Inside the Bartfort family's airship.
Nicks gripped a nearby handrail and stared out the window.
"Is this what war is? It's nothing like the wars I knew."
Optical weapons and live shells were being unleashed from the allied space battleships.
And from the Empire's side, monsters were being released, charging at them.
From the communicator, only an inorganic voice could be heard.
"Advance. Interception is unnecessary."
Balcus, sitting in his chair, brought his fist down on the handrail.
"You're telling us to push straight through this!?"
"All forces, advance."
Normally, this would be a scene where they'd want to slow down so the armors could deal with the monsters.
But Fact would not allow it.
Nicks felt his anger rising too.
"Where the hell is the enemy even supposed to be!?"
They were being told to charge an enemy they couldn't even see with binoculars.
It was so different from everything he knew that he was thoroughly confused.
Even so, Balcus shouted to rally the panicking crew members.
"Everyone, right now we follow orders and go full speed ahead! If we hesitate, the airships behind us will get scared and stop too! Move forward!"
There was meaning in the Bartfort family airship taking the lead.
Understanding this, Balcus was shouting for them to push forward.
Holding onto the handrail in the shaking ship interior, Nicks voiced his opinion to Balcus.
"Pops, are you really telling us to charge through a swarm of monsters like that!? And besides, just now――"
Before he could finish, the area ahead grew bright.
The captain shouted.
"Everyone, grab onto something!"
The interior immediately shook violently, and ahead of them, a spaceship deploying its shield was blown apart.
As the sinking spaceship passed by and fell away, Nicks watched it go and wiped away his cold sweat.
"That's already two airships like Luxion that have gone down."
A short while ago, an enormous light that seemed to swallow up entire fleets had been unleashed.
Knowing that was the enemy's attack made advancing forward terrifying.
"My lord, it's dangerous! Let's fall back!"
When the captain said this, Balcus crossed his arms and kept looking ahead.
"No. If Leon chose this method, there has to be a reason. That guy acts to win. Trust him and advance!"
No matter how far they advanced, the Empire's fleet wasn't coming into view.
Nicks grew impatient.
(Leon, you really have this under control, right?)
◇
"――Lowering Arcadia's evaluation."
When Fact muttered this, the supporting artificial intelligences also began performing calculations one after another.
"Kingdom forces' speed is increasing."
"Two more main cannon attacks are predicted before contact."
"Remaining shield ships: three."
At this rate, the Kingdom's forces could make contact while sacrificing only the shield ships.
However, faced with the power of the enemy's main cannon, the morale of the Kingdom's forces was starting to drop.
Even when informed of the situation, there were too few commanders who could grasp it.
Fact also predicted a scenario where the Kingdom's forces would collapse from within before making contact with the Imperial forces.
"At this rate――"
Just as he was thinking the win rate was dropping, an airship moved forward.
It was the former principality――the Fanoss Ducal Family's airship.
It was broadcasting communications to all ships, with Cleare providing support.
"What is this?"
As Fact was thinking they should refrain from doing anything unnecessary, Hertrude's voice rang out.
"It seems all of you in the Kingdom's forces are quite slow on your feet."
Hertrude, speaking provocatively, was on the battlefield commanding her forces.
"At this rate, will the Fanoss Ducal Family take first spear? You gentlemen are all talk and no action."
Aren't you frustrated to lose to a woman like me?
Receiving that taunt, some of the Kingdom's forces increased speed and moved forward.
Fact could not comprehend the sight.
"What is this? Why did they increase speed over such a provocation?"
To Fact, who only knew Old Humanity――regular military personnel――it was an incomprehensible sight.
And alongside the Fanoss Ducal Family was――the Republic's airship.
"That's not something we can let pass. Then, allow the Alzer Republic to take the vanguard."
The next to speak was Erik.
Participating as the Republic's representative, he encouraged the soldiers under his command.
"Brave soldiers of the Republic! A battle of this scale is nothing compared to that nightmare! Advance without fear!"
The nightmare referred to the day the Sacred Tree went on a rampage in the Republic.
