World of antanya

Summon eurasia Fall of paplida the finale

(This will contain chapters of 32-40 from mob of deers so other words this will be a massive chapter in my entire story)
(I will spoil you that keyo won't die but he would be under a watchful eye of Eurasian military and the emperor would not be spared)
Kingdom of Altarus, royal capital Le Brias

"Please stop! My daughter has nothing to do with this!!!"

"What are you trying to say?! Your daughter is suspected of being a rebel! Whether or not she's innocent will be made clear once the Altarus governing board has done a thorough investigation!!!"

"B-But, the governing board only ever takes pretty young girls back to the capital! And they were all executed as rebels!!! It's not possible for every one of them to be guilty!!!"

"You dare slander us?! The empire's intelligence gathering capabilities are simply flawless! Now, get out of the way!!!"

"Please, no!!!"

Today, once again, the Papaldia Empire's Altarus governing board personnel accused a young girl of being associated with an anti-government organization and came to take her into custody. The Kingdom of Altarus lost the war against the empire, so this was now a familiar sight in the country's towns. The father, desperate to save his daughter, clutched at the staff member. The staff member swung his baton down at the father's head. The man collapsed to the ground, his head bleeding from where he was clubbed.

"No! Father!!! NOOOOOO!!!"

The girl was taken away by the Altarus governing board. None of the girls taken away by the board ever returned. No one believed for a second that these girls had anything to do with any rebel groups, but they were still executed in the name of "justice."

In Altarus's royal capital of Le Brias, there were rumors that the head of the Altarus governing board, Schsok, was a perverted predator who targeted young girls, kidnapped them, did whatever he wanted to them, then silenced them by having them killed. These rumors were all true. The board's enforcers frequently traveled to villages and hit on women. If those women turned down their advances, they would say: "Maybe someone in your family is a rebel." That line would usually shut them up and make them give in. If they wanted money, they would go to a household that seemed rich and just take it by using the same line.

This humiliating governing board represented the current Kingdom of Altarus.

Captain Rial, a member of an anti-empire underground organization, was patrolling in plain clothes. He had faith in Princess Lumiess's plan to liberate the kingdom, so he was making preparations and scouting out the defenses at important areas. Today, yet again, he watched a parent being beaten nearly to death while a child was dragged away crying. Rial had held the position of captain of the First Cavalry Division in the former Kingdom of Altarus. He had a strong sense of justice, so seeing that scene and being unable to help was akin to torture. However, if he were caught, when the princess made the call to action, no one else could take command. He considered risking his life to save her, but his leadership ability was crucial for the future of the entire kingdom. He wept in his heart.

After doing one patrol lap, Rial returned to the underground hideout before he forgot the positions of the guards.

"Dammit!!! I had to watch that revolting farce today. That piece of shit empire! They won't get off easy for this!!!" Rial raged quietly, taking care not to be too loud.

"Did something happen?!" asked another member of the organization.

"I watched another girl get taken away by the governing board today. We need to take the kingdom back from those Papaldian shitters as soon as possible. I wonder if Her Highness's negotiations with Japan went well?"

"We did get some good news about that."

After he heard the report, Rial began to feel excited. The other day, a strong magical communication was sent out from the direction of Rodenius. If a typical country intercepted the message, they wouldn't have any idea what it meant. However, for someone from Altarus, it made perfect sense.

"Morning will come after a long night.
The sun shall once again rise from the east.
The longer you have suffered, the brighter the sun will shine.
Good fortunes on the day of Tas."

At first glance, it seemed like a poem. But for Altarans, the first part was taken from a piece called 'The Miraculous Victory,' a historical battle in the Kingdom of Altarus where they had been rescued from an invading army by a hero from another country. Then the last line, 'Good fortunes on the day of Tas,' was code for 'in one week'!!!

"Inform all the squads, make sure they're prepared to fight a week from now!"

"Yes sir!!!"

The operator holed up in the comms room and began sending encrypted magical communications to all the anti-empire organizations scattered throughout Altarus.

One week later, Kingdom of Altarus, royal capital Le Brias, northeastern skies

Dragon knight Abbis, one of the soldiers dispatched to the Kingdom of Altarus from the Papaldia Empire, was currently patrolling the northeast region. He rode his favorite wyvern lord through the clear, cloudless skies in the chilly wind. The island nation of Altarus had been quickly subjugated by the empire, and there were no longer any public disturbances. The empire was located about 500 km north, there were various barbarian countries across the sea to the south, and east-southeast was Rodenius, where there were no longer any hegemonic countries like the former-Kingdom of Rowlia.

In the ocean northeast of Altarus, there were five ships-of-the-line, 30-gun ships and 50-gun ships. The Papaldia Empire was always at war with other countries, so the military's actions didn't differ a lot between routine activities and emergencies. Currently, they were at war with the Kingdom of Fenn and the country of Japan, but that had nothing to do with Altarus, so today's patrol would just wrap up the way it always did.

At least, that was what Abbis believed.

Through a gap in the clouds, he noticed something he had never seen before. Diving down to get a closer look, his entire field of vision was filled with a fleet of gray-painted ships that were far larger than the empire's ships-of-the-line.

"It-It can't be!"

He took out his magical communicator, intending to report this in.

CHKA!

A light flashed on the front of one of the ships. An instant later, dragon knight Abbis's consciousness faded away, his report to the Papaldia Empire's Altarus forces left unsaid.

After confirming that the wyvern belonged to the Papaldia Empire, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's second escort flotilla guided-missile destroyer Kirishima fired its 127mm single-mounted rapid-fire gun, shooting down the wyvern lord. The impact turned the wyvern and its rider into scattered lumps of meat that fell out of the sky. Dragon knight Abbis was the first casualty of what would later be known as the Battle of Altarus.

Papaldia's five ships-of-the-line were patrolling the nearby waters. Captain Daaz was looking at the communicator. The dragon knight on patrol had been about to say something before the connection got cut off. His signal on the magic detector had also disappeared. Because the knight's last-known position was very close to where they were now, Daaz became very nervous.

"Ship spotted! It's coming towards us!"

They watched a ship the size of a castle coming over the horizon. Captain Daaz was shocked at how fast the unknown ship moved.

"Men, to your battle stations!"

All the Papaldian warships prepared to engage in combat.

"That... that flag is, the enemy ship is Japanese! The enemy ship is flying the Japanese flag!!!"

"What?! They sailed all this way... We need to send an urgent mes—"

"Enemy ship has opened fire!"

They saw smoke rise from the front of the ship.

"Impossible, they're too far away!!!"

While they yelled, more puffs of smoke appeared; it had fired five times.

Captain Daaz felt his ship shake slightly. Immediately following that, the 50-gun ship-of-the-line was engulfed in a pillar of flame, then it disappeared from the surface of the ocean.

The destroyer Takanami's five shells tore through the Papaldia Empire's antimagic steel-equipped ships-of-the-line, igniting their magazines and turning all five ships into shards of wood and erasing them from the sea.

Papaldia Empire, military deployment in the Kingdom of Altarus

After invading and occupying the Kingdom of Altarus, the imperial military was now setting its sights east. Only a small part of the army needed to remain behind for the purposes of disarmament, putting down small rebellions, and governing the country. In the capital Le Brias, 20 crewed ships-of-the-line made up their naval forces, and a short distance from Le Brias they had set up a military base for the ground forces consisting of 2,000 soldiers and 20 wyvern lords. Finally, about 40 km north of the capital, there was a second military encampment with another 2,000 soldiers.

General Rejak, looking over Le Brias from the base, spoke to one of his officers.

"To the east, our comrades who were in the Kingdom of Fenn were almost completely wiped out, it seems. I wonder what happened?"

"We're unclear on that. I still can't quite believe that the imperial military was defeated. Wouldn't the enemy have needed to send thousands of ships to attack us?"

"No, even if a country from the civilized areas sent thousands of ships, our troops that were sent there may have taken some damage but they should have still completed the conquest with only a delay, they should never have gotten annihilated. Something strange must have happened. It couldn't be..." Rejak's expression turned grim. "It couldn't be Mu, could it?"

"No... No, that isn't possible!"

The officer shivered fearfully when he imagined the worst case scenario.

"Nah, it can't have been. At any rate, Altarus is much closer to the empire, whereas Fenn is quite far. The chances of that enemy coming here are fairly low."

The two of them looked at the port from atop one of the buildings constructed in the military base. They saw one of the empire's proud 100-gun ships-of-the-line anchored there; its mere presence felt overpowering, reassuring. There were twenty of them, and, to most other countries, they could not be matched.

"How beautiful..."

General Rejak expressed his heartfelt admiration while looking at the ship.

"Hm?!"

That beautiful, calm scene suddenly warped. While he watched, there was some kind of movement around the bottom of the 100-gun ship-of-the-line Spaar. Seconds later, the Spaar exploded into flames, the parts of the ship and its crew consumed in the deafening blast that split the ship in half before sinking to the bottom of the port.

"What...? Was there an accident?!"

When the 80-gun ship-of-the-line moored next to the Spaar went down in the same spectacular fashion, the realization dawned on him.

"E... Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!!"

