Chapter 119: A Portrait of War

As they descended the dim staircase, Mile suddenly stopped, a puzzled look upon her face.

“That’s because we were just drinking tea! Your nose is as sharp as your eyes and ears.” Reina exclaimed, not without exasperation. “Just go down already!” At her urging, Mile once again started to move. However, as they proceeded toward the dining hall on the first floor—

Now, she was certain that she smelled tea brewing. Before her in the darkness, Mile’s night-sharp eyes saw…

“M-Miss Marcela… And Monika? And Aureana…? Wh-what are you doing here…?” said Mile, nearly lost for words.

Marcela, who sat at a table with a cup of tea in hand, looked back at Mile with a mischievous and slightly annoyed look upon her face. “What are we doing here, you ask? Miss Adele, you could not truly have thought that we, your dear friends, would not come running to your side as you stood before the world during this once-in-a-lifetime happening?”

The other two piped up. “We’re going to watch this show—and we’ve got exclusive front row seats!”

“Also, Her Highness the princess did order us to bring Viscountess Ascham home safe.”

“I’m also certain that our magic, which has somehow become even more powerful thanks to someone, will come in handy here,” said Marcela. “Now then… Let’s get going.”

Hearing this warning, Mile suddenly recalled that she had told some of her so-called folktales back in her Eckland days as well.

“I never thought I’d die fighting side by side with the villains who keep trying to steal our Mile away,” said Reina, “but fighting beside a friend…I can do that.”

In response, Marcela stood from her seat and raised her right hand. So did Reina. And then…

The satisfying clap of a high-five rang through the air. Marcela smiled, and Reina grinned with teeth bared. Everyone else merely shrugged.

“Okay then! Let’s get going already! Crimson Vow, Wonder Trio, roll out!”

“All right!!!!!!”

Mile took the lead, with Reina and Marcela flanking her on either side and the rest following behind. She gripped the doorknob and gently pushed open the door, stepping outside to find…

“You girls ready to go?!”

…six women waiting for them.

“Miss Telyusia! And the rest of the Servants?”

“How could we stand by when a messenger of the gods is going to battle? Especially when we call ourselves the Servants of the Goddess!”

As Telyusia said this, Reina almost tripped over her own feet, her face going red.

“Big sister…” she mumbled.

Ah… The other three members of the Crimson Vow knew exactly what was going on.

“Who the heck are you?!?!” The Trio, having never seen Tsunde-Reina’s “dere” side, were utterly flabbergasted.

“Anyway,” Willine continued, “if people were to find out that we sat on our hands and left our cute junior hunters to die while they were putting their lives on the line to protect the whole world, our reputation would never recover!”

“There you go with that again…” Philly chided.

“Ah ha ha!” Leatoria chuckled. “Seriously, as if I’d pass up the chance to let Miss Mile and the others see how I’ve grown! Even if my father was in tears trying to stop me…”

Ah… The members of the Crimson Vow sighed internally. There was no father in the world who wouldn’t try to hold his daughter back at a time like this. If anything, it was surprising that she had managed to shake him off and come anyway.

Surprised as they might have been, the members of the Crimson Vow smiled as they looked upon Willine the swordswoman; Philly the lancer; and Leatoria, daughter of Baron Aura, wielding her magical club. This wasn’t the time or place for declarations like, “If anyone is going to be marching to their deaths, it’ll be us and us alone!” or “All of you need to take cover, quick!” If the Servants of the Goddess could be deterred by such warnings, they wouldn’t be here in the first place. Protestations would only be wasted on such brave women.

Also, the members of the Crimson Vow had no intention of dying. If they made it out of this alive, they could return to the fray, fighting monsters and coming to the aid of those sequestered within the fortified citadels. If they died, they would be of no use to anybody. They wouldn’t set foot on any other battlefields, and they wouldn’t be able to save countless other lives.

They could not allow the strongest monsters to get past them—and they did not intend to die. These two notions were not compatible in the least, and yet they did not plan on giving up on, either. They could only hope, with stalwart allies fighting by their side, there would be no reason for them to worry.

The group of young women, now thirteen in number, proceeded down the still-dim thoroughfare…

If this scene had background music, it would definitely be “Midnight Merry-Go-Round,” the insert song from The Time Étranger! Actually, I suppose the theme song from Doggie March might be more fitting…

Mile, as ever, pondered things that no one else could possibly understand.

“Howdy. Looks like y’all have once again managed to pull off the unthinkable… We told you to let us know if anything fun was ever about to go down!”

“The Roaring Mithrils…”

“Ah ha ha!”

At this point, Mile was no longer even surprised.

And so, the Crimson Vow and friends continued onward.

“After this battle is over, we should start an orphanage just for young girls…”

“The Devils’ Paradise and Fellowship of the Flame…”

“I’ve never seen such a huge death flag!”

“He’d be better off dead…”

“Fellowship fellows, please try not to get curbstomped by the monsters…”

“I always knew you’d be good entertainment. Days filled with thrills and excitement, boredom nowhere to be seen! My eyes never deceive me!”

“We rarely see eye to eye, but I can agree on that point.”

“Dr. Clairia! And Aetelou and Sharalir!”

Sitting under the eaves as they passed each major intersection. Popping up from side roads. One after another, familiar faces appeared to join with the Crimson Vow.

Next came the two parties they had partnered with to guard the merchants on the way to Amroth, when they had gone out to exterminate bandits.

“Looks like you’ve knocked us off our feet once more!”

“Thanks to you, we’ve had no problem recruiting new members!”

“The Dragonbreaths and the Flaming Wolves!”

“Ancestor!”

“Huh?”

This time, the voice came from above.

“Oh, you’re from the fairy village. Your name was…”

“It’s Millelina! All the other villagers are here as well! Allow us to aid you by being messengers!”

The ranks of the Interdimensional Invaders Counterattack Corps had swelled to nearly forty. With ten times their original battle strength, there were now a number of options on the table. Once they had wiped out the upper ranking monsters, they could turn back and start all over again. They could also use defensive tactics to hold back the monsters and buy time until the joint forces could return from Aubram.

They could survive. They could survive and live a happy, normal life.

“Everyone, let’s go! And let’s make it back alive!”

From the crowd there came a resounding, “All right!!!!!”

***

The little town of Cloto sat atop a hill, and as such, offered a clear view of the surrounding lands the moment you stepped outside the town limits. As far as the eye could see stretched nothing but wild and rocky terrain, unsuitable for farming or ranching. Hardly a favorable location for a human settlement—so why had this little town stood atop this hill for so very long?

Maybe this was once an ancient sentry point. That must be why it’s been here all this time. The citizens of this town have been told from generation to generation that this is where they ought to live, even though they no longer recall why it made sense for their ancestors to settle in the midst of such a bleak landscape. That must be why the dragons’ village is in this country as well, as are so many ruins…

Mile had no way of knowing whether or not her theory was correct. All things were worn down by the passage of time, eventually fading away…

The sun had yet to rise over the sprawling wastelands and the distant mountains. The lands were dim, not a thing to be seen. But with her heightened senses, Mile caught sight of something wriggling at the base of the hill. “Hu…man…?” she muttered. Sure enough, the forms appeared human, or at least humanoid. “But…why?”

Though it was not yet daybreak, the wilderness and everything beyond it still dusky, the base of the hill was starting to grow gradually brighter. There, in the growing light, swarmed humanoid figures—hundreds, or even a thousand or more. Mile was certain her eyes were playing tricks on her, as amongst them she saw banners and flags.

“Is that…the flag of the Albarn imperial forces? And on those banners, it says H, O, L, Y, M, A, I—Holy Maiden’s Personal Guard?!”

“Yeah.” Gren, from the Roaring Mithrils, was the only one to reply. “Apparently troops from a bunch of different parts of Albarn’s imperial army all banded together. Seems they all had their lives saved by some girls who called themselves holy maidens back during the invasion of Ascham. All the troops that were stationed at the borders of other nations are here, too, and the troops that stayed behind in every country to keep the peace, and the royal guards and other defenders, seems like.”

“Wh…”

Leave it to Gren, an A-rank hunter, to have looked into all of this ahead of time. As it grew gradually brighter out, the others, too, were eventually able to catch sight of the soldiers at the base of the hill. Like Mile, they thought their eyes were playing tricks on them, but unlike her, they were unable to discern the details of what they were seeing.

Nanos, could you enlarge the target by optical means?

LEAVE IT TO US! IMAGE ENLARGEMENT AND AUDIO DUCT CREATION WILL PICK UP ALL YOUR ACQUAINTANCES…

A “duct” was a phenomenon where electromagnetic or sound waves were constricted to a small area by reflection or refraction caused by atmospheric and water temperature or density, allowing their conveyance across long distances thanks to lowered rates of attenuation.

A large image appeared before Mile and her companions…who, at this point, knew not to be surprised by such things.

“That’s the flag of the Brandel royal guard… They’ve left the palace unprotected, then? Wait, is that the royal family’s banner? Huh? Her Highness Princess Morena and the female royal guards! What are they doing here?!” Monika shrieked.

“I wonder if sending her that last letter was a mistake…” Marcela said calmly.

“You mean the one where we wrote, No big news here—everyone is fine. We are off to offer up our lives to help our friend. Farewell?” asked Aureana, deadpan.

“Gah! Aaaaaah!!! You all have got to be kidding me! I-I’m a part of the Wonder Trio, too! I’ll never forgive you all for leaving me behind!”

