The interior of the Arcadia shook violently.

　Bartolt watched the spectacle of Luxion sinking.

'Release the next round at once!

　He drilled a hole in the hull and saw the explosion inside.

　I can still see it sinking, but I couldn't feel safe yet.

　A magical creature reports on the situation.

We've used up all the energy we had stored. It will take at least 30 minutes to fire the next round.

d*mn!

　To sink Luxion, he delivered Arcadia's greatest attack.

　There was no mistaking that choice, but Bartolt was unsettled.

'How could it end so assertively?

　From what I had heard about Leon from Finn, I felt like I was too stunned to shrug my shoulders.

　The magic creature shakes one eye.

'You are overestimating the weapons of the old humans. They're incompetent enough to bring out weapons of mass destruction to defeat us.''

　Bartolt sat deeply in his chair and then took a deep breath.

'I see. So now all we have to do is get the kingdom.'

　The morale on the kingdom's side would easily crumble if they found out that Rion had fallen.

　Besides, the threat of Arcadia would be gone.

''--This is a victory for us, isn't it?

　The Empire no longer has an enemy.

　With that in mind, reports from his men arrived one after another to Bartolt.

''Your Majesty!　The current attack has put a load on Arcadia's shields.
If we continue to be attacked, we will not be able to maintain our shields.
Yes. And we're under load internally. I don't know what will happen when we fire the main gun next.

　Bartolt braced himself.

(Isn't it over yet? The weapons of the old era are still there.)

"Send out my knights. Don't worry about your strength. Only Finn will be waiting.

　One of my men is puzzled.

''You won't give us the first knight in the pecking order?''

　Bartolt looks up at the ceiling and closes his eyes.

'It's insurance,'

◇

　In the waiting room where the knights other than himself had gone out, Finn was sitting on the couch.

　Brave at his side was worried.

''Buddy, don't think too much about it. All you have to do is take down your enemies.''

I know that, Kurosudan.

"You just call me Kurosuke, don't you? Your partner is a stubborn one.

　Finn smiled, and Brave laughed too.

　Mia, with her handmaidens in tow, visited the waiting room.

''Knight-sama,''

This is Princess Mirialis, Your Highness.

　Seeing Finn saluting, Mia turned over and clasped her skirt in her hands.

　Seeing this, Finn understood what Mia was asking for.

　Finn turned his gaze to the maidservants and magical creatures who were also Mia's guards.

'I'm sorry, but I need to speak with Your Highness.

　The maidservants would not admit it.

'I cannot do that. 'His Majesty has instructed me not to allow any man to approach the princess's side without permission.

　The same goes for the magical creatures.

Unrecognizable.
I will not forgive.
"What will you do to our master?

　As Mia hurriedly tried to convince him, Brave stepped forward and drove the maidservants and magical creatures away.

''Shut up!　My partner is the man who has been Mia's bodyguard!　Don't lump me in with the pricks you're thinking of!　Get the hell out of here, or I'm going to go on a rampage!

　The maidservants and magical creatures are evacuated from the room because it would be dangerous if the Brave, the core of the perfect magical armor, were to get out of control.

　Finn says to the handmaids, "Wait outside the room.

'Wait outside the room. I will speak to Your Majesty myself.

　Then it was just Finn, Mia, and Brave in the waiting room.

　Finn sits Mia down on the couch and gets her a drink.

'What's up?'

　Mia smiled, not because of her attitude towards the princess's highness, but because of her previous attitude.

'Oh, you know what, Sir Knight!　I--I don't really want to fight.

　And that smile would soon fade away.

　The situation has changed so rapidly in the last few days that she can't seem to keep up with it.

　She was spilling tears in a hurry.

It's not easy to understand if you're suddenly called a princess or something. Besides, I don't want to fight the people of the kingdom. They were all good people.

　Finn holds Mia's hand as she does so.

　The sight of her crying overlaps with her sister in her previous life and it hurts my heart.

(I don't want to fight, either. But you know what - I don't mind stepping out of the way of others in order to get a world where you can live well.)

　Mia was different from the sister I couldn't save in my previous life, but I still wanted to save Finn.

(Even if I'm an a**h*le scumbag, she's the only one I can think of.)

　Even if it means killing his friend, Finn has a future he wants to fulfill.

　That is for Mia to be able to run around outside in good spirits.

''-- Mia, you're not guilty of anything. Your Majesty and I will take care of everything.

But,

Don't worry. I'll keep you safe, all right?

　Mia squeezes Finn's hand tightly and looks up at him with moist eyes as he looks up at her.

"Sir Knight, I--

　Before Mia can finish, Brave looks up at the ceiling and tells her impatiently.

'Buddy!　Coming from above!

　He immediately hugged Mia and Finn was down on the floor.

◇

　The skies above Arcadia.

　From there, the rapidly approaching partner breaks through the atmosphere.

　Arcadia's command center is in an uproar.

　Even Bartolt got up from his chair and clenched his teeth.

'From outside the atmosphere?

　The magical creatures are giving off the vibe that they've been done in.

'I see. But that's the extent of my calculations.

　The monsters are released into the Paltner that can be seen in the video.

　However, they were blown away just as they approached Paltner, and they weren't even stopped in their tracks.

　The magical creatures narrow their eyes.

'A suicide attack?　The machines love that hand.

　Partner was an airship over seven hundred meters long.

　If that much mass was hit from outside the atmosphere, it would create a tremendous amount of destructive power.

　Even Arcadia, as expected, would not be safe.

'Did you get up to space by booster?　-- but it's pointless. That much is to be expected.'

　The magical creature arched its narrowed eyes and smiled.

　I had rather expected it to come in for a meteorite drop, but there was only one airship that came from space, as if it had no such power left.

