50 Chapter 50: Spearhead assaul

Under the cover of darkness, our tanks and mechanized infantry reached their respective positions before dawn broke. A few vampire scouts on loan from Haemorage kept us updated on the enemy's position, and as I suspected, they were slowly trickling toward the mountain pass in a single, long line.

I ordered Elia and Gio to keep their APCs and infantry hidden deep inside the forest, specifying that the move out only after the entire human army had embarked onto the mountain pass. And even then, I told them not to open fire unless absolutely necessary. I didn't want to give away our hand so soon.

We needed to lure the enemy into our trap first. That would maximize the casualties we inflicted on them.

"Sir?"

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I blinked when Daniel called out to me. Unlike most of the tankers, I had chosen to stand outside, in the forest. Probably as a precaution, so that I could respond immediately when the inevitable assault from the human hero descended upon us.

"Yeah?"

"Are you all right?"

"Of course. Why?"

"…no, nothing, sir."

Even as Daniel dismissed his question on his own, I realized why he asked. My hands were twitching involuntarily. Even as I tried to maintain a façade, I felt nervous.

Well, it was only natural. I was about to execute an order that would kill a significant number of soldiers in a 10,000-men army. While it wasn't the first time I had taken command over a rout – in Raum's castle, and to save Lilith's forces from Sakaguchi's invading army – this was the first time I was actually carrying out an offensive from my own volition rather than responding to an attack that had already taken place.

Technically, there wasn't any difference, but my subconscious seemed to say otherwise. Pushing my glasses up, I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

There's no difference at all. No difference…

Oh, I understood why now. Without the enemy actually in sight, the waiting was what killed me. Fretting over when they would arrive, waiting for them to show up, and getting nervous over them actually not showing up or suddenly seeing through my plan and ambushing us…yeah, the uncertainty of death when it hadn't happened yet was unnerving.

Pull yourself together. Don't show your men any sign of weakness.

Yeah, I was a sci-fi military fan. Sue me.

The hours slowly crept past, and I ended up dozing off here and there. As I said, I had never received formal military training, so these operating procedures were alien to me. The scouts occasionally reported back, but it seemed the enemies' movements were slower than anticipated.

Yeah, they're being led by a former high school student like me, I thought sardonically. Without any proper command school training, it was impossible for us to behave or think like proper soldiers. I wouldn't be surprised if the hero was throwing a tantrum at the difficult journey and causing the delays on her own.

On the other hand, Sakaguchi had his soldiers in check, and I was actually doing a fairly decent job of commanding for an ex-student who was thrown into this whole mess out of the blue, if I might say so myself.

"Major?"

My receiver crackled and I thumbed it.

"Yeah?"

"Scout 1 reporting here. The enemy has begun moving into the pass."

"Great. Thanks. Keep an eye on their movements and let me know if there's any changes."

"Yes, sir."

"All right, people." I switched the frequency so that I could talk to Elia, Gio and the commanders of the infantry company. "Look alive. Stand by. You know the drill. Once the whole group has gotten onto the mountain pass, wait until it's clear before you guys take up your positions. As discussed, mine the path with explosives. The moment the enemy comes running back, blow them up. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Elia's voice was still bright and fresh. Apparently she didn't sleep at all. I didn't blame her, she was the one most excited about this operation.

"Dressia, wake your tankers. We're on standby. The moment they show up, you know what to do. Let them have it."

"Yes, sir."

Daniel popped his head out of the hatch and saluted. I smiled.

"It shouldn't be long now. They'll be here in two hours."

"We'll be ready by then," Daniel promised. I nodded.

"I know you will. I'm counting on you."

Turning away, I glanced up at the sky. Dawn had just broken, and the sun was peeking right over the horizon. The human army must have attempted to make use of the darkness to cover their movements, but unexpected delays had foiled that. The whole line would be clearly visible to us in broad daylight by the time they reached here.

*

And they were.

I silently signaled for Daniel to hold fire, and the tanks obeyed. We waited for the line of human soldiers to trickle through the pass, and gradually more and more of them emerged from the curve, filling out the entire trail. The moment the mountain trail was teeming with life, armored soldiers, horseback cavalry and archers, I barked a sharp order.

"Fire! Fire at will!"

