A flash of light, signalling the start of war

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 Taking off from the city walls, I gazed upon the enemies aproaching before my eyes.
 
 Goblins and orcs on the ground as far as the eye can see.
 Flying around the in the sky, what seemed to be hundreds of devil crows.
 
 (Well then, how should we get in contact with them?)
 After thinking for a moment,
 (——— I should give my 『greetings』, after all.)
 
 Coming to a halt mid-air, I set the left selector to 『2』 and the right selector to 『2』.
 
 
 
 “Coco, 『Mid-range firing mode ON』.”
 
 When I gave that instruction to the boy teddy,
 “Yoouuu got it!”
 he waved his hand, and whoom, a magic circle was drawn mid-air.
 
 Then, the centre of the view in my right eye distorted, magnifying like a telescope.
 
 Floating in the centre was a cross-shaped sight.
 
 Floating among the crows as if I owned the place, I set my aim in the direction of the depths of the flock, pulling the trigger half-way.
 
 Whowhoom.^[1]
 
 A ball of light, floating at the tip of the muzzle.
 However this time, the light bullet was smaller than before, and instead, there were more of them.
 
 There were a total of ten of them.
 
 Three above and three below.
 And then four in between.
 
 Like honeycomb, the bullets of light floated in a 3-4-3 arrangement, with two larger-than-usual acceleration magic circles, a small one and a large one in succession, ahead of them.
 
 『Magic Convergence Bullet Scatter Fire Mode』
 
 In order to counter fast-moving flying type enemies, as well as enemies that attack in groups, this mode is capable of firing multiple magic convergence bullets simultaneously while spreading them over the whole area.
 
 In short, it’s buckshot.
 
 (It is effective, but…)
 
 In the test firing, it showed a performance in accordance with its design.
 The problem though, is whether it 『can be used』 in an actual battle.
 
 While chasing after the targeted group, I put strength into my finger and murmured to myself.
 
 “——— welcome to the dance.”
 
 Bang!
 
 The moment I pulled the trigger, the ten light bullets passed through the two acceleration magic circles, becoming several rays of light that cut through the sky.
 
 And then, explosion.^[2]
 
 Bababababang!!!!
 
 Five lights sparkled in the sky, and the crows who were lucky enough to escape the explosion each began evading in agitation.
 
 Eventually———
 
 Gyah!
 Gyah gyah!!
 
 The individual that noticed me crowed, and the other monsters turned their faces towards me.
 
 Immeasurable bloodlust pierced through me.
 
 And then,
 『『Gyaaaaaahhh!!』』
 With one of them in the lead, the drumming avalanche of monsters assailed me, shaped like an arrowhead.
 
 “Come, let’s play tag!”
 
 I lowered the muzzle and cancelled the mid-range firing mode, accelerated suddenly to the left, and began running from the horde of crows.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 『Letty, gear up!』
 
 Hearing Coco’s voice in my head, I took things one gear higher.
 
 The distance from the cries and wing flaps of the crows chasing from the rear gradually widened.
 
 『Decelerate.』
 
 This time I slowed down, banking to my right.
 
 While controlling my acceleration and deceleration, as well as my left and right turning, I flew about trying to escape the horde of crows.
 
 (It’s nearly time… I guess?)
 
 I cast a fleeting glance toward the city.
 
 Above the city walls, there were many magic lights floating in the air.
 
 (… Alright!)
 
 I then turned right twice, adjusting my position and altitude, and set my path in line with the city of Cocomel.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 “Anti-air combat!”
 
 “Prepare for anti-air combat!!”
 
 As Brad’s commanders recited his commands, all the machine guns, magic rifles, magic bows and spell swords deployed above the city walls aimed their muzzles, arrowheads and sword tips respectively toward the sky, deploying acceleration magic circles in the sky.
 
 “Target: Devil Crow! Barrage fire! ——— Don’t even mistakenly hit Leticia-sama!!”
 
 ““Ha!!””
 
 At the territory army commander Lionel’s instructions, the soldiers all shouted in unison.
 
 Ever since that speech.
 
 Both citizens and soldiers looked on with feelings akin to worship as Letitia, despite her young age, declared her determination to protect the city till the end, taking the lead working desperately to protect everyone.
 
 And now, that girl was currently fighting alone, diving into the heart of the enemy horde as a decoy.
 
