Advent
Advent
Having forced Kaimboreht to submit, Daniel pressed him relentlessly about the human experimentation that Count Kaledra had committed in Penbark.
Kaimboreht, left with no other choice, answered Daniel's questions obediently.
Daniel documented and recorded the facts, then had a soldier deliver the materials to the General Headquarters.
Those materials were essential to completely crushing the Federal State's will to join the war.
Having wrapped everything up, Daniel set his mind at ease.
Now all that remained was dealing with the provisional division that had been abandoned by the Allied Nations.
He expected an easy victory, as the Empire's Magitek Armored Army brigade would soon join the fray.
However, in war, unexpected variables were always lurking right underfoot.
Four days later, at dawn.
"Allied troop movements detected! They are advancing toward Penbark at full speed right now! Damn it! Approximately thirty minutes remain until collision!"
As the liaison officer delivered the news, the operational command post bustled with activity from the break of dawn.
Upon hearing that an Allied advance was anticipated, the staff officers all swarmed the command post at once.
The staff officers, not even properly dressed, looked at one another and conversed with grave expressions.
"What is the meaning of this? Normally, shouldn't the enemy division be arriving here by noon tomorrow?"
"You are not wrong. Even assuming a forced march, they were slated to arrive past noon tomorrow. If so... ."
"It appears they reduced sleep time and advanced after a forced river crossing. It seems the enemy commander is acting with a short-term decisive battle in mind."
As the staff officers deliberated over the sudden enemy attack, the door of the command post flew open.
When Daniel Steiner entered through the open door, the staff officers each bowed their heads.
Ignoring them, Daniel walked to the head seat at the operations table and furrowed his brow.
"I heard the enemy has commenced an attack. Is that true?"
At Daniel's question, the intelligence staff officer Pelf nodded.
"That is correct. The enemy division is advancing at a very high speed, perhaps aiming for a short-term decisive battle. The time remaining until they clash with the 1st Defense Line is roughly thirty minutes."
"...The enemy commander isn't a complete fool, it seems."
Surely he had realized that the longer he dragged things out, the more disadvantageous it would become.
Daniel was quite flustered, but he continued calmly.
"What about reinforcements? When does the Magitek Armored Army commanded by Brigadier General Heinrich arrive?"
"We relayed the news to the Magitek Armored Army brigade, but they say it will take at least a full day to reach Penbark. So we have no choice but to delay their advance by defending as much as possible."
"A day. We'll have to manage somehow. Assemble the reserves. We need to form an interdiction line the moment the 1st Defense Line collapses."
Seeing the staff officers nod, Daniel let out a low sigh.
"I will go command the field, so staff officers are to control civilians and check the command post's wire network every ten minutes. Also, while I am absent, all unit positions are to be updated on the map in real time. Understood?"
"Yes! Understood!"
After hearing the staff officers' answers, Daniel left them with a word of trust, then opened the command post door and went outside with his wireless operator.
Daniel, who had been about to take a step to leave the mansion, stopped in his tracks.
A woman with light brown hair was leaning her back against the wall and humming a tune.
"...First Lieutenant Frien?"
Frien, who had heard Daniel's voice, straightened her posture and looked back at Daniel.
"Brigade Commander. I've been waiting."
"Waiting? For me?"
"Yees. Because there is something I urgently need to ask of you. It's not that I eavesdropped because I wanted to, but... ."
Frien smiled awkwardly.
"The war situation is a bit unfavorable right now, isn't it? So I sought you out like this because I wanted to offer my help."
"You're already being a great help, so there's no need for you to step—"
"Not that kind of help."
Frien, who had cut Daniel off, paused for a moment before speaking.
"I want to be active on the battlefield now too. How should I put it, I want to be helpful to Brigadier General Daniel on the front lines, not just from behind. I've also come to want to see the fruit of my efforts."
"...The fruit of your efforts?"
"Oh, come oon. Brigadier Commander. Surely you didn't think I've been enjoying torturing people all this time, did you? Do I look like such a ruthless person to you?"
To be honest, he had considered whether she leaned a bit in that direction.
As Daniel remained silent, Frien puffed out her cheeks in a sulk.
"That's so mean. I'm a delicate woman too, you know? When I have someone screaming and cursing in front of me, even I get hurt. Yet the reason I continued the torture all the same... ."
Frien approached closer to Daniel.
At close quarters, Frien quietly continued.
"...was to grow my skills and be of help to you, Brigade Commander."
Frien's raised hand lightly touched Daniel's chest.
"Because helping you, Brigade Commander, is something that affirms my own existence."
Frien remembered.
She remembered the time Daniel had called her black mana a blessing, not a curse.
When everyone condemned her as a witch or a child of Satan, Daniel alone had not done so.
'Though this insensitive man probably doesn't know how much comfort those words brought me... .'
Wearing a faint smile, Frien withdrew her hand and took a step back.
"So please, grant me permission to be active on the battlefield. I absolutely won't disappoint you."
Having heard her say that much, he could not bring himself to refuse.
Daniel let out a low sigh.
