Chapter 44 - Calamity Part 2

I briefly lost my composure and didn't know what to do. The pins kept

dropping until the entire map was almost completely covered.

"...How many Phrase in total?"

"Thirteen-thousand-one-hundred-and-sixty-nine Phrase lifeforms in total."

That number was simply unfathomable. I had no idea how to respond to that.

Defeating them could be possible, but it would take a long time. And each

minute I wasted, more of Yulong's citizens would die. It was none of my

business... I just had to reinforce the idea that it had nothing to do with me...

But I couldn't.

"Gh... Wh-What the hell do I do?!"

"Ah, Touya... Just as I'd expected." I turned around in shock at the sudden

voice, only to find myself faced with a pale young man.

"Ende?!"

"Yeah... A lot of the 'noise' I'd been hearing from Phrase cores were being

snuffed out in this area... I was looking for the cause, and... It seems like I've

found it, hm?" With a huge smile on his face, Ende walked my way. He was clad

in his usual outfit, complete with his white scarf. He looked at the Shining Count

behind me with very curious eyes.

"Now that's something special... Are these of your design, Touya? Would you

mind if I rode around in one?"

"Ah, well... I didn't really make them or anything, but... Hey wait, more

importantly than that... there are Phrase everywhere! Do you know what

happened?!"

"Yes, I do... You do too. The boundary's torn."

The dimensional boundary. The invisible fabric that separated this world from

others. The unthinkable had happened. The Phrase had ripped it apart and

poured through.

"Wait, you're saying the boundary's gone?!"

"Mm... Not exactly. This particular incident is an accidental occurrence. The

Phrase in this country simply 'fell' through an area where the fabric was

particularly thin. The boundary isn't torn all over, it's just strained."

Oh, wow... That means if we can take care of the ones here I can rest easy a

little longer... I don't even know if I can take care of them all, but... It's not like I

really have a choice, is it?

"Is there a way to kill them all fast? Or all at once?"

"Hm... I wouldn't say it's possible to kill them all at the same time. That being

said, we could definitely draw their attention..."

"How?!"

"We could draw them here with the Sovereign's voice."

The Sovereign's voice...? What does the Sovereign Phrase have to do with

this?

"Phrase cores produce noise. Each operates on a unique and distinct

wavelength, and the Sovereign Core is no exception to this rule. The Sovereign

Core currently exists within a living creature in this world, so its noise is

obscured by the heartbeat of its host. So... what if we were to emit the 'noise'

of the Sovereign Core right here?"

"All the Phrase in the area would come this way..."

"Bingo." It seemed like a sound plan in practice, but I was amazed Ende had

such a method.

Luring them here with a fake noise is one thing, but... can we really take on

over ten-thousand of these things without serious casualties?

Well, if I think about it this way, they'll all be in various villages and towns...

Places where humans are. We won't have to fight all of them at the same time,

since they'll come here in staggered formation. But if we can't beat them fast

enough, the numbers will just pile up...

"Can you really bring them here?"

"I can. I have an item that has the Sovereign's wavelength sealed within it.

Within the wavelength is the 'noise,' which is indistinguishable from the real

thing." Ende suddenly pulled out a long, thin glass slide. He held it between his

index and middle finger. It looked like a slide used on a microscope, or for

storing scientific specimens.

"This is one of my personal storage devices. I can keep various things inside

them. Using them, I can preserve things from large living specimens to noises. If

I open this, the Sovereign's noise will ring out, so the nearby Phrase will hear it

and charge toward us."

Wow, that's pretty damn impressive... Well, he's wily, I'll give him that, but...

What's with this guy? I don't get his angle at all. He can't be called an ally of the

Phrase, but still...

I reached my hand toward the slide he held out, but moments before I

touched it, he pulled his hand back.

Wait, what? You're not sharing?

"But... I don't think I want to." Ende grinned wide as he spoke.

What the hell are you playing at...

"Why?"

"I want that." He pointed to the Frame Gear.

What... Ghh... What the hell? You're getting all googly-eyed over a Frame

Gear at a time like this? What are you, a kid?!

"...Do you promise not to use it for anything weird?"

"I totally promise! Have a little faith in me." It wouldn't be possible for him to

use the Frame Gear against us, since there were emergency protocols and all to

prevent that. I couldn't understand his motives at all, but he seemed to have a

personal vendetta against the Phrase. I didn't really think he was fully on our

side, but I could hardly consider him an enemy, either. Even so, I wasn't sure if

it'd be smart or not to hand a Frame Gear over to him. But if I didn't give him

one, he wouldn't give me the Sovereign's noise slide. I was in a predicament I

never thought I'd be in to begin with. But I knew I needed him to come out on

top in this situation, so I was out of options. I decided to add in a caveat, at least

a small victory.

"If it's stolen, given away, or sold to a foreign nation, I wouldn't appreciate

it..."

"I won't sell it, or hand it over, or let it get stolen, promise! Please, please,

lemme have it. I'll treat it right. I'm begging you, Touyaaa... Look, I'll kill all the

Phrase around here too, okay? How about it?"

What's with this guy? He's acting like he's just gonna hop in and have full

control. Then again, knowing this guy's overpowered nonsense, I guess he

probably could... He's way abnormal by this world's standards... I actually find

him a little obnoxious... Damn him to hell, how come he's better than me?!

I've met him a few times, and I don't think he's a bad guy... That's just my

intuition, though... If only Yumina was here!

His offer of helping me fight the Phrase was tempting... After all, I knew it

would save me a lot of time and effort.

I invoked [Gate] and summoned the Red Dragon Knight, Dragoon, from the

hangar.

"Here, it's a Frame Gear with a focus on mobility. I call it the Dragoon."

"Whoa! It's red! That's, like, super cool." The Frame Gear I'd chosen was one

that was particularly hard to control. I decided to just push it onto Ende because

nobody but me could handle it anyway.

Ende lazily tossed the slide over to me and climbed up onto the Dragon

Knight. The hatch opened up and he clambered on in.

He started it up immediately and the Frame began to walk around. After a

while he had it running, and moving its arms with surprising dexterity. Then, he

deployed the wheels and moved as gracefully as he could in its high-mobility

mode.

Wh-What the hell... Why's he better with it than me?

"Oh, this is pretty simple to maneuver. I like it."

"...Hah, yeah... G-Good for you." I reluctantly answered Ende with stiffest

smile I could muster. That bastard had no business being more overpowered

than me.

"But, uh, doesn't it have any weapons?"

"Oh... Right, I forgot to prepare any." The Dragon Knight didn't have a lot of

power, so it couldn't really handle heavy weaponry. I had intended to make a

lightweight weapon for it from Phrase fragments, but never got around to the

actual deed.

Luckily for me there was a veritable mountain of dead Phrase nearby.

I used [Modeling] to craft two shortswords from some fallen Phrase

appendages. Then, I made two sheaths, and fitted them onto the Dragoon's

back.

"Alrighty! I'll go kill a bunch of Phrase, just as agreed."

"Hey, wait! Before you go anywhere, tell me how to use this thing!" I

hurriedly waved the slide at Ende.

"Oh, right. Just smash it and the sound should echo out. You can't copy the

noise through technology or magic, so don't go getting any ideas."

Oh, really...? Well, there goes my plan of recording it on my smartphone.

As I lamented my ruined plan, Ende took another two slides and tossed them

at me.

"Here, these two are identical. If you use them all at the same time in

different places, you can scatter the Phrase to your advantage." Ende

clambered back into the Dragoon and sped off. The guy was an efficient Phrasekiller, so I was sure he'd do well. I'd prefer him to just kill all of them, though...

His Frame Gear was red, so it gave off a pretty powerful vibe. Heh... It'd be

funny if he came back wearing a mask next time...

Enough of that... Don't have time to think stupid thoughts! I've got plenty to

do, after all.

I returned to the Brunhild castle and explained everything to the people

there. The situation in Yulong, the Phrase, the dimensional boundary, and why I

had the Frame Gears to begin with... I came clean about it all.

"...The scale of our conversation just became... considerably larger..." Old

man Yamagata breathed out heavily after I spoke. Baba, standing next to him,

folded his arms with a soft frown on his face.

"I understand if you don't believe me, but..."

"No, I've no reason to doubt you. Creatures from another world... Surely if we

do nothing, then the tragedy of the ancient kingdom will befall us as well."

Kousaka readily believed me, but that was probably because he saw all the

smoke back in Yulong.

"Putting that aside for now, we need to figure out the situation fully. The

priority would be the current invasion of Yulong. Your Highness... Do you want

to save their citizens?"

"If I can, yes. We're the only ones who can oppose the Phrase."

