Battle of Esperanto Kingdom

**Battle of Esperanto Kingdom** is a battle between the Esperanto Kingdom and Bahara's Demon Army, in which Daxild Branmar of the Annonrial Empire manipulated many magical beasts and demons invading the Esperanto Kingdom by using the revival beacon of the Ravernal Empire. The battle is also the first battle of the Japan Self-Defense Forces on the side of the Esperanto Kingdom, ending with their victory.

* Ravernal Empire's Remnants
* Annonrial Empire
* Royal Knights Commander Mortes Perentino
* Southern Defense Force Commander Grius Leonenko
* Western Defense Force Commander Pentsy
* Riflemen Unit Commander Zabir Allugonigo
* Novalvo’s Military Police Commander Justide Wyvreux
* Shock Troop Unit Commander Saffine Ariazel‎‎

**Japan Self-Defense Force**
* JGSDF Lieutenant Oka Shinji
* 60,000 goblins
* 7,000 goblin lords
* 6,000 orcs
* 2,000 orc kings
* 200 Jet-Black Knights
* 5 Goruaus beasts
* Rabid wolvies (unknown number details)
* Three-headed dragon Azhdahak
	+ 1,500 heavy infantrymen
	+ 2,000 swordsmen
	+ 500 musketeers (Nobunaga’s three-line formation)
	+ 300 halberdiers
	+ 100 dragoons
	+ 500 mages
	+ 100 shock troops
	+ 200 shock troops with new revolving rifles
	+ 190 riflemen with new revolving rifles
	+ 400 magic archers
	+ 200 magic archers with new revolving rifles
* Okinparo District Defense Force
	+ 30,000 reservists armed with spears, bows, and swords
	+ Military police knights (unknown number details)
* Sudamparo Districts Defense Force
	+ 1,000 regulars and reservists armed with spears, bows, and swords
* Malnovo 7th Defense Force
	+ 300 defenders
* Centuro Districts Defense Force
	+ 5,000 defenders
* Oka’s Alpha and Bravo Teams
	+ Riflemen with Type 89 assault rifles and FN Minimi (unknown number details)

**Japan Ground Self-Defense Force**
* 1 Kawasaki KLX250 recon bike
* 3 high mobility vehicles
* 1 Type 96 Multi-Purpose Missile System
* 120mm mortars (unknown number details)

**Japan Air Self-Defense Force**
* 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron
* All Goruaus beasts died
* Several jet-black knights and ogres injured (mind-controlled disabled)
* Three-headed dragon Azhdahak died
* Okinparo, Malnovo, and Sudamparo districts' walls damaged
* Several towns damaged

## Background

### Japanese Emergency Contact

Oka Shinji worked on the setup of their ultra long-range radio in the Novalvo district where he used the JPRC-PC2 experimental mobile communications device that could link with the satellites that launched above the new world. He had the antenna set up atop the walls separating Novalvo and the Noblourd district. When he turned on the power for a test run to see whether or not the equipment was working, the battery only lasted 30 minutes. As it wedged itself into the line used by radar satellites, it couldn’t transmit calls or data that was too big, but it could still send simple text-based messages. Once he sent text-based messages to Japan, not only would they ask him to report his condition and the C-2 crash, but it was also possible that they would send a force to help Esperanto. Unfortunately, however, the timing could not be any worse; Japan should still be in the middle of hostilities with the Parpaldia Empire. They would have units stationed on site to prepare for any unexpected outcomes, whether or not there would be enough left to send to Esperanto is up in the air.

At the Ministry of Defense in Japan's capital Tokyo, they received the message regarding the satellite Oka had sent as they entered the final phase of the war with the Parpaldia Empire. They learned the report that the entirety of the Grameus expedition was crashed by running a massive geomagnetic storm midair and slamming into a formation of birds. They got Oka Shinji, who survived alone, as they looked up the name in the list of names of those sent on the Grameus expedition. Also, they learned the Esperanto Kingdom was currently in danger of being wiped out, located north of Topa, deep within the continent, according to the coordinates from the satellite. They had the number of aircraft available for the mission by the cabinet minister's approval. They hoped preparations for reinforcements to be deployed to Esperanto were underway. However, Oka informed them by sending another satellite message that the attack would come on August 31st. They replied to him that they would come to help with the air support unit.

On August 31st, in the early morning, five F-2 fighters of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Northern Air Defense Force’s 3rd Air Wing were taxiing towards the runway at the Misawa Air Base. Each F-2 fighter carried two 600gal drop tanks, 12 Mk. 82 500lb bombs, and two Type 90 air-to-air missiles (AAM-4). Furthermore, they had two KC-767 aerial tankers filled to the brim with fuel join this mission and are currently preparing to take off. The tankers would allow the F-2s to be able to get to Grameus. F-2 fighters received the clearance in order from the air traffic control tower, taking off from the Misawa Air Base into the great beyond. With the temperature forecast to be in the high 30s due to the lingering summer heat, the air support unit to aid Esperanto with its dangerous wildlife problem was on its way.

