Summoning the Greater Axis Pact

by God90zilla

In another Universe where Winston Churchill died, a few unknown figures appearing, the World had gone to an Axis Victory, mid-war however, the assassination of the Fuhrer takes Germany to a morally better route, but now, the Alliance had been thrown off into a planet, ten times larger than Earth, this is the story of they who conquered and punished those who opposed the Alliance

9. Axis 6 - Papaldia Empire Part Four

Summoning the Greater Axis Pact

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Axis 6 - Papaldian Empire Part 4

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Coast of Freelar

Eighty ships had arrived and had let out its capacity of about 60,000 men, the Bismarck and Tirpitz had returned back to Fenn with Nagato being the only Capital Ship remaining, Taihou was subsequently asked to be stationed in Fenn, having two aircrafts were already overkill against dragons, even if they were from the ZWK era. Or so they thought, but either way, the Plan had been rehauled at the last second.

Upon landing, they were quickly ordered to exterminate any remaining cells of Papaldian soldiers and to accept the surrender of the governing board if they do surrender.

The Viking Corp quickly had their troops to spread and take every land they can, the rumored number of troops the Papaldians were approximately 10,000, destroying their fortifications made them lose around 1,000, they have made contact with the Altaran Captain to execute Fall Einz after they made contact with him, luckily not to be shot by the soldiers.

"So you are the Germans…I have to admit, I wasn't expecting your looks to be outlandish." The Captain commented. "Oh and Captain Rial from the Altaran Liberation Army."

"Well, we do make a good impression." A soldier shrugged and laughed, the other two soldiers laughed before his lead, a Sergeant shut the three up.

"We're here for the liberation. I'm Sergeant Wilken, let's cut the crap talk though. Call your men to start it up."

"Hah, I like you Germans. This is Captain Rial, commence the Operation!" Three Helicopters from the escort Destroyers dropped some field medics and some officers to the ground.

Tanks quickly made their moves as well as Amphibious APCs, needless to say Captain Rial was thunderstruck by the display of National Prowess. "I...don't think you'd need or help to take them out of our kingdom…"

"True, but your nation needs to be liberated. All men! With me! Take back the lands! Ura!"

"Ura!" A tank passed by before halting, some soldiers already hopped on the rear, behind the tank's turret. Wilken ushered the Captain of the Liberation Army.

"Get on. It's faster."

"Is it-"

"Get. On."

"If...you're sure." Rial jumped to the deck before the Sergeant hit the tank's turret, the Commander of said tank quickly sounded the order to make the tank move.

"Let's move!"

"Leander!"

"Jawohl!" The tank began its movement. The column of SS soldiers began to file into the town of Freelar, Papaldian defenders were quickly killed as Archers were targeted by Marksmen with their Marksman Rifles, the G90, obviously the onslaught against the Archers were one-sided with no forms of obvious threats against the Marksmen.

Swordsmen who charged were quickly slaughtered without mercy with the onslaught of constant controlled burst fire of 5.56 and 7.92mm rounds.

Clink clink clink!

The sound of empty cartridge casings falling and trinkling came to everybody's ears, but were highly outclassed by the barks of the bullets being propelled out of the SturmGewehrs.

No Papaldians were expected to leave, that was the reason why the Axis sent essentially, 25 Corvettes to deal with the ships, civilian or military, they didn't really matter now.

Some Wyverns, presumably something of higher race, seeing the major difference between it and a Wyvern Lord, began to fly above the air. It might've been a threat as German catapult fighters came and had a rough fight, only with the help of guided AA guns were they killed, the aircrafts received considerable damage with one losing a wing, it was...somewhat...worrying...

But either way, worrying or not, Qua-Toinan blood had been spilled, now they will spill all their blood as compensation as well as money.

They needed money of course, all these rounds are going to be expensive as fuck to basically cover financially.

Especially when they are the one doing the fighting.

They were a bit trigger happy.

"AGHHHHH!"

"MERCY! MERCY PLEA-ARRRGGHHH!"

Alright, they may be more than trigger happy and a bit sadistic...

---

Papaldia Empire, Kooze territory

Haki was listening to the magic broadcast from the Central World in his home.

"How old do you think this woman is?"

"Hmm… about thirty?"

"The answer is… sixty-seven years old!"

"EHH?!"

"With the mage Candee's magical skincare lotion, all your wrinkly-winklies will become squeaky-smooth! With this magic lotion pack…"

Beepbeepbeeeeep, beepbeepbeeeeep~

Suddenly, the program was cut off by this alert.

"We apologize for interrupting your program, but we have breaking news! We apologize for interrupting your program, but we have breaking news!"

Haki sat up to listen to the urgent news.

"The Kingdom of Altarus, which was invaded and conquered by the Third Civilization superpower Papaldia Empire, has declared its independence. The Papaldian forces that had been occupying Altarus were destroyed, and Papaldia's Altarus governing board has surrendered to one of Altarus's rebel organizations. Altarus's declaration of independence was, according to experts, facilitated by the intervention of the country of Germany and Japan.

"We repeat…"

Haki felt his entire heart seize up. There had never been a case in the history of the Papaldia Empire where a vassal state had ever regained its independence. Princess Lumiess of the Kingdom of Altarus must have had strong ties to Germany. However, Princess Lumiess also declared this before:

"The Papaldia Empire is not invincible! Those suffering under the rule of the empire, prepare yourselves for 'that time'!"

Haki felt his heart burn with passion. Maybe it was possible to escape from this hopeless, empty situation. For the sake of both his own country and Altarus, he should start gathering comrades.

In order to prepare for "that time."

---

Holy Mirishial Empire, port town Cartalpas, a certain bar

At a certain bar today, the drunken patrons were once again chatting.

"Hey hey, did you hear? I couldn't believe it!"

"Ah, yeah, I heard! The Papaldia Empire lost one of its territories!"

"That empire, the supreme conquerors of the Third Civilization, actually lost a territory…"

"Not only that, but it was at the hands of that Alliance again."

"Germany… hm…"

While those drunks were talking, another drunk suddenly started yelling loudly.

"The Papaldia Empire is gonna lose to the Axis! They picked a fight with the wrong people! I know—I've been to Japan!"

Startled, all the drunks looked over. With all eyes on him, the drunk kept on talking.

"After Argentina and Germany beat Rowlia, I figured, as an emerging country, they'd be expanding a lot, so I might as well try trading with them, and brought a bunch of easily-transportable stuff like Mu's mechanical wristwatches there. I'm from the Third Civilization's Duchy of Nates, and they only just established diplomatic ties with Japan, but I somehow got a trading license and got myself into Japan, one of the three supposed Superpowers. These Japanese, as soon as they saw the mechanical watches, they'd be completely surprised, the way every country outside the civilized areas became shocked when they first came into contact with the civilization of a superpower. At least, that's what I thought would happen…

"When I first stepped into Japan through Fukuoka, I realized my image of them as an emerging country was completely wrong. They had buildings that reached all the way up into the sky, and their roads were full of those four-wheeled carriages they have in Mirishial. These roads crisscrossed all over the place, even going up into the air, in three dimensions, and in the sky they had what looked like Mu's flying machines, but they were a lot bigger and faster.

"And this wasn't even their capital, it was just a coastal city. I couldn't believe it, but Japan's national power, as far as I could tell, it might even be above the Holy Mirishial Empire's!"

"…Hahaha! There's no way that's true!"

"Old man, you're way too drunk!"

The bar erupted in laughter.

"Then take a look at this!"

The drunk shouted down the laughter, silencing everyone.

"Do any of you know any country that can make this?!"

The merchant took out a wristwatch that was far more sophisticated than Mu's. Around the clockwork were silver and osmium trimming, the watch's interior was given a deep metallic blue with the silver letters that formed the word 'Seika', the strap itself was made of a rubbery material, colored in jet black and with holes to set how tight the watch was on the wrist.

"Look at it! This wristwatch holds energy to create light, and as long as it isn't broken, it'll run forever! Compared to this thing, Mu's mechanical ones are like garbage! And that's not all, Japan has something called 'electromagnetic waves' that are like magical communications, and they automatically correct the second hand, it will never be off by more than one second in a hundred thousand years! What other country could make something like this?!"

His challenge was met with awkward silence.

"Y-Yeah, we get it, the Axis is pretty amazing."

The drunkards' conversations continued on.

---

Topa Kingdom, Royal Capital Berngen

"Is… Is this true? What's in this report, you've verified it?" King Topa the 16th asked his men.

"It's true. Following Germany and Japan's attacks, the Papaldia Empire's forces occupying the Kingdom of Altarus have been annihilated, and their governing board has surrendered. Altarus has taken back its sovereignty."

"However, the Kingdom of Altarus should be rather close to the Papaldia Empire. What is the empire's navy doing?"

"Their navy appears to be depleting in strength, but not as bad as many thinks..."

"Then, won't Altarus simply fall once more?"

"About that, while Germany's base in Altarus is being built, the Imperial German Kriegsmarine, their war navy, has been tasked with monitoring the seas around Altarus. Considering that this is the Axis, that much should be sufficient to deal with the Papaldia Empire's forces."

"My… My word. So to an Axis Superpower, even the superpower Papaldia Empire poses no threat."

"That appears to be the case. One more thing, the Axis has made a request of our country."

"What is it?"

"To avoid unintentional damages, until the war is over, they'd like us to avoid entering the skies and seas around that area."

"I'm not sure why the skies are a problem, but, well, we have no wyverns anyway, so that should be fine. What is the problem with the seas? As long as we fly our country's flag, they should be able to tell who it is, right? Well, to avoid any misunderstandings, I suppose we should just do as they ask."

"Apparently, most Axis-aligned nation has the ability to attack outside of visual range."

"That's outrageous! Hmmm… I am very glad that none of their nations is not our enemy. All right, order our forces not to enter the area specified by the Axis. Alert all the private vessels and merchant vessels as well!"

"Yes sir!"

King Topa the 16th was truly relieved that the Topa Kingdom was friendly with the nations of Axis. Perhaps he could improve relations with them even more and maybe...just maybe join their ranks.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant

Beautiful, elegant, surrounded by civilized countries, and fattened by wealth exploited from barbarian countries. This was an apt description of the imperial capital Esthirant, the most prosperous city in the Third Civilization. It truly lived up to the name of a superpower.

Despite some minor setbacks by convoy raids, the Papaldians will surely emerge victorious against the Barbarians.

The Imperial noble, Remille walked through this beautiful city.

There was no filth from vagrants or beggars. The city had already taken up all the space it could horizontally, so now it was growing vertically.

Remille remembered the emperor's words and mumbled to herself. "Someday, this beautiful city will be the center of the world."

Given the empire's staggering national power, it should be a simple task.

"Work was so tiring today as well…"

Keeping her health in mind, Remille was going home on foot. Behind her, bodyguards followed. After making it back to her mansion, she drew a warm bath. Some countries with less advanced civilizations didn't have warm baths, or they didn't even bathe at all, they only wiped down their bodies. Remille despised squalid barbarians.

After the bath, she put on some loose clothing and lied down on her bed.

"Today was truly tiring. Well, it's fine, some days are just busier than others."

She was exhausted to the point where she nearly nodded off right there. However, right when she was about to fall asleep, someone knocked loudly on the door to her room.

"Mistress Remille! Mistress Remille! The emergency alarm at the first foreign affairs department is sounding!"

Remille was disgruntled at having her rest disturbed.

"This better be an actual emergency or I'm going to be extremely cross."

Remille called in to the 1st foreign affairs department.

"This is Remille! Get me the department head!"

The department head came on the line.

"The emergency alarm went off, what's happened?!"

"An emergency situation was flagged. I… cannot tell you any more over magic communications due to risk of interception. You need to come here as quickly as possible!"

"…I understand."

Remille cut the communication. She was already tired from work, but was immediately called on again as soon as she was about to take a rest.

"What the hell!"

Her irritation was about to reach its limits. She returned to the 1st foreign affairs department and was immediately led to the department head's office. Inside, Department Head Elto, the officials, and the other staff members were all ashen-faced. Remille sat down at the desk reserved for the imperial nobility. There were several sheets of paper on it.

"Mistress Remille, please look at this document first."

Remille looked over the brief report. Her hands began to shake in anger and shock. What was written there evinced in her a feeling of numbness she had never felt before.

Report on the Capitulation of the Kingdom of Altarus (document 1)

"What is… What exactly is this?!"

The Papaldia Empire, in all its history, had never surrendered, a country it governed had never attained independence or been rescued before.

"I will summarize the contents," Department Head Elto said. "Early this morning, our forces in the Kingdom of Altarus were attacked by a German-Japanese Joint Force and is completely destroyed. As if in coordination, the citizens of Altarus revolted, forcing the empire's governing board to declare the kingdom's independence. Princess Lumiess is now calling for the independence of other vassal states belonging to the empire."

"How did this happen! How has the empire suffered consecutive defeats to some uncivilized land of barbarians?! I thought the imperial military was considered invincible within the Third Civilization!" Remille shrieked hysterically.

Department Head Elto wanted to cover his ears to block out her shrill voice, but he instead bore it and answered, "There is no doubt that they are the strongest military force in the Third Civilization. However…"

"However what?"

"They used flying machines to attack the imperial forces in Altarus."

"Flying machines…? Did you say flying machines?! That means…"

"Yes, the only country who makes flying machines is none other than the superpower Mu. It would seem that they are exporting these important weapons. We don't know why exactly they're exporting to the Axis, though. But it's possible nonetheless they're being backed by Mu."

"So, a war by proxy… What impudence! That explains why Argentina's diplomats were so cocksure before the war started. We need to verify if this is true. Summon Mu's ambassador! I will deal with him."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Mistress Remille, there is one more thing I want to report."

"What now!"

"Since we've all but confirmed Mu's involvement, in order to make sure we maintain aerial superiority, the military would like to secure the appropriate budget from the finance department in order to mass-produce wyvern overlords."

"I understand. However, if mass-producing overlords will really take that much money, the finance department may push back. Let me speak with them directly."

"Thank you very much."

---

Axis War Room, Reichskommissariat Geneva, Geneva

Commanders from the Axis had came around as representatives with many of them coming to discuss the current situation. Coming to the newly given-autonomy Switzerland named Reichskommissariat Geneva, a base where the Commanders discuss situations from their generals, they were mostly politicians aware of military history, military technology and are well-versed in them, not to mention former army men.

"Papaldia apparently has a new wyvern variant, information from our informant is that they are Wyvern Overlords, this is going to be troublesome. Our Naval oriented Fw190s were damaged by ten of them, while not too worrying, we need to use more advanced aircrafts than them, maybe Jet Fighters." A German commander spoke.

"Jet Fighters huh. We'll permit the use of Jets. Just not too much, we're saving costs here."

"But what will be the point of advanced technology when we can't even use them?"

"The point of having Jet Fighters is as a trump card, we have shown Mu that with our Japanese ally. And I'll tell you that they are very eager on conquest, that was no patrol and escort they sent, they're demonstrating their power, Akira, what says you?"

"...I am not one to speak, but it was no doubt a demonstration. We were ordered to use the A8M Rifuku and some Ki-84 hei, not the A36M or Ki-352…"

"That is normal, the Japs are no pacifists, I wonder what would make them pacifists after all the things they have been doing. Either way, we have secured Altarus, the Princess is on her way to be placed there."

"As a monarchy?"

"You think?" Everyone had a deadpan on the questioner, who now looked embarrassed and depressed before coughing.

"Right right...anyways, the missiles?" He changed the subject.

"Strategic Destruction uses."

"Huh...and if we have prototypes?"

"Just make sure they work and explode. We don't want anyone to reverse engineer them."

"Understandable."

"Also, a request to not strike the Capital has been given. Our informant wishes to start a coup, but with the current situation...I don't know if that's possible."

"A coup? Give that person two weeks to prepare, by then we will launch an invasion."

"Understood. And the response of rebellion?"

"They'll sort themselves out. Not like they can contribute anything other than manpower and they're most likely to be small nations and such, they hunger for power. Which is why we will not do anything of the sorts."

"Hmm, cold, but good point."

"Altarus will be a Protectorate of...Italy."

"Italy? Huh, congratulations, comrade. You'll get some incomes for your country." The Italian got some congratulations.

"But no annexation. Five years. The Kingdom will be runned by the Princess, now Queen and a Prime Minister."

"Preferably male, so they can get engaged and basically still be quote-on-quote your control."

"That was my plan...I'm not that dumb." The man sighed.

"Anyone want to add something?"

"Our informant reports that the Papaldian Command thinks our tech is from Mu."

"Hah! Idiots! I tell you! Papaldians are worthless!"

"But their land is mighty useful for the future." The Argentine commander chipped in his two marks.

"Hmm, true. And they are bountiful of resources and mages. Perhaps they will be useful...after some brainwashing at least."

"Also Wilhelm, what about the Qua-Toinan and Quiran Brainwashing?"

"No brainwash, we're protectors, not brainwashers. Best we leave them at that notice."

"Hmm, very well. This meeting will be concluded."

---

Kingdom of Altarus, Royal Capital Le Brias

War Camp

"On your knees, scum!" The RSS were already given their orders, execute anyone that was involved in the Qua-Toinan massacre and other such crimes.

Many Altaran citizens, and others watching with some magic broadcasters filming. "There is only one option when it comes to breaking the Golden Rules of War, the perpetrators denounced to the lowest of filth and scum, nothing better for people who waste their lives like this." A Sergeant walked idly as the prisoners were gagged.

"And let's make it clear on how we do things...but first...let's ask the Head of Executioner, shall we?" The man rips the cloth that gagged the executioner with a knife.

"Scum! What you're doing will never be forgiven by the Emperor! Even if I die, the Empire will be-ARGGHHHHH!"

The sergeant lazily stabbed his knife onto his thigh and rips it open by dragging it across, causing the reporters to flinch and look disgusted at the act of violence with such...such lazy manner. "Yes yes, we heard that speech before...it gets boring…" The reporters were wincing, some already puked at the scene unfolding. "Typical of you people...now then, you have shown death to the innocent, what says you?"