"You shouldn't." Kousaka immediately shot down my idea. He basically spoke

words that would sentence Yulong's people to death. They didn't have any

method to oppose the Phrase. If they pulled out all the stops of their military

might, maybe they'd do okay, but there was no way they could survive such a

horde through conventional means.

"I will readily fight if my country is under attack. However, I see no need to

risk life and limb for a country that is not only unfriendly with us, but actively

hostile."

"But... if it keeps up like this, the casualties won't stop at Yulong alone. This

isn't a situation where you can just worry about a certain nation's attitude.

People are dying even as we speak. Are you saying we shouldn't help them?"

"Your Highness... You are a tremendous man with an equally tremendous

heart. But you can't just..."

"Kousaka, listen up." Baba, who had been quiet up until this point, finally

spoke up.

"We know more'n anyone about what our leader is like, aye? Didn't he help

us, despite Takeda being his enemy back then?"

"I... But... the situation is different now. He has an entire country on his

shoulders."

"An' that's where yer wrong. He ain't burdened. I climbed up onto his

shoulders at my own leisure. If he shakes me off, then I fall off. If I don't like it,

then I can climb off. Didn't we come here to see where the wind would blow?"

"...That we did." Kousaka exhaled quietly as he spoke. He was likely just

nervous, so I knew I wouldn't hold his pragmatic speech against him.

"Given the course of action you desire, even if I disagree, we should make our

move soon. But if we are to intervene, you should inform the western alliance

first. We must formally let them know our intent." He was right about that, at

least. I had no idea just what the ramifications of this invasion would be on the

global stage. It was important to get the whole thing ironed out before I made

my move, though I couldn't afford to waste any time.

I was in a rush, after all. People were being systematically slaughtered one

after the other as I played politics. Ordinarily I'd send the other monarchs

letters, but I decided to appeal directly to them at their homes. I needed to

hurry, and they needed to learn the truth immediately.

◇ ◇ ◇

"I see... The Phrase, hm... If those fiends are truly our enemies, then I see no

problem with you creating those Frame Gears, Touya." The king of Belfast

leaned back in his chair, which lightly creaked. Well, it's not like I invented them

or anything...

I was in a meeting with the leaders of the western alliance. The king of

Belfast, the emperor of Regulus, the emperor of Refreese, the beastking of

Mismede, the pope of Ramissh, and the newly-crowned king of Lihnea. There

were six national representatives in total present.

First, I explained everything about the Phrase to the gathered rulers. That

they were invaders from another world that had appeared long ago to destroy

the world. Then, I explained the current situation in Yulong. I did not tell them

about the Sovereign Phrase or Babylon, however. I tweaked the story to one

about me discovering the Frame Gear in some ancient ruins, learning how to

repair one, and then replicating the process to manufacture more. It wasn't

strictly a lie, all things considered. I just felt they didn't need to know

everything.

"These... Phrase, was it? Are they all that strong?"

"They've appeared in my country before, lad. Well, just one of them... From

what I heard, magic didn't affect it, it could regenerate, and its skin was tougher

than old boots!" The beastking of Mismede answered King Cloud. He must've

been talking about the Snake Phrase that Leen took care of some time ago.

"But still, for ten-thousand, or rather, more than that... to come out in

Yulong... Touya, is this a special case? Or are we to fear this happening again in

the future?"

"This is a very rare set of circumstances, I assure you. That being said, they

still may appear now and then, but not nearly as many as this. Still, I do need to

be honest with you all. There is the possibility of a massive invasion occurring

sometime in the future. As to when or where they'd come through, I cannot

say."

"Goodness me... I-I suppose we shouldn't worry about such things for now,

though." The emperor of Regulus quickly quieted down. I was hardly what you

could call a Phrase specialist, but I was probably the only person in the world

other than Ende who knew much about them.

"To be honest, it's possible they may start appearing in your countries too.

For that reason, I'd like you to take a look at this." I projected a video onto the

wall of the conference room. It was a video I had a summoned bird record as it

flew across Yulong's skies.

The video, taken from a very high vantage point, clearly showed a massive

army of Phrase annihilating a village. They hunted down every human without

end, mercilessly slaughtering them with incredible precision and efficiency. The

six leaders had their eyes trained on the video, watching in horror as sweat

beaded upon their brows.

"So these are the Phrase..."

"Yes. This video isn't a live broadcast, so it's not happening right now or

anything. This particular incident happened about an hour ago. After the Phrase

destroyed this village, they continued their march and proceeded to kill

everyone in the neighboring village." After the bird had returned my

smartphone, and I'd seen the video, I felt absolutely hopeless. I'd initially

intended just to get some shots of the Phrase, so I didn't think we'd actually

catch an attack in progress. My heart ached to think about how they could've

been saved, but I knew I needed to show it to the rulers of the western alliance.

They had to understand what they were up against.

I wanted them to understand just how dire the situation was. I also wanted

them to imagine this happening in their own nations.

"What of Shenghai, Yulong's capital?" In response to the emperor of

Refreese's question, I stopped the video and pulled up the map. The red lights

that represented the Phrase were crawling around Yulong. They were likely

following their instincts and heading toward towns and villages in order to kill

every human being in the area.

Shenghai was completely dyed in red.

"There's some resistance going on, but it's only a matter of time before they

all die. The Phrase have one purpose here. Our extermination. They won't leave

Shenghai until everyone in the capital city is dead."

"God save us..." The pope cupped her hands over her mouth, clearly horrified.

The Phrase moved like machines operating solely to hunt and kill humans. They

massacred everyone in one area, and then immediately locked on to the next

signal. They were like locusts hopping from crop to crop, devastating the

harvest in their senseless hunger.

"Touya... Over here... in southern Shenghai, are the Phrase not vanishing one

by one?"

"Huh?" Lihnea's king pointed out an area on the map where the red lights

were rapidly going out. Huh, what could... Oh! That's Ende!

"That's the result of someone currently working with me. I granted him a

Frame Gear for personal use. What you're most likely seeing here are the fruits

of his labor."

"Oh, I see. It's certainly killing them at great speed... Well, this definitely

shows the efficiency of your weapon." Ende was probably strong enough to kill

them alone, but that was a different matter entirely. We needed to focus on the

extermination of the Phrase. As if to briskly change the subject, I clapped my

hands together.

"Brunhild will engage the Phrase in Yulong using our Frame Gears. As leaders

of the western alliance, I'd like to ask for your approval."

"Wh-What?! Wait a minute... Are you saying you plan on opposing those

things?" I'd caught the beastking by surprise. That was slightly amusing, but

understandable. Even if I made use of every single person in Brunhild who could

pilot a Frame Gear, like the knight order, and Yumina along with the other girls,

it would only be around one-hundred fighters on the field. In that case we'd be

able to win if each pilot took down around one-hundred Phrase, but it was still

a senseless course of action.

"The Frame Gears have an emergency eject magic in case of serious damage.

The magic sends the pilot off to safety. It can do this if it detects the cockpit

being crushed, pierced, or damaged and so on... However, in the case of instant

death scenarios, it might not have time to activate." Thanks to the massproduction I had going on, we had a lot of Frame Gears to spare. In the worstcase scenario we simply had to perform a lot of repairs one-by-one.

The pope suddenly raised her hand, looking right at me.

"Touya... I have a question. In regards to our dear old friend... Are the Phrase

His enemies as well?"

"...I'm not sure if they're His enemies or not. He told me that He didn't know

much about them. But our dear old friend won't be interfering with what

happens here. The Phrase are our problem, not His."

"What are you two going on about?" The emperor of Refreese tilted his head

in bemusement. He couldn't understand what we were talking about. That was

only natural, since our dear old friend was God Almighty after all.

"Very well, then. The Theocracy of Ramissh stands with Brunhild. Many of our

Knights Templar have made use of the Frame Unit simulation you loaned to us,

Touya. Our nation can spare a few capable pilots."

"Huh?" Huh, so the templars are helping me as well? That's actually a great

relief... I hope they understand what they're getting into, though. Seeing the

pope's brazen proclamation, the beastking suddenly raised his hand.

"Hey now, Mismede also offers its support to Brunhild! I definitely can't leave

a situation as interesting as this one alone."

"Belfast will naturally participate as well."

"And Regulus."

"Refreese, as well."

"L-Lihnea stands with Brunhild, too!"

"Uhm... Are you all sure? This situation's pretty dangerous, you know..." Just

as I was about to explain the dangers again, they all drowned me out with

protests that basically amounted to "We've made our decision, deal with it."

These guys were a real handful.

Still, the mission was basically all risk for no benefit. I couldn't understand

why they'd join. When I mentioned that detail, the king of Belfast spoke up.

"We have our reasons, believe me. To begin with, Yulong's national power

will decrease after this, so they're going to need to rely on foreign aid. It's

better to curry favor with them now to put them in our debt. Secondly, we

would like our own knights to gain experience in combat against the Phrase. We

know not when or if our nations might end up in the same situation as Yulong.

