Immediately after his resurrection, Francisco launched a karate kick at Conquest's face with unnatural speed.
But Conquest shifted slightly and intercepted the attack with the arm holding his Transcendent weapon. His preternatural movements made the weapon seem like an extension of his body.
With his newfound power, Francisco felt his body is hard as steel and his limbs alone could possibly decapitate a human in an instant, but his previous death had already proven the sharpness of the Odachi. Faster than he could calculate, the blade sliced through Francisco's arm and carved it as if cutting through water.
As his severed right arm sprayed fresh arterial blood, Conquest casually gripped the Chainsword which was headed towards his belly.
"Ah, this is a pretty good sword."
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Francisco gave up on pulling back the immovable Chainsword, and immediately lashed out at Conquest's knee with a kick. The Archdemon did not dodge it as he simply took the blow. In the end, when Francisco's foot connected with the demon's knee, it was he who felt the pain.
It felt just like kicking an iron wall with all his might.
With a painful groan, Francisco took a step back, where he stood beside Trese and the remaining soldiers, who had finally escaped the gravity suppression field.
"General, holy shit! We saw you die!" Trese stared surprisingly at the General.
"I guess the blade gave me something else," Francisco murmured, watching his severed arm slowly grow.
"Then this is a good thing! We might even have a chance to survive this," Trese said with a grin.
Meanwhile, Conquest looked at Francisco with interest, because a human being healed up without the use of mana or a skill is something he had never heard of before.
All of a sudden, two human soldiers that were supposed to be trapped in his Gravity Suppression field, blocked his line of sight. While Francisco's arm gradually regrew, the two soldiers attacked Conquest with their bayonets. However, Conquest had already slashed their bodies with his sword.
Just as the two soldiers dissolved into clumps of blood, Trese leaped forward and delivered powerful punches to Conquest's eyes, belly, and chest with all her strength with her exosuit.
"How bothersome."
With minimal effort, Conquest swatted at the woman's chest with a bitch slap.
"Guaargh!"
Trese flew back into the distance like she had been hit by a baseball bat, accompanied by the sound of cracking. In the end, she hit the icy floor, rolling several times before coming to a halt. However, the agony in her chest and the bright red blood she was coughing up made it hard for her to breathe.
"Holy... fuck!"
While Trese was suffering from her injuries, Francisco glared at Conquest, the fighting spirit still burning in his eyes even as his arm fully recovered.
"So you still wish to fight, then I shall return this to you."
After casually tossing the Chainsword back to Francisco, Conquest ignored him and turned his attention to the rest of the Black Armor soldiers.
As he approached them, a rain of bullets flew at him, attempting to divert his attention. However, the attack was useless, and was easily deflected.
"How annoying," Conquest grumbled, extending his hand towards the group of soldiers.
"[Nolydab's Gates]."
Several dozen razor-sharp weapons emerged from space-tearing rifts that formed out of nowhere and showered down on a large area at hypersonic speed.
The soldiers within the attack radius were pierced instantly.
One soldier was struck in the chest, two in the belly, and one in the right thigh, each weapon easily penetrating their bodies. They crumpled to the floor like puppets whose strings were cut, expiring where they fell.
"Uoooooh!"
One soldier, holding a shovel for some reason, charged ahead. He knew this was a reckless course of action, and that he was nothing before the might of this demon. Even so, he sprinted ahead without a moment's hesitation.
Seeing this, Conquest swung lightly at the soldier, who had entered his attack range.
The swing was faster than anyone could see, something beyond their dexterity.
Shing!
The blade sheared easily through the soldier's flesh, and the decapitated corpse of the soldier spurted blood like a geyser as he collapsed gently into the cold ground. Shortly after that, his head joined it on the floor.
"...Forty-three left under your command."
Conquest, who had not moved so much as an inch since the battle had started, stared at the two Generals and flicked his sword. There was no trace of blood or fat on the gleaming white blade. That beautiful movement looked like it could sweep everything away in a single stroke.
"You better not recklessly charge in again. But I do gotta ask, why did you all keep attacking despite knowing it's impossible to defeat an Archdemon like me?"
With a determined look on his face, Francisco answered, "Mark 10: 27, 'With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.'"
Conquest laughed, "Ah, I see. What an interesting quote."
