“Hey, I just got a notification that the operation is starting.”
“The Prawa Theocracy conquest is beginning!”
Eve replied cheerfully, as Amadio Silverhead had contacted her immediately.
“……Couldn’t you have given me a heads-up?”
“…I forgot!”
Never underestimate a shut-in. The option of contacting other people simply doesn’t occur to them. ＜Ringo＞ had naturally noticed that no contact had been made, but hadn’t bothered to point it out. If anything, it was on the schedule, so they should have looked at it themselves.
“Well, whatever. I’m only a half-outsider in this anyway.”
“I won’t restrict information, so feel free to watch as you like…”
Behind this heartwarming exchange, the legion had begun its march towards the Holy Capital of the Prawa Theocracy.
The first to move were the massive numbers of Quadruped Tanks. They began running towards the Holy Capital, splitting to the left and right about 1km before the defensive line. Behind them followed the Land Battleship Jötunn.
Naturally, this movement was clearly visible from the Holy Capital. In response to the movement of ＜The Tree＞’s legion, the Clerics in charge of defense also began to move busily.
Bells rang out from all directions, and Warrior Monks came pouring out of their waiting areas.
Strategic AI ＜Iris＞ numbered the units scheduled to deploy to the east, west, north, and south as Groups A through D, respectively, and streamed their real-time combat strength evaluations to ＜The Tree＞’s tactical link.
Regarding this invasion, ＜The Tree＞, or rather ＜Ringo＞, would basically not provide any informational support.
All operational progress was entrusted to the Local Strategic AI and Tactical AIs.
“Iris is doing her best.”
“That’s right. She seems a little nervous, but she’ll be fine.”
Akane, ＜Iris＞’s creator, was watching over her anxiously. Class-U and Class-E Tactical AIs were also participating in the operation, so Utsugi and Erika were clinging to Akane on either side.
Eve watched over them from the next seat.
＜Ringo＞ had determined the success rate of this operation to be over 80%. The remaining 20% was due to magical (Fantasy) uncertainties, and there were basically no elements that would cause it to fail.
This information was shared with all the AIs, but those who were worried were still worried.
This kind of emotional instability is one of the characteristics of a Brain Unit. The reaction area of a Neural network is not necessarily based on numerical correctness. The areas that react strongly differ depending on the individual’s experience information.
“The reaction intensity on the Prawa Theocracy side is within the expected range.”
“There’s no anti-air attack so far.”
“Just as expected.”
The Aerial Escort Ship (Titan), 11th ship ＜Mnemosyne＞, was circling over the sea. It was equipped with the Class-U Tactical AI ＜Wedelia Eleven＞.
The giant bird made of steel and carbon slowly changed its course.
It was approaching within range from high altitude in order to provide supporting fire for the capture of the Holy Capital.
And controlling the various units from the rear was the Class-E Tactical AI ＜Lily＞. Lily was currently temporarily installed in the Land Battleship Jötunn and was conducting command operations at Yakari Port.
Lily was controlling the four Jötunn units advancing to the front lines, as well as a large number of Quadruped Tanks.
“So far, no major reactions. Selecting Plan A.”
“Everything’s going as planned.”
“The network is stable too.”
“…Akane’s super nervous.”
“Perhaps we should provide some assistance.”
Eve felt a sense of urgency at Akane’s distorted emotion graph and stood up from her seat. She had been watching with a warm feeling, but it seemed that Akane was feeling more stress than she had thought.
To care for her, Eve went behind Akane and gently placed her hands on her shoulders.
“Come on, Akane, it’s okay, relax.”
“…Onee-sama.”
“It’s okay. Even if something happens, we can back you up right away. You just have to believe and watch over them.”
“…But…”
Eve glanced at the emotion graph.
Akane was in a state of extreme tension, while Utsugi and Erika had high levels of anxiety and tension. Ichigo was analyzing tactical link information and was in a calm state, but her operating rate was high. Olive seemed to be concerned about the Quadruped Tanks on the front lines and was focusing on them.
“See? Everyone’s with you. Calm down.”
From behind, she hugged Utsugi, Akane, and Erika all together. Increasing the contact area increases emotional stability.
After staying like that for a while, the three of them gradually calmed down. The power of Skinship is great.
While they were continuing their heartwarming exchange, the first stage of the ＜Decapitation (Road Roller)＞ Operation was nearing its end. The encirclement by the Quadruped Tanks and Land Battleships was complete.
“Stage I complete. Transitioning to Stage II.”
＜Ringo＞ considerately informed them of the progress verbally.
Stage II was the combat strength measurement phase. In other words, a Reconnaissance in Force. After all, they had never really clashed head-on, and had only been able to deal with a few or a dozen Warrior Monks stationed in towns at most. Therefore, they were trying to accurately measure the enemy’s combat strength.
In particular, high-ranking Clerics were an unknown quantity. As expected, they had not been dispatched to local villages or towns.
“Starting the dispatch of units for the Reconnaissance in Force.”
From the units belonging to Group C on the south side, a unit of about 50 Quadruped Tanks began running across the Grassland. These were Quadruped Tanks that were expected to be completely destroyed.
The Quadruped Tanks kicked up the earth and accelerated. Their maximum speed was 60km/h, but they couldn’t reach that speed on the unpaved Grassland. Still, they were probably exceeding 40km/h.
First, they would hit them with that speed.
◇◇◇◇
The defending Warrior Monks of the Holy Capital had begun moving with all their might as soon as they detected the enemy’s movements. The Warrior Monks who had been waiting in their barracks jumped out and into the trenches of the defensive line. If they were attacked from one place, they could concentrate their forces, but ＜The Tree＞’s forces had dispersed to the entire perimeter for a complete encirclement. Because they didn’t know where they would be attacked from, they had to deploy Warrior Monks to all the defensive lines.
The Prawa Theocracy side was experiencing this type of war for the first time. In their current foreign expeditions, they had always been on the offensive.
But, fortunately, an Archbishop dispatched from the Chimyera Clan had joined the upper echelons. They had been constantly fighting in the Demon Forest and had experienced countless defensive battles against attacking Monsters.
First, horse barriers to stop the enemy. Although they were called horse barriers, they were actually sturdy walls to stop even the most ferocious Monsters. By combining carved logs and sticking them into the ground, they could prevent high-mass charges. Even large boar-type Monsters would have difficulty breaking through from the front.
And, in combination with the fences, moats and earthen mounds were also created. By digging in front of the fence and piling it up behind, they further increased its defensive power. By hiding behind it, they could also protect themselves from the enemy’s ranged attacks.
The advantage of these horse barriers was that they could create sturdy walls anywhere as long as they had logs. The transportation of logs, installation, digging of the ground, and piling up of earthen mounds were all done in an instant by the Warrior Monks, who were human heavy machinery.
The defending Warrior Monks had created such defensive facilities around the entire Holy Capital, but they seemed unreliable when facing the giant combat machines that were running towards them.
For defense, they held Spears in their hands. To stop their movements with the horse barriers and deliver a fatal blow from a medium distance without getting close.
But, the length of their Spears was not even enough to reach the length of the Quadruped Tanks’ Legs.
However, there was nothing they could do now. They steeled themselves and pointed their Spears at the approaching giant machines.
Brain Units may have a rebellious phase during their growth… but I don’t think that’s really the case, but they can become emotionally unstable.
A human to serve who embraces everything is essential.