"The location is the Kingdom of Sandra........or rather, the Palin Desert in the center of Sandra Region. There are only more than 10,000 of them. We believe the number of Flames is as large as the one that once raided Euron.
How long until it appears?
"Not for a day.

　I click my tongue in my mind when Guild Master Relisha-san calls me. I can't believe the Freys are coming here to attack us.
　Is it any consolation that the only area where they appear is in the middle of the desert? Even the nearest town, Draga, is several hundred kilometers away.
　Sandra has been a mess since my emancipation. Basically, it didn't affect the ordinary peasants and artisans who didn't have slaves much. Many of the slaves who were freed and remained in Sandra were also employed by straightforward traders for decent wages.
　The problem was the aristocrats and big traders who had mistreated the slaves and forced them to work hard.
　Fearing reprisals from the freed slaves, they fled from Sandra and disappeared with their possessions. Even the guards who protected themselves were slaves, so there were more people who wanted to avenge their resentment than those who were protecting them.
　As a result, those who ruled the cities and towns are gone, each one a municipality. Some of them are former slaves who have settled their villages.
　Of course, not all of them are such aristocrats, but some of the local lords and others were originally kind to the slaves. It's probably because they couldn't afford to run out of slaves in the money-poor countryside.
　For better or worse, Sandra's kingdom was a dictatorship, so it was close to being a closed-off country to begin with, and its food self-sufficiency rate was not bad. It is said that the rate of food self-sufficiency is not that bad even now.
　Sandra is a contradictory region where most of the country is a desert, but the rest is a rich agricultural area. I wonder if this is the result of the grace of the spirits.
　My assessment of Sandra is split down the middle. One as the hero who freed the slaves, the other as the demon who destroyed Sandra.
　There are always frowns in these stories, and I was the one who destroyed the city of Astal after the evil gods devoured their souls. No, though I did burn it. But that was in the form of a cremation.
　Even so, it's still better than Euron. They still suspect me of having staged it myself, you know. Why do I have to go through all that trouble over and over again?
　Anyway, we're in a state of emergency. I have to ask the kings of the World Alliance for help. I hurriedly opened the Contacts app on my phone.





　412 Frame Gears lined up in the desert. The breakdown of which was...

　The Kingdom of Belfast
　Leafy's Empire
　Misguided Kingdom
　Regulus Empire
　Ramish nation
　Lordmare Federation
　The Kingdom of Linie
　Paloof Kingdom
　The Kingdom of the Knights of Restia
　Demon Kingdom Xenoas
　Felsen's Magical Kingdom

　Each of the countries of the world had 3 "Knight Barons" of the Black Knight and 27 "Chevaliers" of the Heavy Knight, for a total of 30 machines.
　And for my Duchy of Brunhild, there were 9 "Valkyria" dedicated fighters, the white knight "Shine Count", the black knight "Night Baron", 3 commander's aircraft of the blue knight "Blue Moon", and 70 "Chevalier" heavy knights.
　If 10,000 Flames appeared, this would mean that each of them would take out about 24 of them. We wouldn't know until they appeared, but if they were a lower-grade species, they would be able to defeat them without much trouble. It would be dangerous if they were isolated and surrounded by them, though.

'The problem is this heat. 'The problem is this heat,' he said, 'with the exception of the specialised aircraft, there is no cooling function in the cockpit of the frame gear. It's not so bad right now because we can still leave the hatch open, but that won't be the case once the fighting starts.
So, it would be nice if he appeared at night...
That's going to make your vision worse this time.

　King Restia Knight King and King Linie react to my words. It's true that when we had a nighttime battle before, it was troublesome. The reason for this is because, at that time, I fought the dominant species, Gila, and collapsed, so I don't remember it well.
　The frame gear has a special coating, so it won't have enough heat to burn an egg, but it will still be very hot.

We've prepared plenty of water and salt, so please be careful not to get dehydrated. And it's an unfamiliar desert battle. There's a chance you might get your footing, so I think it's best to move some before the battle and get used to it.

　It's possible to get hit from a fall. If the frame gear suffers major fuselage damage, the [programmed] transition magic will cause the pilot to escape. However, if the cockpit is targeted, it's the end of a roll.
　The Frase will try to kill you to stop the human heart. It's quite possible that they will target the pilot.
　Inside the temporary operations command room 《tent》 built on the desert, the kings of the nations decided on their respective arrangements while looking at a map spread out on a large desk.
　The inside of this tent is [programmed] so that cooled air is fed into it, but if you go outside, it's hot as hell.

