+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Fort Sagrada

January 29, 1539 CE

"Men of the 1st," shouted Captain Strobel over the gathered officers and troops in front of them. All of them wore freshly cleaned and maintained uniforms and equipment provided by the IYC. Their guns and swords were readied, either slung on their shoulders or kept in their scabbards. They were ready for war—ready for a fight against another calamity, and they listened with rapt attention. "Today is the day."

Captain Strobel's voice rose.

"We will now be departing again in another ambitious adventure down south," he declared. "The rest of the Army of Nomos have stopped their advance for nearly a week already, but that lull will now be ended. The threat that the Calamity of Injustice and his ilk placed on hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the south, will not stand anymore.

"We shall once again act as the tip of the spear. We have trained, drilled, and prepared for this, and with our skills, equipment, mind, and grit, I expect that we will prove ourselves saviors of mankind once more."

The crowd of soldiers rose their heads, proud of the work and history they had done. The 1st Anti-Demon Unit, and especially its main component force, the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment, wasn't just some second-rate garrison unit anymore. No, at this point, they were seasoned veterans, forged in campaigns that defeated the undefeatable in Ygeia and northern Nomos.

The battles they went through left so many fallen comrades, yet when Hans stared at the crowd, he could sense that somehow, the souls of their fallen brothers and sisters were standing here, whispering to these soldiers encouraging words—to carry on the struggle.

"It has been a long journey from Rousselot. For many of you, it must already be a damn long journey from whichever principality you came from. Others, who joined on the way, must have seen this war against demons with the eyes of someone who challenged them at the front. Yet you all stand here, ready to take on the next challenge," Captain Strobel grinned as he curled his fist. "That's why I believe that we will win this one. Long live the Imperium!"

"Long live the Imperium!" shouted the soldiers. Just as quickly, the assembled officers and soldiers of the 1st Anti-Demon peeled out of the ceremonial grounds of the fortress. They rushed into their horses, wagons, and marching stations.

Battalion after battalion formed up, before separating into their respective companies, then marching out of Fort Sagrada. On the walls, the garrison saluted and cheered them on, screaming at the top of their lungs their belief that Nomos would be liberated from the demonic yoke because of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

Horses soon limbered the light artillery pieces, before rushing out of the gates, followed by the dragoons and cuirassiers of the 2nd Fast Recon Battalion, both Salient Squadron and Dragoon Squadron.

They were then followed by the members of the officer staff, Captain Strobel and Captain Weibel surrounded by their staff and guards. Then, the mage engineers on horseback also followed, now bolstered not just by powerful battlemages who had joined the prestigious unit in the crusade against demons.

Finally, the last ones emerged from Fort Sagrada. The first was the Diligence, Adelyn's Wanderfalke, which carried the two angels that would be the centerpiece of the next battle, and then, the last one.

Lieutenant Hans Hoffman and the Peacemaker drove out of the Fort, its gates finally closing as he did. Soon, they were out and about in the countryside, and as Alizée gleefully admired the outside world again on their comms, Hans held his control sticks with a subtle grin.

Calamity of Injustice, huh?

That pompous, arrogant, and seemingly evasive 'old man'. Hans wondered what he was like. He seemed to be so sure that it would be justice to take and harm Hans' valued partner just because Adelyn was the main person responsible for finishing and slaughtering his allied demons.

Hans would now like to demonstrate his disagreement with that form of 'justice'.

No matter how many times I die. Hans vowed as he steeled himself. I'll make sure the true justice that she believes in will be the one to prevail. That's my duty this time again.

Using his captain's code of justice, Hans believed the sentencing for someone like Injustice would be simple—a death just as worse as the ones that Desire and Recklessness suffered, something that Hans believed would be dished out by Adelyn and him, as usual.

Let's see where this one goes.

+++

Nomosian Countryside

February 2, 1539 CE

[1 DEMONIC ENTITY LIQUIDATED!]

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[LVL UP! NOW LVL. 15!]

[PROGRESS TO LVL.15: 38%]

[AVAILABLE AP: 1790 PTS]

The second day of February drew long, as the forces of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit drove further southwards. In front of Hans' mech was a corpse of a ball covered with long spikes—it was another demon that had been dispatched by his unit. Adelyn was the one who took the final shot in the battle, killing it after a drawn-out twenty-minute skirmish.

Hence, as was usual to her ADI MPAT rounds, the fields around the demon were scorching hot, its body slowly being consumed by the embers of an anti-demon incendiary munition.

It was the new efficiency of combat being displayed by the 1st Anti-Demon Unit. Their weapons were now starting to become so lethal, that dispatching a normal demon was becoming easier and easier. As an extra, they were developing constant doctrines and tactics that countered whichever shenanigans individual demons would pull on them, further increasing their effectiveness.

