by Okina Baba
Four crazy-strong beasts like Mother? The Demon Lord’s scary when she gets serious.
“I figured this isn’t the time to be stingy. I’m pulling out all the stops.”
The four queens form an imposing line.
And then there’s the dragon-wyrm army, led by the wind dragons.
Looks like all the dragons and wyrms in this wasteland have gathered here.
What’s up with this monster army? I kinda feel like they could easily destroy the world by themselves.
Shoot. I did think about bringing the spider army from the Great Elroe Labyrinth, but I figured it was better to leave them there to guard the bloodsucker duo and all.
Giant spider monsters, dragons, and wyrms, oh my.
“Pardon the wait. I have returned with the Word of God army of thirty thousand.”
The pontiff shows up to add his army to the mix.
The mage who undertook this huge Large-Scale Teleport to bring the army all this way died in the process.
Several of them, in fact.
I didn’t actually see the bodies, but I heard the pontiff mention it in his speech to the Word of God army after they appeared in the wasteland.
“Give thanks for the sacrifice of the brave men who gave their lives to create a gate to this place for the holy war!”
Large-Scale Teleport is so tough that even I have trouble with it.
If you tried to do it with a human body, I can see how that would mean literally putting your life on the line.
This method sacrificed the lives of several valuable Spatial Magic mages.
That’s how determined the pontiff was to bring his forces here.
To be honest, I’m not sure how much help they’re going to be. They might have big numbers, but they’re still human.
To the Demon Lord or me, they just look like an army of weaklings.
But they seem determined to join the fight.
I can sense that they’re willing to lay down their lives with a fervor that borders on madness.
I don’t know what the pontiff told them before we got here, but they seem perfectly willing to team up with us, and it looks like they understand what kind of enemy we’re facing.
They even seem to realize that most of them won’t be coming back alive.
And yet, none of them seems to be afraid, and their morale only keeps getting higher. I guess they’ve been trained well.
That’s what’s so scary about religion.
There’s nothing stronger than that kind of faith.
“It appears I am the last to arrive.”
Finally, Potimas shows up with his mechanical army.
There aren’t that many, probably only about two thousand soldiers.
But instead of humans, these are machine soldiers.
They’re over fifteen feet tall, clad in tough-looking armor and wielding several weapons each.
The machines are sorta freaky to look at, too: It’s like if you shoved a humanoid upper body onto a multi-legged lower body.
But as freaky as it is, they look efficient, too.
The upper body seems like it was designed to wield weapons as effectively as possible and only happened to come out resembling a human.
It’s sorta like the product of a design focused purely on making a functional, elegant weapon, not a cool-looking robot like you’d see in a mecha anime.
Not exactly romantic but definitely promising as a fighting force.
I just hope I’m never up against these things instead of with them.
“Looks like we’re all ready,” the Demon Lord remarks.
Yeah, unfortunately.
Güli-güli didn’t make it back in time after all.
If only he’d gotten here sooner, I wouldn’t have to deal with this stupid UFO.
“So White here, I guess Potimas, and I are gonna assault that thing, okay?”
“Right.”
It’s not really okay with me, but I can’t run away at this point—and even if I did, it might mean the end of the world.
So I just nod, albeit very reluctantly.
“So? How do we get inside?”
“We’ll use this to make a hole in the outer wall.”
Potimas indicates some kind of massive tube thing.
Hmm? Is that like a giant bazooka or something?
“It’s a single-use gun, but it’s extremely powerful. It should be able to make a hole in the G-Fleet’s exterior without a problem.”
Hey, I was right. It’s a bazooka.
Still, the term “infiltration” had me picturing us entering through some secret air vent or something, not just busting our way through.
I guess it’s more like breaking and entering, huh?
“So? Who’s going to bring it?”
“I’ll have you or that ‘White’ creature carry it. This body can probably lift it, but it isn’t quite powerful enough to take aim properly.”
“All right. Here you go, White.”
What? Why?
Looks like I’m the one stuck carrying this bazooka.
Why do I have to take such an important role, huh?
I glower at the Demon Lord in protest.
“You can use Spatial Magic to put it away and take it out whenever you want. Besides, you’ve got a better physique for it than I do anyway.”
Dammit. She’s right.
I can put it away in Spatial Storage until I need to fire it, and the Demon Lord’s childlike body is hardly suited to operating a bazooka.
And Potimas says he can’t do it, although I don’t know if that’s true or not, so that leaves only me by process of elimination.
But I reeeally don’t wanna be given such an important task.
If I miss or something, we won’t be able to get inside anymore, right? He said this was one use only.
I can’t afford to mess up.
Rationally, I know it’d probably be harder to miss that giant thing than to hit it, but that doesn’t stop me from being nervous.
Should I get as close as I can and shoot it from point-blank range?
That would involve flying, then.