The ships-of-the-line anchored at the ported all sunk one after another. News of the attack quickly spread to the ground army stationed in the outskirts of the capital, but by the time they finished preparing for battle all the ships had been destroyed.

"How... How did this happen!!!"

The entire army, every last person, was in shock. They could not comprehend what happened. Unfortunately for them, they had not been spared from this destruction. The center of the military base became wrapped in flames, and a slightly-delayed shockwave hit Rejak. He writhed on the ground awkwardly. From there, he looked up into the sky and saw some kind of machine flying at ridiculous speeds with blaring thunder in its wake. The machines had the Japanese flag painted on them.

"Messenger! Send a message to the home country, we've been attacked by Japan!!!"

"Yes sir!!!"

The messenger ran for a communicator. As soon as he finished sending the magic message to the Papaldia Empire, the base and everyone in it departed this world along with a fierce light.

The Papaldia Empire's fleet of ships-of-the-line anchored at Le Brias, the capital of the Kingdom of Altarus, was sunk by cannon fire from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's second flotilla of escort ships. In addition, the F-2 fighter planes launched from the airport in the Principality of Kua Toine completely neutralized Papaldia's military bases in the outskirts of Le Brias as well as 40 km north of the capital. Within 20 minutes, Papaldia lost almost all of its forces stationed within the Kingdom of Altarus.

At the end of the operation, all escort ships and aircraft returned home with no losses.

A bell rang loudly. On board the ship, soldiers ran back and forth in a hurry.

"I wonder what's going on...," dragon knight Denis asked his companion Sheo. They were on board a new model of dragon carrier conducting an experimental voyage about 240 km west of the Kingdom of Altarus.

"Everyone gather on deck!!!" came the order.

The prototype dragon carrier Palkimaera was constructed with a longer runway than previous dragon carriers. Prior to their attack on the Kingdom of Altarus, Japan had notified various countries that entry into predesignated warzones would be restricted. However, because many countries had large merchant vessels, and because wyvern lords didn't have the range to fly to Altarus from another country, it was decided that there would be no problem even if dragon carriers were to show up on the radar, which is how the Palkimaera avoided being attacked.

Wyverns were considered the champions of the sky. Wyvern lords were raised through selective breeding, exchanging their reproductive capabilities for stronger aerial combat performance. They dominated the skies for a long time, until the Second Civilization superpower Mu created the machine called the "airplane," snatching away air superiority from the beasts. In recent years, with the development of the Marin, a state-of-the-art combat-specialized airplane, the wyvern lord's aerial combat abilities fell so low to be considered "inferior." To not fall behind, the Papaldia Empire used its superior magical technology to successfully breed a new type of wyvern.

The wyvern overlord had limited reproductive capabilities and lifespan, but, compared to the wyvern lord, its speed, agility, and overall combat readiness was much higher. A side effect of its improved abilities was that it needed a longer runway to take off, meaning that dragon carriers needed to be built to accommodate them. With a top speed of 430 km/h, it was believed that the wyvern overlord could reclaim aerial superiority from Mu's combat aircraft. However, they were actually too fast, and the dragon knights were unable to stand the wind pressure, so new saddles had to be developed.

Outside, on the deck of the state-of-the-art dragon carrier Palkimaera, the ship's officers stood, ready to address all the soldiers who gathered. Their faces were grim.

"We just received communications from home base. Our defenses in the Kingdom of Altarus have been attacked."

!!!!!!

Everyone tensed up at the news.

"The enemy used aircraft in their attacks... You know what that means, right? The only country capable of producing aircraft is the superpower Mu. We believe the enemy is using Mu's aircraft. And so, we were given orders. This will be the wyvern overlord dragon knight order's first campaign. Conduct an attack on the aircraft currently in the airspace above the capital of the Kingdom of Altarus, Le Brias. Our wyvern overlords are stronger than Mu's famous Marin aircraft! We never thought their planes could come all the way from the Second Civilization, but if Mu is our enemy, fight with confidence but don't get cocky! Dismissed!!!"

The dragon knight squadron began preparing to launch. About ten minutes later, the experienced soldiers were ready to depart.

"Lift off!!!"

The wyvern overlords ran along the top of the dragon carrier. Some couldn't run very well, so they looked kind of awkward, but once the wind caught in their wings, they lightly, elegantly soared into the air. The elite wyvern overlords of the Palkimaera flapped their wings and headed off into the dark blue, cloudy sky at the behest of their dragon knights.

Dragon knight Denis clenched his teeth while riding his dragon. He was used to riding wyverns and wyvern lords, so this wyvern overlord was way too fast for him. Its fierce climbing ability, the wind pressure it generated from its high speed, the centripetal force it created when it made sharp turns, all of these forces on the rider were much more intense than when riding a wyvern lord.

"This terrifying weapon was created by the empire. If these are ever mass-produced, there will be nothing to fear from Mu any longer."

The dragon knight order arrived in the skies above Altarus. However, there were no enemy aircraft there anymore.

"Where did they go?!" Denis shouted at Sheo.

"Not here... they already retreated... Hey, look at that!!!"

Sheo spotted smoke rising up from the military base on the ground.

"Wha—! It can't be!!!"

Denis dove down to check. He could see the smoke from afar, but as he got closer he realized that the amount of smoke was unusual. When he could finally see everything clearly, he saw that the imperial military base had been completely demolished.

"A-Already...? This is... way too fast. It's all already destroyed!!!"

Denis immediately used his magical communicator to report back to the empire about the current state of this base and, at the same time, received updates on the status of their other bases and the port. As he heard the news, he felt sick to his stomach. The Papaldia military, which was undeniably the strongest armed force in the entire Third Civilization, had been stationed here in the Kingdom of Altarus. It may have been only a small deployment, but, compared to the other countries in the area, they were by far the strongest force. And that deployment had been completely annihilated.

"In this... In such a short amount of time! This can't be happening!!!"

The dragon knight order was unable to find the enemy aircraft, so they returned to the dragon carrier. Denis's report made its way to the Papaldia imperial military back in the empire; when they heard, they were stunned.

Captain Rial, dressed as a civilian, was looking at the wreckage from a tower and couldn't decide what kind of expression he should be making. There had been twenty powerful ships-of-the-line anchored at the port, their strength unquestioned. Only twenty ships. However, the entire Altarus military could challenge one and they would probably still lose. That was how powerful a ship-of-the-line was. Their enemy was a superpower; even the leftover army was invincible.

These enemy ships, which they thought were strong, were assaulted by fearsome explosive magic and one by one went up in flames then sunk into the sea.

Captain Rial could only stand there in astonishment at the sight that he could barely acknowledge as reality. A second later, something unbelievably fast passed overhead, accompanied by a boom of thunder. As he watched that something, behind him there was another explosion loud enough for him to need to cover his ears. When he turned around, he saw that the Papaldia Empire's military base was being consumed by fire.

His senses finally returned to him.

"Oh... crap!!!"

He grabbed his communicator and yelled into it.

"It's time! We're taking back Altarus! All troops, begin the operation!!!"

Afterwards, the Papaldia Empire's governing board, having lost nearly all of their military power, surrendered to the rebel organizations that had caused simultaneous uprisings across the country. The Kingdom of Altarus had regained its sovereignty.

Papaldia Empire, Kooze territory

Haki was listening to the magic broadcast from the Central World in his home.

"How old do you think this woman is?"

"Hmm... about thirty?"

"The answer is... sixty-seven years old!"

"EHH?!"

"With the mage Candee's magical skincare lotion, all your wrinkly-winklies will become squeaky-smooth! With this magic lotion pack..."

Beepbeepbeeeeep, beepbeepbeeeeep~

Suddenly, the program was cut off by this alert.

"We apologize for interrupting your program, but we have breaking news! We apologize for interrupting your program, but we have breaking news!!!"

Haki sat up to listen to the urgent news.

"The Kingdom of Altarus, which was invaded and conquered by the Third Civilization superpower Papaldia Empire, has declared its independence. The Papaldian forces that had been occupying Altarus were destroyed, and Papaldia's Altarus governing board has surrendered to one of Altarus's rebel organizations. Altarus's declaration of independence was, according to experts, facilitated by the intervention of the country of Japan.

"We repeat..."

Haki felt his entire heart seize up. There had never been a case in the history of the Papaldia Empire where a vassal state had ever regained its independence. Princess Lumiess of the Kingdom of Altarus must have had strong ties to Japan. However, Princess Lumiess also declared this before:

"The Papaldia Empire is not invincible! Those suffering under the rule of the empire, prepare yourselves for 'that time'!"

Haki felt his heart burn with passion. Maybe it was possible to escape from this hopeless, empty situation. For the sake of both his own country and Altarus, he should start gathering comrades.

In order to prepare for "that time."

Holy Mirishial Empire, port town Cartalpas, a certain bar

At a certain bar today, the drunken patrons were once again chatting.

"Hey hey, did you hear? I couldn't believe it!"

"Ah, yeah, I heard! The Papaldia Empire lost one of its territories!"

"That empire, the supreme conquerors of the Third Civilization, actually lost a territory..."

"Not only that, but it was at the hands of that country again."

"Japan... hm..."