### Esperanto Kingdom

Daxild Branmar never issued Zelsmalim an order to not leak it. However, due to a flaw in the demonic controls device, Zelsmalim was able to contribute by deliberately leaking the date of the entire demon army's all-out attack to Oka Shinji and others. They went to the castle and informed King Zamenhof XXVII and the chancellor that The Esperanto Kingdom put an end to work operations and speeded up the preparations leading to August 30th before beginning the demon's invasion the next day.

At the Equipment Development Facility, known as the workshop, in the Royal Science Institute in the Ravoleo district, Cey, Tolbion, Ranzall, and Dezin completed building the prototype of the Esperanto-made revolving rifle with six round cylinders after Oka worked and taught them the improvements to the rifle. After wrapping up his inspection, Oka decided to test it out in the Perimenta district where they tested the creations of the Royal Science Institute. Oka and Zabir loaded all six cartridges in the cylinders easily and quickly. They tested their revolving rifles to shoot at the 100m, 150m, and 200m targets away from the firing position, hitting all of their shots. Proceeding to set up an additional target 300m away, they were able to pull off 12 successive shots. Then the rifle experienced neither wear nor loose parts and still managed to keep its exceptional accuracy. Oka gave the revolving rifle name Savior which should be a weapon wielded by the warriors who would save the kingdom. Ranzall and the other craftsmen decided to engrave it in every production rifle they would make. The production of the new revolving rifles was proceeding smoothly. The effects of Oka teaching the Ravoleo workshop workers about the three-shift labor system were wondrous, allowing for fast-paced daily production. At this rate, they might be able to produce the necessary amount of revolving rifles needed by August 30th.

At the meeting room in the Rastineo Castle, King Zamenhof XXVII, the chancellor, secretary Zanzas, Royal Knights Commander Mortes, and several nobles discussed proposed plans with Oka, Cey, Saffine, and Zabir. They had to prepare for next week when the enemy came with their all-out attack. Zanzas stated from the scouting party sent to the mountains to the north that the supposedly 50,000-strong enemy force increased to 75,000. Cey stated that they produced 400 revolving rifles by overworking, which had already reached 70%. New riflemen had trained well, so end it all by August 30th. They began settling the general details of their operations as they looked at the maps on the table. Three arrows were drawn on the map of the Esperanto kingdom.

* The first one pointed straight towards their westernmost gate from the northwesternmost district, Ochstomino. The district had not yet been retaken to preserve the numbers of battle-capable knights, so the district effectively remained under enemy hands. They also assumed that when the attack came, the monsters would partake in the attack.
* The second arrow pointed towards the Sudamparo district from the south. The distance from the southernmost wall to the castle was so short that if Sudamparo and Novalvo were to fall, they would immediately be on the doorstep of the Centuro district.
* The third arrow pointed towards the farmland district of Norunparo in the northeast. As a result of mining excavations of the mountains to the north, tall cliff sides towered over Esperanto’s northern borders. To the east was difficult, mountainous terrain covered with coniferous forests. Due to these geographical features, any army that wanted to come from the north and east will be severely limited in movement and capability.

Looking at the map and the position of the royal castle, Oka harbored doubts about whether or not the enemy would take that measure. The one commanding this affair was the same one that decided to send the same kind of probing attack twice in a row. If they were going to mount an all-out attack, the possibility of them sending their entire force towards one spot was high. Since they still have to consider unexpected developments, there was no harm in planning for them. They started deciding on what countermeasures to employ for each of the anticipated routes. Fundamentally, their operation focused on the main attack coming from Ochstomino with units set aside for responding to any secondary attacks coming from the other two routes. While these units would primarily consist of the military police and reservists, Oka proposed the idea of having a chain of command so that the regulars could respond quickly as well.

As for the regular unit that would be the one to meet the bulk of the enemy army, they decided to give the duty to Mortes’s regiment with knights commander Mortes as the overall commander. In the event an attack comes from the other two routes, they would set aside two battalions, led respectively by Southern Defense Force commander Grius and Western Defense Commander Pentsy. The musketeers would be armed with the old Esperanto guns while the dragoons would be armed with the new revolving rifles. As for the mages, they would not actively participate in battle and would instead be relegated to medical duty as ordered by Oka. Many of the reservists were also tasked with medical duty and communications. Zabir and ten other riflemen would be assigned under Oka. They were training with other things besides the rifle training that the rifle-armed units were undergoing.

After they informed the patrols of the expected attack date, it was decided to expedite the training of the new riflemen. Since it would take two days to reach the kingdom, the patrols should be able to beat them in speed by a day. If the enemy army were to leave their base of operations on the mountain on August 28th, they should be able to reach the kingdom by August 31st. To finish everything on that last day, they would thoroughly review their organization and deployment, wrapping up before the enemy army showed up.

