Chapter 147 - Chapter 6: Battle Italica: Valkyries versus Demons

"You're here at last!" Pina shouted with joy.

The sound of something hitting the ground with a dull thud caught her ears. Opening her eyes, which were previously closed, Piña saw Rory, the Elf, the mage, the black-clad warrior, and his companion looking at a man who was collapsed in front of the door. His eyes had rolled up in his head, and he had lost consciousness. Immediately, the three of them stared coldly at Piña.

Gulping, Pina muttered, "Could it be… that… that was my fault?"

Her answer came from the whole group. The white-clad mage, the black-clad priestess, the legendary black hero and the blonde, and blue-eyed Elf nodded as one. But the strange gray exoskeleton wearing female, standing beside the black-clad warrior, started to laugh uncontrollably. "She just. Puff. Hahahahaha…."

Momon looked to his companion and sighed. "Please forgive her. She is like a child." He said to Pina.

Itami recovered consciousness after a moment. "Owie" He said as he rubbed his chin while opening his eyes. It was then that he realized the face of Rory now filled his field of vision. Her black hair grazed across Itami's face. It was a little prickly. Itami soon became aware of the laugh coming behind him. He looked back, and he saw the still laughing Raidyn. "Why is she laughing?" asked Itami while he looked at Raidyn with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ignore her," Momon said blandly.

He heard Sergeant-Major Kuwabara trying to reach him through the radio and pressed the switch on his lower chest. "Lieutenant, are you okay? I was worried." Kuwabara said.

"Kind of, yeah. I passed out for a bit." He replied in a lazy, slow tone. It seemed his brain had been damaged.

"If you had waited any longer, I would have ordered our guys to burst in." The Sergeant Major said.

Being able to avoid an unnecessary battle was a form of happiness. It would be terrible if they left behind casualties because if this. Kuwabara had waited so long because such thoughts were on his mind. The need to rescue a captured comrade and the need to avoid a needless firefight. It was hard for him to decide which to prioritize.

"I'll contact you again once I figure out what's going on. Stand by for now." Ordered Itami.

"Got it."

Putting his radio away, the Lieutenant stood up. "All right then, who's going to tell me what's going on?" Itami asked, addressing the people around him.

Rory looked at Tuka, Tuka looked at Lelei, Lelei looked at Momon. Momon shook his head. Piña stared at the still laughing Raidyn for a moment; then she turned her gaze around pleadingly to everyone around her. In the end, they all looked away, worried looks on their faces.

Rory and Lelei knew it was just an accident, so they did not blame Piña. Raidyn was finishing her laugh, wiping away her tears of joy and helped up Itami. "That was rich."

Was it lukewarm or confused…? Well, the best word for their mood at that moment might be "leisurely."

Scene Change: JSDF base:

To describe the officers of the JSDF Special Region Expeditionary Force Headquarters, most of them were field-grade, and they were heatedly debating with each other. If things went poorly, it might even break out into a fistfight. Hazama looked at his subordinates and thought that they had probably held it in for a long time. Many members of the JGSDF Special Region Expeditionary Force were bored and restless. After all, there had been nothing for them to do after they came here. For example, there were the tasks they were doing now, which would be base defense, dispatching small recon teams to gather information for future planning, fine-tuning the unit's operational standards, all of which were primarily administrative tasks. As for base defense, there had only been a few live engagements in total, and the enemy's movements and strength were completely unknown.

So, under normal circumstances, they would maintain perimeter security, build up the base, or maintain their personal equipment. In the end, responsibility for defending the base was given to the 5th Combat Group, while the offensively-oriented 1st and 4th Combat Groups repeated their combat drills day after day in the base. By the way, the 2nd and 3rd Combat Groups were not on this side of the "Gate," while the 6th Combat Group and beyond were not fully formed yet.

At present, the Ministry of Defense was slowly rearranging troop deployments. He cited that there was no need to mobilize everyone since they were not planning a full-scale invasion. The additional mention of "operational budget" silenced all dissent.

Despite that, these restless men must have been intensely jealous after hearing that a certain recon team had "Encountered a dragon," and "Defeated a dragon and saved innocent civilians." In the homeland, where life was peaceful, and nothing of mention was happening, they could endure it. However, this side of the "Gate" was a battlefield, and the artillery and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) teams could be proud of their showing in battle, while the infantrymen eagerly discussed the tension before firing and the feeling of pulling a trigger. The engineers, on the other hand, were busy building walls and roads, and their uniforms were constantly stained with mud. And yet, some people were given missions where they could win glory, while they themselves…

Their twisted feelings, combined with the daily boredom of the 1st and 4th Combat Groups' lives, rotted the men's hearts. The officers who led these men had been infected by their restlessness as well. And then, like manna from heaven, Itami's request for reinforcements came in. The personnel who got word of this were overjoyed, and naturally, there was a noisy and boisterous response from the troops.

Itami's request could be summarized like this: Within the past month, a group of deserters from the enemy armed forces' central command has committed acts of plunder, violence, arson and wanton murder within the Italica domain. Several villages have fallen prey to them, and many lives have been lost.

3rd Recon Platoon was attacked while attempting to visit the town of Italica. The defenders have tried their best to mount a defensive battle, but losses have been heavy. A second large-scale attack is coming soon. By the request of the town's representative, Piña Co Lada, we have accepted the duty of providing security and protection for the local population. Please send help immediately.

The deserters from the enemy's armed forces' central command, also known as "bandits," are heavily-armed by the standards of the Special Region. We have confirmed the presence of cavalry, infantry, and bowmen in numbers exceeding 1000. The exact abilities of their mages were unknown. The city had no ability to eliminate these "bandits," and although the local authorities as represented by Count Formal's family have already submitted a request for reinforcements to higher authorities, they will take a minimum of three days to arrive. In other words, this was the perfect opportunity to save innocent civilians in the name of justice, beat the crap out of the bad guys, relieve their restlessness, and gain live combat experience!

The Colonels stomped their leather shoes as they argued fiercely beside General Hazama. Col. Kamo of the 1st Combat Group must have been tired of the endless arguments because he came before Gen. Hazama saying, "Please! Let us go!"

The 1st Combat Group was a combined-arms unit, built around a company of infantry. They were supported by artillery, AAA, tank, engineer, signals, sanitations, weapons and logistics platoons. "Our 101st Reinforced Squadron is at full strength and mission-ready! We're ready to go at any time!"

Behind Col. Kamo was Ltc. Tsuge. He stood up as well, saying something very troublesome. It was troublesome because he had gathered his men before the order to move out had been given. At this moment they were probably in full battle gear and running laps. "No, if we take our time jogging along the ground, we'll take too long to get there. Under these conditions, only we can get there in time. Commander, please order the 4th Combat Group into action."

Col. Kengun said this as he strode forward. The 4th Combat Group was a helicopter-centric aerial combat group… in other words, an American-style air cavalry unit.

"We've prepared the amplifiers and speakers, as well as Wagner CDs!" Reported Ltc. Youga of the 401st Squadron.

"Very good, Ltc. Youga," Kengun nodded. It seemed Kengun wanted to bring him along too.

"..." Hazama pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it slightly.

What should he do with them, these guys… were they possessed by the spirit of Colonel Kilgore? (Maybe their brains had rotted away...) Even so, he had no choice but to send reinforcements immediately. That being the case, the fast-moving 4th Combat Group would be the best option.

Hazama gave Kengun his orders. Col. Kamo and Ltc. Tsuge, among others, stood still as though bearing mute witness to the end of the world. Conversely, Kengun and Youga were all smiles.

"And what are you going to play?" Youga asked.

"The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, of course." Replied Kengun.

As he watched the two of them leave, Hazama could guess what the two of them would be like in a few hours.

The squadrons of AH-1 Cobra and UH-1J helicopters flew on an NOE (nap-of-earth) course, while their loudspeakers blasted Wagner's operatic score through the sky.

All around them, the bandits fled.

What came from the sky were wings of death.

Though there was no way there would be anti-aircraft missiles pointed at them, the helicopters launched flares anyway. These flares were weighed down by gravity and traced a trajectory through the air, and the dozens of smoke trails they left resembled the wings of an angel.

When the locals saw it, they must have trembled in fear at the descent of a goddess of war.

The AH-1 Cobras fired their rocket pods and turned the ground into a sea of fire.

Bullets rained from the sky and moved the bandits down.

There were no blind spots under their overlapping fields of vision. The troops did not even need to dismount, and they cut down the bandits from their perches on their helicopters.

The residents watching this must have taken this apocalyptic vision to be a glimpse of hell…

Scene Change Italica:

At this moment, the residents of Italica were desperately repairing their walls and barriers. Once they heard that they would be aided not just by the Apostle of Emroy, the Elf the mage, the two inspiring looking adventurers, but even by the "Men in Green," the townspeople's courage multiplied a hundredfold, and the soldiers' morale soared.

If they did have the power to kill a Flame Dragon, then routing these broken men who had become bandits would be a trivial task. Of course, the men in green only numbered 12, so they would still have to fight. However, once they took out their "rods of steel" and the denizens of Italica looked at the silent black warrior imposing figure and Raidyn strange armor and their imposing weapon, they already know. They could destroy the bandits easily.

