelled below
them, letting out an unsettling sound as they cut through the skies. The iron ships that
first appeared were immediately followed by other iron ships, swelling into a massive
fleet. The great mass of ships moved from west to east with the goal of linking up with
another fleet coming in from the southwest.

Completing their resupply in the Qaiz Kingdom, the 1st Advance Fleet and the 2nd
Advance Fleet that was coming from the Groot Knightland are about to converge in
this area. In total, they numbered 440…

Mirkenses, commander of the Gra Valkas Empire 1st Advance Fleet, was looking out
into the ocean from the bridge of the flagship, the superdreadnought Valcer. The
empress Mirkenses, who possessed enough power to be considered one of the Three
Great Generals, looked young for her age and possessed countless fans that adore her
from her shadow.

“Commander! We will soon be making contact with the 2nd Advance Fleet. We have
also received a letter of greeting from the 2nd Advance Fleet commander.”

Once the 1st and 2nd Advance Fleets link up, they will advance as the 2nd Fleet.
Converging with a sufficient combat force of 210 ships, their duty is to pave the way
for the other fleets as they reach Japan’s foremost bases. After the link up, Mirkenses
will serve as fleet commander while the commander of the 2nd Advance Fleet, Aurones,
will become vice-commander.
“Whew…”

She lets out a weak sigh.

“Still… What could go wrong… Our fleet is immense, after all…”

Battleships and cruisers which specialize in anti-air warfare surround the flagship
Valcer in an ellipse as the rest of the fleet fill the entirety of the ocean up to the horizon.
Close to the flagship is one of the empire’s proud, massive aircraft carriers, advancing
triumphantly with the rest of the fleet. The sight of over 200 massive ships is indeed
overwhelming.

“Commander! We have received a message from the fighter patrol squadrons in the
outer edges. They have sighted 40 wyverns heading for the fleet 300km south of here
and have shot them all down. We lost no aircraft and all fighters have not suffered a
single hit.”

Resspot, captain of the battleship Valcer, reported to commander Mirkenses.

“Hmph. What a waste of ammo.”

Mirkenses muttered with an uninterested look.

“Good grief. The barbarians of this world simply don’t understand the disparity in
power between us and them. Since they also don’t possess the ability to attack at night,
they simply just don’t pose any threat. This is nothing but a waste of our ammo and
skill… If anything, our number one threat is the lack of rest… Looking at our situation
from here in the flagship, I intend to relax our posture depending on what other
surprises the enemy has for us.”

Following their departure from the Qaiz Kingdom, the attacks from sailing ships have
stopped entirely. The rate of enemy attacks fell below their initial expectations,
earning suspicion from everyone in the Imperial Navy when it was simply that the
speed of the Gra Valkas Empire fleet was far faster than what their enemies could
achieve. In exchange, enemy wyverns intermittently flew towards their direction,
getting caught in the empire’s anti-air defense web and are shot down one after the
other.

“This march is nothing but superb. Looking at this massive fleet, I’m sure there isn’t a
single person alive in this world that won’t be afraid of this.”
“Indeed. Our staggering numbers will crush any clever move the enemy could pull.”

“R-reporting in!!!”

A comms officer cuts in between the commander and the captain. The comms officer’s
face showed signs of bewilderment. The commander and captain felt a bit nervous at
the report which seemed to be grave enough to be worth interrupting them.

“What’s wrong?”

“We have received a warning from the radio saying: This is a warning from Japan. Turn
back now or we will attack. The warning repeated 5 times.”

“Hoh! I’m sure they understand that sending out a radio message will give off their
location. They must be stupid, if not cocky! Have you determined their location?”

“We… don’t know that yet.”

The comms officer felt embarrassed.

“Huh??? Why don’t you know yet?!”

“Their position… changed 5 times with each location being extremely far from the
others. We calculated one of the positions where the message came from to be within
our fleet. We are currently doing our utmost best to discern where the message
originated from but the strength of the radio waves doesn’t match the positions.”

“Maybe they have multiple sources. Still… One of them is within our fleet?! Did a
submarine get past us?!”

Resspot raises the question.

“It is different from the type of frequency a submarine emits. We have concluded that
the possibility of it being in the ocean is low…”

Mirkenses opens her eyes.

“Save the link up for later! There’s a very high chance that they sent out a wired beacon
to transmit radio messages from underwater! Send aircraft to the far away sources
and a destroyer to drop depth charges near the source inside the fleet!!!”
“Yes, ma’am!”

Orders were promptly issued.

The empress Mirkenses glared at the ocean from the bridge of the flagship Valcer.

“Have you not found the enemy yet?!”

“Not yet, ma’am! We are searching over the areas where the sources are thought to be
but we have not yet found any enemies! In addition, we looked for enemy submarines
and dropped depth charges just in case at the source within the fleet but we still
haven’t found any enemies!”

“Where the hell are they broadcasting from…”

Sweat formed on Mirkenses’s forehead. There are 5 points of origin and all are far
away from one another. Furthermore, one of them is located within the fleet itself…
Nothing comes to mind other than a submarine source.

“No… From above?!… Wait, even if they were that high, we’d notice on our radar…”

The main ships are equipped with anti-aircraft radar. None of those ships have
reported any signs of enemy aircraft. The possibility of all these ships experiencing a
malfunction is infinitesimally small.

The Gra Valkas Imperial Navy was greatly confused by the warning issued by Japanese
satellites in orbit.

Underwater, about 130km east of the Gra Valkas Empire 2nd Advance Fleet

650m below the ocean surface silently advanced a black, cigar-shaped object. It was
in a region that was far deeper than the maximum depth that the Gra Valkas Empire
submarines could submerge to; a region where light almost never reaches. It was the
Ōryū, the 11th Sōryū class submarine of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. It was
Japan’s most advanced submarine and the first submarine in the JMSDF to be fitted
with air independent propulsion (AIP), allowing it to stay out at sea for longer periods
of time. Its hull is coated with sound-absorbent materials, making the submarine
extremely difficult to detect using sonar.

“Captain! The imperial fleet will soon be within range! What an impressive number of
ships they have over there!”

It was a massive fleet which surpassed 400 ships. They boasted a combat power
similar to those in the Second World War. In the face of overwhelming numbers, the
crew of the Ōryū naturally felt tense. Their plan is to cause confusion with the initial
stage entrusted to the submarines. The first one to launch the attack will be them. The
silent interior of the submarine further added to the tension. They were soon about
to enter the 110km radius of the fleet.

The captain closes his eyes.

In a single word from him, hundreds of people with whom he bore no grudge will die.
However, if they don’t attack them now, thousands of Japanese people will be killed.
As a member of the SDF, he understood that there was no other way, but he still didn’t
want to kill anyone. Even though it was for the country and for the people, he still
didn’t want to do it.

However, if he doesn’t get rid of his self-indulgent thoughts, the enemy will push
forward to Tokyo, where his family and the families of his other comrades live. He was
convinced that he mustn’t be merciful to anyone who dared point a sword on his
family.

The captain opens his eyes.

“Commence attack!!! Let us sink as many enemies as we can!!!”

The Sōryū class submarine, Ōryū, of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force turns its
blade against the invading Gra Valkas Empire fleet. The curtain opens on what will
later be known in history as the turning point in the war.

Flagship Quasar, 2nd Advance Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire

“Have you not found the sources yet?!”

The 2nd Advance Fleet was travelling ahead of the 1st Advance Fleet commanded by
Mirkenses. Commander Aurones was at his limit at their inability to pinpoint the
location from where the warning was issued.

“What the hell is going on?! Why can’t we find them?!”

Several hours had already passed since they detected the warning. Aurones unleashed
his irritation at the possibility of an incoming attack and the yet to be found enemy to
the vice commander of the 2nd Advance Fleet.

“We are already searching for the enemy in force yet we still haven’t found them. How
the hell are they able to broadcast those warnings…”

“Navy Headquarters had pointed out the possibility that Japan is strong. There’s even
the exaggerated possibility that they possess stuff like guided munitions which sound
fraudulent to me. Instead, they pointed out that it was extremely possible that they
are equipped with pinpoint accurate large caliber guns that can engage aircraft as
well.”

“It’s all because the Home Fleet that was sent to Otaheit had been wiped out…
Although the attack force that was sent was puny, the fact that they possess pinpoint
accurate large caliber guns is a big threat.”

The Imperial Navy Headquarters had told its officers of the possibility that Japan may
be powerful. They’ve also pointed out that this may have been due to fraudulent
information. To the officers who have accumulated experience from successive
victories, the information that was given to them was too unbelievable.

However, the eeriness of the mystery warning and the fact that they haven’t been able
to find any enemies irritates them.

“Once the enemy shows up this great fleet will stomp the living hell out of them!!! I
heard that the entirety of their fleet is far smaller than even our Advance Fleets! The
power of imperial guns and speed given by imperial engines have already reached the
logical point where they cannot be made any more stronger! Even if their ships boast
somewhat good performance and a high hit rate, we will simply overwhelm them with
our superior numbers!!!”

“I agree. The enemy force is significantly puny. Not only that, but the empire’s guns are
confirmed to be far larger than theirs. There simply doesn’t exist any edge that the
barbarians of this new world have against the empire. Even if they were to be pinpoint
accurate, they’re just no match for us.”

The vice commander also laughed off the information given to them by the Imperial
Navy Headquarters.

“Still… It’s been too quiet…”

No matter where he looked, everything was serene. The sight of the Gra Valkas Empire
fleet was awe-inspiring. It gave off a dignified aura that sufficiently gave them the
confidence to believe that they’d be victorious over anyone. Aurones crushed his
instincts with the reasoning that he may have just been overthinking.

“Hm?”

He felt that something was off.

“We spotted something on the radar!!! Distance-“

The person manning the radar reported in a loud voice. Almost immediately after he
started reporting, a destroyer that was travelling ahead of them was suddenly engulfed
by a shockwave. In the following moment, the destroyer was swallowed by flames.

Kaboom!!!

After a delay, they heard the reverberating sound of an explosion.

“What the?! What the fuck happened?!”

The Gra Valkas Empire 2nd Advance Fleet, which had been taking its time advancing,
was suddenly enveloped by tension.

“Destroyer Itoqua has been hit!!!”

“Tsk!!! That was so powerful!!!”

The massive explosion which easily engulfed the destroyer Itoqua was far more
powerful than any explosion the main batteries of a battleship could produce. They
had never seen anything like it. A dreadful chill ran across the battlefield.
Scrubbing his eyes, he looked at the direction of the explosion. A cloud of black smoke
slowly rose before it revealed only the violent waves of the ocean. There was nothing
left of the Itoqua floating.

“Itoqua sunk with all hands!!!”

“What the fuck happened just now?! Was it a mine?!”

“No. The explosion happened on top of the Itoqua. It’s neither a mine nor a torpedo.”

“Then what was that just now?! It only took a single hit… Haven’t we been able to
detect anything?!”

“Immediately after a faint point of light emerged near the fleet on the radar, the
explosion happened!”

A Harpoon anti-ship guided missile launched from the submarine Ōryū changes into
turbojet flight after being propelled by a rocket booster for 7 seconds. Skimming the
ocean surface at Mach 0.85, it is difficult to be detected by radar. Once it neared the
enemy fleet, it suddenly climbed and dove back, piercing the Gra Valkas Empire
destroyer from a diagonal angle. The missile then unleashed its destructive power,
creating a massive fireball. The air on the edge of the explosive pressure is accelerated
to beyond the speed of sound, producing a shockwave. The explosion expanded
outward from within the destroyer, engulfing it in the fireball and manifesting over
the ocean surface.

“Battle stations!!! It’s an enemy attack!!! Intercept them at all costs!!!”

They couldn’t comprehend whether it was an enemy attack. However, Aurones came
to the conclusion that they were receiving attacks from somewhere up in the sky.
Orders were promptly issued. Buzzers rang out within the ship, increasing tensions
further. The crewmen on break were also hurriedly rushing to their stations. The
aircraft carrier with them accelerated and began launching fighters one after another
as the fighters which were already patrolling above them further expanded their
search area.

“Where the hell are they attacking from?!”

There were no visible enemies in the sky. There weren’t any ships or objects on the
ocean surface going against them and they weren’t able to find anything down below
either.

“Incoming report from Squadron 31!!! They spotted a low flying object approaching
from the fleet’s 2 o’clock about 30km from here! Visually, the object was travelling at
about 1000km/h and they were not able to intercept it!”

“1-1000km/h?! Not even our fighters can catch up to that… No! All ships, prepare for
anti-air combat!!! Shoot it down at all costs!!! Fire at will!!!”

30km is terrifyingly close. Travelling at 1000km/h, the object will soon emerge in the
skies over the fleet in about 100 seconds. Still, they have time to prepare in those 100
seconds. Having also pinpointed its direction and distance, the possibility that they
could intercept it increased.

Ships travelling at the front of the fleet began firing their anti-aircraft guns. Tracers fill
the sky like a rain of light. As the target suddenly climbed in altitude, the rain of light
launched from dozens of ships followed the target as the anti-aircraft guns turned to
the sky from the horizon.

“Is that it?!”

He could see a long, slender object flying at ultra high speeds. Up to that point, they
hadn’t been able to verify what had been attacking them but now that they had, every
other ship that hadn’t been able to attack joined in the fray. Even more tracers were
launched up into the sky. A single hit means the end for a destroyer. Every single
crewman that manned an anti-aircraft gun desperately tried to shoot it down as they
were overcome by fear.

The battlefield was drowned out by ear-piercing sounds of anti-aircraft gunfire. The
thousands of bullets of light launched into the air hauntingly paint the blue sky.

“Shoot it down!!!!!”

Aurones looked up at the weapon that had come out of nowhere and shouted at it.

However, a miracle happened. One of the shots fired by the anti-aircraft guns on the
flagship Quasar managed to get close to the Harpoon missile. The proximity fuze
designed and manufactured by the empire worked perfectly, exploding midair and
catching the Harpoon by its tail.
“Fuck yeah! We got it!!!”

Aurones clenched his fists. The missile, which lost its altitude control, slowly spiralled
out of the air and fell into the ocean. Upon colliding with the ocean surface, the anti-
ship guided missile exploded, throwing a huge column of water outwards.

“Woah!!!”

Shouts of joy and exhilaration.

“See that?! That was the power of the empire!!!”

“Not even those bastards could get past the empire’s impenetrable anti-air defenses!!!”

The soldiers, which had been temporarily freed from their terror, started shouting
words of vigor. The flagship Quasar was similarly enveloped in cheers of triumph. In
the midst of the atmosphere of relief, commander Aurones sweated profusely.

“XO… Order everyone to quickly find the source of that thing… This is bad!…”

“I have already ordered them to find where that thing had been launched from. It
didn’t show up on any of our anti-aircraft radars and there were no ships in sight when
we were attacked. I could only think that either it was launched from a ridiculously far
point or that it was launched from a submarine. Still… This is bad!… you say?”

“That thing… It was able to sink a destroyer in a single hit and it was also terrifyingly
difficult to detect. It was able to climb upwards to strike from above. In other words,
it means that it was flying very close to the surface of the ocean. Anything that flies
that close to the ocean would naturally be hard to detect via radar.

And then… that thing headed for the ship as if it were clinging to it. What a terribly
accurate attack… Navy Headquarters’ fears turned out to be true in the worst possible
way. If those things could attack at night…”

“It’s certainly bad. Still, we’ve just seen it for ourselves that if we are able to see them
coming, our anti-air defense network is good enough to block those things.”

“Yeah but…”

“Report!!! Incoming message from our patrols!!! 2 of those flying objects are coming
in from 7 o’clock, 3 from 9 o’clock, 2 from 12 o’clock, 1 from 2 o’clock, 3 from 5
o’clock!!! We are still confirming their distance since there’s radio interference!!!”

The report came in like a scream. The mood on the bridge suddenly changed.

“W-what?!”

11 more of those things are headed for the fleet.

“Intercept them! Intercept them!!!”

Aurones’s voice cracked. He couldn’t help himself peeking at the radar screen. Faint
dots of light surrounded the imperial fleet.

A horrible chill ran down Aurones’s spine.

“Fire fire fire fire fire fire fire!!!!”

Ratatatatatatatatatatat

Gunfire reverberated across the surface of the ocean. The gunfire from more than 200
ships drowned out any other noise. Captain Parbolt of the cruiser Terra Valka glared
at their target. One of these things landed a hit on the fleet earlier but they were also
able to catch another one with their powerful anti-air defense network. In other
words, they were able to prove that the enemy’s attacks could be blocked.

“The enemy attack comes in the form of a rocket munition! Set your sights on those
rockets and shoot them down!!! Engine, full speed!!! Conduct evasive maneuvers as
we fire!!!”

Parbolt thought that the enemy attacked by knowing the exact coordinates of their
target and sending a rocket which calculated a route to follow. The bullets of light
launched from the other ships gave a confidence that the curtain of fire would bring
down the incoming attack. Their target began to climb.

“Fire fire fire!!! Just aim for it and it’ll be hit!!! Quickly!!! Shoot it down!!!”

Once the rocket had risen, it slowly turned its head towards them. They understood
that the dot-looking object was heading straight for their ship. A chill ran down
Parbolt’s spine.

“Shoot it down now!!!”

The ship’s movements felt horrendously slow. It was frustrating. What was also
frustrating was that the rocket matched its direction to the heading of the ship,
showing no signs that it would miss.

“Here it comes!!!”
Someone shrieked.

“Shoot it down!!! Shoot it-”

They were able to shoot it down a while ago. It should have been brought down by the
empire’s impenetrable anti-air defense network. However, it showed no signs of being
hit by their shots as the rocket mercilessly closed the distance.

“Aghhhh!!!”

The anti-ship guided missile flew straight towards the ship, hitting its bridge and
unleashing its explosive power. The blast spread through the weaker sections of the
structure, emerging as a massive explosion. The upper part of the superstructure was
blown away by the intense blast.

Captain Parbolt departed this world with the flash of light.

Flagship Quasar

Tragedy unfolds before commander Aurones’s eyes. The enemy attacks easily slipped
past their overwhelming rain of anti-aircraft gunfire as they landed on their targets
one after the other. Their explosive power was staggering, manifesting as multiple
fireballs that could seem to dwarf a cruiser.

“Cruiser Terra Valka sustained serious damage!!!”

“Destroyer Carron sank!!!”

Reports continue to come in mercilessly.

“Grrr!!!”

An anti-ship guided missile struck the aircraft carrier Cerberus running along the right
side of the flagship Quasar, unleashing a blinding light. All the bombers and torpedo
bombers that were waiting on the deck to take off were all blown away by the
explosion as the bombs and torpedoes they carried were caught in the blast. A
massive, simultaneous explosion erupted on the deck as seawater continued to flood
the ship interior. The ship’s bow rapidly rose as the ship itself seemingly stood on the
ocean surface. As Cerberus continued to sink, it dragged the seawater around it down,
resulting in strong ocean currents forming around the ship.

“Ahhhhh!!!!!”

“Arghhh!!! Save us!!!”

The screams of crewmen getting pulled by the ocean currents were heard all the way
to the interior of other ships. Aurones’s chest tightened.

“Damage report!!!”

The ships that were hit rapidly lost speed as they fell behind the rest of the fleet as it
marched. Aurones’s mental stability felt like collapsing due to the unprecedented, one-
sided attack.

“The enemy launched 11 rockets, hitting 11 ships. 7 were sunk and 3 were seriously
damaged and rendered inoperable. The battleship Ante was hit, but it only received
moderate damage and is still combat worthy.”

“All shots hit?! We weren’t able to stop all of them… Fuck!!!”

“However, we have learned that the enemy cannot sink a battleship with their attacks.”

He didn’t listen to the vice-commander’s statement. Unable to find a vent for his
outrage and dread, he punches the wall of the ship with force.

The empire’s anti-air defense network was easily breached. Adding insult to injury,
tragedy struck in front of hundreds of onlookers as an aircraft carrier was helplessly
sunk by a single rocket. It wasn’t just the commander who shuddered in fear. Every
single soldier that saw it happened couldn’t stop shaking.

“Have we still not determined where they have launched from?”

“Not yet!!!”

“Grr… Find them now!!!”

Aurones tried to squeeze out his voice. For now, the enemy attacks have ceased.
Getting hit by only a single shot will result in near-certain death. The empire’s
impenetrable anti-air defense network is useless. The crew of every single ship
understood these realities as dread continued to propagate.

“Have 2 destroyers rescue the survivors!!! As for the rest of the fleet, find the enemy’s
positions now!!!”

“Affirmative!!!”

They will be rescuing the survivors of the previous attacks. Aurones continued to
promptly issue orders.

“XO! Considering the scale of our fleet, we can consider that we haven’t received that
much damage. Once we pinpoint the enemy’s launch positions, we should be able to
destroy them… right?”

“Of course. Let’s eradicate these lowlifes who dare make a fool of the empire!!!”

“Reporting in!!!”

The comms officer shouts. Tension runs through the bridge once more.

“1 rocket at 3 o’clock!!! Enemy attack incoming!!!”

“Tsk!!! Intercept them!!! Intercept them at all costs!!!”

A rain of anti-aircraft gunfire emerged from the fleet once more. Still, they were not
able to land a single blow and another ship has sunk. After a certain amount of time,
another missile came, landed, and sank another ship. The fleet once again shuddered
in terror.

Submarine Ōryū

At a depth of 500m, unreachable by the submarines of the Gra Valkas Empire, silently
lurked the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force’s latest submarine.
“Captain. It seems that our allied submarines have met expectations with their
attacks.”

The other submarines that lurked in the same area were gradually participating in the
attack against the enemy fleet. Setting an interval between launches that each landed
on their targets, the morale of the enemy crumbled and the fleet was thrown into
disarray.

“We were able to enter torpedo range faster than I thought.”

Since the Ōryū lay on the trajectory of the enemy fleet as they both advanced against
each other, they were able to get closer to the fleet far earlier than anticipated.

“Target has entered torpedo range.”

A quiet report was made inside the silent interior of the submarine.

“Alright. Attack the enemy large aircraft carrier. Ready the Type 89 torpedoes! We will
be launching 2!”

“Type 89 torpedoes are ready to launch!”

Preparations to launch the torpedoes were swiftly completed.

“Launch!”

Faint, subtle sounds echoed across the silent submarine interior. After a short delay,
the second torpedo was launched.

“Next! Target enemy battleship! Ready 2 Type 89 torpedoes! As soon as you’re done,
launch!”

“Affirmative!”

The submarine Ōryū fired a total of 4 torpedoes. Unbeknownst to the Gra Valkas
Empire, a deep-sea monster commenced its attack as it moved to take down more
prey.
2nd Advance Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire

The sun now tilted at an acute angle, dying the sky red. Just before the sun set,
commander Aurones on board the flagship Quasar was about to lose it. The enemy
attacked with a single rocket at set intervals. They poured all that they could into
shooting them down with their anti-aircraft guns but the rockets all flawlessly found
their targets, bringing down with them an entire ship. Having yet to ascertain their
launch positions, they do not know where they were being attacked from.

Even after several hours of being picked off one by one, the enemy attacks showed no
signs of stopping. With the sudden death of hundreds of their comrades, they were
overcome by the fear that death might come for them at any moment. After several
hours of tension, the soldiers’ spirits plummeted as their morale equivalently sunk.

“It will soon be sunset, huh. The enemy guided rockets may not be able to attack
without light.”