Back to the Gilbernik household, black-jet knight Yanne was conscious. He explained to Oka and others that Daxild Blancmar had been controlling the demons with the demonic controls device, in which he put black circlets with many magic gems embedded on their heads that allowed him to control them like puppets. Yanne wanted to destroy the circlets, and they would be released from the strings controlling them. After Yanne lost his consciousness again, Oka remembered the similar circlet on Zelsmalim’s head and then filled the others in on what Yanne told him. Acknowledging the offers of Zabir and Cey, they and Oka went back to Rastineo Castle. They imparted to the king and his men the black-jet knights’ identities and how to save them, thus pushing them to decide to also save the ogres.

At Mt. Vaglar, Bahara's Demon Army started to form ranks, reinforcing their assumptions that they would march towards the Esperanto Kingdom. The scouting party by the Esperantos began preparations to set out and reported to them. The Esperantos sent multiple scouting parties all along the route the Bahara's Demon Army would take and were using means of communication that allowed for rapid transmission of messages and lessening of a burden on the men. After they received the reports, the knights trained by Oka moved swiftly. All along the base of the walls of Norstomino, Ochidentabaro, Okinparo, and Sudamparo were obstacles and hurdles with the citizens in these districts evacuated to the inner nine districts. By August 30th, they wrapped up calling all the reservists and had briefed them on the operation. Lastly, the 30,000 reservists armed with spears, bows, and swords were posted within the outer four districts for their defense together with the military police.

### Bahara's Demon Army

Behind the attacking army of demons was the ogre Bahara, designated by Daxild Blancmar to command the entire army. For this final attack to destroy Esperanto, Bahara had split the army into three.

* The first would attack the south of the two western gates, acting as the main force. To make it seem as if he didn’t want his forces to get flanked by another Esperanto force coming out of the north of the two western gates, he dedicated the bulk of his entire army to this side.
* The second one would attack the southern gate, acting as a diversion. While they anticipated that the kingdom would be eyeing their every move, if they would have a force sitting in front of the western gate, they needed to pass through the mountains to get to the south. As such, it would take a while for them to get into position.
* The third and last would be sent to the kingdom’s northeast, emerging from out of the mountains. They were forced to march through the difficult mountain terrain to strike at the undermanned sections of Esperanto’s defenses. Once they attack, this would send the Esperanto Kingdom into a panic, causing both the southern and western gates to fall.

Either way, Bahara had already expected that they had preparations in the place and was meeting to counter them. With his primary army pushing down on the western gate, the operation was already halfway towards success.

### Annonrial Empire

At the slopes of the Vaglar volcano far from the caldera, Daxild Blancmar and his subordinates were entering the final stanzas of a chant. Countless magic squares came and moved around. Before long, a magical square more massive than even the caldera appeared and moved to unlock something. The ground started to shake minutely with pebbles and small stones starting to rumble. Then, as soon as the magic square disintegrated, the chains of light appeared one by one before flashing into nothingness. The high-grade sealing magic, used by the light-winged people of the Ravernal Empire to seal away the evil dragon from this land, had been broken.

Wrapping up their long, long chant, the hardened caldera of the dormant volcano quickly started to show signs of being heated up. At that moment, the building where Daxild and his subordinates stayed and the domiciles of the magic beast melted into the rapidly liquidating caldera. Daxild Blancmar and the Annonrial winged people, bringing only their valuables, vacated the vicinity of Mt. Vaglar by horses before evacuating completely from the Grameus continent.

Immediately after they had left the vicinity, the three-headed dragon Azhdahak broke free from its prison and emerged onto the surface after tens of millennia. It flew heading to the Esperanto Kingdom.

## Battle

### Okinparo District Offensive

In the morning, their scouting parties reported that the enemy appeared to the west. However, they instead formed up outside the Okinparo district, the south of the Ochistomino district, which was where they expected them to attack. They sent their main force to form up in front of the gate to the Okinparo district, leaving behind reservist detachments to hold and secure the Norstomino and Ochidentabaro districts. Oka, observing the situation using a pair of binoculars from atop the walls of the Okinparo district, tilted his head to the side as he analyzed 50,000 demons and 100 jet-black knights. He believed they split up other 25,000 demons, 100 jet-black knights, and Goruaus beasts around to the south during the night. Oka and Saffine followed suit, descending from the walls and manning the recon bike with Saffine taking up the rear seat. They headed towards the Sudamparo district as Zabir and four others headed towards the Eccergo district on the high mobility vehicles that the C-2 aircraft carried.