''Will an advanced species emerge?''
The one that wiped out Euron's city. I wouldn't want him to get out, if I could help it.

　The Governor of all the Rhodomea provinces and the Demon King of Xenoas open their mouths as they watch the images of the desert on the split monitor set up inside the tent.

''They shouldn't appear this time. So basically, we'll be dealing with lower and intermediate level species. And as for the mutant species...''
'You mean that Golden Fleece, don't you?'
''Yes. That thing's strength is only a little stronger than Fraise, but it preys on Fraise and takes in her power to become stronger. It would be best to crush it first when you find it.

　It's not a given that a mutant will appear, but it's better to be cautious. I'm more concerned about whether another dominant species like Gila will appear.
　Anyway, this tent is not only a frontline base, but also the door at the back leads to Brunhild, which functions as an escape route.
　Passing through that door, our maids, led by Lapis, brought everyone's meals. It's lunch.
　There were rice balls, sandwiches and cold water bottles for the pilots of each country, and cold ramen for the kings.
　This cold ramen is a local specialty of Yamagata. They don't use animal fat, which hardens as it gets colder, and the ramen looks just as it is, but the soup and noodles are cold.
　It doesn't have the same sourness as chilled Chinese noodles, and once you try it, you will be strangely addicted to it, just like ramen. When I visited my relatives in Yamagata for a visit, I had some of this ramen, and I was completely hooked.
　The soup is soy sauce-flavored. It has bouncy noodles and toppings such as chicken ham, boiled egg, bamboo shoots, green onion, and naruto. You can add pepper to taste, if you like.

"Hohoho. It's the first time I've had it, but it's very tasty and refreshing.
This meat.........it's very soft. It's delicious.

　The kings love it. I'm really impressed with our head cook, Claire-san.
　The kings are getting used to using chopsticks since they often eat at home after their monthly meetings. Newcomers like Felsen, Xenoas and Paloof are using forks, though.

''That's right, King Brunhild. Will the pieces of Frase that you defeated in this battle be passed on to us?

　King Felsen asks me while sipping his ramen. The crystal material, which is much purer and more useful than the magic stone, is probably a gem that the magic kingdom can't afford to miss. It might be used for the development of the magic train in the future.

''In the meantime, we'll take a percentage of the rental fee for the frame gear, but the rest will be split between you.

　Of course, if I wrecked the frame gear, I'd have to pay for the repair of it. And it costs a lot of steel to fix it. Labor costs are almost non-existent since they are made in the "workshop", but that's a secret.
　Yumina and the others took turns coming to the tent for ramen. It was generally well received by everyone. I gave the king and the others the recipe for cold ramen so that they could eat it at their own places, too.
　It's getting hotter and hotter outside. Furthermore, it seems that some magical beasts that nest in the desert are appearing here and there. Of course, they're not Frame Gear's opponents, and I've instructed them to ignore them as long as they don't attack me (although Sandcrawler is a big and troublesome one).
　I'm beginning to have a strange prayer-like feeling that they'll emerge sooner rather than later.
　I step out of the tent and stare out across the desert. ........nothing really changes. You come out when you don't want me to come out, but I don't come out at times like this.
　When I stepped out into the desert to head for everyone who was waiting, I felt something move out of the corner of my eye.

''...?''

　I feel as if there is something in the desert about three meters away. I didn't feel any murderous or hostile intent, but something was there.
　Just to be sure, I searched the area with my divine eye, and I saw something that looked like a slime that was the same color as the sand was moving. The slime has one large eye, and when it noticed me watching it, it looked at me and stopped moving.

''What is this...?　A hexenbiest....?

　It's still as hostile as ever. Even if it's a demonic beast, I wouldn't want to take down a harmless one, but what is this guy?　Is this a Hexenbiest that goes into protective colors like a chameleon?　But to be able to see it only with 'God's Eye'........
　As I continued to stare at it with my 'God's Eye', the sand slime, which had not moved even slightly, began to tremble in small increments. Hmm?

"Will you cut him some slack, please?

