The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume8 Chapter4

Status: Incomplete

4/11 parts completed

   

Stage 4: Crushing the Silver War from the Heavens

“Then I’ll do it myself.”

“I don’t care if it violates my rules or causes my soul to rot away. I will **** you!!!!!!”

(Stage 04 Open 08/04 06:00 “UTC+03 Flanguild time”)

Crushing the Silver War from the Heavens

Part 1

Even in August, the early morning was cold enough to see one’s breath.

Since the country’s primary agricultural products were rare alpine plants rather than wheat or beef, you can probably imagine just how biting a cold it was.

The small Eastern European country was surrounded by steep mountains.

It was known as Kingdom F.

The orange of dawn collided with and reflected off the thick layer of fog washing over the surface, creating some uniquely picturesque scenery. The breathtaking view looked like fine gold dust had been laid out across every inch of the earth as far as the eye could see.

There was no real reason it had to be this country.

The vein had just so happened to be nearby. And it would have been a pain if the country had later decided to resist, so they had to be crushed in advance. Either way, the countries and regions the war reached were treated as a part of the villainous East Europe Axis. As long as they followed the rules of war based on international treaties, the US Army would not be criticized for their attack.

The actual foreign policy that used the help of Toy Dream was not actually going that well, but the boots on the ground had not been informed of that and simply played their role.

An electronic information control plane with antenna rods all over its fuselage was taking a pleasure flight just outside the national border. It was a mobile base for a war of the internet age. The fact that the flying command room was right there on the front line felt somewhat brazen.

The aircraft was the size of a large passenger plane and it contained countless computers and the technicians to operate them, but it also had a fancy visitor’s room where the high-ranking officers were gathered.

They had a map spread out on a table and were moving small pieces across it while holding a secret conversation.

“Phase 1 is progressing well. The East Europe Axis’s communication and information network have been accurately severed along with the power lines. Both wired and wireless communications are down. This really is a small country. They do seem to have some tanks given modern modifications, but they have shown no real resistance to our aerial forces.”

“To the west is Varsfork Fortress. To the north is Ilijinika Tunnel Shelter. Once we have completed our groundwork in Phase 2, we will send a division of troops to each and pry open the front gate of the East Europe Axis’s mountain fortress. At the same time, we plan to send some special commandos in through the relatively gentle mountain ridge to the east.”

“…Tch. Curse those marines. Are they trying to steal the credit even when we’re fighting deep in the mountains?”

“This should be over in a day or two. Please be cautious so none of the small neighboring countries try to attack us. If those nearby countries confuse our humanitarianism for weakness and refuse to allow us through their airspace, the disruption of our air supply line could delay the timetable. Of course, this is more of a political issue than a military one.”

“Make sure even the lowest grunt is told to behave like a gentleman. This is not just an issue of morals. I am discussing textbook sociology here. The intensity of the postwar terrorism hinges on our actions here. Do not force our noble American way onto them. Make allowances for the local national character and do it by the book. I don’t want to make an enemy of the viewers in their living rooms and have Congress glaring at me.”

They were fighting under the assumption they would win.

Rather than thinking about how many of the enemy they could kill, they thought about how many allies they could keep alive.

The real-time battle status reports were only confirming what they already knew. To them, the mere act of receiving an irregular report was humiliating. This was not a clash between their plans and the enemy’s plans. They had determined the entire schedule themselves. This was a superpower’s war.

“Varsfork shouldn’t be a problem, but Ilijinika Tunnel Shelter is a relic of the Cold War which was thought to be the final war between the US and Russia, right?”

“If everything is functioning properly, the civilians will be evacuated there. Although it won’t be properly airtight since the internal filters and rubber seals will have deteriorated.”

“No one is talking about using B or C here. We don’t want to pay war reparations after they use humanitarian treaties as a shield. Are we prepared to break through with standard firepower?”

“How about we use an old relic too? I will prepare the 500mm heavy artillery.”

“The Grad Killer, huh? It might be a fossil, but use it properly. It doesn’t matter if the enemy fights back. We can’t afford a delay if it jams.”

Even here, they were simply obtaining vocal commitments from each other.

The people viewing the strategic actions from above would never be ignorant of the firepower they had procured the budget for after negotiating with the pacifists while rubbing their hands and grinning. In the end, they were really only tossing around the ball of “responsibility” like a hot potato. They were only negotiating over who would have to take the blame if their one and only fear came true: human error on the part of one of their own soldiers.

“It is extremely low scale, but Kingdom F does seem to have an unidentified fighting force…”

“Hmph. What can some musty old knights do? Can they bring down a stealth bomber while drawing their bowstrings on horseback?”