The Bahara's Demon Army took up a dense formation with 100 jet-black knights lined up in a single rank in front on the flank of the western gate and faced the heavy infantrymen. The line of jet-black knights crashed onto the mass of heavy infantrymen in front of the Esperanto formation with their swords, shortswords, hammers, iron balls, and maces. The jet-black knights, wielding all sorts of brutal-looking weapons, delivered the first strike, but the heavy infantrymen fearlessly sidestepped to dodge their blows. The shields of the heavy infantrymen bashed onto the faces of the jet-black knights. Having received powerful blows to their heads, the jet-black knights shook as they staggered. The strikes crushed the magic gems embedded in the circlet, scattering them onto the ground. With the circlets destroyed, the toppled jet-black knights lay on the ground. After the heavy infantrymen gladly took on the 100 jet-black knights, the units tasked with attacking the rest of the demon army began opening fire.

The musketeers, armed with traditional Esperanto guns and knowledge of the three-line formation, took positions ahead of the heavy infantrymen. The orcs, riding on the rabid wolves to cover a distance of 100m, would take seven seconds to reach the musketeers. Once the first rank had fired, the second rank would emerge to fire and once they were done, the third rank would take their turn. The musketeers fired across the battlefield as the foremost line of incoming goblins collapsed.

Dragoons and shock troops, both wielding the new revolving rifles named Savior, emerged from the flanks of the musketeers and attacked the wings of the advancing enemy army. Taking a crescent moon formation, they were going to crush the enemy army from both flanks while the musketeers kept the pressure from the front. Due to the Savior’s far better range, the dragoons and shock troops easily mowed down the goblins at a distance.

Then, a high mobility vehicle of one of Oka’s five teams, Bravo, came rushing in from the south. They stopped 300m short of the enemy formation ahead of them. The rifleman emerged on top of the vehicle and manned the FN Minimi mounted on the top. He aimed it toward the thousands of goblins and orcs below and unleashed the 5.56mm NATO ammunition at them. The beasts hit and threw up splatters of blood to the death. The higher, more intelligent beasts that managed to get out of harm’s way recognized them as a threat, sending wave after wave of lower beasts down their way. The riflemen dropped their speed to just about that of the incoming beasts. Then, they threw a grenade at them, exploding every beast within 3m of it to lifeless body parts.

The riflemen, including Avisch Allenverna and Raziroah, kept liven up their flanks and rear and keep them in for when the demon army started to rout.

### Sudamparo District Offensive

Oka and his Alpha team arrived at the Sudamparo district ahead of Grius’s battalion. Grius reported to them that the demon army came heading here numbered around 20,000 and three Goruaus beasts, but Oka learned they had missed 5,000 demons and two Goruaus beasts somewhere. Still, managing to safely secure the southern gate was too much of a task for Grius’s battalion alone. A force of 1,000 regulars and reservists wasn’t going to cut it.

Leaving Zabir at the southern gate, Oka and Saffine proceeded on his recon bike towards a valley 3km further south of the gate. Getting off his recon bike and hiding it beneath the shade of a rock so that the demons won’t spot it, they began their preparations. They dug up the cables and box they’ve buried some time before and took out some C-4 explosives from the box. They split up and hid on top of the mountain. Oka looked towards the demon army thru a pair of binoculars and several Goruaus beasts and jet-black knights leading the formation with goblins, goblin lords, and the other higher beasts following in suit.

The advance of the monsters remained steady and got closer by the second. Then, the three Goruaus beasts and 50 jet-black knights reached the designated mark. Oka looked towards where Saffine was and turned on his phone light, blocking it numerous times with his hand so as to create a blinking signal. Then, five seconds later, intense C-4 explosives flowered above the advancing monster army, breaking apart the earth, boulder, and tree mass alike for them to fall onto the beasts below. The goblins and orcs were crushed, unable to even get the chance to be caught off guard by what had happened.

Unsettling screams resounded across the vicinity. Not knowing what had just happened, many of the demons started running in all directions. The Goruaus beasts and jet-black knights were also panicked by what had happened, causing them to dash the southern gate. Catching sight of the massive beasts whose stomps shook the earth, the defenders were gripped by fear. Zabir, clutching an 84mm recoilless rifle, emerged from the roof of the high mobility vehicle and aligned its sights on one of the Goruaus beasts. He aimed his 84mm recoilless rifle at the timed fuse of the loaded HE441B high explosive round that was set to detonate at 400m and fired it. The high explosive round on the other side of the barrel flew out of the barrel at high speeds. The projectile landed a direct hit on the targeted Goruaus beast, unleashing its full firepower in an immense blast that shook the air and killed the Goruaus beast.

Zabir and the riflemen, who watched the entire scene unfold from inside the high mobility vehicle, witnessed the Goruaus beast die in an explosion. The other Goruaus beasts saw the high mobility vehicle as a threat and aimed it. They then unleashed lightning-driven explosive magic and hit the ground, violently throwing up earth and dust. The rifleman tasked with driving desperately swung the steering wheel back and forth as he continued to try to dodge the Goruaus beasts’ attacks. Behind the two Goruaus beasts chasing the high mobility vehicle came Oka and Saffine on their recon bike. Saffine stood on the seat of the recon bike, despite it traveling at 80kmph, and aimed at one of the Goruaus beasts with her Type 89 rifle through the scope. She fired the bullets assailing the back of the beast. It then collapsed head first into the ground. The collapsed beast was then pulverized by a shot fired from Zabir’s recoilless rifle. Fireballs unleashed by the last Goruaus beast flew past the high mobility vehicle and continued towards the walls with some of them managing to hit. The fireballs then unleashed their explosive power, damaging the formidable walls one by one as cracks started to manifest.

