How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 27

- Delranel. I'll enter first, so keep watch.

- Ah. Very well.

The village they reached after receiving the report was as quiet as described.

Whether from fear of the colossus, the villagers were too terrified to step outside.

- Who is the village head of this village!

At Karyel's shout through the loudspeaker, an old man trembled as he came out to the village square.

"It, it is an honor to meet you, Sir Knight! I am Takeer, head of this village."

- Hm. I am Karyel of the Alfraia Kingdom Royal Guard Knights.

As he spoke, the abdomen of the gray colossus-its camouflage still unfinished-opened and an elf stepped out.

With red hair and wearing an old-fashioned uniform, Karyel walked out of the colossus kneeling on one knee, while Delranel's colossus kept watch.

"Hm, I see no sign of the young folk."

"Th-the young villagers went out for marten hunting. Is there anything you need...?"

"Marten hunting? When it's about to rain?"

"We have to catch as many as we can to keep the village going...."

Nodding at the village head's words, Karyel glanced around the village with mixed eyes, as if pitying the tribesmen's life.

"The Saint King does not wish for this long war either. Once we repel the vile invaders from Vailsar, support will come to the elves living here in hardship."

"We are ever grateful for His Highness the Saint King's grace."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

Seeing the village head's wariness fade, Karyel began the real business.

"I saw fine qualities in the young folk here. That's why I came to this village-thanks to them...."

Soon Karyel suggested conscripting the young into the Alfraian Army.

Watching the village head force a bitter smile in reply, Delranel clenched his jaw in frustration.

"Even coming to a village to press enlistment-our homeland must be out of manpower. This war truly is a heavy burden."

Alfraia had crushed the Imperial Army with overwhelming tech, yet they refused to cross the central front.

Publicly they claimed righteous defense, not conquest, but the truth was this.

'The chance of an Orc born with mana is less than human. Even if goblins fill the infantry ranks, we lack knights to pilot colossi.'

Compared to Vailsar Imperial knights, Alfraian knights were treated far better. While the Empire granted whole domains by knight order, Alfraia might grant a domain to an individual-such was the gap.

All elves were born with mana, but having enough to move a colossus was another matter. Thus high-mana Alfraian elves were drafted without exception.

Yet they still had to come this deep into the forest to recruit knights...

'If the war drags on, the Alfraian elves will be wiped out.'

Just then, flickering light caught Delranel's eye.

On a hill the tribesmen had decorated with colored cloth, an elven mana flare shone.

"Rael? A flare signal in this situation...?"

Eyes fixed on the signal, Delranel's pupils widened in an instant.

'Danger. It's a trap.'

- Karyel! Fall back at once!

The moment Delranel shouted Karyel's name-

Taang-!

Gunshots echoed across the village square.

Thud!

A rifle bullet that had pierced the temple struck the abandoned colossus armor with a metallic clang.

- Y-you dare raise a hand against an Alfraian knight!

In a heartbeat, a knight had been sniped.

Furious at the impossible situation, Delranel raised the machine gun mounted on his arm.

It was loaded with anti-personnel rounds.

- I'll grind this whole village to dust...!

- Dust, my ass.

At the unfamiliar voice over the loudspeaker, Delranel turned.

No-unfamiliar was wrong.

A voice he had heard before.

No matter how he tried, he could never forget that vile voice!

Thwoooang-!

From the dense woods burst the ashen frame of Glaepnir.

Brushing aside branches and grass, Glaepnir leapt and its fist slammed Delranel's colossus.

"Grrgh! You-!?"

Overwhelmed by raw output, Delranel's colossus staggered.

"Now! Deploy smoke!"

Greyhound squad members hidden throughout the village hurled smoke grenades, shrouding the village in haze.

- Y-you again! You came agaaain-!

Another comrade dead.

Right before his eyes.

To that vile black monster and its lackeys, he had lost another comrade!

Drawing the sword at his waist, Delranel's colossus charged Glaepnir.

Frame specs or win rates-such trifles no longer mattered.

Kwaaang!

Glaepnir caught Delranel's downward slash with one arm, then seized the blade in its hand.

- You're coming with me.

Grrrk!

Holding the greatsword one-handed, Glaepnir shoved Delranel's colossus back. Though the sheer force made Delranel recoil, having seen a comrade fall, he would not retreat.

- Uwaaaah!

Rrrrrrr!

Pushed by Glaepnir's might, Delranel's colossus was driven outside the village. Armor plating over the frame could not endure the pressure and peeled away with a spine-chilling metallic shriek.

- Buertael's vendetta! Think I waited for you without a plan!?

Shouting that, Delranel let go of his sword.

Matching his motion, Glaepnir released the blade-yet Delranel, a compact mana cannon primed at his hip, was faster by a beat.

Pufwaang!

Blinding mana light flared as Glaepnir was pushed back a step.

"Good. If I can open the distance here-"

As Delranel tried to pull his frame back-

Krrrk, krrrk!?

Something snared the frame; it would not move. It felt like his foot caught in sticky mud.

"Damn it, no way!"

Looking down in haste, Delranel's eyes filled with despair.

One leg of the colossus was sunk in what had become mire.

"Because it's a forest, the rain hasn't dried? Yet that monster's moving just fine...!"

Watching Glaepnir tread the soft mire like solid ground, Delranel gritted his teeth.