Those normal soldiers were unfamiliar with the Summoning Ceremony and could not perceive anyone involved in it, so they were lucky to even know of a vague organization name. They saw no reason for concern there.

And that was why they remained ignorant until the threat took visible form before their eyes.

A moment later, a massive form shot past right next to the electronic information control plane.

It was a giant space station transformed into a blazing fireball by massive friction.

After flying so elegantly through the sky, the operation command room was shaken like a leaf in the wind. The ones who flipped over and hit their head on the corner of the desk could count themselves lucky. Some of the officers were slammed into the ceiling like they were caught in some turbulence.

Finally, the aircraft regained control.

They had all been thrown to the floor and soaked in the black coffee and single malt whisky they had been drinking. One of the high-ranking officers, who had never before tasted the floor, forced out a trembling voice while clinging to the table which was bolted to the floor.

“Wh-what…what happened…?”

And his well-trained subordinate gave an appropriate response even in this chaotic situation.

He saluted and spoke.

“It would appear that the war has begun, sir.”

Part 2

The Missing Princess was still back in Japan.

Due to the time difference, lunchtime was close to finishing there.

“Phew.”

Sinceria Highland, Queen of Kingdom F, used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her brow while her oddly long ears twitched.

There was only one reason why a vessel like her would have returned from her Material form.

“…Well, that should about do it.”

The Chain had ended.

After defeating more and more and more enemy summoners, she found several hours had passed. That was an extraordinarily long battle since the Artificial Sacred Ground could only last 10 minutes at the most, but all Sinceria did was use that handkerchief. Her cool-colored dress still looked like snow or ice, glass or crystal.

Her stamina as a vessel was abnormal.

The battle had begun on the side deck, but it had gradually drifted, leaving her on the casino floor now. The Illegal summoners and vessels were strewn about in the defeated state, some passed out on a broken roulette table and some convulsing with their head crashed into a slot machine. Stuffing a vessel head-first into the air conditioning vent designed to look like a fireplace may have been a mistake. The casino area was not being properly cooled.

The glasses knight named Rachel Wormwood tapped her shoulder with her Blood-Sign which had the silver rod and J-shaped end of a battle hook.

“These were no more than foreign threats and insults to our kingdom who were so obsessed with gathering the Awards before their eyes that they lost sight of their true purpose as a summoner and even failed to collect the very Awards they sought. They never stood a chance against us.”

“Rachel.”

“Yes?”

Sinceria clasped her hands in front of her large chest and gently smiled.

The unbelievably beautiful head of state in a cool blue dress cut to the heart of the issue.

“Was this unofficial investigation merely an excuse to distance me from the war?”

“…”

Rachel fell silent for a moment and then shook her head.

She seemed to resign herself to something as she opened her mouth once more.

“The foundation of Kingdom F will be established where our queen is located. As long as you are safe, we can rebuild the kingdom as many times as it takes. It was also fortunate that the nobody took the princess away.”

“That is a shocking thing to hear as Kingdom F’s last line of defense…”

“Real war is not fought solely through the Summoning Ceremony. In fact, a large army firing common bullets is more frightening. When you get down to it, war is supported by the three pillars of population, technology, and resources. Was that never explained to you during your close relationship with that nobody?”

Once she got that far, Rachel faced the head of state once more.

She kneeled before Sinceria and bowed her head.

She got down on one knee and kept her tall and athletically-fit body as low as she could.

But she did not hesitate to speak.

“I will offer up my treacherous head once Kingdom F has been rebuilt. There is no need for the likes of me in the coming age. Please expunge my name from the court records and place my head in the guillotine, my queen. There is only a common criminal before you. The knight named Rachel Wormwood never existed.”

“Don’t be ridiculous…”

Sinceria’s tone slowly changed.

This was likely a voice she could never use in front of her daughter.

“I’m sure this was a group decision by all of the knights. No, there was probably a petition from the people before that. So why must you pass it off as your independent decision and take the full blame yourself?”

Rachel’s shoulder’s jumped.

She fidgeted with her head still lowered.

“No, that is…not what happened. This was a foolish act planned only by the traitor before you…!!”

“You are a terrible liar and that is one of your virtues. Finding no words to speak is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Sinceria than added a “however”.

“What is good and what is evil? Who should be punished and who should be forgiven? As the sovereign ruler of the kingdom, we hold the right to pardon criminals. Lady Rachel Wormwood. It is true we have given you some authority as a knight, but I have a question for you here. When did you gain the right to disrespect the entire divine right of kings?”

“…”

Rachel clenched her teeth.