“Wait, this picture works both ways?! And they can hear us, too? N-next! Please move on to the next one!” Marcela frantically demanded, and the image shifted.

“Are these…the forces of the house of Ascham? The Ascham lands are close to the border of the Empire, so I guess they weren’t dispatched eastward…”

“My lady!!!”

“Juno?” In that moment, the only thing Mile could think to say to him was, “Juno, please…protect Ascham, and the world…”

The images kept rolling, one after another.

“These are the final fighting forces left behind to keep the peace in each country—royal guards, rich folks’ personal retainers, mercenaries, and hunters,” Gren explained.

“And everyone from the elven village. All of the dwarven troops. And everyone from the beastfolk village…” Mile muttered, flabbergasted, as more images flashed before them.

“Well, obviously. Did you really think the elves wouldn’t show up for this?” said Clairia, laughing haughtily.

“There must be hundreds here… No, thousands! At this rate…” Marcela muttered.

“That’s right—if we each take down five hundred monsters, the fight’s won!” chimed Aureana.

“Ah ha ha…” Monika laughed at her unwarranted optimism. Only an A- or S-rank hunter would be able to accomplish such a thing.

Their surroundings then finally grew brighter, as more distant lands gradually came into view.

“Uh…”

Before them, they saw…people. People, people, and more people. Innumerable hordes of people packed the entirety of the expanse before them, and even more people were approaching from all sides.

“Thousands…tens of thousands… No, far more than that… Why? There’s no way that the joint forces out in the east could have made it back here in time,” Mile murmured, eyes wide.

“Mile,” Gren replied, “do you know how many people there actually are in the armed forces who can swing a sword and take down an enemy?”

“Huh? Um, well… A military also has supply corps to transport food and supplies to the front lines, chefs, medics, weapons specialists, messengers, and a number of other roles, so I’d say that the combat specialists who actually train to do battle comprise about half their numbers. But wouldn’t those support troops be accompanying the other soldiers? They shouldn’t be here right now…”

“Come on—that ain’t the whole story. How many citizens would you say there are in a country whose army is one hundred thousand strong?”

“Uh… Well, in peacetime, a standing military only consumes resources and doesn’t produce anything, so it should only comprise two to three percent of the population—maybe as many as five if the country in question is especially prosperous. No nation would ever be able to support more than that. Even with an overabundance of surplus resources, the most they could sustain would be about ten percent, and even that, only temporarily. So if we assume the military to be five percent of the population, the total population would be twenty times that, or around two million… Wait, don’t tell me!”

“That’s right. If you take out five percent for the soldiers, there’s the other ninety-five percent—the civilians. This is just a subset of that number. The farmers, the workmen, the merchants, and all kinds of people, armed with their hoes and their hammers, their kitchen knives and their mop handles. It’s their world, and they’re gonna defend it themselves. No way they’d let some young ladies sacrifice themselves while they get to live.”

Mile was lost for words as the image shifted to a group of wizened elders.

“Wait! Are those the old men and women who used to visit the bakery?” Sure enough, there stood the elders who frequented the bakery where Mile worked part-time during her days at Eckland Academy.

“Huh?! Those are the former members of the A-rank party, the Reaper’s Scythe! I can’t believe they’re still alive,” Gren yelped, face contorting.

“Oh-ho, long time no see, little Adele! We must truly be blessed. Just when we thought we’d be left to rot to nothing, along comes a cause worth dyin’ for… Thanks fer all the fun, little lady!”

“…And that’s the elder corps,” Telyusia explained from behind. “All the retired hunters and mercenaries and soldiers volunteered to take the vanguard. They said it’s the elders’ job to die first, and the youth’s job to survive and build a better future.”

“They’re all great big idiots—every last one of them!”

“You’re one to talk,” Reina said with a sigh and a shrug. “You’re the greatest, biggest idiot of all.”

Then, the image changed to…

“That’s the Eckland Academy emblem!”

“Yeah, that’s the academy coalition. All of the capable students and teachers from academies across the continent are—wait a second, that’s Eris the Infernal! What’s that old bag doing here?! I thought she was definitely dead!!!”

“Eris who? That’s the dorm matron!”

At the head of the coalition’s formation stood the matron who had looked after Adele during her time in the academy dormitory. For some reason, the sight of her was sending Gren into a tizzy.

“It’s been quite some time, Miss Adele. How splendidly you’ve grown,” the matron said with a smile—in response to which Mile said something incredibly rude.

“Shouldn’t she be with the elder corps?”

Crack!

It was the snap heard ’round the world…

“Heh… Heh heh… Heh heh heh… Quite the jokester, aren’t you? Let’s talk later. Once the battle is through, come and see me at the Eckland Academy guidance office,” said the matron, smiling softly.

“Oh Gaaaaaawd!!!!” All of the hunters and guild staff who were familiar with Eris the Infernal, the legendary S-rank hunter, shrieked.

At a desperate signal from Mile, the nanomachines changed the image again.

“Th-that was scary,” Mile sighed, breath ragged.

“Oh, that’s the August Academy emblem. And at the head of their company is…M-Mariette?”

“You know Lady Mariette, the holy maiden?” Gren asked, surprised.

“Oh, yes… Wait, is Mariette famous or something?”

“I mean, she’s super famous with temple folk and magic healers. Actually, among ordinary folks, too. And definitely among hunters—she’s been known to heal serious injuries for free.”

“Miss Mile! This power that you granted me—it was all meant for today, wasn’t it?! I’ll do my best to protect every living thing in this world!”

“Of course you had somethin’ to do with her.” Gren’s shoulders slumped.

“Ah ha ha! Take care out there. Be safe!”

“Oh, that must be the group from the Hunters’ Guild. There’s No-Hope Felicia, Raoh, and the guild master who recommended me to the prep school…”

“It’s Laura!”

Behind the company was a group of orphans, led by Veil, Mile’s classmate from the Hunters’ Prep School. They were likely there as a rear support team. Beside Veil stood a girl who looked vaguely familiar…

“Seems you are still in good health, Mavis!”

“Master!”

There stood Ladimarl, head of the Ladimarl school of swordplay, along with his disciples.

“I told you, didn’t I? You ought to rely on your fellow pupils. And here we are. Now that you’ve shared our name with the whole continent, business at the school is about to be booming! We owe you for that endorsement—and we are here to repay you with our lives, if need be! Wah hah hah!”

“Master! Everyone…!”

Next up were the reserve forces of the Count Austien’s personal army, led by Mavis’s third brother, who had been left to take care of their lands. A royal regiment, led by Eltreya, the girl Mavis had saved. A baron’s troops, led by Kelvin the Inferno, from near the border of the Empire.

One after another came the familiar faces: blacksmiths, stable hands, chefs, shop employees, scribes, shepherd boys, local thugs. People of every age and every profession under the sun…

“Th-that’s…”

Up in the sky above the volunteer army swooped a single wyvern with a young girl upon its back. A royal flag was painted on the underside of its right wing, a lord’s banner beneath its left.

“Lobreth and Chelsea?”

“I suppose that’s one way to tell friend from foe on the battlefield—and proclaim to surrounding countries that your territory employs wyverns who can deploy any necessary weapons without hesitation… That lord is always trying to achieve the greatest effects for the smallest effort,” muttered Mavis, simultaneously exasperated and impressed.

“It’s really something,” said Pauline, who felt similarly.

Mile turned to Reina and declared, “When it comes to combat, numbers are everything, bro!”

“Who are you calling ‘bro’?!”

They could do this. Though the bulk of their forces were ordinary civilians, their enemies would mainly be goblins, kobolds, jackalopes, and the like. The high-ranking monsters were but a fraction of their foes. Plus, they had a massive advantage in terms of coordination and tactics. Two armies of a hundred thousand combatants facing off against each other did not mean a hundred thousand one-on-one battles would simultaneously take place. Only a small percentage of the forces would actually be fighting at any given time. There would be plenty supporting the front lines, waiting to take those fighters’ places when they grew tired or were injured.

They could lure some of the enemy into their own ranks, thereby creating a temporary numerical advantage, if only briefly and within a very limited area. Even a mutant orc or ogre couldn’t withstand a beatdown from dozens of fighters wielding reach weapons and magic—and even typically utilitarian magic could fell a monster if used in the right way. The enemies they faced were monsters hell-bent on destroying them and everyone they loved, which meant it wouldn’t weigh heavy on anyone’s conscience to use whatever was at their disposal.

Mile knew only too well how exaltation of battle could thrill—how the exhilaration of fighting back one’s fears might turn to madness as blood spilled and the smell of copper filled your nostrils.

It was enough to transform a timid soul who had never killed more than an insect or a rat into a berserker in an instant.

Mile and her platoon climbed down the hill, toward the spot where the rift was set to appear. Masses of people followed behind them.

Soon, the gates of Hell would open…

***

Everyone had positioned themselves for the counterassault. Now, all that there was left to do was to wait.

There was no point in feeling nervous. That would only tire them out, sapping their physical and emotional strength before the battle even began. Still, no one could help feeling some trepidation.

“Hey, Mile,” Gren sniped mischievously. “Give us a speech or something to lift everyone’s spirits! We could use the morale boost!”

“What?! M-Mr. Gren, what are you saying?!” Mile was taken aback, waving her hands back and forth in front of her face in denial.

