48 Chapter 48: Armored Convoy

The route to Haemorage was smoother than expected.

I had anticipated ambushes along the road, particularly since the convoy was so loud and visible, but apparently the sight of armored behemoths kicking up gigantic dust storms was enough to intimidate even the most reckless of bandits and human soldiers.

I studied the visual holographic display inside the armored personnel carrier, keeping track of our journey. Staring at the huge dust clouds and sand being blown against the armored surface of the combat vehicles, I felt relieved that we were protectively enclosed within thick hulls.

Getting hit by all that sand and dust wouldn't be fun at all.

Around me, the soldiers from platoon 4 were resting against their safety harnesses. Most were asleep, their eyes closed as their bodies occasionally jerked against their seats when the APC rolled over a bump. Others were making conversation, joking lightly or talking about their hometowns, probably to ease the tension.

Human or demon, soldiers were still soldiers. It didn't matter what species they were, no one could ever get used to the idea of being so close to death.

So the warriors kept the fear away by seeking out camaraderie among their comrades, distracting themselves with humor, finding common ground, or just snatching much-needed sleep. In fact, immersing oneself in dreams was the best method of taking one's mind off the inevitability of death. Sleep, ironically, was the state that put an organism furthest from death.

"Major? Alpha One here. The road ahead looks clear."

"Roger that, Alpha One. Keep going. We have your back."

I responded immediately when Captain Elia Kratz's voice crackled over the magic receiver that served as a radio.

Right now, Elia Kratz and HQ platoon were in the lead APC, which was following closely behind Lieutenant Daniel Dressia's spearhead of tanks. Master Sergeant Gio Vanni was in the second APC, with platoon 1, and I was in the last APC, with platoon 4. The arrangement made sense. It would be folly to place all the officers in a single vehicle – if the APC got taken out by enemy fire, then Magna 7th would have essentially lost all its commanders in one go, rendered headless and paralyzed by the lack of leadership.

I wanted to ride in the first APC, but Elia had countermanded that. The lead vehicle, she reasoned, would be the most dangerous one. Which was fair enough, but she insisted that she bore the brunt of danger instead because I was too valuable to place at risk. I argued that nobody was expendable, not even me, but she didn't want to take the risk.

It might sound funny, but even in this medieval-like period, the enemy could still threaten tanks. Magic was a great equalizer for many things, especially war.

We rode for a few hours, intermittently checking on the road ahead or each other's status to ensure no one got lost en route to Haemorage. There were the occasional grumbles, or amusing snores from the soldiers, but nothing to take note of. However, the moment we came within the last ten miles of our journey, I could see black smoke rising from the air.

"Sir, seems like there's a battle going on at the border of Haemorage. A huge human army is clashing with Queen Scarlet's forces."

I conjured the visual display on the holographic screen in my command console. An expanded view unfolded before me, featuring a vast green field that was dotted with many black figures. Magnifying the images, I could make out the details of human soldiers clashing against what looked like vampire-type demons.

There was a bright flash of light near the center of the battlefield. Shifting my focus, I further magnified the spot and scowled when I caught sight of a familiar figure.

My nemesis, Sakaguchi Seiji. A paladin whose magical spells and special abilities countered my own, he was a particularly difficult foe for a necromancer like me. I wondered what he was doing all the way out here – then again, he was deep within enemy territory with Asakura Akane when I embarked on my mercenary mission.

Is Sakaguchi still looking for Asakura?

I didn't know. Not that it mattered – right now, Sakaguchi was cleaving vampires to bits with his broadsword. A single girl with blazing red hair stepped up, wielding a spear in each hand, and blood churning around her. Dressed in a skintight, black outfit, she dashed forward, sending a row of armored human knights flying into the air with her charge, and thrust her spears at Sakaguchi. The paladin parried her spears and countered with a riposte, but she skillfully deflected it away. The two of them traded several fierce blows that sent rippling shockwaves across the space, causing soldiers on both sides to tumble over and splitting the terrain with numerous cracks.

The Vampire Queen?

They weren't kidding when they said she could far on par with the human heroes. Currently she was holding her ground against Sakaguchi, the two of them locked in a bloody stalemate. Even as Sakaguchi unleashed his Holy Blessings to cover the area in a blinding, white aura, her skills remained unblunted. Countering every strike and slashed Sakaguchi threw at her, the red-haired girl retaliated with sharp, precise thrusts and stabs, her spears literally disappearing into speedy red blurs. Yet, Sakaguchi managed to match her speed somehow.

Those that slipped through his parries failed to penetrate the shimmering Divine Defense that covered his body. The girl's eyes narrowed, but she deftly avoided Sakaguchi's counterattacks and jumped away to keep her distance.