While those drunks were talking, another drunk suddenly started yelling loudly.

"The Papaldia Empire is gonna lose to Japan! They picked a fight with the wrong people! I know—I've been to Japan!!!"

Startled, all the drunks looked over. With all eyes on him, the drunk kept on talking.

"After Japan beat Rowlia, I figured, as an emerging country, they'd be expanding a lot, so I might as well try trading with them, and brought a bunch of easily-transportable stuff like Mu's mechanical wristwatches there. I'm from the Third Civilization's Duchy of Nates, and they only just established diplomatic ties with Japan, but I somehow got a trading license and got myself into Japan. These Japanese, as soon as they saw the mechanical watches, they'd be completely surprised, the way every country outside the civilized areas became shocked when they first came into contact with the civilization of a superpower. At least, that's what I thought would happen...

"When I first stepped into Japan through Fukuoka, I realized my image of them as an emerging country was completely wrong. They had buildings that reached all the way up into the sky, and their roads were full of those four-wheeled carriages they have in Mirishial. These roads crisscrossed all over the place, even going up into the air, in three dimensions, and in the sky they had what looked like Mu's flying machines, but they were a lot bigger and faster.

"And this wasn't even their capital, it was just a coastal city. I couldn't believe it, but Japan's national power, as far as I could tell, it might even be above the Holy Mirishial Empire's!"

"...Hahaha! There's no way that's true!"

"Old man, you're way too drunk!"

The bar erupted in laughter.

"Then take a look at this!!!"

The drunk shouted down the laughter, silencing everyone.

"Do any of you know any country that can make this?!"

The merchant took out a wristwatch that was far more sophisticated than Mu's.

"Look at it! This wristwatch holds energy to create light, and as long as it isn't broken, it'll run forever! Compared to this thing, Mu's mechanical ones are like garbage! And that's not all, Japan has something called 'electromagnetic waves' that are like magical communications, and they automatically correct the second hand, it will never be off by more than one second in a hundred thousand years! What other country could make something like this?!"

His challenge was met with awkward silence.

"Y-Yeah, we get it, Japan is pretty amazing."

The drunkards' conversations continued on.

Topa Kingdom, royal capital Berngen

"Is... Is this true? What's in this report, you've verified it?" King Topa the 16th asked his men.

"It's true. Following Japan's attacks, the Papaldia Empire's forces occupying the Kingdom of Altarus have been annihilated, and their governing board has surrendered. Altarus has taken back its sovereignty."

"However, the Kingdom of Altarus should be rather close to the Papaldia Empire. What is the empire's navy doing?"

"Their navy appears to be at full strength."

"Then, won't Altarus simply fall once more?"

"About that, while Japan's base in Altarus is being built, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, their de facto navy, has been tasked with monitoring the seas around Altarus. Considering that this is Japan, that much should be sufficient to deal with the Papaldia Empire's forces."

"My... My word. So to Japan, even the superpower Papaldia Empire poses no threat."

"That appears to be the case. One more thing, Japan has made a request of our country."

"What is it?"

"To avoid unintentional damages, until the war is over, they'd like us to avoid entering the skies and seas around that area."

"I'm not sure why the skies are a problem, but, well, we have no wyverns anyway, so that should be fine. What is the problem with the seas? As long as we fly our country's flag, they should be able to tell who it is, right? Well, to avoid any misunderstandings, I suppose we just should do as they ask."

"Apparently, Japan has the ability to attack outside of visual range."

"That's outrageous! Hmmm... I am very glad that Japan is not our enemy. All right, order our forces not to enter the area specified by Japan. Alert all the private vessels and merchant vessels as well!!!"

"Yes sir!"

King Topa the 16th was truly relieved that the Topa Kingdom was friendly with Japan.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant

Beautiful, elegant, surrounded by civilized countries, and fattened by wealth exploited from barbarian countries. This was an apt description of the imperial capital Esthirant, the most prosperous city in the Third Civilization. It truly lived up to the name of a superpower.

The imperial noble Remille walked through this beautiful city.

There was no filth from vagrants or beggars. The city had already taken up all the space it could horizontally, so now it was growing vertically.

Remille remembered the emperor's words and mumbled to herself. "Someday, this beautiful city will be the center of the world."

Given the empire's staggering national power, it should be a simple task.

"Work was so tiring today as well..."

Keeping her health in mind, Remille was going home on foot. Behind her, bodyguards followed. After making it back to her mansion, she drew a warm bath. Some countries with less advanced civilizations didn't have warm baths, or they didn't even bathe at all, they only wiped down their bodies. Remille despised squalid barbarians.

After the bath, she put on some loose clothing and lied down on her bed.

"Today was truly tiring. Well, it's fine, some days are just busier than others."

She was exhausted to the point where she nearly nodded off right there. However, right when she was about to fall asleep, someone knocked loudly on the door to her room.

"Mistress Remille! Mistress Remille! The emergency alarm at the first foreign affairs department is sounding!!!"

Remille was disgruntled at having her rest disturbed.

"This better be an actual emergency or I'm going to be extremely cross."

Remille called in to the 1st foreign affairs department.

"This is Remille! Get me the department head!"

The department head came on the line.

"The emergency alarm went off, what's happened?!"

"An emergency situation was flagged. I... cannot tell you any more over magic communications due to risk of interception. You need to come here as quickly as possible!!!"

"...I understand."

Remille cut the communication. She was already tired from work, but was immediately called on again as soon as she was about to take a rest.

"What the hell!"

Her irritation was about to reach its limits. She returned to the 1st foreign affairs department and was immediately led to the department head's office. Inside, Department Head Elto, the officials, and the other staff members were all ashen-faced. Remille sat down at the desk reserved for the imperial nobility. There were several sheets of paper on it.

"Mistress Remille, please look at this document first."

Remille looked over the brief report. Her hands began to shake in anger and shock. What was written there evinced in her a feeling of numbness she had never felt before.

Report on the Capitulation of the Kingdom of Altarus (document 1)

"What is... What exactly is this?!"

The Papaldia Empire, in all its history, had never surrendered, a country it governed had never attained independence or been rescued before.

"I will summarize the contents," Department Head Elto said. "Early this morning, our forces in the Kingdom of Altarus were attacked by Japan and completely destroyed. As if in coordination, the citizens of Altarus revolted, forcing the empire's governing board to declare the kingdom's independence. Princess Lumiess is now calling for the independence of other vassal states belonging to the empire."

"How did this happen! How has the empire suffered consecutive defeats to some uncivilized land of barbarians?! I thought the imperial military was considered invincible within the Third Civilization!!!" Remille shrieked hysterically.

Department Head Elto wanted to cover his ears to block out her shrill voice, but he instead bore it and answered, "There is no doubt that they are the strongest military force in the Third Civilization. However..."

"However what?"

"They used flying machines to attack the imperial forces in Altarus."

"Flying machines...? Did you say flying machines?! That means..."

"Yes, the only country who makes flying machines is none other than the superpower Mu. It would seem that they are exporting these important weapons. We don't know why exactly they're exporting to Japan, though. But it's possible nonetheless they're being backed by Mu."

"So, a war by proxy... What impudence! That explains why Japan's diplomats were so cocksure before the war started. We need to verify if this is true. Summon Mu's ambassador! I will deal with him."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Mistress Remille, there is one more thing I want to report."

"What now!"

"Since we've all but confirmed Mu's involvement, in order to make sure we maintain aerial superiority, the military would like to secure the appropriate budget from the finance department in order to mass-produce wyvern orverlords."

"I understand. However, if mass-producing overlords will really take that much money, the finance department may push back. Let me speak with them directly."

"Thank you very much."

Papaldia Empire Supreme Commander Arde's mansion

Supreme Commander Arde was sitting on the bed in his mansion holding his head in his hands. There were multiple witness reports of flying machines, which basically confirmed Mu's involvement with Japan's military. To combat the aerial strength of Mu's state-of-the-art Marin, they had to invest in more wyvern overlords; as long as they had equal numbers, they could maintain aerial superiority.

The problem was their naval forces. There was a limit to the size of a cannon that could be loaded onto a ship-of-the-line. The cannons equipped on the Papaldia Empire's ships couldn't destroy the armor on Mu's warships. The reverse was not likewise true, though. If they wanted to install armor sufficient to withstand Mu's cannons, the ships would be too heavy to move using Tears of the Wind God to power their sails.

Arde didn't know how many of Mu's ships Japan had bought, but if they had even one it would be a major threat. This must be why Mu sent an observer to Japan for the previous battle, Arde thought.

"Dammit, Mu! Why are you siding with Japan..."

Arde kept worrying over the threat of Mu.

3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos's mansion

After hearing about the surrender in the Kingdom of Altarus, Kyeos shivered in fear.

Aside from being a department head, Kyeos also had strong connections with traders, so, after his first contact with Japan, he began to investigate them using his private connections. What became immediately clear was that they had an obscene amount of national power for an emerging country. However, this information came from merchants who liked to embellish, after all, so he thought they just had enough power for him to use as a tool for his own political gains.

