Summoning the Greater Axis Pact
Axle 1 - Kingdom of Topa; Demon Lord's Awakening
The continent of Fillades was west of South America. In the northeast of Fillades was a large island about as large as the Japanese island, Shikoku. There was a natural bridge that was only 200 meters wide but 30 kilometers long that connected the island to the continent. The country that called this island home was none other than the Topa Kingdom. To the northeast of Topa was another bridge, this one 100 meters wide and 40 kilometers long, that joined them with the continent of Grameus.
Grameus was populated with creatures called demons. There were no settlements of humans or demi-humans there. No one could communicate with demons, and they attacked all the human races on sight. Demons did not have any kind of civilization, they simply used their superior physical abilities to hunt people in a berserk rampage. For the Axis, if they were to describe demons in a single word, that word would be "pests."
In the northeastern region of Topa, there was a castle town called Tormis that stood between the Topa Kingdom and the demons of Grameus. Its walls blocked off the natural bridge and were known as the Doors to the World. They had repelled countless demon invasions. Topan soldiers were permanently stationed at the Doors to the World, and the castle town Tormis was founded to support those soldiers.
The citizens of Topa were very proud that their country guarded the world from demon invasions. From what the superpowers and the civilized areas have said, the suppression of demons allows them to maintain order and focus on developing their countries. Without the people of Topa, humanity wouldn't be as prosperous.
One quiet morning, Gai, a sellsword, was looking over at Grameus from on top of the Doors to the World.
"Nnngaaah… so sleepy. I wanna lie down…" Gai yawned dispiritedly.
"Come now, the task of monitoring Grameus is imperative for the survival of both humans and demihumans," his childhood friend, the knight Moah, warned him.
"You always say that, but…" Gai looked down at the wall. "The Doors to the World are twenty meters tall. In the last ten years, the worst attack we've had was when ten goblins got lost! We picked up our bows, bing bang boom, oh, they're already dead. Until there are over a hundred goblins, there ain't nothing to be scared of anyway. Even if I take a nap, it's all the same, right?"
"…If you look back a hundred years, orcs and goblin lords have also attacked the wall. They are problematic foes," the elvish knight rebutted.
Gai was silent for a moment. "I guess you're right. Orcs are so strong you'd need ten knights working together to defeat it. But anyway, elves are way too serious, counting time in centuries… good grief."
The sellsword Gai hung his head. This was his daily life. From north of the wall all the way to Grameus, there was short grass, so there was a lot of visibility. In this season, the grass was a deep green, so the entire northern part of the continent was filled with fields of emerald. Birds sang and butterflies danced. Nothing else would happen today, and they'd soon be relieved of their duties.
Right as Moah and Gai each thought this…
VOOOOOOO… VOOOOOOO…
They heard something… something repulsive.
"What was that?!"
"Huh?! The ground over there… it's turning black!" Moah yelled as he looked through a telescope towards Grameus. "Those… those are goblins! The ground is completely covered in them, and they're headed this way! Ahh! Orcs! There are orcs too! There are… there are over a hundred enemies!"
Behind the swarm, they could make out the silhouettes of two giant demons even bigger than orcs.
"Wh… what?! It couldn't be… those are the Red Ogre and the Blue Ogre! Why are those legendary beasts here?!"
Behind those two ogres, there was a red land dragon that was about three times larger than the Papaldia Empire's land dragons. On top of that dragon sat an ogre-sized beast. Moah had once read some ancient records in the archives, and he was now reminded of the contents of that record.
"Th… th… th… that's the Scarlet Dragon, and the Demon Lord Nosgoorah!"
"Runneeeeeeeeeer!"
They ordered the runner to deliver an urgent message to Tormis, south of the Doors.
VOOOOOOO VUWOOOOOOO…
With the land completely covered in demons, the swarm got closer and closer to the wall. For the time being, the 150 soldiers on watch on the wall had to keep them at bay. The leader of this force, the knight captain, yelled out orders.
"Moah! You're an expert on demons! Get to Tormis and tell them what you saw!"
"B-But… I should help—"
"Quiet! This is an emergency! Everything needs to be described accurately! If any information is wrong, the whole country, or worse, all life on Fillades could be at risk! This is a direct order. Take your mercenary friend, too!"
Moah and Gai mounted their horses and galloped off to Tormis.
Topa Kingdom, Castle Town Tormis
By the time the knight Moah and the sellsword Gai reached Tormis, the leaders had already received the magical communication and called a council of war. As soon as Moah and Gai arrived, they met the northern garrison commander and quickly threw out salutes.
"What's the situation?!"
"Sir! As stated in the communications, there are so many demons invading from Grameus that we couldn't even see the ground! There are twenty thousand goblins, two thousands goblin lords, two hundred ogres, and, based on descriptions I had read in the royal archives about legendary beasts, I also confirmed the Red Ogre and the Blue Ogre, as well as the Demon Lord Nosgoorah riding a red dragon!"
Everyone was speechless… They simply couldn't have ever imagined an attack like this.
"We don't even have five thousand soldiers in the northern defense regiment! Runner!"
"Yes sir!"
"Get in touch with the king! The Demon Lord Nosgoorah has revived! We need all military forces to be sent here!"
"Understood!"
As soon as that runner left, another runner arrived.
"What is it?!" the commander asked.
"They've breached the Doors to the World… the watch force has been wiped out…"
Legends of the Topa Kingdom, Book 5, Chapter 4: The Descent of the Demon Lord
Once upon a time, a demon lord suddenly came out of nowhere. Its name was Nosgoorah. It came from Grameus, the land of demons, leading a great army and wielding many types of magic. With it were beasts of legend, the Red and Blue Ogres, the White and Yellow Ogres, and an army comprised of various other beasts of lower intelligence. They had come to invade Topa.
The island of Topa, which was just a small village back then, quickly fell, and the Demon Lord's army next surged into Fillades. There were no countries in Fillades back then either, and humanity as a whole was weak. Most of Fillades fell into the Demon Lord's control. His army had terrifying magic at its disposal. They were a blight on the land. They even used seaborne demonic beasts to cross the ocean to Rodenius to fight the elves. The coalition of races struggled in vain, and the Demon Lord's army invaded the elves' final bastion, the Sacred Forest, the sanctuary of the elven god. Many valiant warriors were crushed, and the elves' most talented mages fell in battle.
The elven god, the God of Green, prayed to the God of the Sun, creator of the lower gods. The God of the Sun answered those prayers by sending down the emissaries of the sun. The emissaries rode the divine flying ships and cast fearsome sorcery that summoned thunderous lightning that set the ground ablaze, driving off the Demon Lord's army. The coalition of races then forced the Demon Lord's army off Rodenius, eventually gong to Fillades themselves. The emissaries of the sun used their powerful magic to push the demons out of Fillades and what is now the Topa Kingdom, all the way back to Grameus.
After the threat was neutralized, the God of the Sun called the emissaries back from this world. The coalition of races then built the wall called the Doors to the World and created both a castle town and a new kingdom. That kingdom would later become the Topa Kingdom.
One year after the Demon Lord's invasion, the remainder of the coalition of races formed a subjugation unit. This unit would later be known as the "heroes of legend," and it consisted of four heroes:
The human sword master Ta Roh The dwarven fighter Kiege The supreme elven magus Rusa The beastman military specialist Kenshiva
The heroes journeyed into Grameus and vanquished the White Ogre and the Yellow Ogre. They then challenged the Demon Lord Nosgoorah, but it was too powerful. After betting their lives, the four heroes managed to seal the Demon Lord. The magical barrier required the sacrifice of three of the heroes, and the only survivor, the beastman Kenshiva, returned to tell this story.
