While the "reserve troops" on the outskirts were still fooling around, the Night Knights who were part of the raid had already reached the edge of the Davole army camp.
Because of the danger of this operation, Otto and the others would not agree under any circumstances to let Hielaina take part personally. Of course, Hielaina herself understood that her presence would most likely become a burden. After all, they were about to raid a camp of seven to eight thousand men—not even counting the accompanying support personnel. So, she did not insist on joining the front line. Still, she hoped to stay close to monitor the situation so that, should anything unexpected occur, she could respond immediately.
On the raiding side, command of the operation still fell to Otto of the Eleventh company, since the plan itself had been his proposal. In addition, by established practice, when two companies of Night Knights carried out a joint operation, command would fall to the officer of the unit with the earlier designation—because the further forward a Night Knight unit stood in the order of battle, the higher its overall quality. As for company commanders like Andrea, most of them were in fact ordinary soldiers who had never undergone modification. Their duties were to maintain contact with the General Staff, handle logistics and personnel matters for the company, coordinate with local friendly forces, and attend to routine military affairs. Normally, they would not fight in person. All in all, the internal organization of the Night Knights was relatively decentralized, in part because this wartime special operations force rarely acted as a whole.
On the other hand—unlike the army, navy, and air force—all orders concerning the Night Knights were issued directly by the Emperor. Even the General Staff could only make suggestions for deployment. Thus, command of the Night Knights lay entirely in the Emperor's hands. There had even been cases where an Emperor ignorant of warfare had insisted on his own plan, resulting in disastrous losses for the Night Knights.
But let us not digress. Back to the raid.
A total of six platoons were involved in this operation: four from the Eleventh company and two from the Thirty-second company. Originally, after receiving intelligence about the magical barrier, the General Staff had intended to deploy both platoons of the Thirty-second together. But the other two platoons of the Thirty-second were stationed too far away to arrive in time, and Otto's group judged that the sooner the raid began, the better. After all, Inaya had infiltrated the enemy camp only to be discovered, so the enemy would surely be on guard. More importantly, another Davole corps was about to arrive here; once they did, the chances of success would be even lower.
"Keep your steps light. If you can't avoid an enemy, use your knives first."
Before storming the camp, Otto gave his final instructions.
The six platoons divided into three groups, slipping into the camp from three directions. Their common target was the Sevar officers near the camp's center, and above all, the largest tent in the compound.
"Are their internal defenses really this lax?"
The expected advance under fire never materialized. On the not-so-long approach, Otto's men encountered only two patrols. If there were sentries, they should already have been alerted. Even with forty men moving together, all they had to do was avoid the patrols' main routes.
"This doesn't feel right."
While they waited for a patrol to pass, Trenchap frowned in thought.
The Holy Army of Davole might not be a modern force, but would they really neglect such basic defensive arrangements? Unless, of course, this was a trap.
With that suspicion in mind, he quietly lifted the flap of a white tent beside him, leaving only a tiny slit—
"!"
The sight did not utterly shock Trenchap, but his eyes widened nonetheless.
The tent's interior was unlit, dim, but by the faint flicker of orange-red firelight from outside, he could see clearly enough: six armored soldiers, fully armed, sat on the ground in silence. Their spears were set neatly on a wooden rack beside them. With one order, they could rush out at once.
Trenchap made no move to disturb them. He lowered the flap carefully and stepped back, one slow pace at a time. Perhaps they had already been discovered, but without the order, those soldiers had yet to act.
"Something really is wrong."
He relayed what he had just seen to Otto and the other squad leaders, and at once, everyone became alert.
"Could they really just be resting?"
"I don't think anyone rests while still in full armor."
"Maybe… that's just how Davole does things?"
"..."
As Trenchap and Edwin debated, Nordhausen used his gun barrel to lift the flap of another nearby tent. Sure enough, inside were more fully armed soldiers.
"What do we do now? Keep moving?"
Everyone knew this was most likely a trap. But what choice did they have?
"First of all, we cannot retreat. We don't yet know what's happening with the other two groups. We three need to cover one another."
"Agreed. Even if something goes wrong, three groups breaking through together have more strength than one alone."
The two platoon leaders weighed the situation and quickly decided.
"Nordhausen, any ideas?"
Seeing him return, Edwin immediately asked, while the others fixed their eyes on the veteran Night Knight.
"Ideas…"
Caught off guard by their expectant looks, Nordhausen was still lost in thought.
"Just trust our old partners in battle."
He raised his submachine gun slung across his chest, then patted the pouches of combat stimulants strapped to his gear.