Unfortunately, his ability to negotiate with Japan was taken from him with the emperor's authority by that mad dog, the imperial noble Remille, who proceeded to treat Japan like every other country outside the civilized areas and had their people killed. She then declared to them that she would kill every last Japanese person staying in the Kingdom of Fenn.

Obviously, this infuriated Japan. At the time, Kyeos's analysis showed that the battle in Fenn would cause the empire some amount of damage, but while the empire's navy got completely routed, they couldn't confirm any Japanese vessels being sunk. Based on information from merchants traveling through the Third Civilization, Japan miraculously suffered no losses. If this news had been delivered to the empire's information department, they would have just said the source wasn't credible and disregarded it.

But then... after the battle in Fenn, Kyeos was shown a book from the merchants. It was completely filled with magic photographs. The merchants had helpfully written the translation on the margins of the pages, which served as proof that there were Japanese-Common Fillades dictionaries available in Japan. This was the name of the book:

Extra Continental Treasure! SDF vs. Papaldia Empire Army, This Is The Result Of Their Battle?!

It was a book comparing weapons, sold by Japanese publishers. There was a lot of information on the empire, and, while the specifics about their cannons were wrong, they had truly done a lot of research on the range and power of their weapons. The specifications of Japan's weapons were probably also described accurately in the book. Kyeos could still recall the impact he felt when reading that book even now.

The more he read, the more his hands shook, and the more he could feel himself sweat. At that time, Kyeos had considered a single possibility, which he now knew he had correctly identified.

Japan was a super-scientific country that far surpassed Mu.

And the emperor had declared a war of genocide on Japan.

Kyeos had called out to Ambassador Asada from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before he returned to Japan and successfully set up a backchannel via a communication device that was installed in his home. The recent surrender in Altarus reconfirmed the fact that he wasn't wrong about Japan.

"At this rate... At this rate...!!!" Kyeos muttered to himself in his room with no one else around. "At this rate, the empire will... even with all this national power, the proud superpower Papaldia will be completely erased!!!"

The 3rd Department Head Kyeos, who originally saw Japan as only a political tool, accurately realized the crisis the empire was in and resolved to risk his life in order to save his country.

Papaldia Empire, imperial palace

Emperor Ludius silently raged as he listened to the report. Knowing about this quirk whenever the emperor's mood soured, the messenger continued delivering the report while trembling.

"...Finally, the troops stationed in the Kingdom of Altarus were attacked and annihilated by the country of Japan. The Altarus governing board then surrendered to the native people of Altarus. As Princess Lumiess had declared to the world, the territory of Altarus regained its independence. Our other territories have now grown restless."

The Papaldia Empire controlled a lot of territories. The empire's absolute control was reliant on fear. That fear had to be preserved in order to maintain their overwhelming power, but it was starting to weaken.

"Bring the Kingdom of Altarus back under our control by any means necessary! We must show all the other territories what happens to them if they try to declare independence! If we fail, more territories will start rising up! The Kingdom of Altarus must absolutely be suppressed!!!"

"Yes, Your Grace!"

Japan, capital city Tokyo

In a room in the Ministry of Defense, the Japanese prime minister was receiving a briefing on the strategy being used for the war with the Papaldia Empire from both the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

"I will now outline our strategy."

A projector was turned on, showing a map of the imperial capital Esthirant and the surrounding areas. A laser pointer was used to assist with the explanation. The Papaldia Empire was quite far from Japan, but it was very close to the Kingdom of Altarus.

"This relies on the modifications to Mu's airfield in the Kingdom of Altarus being completed for us to use as a military base, but..."

The pointer circled an area a bit north of Esthirant.

"There is a very large enemy base here. Fortunately for us, the Papaldia Empire has a tendency of building their forts and bases far from their cities. The fact that they concentrate all their forces in once place leads us to believe they're completely unfamiliar with our style of modern warfare. Papaldia has three of these large military bases; the one here appears to be the cornerstone of the capital's defenses.

"This base has a fair amount of aerial combat power; we've confirmed wyverns. In addition, at Esthirant's southern port, there are a few hundred ships-of-the-line anchored there. As expected of the famed conquerors of the Third Civilization, their fleet would probably make the nineteenth century British Empire quake in their boots.

"For the ships at the port, two escort flotillas should be sufficient; for the ground bases, we'll send a large number of F-2 fighter planes and P3C patrol planes to conduct large scale bombing with unguided bombs. That should wipe them out. With regards to munitions, after the war with Rowlia, as you already know, the budget resolution for the mass production of bombs was approved, so there's need to worry about our stock."

"W... Wait, hold on a moment," the prime minister interrupted. "'Large scale bombing with unguided bombs'? Isn't that far too inefficient? These are like the B-29s in World War II, right? Aren't we in an era of precise, guided weapons?"

The official took a breath, then answered the question.

"The SDF's JDAMs rely on GPS to be considered guided weapons. Because there is no GPS in this world, they can't be precisely guided. LJDAMs require a laser for targeting purposes, but we currently have no airborne vehicles in our country capable of emitting such a laser. On that point, we have nearly a hundred P3Cs, and seventy of them will be used for the operation. Up to nine tons of bombs can be equipped on each one, including wing-mounted ones, and that many explosives are necessary to eliminate this scale of a base. Of course, they will be escorted by AWACS and F-15s."

"I... I see."

"Our primary target is far enough from the imperial capital that we believe civilian casualties will be minimal."

"All right. So what you're saying is, if there were a strategic location, say a bridge, that we wanted to destroy, we currently lack the precision to execute that via bombing?"

"We could infiltrate the enemy country to designate a target; it would be expensive, but the Type 93 ASM-2 uses infrared homing, so theoretically it could be used as a smart bomb... I believe. We have no precedent, so I cannot say for certain. Or we could deploy attack helicopters, but their firepower is much lower so we shouldn't expect much from them."

"I understand. After this battle is over, I believe we need to reevaluate the SDF's weaponry. I apologize, please continue."

"Yes. After the capital's ground bases are all eliminated, the P3C bombing squadron will quickly change course and execute another bombing run on the ground base north of the industrial city of Duro. After that base is destroyed, we'll hit the factories that support the empire's armed forces to render them unusable. Originally, we were planning to destroy the bridge to Duro as well, but, because we only have unguided bombs, that would risk causing severe damage to the city, which could cause undue stress on SDF personnel and be received poorly by civilians as well as negatively influence our foreign relations. In the end, we decided against it."

"The empire's citizens would just see it as large-scale indiscriminate bombing."

"Finally, another escort flotilla will be dispatched to deal with the ships-of-the-line at Duro's port."

"I understand."

"That is the outline for the first stage. The second stage depends on the resulting diplomatic situation, so it will be explained at a later date."

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant

By the emperor's order, the Papaldia Empire was aiming to recapture the Kingdom of Altarus and once again turn it into imperial territory. At Esthirant's port, people ran about in a hurry to finish the necessary preparations. South of the capital, at the largest port in the Third Civilization, hundreds of ships-of-the-line were anchored there and having supplies loaded onto them.

Navy Vice-Admiral Balus watched the work proceed from the roof of one of the harbor facilities. Standing next to him was the strategist Matal, said to be the greatest mind in the empire.

"Matal, what are your thoughts on the upcoming battle?"

"Hmm, based on classic theory, we'll be attacking Altarus or whatever with an overwhelming advantage in numbers. However!!! Our true opponent is Japan. Based on our analysis, there's a very high possibility that they've imported weaponry from the superpower Mu. As we know, they routed the oversight army then annihilated our forces dispatched to the Kingdom of Fenn.

"These kinds of consecutive defeats have not happened since the Papaldia Empire was recognized as a superpower... in other words, these crushing losses are a historical event. Japan is powerful! We have no choice but to admit it! We don't know how many, or what variety, of Mu's weapons they have. In the air we can probably expect our wyvern overlords to come out on top, but the real question is going to be about the sea. If they have La Kasami-class warships, then... if we use standard naval warfare tactics, we'll probably lose."

"In that case, what should we do?"

"We have an incredible number of ships-of-the-line, so we could put those numbers to use somehow. Or we could try something primitive, like sending waves of wyverns to land directly on their ships and set fire on deck while the dragon knights invade the insides with guns."

"We would take losses with that tactic."

"You need to adapt already; this isn't an enemy we can fight then expect to make it out unblemished. However, if we press them with the empire's technology and resources, we can definitely win. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this war will decide the empire's fate."

Balus had a far-off look on his face.

"After this battle, Japan will pay dearly for underestimating the empire. Prisoners of war will wish they had died after they taste what we have in store for them. People of Japan! You'll be facing the true might of the empire's main forces now!!!"

Navy Vice-Admiral Balus's spirit blazed intensely, even though he still had never laid eyes on Japan's navy.

Papaldia Empire, north of imperial capital Esthirant, military ground base

The imperial capital Esthirant was the most elegant and splendorous city in the Third Civilization, a sponge that soaked up all the wealth of other countries. There was a military base north of the capital tasked with the country's defense, known as "the shield of the empire." It was manned by superior troops with the newest weapons, soldiers who did not lack in training or morale. It was home to the largest force in the Papaldia Empire, one whose total strength would undoubtedly be recognized as the strongest in the Third Civilization.

