Eisen, commander of the 12th Knight Order, remembered the order he had received from Grand Duke before the sortie.
"Sweep Sarsen Harbor clean and leave nothing behind. Plunder the women and wealth, and burn the city. Those who dared surrender to those bug-like Southerners are no longer proud people of the West."
An order to burn and plunder everything.
It was one of the orders that Eisen, commander of the 12th Knight Order, and his knights liked most.
Because whenever they conquered native villages beyond the western border, Eisen and the members of the 12th Knight Order were always at the very front.
Thus, the nickname of the 12th Knight Order among the natives was the Demons of the Sky.
It was a name given because they always found something to plunder even in the poorest villages.
To them, an order permitting them to plunder a proper city sounded like a command to hold a festival.
"Hahat, Commander! I heard those Southerners have a lot of money?"
"Just money? When you say South, it's the women, of course!"
"Kik, when will we ever get to burn a city like this again!"
So the morale of the knights riding wyverns was high.
The number of enemies defending Sarsen Harbor was only 300.
Because there was no place easier to loot than Sarsen Harbor, which had no proper fortress, no defensive line, and no mages.
The 12th Knight Order, 13th Knight Order, and 14th Knight Order. Before a total of sixty wyvern knights, the 300 infantry were nothing more than targets for a hunting game.
"Commander! Do we really have to match the pace of those ground-huggers!?"
"Those infantry bastards won't have anything to do anyway! Why don't we just go in first!"
"Didn't you always say, Commander, that those ground-huggers who do nothing always take the rewards!"
Therefore, Eisen, who commanded a total of sixty from three Knight Orders, also did not take this battle very seriously.
Ambush? He hadn't even considered such a thing from the start.
To ambush with 300 against sixty wyvern knights and 5,000 infantry.
Such a thing was common sense impossible.
He swept his eyes over the ground once, and only then, watching the infantry unit finally entering Sarsen Harbor, gave the order.
"Yeah! Let's just sweep them all away ourselves. If not now, when will we ever loot a city like this again!"
Eisen raised his lance high.
"Let's go, boys!"
With the five-meter-long steel lance shining in the sunlight as the signal, the Wyvern Knight Order, which had been flying at low speed until then, all accelerated at once.
The majesty of the Wyvern Knight Order filling the sky was truly tremendous.
On the other hand, the enemy position visible on the ground was utterly shabby.
A position built in an octagonal shape with eight large cannons as vertices. It was a position without any walls, or even the bare minimum watchtowers for shooting arrows.
Only two such positions.
"Ha, these bastards must think war is a joke."
In Eisen's eyes, it was an utterly crude position.
An Anti-Air position in this era was a defensive fortress built around a spire where mages resided.
He doubted whether that thing, which didn't even follow the basics of tactics, could be called a position.
Of course, he had heard stories about cannons that shot toward the sky, but he had never once thought they would be effective.
In Eisen's mind, cannons were objects that were slow to load and slow in speed.
Well, it didn't matter either way.
After all, Your Grace's order was to ravage the city as cruelly and horribly as possible.
"No wonder those Southerners are called a treasure trove."
He gave the order while muttering a short impression.
"Everyone, form a dense formation and air raid!"
The sixty wyverns all spread their wings and began to descend.
***
"Enemy Wyvern Unit confirmed ahead! Bearing 3-1-0, distance approximately 9,000! Count approximately sixty!"
"Bearing 3-1-0! Everyone adjust your gun angles!"
"Just do as you trained! Don't try to aim! Just think of scattering a barrage! Any wyverns that break through the barrage will be handled by the small-caliber Anti-Air guns!"
"Loaders, be careful not to blow off your hands! It's Your Grace's order that everyone returns without a single injury!"
Kiiigigigik-!
The sixteen Anti-Air guns all rotated at once, emitting their distinctive metallic screech. The Anti-Air unit guarding the front of Sarsen was noisily preparing for battle.
That was the moment.
"Enemy aircraft, descending!"
The wyverns filling the sky spread their wings wide.
Seeing the sixty wyverns diving all at once, everyone swallowed their breath.
The absolute ruler that has dominated the sky for over a thousand years from the Age of Myth to the present. The wyvern.
It was only natural for humans to feel fear toward such beings.
However, the Anti-Air artillery gathered here were slightly different.
Those directly chosen by Kyle Leopold had pride.
Pride in having been directly chosen by the respected Your Grace. And pride that we are the Southern Shield.
One Anti-Air gunner shouted vigorously.