But she did not raise her head.

She clenched her teeth, clenched her teeth, clenched her teeth, and spoke in a vanishingly quiet voice.

“But if you were to graciously pardon me, it would mean I survived by sharing the special seat reserved for you. If I do not offer up my head, I will be setting a poor example for the others who allowed you to escape at great risk to their own li-…”

“Enough.”

She was rejected.

A regional knight’s pride could not bend the orders of a kingdom’s queen.

“You…no, the knights as a whole only prioritized my life because you heard the people’s pleas. If you still wish to be punished for your crime, then live on in disgrace, Lady Rachel Wormwood. Make up for not protecting the people, for abandoning the people, and for giving up on the people by ensuring this ends very differently from the result you imagine is coming. That is the punishment I will give to my trusted partner. Learn from your mistake and aim to be an even stronger strongest. We will use all of our authority as Kingdom F Queen Sinceria Highland to prevent you from shirking responsibility and accepting an easy death like a coward. Take this to heart, ignorant and proud knight. We will never listen to the likes of you and let you order us around.”

Silence followed.

What was burning in the trembling knight’s soul: the intense humiliation of losing her place to die, or appreciation for being saved from execution?

Rachel would snap at Shiroyama Kyousuke more than necessary whenever they met and she showed an intense revulsion to Sinceria’s idea that they were both summoners who protected the same royal family, but that may have been a sign of her jealousy. Kyousuke had looked far too bright as he fought head-on with nothing hidden and had that work in favor of Kingdom F’s royal family.

But that was none of Sinceria’s concern. She would look right past the #2 or #3 as she always sought the #1 summoner. If Rachel lived up to her queen’s expectations through ceaseless effort, Sinceria would have to do her very best to protect her subordinate.

There was no right answer in war, but you still had to make a decision.

If Sinceria had chosen to remain in Kingdom F and fight the foreign threat to the end, Rachel would have gone down in history as a fool who had stood by Sinceria’s side yet failed to get the head of state out of the country before they were surrounded. That knight had been stuck between a rock and a hard place from the beginning. And in the very, very end, she had chosen to listen to the will of the people, preserve the honor of the knights, save Sinceria’s life, and offer up her head and her head alone.

Sinceria smiled at that knight who had been raised to be honest to a fault and had thus become perfect.

If she were to rid herself of someone like this out of fear of damaging her own reputation, then Kingdom F would truly be done for. The monarchy would have to be dismantled.

“Worry not, Rachel. This will not end the way you fear it will. There was never any need to feel that regret burning within you. So relax and raise your head.”

“?”

“Have you forgotten? We are not the only ones working to resolve this.”

Sinceria had declared this issue over when she told Rachel to live on in disgrace.

So now it was time to encourage her #1 subordinate who was still trembling like a fawn.

“After all, my adorable daughter and the hero who saved our kingdom have teamed up. With Olivia and Kyousuke working together, how can this have anything but a happy ending?”

She raised her index finger.

And she made a definite statement with a gentle smile on her lips.

“Just you watch, Rachel. Kyousuke will undoubtedly save the entirety of Kingdom F, including you.”

Part 3

Let us step back to shortly before the crash landing.

Kyousuke had no further need for War Criminal who was also aboard the Toy Dream OP-01 space station. After stuffing him and his vessel in an emergency pod, he produced a sound much like a dry branch snapping.

“???”

Olivia tilted her head outside the pod.

“Onii-chan, what did you just do?”

“Nothing. It’s fine.”

Kyousuke answered the small girl while making sure she could not see inside as he closed the escape pod door to contain a liquid floating like red rubies in the zero-g space.

Now that he had settled an old conflict, they finally had to face the war.

Yes, the Silver Resource War was marching onward even without the mastermind behind it. The snowball had already started rolling down the hill.

Their objective had changed.

They had to stop the war itself.

Kyousuke pulled an Incense Grenade the size of a hair spray can from the rolled-up hood on the back of his hoodie.

Double blonde braided Olivia tilted her head.

“Huh? The one you keep there instead of your pocket is your final spare, isn’t it? So are you out after this?”

“To be honest, far too much has happened today.”

Even though he had calculated out the proper reentry angle, the giant space station was dyed orange as it was scorched by the atmosphere. Parts were peeled up and blown away from the extremities as the surface temperature reached around 3000 degrees at the highest. That was an incredible temperature since the melting point of iron was around 1600 degrees.

Locating the enemy was not that difficult.

An army division included around 10,000 people. With more than one division-class forces on the scene, their locations were immediately obvious when viewed from above. Approaching them on the flat surface would have been difficult, but they would never expect the vanguard to fall right on top of their heads.