The power of the barrier would slowly decay over time.
As the years passed, the story simply turned into an old legend where no one was sure which parts were true and which were fantasy.
Topa Kingdom, Royal Capital Berngen
The country's chief advisors held a somber meeting in the presence of King Topa the 16th. Tormis's 5,000 elite soldiers were currently fending off the sudden attack of the Demon Lord's 20,000-strong army. 15,000 more soldiers had already departed from Berngen and were now on their way to reinforce Tormis.
"Why would the Demon Lord's army all of a sudden revive now…? For that matter, is it really the Demon Lord's army? How can they tell?" the king asked.
A professor from the royal college answered. "In the legends… According to the legends, the Demon Lord was sealed in a barrier created by sacrificing the lives of three of the four heroes. That very same barrier grew weaker every year. The Demon Lord would revive once the barrier failed, I believe. However, since they have such a large army, I don't believe it only just revived, but rather that it has been revived for some time and only attacked once its preparations were complete.
"Regarding the identification, as Your Majesty knows, the beastman hero Kenshiva used magic to capture the likeness of the Demon King in a lithograph. This technique is now lost to us, but he also used space-time magic to preserve it. Many historians and other people in the kingdom have seen this magic lithograph. I have also seen it, and this time… the person to information, the knight Moah, I know has spent time in the archives before. Furthermore, because he also recognized the Red and Blue Ogres, we can only conclude that this is indeed the Demon Lord's army."
The foreign affairs minister stepped forward.
"Whatever it may be, tens of thousands of demons are invading our country. If we were to fall, then, just like in the legends, the demons will spill out into Fillades. This is an emergency situation. My king! Should we communicate this information to other countries and request aid?"
"Yes, convey the demons' movements in real time. If we fall while reinforcements are en route, then real-time information will be paramount."
The knight commander interjected. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, I do not believe we need to ask for reinforcements."
"Is that so… and why is that?"
"First, in the era of the legend, there were no established countries at all. Compared to back then, dwarven technology is far more advanced, and weapons are far stronger as well. The elves' magic research too, even though many spells have been lost, the ones in use today are far more powerful. Humankind has also developed advanced tactics and war strategy; compared to the past, the very meaning of the word 'strength' is incomparable. The ones that concern me are the Demon Lord and the Red and Blue Ogres, but the orcs and goblins and such can probably be easily handled with just our country's forces alone, in my opinion. For the Demon Lord and the ogres, I am confident that the Royal Combat Mage Special Task Force can deal with them."
"I see…"
The king fell into thought.
"In that case, simply inform the other countries of the situation. The problem is the Demon Lord and its guards… The Axis is currently quite reluctant to send their forces, aren't they… I am loath to send this request, but… minister, what do you think of asking the Papaldia Empire to send even a just a platoon of reinforcements? Their portable magic cannons would be welcome assurance in our knights' efforts to take down the Demon Lord."
"Yes sir!"
The meeting continued late into the night.
Demon Lord's army, Headquarters
In the darkness, torches burned steadily, illuminating the forms of three demonic beasts. The one in the middle, its black body a mass of bulging muscles and its hair think like wire, was playing with a knife. It had a black spiral horn, and it was emitting mana on a level that completely elevated it above any other species.
"In the time I was sealed, humans have certainly increased in number… Well, human meat is tasty, so it is nice to find food so easily," it commented while chewing on meat. Scattered all around it were the bones of humans that had been eaten.
"Master, where will the army go next?" asked Red Ogre.
"Last time, we went south over the sea, and, in the sacred forest, the sun god's pets were summoned… This time, we stop after taking the big land south of here…"
"They are strong, though. We had twenty thousand goblins, but two thousand have already been lost while we only caught three hundred humans."
"Ahh, much time has passed since before. Even waste can learn a little bit. It's fine, we've only lost one orc. Anyway, our creators, the mages, will soon return. We must clean up the waste that thinks this world is theirs. Our mission is to help even just a little, so that the mages can quickly resume their rule. The mages' country… when the sorcerous empire returns, they will easily conquer the world. The humans and demihumans have made their own countries, mimicking the mages, but waste cannot compete with them. The time is near. Before then, we must conquer as much as possible!"
"Raaahhh!"
Red Ogre hesitantly posed a question. "By the way, Master, there is one thing bothers me a little…" It looked somewhat bewildered.
"What."
"Last time, we lost to the sun god's pets, the messengers. They were strong. Their divine boats were very fast, making shrill noises as they flew through the air; their iron land dragons fired powerful explosive magic from their horns; their colossal magic ships were over two hundred and fifty meters long. The Demon Lord's army, which easily stomped over the coalition of races, could not even lift a finger against them. The fear that their tremendous explosive magic wrought still clings to my soul. I do not know the power of the old sorcerous empire. Master, was the empire even more powerful than the sun god's messengers?"
Demon Lord Nosgoorah began to laugh. "Hah hah hah, so that's what it was. Even the dreaded sun god's pets cannot but tremble before the might of the mages. Those divine flying ships would fall like leaves before the empire's anti-air magic ships. The imperial army's sky ships can fly faster than sound! The divine flying ships could only travel half that fast. The messengers' giant ship would simply crumble from a shower of the imperial army's exploding bullets of light. Suffice to say that the mages' strength is absolute. No one can defeat the mages. Worry not."
"Yes sir!"
The Demon Lord army's respite extended into the night.
Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, 3rd Foreign Affairs Department
The Topan ambassador was currently at the 3rd foreign affairs department requesting reinforcements.
"As previously explained, the legendary Demon Lord from our myths has revived. Our knights are engaged at full strength; if the Demon Lord is truly as strong as the legends say, then we fear we will be unable to defeat it. We believe that your portable magic cannons will be effective against it. If you could dispatch a small platoon of them…"
"That is impossible," the 3rd foreign affairs representative answered immediately.
"Wh… Can you not at least consider it? If my country falls, the entire continent of Fillades will be at the mercy of the Demon Lord's army."
"The empire is currently a bit occupied… I am unable to say why, but suffice to say that we are busy. Even if it is only a small platoon, there is no reason for us to dispatch our army to aid other countries. This is not to single out your country, the policy applies for all countries. Besides… if a demon that made a name for itself before there were even countries in Fillades tries to throw its weight around now in the modern era, it will quickly learn its place. If they do end up invading Fillades, the empire will simply eradicate them then."
"How heartless!"
The Topan ambassador was unable to secure reinforcements from the Papaldia Empire.
Argentina, Capital City Aires Buenos
The Topan ambassador was worried. A directive from the homeland had come to ask Argentina to send reinforcements to subjugate the Demon Lord. Apparently, the Papaldia Empire had refused to provide aid.
"Haah… Ignorance is bliss for them…"
Argentina was strangely ornery when it came to deploying troops unless it was in their own defense. He had already reported this to his superiors… he wondered how he should approach this…
There was a knock on the door. Apparently the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs was ready to receive him.
"…and all of our knights have been sent to Tormis to fight the Demon Lord, a legendary demonic beast who can control other demons, the enemy of all life, and its army. Our knights can handle the smaller demons such as goblins and the like, but, if the Demon Lord's magical capabilities are as powerful as rumored, our knight order will undoubtedly face considerable losses. Would it be possible for the Argentina Army to send a small platoon of reinforcements to help us defeat the Demon Lord, the Red Ogre, and the Blue Ogre?"