The despair that filled the town from earlier had vanished. Now their eyes were filled with light and hope. Nobody wanted to leave their homes behind and flee, so if they could, they still wanted to protect this town. The presence of Itami and the others was the source of their hope. The eyes of the townspeople were locked firmly on the backs of Itami and the others.

At Piña's request, Itami had moved his people to the frontline on the south gate together with the two adamantine ranked heroes. This way, it would not be hard for them to respond to requests for help. According to her, the south gate had already been broken through once, and the defensive preparations there were destroyed. As such, it was a weakness in their defenses. In the upcoming battle, it should be the site of intense fighting.

The last time, they had halted the enemy advance with berms and fences, but the ensuing melee had left many dead. Now the townspeople were mobilized into fully repairing the fences and strengthen the berms.

To Itami, in order to safeguard the defensive line of the city wall and gate, it would be best to concentrate their fighting strength there. However, Piña insisted that they would have a second line of defense behind the walls of the fences in the interior. Her tactics seemed to assume that the main gate would be broken down.

Unlike Itami, who was waiting for reinforcements, Piña did not think they could hold out long enough for help to arrive, so her plan was to make the invaders pay in blood for every inch they advanced, in the hopes of breaking their morale. In truth, the idea was not a bad one, so Itami held his tongue.

Itami gathered his men atop the city gate. From there, they had a good view of the beautiful stone streets of a medieval-age town, under the light of the setting sun.

Although it was a regional town, Italica had a population of over 5000 people. It was located at the crossroads of the Appian Way and the Tisarian Way, and there were shops and inns located along the streets that ran in the four cardinal directions. Behind them were various warehouses, stables and merchant offices.

In the forest to the north was the large manor of Count Formal, which was surrounded by other luxurious homes, turning it into a high-class residential district. The south, east and west portions were surrounded by stone walls, while the north was surrounded by cliffs as a natural barrier.

Momon and Raidyn inspected the outskirts of the city. The roads stretched to the horizon. Planting fields and fallow field where the cattle grazed- Fallen trees, forest and a few small houses littered the ground. Thanks to their increased perception the two adventurers spotted from afar the approaching bandit's scouts. The scouts were several men on their horses. The scouts moved slowly. They probably tried to spy the defense of the state of the city defenses. It was pretty obvious our heroes. Beyond them, they could see the bandits' hideout.

"Itami-kun. Our visitors will be soon here." Warned him Raidyn.

Itami looked in the direction where she pointed. "I don't see anything."

"Use your binoculars." Said, Momon.

Itami used his binoculars and spotted the scouts and their hideout.

"So, we're going to take their attack head-on, huh." He turned to the two adventurers. "Thanks, guys. Ahh…." He scratched his face nervously. "How can you spot them from that far without binoculars?"

"Our eyes a lot better than the most humans and elves and we magically enchanted our eyesight." Raidyn pointed to her heterochromatic eyes as she explained it to Itami.

Itami nodded uneasily. "From their camp size and their movement, I guess they are around one thousand, one thousand and two hundred."

Itami nodded. "That means. The bandits did not have the option of an enveloping attack." He noted.

Momon nodded. "It would be a foolish action if they try that."

There were far too few bandits to encircle the town, and a siege would take a very long time. That would be dangerous for the bandits. Similarly, tunneling and a slow, cautious advance by digging trenches were out of the question. That being the case, the bandits could only pick a point and assault it. However, that was not simply an application of brute force, but an attack that would make use of the unique advantage of the attacker.

This advantage was the attackers' ability to dictate the time and place of their engagements. With this freedom, they could feint an attack and then break through the weakened defenses elsewhere. That was the typical approach. The objective they would attack would still be weak, despite it being a feint.

"I see, so the reason they gave us the south gate was…" Itami murmured

"They planned to deliberately make a weakness along the defensive line, which would draw in the enemy's attacks towards here. It seems we got some fun after all." Raidyn chuckled.

"The princess' tactic is understandable. But what will guarantee it will work twice? If you ask me it is a rocky mistake..." noted Momon.

During the last battle, they had also deliberately feigned a vulnerability, so the enemy would think it was an easy target. When the enemy committed themselves to the attack, they began a battle of attrition with them from the strong second defense line. Practically speaking, even if the enemy broke through the city gate, they would be stopped and worn down against the sturdy inner defensive line. Since the attackers' and defenders' forces were too small for a pitched battle all over the city, they favored concentrating their forces like that.

Giving the weaker south gate to Itami and the others was a tacit admission that they were going to be bait, in order to turn the south gate into the site of a pitched battle. Thinking of that, it made more sense that she would focus on reinforcing the inner defensive line.

The enemy should have considered this after being beaten once. Would they really try to attack this weakly-defended location?

Raidyn turned to Momon. "What do you say Momon-kun? Do we go and take care of the attacking army by ourselves?"

Itami and the others looked at the adventurer woman with a dumbfounded expression. Rory just smiled in the courage of the hero in full clad gray exoskeleton. "Raidyn-san! You can't be serious!" shouted Kuribayashi. Raidyn just smiled.

Itami turned to Momon. "Is she serious?"

Momon sighed. "Completely, I know that she is capable of wreaking havoc once she gets lose…" he turned to Raidyn. "Raidyn. "

"Yes?" she turned her head to her adventurer's companion.

"We are here to defend this position and give support if needed," explained the black-clad hero.

"Ok-Ok. Geez. You don't let me live a little. You are like a grumpy granny." She puffed her cheek like an offended child.

Momon patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You can indulge yourself after the enemy has been broken the gate."

She huffed. "Fine." Then closed her helmet what slid on her face. "Stupid rules…"

[Message]: "I feel the escort summons that I gave Beelzebub are coming in this direction." said Esdeath.

[Message]: "I feel my summons as well. They are not far from our position. I hope Itami and his troops will not start to fire at them after they see them." replied the avatar of death.

[Message]: "Right… Most people became completely frightened after they seen our summons. Mostly yours. You really need to make them friendlier looking to the people." said the enforcer of Nazarick in a sarcastically tone.

[Message]: "Hm… Why should I? I think they look cool. The Death Knights look exactly like that to strike fear in the hearth of the enemy. This is why they are called Death Knights, not, for example, friendly knights." Answered Momonga sarcastically.

[Message]: "I mean. The children in the kingdom don't really want to sit on their necks and play with them."

[Message]: "Because they are not toys. They are cannon fodder what we use to kill our enemies. Beside that. Your summons is not really better. Whenever the enemy spots them and their energy weapons. They became completely frightened. Did you seen the expression on Hazama's face when we told him we are from another world? I think he thought we are some kind of hyper advanced civilization who can use and make energy weapons." explained Momonga.

[Message]: "This is why I equipped them with those weapons. They will think twice to attack us or interfere with our operations." Explained Esdeath.

[Message]: Momonga sighed in the internally. "You are right partly. I only hope they will not drop an atom bomb on us."

[Message]: "I hope too… If their politics are like the ones in our time. They are too cowardly to do that. That may cause many voters to vote for someone else. Besides that, let them drop their bombs, I really don't care. We are at the level where we can survive such weapons and if we use our defensive abilities we can even survive if the planet collapses under our feet and became a super massive black hole! You know, they leveled up significantly under our absence. " said Esdeath.

[Message]: "Yeah. That place was really freaky. And strangely it was exactly like the Warhammer 40k verse."

[Message]: "Yeah. But you know the infinite universe theory. Everything is possible." Noted Esdeath.

[Message]: "I remember. After we trapped in that universe. Our presence draws the attention of those Demon Princes, the Eldars, The Imperium of Men, The Necrons plus the Tyranids. We were in really deep shit. Of course, we managed and gained some allies in the end. Fought around nine hundred more years. I remember that Necron guys started to worship you after another four hundred years. That was funny." Esdeath laughed.

[Message]: Momonga laughed too but his emotion suppression kicked in. "Indeed, that was rich!"

[Message]: "I must admit. That little exercise gave a good amount of experience. Then those entities what they called themselves? Chaos gods?"

[Message]: "If I remember correctly. Yes, they called themselves that. There was a guy who named himself Khorne, and another one who named himself Tzeentch. A bloated rotting tentacle guy who named Nurgle and a… I don't know it was a guy or a woman. He/she was a little ambiguous. He/she was named Slaneesh" Esdeath spat the words with disgust in her tone.

[Message]: "Yeah. After we managed to defeat their strongest servants. They offered place to us on their side. Then you said to them 'Fuck YOU!' and showed them your middle finger." In his head, Momonga recalled the event.

[Message]: Esdeath recalled the moment as well. "Not my brightest idea if I remember it right. But I am slave to no one and I saw it in their looks. They are not looking for partners but slaves. You know I hate slavery. I remembered they threw you in the other end of that place. What was it called…. Ah, I remember! Immaterium. They strapped me to a chair and tortured me for I don't know how long. It was not pleasant."

[Message]: "It was not a pleasant place indeed. In the Immaterium time is not really an existing thing. So, I don't know how much time it took until I reached you. Fortunately, we learned to draw strength quite early from our surrounding and level up by using it."

[Message]: "Yeah, yeah. I got plenty of time while I was strapped in that chair and went through various tortures. I even lost my sense of time in that place not speaking about my mind. But at least I had time to work out the proper way to level up subtly using my torturers energies against them while they gave me hand to hand to each other. Either for torture or to experiment on me."