Third, we wish to make sure Brunhild is protected. Or more specifically, you.

The products and culture of your nation are a treasured thing, my boy. If you

were to die during this incident, we'd lose a revolutionary figure. That's how I

see it, at least."

That made sense. It was a pretty cunning way of operating. Even if Yulong

survived this, we had no idea what would happen afterward. And we had no

idea if the heavenly emperor was still alive, either.

I personally didn't care if the heavenly emperor was dead or not. Probably

because he'd tried to kill me. I just wanted to help the people of Yulong.

"The issue is the situation that'll develop after this is over..."

"Do you think the neighboring countries might invade the weakened Yulong?"

"Would they? If that happens, then the Brunhild territory at Hannock's border

might come in handy." Let's see... Currently, the nations bordering Yulong are...

One, two, three... Six. If Eashen enters the situation, then that's seven potential

risks.

To the west was the Kingdom of Hannock. To the north was Xenoahs, the

Demon Kingdom. The Nokia Kingdom was to the north-east, and Eashen, the

Divine Nation, was over the sea to the east as well. The Horn Kingdom and the

Kingdom of Felsen were to the south. Then across a river, the Roadmare Union

was to the south-west.

It was almost impossible to predict what would happen to such a massive

country with so many elements surrounding them.

For now, we decided to deal with the matter at hand.

"Since you're all cooperating with me, I'll send you twenty Frame Gears each.

Eighteen Heavy Knights, and two Black Knights for your commanders. Please

take care in selecting your pilots. There'll be around ninety Frame Gears from

Brunhild, and one-hundred-and-twenty from the other allied nations. We'll face

them down with a combined force of around two-hundred-and-ten."

"Our numbers pale in comparison... I suppose each soldier will have to kill

around fifty of them to even out the odds. Honestly, I doubt our chances, but...

Do you perhaps have a plan?"

"At present, the Phrase types making up the invasion are Lesser Constructs

and Intermediate Constructs. The Lesser Constructs should be a piece of cake if

we use the Frame Gears properly. Run search. Display Intermediate Constructs.

Denote with blue markers." Suddenly, several red lights on the map changed

into blue ones.

"Beginning search. Search complete. Displaying. Total Intermediate

Constructs: One-thousand-and-thirty-five."

"...So, about ten percent of them. Even if each person takes down five of

them, we should be alright. We might be able to manage it, after all..." The

emperor of Refreese muttered, glaring at the screen and patting the top of his

shiny bald head.

"Well, in theory... But in practice there'll be a lot of Lesser Constructs around,

so it'll be a bit more complicated to take them on. I do have a plan, though." I

began introducing my strategy. It wasn't an especially complex one, either. The

plan was to use the Sovereign noise I'd received from Ende to have the Phrase

split and travel in three directions.

Then, I would actively use my [Gate] magic to send fighters around the

battlefield as they're needed. We simply had to balance our units and deploy

them to the relevant areas at the right times.

"Ah, wait a moment... Does that mean you won't be piloting a Frame Gear,

Touya?"

"That's right, yes. I'll be using my flight magic to soar high above the

battlefield. I'll provide support and basically be your backup unit." I answered

the pope's inquiry confidently. Having me as support was probably the wisest

choice. There was no telling what kind of unexpected trouble could pop up out

of the blue. I had to be in a position to move freely and respond to danger.

"Indeed, that's only sensible. In a battlefield divided in three, only Touya can

see the full scope of the field. And only he can send people to and fro using his

magic."

"That's right. Plus, I have combat capabilities to oppose the Phrase hand-tohand."

"Hrmph... But if you can fight them without a Frame Gear... why bother

having one in the first place?"

"It's true that I can take them down as I am, but it takes time. More time than

it should. If I pilot a Frame Gear, I can smash them freely." I answered the

emperor of Refreese's inquiry and hurriedly ended the meeting before more

stupid questions popped up. Yulong was in the midst of crisis, so I had no more

time for chitchat. We needed to hurry.

"I'll gather you all in one hour. Use this time to pick out your pilots and

explain the situation."

I opened up a [Gate] and sent the leaders, along with their escorts, back

home.

We had a lot to do. A lot to do and not nearly enough time. We had to hurry.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Oh gosh... Something bad happened and I didn't even notice, huh...?" The

god of love... Or, uh, Karen, my sister... munched on a cookie as she heard me

explain everything. ...You're getting crumbs all over the carpet.

"Yeah... So... I was wondering if you'd be able to help us out."

"Ohh... No can do, little bro. My powers are free-to-use if it's a love-related

matter. But I can't do anything unrelated to love unless it's to do with catching

that servile god, y'know?"

"Love-related matters... Like what, exactly?"

"Hmhm... I mean something like... bringing a boy knight and a girl knight

together on the battlefield. And splitting them up, all the same..."

Kind of useless... Lovey-dovey matters won't mean anything against the

Phrase. Guess it was pointless asking her for help.

"You were thinking something impolite just now, weren'tcha?"

"Owh... Sh-Shorry! Lemmeh goh... Thaht hurhts!" I sputtered out a frantic

apology as Karen pinched my cheek.

Damn it, even this god's a bully...! She sits here casually and only gets serious

for stupid stuff!

"...You thought something rude again, y'know?"

"E-Excuhse me! Owh! Owwwh!!!" I could tolerate the pinching because I was,

well, me. But if she did that to a regular person they'd have probably died... She

was a truly terrifying force. I rubbed my pained face as I shuffled off to Babylon.

Rosetta, Monica, and the mini-bots were in the middle of applying some lastminute adjustments to some Frame Gears.

"What's going on?"

"Well, we've somehow managed to make a go at it... There's two-hundredand-ten Frame Gears here, sir! We have forty spare units, making two-hundredand-fifty in total, yessir! They'll be ready to deploy in thirty minutes on the

dot!"

"Master... You should, like, totally take me to the battlefield and stuff... I will

show those Phrase a monstrous death unlike any they have known thus far!"

Monica yelled loudly as she hefted her wrench over her shoulder. It was

undeniable that out of all the Babylon Gynoids, she was the most attuned to

combat. I actually wanted her to focus on maintenance though, so we didn't

have the luxury to send her out like that.

"Do you see the details I've added here, sir?! The pauldrons are a different

color depending on the nation! I've also added the royal crest of each country

to the respective Frame Gears, sir!"

"Good work." The right shoulders of each Frame Gear were painted in

different colors depending on the nation they were assigned to. Belfast was red,

Refreese was blue, Regulus was purple, Mismede was green, Ramissh was

yellow, and Lihnea was orange. The left shoulders were also painted, but had

numbers denoting which unit they were. It didn't exactly look too aesthetically

pleasing, but it was necessary to tell who was who on the battlefield.

It was a quick job though, so it wasn't like we could do much to prevent it.

"What about weapons?"

"They're being manufactured in the workshop, sir! But the amount of Phrase

weapons is limited!"

"Well, I guess we're lacking materials... Still, can't the workshop make

weapons for the Frame Gear out of smaller chunks?"

"Master, sir! The workshop isn't quite like your [Modeling] spell! We can't

just slap small fragments of Phrase together to make big stuff! Making small

weapons for humans is fine and all, but making Frame Gear sized stuff en masse

is inefficient and largely wasteful, sir!"

"To like, use an example and stuff... mass-producing stuff in the workshop is,

like, uhm... using a dagger as a replacement for a spear tip. It's quite fine for

mass-producing arrowheads and such, but you still have to aim properly to get

them to work. The weaponry you'll produce here may end up hindering your

men rather than helping them. Plus, like, without your magic pouring into them,

the stuff's all brittle and dumb...!" I got the picture, at any rate. Without my

magic going into them, phrasium weaponry was as good as glass.

The Frame Gears and their weapons all seemed sorted. Now all I had to do

was look over the knight order.

I didn't even make it to the barracks before they all came anxiously running

toward me.

"Milord... We're done preparing. We can deploy at any time." Rebecca spoke

up confidently. Logan, who was standing next to her, also nodded firmly.

Neither displayed even a hint of fear.

Not every member of the knight order would be boarding Frame Gears and

joining the fight. Certain demonkin, like ogres and lamias, couldn't board them,

for example. Plus, a few members of the knight order simply couldn't ride

Frame Gears due to claustrophobia, motion sickness, and other various reasons.

Those members would stay at the base and offer support in whatever ways

they could.

"That's good. Listen, don't worry. Also, don't try to be a hero. Your lives are

the most important things here. If you think you're in danger, there's no shame

in fleeing. There's no honor in dying to one of those, I promise you. Once we all

get home safely, we'll celebrate, okay?" I found myself speaking to them all,

reminding them that they were important. I didn't want a single one of them to

lose hope. I didn't want a single one of them to die.