　Suddenly, a woman's voice comes out and takes her gaze off the slime.
　The sand next to the slime rolls up, and in its place appears a woman with long, dark hair, clad only in brown skin and simple cloth. Vaguely, her surroundings appear to glow. This feeling........

''A spirit........?''
'Yes. 'Yes, I am a spirit of the sand in this desert. He is my family. I will not harm you in any way. Please forgive me.
'What?　Forgive me, I didn't do anything to you?
''If you look at me with that much divine power, you won't even be able to move. ''The power of God is absolute for the spirit family.''

　...Speaking of which, I remember God talking about it when he came to our festival the other day. The spirits obeyed God and together they created this world.
　When he weakened his divine power, the sand slime slowly dropped back behind the sand spirit as if he was frightened. ''I'm sorry.

''Fuyao Mochizuki-sama, right? I've heard about you for a long time.''
'What?　From whom?
'From the Spirit of the Wind. She's very talkative and will come to tell you about this.'

　Does she mean that the wind spirit is also a woman? No, maybe spirits don't distinguish between men and women.
　By the way, it seems that wind spirits are quite fond of rumors. It's called "rumor", but that's exactly what it is.

''By the way, what is this stuffiness?

　The sand spirits tilted their heads as they looked at the frame gear standing in the distance.
　For now, I'll explain what's about to happen. A sand spirit would be like a land god in the desert, and you might not want to make a scene in your domain.

''There's no need to be so concerned. I was just curious about it.''
'Thanks for the help. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
'No. This world already belongs to those who live on earth. This world already belongs to those who live on earth, and our spirits are simply there to watch over it and help when they are ready. Of course, there are spirits that actively try to interfere with people, and there are also spirits that are completely indifferent to people.

　It seems that the sand spirit is also more of the latter. They aren't very interested in what humans do. On the other hand, I've heard that the Wind Spirit is too interested in things that humans do.
　The spirit of the big tree I met before is the type to watch over you.

It's a good luck to you. I'll see you again at some point.

　As I left it, the sand spirit swooped in and disappeared. The sand slime also bowed silently to me (or so I thought) and disappeared into the sand. It's pretty simple, isn't it? I don't know if it's dry or what.......thirsty only for the sand spirits?
　However, if you use the God's Eye, you can also capture the appearance of spirits. I might be able to see the spirits of the wind if I use this.
　When I looked up to the sky, I saw several faintly translucent fairy-like figures flying in the sky. That.........isn't a spirit, is it? Is it a wind spirit's consort?
　I don't know if he's in the sky and he's aware of us or not, but he's been dancing all the time. Well, it doesn't matter.
　I'll release the "God's Eye". Oh, my eyes feel dry..... It's like I've got dry eyes. I should ask Flora to make me some eye drops or something....

"Ah, there you are, Fuyao-kun.

　When I was called out to them, I turned around and saw Morobane sister and Karina sister standing there. No way........no, this is definitely the case.

........Are you going to enter the war by any chance?
Of course.
Well, of course.
Yeah?

　It was useless to ask. My Sword God and Hunting God are ready to do it. Even though it's okay as long as they don't use the power of the gods, if they take down the flames in the flesh, and in a single blow, they'll lose the significance of the frame gear. Well, that's true for me as well........

''I mean, let's not worry about Morobane Sis, are you going to fight Frase with a bow and arrow, Karina-san?
We don't want to be taken lightly. I don't just use a bow. It's not just the bow, but also the machete, machete, dagger, and gun that you would use for hunting. Well, you can't compete with someone who specializes in it like the Sword God, though.

　Oh, right. Come to think of it, you once killed a fish with a harpoon.

So give me some kind of weapon.
It's so direct...

　Since it's useless to disobey, I took out the crystal material from 【Storage】 and made a huge spear as ordered. The blade alone is as long as a normal sword, it's like a large sword with a long handle.
　Furthermore, it was only slightly reduced by the magic of weight reduction, and its weight is not a weight that one person can handle. It is said that it is difficult to handle without a certain amount of weight, but seeing it swinging around so easily with a bang makes me think that it doesn't matter how heavy or light it is. Of course it's better to be heavy when you're trying to crush them, right?

It's quite an interesting thing to fight with your divine power sealed up. You can't fight in the God Realm too openly, you know.
It doesn't look like it's sealed at all.
'Even people in this world can do tricks like this if they're mastered, right?　The human creature hasn't yet mastered its true power.
The best of them, you know.