[Message]: "I remember. When I found you. You already escaped with that infernal chair and you stood above that ambiguous looking chaos entity. You looked like shit, with all of your restrictions off and your ascended aether form. I'm sorry to say this."

[Message]: "None taken. I must admit. I looked like shit after the torture sessions. I even lost my mind while that Slaanesh guy just laughed. But his/her eyes widened when I found out his/her weakness and took no pleasure killing him/her. Do you remember? I almost killed you because I thought you were just another illusion." Esdeath recalled the moment.

[Message]: "That was not pleasant indeed. I must admit when you attacked me. I feared that was my last moment of my un-life. But at least, in the last moment, you regained your mind when that Golden armored Guy appeared and placed his hand on your forehead."

[Message]: "Yeah. I even today I feel the symptoms of those little torture sessions. But it was priceless to see when after I finished that pleasure maniac and we started our little crusade in their world. Of course, they tried to stop us. But it was already too late, and we figured out their weakness. It was priceless to see when you used your [The Goal of All Life Is Death] on that Nurgle guy. I remember he said. "You can't kill the god of diseases, life, death, and rebirth pitiful creature!' Yet he was the one who completely disappeared after the spell hit and we got another member of our little crusade by that woman joining in. If I remember correctly. her name was Isha." explained Esdeath why her mind is a little unstable.

[Message]: "I don't know how long it took. But we managed to clear out that place. Still, it's true that we managed to destroy their astral bodies. I feel their consciousness remained. They just lost a great amount of power and influence over the place."

[Message]: "Indeed. But don't speak about that anymore. Too much bad memories can cause me to lose my head again."

[Message]: "Do you still have those seizures?" inquired Momonga.

[Message]: "Unfortunately yes. But they are a lot less intense since I used that meditation technique what Goldy and Isha showed me."

[Message]: "Goldy?" asked Momonga.

[Message]: "You know that guy who called himself Emperor of Mankind or Anthema."

[Message]: Momonga nodded inwardly. "I see. But I am glad. I don't want to lose my last friend."

[Message]: "Don't worry Sans. I won't leave you. At least until I teach you how to beat the last boss in Dark Souls 10. You are really crappy at that game."

The two Supreme being laughed in unison in the [Message].

"Furuta! Put the machine gun over here. Azuma, rifles goes there." Kuwabara assigned each soldier their designated Area of Responsibility.

The troopers braced themselves and their Type 64 rifles against the crenelated walls.

They would be firing down from a height of three stories. If the enemy drew close enough, they could start shooting arrows at them, so they designated the range of the bows as the FPL (final protective line), and apart from that, they could pick their own targets at their own pace.

There was only an hour left until the sun completely set. Kuribayashi distributed the night vision gear while Kurokawa was left to mind the vehicles and equipment. She offered a pair to Momon and Raidyn, but they simply refused. Saying they used to fight at night.

Behind Itami and the others were a large number of citizens carrying farming tools or wooden clubs, waiting uneasily for directions. Just then, Nishina came, holding a phrasebook in one hand with both arms out, making digging motions, and indicating that they should fill the sacks they had with earth and bring them over.

The others were collecting burnable wood, in preparation for a bonfire. The townspeople wondered why they weren't making a fire at night as they worked.

Meanwhile, someone asked a question of Itami, who was looking through his helmet-mounted night vision gear with Tuka and Lelei.

"Eh? Why are we helping the Imperials who should be our enemy? Well, it's to protect the people of this town." Itami replied.

Rory laughed as she heard the answer. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, I do." Answered Itami.

Itami's attempt at humor made Rory shrug in a "stop kidding me" way.

To Itami, the Empire was his enemy. If they went by the reasoning of "The enemy of the enemy is my friend," it would not be strange to take the bandits as allies, but Itami did not do that.

Piña was an Imperial Princess defending Count Formal's family. Because of that, she had negotiated with Itami and asked for his help.

Rory was there too, but since she couldn't stand Piña's presence, she left shortly after. And when Piña asked Momon and Raidyn help defend the city and against the men in green if they turned against them. They simply said yes for the first and a maybe to the second.

Being the first city where the expedition force will come. It would be quite unpleasant if they had to rebuild it after they killed the bandits. It would be the waste of precious resources.

Officially, they could fight together because they had the same objective of defending Italica.

Even so, Rory still could not understand why Itami and the two adventurers were taking orders from an enemy princess. After all, they should have expected that the south gate would become a forlorn hope and the site of a fierce battle.

"Do you want to know why we help her?" asked Raidyn as she helped Itami who was clumsily tried to attach his night vision gear to his helmet.

"Why?" asked Rory.

Raidyn smiled. "Just… Because it is the right thing to do. Because we don't have another thing to do. And because the simple fact we can't let innocent people slaughtered."

"Emroy is a war God, so he does not forbid killing. However, the motive for the killing is important. Lies stain the soul." Explained Rory.

After she had finished helping with Itami, she looked into Rory's eyes. "That's a good thing. I don't like lies either. At least this Emroy guy has this positive quality." She smiled to the loli half goddess.

Rory tilted her head and smiled. "So, you consider become Emroy acolyte?"

"No. Although, there was another reason why we help…"

Rory looked at Raidyn like she was going to bore through her with her eyes.

"I assume Itami sought reinforcement from their base. I think he wants to make the Princess understand not to mess with them. Hazama asked us personally not to allow such mess. And as the saying goes. 'A promise made a debt unpaid.' " Explained the Supreme Being with a smiling expression.

"H-How did you know that?" asked Itami as he stepped one step back.

Raidyn looked at him with a satisfied expression under her mask. "It is obviously silly. I know your people will not hurt the people of Italica. But we can't be sure right?" She tilted her head. "After all. Human nature is unpredictable. But I think you and the JSDF guys only want to protect the city besides this apparent reason. Right?"

Itami nodded uneasily.

Rory smiled malevolently, as she believed she understood Raidyn's words.

"Interesting. Very interesting."

Itami wanted to carve the word "fear" into the Princess' heart. He would show his fighting power to her without holding back and make her tremble at the thought of doing battle with him. That way, getting along with him would be much more attractive than fighting the JSDF. But a strange kind of uneasiness seized him as he looked to the two adamantine ranked adventurers. He felt. It does not matter if they have superior technology. The two adventurers could cut them down at any moment with ease.

"Well, if that's the case, I'd like to help too. It's been a while since I last had the chance to cut loose."

Momon was not in the scene. Because of the simple reason. He can't really stand Rory presence, unlike Raidyn who found her funny. Instead, Momon helped to organize the defense using his long years of military experience what helped him conquer the New World.

Rory lifted her skirt and curtseyed to Itami and Raidyn, like a dancer bowing to her partner. Raidyn made a curtsey accepting the dance offer.

The battle began when the night was almost over.

The attack was executed just before the sun rose.

In the darkness before dawn, the bandit archers launched flame arrows at the eastern gate.

At the eastern gate was the knight Norma Co Igloo.

Under Norma's direction, the sentries and militia returned fire with their bows. Though they were called militia, they were farmers who had never touched a bow in their lives and expecting accuracy from them was impossible. However, their arrow fire would suppress the enemy and might even cause a casualty or two. In this way, the battle became an exchange of arrows for a time. The soldiers, the farmers, the broken men who had become bandits, they all screamed and fell.

Between the archers marched footmen in armor and carrying sturdy shields. They pressed close to the wall. Their uniforms were varied while their shields were of different sizes and shapes, which suggested that they were of mixed origins. Against them, the stout grocery shop aunties and the older children hurled rocks or poured cauldrons of molten lead down on them. These weapons were more efficient and destructive than the inaccurate bows volleys.

Below the walls, the bandits raised their shields in an attempt to protect themselves from the storm of arrows and rocks raining down on them. Even if they were shot by arrows, knocked out by rocks, or burned alive by boiling oil, they did not retreat. They must have wanted to expand the hatred and frustration they felt at not being able to attack Arnus and Dalnus against this place, and they rammed the eastern gate with huge logs.

As for the bandits… for the remnants of the defeated coalition army and the second expedition force, the Battle of Arnus and Dalnus was not a battle.

In Arnus. Without having even glimpsed their enemy, without knowing what was going on, their own people had simply fallen over. But the soldiers who fought near Dalnus hill the experience was worse. Despite seeing their enemies face to face, they still have nightmares to this day, and most of those who escaped simply went mad. Cursing the gods and the Empire that sent them to their deaths.

That was not battle. No, that was one-sided massacre what composed by the monsters. Every soldier who was present in that battle saw in first-hand how those monsters simply cut down their fellow troopers. Then turning them into undead monstrosities. How those horses ate their fellow soldier's souls. How those black armored looking-angel beings simply skinned them alive with their magic weapons.

The hatred for the Empire, which had cruelly kept them in ignorance of their foe, their grudges against the useless commanders who could only urge them forward to their deaths, these feelings and the fear of facing were deeply carved into their hearts. Without commanders, without comrades, without allegiance, without supplies, without food, without their sane mind. They wandered around in the wilderness, and in the end, they had become bandits, without even their homes. Soon, others who had suffered as they did come together, and their numbers had grown until now.