"Don't overestimate your own capabilities. You must never make light of your

foes, either. There's no shame in a little bit of fear. If one isn't enough, then

make use of the power of two. If that's still no good, then three. You cannot

afford to fight these monsters fairly." I planned to support them as much as I

could, but there'd naturally be times I couldn't be there. The Frame Gears had

an emergency escape option, at the very least. Still, if the cockpit were crushed,

there wouldn't be any saving them.

Safety was the number one priority. After reminding them of that, I returned

to the castle.

I went to the den and found Elze and the others waiting for me. I asked Elze

and Yae to join me in battle. The other three would wait on standby at base and

help out those that wound up injured.

"B-But... I can fight, I really can...!"

"Lu, you're the princess of Regulus. We can't have you fighting alongside

Regulus' knight order. They may prioritize your safety over the mission." It was

mostly the same in Yumina's case, as well. As for Linze, she wasn't exactly

suited for this kind of combat. The Phrase could absorb magic, and we needed

her Light spells to heal any potentially injured people.

"Elze, Yae, and Lain will be deployed at three different key locations. Also, I'm

going to have Kokuyou and Sango join Elze, Kohaku join Yae, and Kougyoku join

Lain. That way they'll be able to stay in contact with me." Thanks to telepathy,

we could talk no matter the distance. Information like that would be vital for

me to know how to move around the battlefield.

"Touya, please don't overdo it..."

"It'll be okay. We'll all come back safely. It's getting close to the time,

though... We need to head out." I took everyone with me through a [Gate]. We

came out at my wall on Hannock's border, at a special facility I had come to

call... HQ.

Right on the border of Hannock stood the Great Wall of Brunhild. In front of it

stood around two-hundred-and-fifty Frame Gears. The view was incredible.

Each country's knights had boarded their vehicles and were waiting to

mobilize. At the HQ, the rulers of each country were observing Phrase activity

on a large projected board made of several screens.

There were sixteen different screens and feeds, lined up in a four by four set

of rows and columns. Each one displayed different images and video feeds.

I'd summoned several Valkyries earlier and asked them to fly around with

cameras to record the situation properly.

"I'm glad we're here. This way we can see the state of affairs."

"...The anticipation is killing me, I must admit." I stood next to the pope of

Ramissh, and the emperor of Refreese. I looked around the room a bit, then

addressed the Commanders and Vice-Commanders of each nation.

Belfast's officers were Commander Neil and Vice-Commander Lyon. Regulus'

commander was the old, one-eyed Gaspar, and Mismede's Vice-Commander

was the wolf beastman, Garm. I only knew those four.

I vaguely recognized the other commanders and vice-commanders, but I'd

never exchanged words with them.

"Alright, so here's the general idea. Ninety Frame Gears from Brunhild will

divide into three teams of thirty. Then, they'll deploy at three separate

locations that are on opposite sides of the capital of Yulong. I've tentatively

named these squads A, B, and C. Belfast and Regulus will accompany A Squad,

Mismede and Ramissh will accompany B Squad, and Refreese and Lihnea will

accompany C Squad. This creates three teams of seventy members, and all you

need to do after deploying is wait for my command." I displayed three markers

on the projected map, indicating points A, B, and C.

"The Phrase should begin moving toward point A when I begin the plan. After

attracting the main group there, I'll move to point B and attract a splinter group

of them to that location. Then, I'll move to point C and perform the same

action, effectively thinning them out into three manageable groups." Lyon

tentatively raised his hand.

"And if they don't split up evenly?"

"I'll be able to use [Gate] to freely send units between points. Ideally, I'll

move ten units at a time as a single team, but I'd prefer for countries not to get

too jumbled up."

"And how might we communicate?"

"Each Frame Gear has a short-range communication device. The range isn't

too big, so you won't be able to communicate with people at other points, but

you can freely talk to other people in your vicinity. As for long-range comms...

That's where these three come in. Yae, Elze, and Lain can transmit information

to other battlefields, and me, if necessary." I changed the display and displayed

three Frame Gears. Lain's Shining Count was painted pure white. Yae had a

Knight Baron that was painted purple, and Elze had a Knight Baron that was

painted crimson. They could've had their own comedy routine about three

Black Knights that were in no way black at all.

Yae's Frame Gear was equipped with a curved crystal blade, and Elze's was

equipped with some crude crystal gauntlets. I'd made both weapons from

phrasium. Lain had a similar bladed weapon, as well.

"So, here's how we're going to do this. Assess the situation at your individual

locations and act accordingly. If you see anything unusual or suspicious, contact

me immediately. In addition, if you see a really fast red Frame Gear, don't

worry, he's our ally. Any questions?"

"I've heard there are some airborne Phrase. How should we deal with those?"

"I'll take care of them. Try to avoid taking damage. There are also certain

Phrase that might shoot crystal arrows or missiles. If your Frame Gear gets

damaged too badly, you'll be sent back here. But if your cockpit gets destroyed

directly, you won't be sent back in time, so keep your guard up." Each

commander boarded their respective Black Knights after I explained the

strategy. The soldiers split into A Squad, B Squad, and C Squad respectively. Lain

then joined A Squad, Yae joined B Squad, and Elze joined C Squad.

Kougyoku, Kohaku, and Kokuyou and Sango boarded with the three

respective people as well. They'd be my way of communicating efficiently to

each squad. I also had Norn join B Squad, and Nikola join C Squad as backup.

Yae and Elze were going to move freely and not focus too heavily on giving

orders. That was why I figured it was smarter to have a vice-commander

backing each of them up.

I had several Frame Gears, Tsubaki, old man Baba, and a summoned Cerberus

stationed at HQ just in case. If anything bad happened, they'd be sure to

contact me.

I moved A Squad, B Squad, and C Squad to their respective locations using

[Gate].

I joined the battle alongside A Squad. It was time to prepare.

"It's time to begin. I'll be trusting you guys to relay my orders."

"As you command."

"Very well, my lord."

"Sssure thing, darling..."

"Blessings of luck upon you, my master." Kohaku, Kougyoku, Kokuyou, and

Sango all reported for duty.

I pulled up my map display and confirmed where the Phrase were on the

map. Then, I pulled one of the little slides Ende had given me out of my breast

pocket.

"...This better actually do something." I knew I'd punch Ende if it was a prank

or something. I applied a little force, breaking the slide with a firm snap.

"Huh..." No sound came out. I began suspecting that I'd actually been tricked.

I anxiously looked at the map, and found that all the Phrase in Yulong had

stopped moving. After a few moments... they all began charging toward me. It

had worked, apparently. It seemed that whatever noise the Sovereign made, it

was beyond human comprehension.

Of all the Phrase headed our way, some of them were moving faster than

others. I had a small idea as to why that was. Hm... I wonder...

"Search. Display any flying Phrase with yellow markers."

"Understood. Displaying." The group of Phrase heading our way was quickly

dotted with yellow. Luckily, it was as I expected. There weren't many flying

enemies at all. There only seemed to be about ten.

Frame Gears couldn't fly, so I had no choice but to take care of them myself. I

took out two phrasium greatswords and readied the weapons.

"Kougyoku, I'm going to kill the flying Phrase headed this way. The first

ground group should appear in about fifteen minutes."

"Understood. Please stay safe." I sent a telepathic message to Kougyoku, who

was with Lain in the White Knight.

"Alright, time to give them a little show." I invoked [Fly], leaped up into the

sky, and went barreling off to meet the flying Phrase.

The battle was about to commence.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Hup!" I passed by some flying Phrase, splitting their cores as I moved on by.

One fell, then a second.

A third, and a fourth... I sliced through several of the flying Phrase.

I looked below and saw a group of Phrase kicking up dust as they stampeded.

I had no choice but to trust Lain and the others to take care of them. My role,

first and foremost, was to kill the flying ones. I was lucky there weren't any

flying Intermediate Constructs like the Manta Phrase.

I soared through the sky, took out another group of flying enemies, then

zoomed down and killed a bunch on the ground. I focused on wiping out the

Lesser Constructs and ignored the larger ones.

I kept my map displayed, constantly tracking their movement. The group

furthest away had started heading in this direction. They weren't moving

normally... It looked like they were charging full-pelt in our direction.

"The battle at point A will begin soon. I'm heading to point B." Judging from

the map situation, almost every Phrase in Yulong was going to converge on

Lain's position.

I opened a [Gate] and came out at point B. Yae's group was there, currently

on standby. The soldiers from Mismede and Ramissh gave me a hearty

welcome.

"I'm about to begin calling the Phrase toward me. Get everyone prepared to

fight!"