The empire, which believed Japan was using weapons from Mu, finally admitted that they were a strong enemy and began fortifying the base in order to absolutely prevent the capital from being invaded. Within the base, some land dragons were hauling magic cannons into orderly lines, others were being fitted with bullet-repelling armor, and the rest were participating in training. Soldiers were also running around and going through training exercises with sharp, practiced movements that reflected the ridiculous degree to which they had been polished.

Watching the preparations from a tower in the base, the Imperial Capital Defense Army Lieutenant General Mayga nodded in satisfaction before turning to the dragon knight captain.

"Look at this. There's so much military strength concentrated here. Even if we were to face the Holy Mirishial Empire, they could not take us down so easily."

"You may be right, but general! Our squadrons have also gotten a lot of promising rookies transferred in, take a look."

The dragon knight captain pointed to the sky, where the proud imperial capital aerial defense squadron was flying in formation. The mere sight of them was so majestic, so powerful that they would strike fear into the hearts of any enemy onlookers. Behind them, there was an even larger dragon flying after them. It was very fast, effortlessly closing in on the wyvern squadron.

"Ooh! So that's the wyvern overlord I've heard about! What amazing speed! It's undeniably faster than the wyvern lords!!!"

The wyvern overlord shot past the wyvern lords, the rulers of the skies that had been part of the main core of the empire's forces for a long time.

"The imperial capital aerial defense squadron will soon be comprised of only wyvern overlords!" the dragon knight captain boasted proudly.

"Ooh, how terrifying! To produce that many of them so quickly, His Grace is serious about this. With this much power, even if they attack us with a squadron of Mu's latest Marin fighter planes, they won't be be able to beat us. Nuwahahahaa!!!"

The shield of the empire carried on its war preparations and continued reinforcing the base.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, 1st foreign affairs department

Department Head Elto hoped he was wrong, but, when he received the information, he was unfortunately proven right. He was now resigned to it. The Papaldia Empire was currently at war with Japan, and there were some Mu citizens living in the empire. The government of the Second Civilization superpower Mu suspended travel to the empire under the pretext of "because they have entered into a full-blown war with Japan" and ordered their citizens to evacuate. Upon receiving that order, those citizens living here began to leave one after another.

"So they're really... I see!!!" Elto muttered to himself in his office.

The superpower Papaldia Empire and the barbarian land of Japan. The two countries may have been at war, but there was no realistic threat to a superpower's home country. Rather, he could assert that telling their people to leave the empire was simply insanity. However, that was what Mu had done. Thinking about it, there was only one reason they would do this: they were completely backing Japan and trying to provoke the empire.

"They want a war between superpowers... Why would Mu go this far?!"

Remille was already aware that Mu's citizens were beginning to leave the country. Soon, Mu's ambassador would be arriving as per the empire's summons. He was looking forward to seeing how Remille would act, and what excuses the ambassador would give. Remille had taken charge of diplomatic issues, so Elto would be able to just sit back and watch the proceedings at his leisure. He felt like he was just working in human resources now.

Remille was waiting for Mu's ambassador in a small meeting room in the 1st foreign affairs department. Based on their intelligence, Mu's government used the war between the Papaldia Empire and Japan to order their citizens to evacuate from the empire, and now all of those citizens were forming long lines at the port to leave the country. They concluded that Mu issued the order because they were the ones that exported weapons to Japan. Otherwise, they could think of no other reason for an evacuation order out of a superpower's country due to a war between a superpower and a barbarian country.

Aside from Remille, the department head and all of the other department officials were also in the meeting room. It was almost time for Mu's ambassador to arrive.

Knock knock.

"The ambassador from the country of Mu is here."

"Enter."

The heavy door opened and Mu's ambassador, Mugei, walked in and took a seat.

Mugei surmised that the reason he was summoned was to ask why his country had issued an evacuation order after Papaldia had declared war on Japan. Mu didn't see the empire as an enemy. They weren't particularly close either, but they had a valuable relationship. The empire also must have realized how technologically advanced Japan was, so as long as he explained properly they should understand. No matter how much it hurt the empire's pride, he stressed that even he, Mu's ambassador, would have to temporarily leave the country. However...

There was one small thing that worried him. The empire had declared a genocidal war against Japan. If they truly were aware of Japan's strength and level of technology, he didn't think they would have ever done such a thing. He didn't want to believe it, but there was a possibility that they actually didn't realize how strong Japan was. No, that's far too implausible... if they weren't aware, then there was no possible way they could reasonably explain their losses to Japan.

Mu's ambassador Mugei brought his mind back into focus for the meeting with the empire.

"All right, let us begin the meeting."

With those words, the imperial noble Remille led off the discussion.

"I believe you are already aware that our country has entered into a state of war with the country of Japan. I would like to ask you to explain Mu's responses to that event."

"Yes, we know that the Papaldia Empire and Japan are at odds. We believe that the chances of this being a fierce war are high. To ensure the safety of Mu's citizens, our government has officially issued an evacuation order from your country. This order includes those working in our embassy. This measure was taken because it was judged that your capital may suffer an attack."

At this response, Remille's expression clouded over.

"Well, your cover is good. We've looked into it. Do you mind if we simply dispense with the act?"

"?"

Mugei was perplexed, unable to make sense of Remille's words.

"While engaged in battle with Japan, we have witness reports of flying machines. Please, let us speak plainly."

"......I'm afraid I have no idea what you're getting at here..."

"You have no idea? My goodness, what a sly fox Mu has sent over to us. I will repeat, we have witness reports of Japan using flying machines. The only country that builds flying machines is your country of Mu. Your weapons, that you've heretofore refused to export, have been exported to Japan. And now, the order to extract all Mu citizens from the capital. Even an utter moron can see what this means. Why did Mu sell their weapons to Japan?! And now, why are you warring with us?!"

As he shrank from Remille's verbal assault, Mugei was further disoriented by Papaldia's distorted reasoning.

"I believe you have committed a grave misunderstanding. Mu has not exported any weapons to Japan at all. Their country's machine technology severely outstrips ours."

"You're saying that an uncivilized barbarian country is more advanced than the Second Civilization's superpower?! How can I possibly believe that!!!"

"The information... about how their country was transported from another world, did you not know?"

Remille recalled reading a report where that was mentioned offhandedly. However, she was a realist, so she could not take a tall tale like that seriously.

"Transported from another world...... Your country actually believes that?"

"We do, of course. Outside of Mu, it's considered a myth, but our history states that we too were transported from another world. It was clearly recorded twelve thousand years ago by the monarchy at the time. We have conducted a thorough investigation of the matter, and the results are that Japan was transported from our original world, and twelve thousand years ago they were allies of ours. At the time, we knew them as Yamuto, which became Yamato, then Yamataikoku, and now, after countless evolutions, they are now known as Japan."

Mugei took out numerous photographs from his briefcase.

"These are pictures of Japan's combat aircraft. And this one is a picture of our country's aircraft... Please compare them; our aircraft have propellers, machinery that generate wind, they look quite similar, but Japan's aircraft do not have propellers. Their speed as well, Japan's aircraft can apparently surpass the speed of sound. Our country does not have the technology to build these. We do not have anything of value to export to Japan; on the contrary, our side has demand for their products, we actually want to import from them, though we are loathe to admit it."

Next, he took out pictures of skyscrapers and flourishing cities the likes of which they had never dreamed of.

"Here is a picture of Japan's capital, Tokyo. Before Japan was transported here, they were a country prone to earthquakes. All of these towering buildings were built such that they won't budge even an inch in the event of an earthquake."

The faces of everyone on the Papaldia Empire's side all at once became pale. Mugei continued giving his crash-course on Japan.

"Whether it's their military or their technology, Japan is far stronger, far more advanced than we are. To say they're even above the Holy Mirishial Empire wouldn't be a large stretch. This is the country that you've declared war on, that you've stated you will purge. But rather than you doing the purging, it is also entirely possible for your opponents to be the ones purging you.

"The government of Mu has a responsibility to protect our citizens; with the way things are developing, they have judged that there is a chance Esthirant will be turned into ash, and that's why they have ordered all Mu citizens to escape from the Papaldia Empire. My colleagues and I will be leaving soon as well. After the war, if there is still anything left, I will be returning. I sincerely pray that we will meet again."

They were stunned speechless... No one had any response to give. While the Papaldian side was still silent, the meeting concluded.

Afterwards, the officials all remained in the meeting room. If what Mu's ambassador said was true, then they had scorned an ultra-superpower country, provoked them, and massacred their citizens. Furthermore, the worst part was that they started a genocidal war with them. The words of a superpower's ambassador carried a lot of weight, and the shock had dazed everyone to the point of being unable to think.

"All right then, so what do we do now..." Remille mused.

"If everything Mu's ambassador told us is all be true, then there's a limit to what we can do. Honestly, it would have been better for us if Mu were waging a war by proxy through Japan."

"Pfffhahahahah!" Remille suddenly started laughing. "This is the worst case scenario, the single possibility we could not accept! What a masterpiece! Huhaahahahahaaahaha!!!"

"M-Mistress Remille?!"