The Argentine official thought for a bit. "Hmm, troublesome, we are currently occupied I apologize, but I believe with the Demon Lord, I believe there are a few nations that might be willing to help."
"What? You can't send a platoon?"
"We are currently in need of manpower sadly, but I believe some nations would be happy to help. I will arrange such meetings with the nations at once, I will let you know of the results."
That day, the Nations of Mexico, Venezuela, India, the Deutsch-Afrika, Eastern States of America, Nusantara and Japan had answered the meetings and were intrigued, but with Nusantara and Ostasia, who didn't attend the meeting, having a crisis on their own with German aiding them in putting down the newly rising Communists. The others had minor problems within their countries, but nothing of serious means as Germany had been sending Suppression Forces to silence the Communist Uprising with both Indonesian and Malayan soldiers aiding them. Ostasia had also began silencing some of the Communists uprising on their own with their own guerilla warfare experts leading.
The leading force of the Volunteers were the Indians followed by Eastern America, Mexico and Venezuela. The Force would be led by Major General Faiza Reddiar, a Hindi-German. The Force had been made to be a Regiment of 1,000 men with 50 Tanks, 80 APCs and 100 HMVs. A little bit overkill, but with the fact that enemy is 20,000 strong, they weren't going to underequip their men.
America had their M1 Abrams to test their effectiveness, Mexico was readying their stocks of Italian versions of the Standardpanzer I, the Progetto 1, soon renamed to P70/48 Leopardo, the Indians had their Arjun MBT, Venezuela had their stock of tanks that were similar to the Russian designed T-68 MBTs, named the Bolivar MBT, going up against the T-68s, the Bolivar fell short in defenses, but is made up for the mobility it possesses with less armor.
The American M2 Bradley was the replacement for the German Lang IFVs and APCs, considering that they had turned down the choice of another German APC and IFV, they manufactured their own when they began to learn once more. Mexico had their stock of Dardo and Freccia IFVs, India with their Sdkfz 292s and their Dardo IFVs, the Venezuelan Sdkfz 292s and their BMP-1s.
With that in mind, the Japanese were willing to send some of their warships in escorting the troops. The Operation had been named Operation Round Table.
"All right, I will now explain the details of this mission. My name is Faiza Reddiar, and I will be leading the Regiment," explained the Regiment leader, there were always foreign forces that were stationed in India, seeing how they had been willing to participate in every exercises similar to Nusantara with their 'Volunteer Only' Conscription Law, meaning that all of them were volunteers and they had many of them. "We're being sent to the Topa Kingdom to exterminate the Demon Lord, the Red and Blue Ogres, our mission is just to repel the attack of the Demon Lord's Army in Topa, you all have the sheets on these things."
Everyone was reading the mission handout while listening to the explanation.
"It's called the 'Demon Lord,' and it can apparently use very strong magic that has a maximum range of one kilometer…"
The explanation continued. The summary was as follows:
- The target known as the 'Demon Lord' is intelligent, able to command other demons, and aims to inflict harm on all mankind. In addition, it primarily eats people. The Demon Lord has no natural lifespan; it does not age.
- The Demon Lord was apparently created by the ancient sorcerous empire, an old civilization. It was probably the subject of genetic manipulation.
- The targets Red Ogre and Blue Ogre are purportedly quite powerful as well. Orcs are 2.5m-tall giants with low intelligence. Goblins are physically weaker than humans but much more savage, and they are numerous.
- The Topan knight order is currently holding off the Demon Lord's army at the castle town of Tormis. The objective of the mission is to exterminate the Demon Lord, the Red Ogre, and the Blue Ogre. Any other demons can be ignored, however they can prove to be a threat as some can fly in the skies, for that the Germans had given the use of Flakpanzer VI to use in the field(75 in stock).
"…and that about sums it up."
"Feels like we're the wrong people for the job, I mean anybody read or heard about Momotarou where the party just finds a Red Ogre and Blue Ogre and slew them?"
"Couldn't you also say we're like a party of heroes going to slay the Demon Lord and that we probably would be do a better job than them?"
Everyone laughed. Major General Faiza raised his hand and the laughter ended.
"All right, we leave in three days. Make sure you're all prepared by then. Dismissed."
The Regiment had been given access to Japanese Navy Fighters, seeing how the Japanese had some surplus on Carriers. They would investigate the land, determine the numbers, although they are also fitted with Air-to-Ground Missiles and Rockets. They were allowed to eliminate the targets if they decided it was feasible, but that was not their primary directive.
The Joint Regiment had been given heavy equipment to use in the field, although most of them are lightweight, excluding the vehicles that were based on tanks or are tanks, like the M1 Abrams. They wouldn't be in too much trouble when they were informed that the rivers are actually shallow enough for them to cross and that the IFVs would probably be able to cross them as well. The Japanese had Landing Ships in India, ready for use as some soldiers were based in India for training purposes and for exercises, so the use of their Tank Landing Ship wouldn't harm them.
Although they were still number less than half, the remainder having left the day before and had been given summary of the mission and having no qualms for the leader, except for some, who were a bit salty with the Command Structure. Nevertheless all of them were to land in the Castle Town of Formis, which was akin to Japanese castles as they had no moats, with that the Regiment had been sent to eliminate the imminent threat to them and their allies as well as surrounding nations.
Topa Kingdom, Royal Capital Berngen
The Royal Capital of Berngen consisted of a castle reminiscent of medieval Europe and a quiet castle town. To put it rudely, it was a backwater country; to put it nicely, it was charming. The townspeople consisted of humans, beastfolk, and elves. Rather than a multiethnic country, it was a multispecies country.
In the Royal castle, King Rados had just received a report from the foreign affairs department and was speechless. The Axis, who were willing enough to send some military force, had dispatched a small Regiment as many of their were made of 1,000 or so. He knew well the rumors about Axis and the Nations within:
Germany and Argentina annihilated the Kingdom of Rowlia's main forces with powerful explosive magic. Argentina was able to successfully push back the Papaldia Empire's oversight army on their own. Japan had apparently been ruling the Eastern Waves. Italy had been patrolling their Navy on the Mediterranean and African Continent as they called it.
These stories had already become legends with the Japanese having destroyed many pirates without much problems. To date, the Axis hasn't even had a single dead man, only a few wounded, but that was still impressive to not have a single soldier die even with the nations combined. Even though they were only sending a small Regiment, it wasn't crazy to think they could maybe even defeat the Demon Lord. Fortunately, while they've taken heavy damage, the Royal Army was still able to hold the Demon Lord back at Tormis. But, if the Axis' Nations Military were really as strong as the legends said, did that mean every soldier was as powerful as a high mage?
They would soon arrive at Tormis under the care of Topan escorts. King Rados donned his golden armor and a splendid cloak, then mounted a white horse; he truly had the appearance of a hero. He wondered what kind of people they were. Today, the Joint Army would finally arrive.
Castle Town Tormis
The knight Moah and the sellsword Gai were ordered to receive the Joint army being escorted to the southern gate of Tormis by the kingdom's knights. They would escort them to the castle then also accompany them on their mission as observers.
"Hey, Moah, why exactly are we guiding the Joint army? I heard they only brought a small regiment. Is there any point?"
"The Joint Army isn't really an 'Army', they call themselves the 'Joint Army', since they only sent volunteers to deal with this problem. You're right, though, I'd have been happier if they sent more reinforcements, but instead they sent a small regiment, and one with a strange command structure, so I'm wary that there could be complications because of that. However, if they're as strong as the rumors say, then they could be a big deal."
"What rumors?"
