Chapter 18

"And that's mostly it."

The troopers looked at each other.

I spent the last 30 minutes pouring over the story of how we acquired our suits. Of course, I didn't tell them about the system. I claimed that we built them in secrecy and the current ones are only part of our arsenal, and that we won't sell them for anything just yet.

"Okay." The soldiers began packing up.

Suddenly, the officer's phone went off. He took it.

"Yes?" he said. "No, no, I've been talking to Alberich about the mechs … huh? What're they arguing over? … Oh … well, I see. Tell the military to back down … hey, the boys are the ones to destroy them, they deserve it, right? … Oh, he's awake. We'll bring him here to talk."

He hung up and looked at me.

"You'd better get to your subordinates."

…

I noticed the ruckus a few meters away.

There were voices of adults, and a few of our troopers. I heard Mason yelling at the top of his lungs, and there's no mistaking Fidel's voice.

As I approached, Gabriel ran up to me. There's a group of people behind him, yelling at each other.

"Sir, you'd better see this, these military dudes are so annoying!"

"What is it?" I inquired.

A military officer stepped up to me.

"So, you came. Now order your troops off."

"Excuse me?" I fired up, "Are you telling me what to do? I'm no weaker than any of you."

He motioned to the wrecks of the Bluhtnebel-mechs all around, "We were going to carry these machines off for examination, but then your boys demanded that we leave them. If you have sense, you'd tell them to back off."

I was growing angered.

"First, we defeated the devil operating these machines, so the spoils are rightfully ours. Second, you'd want to talk with some decent politeness. You don't want to know what I can do right now."

"Sir," a trooper behind him whispered, "they're magicians. You saw the reports on Alisa's Rage and the U.S talks. Besides, they're the center of global attention right now, so I don't advise you mess with them."

The officer looked like he wanted to say more, but eventually relented unwillingly.

I walked up to the giant weapons and raised my right arm. The storage bracelet glowed, and a warm light enveloped the mechs. They shrunk and flowed back into my hand.

"Hey, um, sir, I just remembered something." Jake spoke up. "How do we get back to Oarai?"

"Didn't you receive my message?"

He got the hint and checked his phone. After scrolling for a few moments, he realized what I meant.

I pointed to the other end of the field, and a bunch of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters appeared. I walked up to the leading one and slid back the side door, and hopped on. My fellows did the same.

And in a gust of wind, we flew off the KMM academy ship, and set back for Oarai.

…

I checked my system on the way. After debating with my team, we decided to name the 3rd Army "Empire", and make it into an artillery troop (in memory of Napoleon). The ParaWorld turned out to be like Minecraft's Overworld, only with endless expanse, depth and resources. The Living Quarters was an infinitely large mansion in some sort of pocket dimension, with everything from residential areas to forges and assembly lines to a futurized command center. Parts of the structure can be extracted and projected into reality for as long as necessary, it seems. My gun came back to me somehow: I dug it out of my backpack a while after we lifted off. Its buttstock is now coated in dark carbonated steel, and had a design made up of an "S" and a "T" etched into the body, which is now painted black, silver and gold.

We chatted and found out a few things: my team got names as well. John was Johann Arnowe, Lucas was Gottfried Haimon (though his British name was Henry Roberts), and Gabriel was Konrad Von Hartmann. Hank, the forever Bolshevik, got a Russian name, Vladmir Alekseyev. The American boys didn't shift their names, but they had a surprise too: their new ally was the infamous Jason Voorhees. My teammates had new brothers-in-arms too: Lucas got a British teenager, Alexander (since Lucas got promoted to Sergeant, Alex's rank is Corporal), for an adjutant, and Alex had 3 subordinates himself: Harry, George and Reagan.

We would've talked more, but then Takashi, whom I've left at Oarai to take care of issues, rung me. He said that St Gloriana and BC Freedom sent us a video.

Both intrigued and worried, I ordered all the planes to get us back as fast as possible.

20 minutes later, at the airport…

I opened the video.

We've returned, and arrived at the terminal after shaking off the girls and the press. After barring off all methods of surveillance in the room, and bringing forth all our new friends, I played the video.

The screen fuzzed. Then, the faces of Darjeeling and Marie, the two famous commanders, emerged. But something was wrong: the glint they had in their eyes were gone, and they looked tired, in pain and desperate somehow.

