+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

  November 19, 1538 CE

  Nomosian Countryside

  They finally arrived at Presidio at the crack of Nomos’ early morning. The city, as Hans had expected, was utterly destroyed. So much so, that when he watched the horse that the Viceroy rode slowly walk toward it, she teared up. The rest of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit was also now just arriving from their rear.

  Cavalrymen, cuirassiers, and battlemages, all galloped through the fields with their horses. Rows upon rows of troops on the other hand rushed through the road to Presidio, many already filing away from the main columns to move to their pre-assigned positions.

  Hans grabbed his binoculars and dismounted his Wanderfalke. By the time he jumped to the ground, Captain Strobel, who was on horseback, rushed and stopped near him. The man pulled his horse to the side, as he fished out his spyglass.

  “Lieutenant,” Captain Strobel called out. He pointed at the city with the spyglass. “So your warnings were correct.”

  “As I had expected,” Hans replied, his face crumpling into a frown. “Well…in this case, we can now reasonably assume the potential presence of a nearby demon.”

  “Yeah. Hence…”

  “Hence why we need a lot to be prepared at once for the worst-case scenario,” Hans replied. He raised his binoculars to scout out the fields ahead of them. He was somewhat familiar with it already, yes. But he wanted to take another check. “We have to dig in and position all of our platoons in dispersed overlapping fields of fire.”

  “Really now?”

  “Yes. I want our forces to create a deep defensive line. Space each platoon at least fifty meters off each other. And make them dig their foxholes somewhat. Something to hide themselves at least. Until they have to retreat.”

  “Alright,” Captain Strobel nodded, taking note of Hans’ recommendations. “I assume it’s the same with the artillery?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. Make sure that our artillery is also spread out into batteries of two guns each. I want to cover a semi-circle frontage in front of the city’s ruins.”

  “Hmm…I see. So you’re trying to make sure that they won’t flank us?”

  “Exactly,” Hans grinned. “Preposition all of our munitions well too. We might be in for a long, tough slugging match for this one. And keep our cavalry and battlemages in reserve. We’ll use them to plug gaps or cover retreating footsoldiers.”

  “Alright. Alright, I get it all.”

  Captain Strobel nodded, then placed his spyglass on his eyes, surveying the fields of Presidio as well. Hans did the same. Their troops were deploying fast. And they were all well-supplied and well-rested. Hans also stocked up on a lot of enchanted machine gun rounds, and so did Adelyn.

  This should do. Hans lowered his binoculars and nodded to himself. If not, I don’t know what will work next time around. But eventually, something will stick. That’s all there is to this.

  “Alright,” Hans turned back to Captain Strobel. “Let’s do this.”

  +++

  “I know you don’t favor this,” Hans said. “But we need you to preserve your strength. Remember, you’re one of the best assets right now in this unit. Act like it, Viceroy.”

  The woman’s eyes widened. Emilia was taken aback a bit by Hans’ proclamation. But she placed her hand on her chest.

  “I…I know that,” she said. “But regardless, I’m not seeing any demons here yet. If anything, we should be on the move. Chasing them directly!”

  “Yeah, and how exactly would that go down?” Hans shook his head. Behind him, Adelyn frowned too, already starting to be convinced of Hans’ cautious arguments. “Exactly. It’d go down disappointingly. And unfortunately, we cannot afford to have anything go down in a disappointing manner.”

  “Yeah, I guess he’s right,” Adelyn said. “We should just conduct scouting missions around the city instead. Patrols. We still have a few hours to dig in anyway. Best if we keep an eye out.”

  “Right,” Hans nodded.

  But the Viceroy frowned.

  “And what if no one attacks?” the Viceroy asked. “Are we supposed to sit here like…scared people, and just…just wait?”

  “They will attack,” Hans replied. “Why wouldn’t they? They attacked this place already. And now, they have a juicy target waiting for them. Luckily, because we didn’t rush anything, that ‘juicy’ target will have thorns.”

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  “We’re dug in, well-supplied, and everything else,” Adelyn smiled. “I think we stand a good chance.”

  “Yeah, the only better thing that we can have is the ability to know when they’ll strike. I wish that I had placed more effort into that side of things.”

  Hans sighed. On the other hand, both Adelyn and Emilia raised their eyebrows as they looked at Hans.

  “What?” the two asked. Then, Adelyn crossed her arms. “And how exactly will you even figure out when an enemy strikes? I mean, I guess you can make a rough estimate, but it’s not like you can just calculate it. Except of course if you have their plans.”

  “Nothing, nothing,” Hans awkwardly laughed. “I guess I’m just trying to find pitfalls. Fighting demons is such a tough chore, it’s hard to trust yourself when doing it.”

  Adelyn’s gentle smile appeared.

  “You’re putting a lot of effort into this already. Don’t beat yourself up. You’re doing good work, Hans.”

  “...Thanks, Captain.”

