After a few days of military preparations, Aridonia began launching small-scale offensives into the districts near the southwestern Floravon border. Antonio, along with two others, continued to be tasked with protecting and commanding Squad 14 in monitoring Floravon's air force.
The sun was directly overhead. The villagers were slowly gathering their belongings to head home. The atmosphere here was completely different from the battlefields outside; the sounds of horse hooves, spirit beasts, and conversations still continued as usual. The night guard team was bustling with packing up; a few had removed their helmets, sweat running down their backs, drenching them.
A tall soldier tossed his iron helmet to the ground, quietly exclaiming, "Damn it… where are those guys? It's noon already, and they still haven't come to relieve us?"
Another chewed on a piece of dry bread, waving his hand towards the village entrance. "There they are… I see their shadows. Is there a woman among them??"
Everyone turned simultaneously.
Irvich led the way. Behind him, a young woman followed.
Earlier, Irvich had brought her to meet Squad 14.
She wore a light blue engineer's uniform, carefully adorned with a dull metal name tag: Laira Milern. A large canvas bag hung crookedly over her shoulder, revealing a few conduits, some measuring rods, and several meticulously rolled-up blueprints.
"I've brought Engineer Laira Milern from the Ostervich station!"
"Is she replacing Meyosaka?"
Laira pursed her lips slightly, then nodded. "I received orders from command. When I heard Meyosaka was killed, I was immediately deployed to take over the analysis codes and assist with recording aerial data."
An older soldier emerged from behind, muttering, "I've never seen you in the technical institute before?"
Antonio descended from the second floor, his military shirt still wrinkled, but his eyes were clear. He glanced around at everyone, then stopped at Irvich and the engineer.
"You're back, Irvich. All night?"
"We took a break. But the road to Ostervich isn't easy now." Irvich smiled faintly, his face showing no sign of fatigue.
Meuner quietly stepped out from behind the porch, arms crossed, his eyes quickly scanning from the old soldier to Laira. He said nothing.
A young soldier from the night guard team spoke up, his voice sharp: "It's past noon, not morning anymore. How long are you going to leave us baking in the sun?"
Meuner curtly said, "Change shifts." He spoke loudly and gruffly.
Muttering sounds mixed with the clang of armor as the night guard team returned to the village one by one, some deliberately glancing sideways at Laira as they passed.
One couldn't help but mumble loud enough for everyone to hear: "The engineer's here, so hopefully she doesn't disappear like the last one… leaving this entire Squad 07 to do all your work."
No one reacted. No one replied.
Meuner approached Laira, offering his hand: "Meuner. Temporary commander here. You'll follow the reconnaissance team's lead."
Laira shook his hand, a little hesitantly. "I understand. Honestly… I didn't think Meyosaka would…"
"You know him?" Meuner interrupted.
"We worked together on a campaign in an Aridonian district. He… helped me a lot."
Meuner's gaze lowered, his voice softening. "Did you bring the information storage unit?"
"Yes. And a new Kobis too. This one scans omnidirectionally, not like the old one that only scanned one area."
Antonio nodded, then turned to signal a young soldier: "The reconnaissance duties are now assigned to you."
"Understood."
Laira bowed again and followed the soldier. Irvich then picked up his water bottle and drank, muttering, "It's not easy to get people out of Ostervich in the current situation."
Meuner continued to watch Laira's retreating back, slowly asking, "She's that young and already an engineer?"
"Yes, sent directly by the commanding officer. There's an official confirmation document. I checked carefully." Irvich said, his voice casual.
The atmosphere between them suddenly quieted. In the trench, Laira's voice began to discuss the new-generation Kobis positioning system with the new technical team.
While they were talking, Meuner and Antonio walked in: "Let's just use the old Kobis. The new one probably uses too much Karma energy."
"This one can observe every nook and cranny." Laira immediately countered.
"We've already prepared the trenches…"
"Come on, Antonio… we're not engineers." Irvich interrupted and pushed the two aside. "Our only job is to protect them, isn't it?"
"I think we should use the old Kobis…. We don't know how to use this type," Gurstiak – a soldier – stood up and said.
"Just listen to me. I have command of this mission."
"An engineer never says things like that… Meuner." Antonio whispered to Meuner and led him to one side.
The two then sat down heavily, drinking water. Irvich turned to the team, whispering something.
A few minutes later, Kobis was operational, and everyone began monitoring the appearance of Karma light trails.
"See, guys? It detected the energy sources very quickly!" Laira excitedly turned to the soldiers, glancing at Meuner.
"But their coordinates haven't changed…" Valron – a soldier – immediately replied.
"That must be the enemy camp," Laira quickly interrupted. "Collect the data and send it to Aridonia's artillery; they'll open fire on it."
"No, that's not right… these flickering spots are likely not from the energy tanks of the flying vessels…"
"Fine… if you won't do it, I will!!!"
Laira was furious at Valron's skepticism. She snatched the data tube, intending to report the news herself.
"Hold on… everyone, let's hear Valron's opinion first." Irvich, now nervously getting up, said.
"Who the hell is he that I have to listen to?!" Laira said curtly.
Annoyed, she quickly ran up the trench and headed straight towards the village.