The tanks thundered, exotic beams of devastating magical energies erupting from their cannons. Bluish-white plasma slammed into the mountain pass, the superheated blobs disintegrating both men and soil and destroying the terrain under their feet. Scores of human soldiers died in the first bombardment, incinerated into ash or having chunks of their bodies vaporized. Those that survived died slowly, third degree burns scorching their flesh.

But we weren't satisfied.

The tanks boomed again, an orchestra of death as superheated beams whined and blew over the stunned humans. More knights were obliterated, not knowing what hit them. The line froze, completely at a loss at this sudden assault.

If it was a conventional attack, such as arrows from below or even hails of fireballs from enemy magicians, perhaps the human soldiers would have responded a lot better. But they had mostly never seen tanks before, had not experienced their sheer destructive power. Those who had didn't survive to tell the tale, and the heroes usually eliminated the tanks before they could unleash the full potential of their firepower.

After all, tanks were not subtle, stealthy things. The heroes, being from the same modern world I was from, instantly recognized the sight and sound of the armored, lumbering behemoths, and would strike them preemptively before they could ever get close to the human lines.

However, I had used my tanks in a very different manner…in an ambush, rather than armored juggernauts that crushed the enemy from the front. As such, the hero accompanying the line of infantry never saw them coming, and couldn't launch the preemptive strike to take them out before they obliterated her army.

A third volley barked sharply again, and yet another significant portion of human forces were erased. By now, most of the men had snapped out of their stupor and were scrambling, trying to retreat. There was no cover to seek refuge under – the mountain pass was completely exposed to our cannons. That was why I had selected this place to spring the ambush.

With no cover, and with men dying right and left, the survivor tried to retreat the way they came. They couldn't advance. Daniel's tanks had pummeled and disintegrated the trail, turning it into molten rock or flattening it into a steep slope. Those who were still in shock, unable to move, were taken out by automatic weapons mounted atop the turrets, or hull and sponson weapons.

Those who snapped out of their stupor were more likely to survive…the initial bombardment, at least. In any case, they wouldn't die as quickly as the men who had given in to despair and fallen to their knees, unmoving from shock.

There were a few who responded – the archers took potshots into the forest, trying to aim in the direction where the plasma beams emerged. None found their targets – the tanks were parked too far away from the mountain pass, out of range from the arrows. The plasma cannons and automatic rifles on the tanks had far greater range than even the most powerful bows. All the arrows fell helplessly, out of reach. The archers were rewarded with shells and plasma, the gunners responding in reflex to take out those shooting at their armored protection.

There was only one person in that entire army that could actually stand up to a tank, and she was one of the first to recover and respond. I saw a figure jumping from the mountain and propelling herself toward our position. Placing her feet against the slope, she kicked off and launched her body toward the tanks, creating a sonic boom with her flight.

Chewing my lip, I stepped up to meet her. No doubt this was the hero, one of my former classmates.

"Lieutenant, you have my permission to pursue. Continue harrying them as they retreat, and provide fire support for Captain Kratz and the infantry. Kill as many as you can. I'm handing command over to you now."

"Yes, sir!"

Daniel barked orders to the rest of his tanks. They reversed and began moving, their turrets rotating so that the cannons continued to point toward the mountain pass while the gigantic treads rolled over the muddy terrain of the forest.

"You…!"

A yell echoed throughout the forest. As the hero launched herself toward one of the tanks, I quickly jumped in to intercept her. Swinging my staff, I batted her away.

"!"

As expected of the hero, her reflexes were godly. She twisted her body in midair and swung her sword forward to counter my strike. I parried her blade, and tried to twist it away, but that bought her enough time to do a cartwheel and land on both feet.

"…!"

The girl skidded backward and raised her head to glare at me. Then her jaw dropped when she recognized who I was.

"You're…that loser Tanaka!"

"Miyazawa Miyako," I greeted her. One of the girls who hated me because…well, I was me. According to her, I was a creepy, ugly and pathetic stalker who should be locked up and executed. She had complained to the teachers about me stalking her, but because I didn't, her complaints were dismissed on the grounds that there was a lack of evidence.

I was glad the teachers weren't biased toward me like my former classmates were. I still didn't understand why they hated me so much.

"How…how are you here? How did you survive?! You should have died! We killed you! We threw you out of the transportation space!"

Yeah, that reminded me…Miyazawa was one of the girls who helped Kobayashi and friends toss me off the Bifrost-like place. What a bitch.