A dull metallic sound came from Kyousuke’s hand.

It was a makeshift Incense Grenade launcher made by attaching a grip and other parts to a sliced-off piece of copper pipe with liquid fuel injected inside. It was blatantly handmade, but it provided enough force and it was using rocket fuel. The real hurdle had been preventing the explosive force from rupturing the pipe from within.

Kyousuke sat with his back pressed to the wall, stuffed the one remaining metal can inside the front of the barrel like he was placing a lid on it, and filled the chamber with the amount of liquid fuel he had measured out with a tube.

“Olivia, come here.”

“Right.”

Olivia approached, so he casually held her close just as there was a change to their apparent weight. They were tugged forward, their speed only continued to accelerate, and it never seemed to stop. Unlike when an apple fell to the ground, objects falling from orbit did not fall along a straight vertical line. It was better to think of them as spiraling as they were swallowed up by the earth’s gravity, so the angle of their fall would gradually shift from horizontal to vertical. So as Kyousuke and Olivia rode that intense roller coaster, the direction and magnitude of their apparent gravity was changing from one moment to the next.

They had already reached approximately 4 Gs, which was at the level of an actual roller coaster.

By the end, it surpassed 9.5 Gs, so the floor and the concept of up and down became meaningless. That was why Kyousuke had pressed his back against the wall and held small Olivia in place. He would have liked to have seatbelts or lap bars, but they were not enjoying a safe attraction here. They were approaching the battlefield on a space station that would fall apart on its own. Strapping themselves in for the duration would only mean committing suicide with the station.

“Nbh, ngweh.”

“You don’t have to hold back, Olivia. The contents of your stomach are being tugged on too, so nothing will come out no matter how much you gag.”

“Onii-…urp…I need to lecture you…later…!!”

<…Ni…sama…>

Some static crackled in the back of their minds.

The scorching atmosphere meant nothing. She could hitch a ride even at reentry speed.

Olivia went entirely pale.

“Th-th-that isn’t normal…”

“Hm, looks like I was right that she goes berserk in response to me being in danger. The enemy we seek is at Toy Dream OP-01’s destination.”

After they passed the obvious thermosphere, the sound of a giant file scraping at the outer walls only seemed to grow louder. The atmospheric pressure was growing and the density of impurities like air and dust was increasing. The slight sense of deceleration as something pushed up at them may have been the air friction applying the brakes.

The space station’s angle was changing as it drew a gentle curve in its fall.

The obstacle that Kyousuke and Olivia believed to be a wall had to be facing upwards like a ceiling when viewed from the surface.

“On your mark.”

Kyousuke spoke below his breath while holding Olivia’s small body.

He was as accurate as the hands of the clock attached to an accurate time bomb.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”

The launcher made from a thick sliced copper pipe was aimed straight ahead.

In terms of earth’s gravity, it was aimed straight down toward the surface.

“…5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

Something large passed right by the space station. No, it was Kyousuke and Olivia who passed right by the transport plane or bomber.

That caused them to shake side to side more than before, but Kyousuke did not bat an eye.

He spoke with his finger on the trigger.

“Zero. Let the battle begin.”

A cross-shaped crack ran through the “wall” in front of them.

Just as the orange-burnt anti-radiation aerospace material was stripped away by the wind pressure, Kyousuke aimed at the center of it all and fired his projectile.

It all happened in an instant. It was like quickly passing your palm horizontally through a candle’s flame. He acted too quickly for the heat to reach them. It looked like a reckless action at first, but it was actually the safest option.

The space station resembled a giant fireball and it did not actually crash into the surface.

The giant structure broke apart in midair and scattered, as if the entire thing was peeled apart from a single point. Thanks to that, the earth was spared an ice age.

After stripping away their grand raiment, Kyousuke and Olivia were pulled down by a different force.

The Incense Grenade had detonated after being fired toward the ground ahead of the station.

(There’s a division of 10,000 to the north and one to the west. The supply line, intel management, logistical support, and reserve forces probably amount to another 5000.)

Kyousuke and Olivia swiftly flew to the center of the Artificial Sacred Ground.

This direct descent should have been impossible for a human being with no space suit or parachute.

The golden land created by the dawn’s light and the mist crawling across the surface was blown away in an instant. The bared battlefield had finally shown itself.

(This is the frontline base for attacking the Ilijinika Tunnel Shelter to the north. Good, it’s all going according to plan. This is a 3.2 margin of error in landing coordinates, but that’s within acceptable bounds.)

Overall, it was about 5km in each direction.

