Pushing forward toward the power reactor, we had been forced by the layout of the corridors to move once again through a passage close to the outer wall.
"We're really getting closer, right?!"
When I asked Luxion, he replied as usual.
"No problem. That said, the internal structure is hard to comprehend. It lacks functional beauty."
Maybe it's because it's a fortress built by the New Humanity, or maybe it really does lack functional beauty.
Luxion's complaints didn't stop.
"To begin with, there's so much wasted space that this is――Master!"
The moment we pulled back from that spot, Imperial armors broke through the wall and burst in.
"Found you, intruders!"
It seemed they'd punched a hole in the outer wall and forced their way in through it.
"Tch!"
Greg immediately darted out and brought down the enemies, and Julius looked at the hole the Imperial soldiers had come through.
"This is bad. The enemy is gathering."
Through the hole, the outside scenery was visible.
Several airships.
And armors and monsters―― tons of them.
"These guys are really going all out."
"Dealing with this many is going to be troublesome."
The enemies were converging on this spot.
Then Brad stepped out in front of us.
"In that case, this is where I come in. My machine is suited for fighting large numbers."
The lance-shaped drones mounted on his back could be remotely controlled.
Indeed, they were well suited to taking on multiple enemies.
"Idiot! Like I can leave you here alone. You're the――"
I swallowed the words "weakest of us."
But it was Brad himself who finished my sentence.
"The weakest, right? I understand that myself. That's why I'm the one who'll buy time here."
I was grateful for Brad's resolve.
"You guys, really, why is it only at times like this that you―― listen, if it looks bad, run."
"Even as flattery, I'd want you to say 'catch up to us' instead."
When we tried to move on, Luxion said, "I will leave drones here as support," and unmanned units carrying containers took up positions around Brad.
Then Jilk halted in his tracks.
"Leon-kun―― and Your Highness. Brad-kun alone would be worrying, wouldn't it? I'll stay here too."
Jilk, Julius's milk-brother, who was supposed never to leave his side, was now saying such a thing.
Julius granted permission.
"Do as you please."
"Then I'll do just that. After all, I'd rather not have enemies flooding in from here."
Jilk leveled his large rifle and started picking off the enemies who closed in on him.
He called out to me.
"My apologies, but please take care of His Highness for me."
"You're pushing this guy off on me, huh."
Hearing that, Julius voiced his dissatisfaction.
"What do you two take me for? ――Leon, let's go. We can't waste any more time."
Greg called out to the two of them.
"Don't go dying on us!"
The two were smiling.
"Same to you."
"Your Highness and the rest, please be careful as well."
◇
The two who had stepped outside the fortress were eliminating the enemies surging toward the hole in the wall.
Brad sent his six lances flying, having them charge at and pierce through monsters.
Meanwhile, he himself held a lance and took on Imperial armors.
"Kuh!"
Among the enemies attacking him there must have been an ace, because he was being pushed back by a tough opponent.
"Like I'll let the likes of you kill my familyyyyy!"
The Imperial soldiers, too, understood the meaning of this battle.
Brad raised his voice.
"It's not like we can just say 'oh, sure' and let ourselves lose either!"
He fired the gun built into his left arm at point-blank range into the enemy's cockpit, and the enemy plummeted as is.
When the lance-shaped drones returned, they mounted onto the back of his machine and began recharging.
Brad looked at the enemies that just kept gathering one after another.
"Where in the world are these guys coming from?"
Jilk, taking aim with his rifle, shot through the bridge of an enemy airship.
Without pause, he then destroyed its cannons, disabling that one ship completely.
"At any rate, we hold them off here. Once Leon-kun and the others stop the power reactor, the enemy will surely stop fighting too."
But there was anxiety as well.
"I'd be glad if they did stop, though."
Even if the reason for war disappeared, there was no guarantee they wouldn't charge in out of desperation.
And besides, the war wasn't being fought by them alone.
He was uneasy about the situation of their allies.
From what he could see and from the information coming in, the Kingdom army had already lost over two hundred ships.
"The fact that they're somehow holding out is thanks to the Republic and the Fanoss Duchy, huh? Honestly, it's a complicated feeling."