"On Rodenius, they cleaned up Rowlia's large army in a freakishly short amount of time using crazy explosion magic, then later their magic-powered ships shot down twenty-two of the Papaldia Empire's dragon riders. It's said that in all their battles, they've had zero casualties."
"Hmm, that's gotta be a lie. They're just spreading propaganda to make themselves sound stronger."
"Y-You think so too?"
Gai had fought as a sellsword his entire life. "I've been in a lot of battles. No matter how overwhelming the army, how good the weapons or strategy, or how flawless the tactics, while there were times when the difference in death toll was monumental, I've never heard of an army losing no one at all. It didn't matter if their technology was insurmountable or if their movements were perfect, soldiers in the front lines always died. I'm guessing they just won some smaller battles against Rowlia and Papaldia. Well, beating the superpower Papaldia in any battle proves that they're a major force, but to say they didn't lose even one soldier is simply unbelievable. I don't like countries that exaggerate. If they care that much about appearances, will their advance platoon be decked out in sparkling gold armor, you think?"
"Rrrg, you have a point… either way, they are technically state guests, so don't be rude by going on about how you hate countries like theirs."
"Yeah, I know, don't worry."
After a short wait…
"Sir Moah, I see them! The Joint forces are here!" called the sentinel on top of the gate.
Dark green, iron demonic beasts were closing in from far off.
VWOOOOOOH…
They made loud noises as they moved. They were also quite big.
!
As they got closer, the ground started to rumble. They must be extremely heavy, to make the ground shake like that…! The kingdom's knights in front also looked a bit nauseated.
"What are those?! I've never seen monsters like those before!"
The procession stopped in front of Moah and Gai. The knight in the lead dismounted from his horse and came up to Moah.
"We have brought the soldiers from the Axis here. They are now in your hands."
"Yes sir!"
While they spoke, a door opened on one of the Axis iron dragons and a strangely-dressed person came out from inside. He wore a round, unadorned helmet on his head and had spotted-green clothes. He didn't have on any armor, but he would probably wear some for battle. Moah didn't see any trace of a knight's formality or beauty that he was imagining. Frankly… he was just a barbarian. That barbarian walked up to Moah.
"Major General Faiza from the Aryavastran Army, Joint Volunteer Regiment. Your accompaniment is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your assistance."
This undecorated, unappealing man was the leader of the Regiment?! And this was supposed to be a Regiment!?
"I belong to the Topa Kingdom's Guardian Knights of the Doors to the World, Moah. After we take you to Castle Tormis, we will also accompany your army on your mission. I look forward to working with you," Moah greeted in return.
Moah led the Axis soldiers to Castle Tormis while contemplating this. Along the way, civilians looked at the Axis Regiment like they were looking at aliens.
They had gotten close to the castle. The Axis soldiers couldn't enter the castle in their vehicles, so four of them disembarked, including the Major General who had introduced himself earlier. The rest waited behind. They were now near the front lines, so they had their guns handy.
Castle Tormis – built in the age of myth after the invasion of the Demon Lord's army, it had a lot of history behind it, and it looked like it came straight from medieval Europe. Of course, as times changed, the castle changed with them; it went through numerous rounds of remodeling and no longer contained any vestige of its original appearance. Faiza surveyed the historical building. If he listened carefully, he could hear far-off screams and yells, which really drove home how close they were to the front lines.
They followed behind Moah, turning who knows how many corners, before arriving at a room with a heavy-looking door. Moah knocked on it.
"Enter."
"Please excuse our interruption. I have brought the visitors from the Axis."
Inside, there was a round table, and the man at the far end was standing up. He was about 40 years old, 180 centimeters tall, muscular, and he had short, white hair and a white beard. He wore silver armor, a red cloak, and a sword at his waist.
"Ooh, our guests from the Alliance. We appreciate your coming here. I am the commander of the Topa Kingdom Demon Lord subjugation squad, Ajieze."
"Major General Faiza from the Aryavastran Army, Joint Volunteer Regiment. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Introductions were exchanged. After everyone sat down at the table, they confirmed the state of affairs.
The Demon Lord's army of about 20,000 strong suddenly invaded the Topa Kingdom from Grameus, breaking through the Doors of the World and completely wiping out the standing army there. After that, the Demon Lord's army invaded a district on the north side of Castle Town Tormis called Minaisa. At this time, reinforcements from the Topan army reached Tormis, and they engaged the enemy forces to prevent them from invading further. The Demon Lord took up residence in a local lord's mansion and never left it. There were still about 600 residents in Minaisa who were unable to evacuate. Once a day, they're gathered in the town square, and several are taken away to be eaten by the Demon Lord or other demons. Of the initial 600 who couldn't run away, there were only 200 left. The Demon Lord's army has lost about 3,000 goblins and 10 orcs, while the kingdom has lost about 2,000 knights. They've tried to launch rescue missions for the hostages 3 times, but every time either the Red Ogre or the Blue Ogre were keeping watch in the town square, so they've had to retreat each time with heavy losses. Because their only routes to Minaisa were side streets, many knights were dying each time. They were deadlocked. Because hostages were being eaten each day, they needed to save them as soon as possible.
After hearing the explanation, Faiza understood the urgency for rescuing the hostages.
"I see… we're under a lot of pressure here."
"Indeed… If we could defeat the ogres, we could probably figure something out, but…"
"What are ogres exactly, I think we might have similar descriptions, but we best learn what they are first."
"Alright then. They're many times stronger than humans, but the real problem is that they don't get tired. As long as they have food, they never get weaker and can fight indefinitely. Furthermore, they have this wire-like fur that protects against swords and spears. Ballista bolts could probably pierce it, but the ogres are too fast to hit them with those."
"So we need to get rid of the ogres first…"
Faiza knew that the civilians needed to be rescued as soon as possible, and that waiting for the main Axis reinforcements to arrive would subject Topa and its people to needless suffering and damage. As the Major General, he decided to exercise his authority and made the call to exterminate the ogres.
"Once we have prepared, we will go take care of those ogres."
"Ooh… if the Joint army will mobilize for us, knowing that you have withstood attacks from superpowers, I feel as though I've gained another thousand, no, another ten thousand soldiers! We shall also deploy our knight order alongside your platoon."
"First, we should discuss strategies, I think."
"In that case, let us hold a strategy meeting in one hour. I would like to prepare various documents like maps, so please be patient for now."
The preliminary meeting disbanded. As soon as everyone stood up from their seats, a black object flew in from the window.
Moah's perspective
The meeting went on. The Indian man said they would defeat the ogres, but he was skeptical, their numbers were too few even with their Dragons to win against an ogre. Ogres were fast, strong, and did not tire. Their iron dragons might be more powerful than an ogre, but he didn't think they could keep up with the ogres' speed. The reason ogres didn't get tired was probably that they had excessive mana reserves constantly healing their muscles bit by bit. The constant application of healing magic also meant that anything other than severe wounds would be repaired in short order. He wondered how the heroes of legend actually managed to kill these monsters.
Hmm?
So they were ending the initial meeting then switching over to a strategy meeting…
CRASH!
The glass window shattered. A black object fell into the room. The object grew black feathers and white clothes. Th… that's—!
"That's the Demon Lord's aide, Malastriss!" someone shouted. Moah pulled out his sword and took a stance, facing the new enemy. Other knights in the room had already done the same.
"Hohoho… There are so many heads for me to take, I'll have to carry them back with my feet… It has been so long, I see that you humans have evolved quite a bit."
As soon as it finished speaking, Malastriss lunged for the knight captain with its hand out. In front of that hand, the air distorted as it summoned a black flame with its mana.