A weapon superior not only in performance but in terrain adaptation. Firepower could be matched with magecraft, yet this tech the Mage Tower mages could never match no matter how they racked their brains.

[Terrain data acquisition complete. Adjusting ground pressure to optimal level. Balancer ratio reduced to 30%.]

"Praise the Creator."

Watching the reeling gray colossus, Yaan muttered from the cockpit.

At once he lunged and seized Delranel's colossus by one arm.

Soon a twisted sneer crossed his lips.

"So. The brat who got away that time?"

- Click!

Armor-piercing rounds loaded into the twin machine guns of the discarded colossus.

Fwoooosh-!

Advancing through the hail of machine-gun fire with one arm raised, Glaepnir approached Delranel unhurried, as if nothing had changed since their first meeting.

"Dammit, hurry! Pull out, damn it!"

Whether through concentrating mana into the mired foot or sheer desperation, the trapped leg came free and mobility was regained.

"Good. First, open distance and call for support...!"

- Where do you think you're running?

Thud-crash!

While his attention was distracted for a moment, Glaepnir-now within arm's reach-grabbed the colossus's arm.

The earlier nightmare flashed through Delranel's mind and he flinched. Yet he quickly changed his expression and poured every ounce of mana into the arm that had been seized.

- Run? Don't make me laugh! I'll never flee from you again!

- Oh? Is that so?

But in spite of his desperate struggle, Glaepnir's grip on his arm remained unshaken.

'I've got no effective weapons except the mana cannon! Then-!'

With a curse Delranel fired the mana cannon mounted at his waist at point-blank range.

The sudden drain of stored mana almost made him black out, yet the move seemed to work-he saw Glaepnir take a step back.

"Dammit. This bastard-he's still holding my arm...!"

Crunch-!

The arm of Delranel's colossus, caught in Glaepnir's grip, could not withstand the pressure and crumpled.

"But at this distance-!"

Saying so, Delranel's colossus raised its remaining hand; a flare shot up from the back of its gauntlet.

Piyuuuuuu-!

The hastily fired flare meant one thing: trap. Calling for support. Seeing it, Yan licked his dry lips.

"We have to destroy this thing before reinforcements arrive...!"

- Stop. Lieutenant Yan Verkut.

A voice rang out across the sky.

At the sound, Yan halted and turned his head. There at the entrance to the ruin stood Rael, who had reached the site, holding something in his hand.

- I have the key. If you make any reckless moves, I will kill you.

Rael raised one arm as he spoke.

Dangling limply from his hand was Rana, unconscious.

- Losing the key to enter the ruin would not be His Highness's wish, would it?

As Rael taunted and pressed his pistol to the unconscious Rana's head, Yan clenched his teeth, and Glaepnir's arms slowly lowered under his control.

- Sir Delranel. Withdraw now. He won't pursue you.

- Don't make me laugh, half-breed! Just because an Alfraian knight lost an arm...!

- Can't you hear me telling you to get lost before you're a hindrance in the next battle? Shall I shove a bullet into that earhole to make you listen?

- Y-you filthy son of a human...!

Flushing at the half-elf's insult, Delranel nevertheless had no choice but to accept Rael's advice.

After several steps back he confirmed Glaepnir wasn't moving, then turned his frame and began to leave the battlefield.

"Enemy colossus is withdrawing! Evacuate the village residents!"

"Guide them to the shelter trench we dug yesterday! Move it!"

After confirming Delranel's retreat, Greyhound squad members began pulling villagers from their houses.

"Hurry! While the guest is holding the line for our village...!"

"Hold the line? The village is a wreck thanks to him!"

"Save the quarrel for later and follow orders! Into the mountains!"

"If we lose the village, where are we supposed to go...?"

Muttering their own grievances, the long line of elves leaving the village stretched away.

Within moments the light raindrops turned into a downpour that quickly covered the area.

Shaaah-!

Watching silently, Yan turned his gaze toward Rael, who still held Rana.

- I'm glad this ended peacefully.

- Shut your mouth. If it hadn't been for the key I'd have smashed the ruin itself.

- Yet you didn't, which shows you've grown rather fond of the girl, doesn't it?

- Fond? Don't be ridiculous.

Even as he spoke, Glaepnir stood motionless in the pouring rain.

- Come here. Let's trade the prisoner.

- That's a civilian you've captured.

- Does it matter? The point is I need you, and you need this child.

Seeing Rael's mocking face, Yan let out an irritated sigh.

- Tell me what you want.

When he said that, Yan saw Rael's expression change on the monitor.

The corners of his mouth rose so far they nearly reached the ears-a chilling smile.

Seeing it, Yan grimaced.

- Your blood. That's what I'm offering to trade.

Blood?

Yan looked puzzled, yet he had no choice.

Watching Glaepnir approach, Rael chuckled and spoke again.

The thrill of seizing a noble human's weakness and twisting it.

Feeling a chronic ache lift, Rael kept taunting Yan.

- Step down from your colossus, Lieutenant. I might just kill the child if I get too scared...

- Ah, dammit. Get on with it if you're going to.

What?

The curse echoing through the loudspeaker wiped the smile from Rael's face.

- What did you just say...?

- Try it. Then see what happens to you.

Thud.

The heavy footsteps of Glaepnir shook the ground, and Rael's confident expression slowly hardened.

- You're badly mistaken. I'm the one holding your leash. Listen carefully.

Thud!

- I don't negotiate with the enemy. Lay one finger on that elf and I'll crush you.