Several dozen boats, countless magic weapons and dolls were created in order to combat the beast people and monster race. Furthermore, an other-worlder had been used to fight against the beast men, who pride themselves on their physical prowess. Which is several times that of a human, the Empire’s army was around 300,000.
Kazuya knew that the Empire had invaded due to a spy from the Canary Kingdom. Apparently the beast men and monster family had been caught off-guard due to the two pronged attack used by the Empire.
A unit from the monster group had attempted to form a defensive line in order to halt the advance of the imperial army at the border, so that they could buy time for reinforcements. They had completely secured themselves within a fortress. However, they were being bombarded by the slaughter machines that is the automatons. Equipped with “Charge Spears” and “Demon Guns”.
The monster army which were in the fortress and living in seclusion, attempted desperate resistance in order to keep the Imperial Army away just a little longer, but the imperial army with it’s magic weapons were winning.
As a result, after about 3 weeks. The Imperial army had completely broken through the fortifications on the border with extreme force.
In response to this, the main body of the non-human alliance army fought the imperial army. They had also engaged the other-worlder calling himself a hero and suffered heavy losses. They had failed to push them back.
So the army had marched forward, like and irresistible force. One after another, towns and villages were raided in loyalty to the Lowen Religion. All monsters had been slaughtered under this religion. Those who weren’t killed, were made into slaves.
「Haaa, we haven’t run away very far….」
In the allied territory, 2 elf sisters were breathing heavily whilst resting on an ancient tree.
The town where they had lived had been completely destroyed by the Imperial army. They had desperately tried to escape, however they had been noticed and were currently being pursued.
The elder sister Sarisa had pulled the younger sister Lydia’s hand and ran away from the pursuing force.
「Haa, haa. Nee-san, I can’t run anymore….」
「Lydia. It’s just for a little more」
「But, I can’t move my feet」
Saying so, Lydia put her hand on the big tree and started breathing heavily.
「Lydia stand up. We’ll be killed if we don’t run away!!」
「Nee-san, you should run ahead…..」
Because Sarisa had kept encouraging Lydia, she was able to run through the fatigue. However, it had accumulated and hit her all at once now.
「What are you saying? Lydia–」
At that moment. When Sarisa tried to continue, the bushes nearby began to rustle.
「I finally caught up!! You guys were so much trouble!!」
The sisters had been surrounded by the Imperial army pursuers.
Such a thing!! Do they not get tired from running!?
Sarisa was upset that she had been caught by the pursuers faster than expected.
「After making us go to all this effort, you think we’ll let you die easily? I’m going to kill you after I’ve teased you both thoroughly!!」
「「Uu…..」」
The eyes of the two people who were imagining their tragic future began to fill with tears.
When the soldier began to approach, the two sisters gave up on running and mutually embraced each other whilst trembling.
The soldier’s hand that was reaching for the sisters, suddenly disappeared.
「GYAAAAAAA!?!? MY ARM!!!!」
The soldier’s entire upper arm had gone, copious amounts of blood was spewing from the stump. He was writhing in agony.
The imperial soldiers as well as the elf sisters were stunned.
「Eh–」
「What is happening?–」
「His arm–」
When the soldiers had finally come to their senses. They were dying one by one, their vital points such as heart and brain exploding.
The two people hugged each other closely, enduring the fear of the soldiers dying one by one around them.
「A, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! くぁwせdrftgyふじこlp!!」(TLN: Literally says this in the RAW)
The final imperial soldier remaining couldn’t seem to cope with the fear and has gone insane.
He had attempted to run away, whilst saying something that didn’t seem like human speech. However, several steps ahead, his brain exploded and he fell down in place.
「…..Oh? Is it over already?」
After all the soldiers had been killed, Sarisa quietly looked up. Only the sounds of the grass moving in the wind and the birds could be heard.
The bushes began to rustle yet again, suddenly men completely covered in grass appeared one after another. They were surrounded.
The sisters who had seen these strange creatures had lost consciousness due to fear.
———
「Why won’t reinforcements arrive already!? At this rate we can’t advance any more!」
The Imperial army was aiming for the capital of the non-human alliance, they were advancing slowly. An aristocrat was raising his displeasure at the slow progress, to which a commander voiced out.
「There is a story about a group in the woods attacking our supply routes. The soldiers who have heard the rumour call them the “Reapers”….」
「Reapers? If they’re helping the monster group, then kill them quickly!」
「We can’t tell if they are working with the monster group」
「If so then why did they attack our supply routes!?」
「I don’t know. After all…..no-one who has seen them have returned alive…」
The commander was anxious about whether or not to report this matter to the troops.
「Ok!! Then send a unit to find out about these so called “Reapers”!!」
At this, 1000 soldiers as well as 40 magic weapons and 500 automatons had entered the forest in order to subdue the “Reapers”. (TLN: This isn’t overkill. Supplies routes are essential in military campaigns)
The special forces had been sent in to assist the non-human alliance. They dealt with a variety of missions, including assassinations of enemy commanders, aerial bombardment requests and disrupting supply routers.
「Let’s do it」
The lieutenant said as he showed a fearless smile towards warrant officer Clements. He was equipped with a Mosin-Nagant M28, similar to the one used by famous sniper Simo Hayha, also known as the “White Death”.
「…..isn’t there too many of them?」
As warrant officer Clements began to grumble, a radio signal came through.
『This is hound dog 01. Broadcasting the results of the surveillance from the RQ-11 Raven. 40 magic weapons and around 500 automatons as well as numerous lightly dressed infantrymen and witches, numbering around 1000 – 1500 people are approaching your location. Considering the fighting power, we are at a disadvantage. I advise guiding the enemy to a trap zone and annihilating them there』
『『『「Understood」』』』
「It’s ok. Let’s go」
「Yep….it will be fun」
Warrant officer Clements was the captain of the second company, call sign Delta. After returning an answer to hound dog 01 his unit began to follow the imperial army silently, like an animal stalking it’s prey.