Their respect for the Empire had become an equal amount of hatred and anger, which ruled their souls. This was war, which sliced with swords, killed with arrows, burned with fire and trampled with hooves. This was war, with its rape, its plunder, its massacres, and its deaths.

Indeed, they had made war their motivation. A personal war, a war that could satisfy them. A simple slaughter, a simple spreading of death. The feelings of stabbing, slashing and being stabbed, bathing in one's opponents' blood, hugging the cold earth as they died. They threw themselves forward to experience this. If not, the war would be over for them.

Several ladders caught on the city wall. The bandits raised their shields and climbed them. Avoiding the arrows that flew at them, the bandits finally reached the top of the wall.

A brave farmer hacked up a ladder even after taking an arrow in the shoulder. The bandits praised his courage as they fired their arrows, cheering for him even as they cut him down. The ladder that had lost its grip on the wall fell with the soldiers to the ground, along with the farmer that had brought it down.

Even the loud crash as it hit the ground brought a round of cheering. It was as if though they had gone mad at a festival, banging on the shields with their swords and screaming in their own tongues. This was the song of praise they sang to Emroy, god of war.

The madness of battle was their sacrifice to Emroy and the flames of war, fuelled by the souls of the dead combatants, burned fiercely.

The flame arrows struck the clock tower, which burned wildly out of control against the black of the night.

The Apostle, Rory Mercury, was trying to endure it.

She hugged herself to endure it.

Sweat gushed down her forehead.

"Wh-why?"

The spirit of battle that floated around her infected her flesh and penetrated her spirit.

"Why aren't they attacking here?"

Momon and Raidyn looked in her direction seeing the data what the souls constructed from flowing through her direction. Entering in her body then vanishing through the connection what connected her to Emroy.

The flames of war-scorched her soul and sweet movements flowed from her heart and up her swaying spine.

Her arms and legs moved on their own, and she shook like a priestess who was intoxicated by hallucinogenic drugs.

"Huuu…. haaaa…"

The pleasure flowing out from inside her nearly brought her to climax, and against the black of night, the demigoddess twisted her body so everyone could see her bewitching form.

"Is she alright?"

Itami wanted to go over to Rory since he was surprised by her sudden frenzy, but Lelei and Tuka stopped him.

"It's because she's an Apostle…"

He did not quite understand, but that seemed to be why Rory was so frustrated.

Raidyn stepped forward. "A massive amount of data flowing through her body."

If she was like this while she was so far away from the battlefield, what would she be like in the center of it?

She would probably see everyone as an enemy and slaughter them all. Nobody would be able to stop her, not even herself.

Lelei's and Raidyn's explanation just made Itami nervous.

Itami turned to Raidyn. "Can you help her?"

She thought for a moment. "I could, but that will irreversibly damage her connection whatever she is connected to. It would like I cut out your spine and expect from you to walk without it like nothing happened."

Itami gulped nervously.

Meanwhile in the other side of Italica.

"Bandits should go attack villages! You're pretty damn bold to attack a town!"

This was Norma the knight's cry. He had discovered that none of the arrows on his side had hit. Even if all the people on his side were amateurs, he could see that the path of the launched arrows had mysteriously diverted from their targets, as though they were protected by the wind.

"Could it be that the enemy can summon spirits?"

Norma drew his sword and cut down a southern bandit who was scaling the wall. The stricken soldier fell off the wall and to the ground.

However, a bearded bandit from the north tried to hack Norma down from behind.

After intercepting it with his sword, the bandits behind continued attacking the militia on defense. They had spears, clubs, morningstars, twin swords, scimitars and more.

The endless flow of bandits overwhelmed the people of Italica, and they had nowhere to run.

There were some differences in the current situation from Piña's battle plan.

They had expected the first line of defense to fall, but it had fallen too soon. Now the tops of the city wall were a battleground, and the sentries and militia had been forced off.

"We're too weak. That's even when you consider the raised morale."

They'd had expected the enemy to be aware of their schemes and to be on guard for it.

However, in truth, the enemy was not on guard at all.

They attacked and attacked, without any tactics or strategy,

And the militia and sentries who took this attack were caught wrong-footed right from the beginning. Thus, they could not pin down the enemy like Piña had hoped. They could not even inflict significant losses. Still, on the whole, the defenders could still fight.

"Reality is different from what you picture in your head." Piña, who knew this, was not surprised that her plan had not turned out exactly as she had hoped.

Even if she felt a vague sense of foreboding, like something stuck between her teeth, Piña followed the plan and moved her main fighting strength from the east gate to the defensive barriers they had built in the interior.

The east and northwest gates were reinforced with a second defensive line of berms and fences.

Although a second defensive line sounded good on paper, they had been built with the assumption that the first line would be overrun. So the first line was essentially a sacrifice.

The militia did not understand this when the battle started. However, now they realized that the people manning the gates had been abandoned from the start.

Their allies stood at the berms and other barriers they built behind them, yet none of them stepped forward to help. They were merely watching them fight and die. How many people would not despair after realizing this?

Some people realized this and gave up, swinging their swords wildly until they soon fell.

"Where are the men in green? Where are those two armored adventurers? Where are our reinforcements?!"

They could not possibly come. After all, they had been stationed at the south gate, as fellow sacrifices.

And so, as the townspeople watched, the gate's last defender finally fell.

Piña had assumed that the bandits would immediately press the attack once they took the east entrance, but the bandits did not do so. They raised their swords and spears and cheered three times. This was a literal sacrifice, after all. After that, the city gates opened slowly, and the cavalry and soldiers from outside entered.

The horsemen dragged the corpses of the militia and sentries who had fallen from the city wall. They began tossing those bodies into the city.

Among them were the bodies of the rock-throwing children and the aunties.

They hurled the severed heads of farmers and merchants at the inner fence.

As the townspeople waited for the enemy to attack, the corpses of their friends, relatives, and family piled up like a small mountain.

The townspeople facing the bandits from behind the fences gritted their teeth against their tears and despair, while the bandits mocked them.

They cursed and insulted them as cowards hiding in a cage.

They toyed with the corpses as though they were puppets.

How could the militia, made of farmers and merchants with weapons, bear to watch this?

"Bastards!"

A hot-blooded young man leaped over the fence, shovel in hand, while others also joined him.

In this way, the battle inside the city was completely different from how Piña had envisioned it, and her battle plan fell apart.

Meanwhile back with our two heroes and the JSDF.

Rory's lewd moaning and physical contortions grew more intense as time passed.

She held her breath and shook her hair. Her body bent backward like a bow. She grabbed her head, on the verge of tears, and her feet stamped the ground.

Her feverish grasping and twisted expression looked like she had been cursed like she was a puppet shuddering on her strings, her body twitching and her arms flailing.

It was a cursed, mad dance she could not control by her own will, but it was beautiful.

According to Lelei's explanations, the souls of the fallen were passing through her body on their way to Emroy. Although she would be influenced by the personalities of the soul and their fighting spirit, to a demigoddess like her, they were like an aphrodisiac.

Just giving into this frenzy would be easy, but she couldn't just give in, or rather, she was not allowed to give in. The heat and anxiety burning through her chest were making her suffer.

"No, no, nooo! I'll go crazy if this goes on!"

You, watching from behind, whispered, "Dammit. I'm hard."

"Shut up, man, so am I."

Although neither of them was into children, Rory's moaning must have made them think of something pleasant. The voice from Rory's shuddering body was just that seductive.

As expected, Kuribayashi whispered, "This is bad, right?" Tuka covered her blushing face, while Lelei's was a picture of calm indifference.

Itami's sigh was his answer.

It would seem both sides had forgotten this place. There was no sign of the enemy, nor were there any messages from their allies. Thus, they had no way of knowing what was happening at the east gate.

The reinforcements from Arnus should be here, and they needed a forward observer to guide their attacks, so he decided to send someone over.

"Raidyn can I have a request?" asked Itami.

"Shoot!" answered the hero lazily.

"Sorry about this, but could you accompany Rory? Having men around might cause problems. After that, we, including Tomita for a total of five people, will head to the east gate. Sgt. Maj. Kuwabara, I'll leave the rest to you. Rory, we're going! Just hang on a bit more!"

But Rory could not bear it any further.

She jumped down from the three-storey high city wall and darted toward the east like a rabbit.

"Well, this is the signal. Don't worry. I will take care of her." And with that Raidyn jumped after Rory and followed her.

Momon stepped forward. "I will follow them. She can lose her head sometimes in the middle of the battle."

Itami nodded to the black-clad warrior who immediately followed his companion. And rushed into battle.

Raidyn and Momon jumped roof to roofs closely following the black-clad demigoddess.

Meanwhile, the honor guard of Ainz's son approached the city with full speed. The charge was being led by a mounted golden armored honor guard. Creon on his armored Bicorn Warlord, Beelzebub on his Demonic Attronach, the Death Knights on their Soul Eaters, and the black armored Nephalem Guards on their armored aether horses.

Twenty-five from the black armored Nephalem guards and twenty-five magic caster who did not have a horse already was in the air using the Fly spell. Backing up the ground forces. Bombarding the enemy with their magic and weapons if it is necessary. Twenty from the Nephalem Guards grabbed twenty Death Knights while they took off from the ground.

