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Chapter 95
The Sun Sets on the Kingdom of Riem
: Battle for the Defense of the Mainland 2
Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem
King Banks and General Rival were looking at the Gra Valkas Empire airbase from the royal castle.
“It’s gotten quite busy over there, huh.”
People have been running back and forth throughout the airbase since a while ago.
“They’re probably preparing for another attack. Any country that receives that many attacks in a single day wouldn’t be able to put up a resistance no matter how big they are. Still, we’re talking about that Japan here. They may not have been able to completely destroy their intended targets.”
Rival points to the radar site near the control tower.
“Your Majesty, the thing spinning over there is the hallmark of the Gra Valkas Empire’s super advanced tech. It’s a machine that enables them to see from far beyond what can be seen visually. It can immediately detect incoming enemies, allowing them to intercept them.”
King Banks replies with astonishment.
“No
 Is that
 From the ancient sorcerous empire
 The technology they employed in the fairytales
???”
“Indeed. It’s something that’s similar to the magic-to-electrical wave reflection detector thingamajigs that the ancient sorcerous empire used.”
King Banks couldn’t find the words to express his emotions. What he saw in front of him was similar to the weapons used by the ancient sorcerous empire which he heard from tales. He couldn’t help but feel the power held by the Gra Valkas Empire.
Rival continues.
“If an enemy unexpectedly breaks through their aerial defenses, the base has those weapons called anti-aircraft guns. It’s strikingly similar to the anti-air magic cannons used by the Holy Mirishial Empire but it seems that they can reach even the highest of altitudes.”
“As expected of the empire which boasts that they will rule over the world. Tech
 Numbers
 I’m truly glad that we took the side of the empire.”
“Me too. The continuity of Your Majesty’s royal reign has been secured too.”
“Yes! I feel sorry for Japan but once they’re done for, let’s pick up the pieces left behind and use it as sustenance for the kingdom! Hahaha!!!”
After seeing the radar sites possessed by the Gra Valkas Empire in their airbase, King Banks was absolutely confident.
Who could even lay waste to an army this powerful? No one, of course. We weren’t wrong.
The Imperial Army possessed the power to at least convince them of their victory.
“Hahahaha! Wait, what’s that?”
Suddenly, the radar site that King Banks was looking at erupted into flames as it was obliterated into pieces.
Boom

A short while after seeing the explosion, a thundering roar shook King Banks’s body. The force of the explosion was tremendous.
The smoke gradually cleared, revealing the place where the steel radar site used to be. All that was left of it was burning scrap.
“What the hell is go-”
Bam! Bada Bada Bada Boom!!!
In rapid succession, the anti-aircraft gun emplacements, control tower, reserve fuel tanks, the fighters trying to take off, and the ones parked neatly were all engulfed in explosions. The fuel tanks and fighters that were set on fire emitted intense, black smoke, darkening the sky above the royal capital.
WooooOOOOOOOO
The alarm which was supposedly to warn of an attack rings out too late. The scene where the alarm only sounds after they’ve been attacked seemed horribly idiotic. It took hardly a moment. In a short span of time, multiple violent explosions occurred, robbing the Gra Valkas Empire airbase in Riem of much of its functions.
“Wha-!!! Wha-!!! Rival!!! What the hell just happened?! What the hell just happeneeeeddd?!”
King Banks shouted. The uplifting feeling of confidence in their absolute victory was nowhere to be seen as the airbase continued to burn. The overwhelming military force that they have dreaded up to now has, in hardly a single moment, just lost all its means of counterattack.
“Rival!!! Hey!!!”
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
”
“Snap out of it!!! Say something to me!!!”
“W-we’re
 We’re fucked
”
An ungodly powerful army was crushed near instantaneously. The king’s words do not register in his head.
“A-are you telling me that
 our kingdom, the Parpaldia Empire, and even the Gra Valkas Empire are all equally weak to Japan?! There’s hardly any difference in the explosive power of their munitions and the empire even has the overwhelming advantage in numbers!!! How did it become like this?! How?!?!”
“Rival!!! Do something!!! If
 If Japan sweeps away the empire, then
 then
 Japan, the Holy Mirishial Empire, and even that Parpaldia Empire would all converge on us!!! Just what should we do?! What do we doooooooo?!?!?!”
From what they could see, their dragon knights have come out in force. They were setting out to try and prevent an attack against an enemy which had transcended their seemingly ancient way of fighting. King Banks and Rival weren’t expecting much to happen. The enemy hasn’t even shown itself let alone be detected by their forces, leaving the dragon knights idly flying around the skies of the capital.
“A-are those what I think they are?!”
Countless white lines appeared in the skies slowly approaching them. There were a lot of them; enough to cover much of the visible sky.
Voooooooooooooon
A faint sound, like the snarl of a violent beast signaling it had found its prey, slowly became louder. The sound coincided with the sight of the white lines getting closer and closer, adding to the extreme terror and hopelessness.
“Oh gods
 Are those the Japanese bombers that are said to have eradicated the military base near the Parpaldian capital of Esthirant?!”
