I had almost no memory of the latter half of the battle. The fight ended with the entire Elysian Empire army retreating. It was a complete defeat, but that didn’t matter. The death of Mary weighed heavily on my heart.

Neither the Emperor nor Rafishal blamed me for the defeat. Strangely, that made me feel uncomfortable. I would have preferred if they had imposed some heavy punishment on me instead. The two of them, listening to the report with smiles and just nodding, gave me an eerie feeling.

Soon after we returned, discussions of a second invasion began. The military force was further strengthened, and five of the Ten War Gods were mobilized. The members included Yuto as the general and Rosetta, Eugene, Emesis, and Reina as the four vice-generals.

I was excluded from the invasion, but even staying idle in the Imperial Capital, just thinking about Mary was painful. Thinking about revenge, I petitioned to join the second invasion.

“I’m fine with being a mere soldier. Please allow me to participate in the second invasion.”

“So, you wish to redeem yourself from the disgrace… Very well. However, there’s a condition. You will ride a newly created magical device. If you agree to that, I will permit your participation.”

“Would the Elvara-Modified not be suitable?”

“We need the practical data for the new model. If you refuse, you may forget about joining this battle.”

“…Understood. I will ride the new model.”

“I’ll say this in advance, but the new magical device has some quirks. It might be a bit harsh on you, so I want you to understand that.”

To me, who had already made up my mind, the quirks of the magical device didn’t matter. I agreed without much thought.

Though I said I’d be fine as a mere soldier, it seemed they couldn’t treat a Ten War God like that, so in reality, I ended up joining as a high-ranking officer. I was given command authority comparable to that of a vice-commander and was placed in charge of an independent unit.

The country we would invade in the second wave was the Larcia Kingdom, one of the major nations in the Raddle Axis Alliance, and it was expected to be a larger battle than the one with the Three-Nation Alliance. The total military strength was one million units, and an unprecedentedly large force was advancing toward the Larcia Kingdom.

“How are the enemy movements?”

“It seems the enemy has noticed our movements, and reinforcements from the countries of the Raddle Axis Alliance are gathering. Their current strength is 500,000, and it looks like it will keep growing.”

“Seems like we’ll face an enormous amount of damage…”

Yuto mutters with a sad expression. Since he is a kind person at heart, I suppose he’s more concerned about the damage and casualties than the outcome of the battle.

“The enemy has moved within visual range. It seems they are setting up fortresses and defenses at various locations.”

“I want to assess their formations. Relay to the entire army to hold off on attacking for now.”

Perhaps the enemy was thinking the same thing, or maybe they were waiting for their reinforcements, but there was no sign of an attack. Thus, a long stalemate began, with both armies facing off in a tense stand-off.