“Combined MN forces have now pummeled deeply into Ginzhu, while Asanaian and Orlish armored formations race through decimated CFN defense lines into the city of Lijeng and Gaoshu, nearly outflanking the North Hebeian garrison dug deeply in Ginzhu. The CFN has now commenced a major counter-attack, with tanks and armored vehicles flooding out of the Gaoshu and Lijeng strongholds up north, alongside an estimated three hundred to four hundred cruise and ballistic missile strikes on MN positions. While progress is continuing for the MN regardless of this counter-attack, the battle can still swing anyway, with both the MN spearheads in danger of being cut off and destroyed and the Ginzhu Metropolitan Area also in danger of being cut off and destroyed.”

  - Midori Imperial Herald

  +++

  South Hebei

  Near Gaoshu

  B/22-5th Knights Detachment Unit ‘Erzherzogin Delphine’

  February 6, 2026

  They were now the tip of the spear. Not the OAF, not their allies, not anyone—it was they, the Royal Guard, that were now leading the charge toward the coastal city, Gaoshu, north of the Ginzhu Metropolitan Area.

  Captain Rosa Schmidt knew that this mission would be the most arduous task that they had ever received since the start of the war. She even believed that to her, the ‘Rose Knight’, it would also be the most challenging mission that she would enact. Yet, since yesterday, she led her girls in B Company as best as she could.

  Using their ICV-24 Karambits and up-armored HMLVs, Rosa’s unit consistently charged ahead of the rest of the 5th KDU, even ahead of the armored formations that they had. While it was of course difficult to encounter enemy tanks and dug-in positions with their light vehicles, Rosa liked her Karambits and HMLVs.

  The Karambits themselves were not just simply armed with a 25mm autocannon on their turret, it was also readily armed with two ATGMs on the side, which they could fire and reload when stationary. Rosa directed the usage of those ATGMs as best as she could as the current assault continued against one of the towns ahead of them.

  Two tanks had appeared from the town, their guns opening fire at her assaulting troopers. A Karambit parked at the side of the road from the 2nd Platoon had its crew outside, loading two fresh ATGMs to the ICV’s launcher. When they were done, Rosa gave the order on the radio to fire it.

  In seconds, two of the enemy tanks were struck separately. One of them promptly exploded in a display of hellfire, its turret flying straight into the sky. The other one was simply knocked out, fires breaking out from the tank and forcing its crewmen out, screaming as they burned while they jumped.

  “All units,” Rosa spoke on her radio, as she readied her blade. “Follow me. Let’s take this town at once!”

  Her halo growing brightly, Rosa placed mana straight into her legs, causing her to run faster than normal. She began manipulating the air around her, further allowing her to speed up, as her gunfire rained down on her. Unfortunately, the Rose Knight was fast and agile, and she dodged it without much problem.

  Even if she was hit, which was rare, her barrier spell took care of the problem. In seconds, she crashed straight into the enemy formation, beginning her rampage. Her magic flowed on her sword, and she quickly sliced through the exposed soldiers and vehicles at the entrance of the town.

  They ran in terror, as her sword made a mince-meat out of them. A wheeled APC tried to rush in and counter her with its autocannons, but she jumped on its hull and removed its barrel with her sword. Using her magic, she almost flew on top of the APC as it drove backward, slamming into one of the buildings.

  When she landed on its turret, she placed more mana on her hands, ripping off its hatch, before aiming her sword inside. Deciding that fire would do the job the quickest, she channeled a spell using her sword, much like how one used a wand as a focus. A blaze erupted inside the APC, the poor sods inside barely able to scream from their quick and painful death.

  Rosa jumped off the disabled APC, rushing again into a squad of retreating North Hebeian soldiers. She could see the panicked terror in the men’s eyes, as they wildly tried to fire their rifles at her—their bullets barely doing anything against her. It was the reality of battle when someone like her simply had decades of training and proficiency in magic.

  It was as if her opponents were mere mortals that would be swept by an unstoppable tide—a tide that was more of a walking mini-goddess than human.

  Her blade sliced through the first soldier, his head flying straight into the ground, as she swiftly went to the next one, then the next one, then the next one. Two more squads appeared, trying to surround her as they opened fire with their guns.

  Their desperate effort however meant nothing, as Rosa had enough. Placing nearly a quarter of her mana reserves, she swung her sword horizontally, aimed at the soldiers that were more than a dozen meters away from her. A flash of light struck the soldiers and the buildings, fire engulfing multiple buildings as even their walls melted and collapsed.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  All of the soldiers, probably two dozen of them, were completely wiped out. Their bodies were either sliced or burned or completely ash as three buildings collapsed on them.

  Rosa, tired from expanding so much magic, planted her sword on the ground, as her radio flared up.

  “Captain!” Rosa’s XO called out, her voice a bit frantic. “T-they’ve surrendered. Why did you even—?”