They flew towards the city of Italica. The ten Eight-Edged Assassin's that escorted them have already scouted the city and the state of the battle previously.

The foot soldiers followed them rushing close behind "Faster! We need to reach the city in time!" commanded Ainz's heir. "Every second we waste more innocents die!"

With that, the honor guard hastened their charge.

They were in the city range, and under approximately one minute the first rider will reach the first bandit who was on the walls. Beelzebub looked to his guard captain. "Creon, my aunt always said the first impression is the most important thing." He smiled as he activated the audio broadcasting item what magically broadcast whatever music he chooses or even his voice if he needed it. He activated it and used it to play his entrance music what he found in the archives.

After he had finished with it, he unsheathed his blazing sword and ordered his soldiers to hasten their charge.

Insert Music: Two Steps from Hell - Protectors of the Earth

Meanwhile, in the city, the battle raged. Blades carved into flesh and blood sprayed out. A human head came apart like a watermelon being split at the seaside. The sound of the sword hit echoed around. There were shouts of men facing their doom and bitter cries of suffering. Like a train station at rush hour, people were pressed against each other everywhere.

Nobody could spare a thought for the overall situation. All their attention was focused on the enemy in front of them while they hacked and slashed with their swords. Of course, some people were cowering on the ground, trying to crawl to a place without enemies, but they were trampled into the ground by horses.

The ground was strewn with corpses and bodies and remains, and the stone floor was dyed a reddish black by dried blood, and the brighter red of freshly-spilled blood flowed from friend and foe alike.

Then the back guard of the bandits heard as a song starts to play everywhere and nowhere at once.

That was why they did not hear the distant sound that thundered through the air.

A war song. Women's singing rang through the sky, accompanied by drums, trumpets, and violins.

At this moment, time stood still.

It stood still when she leaped over the berms, the fences, and landed on the ground.

She knocked over men and horses, friend and foes, and cleared a space around her.

In that instant, everything stopped.

Under the force of that impact and its destructive power, all sound vanished, and the clamor of battle faded away. In its place, they heard the sound of trumpets and as numerous horses with otherworldly neigh charge in the direction of the gate.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the black object that had appeared before them.

It was a girl in jet-black priest's clothing, edged with lace. She was followed by a full clad jet-black warrior who unsheathed his two enormous exquisite looking swords and a masked, hooded figure who wore some kind of leather coat and underneath it a gray skin tight exoskeleton.

Both her knees rested on the ground as the two warriors fallen in the ground with a big thud.

Her left hand was planted on the floor.

In the other was a halberd that sent chills up people's spines.

She raised her head, and her mad eyes looked forward. A radiant silver glow limned her hair.

At that moment, as the demigoddess smiled mockingly while the horns blew, the top of the east gate caught fire.

The Nephalem Guards started to drop the Death Knights to the ground, and the terrifying creatures arrived in the middle of a battle zone with a bug thud. Causing panic and leaving a big crater in their wake. The massive creatures equipped with armor made of black metal with red bloodlines engraved on it. The armor has sharp thorns everywhere and looks like an incarnation of violence. Two demonic horns emerge from the helmet, with the face being visible underneath. It has a disgusting, rotted face whose empty eye sockets are filled with hate and killing intent, glowing with a flashing red light.

Recognizing the creatures from the battle of Dalnus hill the experienced deserters either started to run away while screamed unintelligible words or fallen on their knees waiting for the inevitable.

Raidyn smiled under her mask. [Message]: "It seems our forces have arrived Momonga-san."

[Message]: "Indeed. It was a quite good entrance and Beelzebub chosen a quite good entrance music. I feel they charge in our direction at the moment."

The twenty Death Knights stood still for a moment. Then unsheathed their serrated swords what emitted a dreadful aura and started their massacre like clockwork.

The attack came from several sides, in several waves as the mages and the Nephalem Guards started their bombardment while flew above the area.

From the east to the west, then doubling back and going over the ground they covered… again and again, from left to right, front to back, an endless hail of spells and energy projectiles sprayed across the land and killed everything that moved.

The bandits scattered, like a swarm of fleeing spiders. However, whether on foot or mounted, none of them could escape.

The bandits, caught in the middle of their burning, killing, and pillaging, had the tables turned on them, and they fell to the ground after being hit by the spells. Stamped down by the various mounts of the Honor Guard or killed by the Death Knights raising the fallen again in the process as low-level zombies.

A brave man actually managed to nock and loosed an arrow at them, but the arrow fired into the sky had little force. Even if they hit the mages and the creatures. The arrow what they let lose does not have enough data content and penetrating power to penetrate the magical shields of the Sorcerer Kingdom mages. The arrows fell swiftly, without any power.

Seeing they had nothing to fear from the sky. Esdeath ordered her summons through their mental connections to land the ground and help the ground forces.

Italica's city gate was wreathed in crimson flame, and the sun that rose into the sky filled the world with heat and radiance.

The fully armored soldiers were sliced to shreds by the Death Knights, The Nephalem Guards, and the honor guards highly trained soldiers and mages.

The sound of Death's wings was different from those of birds. It was a more ferocious, more foreboding sound than their's, which repeated on and on.

The mounted Piña, who was pressing her throat as she shouted orders, suddenly lost her voice and stared mutely at the tragedy unfolding before her.

She watched the horrifying creatures with their energy wings and the small figures whose accompanied them, soaring through the sky that they owned.

The first thing one would think of when one mentioned airborne troops were obviously the Dragon riders. But what Piña saw could not have been possible, but a far more terrible thing. Dragon riders were efficient and elegant as once. But this was an entirely another level.

When the magical flames in various color what shot by the mages and the Nephalem Guards struck the ground, they destroyed everything they hit. Stones were reduced to pebbles; horses were blasted to pieces and men caught in the blasts lay down and died.

It was a symphony of death. She had heard all sorts of music during her courtly life, but Piña had never before heard such a beautiful yet stately display. Horns, trumpets, bassoons and the voice of the singer thundered across the battlefield with incredible volume, playing an accompaniment to a massacre.

Piña shuddered, as though she had been stabbed in the back by a sword of ice. In an instant, everything had been destroyed by an absolute brutality and precise movements that nothing could resist. Her emotions, positive and negative, blended within her and shook both her body and soul. Then she saw the horror on the ground as the undead looking horrifying creatures, the winged beings and the freshly arrived golden armored soldiers continued their massacre. The young Princess never saw such efficient yet terrifying scene, and she will surely have nightmares after this night for a long time.

Piña's mind and soul were battered by the carnage on all sides assaulting her every sense.

She eventually came to the conclusion that humanity was worthless, meaningless, and powerless.

Until now, all the foes she had met had been physically massive beings.

However, this was a mistake.

She could not look them in the eye, yet she could not tear her eyes away.

Piña was defeated by the melancholic orchestra what apparently she heard from everywhere and nowhere. Her pride, her status, everything about her which had worth was denied in an instant.

She did not know what the words meant, but she understood their meaning.

"Oh, the minuscule humanity!"

"Oh, the tragic and powerless humanity!"

"What of your power and authority? All those things you pass down through the generations, we shall destroy in the blink of an eye, like so!"

Piña wept as she felt the demonic disdain. At the same time, she knew there were powerful beings which far exceeded herself.

Powerful beings.

Radiant beings.

What welled up in her heart was respect. Respect and fear.

And there was despair, which such awesome entities were so far removed from her.

"Crap! Rory, she — she's charged into the middle of the enemy!"

As an otaku, Itami was in awe of Rory's and the two adventurers' strength as the three of them sliced through the masses.

In Momon's exception in his eyes, the two little girls did not seem adamant at all. Of course, he knows, of course, they were strong. Witnessing they simply tanked and defeated the Flame Dragon. But he was still worried

He was worried. He had spent time with them, and he was concerned for them. He could not simply leave them alone like this.

Itami jumped off the truck and ordered, "Fix bayonets" while he applied his own bayonet.

Kuribayashi and Tomita fixed their bayonets as well, tapping them to make sure they were secure.

They looked at each other. Their firing selectors were switched from "SAFE" to "AUTO." He told them, "Don't split up," and then they advanced.

However, surging ahead of the rest like a cannonball was Kuribayashi.

Itami and Tomita muttered, "Cheh, that stupid woman" and then sprinted as well, determined not to be left behind.

"Forward, charge!"

They locked onto their targets, advanced a few steps, and fired.

Another few steps, and then they were shooting from the hip.

They repeated the maneuvers they had learned in training.

Several bandits fell amidst sprays of blood then they spotted the horrifying beings in the middle of the battlefield. Despite their training, all of them stopped and stepped one step back feeling the chill ran through their spines, and their blood froze completely for a moment.

Ahead of them was Rory, wielding her halberd in a dance of death. She swung, spun, cleaved her foe's shield apart and then knocked him down. She did not seem worried at all, and her movements were relaxed. However, the bodies were piling up around her.

Momon has been used his precise swordsmanship and seemingly without effort, he blocked and sliced apart the enemies around him. Meanwhile, Raidyn used her summoned spectral blades to rain death to her enemies and her katana. What seemed made from an entirely unknown material. Around her sword black and white lightning danced and seemingly every foe what she sliced apart does not bleed because it seemed her blade cauterized the wounds immediately. After it separated them from the other parts of the body.