The two powerful opponents faced each other for a few moments before they charged and clashed, their collision sending shockwaves violent enough to shatter the earth.

While it was clear that the girl could hold her own against Sakaguchi, the same could not be said for her soldiers. Her lines were collapsing, especially the vampires caught within Sakaguchi's boundary field of Holy Blessings. They were weakening, damaged by the holy energies, and Sakaguchi's forces capitalized on that.

Despite their strength and ferocity, the vampires were also vastly outnumbered. There were at least ten human soldiers for every vampire present.

"Sir, what do we do? Do we engage?"

"From this distance? Do we have artillery for that?" I muttered.

"Artillery?"

Lieutenant Daniel Dressia sounded confused. Right. It seemed that the people in Restia had yet to develop artillery yet. Even then, now that I thought about it, artillery wasn't a good choice anyway. The explosives would have inflicted friendly fire, hurting both friend alongside foe. Not exactly the best impression to leave if I was trying to persuade the queen of the Scarlet Clan to join the Demonic Alliance. Speaking of which, I consulted platoon 1, where our top soldiers resided.

"The prince and princess are safe," Gio reported. I nodded and consulted the hologram, taking note of enemy positions and possible routes.

"We could slam into them like a sledgehammer and obliterate their backlines," Dressia suggested from his tank. "Shove a wedge into their forces, then move in to support the Vampire Queen and back her up against that Evelyn's Chosen."

"No."

I shook my head, recalling what Regis Gremory said about heroes and tanks. We couldn't afford to lose our precious tanks to the heroes, who could easily rip a squadron apart with their bare hands. Now that I thought about it, this resembled more like a strategy game than real warfare. Having played real time strategy games and turn-based strategy games such as Starcraft 2 and Warhammer 40,000, I could begin to see a pattern.

Rock, paper and scissors. Counters. There was no use sending my large, expensive units against a hero character that could make mincemeat out of them. Instead, it would benefit us strategically if I used my tanks to grind the fragile infantry to bits – especially if the infantry didn't possess antitank weaponry. Furthermore, I saw four positions to launch my assault. If I could hit the enemy from all sides, I would send them into disarray, catch them in a pincer attack and trap them in a killing zone. The vampires might suffer some casualties, but at least they wouldn't be annihilated.

Which was the fate that awaited them if we left things as they were.

"All right…Lieutenant Dressia, you take your tanks and smash their backline. But do not – I repeat, do not engage the Evelyn's Chosen. That's my job. Your job is to destroy as many infantry as possible. Focus on that. Form an armored spearhead and charge into their ranks, break their morale and mow them down. Support the vampires from Haemorage and protect them with a wall of steel."

"Roger that, sir."

Dressia didn't sound pleased, but he understood the importance of his task. Like us, he was fully aware of how we were here to persuade the Scarlet Clan into an alliance with the other demons, as well as the threat the hero posed to his tanks.

"Captain Kratz, take HQ platoon and platoon 3 and flank them from the east side. Hit them hard. Coordinate your timing of attack with Lieutenant Dressia. We're going to try and send their forces into disarray and confusion, so let's maximize the element of surprise."

"Yes, Major!"

"Master Sergeant Vanni, you have platoons 1 and 2. Flank the enemy from the west side, and while you should do your best to cut them down, do not put the crown prince and princess in danger. You should also synchronize with Lieutenant Dressia and Captain Kratz, but don't forget your primary objective. Prince Richard and Dragon Princess Yuan must be safe, no matter the cost. If you're forced to pull back, retreat immediately."

"I understand, sir. Leave then to me."

"Good. Platoon 4 and I will hit them from the north and support the Scarlet Clan. But no heroics, guys. We're not there to kill the enemy. We're there to help the Vampire Queen and her forces pull out and escape. So don't go getting yourselves killed because of some glory. Our objective is to survive, not rout the enemy."

"Yes, sir!"

"All right. Let's go!"

With those orders issued, I sent the holographic routes to the tank drivers and APC drivers, and they immediately sped off. Our forces split up into four, with the majority of the armored vehicles heading toward the south. An armored spearhead of lumbering behemoths was quite the intimidating sight to behold, and I couldn't help but marvel over the sight of the column of massed tanks.

Regis Gremory really helped me out there. Even back on Earth, my strategy in games was to amass armored tanks and robots as opposed to infantry. People called me a tread head of sorts. I was glad I had the opportunity to live up to that name in Restia.

As I expected, the armored spearhead of tanks smashed into the backlines of the foes, completely taking them by surprise. The plasma beams of the tanks' turret and hull weapons incinerated scores of archers, disintegrated armored knights and vaporized charging cavalry. The humans reeled and tried to retreat, only to be cut apart by vengeful vampires that stood in the opposite direction. It didn't matter what sort of armor they wore – the humans were unable to withstand the monstrous technology of superheated blobs of energies.