"…Right."
Edwin hadn't expected Nordhausen's answer to be a grim joke, so he turned instead to Otto and Trenchap, waiting for their final word.
"In that case…"
Otto and Trenchap conferred briefly, then Otto swept his eyes around. Everyone was waiting for his order.
He knew Nordhausen wasn't joking. Pressing forward was, in his judgment, still viable. What worried him more were the red-robes, especially since the enemy was very likely prepared. Spells meant anything could happen; the element of uncertainty became impossible to gauge. At last, he let out a long breath:
"Advance!"
At his command, forty Night Knights again melted into phantom shadows between light and dark.
In truth, the soldiers inside those tents had noticed them. The canvas was not thick; their moving shadows, cast by the light outside, were plain to see from within. But without orders, those soldiers did not stir.
...
From not far away came the shouts of warriors, the rattling bursts of gunfire, and the louder boom of explosions. The chaos erupted suddenly—yet it had, in fact, been expected.
"It begins."
In the army command tent, the red-robed elder walked slowly outside, his voice calm.
Beside him, the corps commander, his adjutant, and a battalion leader watched together as the night sky ahead flared crimson with fire. Everything was proceeding according to plan. For now, they need take no action.
Above, the azure shimmer of an illusory curtain flickered faintly, weaving into form—then vanished.
All the soldiers had already deployed, nearly all advancing in the same direction. Reaching their designated positions, they formed concentric ranks around Sevar's encampment. Walls of tall shields and long spears ensured that no one inside could easily break out. And those now facing the intruders were the most devout of the Holy Lord's followers and attendants. They would scour the darkness hiding beneath the Lord's radiance, judge the fallen and ignorant unbelievers, and make the sacrifices needed to spread the Lord's gospel.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!!"
Otto gave the order first, and nearby captains quickly relayed it. His voice alone could never have pierced the wall of sound created by dozens of submachine guns and six 20mm autocannons firing in unison.
"Is this another magical barrier?"
After two full minutes of uninterrupted firing, the gun barrels smoked white hot—yet the red-robes before them remained untouched. It seemed the bullets had been blocked by some sort of magical barrier, perhaps the same kind that had protected those scouts the other day.
"Keep your eyes on the rear. I'll try to break through!"
With those words, Rogm led his men in a charge. The red-robes behind the barrier made no move, only watched coldly as the Night Knights closed in.
"Right flank, watch out!"
A squad of heavy infantry suddenly burst out of the shield wall, just after Rogm and his men had pulled away.
Spotting this, Nemilic shouted orders for his men to turn their fire—
"Fire!"
In an instant, the heavy foot soldiers were torn apart in a storm of bullets. Screams mingled with blood and shattered limbs; crimson sprayed the air. Their armor offered no defense against bullets—much less autocannons. Even the Holy Army units to their sides and rear within the line of fire suffered heavy losses.
This line-fire tactic had been common in Dazilet's early wars of expansion. It maximized ammunition output while maintaining density of firepower—second only to artillery in effectiveness against infantry formations. After their assault was crushed beneath that barrage, the Holy Army troops dared not advance rashly again.
As for Rogm, his attempt at a close-range assault was clearly futile. The invisible barrier was tangible, solid to the touch. Beyond it stood the red-robes in perfect formation, watching coldly as Rogm and his men fumbled, trying to find its weakness. In the end, Rogm could only pin his hopes on three blocks of demolition charges—each 4kg, designed to destroy bunkers and fortifications. He had his men plant them beneath the barrier, pull the fuses, then retreat in haste.
"Four kilos! Back, now!!"
Even as he fell back, Rogm shouted the warning toward Otto's group.
Three 4kg charges detonating together was no small matter. Though they lacked the fragmentation of shells, the blast wave alone could guarantee absolute lethality within a nine-meter radius. To keep the red-robes from interfering, the delay was set to only ten seconds.
"BOOM—"
The ground shook; sand and dust filled the air.
The blast arrived as expected. Otto rose, brushing dirt from his coat, trying to see into the heart of the explosion.
The first thing to appear was a flash of red—then the confirmation: the red-robes were utterly unharmed. Between the two sides yawned only a crater, deep as a man's height.
"Not even that worked?"
Edwin spat grit from his mouth, but that didn't stop his wry comment on the outcome.
"Get ready—the enemy's coming!"
The blast hadn't broken the barrier, but perhaps it had made the red-robes feel threatened. They no longer waited. One after another, they rushed forward.
"Open fire!!"