"Not so fast!" the vice-captain shouted, slashing at Malastriss's side. With a vile smile, Malastriss moved its hand to point at the vice-captain instead, but before she could cast a spell.
A loud noise came. That was the sign of death they soon thought as the guarding Axis Forces fired their black staves.
TRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRR…
The noise they made was almost loud enough for someone's ears to start bleeding. The four Axis soldiers' staves were emitting fire from one end, and superfast bullets of light were assaulting Malastriss.
"GAH!"
It didn't even have the opportunity to let out a death cry; Malastriss, its body chock full of holes, crumpled to the ground. Behind it, a part of the stone wall also crumbled into pieces. Everyone was speechless.
The Demon Lord's aide, Malastriss, was a plague. The Topa Kingdom was extremely cold, so they could not raise wyverns, which were cold-blooded. Because of that, they suffered from countless magical attacks from the sky; truly times of hardship. Malastriss alone was responsible for the deaths of over 100 knights. Then, it started aiming specifically for the knight order's leaders. Even though it did not fly itself, its overwhelming mana was a significant threat.
But now, the Axis soldiers and their magic staves easily dealt with the demonic beast Malastriss.
"Major General Faiza, by killing Malastriss, you have saved us all. We cannot thank you enough."
"I...also thank you for saving me at the last possible moment." The Vice Captain bowed as the General nodded at him.
An hour later, they held a strategy meeting to discuss the rescue of Minaisa's residents that lasted late into the night.
Two days later, in the early morning, the Joint Regiment or a part of the Regiment of the Joint Army departed from the castle gate and made for the district of Minaisa.
'I'm scared… I'm so scared… someone, help us…'
Ellay, who ran a diner in the Minaisa district of Tormis, was shaking in fear. In the middle of the day, all the survivors from the Demon Lord's invasion were gathered in the town square. Demons watched the entire area, so they couldn't run away. There was one person who tried to escape before, but he was quickly caught then cooked right in front of everyone. The demons had laughed and pointed at the torture, making remarks like "live dancing, hahaha!" They repeated this each day, taking several people away to be eaten.
"Today will be… you, an' you… an' you."
Just yesterday, her neighbor and childhood friend, a girl named Menia, was chosen. Her parents fought desperately to protect her, so they too were chosen and now all three were gone. It was a living hell. Why now… why did some terrifying creature from a fairy tale like the Demon Lord come back now? If any gods were listening, they really needed help.
She thought her other childhood friends: Gai, who became a mercenary, and Moah, who became a knight. She wondered if they would come to help. Sir Moah was stationed at the Doors to the World, though, so he might already be dead.
The kingdom's knights tried to rescue them many times, but the Red Ogre had destroyed the main road connecting the town square to the castle gate, so it was now untraversable. She remembered an old story about the Demon Lord's army fighting against the elves, the God of the Sun heard the prayers of the elves' god and sent down messengers to fight them. She was an elf herself; even though she did not believe in any gods, she prayed anyway.
'God! God, please! Help my people! Help everyone here! Destroy the demons! Send your messengers again! Please!'
So she prayed… but nothing happened.
"Uhhh… and meat for today…"
The demons were choosing people to eat.
"The Demon Lord said something plain would be good today."
"Maybe we'll have vegetables be the main dish, then…"
All the residents felt their tension dissipate into relief.
"For the seasoning, an elf woman would be just right. You."
A demon grabbed Ellay's right hand.
"NOOOOOO! GOD, HEEEEEELP!"
"Oy, stop that!"
At that moment…
BOOM… BOOM…
The Red Ogre went up in smoke.
A hand grenade was tossed at the Red Ogre's feet from the side street that it was guarding.
"Over here! Hurry, take cover!"
The Axis soldiers ran down the narrow street.
"GUUUUUUGOOOOOOH!"
"Ugh, it's getting mad!"
The hand grenade had absolutely no effect, and the Red Ogre began to run down the side street as well. It was fast!
"All right, make sure no civilians are in the line of fire!"
The soldiers all hid behind an M2 Bradley, the Americans brought. The Red Ogre was still running down the side street. There weren't any other people near it.
"FIRE!"
BAMBAMBAMBAM!
The Bradley's 25mm chain gun roared. The 25mm was so powerful it could essentially evaporate a human body, and it opened up several large holes in the Red Ogre. It fell where it was hit, like a marionette with its strings cut.
Instant death.
A mob of other demons rushed at the Bradley before they were annihilated by an Arjun MBT coming through with its 120mm Rifled Gun smoking.
A detached force of Axis soldiers whose task was to rescue the civilians traveled through the now-dry water supply and jumped out of the water fountain in the town square. There were ten goblin lords guarding the hostages.
TRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRR…
The goblin lords were quickly eliminated. Moah and Gai also jumped out of the water fountain.
"I can't believe it… a plan to jump out right in the middle of all these enemies, that ain't nothing any sane person would do," Gai complained while looking around. His eyes stopped on a goblin lord holding the hand of an elf girl.
"Th-That's…!"
Gai made a beeline for the goblin lord and slashed it with his sword.
"PIGYAAAH!"
The goblin lord couldn't defend itself and perished.
Ellay was prepared for death. A monster had caught her by the hand, intending for her to be the Demon Lord's meal.
"NOOOOOO!"
"Oy, stop that!"
As her hand got grabbed, there was an explosion at the Red Ogre's feet standing at the main road. The ogre looked furious as it ran into a side street.
BOOM! TRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRR…!
She could hear the sound of something big letting off an explosion. The other demons left a few behind and rushed in a group towards the sounds. Then, a person in a strange green outfit appeared from the broken water fountain in the middle of the town square. The spotted-green pattern made her feel sick at first when she mistook him for another demon, but then she realized he was human, and he held what looked like a black staff. When he used the staff, it made a loud noise as it cast some kind of offensive magic at the demons, obliterating them.
The demon holding her hand was frozen in shock. A single swordsman attacked that demon, quickly killing it. He was… someone she knew very well.
"H… Hey, Ellay, are you okay?"
It was her childhood friend, the sellsword Gai. He often came to eat at her diner. Three years ago, he tried to court her, but she gently turned him down. It was because, truthfully, mercenary work wasn't exactly stable.
But… when she was on the verge of death, he saved her. Even though there were all these frightening demons here, he came to rescue her.
'He was… just a little bit cool there…'
Right as she was going to call out to him…
"Miss Ellay, are you all right?" a voice called out from behind her. This voice…! Her head whipped around at the speed of light.
"Sir… Sir Moah…"
'Oh, this is bad… I almost lost myself for a moment there. Sir Moah also came to rescue me from this horrible battlefield. Sir Moah really is my knight in shining armor! I absolutely won't let him get away!'
"You came for me! I'm so happy!"
Unfortunately, Gai was yet to find happiness.
The rest of the demons in the town square were quickly eliminated. As planned, the Topan knight order would now leave from the castle gate to join up with them. At the same time, the Axis Regiment began to evacuate the residents. They needed to travel 1.5 kilometers to the castle gate. It was both a short and long distance. They moved as a group together with all the citizens. After about 500 meters, they met with the knight order and continued traveling to the castle gate as a combined group.
That was when it happened.
"GUOOOOOH!"
They heard a fierce war cry.
"Damn, it's the Blue Ogre!"
The citizens all fell into a panic.
The Red Ogre had been lured in by the soldiers wearing the green spotted clothing. Its sacrifice would save its fellow demons, and they were thankful. Then, more spotted soldiers came out of the fountain, killed the demons left behind, and gathered up the people and left for the castle gate.