Elto was worried that Remille's had broken mentally. Thinking back, there were numerous opportunities to witness Japan's national power for themselves, but they wasted each and every one of them. The fact that the Japanese didn't flaunt their power was also frustrating. Unfortunately, they couldn't take back their actions, and they couldn't turn back the clock.

The meeting in the Papaldia Empire's foreign affairs department stretched long into the night.

Kingdom of Altarus, royal capital Le Brias, early morning

The airfield that Mu built had been overhauled for use as a military base for Japan. The facility had been expanded, and there were now a large number of combat aircraft and P3C patrol planes stationed there. The P3Cs were fully loaded with unguided bombs on all hardpoints, on the fuselage and wings. The P3Cs took off one after another, circling in the skies before forming up. The planes launched from the Kingdom of Altarus and the Principality of Kua Toine merged into a single fleet and set course for the empire. They were on their way to destroy their enemy.

It was a huge fleet of turboprop aircraft the likes of which hadn't been seen since World War II. The P3C bombing formation contained seventy units, all pointed at the military base north of the imperial capital of the Papaldia Empire, Esthirant. They were going to bomb it to hell.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, Remille's mansion

"U-Ugh! No! Stop! Stooooop!!!"

Remille woke up. She was in her room, her breathing ragged, her entire body covered in sweat. After that meeting with Mu's ambassador, she had seen the same nightmare countless times, the one where Japan's army ran roughshod all over the empire. They had the faces of the Japanese people she had executed, the ones who had died by her order in the Kingdom of Fenn.

"Tch!"

Remille collapsed into her bed again, lying face down. She had really screwed this one up. She thought it was for the sake of the empire, so she had put everything into her work and pushed forward rashly. However, the result of that was... the empire's survival, barely hanging on by a thread.

Based on what Mu's ambassador said:

Japan was far stronger than Mu.
They may even surpass the Holy Mirishial Empire.
There was a possibility that the imperial capital could be completely destroyed.
Japan's combat aircraft could fly faster than sound.
She couldn't believe it! No matter what, she just couldn't believe any of it. But since they had already suffered devastating losses twice to Japan, it... was probably true. Combat aircraft that could surpass the speed of sound almost sounded like something from the ancient sorcerous empire... If they had equipment comparable to that mythical country, then, realistically, Papaldia had no chance of victory. Remille thought hard about a possible way to avoid battle, muttering to herself.

"We could gift them land, or divide up territory with them... does Japan want anything? Ah!!!"

With a start, Remille remembered what Ambassador Asada had said: Regarding the massacre in the Kingdom of Fenn, we request the extradition of criminal offenders and any related persons. You yourself are naturally included in the list, and the emperor is also an important witness, so please turn yourselves in!

"That can't happen... it won't happen! It absolutely will never happen!!!"

She herself was an imperial noble. Not only that, she was a noble from one of the world's five superpowers, and she would someday marry Emperor Ludius and become empress; they were going to conquer the world, and she would be its queen! How could she give that up just to appease some barbarians outside the civilized areas for killing a few hundred of their people!!!

"I will not allow myself to be captured by Japan!!!"

Remille was determined to struggle until the very end.

Imperial capital Esthirant, imperial palace

Emperor Ludius received a report from the 1st Foreign Affairs Department Head Elto.

"According to what Mu's ambassador told us, it's clear that the aircraft from the reports were developed in Japan. That concludes my report on Japan; we wish to ask for Your Grace's guidance on what should happen next."

Emperor Ludius stayed silent for a time. To Elto, having to wait quietly for this long was unbearable.

"Elto."

"Yes, Your Grace!"

"Do you fear Japan?"

"N...No, of course not! It's simply that, I am overwhelmed by this report."

"Elto, you have forgotten three things."

"What... May I ask what those are?"

"First, a defensive position is much easier to maintain than an offensive one. In the previous two battles, we were the attackers in the first, and we were completely unprepared in the second. The empire itself is fully prepared, surprise attacks will not work."

"Of course, Your Grace!"

"Second, Japan only spends about one percent of their gross national income on their military. Even if they were a large country, they could not support a large army with only that much investment. In all likelihood, even if their weapons are high-quality, they will not have very many of them."

"I... I believe your reasoning to be sound on that topic."

Even still, our military suffered two enormous defeats to Japan! Elto wanted to shout, but he swallowed his words.

"Third, even if our enemy were the Holy Mirishial Empire, we simply have no choice but to prevail. Our empire is meant to rule over the world, and this is our divine trial. In this battle with Japan, even if their main force is their navy, our ground forces are strong: they are equipped with the newest weaponry, they are well-trained, and they are at full strength! In addition, our new wyvern overlords have yet to see battle. What we sent to Altarus was our main navy. Even in the one-in-a-million chance they are defeated, there is no country in this world that can best our defending ground army."

"Ooh!"

Hearing Emperor Ludius's explanations, Elto felt enlightened. It was true that their main forces were still hale and hearty, and their ground army had only tangled with Japan's army a single time. With the empire's elite ground force on defense with the advantages from being in their home country, they couldn't even be outclassed by the Holy Mirishial Empire.

"You are absolutely right! Your Grace's wisdom is unparalleled!!!"

Department Head Elto prostrated himself before Emperor Ludius.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, 3rd Foreign Affairs Department Head Kyeos's mansion

The 1st foreign affairs department and Remille were acting oddly. This strange behavior started after the meeting with Mu's ambassador, during which they were probably given information about Japan's actual power. Common sense dictated the obvious course of action, but considering that there were no large commotions around the 1st foreign affairs department, it appeared that Emperor Ludius and Remille were not planning to allow themselves to be extradited to Japan as war criminals.

"If they would just turn themselves in, it would minimize the chance of the empire's citizens being dragged into this war!!!" Kyeos muttered irritably in his room. "Do I need to make a move this early? ...No, since the military is still mostly intact, I can't secure the support of the people."

He couldn't execute his plan until the empire weakened a bit. However, the only way it would "weaken" would be if some civilians were sacrificed in defense of the empire. Kyeos was not happy with that tradeoff.

He also had one other worry. What if, after Japan's first attack, the empire became so crippled they could not recover? There was a chance that the vassal states would then align themselves with Japan, in which case it might become impossible to maintain the empire as an independent country. Kyeos felt impatience.

"What should I... what should I do?!"

Kingdom of Altarus, royal capital Le Brias

Lumiess looked down on the capital from within the castle. No matter how many times she went over it in her head, the only explanation she could find for this situation was that a miracle occurred. She thought back.

Papaldia's ambassador had demanded that she be given over to him as a slave. At the same time, the king, her father, was pressed to transfer the rights to the core of the kingdom's economy, the Siltras magic gem mine, over to the empire. When the king refused to comply with these demands, the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, started a war with the Kingdom of Altarus. The Altaran navy was wiped out by the Papaldian navy, and, similarly, the elite Altaran ground army was wiped out by the imperial army.

By order of the king, Lumiess had escaped from the kingdom on a disguised merchant ship. Right when they ran out of food supplies, they were saved by a Japanese ship just north of Rodenius and she found herself living in Japan.

Japan was a wondrous place. There were buildings that rose up far into the sky, there was the large-scale transportation and distribution system known as the "railroad," and there were cities that shined bright through the night. It was like living inside of a fairy tale.

However, the Papaldia Empire's evil influence even extended all the way to this country on the far eastern edge of the world. In the Kingdom of Fenn, the imperial army murdered scores of Japanese tourists.

That was how the Papaldia Empire came to incur Japan's wrath.

The empire, which had trampled over the Kingdom of Altarus, got annihilated by Japan's Self-Defense Forces, the name for their military, and, unbelievably, Japan didn't even lose a single soldier in the effort.

When she heard the news, she prayed to God. If she were able to form an alliance with Japan, the imperial army could be driven out of the Kingdom of Altarus. That was the dream she envisioned. Unfortunately, Japan was unable to sign the security treaty with Altarus, citing their constitution as the primary obstacle.

Lumiess had fallen into despair.

Upon hearing this verdict, it took everything she had to keep herself from breaking down into tears. However, they had immediately offered an alternative. Japan would "just get rid of the imperial army occupying Altarus" or something absurd like that. Shortly afterwards, they actually did expel the empire's forces, and that was how she came to be standing in the castle at that moment. And now...

Princess Lumiess looked up. Beautiful, dazzling planes with the mark of the red sun on a white field painted on them were flying through the sky. The roars of the aircraft, the loud whir of turboprops, the sheer number of them flying around, she could describe it in a single word as "incredible." The demonic Papaldia Empire and the demon-hunting army of the sun: they were finally going to attack the empire itself. It would be a march of destruction.

Princess Lumiess and all the citizens of the Kingdom of Altarus watched the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's large formation of P3Cs with fierce hope in their hearts.

Early morning

The skies were clear and blue, and a cool wind blew. There was just a little light, and visibility was very good.

High in the sky about 300 kilometers south of the imperial capital Esthirant, they flew through the air, circling the area. On top of the airplanes, there were large disks slowly spinning. The JASDF's E-767 AWACS were monitoring the imperial capital from an incredible distance utterly beyond the capabilities of the human eye. The E-767's disk-shaped radar, the AN/APY-2, makes six revolutions per minute, and the internal three-dimensional radar covers a radius of 800 kilometers at an altitude of 9000 meters.