"As you wish." I sent a telepathic message to Kohaku. The plan was to have

Kohaku convey the message to Yae, and then have Yae convey the message to

the others. I looked over all the Frame Gears brandishing their weapons and felt

a faint sense of pride. With that, I took the slide from my breast pocket and

snapped it apart.

On my map display, the Phrase moving toward point A split slightly, a group of

them now charging in the direction of point B. About half of them broke off and

started heading to my current location. There were no more flying types, so

they were all moving at around the same speed.

"Search. Display the current number of Phrase."

"Understood... Search complete. Twelve-thousand-and-seventeen Phrase."

The number on the display had already begun decreasing steadily. That was

because the battle at point A had already started. If I recalled correctly, there

were over thirteen-thousand of them when I'd initially ran the search... That

meant Ende had killed about a thousand of them on his own.

I used [Fly] to perch on the shoulder of Yae's Frame Gear.

"The Phrase should be here in a few minutes, alright? I'll be counting on you."

"I understand, I do. You can count on me." I used [Gate] to move toward

point C, deciding to check on Elze.

I was greeted by a trio of robots. Elze's crimson Frame Gear, equipped with

transparent gauntlets. Monica's scarlet Frame Gear with a huge crystal wrench.

Nikola, on the other hand, was piloting a non-custom Black Knight.

"The battle has begun at point A. It's about to start at point B, too. I'll lure the

remaining ones here."

"Understood."

"Ssssure thing." As Sango and Kokuyou replied, I shattered the third slide. A

few of the Phrase headed toward point B split off and headed toward point C.

"Hrmph... We didn't attract as many as I expected." My timing for breaking

the slide may have been a bit off... The split between the three locations

definitely wasn't even.

I looked toward the map and tried to get a feel for the numbers. About fifty

percent of all Phrase were headed to point A, thirty percent were en route to

point B, and twenty percent were coming toward Point C.

"It's looking like Lain's gonna have the roughest ride..." I decided to send

several troops from point C to provide backup at point A. We didn't need as

many here, after all.

I stood on the shoulder of Monica's Frame Gear, then barked out commands.

"Monica and twenty Brunhild soldiers will be going to point A! Brace for

teleportation, but be aware that the battle has already begun over there."

"Hoh... It's about time they taste the cold sting of my wrench. Uhm, like,

Master! Don't even worry about it, I'll kill them all, and stuff!" I opened up a

[Gate], sending Monica and twenty soldiers to point A. I came through too,

finding them all in the heat of battle.

The soldiers were trashing the Lesser Constructs and cutting them to pieces

with weaponry. Then, they turned toward the Intermediate Constructs,

focusing their attacks.

"Charge!" I jumped down from the shoulder of Monica's Frame Gear, lunging

at an incoming Phrase. The soldiers around me all ran forward into battle,

slaying several Lesser Constructs in a flash.

"Outta the way, and stuff!" Monica swung down her wrench against the torso

of an Intermediate Construct. It smashed into pieces, and she stomped its core

in an instant. Then, her leg continued its momentum, smashing into several

smaller ones.

I didn't want to get hit, so I moved away from the middle of the fray and

picked off a few smaller ones myself. I looked at the counter on the map and it

was already down to ten-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-two.

The battle at point B had begun, too. The battle at point C wasn't far off,

either. I needed to wipe out the little ones as swiftly as possible. Suddenly, a

telepathic message came in from Kougyoku.

"My liege. Regulus Unit Fifteen has taken severe damage. It has to withdraw."

What?! I pulled up the map and headed toward the area. I found a Chevalier

with a shattered leg and a sliced-apart arm rolling around on the ground. Its

head was completely smashed as well.

I got closer and opened up the chest hatch, just to ensure the guy wasn't still

stuck in there. Fortunately, it was empty. It seemed as though he had been

properly sent back to HQ.

I used [Storage] to contain the broken Frame Gear. As I did that, I received

another message.

"Master, sir! Regulus Fifteen says he can return to the front!"

"What's his condition?"

"He's all good! He got up and said he wants to fight again, sir!"

"Got it. Have him on standby to ship out again, then." The Cerberus I had

stationed at HQ relayed Rosetta's voice. I was relieved to hear the pilot was

alright.

I used [Gate] to summon him and his new Frame Gear back to the battlefield

within seconds.

The Chevalier he was riding was identical to the previous one in every way...

Except for one. The purple number on his shoulder had been hastily scrawled

on at the last minute.

Still, current circumstances didn't call for differentiating people too much, so

how he looked wasn't a big deal.

Regulus Unit Fifteen bowed to me briefly and went right back to smashing

monsters.

It didn't take long for all the Intermediate Constructs to fall, and then it was a

case of mopping up the Lesser Constructs. If a Frame Gear was the size of a

person, then the Lesser Constructs here were about the size of an average dog.

Several of them shattered to pieces every time a soldier swung down his

weapon.

"The next wave is set to arrive in about five minutes. Everyone can take a

brief rest, but get ready to fight again at a moment's notice."

"Got it!" I sent a telepathic message to Kougyoku, who was accompanying

Lain. Then, I opened up a [Gate] to point C and made my way there.

In a stark contrast to the other two locations, there weren't many enemies at

point C at all. I considered sending some troops elsewhere.

But still, the battle as point C had begun as well. Several Frame Gears

cornered the Intermediate Constructs and began ganging up on them. The

Lesser Constructs had no chances here, either.

I dived into the fray and took out a bunch of smaller ones as well. Still, for

every one I killed, two more took their place.

"My liege... Ramissh Unit Eleven is badly damaged." Kohaku's voice echoed in

my head. That was all the way at Point B. I was really being pushed hard... I'd

only just arrived at point C and I already had to backtrack.

I flew back to Point B, collected the broken Frame Gear, and redeployed

Ramissh Unit Eleven.

I glanced at the Phrase counter, finding it had decreased to nine-thousandand-forty-three. That was great news, since it meant we'd already killed over a

thousand of them.

The situation was tough, but it looked like we would surely prevail.

I killed, killed, and killed some more. I smashed as many Phrase as I could as I

soared through the air.

When I wasn't killing, I was picking up trashed Frame Gears and sending out

the reserve units.

Thankfully, there were no casualties, but a lot of people had gotten

concussions due to the impact of falling in their Frame Gears. Sure they could

be treated back at HQ, but our numbers were slowly but surely dropping.

It was no surprise that our forces grew fatigued as we were faced with

overwhelming odds. Every man had to kill fifty Phrase, so the deck was stacked

against us.

The map confirmed that even more waves of enemies were inbound to all

three points, as well. The number of Phrase had already been reduced to

around five-thousand, but our soldiers were rapidly reaching their limits.

"Haaah!" Elze's fist shattered the body of an Intermediate Construct, catching

its core and smashing it with a leg sweep. Refreese's vice-commander, specially

equipped with a phrasium spear, pierced another one and skewered its core.

I hopped on top of the vice-commander's Frame Gear and called out to him.

"Ah, pardon me. There aren't many left here, so I'll be sending you and the

other Refreese units to point B."

"Very well. Give us a moment." The voice blaring through the speakers

suddenly paused, then the surrounding Refreese knights piloted their Frame

Gears in my direction.

I moved seventeen of them in total toward point B. I stayed on the vicecommander's shoulder, so I went through with them.

Point B was in the midst of a heated battle, and the combined forces of

Ramissh and Mismede were giving the Phrase a good run for their money.

Refreese's soldiers wasted no time in joining in.

A nearby Chevalier struck a Phrase with his mace, deftly blocking a crystal

arrow with its shield at the same time. The blow made several cracks along the

creature's surface, and the other heavy knights followed up with swings of their

own. It seemed almost cruel to look at, like they were bullying the poor thing...

But it was a simple matter of kill or be killed.

A bunch of Lesser Constructs moved in to jump up at the soldiers. The Heavy

Knights repelled them with ease, shattering them with their large weapons.

They clearly knew how to handle themselves, but the soldiers were showing

signs of fatigue. Their movements were getting subtly slower by the minute.

"Huh?" A red Frame Gear suddenly burst onto the scene at intense speed. It

wasn't Elze. Elze was at point C, and I was currently at point B. I figured it was

Ende.

I thought he'd hide and run away the moment the actual battle began...

Seems I'd underestimated the value of his word.

He danced wildly, flourishing the twin blades and slaughtering every Phrase in

his path. He aimed with frightening precision, striking the cores of each

deliberately and swiftly. The guy far outclassed every other fighter on the field.

As I flew over to Ende's Frame Gear, the hatch opened up and he revealed

himself to me.

"Yo, Touya. I'm thinking about heading off soon, is that okay?"

"Honestly, you've already helped me more than I expected, so that should be

fine."

