Golgotha Enemy Raid Detected!
The coastal defense of East Timor was crumbling away. The fortress batteries spat out their final resistance, but the ship in the sky above remained silently calm.
And then.
As a pillar of light—or more accurately, wings—swept across the coast, only vitreous debris remained where the fortress had stood. Once the situation was concluded, the ships folded their upper barrels one by one.
Golgotha Baekdu.
A mobile fortress that compressed all of humanity's malice and technology into a single vessel, designed to oppose the Advent, the very god of war.
Hundreds of cannons lined up on the upper deck, tens of thousands of machine guns, and hundreds of thousands of stored missiles.
Just by stretching its firepower for a moment, it silenced a port city that had endured for thousands of years in an instant.
Of course, Golgotha's firepower platform was concentrated entirely on the upper section. Before the fortress could be destroyed, numerous ground forces had rushed toward the bottom to attempt an assault, but the lower section was not soft either. Countless conventional weapons were stored in the lower part of the ship.
And for those who pierced through even that to approach, a final resort awaited.
The ultimate blasphemy of reprocessing a Saint into biological tissue and wringing her out. Wings of light squeezed out through an artificial Afterglow Phenomenon.
Once those wings of light, deployed beneath the hull, swept past, the enemies clinging to the bottom evaporated by the squadron.
Truly the pinnacle of human technology.
That was Golgotha.
On the bridge of Baekdu, the captain was looking down at that sea of debris.
"Sister ship Bongrae to Timor West as scheduled. Main ship Baekdu is sailing East without any issues."
There was no resistance. Or rather, there had been, only to be silenced one by one before Golgotha's overwhelming firepower.
"I heard from the spy inside that they seem to have given up on the East fortress defense entirely!"
The high-ranking general in the monitor laughed heartily. He was in his safe office in the home country, holding a cup of warmly heated premium sake.
"Only one door left to the heart of the Southern Cross! You are the one opening that door, Captain. Have you counted how many medals you'll get if you march in as a triumphant general?"
However, tension was evident on the captain's face.
"The defense is excessively weak... On top of that, even the Southern Cross reinforcements are all heading West... I thought the strategic value of East Timor would be higher than this."
"Those fanatics of the Southern Cross wouldn't have the brains for that!"
The general waved his hand.
"Oh, right. There is something the spy passed on. They say reinforcements are coming to stop Baekdu after all!"
"They say the one stopping you this time is just one Advent! An irregular Apostle who didn't even have a proper rank until recently becoming 77th! Isn't it funny? They say he's crossing 1000km from Australia equipped with a DPM."
"An irregular Apostle..."
The captain rolled those words around in his mouth.
He was a man who had experienced such situations often. By the time one became a captain of a Golgotha, they would have faced countless last-ditch efforts thrown by desperate nations. Suicide attacks. Deception. Human wave tactics.
But all of that was meaningless before firepower. Would this Advent be the same?
"They say he defeated Cheonrang, but that's just luck! In front of a properly defended Golgotha, isn't it the same situation as a fish in a net!"
Cheonrang.
Ranked in the 50s of the Reconstruction Council. The moment that name came up, the captain's fingertips stopped.
That defeating Cheonrang was luck?
You can never kill a ranker of that caliber with luck. If he were an opponent susceptible to luck, he wouldn't have made it to that position in the first place.
He is definitely skilled.
And someone who has hidden his identity until now.
And that skilled person volunteered to pilot the DPM himself.
Mach 20 acceleration. Gravity at the limits of human tolerance. It is equipment that even Apostles avoid, requiring simultaneous attitude control and aiming within that hell. Volunteering for that means one thing.
...He volunteered because he can do it, obviously.
"Captain? What's wrong?"
The general's voice sounded distant.
There have always been such people in history.
Those who appear one day, tearing through daily life, unrealistically ignoring the laws and order of the world, flying through the sky freely all by themselves.
Irregular.
The disasters named as individuals that remained in the history of this Earth all started that way. Nameless, sudden, and one day, an entire front line disappears.
A cautious person who had never once been caught by the Reconstruction Council's information network is now, right now, about to reveal himself before Golgotha on his own feet.
The one who was hiding is stepping out himself.
That means one thing.
He judged that he could win.
If so, his skill is...?
"Oh, my."
Cold sweat ran down the captain's back.
"All hands, battle stations..."
"Captain?"
The navigator turned around.
"ALL HANDS BATTLE STATIONS!!! Deploy barrels! Initiate formation of Wings of Light!!!"
The captain was already being overwhelmed by the omen of death coming from the Raven beyond the invisible.
So, he must move right now.
That is why he must deploy all firepower even more.
Before he.
Gets here.
At the same time. Northern Australia, Southern Cross temporary launch base.
"Golgotha Baekdu, Wings of Light forming! East Timor observation facility, annihilated!"
The mechanic shouted in front of the control monitor.
"Golgotha full deployment! They are entering combat mode!"
"They noticed because the launch timing was delayed!"
The maintenance chief tore at his hair. It was suspicious that it was delayed at this exact timing and that the enemy had prepared for battle first, but that wasn't what was important right now.
