The Fate in the Game Becomes Reality, Episode 18
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The Fate in the Game Becomes Reality, Episode 18
6. Outbreak of War (2)
After the outbreak of war, the situation did not devolve into a boring local skirmish; instead, it expanded across the entire western frontier.
A full-scale war, plain and simple.
In the end, my division was also thrown into the battlefield, and once the real fighting began, even the communication network on the personal terminal, which had been reserved for officers of regimental commander rank and above, was cut off.
Thanks to that, I couldn't even log into the game and could only sit properly in the seat of honor while commanding the unit together with my adjutant, Haman.
No matter how much training they had gone through, soldiers were no different from expendable supplies on the battlefield, and that seemed to be why everyone looked so tense.
The only person these soldiers could rely on was their commander, but unfortunately, that commander was just a game addict occupying a high position solely because he was the lord's son, so their anxiety only seemed to grow.
I ignored what anyone else was thinking and, like a noble, leisurely enjoyed some refreshments while waiting for the right moment.
"A-a platoon of five Vanguard from the Kroissen Empire is approaching!"
"Don't panic. Pull the formation back. And issue the Vanguard deployment order to Sir Billiam."
"Yes, sir!"
Perhaps because I had confidence that I wouldn't die easily no matter what happened now, I didn't even bat an eye when the enemy Vanguard charged in wearing a terrifying aura.
Thanks to that, the officers in the brigade command and my adjutant, Haman, looked at me in fresh astonishment, but....
"What?"
At my curt question, they quickly turned away, saying it was nothing.
But then it happened.
"Hm?"
Through the vision monitor, I could see a massive amount of energy gathering in the enemy Vanguard's Force Sword.
Frowning, I set down the teacup in my hand and shouted.
"2nd Battalion! Deploy energy shields at full power!"
My shout was quickly relayed to the unit in question, and a blue beam that had suddenly shot out collided with the red shield.
-KWAAAANG!
A dazzling radiance mixed with red and blue stole my vision, and with a savage explosion that made my ears ring, the command post shook as if an earthquake had struck.
'Crazy!'
Even though I already knew the power of the Vanguard, actually facing that overwhelming force with my own eyes only made a bitter laugh slip out.
What kind of swordsman fires off absurd long-range attacks like this?
I can see why, unless you're above the 7th Circle, a mage can't go up against a Vanguard.
"2nd Battalion energy shield is down! It will take 90 seconds to recharge!"
The defensive device that was the lifeline of the soldiers and our command staff had been shut down by a single Vanguard attack.
In terms of price, it was actually more expensive than the Vanguard's Force gear, but in efficiency, they weren't even comparable.
As expected, it wasn't called equipment that changed the course of war for nothing.
'If possible, I wish they'd make some gear for mages too.'
The creator of the Force gear that amplifies aura is Archduke Lucas.
The irony was that, though he himself was a mage, he had made equipment that upgraded the combat power of knights, who were naturally opposed to mages.
Since I'm a mage too, I can't help feeling a little disappointed.
'No, I don't need to be jealous of a mere Vanguard.'
In any case, if I maxed out in the game, I'd become 9th Circle, and there was also Arcia, who was a prime candidate for Grandmaster-level power, equivalent to the 8th Circle.
Wanting anything beyond that might just be excessive greed.
"Brigade Commander, how about pulling the 2nd Battalion back?"
Shaking off my stray thoughts, I accepted my adjutant Haman's suggestion.
"Do that."
Energy shields are assigned by battalion, and since the 2nd Battalion's energy shield had been drained, I pulled them back for the soldiers' safety until it could recharge.
"That was close. We survived thanks to your quick judgment, Brigade Commander."
The officers of the command staff who had escaped with their lives, including Haman, looked at me with friendly expressions.
"We were lucky."
"You're modest."
Nothing comes from falling because someone says they'll put you on a plane.
I shrugged and observed the situation on the battlefield.
'The size of the invading force, which is engaged in fierce back-and-forth fighting, is not much different from our division. The variable is the size of the sky fortress....'
As my gaze turned upward, Haman naturally lifted his head as well.
The brigade headquarters is set up inside the armored train.
A perceptive soldier operated the camera and displayed, as holograms, the objects floating 500 meters above the ground.
And then enormous disc-shaped floating objects that looked like UFOs appeared.
One was deployed over our formation, and two were deployed over the enemy's formation.
The one above our formation had a diameter of 700 meters and weighed as much as one million tons, while the two above the enemy formation had diameters of 500 meters and weighed around 500–600 thousand tons.
These giant UFOs were the sky fortresses, the main aerial force of the modern era.
"The Croysen Empire has two sky fortresses, but they're considerably smaller than our kingdom's."
Just as Haman observed, the enemy's sky fortresses were only about half the size of ours.
"They're probably mass-produced models for invasion."
Even though the enemy has one more sky fortress, the difference in weight class is significant, and the Reinharts Magic Tower's sky fortress is famous for its excellence, so it should not be easily pushed back.
"Seeing as there's no separate intel on them, it looks like this is their first time being deployed."
However, since there would be no reason to adopt such a form without a purpose, I judged that the variable in this war lay with the sky fortresses.
'In war, if the vanguard rules the ground, then the sky fortresses rule the heavens.'
They are cutting-edge weapons that aggregate each nation's arcane technology, but in truth, even in sky fortresses the core is the vanguard's force system.
