95 Chapter 95: Defense of the Tomb

The journey took a little more than an hour, but eventually our armored convoy of Malthas tanks and Cerberus APCs reached the outskirts of the tomb, which was about twenty kilometers away from the peripheral city of Haefield.

A huge mausoleum stood proudly, alone in the barren wasteland. The white, polished marble surface gleamed in the morning sun, affording the immense structure a majestic appearance. It really looked appropriate as a tomb for a king.

I mean, let's be serious. There was no way a commoner could afford to be laid to rest in such an enormous structure. It reminded me of the pyramids in Egpyt, or the terracotta tombs in ancient China, or the kofun graves in ancient Japan.

"The objective is just ahead. Everyone, get ready to disembark!"

Captain Elia Kratz, the commander of the light infantry company, announced over the vox. Her voice was tense, crackling over the soft static that hissed over the comns. Lieutenant Daniel Dressia and Lieutenant Benjamin Burado similarly issued simiar instructions.

"All right, guys. You know what to do. Pull our tanks over to our assigned positions, and make sure our weapons are facing outward. Let's give any idiots who dare trespass upon this sacred ground hell!"

"Get ready to disembark. You know the drill. We'll be protecting his majesty's resting place with our lives."

Not wanting to interfere with my officers' command over their respective companies, I remained silent and instead trained my eyes on the auspex and holographic pict-screen inside my Malthas Executioner tank.

"This is Alucard's tomb…"

There were at least three tombs that had been forged throughout the millennia for the various vampire kings and queens who had ruled over Haemorage. They were spread all over the borders of Haemorage – but thanks to the longevity and what was essentially immortality of the vampires, there wasn't a need to build countless tombs. The dynasty changed very infrequently as vampires didn't die from old age.

I wondered how Alucard died. He must have fallen in combat against a powerful foe. Against one of the past Evelyn's Chosen, summoned thousands of years ago or something. Speaking of which, Lilith's mother also had a tomb north to Haemorage, but I wasn't insensitive enough to pry. I doubted Lilith would take my questions too kindly.

I was only a "fake" lover, after all.

"…"

Upon successfully defending the tomb, we were to investigate the altar and retrieve whatever weapons and technology we deemed useful and necessary for the war effort against the humans and Evelyn's Chosen. After all, the legendary Alucard was said to have fought the entire legion of Evelyn's Chosen by himself all those centuries ago, and was more than a match for them before his eventual defeat.

The weapons he wielded must possess terrifying power.

"This must be the first time you're seeing this."

Lilith's voice came over a personal channel. She had used a channel that was open only to me, so as not to let the soldiers overhear. I frowned at the use of personal channels during a mission, but technically she ranked higher than me, so I couldn't say anything.

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"Uh. Well, yeah."

Even though I was supposed to be a gravekeeper, this was the first time I actually saw a grave in Restia.

"I haven't been in this world long enough. Maybe two months?"

"…yes. Restia is vast…there are too many things to see within a lifetime."

"…yeah."

"But since we're vampires, we probably have all the time in the world to see everything in Restia." Lilith mischieviously giggled. "Perhaps we could explore the world in a few centuries…maybe a millennium at the most?"

I sighed. "Then what of your duties and your domain, your highness?"

There was a pause that indicated that Lilith was shrugging. "I can always abdicate and leave my throne to my descendant."

She would have to have a descendant first, and from her tone, I knew that she would never hand her throne over to her uncle.

"All right! We've reached! Go, go, go!"

As the APCs roared to a stop, the ramps slammed down and the passengers began to disembark. Unstrapping their harnesses, they lifted their rifles and shouldered them, filing out in disciplined lines.

"Move in!"

I frowned when everyone got into the tomb without any problems. I thought it was supposed to be sealed, and could only be opened by Lilith's blood, but evidently it was not the case. Either Bradley and Kishimoto were trolling me or they were referring to the secret altar that served as the heart of the tomb. Well, we would find out either way.

I stayed with the tanks as they parked in huge alcoves that could provide both shade and excellent cover for the tanks, and still afforded them a clear view of the surroundings. The treads spinning, the tanks reversed into the alcoves and whirled their turets and hulls around to point their weapons at the outside. The sponson weapons shifted and tracked the exterior, the sponson gunners keeping an eye out for the enemy.

"I'll leave Company T to you, Dan."

"Yes, sir!"

