+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

  Nomosian Countryside

  November 18, 1538 CE

  They had already covered four hundred kilometers of Nomos’ territory southward. It was noon when Hans and Adelyn rushed straight through a road to get through what appeared to be a destroyed city. Looking at the map, the city was named Presidio—which, to their knowledge, was a city of twenty thousand people.

  “Seems like it’s a goner,” Hans said, lowering his binoculars. “Seems fresh too. I saw some smoke over there.”

  Their mech was parked on the side of the road situated on a hill that overlooked the flat plains where the city sat. Thus, they had complete overwatch over the distant, devastated areas. Hans raised his binoculars again and checked out the towns and settlements that were outside of the walled city.

  “They’re also destroyed,” he clicked his tongue. “That doesn’t bode well.”

  Adelyn beside him on the other hand shook her head. Then, she walked back to her parked mech and climbed up on it. Hans turned to her and shouted.

  “Hey! Are we moving out now?”

  “Obviously,” Adelyn said, as she opened her hatch. She turned back to Hans. “Let’s try circling the city and the settlements. See if anyone survived. Maybe render them aid. That…and, maybe check if the demon is around.”

  “You sure?” Hans asked. “The Viceroy herself is still behind us.”

  “She’ll catch up and figure out that we were here,” Adelyn replied. “Same with the rest of the unit. They should be here within an hour or so anyway.”

  “Alright…if you said so,” Hans looked back at the ruins and placed his binoculars again. He wasn’t exactly the most confident today after seeing this devastation. Then again, he had already seen many cities in Ygeia reduced to this. And so, with a sigh, he lowered his binoculars and climbed back on his mech.

  Immediately, the interior of his crew compartment lit up. Display screens showed the status of each subsystem—all of them green and running normally. Hans took a deep breath, as he reconnected his communication link with Adelyn’s mech. Then, he pressed his feet on the pedal after his hands returned to the control stick.

  Now, let’s see what bullshit awaits me this time.

  His mech rushed downward on the slope of the hill. Plumes of dust appeared as he sped up, then, he was down on the flat plains. Driving at above fifty kilometers per hour, behind him was Adelyn, following close by. The two charged straight in the direction of the city’s main roads. There seemed to be three of them—one that led to the north, another that went to the east, and another that continued to the south.

  Within minutes, they were on the outskirts of the destroyed city itself. Hans immediately turned on [UPG: EYE OF PARANOIA I] per his standard, established operating procedure nowadays. He didn’t exactly like tight spaces, either in the woods or in urban areas, so whenever he was close to one, the upgrade would be automatically engaged.

  There was however the problem of Calamities and other high-level demons potentially not appearing on his “demon radar”, so that was one problem to contend with. Still, at the very least, he believed in it somewhat. That fifty-meter range was underwhelming, but it was a good last-second warning system.

  Nothing anywhere though.

  He sped through the destroyed streets. He noted the damage that seemed to have been done. There was rubble everywhere. Houses and buildings were reduced badly, almost as if they were struck by high-explosive artillery. The walls of the city itself seemed to have been struck by kinetic bombardment.

  “That seems a bit concerning,” Hans said, as he pulled his mech to a stop, looking at the entrance of the city. “Seems to track with the Viceroy’s experience. Powerful ‘musket pistol’ that can do these things. Now that I think about it, maybe he’s holding a damned miniaturized heavy artillery.”

  “Magical items certainly are something terrifying,” Adelyn mumbled. “Well, that means we shouldn’t get hit, no?”

  “Yeah. I believe it is an absolute imperative for us,” Hans gritted his teeth. “Damn…whatever gun he probably has can just blast my mech. I suppose at least this time it’d be a familiar fight at least.”

  “Huh?”

  “Well, it feels like we’d be fighting some asshole tank that wields a one hundred fifty-two millimeters gun in his hands,” Hans grinned. “It kinda reminds me of fighting the Flandrians now. Maybe he’d be a bit faster—but I can already see a good plan to take him down.”

  “Definitely no close-ranged fighting though.”

  “Yeah, we’re dead if he gets close. Or maybe not. We’ll see. We’ll see.”

  “You sound…ominous.”

  “Am I? It’s nothing. I just meant we’ll get to test things out when we make contact.”

  Or… I can test him out. Hans looked at the destroyed wall. Ah, well, who am I kidding? Of course, I’m going to be dying. But if I’m dying for some kinetic rounds—that feels quite comfortable.

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  +++

  “Yes, we haven’t seen anything since then,” an old man said. He seemed to be a traveling merchant on the southern road that led to Presidio. “We haven’t met a single wagon or carriage headed south. Is it…true? Presidio is gone?”

  Adelyn, who was once again jotting down things on her notepad, nodded, tipping her officer’s cap.

  “Yes, good sir. I would advise that you turn around at once, and warn anyone heading to this area not to continue.”

  “But Miss, we are required to sell our wares up north. If I don’t, we won’t have enough money to escape Nomos. I cannot stay in this place any further.”

