[Unstable breathing confirmed. Heart rate increased. Detected overload in neural connection. Recommend ceasing mobility.]
"Shut up. Continue."
Yan replied to the AI voice that had been ringing loudly since earlier. Yan, who was gasping for breath, looked like he could collapse at any moment.
But he couldn't collapse in a place like this.
Squeezing out every last bit of strength he didn't have, he took heavy steps toward where the Elf Kingdom colossi were.
Thud.
Thud.
- Is that the monster you reported, Delranel?
- Th-that thing must be killed right now! That's a monster!
- Monster? Is that so!
Saying so, Delranel's fellow knight Buertael straightened his posture. It was because competitive spirit against an unknown enemy leaked out.
- Nameless knight! Buertael of the Elf Kingdom Royal Guard Knights shall face you!
Saying so, Buertael readied his lance and took an assault stance.
Cain immediately moved out of Buertael's attack path. But with Yan's slow movements, it was impossible.
[Collision with enemy Frame in 5.... 4....]
'Damn it. Since it's come to this, I have to take it head on!'
A throbbing head and quickening breath. He felt all the blood vessels in his body swelling as if they would burst.
The moment he moved hastily, he would lose consciousness again.
If that happened in the middle of the battlefield, he'd be a dead man. Yan's colossus lowered its stance and thrust both arms forward.
It was an awkward defensive posture.
- What is he doing?! The colossus's cavalry lance! We can't block it!
Seeing that, one knight shouted. Cain seemed to think the same as he immediately poured the machine guns mounted on his arms toward Buertael.
Vrooooom!
Sparks flew off the dark green armor plates of the Elf Kingdom colossus, but Buertael's posture didn't change.
- Human weapons and such!
Buertael's lance came crashing in an instant. Piercing the Imperial Army colossus whole was his specialty.
- Hyaah!
With a spirited shout, the thruster attached to the base of the lance spewed fire.
The lance, dyed blue by mana light, accelerated the Frame even more.
It was an incredible speed like a cannonball.
And thus the collision happened in an instant.
Craaaash!
With a tremendous roar like a cannon had dropped, smoke filled the area.
- Damn it!
- We lost one! Everyone cover! Rescue the Commander!
Knights aimed assault guns toward the smoke.
If their own Frame had taken that impact, it would have shattered to pieces. Since it was a Frame they considered a nuisance anyway, the loss was relatively small. Thinking so, the knights waited for the smoke to slowly clear.
The moment the location became clear, they had to pin the bastard's feet down with suppressive fire.
However, the moment the smoke cleared, the knights couldn't help but doubt their own eyes.
Screeech.... Screeeetch...!
The knights thought Buertael's colossus would appear the moment the smoke lifted.
But it was different.
[Impact absorbed. Frame posture control normal.]
Yan's colossus, which should have been pierced by the lance, was still standing on both feet.
And that wasn't all.
- Wh-what!
- He... caught the lance with his hand?!
Just before the lance reached the cockpit.
Entwined around the viciously shining spearhead were the two hands of the ash-gray colossus.
A situation no one could have imagined.
The only one maintaining composure was Yan, who was riding inside. Just one person.
[Continuous anomaly detected in pilot's vital signs. Recommend avoiding combat.]
"I told you to shut up...!"
Squeezing out every last bit of strength, he raised both arms holding the lance upward.
Crack! Craaaack...!
The lance, unable to withstand the colossus's grip, was seen crumpling with a chilling sound.
- This can't be! This, this is unbelievable!
Buertael, not knowing what to do in an impossible situation.
But soon he urgently let go of the spear handle that was blocking his way when he felt the colossus being pulled. And once again, chills ran down his spine.
Being pulled? This colossus?
This monster wearing tens of tons of heavy armor?
- No, not yet!
But he was also one of the top fighters handpicked from the Elf Royal Guard Knights.
Instead of panicking at the unexpected situation, he immediately entrusted his body to his instincts.
The way the Frame was walking. And the overly passive movements compared to the overwhelming performance of the Frame.
It was one of two things. Either the knight piloting it was a novice, or he lacked the mana to pilot the Frame!
'If that's the case!'
Just as Delranel had done, he immediately dove inside Yan's colossus.
Because his hands had gone up, that colossus was completely open in front.
Even if it was a fist without spikes, it would be enough to pierce the cockpit!
[Enemy Frame approaching.]
"Damn it...!"
Seeing the enemy colossus approaching, Yan shut his mouth.
- Take this!
Craaash!
Yan's colossus lurched violently with a tremendous roar.
A strong impact that came suddenly.
