“Hey, what’s going on here?”
She asked ＜Ringo＞ beside her, while looking at the real-time updated map of power distribution.
“Yes, Ma’am. It’s a so-called internal conflict. The Afrasia United Kingdom is a country formed by the merger of three kingdoms, and the royal families of these three kingdoms have each become dukes, and the parliament is run by a consensus system of the three great dukes.”
“I think I’ve heard something about that… Even from what you’ve said so far, I can smell trouble brewing.”
The displayed map of power distribution was deliberately color-coded into five colors.
One is, needless to say, ＜Paraiso＞.
Another is general citizens and refugees.
The remaining three seem to be the forces of each duke.
And it seemed that a disturbance was occurring between the forces of the dukes.
“The Royal Guard Knights under Duke Yubarden are deployed to defend the castle gates. Duke Mercatia’s Royal Capital Defense Force is deployed around the Duke’s residence. And Duke Calberk’s private army is attacking the Royal Guard Knights’ garrison.”
“…Why?”
“It seems they are aiming to eliminate Duke Yubarden, who poses the greatest threat. They have judged that the Royal Guard Knights will suppress ＜Paraiso＞’s invasion, and have ordered the assassination of Duke Yubarden himself, whose defenses have been weakened.”
“Eh, haven’t they seen that swarm of Multi-legged Tanks? Do they really think they can do something about it?”
“Unknown. However, we have obtained information that the Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard Knights is very capable. It is believed that he possesses some kind of Magical skill, but the details are unknown.
And it seems that this Vice-Captain is currently leading the forces confronting the Multi-legged Tank group.”
Even during the explanation, the map of power distribution was being updated. Duke Calberk’s forces infiltrated the Royal Guard Knights’ garrison. They are approaching Akilai Yubarden, Duke with the king mark, in a straight line.
“If the assassination succeeds, it will affect future governance, so we will intervene.”
At the same time as ＜Ringo＞’s words, the ＜Paraiso＞ units that had been waiting in the air took action.
“Cannon fire from the Drones. Successful. Multi-legged Attack Aircraft will infiltrate through the breach. Commencing neutralization of the target. Successful.”
In addition, we will suppress each of the dukes.
Multi-legged Attack Aircraft were launched from the transport Drones deployed in the sky. Multiple units were coordinated to simultaneously capture the remaining two dukes.
“The Royal Guard Knights and Multi-legged Tanks have made contact. Commencing neutralization.”
◇◇◇◇
Afrasia, Royal Capital, is a relatively new city.
It has not been 100 years since its establishment, and therefore the Royal Capital itself has a short history.
Due to the nature of being ruled by the three great dukes, the fortresses corresponding to the Royal Castles were also divided into three.
However, in the first place, it is not a very developed country.
There is a low city wall drawing a rough circle, and the inside is divided into three.
And near the center, three mansions were built.
The southern site is Duke Yubarden’s. It has the largest castle gate, and the Royal Guard Knights in charge of its defense are said to be the strongest in the United Kingdom.
The northeastern site is Duke Mercatia’s. He organizes the Royal Capital Defense Force, and under the guise of maintaining the security of the entire Royal Capital, he monopolizes various vested interests through violence.
He also carries out security within the sites of other dukes for a certain payment. Since he can’t show his face too much here, he seems to be patrolling relatively properly.
The northwestern site is Duke Calberk’s. He manages the largest market in the Royal Capital and is also in charge of trade with western countries. However, trade with other countries has been declining in recent years.
He has no military force other than the soldiers guarding his own mansion, and relies solely on Duke Mercatia for maintaining security.
In other words, it is as if the castle town is occupied by Duke Mercatia.
However, in terms of economy, Duke Mercatia is dependent on Duke Calberk, and they are in a situation where they continue to glare at each other while holding each other’s vital points.
In the midst of such a situation, the Multi-legged Tank group under ＜Paraiso＞’s command stormed into the great castle gate managed by Duke Yubarden, who was thought to be the most elite.
In response, the deployed Royal Guard Knights entered a state of combat. Leading the charge is the Vice-Captain, who boasts one of the best skills in the United Kingdom.
And almost simultaneously with this, Duke Yubarden was attacked by Duke Calberk, so ＜Paraiso＞ began a simultaneous and widespread attack on each force existing in the Royal Capital.
◇◇◇◇
The Multi-legged Tanks deployed at the main gate held hard rubber clubs in both of their work arms, and fired non-lethal suppression rounds from their Railguns. The rubber bullets have the power to cause death or injury if they hit the wrong spot, but for normal humans, the Tactical AI made by ＜The Tree＞ would never make a mistake.
