Re: Jager [Mecha Isekai/LitRPG]

+++ Unknown +++

Principality of Armonia

Serenus City

August 22, 1539 CE

Millions of people gathered near the St. Angelo Basilica as Pope Paul XI spoke from its balcony. He preached again and again salvation, vowing to defend the Imperial Capital from the demon scourge and the fallen Empress and her ilk.

They praised the gods, called for their aid, and the pope kept repeating that the valiant defenders now gathered around Serenus, alongside the most powerful barrier known to man that not even a calamity demon could breach, alongside the finest wall system constructed, would be able to keep Serenus safe.

That, and he vowed to vanquish their foes once they arrived at Serenus.

"Mankind will make its last stand here!" the pope proudly bellowed, and the crowd listened. "And once the demons are tired out—we shall strike out and save the rest of our brothers and sisters. My dear flock, I assure you, the gods will be on our side!"

"Long live the Holy Empire!"

"Long live the pope!"

Far from the basilica, however, a riot by 'heretics' began. Soldiers claiming that the pope was a demon spread panic and fear in one of Serenus' districts. Thousands of civilians therefore tried to break free and flee, but loyalist troops surrounded them and cut their escape.

First, the pope's forces tried to convince them that they had been lied to.

When the rioting crowd tried to break through anyway, the atmosphere changed.

They were then branded as heretics, and in seconds, spells and gunfire began to fill the streets. The lucky ones were beaten by the stocks with muskets by the soldiers. Paladins and inquisitors, powerful individuals who served the pope, also joined in the melee.

It was chaos.

It was madness.

But it was going to continue. The news about the Empress fleeing and marking the pope as an enemy of mankind had spread far and wide, including in Serenus. Most people by now had already heard that the fortress cities surrounding the Imperial Capital had switched sides.

But with the pope's propaganda countering it, all that happened was great division between the people between those who believed the pope and those who believed the Empress.

While in the West and the 'liberated' cities of the Holy Empire, papists were silenced and beaten to submission, down here, it was those who believed in the Empress who were being beaten up.

One of the Imperial Army officers watching the carnage could only gloomily hide his face. He didn't even know which side to choose, because the truth was, there was indeed a high chance that the pope was lying to them.

But so could the Empress. Now, his men were on the field beating his equally confused brothers and sisters, and he couldn't do anything about it. Doubt all he wanted, he was still following the command of his superiors, and all of them answered the pope.

I wonder then…when will I know the truth?

Would he even find out which side was right? What if none of them were right, and no one was actually under the influence of the demon scourge? What if…all this time, as they pointed fingers at each other, and beat each other to death, the demons were just watching on the sidelines to see mankind kill itself.

The spectre of extinction was truly here, the officer thought.

This…this might be the last throes of three dying races. A final battle between themselves, right as the demon scourge prepared its final attack to cleanse them from this world.

He sighed tiredly, as someone called him from behind.

They, junior officers, were now once again being summoned to report to their superiors. Something big was happening again.

+++

+++ Colonel Ebert Strobel +++

South of Serenus

The sound of his artillery was answered by the enemy's artillery.

Ebert's hold on his telescope trembled a bit, as he watched his cavalry crash into the enemy's formation. More volleys from his advancing musketeers added to the chaos, until the enemy detachment broke from the pressure and retreated.

He lowered his telescope.

"I need a drink," Ebert complained, his eyes glazed and tired.

"Fuckin' hell, where'd these morons even get the bright idea of trying to fight back any further?" Jonas complained loudly beside Ebert. "The fools are just draining our precious ammunition for no reason!"

"They're trying to buy time."

"I know that, but—"

Ebert took a canteen handed by one of his officers, before sipping it. Jonas on the side shook his head, frowning.

"At this rate, we're going to be down to 2/3rds of our supply for the final battle," Jonas continued. "This far out in the east, we only have one shot…and we're already having a hard time."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What else can we do? They've been lied to. Some accept the truth and surrender, some don't and fight. If the roles were reversed, you could have been one of them."

"Meanwhile, those demons are hungrily waiting at the sidelines to attack us."

"Her Majesty already told us that this path is clear, so all we need to do after this is push forward."

"Then we'll meet another blocking detachment on the way."

"Possibly. Let's hope they surrender then," Ebert raised his telescope again. "I see. We won quite easily at least. Twenty minutes from first contact."

"That's a new record," Jonas finally cracked a grin.

"No shit. My soldiers are getting better and stronger at least."

"You think that'll compensate for our munitions loss?"

"Hopefully."

"Shit, I too need some whiskey man."

"I am not sharing."

"Oh, come on. If I drink the last of my supply, how will I survive during the final battle?!"

"It's that bad?"

"Yes. Life's way too tough at this point."

"Life's tough, yes. But for a mercenary, you sure still refuse to accept it."

"At least give me some alcohol to keep walking through it."

Ebert snorted, as behind them, Jonas' subordinate, Lieutenant Malte Preisner, arrived.

