"Shouldn't we be doing something?"
Hielaina pulled a pocket watch from the pocket of her uniform. Two hours had already passed since the operation began.
"For now, your safety should remain our top priority."
Shatiel crossed her arms, leaning against a nearby tree while keeping her eyes on the battlefield below. Her current role was that of the princess's loyal guardian.
"But it doesn't look like things are going too smoothly for them over there."
"They haven't taken any major losses either. Looks like no one's been cut down."
"I can't exactly argue with that…"
From halfway up the slope, the sight of six Night Knight platoons encircled by enemy forces and fighting the Sevars could be seen clearly. Their repeated assaults, the Sevars' counterattacks, and the current stalemate all left Hielaina feeling uneasy.
Rustle—
The strange noise from the treetop drew both their attention, interrupting their conversation.
"Wouldn't it be better for you to come take a look over here?"
Sometimes, one couldn't help but sigh at how convenient magic really was—like a line of code in a running program that instantly achieved its intended function. Just a while ago, Inaya had looked half-dead, but now she was hopping nimbly between the branches, full of energy, even taking on sentry duty.
"What is it?"
Hielaina and Shatiel exchanged a glance, then followed Inaya to where the mountain bent southwestward.
"You should be able to see it."
At the valley between two mountains—also the only relatively flat stretch of terrain suitable for marching toward the Davole encampment from the southwest—a large column of troops was advancing in formation. From their attire and the way they marched, it was clear they were Dazilet soldiers.
"Is that reinforcements?"
Puzzled, Hielaina watched the massive force move toward the enemy camp. She couldn't be blamed—there had been no mention in the General Staff's orders that any friendly units would participate in this operation.
"Maybe the General Staff issued new orders."
Shatiel voiced her own thought.
It wasn't impossible. All it would take was one telegram, and with only three kilometers separating the two armies' positions, they could easily have gathered and marched over in a short time.
"We should meet their commander and explain the situation to them."
"No problem."
The two spoke and immediately set off at a run down the slope.
"Hey! Wait for me…"
Still not fully understanding the situation, Inaya had no choice but to follow after them once they left.
"Seriously, what's the rush? With that many people, it's not like they can just disappear…"
...
For the commanders of the 136th Division, this offensive was indeed a bold move. For over half a month their forces had been on the back foot, retreating again and again. Morale had suffered heavily, and those "Red Robes" had become an invincible nightmare in the soldiers' minds. Even though the army was not lacking in brave, fearless men—many had the courage to clash head-on with the Red Robes—the cold reality was that they couldn't inflict casualties on them at all. No one knew what to do.
Now, with the Night Knights assisting, the commanders of the 136th Division had privately decided to commit two battalions to support the fight. They desperately needed a victory to lift their spirits.
"Cease march! Prepare to deploy!"
The order spread throughout the column from front to rear. The units began dispersing by company toward their designated positions. Though the mass of men shifted and surged, the scene remained orderly. Company commanders led their men into the woods flanking the road. It was easier for the infantry, but the machine gun teams had a harder time—lugging heavy tripods, machine guns, and boxes of ammunition. Even on level ground, the march tested their endurance; now they had to push through overgrown, uneven forest terrain.
"Where is your commander?"
Hielaina and Shatiel suddenly burst from the shadow of the trees, startling quite a few men. Fortunately, the officer leading the group had sharp eyes and recognized them before any tragic friendly fire incident occurred.
"Our battalion commander's not far behind. If you keep going in that direction, you should find him."
"Thank you."
The two offered brief thanks and hurried on. The surrounding soldiers stared after their retreating figures—it was the first time they'd ever seen Night Knights at such close range.
"Hello."
And of course, it was also their first time seeing a little girl with cat ears.
...
"What do we do now?"
Rogm spat out a mouthful of blood. He hadn't had time to dodge the last explosion, forced instead to shield himself with his body and a vial of No. 2 serum. His face was smeared with brown blood and dirt, but his sharp eyes still burned with clarity.