The tanks were powered by arcane energies, deriving their fuel and ammunition from mana ores. Placed into a reactor, the mana ores were constantly being recycled and replenished by drawing on reserves from the surroundings. The tanks could move indefinitely and fire from what seemed like a limitless supply of mana.

Projected into superheated beams of plasma, the tanks provided overwhelming firepower that easily obliterated any human-worn armor. Nothing could stand up to them. Just a single company of tanks literally turned the tide of the battle in our favor. It was quickly turning the battle to a rout as human soldiers fell before their armored might.

At the same time, Elia and the two platoons under her command hit from the east side. The APC provided fire support, the laser turrets sitting atop its hull unleashing ferocious ruby beams of destruction into the massed ranks of human soldiers. At the back, the ramp fell open and each platoon unloaded from their respective APC before using their vehicle as cover to take potshots at the enemy with their rifles. From the west. Gio's platoons alighted and lay down a suppressive line of fire while the crown prince and his wife remained safely hidden aboard the first APC, guarded by two soldiers.

The humans were sent milling about in confusion, fired upon from multiple directions. They had no idea which enemy to face, who to fight, or how to even fight. Nothing they had could halt the advance of the tanks. Arrows, blade, spear, sword…none of these could penetrate the armored hull, and whatever brave fools reckless enough to try found themselves ground bloodily under the merciless tracks of ten-ton behemoths.

That took the pressure off the infantry, who advanced under the cover of their APCs to turn the battlefield into a carnage.

"What?!"

Sakaguchi snarled when he saw his army collapsing under the armored onslaught. He tried to break away from the girl and rally his remaining forces to him, but…

"To me!"

As his surviving knights struggled to pull together into a single defensive position, a whining whir erupted and multiple lasers cut them down.

"What?!"

Sakaguchi roared in impotent rage as his surviving forces were torn into tatters. My APC rolled up and my troops poured out of the hull, unleashing murderous hails of bullets into the knights. Even though the rifles were theoretically powered by the firer's mana, they were not dark-type spells. As such, Sakaguchi's Holy Blessings failed to nerf their damage or power. The knights' armor failed to block the high-powered shots, the metal crumpling under such force.

"You…!"

Dashing through the hail of bullets and taking the girl by surprise, he headed straight for the APC while swinging his broadsword down. His Divine Defense shimmered as the majority of the bullets struck him, but they had completely no effect on him. The goddess Evelyn clearly had bestowed upon him cheat powers.

No wonder he could destroy tanks.

At this rate, he would cleave the APC in half and massacre my men. I couldn't allow that to happen, so I ordered a retreat and jumped out to meet him.

Sakaguchi's eyes widened. "You!"

"Hello again," I greeted him with a smile.

With a furious roar, Sakaguchi swung his broadsword down to cleave me. Unlike the last time, I had my Redwood jacket on this time, so I caught his sword with my bare hand.

The arcane layers of barrier that my Redwood Robe generated rippled from the force, but didn't break. A slight crack had appeared on the topmost layer, but it regenerated almost instantly. Sakaguchi tried to increase the pressure behind his sword, but I didn't buck. Instead, I punched him in the gut, sending him skidding backward.

"Ow!"

That was a terrible mistake. I shook my sore left hand, wincing. Sakaguchi's armor, combined with his Divine Defense, had essentially transformed him into a mobile fortress. It felt as if I had cracked my hand against a steel wall and broke it.

Fortunately, my hand healed quickly enough, the bones setting themselves and mending. Stretching it and flexing my fingers to test them, I then lowered my right hand and retrieved my staff before slamming it onto the ground.

Black mana crackled around me, but even though its effects was drastically reduced by Sakaguchi's Holy Blessings, it was enough to intimidate the human soldiers. Furthermore, the girl was closing in to catch Sakaguchi in a pincer attack.

Realizing that he was cornered, Sakaguchi lowered his sword and glared at me.

"Tanaka."

"Yo." I raised my left hand and waved it at him. "It's been a while, Sakaguchi."

He glowered at me, and then glanced around, as if half-expecting something. A flicker of disappointment crossed his face, but he returned to glaring at me.

"Where's Akane-san?"

"Who?"

"You…!" Sakaguchi growled, and then caught himself. "Asakura Akane. Don't play games with me. Tell me what you've done to her!"

"What makes you think I've done anything to her?" I countered. Sakaguchi bristled.

"Don't lie! She was…she was following you!"

"Why would Asakura follow me?"

Sakaguchi roared and stomped on the ground, which split under his foot and sent cobwebs of cracks snaking away. His soldiers shuddered involuntarily at their master's raw fury, but held their ground in their disciplined formations.