"Captain!" Malte stopped his horse beside the two. "Our casters are advancing as you ordered."

"I see," Jonas turned to Ebert. "Hey, I'm going out now. Those nutheads need proper directions."

"Make sure to burn our entire west flank well," Ebert said. "I'm counting on ya."

"Sure. Not a single demon is going to harass us from there."

"Good. I'll share some of my whiskey later."

"Fuckin' finally, you stingy bastard. Don't die, alright?"

"Right."

With that, Jonas and Malte both rode off in the direction of their caster formations. Meanwhile, Ebert took a deep breath, then gave a signal to his officers. In seconds, their horses were galloping forward to catch up with the rest of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Hans smiled a bit as he relaxed in his seat. He finally had it. After a little skirmish with weaker lesser demons attempting to attack the flanks of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, Hans finally reached level 40 and unlocked an upgrade slot.

Of course, he picked the final, most sensible option—UPG: Smooth Response III.

The upgraded mechanics of it were now truly battlefield capable. First of all, the cooldown between activations was cut down to four minutes. Second of all, it had three shield charges once activated, at the cost of a measly four hundred AP.

Sure, that was a lot of AP, but due to the nature of this upgrade, Hans could tank practically anything so long as he had enough shield charges. Considering the strength of demonic attacks, anything they do would automatically cripple and kill his mech.

They would therefore be blocked, no matter what.

While it still wasn't a general-purpose magic barrier, Hans found this quite useful, especially if he was going to try a new tactic he was creating in his mind. Adelyn's signature attack, 'Divine Judgement', was extremely powerful. It was like a mini nuke at this point.

Which meant that if he was close by, it would absolutely wreck his mech. With 'Smooth Response' activated, therefore, such an explosion should consume one of his shield charges, then, he would get out of it unschated—perfect to attack any calamity demon that wouldn't get out of her attack unscathed.

"If only we were at general tier III," Hans lamented a bit. "This would have been much, much easier."

"Do you wish to grind more?"

"No. Obviously, not."

Hans turned his turret to Adelyn's mech. She seemed to be scanning the horizon with her main gun. The enemy's demonic forces were now practically running close to the Imperial Capital, at least according to the Empress.

That meant the danger of the countryside was heightened. They would not only have to fight to get into the Imperial Capital and kill Hubris, alongside Hate and Avarice, but they would have to position a lot of troops at the rear to hold the line against the lesser demons too.

"Lady Adelyn, I really wish to have some fine stew today," Hans heard Alizée whine out of nowhere, breaking their silence.

"What?"

"I'm famished…"

"You know, we're quite busy. Wouldn't some rations suffice?"

"But we've been eating rations for way too long."

Hans chuckled a bit.

"These guys are the closest demons to us, no?" Hans asked.

"Her Majesty said so…"

"And we haven't spotted anything else, no?"

"Yeah?"

"Then we can take this as our resting spot, and eat."

"Fine. Can you do some patrols while I cook?"

"Sure."

And so, as Adelyn and Alizée camped in a well-defensible area, Hans raced with his mech to check the entire perimeter. They were now only a few miles away from Serenus, so it was assured that by tomorrow, once the rest of the YEF breaks through to their designated assault positions—the fight for Serenus would begin.

For now, though, Hans wanted to taste some of Adelyn's cooking. Sure, he was being greedy, like Alizée, but, Adelyn's cooking was a balm to his soul. He sucked at making food, but she was so good at it that he had come to rely on her to make their meals on the way here.

Of course, as an exchange, Hans fully took over in maintaining her mech, but still, it was a worthy little deal. Fight a little bit, and he'd get more of Adelyn's cooking. He had to admit, if she had a plan of getting through him, food was one of her most effective methods.

And he had no way to fight it. He even personally sought it on his own.

He stopped his mech, finishing his patrols. Then, he sighed.

This war is soon to end…

While he didn't know how hard or how bloody this battle would be, Hans vowed already to abuse his ability to its maximum. No matter what, Hubris will be stopped, and the demon scourge will be eradicated from this continent.

But he still didn't know what he would have after all this.

I've done my best. I've given them my plans, and I managed to get us in the best position for this battle.

Still…

He tried to project how many times he would probably die in this battle. Twice? Thrice? Would it be five times? Ten times? Even with all his upgrades, skills, and allies, Hans knew something would inevitably go wrong, and he'd have another taste of his mortality.

But he'd fight on, and on, and on. All to get the best ending possible not just for this world, but most of all, for Adelyn and Alizée.

He felt his hand starting to tremble. So far, he hid his fears well, because his motivation to keep marching onward was too strong for him to waver, but, still…

He wished that after all this, he'd get a taste of something better. He drove back to their camp, finding the two happily talking with each other.

For now, before the battle though, he'd try to have some taste of the finest food from the best angel he knew.

And when he later took his first bite of the stew right beside Adelyn and Alizée, Hans felt like he was in heaven, even when he was so close to hell.