"Those worthless lives? Hah! They should've been rap-ARGGHHHHHH!" Another knife to the other thigh and coming with it.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

"Really really disappointing. I guess we should play around with our preys…and probably show the world, what really happens when you kill innocents like those you killed...well, I guess getting burnt alive won't hurt, right? Bring the Flammenwerfers! The sentence for all of you is simple. It is ultimate. It is death!"

Four men with flamethrowers came out as they soon stood in a line. "Sir!"

"Ah, right on time. Douse them in gas. Make them suffer." The man took his two knives as he left, the flamethrowers grinned.

"With pleasure."

The men shot off the stream of alcohol at the men, the onlookers looked at them with confusion, some asking why they were being doused with...water.

Guess they are primitive, since they haven't seen alcohol being used to set things aflame, probably using oil lamps or candles. The alcohol were cheap, so wasting them like this was better than drinking those shit.

The watchers went agape as the liquid was set aflame. "ARRRGGHHHHHH! HELP! HELP ME!"

The cloths were burnt off as the men were screaming for help, their mouth filled with fire. Squirming. Crying. Begging. They suffered from the wrath of the Axis as their innards were doused in with alcohol from yesterday, some even had their stomach burst into flames and explode into a gory mess. Five minutes passed, the men squirmed, tortured by the hot flames. They soon fell dead as the flamethrowers shut their equipment down.

"Crispy." One soldier muttered.

"Prefer them medium rare…"

"Ah, fuck off. Get rid of these piles of crap. Make them fertilizers, I don't fucking care!" The perpetrators were soon dragged off to a hole in the farmlands.

Best make use of them.

But still, what came out was horrifying. It was the expression of 'Don't fuck with the rules or we fuck you,'. The scene itself already showed that the Axis...the Axis doesn't appreciate those who completely ignores the terms of civilians that were innocent.

"...Still, Death was too...easy for them."

"Next time...next time we'd torture them into submission."

"Course, how could I forget, there always will be a next time."

---

Passenger Jet Aircraft, Junkers Ju-777

Princess Lumiess had seen the treaty, her nation will be a protectorate, meaning she and the country will be under supervision and restructuring, which means that she would be able to advance her nation quickly, the Italians, the proclaimed 'weakest' of the three was her nation's overseer, but whether it was the other two, it didn't really matter.

It was only five years, her reign will be a lot longer, and she will be advised by the Italian General, which would mean her Prime Minister is a Chief of their Military, although that would mean he needs to go out if he is needed.

Italy had agreed to help her nation grow in exchange of some resources, but not the entirety of her resources. With some advanced weaponry for her kingdom, she would be able to get her nation to be a third-world country and maybe a secondary in the far future. But seeing the size of her nation, maybe not much of a chance.

"Your Highness, we will arrive in two minutes, Italian Garrisons will arrive soon after, I hope you aren't against the treaty." Her escort, a German General, General Eugen von Trier spoke, a General that was paired with General Eren Werner, he had a lean build, brown hair, looking around his thirties, looking a bit young to be a General, but his reputation exceeds what was expected.

He was one of the Humanes with half of the Command made of humane and the other of raw justice and violence, the Generals were arguing about the treatment of most Papaldians, but after looking back, they couldn't just leave them as simple Zweite Welt Krieg soldiers from the Allied Side, who were simply decent people…

Well most of them are…

But either way, Papaldians are made of mostly criminals with few people that were decent. The verdict was to treat them with an iron fist, they needed to be given 'Order', they needed to be given 'Discipline' and the last thing is the essence of complete 'Helplessness' to break their mentality.

"Sir Eugen, I...thank you for your concern, but having to become a subject for five years is nothing compared to being subjugated and turned into a simple puppet with strings attached…" Princess Lumiess smiled at the man. "I would not have taken the offer if I didn't know certain things."

"...I understand…" Eugen nodded as he had his head to the headrest. "Forgive me for doubting you."

"I...didn't think I would hear those words from you after seeing what your men had done…" Having TVs on board of aircrafts were not recommended, but having the Ju-777 now meant that the transmissions were now available, having continued developing tech constantly with many of the funds being given to R&D, the Germans were already leagues away in terms of technology.

"Ah yes, do not associate all of us as the same people, some are sometimes not right in the head, but others are rightfully humane. We just have different angles to approach things, circumstances and such, but we do not need to put fear into the Papaldians…you do not need to fear for anything...we are not mindless rapists and criminals."

"...I...might have too much of that mindset after seeing many things in the army."

"...I can relate to that when I read the books of the SS in their early days, but now...now I don't, don't be too harsh in judging, the world is not white and black, it has some tinge of grey sometimes."

"I...that is a good way to put it sir Eugen."

"Glad you think of that…"

Needless to say, perhaps there was a relationship blooming, but as such, many doubted this thing has never happened before.

---

Papaldia Empire Supreme Commander Arde's mansion

Supreme Commander Arde was sitting on the bed in his mansion holding his head in his hands. There were multiple witness reports of flying machines, which basically confirmed Mu's involvement with Axis' military. To combat the aerial strength of Mu's state-of-the-art Marin, they had to invest in more wyvern overlords; as long as they had equal numbers, they could maintain aerial superiority.

The problem was their naval forces. There was a limit to the size of a cannon that could be loaded onto a ship-of-the-line. The cannons equipped on the Papaldia Empire's ships couldn't destroy the armor on Mu's warships. The reverse was not likewise true, though. If they wanted to install armor sufficient to withstand Mu's cannons, the ships would be too heavy to move using Tears of the Wind God to power their sails.

Arde didn't know how many of Mu's ships the Axis had bought, but if they had even one it would be a major threat. This must be why Mu sent an observer to Japan for the previous battle, Arde thought.

"Dammit, Mu! Why are you siding with the Axis…"

Arde kept worrying over the threat of Mu.

---

3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos's mansion

After hearing about the surrender in the Kingdom of Altarus, Kyeos shivered in fear.

Aside from being a department head, Kyeos also had strong connections with traders, so, after his first contact with Argentina, he began to investigate them using his private connections. What became immediately clear was that they had an obscene amount of national power for an emerging Alliance. However, this information came from merchants who liked to embellish, after all, so he thought they just had enough power for him to use as a tool for his own political gains.

Unfortunately, his ability to negotiate with Argentina or any of the Axis was taken from him with the emperor's authority by that mad dog, the imperial noble Remille, who proceeded to treat Argentina like every other country outside the civilized areas and had some aligned innocents killed. She then declared to them that she would kill every last Qua-Toinan citizen found staying in the Kingdom of Altarus.

Obviously, this infuriated the Axis, who had Qua-Toine as a Protectorate. At the time, Kyeos's analysis showed that the battle in Fenn would cause the empire some amount of damage, but while the empire's navy got completely routed, they couldn't confirm any Argentine vessels being sunk. Based on information from merchants traveling through the Third Civilization, the Axis miraculously suffered no losses. If this news had been delivered to the empire's information department, they would have just said the source wasn't credible and disregarded it.

But then… after the battle in Fenn, Kyeos was shown a book from the merchants. It was completely filled with magic photographs. The merchants had helpfully written the translation on the margins of the pages, which served as proof that there were Argentine-Common Fillades dictionaries available in Argentina. This was the name of the book:

Extra Continental Treasure! RSS vs. Papaldia Empire Army, This Is The Result Of Their Battle?!

It was a book comparing weapons, sold by mostly publishers of the Axis. There was a lot of information on the empire, and, while the specifics about their cannons were wrong, they had truly done a lot of research on the range and power of their weapons. The specifications of Axis' weapons were probably also described accurately in the book. Kyeos could still recall the impact he felt when reading that book even now.

The more he read, the more his hands shook, and the more he could feel himself sweat. At that time, Kyeos had considered a single possibility, which he now knew he had correctly identified.

Germany was a super-scientific country that far surpassed Mu and any of his comrades.

And the emperor had declared a war of genocide on every country of the Axis.

Including Germany.

Kyeos had called out to Ambassador Leone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before he returned to Argentina and successfully set up a backchannel via a communication device that was installed in his home. The recent surrender in Altarus reconfirmed the fact that he wasn't wrong about the Axis.

"At this rate… At this rate…!" Kyeos muttered to himself in his room with no one else around. "At this rate, the empire will… even with all this national power, the proud superpower Papaldia will be completely erased!"

The 3rd Department Head Kyeos, who originally saw Argentina as only a political tool, accurately realized the crisis the empire was in and resolved to risk his life in order to save his country. It didn't help when the book specified that the Germans were highly disciplined and simply call the best of the best in their Alliance, Italy going second with their mostly specialized army.

This was not a simple war, this is a one-sided slaughter, and the odds are all against them.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Palace

Emperor Ludius silently raged as he listened to the report. Knowing about this quirk whenever the emperor's mood soured, the messenger continued delivering the report while trembling.

"…Finally, the troops stationed in the Kingdom of Altarus were attacked and annihilated by the country of Germany, no reports of survivors, every ships leaving were immediately destroyed. The Altarus governing board then surrendered to the native people of Altarus. As Princess Lumiess had declared to the world, the territory of Altarus regained its independence. Our other territories have now grown restless."

The Papaldia Empire controlled a lot of territories. The empire's absolute control was reliant on fear. That fear had to be preserved in order to maintain their overwhelming power, but it was starting to weaken.

"Bring the Kingdom of Altarus back under our control by any means necessary! We must show all the other territories what happens to them if they try to declare independence! If we fail, more territories will start rising up! The Kingdom of Altarus must absolutely be suppressed!"

"Yes, Your Grace!"

And yet, another stubborn decision that will lead to more death. Truly, the Empire was never going to admit defeat.

Not until they taste defeat on the feet of their future-annihilators.

---

War Room, Improvised Building in Altarus

General Werner, General von Trier, General Aika Isaya and Field Marshal Akito Shigure all gathered in the War Room. All High Commanding Officers were present in the room. "This will be our plan for Fall Papal." The massive projector gave out the map, a laser pointer pointed towards Altarus. "We have received a division of Fallschirmjäger, currently we have the Viking Corp standing, the Italian fleet had arrived in Fenn, meaning the German-Japanese Joint Fleet will be able to conduct more invasions. Germany had sent an Aviation Missile Cruiser to us for future uses with the old Messerschmitt 262 HG III to replace the Fw190 fighters and A7M Reppus in use."

"Excuse me, sorry for interrupting, but aren't they enough?" General Aika asked as Werner shook his head.

"No, we will suffer losses with the Overlords, thus we are given clearance for AA Missiles, destroy those Overlords and make a Blitz to the shores and storm the Capital, flood their territory and destroy every opposition there is. A coup will start if I am correct, the Fallschirmjäger will begin an assault in the castle and take in the Emperor, while everyone else take care of the other guilty people in this scheme of slaughter. Take them and...personally I wish that the Noble, Remille become a...whore to be honest."

The room was silent as von Trier coughed. "Let's not go that way yet…"

"Agreed." Akito coughed in his two yen. "General Werner, I'll trust you in the Offensive."

"Why of course, Field Marshal."

"And thank you for the brief explanation, I was planning to do it myself-"

"We have been over this, Marshal, I will gladly follow through, as long as I get my fair share." The three others sighed at Werner. "What?"

"You're not like the Desert Fox."

"No, I'll admit I'm not, but von Trier here might be." Werner shrugged. "Besides the bitch killed my own citizens even if they were not German."

"...True enough, that is kind of justified."

"...And about the GPS?"

"That will be finished in about two months given the time."

"How do you know this?" Aika came in as Werner shrugged and took out a report.

"I read reports, I'm not some mindless killer, alright, lil lady instant-conclusions?" Werner gave her a glance of basically unamusement.

"Wha-! Not my fault when you acted like that!" Aika gave a bit of an offended look. The woman herself was a forty year old woman, who still acts like a brat to be honest, but given her bit of experience, she was most professional in the field.

"Good, alright, ladies and gentlemen, we will begin the Offensive with a wave of Me262 HG-3, Sturmvogels and such will begin bombing raids and Air Superiority. We will have Strategic Bombers, including the old He177, Me264, Fw300, Ju390 and Ta400. If we are lucky then we would have some Horten XVIII Bombers."

"The Jet is not going to work with how they performed…"

"A bit depressing, but true, they were somewhat...unreliable."

"Very well then, remind me to tell the Top Brass not to bring them."

"A Jet Bomber is probably not gonna be sent anyways, only Jet fighters from what I heard." Trier came in as the other officers sighed.

"Then that will be our stages, an Air Strike, Bombing Raid, followed by Naval Invaders that will soon get the most attention of their army before we strike them from above." A sound strategy, but one that does not seem simple.

"But...are civilian casualt-"

"Keep that at the minimal from what I heard they are completely the same as every soldiers in mindset, instill fear and destroy every bit of their pride. But then there's the coup I was told about..."

"Coup?"

"We will give them a few days to prepare and to reorganize our forces, the coup will need to start soon, otherwise we'll just blitz through and I'm not up to coups, I like destroying and instilling despair into these assholes."

"...Hmm, we can afford four days, but no more."

"Not my problem." That was settled, the Papaldians will be destroyed and everyone will be happy, except the Papaldians, but not their problem.

Applaud them for their bravery and stupidity, the Axis will be getting more territories either way. And besides, Germany needs to get his puppets, some puppets of their own, and possibly some other continent would suffice if they trigger their pride a bit.

After all they still have their Imperial ambitions, while more humane, their practices are still the same.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant

By the emperor's order, the Papaldia Empire was aiming to recapture the Kingdom of Altarus and once again turn it into imperial territory. At Esthirant's port, people ran about in a hurry to finish the necessary preparations. South of the capital, at the largest port in the Third Civilization, hundreds of ships-of-the-line were anchored there and having supplies loaded onto them.

Navy Vice-Admiral Balus watched the work proceed from the roof of one of the harbor facilities. Standing next to him was the strategist Matal, said to be the greatest mind in the empire.

"Matal, what are your thoughts on the upcoming battle?"

"Hmm, based on classic theory, we'll be attacking Altarus or whatever with an overwhelming advantage in numbers. However! Our true opponent is Germany and Japan. Based on our analysis, there's a very high possibility that they've imported weaponry from the superpower Mu. As we know, they routed the oversight army then annihilated our forces dispatched to the Kingdom of Fenn.

"These kinds of consecutive defeats have not happened since the Papaldia Empire was recognized as a superpower… in other words, these crushing losses are a historical event. Germany and Japan are powerful! We have no choice but to admit it! We don't know how many, or what variety, of Mu's weapons they have. In the air we can probably expect our wyvern overlords to come out on top, but the real question is going to be about the sea. If they have La Kasami-class warships, then… if we use standard naval warfare tactics, we'll probably lose."

"In that case, what should we do?"

"We have an incredible number of ships-of-the-line, so we could put those numbers to use somehow. Or we could try something primitive, like sending waves of wyverns to land directly on their ships and set fire on deck while the dragon knights invade the insides with guns."

"We would take losses with that tactic."

"You need to adapt already; this isn't an enemy we can fight then expect to make it out unblemished. However, if we press them with the empire's technology and resources, we can definitely win. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this war will decide the empire's fate."

Balus had a far-off look on his face.

"After this battle, Axis will pay dearly for underestimating the empire. Prisoners of war will wish they had died after they taste what we have in store for them. People of the Axis! You'll be facing the true might of the empire's main forces now!"

Navy Vice-Admiral Balus's spirit blazed intensely, even though he still had never laid eyes on the German-Japanese's Joint Navy Force, a force that was not even on par at even a half of their respective Main Modernized Fleet, the German and Japanese Main Modernized Fleet would with no doubt absolutely tear apart their old Joint Navy.

---

Papaldia Empire, North of Imperial Capital Esthirant, Military Ground Base

The Imperial Capital Esthirant was the most elegant and splendorous city in the Third Civilization, a sponge that soaked up all the wealth of other countries. There was a military base north of the capital tasked with the country's defense, known as "the shield of the empire." It was manned by superior troops with the newest weapons, soldiers who did not lack in training or morale. It was home to the largest force in the Papaldia Empire, one whose total strength would undoubtedly be recognized as the strongest in the Third Civilization.

The empire, which believed the Axis were using weapons from Mu, finally admitted that they were a strong enemy and began fortifying the base in order to absolutely prevent the capital from being invaded. Within the base, some land dragons were hauling magic cannons into orderly lines, others were being fitted with bullet-repelling armor, and the rest were participating in training. Soldiers were also running around and going through training exercises with sharp, practiced movements that reflected the ridiculous degree to which they had been polished.

Watching the preparations from a tower in the base, the Imperial Capital Defense Army Lieutenant General Mayga nodded in satisfaction before turning to the dragon knight captain.

"Look at this. There's so much military strength concentrated here. Even if we were to face the Holy Mirishial Empire, they could not take us down so easily."

"You may be right, but general! Our squadrons have also gotten a lot of promising rookies transferred in, take a look."

The dragon knight captain pointed to the sky, where the proud imperial capital aerial defense squadron was flying in formation. The mere sight of them was so majestic, so powerful that they would strike fear into the hearts of any enemy onlookers. Behind them, there was an even larger dragon flying after them. It was very fast, effortlessly closing in on the wyvern squadron.

"Ooh! So that's the wyvern overlord I've heard about! What amazing speed! It's undeniably faster than the wyvern lords!"

The wyvern overlord shot past the wyvern lords, the rulers of the skies that had been part of the main core of the empire's forces for a long time.

"The imperial capital aerial defense squadron will soon be comprised of only wyvern overlords!" the dragon knight captain boasted proudly.

"Ooh, how terrifying! To produce that many of them so quickly, His Grace is serious about this. With this much power, even if they attack us with a squadron of Mu's latest Marin fighter planes, they won't be be able to beat us. Nuwahahahaa!"

The shield of the empire carried on its war preparations and continued reinforcing the base.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, 1st Foreign Affairs Department

Department Head Elto hoped he was wrong, but, when he received the information, he was unfortunately proven right. He was now resigned to it. The Papaldia Empire was currently at war with the Axis, and there were some Mu citizens living in the empire. The government of the Second Civilization superpower Mu suspended travel to the empire under the pretext of "because they have entered into a full-blown war with the Axis" and ordered their citizens to evacuate. Upon receiving that order, those citizens living here began to leave one after another.