“I sure hope they don’t have the ability to attack at night.”

“Still… I wonder why we haven’t been able to determine their location.”

“I don’t get it either. They may be coming from submarines but if they were, then the
sound of their engines should be heard underwater. The amount of noise coming from
our fleet should muffle them out but with the attacks that have occurred so far point
to a large enemy presence. There’s no way our destroyers shouldn’t be able to pick
them up.”

“Then how?!”

Their inquiries continue.

The crewmen monitored the radar screens to their fullest. Since the enemy rockets
flew very close to the ocean surface, the planet’s curvature interferes with their
detection, making them difficult to catch with radar. Patrols constantly monitor from
above, but since the rockets were painted to blend with the sea, they too have a hard
time spotting them. Everyone conducted their duties with full concentration.

A faint dot of light appeared.

“Incoming attack at 2 o’clock!!! Distance, 35km!!!”

The destroyers on the outer edges of the fleet began to fire their anti-aircraft guns.

“Shit!!! Here they come again!!!”

The enemy rocket closed the distance in the blink of an eye as it began to rise.

“That position… It’s aiming for the Hillo!!!”

Aurones glared at the rocket.

Dun…

“What the?!”

He felt a different, low register sound cut through his gut. Aurones looked towards the
direction of what felt like an explosion. A massive column of water had emerged from
the 2nd Advance Fleet’s largest aircraft carrier, the Capella. There was no explosion on
its deck or superstructure as the huge column of water further rose up to eclipse the
ship’s height.

“Capella was hit by a rocket!!! Wait, no! It appears that it was hit by a torpedo! The
Capella sustained damage to its propellers and is losing speed!”

“Now it’s a torpedo! Shit, a torpedo swarm?! Tsk! There must be submarines inside
the fleet!!! Find them!!!”

“Since the rocket attacks started, all destroyers have taken turns reducing their speed
to 5 knots to send short signals to look for submarines. However, they still haven’t
detected anything!”

“Ridiculous!!! The empire’s destroyer sonar can detect anything as far as 3km at 5
knots! Since we’re now being attacked by torpedoes, they should be within that
range!!! No way… Are they using magic?!”

Aurones thought within the common sense of their weapons and the range of their
own torpedoes. He has not come to the point that there may be torpedoes that can go
further. While they were discussing, an anti-ship guided missile landed on the cruiser
Hillo, engulfing it in flames.

This world contains something as nonsensical as magic. If they have something that
prevents soundwaves from bouncing or something that absorbs it altogether, it will be
truly nightmarish.

He was absorbed in his thoughts. However, reality never gave him the opportunity to
ponder at his own pace. Another column of water emerged from the aircraft carrier
Capella.

“Capella was struck again!!!”

A massive gaping hole opened up on the Capella‘s starboard. The Type 89 torpedoes’
destructive power surpassed the expectations of the Gra Valkas Empire, causing much
more damage to the ship interior than the point of water insertion. A large amount of
water rushed into the interior as the aircraft carrier tilted. The planes that were being
prepared for takeoff slipped from the ship’s deck, falling into the ocean like toys. Since
water was coming in from the starboard, they injected water into the port side as they
desperately tried to save the ship’s balance. However, the amount of damage the
torpedoes caused surpassed what they could do with damage control.

“Capella could no longer sustain her balance!!! She’s gonna capsize!!!”

“Bastards!!!!!!”

Aurones’s eyes were red from rage. The aircraft carrier turned on its underside in
front of his eyes. The munitions stored within the carrier rolled out of their storage.
One of the bombs explodes, triggering a cascading domino effect as other bombs ignite
one after the other, unleashing their combined power throughout the ship. A gigantic
explosion emerged from the underside of the capsized carrier, splitting the Capella
into two as it sank, bringing with it the sailors that didn’t manage to get out.

“Aircraft carrier Capella… has been sunk!!!”

The bridge fell silent. The Gra Valkas Empire’s great fleet was sinking beneath the
waves. A feeling of helplessness hung in the air.

“How?!?! How have we still not found the submarines that are close enough to launch
those torpedoes?!”

With a voice that felt forced, he struck upon an unfathomable dread.

“We don’t know… For them to be able to hit our aircraft carrier with torpedoes, they
should be really close. It wouldn’t be strange to say they’re within visual range but we
still haven’t found them.”

“Could those bastards’ submarines be made out of technologies unknown to the

empire? Maybe they’re just extremely skilled…”

“Torpedoes detected!!! 2 torpedoes have been detected as they passed the destroyers
on the outer edges!!! Distance, 12km!!! They’re heading straight for us at 2 o’clock!!!”

Tension ran through the bridge.

“Find out where they came from! Tell every ship of the torpedoes’ positions and
commence evasive maneuvers!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

“We were able to detect them at 10km. We must assume there are more of them.
They’re probably just shooting from a far position to deceive us so we won’t find other
submarines. There should be submarines nearby. We must find them at all costs!!!”

When the Gra Valkas Empire conducts a torpedo attack, they do it at ranges of 5km to
25km. Since the torpedoes are unguided, they’re naturally expected not to hit as
several torpedoes are needed to score a single hit. Furthermore, in the event that
torpedoes are detected at more than 10km from the target, there was no way they
were expected to hit.

The flagship Quasar slowly turned. It was at that moment when…

“Enemy torpedoes have changed their path!!! They’re now facing our direction!!!
They’re gonna hit!!!”

“W-what?!”

As Aurones was disoriented by shock, the captain issued precise orders, resulting in
the bow of the ship turning to another direction.

“Enemy torpedoes have changed their direction once more!!!”

A blade turned to face them. It was a foul, game-breaking weapon: a guided torpedo.
The comms officer reported with a scream.
“F-f-fuck!!! The torpedoes are guided?!?!”

With the existence of guided rockets, it was no stretch to think that guided torpedoes
also existed. However, to the men who are used to the old weapons, there was no way
they could anticipate and fight such futuristic weapons.

“S-shit!!! We must inform the main fleet that the enemy possesses guided torpedoes!!!
Comms officer, send a transmission to the fleet regarding the summary of what’s been
happening!!!”

Reports are usually done after the outcome of the battle has been already decided to
an extent but Aurones considered the gravity of reporting at this point in time.

“Yes, sir!!!”

The comms officer immediately tried to send a transmission to the main fleet but…

“Did they get it?!”

“No… I haven’t been able to get a response… Furthemore, I couldn’t seem to contact
the other ships!!!”

“Reporting in!!! The radar screen has gone white! It’s out of service!”

An attack that cannot be prevented. Torpedoes that don’t seem to miss. In their
current situation where their limbs have been bound, their radio and radar have been
stripped from them, masking their eyes and mouth. Commander Aurones continued
to tremble uncontrollably.

Mainland Defense Command

Two men were talking in the command room.

“It seems that our submarines have succeeded in delivering the first attacks.”

Mitsugi, a man with a slender build, says to his coworker.

“Indeed. They will now be moving to our next operation: a torrent of anti-ship guided
missiles from a regiment of BP3-C bombers and F-2 fighters. How pitiful our enemies
have become…”

“We were lucky that they split up into advance fleets and not a single force. Because of
their strategy, we could procure more ammunition for our operations. A single BP3-C
can carry 4 anti-ship guided missiles. 70 of them have been deployed to the Nahanath
Kingdom and the Mu airfield in the western princely territories of Louria. Since we
cannot have the P-1 deployed outside the mainland in the event something
unexpected happens, it will just be these 70 BP3-Cs and 35 F-2s who will clean up this
fleet.”

“Louria always seems to approve our requests for the use of their airfield.”

They have fought against the Louria Kingdom before but they were still far from a
friendly country.

“That’s probably just because they feel the threat of the Gra Valkas Empire’s
hegemony.”

“Yeah. Still… we will be launching more than 400 anti-ship guided missiles in one go,
huh. It’s a really good thing that our factories are in full swing mass producing these
missiles.”

“We owe it to the necessity of having the 200 or so enemy ships virtually annihilated
by tomorrow morning. We also won’t be stopping there, too. Whew… It truly is a pity.
However, we just can’t let them spill a single drop of Japanese blood.”

The battlefield continues to develop.

750km west of the Nahanath Kingdom

The sun has long set as the bright moon shone in the night sky. Some things were flying
100m above the surface of the ocean at the speed of sound. Their blue color allowed
them to melt into the ocean, making them hard to see from above. The radar-
absorbing paint on their wings make them difficult to catch on radar.

10 F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force flew through the night as each of
them carried 4 anti-ship guided missiles. Their target: the Gra Valkas Empire fleet
which advanced in front of them.

At the 11-country conference, they sank a patrol ship of the Coast Guard and publicly
executed its crew. They have tried numerous times to commence dialogue with them
but they didn’t relax their grip on their desire for invasion and have dispatched a large
fleet to attack the Japanese mainland. Representing Japan’s will, the F-2 fighters are
about to carry out not a psychological attack, but a critical damage blow by saturating
their fleet with anti-ship guided missiles in a night operation.

Roughly 400km behind them, an E-767 airborne warning and control aircraft cruised
through the sky, giving them precise orders.

“Commence attack!!! Commence attack!!!”

They heard the orders loud and clear. The pilots went on to fulfill their jobs precisely.

The fighters launched their 4 missiles one after another. The Type 93 air to ship guided
missiles (ASM-2) launched from 10 F-2 fighters ignited their turbojet engines. 40 Type
93 air to ship guided missiles, each boasting a range of 170km, accelerated to around
1150km/h, carrying the payload that would eradicate the Gra Valkas Empire fleet.
“Enemy torpedo has changed its course and is heading straight for us!!!”

A report resonates across the bridge like a scream. Cruising through the ocean at an
estimated 50 knots, the enemy torpedo was heading straight for their ship. The
battleship Quasar had already been conducting evasive maneuvers, but the enemy
torpedo changed its heading accordingly as it closed the distance. With the sun having
already set, the smoke emanating from the direct hits of the anti-ship guided missiles
rose from various parts of the fleet, darkening their surroundings.

They’ve finally set their sights on me!!

A weapon known as a guided torpedo that was outside their norm.

The chilling breath of death as it loomed behind him, breathing down his neck.

Commander of the 2nd Advance Fleet, Aurones, couldn’t control his hands from
trembling.

“Is… is this really it for me?!”

An unrecognizable dread wells up from the depths of his heart. Ever since he was
appointed as an officer, he was ready to die for the sake of the empire. However, the
empire was powerful. Even the possibility of death affected only an excruciatingly few
imperial soldiers and being an imperial officer meant that death was never something
he was supposed to welcome on his door. However, with the introduction of irrational
high-performance weapons and the bitter taste of reality before him, he felt that death
had now come for him as he shook in fear of the truth that was far from what he had
imagined.

I don’t want to die!

He wanted to scream.
However, his position as commander didn’t allow him to give in. He pressed himself
and restrained his voice.

The enemy torpedo rapidly neared the ship, giving him no time to think clearly.

“It’s no use!! We can’t avoid it!!”

One of the lookouts screamed.

“Everyone, hold on to something!!!”

“Dear gods!!!”

Various screams echoed across the bridge.

Moments later, the sharp sound of erupting steel was heard. After a slight delay, an
ear-piercing deep sound reverberated across the ship and across the ocean. The
gigantic steel battleship Quasar shook violently from the hit. A massive column of
water erupted from the starboard side of the ship, throwing volumes of water up in
the air which drizzled on the ship.

“Starboard side hit!!!”

“Damage report!!!”

“A massive hole was reported on the starboard side!!! We can’t stop the flooding!!!”

A terrific amount of seawater rushed into the interior of the ship, causing it to gradually
list.

“Commencing flooding of the port side!!!”

As the ship’s balance faltered from the high volume of flooding on the starboard side,
the ship listed towards the right. They were attempting to try to preserve the ship’s
balance by flooding the port side. However, the ship’s list slowly returned.

“We’ve reached the limit for the flooding of the port side!!! It’s no good! We can’t stop
the flooding on the starboard side!!!”

“What?!”
The hole that was opened up by the enemy torpedo on the starboard side was far too
massive that even simple repairs won’t do. With the compartment doors destroyed
altogether, seawater continued to flood the interior. The damage brought about by the
flooding had already surpassed the Quasar’s damage control, causing it to list further
to the right.

“Tsk!!! It was only a single hit!!! Are the enemy torpedoes far more powerful than
ours?!”

The torpedo’s speed, range, and guided nature were all game-breaking, unfair
characteristics. Those alone made the enemy’s torpedoes terrifying but their damaging
capabilities were also far from expectations.

“Enemy guided rockets are approaching once more!!!”

“Argh!!! What timing!!!”

Commander Aurones looked to the sky from the bridge of the sinking battleship. The
outer reaches of the fleet have also detected the incoming attacks and have already
begun firing their anti-aircraft guns.

“Oh… Oh no!!!”

The scene that unfolded before Aurones was different from the scenes that he and the
others have witnessed beforehand. Several dozens of anti-ship guided missiles flew
across their line of sight. A single rocket deals enough damage to knock out a cruiser.
They were only able to see a few dozen of the rockets that flew straight for their ships.
There was no reliable way of preventing them. Hopelessness prevailed over the spirits
of everyone.

“Those… bastards!!! Damn it all!!!”

Frustration. Fear. Hopelessness.

Aurones was enveloped by emotions he couldn’t express. The empire wasn’t even able
to grasp where its enemy was. From outside their range and detection capabilities, the
enemy continued to one-sidedly attack them with precise and powerful strikes.
Destruction has finally caught up to the fleet.

“Cruiser Staz, Molt, and Chio have been hit!!!”

One by one, the imperial fleet was engulfed in flames that overshadowed the ships
they had come from.

“The 3rd Destroyer Squadron from the outer ring has been hit!!! 8 ships have sunk!!!”

“3rd Destroyer Squadron annihilated!!! The 3 cruisers that were hit are now beyond
help and are sinking!!!”

Aurones trembled as he glared at the surface of the ocean.

“Unbelievable!!! I must be having a horrible nightmare!!! We’re supposed to be the

invincible Gra Valkas Imperial Navy!!!”

None of the hopeless reports being made reached Aurones’s ears. From what he could
see, even more anti-ship guided missiles appeared.

“No!!! No!!! NO!!!”

Their casualties continued to mount in the dozens. They were now in a situation
where it was no longer possible to command the fleet.

“Ah!”

A single anti-ship guided missile rose from the surface of the ocean as it flew in their
direction. The missile then turned down, destined for the bridge.

“You bastard!!!!!”

40 Type 93 air to ship guided missiles (ASM-2) launched from 10 F-2 fighters from the
Japan Air Self Defense Force skimmed the ocean’s surface at 1150km/h. After catching
the enemy ships in their sights, they climbed from their sea-skimming altitude. Their
imaging infrared guidance system captures the ships precisely as the missiles hit the
ships from an angle. One of these missiles hits the bridge of the battleship Quasar, the
flagship of the Gra Valkas Empire’s 2nd Advance Fleet, unleashing its destructive
power, killing everyone in the bridge in an instant. The violent explosion blew parts
of the superstructure off.

Commander Aurones was killed in action.

Flagship Valcer, 1st Advance Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire

230 ships from the 1st Advance Fleet march towards the east.

One of the empire’s Three Great Generals, the empress Mirkenses, stared at the sea
restlessly from the bridge of the 1st Advance Fleet’s flagship, the battleship Valcer.

“Radar and radio are still out of commission?”

They weren’t able to use radar and radio starting some time back. Just as they were
about to enter the region where they were supposed to link up with the 2nd Advance
Fleet, they lost their ability to use the radio altogether. With each ship’s radio being
simultaneously rendered out of commission, it was clearly not a malfunction and the
possibility that it was due to a naturally occurring event was too much of a coincidence.
Furthermore, since they were issued a warning by what seems to be Japan, the
possibility that this phenomenon was caused by Japan is even more likely. Finally, this
phenomenon resembled the stories of the survivors from Valkyries about what
happened prior to the attack by Japan’s army.

“Lady Mirkenses! A reconnaissance plane has returned.”

When their radar and radio became unusable, Mirkenses, assuming an enemy attack,
immediately called for the deployment of 20 reconnaissance planes towards all
directions to warn them of any possible aerial attacks. Now, it seems that the
reconnaissance plane that was sent to the direction of the 2nd Advance Fleet had
returned. The plane flew over the flagship before it approached the aircraft carrier.
Since their radios have become unusable, their light signal apparatus, which was
supposed to be for emergencies, have become their method of notifying the flagship.

Click click click!

A message was transmitted through flashes of light.

“2 – N – D – F – L – E – E – T – A – N – N – I – H – I – L – A – T – E – D”

“T-the 2nd Advance Fleet was annihilated?!”

Captain Fitor says out loud.

“Unbelievable! They were wiped out in such a short period of time?!”

They didn’t interpret the message wrong. The message from the flashes of light clearly
stated that the 2nd Advance Fleet had been annihilated. There was no way a highly
skilled sailor of the empire would make a mistake in transmitting the message.

The bridge started to get more noisy and confused.

“How even… It’s not even broken…”

Radar engineer Magellan was trying to find the cause as to why the radar isn’t able to
pick up anything. With the possibility that it may be a malfunction in mind, he intently
devoted his all to finding the cause.

He had come to the thought that the radar not working was the result of enemy
interference.

Still… How the hell are they able to cause interference?

Radar is an apparatus that allows one to discern an enemy aircraft’s position by

illuminating it with self-generated radio waves and picking up on the radio waves that
had bounced off from the enemy aircraft’s fuselage.

“Wait… Could they have discerned our frequency and are sending out radio waves on
that frequency? It’s certainly possible that radar can be disabled through that…”

Having reached that conclusion, Magellan promptly turned off the power to the radar
completely before changing its frequency and rebooting it at maximum output.

Bridge of the flagship Valcer

“Battle stations!!! All hands, battle stations!!!”

The piercing sound of buzzers echoed across the interior of the ship as sailors
hurriedly ran around.

“Have the carriers send oversight planes now!!! Have them get the torpedo bombers
ready to launch with torpedoes and tell every ship to maximize their visual scrutiny
of the air!!!”

Orders were issued in rapid succession as the fleet readied for battle. The sailors
moved swiftly, brandishing their discipline.

Radar engineer Magellan was looking at the radar screen together with the radar
operator. They were about to reboot at maximum output following the changing of
frequency. This time, he wanted to get rid of the phenomenon preventing them from
utilizing their radar.

“Alright. Rebooting.”

He calmly presses something.

A single ray of light appeared on the completely blank radar screen. It started to turn
clockwise from the 10 o’clock direction to the 2 o’clock direction.

“Huh?!”

Appearing in the wake of the line were an unthinkable amount of dots of light.

“Enemy aircraft?!”

He subconsciously says out loud.

An attack is coming!!!

He feels an unprecedented amount of dread. The radar screen, which had been
functional for only a moment, immediately reverted back to its white screen. They’ve
been lucky that they were able to spot the momentary display of the dots of light.

“What’s wrong?!”

Commander Mirkenses heard the commotion.

“We’ve detected enemy aircraft closing in at 11 o’clock!!! Distance, 200km! Speed,

unknown! The radar immediately blanked out so we don’t know how many there are
exactly but there should be more than 50!!!”

“What?!”
Faced with the clear, murderous intent pointed at them, a chill ran down their spines.

“An aerial attack, huh?! Get interceptors up as fast as you can!!! Don’t let a single enemy
aircraft get close!!!”

Orders were issued. Having assumed an attack, Mirkenses saw that the attacks were
coming as assumed. The bridge became even busier.

“We were lucky to have detected them at 200km.”

Staff officer Deluncia, who was standing beside Mirkenses, says. Wearing glasses, he
possessed a gentle appearance and was usually reserved. He continued.

“At a distance of 200km, there’s plenty of space and time to intercept them.”

“That’s if we assume that they’re at our level. The 2nd Advance Fleet was just close to
where we are now. They were annihilated without even being able to contact us.
Commander Aurones is a brilliant officer, yet they were annihilated helplessly without
even being able to send anything to inform us. I don’t exactly know what kind of fight
the enemy will bring.”

She remembers hearing about some documents before they left port. It was mentioned
in those documents that the Japanese military may possess futuristic weapons such
as guided bombs.

When I saw their absurd estimated performance, I laughably dismissed it as something

that was impossible. However, if a fleet as big as the 2nd Advance Fleet was indeed
annihilated, then HQ’s fantastical assumptions may indeed have some truth to them.

“Deluncia, inform the entire fleet that there’s a possibility that the enemy may employ
guided bombs. Tell them to have the jamming devices distributed by the Advanced
Technologies Laboratory ready!!!”

“Yes, ma’am! Do you intend to use those things, by the way?”

“Yes. The Advanced Technologies Laboratory, which can be said to be the brains of our
military, is an exceptional group. Their thingamajigs are sure to bear fruit. Summon
one of their staff members to the bridge.”

“Yes, ma’am!”
Mirkenses looks towards the center portion of the ship. Long, massive cylindrical
objects that flanked left and right glared lifelessly at the sky. After a while, the door to
the bridge opened and in came a man of delicate features sporting glasses.

“It’s finally our turn to shine.”

Just in case, a first class engineer of the Advanced Technologies Laboratory was sent
aboard the flagship of the 2nd Advance Fleet, which had been equipped with
technologies distributed by the laboratory.

“I formally extend my greetings in the presence of you, Commander Mirkenses, Staff

Officer Deluncia, and Captain Fitor. I am Kandall, first class engineer of the Advanced
Technologies Laboratory.”

“Surely you’ve heard of the situation at hand, Mr. Kandall.”

“Indeed.”

“In the event our interceptors fail, there’s a possibility we will be exposed to an attack
by enemy guided bombs. In the event that they get past our interceptors and anti-
aircraft guns, these new weapons of yours will come into play. Are you confident about
them?”

“Hmph. Of course, Lady Mirkenses.”

Kandall’s manner of speech in front of Mirkenses, one of the empire’s Three Great
Generals, would be unforgivable were he a soldier, but since he is a scientist who
wasn’t under the military, no one raised a complaint.

“There’s someone called Naguano from the tech department of the Intelligence
Bureau. He was my classmate during university and he is a superbly excellent person.
He has pointed out the possibility that Japan is in possession of guided bombs. Next,
he was able to verify these guided bombs through Japanese materials sold in Mu. It
seems that he was worrying over which is true or not.”

Kandall continues.

“The Advanced Technologies Laboratory and the tech department of the Intelligence
Bureau have shared information and have exhaustively discovered what sort of
guidance systems these guided bombs might use should they indeed exist. The tech
department of the Intelligence Bureau has pointed out that they may use a practical
application of radar technology and the Advanced Technologies Laboratory, while the
probability that they may use radar cannot be ignored, has thought that they may
instead use the type where they seek out sources of heat. They may use inertial
guidance mid-flight but the end stage may rely on radar or heat-seeking guidance.”

Question marks popped up in the heads of the military personnel at the tech jargon
that they didn’t understand.

“If it is using a radar guidance system, it must be guided by the radio waves emanating
from its warhead. The empire’s VT fuzes also use these radio waves in their operation.
If we are to disperse metallic fragments that are highly reflective to radio waves, it is
highly possible that the enemy guided bomb will lose sight of its target ship. Also, if it
instead uses a heat-seeking guidance system, one of the possible systems deduced by
the Advanced Technology Laboratory, the guided bomb can be fooled by making
several heat sources far larger than the target ship appear. Us in the Advanced
Technology Laboratory call the radio wave-distorting devices chafes and the heat
source-distorting devices flares and have promptly distributed them to the 1st
Advance Fleet and the main fleet.”