"Concentrate our firepower and blast it again, see what happens…"
Just moments ago, with the devastating fire of the gunners, the Night Knights had taken down quite a few Red Robes. Now those same enemies had all retreated behind their magic barrier. Otto wasn't sure if their losses would weaken the barrier's stability—but they'd know if they tried.
"Open fire!"
Another hail of bullets rained down on the invisible barrier, joined by four-kilo charges hurled with incredible strength, arcing beautifully through the air before either crashing against the shield or landing on the ground.
The violent explosions erupted one after another, clouds of dust and smoke shrouding the no-man's-land between the two sides. The barrage tapered off.
"How is it?"
With dust blowing into his face, Edwin squinted hard to observe the enemy lines.
"No effect."
As the smoke finally cleared, the Red Robes' formation remained completely unchanged.
"This is getting tricky…"
Edwin let his submachine gun hang by its sling, resting his hands on his hips as he looked helplessly at the Red Robes, mind racing for a solution.
"They're not moving either."
The stalemate dragged on, the Red Robes making no further attempts to charge. It seemed they were confident the barrier couldn't be breached, content to wait things out—after all, the Night Knights had only so much ammunition.
"Submachine guns, autocannons, four-kilo charges—none of it works. Anyone got any other ideas?"
With the fighting paused, Nemilic and Trenchap joined Otto to discuss countermeasures. The two platoon leaders from the 32nd Company soon joined as well, but Trenchap's question was met with nothing but long silence.
The weapons they carried were all they had. If those couldn't break through, there was nothing else left.
"Maybe we should change our target? That way, it won't be a total loss."
Nemilic cast a subtle glance toward the nearby platform. The others didn't react openly, but they all understood what he meant.
"How much ammo do we have left?"
A crucial question. If they expended everything on Davole's commander and had nothing left, they'd have to cut their way through hundreds of enemies to escape.
"My platoon has only a third left."
"About the same here."
"I've still got half."
"We stayed further back, so we've got a bit more than half."
The platoon leaders had already tallied their ammo. Otto nodded at their reports.
"The gunners must be almost out, right?"
"You're telling me. One of my machine guns overheated and blew apart."
Edwin said this as one of his men brought over the ruined weapon.
"Guy was lucky—not hurt. But I've got less than thirty rounds left."
"Same on our end."
...
"Alright. We'll pool the remaining ammo into my 4th Platoon and the 1st Platoon of the 32nd Company. The two of us will spearhead the attack. If we run into another barrier we can't break, we'll also take the lead in breaking out. What do you think?"
Otto laid out his idea after the tally. That platform was sitting out in the open—clearly it had some kind of defense prepared, maybe just like before.
"No problem."
Preserving their strength was the priority, especially for the Night Knights. On their last mission inside the Luvina Empire, their casualties had equaled what a frontline assault company might take in six months. Circumstances explained it, but if they didn't limit losses, they'd soon run short on replacements.
"Then let's get ready."
The discussion ended, and the platoon leaders returned to redistribute ammunition and make preparations. But just then, a dull explosion rumbled overhead. Soldiers of both Davole and Dazilet looked up as one. The fireball vanished instantly, leaving only a spreading ripple of blue light in the sky.
"What was that just now?"
"No idea… but…"
Watching the blue ripple fade, Otto narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"Could it be another larger barrier?"
"Looks like it."
"Then… can we even get out of here?"
"…"
The words hit them like a thunderclap. No one had even considered that!
"Damn it… then how did the Red Robes get out from their barrier just now?"
"Who knows. But you can bet they won't let us walk out so easily."
The initial clash had been so fierce, no one noticed another shield covering the entire camp. But this changed everything—unless they solved this, all their plans were meaningless.
Not long after, more explosions erupted against the camp's great barrier, drawing everyone's eyes upward. This time there were more blasts, more intense. Each detonation blossomed like a fiery flower upon the unseen dome, the rippling shockwaves radiating outward with a strange kind of beauty.
"Looks like artillery fire from our side."
Nordhausen, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
"Unexpected artillery fire."
Otto shrugged, adding the obvious.