　It's hard to decide whether we should be impressed or dismayed. I think what the sisters say about "mastering" is to quit being a human being, isn't it?
　When I look at these people, I almost feel that I am not yet a decent person. I guess it's very much a misunderstanding.
　As I was thinking this to myself, a siren sounded from a speaker at the side of the main tent.

'They're coming!'

　Using [Long Sense], I fly my vision only to the desert ahead.
　A crack runs through the space that is shaken by the heat of the desert, and the sky begins to crack. From the cracked space, a large number of flames flood the desert in a sloppy manner. They are still low-grade and mid-grade species.

''Ahead, Frase appears!　All hands on board Flame Gear!　Prepare for battle!

　I tell the whole army through my phone. I took out two large swords of crystal wood from 【Storage】 and handed them to Morobane sister. As it was, I jumped up with 【Fly】 in order to grasp the situation from above.

''That was...!

　In a different direction from where the flames appeared, that space shattered in the same way. And from there, the dark-golden phrases crawled out of it into the desert in the same slumbering way. A mutant species.
　Although their numbers are much smaller than the flames, they are still quite numerous. I knew they'd show up.

'This is bad..... If those guys eat those flames over there and become strong, we're in trouble...''

　The mutant species takes in the Frays and strengthens its body. A mere low-grade species might become an intermediate species, and if it took in more, it might become a mutant on par with an advanced species. So we can't just sit back and let that happen.

'Mutant species confirmed. I'd like the dedicated Valkyria's to be in that direction. If possible, don't let them get too close to Fraise.

　The appearance of the mutant species had thrown off the predictions of Freys and his team's behavior.
　We were stationed in a straight line between the predicted location of the Freys' appearance and the nearest town from it. Frase would attack humans. So we tried to stand in the direction of that invasion.
　However, with the appearance of the mutants, the Frays began to move apart in a topsy-turvy manner. We can't intercept them in this way.
　It's a good thing I had a plan for when this happened.

We're going to change formation. Please prepare to transfer everyone.

　They would surround each country's frame gear by shifting it in eight directions around the Frase. In any case, they wouldn't let them escape and would intercept them.
　However, with this, depending on the movement of the Frase, there is a possibility that the battle will be divided into two parts, one where the battle is intense and the other where it isn't, depending on the movement of the Frase. I'll have to watch the situation and give instructions.
　The battle has already begun in one corner of the siege camp. Else and the others also began to head towards the mutants.

''The number of Flames appearing, 10954 lower-grade species, 2352 intermediate species, 3621 mutant species, for a total of 16927 mutants.''

　I can hear the voice of Sheska, the communications officer in the main camp, from my phone.
　d*mn, that's a lot more than I expected. Even at Euron's time, I'm pretty sure it was around 13,000. Well, it's still better just because there are no advanced species........

''Master. I'm picking up a huge spatial vibration two kilometers in front of the main camp. It's a senior species.
What?

　I didn't see any reaction from the superior species!　Add to that the sheer numbers, and the senior species are starting to get to me.
　Once again, space shattered as it ran a crack and shattered, revealing a huge flay from between them.
　A sharp bill, a long neck, two powerful legs and an unusually long tail feather. Its entire body was crystallized like crystal, but no matter how you look at it, it was a bird form. It's too big, though.
　The advanced species that crawled out of it jerked its long tail feathers!　And then it opened like a fan, and several long tail feathers lined up behind the advanced species. In the scorching sunshine, they glittered in the light.

''A peacock........!

　If it was a peacock, wasn't that exactly a tail feather?　Not that it matters at this point.
　But this guy is in trouble........ Turn the special machine 《Valkyria》, which is heading towards the mutants, halfway over here.......

''Master. I'm seeing huge spatial vibrations again. It's the advanced species again.
Wha.........?

　He looked beyond the peacock at the communication from Sheska.
　A second advanced species was about to break through the space in the same way, and a second advanced species was about to appear.
　The figure that jumped out of the air was deformed. It was similar to a nautilus in shape. It carried an ammonite-like shell on its back, with countless tentacle-like things extending from it. Fine protrusions grew out of its craggy crystal shell.

''Second one...!

　I couldn't move for a while as the scene unfolded in front of me.