Rory foes tried to press her with their shields, thrusting over the tops with their swords and attacking her knees under the bottoms. But Rory simply took a step back and swung her halberd from top to bottom.

She cut them apart, man and shield in one blow like she was splitting firewood.

She did not even look behind at the enemies circling behind her — she simply thrust behind with the pointed base of her halberd.

The enemies surrounding Momon tried to overwhelm him. But the black-clad warrior with a seemingly reckless act started to spin his two huge swords around him, and with a pirouette, he instantly killed everyone in the area. Slicing them to various pieces.

The surrounded Raidyn smiled under her mask as she raised her palm towards the sky what hit by lightning. The sudden power surge surrounded her arm what she used to hit the ground. The power surge vaporized everyone around her. Leaving only the scorched ground beneath her.

Rory against a spear attack from all directions, she jumped up as the shafts crossed beneath her and used them as footholds to vault into the air.

Rory's skirt blossomed like a black rose, showing off her black lace garter belts that connected to her black panties, and the smooth, flowing lines of her legs. She swung her halberd in a full circle.

As if caught in the blades of a food processor, the tops of the bandits' heads came off, spurting blood like a crimson tide.

Her face was splattered in crimson pearls from the bloody rain, as she cleaved the wind, cleaved through flesh, cleaved through steel.

A greatsword filled with equal amounts of fear, hatred, and bloodlust swung down on Rory's head.

But Rory's keen eyes noticed the attack, and her opponent's desperate gamble failed.

With her left hand, Rory grabbed her skirt and ducked the blow like a bullfighter evading a bull's charge.

Then she jumped towards a Death Knight attacking it with all her might. She did not know what those creatures are. But they emitted strange energy what reminded her to her master. The Death Knights emitted Death.

The creature raised its shield and blocked Rory's strike hastily. Answering it strokes back with its long-serrated sword. More creatures turned in her direction and started to attack her. They were fast. Quicker than any normal human being was capable of. She jumped off from another strike.

But she jumped into a trap. She was surrounded

Rory charged into the creatures, but one of them who wore black armor blocked her strike with its energy sword and kicked Rory back. From the strong kick, she felt as if an another apostate kicked her in her stomach. She spat blood and smiled wildly.

Itami and Tomita did not want to fall behind, so they protected the girls. With their rifles, pistols, and bayonets, they kept the enemies from flanking Rory and the two adventurers. But they did not dare to attack the creatures and the golden armored soldiers. He did not want to find out what are those creatures and what they are capable of. Itami only hoped his reinforcements would arrive soon.

If one could take a step back and calmly observe Rory and the two adventurers doing battle, it would be a beautiful sight. The two adventurers worked like they were one entity. Was it because of her battle frenzy, or was because Itami thought the two adventurers were cool? Rory is smiling widely as they were in the throes of pleasure, even though this was the battlefield. Still, any man would want to see a face like that in bed with him.

The Italica citizens and guards in the middle of the fights found that the enemy attack had suddenly weakened. After looking around, they saw Itami and company.

"The Apostle of Emroy is here! The Men in Green are here! The heroes are here!" As they shouted these things, they regained their discipline and began helping each other to fight. After that, they heard the sound of explosions and the blaring of the trumpets.

Rory was surrounded by the creatures, she has been nailed to the ground by the Nephalem Guards and Death Knights tight grips, and she waited to strike down, she closed her eyes. But Raidyn jumped to her rescue in the middle of the circle of creatures who's completely encircled the Apostate. The creatures immediately stopped their weapons before her. The serrated swords what emitted death. And the dimming energy weapons were only one inch from her head. Still, she smirked under her mask.

Rory has been killed around four of them before she nailed to the ground. But with a high price. Their arms only brushed her, but she felt as her soul has been torn apart by their weapons. The worse thing was she did not felt the souls what killed by the undead beings enter her and through her the realm of Emroy. The persons murdered by the undead beings and those black armored creatures simply flew towards an another direction. Maybe towards the creature's masters.

Rory looked up just to seen Raidyn above her who stood between her and the strike. She looked back to her. "Don't attack them. They are our soldiers."

Rory looked her dumbfounded. Raidyn sighed. "I should have warned you about our forces coming to this direction. Sorry, my bad." She said sarcastically.

Rory stood up. "What are those creatures?" inquired the Demigoddess.

"The undead looking beings are Death Knights, The black armored beings are Nephalem Guards, and the golden armored guys are honor guards of the Prince of The Sorcerer King." She explained.

Meanwhile, Momon rushed to Itami and his troops to warn them not to attack the creatures and the golden armored figures.

Meanwhile in the choppers of the JSDF.

The three helicopters, one AH-1 Cobra leading and two UH-1s behind it raced through the brightening sky.

"Col. Kengun! 5 minutes to the objective!"

Ltc. Youga said, "According to the report from 3RCN (3rd Recon Team), the east gate is currently engaged. For safety's sake, we should approach from the east and wipe out the enemies at the gate. We also got reports from strange armored undead forces under the gates."

The soldiers in the chopper looked at each other and started to whisper.

Kengun nodded in approval, and said, "Take care of it, Ltc."

The men in the helicopter cabin loaded the magazines for their rifles.

"Two minutes!"

As Youga said that, he pressed the button on the amplifier.

He turned the volume to its maximum, and then pressed the "play" button.

The sound of horns rang out.

The light sounds of woodwinds raced through the air like a Pegasus, and the main theme commenced with the blaring of the trumpets.

This was a song written in honor of the eight Valkyries.

One of the troopers who had finished loading his rifle placed his helmet between his legs. His curious comrade asked him:

"Why does everyone sit on their helmets?"

"So we don't get our balls blown off!" The soldiers yelled in unision.

「Führet die Mähren fern von einander, bis unsrer Helden Hass sich gelegt!

Der Helden Grimm büsste schon die Graue!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!」

Aboard the helicopters, a trooper placed the blade of his rifle's front sight into the middle of the rear sight's aperture and centered the bandit's head in his sight picture. He factored in the speed of the helicopter and the movement of the bandit as he took aim.

"Proper aim, proper posture, proper cheek weld, don't snatch the trigger…" As he muttered this to himself, he adjusted the 2.7kg weight of the rifle in his arms.

He fired three times.

His right shoulder absorbed the recoil, and the lack of a need to recover the cartridges was oddly relaxing.

Usually, they would be under strict orders to keep an eye on where all their rounds (or parts thereof) went, but now the empty casings fell to the floor of the helicopter, and eventually out onto the bodies of the bandits.

The muzzle of the rifle did not shine, veiled as it was in thick black smoke.

The warriors' bodies became sacrifices for the flames of war, which blazed brightly.

And then, the attack helicopter appeared, breaking through the clouds of smoke that obscured the sky.

Their sheer majesty awed the people watching. They raised their heads to gaze upon the iron Pegasus that had descended from the heavens.

The AH-1 Cobra's 20mm M197 tri-barrelled getting autocannon swiveled to aim at the bandits which Rory and the others had pressed into a mass.

As though they had been waiting for Itami's retreat, the 20mm rounds, fired at a rate of 680 to 750 rounds per minute, chewed the enemy into mincemeat.

The Cobra descended as it fired. This was the final blow.

The flames of war blazed, and the torrent of shells destroyed everything.

Before long, the Gatling gun stopped. The sound of the trumpets had faded away, and in everyone's ears was the sound of the helicopters' propellor blades. All that remained were wisps of Gunsmoke.

The UH-1J hovered in mid-air.

At first, nobody dared to speak to the "Men in Green." Whether in numbers or strength, it was clear that they were soldiers from somewhere. Someone reverently asked Tomita where they were from, and the answer they received was "We're from the JSDF."

Under the powerful downwash of the helicopter's propellers, Rory noticed that her hair was not being tossed around. As she pressed down her skirt which was being blown up by the prop wash, she looked around. However, there were no more enemies around her.

But the helicopters started to fire to the creatures seeing them as a threat. Most of the cavalry of the Sorcerer Kingdom were already in the city. The gunfire killed a few from the Honor Guard soldiers. But they did not panic. They trained in such situation as every possible situation inside or outside of the book, and they were flexible if it came to the battle tactic. The projectile weapons what the JSDF used was not alien to them, and they have been trained to how to fend off such attacks. The mages raised the magical shields around the Honor Guard and the cavalry. The Death Knights Raised their huge tower shields.

Esdeath and Momonga seeing the approaching choppers ordered their summons to intercept them. A few armored Nephalem Guards took off from the ground, and with a sudden supersonic speed, they rocketed towards the choppers what started their bombardments. Killing the remaining bandits but not causing further damage to the Sorcerer's Kingdom' troops.

Itami tried to radio to the reinforcement what he ordered. But it was too late.

The pilots tried to evade the suddenly appeared black armored creatures what resembled gruesome angels. But even with their experience and training. They can't evade them. A soldier closed the door of the chopper hoping the Flying Guard can't open it.

But instead of opening it simply tear it off then grabbing the utterly terrified JSDF soldiers started to threw them out one by one.

