Volume 4 - CH 20

As Parabellum failed to achieve a tactical victory against the Behemoth, suffering considerable losses, they were ultimately forced to abandon their 2nd Line of Defense at the Neral River. Withdrawing their forces to Forward Operating Base Sprut, which was much further away from the river itself, they began to reorganize themselves for another battle ahead.

All the while, various leaders at Parabellum’s mainland gathered in a conference room within their Headquarters, coming together to discuss future courses of action and how to implement them.

「At this time the 4th & 12th Army Divisions along with the 5th Marine Corps Division which have not received considerable damage or casualties, are centralized at our Forward Operating Base which is 15 Kilometers behind the Neral River.

Included in this garrison are 40 Assault Armor which had been repaired and retrofitted, 25 Tank Destroyers (Kanonenjagdpanzer), and 52 TALOS mechanized infantry.   Our main base defense also takes into account the Ratte (Land Battleship) and 13 Railguns, that includes the Gustav & Dora.」

「I see….  I understand that it is quite the force, but I’m not confident that we can win this upcoming battle with our current combat power」

「Mr. President, with the way this is going, we may have to pull back our troops furthers towards the former Canary Kingdom territories――」

「「「「……」」」」

「――Ack!?」

After listening to Chitose’s report of the situation, Kazuya shakes his head in response to something one of the attendees spoke aloud.

Within the packed conference room one of the generals spoke out carelessly, not thinking of what he should say before saying it. Immediately showered with sharp stares, stopping before he could finish his whole comment, he became feeble as cold sweat began to drip from him.

「That idea is not wrong, but withdrawing from the situation won’t cha…..

At this time this isn’t feasible as there’s no way for us to evacuate all Canary Kingdoms citizens who are in the path」

「Tha-that’s right, of course, ahahaha…..」

Kazuya spoke realistically in response, as he threw out a lifeline for the singled out General. Grasping that opportunity, he could only laugh dryly before never speaking out in the meeting again, neither looking towards Chiyoda or Chitose, and keeping his head down.

「That’s that, so let’s get back to where we left off. We need to come up with a plan to deal with the Behemoth and Cannon Dragons before they reach FOB Sprut within 3 hours…. Does anyone have any ideas?」

「「「「……」」」」

I get that it isn’t easy, but doesn’t anyone have a good plan?

Kazuya glanced all across the room towards his officers but no one had opened their mouths.

「――Ah sorry to interrupt you Master, but Karen whose currently within the Varrance Governor’s office is wishing to speak with you on a private line」

「Ah, is that so? Please connect me with her in the next room over. Everyone I apologize, but I’ll be stepping out for a bit」

As a heavy mood filled the dark conference room, Kazuya excuses himself to speak with Karen who is the current governor within the annexed Canary Kingdom Royal Capital City Varrance.

In order to take Karen’s call, Kazuya had gotten out of his seat and left the conference room full of his officers. After entering the adjacent room he presses a button to receive the incoming video call.

-+-+-

『――Hello? Is thing working, can you hear me?』

「It’s alright, I can see you through the screen and hear your voice just fine. Are you having any problems, Karen?」

『I contacted you because I was concerned about the war….. Can you tell me how things are?』

「……we are in a very difficult position right now」

『I see』

Seeing Kazuya’s reply Karen could only softly whisper her thoughts back.

「…….So, uh Karen. There are some issues while we were up against the Behemoth. And in order to solve those issues, I thought maybe we could get someone who knows the about the Canary Kingdom like the back of their hand. I know this is abrupt, but I thought of coming to get you, so won’t you return to Parabellum’s mainland soon?」

『………………Sigh seeing you be like this is…. As your wife, I’m ecstatic that you’d think of me that way, and like any woman, I secretly wish you would come and pick me up personally.  Which is why I will simply wait for you here in Varrance, to come and get me』

Like it was a matter of fact, Kazuya spewed an excuse, desiring to save Karen from the impending danger, but having understood the situation from his face, she turned down Kazuya’s suggestion with a wry smile.