"No, no... See, there's something I have to attend to. I can't keep helping

since I'll run outta time. Anyway, I came by to warn you." Ende raised a single

finger, smiling devilishly at me as he spoke.

Huh? A warning?

"Yeah... An Upper Construct is coming. Y'know, one of the real big boys. It's

not in this world yet, but it's going to breach in the northwest. I'd expect it to

hit in about five minutes. You should probably issue a retreat if you care about

your people and their safety."

"What...?!" An Upper Construct?! Wasn't that like one of the strongest of the

Phrase?!

"Why's there one of those here?!"

"You know, I'm not actually too sure. It's probably because so many poured

out at once. The tear they made is big enough to allow an Upper through, and...

here we are! Don't worry though, the seam will start getting smaller the

moment it passes into this world, so don't expect another to come through any

time soon."

His words were hardly comforting. I didn't know why he was acting so

nonchalant.

"Well, best of luck! Later, Touya."

"H-Hey now!" In a matter of seconds, both Ende and his Dragoon vanished

into nothingness. He'd used his teleportation magic... But it wasn't the time to

think about that.

"Kohaku! Evacuate everyone in the north-western area! There's an Upper

Construct coming! Hurry!"

"Wha—?! I-I understand!" Kohaku conveyed the information, and all the

Frame Gears in the northwest started pulling back one by one. They didn't

waste any opportunity, however, and smashed several Lesser Constructs on

their way back. The number on the map had dropped down to two-thousandfive-hundred-and-seventeen. I was honestly impressed. We'd been fighting for

around three hours, and everyone was getting pretty damn tired. I had no idea

if they'd be able to handle an enemy like this. Without warning, a vibration ran

through the air. The atmosphere itself felt as though it were quaking. As the air

began to shudder, vibrant cracks appeared in the very space before my eyes.

The crack ran and spread across reality itself, a two-dimensional pattern

somehow imprinting on three-dimensional space. A snapping sound rang out

through the area, and an enormous claw appeared out of nothingness.

Almost as though bursting from the fabric of the sky itself, the beast began to

break through. Within the warped reality visible through the crack, I saw it.

If I had to define it at a glance, I'd call it a crocodile. Well, it was a six-legged

crocodile with a giant horn on its head. It also had things jutting out of the tip of

its tail, and a dorsal fin on its back.

It had the same crystalline body as all the other Phrase I'd encountered, but

its body structure was clearly far more complicated. There were three glowing

cores inside its body, its jagged armor cut clean in straight lines.

If I were to describe it in one word, I would have used monstrous. It was

absolutely goddamn gigantic. The Intermediate Phrase were small compared to

it, and it made even Frame Gears look tiny.

I suppose if I were to make it a metaphor... If the Crocodile Phrase were the

size of a regular Phrase, then the Frame Gears would be the size of a small

plastic robot. It was the biggest thing I'd ever seen.

"Th-This is... way too big... C-C'mon now..." I silently swallowed, staring with

wide eyes. I didn't think even for a moment that we could defeat it.

While we stared at it like gawping idiots, the crystal croc opened its mouth.

Light itself began to collect within its mouth, shimmering and shining in a

massive ball. Shit! It's like that time with the Manta Phrase!

"Kohaku! Evacuate everyone in front of its mouth, now!"

"Huh?"

Shit, there's no time!

"Gah!" I invoked [Gate], forcefully and without warning shifting every soldier

in front of that thing next to me.

I did it just in time, as moments later a beam of raw energy shot in a straight

line from its mouth.

SHAKOOOOOOOOOM! The ray shot forward, burning away everything in its

path. Even the ground itself was eroded away in an instant. Everything in its

path was atomized, burned away without a trace.

What the hell kind of weapon is that...? It's just like the Charged Particle

Cannon from that anime... Though it's not powered by electricity...

It was similar to the Manta Phrase in that it needed time to charge up, but the

difference in firepower was nothing to laugh at. If someone was hit by that,

there wouldn't be anything left to recover.

...This was the fearsome power of an Upper Construct.

◇ ◇ ◇

I took out a radio transmitter from [Storage] and tuned it to the common

channel. I didn't want to cause any political concerns. I was the head of a

nation, so issuing commands to foreign soldiers could be interpreted strangely.

For that reason, my radio relayed orders only to the commanders of each

nation, and they passed it on to their respective armies. All the Frame Gears

were within comms range.

"Attention all Brunhild pilots! Don't stand in front of the Upper Construct

Phrase! There's a cue to look out for before it launches its attack, but it could

still easily crush you by moving around, so keep your distance!" With a

rumbling, the Frame Gears moved from the front of the Phrase to its back.

Almost as if waiting for that motion, the Crocodile Phrase rolled to the side,

cracking its tail like a whip and striking one of the Chevaliers.

With a tremendous crunching sound, the Heavy Knight was obliterated. It

rolled and tumbled on the ground, crumbling to pieces on impact.

"HQ, come in! We have a man down, did the teleport work?!"

"Touya, it's Yumina. The pilot was successfully sent here, but he's gravely

injured. Flora's treating him, but he looks like a twisted mess..." Yumina

transmitted a psychic message to me through Cerberus, who was guarding her.

Thankfully, the man hadn't died instantly.

The stupid crocodile wriggled its tail left and right, staring us down as if

attempting to threaten us. He wasn't particularly fast, though.

If it kept up that pace, it wouldn't be hard to avoid.

However, just as I sank into that kind of relaxed train of thought, several

spiked protrusions appeared at the tip of its tail, and then they began launching

rapidly like missiles.

"[Shield]!" An invisible shield covered my surroundings, repelling the crystal

rain of arrows. All the other Frame Gears held fast with their shields as well,

enduring it somehow.

"Wh-What the hell... It's got a cluster bomb attack?!" A cluster bomb was

designed for focused assaults. Inside the main blast were several smaller blasts.

It wasn't an attack that marked targets like aiming with a bow, or the kind

where you drew a line on your target like firing a machine gun. It was one that

covered a wide area. And there was nothing more troubling in their situation.

The spines that it had fired out had already begun regenerating.

That tail's a real pain in the ass... I should probably focus on taking it out...

Wait, no. It's still a Phrase, so it'd just grow back.

As I spent my time thinking, the Crocodile Phrase started stomping forward.

"[Slip]!" I removed the friction on the ground below all six of its legs. In a

flash, the Crocodile Phrase tumbled over with a massive crash. But, as it fell its

tail started thrashing around and firing out more missiles.

"Gah, shit!" As we endured the crystal rain once more, it looked right at us.

Phrase didn't have eyes, but I swear we were in its sight. It managed to right

itself, and opened up its mouth slowly. Light began to gather inside its gaping

maw. Hell no!

"All units, fan out! Get out of there!" I didn't even need to say anything. The

Heavy Knights were already desperately charging away.

Just as before, it roared, a condensed beam of light shooting out before our

eyes. It dug the ground out for miles in a straight line. I looked in the distance,

and I saw a mountain disappear. Just how much power does it have...?!

Nobody's hurt, but... what do I do?!

How can I beat it...? It's a Phrase, so I just need to destroy those three cores,

but how am I supposed to do that?

Its body is way too big... There's too much thick material in the way... I could

probably cut it if I made a fifty-meter sword or something...

There were a lot of materials around, that was true. However, what I lacked

was time. Making a blade like that with [Modeling] would definitely take me at

least an hour. Plus, I didn't even know how to swing something so huge. I

considered launching it into the sky with a [Gate] like I did with the Mithril

Golem, but even if that harmed it, it'd just regenerate again.

The Crocodile Phrase swept to the side and lashed with its tail once more,

swatting at us as if we were ants. Multiple Heavy Knights got caught up in the

attack.

And, like clockwork, a rain of crystal came pouring down at us. Its attack was

pretty plain, but effective. Everyone managed to hold out with their shields, but

their pauldrons and legs still took minor damage. Over time, it would definitely

chip away at them. There was no avoiding that.

"We can't keep taking attacks like this...! Everyone, group up and strike as

one!" I held crystal blades in both of my hands, soaring through the air to the

crocodile's flank. Through its body I could make out a core, about one meter in

diameter. It faintly shone.

"Take thiiis!!" I struck it in a cross motion, swiping repeatedly with the swords

in my hands. Still, no matter what I did, I couldn't reach the core. If this Phrase

was a crocodile, then I was a mere fly attempting to pierce its hide.

Suddenly, a screeching pulse echoed out from its dorsal fin, and in a few

moments I was blown away.

"Wha...!" I spun around in the sky and recovered my stance. There wasn't any

damage. I wasn't hit, but it took me by surprise. Apparently it was capable of

generating shockwaves, too. Right on cue, the crystal arrows rained down from

the heavens again. Everyone's shields looked close to breaking. The only solace

in this attack was that it struck both friend and foe alike.