At the same time as battalion commander Grius called for a retreat, a section of the walls came crumbling down, crushing several knights below. Grius’s battalion only had 200 heavy infantry to send towards the 1,100-strong force bearing down on 50 ogres. Oka then set his sights on one ogre running towards the heavy infantrymen and charged at him with his bike. With the ogre down, he then plunged the butt of his rifle against his head, destroying the circlet and causing the ogre to lose consciousness. Grius’s battalion came running out of the gate and charged against the remaining ogres. Making good use of her inherent mobility, Saffine accurately and promptly detached or destroyed the circlets on the heads of the ogres, who were too busy fighting with the heavy infantrymen. She almost seemed like a butterfly fluttering about as she flew from one ogre to the other with speed. Behind them, the riflemen on the high mobility vehicle engaged the remaining Goruaus beast using the FN Minimi and fired a storm of bullets to the head. The final Goruaus beast collapsed on the ground as it died.

Despite all of the ogres sent to attack the south gate being defeated, the middle and lower beasts continued to come. The goblins tend to follow the higher beasts. With the jet-black knights incapacitated and the Goruaus beasts dealt with, the goblins should no longer have been able to muster the courage to fight on. However, a messenger came running to Zabir and Oka with an emergency report from the Malnovo 7th Defense Force that the demon army attacked the northeast wall of the Malnovo district. Oka and Saffine mounted on the recon bike, and Zabir and the others quickly mounted on their high mobility vehicles. They headed to the Malnovo district as Grius's battalion continued to fight the rest of the demon army at the south gate of Sudamparo district.

### Malnovo District Offensive

By the time it was already two hours since the battle started at the western gate, sounds of clashes erupted from a small section of wall in between the Malnovo and Norunparo districts. Since Oka had mentioned that they needed to maintain a guard on this sector, more were stationed there, but the reservists there never imagined that an attack was going to come. Unable to fight the attackers, the reservists sent messengers to the western and southern gates.

However, the wall crumbled down. The 50 jet-black knights, two Goruaus beasts, and around 5,000 goblins and orcs entered the Malnovo districts through the broken wall. The 300 defenders of the Malnovo 7th Defense assigned to that sector were slaughtered in an instant, paving the way for the beasts to flood into the district. The beasts that penetrated the Norunparo and Malnovo districts rushed towards the Centuro district.

### Centuro District Offensive

Military police and reservists gallantly rushed to stand in the way of the incoming beasts to protect the general populace. The Goruaus beasts unleashed their explosive magic on the city, burning rows upon rows of houses, destroying them, and killing dozens if not hundreds of people. Military police commander Justide Wyvreux and his fellow troops, having come to the Novalvo district after hearing the screams, gazed at the warzone that was the Centuro district.

Justide saw a helpless woman sticking in front of the incoming jet-black knight. He jumped in front of the woman and, with his pent-up emotions and sharply honed senses, deflected the incoming sword blow from an attacking jet-black knight. He resorted to merely deflecting the attack away from the jet-black knight and yelled a woman to run. After she ran away, he was up against a jet-black knight; the possibility of him getting killed in the end was high. The other military police came in droves to deal with the other beasts and were currently preoccupied. As they were exchanging blows, the explosive magic unleashed by a Goruaus beast hit somewhere nearby, scattering rubble all over their feet. The jet-black knight tripped over one of these pieces of debris and lost his footing. Seeing his chance, Justide lunged his sword onto the jet-black knight’s breast, piercing past its armor and deep into its skin.

Beyond the fallen statue of the jet-black knight, Justide caught sight of a fireball. The Goruaus beast was forming a glistening ball of flame in its mouth, and it aimed directly at where they stood. Looking behind him, he saw that the woman was still there. She was trying to crawl away, but she was not going to make it out in time. Then, subconsciously, Justide put himself between the incoming fireball and the woman and extended his hands out, trying to make himself a bigger target.

Suddenly, he felt an immense force tugging at him from the side. Oka and Saffine came in with their bike and pulled the woman out of harm’s way while Zabir and his subordinates in their high mobility vehicle were the ones to pull Justide out of the way. The fireball continued in a straight path before crashing into a building, destroying it in one flashy explosion. Oka and Zabir had saved them from a close call with death.