The vast plain’s stability could not even be broken by the irregular flow of the rivers produced by the snow thawing on the tall mountains, but two field runways for giant transport planes intersected at a right angle and a 2km vehicle maintenance base was set up at the inner angle. A control tower and hangars for working on the transport planes themselves and unloading cargo were constructed on the outer edge of the runways.

Kyousuke and Olivia had descended to the vehicle maintenance base on the inner angle.

Kyousuke first placed his feet on a thin fragment travelling at a similar speed to establish the Artificial Sacred Ground around him. Then he fired a White Thorn to surround himself with a protective circle before landing on the ground. The station’s fragment shattered and a new Artificial Sacred Ground appeared on the surface. Olivia’s small feminine body had transformed into a thick slime.

There were four observation towers, a barracks, a communication command center, and a roofed maintenance bay larger than a school gym. Alice (with) Rabbit ignored all of them and instead focused on the vehicle management space filled with countless tanks, armored trucks, mobile rocket launchers, and more.

They were all deadly industrial products waiting impatiently for the cruise missiles and bombers to finish the preparations.

It was not flesh-and-blood humans who were operating those steel weapons. The soldiers wore Quad Motors Repliglass Snapping Turtles and the short and round armor completely eliminated any hint of a human silhouette.

Those military facility suppression devices could shrug off a point-blank barrage from a 30mm machinegun and, in addition to using firearms, used the two special machine arms on the shoulders to tear off a tank’s hatch or a shelter’s door – and the occasional leaked video of those being used against flesh-and-blood enemy soldiers or terrorists raised humanitarian concerns. Those demonic weapons perfectly fused the nimbleness of infantry with the toughness of tanks.

After the space station broke apart in midair, a single glass shard from the solar panels or a single screw had become a deadly weapon. Those would not be lethal to the American soldiers covered in thick Repliglass, but it would have normally required heading below a roof to protect themselves.

However, no one did that.

And not because they trusted too much in the Snapping Turtles the military had issued them.

They could not take their eyes off of the grim reaper descending upon them without warning.

They did not know what it was, but they knew something bad would happen if they took their eyes off of it. The modern battlefield was like a video game in how it was ruled by the internet and mass-produced machines, but that baseless jinx eerily permeated and spread among them all.

And.

Kyousuke continued to calmly observe the industrial products lined up around him.

He could see why they were known as the world’s most powerful army.

And that meant he need not worry about killing them even if he used a Material against them.

(Okay.)

He was surrounded by the afterimages of the White Thorns that continued to ricochet wildly around him. The red light of the Petals was mixed in among them.

Meanwhile, his eyes had already picked out the most important parts of the scene around him.

(If they want to pry open the gate to Ilijinika and Kingdom F as a whole, generally scorching the mountainside with rockets and missiles would be meaningless. Bunker busters dropped from bombers would be equally useless. Then that roofed maintenance bay must contain a landmark weapon specially made for breaking into something like that. That would be the top priority.)

His enemy was the world’s most powerful army and more than 25 thousand had been sent in for the first wave of the Silver Resource War.

And Shiroyama Kyousuke reigned at the center of the great fortress containing half that force.

“Now, then.”

With the protective circle and Material, it did not matter how many guns and missiles were aimed at them.

Kyousuke gave a fierce smile while holding the best position for acquiring as many Petals as he wanted when he wanted.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, but it’s time you took a nap.”

Part 4

Now.

What does it mean to win a war?

Different people would think of different situations and phases: destroying the radar facilities and securing air superiority, cutting off the supply line and isolating the enemy troops, destroying the computers to prevent the enemy from approving their operations, etc. But Kyousuke decided none of those would work here. He wanted something more immediate. Given the difference in strength between the two sides, America would have put together a timetable where they completed their invasion of Kingdom F in just a day or two. Simply tripping them up a bit would only end with them forcing their way through the defensive line. Just like a freight train, a large nation could not be stopped by the average brakes once it had gotten moving. Sparks would fly from the wheels, but it would still plow through anything on the rails.

So…

“Let’s go, Olivia.”

<Okay, Onii-chan!!>

Olivia Highland had already given her body over to an abnormal being. She was a red translucent slime, one of the Original Series that was a necessary starting point no matter how the Material was built up. It had a Cost of 1 and belonged to the low Sound Range. It was the bottommost foundation and the weakest of the weak, but it still held great meaning.

First of all, Materials existed beyond human understanding and normal military might was useless against them.

This army may have been the strongest in the world, but that meant nothing to a resident of another world.

“That thing is hostile! I repeat, that thing is hostile!! We can fire!!”

