The command room was in chaos. Something was plummeting toward them from far, far above, originating outside the planet’s atmosphere.
“From outside the atmosphere?!” Moritz cried when he heard the report, jumping out of his seat.
Having been outwitted, Arcadia scowled. “So that’s what your plan is.” The monitor inside the command room showed an unidentifiable blur heading straight toward them. From what they could tell, it matched their data on the Partner.
“It’s Archduke Bartfort’s ship!” Moritz realized. He was in obvious panic over the encroaching vessel. The generals and military staff in the room with him were similarly flustered. None had anticipated an aerial attack like this.
“Trajectory identified,” said one of the nearby Demonic Creatures. “It’s on a collision course with Arcadia’s fortress.”
Arcadia’s eye narrowed with fury. “It figures you machines would resort to your special kamikaze-style attacks. You’re as boorish as ever.”
The Partner measured over seven hundred meters long. Bursting through the atmosphere would lend it incredible destructive power as its mass plowed straight toward them. Even Arcadia wouldn’t come out unscathed.
“You went to the trouble of leaving the atmosphere, only to reenter and attack, hm? Sadly for you, tactics aren’t as effective once I’ve already experienced them.” All Arcadia’s previous displeasure disappeared as a smile curved his lips, his eye narrowing into a slit.
Moritz was sweating bullets. “Move the fortress, quickly!”
“That’s pointless,” said Arcadia. “If we moved, he would only adjust his trajectory. I know where he originated from, so I simply need to ensure my barrier is thickest where he makes impact.” As he spoke, he began concentrating his energy so that the shield’s thickest point was directly above him. That would weaken the rest of his shield, but such was the cost of defending himself. As an extra safeguard, he decided to use his main cannon after all. “The best way to handle this would be to shoot him down before he can reach me.”
Arcadia drew from his energy stores, and a reddish-black ball manifested in the air above him. As soon as all preparations were made, he commanded, “Fire.”
The blast shot upward. The Partner attempted to swerve away from it, but it couldn’t react fast enough. Arcadia’s blast cleaved through its hull, shaving off a chunk. If Arcadia’s predictions were correct, the ship was probably stocked full of blasting powder. That would be the best way to inflict the maximum possible damage on Arcadia, so long as the Partner hit its target. If it carried that much powder, it should explode from the damage it sustained.
Not that it mattered, since with half its body gone, the Partner had slowed considerably. It didn’t seem like it would even make an impact.
“Oh? So, you don’t have blasting powder aboard, as I anticipated,” remarked Arcadia. “Did you not have enough time to prepare it?”
When he saw the Partner, Moritz had initially been relieved but soon drew his brows together. “So the royal army, and the spaceships with it, were a diversion. Archduke Bartfort certainly planned this out.”
The Partner sped closer to them, flames bursting from it. Arcadia gradually began moving the fortress, trying to prevent a direct hit. However, the Partner’s AI immediately corrected its course, keeping its aim on Arcadia.
“How pitiful,” said Arcadia. “Even if you manage to strike the fortress, that will not be adequate to take me down.” He flashed his pearly-white teeth, grinning in delight at having outmaneuvered the machines. “However much you struggle, you cannot stave off our inevitable victory.”
The Partner slammed into Arcadia’s barrier, the vessel’s body crunching and exploding in a fiery blast. Shrapnel and whatever remained of the ship itself slowly tumbled into the sea.
There was a slight tremor within the fortress, but that seemed to be the attack’s only impact. Everyone in the command room heaved a sigh of relief.
“Give me a report on the situation!” Moritz barked at the others, redirecting his attention to the war effort.
His subordinates scrambled back to their positions.
“R-right! Um, there’s no damage to Arcadia.”
“The magical barrier managed to fully withstand the attack.”
“B-but due to all the energy it required, we no longer have a barrier at all.”
Arcadia ignored them, his mouth cracking open in maniacal laughter. “Hya ha ha ha! Has the rust gotten the best of you after all these years, you filthy machines? If you really wanted to bring me down, you should all have launched a collective attack from outside the planet’s atmosphere. But you couldn’t do that, could you? That’s why you settled on this pitiful excuse for a battle plan as your last resort.”
As much as Arcadia ridiculed their efforts, he knew there was nothing they could’ve done differently. Even if Fact had them launch a collective attack, their chances of succeeding would’ve been far too low. The kingdom’s disadvantage in this battle was staggering.
“You never had a chance of winning,” Arcadia spat at them smugly.
That attack really had me on edge, Moritz thought, mopping sweat from his brow. At least now we’ve sunk both of Archduke Bartfort’s ships. He froze. Hm? No, wait. Where’s his third ship?
The Partner was no better than scrap metal after the blast when it struck Arcadia’s shields, and Luxion had disappeared beneath the waves. They’d all assumed that, with Luxion’s main ship out of commission, no other vessel could stand up to Arcadia. But one ship was unaccounted for and had yet to be spotted on the battlefield.
“Watch for the Einhorn!” Moritz ordered, his voice shrill with renewed panic.
With Luxion and the Partner gone, the Einhorn was all that remained.
Arcadia quit laughing and spun around, facing the rear of their army. “What’s that thing approaching us at top speed?!” There was a tremor in his voice.
The object in question—which was blasting straight toward them—was, in fact, the Einhorn.