I squatted before the corpse with an expressionless face.
'Status Analysis.'
[Status: Severe damage from explosion and incendiary grenade (Deceased)]
[Special Information: Possesses forged ID, scorched hairpin]
'Even seeing it directly, there isn't much to find fault with.'
It was a textbook-clean job.
"Colonel! The debris over there is still unstable!"
Sergeant Gunter, who had followed behind, shouted. His face stiffened rigidly when he discovered the lump of flesh at my feet.
"Th-this is... Good God. Isn't that the maid?"
"Yes. Ellida."
I answered with a deliberately heavy voice, producing the mangled identification card and hairpin.
"It seems she couldn't evacuate in time. The damage is so severe her face is unrecognizable."
"Damn it... those rioters! Even an innocent civilian girl!"
Gunter immediately called soldiers to collect the body. Watching the fake corpse being carried away by the soldiers, I briefly turned my gaze to stare into empty space.
'Shared Vision.'
[Skill 'Shared Vision (Lv.1)' activates.]
[Current connection target: 'Sydney Wellesley' (1/1)]
Black-and-white noise flickered, and Sydney's vision overlapped with mine once more.
She had already completely escaped Sector 3 amidst the chaos. She was passing through a bypass around the collapsed checkpoint on the northern outskirts of Elancia. She walked mixed in with a crowd of refugees, draped in an old tarp.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Sydney Wellesley]
[Emotions: Liberation, slight shame and regret, pride in perfect escape and mission completion]
[Hidden Desire: Wishes to return to her home country quickly. And... a petty vanity hoping that Max Yeager confirmed her death and was shaken, even for a moment.]
I formed a sly smile.
'I look forward to meeting you again.'
The Trojan Horse had safely passed through the city gates.
I returned my vision to normal. After the noise cleared and the dizziness subsided, the attack site thick with smoke unfolded once more.
"Lieutenant Walter!"
"Yes, Colonel!"
Walter, who had been inspecting the defensive line, rushed over like an arrow.
"Contact the engineering corps and tell them to prepare double the amount of flamethrower fuel. And tell Major Frederica of the armored battalion not to spare the shells."
"Understood, Colonel! I will relay the orders to the engineering corps and armored battalion immediately!"
Lieutenant Walter saluted energetically and then ran toward the radio operator.
I escaped the collapsed alley and stepped back onto the main street of the city. Gray dust rising from the aftermath of the serial explosions that struck Sector 3 covered the sky of Elancia like fog.
I focused on the [Minimap] in the corner of my vision.
The upgraded Lv.2 [Minimap] depicted everything three-dimensionally and perfectly—not only the elevation differences of buildings, but also the hidden underground passages and the depth of air-raid shelters beneath the collapsed debris.
Dozens, no, hundreds of red dots were moving across that transparent blueprint.
"This is Yeager. All battalions, report your positions."
I spoke into the radio.
[This is the 1st Armored Battalion. Major Frederica here. Perimeter road control in Sector 3 complete. Tank cannons loaded. Colonel, just give the order.]
[Infantry Battalion, Major Seraphina here. Western encirclement deployment complete. Awaiting instructions.]
The encirclement was complete. All that remained was to crush the rats trapped in the poison jar.
"Frederica. Two o'clock, do you see the half-collapsed red brick building?"
More than ten red dots were clustered densely around the building debris near the underground passage entrance.
[Confirmed. Enemy machine gun barrels visible between the 1st and 2nd floor windows.]
"No time to commit infantry for petty warfare. Blow the whole building away."
[Order received. Unit 101, firing armor-piercing shell.]
Kwaaaang-!!
The moment the transmission cut off, a rupturing sound tore through the atmosphere. An enormous roar shook the streets of Elancia.
The tank shell fired by Frederica accurately struck the lower portion of the red brick building. Revolutionary soldiers ambushing inside the debris screamed as they were blasted into the air. The red dots on the minimap flashed gray for an instant before vanishing.
"Good. Infantry advance. Flamethrower squads, stick close behind the tanks and enter."
"We charge! 1st Company, follow me!!"
Sergeant Gunter charged forward, raising his submachine gun. Whether his eyes had rolled back in rage after seeing the fake Ellida's corpse just moments ago, his momentum was even fiercer than usual.
Taaaang! Dadadadak!
Elite infantry dispersed in perfect unison, pouring out suppressive fire. The remaining stragglers who attempted to resist were turned into honeycombs by the raining barrage of bullets before they could even stick their heads out.
"Save me! I surrender, I surrend-!!"
"It's the building basement gap! Shoot!"
Next was the engineering corps.
Shwaaaaak-!
When the engineers, with fuel tanks strapped to their backs, pulled the triggers, streams of crimson flame poured down the collapsed basement stairs.
"Kuaaaaargh-!!"