Of course, the terrified soldiers tried to fire at the creature inside the flying machine and stabbing them with their bayonets, but seemingly the bullets simply bounced off their magical armor don't even bunting it in the process. The bayonets simply broke at the half as they made contact with the armor. One soldier in his fear wanted to throw a frag grenade, but the guard sensing the danger simply took the grenade out from his hand with a fast movement and threw out from the 'open' door of the copper. Causing an air turbulence what the pilot barely could stabilize. Then the Nephalem Guards started to threw the panicked JSDF soldiers threw out from the helicopters one by one towards their forces.

Fortunately, Beelzebub ordered his mages to use their [Levitate] spell and do not let them fall to their death. After the guard threw out the pilot. It grabbed the joystick and landed to the ground gently with the chopper. Every helicopter suffered the same fate, and the JSDF reinforcements and their weapons have been confiscated by the honor guard.

The Valkyries whose song their heroic song has been silenced by the demons of the Sorcerer King. The battle has been fought and the Valkyries has lost their heroic battle. The demons win this time.

Piña stood beside of Itami, Rory, Tuka and Lelei, but she had no idea what to say neither what to do. She was out of the options. She, her soldiers, the men in the green. Has been surrounded by the horrifying creatures and the imposing looking golden armored soldiers. She guessed they are the ones who the Empire fought against in Dalnus hill. She filtered this much the stories what she heard back in the Inn and the nursery where she went to investigate the case.

Just yesterday, when she had met the men in green and the two adventurers, she had ordered them to help her, as though she was in charge.

She had been leaning on a table, elegantly sipping her tea, explaining important matters to them like they were her subordinates. This was how Piña and people like her lived in high society.

Well, maybe yesterday's attitude was not so bad, but it was close enough.

But what about her status today? Was she not one of the tragically defeated?

Indeed, the bandits had been beaten back, and the townspeople were happy to have won and survived. Still, they felt uneasy in the presence of those horrifying creatures.

The mourning and getting over the loss of life and lost family members would take a while. Rebuilding the ruined villages and town would be a problem too. However, this victory had been won by betting their lives, so it should be celebrated. Mourning alone would not mean anything to the deceased.

In that sense, Piña should have celebrated, as one of the victors. However, the desolate atmosphere around her was one of defeat.

She did not feel like she had won at all. Moreover, it seemed even the men in green was helpless against the new invaders. As she mused on this the wall what composed off variously raced soldiers, Death Knights, and Nephalem guards. Opened like clockwork and an imposing man with golden irises with vertically split pupils who wore an impressive master crafted gray armor rode towards her. Accompanied by an elf who wore some kind of crystal armor and several other figures in his side. His face was quite delicate and handsome. Like his face has been made by some talented artist.

The winners were clearly not Rory, Itami, and the JSDF. Of course, the JSDF played an important part in the victory, and they helped her greatly. Still, they had been beaten down by the newly coming invaders.

These enemies who had taken control of Arnus, who rode iron Pegasi, who held magic in their hands which could scorch the earth into a roaring inferno, who had exterminated in an instant those bandits that had troubled Piña. Had failed. These demons had beaten them.

If they decided to turn their fangs on Piña and Italica, what could she do? The Empire's Princess Piña and the young Countess Myui of House Formal would become prisoners, and the enemy would take the Empire's breadbasket.

What about the townspeople? Could they resist? No, they would welcome the invaders with open arms. After all, it was the Sorcerer Kingdom forces and the JSDF who had won the day. Talk of the "Men in Green" had already spread from the mouths of Coda's villagers.

The common folk were simple and did not understand governance. They would be hooked by anything that benefited them, even if it was only temporary.

"If they demanded this town in exchange… I might have to kneel in front of them and beg for their mercy, and for them to release myself and Countess Myui."

"Me, begging an enemy for mercy? A proud Imperial Princess? Pulling on a man's sleeve like some common whore in an alehouse?" Piña gritted her teeth.

If she went down on her knees and kissed their toes, they might actually do it. She would have to accede to any humiliating requests they had.

Piña fearfully awaited the demands of these newly came majestically armored person who from his look clearly was a noble of his people.

She had planned to wait. However, in the next few moments, her vision regained its color, and the sound from around her called her back to her senses. The First Son of Ainz prepared himself and unmounted his Demonic Attronach. He cleared his throat.

"I am the First Prince of the Sorcerer Kingdom. The son of Ainz Ooal Gown the Sorcerer King. Beelzebub Ooal Gown. Is there anyone who I can negotiate?" he asked as he looked around.

Being no other choice, the Imperial Princess stepped out. Seeing Pina beautiful face, Beelzebub suddenly became embarrassed, but she gulped and shook himself back to the reality.

"I am Piña Co Lada. The fifth child of Emperor Molt." She introduced herself. "Please state your claims."

"I am Col. Kengun. State your claims." One of the bound captives stood up.

Beelzebub nodded, and his soldiers unroped the Colonel and led him near the Princess. He glared at Kengun with his golden irises.

But before he could open his mouth he heard a cheerful voice and clapping from the crowd.

"So the Princess and his guards are here. What a surprise. Your father would be proud seeing how you handled the situation." She said in a sarcastic tone. Two figure stepped out of the crowd. They were the black-clad warrior Momon and Raidyn the Spell blade.

Beelzebub turned to their direction lazily. Meanwhile, Creon stepped forward and placed his hand to his sword. "How dare you speak the Crown Prince in such tone!" He said with a voice of anger.

Beelzebub raised his hand. "Let them speak Creon."

His captain nodded and stepped back. Removing his hand from his sword. "Who are you?" inquired Beelzebub.

"How rude of us to not introduce ourselves! Doesn't it? Momon-kun?" she teased her companion as she glanced in his direction.

Momon nodded. "Indeed…"

Everyone in the crowd gasped and started to whisper amongst each other.

"Let me introduce us." Said the black-clad warrior. "I am Momon. Adamantine ranked adventurer." He motioned his companion. "And she is Raidyn. Adamantine ranked adventurer as well."

The golden armored soldiers whispered amongst each other. "The two God kins from the legends! They really exist? Not just tales?"

Raidyn smirked under her mask in satisfaction then continued. "Your father recalled us from our pension to be your bodyguard Princess."

The Crown Prince smiled in this little act of foolishness. "And how do certify yourselves? Where is the proof?"

Momon reached into his purse what hung on his side. He grabbed a badge from it and gave it to the young prince. He inspected it and nodded. "Father… You worry too much. Sending two legendary god kins to my help. You are too generous." He shook his head disapprovingly and looked back to his soldiers lazily. "Lower your weapons." His troops followed his order and lowered the arms.

The soldiers of the JSDF, Piña, her knights and the denizens of Italica gasped in surprise. Itami, Piña, and Rory mumbled. "God kins…"

"Oh, and your aunt gave me an important message what I had to pass."

The young heir nodded. "What is it?"

Raidyn walked close to him and whispered in his ear. "Don't screw it. Kit. Or I will kick your butt," she said playfully.

Beelzebub nodded while smiled in satisfaction. "That's certainly her."

Raidyn turned back to Momon. "Momon-kun. Do mind if you will be the first who accompanying the Prince under the negotiations? My diplomatic skills a little rusty." She cracked the back of her head nervously.

Momon shook his head. "No. But the task to organize the troops is yours."

Raidyn sighed. "Fine…"

From the crowd and exited sound could be heard. "Milady! Milord! You are here!" It was Hamusuke as she charged towards her masters

Everyone looked dumbfounded as the giant armored hamster ran towards the two adventurers.

"Yo! Hamusuke-chan! Long time no see!" she raised her hand in a welcoming position.

Itami and the 3rd division sweat dropped. "A speaking armored enormus hamster... Now I saw everything..." Mumbled Itami.

Creon leaned closer to Beelzebub and whispered to him. "Don't you want to resurrect our fallen soldiers before their eyes as a show of strength?"

Beelzebub smiled then turned his head towards his guard captain. "We resurrect them later when no foreign eyes see us. My father once told me. ' Beelzebub... Never reveal every card in your hand. It may lead your downfall.'" Explained the young heir.

Creon nodded. "I see..."

Beelzebub continued. "Let them think we lost some people. We frightened them enough. In the end, they may be afraid to trade with us. Father also taught me. Fear is a great tool to control masses for a short term. But it fails in long-term ultimately. If you want to gain the trust of the people. You need to be open minded to other ideas and kept your promises." Explained the young heir.

Creon bowed his head. "I see... The Leader of the Supreme Beings is truly wise."

Beelzebub nodded in response.

Later in the negotiations.

Kengun and Hamilton turned to the young heir. "What's your claims?"

"Considering the soldiers of JSDF attacked us without any provocations. We should execute you in order of the old laws."

Beelzebub who was accompanied by his Captain and Momon. Because of the translator items, Both sides understand them completely fine.

Kengun gulped.

"But we are not savages. According to the new laws of my father, we can't do such things and I as well my father believes in second chances. That a rivalry can be turned into a friendship."

Kengun nodded. Beelzebub turned to the Colonel. "Your government need to pay compensation for the damage you caused and the soldiers who're your soldiers killed. But other than that. You are free to go. I only ask two things."

"State your claims?" asked the Colonel.