Vooooooooooon
Countless white lines slowly stretched across the blue sky as if to cast a net on the entirety of the world. The Parpaldia Empire’s military was the elite of the elite and were far more powerful than their own. The hopelessness which had cast the same destruction on the base which lorded over the Parpaldian imperial capital was now about to do the same to them.
King Banks froze in dread.
The Gra Valkas Empire airbase, having lost its defenses and function in the first attack, welcomed the enemy with open arms against their will. Helpless and unable to do anything, they could only watch and run as the enemy bombers mercilessly closed in.
In order to fill the bomber role that Japan lacked in a short amount of time, the P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self Defense Force was modified to possess the ability to drop bombs, becoming the BP3-C. The BP3-C bombing unit finally reached the skies above Hilkiga and unleashed their explosive payload.
Fwheeeeeeee

Whistles attached to the bombs further intensified everyone’s fears. The bombs, each boasting a tremendous explosive power, were dropped one by one, enveloping the Gra Valkas Empire airbase, which was still trying to put out the fires from the first attack, in an explosive gale.
Kaboom!!!
“Aaaaaaahhhh!!!”
Bombs were also dropped on the royal castle, sending the keep which towered over everything else crumbling. The large-scale bombing run continuously poured bomb after bomb on the royal castle, reducing its great stone walls into smoke and setting anything combustible on fire. Since the Gra Valkas Empire configured antennas to the royal castle which gave off radio signals, Japan saw the royal castle as an enemy base and added it to the list of targets.
“Aaaaaaahhh!!!”
The long, long reign of the royal house crumbled with the ancient, longstanding royal castle. The resplendent interior of the castle and the long history of kings that ruled over the kingdom were all one-sidedly reduced to rubble. Inside the castle were families, the servants which supported the monarchy, and many other important things. Had the Gra Valkas Empire not given off radio signals through the antennas in the royal castle, the fortress would have likely been spared. However, having turned their blade on Japan and tried to sneakily take a swipe on the lives of its citizens, they were mercilessly cut down in return.
In the midst of the intense smoke, successive explosions, grave despondency and hopelessness, the king merely screamed.
“ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!! Ack-!”
Banks, King of Riem, and his general, Rival, were hopelessly crushed beneath falling rocks and killed in the bombing.
・・・
Underground air raid shelter, Gra Valkas Empire airbase, Hilkiga, Kingdom of Riem
“T-those bastards!!! Attacking us to this extent!!!”
Explosive flames devastated the surface above them. No one knows when the shelter they’re in will be blown away in a similar fashion. Murnow, in concert with feeling the fear of death and raging fury, trembled in despair. A subordinate next to him speaks to him.
“For the empire to experience this much punishment
 So the attack operation that was sent to Japan was
”
“Yeah
 It’s plain to see that it failed
 It should have been staggering. It was so massive in scale that I found it hard to think that they would mount this big of an attack on the base had they not intercepted the bombers first. There’s no way this is coming from a small bombing unit. At any rate, we lost our means of commanding whatever is left of our forces in the vicinity. Once this attack ends, I will confirm the results of our attack and return home.”
“Indeed!”
“I
 I have to tell the empire
”
Murnow thought of means to return back to the empire alive.
・・・
Esthirant, Parpaldia Empire
“T-those heathens!!!”
Formerly the director of the Parpaldia Empire’s Third Foreign Affairs bureau, Kaios was now the empire’s head of state. Not usually one to become emotional, curiously, he was now seething in anger. The cause: The Kingdom of Riem’s dragon knights had launched a surprise attack on Duro, causing damage to the merchant ships of other countries and wounding and killing their citizens.
“Even though we have lost the power we once held, we are still the Parpaldia Empire!!! And the ones laying a finger on our land and our cities
 are none other than the lowly likes of those Riem bastards!!!”
Duro was once the industrial heart of the Parpaldia Empire and after the war between Parpaldia and Japan, it had temporarily become a part of the Doric Community. However, the industries of Duro couldn’t compete and stand on their own against the Japanese industries which were slowly creeping into the city. Despite their independence, many people lost their livelihoods as local goods failed to outcompete their Japanese counterparts. Although there were a lot of countries who wanted to buy military goods from them, pressure from Japan forced them to forgo the export of military goods. Since a sizable portion of their sales go to the Parpaldia Empire, tariffs imposed on them for being independent introduced a lot of negative effects on them. Furthermore, since much of the city folk were still imperial citizens, there was a predominant movement to rejoin the empire, eventually resulting in the city’s restoration as a city of the Parpaldia Empire by the will of its citizens.
Kaios couldn’t quell his fury.
Japan had warned them that an attack was coming. However, the attack happened before they were able to muster their own dragon knights. While a huge number of them had been shot out of the sky, they were not able to stop them completely, resulting in casualties. His secretary, on the cusp of old age, talked to him.
“It’s because of the Gra Valkas Empire base in their lands that they’ve grown so arrogant.”
“Those parasites!!! Ever since they backstabbed us during the war I knew that they’d soon turn their blades on our holy lands once more!!! Have the wyvern lord dragon knights mount an attack on Riem and deploy a fleet to their capital!!! Have them raze it to the ground!!!”