Terrible screams of humans burning alive soared together with black smoke. The red dots that had been preparing ambushes underground trembled as if glowing, then disappeared entirely.
'Brutal.'
[Skill 'Indomitable Mind' is active.]
"Colonel!"
Then, Hanna approached from behind.
"I've tracked the mana reactions! The reactions in the underground sewers are moving rapidly toward Elancia Cathedral! There's no doubt that their main force is fleeing in that direction!"
Hanna's [Mana Detection] had firmly latched onto the enemy's escape route.
I checked the [Minimap] again. Sure enough, a group was visible rushing headlong toward the cathedral.
'Thanks to Hanna, I noticed.'
My [Minimap] only reveals enemy positions. It has no information about what kind of enemies they are. Hanna's [Mana Detection] was covering that gap.
I raised the radio and ordered.
"All Yeager Combat Group personnel, target is Elancia Cathedral underground. All battalion commanders are to completely clear the remaining forces currently engaged using flamethrowers and grenades, then rendezvous at Cathedral Plaza."
[Copy that! We'll sweep them away!]
[Understood, Colonel.]
"Good."
Having confirmed their responses, I drew the pistol at my waist.
"Headquarters Company, move out with me."
*
Kugung, kugugung-.
The underground chapel of the historic Elancia Cathedral.
Through the damp underground air, the vibrations of tank shells exploding on the surface were transmitted intact.
Deep despair hung over the faces of the hundred or so revolutionaries gathered there.
"The strike on Sector 3 has completely failed! The Imperial command is not only intact, but their elite forces are tightening the encirclement around us!"
"They're roasting the underground entry routes whole with flamethrowers! At this rate, we'll be cooked alive too!"
Valery, standing at the center, barked at his comrades with bloodshot eyes.
"Quiet! Those spouting defeatist nonsense will be the first to die by my hand!"
However, the unrest did not easily subside.
"Ch-Chairman! Let's surrender! At this rate, even the wounded soldiers sheltering inside the cathedral will all be turned into minced meat by their machine guns!"
Taang-!
Valery's pistol spat fire.
"Uwaargh!"
The man's knee who had spoken of surrender was instantly shattered. He screamed and collapsed.
"There is no surrender! Did you not see the fate of traitor bastards like Henri and Louis who sold out the revolution! Better to die honorably than lick the boots of Imperialist pigs!"
The blood-soaked man groaned as he rolled on the floor, but Valery paid him no heed. He waved his pistol in the air and snarled.
"We are the final pride of the Republic! We do not surrender! We will fight to the last...!"
The atmosphere sank miserably at the desperate raving of the Chairman Comrade.
One man opened his mouth first.
"But... at this rate, we'll all die like dogs. What exactly do you intend to do? Comrade."
"That... is what we need to think about from now on."
Valery scanned the room with glittering eyes. It was a signal for them to speak up now, but no one could step forward rashly.
"......."
As everyone was losing hope like that.
One supply-committee member, who had been silently counting ammunition crates in the corner and was usually unremarkable, opened his mouth.
"...Chairman Comrade. Ordinary methods or haphazard suicide charges will never be able to withstand their firepower."
"What are you trying to say?"
"That in order to defend, we must not balk at any means or methods. We must alter the environment itself to be absolutely unfavorable to the enemy."
The gaunt man continued.
"We install all remaining high explosives on the three main pillars supporting this cathedral's roof, and on the floodgate barrier wall connecting to the central sewer. And... we pour oil throughout the entire main cathedral building and set it ablaze."
"......!"
His comrades' eyes went wide. Even the hardliners who had been prepared for death gasped for a moment.
"H-have you gone mad?! The cathedral is a cultural heritage containing a thousand years of the Republic's history! It's the symbol of Elancia! And you're saying we should burn it down and collapse it with our own hands?!"
"Furthermore, if we blow the floodgates, sewage will backflow underground and ruin even the positions we have concealed!"
Despite his comrades' shock, the gaunt man remained calm. He looked Valery straight in the eye and added.
"If the cathedral collapses, a massive mountain of stone debris is created. The Imperial Army's proud tanks will never be able to cross that obstacle. Moreover, the fiercely blazing fire will block their infantry advance at its source and render even their flamethrowers useless."
A strange madness began to frost the man's voice.
"And the concrete structures destroyed by the collapse will trip them up while providing us with perfect cover. If we take advantage of that chaos... we can escape Sector 3 and aim for a comeback."
"H-he's mad...."
"This bastard is out of his mind!"
The comrades were outraged. No matter how cornered they were, they still had a line they wouldn't cross.
"Wait."
But Valery raised his right hand to restrain his comrades. His voice dropped strangely.
"Ch-Chairman...?"
The moment they sensed foreboding in that voice.
"...History? Cultural heritage? In the end, aren't they just the cursed remnants of the bourgeoisie!"
Valery's pupils were dyed with madness.