Of course, since I have Dimensional Maneuvering, that’s not a problem for me.
Dimensional Maneuvering uses magic power to create footholds in empty space, allowing me to run through the air or whatever like I’m on the ground. That means I can move through the air without a problem.
But isn’t that UFO gonna have the mysterious barrier?
If it activates that barrier while I’m using Dimensional Maneuvering, it’ll cancel out the skill and I’ll fall.
I don’t like that one bit.
Since the tank used that barrier, there’s no guarantee the UFO won’t use it.
I have to come up with a way to fly without using skills.
Just then, I make eye contact with a certain someone who’s been listening with a meek yet relaxed attitude, as if none of this has anything to do with it.
Aha. That’ll do.
I beckon to the wind dragon.
Making a “?” face, the wind dragon putters over.
I quickly move around to its side, jumping onto its back.
“What the—?!”
Great. The size is perfect.
My upper body is the same size as a normal human, but my lower body takes the shape of a gigantic spider. Luckily, the wind dragon is just big enough to fly with me on its back.
Without further ado, I wrap my spider legs around the wind dragon’s body.
There, that feels nice and secure.
This is perfect!
“The hell are you doing?!”
“Ooh, I get it. Good idea.”
“Agreed. Perhaps Ariel and I should ride some dragons, as well.”
“You said it.”
While the wind dragon throws a fit, the Demon Lord and Potimas figure out my logic and actually agree with me.
“You heard him, wind dragon. You guys are gonna transport us up there.”
“‘You hear
d him,’ my ass!”
The wind dragon keeps complaining and trying to throw me off, but it’s already been decided.
“Shall I take charge of matters on the ground, then?”
It’s already starting to get chaotic down here, so the pontiff offers to rein things in.
“Might as well, right? Although I do kinda feel like our forces should just do our own thing.”
“I concur. Their methods and abilities are simply too different.”
Oh, I guess they have a point.
It’d probably be harder to control this mixed-up army than to just let them run wild.
In fact, these guys would normally be fighting one another, so it’s a miracle that they’re even on the same side in the first place.
And now you want to say, All right, let’s all work together and win this thing? Forget it.
“I’ll tell the queens and the puppets to listen to your orders, but don’t get your hopes up too much.”
“Seconded. I shall grant you the authority to give orders, but my soldiers will be the ones to decide whether to listen.”
Huh?
Does that mean there are people inside those machines?
It doesn’t look like there’s enough space in there, so I just assumed they were preprogrammed on autopilot.
…Maybe it’s best not to delve too deep into this.
I’m afraid I’ll learn something I’m better off not knowing.
“Very well. I only intend to provide minor adjustments. No doubt it is better to let each force act at their own discretion.”
I guess the pontiff wasn’t looking to take direct control of this crazy army anyway.
Maybe he suggested this only to get their consent in case of an emergency?
If you don’t establish the chain of command early on, it can lead to disputes down the line, after all.
“The G-Fleet is slowly making its way toward us. It has deployed a force of approximately a hundred thousand on the ground.”
Silence follows that number.
A hundred thousand.
Our forces number about forty thousand in total.
And thirty thousand of those are humans, who are weaker than the robots that make up most of the opposing army.
The queens, the puppet spiders, the dragons, and most likely the machine soldiers are all considerably stronger than the robots, but this will probably still be a difficult battle.
“Well, our main goal is getting rid of this bomb anyway. As long as we can do that, we’ve basically won, even if we can’t wipe out their forces. Then we’ll just let Gülie take care of the rest.”
The Demon Lord’s unconcerned comment lightens the mood a little.
She’s right.
If we take care of the bomb that could very well destroy the world, the rest of the problems are a whole lot less urgent.
Then we only have to wait for Güli-güli to get back and finish the job for us.
“Dustin.” The Demon Lord turns to give orders to the pontiff. “Please focus on slowing the enemy down and buying as much time as possible on the ground. Try to avoid any unnecessary sacrifices, okay?”
“Understood. I shall handle matters as carefully as I can.”
“Wind dragon. We’re gonna have you carry White, but have the rest of the dragons fight in the skies. It might be the toughest job, but don’t let them steal control of the air. Otherwise, we’re all doomed. Prepare to risk everything if you have to.”
“Huh? Why do we gotta work twice as hard as the goons on the ground, eh, spider lady?”
“There’s no way around it. If you don’t give it your all, we have no hope of winning.”
“Argh! What the hell?! Fine, we’ll do it!”
The wind dragon complains some more, but it seems to understand her reasoning.
The dragons are our only ally who can move freely through the air, so they’re very important.
They’re the only ones who can put up a fight against the UFO’s fighter aircraft.
Giving the enemy air superiority would have a devastating effect on the fight on the ground, so we really need the dragons to put their backs into this.
“And Potimas… Don’t betray us, got it?”
“Hmph.”
