In the mist the day after the rain.
Wearing armor of a design I’d never seen before.
Its shape and power were subtly different from the guns we use.
A new enemy appeared.
“I’m done for nyahhhhhhh!”
“What’s with the nyah!?”
My exclusive machine, the Idaten, delivered the finishing blow to the enemy machine.
“Captain!? It’s dangerous near the mist!? I propose we retreat to our position!”
Reinforcements, perhaps.
“You want me to show my back? Denied.”
“Captain— *click*”
I cut off communication.
Enemy machines emerging from the mist… I’ll intercept these clumsy machines that look like wine barrels with limbs attached.
“Uryaaaaa, give me your lives—Gugyamyaaaa!”
“Coming at me while screaming, you idiot. Approach silently.”
“NyoohhhhOooOoo”
“And to the cockpit, huh.”
“A strange machine! A general’s head, nyaaa?!”
“Aim for the joints.”
Three enemy machines destroyed in a few minutes.
Did you see the awesomeness of a high-speed mobile type ♪!
“If enemy machines are coming, we can only charge too! All units! Follow me into the mist—!!!”
UOOOOOOOOOOO!!
*Buoooooonnnn*
***
The Utsuki family raised an army to subjugate the rebel Sōra family, who aimed for dominion over the land.
They called upon the rulers of various foreign countries.
“Let us defeat the rebels who disturb the peace of the realm together!!”
They sent out a proclamation.
The reply came from the ancestral homes of the Utsuki family’s retainers.
Their troop numbers were around 6,000 to 7,000.
Countries with less national power than the Utsuki family.
Their troop numbers were around 3,000.
The Utsuki family had 30,000.
A grand army of about 100,000 in total.
The Sōra family’s estimated troop numbers were around 40,000 to 50,000.
Twice the troop numbers. Supply lines were also perfect. There were no rulers poised for side attacks.
We went into battle in a state of perfect readiness, but…
“Is this our objective? Did the Sōra family possess such strange contraptions? Is this Western barbarian armor?”
My vassals and strategy department could not answer my questions.
“My Lord.”
A ninja serving the Utsuki family, Gekkou, appeared with a report.
“What is it?”
“Yes, Lord. The units of Lord Takigawa and Lord Ryūgūji in the rear have vanished.”
…What?
“Takigawa and Ryūgūji… vanished? What? Were they wiped out by a separate enemy detachment? What are Inutada and Katsuhide, who are guarding our flank, doing?”
“No, that is not the case, my Lord. Lord Takigawa and Lord Ryūgūji’s units simply disappeared from this battlefield. Even the soldiers who witnessed it are confused about what happened. The rear is in utter chaos.”
*Wawawawawawawawa*
What! Everyone is in turmoil.
“Quiet down!!”
“Ah, ah, ah! Yes, yes, yes!”
“Inutada and Katsuhide are safe, aren’t they?”
“Yes, though some of their units were caught in that phenomenon of invisibility. The two of them are safe. They are fighting fiercely to quell the chaos in the rear.”
“Good! Good, that’s excellent. We must not let the efforts of those two go to waste! We too will sally forth to defeat the enemy! Everyone, earn military exploits!”
“Yes! For our Lord! We will all defeat the enemy!”
“Advance! Sound the conch shells and war drums!”
*Buoooooonnnn*
*Don, dondon, don, dondon*
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
The head of the Utsuki family,
Utsuki Zenjuubou.
He managed to gloss over the disappearance of the rear units by focusing on defeating the enemy,
and made his retainers and soldiers forget about food problems.
The head of the family personally commanded the charge.
If his retainers were late, he would scold them.
After the war, he might even impose pay cuts, he inspired his subordinates.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
In response to that charge,
Suurl issued an emergency order to his escort machines.
“Divert the charging force!!”
***
*Kuuusooo aaaahhhhhh*
Suurl roared as the main defense line was breached.
The enemy machines’ sheer numbers surpassed the Idaten’s maneuverability.
“You mere barrels!!”
“Seiyaaa!!”
“Umyyaaaaaaa!!”
“Soooo—raaaa!!”
The Idaten sacrificed its left arm.
It managed to escape the enemy’s great wave.
“Ca—ptainnnn!!”
“Heeelp!!”
“Don’t come!!”
In the rear, the escort machines and friendly units, which had barely maintained their formation, were swallowed by the wave.
It seemed they were inflicting some damage, but the formation had collapsed.
They couldn’t proceed to the next step.
They were completely defeated by the enemy.
“Touyashi!? Are you safe!? The eastern formation has been broken through!? This main line is finished! We’ll retreat south for now!? Hey? Can you hear me!? Reply!?”
There was no reply from Touyashi on his private channel.
Could it be… he’s dead? His exclusive machine, the Ōgane, was heavily damaged and he returned.
He participated with a spare machine.
The spare machine was inferior to the Ōgane.
But, Touyashi, who kept pace with me in the race for promotion… could he really die?
“I refuse to believe it!”
“Die myoooooo!!”
As Suurl pondered Touyashi’s safety within his cockpit,
an enemy machine leaped out of the wave without regard for the situation.
His back was exposed.
He was missing his left arm.
He was wounded.
I can defeat him.
The pilot thought so.
*Shuuuu* *Bachi bachi…*
“Myooo? What—”
*DOKAAAN!*
The Idaten’s lightning-fast counterattack.
A triple strike from a single right arm.
The enemy machine’s shoulders and torso were sliced off.
It accurately targeted the joints.
Any machine would discharge its connection circuits seconds later and explode.
“—!!”
“I’m busy right now! If you want to die so badly! Come at me, you lousy pests~! My mood is~~, the worst~~!”
” ” ” Noisy myaaaaaaa!!!! ” ” ”
“Defeat them~” Three machines attacked simultaneously.
Suurl weaved through the enemy machines with steps.
He attached a timed bomb to the third machine’s torso.
*Bon!*
“Myomyo? Will such an attack work mya,”
“Die.”
” ” ” Let us— ” ” ”
*Zashun!*
“Hmph.”
” ” ” —sue?! So fast mya!? ” ” ”
*Peta*
“Ah!”
“Now—”
“You think I’ll let you?”
*Bon!*
“Guguuuu”
“Gyaaaaa”
“Two machines impaled together.”
“Myaanīīīīīīī?! Gugyaaaaa”
*Gashaaaaan!!*
Mass-produced machines couldn’t match the output of an exclusive machine.
The enemy machine was slammed into the ground, along with a friendly unit’s machine, by its chest.
Suurl headed north, where Touyashi was.
He took the western route.
The wave of enemy machines along the way…
He charged into a narrow section,
and forcefully broke through, fighting several machines.
“Tch, I’ve run out of bombs.”
“Dieee—Uwaaaah?! What happened myaaa?!”
“Something’s stuck to my machine—guuuu”
Touyashi.
Please, don’t be dead.
My armament is depleted.
The only one who can buy me time to resupply…
is you——nonetheless!
