As I get closer to the palace, God’s presence gets stronger.
Is this because of humanity’s prayers? Or is it because our enemy is fierce?
✦ ✦ ✦
The smell of dust and silicone oil. Ozone stings at the back of my nose, eating away at it.
Why does the air in the strategy room corner a person so much? The only source of color in the middle of this bland tranquility is a print out of the elven flag, the Ewlogond Republic’s banner. It’s white, to represent air; and blue, to represent water. It reminds me of the sky.
I pour a cup of water from the pitcher. It’s clear and dull. I take a sip, merely to maintain my water intake, and it stings my parched throat... Whoa! Shoot! It tips, but by some miracle of centrifugal force or surface tension, I manage not to spill any. I almost ruined our electronics. If our mission failed because of me spilling some water, I’d never be able to live it down.
Phew... Gotta focus. On the monitor is a view of the parallel world. The flow of time there is uncertain. The scene on display is the continent’s central field. It’s like viewing the hustle and bustle of the street from a high rise; I cannot smell even the slightest stench from the elven army. They’re so far away, they almost look like a pattern.
Damn the Air Force. How am I supposed to learn anything from this high up? The readings on the submonitor tell me way more. The super AI is quite competent.
The situation seems decent; our battle lines are stable. It’s not a bad idea to simply wait out the vampires’ aggression like this. Their attacks used to be so fierce that we’d been forced into continuous battles day and night, but recently they’ve been quite passive. It’s a sign that, despite their numbers, their morale is dwindling. Now, if only a storm would bring some heavy wind and rain, we could wipe them out... No, it’s dangerous to leave things to chance.
Imagine the worst-case scenario. Prepare yourself to make the best choices against the strongest opponent. They could be waiting until the time is ripe to unleash a second offensive. Absolute did say to be extremely careful. Overconfidence is our greatest enemy; we must be completely prepared at all times. If the situation is unnatural, that should set off alarm bells.
Besides, an extended battle is not even possible. The vampires’ creed is to be extremely aggressive in battle. However, losing Golden could have caused them to switch to some clever scheme in order to recover. That was the main thing we agreed to be on guard for during the strategy meeting.
In other words, a side attack from the southern corner of the battlefield will be the key to their second strike. This is unconfirmed, but I suspect it will be the force of thirty thousand led by Thunderstorm. If this is true, then Ten Thousand Bells’ defensive properties combined with Deep Sea’s suppression abilities should allow us to defeat Thunderstorm with relative efficiency. Once that’s done, the balance of power should tip greatly in our favor; we will be able to invade the vampire lands with impunity.
Right now, the problem is the information I’ve received concerning the subhuman lands. I shouldn’t bother myself with things that are happening on the fringes of this war, but I can’t get over how strange this is. Apparently, Crumbling Mountain invaded them from the southwest and marched on the subhuman capital. The vampires might be sturdy marchers, but it’s still a crazy ask. Even the elves, with their flying units, would have a difficult time breaching that mountain range.
And then there’s the news that a unique unit might have spawned amidst the subhumans... With the power of fire, of all things. This cannot be allowed. Someone calling themself the Devil God went through the crazy trouble of interfering in a parallel world in order to gain this power... this is truly the work of evil. Of all the things that no one must not be allowed to possess, the power of fire is top on the list.
Fire—in many mythologies, it’s the beginning of culture. A great, holy power. It’s even at the base of our culture, in various forms. The evil power of lightning was controlled by the vampires, and yet somehow we managed to gain control of the power of water, but already an unprecedented great sin begins to move. The world is in danger.
If the subhumans have the power of fire... they would be capable of violence on the scale of the nuclearized Asian countries. If it’s true, we must seize it at once before the vampires get their hands on it.
Yes. Yes, that’s how it should be. It will be easy to wipe out the subhumans, and with the power of fire, the elves will be able to smoothly take over the vampire territory. A good strategy, if I do say so myself. It seems roundabout, but it’s extremely efficient. I’ll bring it up right away at the next meeting.
Gotta note this down on my phone... Hm? A message? What could it be? I’m busy communicating with the parallel world; the slightest disturbance could invite an irreversible disaster.
The sender is that Air Force first lieutenant. For a cyber officer, he sure lacks common sense...
Wh-what?! It’s possible the subhuman god is a Japanese citizen?! What... What the hell?!