「Are you sure about that?」

『Yes, I’ve decided. It’s not in my nature to leave everyone and run away by myself』

「…….I understand. Then, I’ll make sure to personally pick you up  So just wait for me」

『Yes, I’ll be here waiting but don’t keep me waiting for too long now』

「Yeah」

『Then I’ll be seeing you…… Oh, uh, before I forget. When all of this settles down, let’s go somewhere, just the two of us. Just like that time when we first met, what do you think?』

「Right, let’s’ do that, I’m looking forward to it」

『Hm-hm, me too. Bye now――』

Smiling while laughing back, Karen cut off the video transmission from her end.

「Sigh Now then, it’s about time to head back.」

Now that the video teleconference with Karen came to an end, Kazuya slaps his cheeks, to calm his heart, returning back to his usual self before heading to the conference room next door.

-+-+-

「――Then Master, the plan to intercept the incoming enemy with our current combat power, will that be our course of action?」

「……」

In the end, we will have to go with this course of action, which carries a small chance of victory…..

In the time that Kazuya had gone to speak with Karen, desiring to pick her up from the Canary Kingdom, no ideas had come up within the conference room.

Although he felt apprehensive about it, their best course of action was to intercept the incoming enemy with their current level of forces. It wasn’t much different from their original strategy, but it was the best tactic with a percentage of success.

「Mm-hm, since that’s the case. Let’s get――」

「UM EXCUSE ME!! Can I say something!?」

Right as Kazuya was going to go forward with the current plan, following Chitose’s query.

One individual who had been sitting at the corner of the conference room stood up suddenly, trembling slightly as the raised their voice. Cutting off Kazuya’s words, as all eyes in the room gathered on that lone individual.

「…..Who are you, I haven’t seen your face before, which unit are you from?」

Chitose interrogates the spritely individual with a half raised brow.

「Ah, yes, I!! I’m 1st Lieutenant Eunice Florence, a Technical Officer from 2nd R&D!!」

「Hey, what’re you doing Eunice!? Didn’t I tell you just sit still!! Ah this is bad!!」

The Soldier who identified herself as 1LT Florence a technical officer of the 2nd’s Research & Development unit, quickly responded back toward Chitose’s intimidating question, while being unaware of her companion’s complaints beside her chair.

「I’m filling in as the representative for 2nd R&D, and I came here today with 2nd Lieutenant Lumia Conley!!」

「No, stop that!! Eunice, don’t introduce my name out there like that!!」

Moreover she casually mentioned her colleague Lieutenant Conley.

「And so? You wanted permission to speak? You do realize you interrupted our Commander-in-Chief?」

「Y-yes!! I’m fully aware of that!!」

「Then on top of interrupting Master not long ago, did you really think you’d get a chance to speak up?」

「Eh, uh…..No…..I, that… that wasn’t my intention!!」

「Silence!! This isn’t a casual meeting, where a technical officer at your rank can speak freely!!」

「Eh!?…..I didn’t mean to…..sorry, I’m sorry…….」

Having received a harsh scolding from Chitose, Lieutenant Florence bows deeply while cold sweat flows from her brow.

「……Hmmm, it’s fine, alright Lieutenant Florence the interruption earlier is just a small matter, I’ll forgive it, speak freely」

「Master?」

But just as Chitose had determined there to be little value in a Lieutenant’s thoughts, unexpectedly Kazuya allowed the young Lieutenant permission to say her piece.

「Is that really okay? Even if we allow such a person to speak」

「You see I’m curious to see what kind of idea she may have. She’s free to say it, and we are all free to listen. But if it’s  related to something else entirely…. I’ll leave it for you to decide, Chitose」

「Understood. ――Lieutenant Florence!! Speak what you have to say, you’ve been given permission to do so」

「Y-yes, ma’am!!」

The moment Lieutenant Florence was given permission to speak her thoughts, she hurriedly lifted her head and straightened her posture.

「Ah so, what I wanted to say was couldn’t we convert the Special Assault Armor’s Magic Reactor Core into a pseudo MA-Bomb!!」

「…….Is something like that really possible?」

「Fueeh!?  Ah it should be possible to artificially induce the Special Assault Armor’s reactor to create an explosion, all you would need to do is make the Magical Reactor Core surpass its critical threshold, yes that’s it!!」

Having been questioned by Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Florence lost her train of thought as she fumbled on her words, nervous by Kazuya’s curious response, her eyes became swirls as her face flushed red while she spoke.

