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Published at 5th of December 2022 05:46:25 AM


Chapter 96

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AN: Volume 6 is scheduled for 20:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

When there is any news, I will post it ( _ _)⁾⁾

Hundreds of thousands of sparkles were falling from the swirling transition gate.

Each of the ships’ magic engines emits a fierce glow as they sail within the realm of the Daemon Emperor. The flood created by these aggregates of light in the Hercules System was breathtaking, but it also chilled the hearts of observers.

『Remaining number of ships, 1/3 to 1/4 what it was at the time of launch』

The invisible sword of cruel reality cut not into the bodies but into the hearts of those waiting for good news in the Hercules system, inflicting serious wounds. Wounds so deep and heavy that if not treated immediately, would eventually be fatal.

The refugees from Ōizumi and Honyō, who had held out hope for the future, collapsed, weak, with their entire bodies drained of hope instead of blood.

However, the soldiers of the surviving ships are far more deeply wounded than the refugees. The entire fleet, which was supposed to be behind their own ships, has vanished.

When recognizing death, there are several types, some people know when they are going to die, like an incurable disease, others know that they will die if they are stabbed in the street, and still, others look back afterward and realize that they would have died if they had not done their job so well.

And the death that the officers and soldiers recognized this time was something like “an inevitable natural disaster happened to pass by”, which left them with a sense of dread afterward.

When the soldiers could not win against that, they were deeply wounded in their hearts.

“The invasion of the Monarchy Star System should have been a sure victory…”

Tenka’s invasion of the Apollo System was a battle that could not be lost.

Create the Daemon King’s realm in the Apollo Star System, greatly weaken the Royal Army, and send a large army of the Tenka fleet from the Transition Gate to subdue it.

It was a replay of what the Monarchy had done in the three star systems of Athena, MacLir, and Fukashiro. The same results that had been achieved in the past in the three star systems were now supposed to be brought to the Tenka side.

It was overturned by the Monarchy’s Fortress Kerviel and Fleet Admiral Amakawa.

What had happened was revealed by reports from intermediate Daemons. It seems that the Spirit Emperor has repainted the realm of the Daemon King.

Having never heard of such a thing, all the Tenka generals who knew the operation would think it was not possible.

The losses as a result of the failure were so great that the remaining fleet of the invasion operation, of which the equivalent of more than 500,000 cruisers had been deployed, was reduced to tens of thousands.

Due to the reconstruction of the defensive posture with the Daemon Crystal and fighter crafts, the damage suffered is not fatal enough to destroy Tenka. However, an invasion operation without the use of the Transition gate has become impossible for at least a generation.

“The cause of the defeat was our lack of understanding of Spirits and Daemons. If we do not understand them, we cannot anticipate or take countermeasures. I demand a detailed explanation of Spirits and Daemons.”

A Tenka military personnel demanded an explanation from the intermediate Daemon he contracted. With their own lives and the fate of their country at stake, there was no reason for them not to pursue the matter.

However, the pursuit on the part of man was futile against the Daemons.

Even though they had various expressions on their faces, not a single one of them would open their mouth.

“Why don’t you answer?”

Among the enraged Tenka soldiers, some shouted curses at their own Daemons.

And the result is a unilateral annulment of the contract from the Daemon side. Those who have had their contract broken can no longer make a contract again, even if they use other Daemon crystals.

Witnessing such organized collective action, the Tenka soldiers were reminded of the fact that there are also ranks among the Daemons, such as upper and middle ranks in the army.

In the world of Daemons, it seems that the will of the superior is absolute. Or rather, like a law that is always recognized and mechanically applied, there is a computer program that automatically disarms them without any consideration for their individual circumstances.

Realizing that it was pointless to express emotion to a computer program, Tenka’s leader, Yuen, interacted with the person who created and distributed the program.

“Tens of millions of civilians in the Monarchy died in the Battle of Apollo, which was invaded by Daemons. The Monarchy will no longer tolerate Hercules. The stage of sparing information should have passed.”

For Tenka, a Daemon is a power lent to it by Ishidor, the leader of the Herculeans, in exchange for interstellar navigation technology and ships.

The reason why the fundamental aspects of the Daemons are black-boxed is that there is no talk of handing over the magic technique itself.

However, without accurate information, it could lead to defeat such as in the Battle of Apollo. Since if they lose the war, they will lose everything to each other, so it was only natural to demand further information disclosure.

Ishidor, however, understood Yuen’s frank appeal.

The Herculeans have no sense of camaraderie with humans of other star systems.

The Herculeans, the first interstellar immigrants of mankind, had their appearance changed on the high-gravity planet due to a lack of technology accumulation. On top of that, the Diete immigration policy that immediately followed left them with a sense of abandonment. The abandoned humans believe that no one is an ally.

Even so, Ishidor was convinced that the current situation is one of mutual respect.

“I must clear up the misunderstanding first, you can’t prepare a gift for a taciturn woman that will open her heart, and neither can we. But there is a Daemon King who is not averse to conversation, so let’s ask her.”