Kandall was impassioned in his speech.

“I-I see… How promising. We are certainly expecting a lot from you.”

“Yes! I am absolutely confident that what you are about to use are the best
countermeasures the empire has to currently offer! The existence of guided bombs
itself is amazing but these deception apparatuses will certainly bear fruit even if the
enemy’s technology were 20… no, 30 years ahead! You can count on us for your last
line of defence!!!”

Staff officer Deluncia applauds him.

“Wonderful! Just as much as I could expect from the Advanced Technologies

Laboratory, the brains of our empire! We are counting on you!”

Kandall, who showed absolute confidence in the face of an unprecedented enemy, gave
enough confidence to loosen the mood in the bridge.
The sun had long set but was still subtly giving off its presence as the horizon shone
in dark red. Flying in the darkening skies were white aircraft.

70 BP3-C of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force flew across the skies with 12 F-15J
fighters as escorts. Each BP3-C carried 4 anti-ship guided missiles under its wings. Far,
far behind them flew an E-767 airborne warning and control aircraft.

“Air Command to A1, and A2. Interceptor aircraft have taken off from enemy ships and
are heading towards your direction. Distance is 190km and speed is 260 knots
(~481km/h).”

Receiving information from the E-767 in real time, the attack group was given orders
through radio from base. For this operation, the anti-ship attack group was named A1
and the F-15Js escorting the anti-ship attack group was named A2. Commander
Yagami is in command far behind them in the Air Self Defense Force’s control center
established in the Nahanth Kingdom.

“Commander, how are our positions revealed to the enemy? Since they may have just
seen us for a moment, how about we just temporarily deviate from our flight course?
If the enemy interceptors don’t deviate from their flight course, that just means that
the enemy isn’t tracking us on radar.”

One of the pilots speaks up.

“It’s not known how they’re able to ascertain your position but it’s reasonable to think
that the enemy knows where you are. Your suggestion to deviate off course is much
more humane but in the event that the enemy radar has a firm grasp on your position,
while there may not be any casualties on our side if our briefing on their capabilities
is true, there’s a possibility that their interceptors may be able to catch up to the top
speed of the BP3-Cs. It would be really hard to accept if we sustain casualties due to
misplaced sympathy for our enemies. If the F-15Js were to attack the interceptors
now, they’d make it in time.”

Commander Yagami meditates for a moment. As a devout man, he apologized to the

gods for the deaths of many at his discretion. Still, he couldn’t let his comrades sustain
any casualties, even if it were unlikely. He decided that he will have the interceptors
shot down.

“Command to A2! Command to A2! Shoot down those enemy fighters! I repeat! Shoot
down those enemy fighters!”

Their orders are crystal clear.

12 of Japan’s proud air superiority fighter, the F-15J, which had been escorting the
BP3-Cs, ignited their afterburners. The 2 jets of flame protruding from the back of
fighters shone brightly against the darkening sky. The F-15J fighters rapidly accelerated
and pulled away from the BP3-C attack group, disappearing into the western sky.
Navy Air Corps, 1st Advance Fleet, the skies above the waters south of the
Rodenius continent

The sun had already set and the crimson red sky of dusk slowly gave way to the great,
dark blue of the night. Kra Daciami of the Navy Air Corps’ 5th Squadron felt a little
queasy. There was nothing to worry regarding the absolute beast that is the Antares
carrier-based fighter, the empire’s proud air superiority fighter. Still…

“Shouldn’t we be heading back? It’s about to get dark…”

Arriving and departing at night is simply too dangerous. It would be nice if the carrier
was illuminated, but it was simply too dangerous to give away one’s position in the
midst of battle. Shining lights aboard the carrier is also forbidden. Everyone should
have been aware of the risk they were taking by flying off at dusk but no one uttered
any complaints.

“Let’s clean up shop and return before everything gets pitch-black.”

One of the pilots speaks up. Looking all around him, he sees a sizable formation of 51
of the Imperial Navy Air Corps’ proud Antares carrier-based fighters. The enemy
attack unit numbered around 50 to 80. In the operation briefing before they left their
home port, they received instructions that the enemy’s tech was likely to be more
advanced than the empire.

“Hmph. They were probably just exaggerating.”

He remembers the events that happened right after the transfer.

During the operation briefing at the onset of hostilities, they were informed that the
enemy operated an unknown number of dragons and since they were living creatures,
they pointed out the possibility that the dragons possess extreme maneuverability
and they were advised to take caution. By the time the empire clashed horns with
Leifor, they were informed that the dragons they possessed were far faster and agile
than the ones they had encountered up to that point and were advised to take even
greater caution. When they went up against Mu, a globally recognized superpower,
they were advised to take even greater caution as the enemy fighters may possess far
more different capabilities than previously thought. In the fight against the Holy
Mirishial Empire, the dominant superpower, they saw that their air superiority
fighters didn’t employ any propellers. They were even ordered to be cautious as the
possibility remained that their fighters may be surprisingly better than their own.

However, none of the enemies they faced proved better than their homegrown Antares
fighters. The only ones they had to look out for were the floating ships of the heavens
of the Holy Mirishial Empire, which used magic-driven propulsion in place of
propellers. Still, even these floating ships of the heavens were eclipsed performance-
wise by the empire’s Antares fighters. As battle-hardened veterans, they were confident
by the rule of thumb that what awaited them was absolute victory.

In the briefing prior to their interception task, the information that the 2nd Advance
Fleet had been annihilated was kept from them, with only a portion of the airmen who
were above deck that witnessed the light signal message knowing the truth and even
they were imposed upon a duty of confidentiality. With most of the airmen being kept
from such information, the battlefield leaned towards tragedy.

“Hm?”

Kra Daciami felt something subtly off about his aircraft.

“The engine sounds funny…”

Clank!

“!!!”

The airframe shook violently as heavy smoke emerged from the engine. The black
smoke being emitted by the engine trailed behind the aircraft as it flew. As the engine
started to emit sounds, its output plummeted.

“A breakdown?! This isn’t funny! Not now!!!”

If he fails to make it back before darkness enveloped the seas, his life would be in
danger. Contrary to what Daciami felt, he started to fall behind the rest of the squadron.
As the output from the engine continued to plummet, he struggled to maintain speed
as he started to completely drag behind.

“S5D1! Your engine’s on fire! Turn back this instant!”

Calling him by his designation, the squadron commander ordered him to turn back. I
was confident in the upcoming battle. He wanted to fight for the empire and secure
victory, but he would only be pulling back his squadron if he continued to do so. It was
vexing, but he had no choice but to follow orders.

“Fuck! I bet he’s laughing his ass off right now!”

They were rivals who competed with each other for number of kills. He imagines the
face of the bastard who always found fault with him whenever he got the chance. Still,
it can’t be helped that this time his fighter broke down.

“Affirmative.”

He looks up to the formation of his squadron. There seems to already be a significant

difference in altitude. Kra Daciami’s Antares fighter has started to show signs of
exhaustion from countless fierce battles.

“I’ll be returning n-Huh?”

Just as he was about to radio them, one of their planes flying in front of the formation
blew up into pieces. Within a surprisingly short amount of time, a total of 12 fighters
had been blown up and shot out of the sky. White shockwaves radiate from the blast
point as smoke and flames engulf the fighters.

“W-what the hell?! Where did that come from?!”

He didn’t know who said that but their screams were picked up by his radio. 12 more
friendly fighters experienced the same fate. As the formation starts to scatter, tragedy
befell them seconds later. The enemy attack ruthlessly found them without even
sparing them the time to think as their formation was whittled down efficiently. In the
span of mere 20 seconds, more than half of their squadron were reduced to burning,
scrap metal left to fall out of the sky.

It seems that the squadron commander had also been shot down as the radio was
filled with screams of panic and confusion. He couldn’t discern who was saying what
or what they were even saying.
“What the hell were those attacks?! Did anyone see them coming?! Where are the
enemy fighters?!”

While his comrades were exposed to the intense barrage of enemy attacks, he was
frustrated with his aircraft experiencing a breakdown. Kra Daciami frantically looked
across the skies but found no trace of the enemy fighters.

“Are they attacking outside of our visual range?!”

The enemy possesses extremely terrifying weapons. If they were being attacked at a
range where they could not even visually verify them, the empire’s proud Antares
fighter, no matter how brilliant its performance is, was simply helpless.

“How the hell… Ah! Are those…?!”

In the sky behind him, he saw a faint glimpse of light. The plane which seemed like a
dot momentarily closed the distance as something which trailed a tail of light was
launched from its wingtips. These things of light, as if it possessed a will of its own,
changed its heading mid-flight accordingly to face one of his comrades’ aircraft which
tried to avoid it, colliding with it and unleashing its explosive power. In just a single
hit, their fighter, which was equipped with bulletproof plating that can protect the
pilot and the fuel tanks, exploded into pieces.

“What power!!!”

It surely didn’t feel like the attack was meant for anti-air purposes. Behind the
arrowhead-shaped enemy fighter protruded two jets of flame. The thing climbed up
into the sky at an overwhelming speed he had never seen before. His comrades
likewise turned to try and give chase but its performance felt like it was on a different
dimension, easily shaking off its pursuers. In the blink of an eye, he lost sight of the
enemy fighter. However, the enemy seems to have already turned around. It suddenly
showed up once more, releasing its arsenal of light, reducing his comrades to lumps
of flames. As if trying to clean up the fighters that scattered to flee, their attacks
continued mercilessly.

“What the hell are those things?!”

“They’re too fast!!! I can’t shake ‘em off!!!”

“Enemy attack on my tail!!! I can’t-bzzzzzzzzzzt”

The disparity in their maneuverability was overwhelming.

“H-how are we supposed to win against those things?!”

Kra Daciami felt a fear he had never experienced before. The glorious Imperial Navy
Air Corps, in its hundreds of battles, was supposed to be undefeated. Even in Yggdra,
their previous world, and in this New World, being outdone was simply out of the
question. Then there were his comrades. They studied to death together in training
school, rigorously training their bodies and conducting flight maneuvers. Just before
they left port, one of his senior comrades talked to them.

“I heard that my daughter was born yesterday. Man. I really wanna go home and hug
her in my arms.”

Their veteran pilots have also been looking forward to the end of hostilities.

“Once Japan has been subjugated, I’ll retire from the military and take everything slow,
you know?”

Just as if these emotions have been crushed under some unyielding foot, their deaths
at the hands of this efficient, routine-like attack make their power and feelings which
they have so carefully accumulated look meaningless. From his perspective, it seemed
like one of the scenes where their fighters one-sidedly picked off Mu biplanes. Skill
didn’t matter. It was a disparity in technology which no level of skill could bridge.

“A-am I just going to die like this?!”

Fear ran across his entire body.

He turned the nose of his plane back to the direction of the fleet. A single line of smoke
trailed across the blue sea.

51 fighters of the Imperial Navy Air Corps from the Gra Valkas Empire’s 1st Advance
Fleet made contact with 12 F-15J fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force around
100km east of the fleet. Save for 1 fighter which broke down, the entire squadron was
annihilated.
JASDF control center, Nahanath Kingdom

“The enemy interceptors have been eliminated. 50 of the 51 planes have been shot
down. We suffered zero casualties.”

Commander Yagami was receiving a report from one of his subordinates.

“What happened to that 1 survivor?”

“Smoke was trailing out of its engine. They found that it was heading back to the fleet
due to engine troubles, so they decided not to attack it as it posed no threat to the BP3-
C attack unit.”

“I see. Carry on.”

“Within a few short moments, the enemy fleet will be within range of the BP3-C attack
unit.”

“Okay. Once they’re within range, have the BP3-Cs commence their assault. After the
attack, have them return to their respective bases and have them resupplied and ready
for further attacks. Are the recon planes (RF-4E) in position?”

“Yes. They’re currently 100km behind the BP-3Cs.”

“Alright. Once they’ve verified the results of the attack, have them send every single
bit of info back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The battlefield continues to develop.

Flagship Valcer, 1st Advance Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire

A 215.8m long and 28.96m wide steel ship cruised through the waves. Its 80,000
horsepower engine allowed the massive chunk of metal to lightly plow through the
waves, displacing a gigantic amount of seawater as it did so. Its 41cm guns, boasting
chillingly immense firepower, mounted on 4 turrets, face proudly towards the horizon.
There may not exist any ship in this world, save the battleships of the empire itself,
that can remain afloat in the face of such grand firepower.

On the bridge of this behemoth was the empress Mirkenses, one of the empire’s Three
Great Generals, staring at the ocean with an expression that cannot seem to be calmed.

“If you have something… even an inkling of info regarding the enemy, report all of it at
once!”

Their interceptors should be making contact with the enemy attack unit soon. The
makeup of the enemy attack unit is completely unknown and they also don’t know
how many fighters are mixed in with the unit. To be completely frank, they know
nothing about their actual number nor what they really are, so they sent an
interceptor force that was highly skilled and battle-hardened.

“I bet some of them will get past.”

Staff officer Deluncia who was standing next to her speaks with an inkling of ease.

“Some… you say?”

“Yes. By the time we saw their attack force coming in through radar, we had basically
already prevented half of their force. In comparison to fighters, attack aircraft and
torpedo bombers are slow. This is a fact, no matter how much technology advances.
Naturally, there will be fighters escorting them, but our interceptor force consists of
all fighters which outnumber their escorts several times to one. No matter how
superior their electronics get, I think that this ratio won’t change.”

“Logically, I agree. But…”

“But???”

Mirkenses then spoke to staff officer Deluncia, who she placed some faith in, in a
whisper as to not let her other subordinates know.

“My instincts have been itching on me to run from this part of the ocean as fast as I
could. It’s getting quite horrible, I say.”

“Oh? It’s certainly strange for… Lady Mirkenses to be saying something illogical. Could
it be your intuition?”
“Something like that. No matter how I cut it, it’s a desperate hunch. It’s on the same
page as me wanting to just drop my responsibilities and run away. Don’t you say this
to anyone else, Deluncia.”

“Of course. I at least think that we’ll be able to drop a few of their attack aircraft in this
interception. The Japanese army is an opponent we should be vigilant against, but the
worst assumptions of HQ are simply just sci-fi to me. Those worst assumptions are
just impossible.”

They suddenly picked up some semblance of a voice over the radio.

“Huh? I’m picking up something!!!”

Audible sounds were suddenly coming from the radio which until a while ago did not
work.

“Connect it to the speakers!!!”

The comms officer connected the radio to the speakers across the bridge.

“…s is S5D1… our… ilated… peat!… All interc… s are anni… Enemy a… towards the flee…
their… at least 1… bzzzzzt”

The slightly audible voice resounded across the bridge.

“Is this from…?!”

The captain says out loud, astonished.

“N-no way…”

Staff officer Deluncia says out loud, despairing.

Tension envelops the bridge. True to her nature, empress Mirkenses springs into
action and promptly issues orders.

“It’s possible that the interceptors have been wiped out!!! The enemy is coming!!!
Prepare for anti-air combat!!!”

“Prepare for anti-air combat!!!”

The buzzers ring out all across the interior of the ship as sailors hurriedly rush to their
positions. They’ve already readied themselves for battle but now that they were
actually expecting an enemy attack to arrive, the sailors’ anxiety worsened.

“Mr. Kandall, we are now expecting the enemy attack to come any time soon. I leave
our last line of defence against the guided bombs to you.”

“Very well. Leave them to us!”

Kandall went on to personally contact and coordinate with every ship as the
preparations for deploying the guided bomb deception apparatuses continued.

“Airwolf to Command! We spotted multiple objects flying low on the ocean surface just
30km east of the fleet! Moving in to intercept!!!”

A unit by the callsign Airwolf was patrolling low in the skies to the east of the fleet
when one of their good-eyed pilots miraculously spotted the anti-ship guided missiles
flying low from a higher altitude. Around 4 of them were cruising at ultra-high speeds
as they looked like they crept on the ocean surface. Airwolf had 15 aircraft.

“They’re fast… but we’ll make it!”

Rocket-like flying objects closed in on the fleet at speeds that far surpass their own
aircraft. They began to dive drastically. Pushing hard on the throttle, they lined up to
where the rockets would soon pass through. The sound of the engine and the wind
hitting their canopies uncomfortably resounded across the cabin. Setting their sights
on where the rockets would soon be, they put in the most concentration they have
mustered in their lives.

“Those things are fast!!! We only have one chance at bringing them down!!! Open
fire!!!”

Ratatatatatatatatatatatatat

15 Antares carrier-based fighters fired volley upon volley of machine-gun rounds

down on the ocean surface. Bullets were fired in succession from over 15 aircraft at
750m/s (2700km/h) with the occasional tracer round painting the sky in their color
and whirring up a phantom-like storm of metal and seawater. Boasting a rate of fire of
520 rounds per minute, the empire’s proud 20mm cannons roared to life.

In about 12 seconds, each aircraft fired 100 rounds, totalling to 200 when taking into
account the presence of 2 20mm guns on the fighters. Airwolf fired a total of 3000
rounds into the face of the flying objects, tossing up a torrent of seawater as they hit
the ocean surface.

Bridge of the flagship Valcer

Around 30km away from them, a patrol unit calling itself Airwolf launched an intense
storm of bullets down into the ocean. The torrent of light was visible even from the
bridge.

“So?! Did they finally get them?!”

They were suddenly beset upon by a guided bomb attack. Staff officer Deluncia felt
dread at the enemy attack which has so far surpassed all their expectations.

“Transmission from allied aircraft!!! They got none of them!!!”

A horrible chill ran down their spines. The destroyers at the edge of the fleet had
already begun raining down a hail of anti-aircraft gunfire towards the horizon. Soon,
the rest of the fleet followed suit.

“Enemy rockets climbing!!!”

Every enemy ship that could see the rockets pointed their guns upward, sending their
seemingly unending rain of bullets up into the sky.

“Why can’t we hit them?!”

Someone shouts out.

One of the rockets, which had climbed upwards into the sky and tracing a parabolic
path unto its target, changed its course towards the cruiser Vernante as if latching onto
its prey.

“Cruiser Vernante, launching chaffs and flares!!!”

Several bright lights emerged in the vicinity of the cruiser. In order to drag the missile
targeting system away from the ship, they launched numerous sources of heat. At the
same time, a mist of aluminium fragments obscured the ship from view. The bright
lights of the flares reacted to the aluminium mist, enveloping the cruiser in its aura.

“Well?! How will you respond now?! This is the answer of our brightest, the Advanced
Technologies Laboratory!!!”

Flares against a heat-seeking guidance system.

Chaffs against a radar guidance system.

Both cases should be effective. First class engineer Kandall of the Advanced
Technologies Laboratory stared at the cruiser Vernante with absolute confidence.

However…

The imaging infrared system used for terminal guidance of the Type 93 air to ship
guided missile launched from a BP3-C of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force wasn’t
fooled by the chaffs nor flares, hitting the cruiser Vernante without fail at 1150km/h.
Had it been a 1st-generation guidance system, the empire’s deception apparatuses
may have had an effect. However, the imaging infrared system used on more modern
missiles were beyond the scope of the Gra Valkas Empire’s imaginations.

An intense fireball emerged on the dark ocean surface and illuminating the heavens
above. The fireball was powerful enough to critically damage its target as the ear-
piercing sound from the explosion reverberated across the area following a delay.

“Ah!”

“Cruiser Vernante, destroyer Barrister, and battleships Pitt and Recarter have been
hit!!!”

A lifeless report resounds across the bridge. The enemy bombs had landed on their
targets without being fooled by their countermeasures.

“H-how?! How did they still hit?! Could they actually be using magic?!”

The realm of magic is still understudied. Having reached the conclusion that Japan’s
guided bombs may be using magic, Kandall lost strength and froze at the bewildering
scene that had unfolded. Right in front of his eyes was a cruiser on fire.

“We’re currently confirming the damage but we couldn’t contact Vernante nor the
Barrister.”

The smoke from the hits gradually cleared.

“Destroyer Barrister was sunk and cruiser Vernante has suffered critical damage and
is no longer fit for combat.”

All they now understand was that they have no means of preventing the enemy attack.
They were simply slow, massive targets left to be continuously hammered by an
unyielding mallet. Not knowing what they should do next, the empress Mirkenses
stood frozen in silence.

It was at that moment when they managed to get their radar back momentarily again.
The observer caught a glimpse of countless dots of light which appeared all across the
fleet’s vicinity.

“We got the radar back and we’re seeing several enemy rockets incoming!!! They’re
30km out and number more than 250!!!”

“What the hell…”

The enemy rockets now outnumber the 1st Advance Fleet Mirkenses commands. She
hoped to challenge the Japanese military with overwhelming numbers. However, the
enemy, who possessed ammunition which can single handedly render a cruiser unfit
for combat and hit its target without fail, turned the tides on her by striking her fleet
with an overwhelming number of those guided bombs.

A silent hopelessness lingered within the bridge.

Second Civilization, Magikaraich Community, Port City Mill, Japanese Hospital

Japanese healthcare was highly regarded in this world and a large Japanese hospital,
Seikaro, had been set up in the port city of Mill, near the capital of Avest. This was at
the direct request of the Magikaraich Federation of Academic Institutions (de facto
government) despite not having officially established diplomatic relations with Japan.

Now, though, the hospital looked like a battlefield.

Injured soldiers were being brought in one after another. Some were moaning and the
local nurses were busy casting recovery magic on the severely injured soldiers and
transferring them to advanced operating rooms.

They were soldiers from the World Union Fleet, and the port city of Mill, which was
on the Baltica Sea, was accepting the injured people that the Nigrato Union couldn’t
accommodate.

In one such operating room, a man awoke.

“Uu… uuu…”

A white, inorganic ceiling filled his field of vision.

“I… I was… saved?…”

Pain ran through his entire body and he couldn’t move as he wished.

Faltas, a middle-aged man with a well-trained body, recalled what happened.

Representing a civilized nation of the Central World, he led a portion of the World
Union Fleet, carrying the prestige of his country.

Right when combat began, as he was about to intercept an approaching dive bomber
with magic, the enemy fired light-bullets and his ship was pierced. He was thrown into
the sea before he had the time to fire his magic.

“Only that much… I devoted myself to training and I trained… Seriously… In a real
battle… I couldn’t even use it…”

As a representative of my country, he challenged the battlefield.

He was brimming with confidence, up until he engaged the enemy.

“What’s the Great Mage Faltas……!! What’s the hero…… Admiral Faltas……!!”

I don’t even know what happened to my subordinates.

Everything I’ve done, it was all for nothing…

With so much regret, tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Ah! I heard something! Professorrrrr!!”

A woman in a lab coat called out to someone when she heard his mutterings.

“Ooh! You’ve regained consciousness, thank goodness… You were on the brink of death.”

An old man in a lab coat appeared from the corridor.

“You’ve saved me. Thank you for your help.”

“In another week, you’ll be able to walk around the city as part of your rehabilitation.
Please be patient.”

Saying that, the doctor checked Faltas’s condition and went right back out. As for
Faltas himself, he questioned the patients around him about how he was brought here
and about the outcome of the battle.

The battle had ended in a bitter draw, with his country’s forces being destroyed and
many of his subordinates dying in battle.