"Damn it… what kind of freak did you bring back, Irvich?"
"I… you only asked for an operations engineer…"
"I'll go talk to her… you guys continue collecting information." Meuner said, then left immediately. He had only gone for a few minutes.
"It's broken!!" Valron yelled out!
"Cut off Kobis!!!"
"But how??"
"What's wrong??" Antonio twisted around to ask.
"This Kobis scans the ground and underground! These Karma trails are Floravon's artillery stations and our technical facilities. Damn it… processed crystals shouldn't show signs like this without being consumed… That bitch Laira…"
Bang!
Before he could finish, Irvich smashed the Kobis.
"Our position is definitely compromised. You guys quickly move to another area, like the northern hillside, for temporary cover. I'll go find Meuner."
Irvich immediately ran off, and the others also gathered their equipment, preparing to leave.
Flip Flip
The sound of communication echoed in a small alley nestled between dozens of closely packed houses. Laira was sitting in a corner, gently placing the data tube into a communicator.
Meuner, after chasing Laira for a while, found her in the alley. He didn't reveal himself immediately but quietly observed her.
As Laira was doing something with the communicator, Irvich arrived and stood a short distance behind Meuner.
"Are you really transmitting to Aridonia's artillery? The crystal's projection direction is towards Harsavert and… Bakorof."
"Why are you following me?!… I'm just transmitting to the forces stationed in the Northwest… there's a camp there…"
"There's only Bakorof artillery there… Aridonia didn't deploy artillery there…"
"Oh, I didn't know… I thought there was…"
LANCEA PETRAE!!!!!
Thump
UGH!!!
A spear launched from behind pierced Meuner's right chest; he collapsed to the ground instantly.
"Xirvich, you're almost too late; it would have ruined everything…"
"Hurry up, have you notified the artillery yet… this will take out everyone… finish off the rest of those engineers after this is done…"
"Already reported everything. Let's go… eliminate them quickly and then retreat!"
STRANGULATIO LAVICA!!!
"What?!"
Before they could escape, two magma arms tightly grasped both of them.
"You bastards are intelligence agents?" Meuner yelled, having quickly covered himself with Karma and healed his earlier wound.
"Xirvich… Xirvich… save me!!" Laira struggled while being incinerated by the magma.
"Activate Karma!"
FRAGOR SAXEUS!
BOOMMMMM
The massive explosion blew up the alley. The surrounding houses also collapsed, creating a chaotic mess.
Irvich, whose real name was Xirvich, ran over and picked up Laira, who had been burned because she hadn't activated her Karma in time.
PUGNUS LAVAE!!!
Meuner leaped in for a follow-up punch. Unable to react in time, Xirvich lifted Laira, using her as a human shield. She was immediately punched through the abdomen. Xirvich shoved her aside and began to counterattack Meuner. Xirvich possessed a stone-type Kartocus with high offensive and defensive capabilities but was quite slow. Despite that, he managed to overpower Meuner.
A flurry of stone spears lunged, pummeling Meuner, who couldn't react in time. Many pierced his thighs and arms.
Taking advantage of a gap in Meuner's defense, Xirvich flung him aside. He pinned Meuner to the ground, thrusting directly at his neck, but Meuner had blocked it. They struggled for a short time. Meuner pushed Xirvich away and landed several direct punches. Lava seeped through Xirvich's Karma, burning off one of his arms and part of his abdomen.
Laira had also recovered and immediately activated her Karma to join the fight. She also possessed a Kartocus but had the ability to control and summon puppets.
A group of about eight puppets directly attacked Meuner. Xirvich and Laira also took the opportunity to slip out of the area.
They hadn't gone far before they were stopped by guards; both were surrounded just outside the village.
A small skirmish ensued, and by the time Meuner arrived, all the guards were dead.
Suddenly, Meuner noticed many glowing spots appearing in the sky to the northwest. These glowing spots moved at extremely high speeds, flying into Aridonia's airspace.
"Has Bakorof's artillery opened fire…?"
"Damn it."
At the same time, the interception system of the Wildter interception force, part of the Harsavert army, was also activated.
Explosions lit up the sky to the northwest after only a few short minutes.
Aridonia had also activated its air defense and artillery. Bakorof's shots had revealed their positions.
BOOMMMMMMM BOOMMMMMMM
Dozens of artillery pieces continuously fired crystal bombs towards Bakorof's artillery positions.
"So Dasader really wants to destroy Karma research…. I also heard that attacks caused by Dasader have occurred in Western Sol Iralim as well…"
"Tomorrow, you two will move to Harsavert. Your mission is complete."
"That quickly?" Antonio was surprised.
"Yes… we've controlled the entire southeastern Bakorof region…"
"Any other announcements for us?" Meuner probed.
"Logistics will take you back to Harsavert; our commander already said so."
"Oh, and you'll also have to protect our engineers!"
"What do you mean?"
"They'll go with you to Harsavert to research weapons. Aridonia doesn't have enough resources and it's also dangerous."
"I understand."
Antonio and Meuner then found a corner to sleep. After a day of fighting, Meuner had no energy left to talk to anyone. A peaceful evening unfolded like that.