It was why Hans was smiling proudly at their work today—he felt confident about the upcoming battle at Venido.

"That was…a lot of my special munitions expended," Adelyn reported over the comms, her breathing heavy. "Goddess, you even had a close call with that one."

Hans drove his mech sideways, his turret turning to Adelyn, as members of Dragoon Squadron, who had participated closely in the close-quarters phase of the battle, circled and inspected the fallen demon from afar.

"But you had my back," Hans replied, his tone grateful. "It makes it easier to do riskier maneuvers to win easier."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm," Hans nodded. "You kept the demon well-suppressed, so, I could charge in, further disrupt and confuse it, and leverage my double coaxials to its fullest extent. Pretty effective, I must say—and the results speak for itself."

Adelyn gave out a tired laugh.

"Sure you say, you cocky pilot," Adelyn replied. "Just don't get too overconfident. You were almost skewered by one of those spikes."

"Bah, I dodged it, and even if it did, I had my shield upgrade activated," Hans replied, shaking her off. "It's fine."

"Right, sure…"

Soon, Hans and Adelyn left the area, returning to where the rest of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit was camped. It was near an abandoned village, situated right next to the road they were using to march down south. Hans and Adelyn both parked their mechs on the side of the road, and then, they dismounted.

Beside them, rows of musketeers from the Army of Nomos marched forward, seemingly intending to advance ahead of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit. Hans and Adelyn noted it briefly before they walked into one of the houses being used as a makeshift headquarters by the leaders of their unit.

Inside, Captain Weibel, Captain Strobel, the Viceroy, and even General Ercole were in deep discussions. There was a massive map of Nomos placed on top of one of the tables, with small wooden chips with markings based on the regiment they represented, all positioned on areas of the map based on the last reports they had received.

"We're going to push the 67th and 45th over—" General Ercole stopped moving the pieces, turning at Adelyn and Hans as he did. "Oh, the two of you, you're just in time. I apologize if the battle has drained you two greatly again, but I need you both quickly."

"That's why we're here," Adelyn said, and Hans nodded. "What's the current situation?"

"We've received a group of men on horseback fleeing from Venido," General Ercole said. "It would appear that their scouts have recently encountered six demons near the city's outskirts, and two demons tested their defenses last night. It doesn't look too good."

The Virtus general then pushed four regiments on the main roads leading to Venido.

"This is the plan," General Ercole continued. "These four regiments will advance cautiously down south. The 1st Anti-Demon Unit itself will follow behind them as a reserve force. Should any of them come into contact with a demon, the 1st will join in and reinforce the attacked unit."

"Makes sense," Adelyn said. "Should also limit casualties on the 1st. That's going to help with morale and readiness."

"But, the Viceroy here has demanded that we hasten our approach," General Ercole briefly looked at Emilia, who took a deep breath in response. "She decided that if we can figure out quickly that the roads ahead are clear, we can do a forced march to reach Venido in a day or two."

"Look, I've already said beforehand that this is a rescue mission," Emilia said, her voice resolute. "We've been advancing too cautiously since we departed Fort Sagrada. It's simply not sustainable, especially with the previous reports we received."

"That's where you two will come in," General Ercole turned back to Hans and Adelyn. "You two will be advancing ahead of the Army, rapidly. Your goal is to scout the roads as close as eight miles from Venido and figure out if there is any demonic presence on the way. If there is none, you will rush back to us and we will move faster."

"I see then," Hans said. "Well, it's our job anyway, be the vanguard of our forces."

Adelyn nodded, as she tried to present a confident smile to the officers in front of them.

"We'll do it," Adelyn said. "We'll just be extra cautious at it since we might not have support, but we've done this a lot already, and we're used to it."

"That's good to hear," General Ercole nodded. "Well then, we'll march out within two hours. The regiments I have assigned to march forward are already on the move, so they're going to be ahead of us for now."

"Hopefully they don't meet anything on the way," Hans said. "We can launch our sortie ahead of the 1st in thirty minutes, I believe."

"I see," Emilia nodded, pleased at Hans' response. "Good luck and stay safe then. I'll try to keep up within an hour and ride out with my horse."

"You're supporting us?" Hans asked.

"Well, Valeria is with me," Emilia grinned. "I think we'll be a useful extra should an emergency happen if we stay near our forward detachments."

Captain Strobel cracked a grin.

"Your Excellency, you are one of the most proactive leaders I've seen from a civilian post," he said. "The troops appreciate it."

"I hope they do," Emilia smiled. "Alright, good luck everyone. Let's do this together."

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