Faltas’s mood sank, feeling that he was so incompetent that he couldn’t even save the
lives of his men.
1 week later

Having recovered considerably, Faltas was moved to a private room.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

The doors to this private room were knocked, and he prompted the knocker to enter.

“Excuse us.”

Three people in military uniform entered.

“You are Admiral Faltas La Baan, correct? I am Ruijil of the Magikaraich Federation of
Academic Institutions Capital Defense Department’s land forces.”

“I am Faltas of the Central Law Kingdom1 Navy. What can I do for you?”

“Today, I’ve come to ask for your wisdom. I’ve heard of the admiral who’s also a great
mage that studied in the Magikaraich Community.”

“Well… Yes, that would be me.”

Faltas was a researcher of the ancient sorcerous empire’s magic, of magic that only the
light-winged people could use.

Each of the magical institutions of Magikaraich had tremendously powerful magic, but
their personalized magics were also very different from modern magic. Beyond such
a basic description were all state secrets.

“Actually… ruins of the ancient sorcerous empire were just found 100km north of our
capital.”

“Oh?”

Most discovered ruins of the ancient sorcerous empire were treated as national
secrets by the various nations, so it was usually unthinkable that such information
would be disclosed to military personnel from another country.

“…The other day, a researched pressed a button while investigating the ruins, a coffin
opened, and a monster appeared.” Ruijil’s tone became heavy. “The monster isn’t
recorded in any of our literature, but it has tremendous magical power and killed 19
of the 30 members of our research team.”

“W, what?”

“Not only that, but 20 additional ground troops were sent and they, too, were wiped
out!”

“Were the soldiers all killed?”

“Indeed. And now, the monster has created 20 large golems and started invading the
capital. The Magikaraich Federation of Academic Institutions considers this a national
emergency and is currently dispatching a full-scale ground force. However, our
country has recently placed greater emphasis on becoming a mechanized civilization,
so, few have an expansive knowledge of magic and fewer are familiar with the ancient
sorcerous empire. So when I heard that Admiral Faltas, who studied such magic, was
admitted to Seikaro Hospital, I rushed to come and meet you.”

“Alright, I’ll answer what I can. Could you give me a description of the monster?”

“Its height is similar to that of the average human male. Its body is… entirely covered
with rough skin, imbued with some sort of powerful magic. When using magic, it
shines as if wings of light had grown from its back.”

“N-no way, could it be a light-winged person?”

“No, light-winged people are documented to have had distinct facial features — eyes,
a nose, a mouth — and skin as pale as a human’s, but this monster lacks those and has
a mix of blue and green patches of skin. Actually, it should probably be classified as a
demon, given its black eyes. It can shoot a powerful magic bullet from its mouth, with
power exceeding the flame bullet of a Wyvern Lord. Additionally, it seems to be able
to deploy a magic barrier that was capable of repelling bullets shot from a rifle.”

Faltas listened silently to all its features, then came to a possibility.

“No way… Could it be one of the mass-produced Nosgoorah that was under research?”

“Mass…? What’s that?”

Mass-produced Nosgoorah. The ancient sorcerous empire, the Empire of Ravernal,

had advanced its research in biology to the point where they could create a whole new
species. The empire, having suffered heavy losses during the Great Dragon-Demon
War, sought to produce creatures of battle to make up for their lost numbers.

One of their prototypes had been the Demon King Nosgoorah, who was spoken of in
fairy tales. With only that single prototype, many low-civilization-level races were
almost driven to extinction. The recent story of his resurrection and subsequent
destruction by the Topa Kingdom and the scientific-civilization nation of Japan was
also fresh in their memories.

That said, according to records collected by the Central Law Kingdom, the amount of
magic power used to manufacture Nosgoorah was extraordinary and its cost
performance was so bad that only a small number of unique models were manufactured
and none were ever mass-produced. The required amounts of magic power,
telekinetic power (enough to control all the demons of this planet), and loyalty, as well
as its nigh-immortality, were enough to force the light-winged people to reconsider.

And so, the empire designed a “low-cost” version with less magic and telekinetic
power, more moderate combat abilities and intelligence, but the ability to manipulate
magic weapons autonomously. As such, it was thought that a winged-person-like
shape would suit it best. Thus, the monster that deployed light-wings when using
magic was completed.

‘Provisional Name // Mass-Produced Type Nosgoorah’ had many types, but if

something released light in the shape of a wing, it was probably that.

Faltas explained that and asked the messenger from the Magikaraich Community, “Did
the monster have any magical weapons? If it has any ancient weapons, it’ll be quite
troublesome.”

The many weapons used by the ancient sorcerous imperial soldiers in land battles
were all weapons that could overpower the current level of civilization. If they were
to be used now, Magikaraich would be overwhelmed, even though the enemy was a
single being.

“No, we haven’t seen any sort of magical weapon so far, but this is beyond just some
monster if it’s an ancient weapon… This… We may need to request aid from other
countries.”
“I’d like to get a glance of the monster myself. Maybe I can help.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask you. Your knowledge will be of great help to us.”

After some confirmations, the Magikaraich soldiers returned to their headquarters.

The Magikaraich Community, cautious of the possibility of “weapons of the ancient

sorcerous empire” and the national crisis one would cause, requested help from the
Self-Defense Forces of Japan, who had fought against such weapons before.

In response, Japan dispatched the Ground Self-Defense Force in the name of

international contribution towards the extermination of harmful pests.

Magikaraich Community, Ground Self-Defense Force, survey team dispatched to

Mu, temporary tents

The threat of the Gra Valkas Empire had begun to spread into Mu, who in turn had
increasingly requested Japanese military support. Aside from dispatching a main
force, the Japanese government also dispatched a survey team to investigate whether
or not the Air and Ground SDFs could be rapidly deployed to Mu.

Momota Tarou, who had been appointed to the survey team, took a look at the
reassignment orders he had just received from the ministry.

“This… this is…”

He recalled being dispatched to the Topa Kingdom as an international contribution to

the extermination of harmful pests.

Operation name: “Operation Momotarou”.

He was part of an advance platoon, but in a situation where civilians were being eaten
alive, it was judged that waiting for the main force to arrive would be too costly, so he
ended up fighting a group of creatures called the “Demon King army” before they
could arrive.

The “Demon King”, so he was called, was very strong, resisting a Type-91 mobile
surface-to-air missile, a 12.7mm machine gun, and even a 35mm machine gun fired
from an armored car. In the end, it was finally defeated by a 120mm smoothbore tank
gun — the strongest offensive capability the platoon possessed.

For a single being, it was incredible.

He honestly didn’t want to fight such a vermin again.

However, the piece of paper in front of him held the merciless truth.

“The Magikaraich Community has requested the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces
for the purpose of exterminating a harmful pest.

Conduct a preliminary survey to gauge the threat the beast poses.”

Last time, the threat was relatively close to Japan and appeared in the form of the
Demon King army, so it was possible to send a whole platoon just for reconnaissance.
This time, however, there was only one vermin, although with an unknown danger
level, but it was too far from Japan to reasonably bring a tank along.

He understood that logic, but given the possibility of having to do battle again, Momota
couldn’t bear the thought of having to fight something like Nosgoorah again. It was a
beast that a nation of the Second Civilization had requested help to deal with, so it was
highly likely that the lives of the team members would be at risk. As a result, the
preliminary survey team would be heavily armed, dispatched with the following
equipment:

 3 light armored vehicles

 5 high mobility vehicles

o 1 of which is equipped with Type-93 short-range surface-to-air missiles

o 1 of which is equipped with medium-range multi-purpose guided missiles

 Various infantry weapons

 3 AH-1S’s on standby (to be deployed upon request)

Momota wasn’t exactly satisfied by these provisions, but it was still better than nothing.
These vehicles were to be transported to Balloon Plain, near the capital of the
Magikaraich Community.

Balloon Plain, a few days later

A large number of soldiers were deployed to Balloon Plain, complete with horse-
towed magic cannon, knights lined up in an orderly fashion, and 25 wyverns, which
would be their air force, in the back.

Ruijil, general of Magikaraich’s Capital Defence Department’s land forces, was

standing in a temporary command post in the rear with Admiral Faltas, checking the
operations manual.

“The Japanese troops will be arriving soon, so I’ll explain the current situation once
they join us.”

“Understood. Still…”

Faltas looked towards the adjacent forest. There, a stone tower had suddenly been
erected. It had terrifying roots tangling around it and it exuded tremendous magical
power.

He trembled with unpleasant premonitions.

A short while later, the sound of continuous tapping came, and a flying object that
Ruijil and his colleagues had never seen before appeared.

“What… Interesting…”

There were several flying objects, looking like something spinning around on a long,
narrow box.

They couldn’t help but cover their ears as the boxes descended to land. Eventually,
they landed and mechanical cars were unloaded from the inside, some of which had
been hanging, making up eight in total.

A man in mottled uniform, who was instructing the deployment of the Japanese forces,
stood in front of Ruijil and saluted him crisply.
In the Magikaraich Community, there was a culture of commanders wearing glittery
clothing, so the Japanese army came off as terribly barbaric to Ruijil.

“I am Momota Tarou, commander of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s

international dispatch unit’s advance force.”

“I am Ruijil of the Magikaraich Community. Thank you for responding to the

Federation of Academic Institutions’s request.”

“We are an advance group to assess the threat. Please give us an overview.”

Momota had a bad feeling about the fact that the military was already deployed.

“Yes, actually…”

Ruijil gave Momota the explanation he had given Faltas in his former private room.

“I see, so this is the front line.”

“But the monster suddenly stopped. We were watching the enemy wander about, but
overnight… that tower suddenly appeared.”

Ruijil pointed to a terrifying-looking stone tower covered in dirt. It looked as if some

large pillar-like thing had been pushed up from the ground.

“So, we don’t know anything about that tower, do we?”

“Correct. All we know is that the monster stopped its wandering at that spot, and that
might possibly be where the ruins of the demon emperor lie.”

“Is that so?…”

Momota and Faltas were having increasingly worse feelings about this.

“We had decided to wait for the Self-Defense Forces to arrive, but we couldn’t just leave
a tower less than 50km from the capital alone. With the prestige of the Magikaraich
Capital Defence Department on the line, we are going to conduct an all-out attack on
this tower. We ask that you observe the battle to judge its threat. If… if anything should
happen, please send as many troops as you can.”
Ruijil’s eyes were full of determination.

Empire of Ravernal, Federal Administration Agency, General Affairs Office

Mass-produced combat culture Code 009, more commonly known as Lyonos, was
scanning his magical memory device in a room of the empire’s Frontiers
Administration.

“Fumu, so the Demon Emperor transferred the whole country to the future in order to
protect it from the threat of this world’s gods sending a meteorite at it… the magic
power used to open up space… ooo, truly astronomical figures. That’s the emperor for
you.”

Lyonos was impressed by the greatness of the sorcerous empire.

“Now… oh my! It’s been such a long time since that transfer! The estimated time of
arrival, based on the amount of magic power used is… 10 years from now, ± 9 years! I
can’t believe it, it’s almost time! I can only assume that the Space God guided me to be
revived now!”

A convenient interpretation…

“The coordinates… I see, MyStar’s spatial identification is functional. Many of the

beacons are still in the ground. Nothing could break it even after 10,000 years, as
expected of the Demon Emperor!! If he’s going to be resurrected soon, I’ll have to offer
up a country of the lower species lest my name, made by the Demon Emperor, would
be ruined…”

Lyonos continued talking to himself.

— *beep* *beep* *beep* —

Following a warning alarm, something was displayed on the 3D monitor. A bar graph
using numbers in the language of the sorcerous empire showed increasingly greater
values.

“The magical reaction is rising. Is someone approaching maliciously?”

Looking to the video feed, he saw an old-fashioned army on the Balloon Plain, headed
towards him.

“This is… an army of locals? Are they friends of those lower beings I destroyed the
other day? Interesting. Since the time you were ruled over by the Demon Emperor, it
seems that you’ve become something that could be called a civilization, but it’s
nothing compared to the Demon Emperor or the Dragon God State… Fufufu, you’re
going to fight me with so little magic power?!”

Lyonos smiled eerily, leisurely getting up from his seat and walking towards the
armory.

“Let’s use this.”

A humanoid, white, inorganic object stood before him. The face part was transparent,
so when a person entered the object, they could see outside. With built-in magic
generators and storage systems and the ability to amplify the user’s magic and
physical prowess many times over, it was a weapon of the ancient sorcerous empire.

General-purpose humanoid land-based auxiliary weapon “MGZ-type magic armor”

 Height: 2m

 Overall width: 1.2m

 Magic weapons can be mounted on the waist

 Defensive capabilities greatly improved over flesh

Wielding his weapon for the Demon Emperor, he stood up with a rather terrifying
appearance.

“I’d like to have more underlings. The golems won’t be enough… tsk. I guess only small
fry are left. There’s no choice.”

He went back to the monitor room, clicked his tongue at the display, then went to a
room on the lower level.

There, cultures full of bodies were lined up. A biological weapon that could be
completely controlled by the operator: mass-produced goblins. They were as strong
as wild goblin lords, but they could only fight in a prehistoric manner. However, mass
production was efficient and costs were low, so it was perfect for controlling and
terrorizing the lesser-civilization races.

“2,000 bodies, various beasts… It’s not much, but it’s all I’ve got.”

He flicked the operating switch and the capsules opened.

The gruesome-looking goblins got out of their “beds” and lined up in the armory
according to his instructions. There, they picked up old-fashioned armor, shields, and
swords.

“Well then. I could eradicate them myself, but appearances are more important when
inciting fear…”

With a secret, politician-like decision, Lyonos made his preparations.

Balloon Plain

The Magikaraich Capital Defense Department’s ground force had moved command
from a small hill and built a formal command post. In the vast plains below, the
Magikaraich Army’s soldiers were neatly lined up.

Momota of the GSDF and Admiral Faltas of the Central Law Kingdom were also
watching the army from the same position.

“2nd Artillery Battalion, ready to move!”

“4th Cavalry, ready!”

“18th Rifleman Battalion, in place!”

The commanders listened enthusiastically to the messengers’ reports.

“The artillery alone will crush the tower into powder and eliminate the threat!!”
Exclaimed the captain next to them, Ruijil. The two of them nodded hawkishly to avoid
showing their anxiety.
“Yeah… I’d like to get rid of it with just artillery fire, but maybe the enemy will appear
before the bombardment can finish. It destroyed our platoon with speed, so it might
be difficult to take out with this bombardment alone.”

“Of course. That’s why we have the elite rifleman battalion here!”

“Fufufu… that’s what I’m talking about. With continuous shooting from the formation,
we could put enough bullets into it no matter where it runs!!”

The Magikaraich Community’s rifles were not designed to fire continuously like the
SFD’s assault rifles, so they would have to make up for the loading time with more
soldiers.

“All units, in position!!”

Preparations were finished. All that was left was to wait for Ruijil’s command.

“…Ancient monster, you underestimate Magikaraich! Commence the attack!!!”

“Commence the attack!!”

“Commence the attack!!”

Ruijil’s command was read back and transmitted to all the troops via magic signal.

The gunpowder of a land-based science-magic-fusion rifle was ignited and the air
rapidly expanded.

A bullet painted with magic stone powder began accelerating inside its barrel.

A pattern of light ran down the barrel and a hexagram pattern emerged from the
muzzle, reacting with the magic stone powder and accelerating further.

With a roar, a fierce burst of fire and smoke erupted, and the orderly row of guns began
firing all at once.

— Zugaaaaaaaaannnnn

Roaring noises echoed through the area, scaring the birds in the forest so much that
they bunched up and fled in droves.
Meanwhile, artillery shells began releasing their power, causing the tower to shake
with their ferocious explosions. Some hit the tower directly, sending bits of rock flying
and engulfing the tower in smoke.

The sounds of bombardment did not stop and the attack continued ruthlessly.

Ruijil raised his hand when he felt it was enough.

“Cease fire!!”

The tower was covered in a cloud of dust and smoke and the bombardment was
temporarily suspended to gauge the effectiveness of the attack.

“How about that!”

Crushed into rubble, no trace of the tower should remain. However, the opponent was
the ruins of the Demon Emperor, so anything could still happen.

Ruijil glared at the ruins. As the dust gradually cleared…

“R… ridiculous!!!”

A silvery column appeared through the smoke. A palm film of light covered its surface
and, from their position, it looked completely undamaged.

“Un… unbelievable!!”

Ruijil and the other commanders shouted in astonishment.

“Platoon leader Momota, this is…” Squad leader Jojima radioed Momota.

“Aah. Even with artillery from the late Edo period, there’s almost no damage. To
destroy the whole thing, we’d have to use a 15mm self-propelled howitzer or call in
an airstrike.”

“However, we currently have access to neither.”

The Japanese government had adjusted its firepower, including the deployment of
combat helicopters, to be able to deal with something on the level of the Demon Lord
Nosgoorah if it appeared. Yet, with the appearance of the mysterious tower, the
possibility arose that even more firepower would be needed.

“I see… we’ve been advised as such. Will the word ‘unexpected’ be used again?”

“A little overkill should be fine.”

The battlefield was quiet. Even the might of the Magikaraich Collective’s firepower
could not destroy the tower. And they didn’t know where the entrance was or what
would happen if they got closer, so they couldn’t just let the infantry rush in.

“ — ! Monsters are emerging from the tower!” An officer reported.

“Are those… goblins?”

Ruijil pointed his binoculars at the tower. There, he saw goblins with armor, swords,
and shields streaming out.

“It’s a goblin, though the skin color’s a little different from the usual… and it seems to
have a little more magical power,” added Faltas, who wasn’t even using binoculars.

The demons shrieked as they ran towards the Magikaraich infantry, forming a black,
swirling carpet.

“This number… will we manage?” Faltas raised his concerns.

“Admiral, please see how we fight… it’s a bit different from how the magical civilization
of the Central World does things.” Ruijil turned to his officer. “Are we ready?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then, launch the attack!!”

“Commence the attack!!”

Ruijil’s command was relayed all the way to the end of the rows of riflemen and the
fire shot was fired.

— — papapa~papapapaaa~~nn~ !!! — —

Gunshots echoed through the battlefield.

The goblins in front erupted in fountains of black blood as they collapsed one after
another.

The first line of soldiers immediately withdrew and the next row of riflemen quickly
took their places and shot. With seven rows in total, each row would finish loading by
the time it was their turn again, and so continuous fire was achieved.

An uninterrupted barrage of bullets knocked down the goblins one after another.

“Ooooo! This is amazing!!”

Witnessing such masterful tactical execution, Faltas was frankly amazed.

“This strategy makes effective use of guns that can be easily handled even by those
with little magical power. It’d be impossible to field as many normal mages, but if the
weapon itself reaches the level of a mage, such tactics become possible.”

“I see… The country that mastered this is the Gra Valkas Empire…”

Faltas’s mind was filled with the sight of the enemy’s flying machines swooping down
upon him, shattering the ships around him with their light-bullets. He desperately
tried to shake off that memory, not wanting to remember such a horror.

“N?! That’s…”

A change occurred on the battlefield.

Four golems appeared and the goblins quickly hid behind them. With bullets being
repelled by the rocky masses that were the golems, artillery bombardment was
immediately resumed.

The battlefield became enveloped in smoke. The golems hit by the shells were blown
to pieces, with the surrounding goblins meeting the same fate. But —

“One golem! It’s running here! The shells won’t hit!!!”

“Hah?! Golems can run that fast?!”

The golem rushed the riflemen on the left flank, blowing some of them away. Because
of nearby allies, the army had to stop shooting and shelling temporarily.

For the first time, their formation collapsed and fear dwelled in the hearts of the
soldiers.

“The 32nd Infantry Platoon has been breached!!”

“That… Ridiculous! I’ve never heard of a golem like this!!”

Next to the panicking Ruijil, Faltas calmly muttered, “Well, it might not be a golem at
all.”

The enemy was blasting through the plains, straight towards the command post.
There were about 500m between the 32nd platoon and the portable high-powered
rifleman battalion, but it ran forward without hesitation.

“What rushing power! We have to hit it with our big guns! All firepower, concentrate
it on that golem!!!”

The guns focused their firepower on the golem as it continued charging. However, it
hardly made a dent.

“Commander Ruijil, may we attack, too?” Momota, who couldn’t bear to just keep
watching, stepped forward and asked.

“It would help, of course, but I heard that your advance platoon was only equipped to
measure the threat, not fight it. I’m also told that you don’t have the weapons or
artillery that you used to defeat the Demon Lord Nosgoorah… You’re also a guest of
the state, so we’d appreciate it if you took it easy.”

“I appreciate your concern, but…” Momota gave the command. “Captain Jojima! Fire
the Type-01 at that golem!!”

“Roger!”

He took out what looked like a tube, 14cm in diameter and 97cm in length.

“Is this the Japanese version of our big guns?” Ruijil wondered, seeing the Japanese
soldier preparing 1.5km away from the golem.
A large bullet couldn’t fly such a distance, let alone hit a moving target. Such a thing
was common sense.

“That thing… I don’t feel any magical power. It’s a weapon of scientific civilization…”

Faltas also stared at the Japanese soldier. However, he recognized that Japan was not
just a country of legend.

It had annihilated the once-terrifying Demon Lord with only a platoon and had
defeated the powerhouse of the Third Civilization, the Parpaldia Empire, without
losing a single soldier. The latter must have been the result of rumors or through the
Japanese manipulating information, but the fact still stood that they won.

Jojima prepared quickly and precisely.

Before long, he caught the enemy golem in the center of his sights and signaled that
he was ready to fire.

“Type-01 anti-tank guided missile, target: enemy humanoid mobile weapon. Distance:
1300! Prepared to fire!”

“ — Fire!!”

With a roar, white smoke blew out of the barrel, followed by a small missile.

The Type-01 light anti-tank guided missile. A weapon designed to be carried and
operated by a lone person to destroy tanks, it rapidly accelerated as it neared its
target.

Flying in a parabola, it landed precisely on the golem.

— Gaaaaan~!!!

The missile released its power upon impact, making yet another roar. The fallen golem
was then rained down upon by the Magikaraich artillery.

“Japanese weapons are amazing! I didn’t think it’d be possible to take out a target with
a single blow at this range!!” Ruijil praised them with open arms.

“W-well, it’s too early to celebrate…!” It was Faltas who warned them with cold sweat
beading across his forehead. “Sure, Japanese weapons are incredible… but in that
explosion, the magical power hasn’t stopped flowing… I can’t believe it! I’ve never felt
anything like this before — it’s emitting a tremendous amount of magic!!!”

“W… what?!”

Ruijil and co. stared in the direction of the smoke.

— bii~ bii~ bii~ —

A superweapon of the ancient sorcerous empire, within the general-purpose

humanoid auxiliary weapon “MGZ-type magic armor”, Lyonos was also drenched in
cold sweat.

“Im… impossible!! There was no magical reaction!!!”

He had been wearing a golem-shaped rock to disguise his magic armor, hoping that
the real golems would be enough to control the battle. However, from a series of
attacks that he could hardly feel any magical power in, the goblins fell one after
another. Furthermore, even the golems were crushed.

They were powerful, no doubt, but that level of attack would not hurt the magic armor
and the golems and goblins were originally for the heck of it anyway. With the single
magic armor alone, one could easily eradicate a country of a lower species.

Lyonos started running to destroy the enemy headquarters by himself.