That radar detected twenty flying objects in the skies south of the imperial capital. This information was transmitted to all combat aircraft in real time. Flying ahead of the AWACS about 100 km north were ten arrow-shaped aircraft: air superiority fighters, the F-15J Kai. Trailing behind about 50 km were twenty F-2s flying at subsonic speeds, fully loaded with unguided bombs, whose target was the military base housing the empire's ground forces located north of the imperial capital.

The F-15J Kais would be performing the first attack on the empire. The difference in atmospheric pressure on the top and bottom of the main wings caused lines of white to appear in the wakes of the wingtips. They were sharing information in real time with the E-767 AWACS: in the southern skies of Esthirant, they knew to be wary of the force of twenty flying enemies.

(I know it's just a warning, but usually we would just ignore them if there were so few.)

The pilot was slightly amazed considering the empire's national power when he had confirmed his mission. The enemies were about 100 km out. The order came in clearly at the same time across every plane's radio.

<<Commence attack, commence attack.>>

The solid fuel was ignited on the Type 99 air-to-air missiles (AAM-4) installed on the F-15J Kais. The missiles, boasting a range of over 100 km, shot forward at Mach 4 with a loud boom, shooting forward to obliterate the wyvern overlords flying in the southern skies over the imperial capital.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, southern airspace

Twenty wyvern overlords were on guard in the skies a bit south of the imperial capital Esthirant. They belonged to the 2nd squadron of the 18th dragon knight order. Squadron Leader Derius was talking to Pukrate, a veteran originally from the 1st squadron, via magic communications.

"Let's monitor that section of the sea over there as well."

"Sure, sounds good."

The wyvern overlord formation moved as though it were a single unit, showing off how well-trained they were.

"Squadron leader, about the enemy..."

"What is it?"

"According to the memo we got a few days ago, Japan would be using Mu's aircraft to fight us. But, you know, in the last two battles, I feel like our losses were way too high. When I asked the military top brass about it, they wouldn't give me a straight answer and told me to just refer to the memo. What are your thoughts, squadron leader?"

The empire's upper management, afraid of the military's morale taking a huge dive, decided to limit the distribution of information on Japan to only some of the military officers.

"It's true—I've heard that the top brass has been really tight-lipped about this war. It's clear they're hiding something, but I'm not sure exactly what. However, an enemy stronger than Mu, who else is there?"

"Other than the ancient sorcerous empire or the Holy Mirishial Empire, I guess there's no one else."

"By the way—"

"What the hell are those?!?!"

One of the sharp-eyed dragon knights interrupted their conversation. Every other dragon knight looked over in the direction that the one knight was pointing. They saw a number of specks in the clear blue sky. They were like crumbs that had been spilled on a clear, beautiful photograph. They quickly grew in size, though, which made it clear that they were some kind of flying object.

"T-They're fast! Evasive action!!!"

Derius yelled the order at preternatural speed owing to his intuition screaming "Danger!" when he saw those things coming at the dragon knight squad. The squadron of wyvern overlords dispersed, but the things also changed direction, continuing to pursue them.

"No... No way!!!"

The missiles, wrapped in shockwaves, chased the otherworld dragons. The air friction at the edge of the shockwaves heated up the air to high temperatures. Each of the twenty AAM-4s fired by the F-15J Kais found their designated wyvern overlord targets.

BOBOBOOMBOBOOMBOBOOM!!!

The dragon knights died without even letting out a single cry. The Papaldia Empire homeland had just become a battlefield for the first time since they had earned the title of "superpower." The entire city of Esthirant reverberated with the sounds of the explosions, the eerie noises totally inconsistent with its sense of peace. Some felt fear. Others wondered if the clock had begun to count down on their ruin. Citizens who were already awake, prompted by the explosions, looked up at the sky and saw the shocking scene play out before their eyes.

The wyverns belonging to the strongest defense force defending the imperial capital of the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, were plummeting from the sky like giant raindrops. Some drops were just wyvern heads, trunks, legs, wings, and other parts; some were bodies with the entire upper half missing, things that had ceased to be humans. It was a shower of meat and blood.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

All over the capital of Esthirant, screams could be heard from people unable to stand the gruesome sight. The residents began to chatter noisily, doors and windows opening everywhere. When they looked up into the sky, they saw ten somethings shaped like arrows zoom by at a speed they had never thought possible. Those things each spurted two flames behind them.

Immediately after that, a blast of sound assaulted them, loud enough to make them cover their ears. The glass in the buildings closest to those things shattered from the ensuing shockwave.

The residents were overcome with pure fear.

"What was that?! What were those?! What's happening?!?!"

The shockwaves from the F-15J Kais continued to echo throughout the imperial capital Esthirant while the residents were infected by terror.

Papaldia Empire, north of imperial capital Esthirant, military ground base

On the first floor of a gaudy stone building, magical technician Paie was tracking signals on the magic detector. Wyverns were the only flying creatures with high magic power; compared to humans, they were basically overflowing with magic. The magic detector was created to track magic power for anti-air defense purposes, but it could also be used for ground monitoring as well.

Currently, the detector only displayed friendly forces in the sky; there were no other creatures in the vicinity with high magic power.

"Hm? Did something just happen?"

Paie noticed that the friendly wyverns, which were previously flying in perfect lines, began to scatter in a disorderly fashion. Right when she was about to report the oddity to her boss, the twenty dots on the screen suddenly brightened, then disappeared. There was no other explanation for that phenomenon...... They had been shot down!!! Paie immediately grabbed the magical communicator next to her and screamed into it.

"Emergency, emergency! A patrol of twenty dragon knights from the eighteenth dragon knight order, second squadron, in the southern skies over the capital have all disappeared from the detector! There is a high chance they were shot down! Third squadron on standby, you're cleared for urgent launch, go check the southern skies! Furthermore, there are no enemy responses on the detector; there's a high chance they're using aircraft!!!"

Right after Paie's order went out, the military ground base became lively with the sound of crashing and clamor. The ruckus immediately alerted everyone to the abnormal situation.

"All twenty signals are gone?!" Paie's boss exclaimed, his face changing color before her eyes as he stared at the detector screen.

"Yes sir; in a very short amount of time, each signal blinked out one after the other."

"Twenty! There were twenty of them up there! That's a sizable patrol squadron, and they were all the strongest dragons in the world, wyvern overlords!!! How could they be done in so quickly?!"

"But it's true! They all disappeared in the space of twenty seconds!!!"

"Are you sure it's not some kind of malfunction?!"

"That's out of the question!!!"

"Kh! What the hell are we fighting?!"

While the two were bickering in the communications room, the 3rd squadron was getting ready to take off having received their orders.

"The second squadron got taken out?! Dammit all! Make sure you're on alert when we get to their last known location, don't get distracted!!!"

With wings spread wide, the wyvern overlords began running, preparing to launch themselves into the air. Because this was an emergency situation, all the wyverns ran together in a single file.

"Enemy detected!!!" someone yelled into their magic communicator. The dragon knights all looked up into the sky.

"Wha—!!!"

The dragon knights, about to take off, heard the sound of back-to-back blasts from the short-range AAM-5s fired by the F-15J Kais.

After hearing the strange noise, Imperial Capital Defense Army Lieutenant General Mayga looked out the window. At that moment, one of his men stumbled into the room without knocking.

"Lieutenant General Mayga! All signals have been lost for the eighteenth dragon knight order, second squadron! Please come to the war room at once!!!"

"I'll be right there."

Mayga quickly walked over to the war room next door. As soon as he entered, he received a report.

"Just now, we lost the signals from the second squadron, which was patrolling the southern skies over Esthirant, on the magic detector. On that detector, right before the signals disappeared, a large light appeared, so the probability that they were shot down is very high. Right now, the third squadron is preparing for emergency deployment."

The subordinate pointed out the window. As ordered earlier, the 3rd squadron's wyvern overlords were on the runway, just about ready to start their takeoff run.

"These enemies... how strong are they...?" Mayga mumbled.

"What are those?!" someone yelled suddenly.

Seconds later, numerous arrows of light slammed right into the dragon knight squadron running down the runway. All the arrows flew true and hit each member of the 3rd squadron, turning them into lifeless pieces of flesh before Mayga's eyes.

"!!!!!!"

He was so surprised he couldn't find his voice, but then some kind of aircraft passed by with tremendous speed, spewing flames out their rears. They could feel the shockwaves... There were probably ten of the aircraft. They suddenly began to ascend into the sky at an unbelievable speed, quickly disappearing from sight.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—!!!

The base's emergency alarm began to howl, stirring the people in the base who began running about frantically.

"Everyone hurry and get ready for combat!!! All dragon knight squadrons, anyone who can launch, launch!!!" Lieutenant General Mayga roared.

Imperial capital Esthirant

The capital's residents were all talking about the explosions that went off earlier.

"What was that just now?!"

"I saw the dragon knights over in the south get butchered! All I know is the empire just got attacked by someone!!!"