However, something more important occurred to me and I frowned.

"Huh, you didn't get the memo?"

So Sakaguchi and Asakura didn't mention that I was alive to the others? I thought they would, and that the mercenary guild would have reported me as alive to the heroes. Or perhaps the heroes didn't share information amongst themselves?

Interesting.

Unfortunately, I wasn't given much time to contemplate that. Miyazawa was swinging her sword at me, forcing me to deflect it.

"Whoa!"

"Loser! How dare you humiliate me like this!? How dare you attack me and my army?! Who do you think you are?! You're just a bloody, pathetic loser!"

"…"

By the same token, what right did Miyazawa have to attack the demons?

I wanted to ask her that, but it was clear that Miyazawa was in no mood to debate. Just as I thought, she was obsessed with killing me, almost frothing at the mouth with hatred and rage. I chewed my lip as I jumped back, trying my best to outmaneuver her.

"Do you think I'll let you get away?"

Miyazawa's blade almost caught me, but my Redwood jacket protected me. I almost chortled when I saw her sword have no effect on the magical defensive layers.

"No," I replied instead. I didn't want to give away my trump card yet. I needed her to believe that she could scratch me, could kill me somehow. Then, with her guard down, I could finish her with one blow, as long as she didn't possess anything as ridiculous as Sakaguchi's Divine Defense.

Unfortunately, Miyazawa's swordsmanship was almost on par with Minamoto Kureha's. Try as I might, I could barely keep her at bay, her blade coming dangerously close to piercing me. If it wasn't for my Redwood jacket, I would have a dozen scratches by now. I wasn't even able to deliver a counterattack or retaliate. So brutal, swift and precise were her every strikes that I could barely breathe while blocking as many as I could.

"…!"

Miyazawa had noticed that something was amiss. None of her strikes were getting past my defense even though she knew for sure she had managed to slice my skin or face. Yet I was still completely unscathed.

"A defensive spell?" she muttered to herself. "No…an enchantment? Or an object? Not the weapon. Must be his equipment…that jacket?"

She was sharp. I bit my lip and activated Absolute Appraisal.

Name: Miyazawa Miyako

Species: Human

Job/Rank: Fencer/Hero

Special Abilities: Elegant Dancer

What the heck was Elegant Dancer supposed to be?! Well, I found out by tapping it, and apparently it said something along the lines of having deft, swift footwork, heightened evasiveness and pinpoint precision.

No wonder her fencing was so flawless. Now that I looked closely, Miyazawa's sword was a rapier rather than a normal sword. She continued to hop back and dance around me, avoiding my black spells while slashing with terrifying accuracy.

I unleashed a Doombolt in her direction, but she evaded it with amazing swiftness, spinning around elegantly like a dancer.

Come to think of it, certain forms of martial arts have their roots in dancing…following some sort of rhythm.

"Just die already!"

Before I could figure out how this new information would be useful, Miyazawa snarled fiercely and thrust her rapier forward. This time, I wasn't able to parry it, and the point of her sword found my heart.

Or would have, except that the tip stopped, parried by my Redwood Robe.

"…!"

Miyazawa sprang away, fleet-footed, as I tried to counter with a swing at her head. Damn, but those moves of hers were really annoying. Even if she couldn't hurt me, I wasn't able to hurt her at all. If I could only get a solid hit…!

"It is that jacket, after all!"

"?"

I stared at Miyazawa as she suddenly proclaimed the source of my defensive powers, then tilted my head in confusion.

"It took you this long to figure that out?"

"Shut up!"

Miyazawa bounced backward, light on her toes, and then lowered her rapier to set the thin blade parallel to the ground. Mana swirled around her violently, turning into a gigantic spiral that narrowed into a sharp point at the tip of her rapier.

Almost like a drill.

"Dancing Drill Strike!"

Kicking off the ground, Miyazawa launched herself at me. I tried to block her drill with my staff, but the sheer force of her strike knocked it out of my hands and slammed into my chest.

…or would have, if I didn't catch the rapier with both my hands.

The whirlwind of mana nearly tore my hands apart, the spinning drill slamming into the protective layers of defensive magic that my Redwood Robe generated. The first three layers were pierced at one go, shattering under the tremendous impact. The fourth layer barely held, stopping the drilling rapier from penetrating further.

"Ooooh!"