 Someone then spoke out.
 
 “Leticia-sama, who’s protecting everyone, will be protected by us!”
 
 ““Yeaahhh!!!!””
 
 Tension and fear.
 And then the exuberance that surpasses it, which boosted morale to heights never before seen.
 
 
 
 “Anna, are you ready?”
 
 Letty’s father Brad asked his daughter’s attendant standing next to him.
 
 Right now, he was operating a 12mm machine gun himself, the muzzle pointed at the sky with an acceleration magic circle activated at the end, waiting for the right moment to arrive.
 
 “I’m ready to go at any time, Master!”
 
 Anna, who replied in this way, was also stood behind a heavy machine gun mounted on an anti-air stand, with the muzzle pointed towards the sky.
 
 Before taking off, Letty entrusted them with something.
 
 That was, to operate the two heavy machine guns, which had the most firepower and range there.
 
 The ones to decide this anti-air battle would undoubtedly be these heavy machine guns.
 
 Their responsibility was heavy.
 
 Having been put in charge of the defensive side’s greatest offensive strength, they would need to riddle the devil crows being aggravated by Leticia with bullets and avoid hitting Leticia in the first volley.
 
 Although Leticia’s Auto Defence is an extremely solid defensive shell, it too has its limits.
 
 Even if the defensive shell can withstand a few shots, who knows what would happen if it were hit with ten heavy machine gun rounds a second.
 
 For that reason, she entrusted her life with her very own father, as well as her most trusted attendant, and left the guns’ operation to them.
 
 
 
 “——— here they come!”
 
 Hearing Brad’s voice, Anna narrowed her eyes.
 
 At the end of her gaze, her master pulled along several devil crows, heading straight toward her.
 
 “Ojou-sama…”
 
 Anna murmured, gripping the handle, and applied both thumbs to the press-down firing switch.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 “——— that way.”
 
 Pulling along the flock of crows while heading toward Cocomel, Letty checked out the landmark below her gaze.
 
 That was the forest, projecting from her left to her right.
 
 If that line, approximately two kilometres from Cocomel, is crossed, they would fall within effective range of the heavy machine guns in under 20 seconds.
 
 (Reaching the landmark in three, two, one, gear up!!)
 
 At the same time as she flew over the forest, she went up two gears and accelerated.
 
 The cries and wingbeats of the crows became distant.
 
 (Do follow me, ok?)
 
 Letty kept accelerating as she held onto these prayer-like feelings.
 
 If she didn’t gain enough distance from them, there was a chance she’d get caught up as well.
 
 
 ——— and then, she passed 『that point』.
 
 
 A single line of fire pushed out from Cocomel, reaching behind her.
 
 Bababababa!
 
 The intermittent sound of the air being cut through.
 Then, light.
 The fluttering sound of something falling behind her.
 
 Before long, yet another line of fire came out from the city.
 
 Bababababababababababa!!
 
 (——— this must be Anna, huh.)
 
 Letty glanced behind her, and saw that a portion of the black eerie birds following her kept falling down in a certain place as though bumping into an invisible wall.
 
 Of course, there were far more enemies who slipped through that wall and continued to chase Letty.
 
 
 
 As she flew like this, the gunfire from the city gradually increased.
 
 First came the single-shot attacks of the magic rifles.
 Next began the rapid-fire from the twenty light machine guns.
 
 Countless bullets shot from atop the city walls.
 They were shot out like a deluge of rain.
 
 (… scary.)
 
 There were twenty light machine guns that made it in time to be remodelled.
 
 The dense barrage that was mostly fired by them instinctively frightened even Letty, who had taken on the role of decoy to lead them.
 
 That barrage assailed the crow monsters chasing Letty.
 
 Gyaahhh!!!!
 
 Letting out their dying screams, the crows fell down in pieces.
 
 However, for the individuals who barely managed to slip through that, even more attacks lay in store for them.
 
 “Attaaaacckk!!!!”
 
 The magic bows let loose.
 The spell swords mixed in blaze balls as well.
 
 Boof! Boof!
 
 The crows fell down one after another.
 
 While leading them on, Letty came near the space above the city walls.
 
 
 (——— Papa! Anna!)
 
 
 My eyes met with those two.
 
 Hearts overlapping.
 Courage gushing forth.
 
 Like that, Letty flew over their heads.