One Final Push

"Depth and bearing?"

"Fifty meters from sea level… 270 degrees south, south-east."

"Good. Maintain our position and keep a keen eye on both the sonar and the periscope."

Although the surface navy can be considered as the most visible display of absolute power in the war, the true workhorse of the Allied navy was no other than Kiko's Submarine fleet.

"Submarine Kiryuu is sending shortwave communications to us… they're saying that they have spotted several passing ships a few kilometers north of their position."

"That sounds like something of interest… Tell them to look into it but keep themselves below the water. If it's an enemy vessel, sink it with torpedoes."

"Aye, sir!"

For the past three months, the submarine force of Kiko has rotated their vessels and men in the gap between Mikia province where intel reports say that the remaining Coalition leaders are stuck, and Niijima province, the homeland of the Shogun and is now being turned as the staging ground for the pincer attack of the Alliance.

"Redeployment is imminent… Soon, we have to leave our families to fight the good fight once again."

In a bar at Naka harbor, a group of men who have served in the alliance army received the redeployment letter from the military units that they are serving in. It contained the date when they are supposed to report for duty, where they will be placed and until when they are going to serve.

"Right… I got to catch up on my kids and wife this winter and we even got to visit the Kaiho shrine at new year. I think I can say that I am satisfied now… but not everyone has the same peace that we have right now."

"Right. I heard from those who stayed and took over Kisaragi province that it will take a long time for the people there to get back to the lives they once had before the takeover of the Coalition."

"Indeed… slavery and all the unsavory knick-knacks that was happening as usual as breathing there would be a long and tiring challenge to change. But as Iwasawa-sama once said, "no matter how long it takes, we have to give it the best that we can."

"We have to raise our glasses on that one."

"Indeed. Cheers!"

"""Cheers!"""

As their sake cups clinked and the night wore on, the preparation of the allied forces went into full swing behind the scenes.

In Naka castle's military office, General Ayanami Mitsuhide was talking to the officers of the combined logistics command who are handling the acquisition of their military supplies.

"This will be the largest offensive operation in the history of our country. Undoubtedly even bigger than the war against Mizuki province long ago, General"

"I see… Are we all set on the munitions, armaments and vehicles?"

"Not yet, General. But Nagisa Arms and Armor, as well as the other independent factories in Shinka, Fuku, occupied Kise and Mizuki told us that they will be working around the clock to meet their production quotas. It seems like Minister Kurogawa's dangling of rewards of government contracts made them more than compliant to fulfill those numbers."

"It's a competitive business. Let's just thank the heavens that it isn't cutthroat or else, we will have bigger problems."

"They're the lords of war, they can't afford to be known to be sellers of used guns."

"Wait… isn't that from-"

"Yeah, yeah… It's from that book. Don't sweat it now."

With the meeting finished and the other officers leaving the office, Mitsuhide peered out of the window of the room and saw the metropolis that is Naka city. She believed that there would come a time when every city in this country would one day have this kind of cityscape, and in order to do that, she has to finish what has already been started.

"There's work to be done… For the peace of our people."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As soon as the snow that has thawed and turned the ground into mud has finally subsided, the battle started in earnest.

"Welcome to the frontlines, boys!"

"Make yourselves at home!"

Millions of men from all of the allied provinces, not just from the Southern Quartet and its occupied lands, but also the various provinces that they once fought against and is now fighting with, was immediately shipped to the frontlines where they were briefed about the new strategies and objectives for their units.

"Forward… MARCH!"

"""HAH-!!!"""

Soon, they assembled to their marching formations and riding trucks, half-tracked jeeps and even tanks, they made their way towards the battle areas much faster than their opponents.

"Prepare for rapid movement! Every second counts once we're on the battle!"

"Yes, sir!"

Receiving new manuals and undergoing training during the winter, there was a new change in how the alliance conducts its wars now.

"Look at those guys… they're about to dig trenches again and draw this battle out."

"W-Wait… have they gone over their usual distance or are they still moving?"

"Y-You're right! They're not stopping!?"

The Coalition scouts who was tasked to find and report back the positions of the alliance's trenches was shocked when they saw that instead of disembarking and beginning the fortification of their trenches, the trucks and tanks sped towards the tree line where their concealed cannons are located.

"H-How did they found out our positions!?"

"I'm calling the others! They need to leave that place as soon as possible!"