Ever since it started using that attack, most of the weaker Phrase in the area

had taken considerable damage.

If I had to classify this one, it was clear it specialized in extermination. The

situation wasn't looking good for us. I had to think of something...

This crystal rain's the worst... It's like a goddamn meteor storm... Oh, wait a

second...!

I looked around the area. There were shards of shattered Phrase scattered all

over the place. I wondered if I could do it.

"Soldiers, do you copy? I need you to buy me three minutes of time. There's

no need to engage the enemy. Just draw its attention and keep it occupied." It

looked like they got my message. All the knights began to move in unison,

attempting to divert its attention away from me.

Alright, better take my shot... I used [Multiple] and [Transfer] to pour vast

quantities of magic into the scattered Phrase pieces in the area. I made them

considerably tougher than the Upper Construct's shell.

"All units, fan out! Get as far away from the big one as possible!" Everyone

moved away after receiving my message. Once I confirmed their safety, I

opened up a [Gate] and moved all the scattered fragments into the sky far

above the Crocodile Phrase. The pieces were dozens of meters up in the air. I

didn't want to make it too high, or the aim would be off.

"Take this, you bastard! [Meteor Rain]!"

I applied [Gravity] to the Phrase fragments in the sky. I multiplied their weight

by a magnitude of tens of thousands.

The glimmering fragments of pure destruction rained down upon the massive

beast, pelting devastating blasts into its massive body.

Several fragments embedded themselves in the crocodile's body, creating

cracks along the surface of its back. I kept on channeling [Gravity], making them

heavier and heavier.

The monstrously large crocodile was pinned to the ground, exuding a noise

similar to that of nails on a chalkboard.

The sound of splintering and cracking rang out as more of its body

fragmented. Apparently the magic I had poured in wasn't quite enough. I

increased the weight even further.

The cracks found each other, creating even larger cracks.

The Crocodile Phrase attempted to open its maw and fire out its light blast,

but its mouth was damaged by the fragments as well, so it couldn't open up

properly. I heard loud sounds of creaking and straining from the body of the

beast.

"Break to pieces, you bastard!" I increased the weight once more, just to be

sure. The fragments sank in even deeper. Finally, unable to bear any more

strain, the crocodile smashed into thousands of pieces like a glass ornament

falling from a great height.

"Now, swarm it! Destroy the cores before it can regenerate! There should be

three!" All the soldiers charged toward the newly-exposed cores, striking them

with their weapons. One of them shattered almost immediately, vanishing in

seconds. The other two quickly followed suit, crumbling to nothingness under

the relentless assault. With that, the Upper Construct had been reduced to a

mountain of raw materials.

"Hoooraaah!!!" All the soldiers from Mismede, Ramissh, Refreese, and

Brunhild let our cheers, waving their weapons overhead all the while.

There were still a few Phrase remaining, but point B was pretty much cleared

out.

Somehow, we'd managed. I used more magic than I expected. In fact, it was

probably the most magic I'd ever used in a single fight. Still, I knew it was

ultimately necessary in order to take care of the Upper Construct.

"The Brunhild knight order can take care of the rest from here. Mismede,

Ramissh, prepare for warp to point A. Brace for transfer... Now's the time we

end this!"

"Hurrah!" Almost every Frame Gear present at point B warped off to point A.

It seemed like the troops at point C had everything under control as well. I

looked at the remaining Phrase in Yulong. There were only four-hundred-andseventy-eight left. It was no longer a war, but more a matter of cleanup.

We'd scaled a mountain in terms of effort. But we'd actually done it. We'd

successfully repelled an invasion. Still, I couldn't get cocky just yet. After all, I

definitely couldn't say I saved Yulong.

The Upper Construct launched out that beam after I slipped it, so people

could've been caught up in that.

"...Thinking about it won't change anything." I opened up [Storage] and

picked up all the fragments. My spoils of war, the greatest haul yet.

"Yae, Norn, I'll leave the rest here to you. I'm headed to point A."

"Very well, Touya-dono."

"Roger dodger!" I took a detour before heading to point A, dropping in back

at HQ. Linze saw me arrive, rushing over to me immediately.

"Touya, are you alright?!"

"...Yeah, I think so. I'm just exhausted." I was pushed to the brink, both

physically and mentally. I'd definitely gone a little far with my magical usage.

Lu brought me a chair, and I sank right into it.

Ah... I need to clear my head... I can't think straight right now.

"Touya, do you hear me?"

"Elze? Something wrong?" I raised my head. Please don't tell me we've got

two more Upper Constructs or something...

"We cleared out as many Phrase as we could find, but I just want you to check

if there are any left..."

"Hm? Ah... Gimme a minute." I pulled up the map, finding no Phrase

presence at point C anymore. There were only Phrase remaining at locations A

and B. There were two-hundred-and-forty-seven left in total.

"It's all good. No more Phrase where you are. Come back to HQ with the rest

of your squad."

"Got it!" All the soldiers at point C were brought back to HQ. As I did that, the

Phrase at point B were wiped out, leaving only the ones at point A.

Slowly, their numbers dwindled too, and it eventually reached zero. Everyone

looking at the display cheered.

At my HQ, borders had no meaning. Soldiers from various countries hugged

one another and celebrated with each other. They all cheered as one.

"Attention everyone! Mission success. All Phrase have been annihilated. I'm

calling you all back to HQ. Good work!" The Frame Gears all appeared at HQ

one by one, opening up so their pilots could clamber out and celebrate.

Some of them got overexcited and ended up leaping out of the cockpits,

hurting themselves in the process.

"Good work... Everyone... Gh..." I felt like a dead man walking. I was about

ready to sleep like a log, but I still had a few things to take care of.

First thing to do was to collect all the shattered Phrase fragments, then I had

to return everyone to their respective countries, and then I had to put all the

Frame Gears back in the the hangar... That was all my responsibility.

What do I do after that again...? Oh, right... I better check on Yulong's

heavenly emperor... I pulled up my map, but for some reason Shenghai wasn't

listed. Huh... What's the deal here...? Is my app bugged?

A sudden thought entered my mind, so I moved to look at point B on the map.

Then, I calculated the trajectory of the beam the Crocodile Phrase had fired. My

discovery was grim. The line of fire overlapped with the former location of

Shenghai on my map.

In other words, as a result of that blast... Shenghai, Yulong's capital, had been

wiped clean from the face of the world.

◇ ◇ ◇

A few days passed after that. We ended up with thirty-six severely damaged

Frame Gears, twenty-four people with minor injuries, four people with lifethreatening injuries, and no casualties at all.

It was great that we hadn't lost anyone in the fight, but the picture on a

whole was rather grim.

Yulong's capital was completely wiped out, and various towns and villages

were erased from the map entirely. I couldn't help but feel we could've had a

better result if we were a little more skilled in our approach.

"So, what happens to Yulong now?"

"That's hard to say. I'd prefer not to get involved any further, though. Ain't

really my business to begin with." Of all the western alliance leaders, the

beastking spoke up half-heartedly.

"Will other countries start contesting Yulong's territory now? It'd be bad if

wars started happening. The people of Yulong have suffered enough..."

"Well, with regards to Hannock, they've had no interest in Yulong from the

start, so they should be fine. Xenoahs has a strict policy about not interfering

with human affairs, so that's also alright. There's a lot of civil unrest in Eashen,

so they aren't unified enough to start a land grab... And apparently the Kingdom

of Horn opposes militaristic invasion as a matter of national principle."

"So that just leaves Felsen, Nokia, and Roadmare..." The king of Belfast and

the emperor of Regulus both chimed in after the pope's concern.

"In my opinion, those three nations will likely play a waiting game and see

how things go for a while. Think about it like this... Mysterious invaders simply

came from nowhere and delivered sheer devastation to Yulong. Would you

want to govern a place like that without waiting to see if it was safe first? Even

thinking about that happening within my own territory makes my blood run

cold..." The emperor of Refreese raised a fair point as well. It would only be

natural to expect something like this to happen again.

"So... does Yulong currently lack a leader?"

"No, quite the contrary. The heavenly emperor had three sons. One of those

lived in Shenghai and shared his fate. Another was in another city, but it was

ravaged by the Phrase and he succumbed. The third son survived and is calling

himself the new rightful heavenly emperor." The king of Belfast turned to the

king of Lihnea, answering his question. It hadn't taken long for a new heavenly

emperor to show up. I hoped that he'd be able to set Yulong on the right path.

But, as I had such hopeful thoughts, the king of Belfast made an irritated face.

"Unfortunately... according to reports, the new heavenly emperor is claiming

that Yulong was destroyed as an act of war by the Duchy of Brunhild... He

claims you are directly responsible, Touya."