「…..Lieutenant, there’s something I’d like to know. Regardless of how large of an explosion we create, if we push the magic core past its critical threshold can we contain the fallout? Rather we are talking about an MA-Bomb, and your conjecture is merely magic application theory, in the first place can we push a magic reactor past its critical point?」

「Yes, you’re right, Ma’am!! The reality is, we don’t know what the critical point of a magic reactor is, and we aren’t sure if we can get past that either. …….I’m sorry, there was no precedent for such a thing」

「Hahaha……. well there was no reason to do so in the first place」

The atmosphere within the conference room was boisterous, but after Lieutenant Florence couldn’t give a straight answer to Chitose questions, the outburst of energy in the room had settled down just as quickly.

「Actually, we may be able to create a massive explosion without need to worry of its fallout」

At Kazuya’s remark, everyone in the conference room became silent and turned to him with curious puzzled faces.

「……Master?」

「Chitose, don’t you remember “that”? It was there when we initially built FOB Sprut」

「FOB Sprut……during it’s construction?」

「Yeah, it’s underneath the original area where the Forward Operating Base’s location was to be」

「FOB Sprut…..Construction…..Something underground…. that?!?! The Underground Lake!!」

Recalling the events she had forgotten, from when she accompanied Kazuya during that time, Chitose’s eyes lit up in shock.

「That’s right. We went out of our way to find a suitable place to build the Forward Operating Base, but there was also a huge cavernous system underground with an immense lake. Why don’t we use that to our advantage?」

「No way…. Are we going to destroy the base with a Magic Reactor in order to knock the Behemoth into that underground lake?」

「That’s the plan. With the underground lake beneath FOB Sprut, the moment the Behemoth travels directly over the base, we destroy the base’s underground facilities with the unstable magic reactor core. Thus causing the behemoth to fall deeply into the ground and water from the underground lake would flow into the grand sinkhole which was created.  That way we can prevent it from causing catastrophic eruption. Doing so, we wouldn’t be using nuclear weapons so there is no worry of radioactive fallout and contamination seeping into the underground caves or groundwater supply」

「But, but will this strategy even work?」

「――Chiyoda!! Which scenario has the best chances of victory, intercepting the Behemoth with our current combat strength or blowing up one of our bases with a magic reactor core in order to immobilize the titan?」

「……..There is a marginal difference, but the 2nd option is higher」

「Then that is what we’ll do!!」

Kazuya who cleared Chitose’s doubts, slammed his fist down on the table before raising his voice.

「Everyone was privy to what was just explained, all of you understand what’s going to happen next, right? We will defeat the Behemoth with the strategy that incorporates both Lieutenant Florence’s & my suggestions!!」

「「「「Roger that, Sir!!」」」」

At the end of Kazuya’s declaration, Officers within the conference room stand and give their salute before they leave their seats.

Departing from the room with a sense of purpose, they head off towards their respective areas of responsibility.

「Technical Officer, Lieutenant Florence」

「Eh!?…… Oh, Yes!! Um, here, how can I be of help?」

Dazed by the situation around her, Kazuya calls out to the Technical Officer.

「I’m promoting you to the rank of Colonel temporarily, for this special occasion, so oversee the completion of the Special Assault Armor’s Magic reactor core, you are responsible for turning that into a MA-bomb」

「Huh? You’re making me…… Colonel?」

「What is it? You don’t think you can handle this?」

「…..What, huh? No, I’ll do it!! I’ll do it!!」

「That’s the spirit!!  Ibuki!!」

「By your side, what is it, Sir!?」

「Assist her, make sure to take care of her needs!!」

「Understood」

Having field promoted Lieutenant Florence to the rank of Colonel, Kazuya commanded General Ibuki to support Colonel Florence who had stayed behind in the conference room.

Accompanied by Chitose and Chiyoda at his sides, Kazuya left the conference room in order to oversee the operation.

This Chapter was translated by [email protected]|\|a

―~――~―――~―――~――~―

Dear Readers using aggregator sites, If you like my work, you can show your support by leaving a comment/ constructive feedback at Hiscension.com .