Throughout the winter, the Coalition, having only the bare minimum of both combat and communication equipment, became stuck with only defending their borders and maintaining their internal supply lines of food and metal resources to maintain their army's needs.

This is entirely different from the Allies who continued to produce guns, vehicles and other supplies in order to prepare for an offensive that would happen a few months after. There is even the unabated experimentation, testing and immediate mass-production of wonder weapons such as the airplanes and ballistic missiles that has further sharpened the fangs and claws of the allied army.

Because of these technological advancements and abundance of weaponry, and the fact that unlike before, armored vehicles are now plentiful in the army, tactics that was already held to be the pinnacle of contemporary military strategy has been turned on its head and deemed unfit for the directive given by the Alliance's Chancellor.

"We need to end this war quickly, lads! Pedal to the metal and hit them with all we got!"

"""Aye, sir!"""

The static war of old are now gone. Mobile and lightning-fast war has become the norm.

["Asatori! We are about to hit the rear defense line of the enemy. ETA on your air support?"]

"Two minutes, Colonel. We'll blow holes in their formations before you know it."

["Clear copy. We'll be counting on you."]

Air bombardment and gun support, followed by a shock attack from artillery as tanks roll towards the enemy trenches and finally, stormtroopers that would mop up what is left of the enemies.

A battle that would rage for weeks or months before can now be finished in mere minutes or hours. Gains of ground that used to be meters per day can now be tens of kilometers per hour. With these updated tactics, Coalition-held territories and provinces was lost and its leaders fell to a fate that to many people, befit them properly.

"Tch! These useless pawns! I trained them so that they won't be beat and they have the gall to not die in battle just to stop those pests!"

The warlord Daimyo infamous for his barbarism, Irido, can hardly contain his frustration while he and what is left of his men was forced to escape from his province after the lightning-fast attack of the Allied forces. The source of his anger was the fact that instead of strapping themselves with explosives and throwing themselves against the onslaught of enemies, the soldiers he expected to be fully obedient to him has instead, surrendered battalion after battalion to the enemy.

*Tushik-!*

"Guah-!"

"Chik-! Tsik-!*

"W-what the- Uwargh!"

"Gyak-!"

While he is fuming in anger, the leaves of the trees above them suddenly snapped from their branches and a moment later, his bodyguards fell off from their saddles and died on the spot.

"Who goes there-!?"

"…"

Now surrounded by nothing other than the lifeless bodies of what remained of his former grand army, Irido unmounted from his steed and took out his sword, challenging the mysterious assailant to a duel.

"Show yourselves! Fight me man to-"

*Tushik-!*

"Akh-! W-What…?"

In not even a single second, his challenge was answered… but not in the way that gave him one last moment to show and prove his mettle. From a nearby hill, two men dressed in suits of hay painted with grass-green dye confirmed the death of the four men they sniped.

"Hit. All hostiles neutralized."

"That's a wrap… gotta commend your shot calling, man."

"No problem. Let's get moving before the rest of the scout snipers leave us here."

"Aye-aye to that."

His unmatched battle prowess, his sky-high ambitions, his pride as a warrior and even his renown identity… all of it was for naught as he slowly bled out from a sniper shot to the heart.

"Darn… it…"

As his consciousness faded, Irido remembered memories that he supposedly shouldn't have. Memories that he only realized now was the reason why he chose to side with Miyazono Keiji's Coalition.

"Even in this new world… there really isn't any salvation for such an evil man such as I…"

These were memories from the old world. Memories that every other person who went under Keiji would one day realize was the reason why they were fated to once again pay penance for their sins that they are yet to pay in the old world.

"How fares the first day of the offensive?"

"Two provinces have fallen to our hands, General. Even at this hour, the battle rages on in the frontlines where gaps on the enemy defenses are being exploited greatly."

"…Good. Continue onwards to victory!"

"""Yes, sir!"""

After weeks of not being present in person at any allied army camp, Allied General and the highest military authority on the ground, Shimura Nobisuke, appeared at Camp Shirou at Kisaragi province to consult about the state of the battle.

"Well, well… This is a rare sight."

"I already half-expected you to say that, Kotori."

"Hehe… what's that look for? We had a deal, didn't we?"

In exchange for covering up the misdeeds that she ordered to happen to advance the allied army's activities, Kotori handled the frontline while Nobisuke was busy tracking down and dealing with a "certain woman". This was the deal that they had behind their master's back to cover for each other's crimes, both of which had already been buried beyond any kind of digging up.