"Fine. I grant permission. However, if you deem it dangerous, pull back to the rear at any time."
Hearing Daniel's permission, Frien nodded.
As if telling him not to worry.
*
One hour later, the 1st Defense Line.
3rd Company, Infantry Battalion.
Kwaang─
A sandbag gun post burst apart and swallowed the machine gun position.
The wireless operator Ramho, who had been passing beside the machine gunner, was caught in the explosion and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Gunfire and shouts went back and forth around him, but he could not hear them properly.
Perhaps his eardrums were ruptured; only a strange buzzing and the ringing of tinnitus repeated in his ears.
"Shhii... ."
He opened his mouth to curse, but the words would not properly form.
His mouth felt gritty, as if sand had gotten in.
Ramho spat out something that was either spit or phlegm and raised his head.
Amid the thick smoke, he saw a human silhouette.
As he approached, it was a comrade whose abdomen had been torn open and was bleeding.
"Hey!"
Hit in the abdomen by a piece of high-explosive shell shrapnel, the man's panting form looked miserable.
"Hey! Can you hear me!?"
He grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook him, but the comrade just panted, lost in panic.
Thinking there was no hope, Ramho abandoned his comrade and moved on.
His intention was to flee to the safest place possible and then radio headquarters.
Originally, he was supposed to radio immediately after the enemy attack started, but in the face of survival instinct, the ironclad rules of his branch of service were not that important.
"They're coming! Those sons of bitches are coming!"
"Block them somehow! There are only three enemy tanks on this front!"
"Anti-tank gun! Bring the anti-tank gun, you fucking bastards!"
As the ringing in his ears began to subside, the sounds of gunfire and shouting came through again.
No one had expected the enemy to advance this quickly; everyone was visibly panicking and milling about in confusion.
'Fuck...!'
Cursing inwardly, Ramho spurred himself on.
He didn't know how many enemies were trying to break through on this front, but at this rate, they might be annihilated.
As he ran to somehow escape to the rear, Ramho heard something whizz past.
Without even a chance to look back, the high-explosive shell exploded.
Kwaaang!
A tremendous flame and a blast of wind surged.
Ramho was thrown to the side, and the ringing echoed in his ears again.
Having dropped his helmet, Ramho groped along the ground in his dazed state of mind.
As Ramho frantically moved his hands to find his helmet, thick blood trickled down past his mouth.
Only then realizing something was wrong with his body, Ramho looked down and confirmed that shrapnel was lodged in his side.
"You motherf... ."
His voice trembled and faded.
When he looked around, other soldiers were also rolling on the ground and screaming, wounded by shrapnel.
Sobbing without realizing it, Ramho removed the radio set strapped to his back and took out the transceiver.
Since he could not flee in this state, he resolved to at least fulfill his duty as a last act.
Checking the communication frequency, Ramho pressed the transmit button on the transceiver.
"Brigade Headquarters. This is 3rd Company, 1st Defense Line. Brigade Headquarters, respond... ."
After a crackle of static, the headquarters responded.
─ This is Brigade Headquarters. What is it?
What is it, my ass. Cursing inwardly, Ramho opened his mouth with difficulty.
"Currently engaged with enemy at 1st Defense Line. Visual confirmation of three enemy tanks on 3rd Company's front. Defensive positions in area damaged. Numerous casualties sustained. Need support... ."
Ramho stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.
Black mana, from where he did not know, had begun to seep into his side where the shrapnel was lodged.
"What in the... ."
Just as he wondered what it was, a sweet singing voice began to reach his ears.
Turning his gaze toward the source of the singing, Ramho discovered a woman walking slowly among the fallen soldiers.
Her figure, singing a hymn with both hands clasped together and her eyes closed, appeared holy.
Behind the woman, black mana was coalescing like a halo.
'Have I already died?'
Ramho, who had been dazed by the bizarre scene, felt the pain in his side gradually diminish.
Flustered, Ramho looked down and saw the black mana closing his wound.
As the wound began to heal at a rapid pace, the shrapnel was pushed out on its own as well.
Having witnessed that bizarre phenomenon, Ramho looked at the woman again.
Everywhere the woman passed, black mana bloomed like flowers and healed the fallen soldiers.
At first, one or two rose from their spots, but that number began to increase exponentially.
Ten, twenty, thirty.
Finally, seeing soldiers numbering forty recover from their wounds and rise from their spots, Ramho opened his mouth vacantly.
'This is... .'
A miracle.
A miracle ordained by heaven for the Imperial Army.
Otherwise, he could not explain this astounding phenomenon.
As Ramho stared at the woman singing on the battlefield as if entranced, the radio came through.
─ 3rd Company? How many casualties did you say occurred? Do you need support? 3rd Company?
Ramho picked up the transceiver without taking his eyes off the woman.
"There are no casualties. Here... ."
Ramho, who had been frozen as if unwilling to believe what he had seen, swallowed hard.
He had marveled, and finally found the appropriate word to explain this miracle.
"A saintess."
Conviction settled into Ramho's eyes.
"A saintess has descended upon this place."