“Lord Road!?”

“Zeke, make it look like the resistance took her out and dispose of her.”

Zeke was so stunned he couldn’t move.

He even felt terror toward this boy who was kicking his own flesh-and-blood sister while issuing the order.

“Only you and I will know about this. You get it, right? You have a special attachment to this country.”

“!? …Why do you—”

“I did a little digging. Don’t hold it against me. That’s why you hated her too, didn’t you? That trash of a woman. This thing that kills humans like they’re garbage.”

Even though they were both royalty, the way he cursed his own sister as garbage—his eyes unmistakably looked at her like actual trash.

“…Understood. I’ll take this to my grave.”

Even if it got exposed, Road would just crush it and make it never happen.

He didn’t think he could outmaneuver Road’s schemes anyway.

Besides, this woman was nothing but harm to the country with zero benefits. The world would be a little better off without her.

She was that rotten.

Even knights serving the Earthguard Empire would be better off dead than dealing with her.

So for Zeke, it was best to stay silent.

“Alright then, shall we head back?”

“…Yes.”

~ Time shifts back to when Reina returned to the command room.

“Now then, show me the map, the identification signals, and the known enemy positions.”

“Yes, sir!”

Road sat upon the throne.

A massive monitor before him displayed the battlefield.

Blue markers for allies. Red markers for enemies on a simplified map of the field.

Allies were labeled by unit with letters, and numbers within each unit.

Road pondered as he looked it over.

He stared for a while, but soon seemed to reach a conclusion and stood up.

Then he issued orders to the soldiers.

“Now then, time for a counterattack.”

Orders for a counterstrike against the resistance.

~ Meanwhile, with Yumir’s personal guard.

“Damn it! Why do those inferiors have KOGs?!”

“They even dragged out relics from the old era!”

“We’re surrounded! What about Captain Jilian?! Communications are cut off!”

Isshin’s resistance forces, at full strength, had surrounded Yumir’s personal guard alongside the seized KOGs.

Bazookas and even tanks rolled out, pinning the guards down with a rain of shells.

“Alright! Right flank, advance and circle behind! Left flank, keep them pinned with gunfire!”

“Understood!”

Isshin’s commands were precise—he was an exceptionally skilled commander.

In wartime, they’d been utterly crushed by the KOGs’ overwhelming destructive power, but now they had KOGs too.

Plus, the guards had lost their leader and captain, Jilian, leaving them without coordination, frozen in place.

They pressed the advantage, concentrating their forces.

And then the final blow.

“Wh-what the hell are you?!”

Kenya Mikazuki joined the fray.

He cleaved through one of the exhausted guards’ KOGs with a single stroke.

“You’re here! Kenya!”

They’d let Yumir escape, but Kenya, who’d taken down Jilian, now linked up with them.

“Isshin, cover me. I’ll take them all out.”

Kenya’s voice echoed across the area from the KOG that had landed before Isshin.

Isshin smiled, gazing at that massive back.

(Heh, what a reliable guy. Makes it hard to tell who’s older.)

He was about Kaguya’s age, yet he’d become this dependable.

It reminded him of the reliable seniors from his rookie days.

“Leave it to me! Go wild!”

(He’s shed another layer, Kenya.)

Having controlled his rage and defeated the Empire’s Holy Knight Captain, Kenya had leveled up once more.

“These guys… I’m going to kill them!”

He said it aloud, as if convincing himself.

But it wasn’t impulse from anger. He had to kill to protect. To take them down.

He wasn’t used to killing people.

But he’d steeled himself to kill—and to be killed.

They were all fighting with their lives on the line.

No more naive talk of negotiation on a battlefield like this.

That’s why.

“What the—?!”

“What is this guy?! Those moves!”

“Monster!!”

“I’ll kill you properly. Understand that. With these hands, without fail. That’s what fighting means. That’s what facing this world means.”

One by one, the personal guard fell to Kenya.

Isshin’s covering fire from behind cut off any escape.

“This one’s… the last!”

Kenya’s flash of the blade felled the final KOG.

“Lady Yumir… forgive us…”

And the KOG exploded.

All the personal guard were defeated.

Kenya dismounted the KOG and rushed to Isshin and the others who’d been commanding.

And right behind him.

“Kenya!”

“Kaguya!”

The short-haired girl from the Kurokami family.

Her cheeks were smudged with soot as she leaped into Kenya’s chest, black tears streaming down.

“I was so worried…”

“Thanks, Kaguya…”

Kenya and Kaguya embraced.

The unique atmosphere of the battlefield stirred their emotions.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, slowly drawing closer.

Hearts pounding, Kaguya’s cheeks flushing red.

She closed her eyes.

And then.

“You gonna kiss?”

A gruff voice cut in.

A bearded old man had wedged himself between Kaguya and Kenya.

Isshin Kurokami—Kaguya’s dad.

“S-sorry! I got carried away!”

“D-Dad!?”

“It’s a touching reunion, but we don’t have the luxury right now. I get the urge to get all heated up, but…”

“Y-you idiot!? It was just a speck of dust in my eye! What are you misunderstanding?! Pervert!”

“Eh…? Why call your dad…?”

Isshin, slapped hard by Kaguya, touched his cheek in stunned silence.

She turned her back to Kenya on the spot, fuming so hard it seemed audible.

(Wh-what am I doing?! Th-this is impossible! S-s-sudden k-k-kiss or whatever!!)

She faced downward, face beet red where no one could see, muttering “impossible” over and over.

She couldn’t believe she’d let the mood sweep her into trying to kiss him—her face burned like fire.

“Haha, a-anyway, Isshin. Is that all the enemies?”

“Yeah, should be.”

“Got it… Sorry, we let Yumir escape.”

“I see… But you did great. We avoided total annihilation thanks to you.”

The soldiers behind them voiced their thanks to Kenya too.

“Don’t get complacent, you lot! First, rescue ops, then evacuate. This slum’s done for! Save as many as we can!”

“Ooooh!!”

The enemy had retreated.

The resistance had won, but the sacrifices were far too great.

There was no room for celebration.

Kenya surveyed the mountains of rubble and corpses.

War was tragic—he etched that deeply into his heart once more.

Still, it was good that the battle was over.

Or so he thought.

“Attention, resistance!”

A massively amplified voice reached Kenya and the others via loudspeaker.

An unfamiliar voice, but undoubtedly an Earthguard soldier.

“Princess Yumir has passed away. Killing royalty is the gravest crime. You don’t even deserve 3rd Class Citizen status! In other words, right here, right now—”

Countless black shadows appeared overhead.

Over a hundred shadows blotted out the sky.

“—we’ll annihilate you!!”

All of them KOGs.

A massive army of pitch-black machines, as if despair itself had taken form.

The 13th District’s garrison—a huge contingent summoned at Road’s request.

To kill Kenya and the others.

“No… way…”