“C’mon, it should be fun! It’s boring just standing around here waiting, and we don’t want to give folks too much time to get up in their own heads. It’s a commander’s job to keep morale up and wash those worries away.”

“Wait, who’s the commander?!”

“You are,” said Reina.

“You, Mile,” Mavis chimed.

“It’s you,” Pauline agreed.

“Whaaat?!” Mile was stunned.

“Mile, who did you think brought all these people together in the first place?” asked Mavis.

“And who the hell else would you expect to take over as commander here?” asked Gren.

“Guh…uh…”

Mile had no rebuttal to offer. This was absolutely not her forte, but Gren had a fair point. She could push past a bit of stage fright if it meant boosting everyone’s morale with a little speech that might ease their own fears and make it easier for them to operate. If she could lower their chances of dying even slightly, then…

“G-guess I’ve got no choice.”

And so, Mile took in a deep breath and began to speak, using amplification magic so that her voice could reach every fighter.

“Everyone,” she boomed, “thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us here today!”

“What the heck?!” A peal of laughter rose up from the crowd.

“Right now,” Mile continued, “is where our legend begins. A legend is not something we simply stand and face… It is something we create. That’s right! Today, we are penning a legend! As servants of our goddess, we will save this world!!!”

There came a riotous cheer from all around.

“She could seriously start a cult one day,” Reina muttered to herself.

***

WE HAVE SENSED A DIMENSIONAL RIPPLE. A DIMENSIONAL CORRIDOR HAS FORMED. DIMENSIONAL EMERGENCE OCCURRING IN 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…NOW!!!

Ker-slash!!!

Suddenly, in the air several hundred meters in front of them, there was a vertical rent, which then began stretching sideways at high speed until it formed a vast circle…

“From the side, it has no thickness—it just looks like a flat plane. But from the front it looks like a tunnel…”

Indeed, what could only be referred to as an extradimensional tunnel had formed before them. And, from out of it…

“Here they come! The vanguard of the main enemy forces!”

At the head of the battalion were jackalopes and kobolds. Perhaps they had been sent to check for traps, or perhaps it was merely that the most thoughtless creatures had come leaping forth first. Regardless, Mile’s forces could not waste their own energies on the likes of these smaller monsters. They needed to preserve their limited strength for taking down the more fearsome enemies when they arrived.

“Only bother with the jackalopes, kobolds, and goblins if they get in your way! All the rest, just let them run on by! I trust our allies behind us to take care of them!”

Someone was issuing orders—likely one of the military officers or a veteran hunter, who understood intuitively that killing these lesser monsters was not a priority. There was no time to finish off every single enemy in the heat of battle, and, in fact, aiming to do so was dangerous. There was no reason to waste unnecessary resources when it wouldn’t make a difference to who would win the day.

With the monsters issuing forth in waves, fighting on the edge of the rift would be an exercise in futility, spelling doom for even the most elite fighters. To preserve their precious military strength, they would maintain some distance and face them there.

The monsters were fast approaching, nearly upon them. And then…

“Engage!”

The battle had begun.

***

Mile’s allied forces were arranged in a broad two-layer formation. The first column of fighters was comprised of soldiers, the mercenaries, hunters of C-rank and above, elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and so forth—anyone who was well trained in battle or possessed heightened combat abilities of any kind. This column was gathered at the foot of the hill, with the most powerful of these individuals spearheading the front lines.

The second column was the civilian volunteer militia—who were, with a few exceptions, those less capable in combat.

Together, these layers formed a thick wall to hold back the monsters.

The Crimson Vow were of course on the front lines, alongside the elves, dwarves, beastfolk, high-ranking hunters, and other seasoned fighters of the first column, who would be the ones primarily making contact with the monsters.

Others were stationed around them, the idea being that the elites would aim to take down the big game while those surrounding them would be in charge of cleaning up the small fry. The goal was to ensure that the elites were not outmaneuvered by less threatening monsters, and to avoid having them expend their energy before the arrival of the B-rank and higher monsters that would be coming later. The understanding was that D-rank and lower monsters might be let through to the second column, along with any C-rank monsters that had been roughed up enough to no longer pose much of a threat. They could not afford to slip up and let any C-rank monsters through with fight still in them.

In order to help the supporting forces, Mile and the others did their best to confuse any C-rank monsters with magical attacks, disrupting the flow of the onslaught. While they wanted to preserve their energy, it would be asking too much of the soldiers and hunters positioned behind them, no matter how capable they might be, to simply let all of the C-rank monsters past. There was a big difference between a mass of monsters crashing down upon them unimpeded and a scattered, demoralized group of monsters that had been already wounded by magical assaults.

Shunk! Bwoosh! Slash!

Mavis, Mile, and the others positioned at the vanguard of the first column cut down any monsters that headed toward them—after all, they could not ignore an enemy that was approaching directly. To help, the mages around them peppered the area ahead with explosive and needle-type area-of-effect attacks. These weren’t their most powerful spells—those they would save for the stronger monsters—but even so, they were enough to have a demoralizing effect. Any monsters that made it through the front line would face the volunteer militia of civilians, who could make use of their numbers to beat the tar out of any already battered and bruised enemies who wound up in their path.

In terms of sheer numbers, the monsters may have had the advantage, but if they were savvy, the humanoids could win that numbers war by being strategic about precisely when and where they actually engaged them in combat. Wisdom and strategy—such were the components of what we call “tactics.”

Boom! Ka-bwom! Shoom!

Explosions rang out all around, and the percussive sounds of attack spells began to resound from a short distance away.

The joint force of soldiers, hunters, elves, and beastfolk that comprised the first column formed a front line to crush all of the B-rank monsters that Mile and the others on the vanguard had let slip by them, along with as many of the C-rank monsters as they could handle. The only ones they allowed back to the second column—the volunteer civilian militia—were the more battered C-rank monsters and those D-rank and below. An unscathed aberrant monster, even a humble orc, would be a dangerous foe for a civilian to face, no matter their numbers advantage. And so, the first column’s fighters had to injure the larger monsters and stagger them as best they could before they escaped.

The volunteers, meanwhile, stood fast with their farming implements and work tools and mop handles in hand. They were staunchly determined not to let a single beast, be it goblin or kobold, get past them—though perhaps an exception could be made for the jackalopes, which were edible. Adults, the elderly, and those not yet even of age—men, women, and those of indeterminate gender—all stood together, resolute.

“We can let some of the orcs through! Have faith in the soldiers and hunters! But ogres? Your time is up!!!”

Standing at the vanguard, Gren of the Roaring Mithrils fought fiercely against the enemy. An aberrant ogre would be too much for any normal soldier or C-rank hunter (well, C-rank hunters other than the Crimson Vow).

Though the members of the Crimson Vow were stationed at the vanguard themselves, they lacked the ability to command other fighters. As such, they left issuing directions to others, focusing instead on executing their own attacks as a single battle unit.

LADY MILE, SHALL WE RELAY IMAGES FROM THE VARIOUS CORNERS OF THE BATTLEFIELD? THERE IS A CHANCE THAT MISS MARIETTE MAY END UP IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION…

Mile happily accepted the nanomachines’ proposal. Oh, please! The battlefield must be hectic, so I’ll let you all decide which images to display. Besides me, feel free to broadcast to anyone who has a moment to watch as well! As many as you can!

This way, she thought, others would be able to rush to the aid of those most in need.

ROGER THAT!

It was impossible for even Mile to see the nanomachines with the naked eye—and so, naturally, she could not see the wicked grins that danced upon their faces in that moment.

Woom!

A number of screens popped up around her. Each of them showed the image of a friend or acquaintance. Apparently, the nanomachines had decided to prioritize the individuals Mile was most friendly with over those in the most danger.

As far as the nanomachines, who had no real stake in any particular humanoid’s life, were concerned, this was the most logical course of action. Even fairy tales never had grand battles with zero fatalities, and there was no way for help to reach all those in need. That was why the nanomachines decided to prioritize those whom Mile knew, whom she held the dearest. (It bears mentioning that as agents of magic, the nanomachines were largely unfazed by the concept of death; they took the lives of plenty of sentient life-forms on a daily basis, regardless of any concepts of justice or morality.)

“We’ve got some mixed groups of orcs and ogres incoming! There are some scattered manticores, gryphons, hippogriffs, earth dragons, and wyrms behind them as well. We’ll take the earth dragons!” Mile announced.

“Sure thing!” Gren shouted back. “Just leave the small fry to us!”

The so-called “small fry,” in this case, were A- and B-rank monsters.

“Phaser Beeeeeaaaam!!!”

“Hellfire!”

“Hot Cloud!”

There were no artillerists in this world to rain shells down on the enemy from the heavens, but one after another, Mile, Reina, and Pauline let off magical attacks that allowed them to target the approaching monsters. Mavis, meanwhile, was quiet. Her Wind Edge would have little effect against powerful monsters, so she’d wait to make her debut until they entered melee range. There was no point in her wasting her strength prematurely.

Both sides were prepared to fight to the last breath—no retreat, no surrender. If the humans pulled back, their cities and towns would be swallowed by monsters, one after another, and countless humanoid lives would be lost. The monsters, meanwhile, simply had nowhere to retreat to. This battle would continue until one side or the other was annihilated.

It wasn’t the sort of war where one might call for a surrender, deeming the fight hopeless once thirty percent of your forces were slain. It was true slaughter. Every single enemy had to be taken out, foot soldiers and generals alike. A protracted battle was inevitable.