Once all the tanks were in position, I disembarked from my tank and hopped into the interior of the tomb, where the infantry were hurrying about. Stopping in front of the command outpost that the two infantry companies had set up, I nodded at the three commanders.

"Ben, how is Company H doing?"

"They're all setting up heavy weapons along the openings and hatches – it seems that the schematics are accurate. We're having them take position in Lighthouse, Tavern, Hotel and Inn, as instructed."

Those were military codenames for the locations we marked and arranged in our holographic schematics yesterday, and I nodded in satisfaction.

"Good, I'll check on them later. Captain Kratz?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get Company L to form up and task them with scouting the tomb. I don't want any surprises. If there's a discrepancy, or a hidden chamber, make sure they report back. Also ask them to map the tomb and see if there's any difference between the schematics we have and the real thing. I don't know if the interior of the tomb has changed."

"Doesn't seem to have changed much since the last time I was here," Lilith remarked as she entered the outpost. I shrugged.

"Nonetheless, I don't want to get caught by surprise. Captain Kratz?"

"I understand! I'll get Company L to scout and recon the entire area!"

"Thanks."

"Lieutenant Vanni!"

"Yes, ma'am."

The two commanding officers of Company L hurried away to dispense my instructions. I nodded at the rest of the command staff, and then proceeded to check on Company H.

Company L, H and T. They were designated as such thanks to their various specializations, such as Light infantry, Heavy infantry and Tanks. Normally regiment were specialized, such as infantry regiments or armored regiments, and there were very few regiments that were mixed. Mine wasn't even a proper regiment, but a battalion, and we had two infantry companies and a single armored company. While it made us flexible, it also lacked the numbers of a normal infantry regiment or the sheer firepower of an armored regiment.

"Ugh…"

However, in the present, there weren't enough tanks in Morten to field entire armored regiments. It was a pity…I wanted to field vast armored columns of Malthas tanks and super-heavies, but that was logistically impossible.

Morten had yet to manufacture that number of tanks. We were overly dependent on the industrialized Moria to produce our weapons, and should the dwarven kingdom fall, none of the other demonic kingdoms in Morten would be able to step up to the task.

We couldn't allow Moria to fall at all costs.

Well, let's focus on the mission at hand first…

The heavy infantry saluted me when I came up to them. Ben had positioned the separate squads on various window-like openings and ledges, which both afforded them cover and shelter from the outside. They could unleash a devastating hail of fire down below, while duck down in cover should the enemy retaliate. They also had the high ground advantage.

"Sir!"

"Major!"

"Stand easy. Keep your eyes on the outside. Seen anything yet?"

"No, sir!"

"Nothing yet, sir."

I nodded. Everything had gone according to plan. The enemy shouldn't be here until tonight at the earliest. Even Bradley Kreuger hadn't shown up yet with his house's militia. Unlike us, Bradley Kreuger and his troops didn't have APCs or transports, so they had to march here on foot or on horses. The problem of technological backwardness…

"Stay vigilant, guys. Don't let them sneak up on us."

"Yes, sir!"

After making my rounds, I headed back to the command post to continue monitoring the situation outside. As I suspected, Bradley was still hours away from reaching, and there was no sign of the enemy. I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't appear today. The human armies might possibly arrive a few days later.

Unless…

I shook my head. No point launching into useless speculation. I should focus on the goal at hand. Turning to Elia, who was exchanging dialogue with her subordinates over the vox, I waited patiently for her to finish.

"How is the scouting going?" I asked when she glanced at me.

"Good. Nothing much…there's a chamber in the middle – the altar that holds the body of King Alucard – that we can't access, but other than that the layout of the tomb is exactly the same as the schematics."

"Make sure they avoid the monsters in the forests, caverns and lakes. We don't want to accidentally get into a three-way fight."

"Yes, Major. They're keeping their distance for now. As long as we don't bother them, I don't believe they will attack."

"Good."

"Sir!"

The comns officer, a boy named Benard Beltayn, turned to me.

"Lieutenant Dressia on the line, sir!"

"Oh, right. Hand the receiver over."

I took the receiver from the flustered comns officer and nodded gratefully to him before bringing it to my ear.

"Tanaka here. What's up, Dan?"

"Sir, we've spotted the enemy."

Daniel's voice was tense. I frowned, my fingers instantly tightening on the grip of the receiver.

"How many?"