That was when the Blue Ogre gathered forty orcs and started to run. This group would definitely catch up to them before they reached the castle gate. It took ten human knights to defeat a single orc. But if orcs attacked in a group, they could easily handle more than ten times their number in knights. Furthermore, they had the legendary Blue Ogre with them. It was no use. The humans thought they had rescued the hostages, but they'd soon find out that none of them were saved at all. The spotted soldiers were powerful, but this was as far as they'd go.
Hm?
The spotted soldiers were lining up in the back, and they took aim at the Blue Ogre within the group of orcs. There were only about twenty of them. If there were only that many soldiers, they couldn't do a thing. There was no point. They probably wanted to earn a bit more time for the people to run, to protect them in whatever way they could. However, with only fifteen of them, they were just going to die themselves while gaining nearly no extra time.
Despite that, the knights kept running with the people for the castle gates. They were sacrificing another country's soldiers to protect their own citizens. While it was an understandable sentiment, they wondered how the sacrificed soldiers felt about it?
The spotted soldiers had formed a horizontal line and pointed their black staves at the demons.
"Fire!"
TRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRR…
A rain of light bullets converged on the orcs. All those strong, hardy demons instantly collapsed.
TRRRRTRRRRTRRRRTRRRR…
The attacks continued.
"Guoooh!"
The orcs were mostly all killed, but the soldiers kept shooting their bullets of light at one last demon that continued charging at them.
The Blue Ogre!
Their attacks had absolutely no effect on it. It was useless! What would they do now…
"Hey, Aarav! Take the Panzerschreck!"
The human named Aarav was carrying an extra-large magic wand on his back. He took it out and aimed the tube at the Blue Ogre.
"All clear! Fire!"
PASHOOOWW…
Smoke came out of both the front and back of the tube, and at the same time the sound of a detonation echoed all around. An instant later, the Blue Ogre abruptly burst into pieces.
The Joint Regiment somehow dealt with the invading demons occupying the town square, and they were able to successfully rescue everyone in the northern Minaisa district of Tormis. However, it was an extremely risky mission. The demon known as the "Blue Ogre" took no damage from their smaller automatic weapons at all. They weren't called ogres for nothing. The Axis was half-shocked by the existence of creatures that couldn't be hurt by guns… They belatedly realized that wyverns were also fairly impervious to handguns. This really was another world. The most effective weapons were the 25mm cannon in the initial attack and the Panzerschreck during the evacuation that was brought along, too bad the Arjun couldn't really see much action.
"Well, we should at least be glad that we rescued all the civilians."
Major General Faiza nodded in satisfaction.
Excerpt from Moah's diary entry for that day
I feel like I am in the middle of history being written.
The legendary Demon Lord known only in myths, its fearsome army that conquered the continent of Fillades in the blink of an eye, was truly fighting against the elite forces of the Topa Kingdom. In the castle town of Tormis, we had to defend against the Demon Lord's invasion while minding our losses. We're far stronger than the coalition of races from the past since we now have the geographical advantage. Or, that should have been the case, but because of the Red and Blue Ogres, many of our men were lost to the demons. I wondered how the heroes of old were able to fight them. But today, something historical happened.
Both the Red and Blue Ogres were quickly and easily defeated by the envoys of the new emerging Alliance, The Axis Alliance or as some like to call it the Greater Axis Pact. Their weapons were so powerful that I can't even describe them using my own common sense. Those famed demons of legend were annihilated by the Axis soldiers like they were simply pests to be exterminated.
Faiza had waken up after a soldier had knocked at his door urgently, receiving a report from his subordinates. The Demon Lord Nosgoorah had appeared, alone, on the main street between Minaisa's town square and the castle gate. Apparently, it was completely enraged. Faiza immediately ordered his men to prepare for combat.
"UOOOOOOHHH!"
Daradundaradundaradun…
He could hear the sounds of knights shouting rallying cries and horses galloping. Apparently, 200 Topan knights just went on the attack.
The Demon Lord had come out all alone. A northern aristocrat, Abon, thought this was a chance to defeat it, so he gathered up 200 of his men and led a charge from the castle gate. There was only one enemy, so numbers should easily crush it.
"Follow me!"
Horses kicked up clouds of dust as they carried the knights straight at the solitary Demon Lord, someone even the heroes of legend could not defeat. Dark mana visibly emanated from the Demon Lord Nosgoorah.
"Insects!"
The Demon Lord raised its hands at the Topan knights, summoning black flames.
"Hear my command, in the name of the lord of the demon world. King of the Flames of Purgatory, Fenghuang, by my order, burn these fools who dare stand against me! Demon Lord Hidden Art of Burning Death: Incinerating Black Swallow!"
The black hellfire coalesced into the shape of a bird and flew toward the knights.
"Wha—?!"
"GUAAAHHH!"
The bird of flame grew and swooped down on the charging warriors. Every knight and horse was swallowed up in the black flames and turned to ash.
"Wha…"
Soldiers who watched the entire sequence from above the castle gate were in shock at the display of Demon Lord's strength. The Demon Lord began to cast even more magic.
"Vast lord of the earth, let loose your immense power; awaken, elder fiend, and execute my will! Ancient Kaiser Golem!"
Grghgrghgrgh…
The ground rose up and gathered into a large clump of stone. The clump took on the shape of a person then began to move. It was gigantic. Among demihumans, elves had the most mana, and even their most powerful mages could only create golems that were about two meters tall. This golem was a staggering seventeen meters! How much mana was needed to create a golem nearly nine times as large?!
The Topan soldiers could only watch in growing despair as the overwhelmingly large golem came closer and closer to the castle. There was nothing they could do to stop it. "We'd need a large army to deal with a normal-sized golem… This is… how strong the Demon Lord is! That Ancient Kaiser Golem is too powerful!"
"Get back!"
Suddenly, ten people in black robes with golden rings on their heads appeared on wall.
"It's the Royal Combat Mage Special Task Force!" the soldiers cried out.
The Royal Combat Mage Special Task Force was a group of elite mages rumored be even more powerful than the heroes of legend. They were the Topa Kingdom's hidden weapon.
"We'll take it out in one attack! Use all of your mana! Aim at the golem and the Demon Lord behind it, blow them both away!" the leader ordered, and the group of task force mages began to chant.
"Dance, spirits of wind, kings of violent storms, take our mana as nourishment and, with your great power, annihilate the enemies before us! Dragon Thunder Storm!"
A giant tornado mixed with lightning appeared above the Ancient Kaiser Golem and the Demon Lord.
"Whoooaaaa!" The soldiers on top of the castle gate cheered in excitement. So this was the power of the super-elite special task force that was purported to surpass the heroes of old!
The tornado eventually dissipated… but…
"Wha… How… There was no effect!"
The ten mages all fell on their knees, panting in exhaustion, their mana completely spent. The Demon Lord was still leaking tremendous amounts of dark mana from its body.
"Humans… you've learned some interesting tricks. Now go!"
At the Demon Lord's order, the seventeen meter Ancient Kaiser Golem marched from the south of the Minaisa district towards the castle gate. If the castle gate were to fall, the Demon Lord's massive army would no longer be obstructed from their rampage. With the golem's enormous mass, any attack would demolish the gate. No one could stop it now. Everyone was resigned to death.
BWOOOOM…
The steel beasts under the Axis control let out their roar.
While the special task force was engaging the Demon Lord, the Axis Joint Volunteer Regiment was also preparing for battle with some already sortied into their combat vehicles.
