The Forthorthe Liberation Army knew that the Blue Knight was coming to attack. They had seen all of the landing craft and had observed a lot of enemies sortieing. In response, they had the antiair weapons to shoot down the landing craft and bombarded Koutarou’s forces. But in the end, they were unable to stop the advance.
“Give me a report! What is going on?!” One of the commanding officers of the ground attack forces tried to keep the battlefield from turning chaotic. He was confused but desperate to do what he could.
“It is probably some sort of advanced compound camouflage!” a soldier answered. “The enemy’s position is different from what we observed!”
The antiair weapons had failed to hit, and the bombardment had ended in failure. They had taken aim at the brilliant blue armor, yet no shot had hit home. Meanwhile, the return fire had struck the Liberation Army. It wasn’t even a battle.
“The aerial bombardment is too heavy—we can’t move! Based on the crest, it’s Thei—”
Suddenly, the comms cut off and the officer could see a different encampment engulfed in an explosion. The enemy attack had destroyed their communications. He could also see something small and red circling above the destruction. It was smaller than a fighter.
“Princess Theiamillis, is it? She’s making a path for the Blue Knight,” the officer stated.
The Blue Knight and Princess Theiamillis lining up on the front was a famous combination. Theiamillis’s accurate sniping and bombardment confused the enemy while the Blue Knight broke through.
So, the princess has begun her signature move, which means that the Blue Knight is already at our back! the officer thought.
As things stood, the enemy would break through in an instant, in which case they shouldn’t be sending reinforcements to the front but farther to the rear instead.
The officer’s thoughts were interrupted by an explosion. “Impossible! The Blue Knight?!”
He believed the bombardment of the other encampment had been to clear the path for the Blue Knight, yet there was a five-meter-tall blue giant right in front of him. It was the Blue Knight—he could not mistake him for anyone else.
“Sorry, but we’re desperate too,” the Blue Knight said.
“Urk?!”
The next moment, the officer felt a strong impact in the pit of his stomach. The strike quickly robbed him of his consciousness. He barely had time to gasp out a few broken words.
“Impossible... How did you know...this place...”
With that, he passed out and fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was the small girl who had driven her elbow into his solar plexus and the back of the Blue Knight passing through.
In order to avoid being shot down, Koutarou’s group needed to land outside of the enemy’s range and head over by ground. However, that would take too long to save the Imperial fortress. Instead, they used illusions: a spell called Perfect Illusion, which had substance so that it even appeared on radar. This allowed them to fool the enemy into thinking they were a few hundred meters away from their actual location. It would be unnatural to completely hide themselves while descending, so they had chosen this method instead, which had proven more effective than expected.
“Very impressive, Yurika,” Koutarou said.
“Thank you very much,” Yurika replied, slightly out of breath.
The large-scale spell had tired her. Perfect Illusion wasn’t meant to be used in such a way. It was an advanced spell, so it could only be used to create the illusion of a single person. Yet Yurika had succeeded in re-creating all of their allies. That was partially thanks to the mana amplifier and mana capacitor the Blue Knight had, but it was also thanks to her own talent. Yurika was likely the only one who could pull off such a spell, even if someone else had the same equipment.
“Satomi-san, I have finished up over here,” Nana’s voice said over the comms. She had been the one to take down the officer in control of the area. The Nefilforan unit was suppressing other areas in parallel. Thanks to that, they could continue on.
“Good work, Nana-san,” Koutarou replied.
“Not at all; I can do this all day.”
“And good work to you too, Sanae,” Koutarou added.
“Good! Pour a mountain of praise on me, my disciple,” Sanae huffed. It was she who had discovered the officer. She was a little behind Koutarou, and when Theia had bombarded the enemy encampment, she had discovered someone who had reacted differently than everyone else, desperately trying to stay calm and paying attention to his surroundings. Sanae had figured it was an officer and reported it to Koutarou, which had led to their success.
“Master, the enemy’s vanguard has entered the fortress!” Ruth reported.
“We didn’t make it?!”
“No, it’s not over yet! They are still fighting in the courtyard; we can make it if we hurry!”
“Then we’ll have to pull out all the stops,” Koutarou said. “Princess Nefilforan, Landlord-san, come with me!”
He would have preferred to keep Nefilforan away from the front. She might have been a skilled warrior from the Glendad family, but she was still a princess. However, they couldn’t let the enemy take the fortress, so there was no choice but to force their way through with superior firepower, using Koutarou, Shizuka, and the Nefilforan unit.
“I have waited for those words. The Nefilforan unit will follow you, Your Excellency!”
“Make sure you protect me, Satomi-kun.”
The answers he got were opposites: Nefilforan was full of motivation, while Shizuka was somewhat anxious. It need not be said that Shizuka wasn’t used to war.
“I was hoping you would protect me...” Koutarou muttered with a wry smile.
Shizuka was overwhelmingly powerful. Even with War Emperor, Koutarou stood no chance against her when she used her full might. She was likely the only person he wouldn’t have to protect.
However, Shizuka didn’t agree with that assessment. “That doesn’t matter! It’s the appearance that matters!” She really was scared. But her friends were here, and it was Koutarou who would protect her heart.
“I’ll protect you; leave it to me,” Koutarou said, relenting. He didn’t understand everything that was on her mind, but he agreed with her request, aware that he was forcing her into this situation on some level.
“Very good,” Shizuka replied.
“You have it rough, Blue Knight. I don’t understand human couples,” Alunaya chimed in.
“Me neither, Alunaya-dono,” Koutarou answered. He did, however, have something that reassured him: the fact that with Shizuka was Alunaya—a living legend who would surely protect her.
So, Satomi-kun doesn’t deny being a couple... Hmm, well then... Shizuka suddenly became surprisingly motivated.