"So they're really… I see!" Elto muttered to himself in his office.

The superpower Papaldia Empire and the Barbarian Alliance of the Axis. The two countries may have been at war, but there was no realistic threat to a superpower's home country. Rather, he could assert that telling their people to leave the empire was simply insanity. However, that was what Mu had done. Thinking about it, there was only one reason they would do this: they were completely backing the Axis and trying to provoke the empire.

"They want a war between superpowers… Why would Mu go this far?!"

Remille was already aware that Mu's citizens were beginning to leave the country. Soon, Mu's ambassador would be arriving as per the empire's summons. He was looking forward to seeing how Remille would act, and what excuses the ambassador would give. Remille had taken charge of diplomatic issues, so Elto would be able to just sit back and watch the proceedings at his leisure. He felt like he was just working in human resources now.

---

Remille was waiting for Mu's ambassador in a small meeting room in the 1st foreign affairs department. Based on their intelligence, Mu's government used the war between the Papaldia Empire and the Axis to order their citizens to evacuate from the empire, and now all of those citizens were forming long lines at the port to leave the country. They concluded that Mu issued the order because they were the ones that exported weapons to the Axis. Otherwise, they could think of no other reason for an evacuation order out of a superpower's country due to a war between a superpower and a barbarian Alliance.

Aside from Remille, the department head and all of the other department officials were also in the meeting room. It was almost time for Mu's ambassador to arrive.

Knock knock.

"The ambassador from the country of Mu is here."

"Enter."

The heavy door opened and Mu's ambassador, Mugei, walked in and took a seat.

Mugei surmised that the reason he was summoned was to ask why his country had issued an evacuation order after Papaldia had declared war on the Axis. Mu didn't see the empire as an enemy. They weren't particularly close either, but they had a valuable relationship. The empire also must have realized how technologically advanced the Axis were, so as long as he explained properly they should understand. No matter how much it hurt the empire's pride, he stressed that even he, Mu's ambassador, would have to temporarily leave the country. However…

There was one small thing that worried him. The empire had declared a genocidal war against the Axis. A Death Wish with the worst possible outcome if what they read about the Zweite Welt Krieg.

If they truly were aware of the Axis' strength and level of technology, he didn't think they would have ever done such a thing. He didn't want to believe it, but there was a possibility that they actually didn't realize how strong the Axis were. No, that's far too implausible… if they weren't aware, then there was no possible way they could reasonably explain their losses to the Axis.

Mu's ambassador Mugei brought his mind back into focus for the meeting with the empire.

"All right, let us begin the meeting."

With those words, the imperial noble Remille led off the discussion.

"I believe you are already aware that our country has entered into a state of war with the Alliance of Axis. I would like to ask you to explain Mu's responses to that event."

"Yes, we know that the Papaldia Empire and the Axis are at odds. We believe that the chances of this being a fierce war are high. To ensure the safety of Mu's citizens, our government has officially issued an evacuation order from your country. This order includes those working in our embassy. This measure was taken because it was judged that your capital may suffer an attack."

At this response, Remille's expression clouded over.

"Well, your cover is good. We've looked into it. Do you mind if we simply dispense with the act?"

"?"

Mugei was perplexed, unable to make sense of Remille's words.

"While engaged in battle with the Axis, we have witness reports of flying machines. Please, let us speak plainly."

"…I'm afraid I have no idea what you're getting at here…"

"You have no idea? My goodness, what a sly fox Mu has sent over to us. I will repeat, we have witness reports of the Axis using flying machines. The only country that builds flying machines is your country of Mu. Your weapons, that you've heretofore refused to export, have been exported to the Axis. And now, the order to extract all Mu citizens from the capital. Even an utter moron can see what this means. Why did Mu sell their weapons to the Axis?! And now, why are you warring with us?!"

As he shrank from Remille's verbal assault, Mugei was further disoriented by Papaldia's distorted reasoning.

"I believe you have committed a grave misunderstanding. Mu has not exported any weapons to the Axis at all. Their country's machine technology severely outstrips ours."

"You're saying that an uncivilized barbarian Alliance is more advanced than the Second Civilization's superpower?! How can I possibly believe that!"

"The information… about how their entire Alliance was transported from another world, did you not know?"

Remille recalled reading a report where that was mentioned offhandedly. However, she was a realist, so she could not take a tall tale like that seriously.

"Transported from another world… Your country actually believes that?"

"We do, of course. Outside of Mu, it's considered a myth, but our history states that we too were transported from another world. It was clearly recorded twelve thousand years ago by the monarchy at the time. We have conducted a thorough investigation of the matter, and the results are that the Axis was transported from our original world, and twelve thousand years ago they were allies of ours. At the time, we knew them as Yamuto, which became Yamato, then Yamataikoku, and now, after countless evolutions, they are now known as Japan, however the Germans and Italians I believe were first of all the Great Roman Empire before splitting into Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Rhine, Wurtemburg, Italy and Sicily, the first five soon turned into Deutschland, the latter two into Italy and now after time into Greater Germany and Novus Italiano Romanum respectively, both are massive superpowers back then."

Mugei took out numerous photographs from his briefcase.

"These are pictures of Japan's combat aircraft. And this one is a picture of our country's aircraft… Please compare them; our aircraft have propellers, machinery that generate wind, they look quite similar, but Japan's aircraft do not have propellers. Their speed as well, Japan's aircraft can apparently surpass the speed of sound. Our country does not have the technology to build these. We do not have anything of value to export to Japan; on the contrary, our side has demand for their products, we actually want to import from them, though we are loathe to admit it, even their older propeller planes are far superior than our biplanes in terms of technology." The photo showed the A6M8 'Kyuukyoku Zero' or 'Ultimate Zero', the end of the line for the Zero Fighters when the Reppus exceeded them as their successors, the Ki-352, A36M Jet Fighters with their distinct looks of an arrow and Mu's Biplanes, obviously, the Biplanes had more drag and wind friction compared to Japan's streamlined Monoplanes and Jet Fighters that were built to be as most aerodynamic as possible.

Next, he took out pictures of skyscrapers and flourishing cities the likes of which they had never dreamed of.

"Here is a picture of Japan's capital, Tokyo. Before Japan was transported here, they were a country prone to earthquakes. All of these towering buildings were built such that they won't budge even an inch in the event of an earthquake."

The faces of everyone on the Papaldia Empire's side all at once became pale. Mugei continued giving his crash-course on the Axis' Asian Superpower.

"Whether it's their military or their technology, Japan is far stronger, far more advanced than we are. To say they're even above the Holy Mirishial Empire wouldn't be a large stretch. This is the country that you've declared war on, that you've stated you will purge. But rather than you doing the purging, it is also entirely possible for your opponents to be the ones purging you. But this isn't all, Japan is only the second in terms of power, Germany has far superior technology above Japan, it isn't a stretch that they have covered more lands, more aligned nations than Japan and Italy combined, not to mention how Japan and Italy imported technology from Germany himself." That was a stretch, since Germany had more puppets than aligned nations.

"The government of Mu has a responsibility to protect our citizens; with the way things are developing, they have judged that there is a chance Esthirant will be turned into ash, and that's why they have ordered all Mu citizens to escape from the Papaldia Empire. My colleagues and I will be leaving soon as well. After the war, if there is still anything left, I will be returning. I sincerely pray that we will meet again."

They were stunned speechless… No one had any response to give. While the Papaldian side was still silent, the meeting concluded.

Afterwards, the officials all remained in the meeting room. If what Mu's ambassador said was true, then they had scorned not one ultra-superpower country, but three of them, they had provoked them, and massacred their protectorate's citizens. Furthermore, the worst part was that they started a genocidal war with them. The words of a superpower's ambassador carried a lot of weight, and the shock had dazed everyone to the point of being unable to think.

"All right then, so what do we do now…" Remille mused.

"If everything Mu's ambassador told us is all be true, then there's a limit to what we can do. Honestly, it would have been better for us if Mu were waging a war by proxy through the Axis."

"Pfffhahahahah!" Remille suddenly started laughing. "This is the worst case scenario, the single possibility we could not accept! What a masterpiece! Huhaahahahahaaahaha!"

"M-Mistress Remille?!"

Elto was worried that Remille's had broken mentally. Thinking back, there were numerous opportunities to witness Germany and Japan's national power for themselves, but they wasted each and every one of them. The fact that the Axis didn't flaunt their power was also frustrating. Unfortunately, they couldn't take back their actions, and they couldn't turn back the clock.

The meeting in the Papaldia Empire's foreign affairs department stretched long into the night.

---

A week after the meeting with Mu and Papaldian Diplomats

Kingdom of Altarus, Royal Capital Le Brias, early morning

The airfield that Mu built had been overhauled for use as a military base for the Axis. The facility had been expanded, and there were now a large number of combat aircraft and bombers stationed there. The bombers were fully loaded with unguided bombs on all hardpoints, on the fuselage and wings. The bombers took off one after another, circling in the skies before forming up. The planes launched from the Kingdom of Altarus and the Principality of Qua Toine merged into a single fleet and set course for the empire. They were on their way to destroy their enemy.

It was a huge fleet of turboprop aircraft the likes of which hadn't been seen since World War II. The strategic bombing formation contained a hundred units, all pointed at the military base north of the Imperial Capital of the Papaldia Empire, Esthirant with twenty Ju96 Heracles transport aircrafts, a few Ju96G Achtung Heracles and an Me666 'Mimir'. They were going to turn it to hell.

After that, a massive invasion of the Viking Corp and the Fallschirmjäger Division 'Grüne Teufel', the German-Japanese Joint Navy had set out to assist in the matter a day earlier with the Viking Corp. Bismarck, Tirpitz, Taihou, Nagato accompanied by the massive Hindenburg were already sent. Everyone was in awe at their size.

Perhaps...

Perhaps it was a fortune that they were willing to help and a miracle.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, Remille's mansion

"U-Ugh! No! Stop! Stooooop!"

Remille woke up. She was in her room, her breathing ragged, her entire body covered in sweat. After that meeting with Mu's ambassador, she had seen the same nightmare countless times, the one where Axis' army ran roughshod all over the empire. They had the faces of the Qua-Toinan people she had executed, the ones who had died by her order in the Kingdom of Altarus.

"Tch!"

Remille collapsed into her bed again, lying face down. She had really screwed this one up. She thought it was for the sake of the empire, so she had put everything into her work and pushed forward rashly. However, the result of that was… the empire's survival, barely hanging on by a thread.

Based on what Mu's ambassador said:

A third world-nation from the Axis, even the weakest, the weakest currently being Zustand auf Welsh with their small territory was a match for Mu. Any Secondary can crush Mu. A Superpower will not need to use its most advanced technology to destroy Mu, a simple 60 year old relic was able to surpass them. The Superpowers may even surpass the Holy Mirishial Empire in terms of National Power even when divided. There was a possibility that the Imperial Capital could be completely destroyed. Axis' combat aircraft could fly faster than sound.

She couldn't believe it! No matter what, she just couldn't believe any of it. But since they had already suffered devastating losses twice to the Axis, it… was probably true. Combat aircraft that could surpass the speed of sound almost sounded like something from the ancient sorcerous empire… If they had equipment comparable to that mythical country, then, realistically, Papaldia had no chance of victory. Remille thought hard about a possible way to avoid battle, muttering to herself.

"We could gift them land, or divide up territory with them… does the Axis want anything? Ah!"

With a start, Remille remembered what Ambassador Leone had said: You yourself are naturally included in the list of criminal offenders, and the emperor of Papaldia is also under suspicion of enabling the massacre and is an important witness, so we request that you turn yourselves in.

"That can't happen… it won't happen! It absolutely will never happen!"

She herself was an imperial noble. Not only that, she was a noble from one of the world's five superpowers, and she would someday marry Emperor Ludius and become empress; they were going to conquer the world, and she would be its queen! How could she give that up just to appease some barbarians outside the civilized areas for killing a few hundred of their people!

"I will not allow myself to be captured by the Axis!"

Remille was determined to struggle until the very end.

---

Imperial capital Esthirant, imperial palace

Emperor Ludius received a report from the 1st Foreign Affairs Department Head Elto.

"According to what Mu's ambassador told us, it's clear that the aircraft from the reports were developed in Germany. That concludes my report on Germany; we wish to ask for Your Grace's guidance on what should happen next."

Emperor Ludius stayed silent for a time. To Elto, having to wait quietly for this long was unbearable.

"Elto."

"Yes, Your Grace!"

"Do you fear the Axis?"

"N…No, of course not! It's simply that, I am overwhelmed by this report."

"Elto, you have forgotten three things."

"What… May I ask what those are?"

"First, a defensive position is much easier to maintain than an offensive one. In the previous two battles, we were the attackers in the first, and we were completely unprepared in the second. The empire itself is fully prepared, surprise attacks will not work."

"Of course, Your Grace!"

"Second, the Axis only spends about thirty percent of their gross national income on their military, whereas we spend fifty five of our income. Even if they were a large alliance, they could not support a large army with only that much investment. In all likelihood, even if their weapons are high-quality, they will not have very many of them."

"I… I believe your reasoning to be sound on that topic."

Even still, our military suffered two enormous defeats to the Axis! Elto wanted to shout, but he swallowed his words.

"Third, even if our enemy were the Holy Mirishial Empire, we simply have no choice but to prevail. Our empire is meant to rule over the world, and this is our divine trial. In this battle with the Axis, even if their main force is their navy, our ground forces are strong: they are equipped with the newest weaponry, they are well-trained, and they are at full strength! In addition, our new wyvern overlords have yet to see battle. What we sent to Altarus was our main navy. Even in the one-in-a-million chance they are defeated, there is no country in this world that can best our defending ground army."

"Ooh!"

Hearing Emperor Ludius's explanations, Elto felt enlightened. It was true that their main forces were still hale and hearty, and their ground army had only tangled with Japan's army a single time. With the empire's elite ground force on defense with the advantages from being in their home country, they couldn't even be outclassed by the Holy Mirishial Empire.

"You are absolutely right! Your Grace's wisdom is unparalleled!"

Department Head Elto prostrated himself before Emperor Ludius.

Sadly, they haven't bought the book of 'Bypassing the Best Defense of Europe' by a German Officer in the late 60s. Twas a good read to be honest.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, 3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos's mansion

The 1st foreign affairs department and Remille were acting oddly. This strange behavior started after the meeting with Mu's ambassador, during which they were probably given information about the Axis' actual power. Common sense dictated the obvious course of action, but considering that there were no large commotions around the 1st foreign affairs department, it appeared that Emperor Ludius and Remille were not planning to allow themselves to be extradited to the Axis as war criminals.

"If they would just turn themselves in, it would minimize the chance of the empire's citizens being dragged into this war!" Kyeos muttered irritably in his room. "Do I need to make a move this early? …No, since the military is still mostly intact, I can't secure the support of the people."

He couldn't execute his plan until the empire weakened a bit. However, the only way it would "weaken" would be if some civilians were sacrificed in defense of the empire. Kyeos was not happy with that tradeoff.

He also had one other worry. What if, after the Axis' first attack, the empire became so crippled they could not recover? There was a chance that the vassal states would then align themselves with the Axis, in which case it might become impossible to maintain the empire as an independent country. Kyeos felt impatience.

"What should I… what should I do?!" He had been given time to prepare a coup, the latest the offensive that the Axis could do was simply by a few days, they will need to move and destroy Papaldia after reorganizing.

---

Kingdom of Altarus, Royal Capital Le Brias

Lumiess looked down on the capital from within the castle. No matter how many times she went over it in her head, the only explanation she could find for this situation was that a miracle occurred. She thought back.

Papaldia's ambassador had demanded that she be given over to him as a slave. At the same time, the king, her father, was pressed to transfer the rights to the core of the kingdom's economy, the Siltras magic gem mine, over to the empire. When the king refused to comply with these demands, the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, started a war with the Kingdom of Altarus. The Altaran navy was wiped out by the Papaldian navy, and, similarly, the elite Altaran ground army was wiped out by the Imperial Army.

By order of the king, Lumiess had escaped from the kingdom on a disguised merchant ship. Right when they ran out of food supplies, they were saved by an Argentine ship just north of Rodenius and she found herself living in the Protectorate of Qua-Toine.

The place, while not so advanced, was a wondrous place. There were buildings that were being built into the skies, there was the large-scale transportation and distribution system known as the "railroad," and there were town that shone brightly through the night. It was like living inside of a fairy tale.

However, the Papaldia Empire's evil influence even extended all the way to this country on the far eastern edge of the world. In the Kingdom of Altarus, the imperial army murdered scores of Qua-Toinan tourists.

That was how the Papaldia Empire came to incur the Axis', mainly Germany's wrath.

The empire, which had trampled over the Kingdom of Altarus, got annihilated by the Viking Corp, the name for their task force led by her escort, Sir Eugen and Sir Werner, and, unbelievably, the Corp didn't even lose a single soldier in the effort.

When she heard the news, she prayed to God. If she were able to form an alliance with the Axis, the imperial army could be driven out of the Kingdom of Altarus. That was the dream she envisioned. Fortunately, The Axis was able to sign the security treaty with Altarus, with her kingdom to be under supervision of the Italians, a cultural nation with many unique things when she visited the Empire, surprisingly the people were very open and were self-conscious about their food…

Which was weird...

But either way, Princess Lumiess can only wish the men good luck especially Sir Eugen, the planes of different colors with black crosses on their hull began to fly one after the other, an Italian Fleet came forth from the horizon as they had landed their troops for garrison duty with some German officers overseeing them. Pray tell that they can repel anything that they come across for the better of Altarus and the other kingdoms.

---

Early morning

The skies were clear and blue, and a cool wind blew. There was just a little light, and visibility was very good.