In short, each other's secrets, as per their mutual respect and pragmatism towards each other, will be taken to their graves.

"Feel free to decline if you don't want to talk about it, but can I ask what happened to the deposed lady Daimyo of Kisaragi?"

"…"

Kotori is well aware of who Aoyama Natsuki is to Nobisuke and why he is pursuing her life. Although this man has repeatedly spoke about no longer being the kind of person who would desire to kill her out of hatred, Kotori is far too familiar with what kind of person people who bear hatred becomes and how difficult it is to let go once it takes root in someone's heart.

"I've… stopped her."

"Stopped her?"

"That's the most apt way that I can put it… I've stopped her from committing any more wrongdoings, and in the process, deprived her of any power to reach the things that she once wanted to reach."

"…"

"Don't worry about her. She'll no longer bring any harm to the future that Iwasawa-sama desires."

"…Right. That should be our focus right now."

As the two walked inside the central command building of Camp Shirou, they met with their fellow generals from Shinka province who are in the middle of discussing the minute-by-minute development of the battlefield through a television screen as large as a table that came from Mizuki.

"…The armored column from the north is taking too much time to move through the woods. Tell them to hurry it up."

"Yes, General Mitsuhide!"

Practically copying the ultra-high-tech computer parts sourced from Mizuki Rin's spaceship, the semiconductor fabrication factories of the island province was able to make the immediate jump from cathode-ray tube screens to flatscreen television sets in a matter of months. Couple this with the almost same level of innovation in other computer parts, the allied army's command and control capabilities entered an entirely new era.

"Alright! Order the 56th Infantry to cross over the hill and hit the enemy lines with a pincer attack alongside the tanks."

"Yes, sir!"

Unlike before when reports towards, and orders coming from the highest officers are passed down from radio to radio and would take tens of minutes to go either way, the technological leap allowed the allied army high command to watch the battlefield through a plane carrying surveillance and streaming equipment and immediately contact their forces on the ground to move and coordinate properly.

A bird's eye view, a flawlessly coordinated movement of their forces and most importantly, the brightest military minds of the time wielding them. The allied forces has come to the point of being unstoppable.

"That battle's finished."

"Oh! I didn't see you come in, Nobisuke and Kotori-dono."

"Please, Ishigawa-dono. We didn't want to bother you while you're at work. To be honest though, I am surprised that you're already used to the technology after only a few weeks of using it."

"It's his natural talent, General Shimura. He's the one who started the modernization of Shinka's forces after all."

"There's also the side of all of this being a dream come true to a tactician like him. Having all of it laid out like this and him only giving out orders made it something that he spent many sleepless days to perfect."

The sister generals, Ayanami Mitsuhide and Mitsuha, spoke about the case and gained the annoyance of Gojo.

"You two… I won't deny that I enjoyed myself, but it was all for the sake of us winning, I'll have you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Sounds like an excuse to me."

"Right. Stop trying to reason out and just admit it."

"You know what, you two. I give up."

Unwilling to admit that he indeed just wanted to play around with the new capabilities and technology that became available to him, Gojo was teased by the two and in the end, gave up reasoning with them, much to the amusement of the others.

"Well then… how fares the battle?"

"It's the same as the answer given to you half an hour ago. The frontline is moving ceaselessly, and we expect nothing to stop our advance. The enemy is exhausted, underpowered, undersupplied and with morale at the brink of the breaking point."

"We just have to reach Mikia province and we will be able to force the populace to give up their ringleaders and go under us."

"That's good… I'll write about this to Iwasawa-sama. I wish he'd be here once we get near to Mikia. As the one who started this, he'd probably want to be here once it ends."

"Right… same goes to Kusanagi-sama."

The Chancellor and Marshall Leader both have stakes in this war that makes them the people who should be here once it ends.

To Kyoko, this war made her realize that even the closest people whom one believes they have known inside-out can hide things that will remain unknown until the very end. This was what happened to her and Daigo Akari who were childhood friends who treated each other like sisters even after they took the leadership of their homelands.

Back then, she would never believe that she will be kind of person who sees human life as inconsequential in comparison to what can be gained in offering said life to one's faith. But the revelation of her true side that came from her dear friend, love rival and kindred spirit's unsuccessful assassination through the orders of that woman made her realize that she isn't the person she expected her to be… and later on, she understood that no matter how much she wishes to reason with her, she is now gone in the depths of her mindless cultist faith.