"You know…!"

"How would I know?" I shrugged. "Asakura is your girlfriend, not mine. She has no reason to follow me."

"Bastard! Akane-san's goal was to kill you! That was why she insisted on tracking and following you! But if you're still alive…then she failed…you must have killed her!"

"Why was she aiming to kill me?"

I stared coldly at Sakaguchi, but he fell silent. he turned away and spat something into the ground, hissing something bitterly under his breath.

"What was that?"

"…because you're Tanaka."

"Huh? What bullshit is that? What's wrong with me?"

"Because you're a pathetic loser who doesn't deserve to live! You're weak, stupid and irritating! That's why you must die!"

Not this nonsense again…

I still didn't understand my former classmates' irrational hatred of me. What I did understand, though, was that they were going to kill me if I didn't kill them first.

So I raised my staff and pointed it at Sakaguchi, getting ready to clash with him. Having realized his predicament, Sakaguchi had gathered his forces in a single, dense cluster to break through the north point and escape.

He knew this battle had been lost.

"Go! Don't turn back! We're going to get out of here!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now!"

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Sakaguchi sprang forward, and a frightening number of knights followed him. Even though the human army had lost over 70% of their forces from my armored assault, the remaining 30% were charging through the north point, which was the weakest constitution of my forces. Knowing that I couldn't hold the rushing tide back with a single platoon and APC – they would be overrun in mere seconds no matter how many enemies they shot down – I ordered a retreat.

"Fall back! Let them pass! Don't pursue!"

"Bastard!"

Sakaguchi hollered as he descended upon me. I parried his broadsword with my staff, even as the ground cracked and crumbled beneath my feet. Knocking him off, I attempted to engage him in battle. If Sakaguchi was willing to fight me to the death here, I was more than happy to kill him here. It would solve a lot of problems.

However, even with my Redwood Robe to protect me, Sakaguchi proved to be a formidable opponent. I could find no openings against him, even as I exchanged multiple blows with him. I drew upon the blood of fallen soldiers to unleash a hail of blood spears against him, but unlike the time with Asakura, my spears lacked the force and power because of the Holy Blessings that remained in effect over the area.

Those that hit failed to penetrate his Divine Defenses, and Sakaguchi swatted me away. I stumbled, but managed to regain my balance before throwing myself at him again.

Clang!

We traded another couple of blows before Sakaguchi knocked me back with his superior strength. He bore down on me, but I blocked his blade with my arm. The sleeve of my Redwood jacket held against the weight and sharpness of his broadsword and I retaliated with a swing of my staff, which was absorbed by his divine armor.

"…!"

Wow, we were two defensive-orientated warriors fighting against each other. We both knew that this was quite the stalemate, with neither of us able to gain the upper hand. If anything, Sakaguchi had the upper hand because he negated most of my magic, but thanks to my Redwood jacket, he also failed to deliver the decisive blow.

"What the hell are you? No…it's that jacket…what the hell is that jacket?!"

"None of your business," I replied and struck him. Sakaguchi repelled my strike with his gauntlet before delivering a riposte. I twisted my staff and deflected the wicked point away from my vitals, but just barely.

"You…you killed Akane-san, didn't you?!"

"Does it matter?"

"I swear…I will get my revenge! How dare you kill Akane-san!? A pathetic, no-name, weak loser like yourself…know your place! You should never have tried to stand up to us! You should just recognize your place as the bottom of our class! Fuck you! Fuck you for trying to overreach! Just die already, why don't you?!"

"I should say the same to you and the whole class."

"Fuck!"

Sakaguchi hit me away, and was about to close in when he suddenly spun around to parry the two spears from the red-haired girl.

"Have you forgotten that your opponent is me?"

"Fuck! Just leave me for now! I'll fight with you once I kill that bastard! I must kill that bastard! I must, I must, I must…!"

"What's wrong with him?" the girl frowned and retreated after trading a few blows with him. Sakaguchi was literally frothing at the mouth. "Are all of Evelyn's Chosen supposed to be insane?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if they are," I muttered. Turning around, I blew up a bunch of human knights who were scurrying to safety.

That woke Sakaguchi up and he knocked the girl away before pouncing on me. I batted him away on instinct, throwing him toward his men. Twisting his body in midair, he landed on his feet, but he didn't turn back toward me.

"?"

I watched him, puzzled, half-expecting him to come roaring at me. But he didn't. Instead, he gathered his men and ran.

"Go! Get out of here!"

"…eh?"

I was stupefied by his sudden change in heart, but I didn't question it. Having ordered my men not to pursue, I would be setting a poor example by ignoring my own command. And besides, I needed the rest.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, I relaxed a little and watched as the human army fled the battlefield.