+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

  Nomosian Countryside

  He faced the horde alone.

  The beasts and two demons were locked in on him, attempting to swarm him with the determined anger that must be guided by the Calamity of Recklessness herself. He could see it in their eyes. They didn’t simply want him dead—they wanted revenge.

  But Hans wasn’t going to be so easily terrorized by the incoming beasts that were trying to kill him. He held them steadfastly. Each time they got close, he’d retreat, but only enough that he’d be able to keep up his double coaxials talking. Everything that he had, he was expanding it just to buy time.

  His main gun sang the tune of a seasoned ace pilot, felting dozens after dozens of the brainwashed monsters that were coming for him. Some of the massive wolves even got close, their claws almost slicing Hans’ mech. He knew it wouldn’t be a joke if he was hit by even a single one of them.

  They seemed more durable. More lethal. He watched one of the night wolves plow through an old tree as if it were paper as he retreated, all while he peppered its body with his machine gun rounds. The beast, while damned inevitably by the firepower unleashed by Hans’ Wanderfalke, still took a few dozen bullets before giving up.

  And there were hundreds of them, not discounting the war elephants headed his way. One of them was already badly injured, having taken four shots from Hans’ main gun already. But its demonic toughness was clear as day. It managed to almost close in on him, and he was certain that its heavy body and legs could crush him—but he dodged it at the last moment.

  Pressing hard on his reverse pedal, his Wanderfalke’s legs screamed at the demands placed by its user. Survival was all that mattered now, as his double coaxials also ran out of juice. There wasn’t much left anymore that kept the monsters ahead of him at bay.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Hans told himself with a grin as he dodged another night wolf that tried to slice him. “Adelyn should have warned them nice and well already!”

  His mech’s reverse speed clocked at nearly three-quarters of his maximum speed when going forward. While the rough terrain proved a problematic and tricky situation to solve, Hans’ driving skills were now beyond what someone would consider ‘normal’. The amount of concentration his eyes needed just to coordinate his controls based on what was shown on his displays was extreme.

  But he was managing. Even while driving backward, he’d dodge every significant obstacle that might slow or stop him. Alongside that, he seemed to always pick the areas with the smoothest terrain to reduce the effects of ground resistance on his legs, avoiding puddles of soft soil and mud.

  And he did it even when his guns went online again, his hands targeting monster after monster with expert precision, felting them down by the dozens and whittling down the two war elephant demons that were still chasing him.

  Soon, he finally managed to reach the lines of his friends. But just as the first cracks of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit’s artillery opened up—Hans finally found where his true enemy was.

  He saw her unmistakable green hair, the staff she held, and those golden eyes that seemed to be finding great amusement at the struggle she placed Hans in. Whereas in the past, Hans would find fear at directly confronting a calamity, this time, his mind screamed differently.

  His mind started to crave the challenge. Ever since he killed his first demon alone, it had been slowly screaming at him with bloodlust.

  Demons were supposed to be unstoppable heralds of the apocalypse, but now—he felt like they were just a challenge that he must overcome. A challenge he could overcome with perfection.

  I want you.

  Hans’ hands gripped his controls hard, as he locked in on her.

  I want you killed with my guns and blades!

  One of the war elephants jumped on top of him, intending to crush his mech, but instead, Hans’ mech swiftly dodged it after changing directions. The war elephant landed at Hans’ wake, before being struck by a magically enhanced cannonball, causing it to scream in agony.

  Hans on the other hand sliced through the crowds of monstrous wolves ahead of him. His double coaxials massacred them by the dozens, leaving a trail of brutally burning monsters on the field. For a while, his eyes, completely focused like a madman on the Calamity of Recklessness, watched as the woman held a confused, but still confident expression.

  But as he raged through the horde that she sent at him, he watched the confusion break into the cracks of panic. She raised her staff, sending wooden spikes that flew rapidly on him. The hail murdered countless of the monsters she sent, further clearing out Hans’ path—but Hans dodged it expertly.

  He was starting to grasp how her magic itself worked.

  You’re not getting out of this!

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  His mind was screaming in glee. He was getting close, and his main gun began opening fire at her, terrifying her and forcing her to dodge and retreat. Come here! I’ll kill you! He watched as vines and more wooden spikes attempted to stop him, the intensity of her attacks greatly increasing as he got closer and closer.

  “I’ll kill you!” Hans shouted like a maniac on his speakers. “I’ll absolutely kill you!”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?!” the woman shouted, dodging another close call from Hans’ MPAT rounds. Soon, he managed to get in close enough to finally pounce on her, his forward leg razors engaging—but he missed. “You’re charging so recklessly alone?”

  His mech rapidly swerved and turned on his direction, his guns still peppering the fields with rapid, controlled bursts. When he managed to turn his turret back on the woman, the fear on his face was replaced with an amused, almost ecstatic smile.