The two Goruaus beasts that were rampaging around the Centuro district had turned into harbingers of calamity, randomly unleashing their explosive magic into the city. The four riflemen in the high mobility vehicle cannot just open fire with their automatic weapons as there might still be city folk leftover where the Goruaus beasts were. To remedy that, they decided to use their 7.62mm NATO-loaded Type 64 rifles to snipe the beasts from afar. Ordering the driver to stop the vehicle just 500m away from their target, Zabir aimed for its head. When the Goruaus beast was forming its next fireball, he fired the 7.62mm NATO bullet blowing open its head, and the fireball in its mouth exploded, killing the beast.

Oka and Saffine used their Type 89 rifles to disable the mind-controlled jet-black knights by destroying or taking off the circlets. Having done that to over 20 of them, they’ve finally made it to the halfway mark. The 5,000 orcs and goblins that had overrun the Malnovo district entered the Centuro district, but Oka and Zabir’s force was simply too small to deal with such a massive amount of beasts. Surrounded by several jet-black knights, they were being driven into a corner. Zabir and his team may have somehow been able to take care of the remaining Goruaus beast, but Oka noticed that they were in a pinch. Suddenly, an enormous triplex magic square appeared out of thin air before a massive explosion manifested at the center of the horde of goblins and orcs.

Sensing the source of the voice to be coming from above, Oka, Saffine, and Zabir looked up at a noble-looking robe mage Rovisa Ariazel standing on top of the walls surrounding the royal castle. She chanted spells, unleashing fireballs and blades of wind onto the incoming hordes of beasts. They then heard the earth rumble in an eerie fashion, almost as if they were somehow experiencing an earthquake. The demon army and jet-black knights, even those at the western and southern gates, stopped fighting.

### Arrival of the Evil Dragon Azhdahak and Japan Air Self-Defense Force

From within the operation headquarters, the nexus of the walls in between Novalvo, Malnovo, and Eccergo, King Zamenhof XXVII, Zanzas, and the chancellor witnessed a massive eruption taking place in the north. After the delayed shockwave from the explosion reached them, they spotted a fearsome three-headed dragon Azhdahak that had a graduation of black and red wriggling around the mountain ridge. Zanzas summoned Oka on a radio.

After some time, Oka, Saffine, Zabir, and Saffine’s mother Rovisa came running to the operation headquarters. Having already dealt with the jet-black knights and the Goruaus beasts that went rampant in the Centuro district, they entrusted the task of reinforcing the western gate to Pentsy’s battalion, the military police, and the reservists. Oka noticed the slowly approaching three-headed dragon Azhdahak coming from the north when they went up the walls. The dragon Azhdahak then spread its wings and slowly rose into the sky and flew straight towards the Esperanto Kingdom, but they currently had no weapons that could deal with a massive dragon.

Saffine was pointing towards the sky to the south. There, they saw five JASDF F-2 fighters flying high. Oka quickly made haste for where his communications equipment was. Plugging it into the battery, he tuned the frequency and communicated to the one used by the JASDF. Lt. Colonel Fukui responded to him to prepare to clean up the demon army still left all around the vicinity with their bombs. Oka ordered Mortes to pull back all of his troops and form up a defensive position.

Troops fighting in close combat all over the western and southern gates promptly retreated to the front of the walls and reformed their formations. Suspicious of the suddenly retreating Esperanto forces, the demons pulled back and reformed ranks in a similar fashion. Then, high above them, the rearmost three of the F-2 fighters started dropping their Mk. 82 500lb bombs on the massed formations of demons. Several immense explosions kicked off. Receiving the direct explosive force of the 500lb bombs, the demons rapidly evaporated, and so did their numbers. The demons ran and panicked as they screamed while the bullets of light unleashed by the F-2 fighters cut them down to shreds. A 500lb bomb had blown up near Bahara, sending him flying. Falling back to the ground, the violence of the shock threw off the demonic control device on his head. With it gone, he lay there unconscious.

### Assault on the Evil Dragon Azhdahak

The two foremost F-2 fighters flew straight towards the incoming dragon Azhdahak, but the pilots felt something disturbing about the otherworldly size of the monster. Gold-colored magic square-like discs appeared in front of the snouts all of its three heads lined up in a single line. The discs then grew bigger bit by bit as they appeared before finally engulfing the F-2 fighters within its grasp. As soon as the F-2 fighters immediately rolled out of the discs, the Azhdahak’s attack kicked into motion. Inside the discs, shockwaves radiated outwards from the line created, shaving off and annihilating the clouds that were unfortunate to be inside.

Recognizing an undoubtedly dangerous dragon, the two F-2 fighters quickly dropped their 500lb bombs on its heads. They waited to see how things panned out. Two bombs managed to hit it, wounding the root of the neck and its back, but they were hardly fatal to the dragon. They dropped their remaining six bombs and managed to score six out of six, engulfing it. The bombing resulted in one of the Azhdahak’s heads and wings coming off, causing it to fall onto the mountains below.