Darjeeling spoke first:

"Soldiers and boys of Oarai:

If you are seeing this, then things at our schools are growing unbearable, and we hope for your help.

You may think of St Gloriana and BC as glorious, elegant and a marvel. The truth is, life here has been hell ever since the last generation of students. That year, the school administrators posed the rule that whoever invests 50 thousand in the school – and I assure you it isn't much – can do whatever they like, unrestrained by law. As for what they did, use your imagination."

"It had lasted for many years. But now, with you and your army on its rise, it may be a hope for a lift out of this living hell. Please let us know whether you are willing to come, and if you do, I promise, St Gloriana & BC Freedom will never forget your services. Farewell."

The screen went black. A wave of curses went through our ranks.

"Well," I said, turning to the crowd, "all those in favor of aiding these girls?"

"We're all in agreement, aren't we?" Alex muttered.

"Definitely." Jason huffed.

We all looked at him.

"What, serial killers can't be a bit righteous at times?"

"And something else." Lucas – or should I call him Albrecht? – piped up. "Maybe we should craft them something to keep them safe. I've been thinking about this ever since I learned that our residential quarters had a forge."

Beep! Hidden mission: the Ancient Forges, triggered.

Stage 1: Forge weapons and armor for the Oarai girls

Stage 2: Forge weapons and armor for the Saunders girls

Stage 3: Forge weapons and armor for St Gloriana & BC

Stage 4, 5: Yet to unlock

Starter kits distributed. Visit forges.

"Oh well." I muttered, "Sounds cool."

"Frankly speaking, I'm oddly excited." Hank said, "Can we get a look?"

A long, long while after…

I wiped some sweat off my forehead and looked around.

I am working with my crew inside the Sorcery faction of the Forges. It was not only huge, but it was amazing: there were anvils and blacksmith tools, and rows and rows of workbenches and tools and crates and more forging stuff I can't name. An enchanted forge – there was a glowing magical emblem on its cover – hummed away in a corner. Tall shelves and racks lined the walls, filled with books and scrolls and more stuff. An enchanting section was at the opposite side of the room, with bookshelves, glass orbs, and more god-knows-what around weird worktables. There was a Technology faction too, which Andrew was exploring with his buddies.

I marched down to a desk, opened a crate of ingots, and took out some bars of Haerean Argentum: a kind of special silver, as hard as titanium but as flexible as fabrics. It melts only to magical fire, and absorbs powerful impacts with ease. The most ideal for armor.

I put 6 ingots into a melting container and motioned to John. He lifted a robust pipe that led out of the furnace (his magic was immune to fire), connected it to the container, and unscrewed a gauge. The roar of the flames cut through the background noise, and the container glowed red-hot.

Lucas patted me on the back, and pointed to the set of wax models and corresponding molds we have molded earlier after hours of discussion, this set for Miho. The biggest one was a combo of a modern flak vest and a medieval chestplate, with sliding metal plates forming the main frame, straps over the shoulder, waist and back, long tight sleeves extending to wrist-length, and tight guards around the joints. Thin beams ran beneath the plating, holding them together and providing extra protection. There was a helmet, fashioned like a modern Navy SEAL helmet, but had multiple vacant slots for electronic attachments. Around them were a pair of gloves, boots, leggings and a belt. We haven't thought of the weapon yet, so the armor is for now.

I nodded, and turned to the container. I motioned to John, and together, we lifted it off the base and opened it. The ingots had turned to a white-hot liquid, and poured it into the mold of the chest piece. The reinforced clay hissed under the heat, but did not crack a bit. Gabriel lifted his hand, and performed some type of ice magic. Instantly the mold cooled, and the metals solidified. Prying it open, we were faced with the main component of the new armor, which glimmered and reflected the light of the forges. I took some straps out of a drawer and ran them through the openings on the suit, and fastened the clasps while Gabriel padded the inside with a few spacers. I motioned for them to keep on with it, and carried the newly-forged armor to a nearby enchanting table, which I've only made out was carved of dark granite and marble. Rune carvings ran all over it, and diamonds were set into the edges. I rested my burden on it, and sifted through the books for appropriate enchantments. Finally, I found something: a kind of magic known as the "Spirit", which gives the weapon or armor its own consciousness and improves its capability by ten folds during the process. I did as it said, taking a greenish gem (soul stone) off the shelf and resting it on the armor. Then I muttered a few spells, and the stone melted and dissolved into the metal. The chestplate hummed and reverberated, and I knew it had worked.