By fighting in this war, Kyoko desires to know what it was that Akari held dear in her heart that she was willing to damn herself and her people just to reach out and achieve it.

However, the one that has the greatest desire to push on and finish this war once and for all was the one who, through the virtue of his dream to bring lasting peace, the responsibility of ending the life of a man that have and will once again bring chaos to the world, and even the fate of saving reality itself, will have to commence this one last act of violence to ensure that it all ends here once and for all.

In his mind, it is no longer about how this would affect the peace and stability of his nation and its people. It is no longer about keeping promises towards the people he has met along the way. It is no longer to exact revenge from those who has wronged him and those precious to him.

Those paltry reasons have long been gone… shedding his selfish reasons to continue these acts of violence, the person who used to hold himself back except when facing the people who truly deserve nothing but utter brutality and contempt, now has no more reason to hold back.

"General! Kotori-sama!"

"W-What?"

Right… he has no more reason to hold back.

"Hah, hah… Iwasawa-sama… Iwasawa-sama is…"

"Hold on, private. Catch your breath first and tell me what it is that you want to say."

"Alright… hah… haah… Iwasawa-kou-sama is arriving here shortly!"

"What? Now?!"

Normally, such a visit wouldn't be a big deal. After all, their master is the man who travelled halfway around the country, province after province, just to bring his assassins away from his land and people and also find the answers that he needed. However, what surprised Nobisuke and the others wasn't the fact that he is visiting, but instead, its timing.

"Everyone! Line up! Line up!!!"

"Wake up, blockheads! The Chancellor is about to arrive!"

"Dress up in your uniforms properly! Don't bring shame to you units!"

"""Yes, sir!!!"""

Every soldier, from the lowest enlisted to the five allied generals present in the camp, prepared themselves and lined up at the open field outside the camp.

"T-Those dead branches! Toss it out of the fence!"

"Spread out the carpet already! Make sure that the Chancellor wouldn't step on the mud!"

"Get those stinking horses back at the stable! I told you brats to give them a bath already yesterday!"

Meanwhile, the base's civilian staff was equally busy with sweeping away any dirt on the ground and rolling out the red carpet for the coming guest. There was even a stablemaster who shrieked at his apprentices after some of the workhorses that was grazing at the grass patch of the open field was still there and covered in filth.

"The head of the convoy is already at sight! Get on your places already!"

"You heard him, lads! Line up and display arms sharply!"

Platoon after platoon, the men formed up and standing in attention with their new rifles at hand, they finally heaved a sigh of relief as they are already in position and wouldn't be hounded later for being a shame to their commanders.

Finally, with a convoy of mounted cavalrymen sourced from the Hikigaya domain's best riders, armored vehicles coming straight from Nuko Heavy Industries and another platoon of mounted cavalrymen carrying the flags of Kiko's Provincial feudal government, The flags of the Southern Quartet Alliance, Shogunate, Imperial banner and lastly, the flag of the Kirin Lord, the man who leads all of them has come at last.

"Welcome to Camp Shirou, Iwasawa-sama. We are honored to have you."

Being the highest-ranking officer in attendance, it was Nobisuke who stood in attention and welcomed their master at the gate of the camp. Behind him were the four other generals… except for one who walked towards him and welcomed him with a more familiar tone and choice of words.

"I didn't expect you to come here without any foreword, Chancellor."

"Hehe… I wanted to give you guys a heads-up so that I can get here without causing any undue trouble… but as I see here, it seems like I have bothered everyone already."

Officially speaking, Ayanami Mitsuha, the daimyo of Yukonami and the Satou territories are subordinate to the Kusanagi clan of Fuku and thus, she and Hiroshi are not in equal footing.

However, over the years, the high wall that was the Ayanami sisters' misandrist attitude towards him, as well as the fact that Hiroshi basically took Kiko province from them during a conflict between Kiko and Shinka's two ruling families, fell down and even with their officially unequal positions as rulers and members of the alliance, they have become friends pursuing the same goals.

"It's an honor to be received by you, stalwart and loyal soldiers of our great nation!"

"""The honor is all ours, Sir Chancellor!"""

"At ease! Return to your duties and await orders from your officers! I shall declare this with all truthfulness and confidence, lasting peace is nigh!"