The dragon Azhdahak was bellowing in anguish. Bright red, lava-like fluids gushed out of the wounds, giving off a rather painful appearance. It continued to writhe in pain on the slopes of the mountain, rolling in exhaustion on the surface. However, after the fallen head turned to dust, a new one grew out of the stump where it was cut off by the bombs. Its muscle fibers quickly grew and stretched like a growing tree. Its ripped wing was also slowly starting to grow back. Finally, it wriggled its fully regenerated body before taking off to the skies towards Esperanto. Fukui and his subordinate were shocked to witness the dragon Azhdahak in the process of regenerating a head and body quickly.

Fukui’s subordinate launched a Type 90 air-to-air guided missile with him following suit. Another one of its heads came off as the missiles that pierced its body blew up inside its torso, shaving off much of its body in the process. Then, it grew its body parts back. As soon as it opened its eyes, the dragon Azhdahak once more unleashed its attack from all three fully regenerated heads. This time, the mountains served to obstruct the attack, causing parts of the enormous slopes to get annihilated in ear-piercing shockwaves. The two F-2 fighters then resorted to strafing the Azhdahak with their guns, opening up countless holes in its neck, body, and wings. Even then, as soon as they saw glowing blood gushing off the wounds, they closed up and returned back to the way it was.

Back to the Esperanto Kingdom, after hearing their attacks were having no effect, the three-headed dragon Azhdahak had approached just outside of the kingdom. Saffine told Oka about her grandmother's painting in which two of its heads were each struck with a spear while the remaining one was struck with an arrow. Oka learned from JASDF that the two F-2 fighters had one missile on each fighter. Zelsmalim, who brought a bag of C-4 explosives, decided to use it to cut off one of that beast’s heads in his suicide mission as Oka's F-2 fighters would cut off the other two. Since the demonic control device on his head had already disappeared, Zelsmalim was able to run free. He unfurled his wings and flew up high towards the Azhdahak. Oka, Zabir, and Saffine climbed down from the walls and dashed the Eccergo district. They maneuvered the Type 96 Multi-Purpose Missile System to face northwards.

The three-headed dragon Azhdahak perched itself on top of the soaring cliffs to the north of the Fonnolvo and Norstomino districts. Zelsmalim, clutching his load of C-4 explosives, flew towards the front of the middle head. The middle head set its sights on the pesky Zelsmalim that had come to view. Meanwhile, the other two heads watched on in envy. Then, the Azhdahak’s middle head opened its mouth wide.

Zabir took the reins of the MPMS and aimed directly at Zelsmalim. He fired the missile straight and accurately towards its target. As Oka signaled to fire on the radio, the two F-2 fighters fired their remaining Type 90 air-to-air guided missiles. Just as Zelsmalim had entered the mouth of the Azhdahak’s middle head, the MPMS-fired missile landed its hit. The resulting explosion engulfed both the demon and the middle head in a flash of light. At the same time, the two missiles fired by the F-2s hit the remaining two heads, blowing them up in equally spectacular explosions and signaling the Azhdahak’s death. Their chilling instantaneous booms echoed across the entirety of the kingdom. Not long after, the evil dragon Azhdahak slowly collapsed onto the ground. Its colossal body lifelessly rolled along the slopes, kicking up clouds of dust.

The soldiers erupted from all across the kingdom, witnessing what may have been the most legendary of battles in Esperanto’s history. With the Azhdahak’s demise set in stone, the hordes of beasts began their flight from the scene. After confirming that the Azhdahak was truly dead, the five F-2 fighters turned around and went on their way home back to Japan. On the way, they refueled off of the tankers on standby, allowing them to reach the mainland without incident.

## Aftermath

Due to the beasts’ successful incursion into the Centuro and Malnovo districts, the number of dead Esperantos went above 10,000, but since it was far lower than what they initially expected, the royal government and the citizens rejoiced. Some lamented the loss of their loved ones, but there were also those that were happy to have survived the ordeal.

The day after the battle, on the first day of September, the cleanup of the mess left behind commenced. Since the hospitals all over the kingdom were overloaded, including the knights’ hospital, many had difficulty getting help. The hospitals also admitted the ogres from the jet-black knights, leading to many, who were still fearful of them, not seeking help at all. His hand forced, the king had infirmaries set up within the castle itself where the ogres could be taken care of and enlisted the help of Valsas, a doctor at the knights’ hospital and experienced in dealing with ogres.

On September 3rd, the disaster relief and response unit deployed by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force arrived at the Esperanto Kingdom and were warmly greeted by everyone as if the emissaries of the sun god had returned. Incidentally, they encountered patrols from the former Demon Army led by Nosgorath to the south of the kingdom and were promptly dealt with. As for the remnants of the Bahara's Demon Army, ever since Daxild and his group had left the continent, they had returned to their aimless, leaderless state; they will have to be dealt with in the future. As for Daxild Blancmar and his subordinates, for the demons not to follow them, they had covered up their tracks.