With a yell, Miyazawa poured more of her magical energy into her rapier and intensified its destructive power.

"Kuh!"

I grunted as I felt myself pushed back. Even as I infused more mana into my Redwood Robe, the ground beneath my feet began to shatter and I skidded backward, leaving two scorched trails of dirt in my wake.

Miyazawa drove her rapier relentlessly forward, trying to pierce through my defenses. I held firm, refusing to bow even as my 4th defensive layer was cracking under the enormous pressure. Gritting my teeth, I dug my feet in and tightened my grip on Miyazawa's rapier. With a roar, I wrenched it away from my chest.

"Just break away!" Miyazawa shrieked desperately.

"No!" I hollered defiantly.

The fourth layer began to shatter.

"Ah!" Miyazawa howled, almost triumphantly, when she sensed that something was going to break. She poured a bit more mana into her strike, hoping to finish the battle in what she thought was the decisive strike.

The entire place erupted into an enormous explosion. Waves of mana expanded, uprooting trees and sending their broken trunks flying. Those that remained firmly rooted in the soil swayed violently, as if being tossed about in a hurricane.

In that instant, the forest where my armored company had camouflaged themselves in before dawn was reduced into a smoldering crater.

"Huff…huff…"

Miyazawa was panting heavily from the strenuous effort, her face red and perspiring profusely. She glanced up as she sucked in a lungful of air, surveying the gigantic smoking crater with no small amount of glee.

"I…I did it!" she crowed. "I killed that pathetic loser!"

"Oh, you did now, didn't you?" I clapped my hands sarcastically. "Congratulations! Want a round of applause for your efforts?"

"W…what?!"

Miyazawa staggered back when she spotted me, still standing in the epicenter of the fuming crater. As the smoke gently dissipated, she saw that I was completely unscathed. Her eyes widened and she stumbled backward.

"How…?! Impossible! I felt something break! I definitely felt your defensive barrier break! There's no way…!"

Oh, she certainly did break through the fourth layer of my Redwood jacket. I would have to give her credit for accomplishing that much. What Miyazawa didn't know, however, was that my Redwood Robe had twelve layers of protection. She only broke through a third of it. Even Suzuki Shirou's God-Slaying Strike had penetrated more layers in less than a quarter of the time.

Not only that, my Redwood jacket was currently regenerating their defensive layers. In less than thirty seconds, the four defensive layers that Miyazawa had broken through were completely restored, thus nullifying her earlier attack.

I had no intention of telling Miyazawa that, though. The less my enemies knew about me, the better. I wasn't some stupid protagonist or villain going around explaining my abilities, limits and weaknesses to the enemy just so that they could find a way to counter them. Gloating felt good until the opponent turned the tables on you.

Then it felt stupid.

"Just what the hell are you?! And how did you get such a powerful item? This is just impossible! Even though you're just Tanaka!"

I shrugged and took a step forward. Sensing that something had changed, Miyazawa jumped back on instinct, raising her rapier defensively.

"Don't come closer!"

I stopped. Miyazawa regarded me warily, her rapier still pointed at me, but she made no move to attack.

Just like that, we maintained our positions for a while, our gazes locked. Miyazawa studied me briefly, and then twisted her face in surprise. I didn't have to read her mind to know what she was thinking. I had the advantage right now, especially after she spent so much mana on her last attack that failed to penetrate my defenses.

So why was I not attacking?

Because I didn't need to.

The trees rustled. The forest stirred. Slow, scraping footsteps that belonged to countless bodies drew closer.

"Ah," I cocked my head and smiled. "They're finally here."

Bursting from the forest, the dead shambled toward a stunned Miyazawa. Her eyes widened when she recognized them – corpses wearing the uniforms of the human armies, faces of those subordinates she had led onto the mountain pass.

While the majority of the human soldiers had been incinerated or disintegrated by the superheated weapons of Daniel's tank company, a large number of them remained whole, dying from burns, or merely having parts of their bodies vaporized. There were those who had tumbled to their deaths as my tanks erased the terrain, falling a great height from the now-absent mountain pass and breaking their bodies on the rocks below.

It was these dead now who had risen up in legions, seduced by my call and bound to my will. Forcibly brought back as zombies, they now turned upon their former commander, who looked as if she had sunk to the depths of despair.

"Now then," I smiled at Miyazawa Miyako. "Shall we dance?"