The forging of the next few pieces was mostly the same, so I'll jump most of it (though it took damn hell long, and difficult, and tiring). The only different part was when we made the earphones and other electronics for the helm, which I got Andrew to fix. The end product was something like a helicopter pilot's headset.

When all was finished, we packed them up in a large crate and stowed it in my storage bracelet. Then, as I checked my phone, I noticed something else.

I've been pulled into a new chat group in SecretChat. It was called "Private Chat Room for Countryhumans Leaders". The group members had weird names: Countryhuman China Faction Head of States, Countryhuman U.S Faction President, Countryhuman Nazi Germany Faction Fuhrer, and so on.

"Hey guys, look, new commanders are in" U.S President texted abruptly.

"Hey really" the Russian faction leader texted back. "Meet them?"

"No get them to greet us, double surprise" Japan popped up

"Sure, good idea, but how" U.K replied

And then a GPS map popped up on my phone, telling me to proceed to the "Gallery No.1".

"Well, what now?" I thought, as we set off.

Sometime later…

We pushed open the gallery's double oak doors, and I stepped back in stun.

The hall was filled with people, and they weren't just people. They were the actual Countryhumans, straight off the canvas. They stood in square formations, looking up at us. At the front were 5 of them, each representing China, the U.S, the USSR, Britain and France. The leaders of lesser nations – Japan, North & South Korea, Germany (there are both modern and World Wars variants), Poland and others – stood in line behind them.

"So," the China Faction's leader spoke first, "the new commanders."

They stepped forward. The British faction commander wore a lavish 19th Century British Navy uniform and a tricorn cap, and had a sword & several handguns slung on his belt. The French commander wore something nearly the same to Napoleon's clothing, and carried a dirk. The U.S leader had a hoodie and U.S-teenager-style clothes, but that was only concealing his helmet and flak jacket; he had the signature sunglasses too, and had Desert Eagle pistols strapped on each side of his waist. The USSR leader had a gigantic army overcoat with shoulder badges and a ushanka, and bore the biggest armament: a modified GSH-6-30 autocannon (how the HELL can he wield that I can't imagine). The foremost, the China faction Marshal, wore an elaborate kind of coat over a simple white shirt and black trousers, and had a Type 92 in his pocket.

Before we can react, China, the U.S and USSR leaders bowed, while the British and French duo kneeled. All those behind them saluted.

To say that we were stunned was a serious understatement. But they got up quick too.

"Now to business." The U.S President countryhuman looked at me. "Tell us about your troops, can you?"

I looked at my co-commanders: "We'd want to do this together."

And we spent 35 minutes going over everything, from our system to Oarai's Panzerfarhen team to the recent affairs. I didn't even leave out the distress video.

When we were done, all five were showing anger in various ways: the British officer and French commander gripped their swords so hard their knuckles whitened and gritted their teeth; the U.S leader held his handguns and glared at the desk we were sitting around; the Soviet and China commanders didn't move a muscle, but their aura … plain lethal. And even the minor nations, who have crowded around to listen, weren't pleased.

"HOW DARE THEY!"

Britain slammed his fist into the table and stood. "Generals, my suggestion is that we launch war on this abomination as soon as possible-"

"We will." I said, "but first, we've a war to fight. And our current tankery team is a bit …"

"Crippled." The Third Reich's Fuhrer put in. "You need some heavy guns, flak tanks, and your infantry is way too little and deprived of sufficient gear."

"Yes, I know." I sighed, "but how? I can't go around recruiting people, I'm not the government."

"Jesus, dude, can't you see?" The U.S President chuckled, "WE'RE the solution. We'll join."

I stared. "I don't know whether that's legal."

"HEY, come on. The rules didn't say 'humans only', right? Then there's no problem."

He seems to have a point, actually. And I can really use some hands…

"All right, how many do you have under command?"

Britain grinned. "10 hundred million."

France rolled his eye. "21 hundred million."