The Republic's forces, who knew that terror, bravely increased speed and advanced.
Hertrude teased Erik.
"Are you trying to show off in front of the Saint?"
"Sis――mmph! It would be an honor if the Saint witnessed our valor. But, we are the brave Republican Army! We are not cowards who would shrink back from this much!"
Then, communications from various ships came in to Fact.
"Don't let the Fanoss Ducal Family get carried away!"
"The Republic's forces are brave? It seems 'brave' has a different meaning in the Republic."
"Don't fall behind them! Show them the Kingdom's pride!"
With just this much provocation, allied forces increased speed, and the overall pace went up.
Fact was bewildered.
"――Incomprehensible."
But with this, they would be able to make contact with the Imperial forces earlier than expected.
◇
After the Imperial forces fired their main cannon for the third time.
Bartholt had his eyes closed.
The soldiers were starting to get noisy.
"Kingdom forces have approached to visual range!"
"Republic ships confirmed!"
"Part of Arcadia's shield has been pierced!"
Against the retreating Imperial forces, the momentum of the charging Kingdom forces was tremendous.
Bartholt opened his eyes.
"This is far enough."
The magical creature nodded.
"The enemy doesn't know our trump card. No, they likely misunderstand it."
Bartholt stood up.
"All forces, intercept the Kingdom army!"
The Imperial forces' formation was set up to lie in wait for the charging Kingdom forces.
That meant the Kingdom was at a disadvantage.
And there were no allied airships in front of Arcadia.
"I would have liked to save the trump card."
To Bartholt's mutter, the magical creature responded.
"No matter. Arcadia will not sink."
Bartholt raised his arm, and when he lowered it, his hand was pointed at the Kingdom forces in front of him.
"Fire!"
When Arcadia fired its main cannon, the enemy moved a defense-specialized spaceship to the front to block the attack.
The magical creature curved its single eye――its physical eye――into a bow shape.
"The enemy will think the next attack is forty-five minutes away."
Bartholt issued his orders.
"Begin bombardment! Deploy the armors too! However, do not deploy them around Arcadia."
◇
The flagship of the Redgrave Ducal Family.
Aboard it, Vince felt relieved that they had been able to close to firing range with the Imperial forces.
"Now they can't use that attack either. All forces, get as close to the enemy as possible!"
Vince being here was also for the sake of the Redgrave Ducal Family's reputation.
And his son Gilbert had been assigned as escort for the Lycorne in the rear.
In this battle, not participating would mean losing all value as a noble.
So both Vince and Gilbert had no choice but to participate.
Above all, considering the future, non-participation would be a disgrace.
When the Redgrave family's airship drew close to the enemy, bombardment began.
"Your Grace! The enemy has deployed armors!"
When the Imperial forces deployed their armors, Vince also deployed the Kingdom's armors.
"Intercept them!"
And then, Vince made a face like he had bitten down on a bitter bug as he observed the Imperial forces' equipment.
(Every single airship is a new model.)
Instead of the old style with cannons lined up along the sides of the hull, they had proper gun turrets prepared.
Even the armors looked superior to the Kingdom's.
"Those Imperial bastards, just how long have they been preparing? But, once we close the distance――"
Immediately after, the ducal family's airship shook violently.
"Wh-what's happening!?"
The captain shouted.
"I-I don't know. Light suddenly came pouring down――"
Looking out the window, a light fired straight up from Arcadia had burst open, and was raining down on the Kingdom's forces.
It pierced through the magical barriers the airships deployed, and Kingdom airships sank one after another.
The ducal family's ship was slowly sinking as well.
"Damn you, Empire!"
As Vince shouted this, the light pierced through the ducal family's airship and made it explode.
◇
"Father!"
Inside the Lycorne.
A holographic image of the battlefield was being displayed in three dimensions, and watching it, Angie cried out.
Cleare was confirming the situation with Fact.
"Hey! Nobody told me the enemy would use an attack like this! And it's just being scattered around――this isn't even a main-cannon-class attack!"
That attack had been a single shot of the main cannon dispersed.