"""HAH!"""

As the soldiers orderly dispersed back to their tents, buildings and other duties, the five generals around Hiroshi wondered why he addressed and order the troops the troops to return to their stations as soon as he arrived which doesn't follow the usual procedure of having someone of his stature in a military camp.

"What is this about, Iwasawa-sama?"

"Why did you disperse the soldiers already?"

"…"

Faced with these questions, Hiroshi told the five to follow him inside the command room of the headquarters where he placed a cassette tape into a cassette player and on the screen where the other generals were directing a battle earlier, a video played that made their knees shake.

"W-W-What the…"

"That light and the explosion…"

"Iwasawa-sama- Don't tell me that you have-!"

"I did it, Nobisuke. I have given our forces a weapon that can annihilate entire countries in a single act."

The answer that he gave to Nobisuke made the young man's face to be covered in cold sweat and his knees to fail him as he slumped down to his chair.

"N-Nobisuke-dono! What is this weapon that you are speaking about?!"

"Rin… Rin told me about it once. In the old world where Iwasawa-sama and the otherworlders came from, there exists weapons of mass destruction that can wipe out entire cities from the face of the earth. In a single act of violence, millions of people can disappear… vaporized… toasted inside-out… with no warning or even any hope of being saved."

"-!!!"

"It's a nuclear bomb… a weapon that shouldn't… should never be allowed to exist again…"

With this revelation, the five generals of the alliance turned to the man who was the only one in this world who had the know-how to create such a destructive weapon.

"I'm sorry everyone… this is the only way."

"The only way to what?!"

"I-Ishigawa-dono!"

"Calm down, Gojo!"

Suddenly, Ishigawa Gojo, no longer cross-dressing as he used to do so before after he has ended his self-flagellation as penance for abandoning his beloved fiancée, stood up and was held back from approaching Hiroshi by the Ayanami sisters.

"The war is already in our favor… millions of soldiers are already in the battle areas and a million more are coming from the other provinces! We have the most advanced armed force in the world and we are facing off against impoverished, undersupplied and unmotivated enemy that is already having desertion of troops in the tens of thousands!"

"…"

"Why is the creation of this weapon even necessary at this point?!"

"Because the enemy we would face once we get to Mikia are enemies that aren't like the innocent people that are simply forced to go against us by the Coalition."

"Wha-?!"

From his coat pocket, Hiroshi took out a letter that he claim to have come from the two experts of the supernatural world of this country.

"…A month ago, I received a letter from Kurumi and Reiha… they told me that during the operation that they helped with, in order to destroy a hive of monsters here in Kisaragi, they heard from the enemy that toppling down the Coalition will never be the end of our conflict. There exists an enemy out there that we cannot defeat… unless…"

"Unless… what, Iwasawa-sama?"

"Unless I am willing to "hand over the keys of the underworld" to humanity once again."

"And that means…"

"Right. It means that I have to give up the access and knowledge of nuclear power to mankind."

Hearing all of this, everyone was caught in a trance about the repercussions of this decision made for them by Hiroshi. Moments later, it was Nobisuke who broke the silence and asked his master the following words.

"What… is our enemy truly are, Iwasawa-sama?"

"…"

"If we need this much power just to bring it down, who is our enemy really?"

A moment of silence enveloped the room again before Hiroshi gave his answer.

"Our enemy is Miyazono Keiji… he's an otherworlder like me and many others who came here from the old world… the world buried deep beneath this new world of ours that was remade by beings of great powers who partially failed to save it."

"…"

"In the old world, this man was among a group of humans who persevered to take great power and authority onto themselves and rule the world as the gods of mankind… but they were defeated by someone and save for him, who was summoned here at a few moments before his death, everyone else who shared his aspiration died."

The narration would've been more lengthy… but Hiroshi cut it short by simplifying what their enemy intends to do.

"Learning that the old world where he once could've reigned as a savage and heartless deity is under our new world, Keiji intends to dig up and bring to the surface the world that he failed to rule and this time, with the person who once stopped him and his cohorts no longer here or able to come back here, the responsibility of stopping him is now in our hands."

The extraordinary story behind that cruel decision is something that shouldn't have been believable to anyone. But with all five of the generals and friends around him having an encounter with the supernatural before, or at least has clear knowledge of it from reports they read, Hiroshi's reasoning was acceptable… but there is still something that bugs Gojo who is against having "those weapons" fielded for destructive use.