For Brad's family, which had long been tormented by the Fanoss Duchy, it wasn't a situation he could be happy about with a clear conscience.
"It seems Serge-kun of the Republic is doing his best too."
"That guy is?"
Brad, deploying a magic circle to blast away the swarming monsters with a wide-area attack spell, was a little surprised.
(I'd like to go help them, but on the contrary, we're the ones who could use reinforcements. Sorry, but they'll just have to endure.)
Amid the many enemies bearing down on them, Brad and Jilk endured desperately.
◇
Inside the Ricoeur.
Pressing a hand to her chest, sweating, Livia's breathing was ragged.
"Th-the voices――"
Receiving the voices from the battlefield with her whole being, Cleare assisted her by extracting only the necessary information.
Tears welling in her eyes, enduring through her suffering, Livia had Angie rubbing her back.
"Livia, don't push yourself. If you're tired, rest."
Livia shook her head side to side.
"If I don't do my best here, I won't be a help to Leon-san."
Livia, enduring while shedding tears, was in a state where she could collapse at any moment.
Marie was looking at the Arcadia.
"Bro and the others will succeed, right?"
She must have wanted them to come back safely.
It was the same for everyone.
Then, an image floated up in midair.
What was projected there was Gilbert.
"Angie! I've organized a fleet. From here on, we'll be moving up to the front."
"B-big brother?! What are you saying!"
"Father's airship has been sunk. Someone has to step forward and take command. We can't keep relying on the Republic and the Fanoss family forever."
The large airship passing alongside the Ricoeur was the one owned by the Redgrave family, which Gilbert was aboard.
One after another, the Kingdom army's airships followed, filling the gap left by the broken vanguard.
Gilbert made a request of Angie.
"If I die, I'm counting on you to be the Redgrave family's guardian. If need be, you may pass the family on to your child."
"Big brother!"
"The path you chose is that kind of path! ――You have the duty to protect the country, even at the cost of family. Don't forget that."
Angie cast her eyes down.
Then, when she immediately raised her face again, she had her usual expression.
"Fortune in battle."
"Now that's my sister."
The Kingdom army had already lost close to three hundred ships.
Likewise, the Imperial army had lost many airships, but neither side could retreat.
Normally, this would be a scene where the Kingdom would admit defeat and withdraw, but defeat here meant death.
Neither side could pull back.
Livia, hand against her chest, stood up and looked ahead.
"To the front―― we'll move to the front as well."
Cleare was startled.
"Livia-chan?!"
"The Ricoeur will move to the front and protect the Kingdom's people. If we don't―― I'll never forgive myself――"
Suffering, Livia pressed against her chest.
Angie pressed her forehead against Livia's.
"You shouldn't push yourself either."
Then, she swept her gaze over the faces gathered in the ship.
"We're moving the Ricoeur to the front. Anyone who wants to get off, evacuate immediately."
Noelle raised both hands slightly in a surrender pose.
"You've got to be kidding. I'm not getting off now."
Yumeria, too, clasped hands with Kyle and nodded in agreement.
Carla, clinging to Marie's arm, also nodded that she wouldn't run, even while trembling.
And Marie showed a smile.
"If you hadn't said it, I was about to say we charge in."
To Marie, who answered with her chest puffed out proudly, Angie narrowed her eyes and said,
"We're moving forward, but I never said one word about charging in."
◇
Jilk, while dealing with monsters, was watching the movements of the Kingdom army.
"They've sent the rear fleet to the front, have they. At this rate, the Kingdom side is being driven into a corner."
In terms of military strength, the Kingdom side was at a disadvantage.
What had been holding it up was Leon and―― the artificial intelligences lending their power.
Because the drones were handling the troublesome enemies, the Kingdom's casualties were fewer than expected.
But even those drones were being shot down one after another.
Jilk pointed his handgun at an enemy armor that had closed the distance, and shot through its cockpit.
Then he tossed the rifle aside.
"Swapping out."
At those words, the drone carrying the container prepared a replacement rifle.
Jilk took it and leveled the rifle.
Through the scope attached to the rifle, an image came in.
Looking at the magnified image, he held his breath.
When he pulled the trigger, a single bullet pierced through two Imperial armors that had been flying toward him, sending them both falling.