A powerful 7th–8th circle-class magic artifact is built in as the main gun, but the rate of fire and energy efficiency of magic artifacts cannot match those of force equipment.
Because of that, the primary attack method of sky fortresses is the same type of long-range attack that the vanguard just used against us.
When I looked at another holographic screen, I saw the vanguards of both sides continuing a fierce battle on the ground.
The enemy had increased their mobility using hoverboards, but then, we simply used hoverboards as well.
As a result, the ground was in a state of complete stalemate.
Thus, not only I but everyone in the command staff had their eyes fixed on the sky.
–Chijit.
Massive hunks of metal slowly pushed aside the clouds as they approached each other.
Perhaps the high-output barriers of the two sky fortresses were interfering with each other, because even though they were still quite far apart, thick sparks flew in the empty air between them.
And those sparks became the signal flare announcing the beginning, and the sky was covered in light.
–Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
As if both sides had decided to end each other without probing, every kind of bombardment poured out, including the main guns.
Thanks to that, the barriers did not last long before evaporating.
The attacks slammed directly into the heavy metal hulls.
"That's brutal."
The outer hull, made by layering various alloys over carbon fiber reinforced with enhancement magic, was a full 5 meters thick.
Truly, armor could hardly be more insanely overbuilt.
No matter how much metal is inherently weak to aura and mana, the armor of sky fortresses, which has undergone constant refinements and improvements, was not easily penetrated.
Everyone was dazed by the splendid battle painting the sky.
"Huh?"
But as I kept steadily checking the enemy data being fed into the omnivision, I noticed the information for one of the enemy's two sky fortresses change and frowned in puzzlement.
[Armaments detaching]
[Bridge detaching]
A message whose meaning was unclear.
Then the central section of the sky fortress detached and fell toward the ground.
–Kwaaaang!
Once the disc-shaped central section of the sky fortress detached, the part that remained hovering in midair took on a donut-like shape.
At that sudden development, everyone had question marks floating over their heads.
Just as the omnivision had displayed a message that its armaments were detaching, that sky fortress lost its combat functions and became nothing more than a target in the sky.
A 2:1 fight had suddenly turned into a 1:1 fight.
"What's wrong with that thing?"
"Is it broken?"
"Ha ha, that's hilarious."
At that ridiculous situation, chuckles leaked from here and there in the command post.
But I absolutely could not laugh.
[Mana runaway in progress]
[Mana runaway in progress]
[Mana runaway in progress]
The reason was the data being updated again on the omnivision.
Because of that, I recalled one possibility and was horrified.
"No way!?"
And as if to prove my guess correct, the donut-shaped sky fortress that had lost its offensive capabilities suddenly accelerated and charged toward our fortress.
"Relay this to the sky fortress!"
I shouted, almost in anger.
"It's definitely a suicide attack!"
Haman, who was beside me, swallowed dryly, and the officers of the command staff, who had been snickering at the enemy's inexplicable behavior, widened their eyes.
My words were immediately relayed to the sky fortress.
I was worried that the fortress commander might ignore what I said, but perhaps he had also found it strange, because he began a rapid retreat.
But with its weight reduced and momentum building in its movement, it didn't seem easy to shake off the suicide fortress.
"Anti-air fire!"
The ground forces' strongest anti-air asset was none other than the Vanguard.
That was because, in this world, air power mainly meant sky fortresses with formidable defensive capabilities, so half-hearted investment would be nothing but a waste of money.
It was only natural to judge that it would be more profitable to increase the number of sky fortresses or Vanguards with the money that would otherwise go into the ground forces' anti-air defenses.
But the Vanguard is currently tied down by the enemy, so it can't be withdrawn.
So all they had for anti-air fire was the soldiers' personal firearms and the 5-circle area-of-effect artifacts to support those soldiers.
Thousands upon thousands of sparks shot up from the ground toward the sky.
Anti-air fire from not only our brigade but the entire division that had received the information continued as well.
"It doesn't seem to be working!"
However, the sky fortress was moving at a considerable speed, and because the distance was great, it couldn't take much damage.
And then, in the end.
-Kwaaaaang!
As the enemy sky fortress's mana runaway reached its critical point, an enormous explosion unlike anything seen before engulfed the sky.
'Great Shield!'
The world shook violently as if it had been turned upside down, and a powerful shockwave reached the ground, causing the windows of the command vehicle I was riding in to burst outward as if they had exploded.
Fortunately, I used the artifact my father had given me in time, so there was no major damage inside, but the soldiers waiting outside were thrown back and sent flying, plunging the area into chaos.
"What about our sky fortress?"
I quickly looked up at the sky.
The gray clouds and dust had mixed together, making visibility terrible, but since the omnivision had a see-through function, there was no difficulty in assessing the battle situation.
Sky fortress Asteron.
Fortunately, our sky fortress had not fallen.
It seemed to have been thrown clear at the moment of the explosion, likely because it still had the speed of its attempted escape.
But it seemed to have sustained considerable damage, having failed to completely avoid the aftermath of the suicide attack.
'Thank goodness.'
I was grateful that it had at least not crashed.
If our sky fortress had fallen, a massacre would have been carried out by the remaining enemy sky fortresses.
I straightened up with a sigh of relief.
"Check the Vanguards' status and tend to the soldiers."
At my order, the officers and soldiers of the command staff nodded as if bewitched.
"Yes, sir."