  A younger man who was sitting in control of their wagon grunted.

  “We’re trying to make our last money!” He shouted, annoyed. “We can’t get restricted. Besides, if this place is getting worse, then we better rush to the north. And escape. We can’t waste any more time without moving.”

  “You heard my son,” the old man said. “We need to continue.”

  “As much as I can understand your woes, traveling any further is restricted,” Hans intervened. “The areas ahead of you are too dangerous. You might just die from a demon attack before being able to sell those things and escape. Besides…where are the two of you going to escape?”

  There was silence from the two of them.

  “Anything but the south…” the younger man muttered, his voice now turning truly anxious. Hans on the other hand simply crossed his arms, unconvinced.

  “Try to find a safer area nearby and stay there temporarily. We’ll be conducting search and clearing operations around here. Tomorrow, if there’s no sign of battle and you don’t see us, assume that it’s safe to go forward. If you see the wrecks of our vehicles over there, turn around and run away.”

  Adelyn’s expression darkened, as she followed Hans’ words.

  “He’s right. This is just a precaution. Tell the same thing to everyone coming here. This road is blocked until tomorrow. That’s all.”

  The old merchant removed his hat and sighed.

  “If that’s what the two of you want…”

  “It’s for your safety,” Hans said. “Not that…it’s assured.”

  “At least you’re honest,” the younger man said. “All those other officials keep lying. Telling us to go here and there and that it will be safer. Only for those ‘safe’ places to get obliterated!”

  He seems really angry. Hans understood that. It’s awful what these people go through.

  “Well, if you see a city a few tens of thousands get deleted, you really will become more honest about the state of things,” Hans said. “Turn around now.”

  “Alright…” the old merchant said. Soon, Hans and Adelyn watched as their wagon drove away.

  “I wish we could help them out more,” Adelyn muttered beside Hans. “If only I can do more with these powers I have. Life is just so unfair for them. It’s painful to watch.”

  “We’re doing our best.”

  “Yeah…we are,” Adelyn’s voice cracked. “Yet so many people keep dying. I…really hope we can end this all.”

  “Yeah…I guess…”

  “You guess?” Adelyn frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t know. I’m not sure if we can do it. But again, we’ll try.”

  “Right. We’ll try.”

  The two then turned back to their mechs. As they did, however, a distant figure on horseback rode toward them. She seemed to be in a rush. On top of it was none other than the Viceroy.

  “Hey!” Adelyn shouted. “We’ve found nothing yet!”

  The Viceroy pulled her horse to a quick stop and nodded.

  “I see then,” she frowned. “Look, I think there’s a demon nearby. I’m…however unsure if it is him exactly.”

  “You know that there’s something?” Hans asked.

  “Yes. I’ve seen some suspicious movement over the woods there,” she pointed at the forest to the east of their position. “As such, I’ll assume the worst. I’ll try checking it out. I believe that Captain Weibel’s battlemages and the forward elements of the cavalry force are now only a few dozen minutes away.”

  “We’re going with you then,” Adelyn insisted. We’ll just cover your rear if need be.”

  The Viceroy nodded.

  “Thanks then. Let’s move out!”

  +++

  The trio cautiously advanced on the woods. Adelyn took the left flank, while Hans took the right side. In the center, on foot, was the Viceroy herself. She was nearly a hundred meters ahead of Hans and Adelyn. Naturally, Hans was keeping his senses open as he scanned the darker areas of the forest.

  His mech walked at a brisk pace. Almost at human walking speeds. And he had [UPG: EYE OF PARANOIA] activated. But again, there was nothing. They scoured the forest for many minutes, getting deeper and deeper. But there was nothing.

  “It seems that whatever it is…it’s damned good at hiding,” Hans said over the comms, as he turned his turret to the left. “Still no signs on my side.”

  “Me neither. No signs here either.”

  The two stopped, as the Viceroy walked back. She had a disappointed expression on her face. She looked in the direction of Adelyn’s mech.

  “There’s nothing!” She shouted for them to hear. “Let’s just head back. Damned waste of time.”

  Hans pressed his mech’s speaker, although it was only at a low volume.

  “Copy that—”

  He pulled his mech into a hard, sudden reverse. A red beam nearly nailed his mech. A fire consumed the wood and leaves that were touched by the beam. And it rapidly expanded in the forest. An inferno began forming.

  “Contact!”

  Hans and Adelyn both retreated back. Out of nowhere, a four-legged creature with two heads—reminiscent of a massive wolf jumped. Its skin however was pure white—almost ghostly. The heads were just as disgusting, somewhat elongated. And it had not a single eye on its two heads. And there seemed to be no fur.

  Hans pulled away, as the massive creature’s sharp, golden triple digits nearly sliced him. The beast roared, the powerful air from its two mouths soon speaking in a dead, empty voice. A voice that seemed to be the voice of two dead people—one man, and one woman.

  “You are the enemies of my master,” the monster growled, as its two heads locked on both Hans and Adelyn. “And you must all learn that injustice is blind at inflicting undue punishment to all.”

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