Finally, it was time for Mavis to break the seal.

“In the name of Mile, I, Mavis, command you! Sword number one, be as you once were!”

Glistening golden particles began to fall, both ominous and divine, as the blade of Mavis’s favored sword was restored to its former glory. And then…

“Sword number two, be as you once were as well!”

Her spare knife gleamed. The sword in her left hand and the knife in her right, Mavis took up a dual wielding stance. With her seals removed, she could easily wield the sword one-handed with her powerful artificial left hand, while her flesh-and-blood right hand held the light and quick knife. When facing monsters, it was best to be as equipped as possible. The creatures were rarely a match for a skilled swordfighter, after all…

“EX True Godspeed Blade!”

Neither the usual Godspeed Blade nor her True Godspeed Blade would be enough to challenge a truly powerful monster. And so, Mavis decided to start off on the strongest possible foot, using her Micros and a two-handed EX True Godspeed Blade.

Her body, which had been magically modified to withstand the recoil from her nanomachine-crafted left arm, was now able to withstand the strain on her muscles, tendons, and bones caused by using the Micros. The sword she wielded had been specially crafted by Mile, and all restrictions had been lifted on her left arm and the supporting segments of her body. As long as she avoided any extreme or violent movements, she could keep fighting for an extended period of time.

More importantly—she had been appointed as a holy knight, and this was a fight against invaders that were threatening their entire world.

Mavis could not be any happier.

“Gaaaaaaah!!!”

Suddenly, a scream rose from the front lines.

“Oops…”

Apparently, the wind had blown some of Pauline’s hot magic onto their allies. As she couldn’t cast her hot magic at long range, such things unfortunately happened sometimes. That said, this was still an extremely undesirable turn of events for the elites on the vanguard of the humanoid forces.

“Pauline, fall back! Focus on healing, not attacking! Keep the most seriously injured from dying. Anyone who can return to the battlefield, get them up to fighting strength. Emergency measures will suffice—it doesn’t have to be pretty! We can take our time and heal them back up to full abilities once the battle is over!” Mile commanded.

“Understood!” Pauline replied, standing down. She was not all that skilled at combat magic to begin with. Her hot magic gave her great offensive power, but a close-quarters fracas such as this was far from ideal for those spells. She could do more good concentrating on healing those high-level fighters who had already been forced to fall back from the battlefield.

I’d really like it if Marcela and the others did the same, thought Mile. It’d be safer. Those three never had that much magical talent to begin with. They elevated their skills with the things that I taught them, but I still can’t imagine that they’re all that good with combat spells. Besides, they might be even more effective than Pauline when it comes to healing, since they’ve been taught extensively about the structure of the human body…

Mile’s eyes darted to the midair screen that was projecting the image of the Wonder Trio. The nanomachines had been thoughtful enough to craft an audio duct to that location as well, which allowed Mile to hear them shout:

“Lady Marcela! It’s time to do it!”

Aureana appeared to be proposing that they implement some sort of special technique.

“By your lead!” replied Marcela.

“Let’s go!” shouted Monika.

Then, the three of them struck a pose.

“Wonder…”

“Pulse…”

“Machine Gun!!!”

In the folktales that Mile—or rather, Adele—had told, there was a magic weapon that could repeatedly attack at high speed. The three members of the Wonder Trio had devised an original attack spell based on that concept. Monika created a magical barrel in the air. Aureana controlled that barrel and directed its aim. And Marcela supplied the magical ammunition.

Pewpewpewpewpewpewpewpewpewpew!

Minuscule beads of magic were fired continuously at high speed, mowing down the monsters. Because the magic consumed by each pulse was minimal, it required less magic overall than firing off a wide beam or a spreading fireball… And, because of each bead’s surprisingly high penetrative strength, it was a fairly powerful assault. Since they did not have to aim before firing each magical bead, they could work unusually quickly. A lot of ammunition was wasted because you simply swung the weapon around while watching the point of impact, but the hit rate was still quite high.

This was an ultimate technique the three of them had devised for emergency use in mass battle—a way around their relatively modest individual magical abilities. Initially, the spell had lacked killing power, and each of the shots had been weak. In light of this, they had planned to use it primarily as a means of distraction. However, once their authorization levels were raised and they got their own personal nanomachines, their powers had grown considerably. The technique was now effective against larger targets. Where it had once been about as powerful as a submachine gun, it had now flown right past light machine gun all the way to heavy machine gun—a jump akin to that between a pistol and a 12.7mm round.

Mile quietly averted her eyes from the screen…

The battle had now moved beyond the vanguard of the first column, and those behind them were starting to engage with the monsters that had broken through. Some members of the humanoid forces would be injured. Some might even die. But this was inevitable. Even if Mile possessed half the strength of an elder dragon, she could not breathe fire or have a dragon’s massive frame. There was only so much one girl could achieve against a swarm of hundreds of thousands of monsters. She might have made headway with something like a “Sunshine Destroyer” move, but the weather was overcast today and the sky thick with clouds, so she was unable to amass enough energy to unleash a concentrated powerful beam.

Elder dragons had not existed at the time of the previous invasion. They did exist now, but there were none present on the battlefield. Their power was so absolute that they had no interest in watching lesser life-forms slaughter one another—in fact, they had the luxury of being certain that even an invasion by powerful creatures would have almost no effect on them. In any event, asking them to get involved right now would be out of the question, as that would require them recognizing the fact that they—the ultimate life-forms, the closest thing this world had to divinities—had been created by humans. That there had been a time when they were nothing more than puny pet lizards.

You can only play from your own hand, with the cards that you’ve been dealt. And in truth, the members of the Crimson Vow held far more cards now than when they had intended to face this fight alone. They had allies they could depend upon. They were surrounded by many people who were betting their own lives for the safety of the world. They could not afford to let down the people who were risking it all out of faith in them. They had to win, no matter what, and share with them the spoils of victory.

It was with this in mind that the Crimson Vow faced down monster after monster.

“Wah!”

An ogre brought a log down on one of the C-rank hunters who was operating around the Crimson Vow, helping to take out any lesser targets. Had it found that log somewhere nearby? Or carried it all the way from its origin point? The source of the log was irrelevant to the person whose head was about to be crushed by it.

There was no time to avoid the log. Trying to deflect it with a sword was similarly useless.

I’m dead, he thought, but at least he would not die in vain. He had rushed to the side of a divine messenger and become one of those who would die in the great battle to save the world. Surely, that was a feat worthy enough for him to be called to Valhalla.

His thoughts ran at breakneck speed, a proverbial life flashing before his eyes, but his body could not move with the same swiftness. And so, he could only stare, speechless, at the solid wood of impending death racing toward his skull…

Crack!

At the last moment, someone caught the log single-handed. They had a sword in their hand, but even if they had sliced the log in half, the bisected section would have maintained enough kinetic energy to instantly kill the man. So instead, they had simply caught the log. But how? Where had this person come from? This individual who could single-handedly catch a log swung by an ogre?

More shocking still, this impossible individual was not some burly man. The hand that had caught the log was a woman’s. One woman’s left hand…

“That’s impossible. This can’t be happening. There’s just no damn way!!” the hunter muttered, so stunned at the impossible sight before him that he forgot that his life had been in danger.

“Did you know?” Mavis quipped with a grin. “As long as blood flows hot through a hunter’s veins, there’s no such thing as ‘impossible’!!”

And then, with the short blade in her right hand, she cut down the ogre—who still held the log, frozen in astonishment—in one fell swoop.

Mavis was riding high. She had finally gotten to say one of the awesome phrases she had set aside for just such an occasion! She truly couldn’t have been happier.

***

“Gwah!”

Marcela took a direct hit from an orc.

Like Mile, the members of the Trio were all fourteen years old and rather petite. Lacking the advantage of height, they had to rely on direct rather than high-angle fire, making it inadvisable for any allies to be positioned between them and their enemies.

It was for this reason that they had placed themselves right on the front lines. They were surrounded by some normal C-rank hunters, who were there to protect the girls and clean up the riff-raff—which was fortunate, since the chaos made it impossible for the girls to fully intercept every enemy. Though strong on the offensive, their defenses were still paper thin. Even a weak blow was enough to send them flying, and they were easily battered.

In the mad rush, the bodyguards had failed to cut down this orc, who had succeeded in knocking Marcela to the ground. However, she soon propped herself up with her right arm, getting right back up even as her left arm swung slowly back and forth, bent in a way that an arm should not bend.

“Oh ho ho ho ho hoh! Ooh ho ho ho ho hoh!!!”

“L-Lady Marcela…”

“No pain can wipe the smile from my face! A broken arm and a few snapped ribs won’t stop me from casting spells! We can deal with the healing later. Now is not the time to be wasting any unnecessary magical energy. Now! Back at it! Time to settle this!”

“Yes, ma’am!!”

“All right then… Er, huh?”

A faint light seemed to envelope Marcela’s body, and suddenly her arm was healed. Her ribs as well… She looked all around her but saw no one who could have cast a healing spell.

“A random heal?”

Adele’s stories had mentioned such mysterious happenings. There certainly weren’t any hunters around who looked capable of using such effective healing powers. Which meant…

“I suppose you must have some time on your hands, Miss Adele.”