And sure enough, the enemy’s powerful attacks were no longer able to hit him and he
blew through the infantry with ease.

He headed straight for the command post.

If he had wanted to decimate the enemy, he would have just shot a magic cannon from
the get-go. However, he wanted to see effective the enemy’s non-magical attacks were.
This, in turn, put him at a disadvantage.

Suddenly, a strong blow rocked his armor. The Type-01 anti-tank guided missile that
had hit the MGZ-type magic armor had released its power upon the rocky disguise and
its metal apparatus then pierced through the armor — or so that was what was
supposed to have happened.
Instead, since the strength of the rock and the armor were vastly different, effectively
acting as composite armor, the energy of the apparatus diffused and the main body
was not quite destroyed.

Had he not been wearing those rocks over his magic armor, that single blow would
have pierced right through him.

Tch… Seems those lower beings have evolved a bit…

The previous explosions hadn’t done anything, but this blow had nearly broken
through all three layers of magic particles.

The fact that Lyonos had come out unharmed could have only been through sheer luck
and his armor was now only at 18% of its original strength.

“Them — they’re dangerous!”

Spotting the enemy’s main camp, which was the source of the launch, he lifted his right
hand.

“Be eliminated!!”

Faltas quickly noticed a sharp increase in magic power and realized that a magic
attack was being formed.

“An attack is coming!!”

The next moment, a light-pulled flew from the cloud of dust and straight towards the
command post.

“This is it!”

Faltas created a defensive formation, activating the space magic he was best known
for and twisting space-time ever so slightly.

It was a gamble, though, since it would have no effect on something with high mass.

The bullet deviated slightly from its original path, landing on a small hill behind them.

— zugaaaa~~~ !!!
One fierce blast of light and flames later, a part of the hill was obliterated.

Momota shuddered at the sheer power of the attack.

“That thing… that’s as powerful as a tank gun!!”

If that light had hit them, they’d all be dead. The distance to the enemy was only 1.3km
and he had deployed his troops based on his experience with Demon Lord Nosgoorah,
but he felt as if he had carelessly approached a super-modern weapon and deeply
regretted his choices.

“Jojima! Request a combat helicopter!! Add that the enemy is modern-weapon-

class!!!”

“Roger! — I hope they make it in time!”

Jojima immediately sent out the radio message.

As the smoke began to clear around the enemy, Faltas recognized its terrifying
appearance as one he had seen in ancient documents.

“Th, that’s… the Empire of Ravernal’s land-based weapon!!!”

“Such a… no…”

Ruijil was shocked, suddenly losing his will to fight on. The attack that had blown apart
the hill was not just a land-based weapon — it was a glimpse of the power of the
sorcerous empire.

Faltas, on the other hand, was burning with fighting spirit in the face of adversity,
wanting to protect the lives in front of him and to see if his power could stand up to
the old superweapons.

“Ruijil! Momota! I’m going to use the most powerful magic I can! It’ll take a while, so
draw some of the enemy’s attention!!”

Both of them started moving on reflex, quickly giving precise instructions for
concentrated attacks by the Magikaraich Capital Defence Department and the Ground
Self-Defence Force.

“ — Haaaaaaa~!! 〈Rage, golden beast. Howl, white star beast. The world is a mirage,
time is flowing water, the heavens reflect the dance of fools — 〉”

Faltas cupped his hands and extended them, as if an opened flow had landed in them,
converging all of his magical power into the tips of his hands.

The long, long chant continued.

A light bullet that was supposed to destroy the main camp was fired.

He was surprised that there were people of lower stature that could play like this.

However, immediately after that, he was exposed to a fierce attack.

There wouldn’t be anything wrong if his armor were still in perfect condition, but the
fact that its defense value was down to 20% of maximum invited his anxiousness.

Furthermore, warning signals from the magic armor were echoing in his ears.

“What?! Rising attack-type magic power?! This… A lower species with only 300 magic
power has an attack power of 12,000?! Ridiculous!!! What’s going on here?! This is far
beyond the attack power a single person can output!!!”

Lyonos fell into a mild state of panic, seeing the imminent crisis in an unstoppable
attack.

“It’s too dangerous!! I have to get rid of it right away!!”

He fired a magic cannon at the source of the increasing magical power.

An ergosphere expanded in front of Faltas, Great Mage of the Central Law Kingdom,
and swallowed the magic cannon’s shot, mixing it with the enormous amount of
energy flowing into it from imaginary space.
Regular space was being continuously and rapidly compressed to keep the influx of
energy from leaking.

A small black dot was generated in front of his hands, and a slight leak in energy
caused electric shocks to race across its surface.

Space was further distorted outside the enormously compressed space, giving the
gathered energy direction.

“Hah, hah… 〈Thy punishment is upon thee〉…!!”

In ancient times, there was a clan who tried to conquer the Mirianient continent with
mighty magics. In the end, it became the enemy of the world, was dismantled and
disgraced by organized attacks, and the chieftain himself lost to several excellent
warriors.

Since then, their descendants have devised the largest, most powerful, unparalleled,
inherited magic to ensure that they would never be defeated again.

Now, this magic was ready to be launched in a foreign land.

“Eat… this… The greatest and strongest magic passed down through the La Baan
family…!!”

The black dot exceeded the spatial compression limit and energy began to leak out
and shine.

“And this is… Faltas’s maximal attack magic–”

Sucking in nearby particles, the black ball became a growing ball of light.

The ball of light began to vibrate, emitting dazzling flashes of light.

Gravity in the area was briefly affected, with pebbles starting to float in the air.

“ — 〈Ixion Laser〉!!!”

A band of light radiated out from Faltas and a ferocious wave of energy was released.
It traveled through the air with a velocity of around Mach 7, pushing away the
surrounding air and creating a shock wave from its tip.
At this tip, air superheated, decomposing its molecules into atoms and continuing to
heat up until those atoms were stripped of their electrons, turning into plasma.

The plasma-covered mass of energy, affecting its surroundings in a straight line,

headed straight for the superweapon of the ancient sorcerous empire.

— Zaaaaaaaa ~~~ !!!

At the point of impact, a blinding flash and an ear-splitting roar were released
alongside the overwhelming amount of energy, followed a moment later by a massive
explosion, throwing a huge amount of dust into the air around the target.

— Goooooooo…

The roar echoed through the mountains, continuing for a while.

“Hah~… hah~… How’s that…!!”

Faltas’s magic power was completely drained from that attack.

“A… Amazing! It’s possible for humans to do this by themselves? It’s like a wave motion
gun2.”

“No, no, it’s more like Medoroa3.”

While the SDF members were using the radio to voice their impressions, Ruijil had
frozen at its power.

The roars ended and the dust began to clear. In front of Faltas, the ground was gouged
out in a straight line that terminated at a smoking object.

“W, we did it!”

It stopped smoking, and the air cleared up.

“It would indeed seem like we’ve done it.”

“U… UOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

The soldiers shouted for joy after winning such a terrible battle. But then —
— gigigigigi…

The enemy moved, turning its hand towards the command post once more.

“It… it moved?!”

“Ridiculous… it’s immortal!!!”

“My… Even with my greatest technique… I couldn’t beat it?!!”

Faltas despaired and Momota and the others just stared at the enemy. There was
nothing more they could do to resist the hand being pointed at them.

In desperation, Ruijil looked up. Out of the corner of his eye, an arrow of light streaked
through the sky.

“Eh?”

Arrows of light suddenly appeared and headed towards the enemy. It noticed and tried
to avoid them, but they homed in on their target and found the heavily-wounded magic
armor with ease.

“Na–”

The magic armor exploded, destroying it. No matter who saw it, it was certain that it
was destroyed this time.

The air-to-ground TOW missiles, released from the GSDF’s AH-1S’s, generated flames
upon contact and destroyed the humanoid land-based auxiliary weapon of the ancient
sorcerous empire.

“Gu… ooh… ooooooh…”

Lyonos managed to escape through the cracked armor and crawled onto the ground.
He had lost one leg and was breathing faintly.

“No way… That… There was no magic power in that attack… What the heck is this?!”

His understanding couldn’t catch up with reality.

“Oi! There it is!!!”

A lesser being approached him.

“This me… In a place like this…!”

The genetically engineered creature of the ancient sorcerous empire, Lyonos, was
captured by the Magikaraich Community.

He would then be sent to the Holy Mirishial Empire and placed under the supervision
of the international community.

In order to extract information regarding the ancient sorcerous empire, he would be

forced to live a long and brutal life henceforth.

Central Law Kingdom, Royal Castle Dahr Della

King Alendella VI had a big smile on his face at the royal meeting where the
representatives of the country gathered.

Admiral Faltas was alive.

The king was overjoyed, but he wasn’t the only one.

He had fought a tremendous battle against a superweapon made by the sorcerous

empire and so made the high level of magic technology in the Central Law Kingdom
well known both at home and abroad.

The “Ixion Laser” he released seemed to have been a strong stimulus for the people of
the Magikaraich Community and, since the battle, inquiries about studying abroad
have been pouring in from both the Magikaraich Community and Japan.

In Japan, recorded footage had been presented in the news and the Central Law
Kingdom became a place of interest for many.

Although the country had lost its prestige in the battle against the Gra Valkas Empire,
due to the admiral’s unexpected success, the Central Law Kingdom became respected
once more.
Sometime in the future, Faltas would be celebrated as a hero.

But, for now, he had lost confidence in his ability to win against a nation of scientific
civilization, though he slowly recovering.

TL Notes:

1: I don’t remember this country existing in the WN. It’s an island nation off the main
“Central World” continent.

2: Space Battleship Yamato reference

3: Dragon Quest reference

4: Final exclamation mark count: 172

【 】
“Destroyers Tsurugi, Meiro, and Mellos have all been sunk!!! Cruisers Vest and Drip
have also been sunk!!!”

Looking up to the sky from the fleet, intense anti-aircraft gunfire swept over the
unending darkness. The anti-aircraft guns of the Gra Valkas Empire, which had
unsparingly obliterated their foes back in Yggdra, the dragon knights of this world, and
even the floating ships of the heavens of the Holy Mirishial Empire, couldn’t score a
single hit on the enemy rockets that hounded on them like they were prey. Multiple
ships within the fleet were hit by the missiles as fireballs emerged from the dark. Their
ships have been sinking at a rate so fast that reports couldn’t catch up as the entire
situation degraded into tragedy.

Screams of anger, which could no longer be discerned as to whether they’re reports

or just hopelessness, filled their communications network.

“A-are we done for???”

Mirkenses finally realized how powerless she was to try to bridge the absurd disparity
in their combat capacity. At the moment she tried to issue an order, an anti-ship guided
missile struck the bow of the battleship. A dazzling light appeared, followed by a
thunderous sound as the ship violently rocked.

“Kya!”

She screams.

“L-Lady Mirkenses!!!”

The explosion violently shook the ship and destroyed parts of the bridge’s structure,
throwing Mirkenses off the ship and into the ocean.

It was cold.
It was dark.

Having been thrown into the ocean, seawater rushed into her mouth.

She struggled, not knowing which way was up or down.

It was cold.

She couldn’t breathe.

She panicked as she struggled for air.

Finally reaching the ocean surface, she gasped for air as she clung for dear life on a
piece of ship blown off by the blast.

“Everyone… I was… powerless… I’m sorry…”

Right in front of her eyes was the flagship Valcer, wrecked and burning in flames from
successive direct hits by anti-ship guided missiles.

Flagship Grade Atlastar, Combined Fleet, Gra Valkas Empire

“Excuse me.”

Knocking on the door to a meeting room, a military official comes in.

“Do we have the info?”

The highest positioned of the Three Great Generals, the God of War Caesar, glared at
the official.

“Yes!”

“So?”

Before the report was made on paper, the information was swiftly transmitted to the
officials.
“This evening, the 1st Advance Fleet and the 2nd Advance Fleet were attacked by the
Japanese military. The attack was made from a range where they weren’t able to
determine where they were being attacked from. The enemy made use of… guided
bombs. They said that the bombs were guided onto its target, whether they’re aircraft
or ship, and hit firmly and reliably… Furthermore, the deception apparatuses
developed by the Advanced Technologies Laboratory had no effect on the Japanese
guided bombs. The 2nd Advance Fleet was annihilated and the 1st Advance Fleet, save
for 9 destroyers, was also annihilated. Mirkenses’s fate remains unknown.”

“What?!”

“The advance fleets, combined or on their own, were massive! Are you telling me they
were all wiped out?! Impossible!”

“There must be something wrong!”

The room erupted in shouts. Caesar continued to think in absolute silence. They were
a large force, second only to the main fleet. The fact remains that a 440-ship fleet,
which included carriers and battleships, was annihilated. HQ’s worst assumptions
were actually true. The enemy possessed and used guided bombs which boasted a
near-perfect hit rate.

Unless they malfunctioned, these bombs hit their target.

Creating 100 of these bombs, while pricey, was naturally much cheaper than creating
100 cruisers or destroyers. The enemy’s position also remains unknown. With that
said, the enemy possessed far superior eyes and ears, supplemented by weapons
which allowed them to target and attack from afar.

Caesar wanted to withdraw from the operation immediately, but the punishment of
Japan is an order from the Office of the Sovereign.

It meant that the order was basically the Emperor’s will and so retreating wasn’t an
option, even if it meant saving much of their main force. The men of that office aren’t
military men. If they retreat and preserve a big chunk of the great fleet, which they’ve
poured so much effort into building up, then they’d brand every single military official
as criminals.

In the end, they had no choice but to move forward. Everyone understood that.
The meeting continued.

“It is now understood that the enemy attack can’t be stopped. Is there a possibility
they’ll run out of ammunition?”

“That’s hard to know for certain.”

“We are a massive force but I don’t think it’s impossible for the enemy to prepare a
thousand of those guided bombs. If we don’t even know where they are then we have
no way of fighting at all. At this rate, our great imperial fleet… Our glorious navy will
be helplessly… slaughtered!”

“Do we at least know where the enemy bases are?”

“A-about that!”

The man who came to report a while ago speaks up. Since he was cut off by an officer
a while ago, he waited for an opportunity to speak up.

“We received a transmission from home. They received reports from local intelligence
operatives that the enemy took off from bases in the Rodenius continent, particularly
Louria, Quila, and the Nahanath Kingdom.”

“So that means…”

A light appears in Caesar’s eyes.

“Contact HQ and have the fleet stationed in Riem to promptly sortie and attack Japan!
As for the Imperial Army Air Corps stationed there, have them conduct bombing runs
on the Japanese mainland. Riem’s naval force isn’t much but have them sortie out as
well since there’s significance in numbers. Lastly, tell HQ I’m requesting for the
deployment of the Super Heavy Bombing Unit to conduct their own bombing run in
sync with the Riem forces. As for us, we will head out for Nahanath and attack the
Japanese base there!”

“But if we don’t resupply at Qaiz and Groot, we won’t be able to reach the Japanese
mainland!”

“I know. If the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army Air Corps from Riem as well as
the super heavy bombing unit were to all attack them at once, they’d have no choice
but to prioritize the defense of their mainland. So that no more attacks would come, if
their ammunition is limited, all of them would be allocated to their mainland. If we
resupply at Qaiz and Groot and set out, we would have given those bastards time to
regroup and resupply.

The enemy is studying us, you see. Those bastards naturally have expected us to come
after them once we resupply and have built their operation around this expectation.
With that in mind, we don’t play by their expectations so that they won’t have time to
resupply. By letting the force in Riem attack first, we throw a wrench into their
concentration of force while we sneak up on their frontline base in Nahanath with our
massive fleet and strike them. If this doesn’t work, then nothing will as long as we are
technologically disadvantaged. We will resupply at Qaiz and Groot after attacking
Nahanath and plan out where we go from there.”

“Are you saying that the attack from Riem and the Super Heavy Bombing Unit is… a
decoy?”

“If we’re talking about the Super Heavy Bombing Unit, there’s a chance that the
Japanese weapons wouldn’t be able to reach their altitude. In addition, I’m interested
in whether Japan will attack Riem’s homeland. It will serve as a reference for the
future.”

“There’s no way a country will not attack another country that has sent an attack force
to attack them.”

“That is the case, usually. According to scraps of info I got from the Intelligence Bureau,
those guys are peculiar. Up to this point, we have underestimated Japan due to their
unique diplomatic movements but… whatever. Let’s not go down without having given
those bastards some bruises!”

Commander of the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy’s Combined Fleet, Caesar, has decided to
press forward to Nahanath without stopping for resupply.

Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem, Third Civilization Area

Kirtana, a lord of the royal capital, who was entrusted with general affairs, was
sweating profusely. Sitting cross-legged in front of him was Beidart Sval from the
Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Gra Valkas Empire.
“W-what is this? What does this mean?”

“It’s as it says on the document. The destroyer squadron we lent to the Kingdom of
Riem will leave the port of Xenia at once and anchor at Hilkiga by tonight. Tomorrow
morning, they will be returned to the empire and will commence an attack on the
Japanese mainland. Furthermore, the Imperial Army Air Corps stationed in the
airbase on the outskirts of the capital will sortie with them at the same time. Strictly
speaking there are others but that’s none of your concern.”

“That I understand. The King agrees with those terms. However, we have a problem
with the last term. It says here that our navy in its entirety must also commence an
attack on Japan, including the wyverns at our disposal. This isn’t part of the stipulation
at all and our wyverns can’t even reach the Japanese mainland in the first place.”

“Can’t you understand from the context?… Goodness, this world is full of barbarians.”

“What?”

“Do you understand the position in which you are right now? In the blink of an eye,
we can annihilate you, yeah? We will commence a large-scale attack. For that, you guys
will be coming to support us. Is there something wrong with that? Are you perhaps
thinking of saying, on the off-chance the empire loses, that it’s the empire’s fault and
that you have nothing to do with it? Do you think you can receive all these benefits
without participating with us in the attack?”

Beidart Sval gets to the heart of the matter.

“I know that the wyvern’s cruising range isn’t enough, but don’t you have several
dragon carriers? Just stack as many wyverns as you can on them and send as many
ships as you can. There will still be a large portion of wyverns left, but you can use
them to attack Japanese merchant ships anchored in neighboring countries. There’s a
town called Duro in the east of the Parpaldia Empire, correct? Attack their merchant
ships and their consulate there with your wyverns.”

“Huh??? W-wait!”

Royal lord Kirtana desperately chased after Beidart Sval.

“The Parpaldia Empire, despite being largely weakened since their war with Japan, is
still a former superpower. Their dragon knights possess wyvern lords which are far
more powerful than our wyverns. If we actually carry this out, it will be the same as
declaring war on both Japan and the Parpaldia Empire! We will be crushed! Please
reconsider these terms!”

“If you follow our orders, your country won’t be crushed. The ones that will be crushed
are Japan. I can’t say the details but with this coming attack, we will be bringing a force
at a scale that will crush your country tenfold. With this, there’s no need to be wary of
a country like Parpaldia. They’re no match for us.

This is an order, so go tell your king. The coming operation is an order from the
empire’s Office of the Sovereign itself. Once the empire puts its back into something,
the world we envision has no need for fools who don’t listen to us. Choose: You come
with us or your country goes down.”

“…”

Royal lord Kirtana goes on to tell the King of Beidart Sval’s statement. On the same
day, at a conference with the king, the Kingdom of Riem decided to abide by the
empire’s will.

That night

“GAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”

A strange voice echoes all throughout the royal castle.

“Your Majesty! What’s wrong?!”

“ARGHH!!!”

King Banks, who was crying, screaming, and clawing on his face, was throwing the
flower vases in his vicinity and breaking them.

“No!!! Don’t do anything rash!!!”

“If only those bastards weren’t strong!!! Fuck!!! We’re done for!!! We’re fucking done
for!!!”
The aide realized what the king was talking about.

“Your Majesty!!! Couldn’t we just say our hand is forced by the empire?”

“Our foes are not only Japan, but the Parpaldia Empire and… and… and the Holy
Mirishial Empire! Fuck! It’s no use! We’re fucking done for!!!”

King Banks’s wails echoed throughout the royal castle all night.

Special Annihilation Division, Ragna, Gra Valkas Empire

“General Caesar has personally requested for the Super Heavy Bombing Unit’s
dispatch.”

A staff member reports to Division Chief Arley Tolliger.

“Oh? Why now of all times…”

Having no combat history to date, the Super Heavy Bombing Unit was new, only being
established right after their transfer to the New World. Their task was to bomb enemy
territory from super high altitudes which cannot be reached by enemy fighters. Since
they scatter a large amount of unguided bombs, they are better suited for city-wide
destruction bombing than bombing strategic targets. In short, they were meant for
large-scale indiscriminate bombing. At the heart of their unit is their latest super
heavy bomber, the Guti Maun, which uses the empire’s latest mass produced engines.
If a Japanese person who is a little knowledgeable about the old army looks at the Guti
Maun, it would probably remind them of the Nakajima G10N Fugaku1, the envisioned
super heavy bomber of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War.

It is equipped with superchargers which forcibly sends air into the engines, allowing
it to preserve engine power output at higher altitudes where combustion is poor. This
allows it to cruise way above regular fighters. Affixed with six massive engines, the
huge bulletproofed bomber was meant to fly at altitudes where even the empire’s
fighters couldn’t reach and unleash a rain of bombs on the enemy. Its cruise range was
also exceedingly far, earning the name Sky Fortress within the empire. Since it could
carry out destructive bombing from super high altitudes, it was also considered as a
countermeasure against the aerial battleships of the Holy Mirishial Empire. These
new, heavy bombers are only deployed at the behest of the Special Annihilation
Division.

Lately, the empire was gripped with the previously unheard-of situation that Japan, an
enemy country, had taken prisoner their Crown Prince, Gra Cabal. Initially, the
suggestion of reducing one of their cities to ash with the Super Heavy Bombing Unit
ahead of the Combined Fleet deployment came up. However, at the time, they didn’t
know of the airfield and other fuel maintenance facilities in the Kingdom of Riem and
once they actually did, they thought that a bombing run by the Imperial Army Air
Corps was enough. They also considered the overwhelming effect their battleships
possessed and so the suggestion was snuffed out with the reason that they shouldn’t
risk sending out their trump card.

“What do you think, chief?”

Since it was proposed by General Caesar and forwarded through the Navy
Headquarters, he has no choice but to hear them out. However, part of the report
states that Japan uses guided bombs and that they should take sufficient caution in
combat.

“Just how many casualties did the fleet suffer?”

“Since the operation is still ongoing, it is currently military info and so we don’t know
that yet.”

“Hmm… What is the cruise range of these guided bombs and what is their maximum
altitude, propulsion, and guidance system? This thing is just riddled with unknowns…”

“Indeed…”

“Are they launched from visible range or are they launched far from visible range? If
we have any info on that, then we are set. Go and find out more. Hah… We will be
representing the empire with this operation. We can’t just afford to stand by!”

“Of course! The Super Heavy Bombing Unit, even if we were back in Yggdra, is
unreachable! This time as well, it will brilliantly annihilate any Japanese city! According
to the operation, the unit will set out and resupply at Dalmira, Leifor, and Qaiz before
reaching Riem. Once there, they will attack together with the Imperial Army Air Corps,
53 destroyers from the Imperial Navy, and 82 magic ships of the line from Riem. The
Super Heavy Bombing Unit’s target will be a Japanese city called Nagoya.”
“Oh? They’re not asking for the capital?”