  “It was effective, wasn't it?” Rosa asked as the remnants of the collapsed buildings around her burned. “They seem to be raising a white flag already.”

  “...”

  Soon, groups of North Hebeian soldiers scurried out of the rubble, their hands raised high. They all ran with fear and terror into Rosa’s direction, shouting desperate baubles about mercy and leniency. They were all surrendering.

  She didn’t feel triumph from what she did. All she felt was pity for these men who had nothing else in their lives but fighting and death.

  Even the men who were surrendering to her looked no good. Their faces were unkempt and dirty. Their winter clothes were of awful quality, many even damaged and old. Their bodies were also sickly and thin, some even showing signs of frostbite, their noses and chin reddened or blackened.

  Goddess…

  The fact that they still resisted so fiercely, so desperately, even when their bodies were sick, tired, and hungry was something that struck Rosa’s heart. While her methods were brutal at dispatching them, she always hoped that it would lead only to a quick and painful death, not the death that many of these men would go through if they didn’t die in battle—a slow and painful death from the elements.

  “We accept you,” Rosa shouted at them with her labored voice in Hebeian. “Just don’t try to pull anything stupid, or else.”

  +++

  Within an hour after the surrender of the North Hebeian unit stationed at the town, units from the OAF finally arrived after they engaged a major Larissan armored unit behind them, which was attempting to cut off the vanguards like Rosa’s unit close to Gaoshu.

  Multiple LSS Panthers arrived on the town, the OAF’s mechs presenting at last decent armored support for Rosa’s company. They were from B Company, 18th Light Mech Battalion, and their commander was Lieutenant Charles Rupkoff, representing the fifth platoon, a group of six LSS Panthers.

  “So, we’re planning to drive onwards to the next settlement eight klicks away,” Lieutenant Rupkoff explained to Rosa and her team of NCOs and officers in a building repurposed as a temporary command center. “They already permitted us to lead the assault with you. We’ll be acting as the vanguard, while your company will be the main force.”

  “Hmm, is the rest of your company not coming with you?” Rosa curiously asked after she looked at the paper map on the table, which showed the routes they would take to reach the next town. “It would be much easier after all, especially if we face off against a larger armored unit.”

  “Nope,” the army officer replied, his face scrounging up. “The rest of my battalion is still caught up in sectors behind us that are threatened by their counter-attacks. It’s quite a difficult situation, as we're overextended, but our high command is also refusing to give up the opportunity to take Gaoshu.”

  “Taking it would certainly ensure that Ginzhu itself would be fully cut off, and since we already committed to this attack, it would be nonsense to call it off,” Rosa crossed her arms, looking back at her officers and NCOs, all of them showing some skepticism in the plan. She looked back at Lieutenant Rupkoff and his men. “Still, this is risky.”

  “You ladies fought in Ginzhu itself?” Lieutenant Rupkoff cheekily asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “Well, y’all should have seen it,” he shook his head. “It’s some nasty shit down there. Casualties are too high, and we’re fighting block-to-block. That’s why we’re gambling here.”

  “I know that,” Rosa sighed. “Alright, I’ll be riding out with my personal HMLV with the most forward element in the assault though. I’m not going to be commanding from the back.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Lieutenant Rupkoff looked at her, up and down. “You’re one of the strongest battlemages of the 5th KDU, aren’t you?”

  “...”

  “I see,” the army officer turned back to his men, all of them shifting a bit as they stared at Rosa. She kept her chin up however at the stares—she always received this from other units when they interacted with her. Lieutenant Rupkoff said something to one of his sergeants, who nodded when they were done. “Okay, we’ll do it as you’d like.”

  “Thank you,” Rosa smiled. “I’ll get my team ready within ten minutes.”

  The army officer checked his watch, before nodding.

  “Good luck to us then,” he said. “We’ll need it.”

  +++

  Rosa watched as the members of Lieutenant Rupkoff’s platoon headed for their parked mechs. Their engines began to rev up, and their legs raised the hulls of the steel behemoths. Truthfully, she admired the beasts that these men somehow created. Sure, she and the Royal Guard liked the L?we for its superior protection, the LSS Panther represented a much more bold approach she respected.

  Fast, less-protected, superior firepower—it was somewhat of a glass cannon. A machine fit for men who wanted a fast battle, ready to die if need be.

  She went straight for her command HMLV. As always, her driver seemed a bit shifty, as she had been informed that they would be driving ahead of even the mechs right in front of them.

  “Calm down,” Rosa tried to say to her driver, and the younger woman nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” her driver muttered. “I was just shaken a bit by that tank earlier. It was so close…”

  “I know,” Rosa replied. “Just drive back fast once I’m deployed. You don’t need to risk yourself once I’m out of the vehicle.”

  She gave a reassuring tap on her driver’s shoulder, and the young woman nodded, determination flooding back into her face.

  They’d launch the assault soon.

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