They accurately targeted weapons and equipment, neutralizing them one after another.
“Oraaaah!!”
However, not everything went according to plan.
Some of the knights parried the rubber bullets and approached the Multi-legged Tanks.
The Tactical AI immediately switched the prescribed actions.
Skillfully manipulating the clubs in both arms, they rolled up the swords of the charging knights, and then inflicted an impact on their heads to knock them unconscious.
The Royal Guard Knights continued to charge at the multiple Multi-legged Tanks forming the front line. While defeating the knights, the Multi-legged Tank group also advanced.
“Nuun!!”
The non-lethal club that was swung down was slashed away by one of the knights.
“Keep going!!”
“Ooh!!”
The Multi-legged Tank immediately released the club and jumped back.
The sword swung down by the knight in question cut through the air and blew away the ground as it was.
In that gap, several knights who had been following behind the man ran in.
Apparently, they are an elite unit. They defended against an attack from another Multi-legged Tank that had come to support them with their shields, and even added a counterattack.
“–Kaah!!”
A shout.
The man who holds the position of Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard Knights used an ability that ＜Ringo＞ later gave up on analyzing, and approached the Multi-legged Tank.
The ground exploded due to the force of his step. However, the soles of the man’s feet firmly gripped the ground, and his body was super-accelerated.
Fast.
The work arm of the Multi-legged Tank was swung, but it could not keep up with the man’s movements. The acceleration exceeded the reaction speed of the actuator used to control the work arm.
The man slipped through the work arm, deflected the rubber bullet fired from the side with the shield in his left hand, and approached the Multi-legged Tank. With that speed, he swung the knight’s sword in his right hand from bottom to top with a speed that even accompanied a shock wave.
The blade cut through the front armor of the Multi-legged Tank as if cutting butter.
Furthermore, it created an invisible slash on the extension of the blade, vertically cutting open about one-third of the Multi-legged Tank.
No matter how much it was a machine manufactured with super technology, it would inevitably malfunction if it was destroyed to that extent. Fortunately, the physical destruction did not reach the Brain Unit installed in the center, but a fatal malfunction occurred in some of the circuits, and the control board of the entire Multi-legged Tank shut down.
The Multi-legged Tank was grounded, still slightly leaning back.
“One!!”
The Royal Guard Knights destroyed one Multi-legged Tank while suffering heavy losses. The Vice-Captain, who was the key to the attack, and the elite group surrounding him, pierced into the center of the Multi-legged Tank group like a wedge.
Once this happened, the Multi-legged Tank’s huge body became a hindrance.
The surrounding Multi-legged Tanks moved to create distance, but there were physical limitations to the distance between them. As a result, the distance they could move instantaneously was not very long, and they could not exceed the Vice-Captain’s stepping speed.
“Two–!!”
The sword swung horizontally, and the invisible slash cut through another one.
The Multi-legged Tank, having all of its work arms and one side of its Legs cut off and suffering serious damage to its torso, could not control its own momentum and flipped over, stopping its movement.
And that was the extent of the activity of the 1st squad, the elite unit of the Royal Guard Knights.
The surrounding Multi-legged Tank group, which had reorganized its formation at the cost of two Multi-legged Tanks, fired a series of precisely timed non-lethal bullets from Railguns with increased firing voltage.
The rubber bullets, fired at near sonic speed, rushed towards the knights with trajectories calculated to account for sword parries, shields, and armor defenses.
If they used their swords, it would be to a position where they could not pull them back in time.
If they defended with their shields, it would be to a place they could not defend at the same time.
If they kicked up with their greaves, it would be to their supporting leg.
The knights, riddled with rubber bullets, lay on the ground like broken mannequins.
“Aaaaargh!!”
But the Vice-Captain endured.
With abnormal resilience, he absorbed the impact of the rubber bullets slamming into his entire body, and stood up.
The three Multi-legged Tanks that had charged towards the man skillfully manipulated their six work arms, parrying, dodging, and seizing all resistance, then lifting him up.
His feet were separated from the ground, the source of his power, yet the man dug his fingers into the work arms that held him,
“Ugh!!”
A high-voltage, low-current electric shock was released from the work arms, causing the man’s entire body to convulse.
Confirming that the man was incapacitated, the Multi-legged Tanks swiftly restrained the knights lying on the ground with metal wires.
Thus, the Afrasia, Royal Capital’s gate garrison was annihilated, and all were taken prisoner.