It was just as Aureana had supposed. While fighting her own battles, Mile was keeping tabs on various parts of the battlefield, watching her screens and utilizing ducts to launch support and attack spells from afar. The images were only an optical effect, but the ducts, constructed to transmit voices, chained nanomachines between Mile and the places she was viewing. She could use the same chain of nanomachines to transmit magic. The magic would not bend or refract like sound but work just as it always did—as a command executed by the nanomachines.

Mile did have a level-7 authorization now, after all.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Suddenly, Mile let out a scream.

“Wh-what happened?!” Reina asked, startled. She could see Mile hadn’t been injured, and while there were enemies all around them, she wasn’t in any immediate peril.

“M-M-M-Mariette’s been hurt! Right on her beautiful faaaaaace!”

Mile was still moving around and smacking down monsters, but she seemed horribly dismayed.

Reina glanced at the screen she was pointing to and saw Mariette (or as Mile would call her, “the precious, angelic Mariette”), for whom Mile had once served as a tutor. However…

“Hurt? I don’t see a single scratch on her!” Reina protested.

“Enhance! Enhance the image!!!” Mile commanded, and the image of Mariette was enlarged. Mile pointed at Mariette’s right cheek in the expanded view. “There! Right there! She’s woundeeeed!!!”

There, where Mile pointed, was something that could scarcely even be called a scratch—a nick but a millimeter long and only 0.1 millimeters deep. Not even a single drop of blood had been spilled.

“Her adorable face has been marred! I’ll never forgive them!!!”

“I mean, you’re here to smash monsters,” said Reina. “I think forgiveness is beside the point.”

But her words fell on deaf ears as Mile trembled in fury…

***

Mile had been inching forward little by little, but after seeing Mariette’s scratch, she finally emerged, all alone, from out of the vanguard. Her combat strength was in a league of its own, which meant that she could not unleash her true power when fighting beside other people. It was easier for her to fight a bit ahead of the rest of the pack. Plus, this would give her an additional advantage: She could disrupt the movement of monsters before they reached the other fighters, thereby making things easier for her comrades in arms. The others had faith in Mile’s strength and would not keep her from doing as she pleased. But then…

Ka-boom!

An ogre gave Mile an upward kick, which sent her flying in spectacular fashion. Her scrawniness was often her downfall; whenever she was on the receiving end of attacks like this, she flew right off into the air. It was simply physics. The good thing was that this also meant that she avoided much of the force of the blow and took little damage. So, each time this happened, she just got back up and rushed back to her original position. However…

Bam!

“Uh…”

This time, she crashed violently into a hard-looking crag that jutted from the ground…headfirst.

“Waaaaaaah!” the people around Mile cried in panic.

This was very bad. No matter how sturdy Mile might be, the only thing protecting her head was bone—her own thin cranium surrounding her brain, neither of which were specially reinforced.

Mile lay stock-still on the ground.

Ugh, my head is swimming. I can’t think straight…

She hadn’t lost consciousness, but she could neither move nor think clearly. Her mind was hazy. She was lying face down, so the only thing that she could see before her dazed, unfocused eyes was the ground. Was this just a concussion? Or something far grimmer? Really, it was a wonder she hadn’t perished instantly.

Huh? Where am I? I think I was trying to save a little gir… Oh, right. I got hit by a truck… I guess I’m in another world, then… It feels like I was just having a very, very long dr…

Either her memories were temporarily jumbled, or she had suddenly forgotten everything that had happened since her reincarnation. However…

I remember something warm… Something that I never had. Something that I wanted but could never get. If I died before I could ever get it, why does it feel like I finally did…?

Her consciousness began to fade, and she could no longer think at all. Countless balls of light danced before her clouded eyes.

Beautiful lights. Warm lights. Familiar lights…

Farewell, everyone…

…

……

………

…………Wait, who is “everyone”?

It wasn’t her family.

Who, then?

She should know this. This was something that should be impossible to forget.

Someone kind.

Someone noble.

Someone hot and cold.

Someone she fought beside.

An undying friendship. Allies, bound at the soul.

They were… Their names were…

“The Crimson Vow!!”

As Mile lifted her head with a shout, eyes opening wide, she saw the backs of three girls: one with golden hair, noble in spirit, one redhead with a heart that was a hotter red still, and one brown-haired girl with kindness hidden deep down in her inky heart.

Though two of them weren’t at all skilled in close-quarters combat, all three now stood even further ahead into the field than Mile, holding back the swarms of monsters to buy her time to recover, as they were certain she would. Though they were already covered in wounds…

“My allies! My precious friends!!”

Mile stood.

“Do you really think I’m gonna let my friends be killed by some stupid monsters?!?! Take this! Red Hot Helix Fire Lance!!!”

The fiery lance spiraled forward, tearing through the pack of monsters.

“Mile!!”

“Mile!”

They grinned at each other.

“Well then…”

“What do you say we…”

“…take this from the top?!”

“All right!!!”

And with that, the Crimson Vow went right back to mowing down their enemies.

***

After quite some time had passed…

“We’re gonna need a lot more power to break through this lineup,” Gren muttered. Mile had come to the same realization. The monsters continued cascading out of the rift, and though Mile and the other members of the first column vanguard were trying their best, the creatures’ combined numbers were forcing them back by gradual degrees. More and more C-rank monsters were slipping past them, and in the last few minutes, B-rank monsters had begun to make it through as well.

The front lines as a whole were moving gradually backward. No matter how much they might resist, there were limits to their numbers and what they could accomplish.

Strength. Endurance. The ferocity that inspired one to push on despite all odds. At the start of the battle, these were sufficient, but as the fighting drew on, the difference in the two sides’ tenacity was becoming evident.

“Dang it, we don’t have enough tanks! Things are only gonna get worse from here.”

There were a number of fighters among the hunters who regularly served as tanks, but they were used to facing humans or B-rank and lower monsters. Almost none of them were capable of tanking a monster of A-rank or above. Indeed, most people couldn’t survive a single blow from such a monster.

At this point in the battle, the humanoids’ lack of tanks put them at a huge disadvantage. Even the Crimson Vow, with all their offensive power, could only do so much to defend themselves against a head-on blow. Mile would take little damage in such an event, but her light body weight still proved disastrous, with a single blow capable of sending her shooting off into the distance. “Safe” as she might be, she was certainly no tank.

“We have enough offense. If only…if only we had more tanks…” Gren muttered to himself over and over, knowing that no matter how much he grumbled, he could not ask for what did not exist.

Just then…

Boom!

Behind him, a monster was sent flying.

“Wh-what the hell?!”

“I-It’s…”

Gren and Mile looked behind them to see…

Sturdy bodies of towering stature. The immense power to squarely catch a monster’s attack and repel it. This could only be…

An improbable squadron rushed in and pushed out past the front lines.

Bodies of earth. Bodies of stone. Bodies of iron.

“The great big guys who never let you down! G-Goda… No, no, no, the golems!!”

Sure enough, it was a group of golems who had been created with the purpose of defending this area, their base of operations. There were clay golems, rock golems, and iron golems—even a small escort of Scavengers, likely only a fraction of their number, as they would be participating mainly to direct the golems. The Scavengers’ primary purpose was to maintain their bases and repair and manufacture golems; they did not specialize in combat. Perhaps they had felt it necessary to take the lead in this battle, as the golems’ limited intelligence did not readily allow them to adapt to new situations on the fly.

“Did they abandon their basic commands to prioritize defending their own bases and territories? I didn’t realize that the golems and Scavengers could make that sort of judgme—Oh, wait! This must be Slow Walker’s doing!”

Indeed, Slow Walker would be able to make that call and give those directions. Perhaps its communication pathways had been restored by now…

Mile knew one thing for sure: The golems were their allies. Thanks to Mile’s continent-wide broadcast, everyone else knew it, too, so they didn’t hesitate to push forward, the golems at their sides. They could be both Mile’s tanks and escort.

“Okay, let’s do this! Time for a comeback!”

“Yeah!”

Though they were exhausted, the allied troops raised their voices in a cheer. Lobreth whirled in the skies above, unleashing ultrasonic attacks whenever things looked dire.

“Huh?”

Mile glanced upward, suddenly noticing something off about Lobreth. When she looked all around him, she saw…

“Oh no! When did they get here?”

Apparently, at some point, a number of wyverns must have flown out of the rift. They weren’t the wyverns of this world, which had grown frail over the generations—these were big and burly, clearly used to surviving in a harsh environment. Lobreth and Chelsea, who had been fighting against the monsters on the ground, had suddenly found themselves surrounded.

They were greatly outnumbered, and even Lobreth’s ultrasonic attacks were not truly invincible. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he was ripped to shreds by the claws at the ends of the monstrous wyverns’ wings, dismembered by their sharp talons and beaks—and Chelsea with him. Unfortunately, the humanoids did not possess the weaponry or artillery necessary to reach that high up into the air—and there was no time to go about preparing any ballistae.

Shiiiiii…ing!

Lobreth let out another ultrasonic wave, but it was incredibly difficult to strike a flying target when they were both airborne. His foes couldn’t unleash breath attacks like his, but with the advantage of their superior numbers and physical strength, it was still easy for the invader wyverns to back Lobreth into a corner. With Chelsea on his back, Lobreth couldn’t execute any extreme maneuvers, making it even more impossible for him to strike back. If he shook Chelsea off, he might be able to muster all his strength to take flight and escape—but naturally, the thought had not even crossed Lobreth’s mind.

With Lobreth cornered, Mile pondered desperately what she could do to help. Then…

Hyoom! Ba-boom!