"Lift the castle gate, please," Faiza asked the soldiers guarding the castle.
KREEEEEEEE…
The heavy door was lifted, and Faiza was greeted by a five-story-high rock monster coming straight towards him.
Moah called out, "Sir Faiza, golems usually have a core somewhere in their torso! Destroying the core will destroy the entire body!"
This was certainly welcome advice. Since the target was so big, this time they would lead with the MBTs and surely the tankers were trigger happy to do so.
It succeeded in creating an Ancient Kaiser Golem. With this, the clever little humans and all the other races were doomed. The golem was a replica of the mages' general-use bipedal land weapon, created in the image of the races but using the mages' enormous mana and high intellect. Even if the humans banded together to attack it, it would not even be scratched.
However, the humans somehow defeated the Red Ogre and Blue Ogre; that was not something it could have predicted. The humans had become much more powerful than they had been in the past. However, just now, the elves cast a high-powered offensive magic spell but not strong enough to harm it or the Ancient Kaiser Golem. The elves used up all their mana in that attack and were now laid out. The golem would easily destroy the castle gate with a single kick.
But then, the gate opened on its own.
"Hmm?"
Sitting there behind the gate was something the Demon Lord remembered well.
"Th… That…! It… it can't be! T-T-The sun god's messengers and their iron dragons! You cretins… you humans! I know now how the Red Ogre and Blue Ogre were defeated! I could not have imagined that… you were able to summon those vile messengers once again!"
However, what was in front of it didn't quite match the iron dragons from its memories. This one was bigger, and it had a more polished shape. It still had that obnoxious horn that spewed explosive magic, though that too looked far larger and heavier than what the Demon Lord remembered.
"Tch! Ancient Kaiser Golem! Crush those ants before you!"
The golem immediately moved to obey.
BOOM!
The enemy's iron dragon fired its fell explosions.
The Axis' Arjun, M1 Abrams, Bolivar and Leopardo pointed their main gun towards the colossal rock monster and fired. While they were different, they had similar gun calibers, with the Leopardo sporting a 105mm, all of them were able to fire their shells with a minimum speed of 1400m/s, the shells flew with amazing speeds with the 120mm quickly demolishing the Golem's head, right arm and the leg before the 105mm went for the Core, the four shots make contact and exploded. The Core was all, but destroyed as the 105mm APDS destroyed it with its explosion.
The monster that the Topa Kingdom could do nothing to stop was easily dispatched by four shots from the Axis MBT. No one could move an inch.
"Ah… Ah… Ahhh…"
The soldiers on top of the gate watched the entire thing and could not look away from the golem rubble. It was surreal, the sight of that legendary stone giant loudly crashing to the ground…
TAH!
Behind the remains of the rock monster, the thing called the Demon Lord Nosgoorah jumped up into the air. Its astonishing physical ability brought it up fifty meters.
"Huh?"
There was a black flame gathering in the Demon Lord's hand.
"That's that crazy flame magic that wiped out the knight order! Crap!"
The Demon Lord began to chant the spell.
"Hear my command, under the name of the lord of the demon world. King of the Flames of Purgatory, Fenghuang…"
This was not good!
On top of the castle wall, an officer had already called for an air-to-air strike to the Carrier off-shore. The fighters had been deployed a few minutes ago, two A36Ms had already lifted off, they were already five kilos and they had eyes on the Demon Lord, the two had let out their Type 88 Air-to-Air Missiles, conveniently named the Type 88 Yūdō hassha-tai(Type 88 Guided Projectile).
The Air-to-Air missiles flew straight for the Demon Lord. As soon as it saw "them," the Demon Lord flew up at high speed, canceled its offensive magic, and activated a defensive magic shield. A pale, golden-colored wall materialized in front of it.
BOOM!
The two missiles were both direct hits. The missiles exploded near its head, blasting the Demon Lord straight into the ground at high speed.
"Don't let up! Keep firing!"
The Axis soldiers all fired their automatic weapons. Countless bullets from numerous people hammered into the monster.
Clink clink clink…
Bullet casings fell to the ground in streams, tinkling lightly amidst the sound of metal colliding with a hard object. The Demon Lord got up, as though nothing happened, and began to walk towards the castle.
Tatatatatatata…
The 12.7mm machine gun atop the M1 Abrams, the Bolivar and the Arjun as well as the 7.92mm MG78 on the Leopardo began firing as well. The Demon Lord's feet stopped as it took a defensive stance. It still looked unwounded.
"Even… even all of this has no effect! What a monster!"
DONDONDONDON!
The M2 Bradley's 25mm cannon began firing consecutive shots. While the golden wall glowed as brightly as ever, the Demon Lord was starting to look less assured of itself. Little by little, it appeared that its body was taking slight wounds. Its feet were now sunk ten centimeters into the ground; every cannon shot forced it back a bit. Once the Panzers reloaded, it turned to face the Demon Lord.
"This is your first time taking this kind of fire, isn't it? It's my first time seeing something as ridiculously strong as you, too," the gunner of the M1 Abrams mumbled to himself. There was no way the Demon Lord could hear him, he continued to murmur either way. "Well, it's been fun… Adios!
BOOOOOOOM!
The Abrams' 120mm smoothbore cannon fired. It was in a stable, unmoving position, and the target was at close-range and immobile. The shell hit the Demon Lord, blowing its body into pieces before blasting through a building behind it and detonating within the next building further behind it.
BOOOOOOOM… Guuuoooooh…
Everything was now completely silent…
The soldiers in the Topan army were gaping at the scene before them. They had all just witnessed a mythical battle, a fight far more fierce and intense than the one that described the heroes of legend.
"Curse you…!" echoed a clear voice; it came from the Demon Lord's head. It was loud enough for everyone in the area to hear.
"Wha… Is that thing immortal?!" A soldier yelled in surprise.
"Curse you, messengers of the sun god! Not once, but twice have you interfered in my mission! Hear me well, insects! Soon, the empire of sorcerers will return! The insects' rule is coming to an end! Before the might of the sorcerous empire's army, you will all be powerless and forced into slavery! Haah, haah, ha…"
The voice weakened as it spoke, then the Demon Lord's head turned to stone and crumbled into dust. The demons of the Demon Lord's army, having lost their leader, cried in fury and escaped north, back to Grameus, like an avalanche of living bodies.
"It's… been vanquished…" After watching the battle, Gai didn't know what to say. "Wh-What an absurd battle…"
The Topan army was burning what happened before their eyes into memory.
"Uu…"
"WOOOOOAAAAAAAHHH—!"
Cheers of victory went up on top of the castle wall, spreading to all the soldiers in the castle. Those cheers eventually infected the entire castle town of Tormis.
Moah's perspective
The Demon Lord Nosgoorah cast fearsome magic to completely destroy the knight order. It then used more mana to summon a legendary giant soldier from various myths, the Ancient Kaiser Golem. To counter that, the Royal Combat Mage Special Task Force's ten members unhesitatingly poured all their mana into casting the ancient spell Dragon Thunder Storm. The Demon Lord and its golem took no damage; everyone lost hope at that… except for those who had seen the Joint Army in action. The Axis soldiers used their steel beasts to blow away the Ancient Kaiser Golem with powerful explosion magic. As he suspected they would, they then even took down the Demon Lord itself. This was a mythical tale in the making.
In the end, Axis routed that unstoppable army under the Demon Lord's control with only their partially reinforced Regiment, before their main forces even arrived. And they didn't lose a single soldier. Aah… what a feat. The incident with the Kingdom of Rowlia, the battle with the Papaldia Empire, the details in those stories about Axis' prowess were most likely all completely true.