“Don’t be stupid! If we fire into the center, we’ll just hit each other!! Arnold, ignore as much of what that inexperienced Captain says as we can without actually disobeying orders. We need to form our ranks first!!”

“Yes, sir. This is on you now. I’ll draw back the tanks since they’re too powerful and use the infantry to buy some time. After they’ve been fanned out, we can eliminate this thing with the combat vehicles. Get started.”

Tanks and armored trucks were lined up as neatly as the parking lot of a mall on the weekend, but those armored vehicles were trying to move gradually away from Kyousuke and Olivia. Infantry wearing thick Repliglass appeared as they weaved their way through the gaps in that “moving wall” which would cause a disastrous scene if someone’s clothing got caught on one. They had likely sent in the Snapping Turtles because they could survive a direct hit from an autocannon or a grenade launcher. Instead of securing cover, they started by aiming their assault rifles at Kyousuke and the Original Red (b).

They provided no warning.

In fact, the red slime started it by tackling one Snapping Turtle that failed to escape and flipping over an armored truck by pushing up on it from below.

The endless ear-splitting popping noises were a lot like having all the firecrackers in Chinatown go off at once.

But those were no more than the back dancers that complemented the star dancing below the spotlight. The otherworldly Material and Kyousuke in his protective circle could not be harmed by normal bullets.

<Um, where should I aim in general?>

“Focus on the maintenance bay to the northeast. Destroy the landmark weapon being constructed inside.”

He gave her some quick instructions, but they did not head directly there.

A large force was already approaching them.

“Olivia, sweep away the 30 directly in front of us.”

<Right.>

“After that, take out the bazooka unit at four o’clock. Those are powerful enough for friendly fire to kill the Repliglass soldiers, so deal with them quickly.”

<You sure are nice, Onii-chan.>

They must have decided this was not going to end as things were because some Repliglass soldiers wielding heavy machine arms rushed directly in while receiving covering fire, but they could not get any closer to Kyousuke thanks to the protective circle. As the arms strained with effort, the Original Red controlled by Olivia crashed into the thick Repliglass’s sides and then followed Kyousuke’s instructions by charging into the group starting to use shoulder-fired anti-tank weaponry.

They could ignore the 10-minute restriction in this case.

After all, 10,000 people were crammed into a small space here. By opening the Artificial Sacred Ground based on one person, defeating them, and opening another one based on someone else during the 90 seconds of the Chain state, they could fight almost indefinitely. The strength of the built-up Material was carried over, so Kyousuke and Olivia’s advantage only grew.

Olivia’s form changed again and again.

A giant rotting dog crushed a group of four Repliglass soldiers along with their heavy machinegun fixed to the ground with a tripod.

A man-eating plant with countless blades instead of petals launched steel seeds with the force of bullets to neutralize the snipers lying atop the barracks roof.

A beautiful Western doll with round and fat maggots wriggling in the cracks covering its body slowly shifted its aim toward a soldier attempting to lend a shoulder to a Repliglass soldier who could not move due to a malfunction.

“…I guess not every member of the world’s most powerful army can be a veteran hero.”

<What do you mean?>

“It’s common for people to enlist because they need a job during a recession or for immigrants to enlist to contribute to society and gain the right to citizenship. Being the world’s most powerful army is another way of saying its soldiers die a lot less than other countries’. They don’t send in their true elites without good reason. I bet they leave the annoying groundwork to the rookies and the kind of machos seen in movies and games show up later for the part that gets their names in the history books. Because as long as they have Repliglass, even rookies can perform adequately.”

<…>

The silence contained a strained tension.

This was a war fought with just one hand and interspersed with yawns. Although that was no solace for the people of Kingdom F.

Still, it was fortunate for Kyousuke who wanted to stop the war.

He heard a voice from a radio that had fallen at his feet.

“We have had some success with the losses still in the acceptable range. The vehicles have been moved into place. Lieutenant Stallone?”

“—————”

“Attention, everyone. We have lost contact with the Lieutenant. I will take command from here on. Fire!!”

The tanks and armored trucks had moved a certain distance away.

Tank guns and howitzers were fired though the newly-opened gap to hit Kyousuke and Olivia. The explosive booms were accompanied by filthy dust blossoming up like overlapping flowers. In addition to the simple blast and shockwave, a horizontal downpour of small metal balls and sharp fragments assaulted them. The storm of destruction filled the entire space, so it was well beyond the point that any kind of martial arts could hope to dodge it. The blasts were occurring at such close range that orange sparks occasionally flew from the armor of the tanks themselves. Steel claws flying at supersonic speeds were wearing down the composite armor.

However…

“Olivia.”