Although it was midday, volcanic ash had shrouded the world in darkness, as FOB Sprut’s lights had lit up the place like a lone star on a dark night. Countless displaced refugees and evacuees were gathering around this beacon.

And just the same, the Behemoth itself would be drawn towards the beacon which was just the base’s illumination.

「Contact!! The Behemoth has crossed the defensive boundary line! It’s entering the range of our railway guns and the Ratte!!」

An operator reporting of the Behemoth’s advance echoes within the Operations Command Center.

「They’re coming, ……Huh, what happened to the Cannon Dragons and other monsters?」

「Currently, we aren’t able to confirm their presence」

「They’re not present? Where’d they disappear to?…… I guess that may be a good thing. Since they’re not here, it may be convenient for us if they don’t appear at all. But that’s no reason to slack off, stay vigilant――Begin the assault」

Giving the order to attack, Kazuya reminded everyone to be on alert for the Cannon dragons which had given them a hard time from their previous engagement, hoping these creatures wouldn’t appear in this current fight.

In that moment, 13 Railway guns and the Ratte began their bombardment.

Ascending into the ash clouded sky two 80cm shells and a 28 cm shell soared, along with 11 large-caliber rounds. Flying for what seemed to be several breaths, 6 or 7 of the shells struck their mark, which was the Behemoth’s head.

One of the main goals of Parabellum’s attack was get the Titan’s attention while avoid provoking the Behemoth to a point where it would cause a catastrophic eruption. Smoke from the bombardment cleared as the Behemoth’s eyes glimmered with anger.

――Gyaaaawwoooooooooo!!

No, it’s not just angered, it’s in enraged.

「It would be great for it to be consumed by its rage and carelessly advance toward us ――Ibuki what is Colonel Florence’s status?」

Querying Ibuki for an answer, Kazuya stayed fixed on the display as it showed the Behemoth picking up speed.

「Reporting, Sir we managed to move the Special Assault Armor’s magical reactor core from the mainland to our outpost in the nick of time―― It was moved from Camp Dublin and has already been prepared within FOB Sprut’s deepest basement levels. Colonel Florence and the rest of the engineers are on site working on it right now. All that’s left is timing the Magical Reactor Core to surpass its critical threshold」

「Got it, Chitose, what is our backup plan?」

「Reporting, Sir we’ve completed rigging about 50% of the underground facility with explosives. By the time the Behemoth reaches the base, this secondary plan will not fail」

「Good. Then all we have to do now is wait」

Observing the battlefield from a screen within the Operations Command Center, Kazuya and the rest waited with abated breath.

「……That’s!? A horde of Cannon dragons have emerged from behind the Behemoth’s volcano!!」

「Their numbers are well over 20,000!! Huh, what!?  Sir the dragons charging towards FOB Sprut are splitting into several groups!!」

With FOB Sprut being less than 5 kilometers away, a horde of Cannon dragons began pouring out from mountainous volcano on the Behemoth’s back.

It’s not known if this horde of land dragons had gained experience from the previous battles, but what was noticed from this particular group, was their succinct movements. Rather than surging towards the base like a tsunami, they charged in clusters equidistant from each other.

It seems like this group of monsters have some level of intelligence.

Agitated by the Cannon dragons unnatural movements which was more concise than before, Kazuya couldn’t help but admire the sight before giving orders.

「……The time is nigh.  Pull out Colonel Florence and extract our engineers」

「Yes Master, understood」

With the Behemoth and the Cannon dragons nearing the base, Technical Officer Colonel Florence and the engineers who were in the middle of their duties were ordered to withdraw.

「All right then……. Are you bastards ready?」

『『『『Sir Yes sir!!!!』』』』

Having only 3 hours to prepare, the Soldiers who were responsible for revolting and taking control over FOB Sprut were inside the Stridsvagn 103D (Aka S-Tank)

―― these were Captain Haruto Kirishima’s men, their treasonous actions aside, they still followed orders from higher headquarters as they assisted with the extraction of allies who were told to withdraw.