“Yes. Since the air defenses around the capital will be strong, they opted instead for
Nagoya, which is their technological capital, so the damage will be ginormous. Most of
all, bombings are generally less accurate than naval bombardment.”

“Hmm. If the Special Annihilation Division accidentally harms His Highness, we will
really be in hot water. This plan is sound.”

The Gra Valkas Empire’s Special Annihilation Division decides to participate in the
attack on Japan and deploys the Super Heavy Bombing Unit.

Early morning, the next day

At four of the airports among several within the empire, destruction was about to take
off. Boasting an immense size, these things can project a great amount of firepower
from altitudes no one can grasp. It was the empire’s own God of Destruction… the
super heavy bomber Guti Maun.

A large formation of over 200 aircraft took off from these four airports. Setting out
into the azure sky, their objective: to turn Nagoya into a sea of ash.
Hath Airbase, Southern Mu

Hath Airbase was an airbase located in the southern regions of Mu. Japan has deployed
its Self Defense Force to the country but since they couldn’t afford to cover every single
region of another country, they weren’t present in bases such as Hath which were
situated far from the capital.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A bizarre electronic-esque sound rang out across the airbase. Pilots swiftly ran
towards their trusted, beloved aircraft. A woman’s voice echoed throughout the base
issuing a repeated broadcast which heightened tensions.

“Alert! Alert! The Gra Valkas Imperial Army is heading straight for this base! 212 enemy
aircraft have been spotted 203km away! All aircraft are to head out and intercept them!
I repeat…”

The pilots jumped into their planes as the parked Marin fighters immediately began
to roar to life. One by one, the fighters accelerated and took off from the runway and
flew into the clear, blue sky.

“We’re counting on you! Give ‘em hell!”

At the air control center, base commander Yellow looked at the fighters flying away.
Each fighter gallantly filled the gaps in an ushering formation which looked graceful
and awe-inspiring as they flew to meet their enemies.

Mu’s brand new search radar, using technologies described in textbooks imported
from Japan, managed to detect enemy aircraft from more than 200km away. Although
they were expecting it, the operators were still surprised at how useful it was proving
to be.

“We will be measuring their altitude now.”

They illuminated the enemy aircraft with radar that measures altitude. Through this,
they could manage to replicate the function of much more modern 3D radar. The radar
equipment slowly turned to face the direction of the enemy. Since Mu’s radar is
rudimentary, any modern radar operator would likely feel frustrated at how slow the
machine is. Japan’s modern phased array radar, which can instantaneously measure
all directions by changing the phasing of radio waves, was still a technology that was
far into the future.

“Commencing altitude measurement… Huh?!”

A brief silence…

“What’s wrong?!”

“Speed and altitude calculations have been completed! They’re at… 14,000m and are
travelling at… more than 700km/h!!!”

“Are you sure?! What the hell??? Are they speed demons or what?!”

The numbers were far above the Marin’s service and maximum ceiling and their speed
wasn’t any different. No interceptor they could field could reach that altitude.
Moreover, their anti-aircraft guns don’t even reach that high.

“What now?!”

In the face of this overwhelming disparity in capabilities and hopelessness, base

commander Yellow could only imagine the sight of the base being one-sidedly
destroyed. Unable to steer clear of the impending doom, the personnel of Hath airbase
panicked and rushed to mount whatever they could to soften the damage. However,
the imperial formation, like a tiger ignoring an ant in search of bigger prey, simply
passed over the base.

Super Heavy Bombing Unit, Special Annihilation Division, Gra Valkas Empire

At the request of the commanders of the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy’s Combined Fleet,
the Super Heavy Bombing Unit was on its way to carry out its bombing run on Japan.
In the command craft at the helm of a massive formation of over 200 bombers was
Arley Tolliger.
“Mu fighters have been going around in circles right below us. They’re showing no
signs of being able to catch up to us.”

A subordinate proudly reports in.

“Naturally.”

Their objective is Japan and only Japan. Mu, while exposed to their attack, wasn’t in
their sight. Disappointed and showing a lack of interest, Arley Tolliger sighed. For their
current plan, they are to keep the Guti Maun’s true capabilities top secret. So that their
performance won’t be known by outsiders, they’re taking the replenishment routes
usually taken by Imperial Army Air Corps aircraft. In reality, the Guti Maun, with its
immense cruising range, could take a far more straightforward route. If they were
actually serious, they would have probably even taken on some extra weight just to
show off.

The Guti Maun was fundamentally different in capabilities from the other aircraft that
the Gra Valkas Empire had manufactured up to this point. It was even said that the
minister in charge of finance took one look at its development costs and refused to
look at it moving forward. However, when its development finished, many in the
military looked at it as some miracle aircraft.

The empire really outdid itself with this one.

I don’t really get why they came up with such a high-performance aircraft.

Coming out of development, many people were marveled while equally many people
questioned its existence. Since it wasn’t developed by Karslein, the manufacturer of
previous aircraft designs, its design philosophy was also different.

Measuring 46m long and 63m at its widest with 6 engines that whip out a total of
60,000 horsepower, the Guti Maun could fly at a maximum of 780km/h and boasts a
service ceiling of 15,000m. Its bulletproof plating is thick for an aircraft and with a
cruising range of over 19,400km, it could excellently project its power far from
imperial borders. While it earned the nickname Sky Fortress, it was a monster that was
truly capable of much more than the name.

How the hell did the empire manage to come up with something that outperformed its
own standard aircraft?
Not even the members of the Super Heavy Bombing Unit knew how it came into being
or why it even exists. Mystery has always surrounded this plane.

Looking at the ground from such high altitudes, the clouds seem to be pasted onto the
surface of this world.

“Sir, Bomber 18’s engine 4 is experiencing problems and is beginning to lose output.”

“Hmm. It shouldn’t be a problem but have them return to Love Airbase in Leifor just
in case. There mustn’t be any impediments to this operation.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Super Heavy Bombing Unit, save for 1 bomber which experienced troubles,
continued its excursion east.

Inside Bomber 18

“Sir! We’ve received orders to return to Leifor!”

“Alright. We could continue on with no problem with 5 engines but… yeah, it can’t be
helped.”

“It’s our latest heavy bomber. We can’t let the native mechanics know what it’s capable
of. We will be flying over Mu alone but since they can’t catch up to us, I guess our safety
is guaranteed.”

Bomber 18 sets course for Leifor’s Love Airbase.

Advanced Technologies Test Site, Mu

On this day, Myrus, who has witnessed Japanese technology firsthand, was visiting the
Advanced Technologies Test Site.

“Technical officer Myrus, allow me to show you this: a ground-based ECM.”

The commander of the Advanced Technologies Test Site proudly explains to Myrus.
Right in front of Myrus’s eyes were several massive, long antennas connected by cables
to a downgraded PC imported from Japan.

“This computer, while considered ‘ancient’ in Japan, is still extremely high performance
in comparison to those used in the Gra Valkas Empire. I have a feeling this will be
extremely useful.”

“Ah, heck. Looks like we’re still leagues away from miniaturizing this for use in
aircraft…”

“Indeed. With the current level of tech disclosure with Japan, it will be hard for us
alone to miniaturize this to be able to mount on any aircraft. Still, if we could establish
this ground-based ECM on every airbase and naval base, it would provide us an
exemplary boost in combat capacity. We could even jam Gra Valkas Empire
communications with this.”

“Hmph. How splendid!”

Currently, Mu isn’t even next to Japan in terms of tech. Still, tech was something that
could be built up and developed.

“Let’s catch up to them someday!”

Myrus unconsciously lets out his feelings.

“Technical officer Myrus, allow me to show you our progress on the aforementioned
aircraft.”

A delighted smile appears on the commander’s face. Myrus, who was looking forward
to this moment, naturally smiled as well. This was his sole reason for coming to the
Advanced Technologies Test Site. He simply wanted to see what has become of their
new class of aircraft. The hangar’s doors open.

“W-woah!!! Even its frame is done!!!”

With its wings mounted at the back and the horizontal stabilizers mounted in front,
the peculiar-looking fighter painted in green glistened in the light coming from the
opened hangar entrance. The experimental fighter of the Imperial Japanese Army
from more than 70 years ago was made real from acquired design prints and
remodeled. Since much of it had been made from reused modern Japanese parts, the
strength of individual parts was much better than what the Imperial Japanese Army
had back then and the fighter’s weight was much lighter than what was originally
designed.

“We’re really gonna name it that, huh?”

“Of course. In honor of Japan, which gave its design, I want to name her the Shinden
Kai1! Wait, since it’s a prototype, that would make it the X Shinden Kai, right? Ah, one
more thing… What became of its engine… Oh?”

Moving to the back of the aircraft, Myrus spots an afterburner built into the airframe.

“Huh? This engine…”

Hearing that a jet engine will be substituted in place of the T4 engine for research
purposes, Myrus was surprised at the presence of an afterburner.

“It’s an experimental jet engine known as the XF3-400 which was a prototype devised
by Japan around 25 years ago.”

“Huh? Isn’t this counted by their tech outflow act? How did we get our hands on this?”

“There are many people who are as eager as you are to transplant Japanese tech to
Mu. There’s even some forces in Japan who are equally eager to help Mu, saying that
it’s simply in the national interest. We currently only have two of these planes. If the
engine breaks down, it’s beyond our tech level to repair it. What we have is simply too
different to the parts we made it out of. Still, everyone is currently figuring out if we
have some ways to reproduce the parts or alternatively import those parts
individually. In the end, this experimental fighter has an extremely high engine output.”

“Excellent. Can it fly?”

“We’ve already done numerous flight tests using it. However, its cruise range is simply
too short. Since it uses an afterburner, it burns through its fuel almost immediately. It
seems like it would only be useful in operations which only require short operational
spans like capital defense. By readying the aircraft for hit-and-run operations, we can
expect significant results even against the Gra Valkas Empire. If it’s just capital or base
defense, it would be really useful. As for the engine, in the event we can’t manufacture
its parts, then we have no choice but to import another one. It would be nice if we can
import another one. Since that’s no longer my field of expertise, I would only have to
hope that the diplomats and parliament members do their best.”

He continues.

“As for its armament, there are four 30mm autocannons mounted on the nose. With
such destructive firepower, it should be able to bring down any aircraft it faces. We are
currently considering a reformed version mounted with a single high-caliber cannon.
Since Pal Chimera aerial battleship countermeasures are within the scope of this
consideration, we are aiming for this fighter to be able to participate in a fight against
the ancient sorcerous empire for when it comes back. In the event we mount a high-
caliber cannon on it, we would now be faced with the problem of handling the strength
of its recoil. While it’s currently in study, it’s currently being considered if the high-
caliber cannon in question could be a tank gun.”

“That’s great…”

“Right now, its 30mm autocannons are stocked and ready to be deployed in combat at
once. We have planned a test flight shortly so I invite you to please watch it.”

“Naturally! I can’t wait!”

While Myrus was excited, the fighter emerged onto the runway. A high-pitched shrill
from its jet engine was heard as the Shinden Kai started its warm up. Clad in green
paint and its horizontal stabilizers mounted in front, the Shinden Kai resembled the
floating ships of the heavens of the Holy Mirishial Empire in its design which forgoed
a propeller. To everyone who was watching, they’ve grown accustomed to their
biplane designed aircraft. After witnessing the fighter which aligned itself to the
runway, all they saw was a mass of advanced tech.

“It seems to be done warming up. Now, we will be showing routine take off proc-”

“E-Excuse me!!!”

A young officer cuts into their chatter.

“What is it?!”

The commander, who was in the middle of explaining to Myrus, let out a subtly
angered tone.
“One enemy plane is heading straight for our base!!! We think it’s the same massive
enemy plane that passed over Hath Airbase!!!”

Myrus and the commander looked at each other. The officer continues.

“The enemy plane is approaching us at 600km/h at altitudes of over 15,000m! Our

Marin fighters cannot catch up to it!”

“There’s only one… right?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Sir Myrus, it seems that this test flight will now double as the fighter’s combat debut.
Please be my guest and take a look.”

The commander was brimming with confidence as a smile appeared on his face.

“Of course! I am looking forward to seeing the experimental Shinden Kai fight!”

Myrus and the commander moved to the base’s control room.

“Turn on the ECM!!!”

A rudimentary-looking ECM started to function. Its massive antennas turned towards

where the enemy was.

“It’s on!!!”

Meanwhile, the experimental Shinden Kai was preparing to take off from the runway.
It’s peculiar form overruled Mu common sense up to this point. If anything, its form
even seemed to have moved in the opposite direction. A fundamentally different
engine sound, that of a high-pitched shrill, dominated over the vicinity.

“Control tower to X1, you are cleared for take off.”

Uweeeeeeeeeee!!!

From the back of the Shinden Kai, the afterburner spitted out a jet of flame. Taking
advantage of its immense initial power to weight ratio, it accelerated in a heartbeat
and released itself from the ground. After achieving a certain speed, it surpassed every
single Mu aircraft up to that point as it swiftly climbed and disappeared into the sky.

“9000m… 10,000m… 11,000m…”

A woman officer manning the radar nonchalantly reads out the altitude reading of the
experimental fighter.

“Amazing!!! It climbs so fast!!!”

It was like looking at a Japanese fighter. Far surpassing Mu’s other planes, the Shinden
Kai continued to transcendentally climb. Myrus, seeing his beloved country achieve
such a high-performance fighter, albeit experimental, was moved to tears.

“This is X1. I have visual confirmation on the enemy aircraft. Commencing attack.”

The experimental Shinden Kai commenced its attack on the Gra Valkas Empire’s super
heavy bomber, the Guti Maun.

Inside Bomber 18

“Is the radio still not fixed?”

“Nope. We still can’t contact the base. There’s no signs it will get better either.”

Although they were at an altitude where the enemy’s blade couldn’t reach them, it still
didn’t feel good experiencing radio troubles in the skies above enemy territory.
Something bad is going to happen.

“Be wary of enemy attacks, just in case!”

“Yes, sir!”

Den Taruk, who was sitting in the machine gun turret on the underbelly of the Guti
Maun, looked at the lands of Mu below him. It was quite a clear day since many of the
clouds were stuck close to the ground. In the skies way above the troposphere, he feels
the empire’s pride penetrate way into the stratosphere.
“Oh?!”

For a moment, he sees something like a dot right below him.

“No shit?! Another plane at this altitude?!”

In a single moment, Den Taruk’s doubts were turned to certainty. The aircraft which
had seemed like a dot suddenly closed the distance, revealing its unfamiliar airframe
design.

“E-enemy attack!!!”

Den Taruk took control of the machine gun and tried to aim for the enemy plane.

“What the-?! It’s so… fast!!!”

As soon as he brought his sights on the enemy, it started opening fire. The enemy plane
which had rapidly approached them out of nowhere slipped past them, climbing into
skies above them. After hearing sounds which signalled that they were hit, he heard
the sound of something catching fire and felt something hot. One of the 5 engines
which were operational had caught fire and its propeller had stopped turning. He felt
the air around him rapidly getting thinner and thinner…

The machine gunner on top of the plane was desperately firing his machine gun on the
skies above. He hears the muffled sounds of machine gun fire. As he felt his
consciousness slipping away, Den Taruk grabbed an oxygen mask and affixed it to his
face.

“Hah… Hah… Hah… Fuck!!! There’s no way machine guns could cause this much da…”

The Guti Maun was resistant against machine gun fire. The 12.7mm machine guns
normally mounted on fighters shouldn’t be able to pierce its armoring. Even the
occasional 20mm autocannons would have difficulty against the plating. However, the
enemy fighter easily cut holes into their bomber, overwhelming the pressuring
system. His body began to feel light, subtly hinting that they’re losing altitude.

Beep beep beep

An emergency buzzer was ringing within the aircraft.

“There! It’s coming back!!! Fuck!!! It’s fast!!!”

Den Taruk hears something unpleasant in the form of something being cut open. And
then an explosion. And then fire.

“We lost control!!! We lost control!!!”

Gravity suddenly seems to dizzyingly change.

“Is… is that it?!”

Grabbing hold of a parachute, Den Taruk desperately opens the escape hatch and
emerges from the plane. His body begins to accelerate due to gravity pulling him
down. As the force of the wind pushed on him while he fell, he looked up to where he
had come from.

“T-the empire’s proud bomber…!!!”

Enveloped in flames, the super heavy bomber Guti Maun continued to fall out of the
sky. Despairing, Den Taruk also continued to fall into Mu territory.

Ministry of Defense, Tokyo, Japan

An emergency defense meeting was being held at one of the conference rooms in the
Ministry of Defense. Each official sat on chairs lined up around an elliptical table. A
young official was pointing to a monitor as they explained.

“The enemy main fleet is currently advancing eastward in the ocean west of Newland.
Furthermore, a 200-strong aircraft formation, after completing replenishment at
Leifor, passed through the Mu continent and is currently heading straight for our
country. Moreover, 52 imperial cruisers and destroyers have gathered at the capital of
the Kingdom of Riem and a further 300 aircraft are positioned in the airfield within
the kingdom. Lastly, the naval force of the Kingdom of Riem is also continuing to
gather.”

“And their objective…”

“Our mainland, without a doubt. We have already arranged 2 escort flotillas to be

positioned to the west, 1 deployed off the coast of Kyushu, and the last one around the
waters of the Nahanath Kingdom. F-2 fighters and BP3-C and P-1 bomber units are
also ready to sortie out at any moment. Just in case, we had the Coast Guard’s patrol
boats deployed to the west as well while the F-2 fighter units deployed to Rodenius,
except for one squadron, are en route back to the mainland. With our calculations, we
will be able to carry out this defense!!!”

“What about Nahanath? Considering the enemy’s numbers, letting only a single escort
flotilla and a handful of F-2 fighters defend them seems pretty tough…”

“Based on satellite acquisitions of the movements in the Kingdom of Riem, an attack

on the mainland is imminent. Since the enemy main fleet is massive, they cannot reach
our country without replenishing first so we believe that they will head for resupply
at any of the countries in Newland. Based on their numbers, we believe it will take a
substantial amount of time for them to complete resupplying. With the time they will
have bought us, we will be able to make it in time to divert our forces and intercept
them.”

“We can’t rule out the possibility that the enemy forces currently in Riem will carry
out a simultaneous attack with the enemy fleet off Newland. Won’t we be barely
cutting it short if we are faced with a two-front attack?”

“We certainly can’t rule that possibility out but according to the Mu spies in Riem,
there’s no doubt that once the 200 enemy aircraft reach Riem and complete
preparations, they will immediately launch their attack on our mainland.”

“What about a preemptive strike on the Riem port?”

“Since Riem has vehemently maintained that it bears no hostile intention towards
Japan and has expressed it internationally, a preemptive strike will be difficult to
consider politically. Furthermore, since the enemy air force in transit is crossing over
the airspace of other countries, as long as there remains the possibility that their
remains after being shot down could harm or kill the citizens of those countries, a
preemptive strike on them is also out of the question. This is just for reference but it
seems that a loosening of the Technology Outflow Prevention Act for Mu is being
explored to prevent this same situation from happening in the future. If something
like this were to happen again, Mu would be able to deal with it on its own.”

“We mustn’t let a single enemy aircraft, particularly those bombers, enter the skies
above the mainland. There’s still the lingering possibility that they may have nukes.”

“Yes. By the moment they commence their operation after taking off from Riem, our
fighters will take their time shooting them down. As for the enemy force that we have
currently verified…”

The meeting continued on to explain the detailed positions of the SDF. For the first
time in a defense meeting since the transfer, the heat from an actual threat looming on
Japan was felt. Further combat adjustments were made as the meeting continued deep
into the night.

Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

From the royal castle, King Banks looked out to the west. A base unravelled before him
over part of the plains. Mu’s airfield had been expanded by the Gra Valkas Empire into
a fully fledged base with several iron birds laid out neatly on concrete pavement. They
were far bigger than the planes Mu once brought over. It was also far bigger than their
wyverns and the wyvern lords of the Parpaldia Empire. They were also faster. Such
was the empire that had defeated the Holy Mirishial Empire. He even felt their
strength simply from looking at how neatly organized their attack aircraft were.

Still, a tinge of anxiety remained.

“Will we really be okay…”

Their enemy is that country: Japan.

The Parpaldia Empire was a powerful superpower. Although it’s within the Third
Civilization Area, it subjugated its neighbors, civilized country and non-civilized
country alike, and possessed territorial ambitions to the south. At the time, people
within the Kingdom of Riem postulated that in the event the Parpaldia Empire
continues southward to absorb the huge expanse of land which was under what called
itself the Annonrial Empire, they’d surpass the Holy Mirishial Empire in scope. There
was even the possibility that if they reap the economic benefits from being massive
while continuing their technological innovation, they would be shortly dethroning the
Holy Mirishial Empire from being the dominant superpower.

It was thought that the empire’s strength knew no bounds. However, when Japan
entered the scene, the map was changed forever.

The empire treated the Japanese people visiting within its conquered domains like it
treated any citizen from other countries. Their tourists were lined up and summarily
executed. Incurring the wrath of Japan, the empire suffered overwhelming defeat after
overwhelming defeat. In the face of their military might, the Parpaldia Empire’s
influence as a superpower fell into tatters. Unleashing its anger, Japan efficiently and
accurately targeted only the Parpaldian soldiers. He heard that they didn’t yield an
inch of mercy in doing so.

“Those bastards… They really know how to fuck someone up who angered them…”

And then there he was, trying to draw a bow against that Japan. They’ve already
formally announced that they aren’t hostile to them but once their wyverns turn their
flames on Japanese installments in the Parpaldia Empire, they’d have no more excuses
to throw. A wrath that burned like a raging flame was the only thing that appeared in
his eyes.

If the Gra Valkas Empire fails to win over Japan, Riem would certainly be thrown into
the fire. The ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Riem would more than likely end with
him. However, if he places his stake on Japan, then the Gra Valkas Empire, which single-
handedly destroyed the World Union Fleet, would brand them as enemies. They might
even subjugate the Holy Mirishial Empire and put the world beneath their feet. Japan
might not be able to lift a finger against them.

King Banks continues to think.

“Your Majesty! You were here all along!”

“Rival…”

General Rival talks to King Banks.

“There’s no way we will lose a war right on our homefront. From a broader
perspective, it is already understood that Japan cannot win over the empire. However,
Riem is too close to Japan, so this basically counts as a war close to our home. We
cannot afford to lose at a fight so close to us.”

“I understand, Your Majesty. There’s absolutely no way that the Gra Valkas Empire is
lagging behind Japan. I’ve actually come to report, Your Majesty, that the city-
annihilating weapons called bombers will soon be arriving here from the homeland of
the Gra Valkas Empire. They’re far bigger than the bombers used by Japan against the
Parpaldia Empire and can fly much higher. It seems that all of them will be arriving at
that very base.”

Rival points out to the western sky. In the blue sky, several dots finally appear.

The dots eventually take the form of aircraft.

Voooooooooooooooo

Deep, heavy sounds which could shake one’s innards reverberated across the capital.

“Woah!!!”

The bombers boasted immense size as their formation gave off a feeling of strength.
Anyone looking at them would have felt that such a strong force wouldn’t lose. Even
the attack aircraft neatly parked in the base which King Banks had felt were massive
seemed like children in comparison.

“These… These are the superweapons of the Gra Valkas Empire…?! They’re so
gigantic!!! No!!! There’s simply no way they will lose against Japan!!!”