With that one word, the cloud of dust was blown away from within and a great form stood upon the battlefield.

Divine-class. Cost: 8. Sound Range: Middle.

That giant being that looked down upon the cutting-edge tanks was a great black dog with three heads. It was the faithful guard dog of the underworld in Greek Mythology whose original Greek name began with a K. The orange sparks spilling from the gaps in its violently uneven teeth were reminiscent of the heat at the depths of the earth.

Its great size caused the Artificial Sacred Ground to expand outwards so that it now contained the tanks which had supposedly fallen back.

Before beginning its fierce attack, it howled once toward the heavens. The tanks were controlled by an electronic network, yet they still froze in place for just a moment.

“He might seem frightening since he belongs to the underworld, but he’s no more than a guard dog. It’s true he shows no mercy to those that try to break the rules and crawl out of that land of the dead, but that isn’t all.”

And.

Kyousuke rested his Blood-Sign on his shoulder and used his other hand to point at the group of targets.

“He will never allow the living to wander blindly into the underworld and needlessly forfeit their lives. He’s a kind guard dog.”

There was no hesitation whatsoever.

Whose lives was that guardian of death protecting: Kingdom F which was relying on it, or the US Army which was opposing it?

They shared the one body, but the three heads roared at each other in competition as the giant guard dog charged in at the helpless tanks. Before the treads could dig into the ground, a mass of composite armor was held down from above and had its gun grabbed and yanked off by giant jaws. The soldiers inside were now exposed, so they stared blankly up at their enemy. They did not have time to hurriedly don their Repliglass.

As soon as the stolen tank gun was chomped through like an aluminum can, they raised both their hands even though no one had ordered them to.

That was the end of the damage wrought by the three-headed guard dog.

It moved on to its next target without devouring the flesh-and-blood humans who had lost the will to fight.

“Olivia, attack at three o’clock.”

A tank next to the one turned into a convertible was aiming its gun at the Divine-class. If the shell exploded, it would harm their own exposed allies, but they apparently were too panicked to think it through that far.

The guard dog’s giant foreleg dropped down and bent the entire tank gun at a right angle before it could fire.

When she shell was launched, the tank itself was pushed backwards. The explosion opened the gun barrel like a flower, so that one had been knocked out of the fight.

After a short break, Kyousuke raised his Blood-Sign once more and used White Thorns to gather Petals. Olivia changed form a few times before he settled on a Cost 8 from the middle Sound Range. It was a giant from Mayan Mythology whose 8-letter name began with C and referred to earthquakes. That colossus began kicking the tanks around like soccer balls.

Why was Kyousuke meaninglessly building up the Material?

The Original Series at the very bottom would be enough to simply “defeat” this enemy, so he had to have some other reason for building it up like this.

Reaching the Divine-class required summoning 100 Regulation-classes.

Reaching the Unexplored-class required summoning 50 Divine-classes.

So what was Kyousuke aiming for?

(Here we go.)

“Olivia, focus on the sky overhead! Cruise missiles are being fired on Kingdom F. We can’t target them with the Artificial Sacred Ground since they’re unmanned, but they’re top priority targets!!”

Unexplored-class. Cost: 19. Sound Range: Middle.

The Lady of “Purple Lightning” that Separates Good from Evil (iu – ao – eu – ei – kub – miq – a – ci – pl).

A sickly-thin beautiful woman sat in a battered wheelchair. Her purple hair blew in the wind, her unhealthily skinny naked body only had some purple cloths halfheartedly wrapped around it, and she was as limp as a doll someone had tossed aside. But her power was undeniably real. Her head was still hanging down, but a withered branch of an arm was lifted just enough for the slender index finger to point into the empty air.

A dreadful purple beam shot out and that sword of light accurately sliced through the four cruise missiles using GPS to carry explosives at Mach 1.9. Materials normally could not leave the Artificial Sacred Ground, but projectiles could pass right through its walls. To deal with aerial explosives flying overhead, it was fastest to summon a Material that specialized in ranged attacks.

When it rang directly in Kyousuke’s head, Olivia’s voice contained an impatience separate from that overwhelming accomplishment.

<Is the Phase 1 information attack over, so they’ve started the Phase 2 bombing? Th-there really will be victims now!!>

“That’s why we’re stopping it. Warning to ten o’clock. Altitude: 25 thousand meters. The drones flying there have babies. Shoot them down before they can drop the bombs in their bellies.”

As he had pointed out before, they could not contain unmanned weapons in an Artificial Sacred Ground. But they could destroy anything that existed outside of Alice (with) Rabbit’s no-killing rule.