High in the sky about 300 kilometers south of the imperial capital Esthirant, they flew through the air, circling the area. On top of the airplanes, there were large disks slowly spinning. The Luftwaffe's Me666 AWACS was monitoring the Imperial Capital from an incredible distance utterly beyond the capabilities of the human eye. The Me666 slanted rectanguar-shaped radar, the Elektronisches Mehrzweck-Scan-Array-Radar or EMSAR is capable of simultaneous air and sea search, fighter control and area search, with a maximum range of over 600 km (look-up mode). When operating in look-down mode against fighter-sized target, the maximum range is in excess of 370 km. When used against maritime targets, the maximum range is over 240 km for frigate-sized targets. In addition, the radar antenna array is also doubled as an ELINT array, with a maximum range of over 850 km at 9,000 metres (30,000 ft) altitude.

That radar detected twenty flying objects in the skies south of the imperial capital. This information was transmitted to all combat aircraft in real time. Flying ahead of the AWACS about 100 km north were ten arrow-shaped aircraft: air superiority fighters, the Me262 HG IIIs. Trailing behind about 50 km were twenty Sturmvogels flying at subsonic speeds, fully loaded with 5cm AT Guns and bombs, whose target was the military base housing the empire's ground forces located north of the imperial capital.

The Schwalbes would be performing the first attack on the empire. The difference in atmospheric pressure on the top and bottom of the main wings caused lines of white to appear in the wakes of the wingtips. They were sharing information in real time with the Me666 AWACS: in the southern skies of Esthirant, they knew to be wary of the force of twenty flying enemies.

(I know it's just a warning, but usually we would just ignore them if there were so few.)

The pilot was slightly amazed considering the empire's national power when he had confirmed his mission. The enemies were about 100 km out. The order came in clearly at the same time across every plane's radio.

Commence attack, commence attack.

The Jet Boosters of those Swallows quickly fired up, boosting them further than before. The 30mm autocannons roared to life as the Wyvern Overlords came into view.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, southern airspace

Twenty wyvern overlords were on guard in the skies a bit south of the imperial capital Esthirant. They belonged to the 2nd squadron of the 18th dragon knight order. Squadron Leader Derius was talking to Pukrate, a veteran originally from the 1st squadron, via magic communications.

"Let's monitor that section of the sea over there as well."

"Sure, sounds good."

The wyvern overlord formation moved as though it were a single unit, showing off how well-trained they were.

"Squadron leader, about the enemy…"

"What is it?"

"According to the memo we got a few days ago, the Germans would be using Mu's aircraft to fight us. But, you know, in the last two battles, I feel like our losses were way too high. When I asked the military top brass about it, they wouldn't give me a straight answer and told me to just refer to the memo. What are your thoughts, squadron leader?"

The empire's upper management, afraid of the military's morale taking a huge dive, decided to limit the distribution of information on the Axis to only some of the military officers.

"It's true—I've heard that the top brass has been really tight-lipped about this war. It's clear they're hiding something, but I'm not sure exactly what. However, an enemy stronger than Mu, who else is there?"

"Other than the ancient sorcerous empire or the Holy Mirishial Empire, I guess there's no one else."

"By the way—"

"What the hell are those?!"

One of the sharp-eyed dragon knights interrupted their conversation. Every other dragon knight looked over in the direction that the one knight was pointing. They saw a number of specks in the clear blue sky. They were like crumbs that had been spilled on a clear, beautiful photograph. They quickly grew in size, though, which made it clear that they were some kind of dragons.

BRRRRRRTTTTTTTTT!

"T-They're fast! Evasive action!"

Derius yelled the order at preternatural speed owing to his intuition screaming "Danger!" when he saw those things coming at the dragon knight squad. The squadron of wyvern overlords dispersed, but some got caught in the rains of light and were quickly shredded into pieces, those dragons soon followed them as their Climbing Rate was outclimbing theirs.

"No… No way!"

The Schwalbes chased after the otherworld dragons. The air friction was lessened by their aerodynamic wings and sculpted body, the autocannons fired once more.

BRRRRRRTTTTT!

The dragon knights died without even letting out a single cry. The Papaldia Empire homeland had just become a battlefield for the first time since they had earned the title of "superpower." The entire city of Esthirant reverberated with the sounds of the high pitch screeching from these dragons, the eerie noises totally inconsistent with its sense of peace. Some felt fear. Others wondered if the clock had begun to count down on their ruin. Citizens who were already awake, prompted by the rains of light, looked up at the sky and saw the shocking scene play out before their eyes.

The wyverns belonging to the strongest defense force defending the imperial capital of the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, were plummeting from the sky like giant raindrops. Some drops were just wyvern heads, trunks, legs, wings, and other parts; some were bodies with the entire upper half missing, things that had ceased to be humans. It was a shower of meat and blood.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

All over the capital of Esthirant, screams could be heard from people unable to stand the gruesome sight. The residents began to chatter noisily, doors and windows opening everywhere. When they looked up into the sky, they saw twenty somethings shaped like dragons zoom by at a speed that exceeded the wyvern overlords. Those things each spurted two flames by their wings.

Immediately after that, a blast of sound assaulted them, loud enough to make them cover their ears. The glass in the buildings closest to those things shattered from the ensuing shockwave.

The residents were overcome with pure fear.

"What was that?! What were those?! What's happening?!"

The high pitch squeal from the Schwalbes' Jet Boosters continued to echo throughout the imperial capital Esthirant while the residents were infected by terror.

---

Papaldia Empire, north of imperial capital Esthirant, military ground base

On the first floor of a gaudy stone building, magical technician Paie was tracking signals on the magic detector. Wyverns were the only flying creatures with high magic power; compared to humans, they were basically overflowing with magic. The magic detector was created to track magic power for anti-air defense purposes, but it could also be used for ground monitoring as well.

Currently, the detector only displayed friendly forces in the sky; there were no other creatures in the vicinity with high magic power.

"Hm? Did something just happen?"

Paie noticed that the friendly wyverns, which were previously flying in perfect lines, began to scatter in a disorderly fashion. Right when she was about to report the oddity to her boss, the twenty dots on the screen suddenly brightened, then disappeared. There was no other explanation for that phenomenon… They had been shot down! Paie immediately grabbed the magical communicator next to her and screamed into it.

"Emergency, emergency! A patrol of twenty dragon knights from the eighteenth dragon knight order, second squadron, in the southern skies over the capital have all disappeared from the detector! There is a high chance they were shot down! Third squadron on standby, you're cleared for urgent launch, go check the southern skies! Furthermore, there are no enemy responses on the detector; there's a high chance they're using aircraft!"

Right after Paie's order went out, the military ground base became lively with the sound of crashing and clamor. The ruckus immediately alerted everyone to the abnormal situation.

"All twenty signals are gone?!" Paie's boss exclaimed, his face changing color before her eyes as he stared at the detector screen.

"Yes sir; in a very short amount of time, each signal blinked out one after the other."

"Twenty! There were twenty of them up there! That's a sizable patrol squadron, and they were all the strongest dragons in the world, wyvern overlords! How could they be done in so quickly?!"

"But it's true! They all disappeared in the space of thirty seconds!"

"Are you sure it's not some kind of malfunction?!"

"That's out of the question!"

"Kh! What the hell are we fighting?!"

While the two were bickering in the communications room, the 3rd squadron was getting ready to take off having received their orders.

"The second squadron got taken out?! Dammit all! Make sure you're on alert when we get to their last known location, don't get distracted!"

With wings spread wide, the wyvern overlords began running, preparing to launch themselves into the air. Because this was an emergency situation, all the wyverns ran together in a single file.

"Enemy detected!" someone yelled into their magic communicator. The dragon knights all looked up into the sky.

"Wha—!"

The dragon knights, about to take off, heard the sound of back-to-back blasts from the 5cm AT Cannons of the German Sturmvogels. Explosions ripped the runway apart before they dropped their payload of 1,100lbs bombs. Twenty of them brought two bombs each, therefore forty bombs began to drop and destroy the runway.

"No...No, this is...this is impossible!"

---

After hearing the strange noise, Imperial Capital Defense Army Lieutenant General Mayga looked out the window. At that moment, one of his men stumbled into the room without knocking.

"Lieutenant General Mayga! All signals have been lost for the eighteenth dragon knight order, second squadron! Please come to the war room at once!"

"What!? I'll be right there!"

Mayga quickly ran over to the war room next door. As soon as he entered, he received a report.

"Just now, we lost the signals from the second squadron, which was patrolling the southern skies over Esthirant, on the magic detector. On that detector, right before the signals disappeared, a large light appeared, so the probability that they were shot down is very high. Right now, the third squadron is preparing for emergency deployment."

The subordinate pointed out the window. As ordered earlier, the 3rd squadron's wyvern overlords were on the runway, just about ready to start their takeoff run.

"These enemies… how strong are they…?" Mayga mumbled.

"What are those?!" someone yelled suddenly.

Seconds later, numerous arrows of light slammed right into the dragon knight squadron running down the runway. All the arrows of light flew true and hit each member of the 3rd squadron, turning them into lifeless pieces of flesh before Mayga's eyes.

"!"

He was so surprised he couldn't find his voice, but then some kind of aircraft passed by with tremendous speed, spewing flames out their rears. They could feel the shockwaves… There were probably twenty of the aircraft. They suddenly began to drop bombs that quickly destroyed the air field before flying off into the sky.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—!

The base's emergency alarm began to howl, stirring the people in the base who began running about frantically.

"Oh God...we can't launch any more of our Wyverns..." Then the Dragons came for another assault. "What is it-" 5cm HE Shells were fired towards the buildings, the 5cm shells designed to destroy tanks were now used to destroy buildings.

DON DON DON DON DON!

The Schwalbe HG IIIs which were armed with some Rocket Pods soon began to fire their rockets off towards anything that looked...

Important.

The Destruction of the Wyvern Hangars, Barracks, their Silos, anything that was in the Base was inevitable, rockets exploded upon contact, anything wood turned into splinters, anything stone turned into rubble, anything remotely flesh-made turned into gore and blood. The Iron Dragons were relentless. The building where Mayga was in exploded as the personnel quickly hit the deck. "S-Situation report!"

"T-The Runway's completely useless! All Wyverns had been slaughtered, I don't think we have any to launch even if our Runway is usable!" An Operator yelled in fear.

"What...What are we up against?" As of now, with no runway to use, the Papaldians were unable to regain Air Supremacy over their own land.

---

Imperial Capital Esthirant

"Hey! Look!"

Some agitated residents were pointing to the north. But, with no prompting needed, the people were already looking in the direction of the massive explosions. Enormous, never-before-seen billows of flame were blossoming over the military ground base. No words were said; they all just stood there sweating. Some women were crying at the sight. Unfortunately, they then heard something that brought on even more fear.

RRRRRRRRRRRRR…

Where was it coming from? There were a lot of them; they made a noise like a deep growling.

"Now what's happening?!"

"Over there, it's from there!"

Someone with good eyesight pointed to the south.

"AH—!"

"NOOOOOO!"

There were many more of them than before. Big machines of various color, descending from the heavens. White clouds trailed behind them, and they made that deep rumbling noise that so terrified the people. They were a lot slower than the previous machines as well, so much so that the residents thought they were be teased by them traveling at such a cruel, leisurely pace. Their slowness, size, and quantity engendered untold dread in the citizens of Papaldia.

"Are those dragons?!"

The formation of Strategic Heavy Bombers flew over the capital, accompanied by an escort of eight Me210 Heavy Fighters. There were a hundred and eight planes in total; the vapor trails left behind by the passing aircraft completely changed how the sky looked over Esthirant. The Papaldia Empire had no way of repelling them. The people of the empire could do nothing but watch as their destruction crept closer and closer.

---

"We will reach the drop point soon."

They saw a flourishing otherworld city beneath them. A hegemonic culture drunk on its own arrogance. To the Axis, they were a country that had no qualms with calling for genocide, including civilians, so there was no need to show them any mercy. However, these pilots were originally only sent on patrol missions; they could never have imagined that they would ever be bombing someone.

"Three… two… one… release!"

The Luftwaffe's Strategic Bombing Wing reached the drop point as planned and, with the objective of incinerating any military installations, bases, fortifications and any vital aspects.

---

"The enemy! The enemy is invading!" the Imperial Capital Defense Army officers screamed.

With the destruction of the runway, all of their wyvern overlords were now grounded. They had no weapons that could reach the enemies at their altitude, so there was nothing they could do.

"Those aircraft are huge! And there are so many of them, too!"

"What are they doing?!"

Everyone in the base was looking up at the sky.

"Hm?!"

"Th-Those are—!"

"Some kind of black things are falling!"

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu…

It was the same sound made by the weapons that destroyed the runway earlier.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu…

There were a lot more of the noises than before as well.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu…

Everyone's eyes opened wide at the sight. There were dozens of enemy aircraft dropping an abnormally large number of the black objects.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu…

The number of shrill sounds was increasing exponentially.

"They're the high-powered bombs from before!"

"A rain of bombs is coming!"

"Take cover—! Take cover—!"

"Damn it! There are too many of them, where can we possibly run?!"

Any military installations were devolved into chaos, but the bombs didn't wait for their curses. Ships were turned into driftwood and splinters as their cannons sunk into the waters. Nothing escaped the grip of the Heavy Bombers and nothing will.

The explosions were endless. The bursts of light were blinding. The blasts surpassed the height of a building dozens of stories high. Everything in the base was covered in clouds of smokes from the explosions—yet they continued. As if spitting spitefully on this level of trauma, fierce flames raged across the base without stopping.

After dropping all their bombs, the Strategic Bombing Wing climbed up high into the sky and flew off to the south.

---

A pair of Ar234 Blitz Reconnaissance Flight began to look at the damage caused as they, twenty Ju96s and four Ju96Gs escorted by twelve Schwalbes began to make it into mainland Papaldia. "Looks like you're good, Gott mit uns, comrades."

"Gott mit uns." The back door of the Ju96s opened as men began to jump off, the Division of two thousand began to drop. Jumping from an altitude of a two thousand meter height, the men began to maneuver around, with no dragons to worry about, a new reporting helicopter accompanied by a few German Airborne Assault Helicopters began to make it into the empire's land. The paratroopers had quickly opened their parachutes at a hundred meters as they landed, they quickly began to clear their area. Having landed on mostly the beach areas, they had quickly secured a base for the Invaders to land on. Ju96Gs quickly began to fire at the fortifications, after the soldiers had landed, causing anything worthy of a 105mm round to explode.

"Alright! Let's move!" Having rid their parachutes, the Fallschirmjäger quickly began their offensive. The Ju96Gs had quickly halted any forms of attack, the guns had quickly silenced themselves as the Fallschirmjäger began to secure the city. "Clear the coastline! Set up defenses!"

Breaking and Entering was not an unwelcomed tactic to be honest. The Germans quickly took apart what they can get to use as barricades. After three hours, the German Naval Forces were able to reach the area and land safely without any bloodshed needed for them. "Sir Werner! Fallschirmjäger had already covered the coast, what are your orders?" Werner looked around.

"Expand the coastline, give them the ultimatum, if they resist, wait four days before launching an all out assault." The Fallschirmjäger nodded before he barked his orders to the troops. The Viking Corp began to fortify the place even further as both special forces began to expand the coastline they had. Allowing more supply ships to come in, the Papaldian ships in the port were in very poor condition as Bismarck, Tirpitz and Nagato destroyed anything that was trying to leave the port, nothing escaped their grasps, the port itself and the base was destroyed into oblivion.

Few survived, but not without serious injuries.

---

Imperial Capital Defense Army Base

(It's so dark… my whole body hurts… What happened to me…?)

Imperial Capital Defense Army magical technician Paie regained consciousness. She was a bit alarmed at how much pain her body was in, but she thought hard, grasping at the threads of her memory. After they had heard those shrill noises, that sounded like flutes, she had been blown off her feet, hitting someone else, then she blacked out. Then she remembered hearing what sounded like the building collapsing. The Imperial Capital Defense Army's base had been attacked by the Axis. Much to her misfortune, one of the bombs hit the building she was in.

"Light!"

When she looked up, she saw a bit of light shining down. Her body hurt, but it could also move. She didn't think any bones were broken.

"All right!"

She concentrated, then tried to put some strength into lifting the rubble on top of her. It moved a little!

"Someone, help!"

There should still be a lot of people in the base… so if she yelled, someone should come running… however, no one responded.

"…Ah, I see."

They were probably wary of the enemy's second attack and running around frantically, hoping to repel it.

"Ur… gh!"

Paie put as much strength as she could into her entire body. There had to be a crack or a hole somewhere that she could use to get outside. With a ripping noise, her clothes rubbed against the bricks, tearing in various places. Once she got out, she'd probably draw looks from everyone and get embarrassed, but her life was paramount.

"Just a bit mo… yes!"

She got out! Then she looked around.

"N-No way!"

All she saw was the destroyed wreckage of buildings, the ruins of what once used to be a military base. Nothing else moved aside from her.

"How did… How did this…"

The superpower Papaldia Empire's strongest fortification, with its dominant ground army, its proud land dragons with their unparalleled offensive power, its magic cannon squad capable of suppressing entire countries, its wyvern overlords that ruled the skies… it was all gone, vanished without a trace.

She didn't know what could possibly have done this such a sturdy, reinforced base. Magical technician Paie could only stand there, shocked silent, as she took in the horrifying scene. Suddenly, the door into the base burst open. "Freeze! No body move! Hands in the air!" Paie quickly raised her hands, forgetting the code of honor the Papaldians have used. "This is Fenrir 5-2, we have a survivor over." The man pointed his staff at her.

"Don't try anything and we don't hurt you, got that? On your knees, hands where I can see them!" The woman quickly got down as the man soon tied her up. "Alright, good. Is anyone else alive?"

"N-No..." Paie feared for her life, she was probably going to be raped as that was what all Papaldians did to their prisoners. "Please..."

"...Nothing, help me get her out of here!" The man yelled as his comrade soon came before hauling her away. "You're going to be alright, ma'am, you're going to be alright." Is this...Is this how they are? Are they...

BOOM!

An explosion captured the whole building off guard. "Damn! A dumb bomb!"

"Lucky that we're already out of there..." A bomb was there the whole time? Somehow Paie thinks this was all cliché bullshit in some fictional story, like some used the excuse of bombs being there with fire that causes it to explode or something. "Check for injuries." The two men quickly got her down before checking her for injuries.

"Why...?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you...saving me?"