　The Arcadia's shields are deployed thickly at the point where they are expected to take a direct hit.

　The protection of the rest of the ship was abandoned.

　Then, despite the lack of energy, it releases its main gun to intercept Paltner.

　Paltner tries to avoid the main gun's strike, but he can't avoid it and is hit on the side, shaving off half of the hull.

'Oh?　I thought they were loading explosives, but I guess they weren't. But surely if they hit even a part of it, they can do some damage to us.''

　Apparently it wasn't a plan to load up the explosives and make a suicide attack and hit Arcadia with a single blow.

　However, this wouldn't sink Arcadia.

　Bartolt swung his fist down on the railing.

''The Royal Army and the space battleship in front of us are all decoys!　You've done it!

　Paltner is closing in on them, spewing fire.

　Arcadia moves as well, but Paltner has also been equipped with artificial intelligence to track it.

　And the magical creature shows its white teeth and smiles.

'But it's no use. Our victory is unassailable!''

　Arcadia shook violently as Paltner took a direct hit and caused a massive explosion.

　Bartolt grabbed onto the chair railing and endured the shaking, then looked up and called out to his men.

'Status report!'

'Yes, sir!　No damage to Arcadia.
The magical barrier held him at bay.
'But, sir, the impact just now has lifted the magical barrier.

　The magical creature laughs.

'Heehahahaha!　Have you become rusty after all these years, artificial intelligence?　If you really wanted to sink me, you guys should have all assaulted me from outside the atmosphere. Well, you couldn't do that, and you made this plan out of anguish.''

　He laughed at the laxity of the artificial intelligences' strategy.

　In fact, if the facts had taken the plan the magical creatures said they had, Arcadia would have been able to speed up and move around and run away.

　And they would only intercept the spacecraft that were charging at them.

''You have no chance of winning in the first place!

　Bartolt wipes his sweat off his face as he looks at the victorious magical creature.

(Now that was rushed. But now we've sunk Luxion and Paltner. What's left--hmm?)

　Two of Leon's spaceships and airships have been sunk.

　The remaining old human spaceships have not been able to perform to their full potential either.

　There are no more enemies of Arcadia.

　However, there is one airship that has not been seen on the battlefield even now.

　Bartolt raised his voice.

'Find Einhorn!

　Luxion, Paltner and the rest of the ships were Einhorn.

　The magical creatures opened their eyes and looked at the rear of the imperial army.

''An airship approaching at this speed?

　I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them.

　--Ainhorn.

◇

　The cockpit of the arroganz is shaking violently, and my body is slumped in the seat.

"I don't want this whole 'I'm going to hit you and I'm going to fall flat,' kind of nonsense.

　He also attached a booster to Einhorn and poked behind the Imperials while taking a detour.

　That's why we've been in this painful situation for so long.

''Please be patient. Even this is mitigating.''

Mitigate and get this?

　Luxion is not afraid to talk in this one.

　It's natural since it's a machine, but I find that annoying.

''Creare, I've sorted out the information from the fact. There are no decent interception capabilities left in Arcadia right now.''

It was worth the sacrifice of Partner.

　I smiled, trying to hold back the pain, and Luxion nodded.

'Yes, sir. Partner has completed his last task. Master, it's time to go. Let us begin our work.''

　He hears it and chews on what looks like a mouthpiece.

　As Luxion starts counting, I feel a different shaking in Einhorn than before, as if he's being attacked from the outside.

'We have 10 seconds--10 seconds to collision.'

◇

　Arcadia's command center.

　Monsters and artillery fire were being directed at Einhorn to intercept them.

'On a ship of that magnitude!

　The magical creatures were irritated.

　Looking at them, Bartolt could sense that the magical creatures were looking down on this world's airships - technology and all.

'So it's a three-tiered approach,'

　First abandoning the Luxion itself, then Paltner, the main target was Einhorn.

　Einhorn charged at Arcadia with a single horn that was worthy of its name.

　Einhorn ejected a container at the monsters that were attacking him.

　Hundreds of missiles shot out from it, blasting the monsters around them.

　They didn't stop even when they were bombarded by Arcadia or by the Imperial Army.

　On the contrary, the attacks from Einhorn caused the Imperial side's airships to fall one by one.

　As Bartolt crossed his arms and waited, his men shouted.

''We're going to take a direct hit!''

　Soon afterwards, Arcadia felt the biggest tremor she had ever felt.

　The magical creature made its eyes bleed.

''You oily machines!

　Only, Bartolt was relieved in his mind.

(Yes.) That's it. Come at me with all your might. And the one who survives - will live to rule the planet.

　Bartolt gives orders to the panicked surroundings.

'Leave the fleet to deal with the Royal Army. Recall my knights. I'll have them deal with the intruders.

　The monitors show the armor that has invaded the interior of Arcadia.

　The drones, led by six armor, eerily flashed their camera eyes.

　The one standing at the head of the line was - Aroganz.

　He pointed his muzzle at the camera, and then Rion spoke to Bartolt.

'Hello, you bastard Emperor of the Empire. You've got a fight on your hands, and I've bought it. Give me plenty of service.''

　With that said, I pull the trigger and the camera is destroyed and the image is cut off.

　And then a vibration came to the command room, as if it was destroying it from within.

　Bartolt laughed out loud.

''Like Finn's little bastard, these young guys are really annoying people.'' --Okay, I'll take care of them. I'll take care of them. And call my knights back.

　Bartolt wrinkled his brow and looked serious.

　Beside him, the magical creature was expressing its displeasure.

''They've been invaded inside Arcadia,'' he said. It's not like they've ever been invaded in a fight with the old humans. --Bartholt, get them out of here!

　Bartolt gives the enraged, vein-floating magical creature a cold look.

'I just gave you an order,'