The USSR snickered. "60 hundred million for the Soviets, and my sons can come up with another 50 million if needed."

The U.S sighed, "45 hundred million."

China smiled mysteriously. His count was the biggest. "90 hundred million."

"I've 40 hundred million too." Nazi Germany piped in.

"20 million." Japan sighed, "I'm not a very powerful nation on land, but at sea…"

We were dumbfounded.

"Okay, I think we'll only need several hundred in total, no more than 1 thousand. Or we'll be bullying the opposite school. And the gear?"

"There's Cold War era and WWII both, but for certain folks of us, such as the Second Reich, we've WWI gear too. Those in the Cold Weapon age wield self-developed guns of WWII technology class."

"Cool. And I assume the tanks are the same, eh?"

"Yes, but our tank arsenal is more complete than any other school out there would be, I daresay." The Third Reich's Fuhrer grinned as he said that. "We have infantry vehicles too, and I mean a whole lot of them. We can assemble a balanced army in 30 minutes."

"Okay, show me."

Some 30 minutes later…

"Well, how do you think?"

The Fuhrer nudged me, who was stunned at what I saw.

Albert Klaus (which turned out to be his name; Countryhumans have names, it seems) and the other Countryhumans leaders were not boasting about their strength. The assembled German faction is steel evidence.

In the front, behind several minesweepers and bulldozers, multiple SdKfz 234 and 233 Puma armored vehicles, Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks, assault guns (namely StuG III and StuG IV), and Marder I antitank guns were lined up, shielding the 20 HANOMAG SdKfz 251 transporters, all bearing infrared, behind. They were closely followed by a mix of Panther J tanks, Sturer Emil anti-fortification guns, Tiger I tanks, and behind are the classical heavy tanks and self-propelled guns, along with many RSO carriers, loaded with supplies and towing heavy guns. Soldiers sat on all the vehicles, and even on the cannons' barrels. This would be an army to be reckoned with.

I laughed as I thought of pitting them against the St. Gloriana and BC girls.

"Good. Now…"

I took the microphone Albert passed me and ordered loud and clear.

"TIME TO ROLL OUT!"

Miho's POV…

She was talking to her team about the oncoming practice match that the Student Council had warned them about – with low hopes, considering their gear – when something was wrong.

A loud rumble cut through the air. The deck beneath them hummed and began to vibrate. An uproar was heard, and grew louder and louder.

"What is going on?" Hana asked.

"These sound like tank engines." Yukari muttered, listening, "but it can't be: there would be way too many of them."

Then, with a deafening roar, a sight that the girls will never forget for a lifetime came to:

Grinding into the compound, guns raised, wheels turning, was a huge fleet of WWII German vehicles. There were StuG assault guns, Panzer I, II, III and IV tanks of all models, Tiger series tanks, tank destroyers such as Marder guns and Nashorns, self-propelled artillery, armored bulldozers, MGC vehicles, personnel transporters, infantry fighting vehicles, and countless other combat vehicles. All throughout the formation were hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers, and they were strange: they were humans, but their heads were completely spherical and patterned with the flags of various nations. Most of them had Nazi German flags on their faces.

And then, out of the crowd, the unmistakable figure of Alberich Muller walked out, accompanied by his 4 lieutenants and the crowd of American teenagers. Alberich was conversing with one of those … beings, but dressed in a darker shade of black, and they were busy.

Then, Alberich lifted his head, and saw them. He motioned to the people around them, and they marched towards the girls, stopping in front of them.

"What've you got now?" Miho asked, shaken.

"Girls, this is Albert Klaus, the commander of the Third Reich faction of the Countryhumans Troops." Alberich declared. "Part of his army will be taking up arms and joining our Panzerinfantarie troops. And the same will be for a number of other factions."

He turned and gestured, and 5 more of the "Countryhumans" came forth: the five permanent members of the UN security council.

"China Faction Head of States, Xu Zhen Zhong." The Chinese leader spoke first.

"United States Faction President, Alexander Jones." The U.S teenager followed.

"USSR Faction High Marshal, Sergey Kuznetsova." The Soviet announced.

"British Empire Faction leader, John Wilson."

"First French Empire commander, Andre Fournier."

They bowed. "At yours."