"Hahat, look at those idiots coming in a clump! Are they asking us to aim for them?"
"Yeah! Let's sweep them away at once!"
It was the lookout who cut off the shouting Anti-Air gunner's voice.
"Everyone be quiet. Current distance to enemy Wyvern Unit, approximately 6,000!"
"When they enter firing range, fire all at once!"
The wyverns that had looked like dots began to gradually approach. Their threatening cries echoed across the sky, and the faint sound of flapping wings could be heard.
"Distance 5,000!"
Beyond the horizon, the enemy infantry marches.
The 5,000 infantry, formed in a dense formation, slowly push in, intending to clean up the places the Wyvern Unit has swept through.
"Distance 4,000!"
The knights emit aura. The knights' bodies, glowing in various colors according to their imagery, sparkled like stars.
"Distance 3,000!"
And finally, when they entered the effective range of the Anti-Air artillery-
"Fire-!"
Tududung-!
A heavy gun roar that erased even the wyverns' cries echoed through the port.
Half a beat later, a dark explosion burst in the middle of the wyvern flock.
The result was disastrous.
"First shot hit!"
At the same time as the lookout's shout, four wyverns with bodies torn to shreds fell helplessly.
The sorrowful screams of the falling knights announced the start of the battle.
"Galgya-!"
For the Anti-Air artillerymen who saw the wyverns crash before their eyes, there was nothing left to hesitate about.
The A-01 Anti-Air Gun, boasting a terrifying rate of fire of twelve rounds per minute, spewed fire in succession.
Tudududung-!
In the middle of the confused wyvern flock, pitch-black explosions are embroidered. Only after three more wyvern knights crashed did their formation break.
Like a flock of migratory birds startled by gunfire, the wyvern knights' formation scattered in all directions.
However, even so, they could not avoid the proximity fuse that exploded in the air.
Once again, the Anti-Air guns scattered black smoke across the sky.
One wyvern knight performing dazzling maneuvers in the air was swallowed by smoke and vanished, and two more crashed.
"Distance 2,000! Enemies continue to charge in!"
Like ink dropped on blue canvas, the black bullet marks of the Anti-Air guns spread across the sky in succession.
Several wyverns caught in the explosions caught fire. Those that slowly separated from the flock plunged into the ground like tiny meteors.
By now, the number of knights who had been so full of confidence had been reduced by half.
In a situation where they had come too far to retreat, their choice was ultimately a charge.
"The worst choice."
It was the worst decision that could be made in this situation.
The muzzles of the 20mm autocannons looking up at the sky from the ground glittered in the sunlight.
***
Bang-!
Whenever a black explosion blossomed in the sky, the knights caught in the blast fell to the ground with their bodies horribly torn apart.
It wasn't even a direct hit by a shell.
It merely passed by their side, yet it exploded immediately. The timing was so precise that one couldn't even guess what kind of magic had been used.
No, could that really be called magic?
The magic Eisen had known until now was not like this.
Clean power. Beautiful effects. Romantic staging. Even if it was magic for war, all magic contained chivalry and philosophy.
"But this..."
Kwaang-!
A shell he barely dodged struck a wyvern knight.
The fragments that shattered the aura and penetrated horribly disassembled the human and wyvern.
A knight whose skin was torn, entrails spilled out, and whole body reduced to tattered pieces of meat fell in the most miserable state.
"This is..."
There was no respect whatsoever for the opponent's honor.
A weapon developed solely to kill humans efficiently. Before it, even a knight of the sky was no different from an ordinary human.
Eisen could not bear it.
He could not endure seeing comrades who had spent their whole lives together meet death in such a miserable state.
"Uwaaaaaa-!"
So, he squeezed out every last bit of strength and raised his aura. Brilliant starlight wrapped around his whole body, and the wyvern's speed increased a level.
Kwang, bang!
The shells that had narrowly missed him exploded, sending shrapnel into his back. But Eisen, his eyes blazing with fury, didn't feel a thing.
He merely lowered his mount while radiating hatred at the enemies now close enough to see their faces.
"I'll kill every last one of you!!!"
Before he knew it, the shelling aimed at him had decreased. As expected, those cannons could no longer fire once he got close. Eisen gripped his lance tightly, vowing to tear them all to pieces.
It was at that very moment that dozens of 20mm autocannons deployed at the Anti-Air position spewed fire.
Tukakakakakagak-!
A seamless net of fire pouring down like rain filled Eisen's vision.