"...Cause probably that's what heroes do right now." Paie can only blush at the response. "Alright, nothing too serious, but for safe measures...apply some alcohol."

"Don't worry, only would sting a bit." The woman cringed as her wound was given some anti-bacterial alcohol. "Alright...cover the wounds up." The medic quickly wrapped her wound around with a cloth. "Alright, that should be good for now. Get her to the wagen." A wagon? They were going to use a wagon?

As soon as she and the two men got into a nearby pathway, she could see a vehicle...out of steel without any horses, the roof was made of steel with a small cannon compared to the Magic Cannon Papaldia had... Was this the car that Mu was informed to have? "Alright, get her in."

That was when the sound of cavalry hooves began to come into earshot. "Ah damn! Start the engine!" The car came to life as the medic quickly drove backwards, a cavalry platoon was already on their back. "Ah scheiße! Man the gun would ya!?" The other soldier quickly stood up to the opening the car had before manning the massive cannon-like weapon.

The sound of what was seemingly paper being torn came to life, the weapon quickly minced the cavalry into minced meat, she could see her country's cavalry turned into nothing, but blood and gore. Bodies racked up, the shred of paper soon halved the body of her people, intestines spilled out, the head of the horses split apart of their neck, it was a massacre made by two people. She felt like she could throw up. "Come on! Turn already!"

The car quickly twirled as the view of the horses quickly was switched with the other side of the road in such a rapid manner. The man quickly pulled a stick in the middle of the two seats and stepped on something, the car jumped.

VROOM!

The car quickly moved faster than before it was moving in reverse, the soldier continued his rampage as the woman was about to look back when-

"Don't. Don't make it hard on yourself." The Driver spoke to her with a bit of a sore look. "Focus on front, I doubt you can take in much violence." Paie wanted to protest, but they died before they could exit her mouth, she was never made to be in the frontlines, not here, not ever. Her specialization in magic can never be atoned by her weak physical body, thus she became a backline magical operator.

"Ah shit! Reloading-Oh fuck! Mages!"

"What!?" The Driver yelled before looking to a mirror on the side of the car to find some mages chanting some spells.

"Ah fuck!" The soldier quickly took his staff and fired at the soldiers. "Come at it, bastards!"

"Base, this is Fenrir 5-1, come in!"

"This is Japanese Sergeant Arano, how copy-"

"Ah fuck! I can't speak Japanese!"

"Japa-what!?"

"...The anime language or something!"

"Ah scheiße!" The other spoke up.

"This is German Master Sergeant Ingvield, how copy?"

"This is Fenrir 5-1! We're being chased by cavalries! We got a prisoner in our hands!"

"Good work, I'll call in some Kobra to help you out, over."

"Roger! Over and out! Hold on!" The car quickly turned gears as the soldier on the cannon soon ran out of juice.

"Fuck! I'm out!" The car chase soon ended after a few minutes when a chopping sound came above. "Oh yes! Kobras!" Paie can only look at the man in confusion, did he mean the rare snakes that were often cooked as delicacies?

BRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTT!

She jolted when the sound of more paper tearing came to life, moving slowly, she could see a pair of flying...dragons? They had eyes and a mouth, so they must be dragons...right? Either way, they continued to spray fire and lay waste to the cavalries before they soon were finally killed. Every one of them.

This was what the Empire was up against.

No wonder they were going to lose...every hope of the Empire to come back shattered as the three soon came to a base of sorts.

"Welcome back, gentlemen, a fine successful mission?" She would soon write a book out of this, how she turned out in the Papaldian Army and such before coming to this point and at the future, marry a German. That German was the one who continued to speak about humane ways, medical duties and being a simple medic in the field without a gun and apparently an expert driver.

---

During the German Air Raid

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, Remille's mansion

Remille was lying on her back on the bed in her room, her comforter wrapped over her body. She was remembering what happened earlier.

She had woken up from a horrible dream. That had put her in a bad mood, so, to change things up, she had gone out onto the balcony. The sky was a clear blue, the morning breeze felt a bit chilly against her skin, and little birds were warbling. She took a deep breath… it felt extraordinarily good. When she looked to the south, she saw the Imperial Capital Defense Army's wyvern overlords flying in formation, monitoring the skies over the capital. They looked so powerful, so proud, that she couldn't help thinking how fitting of the Papaldia Empire's, a superpower's, main forces.

"Maybe I was overthinking things…"

Perhaps she allowed herself to be swayed by the words of Mu's ambassador. There were no shortcomings with regards to the wyvern overlord's aerial combat capabilities; they could even defend against Mu's latest weapons. No matter who their enemies were, even if they came from another world, the empire wouldn't be destroyed so easily.

Those were Remille's thoughts as she gazed at those majestic wyvern overlords.

"Hm?"

All of a sudden, the dragon knight formation broke up, each one speeding up and spreading out in a different direction.

"Are they doing some kind of training exercise?"

The dispersed dragons were suddenly engulfed in smoke. After a slight lag came the loud screeches.

"Ahhh!"

Letting out a rather feminine scream, Remille leaned forward, her eyes glued to the sky. She couldn't tear herself away from the sight of the shredded dragon knight order, pieces falling to the ground like rain.

"Is it Germany?! Is Germany attacking?!"

Sweat poured out of every pore in her body. Then she realized.

(It can't be! Am I… quivering? Me?!)

Her hands, clutching the balcony's banister, were shaking; she looked down and her legs were clearly trembling as well. Then, arrow-shaped somethings flew by at tremendous speed. She had never seen anything move so fast in her life, and the baseless confidence she had built up earlier, the thought that "Our dragon knight order couldn't possibly lose," was smashed into pieces.

Shortly afterwards, the sound from the shockwaves reached her, as well as the sight of aircrafts of sorts heading for the military base.

"No, that's the Imperial Capital Defense Army's base!"

After the sound of the enormous explosions passed, the ground base's highest level alarm began to sound. Remille realized that the imperial capital had just been attacked and intended to make her way to the 1st foreign affairs department, but her legs were shaking so much that she couldn't even move.

HYUUUuuu…

Right then, a piercing noise came from the sky, and Germany's aircraft disappeared into the clouds with a thunderclap. It seemed that more aircraft had joined the offensive.

There were more explosions, then smoke started to surge up from the military base. Another large explosion. There would probably be many casualties. Then…

RRRRRRRRRRRRR…

There was a very low humming noise, and more aircraft with enormous wings appeared… there must have been more than fifty of them, descending on the capital. The aircraft earlier were much smaller, but the bombs they dropped were already this destructive.

"Gh! What am I supposed to do!"

Each large aircraft dropped a preposterous number of bombs… It was literally a shower of bombs.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu…

The sound of Germany's bombs dropping out of the sky drummed up fear, then the military base erupted in intense flames. They had probably taken incredible damage. Remille sank down and hugged her knees. She couldn't stop shaking.

She was in a position of responsibility; she had to get to the 1st foreign affairs department as soon as possible. But the Axis army had just dealt out an act of crushing violence on the empire, and, in truth, she herself had caused it.

(Germany… Germany is furious, they must be looking for me…)

The more that thought revolved in her head, the more stricken with fear she became, and the less she could move. The city was filled with unsettling clamor, and she could hear angry cries from people all over. Remille somehow crawled back to her room and dragged herself into her bed.

"Mistress Remille! Mistress Remille!"

Someone banged on the door calling for her, knocking her out of her reverie.

"Mistress Remille!"

There's no way she could allow the family maid to see her like this.

"I'm coming!"

Remille steeled herself mentally and stood up. Still shaking profusely, she came to stand in front of the door.

"What is it!" she asked through the door.

"An urgent request has come for you to contact the first foreign affairs department."

"I understand. I will head out as soon as I've changed!"

She had absolutely no idea what they could do next. Her mind was completely occupied with fear of Germany.

---

A morning emergency meeting… all of the country's top management officials were present, and this meeting would determine the will of the empire as a whole. The main topic of the meeting was what to do about the Axis.

The people participating included:

Emperor Ludius Remille, a member of the imperial family Supreme Commander Arde 1st Foreign Affairs Department Head Elto 2nd Foreign Affairs Department Head Rius 3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos Governing Board Director Baars Financial Department Head Mooly Aides for each department were also present

Before the meeting began, a document containing all information discovered about the Axis until now was distributed. All of the officials scanned the material, which had been put together by the 3rd foreign affairs department. The information, arranged in chronological order, is summarized below:

- Central Calendar year 1639, January, the Principality of Qua Toine in Rodenius established contact with Argentina.

- At that time, no other country who received their diplomats acknowledged the existence of a country called "Argentina."

- After establishing contact, the Alliance of Axis made a purchase request to the Principality of Qua Toine for a large amount food.

- Same year, April, the largest military force in Rodenius at that time, the Kingdom of Rowlia, invaded the Principality of Qua Toine, igniting a war between the two countries.

- Germany and Argentina joined the war as an ally of Qua Toine.

- In the Great Naval Battle of Rodenius, the Rowlian navy lost 5,500 ships and suffered catastrophic damage to their wyvern fleet.

- In a battle west of the captured town of Gim in Qua Toine, Rowlia's vast ground forces were completely annihilated by an Offensive made by German and Argentine Forces.

- An Air Raid was conducted in the Capital of Jin-Hark, after the Raid, Rowlia declared their capitulation.

Next was when the Empire struck Altarus and tried to invade Fenn.

- The Empire sent the Imperial Oversight Army's Eastern fleet to punish the Kingdom of Fenn, but its wyvern lords were shot down and ships-of-the-line rebuffed.

- This was the empire's first clash with Argentina.

- After bringing down the Kingdom of Altarus, the imperial army set its sights on the Kingdom of Fenn.

- The Imperial Army failed in defeating a German-Japanese Joint Fleet and were subsequently annihilated if sources are correct.

- The Empire captured 200 Qua-Toinan citizens in Altarus and committed a slaughter against them.

- Enraged by this action, the entire Axis military attacked the Altarus Imperial Army and slaughtered every single soldiers in the kingdom. Altarus regained their independence and joins the Alliance of Axis.

- These losses were equal to a third of the empire's naval forces.

- The Emperor announced that the empire would commit to exterminating the Axis Nations and all of its citizens; in response, Axis claimed the right of self-defense.

- This was the official start of the war between the Papaldia Empire and the Alliance of Axis.

- Germany also sent numerous aircraft to attack the Imperial Capital Defense military base north of Esthirant, destroying it and all their defenses.

- At the same time, Germany's Air Force effectively annihilated the imperial navy and destroyed the navy headquarters building as well as the other buildings built at the port in the midst of the attack of the Imperial Capital Defense military base.

- The Alliance of Axis claims that its entire alliance was transferred from another version of this world, or perhaps from another planet. They do indeed have military achievements that are unthinkable for a country outside of the civilized areas. Rather than the empire never knowing about a country like this in all of its storied history, it is more believable for the Axis to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Every person finished reading the document. Their faces all shared a similar gloomy look.

"First, I will summarize the military's current status."

Supreme Commander Arde stood up to speak.

"Our main naval forces have been completely decimated, no ships are afloat as of this moment, any docks building warships have been destroyed by bombs as well..."

Sweat trickled down Arde's forehead. Now, the Papaldians always had a mighty navy despite having few, but now with none, they were very prone to invasions from sea, not to mention that their foreign-territory navy had also been sunk by the Alliance.

"I'll move on to our ground forces. One of the imperial military's large bases has been destroyed, the Imperial Capital Defense base. They attacked us from the sky with explosive projectiles on a scale so large that we would never have imagined was possible had it not actually occurred. In the event that future bases are constructed, we have learned to consider the downsides of concentrating too many assets in one location, but it seems unlikely that this lesson will bear any fruit before the next battle.

"Because the capital's defenses have been weakened to such an extent, we will be withdrawing our troops from all territories and reassigning them to the capital's defense. The capital is of the utmost importance, so I have already issued an emergency withdrawal order using my authority as Supreme Commander. However, be aware that even with these troops, it is impossible to replenish the Imperial Capital Defense force to the level it was at prior to the attack."

"Now, just… hold on a moment, Sir Arde!" Director Baars interjected. "Withdrawing our troops from all territories?! If you do that, won't they rebel?! Can't you just call back the troops stationed on the other two large continents?"

"I cannot do that. Those bases are important strategic locations as well. A ground army's greatest strength comes from locational advantage; if we were to recall the troops from those larger bases, we may keep a better grip on our vassal states, but our global military presence would decrease far too much. Don't the governing boards exist to prevent revolts in the first place? Well, even if one or two the vassal states gnash their teeth at us, it's not like they have any connections to one another, so I don't think there's much cause for concern. In the extreme unlikelihood that there is a rebellion and we lose a territory, considering that we still reinforced the capital's defenses, I would assert that the scales simply balanced out, don't you agree?"

"Well… that's…"

"Plus, as I explained, the order was already issued. All troops working for the governing boards are preparing to return to the capital."

Baars had nothing more to say. Arde continued on.

"His Grace and Mooly were already informed of this and have already given their approval, but the weapons factories in Duro have been ordered to begin mass production of supplies. There will be no gaps in our supply line."

After Arde finished speaking, 3rd Department Head Kyeos raised his hand to speak.

"Judging by the current state of our military, The Axis truly is a force to be reckoned with and must be regarded with proper caution, as I believe everyone here now recognizes. That's where the problem lies…" Kyeos took a deep breath. "The only way this war will end is with our defeat."

"!"

Everyone in the room looked shocked. Kyeos knew that they all felt it to be true, but no one could muster the courage to voice it aloud in front of the emperor.

"Supreme Commander Arde, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"If our remaining forces were to land in any of the Axis' nation, is it possible to fulfill His Grace's command to eradicate the people there before any military can come?"

"In order to execute His Grace's will, we shall push our bodies and spirits to their limits."

"I did not ask that question to hear about your idealism. I want to hear whether or not, with the current strength of our armies, it is possible."

"…With our current war capacity, it is impossible. In order to comply with that order, we would need to recruit more soldiers and build more ships. We need more time."

"The Axis will not give us that time. I would like to move on to the First Foreign Affairs Department, who opened hostilities with the Axis, and Department Head Elto."

"…What do you want?!"

"How do you intend to resolve this war?"

Elto's forehead was drenched in sweat, and his eyes were unfocused. His eyes flicked over to Emperor Ludius's face.

"We have already publicly declared that we will exterminate the Axis; if we were to change our intentions, that would compromise our standing among other countries and our vassal states. If we consider our national interests, we have no choice but to continue pursuing that goal."

"Elto, do you believe that goal is achievable?"

"According to Supreme Commander Arde, it's possible, given enough time. I don't have the knowledge or expertise to comment on military or strategy matters."

"All right then, let me ask you as the department head of the First Foreign Affairs Department: what does the Axis want from us?"

"What the Axis wants… From that incident in the Kingdom of Altarus, where we killed Qua-Toinan citizens, they want a formal apology, reparations, and to be given custody of all personnel involved or anyone who can provide information about the incident. In addition, an apology towards Altarus as well as reparations and compensated goods. That was their request."

Remille's face paled.

"Well then, Mistress Remille, what are your thoughts regarding the Axis' demands?"

It was silent for a time.

"I… I…"

"Enough!"

Remille's stuttering was drowned out by an angry voice. For an instant, everyone wondered who shouted before realizing and closing their mouths. Emperor Ludius turned to face 3rd Department Head Kyeos.

"Kyeos, what is your point?! You wish for the Papaldia Empire, a world superpower, to hand over its leader, our self, as well as Remille here, to the Axis, and subject ourselves to the most humiliating, complete defeat imaginable?!"

"N… No, I could not bear to even imagine such a nightmare. I just, in thinking of our people, wanted to confirm what the Axis wanted, clarify what countermeasures our forces could enact, and put everything on the table without deception, explore every possibility in search of a solution."

Kyeos chose his response carefully, painfully aware that even a single misspoken word could result in the heads of his entire family flying.

"The Axis is powerful. I truly feel that our demise is at hand. If things continue in the same manner, it is possible for the empire to be defeated, and I cannot help harboring anxiety."

"Hmm… indeed, the Axis is mighty. Our navy is decimated, and one of our largest bases has been leveled. However, our other two large-scale bases are still standing firm, and the city of Duro still supports us. We shall not run out of weapons. Furthermore, those barbarians will not be able to invade us further without infrastructure."

"May I ask for the reasoning behind that?"

"To move an army on a continent under control of a superpower with intimate knowledge of the landscape, they would need to invest massive amounts of resources. However, while the Axis' navy may be plentiful, their ground army is light. Our land is vast; no matter the quality of their soldiers, they will be unable to supply them in their endeavors."

Everyone nodded in agreement. No one would dare refute the emperor's words. Unfortunately, while Kyeos's concerns about the collapse of the empire were not assuaged, expressing those worries would be met with a departure of his head from his neck, so he swallowed his words. They weren't light...their armies weren't light, they just never thought that they would need to use heavy ground armies...

The meeting discussing countermeasures against the Axis continued on.

---

Papaldia Empire, Kooze territory

In order to resist the tyrannical governing board established by the Papaldia Empire, Haki was gathering allies who wished for independence. There were so many people who were antagonistic to the governing board that Haki himself could scarcely believe that he had formed a group of over 2,500 cooperators.

The name of his rebel organization was "The Kooze Kingdom Reconstruction Army."

Their actual military strength was closer to around 1,500 people, but that was still a very large number. The organization started with a few dozen members who created a network of connections; although all 2,500 of them had never met as a single group, their lack of large-scale activities hid their presence from the public, which miraculously kept them out of the governing board's sights.

That morning, Haki was eating breakfast when someone knocked on the door to his house. When he opened the door, he was met with the sight of a man gasping, out of breath.

(What's going on?)

Haki invited the man inside. Haki was the leader of the Reconstruction Army, and this winded person standing before him, Ikya, was his so-called right-hand man.

"What's wrong? For you to be here so early in the morning… did something happen?"

Ikya finally caught his breath. "The governing board army, two days ago they started preparing to withdraw! As of this morning, almost every soldier in the governing board army has left Kooze!"

"Are you certain? If our existence was leaked, couldn't this be fake information to lure us out?"