  Hans had the same response.

  This is a damned good dance.

  “I need to perfect that,” Hans told himself, as his mech pulled into a hard retreat, attempting to provide a few meters of space between him and her. “It would be awesome if I stopped missing.”

  His main gun opened again, sending an APFSDS straight at the woman, but she once again dodged it. Behind her, one of the war elephants was charging in, only to be struck directly on the head by the depleted uranium rod, forcing it into a hard and rough collapse on the green fields.

  Hans pulled his mech out of the danger zone, and so did the Calamity of Recklessness, who retreated while sending dozens of heavy wooden spikes at him. He dodged it, all while replying in kind with his machine guns, which hurt and annoyed the demon.

  Suddenly, his comms lit up.

  “Lieutenant! What the hell are you doing?!”

  Hans briefly looked back at the battlefield with his turret—it was already massive. Guns cracked left-and-right, as cannonballs and canister shells flew in the skies. Smoke obscured the defense line that the 1st Anti-Demon Unit set up, and in front of them, the horde of monsters seemed to be creeping inch by bloody inch.

  “I apologize, I saw an opportunity—”

  “Retreat now! It’s a massive trap. There’s four of them!”

  “Four?”

  “Four demons are attempting to break through our lines!”

  There were two war elephants, a massive silver serpent that spat torrential rains of purplish acid, and a humanoid monster clad in dark armor who wielded an oversized spear while cutting through lines of determined musketeers. He was only countered when the Viceroy herself faced him—her sword staff meeting his spear directly.

  Alongside all that, Hans looked back at the Calamity of Recklessness. She was standing on top of a pile of dead night wolves, the same monsters that Hans coldly murdered earlier. Behind her, a fresh new group of night wolves growled and snarled as they looked at Hans’ lone mech.

  She aimed her staff in his direction.

  So this is what we’re truly facing.

  Truly impossible odds. Even with the defensive preparations they had undertaken.

  Heh. Alright then.

  If this was to be his last stand this time around—Hans didn’t care.

  He’d learn how to face all of this.

  +++

  The winds of battle were rapidly shifting against Hans’ side.

  The horde of monsters was rapidly overwhelming them. Even he was being forced into a hard retreat as dozens of night wolves charged and pounced at him. Each monster was another dozen bullets that he had to expend—another dozen bullets he wouldn’t be able to use to fight demons.

  In the distance, the lines of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit were slowly collapsing. They were holding on to their dispersed positions stubbornly.

  Musketeers and mages fired their guns and staffs with great precision and efficiency. Each volley took down dozens of monsters and badly damaged the demons charging at them. But they were being forced into the back foot.

  Not even the heavy artillery guns, which were distracted by the demons and monsters that were swarming at them, could keep the horde at bay. They seemed to be focusing on the war elephant and the serpent, with cannonballs and canister shells glancing hit after bloody hit on the two demons—but they were tough.

  Adelyn and the Viceroy on the other hand tried to contain the armored humanoid demon. Adelyn’s main gun even struck the demon once with a well-placed APFSDS shot, but the demon managed to reform its body and strike back at the Viceroy with his spear.

  The defense was holding—but faltering, bit by bit.

  Hans dodged another hail of wooden spikes at him, forcing him into a bad maneuver that caused one of the night wolves to gain a glancing hit on his legs with its claws. It sliced through his leg’s outer armor like paper, but luckily, Hans managed to avoid the worst, retreating successfully while providing his counterattack. The monster took it all, six bullets straight into its chest, causing it to collapse into a brutal inferno.

  “I see then,” Hans said on his speakers, as his mech suddenly stopped. “So the only way to win this is to kill you—the controller of this horde. Otherwise, you’ll overwhelm us.”

  He laughed.

  “You prepared for this as well.”

  The Calamity of Recklessness jumped a few dozen meters ahead of his mech, her staff on the ready as her golden eyes glowed. Then, she charged in Hans’ direction.

  “You think you’ll kill me? You won’t be able to do that, fool,” the demon said, her sword staff glowing. Vines shot out from the ground, attempting to slice him at last. Hans found himself well and truly overwhelmed. He was surrounded by monsters, the war elephant that managed to recover, and the Calamity of Recklessness herself.

  But his spirit didn’t falter. Instead, he pushed hard on his forward pedals, charging head-on to the Calamity of Recklessness’ charge.

  “Maybe not now,” Hans replied. “But eventually, I will!”

  His guns made their final, defiant response. Then, one of the vines finally sliced his mech diagonally. Blood splashed everywhere, as his body itself was sliced in two, but in the few seconds he had before dying, his response was clear—he wasn’t defeated yet.

  All that was left on his intact face, drenched in his blood, was a gleeful smile.

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