Lt. Colonel Kuwahara, the regiment commander that was leading the disaster response unit, brought with him correspondence on what would happen regarding Oka, without permission from the government, lending the firearms and equipment inside the wrecked C-2 to unauthorized personnel from another country. Oka, who had prepared for the worst and assumed that he might not get off with just discharge, was relieved at the anticlimactic end to his worries. As for his fallen comrades, their remains were safely transferred over to the JSDF to be brought back to Japan. Their surviving relatives have decided to welcome Oka when he got home to directly offer him their thanks. In the two weeks since the disaster relief and response unit arrived, they helped clean up rubble, set up temporary shelters, and share infrastructure technologies. On September 17th, the Esperanto Kingdom held a victory celebration party. The JGSDF, finding it weird that a victory celebration party would take place despite the extensive casualties the kingdom suffered, refused to participate, but upon King Zamenhof XXVII’s insistence, they relented.

Meanwhile, Bahara, who was lying on a simple bed with Yanne and other fellow ogres in the basement of the Gilbernik household, thanked Oka Shinji for saving his ogres after hearing from Yanne. He explained to Oka that they were under the control of Daxild Blancmar, an individual associated with the Annonrial Empire, who forced them against their will to inflict intense pain and destruction on the Esperanto Kingdom. Bahara got off his bed and kneeled on his knees. He then placed his hands and head directly on the floor, an action followed by the rest of the ogres in the room and taking Oka by surprise. He begged Oka to save their nation Heiskanen and rescue their princess Elya, who was kidnapped and imprisoned in the Annonrial Empire, in which he found hope in the strength of the Japanese nation against Daxild and the rest of his winged people. Bahara also explained to him that they would be unable to prop up the magical barrier that protects Heiskanen from demonic incursions without their princess Elya, which the demons may be running rampant around their homes, causing untold death and destruction. He expected Oka their request for help, but Oka possessed not have the authority to sanction or approve their request. He would tell his superiors about it.

After diplomatic relations were formalized, Japan formally issued an apology for the crash of their C-2 transport plane before commencing the removal of the wreckage. At the same time, the Esperanto Kingdom became an important base for Japanese survey and development expeditions into Grameus, allowing for the two countries to commence generous cooperation with Heiskanen. As for the ogres’ request, this was promptly forwarded to the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wherein they decided to commence an investigation into the matter as soon as a chance to make contact with the Annonrial Empire came. As for Esperanto’s establishment of relations with the Topa Kingdom, there remains some resentment on Esperanto’s part regarding Topa never making good on its promise of sending a relief force to help them out way back in the past, but later research reveals that was merely a misunderstanding. Since then, the two nations, Esperanto Kingdom and Heiskanen had been vigorous in their efforts to intermingle with one another, culminating in a relationship wherein one could call them the best of brothers.

After the victory celebration party, Oka visited the throne room in the Rastineo Castle where he found the current king, Zanzas, the chancellor, and other officials sitting around a table celebrating amongst themselves. Zanzas informed Oka about a national treasure that proved the existence of the Emissaries of the Sun God. He handed to Oka a magical photograph sandwiched between two clear glass plates, which was a picture of one of their divine warships of the Emissaries of the Sun God. Oka was shocked to reflect on the photograph were what appeared to be servicemen from the former Imperial Japanese Army and Navy standing shoulder to shoulder with humans, elves, dwarves, and beastmen behind the Imperial Japanese battleship. After asking for permission, Oka took a photo of the magic photograph using his smartphone. After he got back to Japan, he sent the photo to his superiors, who then forwarded it to the Japanese government, who then treated its existence with absolute secrecy. Then, after the wreckage of a Zero fighter was discovered in Qua-Toyne, the government commenced a long-term investigation into the matter.

## Outline Map

1. On August 31, a total of 5,000 soldiers of the Mortes Perentino Battalion, along with 20,000 reservists, engaged the main army of about 50,000 demonic beasts, including 100 black knights. The battle was dominated from start to finish by a ranger attack by Oka's B mobile task force.
2. Oka and Saffine blasted down the mountainside. Forward of the diversionary force attacking the south gate of the demon army, successfully detached 3 Goruaus and 50 black knights.
3. The A mobile task force under the command of Oka, 1,000 Grius Battalion, and 10,000 reservists engaged the 3 Goruaus and 50 black knights. Grius Battalion, the remaining strength of the South Gate Diversionary Force, was successfully neutralized while inflicting dozens of casualties to the regular soldiers and reservists. The battle shifts to mopping up the remaining strength of approximately 20,000 troops.
4. The A mobile task force under Oka engages a surprise force of about 5,000 demonic beasts, including 2 Goruaus and 50 black knights. The Malnovo and Centuro District Defense are devastated, with approximately 4,300 of the total 5,000 killed.
5. Five F-2s of the Esperanto Kingdom Relief Force begin bombing the Demon Army. Oka's A mobile task force launches a medium-range multi-purpose guided missile from Eccergo District. Two F-2s hit Azhdahak with two Type 90 air-to-air guided missiles, successfully defending the Esperanto Kingdom.