The Stridsvagn 103D they rode was a 2nd Generation Swedish main battle tank, with a 105mm rifled cannon that had its own autoloading system, uniquely laid on its wedged-shaped body. This reduced its overall height & interior which made it fitting for welcoming enemies on the battlefield.

But due to the uniqueness of this tanks turret design, this vehicle has been mistaken for being either a tank destroyer, self-propelled artillery, assault cannon, etc. even though it was created as a main battle tank.

「All units, prepare to fire on my mark―― FIRE!!」

Looking down the tanks sight aperture, Haruto who became the Tank Commander of the 10 Stridsvagn 103D’s in his charge, collectively aimed the L74 105mm guns at the oncoming Cannon dragons. Glaring at the charging monsters he ordered the first volley of rounds at their front.

「All units break contact!! Return fire while bounding back!!」

『『『『Sir Yes sir!!』』』』

Having dispensed 10 shells from their 105mm guns blowing away the Cannon dragons before them, Haruto and his men went full reverse. Utilizing the battle tanks unique feature to reverse at the same speed as if it was charging forward. Haruto and his men withdrew while returning fire with their tanks two fixed 7.62 mm KSP 58 machine guns.

Designed with two driver seats, one at the front and one at the rear of the tank, it was possible to maneuver the vehicle in reverse, retreating while facing their enemy.

「Reloading complete!! Suzumiya, halt!!」

「Yes sir!!」

The moment the tank finished its auto-reloading process, Haruto calls out to Lt. Suzumiya who was in the rear drivers seat to stop.

「Eat this!!」

The moment the S-Tank came to a stop, Haruto who was staring down the tanks sight aperture fired causing the vehicle to shake as it blew away another cluster of Cannon dragons.

「Oh~ not bad…」

Watching Haruto’s plight from the Operations Command Center, Kazuya couldn’t help but say what was on his mind.

「…..Ugh, distasteful」

While Chitose who wanted to get rid of Haruto on the battlefield, became irritated at how well he and his men were performing.

「All units are confirmed to have pulled out of FOB Sprut」

「Sir, the Behemoth is now directly above FOB Sprut」

In service to the ruler he pledged his loyalty to; Haruto and his men managed to fulfill their role in tying up the horde of Cannon dragons movements, before separating themselves from the battlefield.

And by the time they withdrew, the Behemoth stood above the base itself.

But at this time, the Magical Reactor core hadn’t surpassed it’s critical point yet.

「Master, shall we go with our backup plan?」

「No, let’s wait. How long until the magic reactor passes its critical threshold?」

「About 5 minutes, sir!!」

「I see, that should be fine. We’ll just wait a little bit more」

「Understood」

Hearing the operator’s answer, Kazuya belayed Chitose from carrying out their backup plan, voicing words of patience, steeling himself to endure the slow passage of time.

Though mere minutes, FOB Sprut appeared as if it was about to be overrun with the towering Titan, causing Kazuya’s anxiety to grow with each passing second.

「Magic reactor passing the critical point in 3…….2…….1…….0」

5 minutes had passed. It was the moment Kazuya had been waiting for.

The Special Assault Armor’s magic reactor surpassed it’s critical point and an explosion comparable to a nuclear bomb had gone off from beneath FOB Sprut.

Causing a grand earthquake, the surrounding landscape was ridden with innumerable tremors.

The underground facility in the deepest reaches of FOB Sprut completely disappeared from the MA-blast and caused the ground above it to collapse.

Having stood directly above the base, where the underground explosion occurred the Behemoth tried to escape the aftermath, but with the grounds collapse, an abysmal vertical hole swallowed the Titan whole.

Having fallen into the grand shaft, the Behemoth had unfortunately flipped and landed on its backside, without any solid footing it could never bring itself back upright.

Water from the surrounding underground lake, surged back into the hole creating a cold steady muddy stream, as the Behemoth thrashed in it’s miserable state.

Magma from its backside which had been overflowing, clashed with the cool lake water pouring in, creating massive chain reactions of steam explosions that broke down the Titan continuously.

「…….It’s finally over」

Observing the Titan’s fruitless struggle at the simple nature of its demise, Kazuya silently closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

This is a bit anticlimactic isn’t it?