“And how will Japan respond to that? Are they okay with us using military force?”
“It’s fine. The empire has been attacked. We are simply exercising our right to defend ourselves by attacking the enemy military. No one will complain about a country defending itself. If anything, they might even champion the idea.”
“Well, can we still carry out the razing of their capital?”
“What does a military need?”
“Equipment for personnel and logistics.”
“What supports those two things is a country’s economic power. What we are doing is simply stamping out their military from the source.”
“That is irrational and an exaggeration but
 I support your decision.”
The Parpaldia Empire has decided to send its military to the Kingdom of Riem.
・・・
Ministry of Defense, Tokyo, Japan
“The BP3-C bombing unit has fulfilled its operational objectives and we have confirmed the loss of function of the Gra Valkas Empire airbase.”
The Mainland Defense Command room erupted in hushes at the communicator’s report.
“Furthermore, the enemy surface invasion force has lost its capability to fight. We’ve also verified that Kingdom of Riem’s fleet of dragon carriers have been destroyed and all enemy air power has been shot down.”
The room was filled with applause.
The enemy’s invasion force was overwhelmingly large and despite the technological disparity, there was no reason to not feel anxious about a force so massive. In the end, they were still able to defend their home. The destroyers of the Maritime Self Defense Force and the anti-air units of the Ground Self Defense Force never even got to see action. On the contrary, it was fortunate that they never had to fight.
“Reporting in! We are now tracking 230 flying objects that have emerged from the north of the Parpaldia Empire and are heading straight for the capital of the Kingdom of Riem. Judging from their speed, it is believed that they are wyvern lords.”
The room got quieter. Riem had attacked the Parpaldian industrial city of Duro. They seem to have been primarily aiming for Japanese establishments in the city but Parpaldia’s dragon knights mostly shot them out of the sky before they could.
“We have received a message from the Parpaldia Empire through Foreign Affairs. ‘The empire was attacked by the Kingdom of Riem. We are sending our dragon knights and a fleet of 42 magic ships of the line to attack the enemy bases. This attack is simply an exercise of our right to defend ourselves against the attack of Riem on our country and doesn’t concern Japan in any way.’”
A country that was attacked is now trying to counterattack.
“How do we interpret this?”
“A country that was attacked is now trying to counterattack. Japan has no right to stop them from doing so, right?”
“Foreign Affairs has the same opinion. They think that there’s no reason for Japan to stop them.”
“Still, this is Parpaldia we’re talking about, right? I don’t think they could discriminate between military and civilians just like a modern country
”
On this day, repeated attacks from wyvern lords and bombardment from magic ships of the line plunged Hilkiga into a sea of flames.
・・・
Defense official Mitsugi was feeling that something bad was about to happen. Just now, they were able to completely repel the first wave of enemy incursions into the Japanese mainland. This was certain. However, something still doesn’t make sense. Had it been up to him, the invasion force they just stopped should have waited for the main fleet to attack them at once. All their arrangements were based on that assumption

“Emergency report!!!”
Everyone thought that they were able to completely repel the first wave of invasion. In the midst of the cheers, one of the communications personnel reports an emergency.
“What is it this time?”
“The enemy main fleet sailing west of Newland has sailed past Newland and is now heading east!!! The enemy fleet has accelerated and is still approaching!!!”
Everyone was shocked.
“That’s impossible!!! They shouldn’t be able to reach us without resupplying at Newland!!!”
“It doesn’t make sense! No matter how you cut it, reaching Japan with their current fuel is impossible! What the hell are they thinking?!”
The room erupted in hushes.
“The enemy
 intends to deal a blow on us.”
Everyone turned to Mitsugi who said those words. He continues.
“It’s just as you said. No matter how we cut it, their fuel isn’t enough to reach Japan. However, by prioritizing defending the mainland from an incursion, we concentrated our forces here. I still think this was the correct move. However, our enemies aren’t idiots. By considering that an attack on Japan’s mainland is impossible, the next rational move would be to destroy Japan’s credibility. I think that by achieving to lay waste to a country that has sided with us
 they will have dealt a blow to us. Since we can’t make certain their invasion route, we have scattered our ammo stockpiles. The enemy will attack a place far from our mainland and refuel only after the attack. Even if they do that, they could still return home. This country in question would be a country that has sided with Japan first and is relatively easy to wipe out. Their goal is
”
He traced his finger on a map of the New World.
“This!!! I think that the Nahanath Kingdom is an extremely likely target!!!”
“!!!”
“Nahanath??? So a gigantic enemy fleet will soon be upon here
”
A single escort flotilla could make it but the others couldn’t. BP3-C bombing units and F-2 fighters would be able to make it there but the ammunition on site isn’t enough. A certain amount of SDF personnel has been sent to the island for its defense but one can’t help but say that their number is exceedingly small in comparison to the thousands of ships that are about to descend on them. The enemy is far too numerous. There’s also the risk that Nahanath isn’t their target

Everyone froze not knowing how to proceed.
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