"Who attacked? It couldn't have been Japan, could it?"

"No way! They're just some barbarians outside the civilized areas blowing smoke. The Papaldia Empire is a superpower and the strongest country in the Third Civilization, there's obviously no way they could attack our capital!!!"

"Then, who exactly did it?"

"Another superpower, or... I don't really think so, but maybe the ancient sorcerous empire?"

"Now that's just silly..."

The citizens' conversation was drowned out by the thunderous roar that suddenly blared. Twenty F2s carrying bombs flew overhead at the super-low altitude of 50 meters at subsonic speeds.

"W-W-W-What are those?!"

Some people were so shocked they couldn't move, while others ran around panicked; the city fell into a panic. The F2s which had invaded the capital's airspace turned to climb into the sky, dropping bombs as they rose. The unguided bombs soared through the air, drawing a parabola as they fell.

HYUUUUUuuuuu...!

Numerous shrill whistles cut through the air. Even though they had never heard a noise like it before, the people who did hear it instinctively felt their senses of danger ring out.

After dropping the bombs, the F2s let out another thunderous boom, releasing a giant flame as they climbed into the sky and disappeared from sight.

Western imperial capital, military ground base

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu!!!

"What is that?! What's that noise?!" Lieutenant General Mayga bellowed upon hearing the unsettling sound. There weren't just one or two of the them, but a bunch of things making that racket. Mayga looked out the window. Right then...

A blinding light...
Countless flashes...
Detonations that tore apart his ears...

The bombs dropped by the F2s, missing their intended targets by tens of meters due to variance, hit the wyvern runway. Relentless explosions, one after another. The windows shattered from the explosions, shards of glass plunging right into Mayga's eyes.

"GAAAAAAAH!!! MY EYES!!! MY EYEEEEEES!!!"

He clapped his hands over his eyes, writhing on the ground in intense pain. Mayga had temporarily panicked from the pain, but forced himself to come back to his senses.

"Situation report!!! Someone tell me what's going on!!!"

Blood flowed freely from the Lieutenant General's eyes; he knew instantly that his sight was lost. However, he had not lost his ability to lead.

"Those explosions were caused by bombs dropped from the sky, we believe. Currently, the runway is on fire, we cannot confirm the extent of the damage just yet," one of the officers stated.

"Bombs from the sky?! Unbelievable... what terrifying power!!!"

While the Papaldia Empire did have bombs, they didn't have any bombs that could be dropped by wyverns. The flying dragons couldn't fly with too heavy a load. They could shoot fire blasts from the sky as supporting fire, but there had been no precedent for dropping bombs out of the sky. All the people in the room were shocked.

"The smoke is clearing up."

Wind helped to blow away the smoke obscuring the runway.

"Wha—! N-Now we can't...!!!"

"What is it?! Tell me what you see!!!"

The base was littered with giant holes, like those on the moon; the runway that appeared behind the smoke was completely unusable.

"The... The runway has been totally destroyed. We can't launch any more dragon knights now!!!"

It was a disastrous report. Mayga felt himself succumbing to despair upon hearing it.

"The-Then... What do we do about the capital?! Do we have no other options?!"

"There are none. We could gather all of our wyvern overlords, but without a way for them to take off, there's no point. As of now, we have lost control of the airspace over the capital."

Lieutenant General Mayga and all the other officers present had completely lost all hope.

Imperial capital Esthirant

"Hey! Look!!!"

Some agitated residents were pointing to the north. But, with no prompting needed, the people were already looking in the direction of the massive explosions. Enormous, never-before-seen billows of flame were blossoming over the military ground base. No words were said; they all just stood there sweating. Some women were crying at the sight. Unfortunately, they then heard something that brought on even more fear.

RRRRRRRRRRRRR...

Where was it coming from? There were a lot of them; they made a noise like a deep growling.

"Now what's happening?!"

"Over there, it's from there!!!"

Someone with good eyesight pointed to the south.

"AH—!!!"

"NOOOOOO!!!"

There were many more of them than before. Big, white machines, descending from the heavens. White clouds trailed behind them, and they made that deep rumbling noise that so terrified the people. They were a lot slower than the previous machines as well, so much so that the residents thought they were be teased by them traveling at such a cruel, leisurely pace. Their slowness, size, and quantity engendered untold dread in the citizens of Papaldia.

"Are those dragons?!"

The formation of P3C bombers flew over the capital, accompanied by an escort of eight F15-J Kais. There were seventy planes in total; the vapor trails left behind by the passing aircraft completely changed how the sky looked over Esthirant. The Papaldia Empire had no way of repelling them. The people of the empire could do nothing but watch as their destruction crept closer and closer.

"We will reach the drop point soon."

They saw a flourishing otherworld city beneath them. A hegemonic culture drunk on its own arrogance. To Japan, they were a country that had no qualms with calling for genocide, including civilians, so there was no need to show them any mercy. However, these pilots were originally only sent on patrol missions; they could never have imagined that they would ever be bombing someone.

"Three... two... one... release!!!"

The JMSDF's PC3 bombing wing reached the drop point as planned and, with the objective of incinerating the imperial capital's northern military base, let fly countless unguided bombs.

"The enemy! The enemy is invading!!!" the Imperial Capital Defense Army officers screamed.

With the destruction of the runway, all of their wyvern overlords were now grounded. They had no weapons that could reach the enemies at their altitude, so there was nothing they could do.

"Those aircraft are huge! And there are so many of them, too!!!"

"What are they doing?!"

Everyone in the base was looking up at the sky.

"Hm?!"

"Th-Those are—!!!"

"Some kind of black things are falling!"

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu...

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It was the same sound made by the weapons that destroyed the runway earlier.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu...

There were a lot more of the noises than before as well.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu...

Everyone's eyes opened wide at the sight. There were dozens of enemy aircraft dropping an abnormally large number of the black objects.

HYUUUuuuHYUUUuuuHYUUUuuu...

The number of shrill sounds was increasing exponentially.

"They're the high-powered bombs from before!!!"

"A rain of bombs is coming!!!"

"Take cover———!!! Take cover———!!!"

"Damn it! There are too many of them, where can we possibly run?!"

The base devolved into chaos, but the bombs didn't wait for their curses.

The explosions were endless. The bursts of light were blinding. The blasts surpassed the height of a building dozens of stories high. Everything in the base was covered in clouds of smokes from the explosions—yet they continued. As if spitting spitefully on this level of trauma, fierce flames raged across the base ad infinitum.

After dropping all their bombs, the P3C bombing wing climbed up high into the sky and flew off to the south.

The JASDF's RF-4E reconnaissance planes flew towards the military ground base north of the imperial capital to survey the results of the attack run. If the damage inflicted was insufficient, they would call in a second attack.

The reconnaissance planes confirmed the damage from high up in the sky. Using a camera to monitor the results, there were no longer any standing structures, and what was previously a base was now just a field of craters with no moving objects. They confirmed the base's complete annihilation.

"Enemy base has been eliminated. Follow-up attack is not necessary."

The reconnaissance planes radioed in their report, then flew off, back to the base in the Kingdom of Altarus.

The Papaldia Empire's Imperial Capital Defense large-scale military base had its runway destroyed by the JASDF's F2 multirole fighters, then was wiped off the face of the planet by the JMSDF's P3C bombing wing without any vestiges remaining.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, southern seas

They stormed forward through the waves. There were two lines of metal ships, twenty of them, heading north. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's fleet was coming for the Papaldia Empire's main naval force docked at the large port on the south side of the imperial capital Esthirant.

The Eurasian navy had other objectives while allowing the Japanese do their mission while keeping theirs a secret.

The Eurasian 1st,34th,74th naval fleet and 1st,2nd,3rd,4th air navy to bombard multiple paplidan cities,as they got close enough for the enemy cities to see them.
The people of paplida only knew fear and tried to escape the doomed city from it inevitable destruction.
The Eurasian filled with anger started massive bombardment on the capital using all their guns and missiles while the aircraft carriers released their bombers and fighter jets to bombard the capital's enemy more.
Hundreds of small boats would land on the capital coast as hundreds of Eurasian troops would storm their way to the paplidan palace with support from the type 69 transport aircraft.

The paplidan troops tried to kill any Eurasian troops only to get bombarded by Eurasian aircrafts or shredded by Eurasian mini guns. the battle for the capital would be a one sided slaughter  as the Eurasian would eventually reach the imperial palace and capture the emperor and the bitch escorting them outside and in front of their people where both would be torn to pieces by firing squads which intentionally aimed for their limbs to make them suffer longer.
Many members of the firing squad were satisfied as they had avenged their fathers,mothers,sisters,brothers friends and families.
Multiple flags of the Eurasian coalition would fly above the ruined capital of paplida marking the end of the war as many paplidan overseas garrison would be greatly demoralised and returned home or were hunted down and killed by the rebels and Eurasian forces.
The war finally ended after Japan liberation of altarus with the rebels cheering as their country was liberated.

The situation was only grim when paplida lost all the countries it controlled and paplida itself was divided into 6 different regions with kyeos being head of these states and must listen to the Eurasian and Japanese demands as he was forced to sign a treaty which left paplida as a republic.