"No, what I'm about to tell you is something the soldiers themselves had been discussing, so chances are it's accurate."

"What were they talking about?"

"Apparently, the Papaldia Empire's Imperial Capital Defense base was destroyed. They're pulling out in order to fill that hole in their defenses."

"That's… impossible! Is this true? Were they fighting the Axis?"

"Yes, they were. The Axis had a ton of giant aircraft that they used to invade and attack the empire, I heard. That's how the base got destroyed… also, there's one other thing I heard."

"?"

"The Axis aircrafts went up against Papaldia's main navy, the empire lost all of their fleets, and, beyond that, their southern port in Esthirant was blown to bits. What's even crazier is that the German-Japanese Fleet only had twenty ships and they didn't even need to do anything, other than provide support fire."

Haki was speechless… This war report was too far removed from his war sensibilities and he had trouble processing it mentally.

"Ah… no, wait, hold on, so why hasn't this been reported on the news yet? It's weird that none of the other civilized areas heard about this."

"Maybe it's because what happened was so crazy and unbelievable. If it's all true, then Germany and Japan are already at superpower-level, or maybe even above that. If they put together a half-assed report, they could lose trust if anything turned out to be wrong. And neither Germany, Japan nor Papaldia has released an official report. Maybe the other countries are just lacking information."

After being defeated by the Papaldia Empire, the Kooze Kingdom was put under the management of that damnable governing board, the ones who renamed their country "the Kooze territory" and called its citizens "Kooze refuse." They wanted to take their country back, but a superpower's army was too strong. Even if they had their military from when Kooze was at its most prosperous, they would be easily beaten to a pulp by the empire's governing board army. It went without saying that a rebellion with no equipment whatsoever would be pulverized without being able to lift a finger.

There was an overwhelming… no, worse, a hopeless gap between a superpower's army and the Reconstruction Army. But… now that the Axis had made an appearance, things were changing. They saved Altarus, who had become one of the empire's territories, and showed that the superpowers were not invincible. Germany and Japan also inflicted quite a lot of damage on the empire. Enough damage that they had to recall the armed forces keeping watch on their territories… Haki felt his heart igniting in excitement.

"Ikya!" Haki yelled in a loud voice.

"W… What is it?"

"The time has come!"

"Huh?!"

"It's time for the Kooze Kingdom Reconstruction Army's first battle! We'll all move at once at three o'clock today! We'll march to the governing board's office and destroy it, taking back our country!"

"Are you insane? The only gear we have is swords and shields. If the governing board army were to return, we'll be wiped out!"

"The governing board army won't come back. They can't leave the capital undefended. If we swarm the governing board office with fifteen hundred people, we'll bring it down in a flash… Kooze is our country!"

Haki was determined to start the rebellion. His head was filled only with defeating the empire; he didn't think about what would happen afterwards. The ghost of vengeance continued to burn fiercely in his heart.

---

Papaldia Empire, Kooze territory

"Haki understands nothing!"

Ikya was incredibly upset at Haki's impulsive, simplistic decision to begin a revolution. This wasn't a game, it was a war where people bet their lives. Many of those people had families, and they needed to be convinced that there was good reason to risk everything. Even if they could set up a temporary government after the revolution, as long as the empire was not defeated, it was just a matter of time before they came back into power and trampled over Kooze once again. Before Ikya mobilized the rebels via magic communication, he decided to first see whether he could convince one of the organizations at a certain place of this plan. A door opened, and he entered the building.

"…meaning, at three o'clock this afternoon, the Kooze Kingdom Reconstruction Army will rise up all at once to take back the country. To ensure enough time is given to prepare, I will be sending an encrypted message via magic comms at noon."

"Let's say we have a good chance of winning, have you considered what needs to happen after that? If the imperial army were to return, you'd be crushed like ants."

The person from the organization pointed out the same worries that Ikya had; he knew it, it was too early to rebel.

…Silence.

DRRRNG, DRRRNG… DRRRNG, DRRRNG…

A worn-out image receiver that had been installed in the house began to ring. Ikya and his conversation partner both turned to look at the First Civilization device.

"…We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news. Miss Lumiess, the former-princess and now-queen of the Kingdom of Altarus, has an important message to give to the world."

A moment later, Lumiess stepped up onto a platform.

"People of the world, good morning to you."

Lumiess slowly bent at the waist, lowering her head. The sight of her bowing was beautiful and reflected well on her character.

"What I am about to announce has been approved by a participant country, Germany. The other day, north of the Kingdom of Altarus, in the waters south of Esthirant of the Papaldia Empire, there was an air raid that was done by Germany against the Empire."

This was the first use of a broadcast to give an official, important announcement, so the reporters all leaned forward, their ears primed not to miss a single word. In front of the image screen, Ikya and the man also leaned forward, waiting to hear news related to their current situation.

"In this Air Raid, the Deutsch Luftwaffe(German Air Force) sent a fleet of a hundred Heavy Bombers and forty multirole fighters, while the Papaldia Empire sent every wyvern they can to the air. The German Air Force destroyed and decimated their runway before the bombers destroyed every military installation deemed dangerous to be left usable."

The information that had been floating around as rumors was now being confirmed via this official government announcement. Everyone in the mass media were frantically writing everything down.

"In the aftermath of this battle, Germany suffered zero losses. Not a single aircraft nor a single German life was lost. On the other hand, about six hundred and fifty ships were sunk on the Papaldia Empire's side without leaving port. In other words, the Papaldia Empire's main naval force was all but annihilated."

The venue began to get noisy.

"In addition, Germany also executed a...paradrop or otherwise known as landing from the air, I can understand that this is hard to believe, but we do have recording of said event." The recording played along as twenty massive aircrafts escorted by eight twin-propeller aircrafts began to fly over Papaldia before men began to jump off the aircrafts, the men who jumped soon opened a half-dome that slowed their fall, as they landed, more than a thousand men began to secure the beach head. "Germany has landed their troops and are awaiting further orders, they are now currently on Papaldia's doorstep."

"People who have suffered under the unjust rule of Papaldia's governing boards! Now is the time to act! If you rise up now, the empire will not have the power to stop you! Now is the time to gather your strength and take back your countries, take back peace, happiness, and, above all else, the pride you have in your home!

"You can see from the results of this Raid, more clearly than you can see fire burning through wood, that Germany and the Axis are stronger than the Papaldia Empire! The empire declared war on the Axis! But they will never defeat the Axis!

"We also fight along with them! And we will not fall to the land of demons, to Papaldia! If those of you out there can take back your own countries, this will have a large impact on the war. Fight! If you fight… If you fight now, you can win! If it's now, you will win. And the empire will fall from their seat as a superpower. The time to act is now!"

The reporters began to ask questions. The emergency broadcast ended.

It was all true… the empire had taken a huge beating. The country of Germany, Japan and the Axis as a whole were outrageously powerful.

"…All right, then. Let's do it."

The organization member had heard the same broadcast and knew of Haki's and Ikya's objectives. On this day, the Kooze territory revolted against the empire and retook control of its own country.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, Imperial Palace

The emergency morning meeting was put on hold for a time then resumed, going all the way into the evening. The biggest development was that the topic began to move in the direction of how to defy the Axis to the bitter end.

3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos was growing impatient… If things continued in this direction, the empire was simply going to perish. With all their national power they had built up and were so proud of, with the fact that innumerable countries across the world pointed to them as one of the five superpowers, the Papaldia Empire would just fall to ruin and crumble to dust.

Kyeos was resolved to wager his life and accomplish something at this meeting.

"…being the case, considering our country's crisis, as the head of finances, you need to manage the expenses necessary for Duro to mass-produce our weaponry. Furthermore, we need to conscript soldiers from our territories to replenish our military; our aim is triple the size of our current main force. With enough numbers, we can send a large fleet of ships from our territories to Altarus' Capital and turn it into a sea of flames by night. This is the approach I believe we should take; Your Grace, does this sound amenable?"

This was the plan that Supreme Commander Arde proposed. His strategy completely depended on a fantasy, that Germany would just sit idly by while it happened; Kyeos felt himself developing a headache. While the other people in the meeting looked like they were regaining their confidence after hearing this plan, Kyeos could only see them as averting their eyes from reality and washing their necks to be executed like fools.

Suddenly, one of the military aides entered and whispered something into Arde's ear. The aide looked nauseous, his face blue as sweat trickled down his forehead.

?

The emperor was also watching with curiosity. "What is it, Arde? Did something happen?"

Sweat began to build up on Arde's face as well, and his hand trembled. It looked like he had trouble responding.

"What is wrong? Out with it."

"It's… Duro, our industrial center, was attacked by Germany and completely demolished. The residential areas were largely untouched, but the factories… all of them have been destroyed."

"Wh… What?!"

"That… can't be!"

"Furthermore, the military base in Duro was also attacked and wiped out by Germany."

"How…"

The meeting room turned dead silent from shock. Breaking that silence was another military aide bursting into the room, his face also an unnatural color.

"Now what is it?! You need not whisper it to Arde, just say it aloud to everyone!" the emperor yelled at the aide.

"Ye… Yes, Your Grace!" The aide knelt before the emperor, then gave his report. "The Kooze, Marta, and Arukh territories have revolted. All three governing board offices have already fallen into the rebel armies' hands."

This stunned everyone… but the aide wasn't finished with the report.

"Those are only the territories that have fallen… currently, fifteen other territories have rebelled and their governing board offices are all under assault. Apparently, Queen Lumiess of the Kingdom of Altarus incited rebellion over a magical broadcast! We believe that these revolts were in response to that broadcast. If this is true, then we have predicted that the number of rebellions will multiply if there's another broadcast like this later!"

The officials were all speechless…

The Papaldia Empire used "fear" to turn countries into their territories, control them, and absorb their wealth. However, the "power" required to enact that fear had been shattered, broken into pieces by the Axis, but mainly Germany. The innate fragility of ruling by fear was demonstrated in the worst possible way, and their philosophy was turned on its head and pointed right back at the empire. They had loosened the reins in order to protect the imperial capital. The governing board armies could turn around to reclaim the territories, but then that would leave the capital defenseless. There was nothing they could do.

"THOSE… THOSE REPROBATES!"

The emperor could do nothing but curse with rage as the meeting extended late into the night.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, Kyeos's mansion

In the end, nothing came from the meeting and they just continued throwing around empty ideas. Wanting to avoid the worst future for the empire, 3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos made his decision. At this rate, the empire would be completely eradicated. If his gamble failed, not only Kyeos himself, but his entire family would probably be executed. However, if he succeeded, at least the country would survive.

In one corner of his mansion, he stretched his hand towards the communication device installed by Argentina.

"…I just need to do it."

Kyeos pushed down hard on the button to activate it.

---

Holy Mirishial Empire, Port Town Cartalpas, a certain bar

The drunks were once again chatting, as usual.

"Hey, hey, did you hear?! Papaldia, in the Third Civilization, their main navy got wrecked by Germany and Japan!" a drunk yelled loudly with astonishment.

"Ahh, I did. Man, I couldn't believe it when I first heard. Two countries outside the civilized areas has never beaten a superpower before, let alone completely crushing one of their strongest forces. And talking about the empire's navy, they were the most powerful fleet in the Third Civilization."

"But hey, I hear Germany and Japan were making aircraft too. You think Mu is pulling their strings or something?"

"Nah, I think the aircraft Japan had were way more effective than Mu's. Papaldia was also investing in some method to improve their wyvern lords, but even they couldn't scratch these flying machines, I hear."

The bar began to get noisy.

"So what the hell is with this Alliance anyway? They keep doing all these impossible things one after another… For that matter, I wonder what's gonna happen to the empire."

"The empire's the one who called for genocide, but now they're the ones who are gonna be wiped out. I bet most of their people are gonna get enslaved… something like that."

"But now, the Axis is definitely going to become another Civilization, and whatever they do is gonna change the world. I gotta figure out how to cash in on that."

The drunks kept on chatting.

---

Holy Mirishial Empire, Imperial Capital Runepolis

Information Director Arneus fell deep into thought after receiving a report from one of his subordinates. Even though the star of the Third Civilization, the Papaldia Empire, sent out the entirety of its main navy, a small piece of Japan and Germany's naval power completely crushed them and didn't even get a bloody nose. It was undeniable that Japan and Germany had at least enough national power to be counted as a superpower. The fact that superpower countries suddenly came out of nowhere, not only from the west but also from the east, made his head throb in pain.

"Rydorka, what is your assessment of the Axis?" Arneus asked the information officer who had observed the battle in the Topa Kingdom between the remnants of the ancient sorcerous empire and the Axis.

"The one thing I can say for sure is that their member's military technology is unparalleled, comparable to each other. As the report released the other day said, their firepower is undoubtedly high, they also have practical man-portable light magic homing missiles. In addition, their magic tanks, the weapon they used to defeat the demon lord, are a worrisome threat.

"When the Papaldian Fleet fought with Argentina's in the Kingdom of Fenn, the empire's cannons were outstripped by the cannons of the Argentine fleet, not to mention that they were also called 'Old-but-Effective' meaning that these must be older equipment.

"There are still far too many unknowns concerning this Alliance; in order to avoid being caught unawares like in the two losses the Papaldia Empire took, I believe we must be careful and meticulous in our foreign relations."

"…You're right, of course. The scale of the Alliance as a whole is still unknown, but, if we only consider their extreme level of technology, then, even more than the Gra Valkas Empire, we do not want to antagonize them. With regards to the Third Civilization, in all likelihood, the Papaldia Empire will fall from being a superpower, and the Alliance will become the new stewards of the Third Civilization."

He sighed.

"What a headache. Trying to persuade those prideful diplomats and politicians is a discouraging thought, but we need to avoid provoking any members if there's no need to, so we need to report this information up. At the same time, we should suggest sending an exploratory delegation before beginning diplomatic talks. We'll have you join that delegation, Rydorka."

"Yes sir!"

The information office continued to analyze information about the Axis.

---

Kingdom of Fenn, capital city Amanoki

"In summary, the Papaldia Empire's main naval forces were destroyed by the Axis's escort fleet, and they also lost two-thirds of their war potential on the ground after Germany's assault," reported Swordmaster Motam to Sword King Shihan.

"In other words…"

"Yes, it is now impossible for the empire to try to invade our country again. We are now safe. The empire will be crippled once the rebel armies are through with them."

Sword King Shihan looked up at the sky. From the very beginning, when the empire demanded a gift of land, the Kingdom of Fenn had refused. It was seen as a courageous decision, but Fenn had historically always been an independent country. Even if they were to make an enemy of a superpower, they would never allow themselves to be beholden to a master.

The empire sent their oversight army, and Fenn's navy went to intercept them. They were massacred. The difference in scale between Papaldia and Fenn was too large, and the difference in military technology was hopeless; the gap between a superpower and a country outside the civilized areas was far wider than Sword King Shihan could ever imagine. By all rights, they should have been simply obliterated.

Then, the sun rose over their dark future.

The Alliance of the Rising Sun and the Holy Cross alongside the Blue Shield Bearing Eagle, drove off the Papaldia Empire's oversight fleet and wiped out the imperial army. Now, in their most recent battle, they routed the empire's main naval force.

"They've saved us again…"

Sword King Shihan felt relieved that the Kingdom of Fenn was now secure and decided to place more importance on their diplomatic relations with the Axis in the future.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant

Supreme Commander Arde sat in his office, holding his head in his hands. He first heard about this emerging country Argentina after it was reported that they had defeated the Kingdom of Rowlia. Since they were outside the civilized areas, they were of no consequence. They would be crushed by even a weaker country in the civilized areas, let alone the strongest Third Civilization country, the superpower Papaldia Empire. If they ever fought Germany and Argentina, they should trample them with ease. There was no value in analyzing a fight between barbarians, so he quickly forgot about them.

The next time he heard the name "Argentina" was when the oversight army had been chased off by the allied forces of Argentina and the Kingdom of Fenn. Even though the oversight army only had outdated ships, there were many of them. Any deficiencies in performance could be covered with numbers, or so they had believed. Still, even if it was only temporary, they were able to force the empire back yet again, a surprising outcome.

After that, the imperial army was crushed, the navy was decimated, and two of their three largest military bases were destroyed, which was how things currently stood.

(The oversight army is an embarrassment to the empire!)

He remembered those haughty words he had fired at Kyeos. Drowning in hopelessness and disgrace, he slammed on his desk with force, the violent sound echoing in the office.

"I've horribly… misread the Axis!"

Never before in all of history has a country outside the civilized areas ever beaten a superpower. It should never have happened… But this was reality.

They did not hold back on their expenditures, installing the newest antimagic steel armor on their ships-of-the-line and the main navy's dragon carriers, and they had also begun investing in breeding wyvern overlords, which were comparable to Mu's latest aircraft, the Marin. This resulted in the strongest military force in the empire's history and one of the most powerful armies of war in the entire world.

However, they were unable to sink even a single one of the Axis' ships, or inflict a single casualty… there were zero. Furthermore, the German aircraft had easily broken through their patrol network of wyvern overlords in the skies over the capital and dropped an unimaginable number of bombs on them. That was how one of their largest bases was wiped off the face of the planet.

He was somehow able to project the appearance of composure in front of the emperor, but he had absolutely no idea how they could fight back. Arde was now at what he believed to be the nadir of despair.

Knock knock. Someone was at the door.

"Enter!"

One of his subordinates ran in, sweating.

Aahh… What is it this time? What horrible news is there to throw in my face now?

"Reporting! Fifteen of our territories have now fallen, and the fires of rebellion continue to spread!"

The messenger paused.

"The rest of our territories have all revolted. In other words, seventy-two territories are rebelling. Since none of the territories have any standing forces left, we believe it's only a matter of time until they are lost."

Arde was speechless…

"And, there's more."

"What more can there be?!" Arde yelled, burying his face in his hands once again.

"The rebel forces are all in contact with one another; along with Altarus as the seventy-third country, they have formed a coalition army, they call it, and have declared war on the empire. If we send back the troops that were originally in those territories, we can probably take care of them with only those existing forces, even if we leave ourselves open to invasion. Currently, aside from the revolts, there are no other major movements from enemy forces."