"I ask you to relay a request for a trade agreement with the JSDF and to do not attack us again without provocation. Or we may have to retaliate the transgression with force what will shake the very heavens. We will burn the very skies and ground under your feet. And it will not matter if you pray to any deity. Because of no one. Not even the gods can save your world if you march to war against us. Consider this not a warning. But a promise Colonel. We have no intentions of war only if your people force us."

Kengun nodded uneasily. Inside he felt the young heir threats, not just empty words. "That's manageable."

Hamilton opened his mouth. "What about Italica? What do you want?"

"Italica will be our protection for the time being. We will not interfere the usual town life but help with the restoration. Italica will become a free city. Free from the influence of the Empire, the JSDF, and the Sorcerer Kingdom. It will become a mid-ground to the tree sides. A ground for negotiation."

Hamilton clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "So you occupying the city."

"In a sense yes and no. We will not interfere in the city inner life as I said. We are just protecting the city until it recovers. Of course, for the protection, we request a trade agreement, and tax exemption Consider this the good will of the Sorcerer King towards the denizens of Italica. But every military operation against the city. Against the Sorcerer, King soldiers and the denizens of the Sorcerer Kingdom will trigger heavy retaliation."

Hamilton sighed in defeat. Being no choice and completely outgunned. She agreed. "So be it."

Momonga sweat dropped with his non-existent sweat glands under the illusion. "I hope Beelzebub will not trigger a war with his aggressive tactic. Or we may have to interfere…"

Kengun and Beelzebub nodded from a rigid posture.

Kengun continued.

"We understand that labor is the key to Italica's recovery. Although that is your practice, We hope that you can treat them humanely."

Beelzebub nodded. "Of course, that's only natural. The Sorcerer's Kingdom's laws prohibit such things. Except if the person is a terrorist or religious fanatic who want restrict other rights to exercising their freedom. There is a clear border to let reasonable things flow or allowing chaos is spreading in the country without stop. We had to draw the line somewhere. Absolute freedom without rules only leads to chaos."

Kengun nodded and looked to Hamilton.

"They don't quite understand the term 'humanely'..."

Lelei was working hard. The fact that sweat was dripping from her forehead onto her expressionless face only underscored that.

She tried to explain in her own words, and said, "Like you would treat a friend, relative or acquaintance." However, Hamilton frowned at that.

"Would our friends and relatives attack peaceful towns and villages, to murder and plunder?"

Piña called out to keep Hamilton, who was shouting angrily, under control.

"All right, then don't treat them too cruelly. You played a big part in this victory, so we can let you have that."

Hamilton relaxed after Piña opened her mouth.

Piña desperately tried to mobilize her brainpower to understand the situation.

And who was this man, anyway? She knows the gray-armored man was a royalty like herself and behind him his captain and his bodyguard. So it was reasonable he handling the negotiations.

But she just can't understand who the man who is sitting the other side of the table was.

The man seated on the other side of the table was a stout-bodied warrior. He wore green as well, but his bearing was clearly different from a mere footsoldier.

His belly was fat, but from the wrinkles in his forehead, he was a grizzled veteran. The man's forthright, open attitude suggested he was confident in himself. That self-confidence must have been born of long experience, and Piña would kill to have that experience and self-assurance.

He seemed to be a JSDF commander.

Piña sat down in Count Formal's seat since she was representing him. Beside her, Countess Myui sat between her butler and the head maid.

The speaker was Hamilton, but the one who would negotiate, make proposals and make the final decision was Piña herself.

Piña carefully considered her words to make sure of the circumstances. But in a situation like this, what kind of agreement could they come to?

She beckoned Hamilton with a finger, and Hamilton, with bandages on her forehead and the rest of her, came close.

"Ah, Your Highness, you've come to, I was worried."

"Forgive me; I made you worry."

After that, they decided to go through the details again to make sure.

"Hm. Then, I would like to clarify the conditions with you."

Hamilton recited them like she was reading out an epic poem.

After reading the contents of the parchment, Hamilton handed it to Piña.

She read it a few times. They had not come off badly. Or rather, these were actually pretty good terms. Besides the fact, Italica will slip out the influence of the Empire and became a free city in the time being. She had no other choice. Either she accepts it, or they will be wiped out. She already knew it is the victor who dictates not the defeated in war.

Piña had confidence in her ability to read people, but Hamilton Uno Ro's negotiating skills were beyond her expectations. How had she managed to make warriors with such incredible fighting power give up their victors' rights? Magic? Or had she used her feminine wiles during the negotiations?

No matter what, if the diplomats heard about this, they would try and headhunt her. Hamilton's negotiation skills would be critical for the Knight band.

Still. With the loss of Italica, the Empire will be severely weakened. After all, The city was an important trade center. But at least they gained a significant ground for negotiations. As the saying goes. You can't win without sacrificing something.

Piña thought about these things, then signed the end of the parchment, and then put a blob of wax on it before stamping it with her signet ring.

Beside her, Countess Myui signed and sealed it with great formality.

Hamilton rolled out the parchment before Kengun and Beelzebub.

First Beelzebub signed the contract. After him. Lelei and Tuka had read and confirmed the terms to the Colonel and he signed it in Kanji.

The Colonel read the contract between the Sorcerer Kingdom and Japan. Strangely his copy of the contract written by perfect Japanese writings. He found it strange, but he dismissed it. Saying. He will worry about it later.

He signed

Rory turned away with an unhappy expression on her face, while Itami stood dumbly, with a black right eye.

Every party got a copy of the treaties what subjected to them.

The terms of the treaty took effect immediately, the soldiers of JSDF has been released, and so the 401st Squadron flew back to base.

The troops of the JSDF who participated in the battle will surely write the interesting thing in their reports. What maybe the officers who will read the reports most likely not believe. But this was to be expected after how easily the reinforcements has been taken care off by the forces of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Strangely no JSDF soldiers died in the battle. Due Momonga and Esdeath ordered their summons. If it is possible only kill bandits.

The townspeople took some time out from the post-battle cleanup to watch them soar into the sky, waving their hats at them until they vanished from sight. They had been helped by the strange creatures. First, they were afraid of them. But after they had been seen they are really efficient and only helping them. The people of Italica were glad their saviors were so generous.

Lelei, Tuka, and Rory went to the home of the trader Ryudo to discuss business.

Being exempted from taxes was a huge selling point for any merchant, so the girls were welcome by all of them. Things were made even simpler since Master Kato had introduced them previously.

They completed the sale of 200 dragon scales for 4000 silver denarii and 200 gold sinks.

However, actually claiming those 4000 denarii in liquid currency was impossible. Ryudo had tried his best, but House Formal's territory had just been ravaged by bandits and trade in Italica had ground to a halt. Also, the Empire did not supply its outlying regions with a lot of currency, so obtaining even 1000 denarii would be a big challenge.

In the end, the remaining 2000 was paid in credit guarantees, while the remaining 1000 was written off as a discount. In exchange, however, Lelei asked Ryudo for information.

This information pertained to the markets in the region and beyond, and she requested him to investigate the prices of certain items in various markets carefully.

Ryudo laughed as he heard this request.

Unlike the buying and selling of regular citizens, the information on the prices of merchants was an important weapon in price negotiations. No trader would ask so bluntly about them, nor would anyone answer so readily.

However, since Lelei was an outsider, she knew nothing about what things cost. Because she knew nothing, she wanted this information, but broader in scope, with more details, in exchange for the debt owed.

"One thousand silvers, huh."

Nobody had ever paid so much for information before, but since a price had been named, it was a sale. And the goods were of a pretty high quality too.

And so, Ryudo agreed to collect the relevant information from all around.

Scene Change: Fortress Gown:

It was a peaceful day in Fortress Gown. The denizens of the fortress did their daily work for the Sorcerer Kingdom. The works were already finished and the outskirts of the fortress. (around one mile away from the structure) Has been redesigned to a middle ground where the traders who arrived either from the Sorcerer Kingdom or the nearby area can trade their goods.

Numerous mages from Rondel arrived near the fortress the last day. Seeking the new knowledge about magic. What the newcomers brought with themselves. They were awe seeing the unknown magic what heavily surpassed their own and they were eager to learn.

Inside of the Fortress. From the Gate the traffic was high. Nut just by day. But at night too. But now. A steady march can be heard from the inside of the structure. The march has become louder and louder. But no one cared about it. Except for the ten meters tall undead and other creatures who's stood beside the gate. Vigilantly never resting. Guarding it against the attackers. Be it. Inside or outside.

They raised their arms and saluted. Knowing what causing the massive March. The unknown figures stepped across the border of the structure. It was numerous Death Knights, Black Death Guards, Nephalem Centurions, many other creatures and the elite guards of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

They escorted three women. The women were Ainz's three wives. Albedo, Zesshi Zetsumei, and Shalltear Bloodfallen. They rode on their unique mounts elegantly.

The three of them stopped before the golden armored guard captain of this side of the Gate. "My Queens! It is good to see you! What do we owe the pleasure?" He and his subordinates kneeled down immediately. Lowering their head in a submissive position.

The three of them nodded to the captain. "Rise. We would like to speak Demiurge in an important matter," said Albedo while she up kept her always smiling poker face.

The captain and his subordinates risen. "At once! I will inform Demiurge-sama immediately!" He saluted and signed his men to inform Demiurge about their guests.