Unexpected Entrance of the Sword Demon from Beyond the Stars
The ranks of the Dragoon tank corps and their partners, the Heavy Silhouette Black Tiger corps, were partially reduced.
The Wild Horse Dragoon tanks suffered considerably greater losses.
They were taking on an all-out assault of a large number of Murders.
Four Enyo’s advanced to their position, followed by two Philotes. In addition, there were two additional Enyos at the rear providing artillery support. At the very end of the enemy formation was an Ate.
A large number of medium-sized Murders such as Rhinoceros Beetle-type Keres, Mantis-type Keres, and Ant Commanders were assembled around them.
The Philotes had many built-in small spider-type Keres within their frames. It can be said to be a land-based carrier strike group composed entirely of Murders.
The Wild Horse tanks moved to shield the Black Tigers, which were heavy Silhouettes, and the latter received little damage as a result.
However, the onslaught of the giant Murders was enough for the front lines to break.
「Support the retreat of the Black Tigers! Hurry!」
Nyanta shot a Mantis-type with her Silhouette’s AK2 and shouted a command through the comms.
In a sense, the Epona and Epos can also be considered as quadrupedal tanks. Their ability to serve as a vanguard and defensive wall was quite high.
However, support fire simply wasn’t enough to take down the giant Murders.
A feeling of anxiousness spread among the ranks of the Therianthropes. They feared that they would soon buckle under the assault.
The melee-type Epos unit cut down an Ant Commander with their large combat claws.
An Epos caught a slash from a Mantis-type with its combat claw.
「Nyaa–!」
The cat-eared girl piloting the Epos cried out and finished the Mantis-type off with a giant cat punch.
The drawback of engaging in close combat was that it was easier for one to get surrounded by enemies. The cat-eared girl got surrounded by other Mantis-types in the blink of an eye.
The girl was Nyanta. She kept the enemies in check using her AK2 and quickly launched ground-to-ground missiles from the pods attached to both sides of her machine’s horse-like lower body. This allowed her to break through the encirclement.
「The situation here is better than over there! So do your damn best to hold the line!」
Nyanta didn’t use her usual verbal tick as she gave out precise orders.
She was referring to the Lanius corps who were dealing with the Enyos.
They were trying their best to engage the Enyos one by one at close range, but they were facing four of the latter after all.
There were Lanius A1s that got critically damaged and proceeded to retreat, and there were also ones that were completely destroyed.
Then, the Philotes unleashed their spider-type Murders.
「Reinforcements are coming. Just hold on for a little bit more.」
Kou was cutting down enemies at the forefront while worrying about his allies who were gradually decreasing in number.
「The reinforcements from Ulysses have arrived! 400 Epona units, 20 Badb Catha units, and 80 Wurger units!」
A transmission came from Aki.
「Kou-san, we apologize for mixing personal feelings into this battle, but please allow us to handle the Philotes.」
A young man from Kurt Maschinenbau called out to Kou.
For him and the rest of the Kurt Maschinenbau employees, the Philotes was a hated enemy that attacked their home, and a target for revenge.
「Understood. I’ll leave it to you!」
「Thank you!」
The Badb Cathas began to dance in the air. The Wurgers mainly provided cover fire. The armor of the Wurgers have also been converted to electromagnetic armor. It was only natural since they were basically sister machines of the Lanius.
That was all in order to fight it out with the Philotes, which they had no choice but to run away from before.
「We’ll get rid of all the giant Murders before the Ate arrives!」
Kou bellowed with conviction.
It was necessary to continue supporting the front line in order to help their retreating comrades.
After bringing down four Enyos, about half of the Lanius corps proceeded to retreat.
There were just too many Keres present. No matter how thick and tough their armor was, there was still a limit to their defensive capability.
Only one regular Enyo and one artillery-type Enyo remained.
Kurt Maschinenbau’s Badb Cathas have also managed to defeat one Philotes.
However, many of the Wurgers ended up retreating.
The machines that retreated were being repaired and replenished inside the Cimon-class. Many worker-type Quattro Silhouettes and regular worker Silhouettes, including Marl and Flack’s machines, endeavored to repair and replenish the combat machines and send them back to the front line as fast as possible.
Kou continued to fight in the front line.
He engaged in fierce close combat, taking advantage of Unit 5’s mobility and improved armor.
「We will be in the Ate’s range in about 20 minutes. We can’t let the defensive line fall back any further than this. Everyone, I’m counting on you for just a little bit more.」
If one passes the forest behind their current position, one would arrive at the coast where the Cimon-class was currently stationed.
It can be said that their current location was the final defensive line.
The Thunderstorms continuously took turns taking to the sky. No matter how high their firepower was, their ammunition was limited.
「But there are still two Enyos and a Philotes remaining sir!」
A Wurger collapsed after taking a critical hit.
「Ugh. So, it’s either we move the line back and engage in long-range combat or retreat fully to the sea huh.」
If they retreated to the sea, the enemies will simply ignore them and head straight to Fortress Area P336.
At that moment, a transmission came from Blue.
「Kou, A Thunderstorm is approaching. It’s a unit I haven’t seen before. I think it’s friendly though.」
「Did it come from Fortress Area P336?」
Kou also had no idea about who it was.
The bombardment from the enemies continued while the two had their exchange.
They could do nothing but withstand the joint bombardment by the regular-type and artillery-type Enyos.
The unknown Thunderstorm dropped a Silhouette.
Held in the Silhouette’s hands were two electromagnetic Japanese katanas. They were gifts sent by Kou to a certain person.
It transitioned into a nostalgic Seiho Goho joudan stance in midair.
One sword was placed above its shoulder while the other was held diagonally in front of its body.
It was a distinctive two-sword stance that prevented an enemy from accurately gauging the range of the sword placed above the shoulder in order to make it harder for them to defend against it.
「Eh?」
Kou turned speechless due to the unexpected appearance of a certain man in the battlefield.
The dropped Silhouette directly cut off a front limb of the artillery-type Enyo.
It then arrived before Kou and proceeded to cut down the Keres surrounding the latter.
It was an azure-colored machine that Kou saw for the first time.
It sent a transmission to Unit 5. The screen displayed the face of someone familiar.
「Takaba Hyoue, here to assist. –It’s been a while hasn’t it, Kou-kun?」
The legendary sword demon who came from beyond the stars, Takaba Hyoue, has entered the fray.
Comment (0)