"5,000. It seems that they're spreading out to siege the tomb…just as we expectd."

"That was fast."

"Yes. I was expecting them tomorrow or two days later…but it seems that they'll reach us by evening."

"The earliest window, huh…"

Good thing we had reached the tomb in the morning and took up positions in the following hours.

"All right. Keep your eyes on them. I'll be heading out."

Hanging up, I quickly spoke to Elia, Gio and Ben, informing them of the situation. Then I quickly left to take charge at the armored lines.

"What's the disposition of the enemies?" I asked as I headed toward my tank, clipping the voice-bead in my ear.

"Still the same. Spreading out and tightening the noose around us."

Despite the strain in Daniel's voice, I smiled.

"Let them come. We'll spring the trap on them."

"Yes, sir."

Hopping onto the top hatch of the Malthas Executioner tank, Purity of Faith, I slid into the tank commander's seat. The driver, Jurgen glanced at me.

"Good to see you again, sir."

"Good to be back…is what I would like to say, but we have a major engagement coming."

"We heard about that, sir," Corporal Gunnery spoke up. He was the main gunner, and was wheeling about in his seat to track the targets with the Malthas tank's plasma executioner cannon. "We have them on radar. They'll be here by evening."

I grinned. With our advanced technology, we could see the enemy hours before they could see or hear us. The advantage was with us.

"All right. Let's do this."

The hours slowly ticked by as we waited in the cramped, hot confines of the tanks. Even though I was happy to have a wall of armor between me and the outside world, being a tank crew member was far from comfortable. We didn't have proper air conditioning and had to rely on magic to maintain the temperature at bearable levels. I could feel perspiration dripping off my face as we slowly baked in the heat of the crew compartment.

"They're approaching."

"Are they within range yet?" I asked. Daniel's voice crackled over the vox.

"Not yet."

"Good. Hold your fire. Wait for most of them to come within range before we unleash our firepower. Lieutenant Vanni?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Continue keeping an eye out for scouts. Snipe them."

The famed veteran snipers in Company L had been deployed accordingly and were keeping their eyes on the approaching forces. I was sure the military would send scouting elements forward to reconnoiter the base and estimate the enemy's strength. I didn't want to give away the knowledge that my tanks were here unless I absolutely had to.

"They're coming! Within range!"

"Hold your fire," I ordered, keeping my eyes on the auspex. The red arrows indicating the enemy's disposition were flooding in, almost like a swarm of ants crawling all over my screen. Emperor on Terra, but there were so many of them!

"They're getting nearer!"

"Hold!" I snapped.

There weren't nearly enough within range yet. I didn't want to fire too early and only graze the first few lines of the enemies. If I did that, the majority of the human army would fall back to safety, out of range of my tanks, and look for alternative approaches. I wanted to maximize the damage I could inflict on the enemy.

These weren't civilians. I had to remind myself that. As much as I loathed killing anybody, be it humans or demons, I had no choice. If I didn't kill as many human soldiers as I could, they would wipe out my men and subordinates. These weren't innocent, helpless civilians with no way of fighting. They were trained killers, armed to the teeth.

Activating the visual holographic screen, I saw ranks upon ranks of armored knights, cavalry and foot soldiers marching across the wasteland. Idiots. There was absolutely no cover, nothing for them to take shelter under.

They would be massacred within minutes.

The moment half of them were within range, and we were in danger of being overwhelmed and overrun by sheer numbers, I gave the order.

"Fire! Fire at will! Destroy the heretics! For the Emperor! For Morten!"

"For the Emperor!"

A roar erupted over the vox as my men hollered in fury. Bright, blue blasts of plasma lanced out from both executioner plasma cannons and sponson plasma cannons, ripping through the hordes of soldiers and knights. They didn't stand a chance. Hundreds of them were incinerated instantly, disintegrated to ash and nothingness by the superheated blobs of bluish-white plasma. Their armor, despite being blessed and consecrated by priests and warded with defensive runes, couldn't endure the sheer firepower of plasma.

However, the zealots kept coming. Despite losing hundreds of them in the first volley, the fanatical devouts of Kobayashi shrieked, bloodcurdling cries that echoed in the evening air, and sprinted forward with no regard to their safety.

"Are they crazy?" Gunnery gasped. I shook my head.

"No. they've been brainwashed. Continue firing!"