Ishidor sent his gaze to the void, and the sky-blue mist gathered and took a humanoid form.

Skin as white as a corpse, lips as red as blood, eyes as blue as jewels, and slightly pointed ears.

A strange Daemon appears, with a chiseled face that is rare among the Tenka people, and with a drawn sword made of bone in her left hand.

Her name is Nixe.

She is one of the Daemon Kings born from the destruction of the three star systems of the Republic of Frodi, and is still in Isidor’s possession because he has stopped the territorialization of Ōizumi and Honyō.

“Please advise us. We were planning to advance into a star system where the Monarchy is not territorialized, and make it a realm of Nixe, but will we succeed in doing so?”

Yuen was impressed by the way Ishidor asked the question.

Yuen and his group cannot pay the price for the Daemons, but Nixe is the party that will perform the territorialization. In other words, Nixe is also on the same side, and by pointing this out and getting her involved, you can expect voluntary cooperation.

As it turned out, Nixe reacted quite differently from the other intermediate Daemons. Surprisingly, there was a decent reply.

“Let me clear up the misunderstanding first, but we Daemons cannot grasp the Spirits any more than you can grasp the strength of the Monarchy. We are too different, like the Herculeans and other humans, so we cannot spy on the other side.”

As for the incompatibility between the Daemon and the Spirit, Ishidor was also aware.

“As far as I am aware, the Monarchy of Diete has had the opportunity to promote spirits eight times in the three former Coalition Star Systems, the four Tenka Star Systems, and the Solar System. So I wonder if a second re-painting is possible.”

“If the promoted Spirit King feasts, the number of Spirit Emperors may increase.”

“That’s troublesome. How do you kill Spirits?”

Yuen wondered if Ishidor was trying to make the Daemon King feel like a party to this.

In the case of human conflict, even the Daemons, who probably have no interest, will be involved if they are in conflict with the Spirits.

They use human beings to kill spirits, prey on them, and feed on them. For this reason, they can expect the spontaneity of Daemons and proposals on how to kill the Spirits efficiently.

Ahead of Yuen, who watches in silence, Nixe answered as if reciting.

“It would be better to draw the enemy into the realm and fight them. On the contrary, going into the enemy’s realm is a bad idea. There’s always a reason for that.”

“That makes sense, too.”

The Hercules Star System is the realm of the Daemon Emperor Zirke, and the Tento Star System is the realm of the Daemon King Zeahild. No matter which star system you fight in, the power abnormality of the magic engine will occur, so the strength between enemy and ally will be 5 fold.

In addition, the Monarchy cannot send a large number of fighter crafts on interstellar voyages.

It seems that if the Israfels are equipped with an interstellar navigation function, the problem will be solved, but the cost of production is completely different between building fighter crafts that are giant ray guns and a ship with the latest technology that can leap through high-dimensional space.

The same is true for personnel, where warships require personnel from multiple specialties and appropriate androids to assist them. Personnel similar to those of a battleship that only kills the enemy in front of it are not viable for military operations involving interstellar navigation.

Therefore, if it is in the form of facing the invasion of the Royal Army, Tenka can fight an overwhelmingly advantageous battle.

In the Hercules Star System, where repainting of the realm is impossible, they can safely produce Daemon crystals and advance into other star systems by interstellar ships.

The Monarchy is at war, and severe sabotage is expected, but if the Spirit King cannot be increased and the Transition Gate cannot be connected, the side defending with a large number of fighter crafts will win. Thus the advance into other star systems that Ishidor had announced from the beginning would be achieved.

Without reckless invasion, the prospects for the future are open.

Compared to the Herculeans of that time, who were trapped on the planet Alcaeus, the situation is improving.

Satisfied with Nixe’s answer, Ishidor took a step further.

“We Herculeans can prepare the Daemon Crystals. The first group of pilots will continue to be gathered in Tenka. We are not accustomed to piloting ships, and I’m sure many refugees in Ōizumi and Honyō would like to take up employment…”

It was an outrageous proposal. No matter how easy it is for the pilots of the battleships to die, the refugees of Ōizumi and Honyō have no choice but to survive.

The people of Ishidor and Yuen will not be sacrificed and will not be opposed by their own people. On the other hand, the criticism from Ōizumi and Honyō will be enormous.

However, Ōizumi, which was destroyed after a month-long standoff, has lost half of its population, and 90% of the population died in Honyō, which was destroyed in a sudden one-day invasion. Honyō has lost its state organization and National Mages, and has become a mere refugee.

Even if Tento forced Honyō to do something, the helpless Honyō people who fled to the Hercules Star System had no way to resist.

This wasn’t his intention, Yuen thought to himself.

Yuen, the leader of Tenka, is not allowed to utter such remarks. Instead, he said something else.

“The defense of Hercules will not be a problem if those who currently live in Hercules go first.”

“Indeed.”

My thoughts exactly, Ishidor smiled.




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