Yan, whose body had already reached its limit, could no longer endure.
"Ugh! Blegh?!"
Yan vomited everything inside from an impact on a different level than motion sickness.
The edges of his vision were gradually darkening. But Buertael, who had succeeded in his attack, was also at his wit's end.
Instead of having a hole in the cockpit, wasn't it intact with only a few scratches?
- Unbelievable! Even the paladin's armor plates couldn't have blocked this!
As impossible things happened in succession, an unknown anxiety crept up Buertael's mind.
The colossus slowly raised its head and looked at him.
At that sinister appearance that couldn't possibly be thought of as the same colossus, chills ran down Buertael's spine.
"Eek! Monster bastard!"
Buertael shouted as he backed away.
Having had his lance taken away, the only remaining weapon was the infantry machine gun.
Like this, he would only become food for that monster.
Boom boom boom!
At the sudden roar, Delranel and Buertael took defensive stances. The heavy impacts felt through the Frames weren't from howitzers.
'Colossus assault guns?! Damn it, I took too much time!'
- Well done. Corporal Yan! Reinforcements!
Cain, announcing the arrival of reinforcements, gathered mana.
Behind him appeared colossus frames that weren't even fully assembled yet.
They were holding long-range assault guns.
- Sorry for the delay, Sir Cain! Weapon equipment complete!
- Good. Everyone aim! I'll pin down their feet!
Cain surveyed the battlefield after giving orders. Thanks to Yan's fight, the colossi had their feet pinned. The situation had improved greatly.
When the Elf Kingdom colossus failed to catch him, the goblin infantry began to falter without colossus support.
"Kieeek! Kiiieeeek!"
"The Silver Knight is holding back the enemy colossi! Don't fall back! Hold the line!"
No matter how many elven weapons they're given, they're still goblins.
As soldiers, they're far inferior to humans.
"Reloading! Clear the corpses! Secure the machine-gun line of fire!"
"The Elf Kingdom colossus's feet are tied down! Provide artillery support! Fire the signal flare!"
"Kieeeek?! We're falling back! Ruuuun!"
Goblin corpses had piled up like mountains at the front, blocking the machine guns' line of fire.
The goblins had watched their comrades slaughtered like chickens in a slaughterhouse.
Even the charging colossi were sluggish, and the goblins' will to fight faded away.
"To think they'd turn tail even with the knights here, those inferior creatures...!"
The elf knight who had been holding off three Imperial Army colossi alone spat the words.
Goblins-primitive things with the intellect of children, thinking only of their next meal.
No matter how many proud Elf Kingdom weapons you hand them, this is the result.
No matter how many goblins you throw onto the front, they can't beat humans in infantry battles.
- Buertael! The situation's bad! At this rate we'll be surrounded!
- Damn it, is this battle over already?!
Buertael stepped back as he spoke, his voice-laced with venom-ringing out.
- Nameless knight! Next battle I'll crush you for sure! On my honor as royal guard Buertael!
While he spoke, Delranel regained her composure and raked Yan and Cain with machine-gun fire.
Cain lowered his stance to absorb the impact.
Unlike him, Yan's colossus stood motionless, the lance it had been holding now raised.
- Corporal! Fall back! We'll take care of the pursuit...!
Shouting that, Cain sensed something strange in Yan's manner.
- Corporal Yan?
Thud!
The lance the colossus had been holding fell, ringing with a heavy metallic clatter.
The colossus slumped as though its strength had run out.
Just as it had during that first battle, the armor plates all over its frame opened and began venting steam.
SCREEEE-!
- Corporal Yan! Yan Verkut! Answer me! Hey!
There was no answer.
[Emergency shutdown due to critical situation. Cooling initiated.]
[Anomaly detected in pilot biosignals. Sync ratio dropping.]
[Switching to life-support mode. Sealing Frame.]
The cockpit flashed urgently, mechanical sounds echoing.
"Huh...! Ugh, uugh?!"
Strapped in the cockpit, Yan convulsed in pain like someone gravely ill.
[Anomaly detected. Administering sedative via connection port.]
Beep-!
With a mechanical whir, medication flowed into the back of Yan's neck. The trembling stopped, Yan's breathing steadied, and at the same moment the neural cable was yanked from his nape.
"No, my consciousness..."
Yan kept repeating that he mustn't lose consciousness, but his body no longer obeyed.
His blurring vision went dark, and Yan slumped unconscious in the cockpit.
[Pilot vitals unstable. Initiating defibrillation. 3... 2...]
***
"Commander Cain. You've worked hard!"
"I only did what needed doing."