"This is absurd! It's an endless parade of bad tidings!"

Of the empire's three large bases, only one was still standing, and its assets couldn't be relocated since it was at an important location. Arde busied himself with the empire's defense.

---

Imperial capital, Remille's mansion

After receiving the report from her attendant, Remille spiraled down a pitfall of despair. Who was really to blame for this…? She had just acted normally, always thinking of the empire, fulfilling her responsibilities. Throughout its history, the empire had always ruled by fear. For opponents that might become hostile, the empire would "educate" them using their citizens; it was simply how things were done. In this case, limiting the education to around 200 deaths was extremely lenient.

They would leverage their overwhelming national power to force through their demands in diplomacy. It was the obvious thing to do in this world; there shouldn't have been any problem with it. However, at present, the imperial navy's capabilities were severely diminished, and they had lost a large portion of their elite ground army. On top of that, all of their territories had rebelled. 15 of them were already lost, and they had all banded together and declared war. This had escalated into a conflict to decide the very existence of the empire.

Worse yet, Germany was looking for her. They called her a criminal, and they had the gall to judge her. Her, Remille! A leader of a superpower, of the Papaldia Empire, and a member of the imperial family, at that.

She hated the Axis.
She was terrified of the Axis!

She recalled Ambassador Leone's words from their meeting that day.

"To us, you are the barbarians!"

She had written it off as the cries of a loser, the drivel of the weak. But now, her concept of power had shifted… she realized… she made a mistake.

These thoughts continuously circled around in Remille's head.

---

Imperial palace

Having been driven this far into a corner by the Axis, Emperor Ludius was seeking input from Counselor Lupasa, an imperial politician who boasted enormous influence, outstanding diplomatic ability, and an uncanny ability to predict future outcomes.

"Interesting, so you do not believe Germany will use the attack from the sky that they used on our military base on the capital?"

"Yes, there are many important figures from various countries stationed in the capital, as well as their families. There are also no small number of merchants. Until now, Germany has only ever attacked military installations. Their demands to our country reflect this as well; they only wanted reparations and for the persons responsible for killing their citizens to be handed over."

"Indeed. Regarding that matter, are we, the emperor, in danger?"

"Your Grace was only informed of the killings after the fact, so there should be no problem whatsoever. However, Mistress Remille is another matter. She gave the execution order in front of the Argentine ambassador. Of course, this is purely a hypothetical worst-case scenario."

Emperor Ludius became pensive. "If that is what comes to pass, Remille will have to be discarded. Well then, how do you see the seventy-two rebelling territories? No, if Altarus is included, that makes seventy-three."

"These areas were originally suppressed by the military. Even if they've formed an alliance, they have neither powerful weaponry nor organizational leadership ability. The empire's cities will not fall."

"In other words, the rebellions are no threat."

"Correct. However, we currently do not have the power to reclaim those countries. Next year's revenue is going to be much, much lower."

"At any rate, if we do not expose ourselves, if we retreat and defend like a turtle, the empire will likely not fall. Ah, also, from now on, there is a need to make sure our military assets are not concentrated in single large bases."

Emperor and counselor continued their deliberations.

---

Papaldia Empire, territorial governing board forces, temporary base

After the Imperial Capital Defense military base was destroyed by the Axis, a new base was established in the plains north of the capital. Calling it a "base" was giving it too much credit, though, since it just consisted of rows of tents. Now that the elite Imperial Capital Defense Army was gone, the ones to take up the role of defending the capital were the governing board forces recalled from the territories.

Inside a certain tent, soldiers were chatting with each other.

"Sir! Did you see the place where the Imperial Capital Defense base used to be?"

The lance corporal, stroking his long white beard with his left hand, looked up. "No… Why do you ask?"

"I saw it earlier. There are signs of tremendous explosions all over, that much I can tell. Sir! This war, all I can see is the empire blindly marching into ruin."

The lance corporal had an astonished expression on his face.

"You doubt the emperor's will?"

"No… That's not… All right, sir, let's talk real here. This war has right shaken up all of us regular soldiers, you know! They keep trying to force their own orders on us without actually analyzing the enemy's capabilities. That's why so many soldiers have died already! We're all ready to throw our lives away for the people of the empire, but we don't want to die for no reason! We all have families too. We haven't even killed a single one of them in this war, you know! Whatever the higher-ups are thinking, you can be sure that every man here has some doubts."

The lance corporal's mouth curled up into a smirk.

"That sure was some real talk you gave out there. All right, my turn to give it out straight. Right now, I hear the emperor has gone a bit crazy. You know Kyeos, the Third Foreign Affairs Department head?"

"Just the name."

"Kyeos has opened an independent communications pipeline to Argentina that soon stretches to Germany, Japan and Italy, I heard that some other nations also have it, but that is not the point. If things keep going the way they've been going, our country's going to get destroyed. For the sake of our empire, he needs everyone's help. When the time comes, Kyeos and I would like you all to come under our wing."

Everyone was stunned silent.

"Are… Are you serious?"

"Ahh, you don't need to answer right now. However, think carefully about the offer."

As dissatisfaction continued to smolder in the army, the number of people aligning themselves with Kyeos grew.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, Supreme Commander Arde's office

Bam bam bam bam!

Someone was banging on the door to the office.

"Ahh… not again. What could it be now…? Enter!"

He wondered how many times someone had beat on that door today. It was probably another urgent issue. Arde suppressed the feeling that a hole had opened up in his intestines and waited for the person to enter the room.

"I have a report! The northern city of Arunie was attacked by the seventy-three country coalition army and has surrendered!"

Arde felt a sharp pain assaulting his stomach.

"What?! That's impossible! The rebel army shouldn't have the war power to take Arunie! Wait! It can't be… Was it Germany or one of the Axis again?!"

"No, the enemy army employed new weapons that overwhelmed us at first. Twenty-one dragon knights were dispatched to provide assistance, and our forces regained superiority for a time, but dragon knights from the Kingdom of Rheem's regular army joined the battle; one hundred wyverns executed a surprise attack on our forces. Due to that, our forces were annihilated."

"The Kingdom of Rheem…? The civilized country that's northeast of the empire, that Rheem?" Arde asked, his face a blend of rage and shock.

"Yes sir! There is no mistake, the Kingdom of Rheem fought against us in the battle!"

"Fuck! Those fucking hyenas! That means the coalition army has access to weapons from the civilized areas!"

"Yes, that seems to be the case."

"Even civilized countries are fighting us…"

Arde's anguish did not abate.

---

Imperial capital Esthirant, Kyeos's mansion

3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos made his decision and pushed down hard on the button to the communication device he received from Japan to activate it.

"A rebellion… The only way to save the empire is to be forever known as a traitor to the empire… How ironic."

Silence.

"Huh?"

The Argentine communication device didn't respond at all.

"N-No, don't tell me—!"

Was it broken?!

"You… You've gotta be shitting me! How could—! How could this end up being the reason the empire dies!"

The device did not respond.

"This can't be happening! The empire is going to be destroyed… because of this…?!"

Tears welled up in Kyeos's eyes. After some time, all the while hearing nothing from the communication device, Kyeos, mentally drained, finally let go of the 'Push to Talk' button.

"This is the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, please respond, over!"

"Wha—?!"

Suddenly, he recalled the explanation for how to use the device.

"This is a two-way radio, hold down the 'Push to Talk' button to speak, then let go of it to listen."

Kyeos, red-faced and teary-eyed, finally began talks with Argentina via radio.

---

Argentina, Chile Protectorate, prisoner-of-war camp

Special Class A Dragon Knight Reckmeyer of the Papaldia Empire's imperial oversight army learned to read German to a certain degree after spending so much time reading German written Argentine newspapers, apparently they were mostly German ethnic mixed with some other races.

The prisoner camp only got newspapers every once in a while; the one he was reading that day featured articles about the Axis and the Papaldia Empire, as well as the latest announcements from the governments of other countries. After the Naval Battle of Fenn, the number of prisoners jumped up to 1,000, including someone who was aboard the 120-gun ship-of-the-line Super Fissennuss, commanded from there, fought against Germany and Japan's warships, then was thrown out to sea when the Super Fissennuss was blown up and sunk: the empire's General Cius, now having to be treated for third degree burns and had recovered rather quickly.

Reckmeyer was reading a newspaper, and General Cius was seated next to him.

It was a rather comical sight.

Reckmeyer just read silently. Depending on the severity of the news, his expression would become grim, his brow would scrunch up, sweat would trickle down his face, and his fingers would start to shake. This had happened only once before, but this time his face became pale.

"What is it? Reckmeyer, what's written there? Come on, tell me."

Having warred with Japan and Germany face to face and experienced with his body the might of the German and Japanese forces, General Cius had a bad premonition.

"Hooh… hooh… General Cius, stay calm and listen carefully."

"Yes, yes!"

"First, Germany attacked Altarus and wiped out all imperial forces stationed there. The Kingdom of Altarus was freed from the empire."

"I knew it… I expected that would happen."

"After reclaiming Altarus, they renovated Mu's base in Altarus and used it to launch an attack directly on the homeland."

"Goodness! Even the homeland? How did the empire respond? The homeland's defense is unparalleled."

"Right. The empire's main navy was obliterated due to many German bombers, and, landed a Division of Fallschirmjäger..."

"Fallschirm-what?"

"Fallschirmjäger...I think they are airborne troops."

"Like their planes?"

"More like Airborne Infantry who are dropped from aircraft if the explanation in the internet is right..."

"Goodness, they have men that are brave enough to fall to their possible death?"

"They did say that the Fallschirmjäger are really suicidal in some terms."

"Hmm, brave men indeed."

"Anyways, they completed those wyvern overlords that were still being tested before, got them battle ready, and deployed them to fight in the air."

"So, what was the result?"

"…The overlords were annihilated, and the Esthirant base was destroyed by an attack from the air."

Cius was speechless; the damage far surpassed his predictions.

"…Even worse, they attacked the base and factories in Duro and wiped them out, too."

"Wha…"

Sweat began to bead on Cius's forehead.

"Since the capital's defenses had been weakened, the empire recalled the governing board armies in all the territories. At the same time, Queen Lumiess of Altarus began instigating revolts. All the territories ended up revolting at the same time, and we lost control of them all."

"Preposterous! That's not something she could accomplish by herself, just because she's also from a country outside the civilized areas. The Axis… they're far too strong! How did she do it?!"

"Finally, all the territories formed an alliance, declared war on the empire, and captured Arunie."

"That's not possible! Something's wrong there. There's no way those territories could defeat the empire!"

Cius had leaned all the way forward, his face and loud voice both betraying his fear.

"Yes, it says here that in the battle, the Kingdom of Rheem also fought against the empire," Reckmeyer replied calmly.

"At this rate, we're… we're done!"

General Cius and dragon knight Reckmeyer could only feel despair.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, imperial council hall

"What the hell is the military doing?! Not only did they allow all seventy-two territories to rebel, they even lost Arunie in the north!"

All the councilors had been gathered. These lawmakers, who were in charge of the practical measures necessary to administrate the country, were in disarray over this unprecedented crisis, the first of its kind since the founding of the empire. The majority of the empire's main navy was destroyed, and whatever remaining fleet could be cobbled together would be too feeble to oppose Japan. Two of their three largest military ground bases were also demolished.

Furthermore, due to the huge rebellion taking place in their territories, the empire had lost a lot of land, taking away their access to many farmlands. Without that food, the empire's food stores would plummet, and, in the worst case, there could possibly be a famine. All of these dire problems caused severe headaches.

Supreme Commander Arde, now constantly on the receiving end of blame and scorn, began reciting his update while his stomach started to ache.

"The army is currently being reorganized, as soon as that finishes—"

"When! When will you be finished?!" the Agriculture Department Head interrupted. "We need to take back the farmlands as soon as possible! At this rate… we only have six months! Six months before we run out of food! If we ration the distribution of food, we can squeeze out a bit more time, but at best that's still only about eight months! Can't we call for a temporary ceasefire with the Axis? Just long enough for us to put down the rebellions in our food-producing territories?"

Of course not. It would be suicide to inform the Axis of the problems their country was facing. There was no adversary so idiotic that they would stay their hand when their opponent showed a moment of weakness.

Arde responded calmly, despite his anger at the Agriculture Department Head's stupidity. "I will discuss it with the First Foreign Affairs Department Head, but I do not believe it is possible."

"Then take back our farmlands! They're just barbarians, they can't have much military strength! Why haven't you already done so?!" he raged.

"It would require exhausting everything we currently have to take back the farmlands. However… when Arunie fell, it wasn't just from the seventy-three country alliance, the Kingdom of Rheem's army was also mixed in with them. To fight another country in the civilized areas, even we require a certain amount of preparation to be successful."

"Indeed, the documents from your department did mention that. Rheem's involvement… those little traitors! They certainly wasted no time in double-crossing us!"

The venue erupted with heated, disordered shouting. Suddenly, the hall's doors burst open and seventy soldiers surged into the room. The soldiers all had muskets, ones that were standard-issue for Papaldia's infantry.

"What is this? What do you think you're doing?!" Arde yelled angrily.

"No one move! We have just now seized control of this location! If you choose not to cooperate, we will not guarantee your safety!" shouted the soldier who appeared to be the leader.

"During this country's greatest crisis, what do you think you're playing at, some kind of revolution?! Without a leader, our country can do nothing! Are you trying to destroy the Papaldia Empire?!" Arde exclaimed. The hall became quiet at his words.

"The ones who put us in this crisis were all of you, right here. We have come here to save our beloved Papaldia Empire from collapse!"

"You imbeciles! Shutting down the government accomplishes nothing! Our enemies are already at our front door! If you have a concrete, alternative proposal, then let's hear it! If you have nothing, then you are truly the most irredeemable imbeciles!"

The soldier snorted and turned to look at Arde with a smirk. "We do have a plan! Sir Kyeos has already made a deal with Japan. As long as we make some changes within the empire… specifically in the government, then the empire will be spared."

The hall exploded with shouting.

"What utter foolishness! Appeasing the Axis is the least of our worries! Unless we deal with the coalition army of seventy-three countries, our country has no future anyway! Even if what you say somehow works out, our country has already declared that it will eradicate Japan and every last one of its citizens. It's absolutely unthinkable for them to protect us!"

"It's clear that you all know even less about the Axis than I do. I hope you've realized that whatever information is communicated upwards, it gets simplified, and our superiors always twist it in the way most convenient for their own benefit. Well, whatever. Question time is now over. You'd better not move."

"…You will regret this."

The imperial council hall was suppressed by 3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos's forces without any blood being shed.

---

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, imperial palace

"…Kyeos, what is the meaning of this?!"

Emperor Ludius glared at Kyeos while surrounded by five brawny soldiers.

"Your Grace… For the sake of the empire, I implore you, do not move," Kyeos stated, staring back into Ludius's eyes.

"Hm… a revolution. How impudent. Even if you do this, the people will not come. Soon, the army will be here to part your head from your neck," Ludius declared to Kyeos, intent on projecting his dignity to the bitter end.

"I… will end the war with the Axis. I will also save the empire from the rebel army. I can no longer rely on you to accomplish this."

"What do you plan to do with us?"

"Your Grace, you will no longer be allowed to participate in any government affairs. The imperial family and all the ceremony that surrounds it will be preserved, but they will never have any power over the government. Rather, they will be forbidden from holding any power."

"Hmph! The imperial family raised this country into a superpower! Without the imperial family, the Papaldia Empire cannot survive!"

"If things were left to you, the Axis, the coalition army, and the Kingdom of Rheem would, in the very near future, erase the empire from this world. If I take power, I will absolutely establish peace with the Axis and all the other countries, and the empire will live on, I promise you that. After the reconciliation, the imperial family's strong voice will still be required. Your Grace, at that time, I will give myself over to your judgment."

This explanation was met with silence.

"…What about Remille?"

"Mistress Remille caused the Qua-Toinan massacre, so… she will receive judgment from the Axis. She gave the order to execute those civilians right in front of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. There is no way to save her. It would not be an exaggeration to say that peace with the Axis hinges entirely on handing Mistress Remille over to them."

"…Is that so…"

While Emperor Ludius and Kyeos were talking, armed soldiers ran into the room, all out of breath. As soon as they gathered themselves, they gave a salute to Kyeos.

"What is it?"

Sensing from the soldiers' panic that there was an unexpected problem, Kyeos quickly sought answers.

"We failed to… capture Mistress Remille! As soon as we arrived at her mansion, we found out that she had already fled!"

Kyeos turned pale, as if all the blood had drained out of his body.

"This—! This can't be! We need to find and capture her, now!"

Seeing peace with the Axis move out of reach right before his eyes, the gears in Kyeos's head churned furiously.

(…This is really bad, the deal with Argentina… I need to report to them that all conditions have been met, then search for Remille while holding back the rebel army. Shit! That goddamn woman! Why does she keep giving me so much work!"

"Hahaha… Kyeos, it is not good to assume that reality will always play out the way you want. I look forward to seeing how you make use of the empire."

On this day, Emperor Ludius lost the reins to the Papaldia Empire. Kyeos, telling the Axis that the revolution was proceeding smoothly, found himself now holding those reins. And it gets worse...

Beepbeepbeeeeep

Kyeos felt the two-way radio vibrating before he held it up, pressing the button, he uttered. "This is Kyeos, come in?"

"Sir Kyeos, I'm sorry, but the Germans had moved the day one day forward, their soldiers are getting restless, please, do not have your aligned men in the streets! They are commencing their offensive of completely unrestricted warfare after civilians threw some Molotov cocktail at them!"

"WHAT!?"

---

(Insert: Sabaton - Panzer Battalion[Only SAM Sites are replaced by Runways, Minefields with Main steets])

The Germans, Danish, Norwegians and Swedish began their movement as Panzers began their movement with APCs and IFVs following behind them. Papaldian citizens watched as beasts of steel began to move in rapid fashion and began to run for their lives. Soldiers who came about were quickly slaughtered by their Force. German Ju87T with their 5cm cannons began to destroy buildings as more fear was instilled to the Papaldians.

The Civilians had caused a ruckus and initiated an unjustified assault, if it was militia or soldiers, it'd be fine, but after citizens had done this, they can't ignore it anymore. They needed bloodshed and blood will be spilled.