The citizens of Riem were overwhelmed by the imposing appearance of the super
heavy bomber Guti Maun. The king wasn’t an exception.

After seeing the staggering number of these massive bombers, King Banks felt
confident that they’d never lose.
Gra Valkas Empire airbase, Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

A meeting on the operation to attack Japan is being held at the airbase. Among those
present at the meeting were commander of the Imperial Army Air Corps there,
Macina, commander of the Super Heavy Bombing Unit, Arley Tolliger, and commander
of Task Force 44 of the Imperial Navy, Zem. At the other end were Rival and Riem’s
eminent military men from their navy, army, and dragon knights.

“I will now be explaining our plan on the operation to attack the mainland of Japan.”

In the operation briefing room, a map of Japan acquired by Riem some time after their
transfer and a map taken from the sky were spread out. The officials from HQ are
about to begin their briefing.

“Currently, the Imperial Army Air Corps has a squadron, designated Squadron 1, here
in the royal capital along with 34 bombers from the Super Heavy Bombing Unit. An
airbase to the north has 123 bombers and the airbase in Aleena to the west has
another Imperial Army Air Corps squadron, designated Squadron 2, and 43 bombers.”

“First off, Riem’s dragon carrier fleet will head for Japan from the north. In terms of
cruising range and speed, Riem’s wyverns won’t suffice in an engagement. The point
here is that they will have to get closer to Japan’s mainland to take off, prompting Japan
to spot them and go after them. The wyverns have to get as close to the mainland as
they can. If they can reach Japan at all, then that would be better. Ultimately, we aren’t
expecting much from your force and your purpose is to cause a ruckus. At the same
time, the Imperial Army Air Corps and the Super Heavy Bombing Unit will take off and
head for the mainland through the shortest possible route.”

The explanation continues.

“Like us, Japan is also a transferred country. HQ has evaluated them as a modern army
and has directed us to exercise caution. All in all, they have judged them to be on the
same threat level as the Kain Divine Kingdom and so we will be facing this operation
with maximum vigilance.”

“Bullshit! This world? It has a Kain Divine Kingdom equivalent?”

“Aren’t they on edge too much?”

“Japanese cruisers aren’t even much to begin with if we look at Cartalpas…”

The room erupted in hushes.

To the military personnel who were always at the frontlines, they find HQ’s evaluation
of Japan to be on the same threat level as the Kain Divine Kingdom hard to accept.
Everyone in the military knew of the capitulation of the Mu subjugation force’s
Valkyries base since no one tried to hide it but most soldiers merely saw it as a blemish
or stain on the Army’s dignity due to the carelessness of few people. However, the
annihilation of the Home Fleet that was sent to assault the Mu city of Otaheit was kept
a closely guarded secret by the Navy, leaving much of the Army and the regular Navy
sailors in the dark regarding the incident. Much of the top brass in HQ reevaluated
their assessment of Japan after the capitulation of Valkyries to the point where they
even felt fear, but since much of the reports regarding how Japan took Valkyries
contained information on weapons they couldn’t deal with, they did not wholly inform
their frontline officers. Furthermore, they purposefully did not let them know of the
Navy’s Advance Fleets being eradicated after making contact with Japan due to
concerns that doing so will have an effect on their morale.

The officials from HQ continued.

“Commander Macina, your squadrons will fly at ultra low altitudes just above the sea
to avoid radar detection by the enemy. The escort fighters will also be flying with you.
Just before the squadrons reach land, they will climb to suitable altitudes and carry
out a hit and run bombing attack on this city here, Arawa, in their administrative
region of Fukui. As for the Super Heavy Bombing Unit led by Arley Tolliger, you will
make good use of the Guti Maun’s capabilities and fly high at the stratosphere to where
Japan’s fighters cannot reach and penetrate deep into their mainland to turn the
metropolis, Nagoya, into ash. This operation will make use of the Guti Maun’s
exceptional speed, which triumphs over any fighter, and exceptional service ceiling
and power projection, which overshadows any attack aircraft or bomber.”
The briefing continues.

“Moreover, Task Force 44 will carry out an attack tonight while under radio silence.
By the time the operation starts at sunrise, they will be in position 300km from Japan
where they will be supported by air cover from Riem to meet any Japanese aerial
attack while they attack any Japanese ship that comes out to fight. Once you get rid of
any obstacles, you will get as close as you can to Arawa in Fukui and shell it. This
operation will be to let Japan know that the empire can reach them anytime,
anywhere. Lastly, our other forces will be carrying out their own operation in concert
with this front.”

The operation in question is the Combined Fleet’s attack on Nahanath but the HQ
officials didn’t touch on any of the specific details. No one inquired for more
information either.

“Riem’s other dragon knights not included with the dragon carriers will carry out an
attack on the Japanese merchant ships anchored in Parpaldian ports. Naturally, the
Japanese consulate-general to Parpaldia is included as a target.”

Silence…

Commander Macina, who is said to be one of the more cautious men, speaks up.

“Since these are our orders, we will carry them out but this caution towards Japan…
Considering the info initially released by Navy HQ, isn’t it a bit too much? It’s on the
same level as using combat tanks to crush ants, don’t you think?”

Commander Zem agrees with Macina’s doubts.

“Exactly! While it’s believed that there’s some more info they got that changes their
evaluation of Japan, isn’t saying that they’re on the same level as the Kain Divine
Kingdom to be too much? It’s like they’re saying that there actually lies a greater
Japanese continent to the east which is their true mainland and that these islands right
here are just some decoys. It could only be that! I can’t think of any other way their
evaluation would be turned over!”

“You’ve already been notified but to reiterate, there aren’t any perceptible changes to
Japan’s size and it is their extremely accurate marksmanship capabilities that we have
to be vigilant of. That on its own far surpasses ours. Also, there’s no way you don’t
already know how much the Army suffered in Mu when they started to fight. It was
also at that time when His Highness, the Crown Prince, was captured.”

The HQ officials then put emphasis in their statement.

“We mustn’t let the empire fall into another defeat due to arrogance and insolence!!!
Of course, as to not shame His Highness’s dignity, we will execute this operation
flawlessly! We will show these bastard lowlives, who refused to hand over His
Highness and disrespected us, the iron will of the empire! This attack must prevail at
all costs!”

The statement echoed loud and clear within the room.

“We understand. Your passion is well received. We will fulfill this responsibility and
reduce the Japanese city of Arawa into ash. Any fighters they throw at us will be shot
down by our escort fighters. We take pride in our skill, so much so that even if they
were really Kain, we won’t lose.”

Commander Macina makes apparent his understanding of HQ’s operation.

“Yes, indeed! We too will clear the oceans of their navy!”

Commander Zem, too, looks forward to carrying out his responsibility.

“Our Super Heavy Bombing Unit will turn Nagoya into a barbecue! Those Japanese will
be burnt to the crisp!”

“Barbecue?”

“Yes! By dropping incendiaries on Nagoya, any building that receives a direct hit will
have its combustible innards set on fire. The fire that spreads from the outer edges of
the building will spread inwards, roasting anyone inside. The massive flames
generated might even turn into a tornado of fire and then ding! The barbecue is ready!
However, whatever remains we will be too burnt to be edible!”

The room erupted in laughter.

The briefing on the Gra Valkas Empire’s attack on the Japanese mainland continues.
That night, Royal castle, Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

“Your Excellency, Rival! The absurd amount of disrespect the Gra Valkas Empire
showed to our kingdom was revolting! I couldn’t stand the briefing!”

“Right?! They’re looking down on us way too much!!! Who do they think they are?! Are
they really all that great?! Are they really all that strong like they say they are?!”

Young officers participating in the empire’s incursion operation into Japan could no
longer tolerate their imperial contemporaries and appeal to General Rival. Many of
them were even trembling from rage.

“You lot have no experience in diplomacy so I don’t expect you to understand. The
World Union Fleet spearheaded by the Holy Mirishial Empire, with all its might, could
crush the entirety of Parpaldia’s military force in an instant were they still in their
heyday. The Gra Valkas Empire single-handedly crushed that same fleet. If it weren’t
for these reports then I also wouldn’t be able to stand their rude behavior. However,
the kingdom has no power that can match up to theirs. There’s really only two choices:
Japan or them. After careful analysis, I judged that the Gra Valkas Empire would
emerge overwhelmingly victorious and become global hegemon. For our kingdom’s
prosperity, I had to rethink it time and time again. Tolerate them… for now.”

“B-but!!!”

“Yes, Japan is powerful. Toppling Parpaldia unto its rear… One can say they’re a force
to be reckoned with. Even with their outstanding accuracy, the empire trumps over
them in sheer firepower, defensive capabilities, and numbers. I cannot let the kingdom
wait and watch as Japan gets pulverized while we’re on their side. Understand that at
least. By the way, if you lot were tasked to build an 800m unpaved runway, how long
would it take you to get it done?”

“A runway? If we don’t pave it like how the empire did, it would be done in a month
given 3000 men.”

“Correct. A skilled worker of Riem can get a 800m runway done in a month. We owe it
to our relatively advanced engineering which cannot be copied by our neighbors.”

“What of it, though?”

“The empire, using 13 so-called heavy machinery, got it done in 3 days.”

“Just 3 days?!”

“In just 3 days. The empire coerced every other country into letting them rent an
empty lot in which they slowly built up a runway. Many of them remained neutral to
both the Gra Valkas Empire and the Holy Mirishial Empire and yet they still forcibly
rented their land and built runways on them. By simply leasing land to the empire as
neutral countries, they turned their eyes away from the presence of a runway. As a
result, the Gra Valkas Empire possesses a lot of runways and supply bases which
remain unknown to other countries. This outstanding national power and logistics
network supports their power projection. If they feel like it, they could deploy their
immense airpower to any frontline through these runways.”

The young officers shuddered at the empire’s true power.

“Your Excellency… We are truly sorry for saying impertinent things while not knowing
Your Excellency’s heartful determination for the kingdom!”

The young officers were moved to tears by Rival’s ardor for the kingdom.

“It’s fine… This time tomorrow morning, the kingdom will be basking in the glory of
victory! Still, the important responsibility of fighting against Japan and the Parpaldia
Empire has been burdened unto you…”

Rival felt sorry for leaving them to be sacrificed.

“We don’t mind! We are the kingdom’s pride! We will show Japan and the Parpaldia
Empire!”

The night carried on as each expressed their feelings.

Late night, Ministry of Defense, Tokyo, Japan

“The Gra Valkas Empire is now on the move.”

At a certain room in the Ministry of Defense, two officials on stand-by were talking to
each other. Tensions were high.

“Still… I’m pretty surprised by them. The bombers that are headed for Japan, according
to our satellites, are the legendary super heavy bomber, the Fugaku, is it not? On top
of that, they have 200 of them! Regardless of whether or not they’re regular bombers,
any country that produces that much of them is bound to experience setbacks. Yet here
they are seemingly fine.”

Tech development costs money. The young official was astonished by the empire’s
capacity for tech development and the funding behind it.

“Seems like you know nothing else outside defense! That’s only if they’re at peace. We
must take into account that they’re a transferred nation and that they are basically in
control of their previous world. Considering the scale of their mainland, it’s sufficient
to say that they are much more powerful than the United States was during the Second
World War. During the war, the United States produced over 3,600 B-29s with 2,000
of them primarily in the Marianas. When they raided Nagoya, they were able to deploy
as many as 310 bombers in a single run. Sure, the enemy bomber this time is a tad
bigger than the B-29 but there shouldn’t be any dramatic difference in production
costs. Sending 200 for this attack isn’t anything special when considering their
national power. They aren’t a minor country so they’re not going to experience that
much of a setback with sending 200 bombers.”

“Still, in terms of tech standard and size, the Fugaku is different from the B-29. Surely
it would take much more money to produce a single unit.”

“There’s said to be a 70 year disparity, Earth-wise, between us and the empire. What
if, say, they’re actually more advanced than we imagined? An error by 10 years would
dramatically reduce or inflate their estimated national power. With this change in
tech, a similarly dramatic change is expected out of their national power. The United
States’s B-52 Stratofortress is overwhelmingly better than the Fugaku but only 700 or
so were built. Such numbers don’t really mean a lot to a giant country like America.
Going by just numbers isn’t a good comparison but when a global pandemic happened
in the past, the Japanese government issued a revised budget of 100 trillion yen. Had
it been a conflict instead and 5% of that 100 trillion yen were to go into defense
spending, particularly on fighters, 500 F-15s could be bought. It would probably never
get to that point since defense spending is usually low but if a country feels like it, the
price tag isn’t that far-fetched.”

The young official is silent in understanding.

“The problem isn’t the fact that they sent 200 Fugaku-like bombers but rather how the
Gra Valkas Empire managed to develop such an advanced level of aircraft despite the
tech standard of their other aircraft.”

“Could it just be that all they’re sending to the frontlines are older designs?”

“That is also a possibility but so far our satellites haven’t been able to verify any other
standard-defying aircraft at their disposal. How they were able to get to an advanced
design despite their isolation is worrying.”

While they were talking, the phone on the desk rang.

“Looks like the empire has begun its operations.”

“Chit chat is over. Time to move to the operation room.”

Several officials gathered at the Mainland Defense Command room. Here, the situation
was being gathered in real time by the decision-making body.

“The navy of the Kingdom of Riem looks to be coming from the north. 50 ships from
the Gra Valkas Empire have also left port and is heading straight for Japan.”

“How much time left until they leave Riem’s territorial waters?”

“About an hour. For them, we will be entrusting 15 F-2s to commence our defense
operation.”

Capable of carrying 4 anti-ship guided missiles, the small F-2 fighter boasts a cruising
range of 450 nautical miles. There is even a chance that the fight will end in just this
first strike.

“At the moment the Gra Valkas Empire fleet headed for Japan leaves Riem’s territorial
waters, the F-2 fighters will carry out a saturation attack of anti-ship guided missiles
and wipe them out. The 2nd and 3rd Escort Flotillas will be deployed to the Sea of
Japan for any additional threats from sea or air.”

“The GSDF deployment on the side facing the Sea of Japan is complete.”

“Riem’s navy sure is an annoyance…”

“Since we have verified the presence of dragon carriers, the Coast Guard will have a
hard time dealing with them. Using missiles on them is just too much of a waste.”

“Looks like we’ll be able to manage from their position. Have the BP3-Cs sink the
dragon carriers while the missile boats from the Maizuru and Ominato District Forces
will handle the rest. Only when they get past them will the Escort Flotillas move in.”

“Affirmative! Lastly, the Coast Guard will be deployed in force close to the towns and
cities.”

“Are the enemy planes still grounded?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t let a single one of them out of sight. Once an enemy plane is sighted, bring it
down over the ocean and not a single inch into Japanese territory. We must never let
them see the mainland. Once they’re all taken care of, strike the bases from where they
come from at once!”

“Affirmative!”

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has committed itself to exhausting every bit of its power
to defend the country.

That night, Sea of Japan

In the midst of the jet black night, 15 F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force
are flying low at speeds unprecedented to this world. Each fighter carried 4 air-to-ship
guided missiles (ASM-2) under its wings. Far, far behind the attack unit flew an E-767
airborne warning and control aircraft, said to cover a radius of more than 800km.

In contrast far, far in front of them sailed the 50 ships of the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy’s
Task Force 44. They have just stepped out of the Kingdom of Riem’s territorial waters.

“Commence attack!!! Commence attack!!!”

Anti-ship guided missiles separate from their respective F-2 fighters. The missiles’
turbojet engines roar to life. 60 Type 93 air-to-ship guided missiles (ASM-2), each
boasting a range of more than 170km, fly off into the sky carrying the destruction of
the enemy fleet.
Task Force 44

Task Force 44 was a fleet consisting mostly of destroyers. Commander Zem stared at
the ocean from the bridge of the flagship of this fleet, the cruiser Dascht Ozean.

“We are now past Riem’s territorial waters and still maintaining radio silence.”

“Hm. The seas have indeed become rough.”

52 ships move in concert through the dark of night as a blanket of radio silence hangs
over the fleet.

“Commander! More and more sailors have been wondering about the meaning of our
attack tonight.”

The captain asks Commander Zem.

For this operation, their air attack served as their main force. With that in mind,
doubts arose as to why their small destroyer force was taking part in the attack. There
was no shortage of sailors who held doubts as to why they were there in the first place.

“The meaning… you say?”

“No one feels any doubt about our absolute victory in this attack but in terms of the
operation, won’t an air attack be more effective? It’s believed that there’s an operation
by the Home Fleet to strike the enemy before we do and if that is indeed the case then
the Imperial Army Air Corps should suffice. As such, many sailors also seem to
question why the Super Heavy Bombing Unit, considered to be the empire’s prized
trump card, is leading the attack.”

“Hmph. I agree that those lot from Navy HQ are acting funny. They don’t know shit. No
matter what era we are in, there’s always a disconcert between the top and the scene
of combat. They’re taking a country like Japan too fucking seriously. ‘On the same level
as Kain’??? If they’d just take a look at their cruiser in Cartalpas then maybe they’d
think twice about what they’re saying. At any rate, let’s wipe ‘em out and go home.”

Zem remembers their meeting a while back. They were told to treat Japan’s military
capabilities to be on the same level as the Kain Divine Kingdom or higher. Even if their
scale were as strong as Kain’s, there were still some reservations regarding the
operation. Despite the faint anxiety arising, it was snuffed out by experience and
instinct.

“These are our orders. Let’s go and set their city on fire.”

“Yes, sir! As the undefeated Imperial Navy, we will carry out the simple task of shelling
Japan and instilling terror into their hearts! With our undeniable skill, we will exhaust
our shells on Japanese flesh and steel!”

“Insolent bastards. Only punishment awaits those who had abducted our Crown
Prince. They will writhe in pain with the raging flames of… Oh?”

He sees a faint light out at sea. Suddenly, a bright, dazzling light flashes over the ocean.

Boom!!!

After a slight delay, the sound of a violent explosion reverberates across the fleet. A
fireball seemingly bigger than a destroyer appears ahead.

“Wha-! What the fuck was that just now?!”

“That looked like it came from the destroyer Stone!!!”

Swoosh… Boom!!!

Another something followed up and sounded like it hit something hard. Another
explosion appears.

“A-an enemy attack?!”

“But how?!”
A faint silhouette passes the side of a burning destroyer.

“Is that a rocket? Wait no, it’s changing direction!”

“Bullshit! It changed direction? Don’t be absurd!”

He couldn’t wrap his head around the statement that just came in. For a rocket to
change direction like it was guided and hit its target was something impossible. They
have never faced such an enemy before. The lack of information among the sailors
further accelerated the tragedy.

Buzzers ring out within the ship. The enemy attack which landed successively from
God knows where agitated everyone.

“No more!!! Get the radar and radios up and contact home!!! Get us air support, now!!!”

“We can’t reach them through the radio!!! The radar screen is completely white!!!
Nothing is showing up!!!”

“F-fuck!!! You gotta be fucking kidding me!!!”

While they were talking, more explosions appeared over the ocean. Agitated and
afraid, some anti-aircraft guns fired randomly into the sky.

“M-my men!!!”

The raging flames brought about by a single explosion took from them around 200
men. They were quickly mounting losses. It was agitatedly one-sided.

“W-what do I do-”

Boom!!!

A dazzling flash of light, a shockwave, and scorching heat beset Zem.

“Argh!!! H-hot hot hot!!!”

A missile lands directly on the flagship Dascht Ozean, bathing the superstructure in
raging flames in which Zem was caught within. While almost everyone else was killed
immediately, he survived the initial hit and was beset by hell-like fire for 3 minutes
and 24 seconds until the next missile landed.

5 minutes after the first hit, not a single ship remained unscathed. The Gra Valkas
Imperial Navy’s Task Force 44 slowly disappeared into the jet black ocean without
even being spared the luxury of reporting back. 15 F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self
Defense Force conducted a saturation attack of air-to-ship guided missiles on them,
annihilating every single one.

Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

Voooooooooo

The heavy sound of propellers spinning reverberated across the royal capital.

“Look!!! The Super Heavy Bombing Unit is taking off!!!”

“Woah!!! They’re so massive!!!”

“I could see it now! This is the end of Japan’s cities! Long live the empire!!!”

The soldiers of the Imperial Army watching the Super Heavy Bombing Unit take off
scream with great joy. To them, absolute victory awaited them just like always. With
victory in sight, they felt proud and well. While there were no doubts they’d win again
this time, the sight of the empire’s prized bombers setting out convinced them of their
overwhelming success. The Imperial Army Air Corps and the Super Heavy Bombing
Unit began to take off.

Facing east, the Imperial Army Air Corps and the Guti Maun bombers from several
bases merged into their respective formations. At the same time, the dragon knights
of Riem took off and headed south.

The battle for the skies was about to begin.

Mainland Defense Command, Tokyo, Japan

“Enemy aircraft are now taking off from Riem. Hm?”

“Something wrong?”

“These slow flying objects are headed south towards the direction of the Parpaldia
Empire.”

“So wyverns are heading for Parpaldia, huh? This is worrying. Tell Parpaldia that
wyverns are heading for them. How many aircraft are taking off from Riem?”

“There are currently 400… 430… It’s still rising!!! There’s so many of them!!!”

Nervousness runs through the command room.

“A total of 548 aircraft have taken off!!!”

Everyone felt irritated that they couldn’t preemptively destroy such a large force of
aircraft which were clearly hellbent on attacking them.

“Are we ready to intercept them?”

“We currently have 80 F-15Js and 50 F-2s armed for anti-air combat which are ready
to take off. 20 F-15Js are already circling the skies west of Fukui Prefecture on stand-
by. Furthermore, 15 F-2s and 40 BP3-Cs armed for ground attack are ready to launch.
The MSDF and the GSDF are also ready.”

The dragon carriers of Riem that were headed south have already been sunk by the
BP3-Cs. Returning to base after the attack, those same BP3-Cs are now ready to
pulverize the airbases.

“Good. Commence anti-air operations! Protect Japan! Don’t let a single one fire a bullet
or drop a bomb on Japanese soil! One missed plane could mean the deaths of Japanese
citizens!!!”

“Affirmative!!!”

The command room, enveloped in fiery passion, began to get busy. Everyone is
determined to eliminate every single enemy.
The skies east of Riem

“We will soon be leaving Riem’s airspace.”

Division Commander Arley Tolliger was onboard one of the bombers in the center to
command the unit personally.

The Guti Maun super heavy bombers were cruising in the stratosphere. A formation
of over 200 of these bombers gave off an overwhelming sense of intimidation and even
the confidence that they’ll never lose.

“How’s the Army Air Corps doing?”

“They should still be flying low 100km ahead of us. Still, our speed is faster so we may
be able to reach Japan’s mainland ahead of them.”

“Once the enemy picks us up on radar, they’d probably find a large formation flying
below us. Since we are flying high and fast, they shouldn’t be able to catch us so they’d
probably focus on attacking the Army Air Corps.”

“Even if we fly low the enemy would notice that we’re attacking at the same time. We
should still be able to deceive them in terms of numbers.”

“So the Army Air Corps is simply a decoy? I feel bad for them.”

“Our speed and power projection is better than the Army Air Corps. I wonder if HQ
thought the same. Still, they’re a pretty big formation for a decoy and they’re the
dignified and skilled Army Air Corps. Even if they were a decoy they should be able to
annihilate Japan’s air corps on their own. There’s no way they’d fall behind a country
like Japan. According to the rumors from another country, Japan’s fighter force seems
to only consist of 200 fighters. They naturally won’t send every single one of them and
even if they were to we still outnumber them.”