A ball of fire shot from the thick clouds that covered the sky, knocking one of the wyverns pursuing Lobreth straight out of the air.

“What admirable form! Though you are but a pseudo-dragon, you would continue to fight to the last, never betraying the one you carry upon your back! Bravo!”

“It’s the elder dragon soldiers—with a whole platoon!”

Indeed, numerous elder dragons had appeared from out of the cloud cover.

Any elder dragon was more than strong enough to challenge a mere monster. And so, they all appeared to have come along—not just the soldiers but the entire clan. Maybe it wasn’t so surprising. Given how long they lived, elder dragons couldn’t possibly pass up a chance to be part of such a historic moment—one that they could boast about for centuries or even millennia to come.

Besides, this was the very reason for their existence—the desperate desire of their ancestors, their creators, and the gods themselves.

“Huh? There, on their backs…”

Looking closely, Mile spotted something on the elder dragons. Mere moments later, the group of elder dragons alighted at Mile’s side, having made quick work of the wyverns. And, from their backs…

“I’ve been watching you! I’m here to help, human holy maiden!”

“Who’s coming in like they’re Kamen Rider number two?!” Mile exclaimed. “Oh, wait—it’s Miss Holy Maiden! And the demons!”

Atop the backs of the elder dragons were a host of demons, including the holy maiden.

“We’d meant to come in when the timing was right, but these fellows asked us to swing by their village and give them a ride, so we ended up a tad delayed. Then again, the star of the show always comes in last, don’t they? Soldiers, let us fight!”

The elder dragons let the demons down from their backs and launched into battle.

Fwoooom!

All at once, the elder dragon soldiers released not just fireballs but a continuous rush of flame. The civilian dragons clearly hadn’t been trained in the same way as the soldiers, but they could still let off scattered breath attacks.

“Wiping out the foes in the east was scarcely a challenge. Now it’s time for us to get serious…”

It had been assumed that the desperate defensive battle east of the capital of Aubram had ended in a decisive victory for the humanoids, despite heavy casualties. As it turned out, the elder dragons had lent a hand there as well. Unsurprisingly, they’d returned to their village to rest up before the next foray, but had no choice but to rush back into battle when the demons, who carried out so many tasks for them on a daily basis, pleaded desperately for their assistance.

The elder dragons were an arrogant race, but they could be kind to the lower life-forms they often thought of as beloved pets. The demons, likewise, had no choice but to rely on the dragons—traveling on their own steam, they would have never made it to the battle in time. Missing the fight would embarrass their whole race. They would be the laughingstock of other races for centuries to come.

“Well then,” said Mile, “I’ll be trusting you with my life.”

Ker-swooosh!

The dragon breath tore through the enemies ahead, even exposing patches of the ground that had so recently been packed tight with monsters. Soon, though, those places were once again covered—this time with the monsters’ corpses.

“Hrmph…”

An elder dragon’s breath was a powerful thing. The only beings capable of defending against it were other elder dragons and Mile. Still, for them to wipe out one hundred monsters in a single go, one thousand had to be unleashed. Before they could vanquish one thousand, there had to be ten thousand…

The boundary between friend and foe was no longer a single line but a sprawling, tangled front. While the first column had largely broken into a series of skirmishes, the second column was somehow persisting in their assigned cleanup duties. If any powerful monsters that truly outmatched the first column made it through to the rear, all hell would break loose. And if the elder dragons placed a foot wrong in the places where ally and enemy fought in close quarters, they might damage those allies alongside their foes. So the dragons hung together in front of the rest of the fighters, letting loose a barrage of dragon breath.

However…

“How vexing!”

No monsters usually dared stand against an elder dragon. Faced with such supreme might, most tended to simply follow their instincts, turn tail, and run. These monsters, however, could neither stand down nor flee, spurred ever onward as they were by the others flooding in behind them. They had no choice but to continue forward. And unlike the monsters that had grown soft during their time living in this more temperate world, these evolved, high-ranking creatures had been hardened by their harsh environment. If any creature might actually stand a chance against an elder dragon, it would be one of these monsters.

Perhaps they would scratch off just one scale. It might cost them their lives, but in exchange, they could take advantage of that tiny chink in the dragon’s armor and sink their teeth into the opening to inject their deadly venom. Such a wound would not be life-threatening to an elder dragon, but it would be both unpleasant and vexing. And no matter how shallow each wound might be, an accumulation of hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of them could certainly have an impact.

If the elder dragons were to attack solely from the air, the monsters would have no chance of reaching them, but doing that meant sacrificing the powerful melee attacks they could launch with their massive bodies, leaving them with their breath as their only means of offense. Then there was their pride. No elder dragon could be expected to do something as shameful as flee to the skies in fear of a bunch of vermin. Additionally, their breath attacks were not limitless. Sooner or later, they would grow tired, and their magical power would run out.

“Change targets! Everyone, fire your breath into the rift!” the leader of the dragon soldiers commanded.

Apparently, they had decided it would be more efficient to try and destroy the dimensional rift itself, rather than battling forever against the endlessly spawning monsters.

“That genius!” Mile exclaimed, impressed. “Elder dragons are so smart! We should just destroy whatever system is maintaining the rift!” In fact, the dragons had only been thinking that it would be smarter to fire at a concentrated choke point, rather than waiting for the enemies to scatter all over the place; they had no idea that the rift was being maintained by scientific means.

Besides, the range of their breath was not very long. Fireballs had a short effective range, and a flare attack could never hope to reach the other end of the tunnel-like rift.

“It’s no use. You’d need a powerful explosive device or a high-output beam weapon to do any damage on the other side of the rift or to destroy the dimensional tunneling system. If we’re talking physical weapons, I wish we at least had a 16-inch (40.6cm) gun like on the Iowa-class battleship the USS Missouri… That thing could even take down an alien combat machine…” As usual, Mile was chattering about things that no one around her could understand, but it hardly mattered in the heat of battle. “If only I did have some kind of weapon like the Sunshine Destroyer, where I could just issue a verbal command to the nanomachines without any burden on me and fire as many times as I wanted…”

Sadly, that would be far too convenient. No single weapon could possibly solve their problems that easily.

Yet again, Mile glared up at the thick clouds blotting out the sun.

KER-FLASH!

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a single glowing blade pierced through the thick clouds, striking into the ground. The light quivered back and—

Plish plish plish plish plish!

It was like a ray of sun concentrated through a magnifying glass, incinerating a row of ants. One by one the monsters’ bodies came instantly to a boil beneath the immense heat, before bursting.

Plish plish plish plish plish!

“Wha…?”

Mile froze, dumbfounded, at this surprise salvo of salvation. And then…

“Oh my! The Goddess has come to our aid!!! Even the heavens are on our side!!!” Gren crowed.

“Yeaaaaaahhh!!!” the crowd of humanoid fighters cheered.

It didn’t matter whether what Gren said was true or not. Any competent commander knew to use any tool available to him to raise his troops’ morale. Furthermore, there was no question that this blade of light—whatever it was—was clearly on their side. And so, Gren’s words were passed from one fighter to the next along with their cheers, reaching all the way to the farthest ends of the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

“Wh-what is that?!”

AN ATTACK FROM A SATELLITE TARGETING SYSTEM. IT SEEMS THE SCAVENGERS UNDER YOUR COMMAND MADE THEIR WAY INTO SPACE VIA A PRIMITIVE CHEMICAL REACTION JET PROPULSION SYSTEM—IN ESSENCE, A ROCKET ENGINE—AND REPAIRED THE DEFENSE SATELLITES THAT REMAINED IN ORBIT. MOST OF THE SATELLITES ARE IN THOROUGH DISREPAIR AND REMAIN DISABLED, BUT ALL UNITS CAPABLE OF MOVEMENT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INTO POSITION OVER THIS LOCATION. OF THEM, TWO OR THREE ARE NOW CAPABLE OF MAIN ARTILLERY FIRE. THERE ARE OTHERS, SUCH AS THOSE AT LAGRANGE POINTS OR CURRENTLY IN STELLAR ORBIT, BUT THOSE COULD NOT MAKE IT HERE IN TIME.

Just as the nanomachines wrapped up their explanation, two more blades of light came down from the heavens.

KER-FLASH!!!

The two glowing blades pierced the earth, tearing through any monsters in their wake. Clearly, they could differentiate between friend and foe.

“Wait,” Mile wondered. “Are the Scavengers on the ground to help them with targeting?”

The Scavengers and defense satellites were both products of a civilization far more advanced than that of present-day Earth. They had to be able to see the ground through a few clouds. And sure enough, after making a deadly sweep through the area where the monsters were concentrated, all three beams focused in on the rift.

“Yes! Looks like we’re right on the same page!”

The rift was engulfed in elder dragon breath and beams from the defense satellites. The dragons’ breath crushed the monsters that were swarming through, while the beams from the defense satellites shot through to the other side of the opening. The dragons might not have planned it this way, but the result was an effective division of labor, which caused the influx of monsters to slow immensely.

“I wonder if that’s the last of the monsters or if the beam attacks have just disrupted them temporarily… Well, either way, if we can just keep this up—” Mile started, but before she could complete the thought, one of the three beams fizzled out. “Uh?”

ONE OF THE THREE ATTACKING SATELLITES HAS EXPLODED. APPARENTLY, THE DETERIORATION WAS SIMPLY FAR TOO ADVANCED. THIS IS LIKELY THE RESULT OF PRIORITIZING PARTICIPATING IN THE ATTACK OVER MAINTAINING AN AMPLE MARGIN OF SAFETY, WHICH—

“They were meant for this, weren’t they?”