"Wait, what?!" How the hell could he say that?! I silently stared, mouth

agape. I couldn't comprehend why someone would make up a story like that.

"The story goes that the Phrase are mighty beasts created by a unique

summoning spell you employed after attacking Shenghai. He's using the great

wall you built on the Hannock border as evidence of your magical potential.

Furthermore, there are people whispering that you fueled your magic with

blood... More specifically, the blood of the innocent Yulong citizens. They claim

that you sacrificed and harvested the population to create more monsters, and

there are even people claiming to have seen you doing this."

What the hell?! Come on, that's total bull! That just sounds like trashy gossip!

Who the hell said they saw me summoning those things, huh?!

"You seem pretty acquainted with the rumors already, how come?"

"Well, they actually contacted us formally. We received a letter stating that

the entire thing was orchestrated by you, and that they are innocent victims of

your savage power play. They also claim that you are attempting to showcase

your military might across the world, so that none may oppose you."

"Indeed, we also received a letter. It said something to the effect of Brunhild

cannot be allowed to possess such strength. Therefore, it should be confiscated

and safely claimed by larger nations like Belfast, Regulus, and Yulong." After the

king of Belfast spoke up, the emperor of Regulus chimed in as well. I was

amazed that the new heavenly emperor was actually trying this kind of

underhanded approach.

"So, what are you gonna tell them?"

"Nothing, really. If I were to reply, I'd tell them that it wouldn't be possible for

us to rival Brunhild, and that we wouldn't be prepared to face an enemy that

could wipe Yulong's capital off the map. I don't really know what they were

expecting, but under ordinary circumstances, I would have suggested

surrendering."

"In my case, I probably shouldn't leave it alone. I'll tell them that I'll show the

letter to the grand duke to confirm the truth, but warn them that the grand

duke of Brunhild has a terribly short temper and may storm Yulong if there's a

mistake. I'll just reiterate that it's my national duty to seek out the truth, and to

leave everything to me."

These two... Kinda feels like they're shirking the responsibility here... Well,

whatever. I guess I can sympathize, since they didn't really ask for this nonsense.

Still, I'm a little worried... I don't think a standard Yulong citizen would be able

to tell it was a lie...

Now, come on... I guess they might not all be like that. The upper class of

Yulong is definitely rotten, but I'm sure their people won't fall for such nonsense.

I hope...

"In the meantime, we should probably leave Yulong be. In its current state,

they won't be able to take much action, and it's not like any of us share a

border with them." The king of Lihnea raised a fair point as well. Yulong no

longer had the same national or military power as before.

I didn't think Hannock had any intention of fighting them, either, so I decided

to hand the border wall over to them. Leaving Yulong alone was the smartest

course of action. That was what I decided. We were to no longer interfere with

that country and generally ignore any nonsense the new heavenly king came

out with.

That guy had pretty much destroyed all credibility with the western alliance

thanks to his lies. I wish he'd had some honest people serving him, but I guess

the new government was just as corrupt. I suppose the old saying was true, like

father like son.

Two weeks later, the heavenly emperor of Yulong was assassinated. Amongst

the remaining nobility of the nation, there was an intense power play ending in

several deaths. Many nobles ended up announcing that they were the real

heavenly emperor, and ended up killing one another in paranoia.

Various citizens from Yulong became refugees after the crisis, fleeing the

ravaged nation and taking up nomadic lives.

Ultimately, the assassination of the heavenly emperor was blamed on me. I'd

really had enough of that stupid country.

"So, what happened then?"

"Nothing. People can say what they want. If you entertain their stupidity,

you've already lost."

"Hmph... But Touyaaa... Taking on a stupid country like Yulong would totally

be a piece of cake for a guy like you!" Sue was sitting on my lap, treating me

much like a chair. She was acting a little fussy.

I was hanging out with her since she hadn't visited in a while, but once I

started talking about Yulong she got a little mad.

"Plus, didn't you actually save Yulong?! Why are they blaming you? They're

just making up whatever's best for them! But even worse than that, they aren't

acting on these rumors! They're just barking without biting!"

"Well, it's best to just leave it be... It'll only get more annoying."

"No way! That's not enough! You gotta get mad at times like these, Touya! If

you don't get serious and show them what you're made of, they'll just keep

mocking you! If you sit there like a doormat, don't be surprised when they walk

all over you! If you don't smack them in the face, they're just gonna think they

can keep doing it...!"

Man, you're getting pretty mad about it... Guess she learned a lot about

diplomacy from her dad.

"So, what course of action would you suggest?"

"Strike down all those 'new' heavenly emperors with all you've got! Publicly

humiliate them and tell them to stop those rumors for good!"

...Definitely not taking that diplomatic approach. It's a little... childish, to

handle things in a manner like that.

Still, it was a little cute that she got mad on my behalf. I gently patted Sue on

the head, smiling softly at her fussy face.

"Thanks, really... But it's alright, Sue. I promise."

"...You're way too kind, Touya. It's one of the loveliest things about you... but

don't let people take advantage of you, okay?" Sue turned around and hugged

me tight, rubbing her face against my chest. I smiled, pulling her gently against

me and rubbing her back. I felt warm and safe with her.

I suddenly heard the door creak, and I looked upward. Cesca peeked into the

room, strolling in with some tea.

"...I've brought tea for you, my cradle-robbing master."

"...I need to talk to you right now, maid."

No, this isn't what it looks like. I swear! Me hugging Sue isn't anything sexual,

it's entirely wholesome and familial! It's not perverse at all... For the time being,

at least... No, wait!

"There's no need to sneak around in private so late, you know? Little old

Cesca knows well the naughty disposition of her lecherous master... Please, act

as though I'm not here. Indulge your savage urges to your heart's content."

"Come here, damn it! I need to talk to you about your conduct."

"Oh, you're going to teach me a lesson, Master...?"

"Enough, get over here!"

I lectured that stupid pervy maid for about an hour after that... But during the

lecture, all she did was blush and say stuff like "Berate me harder." In the end, I

got annoyed with her and gave up. I didn't have any time for her nonsense.

I left the castle, abandoning Cesca to her delusions. Earlier that day, I'd

formally given Sue a ring, marking our engagement, but that wasn't all I wanted

to do with her. I decided that it was time to show her Babylon. I didn't want her

to be out of the loop, and I had no reason not to trust her. Though, I did

reiterate how she couldn't tell anyone at all under any circumstances. Better

safe than sorry.

I fired up a [Gate] and took Sue through. She opened her eyes in wonder as

she looked up into the sky from Babylon's grounds.

"Ohmygosh! Wow! Wowowow! It's so cool! The castle in the sky was real the

whole time!"

Well, it's a little different from that place... For one, it isn't in ruins. Sue got

even more excited once we reached the rampart's castle.

"An indeedious welcome to you, master."

"Oh, hey Liora. Where's Noel?"

"She is indeed in the midst of an after-snack nap."

Again...? Man, that girl sure likes napping, I think she only actually wakes up

during mealtime.

"Who's that, Touya?"

"This is Preliora. She's the one in charge of the rampart. She doesn't come

down too often, so I'm not surprised you haven't met her."

"Indeed, I am Preliora. But you may call me Liora, thank you." Liora gently

curtseyed in Sue's direction with a faint smile. Of all the Babylon Gynoids, she

certainly exuded the most dignified air. She was definitely more like an elder

sister.

"Liora. Any word on the new system?"

"Indeed. I have indeed spoken with Rosetta about it, and implementation

seems to be possible. I must confess I never once considered implementing

satellite orb technology into the Frame Gears." The satellite orb was one of

Babylon's primary defensive systems. It was composed of several orichalcum

spheres that moved autonomously and intercepted enemies.

I got the idea of tweaking it a bit and making a localized version for Frame

Gears. In other words, it was an attack drone system that individual Frame

Gears could deploy at will. I was inspired by some of my favorite anime, of

course.

Rather than orbs, these orbital drones would be in the shape of swords, and

they'd be constructed out of Phrase fragments. As an aside, calling them Phrase

fragments all the time was kind of a pain, so that was why I'd taken to calling

the material phrasium. They were small enough for the workshop to mass-

produce efficiently, as well.

Their combat efficiency would be directly tied to the pilot's aptitude for

magic. How long they could operate for would also be tied to the user's magic

power. Not everyone would be able to make proper use, but the addition of a

ranged attack in any form was certainly a welcome one.

I decided to name my new drone system Fragarach. It was simply the first

name that came to mind. I didn't really need to worry about people questioning

it. The origin of that name wasn't from this world, after all.

Going by the control systems of all the current Frame Gears, they could

handle up to four each at a time.

Unfortunately, the blueprints for the upgraded Frame Gears were in the

storehouse, which I still hadn't found. What a bother...