He immediately searched for the next enemy and pulled the trigger again the same way.
"Really―― this is getting tiresome."
He'd thought he wasn't afraid of war.
It's by fighting that one is a knight.
But, having experienced the battlefield many times like this, he realized.
War is not something one should engage in.
"It seems I'm more suited to paperwork."
If he survived, he resolved to search for a path that avoided war as much as possible from now on.
Fortunately, the next king was a pacifist.
(No, he's not a pacifist. He's just naive.)
But even that kind of king, he didn't dislike.
(What's lacking, the vassals supplement. It's just that simple.)
He'd cooperate as much as he was able.
(For the sake of a happy life with Marie-san!)
Thinking that, he pulled the trigger.
◇
Advancing through the interior of the Arcadia, we discovered the route connected to the power reactor.
There were many enemy forces stationed there, but we forced our way through with the Arroganz.
"Out of my wayyyy!"
Destroying enemy armors one after another and pushing forward―― what awaited us there were knights clad in magic armor―― plural.
"Master, magic armor."
"They show up in a group, huh."
The leader of the magic-armor-clad knights spoke up.
"To think you'd actually come all the way here."
When I took my stance, Greg and Julius stepped out in front of me.
"Leon, you calm down for a bit!"
"Take the resupply. We'll handle them."
Facing the two of them were three magic armor knights.
If each of them took one on, it seemed they could just barely manage―― but unfortunately, there was no time.
"Master, the enemy's main cannon is about to be ready to fire. If we don't bring this to a quick conclusion, our allies will suffer damage."
"Right. ――Luxion, the enhancement drug."
"Master, that's out of the question!"
"It's an order!"
Luxion lowered his eye, and then complied with my order.
"――Yes. Administering the enhancement drug. Time until the neutralizer is administered: nine minutes, fifty-eight seconds remaining."
From the backpack on my back, a needle drove in, and the liquid entered my body.
"Kah!"
My body grew rapidly hot, and the field of view in front of me narrowed.
It was so painful I couldn't even breathe, and drool dripped from my mouth.
But after a little while, my mood suddenly improved sharply.
Along with the sensation of my field of view widening, I felt as if I could do anything.
Strength filled my body.
My heart felt like it was pounding stronger than usual.
I wiped away the drool.
"You two, fall back."
"Leon?!"
Pushing Greg aside and stepping forward, the magic-armor-clad knight before me started saying something.
"Ho, the hero himself is going to take me on? I am the Empire's knight of the second rank――"
He was announcing his name, but I had no interest.
"Sorry. Not interested."
"Releasing the Arroganz's limiter."
Because my body couldn't withstand it, the Arroganz had a limiter installed.
The limiter was a safety device.
It had been put in place so as not to overburden the pilot, restricting the Arroganz.
The drug's effect was so great that releasing it caused no problem.
"Wha?!"
Before the magic armor could even grab its weapon, the Arroganz crushed the enemy's head in its grip.
And when it swung down the battle axe, the enemy was cleanly cleaved in two.
"Two more!"
The flow of the surroundings felt slow.
The flustered enemy drew its sword and pointed it at us, but the Arroganz crushed it in its grip and pressed its palm against the enemy.
"Impact."
The second machine was blown to pieces, and the remaining one turned its back to flee, so I hurled the battle axe at it.
Before the Arroganz, both its hands now empty, the armors that the magic armor had been leading stood waiting.
Their numbers filled the corridor and made it impossible to see what lay beyond. Quite a lot of them.
"If you flee, I won't pursue."
I wanted them to flee, but the enemy crushed down their fear and came charging at the Arroganz.
"Don't falter! Show the pride of the Empire!"
"Endure until Lord Finn arrives!"
"As if we'd let them get any further!"
Before the Imperial armors charging at me, I gripped the control stick tightly.
I heard a creaking, grinding sound.
More strength than usual went into my grip.
But――.
"Damn it!"
――I thought tears had come out, but what was coming out was blood.
It seemed it really was true that the burden on the body was great.
"Master, the neutralizer!"
"No. We defeat these guys and push forward!"
I sent the Arroganz charging at the Imperial soldiers, and destroyed them all.