That was when it hit him. The Demon Lord's dying words, the messengers of the sun god…
He remembered.
The two Iron Wyverns that flew overhead had their symbol on their bodies, the red sun, which reminded him of the myth of emissaries of the God of the Sun, which also described the flag they flew. It was the same as Japan's, a red sun on white. The emissaries claimed to be residents of the Land of the Rising Sun. Perhaps there was a deeper connection…
Was it possible that the Axis itself was the Alliance allied to the emissaries of the God of the Sun? If that was really the case, then who did something as outrageous as summoning the entire Alliance of Axis here? For what purpose?
The mystery only deepened.
Rydorka was flabberghasted. He was an information officer from the strongest nation in the world, the Holy Mirishial Empire, and he had come to observe the war between the Topa Kingdom and the Demon Lord's army. His mission was to observe the Demon Lord Nosgoorah, the legacy of the ancient sorcerous empire, and record its mana capacity, the types of magic it used, and how it interacted with the human races.
The legendary Red and Blue Ogres were extremely tough. They were demonic beasts with huge mana stores that were constantly applying weak healing magic, so naturally this turned into extraordinary resilience in combat. He was unfortunately unable to confirm when and how the two were defeated.
But… the real problem was the Demon Lord. First, he did confirm that it was able to control the supposedly uncontrollable hordes of demons. Then, the spell it used to exterminate about 200 Topan knights, the ultra-high temperature black hellfire, he could only call it the pinnacle of spellcraft. The heroes of the past truly would not have been able to overcome the strength of the Demon Lord.
Next, it summoned a replica of a bipedal land weapon from the ancient sorcerous empire, the Ancient Kaiser Golem. This one was several times larger than a typical golem. It spoke well to the Demon Lord's excessively large mana capacity that it could control something like that.
In response to that, the emerging country called Axis deployed its "Main Battle Tanks" weapon. If it were the Holy Mirishial Empire, their magic ships could probably handle the golem without much issue. However, it was another story when it came to loading magic circuits onto a land-based vehicle; they lacked a powerful enough energy source to move a weapon that large made completely of steel with that much firepower, so that kind of vehicle was completely out of their means. It was completely impossible, even with the magical technology of the empire.
Rydorka didn't detect any magic from the Axis weapon, so it must have been something similar to Mu's machine technology. The Axis quickly destroyed the golem, and then the Demon Lord made a great leap into the air. Right then, a soldier called forth two Iron Wyverns, which fired two Guided Blasts that he could see corrected itself in midair to crash into the Demon Lord. It behaved very similarly to a light magic homing missile that the empire was currently developing, but it was not suitable for practical use yet, and it was limited to naval warfare. This was truly a weapon of the future, a homing explosive that was small enough to be carried around by a single person.
Finally, the Axis defeated the Demon Lord. It gave a speech as it died, but the most startling thing it said was this: "Soon, the empire of sorcerers will return!"
The beings that created the strongest nation in the history of the world, a race that stood above all other humanoid races, with potential for magic that far, far surpassed humans and even the elves. They left behind many artifacts that even the Holy Mirishial Empire could not begin to understand. Every once in a while, some of their ruins would be discovered, which just reaffirmed how truly advanced the ancient sorcerous empire was. Their civilization simply progressed too far, which was what led to their attempt to supplant the gods. And, from the words of the Demon Lord, that terrifying empire would soon return.
"I… I need to to the empire right away!"
Rydorka immediately prepared to return to Mirishial.
The sun was beginning to set. It had been a fierce battle. Many soldiers were just sitting on the ground.
During the invasion of the Demon Lord's army, even though the demons were wild and unorganized, the Topan army lost 3,000 men. But… they defended their country. The people of Topa held back the Demon Lord before it could invade Fillades and lasted until its army was defeated. They had been released from their fear, and now a sense of accomplishment was setting in. The deeds of this day would become extremely prominent in the Topa Kingdom's history books.
That night
There was an extravagant victory celebration, and word of the Axis' great efforts spread among the Topan citizens. Sentiments towards the Alliance became incredibly positive, and the Topa Kingdom would soon become a close friend and ally to the Axis as an Honorary member of the Axis Alliance.
I...I wasn't really planning on uploading this today and I was suddenly surprised that I just finished this Chapter...
Well, it's a side chapter, but it shouldn't matter too much. Plans on having the next chapter would be a bit delayed with the workload, but with school allowing me to use my laptop indefinitely, unless I need to do something else which required me to not use my laptop, I think I can continue my work without much trouble with my projects at home.
So, this kinda...kinda makes me a bit confident with finishing more chapters, but with Mid-semester coming in by the end of the week and the next week and my time cut off short, I think I'd be a bit occupied that I can't make another chapter. Anyways...
Military Funding:
Note that the German Reichsmark is similar to the OTL US' American Dollars when compared to and that all of the fundings are done in Reichsmark for simplicity
Germany: 200 Billion Reichsmark bumped to 250 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Japan: 95 Billion Reichsmark bumped to 120 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Italy: 120 Billion Reichsmark bumped to 150 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Argentina: 40 Billion Reichsmark bumped to 90 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Eastern America: 75 Billion Reichsmark to 100 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Reichsprotektorat Moskowien/United Soverign States of Russia: 80 Billion Reichsmark to 110 Billion Reichsmark after Transfer
Trivia:
Type 88 Guided Projectile: OTL AAM-5
Reviews:
Albert: Gracias, amigo, y sí, el Bismarck da mucho miedo, pero en comparación con el Yamato, no creo que podamos comparar un acorazado con un acorazado súper pesado con cañones de 48 cm.
loltuan123: The only reason I can say is probably because Germany is the main superpower like how USA is the biggest one in NATO and sends many of their men to the Middle East, Germany's similar here although Italy and Japan can be seen like UK with their small expeditionary forces despite being one of the most powerful nation in NATO. I mean the two Superpowers aren't really willing to sacrifice their men to a nation they know little of.
Cap Vietnam and Guest: Most of the Nations are now using mostly Modern Blitzkrieg as well as Combined Arms, although the use of Artillery is more refined than in World War Two, the Modern Blitzkrieg doctrine utilizes Air Superiority, as well as a considerable of CAS and Artillery Guns to pummel the enemies before they get hit by the full brunt of the Panzers, Panzergrenadiers and Grenadiers, Infantry is still a thing though, they just simply have less roles after Panzergrenadiers and Grenadiers basically revolutionized offensives, Infantries are more just like garrisons, although they are most useful in highly densed environments that wouldn't allow Panzers and other vehicles.
Banzai Charges for the record are very wasteful, Japan merely abolished them as they see them as a waste of manpower with the use of retreats being better than just to simply charge in to their meaningless death. If they were to use Banzai Charges that'd be if they are very sure that the enemy is practically defenseless against them, the Banzai Charges would be simply be with Panzers for the Infantries to take cover from before they come close enough to commence an actual charge.
UN Peacekeeper: Ah yes, probably would be a curbstomp, but...that's what Papaldia's good for, correct? The first 'Superpower' to be curbstomped especially with a bigger navy(With Battleships) and better equipment(Arguable, but 2000 Germany would be nearly similar to SJ Japan in technology, although civilian phones are still rather undeveloped), not to mention Nuclear Technology that isn't mentioned by anyone just to keep them as a 'It's a Surprise Tool that will help us later' thing, since Nukes would probably lead to the Total Destruction of this World.
Commander 31: Hehe...I'll never tell...
Welp, I think that's all, I'll see how fast I can get the next chapter on.