The battle that began at noon ended five hours later.
Several hours had passed since the Elf Kingdom forces retreated from the front.
In the waning sunset, goblin corpses piled up in trenches no longer usable.
Thudududuck!
Three salvaged Imperial Army colossus frames joined the cleanup. There weren't enough men to clear the corpses piled before the trenches.
The colossi's hands, each fistful holding dozens of bodies, casually shoved them into the trench pits.
"Thanks to the knights we can breathe easier. A truly bold charge, worthy of His Majesty's own order!"
"The cadets who rushed out deserve the credit. I intend to reward them later."
"Wasn't it you who stopped that elf colossus?"
Cain gave a bitter smile at the commander's words.
'You saw that battlefield too.'
The commander who deliberately ignored Yan's existence. What curved on his lips was not a smile but a sardonic sneer.
Yet the fool seemed not to know what expression he wore.
"The credit belongs to those who fought alongside me."
"Hahaha, the Empire's Silver Knight is humble as well. If my son could be half the man you are, I'd be proud."
"You flatter me."
After patting Cain's shoulder, the commander departed.
Women waiting for him clung to his arms, laughing.
"To bring courtesans right to the front lines... no wonder the casualty rate is high."
Cain's murmuring gaze never left the corpses tumbling into the trench pits.
Among the goblin corpses fell the bodies of humans.
Penal Corps soldiers who would receive no proper funeral, whose names would never appear on the rolls of the dead.
Fwoosh!
Flames rose where the passages had been blocked and oil poured into the trench pits.
The strange stench of burning flesh and acrid smoke.
And the foul odor of human hair catching fire began to rise.
Flames spread along the trench line. Beyond them, in the clearing, common soldiers' bodies lay wrapped in sheets.
"Charles Darwin. 32. From Kern village... Kid, make sure you note the birthplace. If we send them to the wrong place, we're screwed."
"You're certain, senior?"
"Yes. The necklace he wears belonged to his mother..."
"O Creator above, in holy light forgive these souls their sins..."
Priests from the clergy and coroners, along with chaplains, collected items that might identify the sheet-wrapped dead.
Photographs, dolls, bracelets with names, stamps, pens-anything would do.
The death toll for this battle was roughly seven thousand.
In just five hours, so many souls had vanished.
"You called for me."
A voice sounded behind Cain, who had been watching quietly.
A man with a pallid face and shadowed eyes.
It was Yan.
"How's your body? I heard you collapsed."
"I'm fine. I can move."
A lie.
Even though his colossus had been hauled back to headquarters, its hatch never opened.
The hatch opened only two hours after the tech crew withdrew.
He'd received no emergency treatment in that time-he couldn't possibly be fine.
"Have you really lived in this hell for ten years?"
Yan's expression twisted at the blunt question.
"There aren't many battles that leave a trench line unusable. A siege like this comes maybe every six months..."
"Today was the first time I saw this."
Cain cut off the explanation. His once-cold face had turned expressionless.
"Do you know which unit is the only one that never takes casualties outside combat roles?"
The question was sudden, but Yan answered quickly.
"The knights."
"That's right. And those knights are gathered in their quarters now, toasting to victory. All the liquor and meat are top-grade."
"...."
Behind Cain, who spoke those words, countless corpses were visible. And the Penal Corps, unable to be counted among those corpses, being burned together with the enemy's corpses.
"Ha. With the deaths of so many soldiers at their backs, they manage to swallow those things down their throats."
He murmured quietly to Yan, who stood without a word.
"The knights are different from us."
"What's different? Other than being born with mana, is there any difference?"
Yan's answer was not heard.
Cain turned around and looked directly at Yan's face.
"It's the Penal Corps, like you, who shed the most blood on the battlefield. They're conscripted without a proper trial and simply used up."
An era where all national resources are concentrated on the battlefield due to war. An era where it's more rational to label someone a criminal and send them to the army than to determine clear right and wrong.
If others had heard his speech, delivered with eyes full of resolve, they might have wept in agreement.
"Simply because they possess mana, those countless lives were sacrificed for the Empire. It's laughable."
"Commander."
A single word from Yan cut off Cain's next words.
"What is it?"
"I didn't fight for the Empire."
"...!"
With that single sentence from Yan, Cain's speech could no longer continue.
"The other squad members are probably similar. We just fought because we wanted to live."
At the quiet words of the Penal Corps soldier, Cain lowered his head.
"Does that mean it was my arrogance to think their deaths were for the Empire?"
There was no answer.
After waiting for a moment, Yan saluted and left, and Cain's bowed head did not rise until then.