…The most frightening nightmare scenario was to be left alone in a deserted location, being attacked with countless missiles and rockets from 3 or 4 kilometers away while unable to use an Incense Grenade, and have the explosive blast fill the entire area. Summoners and vessels could be killed by normal firepower if it was used correctly. That was why the veteran warriors like Kyousuke and Biondetta did not take normal soldiers lightly. That fact had permeated them to the bone since it had been normal people managing the children in the Queen’s Miniature Garden located deep underground.

Riding down on the space station had not been a meaningless performance. As a summoner, the center of the most populated area was the one safe area where he could keep the Artificial Sacred Ground and protective circle going as he fought. If he had tried to reach the center along the surface, he would have been shredded into mincemeat in an empty field.

The Lady of Purple Lightning specialized in surefire projectile attacks.

There was no need to approach their top priority target.

“Olivia, the northeast maintenance bay! Slice it apart!!”

<Will do!>

The roofed maintenance bay was larger than a school gym, yet it crumbled before their eyes.

But not from the Lady of Purple Lightning’s attack.

Something had broken out from within before the shutter covering the one wall could fully open. A gigantic mass of steel rolled out from the rubble. The giant gun barrel looked like a steel bridge and far surpassed the category of mobile artillery. The fortress cannon had been forcibly loaded onto a 32-wheeled special transport vehicle meant to carry 7000ton frigates at shipyards.

“The Grad Killer 500mm heavy cannon, huh?”

<What’s that?>

“It’s a large weapon that fires special liquid container shells into the bedrock to intentionally cause a deep-seated landslide and destroy natural fortresses. A deep-seated landslide is normally a largescale landslide caused by underground water veins, but that thing shapes that liquid into a shell and injects it into the ground. Mountains can be structured in a number of ways, but the Grad Killer can destroy any of them.”

To put it another way, it took an environment surrounded by mountains for the weapon to display its power.

It was not an easy weapon to utilize, but weapons were always designed and refined for the convenience of those who would use them. An island nation surrounded by ocean would develop its navy, while a desert nation surrounded by sand would develop its army.

And a look back in history showed a time when the US and the Soviets were staring each other down with enough intensity to destroy the world.

It was not that surprising to find an outlandish weapon had been designed for use in Eastern Europe in order to pry open the Warsaw defenses and directly reach Moscow via a European route separate from the Alaskan route.

However.

Its appearance only sped things up.

Shiroyama Kyousuke spoke two simple words.

“Do it.”

It took just one attack.

The Lady of Purple Lightning lowered her skyward-pointed finger of destruction and aimed toward the surface.

It did not matter if this weapon used 500mm shells which were even larger than those used by a battleship’s guns. That movement was all it took for the mass of steel to be sliced through like a boiled egg pressed against a taut wire.

It ended far too easily.

But Olivia Highland sounded concerned despite having done most of the work herself.

<But how is this supposed to end it, Onii-chan?>

“Don’t worry.”

<We’re in the north, but there was another big unit along the western route, right? We’ve already used our last Incense Grenade. If we travel across the empty space between units, the Artificial Sacred Ground will disappear after 10 minutes. And wait. Aren’t they supposed to have another 5000 troops in reserve!?>

The destruction was already complete.

When the Lady of Purple Lightning pointed her finger at the remaining enemy forces, the Repliglass soldiers must have decided their tanks and armored trucks would not function as shields because they scrambled out of them. They raised their trembling hands in surrender.

<And that’s not even the main point. Even if we do defeat the full 25,000 in this first battle, it won’t defeat the superpower beyond the sea. The Grad Killer? Destroying that extraordinary landmark weapon doesn’t change a thing. Defeat the first wave and they’ll just send in a second and a third. And they’ll only respond with even greater force once we’ve damaged their pride! This might end the battle, but that’s not the same as ending the war!!>

“Good girl, Olivia. So you do understand. That’s why the wind is blowing in our favor.”

Olivia’s voice ground to a halt.

For some reason, she had the lady in the wheelchair turn to face Kyousuke and aim her slender finger toward the summoner. Even the US soldiers poking their heads out of their convertible-ized tank tilted their head in confusion.

<…Say what?>

“Calm yourself down, Olivia. This isn’t Normandy or Stalingrad during World War Two. Nor is it the swamps of Vietnam. No one in the world wants this to develop into a head-on battle where blood is paid for with blood.”

Kyousuke gave a thin smile.

The boy who had defeated even a revenge demon did not hesitate to speak.

“This is a war that a superpower started under the assumption that it would be a 100-to-0 perfect game. That alters the victory conditions into something quite unique.”

Facts

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