A second volley of plasma bursts streaked out, carving molten craters into the wasteland and laying waste to hundreds more. In just two volleys, we had wiped out at least twenty percent of the enemy, killing easily over a thousand of them.

The smarter ones at the rearguard were already withdrawing and regrouping. But the bulk of the human forces were still coming. At this rate, they would reach the tanks and overwhelm us through sheer numbers alone. I doubted their melee weapons such as swords, axes, spears or arrows could penetrate the thick armor of the Malthas tanks, though. Before eighth edition came, our front armor plating had an armor value of 14. Now, we were Toughness 8 with a 3+ armor save. These guys' weapons would probably be Strength 2 or 3 with AP 0. They would need at least a thousand strikes before they could finally even begin to chip away at our armor.

But obviously, I had no intention of waiting for that to happen.

"Lieutenant Burado, they should be within range now. Open up with the heavy weapons!"

"Roger that!"

All over the tomb, the heavy weapon squads unleashed a withering hail of fire from their heavy plasma weaponry. Automatic bursts of bluish-white projectiles – smaller than the immense blobs lobbed from the Malthas Executioner tanks – arced down from the ledges and windows, peppering the incoming knights and wiping them out. Their heavy steel armor might as well be thin, wet paper, instantly vaporized by the superheated rounds.

In a single spray, the heavy weapon squads scythed down at least five hundred of the incoming troops. Several of them paused to change barrels and reload, but the tanks were well on their way to cover them, releasing streams of plasma from their cannons and immolating large swathes of infantry and horses.

By now, half of the human army was wiped out. But they kept coming. Despite suffering catastrophic losses, the remnants of the human army were throwing themselves at us. At least a thousand soldiers had retreated to regroup and reassess their tactics, but there was at least fifteen hundred men still milling around and charging us.

"Again!"

Covered by the heavy infantry, the tanks allowed their plasma cannons to cool down before they incinerated the survivors. There were less and less soldier running toward our positions. By now, they numbered less than a hundred and were easily picked off by the snipers in Company L. Those who got too close were roasted by heavy flamers operated by the vampire heavy infantry who were standing guard at the entrances of the tomb.

"…that was quite the massacre."

I shrugged at Daniel's surprised remark. In less than ten minutes, we had essentially wiped out eighty percent of the enemy forces, which was unprecedented in Restia history. The technological revolution might have played a huge part in that, but the real reason was far more insidious and sinister, especially when I thought about the so-called Emperor of Humanity.

"Kobayashi, that idiot. He failed to realize the problem of indoctrinating and brainwashing his followers into fanatical zealots. It might be a terrifying enemy if we were fighting conventional warfare, and any other army would have fallen to fearless, crazed zealots devouted to only a single cause…but bring in anti-horde weaponry such as blast weapons, plasma cannons and flamers, and they would just die for absolutely nothing."

"Do you think the survivors will retreat?"

I regarded the auspex. The survivors were still milling at the edge, just beyond the tanks' range.

"No, it doesn't seem like it."

"Sir! Enemy contact!"

A panicked voice from the rear of the tomb. If I remembered correctly, Sergeant Harker, the tank commander of the Malthas Executioner tank, Blessings of the Emperor.

"It's the Evelyn's Chosen!"

"I'm coming!"

Throwing down my headset, I nodded at Jurgen.

"I'll leave things to you, Jurgen. Take care of Purity of Faith."

With that, I shoved the hatch open and hauled myself out into the open. Stumbling down from my tank, I raced toward the position of the Blessings of the Emperor.

"Sir?"

Daniel's voice crackled in the comns-bead in my ear.

"Take command of the tanks, Dan. If the surviving troops of the enemy approach, obliterate them. I'm going to engage the Evelyn's Chosen in combat."

I could hear Daniel swallowing on the other side.

"Hedas bless you, sir."

"…right."

Vaulting over to the Blessings of the Emperor, I was just in time to stop a blinding golden beam of light from piercing it and blowing up the poor tank. Grabbing the golden beam, I crushed it in my hand and hopped to the front of the hapless tank.

Smoke billowed from my hand. I recognized the spell, Divine Lance. It was one of the first spells I had seen cast by my former classmates, to blow open the fortress of the previous Demon Lord and invade it. If it hadn't been for the twelve defensive layers of my Redwood jacket, I would have lost my right hand from that powerful blow.

"So you've come."

Ahead of me, holding her staff, was none other than Kishimoto Hikaru.