Interlude: From the Demonkin’s Perspective
1
“Well now. It won’t be long before we reach the planned numbers, will it?”
While Keita and Takafumi were refining their powered suits and earning magic power and experience by hunting wild monsters,
a terrifying plan orchestrated by a certain demonkin was about to unfold in a land not far from the Russian Far East.
“Honestly, I think our seniors are lacking a bit of motivation.”
That said, the plan itself was something Japan had already anticipated—
namely, a large-scale offensive by the monsters.
“Applying pressure through gradual deployment of forces? If you don’t intend to win from the start, then I suppose that’s fine… but still.”
This demonkin found the strategies employed by their predecessors to be unbearably inefficient… or rather, somewhat misguided.
Their target was Japan. Once the only Asian nation counted among the great powers, even now—over a hundred years after the great war where it fought against the world—this country continued to battle demonkin and monsters without ceding a single inch of its territory. A rare feat, indeed.
Its track record, supported by industrial and technological prowess,
had turned its machines into symbols of hope for humanity.
In fact, the liberation and continued defense of several Southeast Asian nations from monster-controlled territories were primarily achieved by military forces dispatched from Japan.
Thanks to these achievements, there was not a single country left that did not seek Japan’s aid. Even the surviving nations in Europe and Australia desired collaboration—or at the very least, technological exchange—with Japan.
“Under normal circumstances, we would want to destroy them… but since our superiors, the demons, have given their orders, we can’t just annihilate Japan. We want to, but we can’t. It’s because of this contradiction that our seniors have been turning a blind eye to Japan. That’s why they never realized.”
At first, Japan must have felt the pressure.
But any pressure eventually ceases to feel like pressure once you grow accustomed to it.
To put it bluntly, the regular monster attacks had devolved into nothing more than a bonus game where they could gain combat experience and monster materials.
“Of course, from the perspective of culling numbers, their approach isn’t wrong. But if the other side isn’t actually feeling the pressure, then it’s a whole different story, isn’t it?”
Reducing the numbers of large, resource-heavy monsters was all well and good.
But pointless deaths were undesirable, and handing over free materials to the enemy was even worse.
“What the demons desire is conflict—not a one-sided slaughter.”
Thus, the demonkin offered simple advice to the monsters sent out last time.
Thanks to that, far more monsters than before successfully made landfall in Japan.
Their numbers included ten large-class, over one hundred thirty medium-class, and a significant number of small-class monsters.
Of course, the demonkin didn’t expect Japan to fall to such a force.
Still, they had assumed it would deal considerable damage.
Yet the result was a crushing defeat. Worse still, according to their collaborator on the other side, Japan’s military losses had been minimal.
Despite the sudden and unprecedented scale of the assault.
There was only one conclusion to draw from this:
Their forces were insufficient.
“Against an enemy capable of repelling that many monsters without a scratch, sending a few large-class and a few dozen medium-class is meaningless. At that point, you’re just handing them free experience and materials.”
On top of that, Japan had apparently begun mass-producing new models of machines unlike anything seen before. Could this still be called applying pressure? No. Absolutely not.
“That’s precisely why we’re testing it—Japan’s true strength.”
How much force would it take to truly exert pressure?
How much damage would they need to inflict before the collaborator on the other side lost the luxury of playing foolish games?
“This time, we’ll start with double the previous numbers. If that fails, we’ll double it again. It’ll take time, but it’s better than wasting resources needlessly. Oh, and we’ll also have to make sure they don’t drown halfway. The formation is fine, but as for ships… no, that’s impossible. Still, providing them with floatation devices or propulsion boards should make the crossing a little easier, right?”
For this preliminary test, the demonkin prepared double the numbers Japan had anticipated.
Specifically: Twenty-four large-class. Three hundred medium-class. One thousand small-class. An overwhelming army.
And to ensure they wouldn’t drown or exhaust themselves during the crossing, they had taken measures to optimize the assault.
“Let’s see how you handle this offensive, shall we?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“What the hell?! What is this number?!”
From Japan’s perspective, the monsters arrived right on schedule.
But in reality, the scale of the invading force far surpassed all expectations.
Facing an unprecedented army—without Keita, their decisive trump card—the Defense Forces were thrust into a hopeless battle.
The day their faces would be painted with despair was drawing near.
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