It’s hard to tell whether the Demon Lord is joking, but Potimas only responds with a snort.
Uh, are we sure this is gonna be okay?
He won’t betray us, right? Right?!
At any rate, this means our anti-UFO strategy has been decided.
The Demon Lord, Potimas, and I are going to infiltrate the UFO.
The dragons, led by the wind dragon, will carry us to the UFO, then fight in the air to keep our escape route open.
There are about eight thousand of them. Most of them are wyrms, though, with only twenty-four dragons.
Normally, twenty-four dragons would be a huge number, but in this situation, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough.
Our ground forces include the pontiff’s Word of God army of thirty thousand, Potimas’s two thousand machine soldiers, four queen taratects, and the four puppet spiders.
The UFO’s army, on the other hand, has about a hundred thousand robots.
A thousand tanks.
I see about five thousand fighters in the sky.
And then, there’s the supreme commander, the UFO itself.
There might even be more forces inside the UFO, so their total could be even larger.
Our forces are made up of some of the strongest troops in this world.
But even then, we don’t know for sure if we’ll win.
The fate of the world hangs in the balance.
If we lose, everything might be destroyed, so we have no choice but to win.
The curtain has violently opened on a battle against relics of the past.
THE VAMPIRE MISTRESS AND HER SERVANT DISCUSS MACHINERY
“Young miss, may I ask you a question?”
“Yes?”
“Could you tell me more about these ‘machines’?”
“Machines?”
“Indeed. I cannot quite grasp what exactly a ‘machine’ might be. And so I was hoping you could impart your wisdom unto me.”
“Okay. I don’t know the finer details, though.”
“That is quite all right. If you can share what knowledge you do have, I would be very grateful.”
“Very well. But it might take a while. Do you mind if I use Telepathy?”
“No, please go ahead.”
“Thank you. You want to know about the kinds of machines that were in those ruins, right, Merazophis?”
“Yes and no. I have very little understanding of machines in general. Please share anything that comes to mind, young miss.”
“All right. I’ll talk about the machines from my old world, then.”
“By all means.”
“To put it simply, a machine is something that exists to make life easier.”
“Is that right?”
“As far as I’m concerned anyway. Of course, there are weapons like the ones we saw in those ruins, but you could say that those, too, are meant to make life easier in a broad sense, right? By protecting people from enemy attacks.”
“Ah, I see.”
“So machines make life easier. Since you were in charge of a mansion, you know how taxing even everyday life can be, right? Cleaning, cooking, laundry. It’s a lot of work.”
“Quite.”
“Machines are supposed to help with that. In my world, for example, we had a machine called a vacuum cleaner, which gathered up dirt and garbage much more easily than a broom.”
“More than a broom?”
“Yes. I don’t quite understand the principles behind it, but you could say a vacuum cleaner was like an evolved form of a broom. Machines are basically evolved tools—more convenient, often able to do their work automatically. I think that’s a decent way of looking at it.”
“So the machines in those ruins were the same?”
SKY BATTLE! FANTASY VS SCI-Fi
NYOOOOOM! The sound of something tearing through the air zips right past my ears.
You know, the kind of sound that an F1 or whatever would make.
I’d only ever heard that noise on TV before, but it turns out it’s really freakin’ loud when you hear it up close!
I feel like my eardrums are gonna burst!
In fact, it wouldn’t be that unusual if they really did burst in this situation!
I mean, we’ve gotta be a good ten thousand feet up in the air.
That’s at least as high as the peak of Mount Fuji, maybe even higher.
If you’re doing acrobatic maneuvers that high up, you might bust an eardrum or two!
Although I don’t think mine have actually burst just yet.
That’s right. I’m flying in the sky right now.
Clinging to the back of a wind dragon, locked in the middle of a not-very-fun dance with a giant swarm of fighters.
“Whooee! Now, that one made my blood run cold for a second!”
The sound I just heard was the aircraft I shot down, hurtling right past us on its way to the ground.
The wind dragon’s Telepathic message is so lighthearted, I even heard it whistle, but that’s just its tone—in reality, it’s deadly serious.
This dragon is doing some insane high-speed evasive maneuvers to dodge the fighter jets’ attacks while firing back at them with Wind Magic.
It can’t let its guard down for a second or we’ll both be shot full of holes.
That’s how intense the battle against these fighters is.
While the dragons have taken off, the ground troops are still staying in place.
Their main job is to keep the UFO and its army occupied, so instead of charging forward, it makes more sense to wait and intercept the enemy instead.
The dragons are our air forces, though, and they have the job of bringing the infiltration team up to the UFO.
That means they have to break through the UFO’s defensive line of five thousand fighter planes, so they have no choice but to go on the offensive.
We’ve got to detach that bomb from the UFO as soon as we possibly can.
Since the UFO activated with no clear purpose, we have no way of knowing when it might drop the bomb.