  +++

  Hans and Adelyn were still conducting mid-day patrols around the newly established Presidio redoubt when the first signs of a demonic incursion became apparent. The two of them rushed into one of the forward sites being established by Captain Strobel’s men when they came into contact with the wolf demon.

  “Alett, all units! We have our first demon on our perimeter!” he shouted using his speakers. And since Captain Weibel held Hans’ handheld radio, the announcement was sent to the rest of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

  Hans immediately made his mech jump over one of the destroyed foxholes. Behind him, Adelyn fired her main gun in the direction of the demon, who dodged it and began creating copies of itself. Hans on the other hand slammed in the two belts of special ADAP ammunition he had prepared for his double coaxials.

  “What the hell? It’s multiplying?!” Adelyn shouted on the comms. “What is this?!”

  “Decoys. All of those are just illusions. Try to figure out which one is true, or shoot the decoys with your machine guns!”

  Armor-piercing rounds began flying through the fields from Hans’ guns. He also kept his eye trained on what he suspected was the real demon. He trimmed the horde of decoys a little bit, as he searched for whichever bastard tried to hide amongst the rest. Suddenly, a beam of red light nearly sliced his mech.

  Hans pulled his mech down into a last-second dodge. More importantly, his eyes, which had kept close attention, saw where it came from. His turret turned and tracked the real demon, and at once—he pulled the trigger.

  A ninety-millimeter MPAT round flew through the battlefield, now already increasingly obscured by smoke and gunfire from all directions, straight into the demon. An explosion rocked his target. Then, Hans pulled his mech into a hard break. He soon unleashed nearly a quarter of his prepared machine gun rounds on the pinned demon.

  More copies flared out, but Hans only grinned. He hurt it nice and well. The pained roar from the creature indicated as such.

  They finally successfully lured the demon and its illusions close to the Presidio redoubt. The methodical retreat from the two ensured that the demon charged into the wrong areas. The demon made the mistake of going to the designated killing fields of each hardened platoon of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

  Cracks of musketry came from dug-in musketeers. They fired a shot at the target, then they disappeared under the holes they had furiously shoveled. Two artillery guns opened up from the far left flank of the demon, sending two cannonballs enhanced by magic flying through the air.

  One struck an illusionary copy, but the second one pierced through the neck of one of the demon’s two heads. The demon stumbled and fell on the green fields, as distant battlemages who started preparing their spells rose from their trenches and foxholes. The demon however wasn’t going down without biting back. A beam sliced through the horizon, striking the positions held by the two artillery guns.

  But the crew had already pulled it back into cover.

  A second volley from scattered musketeer platoons cracked in the fields, felting off more of the copies and exposing the downed and injured demon. Then, the battlemages, finished with their spells, fired a volley of different attacks at the demon.

  Hans pulled his mech into another brake, then he turned his turret to the demon as he smiled in glee. The bastard had been pulled into the trap. And not a single member of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit broke ranks and fled. Instead, they were doing everything as planned.

  Thus, Hans slapped in an APFSDS round with his autoloader. Aiming it at the demon as the creature recovered, Hans kept a close watch on it to make sure that he was locked on the right one. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger again.

  His round immediately darted through the fields, piercing the creature’s center mass. It barely even managed to run. The gunfire from Adelyn, Hans, and the dozens of scattered musketeers and mages placed great pressure on the demon. By now, its copies began trying to help its retreat.

  “Keep up the pressure, everyone!” Hans ordered with his speaker. “We’re getting close to depleting it as planned!”

  “Clear copy,” Adelyn replied, as she fired a normal MPAT round into the demon. It immediately exploded near the creature, creating more perforations and open wounds in its body. Wounds that were already becoming slow to close.

  The AP reserves it has to regenerate from the injuries it sustains is probably running out. Hans began pushing his mech to chase it. If we can shave it off from our hostile list before the Calamity of Recklessness intervenes, that’ll be a good development.

  And thus, his mech picked up its pace. Gunfire from his double coaxials began clearing out the copies. It seemed that the weakened demon was now also struggling to keep its illusions on the field. That only further spurred Hans into action. He wouldn’t fail now. He was so close.

  Behind them, the Viceroy herself also joined in. She dropped behind the wake of Hans’ mech. Raising her staff in the direction of the demon, a purple magical circle appeared. It immediately released pulses of light that struck the demon badly. Hans and Adelyn pounced in ever closer as well.

  Behind them, two more artillery guns opened fire. The cannonballs from Captain Strobel’s artillery missed, unfortunately. But Hans already loaded another APFSDS round. Again, the demon tried hitting him with its death beam. But Hans dodged it again. Pulling his mech hard into a brake, he tried his best to stabilize his main gun on his target.

  Come on. Come on!

  But before he could open fire, a sudden sharp vine shot overhead. It bent and nearly struck Hans’ mech, but he moved out with a quick jump. Hans turned his turret to his left. At last, she appeared.

  The Calamity of Recklessness.

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