「What the heck, is this a joke?」
Three days after a unit had been sent out to investigate the “Reapers”, still no news had been returned. The imperial army had sent many messengers in an attempt to receive information on the fate of the unit, but none returned alive. Eventually, one of the troop commanders took a small unit into the forest. There, he saw countless dead bodies, broken magic weapons and automaton wreckages.
3 days ago….
The 2nd company, codenamed Delta had skilfully led the imperial army into the trap zone, built deep within the forest.
Upon entering the forest, the imperial army had sent the magic weapon/demon gun wielders to the front line, to act as vanguards. The automatons were in the mid ranks, whereas the infantry covered the rear. Such a formation had been led into the trap zone set up by the special forces. After stepping foot in the zone, a jumping land mine shot into the air at a height of around 1.5m, at which time it exploded. Simultaneously, a claymore had also exploded, firing metal balls in a 360 degree arc.
Due to the suddenness of the attack, many infantrymen suffered death or severe injury from the metal balls. However, it had little affect on the magic weapons and automata who had their weak points covered in strong armour. But with the concentrated fire of theMK.19 automatic grenade launcher and the M2 heavy machine gun, the automata were the first to fall.
The MK.19 slaughtered the most automata in particular. The 40mm x 53mm multi-purpose high explosive projectile ammunition used for the gun was effective when used against armoured targets. It can instantly kill any personnel within a 5 metre radius of its landing point. In terms of a light infantry transport car, it can pierce about 5cm into its armour.
By the way, the ammunition used for the M203 Grenade launcher and the MK.19automatic grenade launcher are different. One uses a 40mm x 46mm round, whereas the other uses a 40mm x 53mm round respectively.
Some of the magic weapons and automata had managed to survive somehow and were desperately trying to protect the remaining infantry. They had attempted to fire the magic weapons into the forest, however every shot missed.
Even though the resistance was small, the anti-tank rockets of the RPG-7, M72 LAW, Type 87 and FGM-148 Javelin were launched.
The magic weapons and automata whom received such a barrage of anti-tank rockets were annihilated in an instant.
Then, the 300 or so infantry who were still alive after that attack, attempted to flee into the forest. After seeing their new weapons being destroyed so easily, they knew they were no match. To ensure none were left alive, a sniper platoon had been left in the forest, wielding the Mosin-Nagant M28’s and the KP31 sub machine gun’s.
The commander of the imperial army who saw this couldn’t keep quiet.
「All our magic weapons and automata have been destroyed, what the heck!? How could they destroy them? Their magic barriers were built to defend against even high ranked magic spells!! and there’s not even one enemy corpse!?」
The bodies of the retreating soldiers began to drop one by one. They appeared to have been pierced in either their chests or their heads. Countless bullets fell on the remaining soldiers.
「Is the grim reaper really in this forest?」
The devastation spread in front of his eyes caused a cold shiver to go down the commander’s spine. The soldiers under his command were squealing in pain behind him. Despite his shaking, he tried to give the official withdrawal order to the remaining soldiers.
Suddenly, the man running next to the commander fell down, a large hole had opened up through his head.
The commander was stunned as he looked up and saw a hail of 7.62mm bullets coming towards him, then he too, lost consciousness forever.
「Woot! Headshot!」
The lieutenant said so as he pulled the bolt back on his mosin-nagant m28. Ejecting the spent cartridge and loading another. He was completely ignoring the report of warrant officer Clements, who was acting as the observer.
「Next bullet. Hit. Also a headshot!」
Out of the two people the lieutenant shot, one of them was the enemy commander.
「Shit, I can’t change the elevation angle with the tree in the way」
Warrant officer Clements raised a voice of amazement towards the lieutenant.
「….truly lieutenant. It’s impressive enough that you can get a headshot from 400 metres away without using a scop」
「Don’t say pointless things, let’s chase the ones who are getting away」
The words of the warrant officer were ignored as the lieutenant ejected an empty cartridge and began to move.
「Eh!? Please wait a moment lieutenant! The sergeant major is on the other side anyway, isn’t it ok if we don’t go!?」
Again the warrant officer was ignored as the Lieutenant began to run after the retreating soldiers.
「I’m back」
A few days after the annihilation of the Empire’s troops. Warrant officer Clements had finished his patrol and had currently made it back to base.
「「Good work」」
2 people raised there voices in appreciation of the soldiers work. They then returned to their own personal compartments within the tent.
「It’s about time President Nagato got here」
「That’s right. Provided there are no problems, he should arrive at the capital of the non-human alliance within 2-3 days. Then we can begin our counter-attack and finally withdraw」
「Ahh….I’m bored. I might go check out our new finds」
「Well, I’m feeling tired. I had a long walk in the forest after all, I think I’ll go to bed」
The lieutenant then left the tent showing an amazed expression.
「Have you found anything?」
The lieutenant asked upon gazing at the magic weapons and automata brought back. A maintenance worker was currently working on them.
「Oh? Ah, it’s you lieutenant. It seems a rudimentary electronic circuit was used to control these machines. I still don’t fully understand it, we’ll have to do a more detailed examination back in our country….」
「I see. Hmm….it seems these weapons were made by an other-worlder as expected」
「Yeah, such technology shouldn’t exist in this civilisations current level」
「This could become troublesome later on…..」
「Agreed」
The lieutenant and the maintenance worker then continued there conversation in front of the spoils of war.