"Is using these weapons… really the only possible way to defeat this man and the enemies that you describe to have immovable faith towards him?"

"Yes. I made this decision with that in mind, Ishigawa-san. I don't want to use it as soon as we have an opportunity. If we can defeat them normally, that would be excellent… but in case that never works, we have something to fall back to at least."

"…"

"As I said before, I want this war to end already. Hundreds of thousands of lives have already been claimed by this senseless war and a million more to the repercussions of the instability it created. You yourselves carry still aching scars and unclosed wounds caused by this chaos… please, before things escalate further, we have to finish this as soon as possible."

As Hiroshi finished speaking, he left the command room where the five generals are still digesting what they have just heard and witnessed.

On the screen, the video played from a cassette tape finally reached its end as an ominous purple cloud loomed over the testing site of the first nuclear weapon detonated in this new world. This time however, as it reflected on the ceiling, it didn't just cast a shadow on the ground where it was recorded… but also at the cold room where these five people responsible for running the war, thought through the best way to satisfy the goal of this conflict and preserve the peace that will come later on.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Iwasawa-sama… you have a call from Kiko."

"…From whom is it?"

"Lady… Lady Aoyama Chiyo."

"…"

It pains me… It pains me greatly that no matter how much I want to just return at your side and ignore my destiny to end this war and the life of the man who was one of the people that drove us apart back then, I cannot do that.

"Tell her…"

"Sir?"

"…"

I cannot seek comfort when I am still in the middle of dealing with a painful responsibility.

This is how I have always carried myself and made myself able to soldier through any hardship, knowing that the people whom I love and love me as well will welcome me back after I am triumphed against such a challenge.

And yet, I knew… I knew that no matter how tough I think myself to be, I will always desire to just let go of what I must do in order to return to the embrace of the people that loves me.

"Hello, Chiyo…?"

{"…"}

It was painful already when it was my family and friends… how much more could it be when the person that I am distancing myself from is no other than the woman that I dearly loved and even in this new world, still deeply love.

"I'm sorry, Chiyo… For never talking to you since then. For never- never being able to tell you how dear you are to me."

You have already told me that I no longer have anything to prove to you. You and I are already in the arms of each other and till the very end of this new life that we were given, you wanted us to be together.

"I'll end this as soon as I can, Chiyo… and by that time, I promise you for one last time."

After I have done this… this would be my last act as anyone else's other than your lover and partner for life.

"I will be by your side, never to be gone from you anymore."

I sat there, telephone in hand and waiting for her to say something… perhaps as payback for all the time that she was already awake and yet, I didn't want to face nor even speak to her in fear that it would distract me, she kept her silence this entire time.

{"Hiro-kun…"}

"W-What is it, Chiyo?"

{"…Do you really think that you can find comfort in this new world?"}

"-!!!"

In a voice that I immediately recognize to belong only to that one detestable man, I snapped away from the phone and drew my gun by instinct.

{"Your friend back then almost stopped me… but he made a blunder by never thinking that no matter how much he and those detestable celestial spirits try to stop me, I can never be abated nor destroyed completely!"}

"YOU-!!!"

{"Chaos will reign supreme, mortal! With the Challenger gone and the celestial spirits nothing more but figments of their consciousness mindlessly running this new world, there hasn't been any greater time for me to grab hold of it!"}

Filled with rage with its voice alone, I pulled the trigger of my gun and completely destroyed the phone hanging by its wire. But it did nothing but have this being speak from somewhere within my room.

{"Gihihi… GIHIHIHI!!!"}

"Why you-?!!"

{"You cannot stop me, mortal. No matter how much you try, you will still be nothing more than a pebble that I can kick away as I reach out to rule this world. You have been warned plenty… if you don't want to lose everything, GIVE UP NOW!"}

"Iwasawa-sama! Wake up, Iwasawa-sama!"

"-!!!"

After I heard that warning, I was slapped awake by Kotori and I realized that I wasn't awake but instead asleep and having that warning from a nightmare.

"W-What happened, Kotori?!"

However, I quickly realized that if what I had was a nightmare while asleep, what we now have at present is a nightmare in the real world.

"Our forces on the frontlines! They're not fighting the Coalition soldiers anymore! The enemies you mentioned earlier is the one fighting us now!"