Taken by surprise, nearly a hundred of the Kingdom's ships had been sunk.
Even with the Lycorne deploying shields and providing support, that many vessels had gone down.
"I'm aware. The enemy appears to have been accumulating energy. Their actions up until now were meant to mislead us."
"Stop calmly analyzing things and hurry up and come up with countermeasures! Forget us, the Kingdom's ships can't take this!"
"Currently analyzing."
"You piece of junk!"
And then, there was movement on the battlefield.
Against the Kingdom forces whose vanguard had collapsed, the Empire's regular forces launched their attack.
Noelle looked at the battlefield and pointed at the surviving allies.
"There are still allies left!"
Marie also confirmed those allies.
"The Fanoss Ducal Family and――the Republic! Erik and the others are safe!"
The Fanoss Ducal Family's fleet, which had barely held on, and the Republic's airships built by Ideal were unharmed.
They were fighting the Imperial forces.
Angie immediately gave Fact instructions.
"Send reinforcements immediately! At this rate, the entire vanguard fleet will be brought down by the Imperial forces."
Angie, with tear-filled eyes and a trembling voice, was worried about Vince who had fallen.
But there was no spare capacity to divert to rescue operations.
"If we move forward, we'll be exposed to the enemy's attack again. We will maintain distance and continue the attack."
"Are you abandoning our allies!?"
Then, Marie shouted while watching the holographic display.
"Wait a minute! That ship is Leon's――Bro's family!"
◇
Even after taking a direct hit from the raining light, the Bartfort family's airship was somehow still afloat.
Nicks staggered to his feet.
"P-Pops!"
Balcus was giving emergency first aid to injured crew members, and when he was done, he stood up.
Blood was flowing from his forehead.
"Pops, are you okay!? More importantly, we need to retreat now. Almost all our nearby allies have been sunk!"
Then, Balcus placed his hands on both of Nicks's shoulders.
"Nicks――this ship is already descending slowly. You, just as you are, go rescue our allies in the sea."
"Pops?"
The airship was still intact and not sinking.
So why was he saying something like this?
As Nicks was thinking this, Balcus continued.
"We took damage and we're withdrawing from the front line. That excuse will hold up. You, just as you are, rescue our allies and then get away quickly. From a battlefield like this, run away immediately."
"B-but! Pops, you too――"
From the way Balcus spoke, it sounded like he was trying to remain alone.
"If I run away too, I won't be able to face the allies who've gone down. ――Take care of the family."
Saying that, Balcus left the bridge and headed for the hangar.
"Pops!"
When Nicks tried to chase after him, the captain stopped him.
"Let go! Pops is――!"
"Young master! No, Lord Nicks――please consider the lord's feelings."
Told this, Nicks felt the strength drain from his body, and he sank to the floor.
Then, seeing one armor fly out from the hangar, he shouted up at the sky.
"Leon, how long do you plan on hiding!?"
He shouted at his younger brother, who hadn't shown himself on the battlefield.
Then, one of the crew members shouted.
"Young master! Below!"
When he stood and looked down through the window――at the sea surface――Luxion's bow emerged from there.
It was a sight just like a whale surfacing from the ocean.
Wrapped in white spray, Luxion appeared with its main cannon pointed at Arcadia.
And then, a pillar of pale blue light burst forth.
That light struck Arcadia's magical barrier, crackling with bursts of sound.
Nicks broke into a smile.
"You're late, you bastard!"
Attacking from directly below Arcadia, it was attempting to pierce its barrier.
If it pierced through, that troublesome enemy fortress would sink.
Then victory would be assured――everyone was convinced of it――and then, Arcadia's magical barrier changed color to a reddish-black.
When a reddish-black mass appeared directly beneath the fortress, it began accumulating energy.
Just looking at it, you could tell it was dangerous.
And then, that mass was fired straight at Luxion.
Tearing through Luxion's pale blue attack, the reddish-black sphere struck Luxion's main body and punched a hole through its hull.
"――Eh?"
An explosion erupted from that hole, and Luxion slowly tilted and vanished into the sea.