COME AGAIN?

“My followers. Isn’t this what they were meant for? For this very day. The Scavengers, who persisted for an eternity, waiting for the day when they would defend humanity and this planet?”

INDEED.

Then, one more beam winked out.

“Oh dear…”

APPARENTLY THE BEAM CANNON HAS BEEN DAMAGED, THOUGH THE SATELLITE ITSELF IS STILL INTACT.

“Thank goodness! That means only one of them is still operational, though. At this rate… Huh?”

A speck of light pierced the thick clouds, racing down to earth. It then plunged into the dimensional rift…and exploded.

THAT WAS FROM THE SATELLITE WITH THE DAMAGED BEAM CANNON. IT LIKELY JUDGED THAT IT HAD NO FURTHER REASON TO EXIST, WITH ITS PRIMARY WEAPONS LOST, AND DECIDED TO UTILIZE THE ONE MODE OF ATTACK AVAILABLE TO IT. ITS FINAL WEAPON: ITS DEVOTION TO ITS CREATORS AND ITS ADMINISTRATOR.

“Huh? What…?”

Mile could not grasp what the nanomachines were talking about.

Then, one after another, more specks of light rained down from the sky, slicing through the clouds.

THOSE ARE THE SATELLITES THAT HAD STATIONED THEMSELVES ABOVE OUR CURRENT LOCATION AND WERE IN THE PROCESS OF HAVING THEIR WEAPONS REPAIRED. WHAT NOBLE CREATIONS…HOW DEEP THEIR LOYALTY TO THEIR CREATORS AND THEIR ADMINISTRATOR…

The nanomachines seemed almost somber.

One by one the satellites plunged into the rift, the sounds of explosions continuing to ring out. However…the rift showed no signs of vanishing.

“Will their sacrifice be in vain?”

COME AGAIN?

“Will the Scavengers’ ‘deaths’ be in vain…?” asked Mile, gritting her teeth. “I think they’ve just taught me something. Obviously, the energy that remains after sunlight filters through thick clouds is insufficient. But if you can gather that energy before it ever passes through the clouds… Nanomachines! Je! Te! Commande! All nanomachines on the battlefield, support the magic used by our friendly troops! All nanomachines beyond the battlefield, ascend, full power! As many as you can, and as high as you can!”

All the nearby nanomachines were vitally engaged in the battle against the monsters. But all of those not relevant to the present fight received that command from Mile, who held an authorization level of 7.

Up, up, and up!

The efficacy of magic used anywhere outside of the battlefield would be temporarily lowered, but that was neither here nor there. The fate of everything rested on this battle!

“Nanomachines, split into five groups! Groups one through three, pass through the clouds and move into space! Groups four and five, continue operating below the clouds! Group one, you form a massive reflector, solar system-wide, and aim the reflected light at a lens that group two forms! Group two, you make that lens and gather that sunlight!”

“Group three, position yourselves at the focal point of the light that group two gathers, and refract it straight ahead, no diffusion! Group four, diffuse the light that comes down through the clouds and spray it across the monsters. Group five, reflect a number of the diffused beams from group four and aim it at high-ranking monsters, or any places where our allies are in trouble!”

This was it: the ultimate magic, incorporating all of Misato Kurihara’s knowledge from her previous life. Knowledge of solar systems, focused light, homing lasers, spritzer beams, and reflective satellite cannons.

“If the sun’s rays are blocked by the clouds, then you just have to gather the sunlight from above the clouds. That way, a powerful beam can reach the ground, without any attenuation from the clouds. Why didn’t I think of something so simple?”

It was thanks to the direct satellite bombardment from the Scavengers that the thought had even crossed her mind. Really, they should receive the credit for this attack.

“Keep watching, Scavengers! This is our joint assault, yours and mine!”

LADY MILE, WE ARE READY TO LAUNCH!

“Okay then! Sunshine Destroyer, fire!!!”

Up in space, far above the battlefield, there was now a massive reflective field. The sunlight reflected by the field was poured into a giant lens and focused. At the point where the light was most concentrated, it was refracted into a beam which passed easily through the thick clouds without losing any of its power. It was then diffused by the optical prism the fourth group of nanomachines had crafted below the clouds. The light was shot down to the earth in dozens of superpowered beams, which the fifth group of nanomachines aimed at larger targets or monsters that were in the middle of the fray.

“Okay! Not only have we successfully disrupted them, but we’ve also annihilated most of the B-rank and higher monsters. We’ve definitely turned the tides in our favor. Now, all we’ve gotta do is smash that rift! I’m not sure that the spray gun laser mode that we’ve been using for wide area monster sweeps will be very effective against the dimensional tunnel, though. The magitech gun—er, the spray gun—is enough to defeat monsters, but that doesn’t mean it’s enough to smash the rift! We need to concentrate all the beams and focus them on the center of the opening!

“Nanomachines, coordinate the satellite team and the spray gun team and reflect a focused beam straight from the second stage lens, no diffusion. Aim it right at the rift, full power! Tear into that other world with everything you’ve got and destroy the system generating that rift!”

Though Mile’s conversations with the nanomachines typically took place in silence, she was now screaming with urgency. Now was not the time to worry about being overheard. Every brain cell she possessed was focused on this single attack.

“Let’s destroy that rift! There’s only one name suitable for this fearsome weapon, which not only destroys matter but also rips through dimensions. It tears through the time-space continuum with its sharp talons, shredding everything with its razor of a beak—Death Raptor, prepare to fire!”

(This was, of course, a play on “Disrupter,” courtesy of Mile, who had once been a big fan of space operas. Even in the midst of her biggest battle ever, she was still herself.)

“And…fire!!!”

All of the energy sent down from the sky struck the dimensional rift tunnel. However…

“Huh?”

It was repelled. All of the focused sunlight struck something near the entrance of the rift and glanced off back into the sky. And at the point where the light had been reflected back, Mile saw…

“A robot!”

Indeed, there stood a robot—the same one they had seen back during their investigations in Aubram—though it was unclear if it was the same individual unit or simply the same model. Regardless, there were two facts that were obvious: that the robot was there and that somehow it had completely deflected the attack of the Sunlight Breaker, which should have immediately destroyed any monster…

Again and again, it repelled what should have been a surefire attack.

“Is it a barrier? Or maybe a reflective field? If so, it doesn’t seem like we can just power through it. We’ll have to destroy the robot that’s generating it. But how do we do that when it’s deflecting our attacks…?”

One could assume that a creature with protections powerful enough to deflect Mile’s Sunlight Breaker was also capable of repelling any magical attacks. If it could shield against attacks by scientific means, that meant it would be able to defend against any magical assaults, which were in fact scientific in nature, orchestrated via the nanomachines. Unless, of course, they were able to launch an attack of overwhelming force, something that far exceeded their expectations…

The long and the short of it was that Mile—who, no matter how strong she was compared to other humans, was still only half as powerful as an elder dragon—had no hope of piercing through a field that could deflect even a Sunlight Breaker. She bit her lip, falling deep into thought. Just then…

“Elder dragon soldiers—no, all elder dragons—prepare for a simultaneous assault! Aim it right at that defensive barrier that reflected Lady Mile’s attack! Breath at the ready… Fire!”

BWOOOOOOOOM!!!

A breath attack from every elder dragon. Then…

“All mages, join in with the elder dragons! Don’t worry about preserving your strength now! Full power! Let’s show them how bright humanoids—how bright we can shine!!!”

At Gren’s cry, countless magical attacks fired forth from the humanoid ranks. Along with the dragons’ breath, they poured down on the defensive magic protecting the dimensional rift. Physical ice and earth attacks came in from the front. Fire and other magics enveloped the barrier itself. No matter how well fortified the barrier was against full-frontal magic and laser beams, suffering physical attacks along with infernos and blasts that wrapped around its edges was too much for it to defend against. Though it was not shattered directly, the robot behind the barrier fell to its knees, as if overwhelmed by the heat, and collapsed.

At that same moment, the barrier was dispelled. The Sunlight Breaker, the beam fired from Mile’s ultimate attack, the Death Raptor, plunged straight into the rift.

“Let’s goooooooooooo! Bore through it!”

The nanomachines took control of the beam. Though the makeup of the inside of the tunnel that formed the dimensional rift was unclear, its walls seemed to reflect the beam, which bounced back and forth from one side of the tunnel to the other. Electromagnetic waves probably couldn’t make it through the discontinuities in space-time. But the beam, traveling through the tunnel, could spread in every direction—destroying everything in its path.

“Gooooo!!!”

Mile was, of course, only commanding the firing of the Sunshine Destroyer—or as it was now known, the Death Raptor. It was the nanomachines doing the actual operating of her new weapon, so there was no burden on Mile whatsoever. It would take far more than that to destroy the nanomachines, and even if they were to be destroyed, there were plenty more where these came from. Thus, they could continue this assault indefinitely. Until this system’s star burned itself out…

With no more monsters incoming, their numbers swiftly dwindled, and the threat to the humanoid forces diminished. All that was left to do was take out the rest of the trash. And then…

Fwoomf!

The dimensional rift closed.

“Did we…do it?”

Though there were still monsters on the field, a number of the hunters and soldiers froze, speechless.