Any Wyverns able to fly from the remaining usable runways were slaughtered by German Bf109TL and BV155 Air Superiority Fighters, German Forces began to come through. Land Dragons soon made their appearance with Magic Cannons that were clearly used in the old ages, the tanks continued their advance before tanking the shots and coming out unscathed, causing panic.

The 128mm cannon blew fire and death soon found its target. In total, there were approximately 20,000 soldiers commencing their assault, 15,000 defending Papaldian soldiers and 10,000 militiamen in the Capital city of Esthirant, He111 Schnellebombers quickly dropped their payload, nothing could help the Papaldians as they were struck and pinned by both Rheem and Germany.

German StG98 and 99s fired at any moving figures, children and women were spared if possible, but if not, they weren't their problems, infantries cleared the buildings that housed any partisans. A fireteam quickly burst into a three story house after some partisans fired arrows and fireballs at them from the upper floors. The leader halted their movement as he peeked and saw five magic users that were performing guerilla warfare. He took out a grenade before taking out the pin, throwing it inside, the explosion burst the room in smoke and shrapnel before the men quickly ran and fired at the remaining survivors without mercy. The StG99 didn't make things easier as they shredded the mages into swiss cheese.

They were a delicacy after all, the Germans soon split in two before calling out. "Clear!"

"Clear! Third floor!" As the men got up, they soon found four Archers that were training their bows towards the tanks, which prompted them to get inside. A massive autocannon fire from a Begleitpanzer 57 quickly demolished them. "Oh scheiße, that was some brutal firing." The Infantry continued their march as hardcore Papaldians began charging ruthlessly as a final stand. The German's 12.7mm autocannons on top of the Panzers were quickly manned by the Commander, the Loader fired their Machine Gun, the 12.7mm quickly turned the soldiers into gore, the upper body of a soldier was quickly demolished by it, bit by bit, holes after holes, parts of soldiers began to go missing, the blood sprayed and gore spread around. A horrific sight for any civilians that were not participating in the battle.

German Kobras and Fafnirs began their barrage of rockets, the city became a desolate area as more soldiers poured in attempt to defend their Capital, only for the Germans to pour out more lead. Infantry quickly supported their panzers as a Kobra fired its 20mm autocannon and ripped the soldiers into shreds, where there were once a hundred charging soldiers were now a hundred disembodied carcasses of unidentified men and probably can never be identified by face.

The German and Northern Vikings began to make their way to the Capital before the white flag was raised by Kyeos as he was told to do by the Argentine if they were to surrender right now. The German and Scandinavian soldiers could only look at the flag, they cheered and roared into laughter as the once-proud Papaldian nation had now surrendered.

"URA!" The soldiers punched the air above them, raising their arms triumphantly. Papaldians quickly surrendered with some being fired upon as they weren't finished, needless to say, the soldiers butchered them like crazy when they tried doing so.

But for now, the Papaldians had finally surrendered and are now waiting for the judgement of the Axis.

(End Inserted Song)

---

Third Civilization, Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, a certain area

"Haah, haah, haah…"

The sun had already set; under the moonlight, in the shadows of an alley, a single woman ran. Her body was soaked with sweat, and her legs were all scratched up from the numerous times she had tripped and fallen. As soon as she had hidden herself in the alley, soldiers rushed down the main street. They all yelled the same thing:

"Find her! Find her at all costs!"

Everyone in the capital was looking for her. She knew they had to be.

"Kh! Why do I… have to go through this!"

She already couldn't stand the fact that she was on the run like this. However, if she were caught… it would mean her death. Her terror drove her past her limits.

Back at her mansion, one of the maids who got along with her sensed danger and prepared clothes that were easy to move in, some money, a knife, and told her to run. If it weren't for that maid, she would have already been captured.

"Hey, girl, what're you doing in a place like this? The nights are dangerous, you know."

She jumped at the voice that came from behind her, she felt her heart rate increase exponentially. Remille slowly turned to look at the source of the voice. With only the light of the moon, she could barely make out a male face.

"…A night cleaner?"

There was a man in dirty clothes standing in front of her. The man continued speaking.

"If you keep going down that alley, you'll pass in front of the landbird's pen. That bird is ornery, though, so it'll probably spit on you."

What a fortuitous discovery. First, she would kill this man who saw her, then she would steal the landbird and escape on its back. Since she would be able to travel much more quickly than on foot, she might be able to seek asylum in a neighboring country. But for now, she needed to deal with the person before her…

Remille was part of the imperial family, so she had also been trained in hand-to-hand fighting techniques. She would take him down with a surprise attack. She wordlessly approached the man. Her right hand reached for the knife on the belt behind her and slowly unsheathed it. Just a bit closer…

Now!

She stepped in hard with her left foot and swung her knife as fast as she could, intending to slash the man's throat with her attack. …It didn't feel like she had cut anything. Her strike cut through the empty air.

"You… You bitch! What was that for!" the man screamed, trying to intimidate Remille.

"Tch!"

Remille stepped in with her right foot and cut at the man again.

"WHY?!"

Her knife had once again missed. In an instant, the man had wrapped his hand around Remille's left wrist and sunk his fist into her side.

"Gah…!"

The man's attack was powerful, easily blowing her away, and she tumbled hard on the ground.

…! She couldn't get up!

"What is it?! What's going on?!"

The loud voices and violent sounds of the scuffle caused a number of soldiers to come running to investigate.

"Kh!"

Remille desperately willed her body to move, but she still couldn't stand. The man headed over to the soldiers.

"My name is Cyrgaya, a temp worker in charge of cleaning up the port. This woman suddenly attacked me out of nowhere. If I wasn't trained in self-defense, I would've died!"

The soldiers all stared at her unblinkingly. As they compared her face to a paper they held in their hands, their expressions gradually changed from suspicion to astonishment.

"Re… Remille! Capture her at once! It's Remille!"

The soldiers moved quickly and restrained her. The commanding officer who ordered Remille's capture looked over at Cyrgaya.

"Well done! Umm, your name was…"

"Cyrgaya, sir."

"Yes, well done, Cyrgaya! This woman is the criminal responsible for endangering our country, we've been looking for her. I'm sure we'll all get promoted for this. As the person who found her, I bet Kyeos, the temporary government's head of state, will personally reward you as well."

"Really?! The current head of state?!"

"Yes!"

The Axis and Kyeos had finally taken Remille into custody, with luck as the Germans would have sent the Gestapo and cause havoc to get her out of hiding. Having had the good fortune of finding Remille, Cyrgaya would later be awarded an honorary position in the military by other military officers. It wasn't quite as prestigious as his friend's position, former Imperial Navy Vice-Admiral Balus, but Cyrgaya was content to receive the post.

Later in life, he would go on to publish many books, among which My Lucky Life would become a bestseller.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant, Imperial Council Conference Room

Having dethroned the emperor, Kyeos was now doing his work in a conference room in the imperial council hall. The most pressing issue was how to deal with the anti-Papaldia coalition army closing in on the holy city of Parneus, a city in the region just north of the imperial capital Esthirant, the Axis had accepted their surrender and had let him do his tasks after taking prisoner of the Emperor.

"So, can you drive off the enemy army?"

The former Supreme Commander of the imperial military who was currently under house arrest and under eyes of the Axis' Gestapo, Arde, asked contemptuously.

"I may have a trick up my sleeve," Kyeos shot back, smiling at the man, his smile completely unnerved the former Commander, who casts his eyes down. "Sir Westwind, would you mind if I were to speak with your higher rankings?"

"I will need to ask for confirmation first, but other than that, I suppose." The Head of the Gestapo in the Conference Room shrugged at the current Head of the Empire.

---

The 73-country coalition army marched south from Arunie to the holy city of Parneus, intending on capturing it. The emissary from the Kingdom of Rheem, Karma, chatted with the commander of the coalition army, Meego, while they marched.

"Don't you think we're overextending by trying to take another city?" Commander Meego asked, worried. He was from the former territory of Caus.

"What are you saying! The empire is weak right now. There won't be a better chance."

"But we can't surprise them this time. Even the empire would be cautious after losing a city. They're surely consolidating their forces. Even with a hundred and fifty Rheem wyverns, it will be a tough battle."

Karma's forehead wrinkled. "…It's true, their dragons are far stronger than ours, but, as far as manpower goes, our side currently has the advantage. We can throw more soldiers into the battle than they can. Even if we must sacrifice many men, the Papaldia Empire should weaken further after another attack."

"Why are you so impatient with our offensive?"

"You people understand nothing. As long as you get your countries back, you're satisfied with that. We are looking beyond the war. The world is going to change when all this is over! The Axis' influence is not limited to just the Third Civilization. Consider that any country outside the civilized areas with its hands on technology from the Axis could now suddenly become a real threat to a superpower. Not only has a country that is technologically superior to the Holy Mirishial Empire appeared on the outskirts of the Third Civilization, but any country can also dramatically elevate their technology as easily as visiting a bookstore. By buttering up the Axis and improving our technology, as well as weakening a country with as much potential as the Papaldia Empire as much as we can, the Kingdom of Rheem can turn into a dominant power!"

"I see…" Meego responded, only half understanding.

Pipipi… pipipi…

The magical communicator from the Kingdom of Rheem flashed with a red light. Karma answered the device with a puzzled look.

"…What?! This can't be! Parneus is right before our eyes!"

Something had shocked him greatly.

"But, even still… Yes, I understand. That said, their response time was far too quick… Yes, I will leave the investigation to you."

He put down the device and turned to Meego. He made no effort to hide his frustration.

"The march has been canceled…!"

"?! Even though you're the one who wanted to march all this way? Why?"

"Papaldia had unconditionally surrendered as the Axis had marched to the Capital and slaughtered anyone in their path, and the emperor has been deposed. The Axis is also calling for the coalition to accept a ceasefire. Currently, no one wants to defy the Axis' will, especially not to defy German. The Kingdom of Rheem has decided to stop the march and also withdraw from the city of Arunie."

"My word…"

The same day, following the recommendation of the German government, the 73-country alliance as well as the Kingdom of Rheem ended their march into the Papaldia Empire within sight of the holy city of Parneus. They also evacuated from the city of Arunie.

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant

The city was being repaired after the faithful day of battle, but the Germans had focused on the Main Road where many people were present, some Qua-Toinan, Altaran, Fennesse, Quiran, Mu and others had come, it had been a week after the Battle for Esthirant, the German Wiking Corp General, General Werner accompanied by General von Trier stood by their respective vehicle, von Trier on an AGF Serval LAV and Werner on a German Standardpanzer X. Both were standing as their vehicles stopped. The Generals soon wore their caps as the Marching Band began to play.

(Insert: Wehrmacht - Panzerlied)

The instruments played as the men soon donned their caps above their heads before giving a salute. The vehicles soon moved forward, from the German Panzer Battalion, the Standardpanzer X and IXs roared to life as they moved in a steady pace without fault, behind were the Sdkfz 292s, 295s, Begleitpanzer 57s and soon enough the massive Sdkfz 294 Amphibious APCs, the German Wiking and Fallschirmjäger began to march diligently in a disciplined manner as they marched without fail. They carried an assortment of weapons, the StG98, StG99, MG78, the StG88 and the G90. The soldiers marched in the same pace as their comrades.

The next were the Japanese Officers, bearing their Type 89, Type 78 and Type 60 Rifles, above were German Kobra and Fafnir Helicopters, followed by Ju87Ts, Bf109TLs and BV155s, doing stunts in the air. Then came the Heavy Bombers that completely covered the city in shadow of their completely humongous size. As such, the Axis had demonstrated their prowess instead in an albeit more tamed manner compared to using their Fenrir, Wyvern and Nachtzehrer Prototype Aircrafts, especially the Raubvogels.

The citizens stood in complete awe at their diligence and discipline. The Papaldians didn't even dare do anything as they have seen what the monsters in human skin were capable of. Not to anger them, they just simply stood in place, never losing contact. In the sea were the Bismarck aka 'Kanzlerschiff', the Tirpitz aka 'Stahldeck' and the member of the Big Seven Program 'Nagato', then was the Great Phoenix, Taihou, the three Battleships had their guns up as the Super Missile Dreadnought, the Hindenburg passed through, people stared in shock and awe at the size of the beast.

480mm Dunce Rounds were soon fired from the guns that were pointing to the sea, the shells soon made contact and exploded in the water, creating eight massive pillars of water rise from the sea. The march soon ended as everyone doubted that the Axis could be defeated, especially when there were three of them that were already on par with each other.

Upon reaching the end, every spectators can easily say the truth.

The Axis Alliance was no mere Alliance that can easily be toppled by just killing off one nation...

---

Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant

A month had been since he had last stepped foot in this country…

After so long, these men in suits were once again visiting the imperial capital of the Papaldia Empire as a delegation formed to facilitate the reconciliation between the Axis and Papaldia. Among their number was Ambassador Leone, who had once made every effort to establish diplomatic ties with the empire.

The delegation was of course here to assist with and lay the groundwork for the reconciliation, but they also had the duty of transporting the main perpetrator behind the massacre of Qua-Toinan citizens within the Kingdom of Fenn, Remille, to the Axis. In order to verify that they had not captured a body double, Leone had to perform an in-person interview with her. He was being escorted by a number of police officers to a special imperial prison.

The garden outside the special prison had short grass and various small birds singing. At first glance, it was an idyllic scene. However, inside the building it was dark and gloomy, since it was built such that not much light could get in.

Leone descended down the damp staircase. The quiet hallway echoed ominously with the sound of footsteps. Eventually, they arrived in front of a cell. The bars were fashioned from sturdy iron and it had a stone floor; there were no furnishings inside whatsoever. The stones were so cold that a typical Argentine person wouldn't be able to stand even a single night in this cell.

Inside the cell, there was a single woman wearing an iron collar around her neck with weights attached to her limbs who glared at Ambassador Leone. Leone took a single look at the woman then turned to the Gestapo, who looked at him and the woman.

"It's her. Would you allow me to...converse with her?"

"That shall be arranged, but in the meantime...we will watch over the prisoners..." The prisoners included many of the Royal Bloodline and Nobles to some extent of Generals.

Leone, holding every possible card. Remille, exposed and disgraced. After many months, their first conversation was about to begin.

---

Trivia:

Begleitpanzer 57 = Germany's IFV Program for Thyssen-Henschel, arming a Marder with a 57mm Bofors and TOW AT Missiles.

StG88 = G36 Rifle

G90 = Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle

Nachtzehrer = CFA-44 Nosferatu, German Designation for Project Vampire, Romania's named Carmilla, Hungary's named Nosferatu

Bf109TL = Actual Concept for a Bf109 to be outfitted with twin Jet Engines like the Schwalbe, never realized OTL

Ju87T = Basically a Ju87C Carrier CAS, but outfitted with Ju87G's twin 5cm AT Cannons

Me666 = E-737 AEW&C

---

And we're here...30k words...wow...in just a few months, I'm going to stop for a while and follow through the rest of the story, the next volumes are incomplete for the English versions, and I frankly can't speak or read Japanese. So I may go to a hiatus of sorts and continue on my other stories...or not...

Although let's be honest, we know how all of this is gonna go. Consulting to a contact of mine, I was thinking about adding other continents and stuff, but that'll be too much. Seriously. Remaking the mechanics again will not be a good thing for the story and me.

So, probably after this...I'll go pause the production of another chapter...

I'll wait until I can hit a 10 to 20k mark, or 30k, but that'd be a bit long...the chapter and the wait, this for instance is where I'm going to end the War, next would be the Interlude and possibly Cultural Exchangement as well as some cool stuff maybe. Either way, since Summoning Japan is not yet finished with the next volume, I will probably just throw around some ideas.

Anyways, I'll just show what will be the fate for Papaldia now that the Peace Treaty is replaced by Unconditional Surrender due to the lack of time.

---

Reviews:

SGArkosfan: Sadly, Summoning Japan's English Translation is still not done yet with the next volume, so I'll hold my horses on that part...but hopefully this would be enough as a curbstomp

Gunwolf.45: I mean like...Stealth Subs? Nonono, too expensive to use for a simple Battleship that can't rival Yamato as of now. The Missile Cruisers would at least have do the same job with missiles to instill technological dominance despite them having an early Yamato.

Zumwalts are currently too far ahead of time, the Germans, Italians and Japanese would need to finish all technology that is needed to perfect the Zumwalt, including Railguns, there were reasons why Zumwalts were not produced in great numbers, so maybe yes, the Axis would have them, but definitely not now as how we have seen the Navy has yet to perfect the production of a Railgun and thus left the two main guns downsized and downgraded, so best to simply just use conventional destroyers like always.

UN Peacekeeper: Hopefully this is enough to satisfy...

Cap Vietnam: The reason I pumped the chapter late was because I had some Mid-Semester Tests and then College Application is by October...I can't as hell miss it, I'm pushing my luck uploading this as of now...

Anyways, enough of that, of course, they aren't pacifists, only somewhat...cruel in terms of planning and strategies, all they want is land and with Germany, Japan and Italy instilling fear into the Secondaries and having control of the Allies, including America who is currently not as free as you'd think by having strings attached to them. The Axis would probably have World Domination if they wish, but they also to remain...diplomatic with some neutrals, so, seeing how they aren't made of Dictators, the Germans would only colonize their attackers, Japanese...maybe some conquest, idk and Italy? Probs more land to control and be the 'New Roman Empire' or 'New Italian Empire' whichever is better.

Commander 31: Probably the Gra Valkas Empire, and for the record maybe, maybe not, I have a profile, so yeah...that maybe a clue, but idk, I just don't discriminate, maybe Iceland, Greenland, Phillipines or any nations can make a debut...even if it's small...

Alberto: Esa es una escena que pagaría por ver...

Yoshikaandlucy99999998:

21st September: Nope

22nd September: Not yet...

23rd September: Hmmm, no...

24th September: LoL YeAh WhY nOt?

StringOfRandomNumbers: Yeah, kinda disappointed with those errors, just fixed them and another fix chapter will come along with this chapter...good to know that you're still enjoying, I appreciate it, mate.