The earth was my ally.
When I sent mana through the ground, events in distant places reached me as clearly felt sensations.
“…It’s almost time.”
The dry note of a whistle pierced the battlefield.
“All men, form up! One line abreast!”
At the roar of command, the soldiers pressed shoulder to shoulder and filled every gap. Shoved from behind and shoving back, each man’s will dissolved into the formation.
The riflemen stood close enough to share their body heat.
“One line! Close the gaps! Not even a single pace between you!”
The officer’s voice rang out insistently.
His orders were calm, and the soldiers obeyed faithfully without agitation. There was even confidence in their steps.
“…Prepare to advance.”
But at those next words, their backs straightened and their ease disappeared into the fog of war.
“Keep in step.”
The officer didn’t look at individual men.
He saw only the line.
“Forward—march!”
The formation moved at his command.
Slowly and steadily.
It advanced like one enormous creature—a single great predator. Their boots struck the earth in unison.
“Eek…”
In the predator’s sights were our soldiers: troops of the Kingdom of Lunoa pretending to be a rearguard so the enemy wouldn’t suspect the ambush.
They were elite men selected by Colonel Kernel. Yet fear showed as they watched the perfectly ordered Friez army approach. I could feel their agitation through the earth.
“…Isn’t it time?”
Colonel Kernel beside me must have sensed it even without magic, for he pressed me to give the order.
“Not yet.”
The first volley was vital.
It had to be delivered at the moment when it would have the greatest effect.
“……”
“……”
“…Isn’t it time? I can already hear their footsteps!”
Still I waited.
I waited for the right moment.
“Surely now—!”
“Now!”
Just as Colonel Kernel reached the limit of his patience, I judged that the enemy’s leading ranks had entered our rifles’ effective range and gave the order to attack.
“…! Prepare to fire!”
At the command he had awaited, Colonel Kernel shouted and fired his rifle into the air.
Officers throughout the trench repeated the order, and the Lunoa army began to move.
“Waaaaah!?”
“E-Enemy troops!?”
The soldiers raised only their heads above the trenches and pulled their triggers one after another, showering bullets upon the unfortunate men who had believed themselves predators.
The first shock broke the Friez formation completely. All that remained was to press them.
“Prepare the machine guns.”
“Machine guns, ready!”
Our location had been revealed.
There was no longer any reason to hide our cards.
I cast another spell and reshaped the terrain, raising earthen walls and creating fortified emplacements for machine guns.
“Fire.”
“Raaaaaaaah!”
Several machine guns opened fire at once on the Friez troops who had approached at a leisurely pace in tight formation.
“S-So many…!”
“In the end, they still haven’t learned.”
The Kingdoms of Lunoa and Friez had paid heavily in blood to learn that magic no longer worked.
But that wasn’t enough. Their strategy itself had to change.
“…Phew.”
This advantage would exist only now.
There would be few chances to use it so effectively.
Even if I possessed the knowledge, it meant nothing if those around me couldn’t keep up. My knowledge would be useful only at a handful of moments, and this was one of them.
……
…………It had to be now. I needed to achieve the greatest result possible.
“…!”
I raised the rifle in my hands, lifted my body, and looked out from the trench.
There were people in my sights.
They belonged to an enemy country, but they were people. Men struck down at my command spurted blood and fell one after another. My breathing nearly stopped.
“…Hah.”
I steadied my breath and put my finger on the trigger.
I selected an enemy, recalled my training, and fired.
“Ngh.”
The recoil ran through my body, and the soldier I had aimed at fell to the ground.
“…So this is…”
The only impact I had felt was the rifle’s recoil—that was what it felt like to kill a person for the first time.
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