Then, he checked the two people standing behind him.
Under the Logos in the hangar. The Apostle in a pilot suit and the Saint were standing there.
The maintenance chief bowed to them repeatedly.
"My apologies... It seems the enemy's Golgotha has read our movements."
The surprise attack was gone. Charging with a DPM at a Golgotha that had fully deployed its firepower was no different from suicide. It wouldn't have been strange if they refused to launch.
"I see."
The guy called Apostle Raven just nodded once.
"...Yes?"
"Even so, there is no problem with the voyage."
The maintenance chief doubted his ears.
The surprise attack, which was the premise of the operation, had just collapsed. Wouldn't it be normal to get angry, demand a delay in the operation, or at least have a stiff face? But this Apostle—
"B-but, now that Golgotha's firepower is deployed, the act of approaching within a certain distance itself is..."
It was suicide. It only had overwhelming straight-line thrust. With a DPM that is difficult to maneuver sideways, he was just a moth to a flame in front of the deployed Golgotha's barrage.
"I will purge the DPM just before Golgotha's guaranteed hit range."
Raven replied, looking up at the Logos.
"After that, I will use the Advent's mobility to break through the enemy's barrage."
The mechanics froze.
He was saying he would separate the propellant while carrying Mach 20 inertia, and then enter evasive maneuvers against the pouring barrage.
Even among those in the top 20 ranks, there would be few Apostles who could pull this off.
But that Apostle just said it casually.
However, that was different from recklessness.
Yes. Rather than being different, the...
'Caliber' is different.
The thinking itself.
The perception itself.
"Apostle Raven..."
The maintenance chief felt chills run down his back.
What on earth is this man?
At that moment, the Saint stepped forward.
"Please launch us."
The 7th Saint, Earl Grey Twining, comforted the maintenance team with a gentle voice.
"There was no problem with your work. Taking down the rest of Golgotha is a job for the two of us."
The mechanics couldn't move from their spots for a while. Then, without anyone saying who should go first, they scattered to their respective stations.
The cockpit closed, and the sequence began.
{1st spine fixation axis, locked.}
{Load frame, locked.}
{Lower leg fixture, locked.}
{DPM physical connection complete.}
{DPM control system connection. Fuel line connection. Control line connection.}
{Response normal.}
{Transferring flight control to Logos. Apostle Raven, confirm transfer.}
"Confirm."
With Raven's words, the DPM's control was transferred to Logos.
{DPM. SLAVE MODE.}
{LOGOS. MASTER.}
{Start Afterglow Particle transfer to DPM.}
{Sanctuary Field output drop. 90- 57- 39- 30. Lower limit reached.}
{Warning. As of this time, this unit is in a semi-defenseless state.}
{Please exercise caution in operation.}
[Surround Link - Heaven's Eye]
Logos opened its eyes.
The field of view expanded outside the unit.
The hangar lights, the guide lights of the launch rail, and even the darkness at the end of the runway came into view at once. And a huge object that shouldn't normally be felt was hanging behind his back right now.
Propellant larger than the unit. The current Logos had offered up its absolute barrier, the 'Sanctuary Field,' as a sacrifice, and in return, had obtained the overwhelming speed of Mach 20.
Get hit a few times, and you die.
Apostle Raven.
Or rather, I, Evan, scoffed.
So what? Just don't get hit.
{Phase error 18 percent.}
{14.}
{9.}
{Error tolerance range.}
{All propulsion systems normal.}
{DPM, launch ready.}
"Evan."
From the Saint's seat behind me, I heard Earl Grey's voice.
It was a voice that tried to erase the trembling, but couldn't erase it all.
"Yes."
"We're coming back alive. The two of us."
"Of course. We promised."
I gripped the control stick.
Her blessing seeped through the unit. The only barrier left on the semi-defenseless Logos. With the Sanctuary Field output at the bottom, this warmth is what protects me.
This is enough.
Because it is you, not Logos, that sustains me.
{Hangar open.}
{Linear rail charge complete.}
{Weather clear. No hostile reactions on course.}
The night sky opened. At the end of this darkness, the fortress with wings of light would be waiting. Hundreds of guns, tens of thousands of machine guns, and hundreds of thousands of missiles. All to catch me alone.
"Ha, this is an honor."
How much time did I grind into the Baekdu raid in the game?
There are minor variables, but if my body moves as I want, it's a sure win. If it just moves.
...Please follow me. Just for today.
{1st booster ignition ready.}
I looked back at Earl Grey.
Come to think of it, there was something I had to say before leaving.
"Earl Grey-nim."
{Ignition in- 5.}
"Yes?"
{4}
{3}
"Let's do it again when we get back."
{2}
{1}
"Dessert hunting."
{Ignition.}
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!
__
And the world was torn backward.
{1st separation complete. Main engine ignition start.}
"DPM, ignition."
The huge rods rising behind the giant spewed fire all at once. The field of view narrowed, and gravity crushed the whole body. The suit screamed, squeezing blood flow to resist gravity.
{Mach 8- 12- 16-}
Logos becomes a meteor piercing the sky.
And.
And.
And-
{Mach 20. Cruising entry.}
Beyond the horizon.