“I sure hope that’s the case.”

While they were talking, the crew member manning the radio started to get flustered.

“What’s going on…”

“Something wrong?”
“The Army Air Corps should be in radio silence but it seems that there’s radio chatter
coming from them. The sound is bad but…”

Arley Tolliger felt a bad chill run down his spine.

“Connect it to the speaker!!!”

“Bzzzzt-Flight 3 has been wiped out!!! What the f-bzzzzt”

“Bzzzzt-fast!!! I can’t shake ‘em off-bzzzzt”

Silence…

Despite being in the thin air of the stratosphere, the atmosphere within the cabin got
heavy.

“What’s happening to them?”

No one was able to answer.

“Tell everyone that the enemy may have possibly made contact with the Army Air
Corps!!! Watch your surroundings!!!”

The gunners manning the machine gun turrets glared at the seemingly empty sky.
There was no way they’d be able to reach their altitude but it’s possible that their
comrades have suffered heavy casualties. Tensions run high.

“Exercise maximum caution!!! Don’t give in to your carele-”

Boom!!!

“B-Bomber 15 has been hit!!!”

The Guti Maun called Bomber 15 flying ahead of them was engulfed in flames. The
flames reached the munitions it carried, enveloping Bomber 15 in an intense
secondary explosion.

“What the fuck was that just now?!”

Arley Tolliger shouted but no one knew how to respond.

Boom!!!

An unseen attack successively landed hits on the Super Heavy Bombing Unit. The Sky
Fortress, supposedly boasting defensive capabilities which prove invincible against
machine gun fire, was enveloped in flames one after the other as more of them fell into
the sea of clouds below.

“Flight 3 has been shot down!!!”

“Where the fuck are they attacking from?!”

“Something’s flying towards us!!!”

“I can’t control it!!! I’ve lost control!!!”

Several more explosions bloomed into fiery flowers which dotted the clear sky. Having
their wings cut, the bombers spun as they fell out of the sky in pieces like shooting
stars. The flames of despair fall like rain, signaling an undeniable truth that the
operation is lost. The radio was filled with unrecognizable chatter as the formation
descended into chaos. Unable to ascertain what was being said, they have no other
option but to witness the scene for themselves.

After the storm-like attack ceased, only 83 super heavy bombers were left. In just a
single moment, around 120 bombers were wiped out of their ranks.

“What the fuck happened?! This isn’t right! This isn’t right!!! What happened to the
Army Air Corps?!”

“I don’t know!!! I’m getting no response!!!”

They lost more than half of their unit in a single attack. In the thin air of the
stratosphere, the enemy showed no signs of holding back their attacks. Adding insult
to injury, they have not caught a single glimpse of the enemy. In the face of a staggering,
irreparable force ratio, Arley Tolliger was convinced their bombing raid on Nagoya
had failed.

“Tell all units to fall back!!! Turn back and return to Riem!!!”

“But if we do so then this operation is done for!!! It would be unacceptable for the
empire’s prized bombers to fail!!!”
“Are you a dumbass?! There’s less than half of us left!!! We have barely left Riem and
yet more than half of us have been shot down!!! This operation is already done for!
Our force ratio is clear! We’ve lost more than half of our force and we haven’t even
seen a single blemish of the enemy force! ‘They’re on the same level as Kain’??? Don’t
give me that shit! Kain doesn’t even compare to these bastards!!! If we continue now
we will be annihilated before we even report back!!! Even if we had a thousand Army
Air Corps planes we’d probably end up in the same position!!!”

The crew members cowered at Arley Tolliger’s cutthroat expression.

“Y-yes, sir!!! Still, the state of our radio channel is still bad. There’s so much chatter
that anything we say won’t go through…”

“Still tell them! They’ll somehow understand. Quick!!! Turn around now if you don’t
wanna die!!!”

The order to retreat was issued to everyone. The bomber carrying Arley Tolliger has
begun to conduct a bank maneuver to turn around. A sense of relief was felt within the
cabin.

“Enemy fighter approaching from below!!!”

At the same time the gunner shouted he began firing a barrage of bullets downwards.
Noticing it, the other bombers also began to fire their machine guns. A hail of machine
gun fire rained down on the sea of clouds below.

“Something’s coming!!!”

“Bomber 112 is hit!!!”

“I saw it!!! I fucking saw it!!! It was a rocket that hit Bomber 112!!! It was clearly
chasing after Bomber 112!!!”

Arley Tolliger lost his words at hearing his subordinate’s statement.

“A-a guided bomb?! No way… Those reports were real?!”

The Gra Valkas Empire is completely used to fighting wars. Countless examples of
battlefield legends have been born and some of them were simply exaggerated
information. HQ has considered the possibility of guided munitions seriously but
when Caesar, commander of the Combined Fleet, requested for the Super Heavy
Bombing Unit to sortie, they thought that the unit would achieve a level of success. In
other words, he thought that a frontline operation personally led by a commander
would be successful and that guided munitions are simply an exaggeration.

Several dozen enemy fighters appeared and climbed up to meet them. They possessed
an arrowhead-like airframe with 2 jets of flame jutting from behind them as they
displayed an impressive speed and climbing power which trumped their own air
superiority fighters. Despite them being already high up in the stratosphere, the
enemy fighters slipped past them and disappeared further up into the sky. As they
flew past them, several more bombers were engulfed in flames.

Once they slipped past, a deafening and spine-chilling thunderclap reverberated

through the cabin.

“They’re fast!!! Where did they come from?!”

“Those bastards had no propellers of any sort!!!”

“Fuck!!! They’re gone!!!”

The gunners whined.

The combat ratio was helplessly clear. Their mood of absolute victory has now
completely faded away. They were being shot at as if they were targets in a carnival
shooting game, slow and easy to target. Their supposedly flawless bombers were
being dropped out of the sky like flies. It was exceedingly maddening.

“They’re back!!!”

The enemy fighters seemed to have turned around with their noses primed towards
them. From beyond the range of their machine guns, the enemy fighters launched a
guided bomb similar to what they had seen just before.

“Enemy rocket heading for u-”

Arley Tolliger felt a strong, pressing force on his body accompanied by an intense
sensation of heat. For a brief moment, he saw the cabin he was riding in get obliterated
to pieces before losing consciousness. The commander of the Gra Valkas Empire’s
Super Heavy Bombing Unit was killed in the blast that fatally wounded the bomber he
was riding in.

150 F-15J and F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force made contact with the
548 aircraft of the Gra Valkas Imperial Army Air Corps and Super Heavy Bombing Unit
above the Sea of Japan, shooting down all of them.

Gra Valkas Empire airbase, Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

“Is the radar malfunction still not fixed?”

Murnow, deployed by HQ to the airbase, couldn’t hide his irritation at the radio and
radar anomalies which broke out the night before and right after their operation
started. They verified in the past that Valkyries base in Mu was attacked when they
experienced this same anomaly. There’s a possibility this is by the enemy jamming
their radar but what was worrying was that this also happened last night. It might
even be possible that the enemy found the radio silent Task Force 44 and attacked
them. However, if the airbase tried to reach out to them and they answer back, that
would mean that the operation is doomed. Murnow felt even more anxious.

“Changing the frequency and rebooting the radar…”

The person manning the radar rebooted it. Murnow was also glued to the radar screen.

“!!!”

Several dots of light were shown in an area where there shouldn’t be any.
Furthermore, the area where the Super Heavy Bombing Unit should be is completely
clear. Right after the radar screen returned, it whited out again.

“N-no…!!! The enemy is coming!!! Prepare for anti-air combat!!! Get interceptors up
and maximize security in the airspace around the base!!!”

An air raid siren rang out across the airbase. Crewmen hurriedly moved about as
interceptors which were already up in the air turned eastwards. Aircraft on standby
were rapidly prepared for takeoff.

“N-no… No way…”
Murnow trembled as he mumbled to himself.

“Did the operation fail???”

A terrifying chill ran down his spine as sweat poured from his forehead.

The skies above Hilkiga

15 F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force were rapidly approaching their
target airspace. The fighters’ single engines groaned as they flew ahead. Their
objective: to destroy the Gra Valkas Empire airbase’s radar and runway and silence
their anti-aircraft guns.

Following protocols, they selected their targets.

“Commence attack! Commence attack!”

LJ-DAM guided bombs dropped from the F-2 fighters accelerated as they fell to rob the
Gra Valkas Empire airbase of their eyes and hands.
Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem

King Banks and General Rival were looking at the Gra Valkas Empire airbase from the
royal castle.

“It’s gotten quite busy over there, huh.”

People have been running back and forth throughout the airbase since a while ago.

“They’re probably preparing for another attack. Any country that receives that many
attacks in a single day wouldn’t be able to put up a resistance no matter how big they
are. Still, we’re talking about that Japan here. They may not have been able to
completely destroy their intended targets.”

Rival points to the radar site near the control tower.

“Your Majesty, the thing spinning over there is the hallmark of the Gra Valkas Empire’s
super advanced tech. It’s a machine that enables them to see from far beyond what
can be seen visually. It can immediately detect incoming enemies, allowing them to
intercept them.”

King Banks replies with astonishment.

“No… Is that… From the ancient sorcerous empire… The technology they employed in
the fairytales…???”

“Indeed. It’s something that’s similar to the magic-to-electrical wave reflection

detector thingamajigs that the ancient sorcerous empire used.”

King Banks couldn’t find the words to express his emotions. What he saw in front of
him was similar to the weapons used by the ancient sorcerous empire which he heard
from tales. He couldn’t help but feel the power held by the Gra Valkas Empire.
Rival continues.

“If an enemy unexpectedly breaks through their aerial defenses, the base has those
weapons called anti-aircraft guns. It’s strikingly similar to the anti-air magic cannons
used by the Holy Mirishial Empire but it seems that they can reach even the highest of
altitudes.”

“As expected of the empire which boasts that they will rule over the world. Tech…
Numbers… I’m truly glad that we took the side of the empire.”

“Me too. The continuity of Your Majesty’s royal reign has been secured too.”

“Yes! I feel sorry for Japan but once they’re done for, let’s pick up the pieces left behind
and use it as sustenance for the kingdom! Hahaha!!!”

After seeing the radar sites possessed by the Gra Valkas Empire in their airbase, King
Banks was absolutely confident.

Who could even lay waste to an army this powerful? No one, of course. We weren’t wrong.

The Imperial Army possessed the power to at least convince them of their victory.

“Hahahaha! Wait, what’s that?”

Suddenly, the radar site that King Banks was looking at erupted into flames as it was
obliterated into pieces.

Boom…

A short while after seeing the explosion, a thundering roar shook King Banks’s body.
The force of the explosion was tremendous.

The smoke gradually cleared, revealing the place where the steel radar site used to be.
All that was left of it was burning scrap.

“What the hell is go-”

Bam! Bada Bada Bada Boom!!!

In rapid succession, the anti-aircraft gun emplacements, control tower, reserve fuel
tanks, the fighters trying to take off, and the ones parked neatly were all engulfed in
explosions. The fuel tanks and fighters that were set on fire emitted intense, black
smoke, darkening the sky above the royal capital.

WooooOOOOOOOO

The alarm which was supposedly to warn of an attack rings out too late. The scene
where the alarm only sounds after they’ve been attacked seemed horribly idiotic. It
took hardly a moment. In a short span of time, multiple violent explosions occurred,
robbing the Gra Valkas Empire airbase in Riem of much of its functions.

“Wha-!!! Wha-!!! Rival!!! What the hell just happened?! What the hell just
happeneeeeddd?!”

King Banks shouted. The uplifting feeling of confidence in their absolute victory was
nowhere to be seen as the airbase continued to burn. The overwhelming military force
that they have dreaded up to now has, in hardly a single moment, just lost all its means
of counterattack.

“Rival!!! Hey!!!”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…”

“Snap out of it!!! Say something to me!!!”

“W-we’re… We’re fucked…”

An ungodly powerful army was crushed near instantaneously. The king’s words do not
register in his head.

“A-are you telling me that… our kingdom, the Parpaldia Empire, and even the Gra
Valkas Empire are all equally weak to Japan?! There’s hardly any difference in the
explosive power of their munitions and the empire even has the overwhelming
advantage in numbers!!! How did it become like this?! How?!?!”

“Rival!!! Do something!!! If… If Japan sweeps away the empire, then… then… Japan, the
Holy Mirishial Empire, and even that Parpaldia Empire would all converge on us!!! Just
what should we do?! What do we doooooooo?!?!?!”

From what they could see, their dragon knights have come out in force. They were
setting out to try and prevent an attack against an enemy which had transcended their
seemingly ancient way of fighting. King Banks and Rival weren’t expecting much to
happen. The enemy hasn’t even shown itself let alone be detected by their forces,
leaving the dragon knights idly flying around the skies of the capital.

“A-are those what I think they are?!”

Countless white lines appeared in the skies slowly approaching them. There were a
lot of them; enough to cover much of the visible sky.

Voooooooooooooon

A faint sound, like the snarl of a violent beast signaling it had found its prey, slowly
became louder. The sound coincided with the sight of the white lines getting closer
and closer, adding to the extreme terror and hopelessness.

“Oh gods… Are those the Japanese bombers that are said to have eradicated the
military base near the Parpaldian capital of Esthirant?!”

Vooooooooooon

Countless white lines slowly stretched across the blue sky as if to cast a net on the
entirety of the world. The Parpaldia Empire’s military was the elite of the elite and
were far more powerful than their own. The hopelessness which had cast the same
destruction on the base which lorded over the Parpaldian imperial capital was now
about to do the same to them.

King Banks froze in dread.

The Gra Valkas Empire airbase, having lost its defenses and function in the first attack,
welcomed the enemy with open arms against their will. Helpless and unable to do
anything, they could only watch and run as the enemy bombers mercilessly closed in.

In order to fill the bomber role that Japan lacked in a short amount of time, the P-3C
anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self Defense Force was modified to
possess the ability to drop bombs, becoming the BP3-C. The BP3-C bombing unit
finally reached the skies above Hilkiga and unleashed their explosive payload.

Fwheeeeeeee…
Whistles attached to the bombs further intensified everyone’s fears. The bombs, each
boasting a tremendous explosive power, were dropped one by one, enveloping the Gra
Valkas Empire airbase, which was still trying to put out the fires from the first attack,
in an explosive gale.

Kaboom!!!

“Aaaaaaahhhh!!!”

Bombs were also dropped on the royal castle, sending the keep which towered over
everything else crumbling. The large-scale bombing run continuously poured bomb
after bomb on the royal castle, reducing its great stone walls into smoke and setting
anything combustible on fire. Since the Gra Valkas Empire configured antennas to the
royal castle which gave off radio signals, Japan saw the royal castle as an enemy base
and added it to the list of targets.

“Aaaaaaahhh!!!”

The long, long reign of the royal house crumbled with the ancient, longstanding royal
castle. The resplendent interior of the castle and the long history of kings that ruled
over the kingdom were all one-sidedly reduced to rubble. Inside the castle were
families, the servants which supported the monarchy, and many other important
things. Had the Gra Valkas Empire not given off radio signals through the antennas in
the royal castle, the fortress would have likely been spared. However, having turned
their blade on Japan and tried to sneakily take a swipe on the lives of its citizens, they
were mercilessly cut down in return.

In the midst of the intense smoke, successive explosions, grave despondency and
hopelessness, the king merely screamed.

“ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!! Ack-!”

Banks, King of Riem, and his general, Rival, were hopelessly crushed beneath falling
rocks and killed in the bombing.
Underground air raid shelter, Gra Valkas Empire airbase, Hilkiga, Kingdom of
Riem

“T-those bastards!!! Attacking us to this extent!!!”

Explosive flames devastated the surface above them. No one knows when the shelter
they’re in will be blown away in a similar fashion. Murnow, in concert with feeling the
fear of death and raging fury, trembled in despair. A subordinate next to him speaks to
him.

“For the empire to experience this much punishment… So the attack operation that
was sent to Japan was…”

“Yeah… It’s plain to see that it failed… It should have been staggering. It was so massive
in scale that I found it hard to think that they would mount this big of an attack on the
base had they not intercepted the bombers first. There’s no way this is coming from a
small bombing unit. At any rate, we lost our means of commanding whatever is left of
our forces in the vicinity. Once this attack ends, I will confirm the results of our attack
and return home.”

“Indeed!”

“I… I have to tell the empire…”

Murnow thought of means to return back to the empire alive.

Esthirant, Parpaldia Empire

“T-those heathens!!!”

Formerly the director of the Parpaldia Empire’s Third Foreign Affairs bureau, Kaios
was now the empire’s head of state. Not usually one to become emotional, curiously,
he was now seething in anger. The cause: The Kingdom of Riem’s dragon knights had
launched a surprise attack on Duro, causing damage to the merchant ships of other
countries and wounding and killing their citizens.

“Even though we have lost the power we once held, we are still the Parpaldia Empire!!!
And the ones laying a finger on our land and our cities… are none other than the lowly
likes of those Riem bastards!!!”

Duro was once the industrial heart of the Parpaldia Empire and after the war between
Parpaldia and Japan, it had temporarily become a part of the Doric Community.
However, the industries of Duro couldn’t compete and stand on their own against the
Japanese industries which were slowly creeping into the city. Despite their
independence, many people lost their livelihoods as local goods failed to outcompete
their Japanese counterparts. Although there were a lot of countries who wanted to
buy military goods from them, pressure from Japan forced them to forgo the export of
military goods. Since a sizable portion of their sales go to the Parpaldia Empire, tariffs
imposed on them for being independent introduced a lot of negative effects on them.
Furthermore, since much of the city folk were still imperial citizens, there was a
predominant movement to rejoin the empire, eventually resulting in the city’s
restoration as a city of the Parpaldia Empire by the will of its citizens.

Kaios couldn’t quell his fury.

Japan had warned them that an attack was coming. However, the attack happened
before they were able to muster their own dragon knights. While a huge number of
them had been shot out of the sky, they were not able to stop them completely,
resulting in casualties. His secretary, on the cusp of old age, talked to him.

“It’s because of the Gra Valkas Empire base in their lands that they’ve grown so
arrogant.”

“Those parasites!!! Ever since they backstabbed us during the war I knew that they’d
soon turn their blades on our holy lands once more!!! Have the wyvern lord dragon
knights mount an attack on Riem and deploy a fleet to their capital!!! Have them raze
it to the ground!!!”

“And how will Japan respond to that? Are they okay with us using military force?”

“It’s fine. The empire has been attacked. We are simply exercising our right to defend
ourselves by attacking the enemy military. No one will complain about a country
defending itself. If anything, they might even champion the idea.”

“Well, can we still carry out the razing of their capital?”

“What does a military need?”

“Equipment for personnel and logistics.”

“What supports those two things is a country’s economic power. What we are doing is
simply stamping out their military from the source.”

“That is irrational and an exaggeration but… I support your decision.”

The Parpaldia Empire has decided to send its military to the Kingdom of Riem.

Ministry of Defense, Tokyo, Japan

“The BP3-C bombing unit has fulfilled its operational objectives and we have
confirmed the loss of function of the Gra Valkas Empire airbase.”

The Mainland Defense Command room erupted in hushes at the communicator’s

report.

“Furthermore, the enemy surface invasion force has lost its capability to fight. We’ve
also verified that Kingdom of Riem’s fleet of dragon carriers have been destroyed and
all enemy air power has been shot down.”

The room was filled with applause.

The enemy’s invasion force was overwhelmingly large and despite the technological
disparity, there was no reason to not feel anxious about a force so massive. In the end,
they were still able to defend their home. The destroyers of the Maritime Self Defense
Force and the anti-air units of the Ground Self Defense Force never even got to see
action. On the contrary, it was fortunate that they never had to fight.

“Reporting in! We are now tracking 230 flying objects that have emerged from the
north of the Parpaldia Empire and are heading straight for the capital of the Kingdom
of Riem. Judging from their speed, it is believed that they are wyvern lords.”

The room got quieter. Riem had attacked the Parpaldian industrial city of Duro. They
seem to have been primarily aiming for Japanese establishments in the city but
Parpaldia’s dragon knights mostly shot them out of the sky before they could.

“We have received a message from the Parpaldia Empire through Foreign Affairs. ‘The
empire was attacked by the Kingdom of Riem. We are sending our dragon knights and
a fleet of 42 magic ships of the line to attack the enemy bases. This attack is simply an
exercise of our right to defend ourselves against the attack of Riem on our country and
doesn’t concern Japan in any way.’”

A country that was attacked is now trying to counterattack.

“How do we interpret this?”

“A country that was attacked is now trying to counterattack. Japan has no right to stop
them from doing so, right?”

“Foreign Affairs has the same opinion. They think that there’s no reason for Japan to
stop them.”

“Still, this is Parpaldia we’re talking about, right? I don’t think they could discriminate
between military and civilians just like a modern country…”

On this day, repeated attacks from wyvern lords and bombardment from magic ships
of the line plunged Hilkiga into a sea of flames.

Defense official Mitsugi was feeling that something bad was about to happen. Just now,
they were able to completely repel the first wave of enemy incursions into the
Japanese mainland. This was certain. However, something still doesn’t make sense.
Had it been up to him, the invasion force they just stopped should have waited for the
main fleet to attack them at once. All their arrangements were based on that
assumption…

“Emergency report!!!”

Everyone thought that they were able to completely repel the first wave of invasion.
In the midst of the cheers, one of the communications personnel reports an emergency.

“What is it this time?”

“The enemy main fleet sailing west of Newland has sailed past Newland and is now
heading east!!! The enemy fleet has accelerated and is still approaching!!!”
Everyone was shocked.

“That’s impossible!!! They shouldn’t be able to reach us without resupplying at

Newland!!!”

“It doesn’t make sense! No matter how you cut it, reaching Japan with their current
fuel is impossible! What the hell are they thinking?!”

The room erupted in hushes.

“The enemy… intends to deal a blow on us.”

Everyone turned to Mitsugi who said those words. He continues.

“It’s just as you said. No matter how we cut it, their fuel isn’t enough to reach Japan.
However, by prioritizing defending the mainland from an incursion, we concentrated
our forces here. I still think this was the correct move. However, our enemies aren’t
idiots. By considering that an attack on Japan’s mainland is impossible, the next
rational move would be to destroy Japan’s credibility. I think that by achieving to lay
waste to a country that has sided with us… they will have dealt a blow to us. Since we
can’t make certain their invasion route, we have scattered our ammo stockpiles. The
enemy will attack a place far from our mainland and refuel only after the attack. Even
if they do that, they could still return home. This country in question would be a
country that has sided with Japan first and is relatively easy to wipe out. Their goal
is…”

He traced his finger on a map of the New World.

“This!!! I think that the Nahanath Kingdom is an extremely likely target!!!”

“!!!”

“Nahanath??? So a gigantic enemy fleet will soon be upon here…”

A single escort flotilla could make it but the others couldn’t. BP3-C bombing units and
F-2 fighters would be able to make it there but the ammunition on site isn’t enough. A
certain amount of SDF personnel has been sent to the island for its defense but one
can’t help but say that their number is exceedingly small in comparison to the
thousands of ships that are about to descend on them. The enemy is far too numerous.
There’s also the risk that Nahanath isn’t their target…
Everyone froze not knowing how to proceed.