Now recovered, General Francisco grabbed both his Chainsword and customized pistol, while General Trese drew her anti-tank rifle and hammer. The two of them flanked Conquest front and rear.
Glancing at Francisco, Trese was baffled to see the Major General dabbling his fingers in his own blood flowing from his chest and smearing it on his hands and his Chainsword.
The way he applied the blood to himself made it seem as though he was summoning the ancestral spirits down upon himself.
"Trese, how are your wounds?"
"O-Oh, um... Not good. It's still aching. Still, I can take a few more swings. But I've pretty much run out of ammo right now."
Trese ground her teeth, perhaps in an attempt to laugh. Francisco's expression changed as he heard this.
"...What are you laughing at? Is it because I smeared my own blood like I'm from some kind of cannibal tribe?" He smiled and then sighed, relaxing his shoulders.
A torrent of pain erupted from near his chest, but Francisco fought to ignore it.
He would not give up until the last moment he intended to fight until the end.
From the beginning, he had known full well that victory was impossible.
Defeat was inevitable, yet they could not accept it.
That was because it would be like lying to people, telling them that they could win. Since others had actually believed them, they could not accept the fact that they would be defeated.
They had to give everything they had until the final moment…
"Then swing that sword you're wielding, you demonic bastard!!" Francisco cried out throughout the surrounding area.
Conquest chuckled, "A fine cry."
He was probably laughing, but this was not the laughter of the strong mocking the weak, but of a warrior laughing with a fellow fighter.
"Very well, General. That's it, then. I'll fight with you to the bitter end as well."
Francisco smiled as well, "Then... Sorry to keep you waiting."
Conquest shrugged as Francisco said this, "It is fine, I am not so thoughtless as to interrupt a conversation between families. Now prepare to meet your fate. No, pardon me… you were ready for it from the start."
As General Francisco and Trese began moving, Conquest flourished his Odachi sword and asked.
"State your names. I apologize ahead of time that I never get to ask that sooner."
"Alexandra Trese."
"Francisco Dianopra Agraviador."
"...I will remember you warriors," Conquest said, readying his weapon, "Now let's keep ourselves silent and continue this battle, shall we?"
With that, the humans immediately lunged at Conquest across the icy wasteland.
The uncoordinated timing of their attacks baffled Conquest.
The two of them did not enter his range at the same time. Trese was the first to do so. Sensing a scheme, Conquest awaited their next move.
Since Trese was the first to enter his strike zone, Conquest carefully studied her approach.
But just before he could reach her, Trese suddenly stopped.
Bang!
As she halted, she crouched down and fired her rifle at his face. At the same time, Francisco broke into a wild sprint. He hadn't even activated his Chainsword so his opponent would not be able to gauge his attack range.
Trese's declaration that "I'm almost out of bullets," was merely a ruse to deceive Conquest. If he had taken the bait, perhaps he might have been distracted by the bullet and been hit by Francisco's charge from behind.
However tough their opponent's armor was, he should still be able to break through it if he poured all his strength into the edge. With that in mind, Francisco had abandoned defense to focus on the attack, and the resulting strike should have been quite strong.
He seems quite confident in his Chainsword.
Conquest could understand how he felt, because much like him, he felt strongly about the weapons he owned. In particular, the sword he now wielded which had once been used by one of the most respectful warriors he had fought. Despite the lopsided nature of the battle, Conquest insisted on using the Transcendent Tier-3 Odachi sword as a sign of his supreme respect.
However, they had made a miscalculation, which was that their opponent was Conquest, an Maquiss-rank Archdemon and the servant of the Demon Lord.
"...Slow, yet efficient."
At unimaginable speed, the high-calibre round disintegrated into nothingness mere moments before reaching Conquest. Even these rounds could obliterate armored vehicles and even tanks, they could not pierce Conquest's impenetrable armor and his magical defenses.
Soon enough, the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived. However, Conquest hesitated briefly.
'Can my foe be stopped just by cutting off his head?' he pondered.
In the face of Francisco's full attack, Conquest did not think that mere decapitation would stop his advance. The mental image of a headless body charging towards him flashed through his mind.
If that were the case, he should first sever the hands, then the head.
No, that approach wouldn't be clean enough. It was best to finish him off in one stroke.