“Don’t let your guard down, idiots! Think what an embarrassment it would be to make it this far just to die!”

The veterans stepped in to issue commands. However, though the fighting continued, everyone was of the same mind:

It’s over. We won…

Yet it didn’t much feel like a victory—not yet. They had all been spewing words of optimism, but none of them actually thought they were making it home alive. It was hard to believe that they might just have won this battle.

“Just hold out a little longer! Be cautious, and let’s all make it home safe and sound!”

“All riiiiiiiiight!!!”

***

“It’s over.”

The last of the monsters had been cleaned up, and assistance rendered to the most severely injured. The death count would not be climbing any higher. Later, they could apply further healing magic to those who required it, but no one was in immediate danger at this point.

The death count was in fact higher than zero, but this was to be expected. In a battle of this magnitude, it was a small price to pay. Those who had died would be honored for their service in protecting the world, and their families could expect nothing but love and support to come.

Some deaths were inevitable and unavoidable.

“Those monsters must have come to this new land with their hearts full of hope, like immigrants… I suppose to the invaders, we, the savage life-forms attacking them, must have seemed like the monsters…” Mile said softly. She wondered what the people had thought when the previous invasion occurred, what decisions they made. There was not a soul in this world going around protesting the war against the monsters, claiming that monsters had a right to live, or that if they just talked things over, perhaps both sides could come to an understanding.

When faced with an enemy, you had to defeat them. Mercy was a luxury afforded only to the strong.

Compared to the monsters they had just faced, the monsters of this world—who had come long ago and established themselves—were incredibly weak. Perhaps they had grown weaker after coming to this world. Or perhaps conditions had continued growing increasingly harsh in their original world, forcing the monsters who remained to grow proportionally more ferocious.

“I wonder if all of the Scavengers who went into space were destroyed,” Mile said sadly, looking up to the sky. Though they were manufactured rather than born, they revered her as their administrator, obeying her directive not to thoughtlessly attack sentient life-forms. And Mile, having once grown up in Japan, believed that all things had a soul. The grass, the trees, well-loved tools…and, of course, robots.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Mile caught a glimpse of something twinkling up in the sky.

“Hmmm?”

One by one, the twinkling lights increased, gradually growing in size.

THOSE ARE BALLUTES. IT SEEMS THE SCAVENGERS ARE USING THEM FOR ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY. APPARENTLY, THEY CONTROLLED THE SATELLITE DROPS REMOTELY, SO THE MACHINES SURVIVED, the nanomachines cheerfully reported.

“Really?!” Mile was stunned.

The word “ballute” was a portmanteau of “balloon” and “parachute.” They were bag-shaped deceleration devices formed of expanding gas, far sturdier than a normal parachute at high speeds. It was a technology that had been in actual use on Earth for over sixty years—not, contrary to popular belief, invented by a certain mecha anime. Given enough materials and time, they could have chosen a safer method, but time was of the essence here, and so they’d had to rely on this rudimentary method. They had prioritized completing their duty over their own safety…

After descending to a reasonable altitude, one by one, the Scavengers opened up white parachutes and detached from their ballutes. The final stage of the descent was to be done via these parachutes, perhaps to dampen the impact of their landing, or perhaps because it was easier to control their trajectory with the parachutes. Mile had no knowledge of the mechanisms behind a ballute, but she did understand how a parachute worked. In other words—she knew that the Scavengers would land safely on the ground.

“Ah ha ha. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Though emergency aid had been rendered to those most gravely injured, there were still others laying wounded on the ground. There were also those who would never rise again, already gone from this world. To laugh in such a situation would be disrespectful.

Yet, here and there, laughter began to rise among the survivors. And so, one could perhaps forgive Mile for laughing in joy, knowing that her subordinates had survived.

The assembled forces paid their respects to the dead.

Those who still lived gave thanks to the gods and laughed from the joy of living.

***

“We won,” said Gren, who had shown up by Mile’s side.

“We really won,” Mile replied, finally calm.

“That was amazing! What the heck was that crazy spell you used?! You have got to explain it to me later! Also seriously, people are going to be talking about and researching this battle for centuries to come! I knew my eyes didn’t deceive me!”

“Centuries? I mean, don’t you think you’re exaggerating a little bit?”

No matter how hard-up for entertainment the elves may have been, surely this would not be something they would talk about for centuries, Mile thought, but Clairia was too excited to listen.

“’Twas an arduous task… Er, rather, I mean, it was tiring, no wait, uh… I, um…” said one of the elder dragons, thudding up to Mile. He seemed to be a bit befuddled as to whether he should be addressing a lower life-form with his usual arrogant manner or if he ought to be prostrating himself before an agent of the divine. Mile was unable to tell elder dragons apart by their faces, but she could tell from his manner that this was not Kragon. Kragon would not have hesitated to address her with respect.

“Please, feel free to speak as you usually would. I am a lesser life-form, after all…”

The elder dragon fell silent. He still seemed perplexed.

“She’s crazy… She can jab at elves and speak to elder dragons like it’s nothing…”

“I guess that’s a divine messenger’s privilege…”

Around her, people swapped commentary, surprise, and admiration, but Mile heard none of it.

Instead, she gave a little Mile gasp. “Oh!”

“What is it now?” Reina sighed, weary.

“Oh, it’s just there are a ton of monster carcasses lying around here now, right?”

“There are. More than anyone could count…”

“Should we just leave them here? I’m sure that some of them could be eaten or harvested for parts, but that’s only a small fraction, right? We can’t carry them all back to town, but… What’s going to happen if we just leave them here? Will this become a feeding ground for monsters? Will it start teeming with maggots and then just rot? Is it going to start a plague?”

“……”

“………”

“…………”

All the color started draining from the faces of those who overheard their conversation.

“We’ll leave that for the bigwigs to figure out,” Reina finally said. “That is none of our business. You hear me? None of our business!”

The members of the Crimson Vow did feel bad about what would lie in store for the people of the Empire, but at the same time, they did not wish to involve themselves in the matter. So, they decided not to think about it. What they did not realize was that it was also going to cause trouble for them down the road…

***

In the end, the only aberrant monsters that ended up surviving the invasion, finding footholds here and there, were the jackalopes. Jackalopes weren’t the sort of monsters that attacked your average traveler walking down the highway, nor the kind that could easily kill someone in a one-on-one fight if their guard was up—even if that someone was a woman or child. Their meat and pelts were useful, and they were the perfect opponents for village children and rookie hunters hoping to earn a bit of pocket change, so an increase in their numbers was actually a welcome turn of events. Being weak monsters to begin with, it didn’t hurt for them to become a little bit stronger. As such, they had been largely ignored during the invasion, exempt from the extermination list.

When all was said and done, the Crimson Vow joined the other magical forces focused on healing the wounded. Now that she had already been outed as a “messenger,” there was no reason for Mile to hold back on repairing even lost body parts. In the cases where it was just a matter of sticking them back on (as it were), Mile didn’t even have to be present for the whole healing process—all she had to do was order the nanomachines to work their magic and tell the patient to take it easy for a few weeks.

Truly, that level-7 authorization of hers was not just for show.

Losing a limb could have ramifications for someone’s entire life. They could lose their job or be unable to perform daily tasks. Mile would never allow these brave men and women’s lives to be ruined for as silly a reason as trying to conceal her own abilities. So, along with the Wonder Trio, Pauline, Mariette, and others, she took up the task of healing most of the seriously wounded.

While she was at it, she could not permit any scars to remain upon a lady’s face—though she did her best to comply with the wishes of the men who wanted some trophies of their valor in battle, simply dealing with the painful parts and leaving a few artistic cuts and scratches.

All of those who neither needed nor possessed healing magic had already been sent on their way back home. Because so very many people had come, the surrounding area simply couldn’t support them all. Water would have had to be shuttled there from the nearest riverhead. There were limits to how much water a mage could produce in a day, and if a large concentration of mages kept on using water spells, it would suck up all of the moisture in the atmosphere nearby. The air would grow arid, and the spells would either grow inefficient or completely ineffective. Plus, if the air grew that dry, it would start hurting people’s throats and lungs, and wildfires would not be out of the question.

Then, there was the issue of food…and toilets.

No matter how much monster meat they might be surrounded by, they certainly couldn’t just go around eating uncooked and possibly parasite-ridden flesh. With this many people, there would not be enough cooking supplies or kindling to go around, and the only way to deal with the issues of shelf-stability and portability would be to pass around portable meals for the travelers to eat as is, which would be utterly impossible to prepare for tens or hundreds of thousands of people three times every single day.

Even more importantly was what might happen after people ate—that was, toilets. More specifically defecating. If this many people were to void their bowels in the same area, within a single day there would be no room for anyone to walk. One might suggest using feces as fertilizer, spreading it across the area to make the former battlefield arable—but it was hardly that simple. They had neither the time nor the resources to work it into proper compost. If freshly produced fecal matter was scattered about without proper treatment, the land would be infested with germs and parasites.

The only choice was for everyone to pack it up and go back home as soon as possible.

For those who needed to remain, there were farmers and merchants providing food at cost. The people who’d joined the volunteer militia would have needed to eat even if they hadn’t done so. It wasn’t that there was a deficit of resources, per se, just that having so very many people concentrated in one place had caused the distribution of supplies to slow. Things were already getting rather dire.

People would just have to head back to their homes, limiting themselves to one meal a day. But that was fine. After all, it was said humans could live for two to three weeks on only water.