The members of the Special Selection Unit Astral returned from the front lines after concluding their latest engagement. Though they had successfully whittled down the enemy’s forces, their faces showed no signs of relief.
They moved with a heavy, brittle tension as they filed back into the makeshift base.
The facility doubled as a field hospital, and the air was thick with the stinging scent of disinfectant. While sorcery could treat many injuries, it was no panacea. Countless staff members were still working desperately to save those who could be saved.
The brutality of the front lines defied all imagination.
The mission of Astral, however, was to hold that very line. Though the specific conditions for victory remained hazy, the necessity of halting the enemy’s advance was self-evident.
To that end, rest was mandatory. No matter how gifted the individual, no sorcerer could maintain peak performance without sleep.
"Ray. Are you all right?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"I see..."
Ray was unsettlingly calm. Despite the carnage he had witnessed in the forest, he maintained a chilling level of composure.
"Let’s get some rest for now. The war has only just begun."
"Understood."
The Far East Campaign had officially commenced, but this was merely the prologue.
"Ray! Don't get too far ahead!!"
"I know!!!"
One week later.
The Special Selection Unit Astral was back at the front, locked in combat. They were currently buying time for wounded soldiers to be evacuated to the rear.
Their objective was simple: whittle down the enemy’s numbers and stall for as long as possible.
The complication, however, was the enemy’s deployment of monsters. Swarms of them filled the area, their movements coordinated with the enemy’s sorcery.
Even for the elite members of Astral, a grueling struggle seemed inevitable. And yet...
《Prima Materia—Encoding—Material Code》
《Material Code—Decoding》
《Material Code—Processing—Deceleration—Lock》
《Embodiment—Material》
"..."
Lydia stood as the primary pillar of the front line. Charging into the fray, she slaughtered one enemy after another.
She wielded the Ice Sword, weaving Remote and Chain alchemy together to manifest a continuous series of ice walls.
By herding her opponents into a single kill zone, she could then mow them down with the Ice Swords gripped in both hands. She carved through monsters and soldiers alike, pressing forward without bothering to wipe the blood spray from her face.
Ray remained glued to her back. For now, the two of them were holding the line alone. The rest of the unit was stationed elsewhere, intercepting enemies that had managed to slip past. The battle was reaching its climax.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Lydia did not hesitate.
She pushed forward, staking her life on every strike. She slaughtered scores of enemies and still kept advancing. Matching her pace, Ray began to run alongside her to provide support.
Dashing through the forest with fluid grace, Ray used his ice to pin enemies in place. He had already saturated the surrounding area with Delay Magic, establishing an inescapable Ice Domain.
"Master!!"
"I know!!!"
The moment Ray gave the signal, a world of ice bloomed. With a sharp, crystalline crackle, the entire area froze over in an instant.
While the enemies were immobilized, they were cut down without mercy. Though Ray was strictly playing a supporting role, his presence was the foundation of their success.
It was likely that no one else could have taken his place.
Not even Abby—a genius among geniuses who had fought by Lydia's side for years.
Ray and Lydia’s coordination was perfected to that degree.
"It’s over."
"Yes. It looks like the enemy has retreated."
Lydia flicked her Ice Sword, sending a spray of blood onto the ground. The enemy had likely seen an opportunity and committed a massive amount of resources to this operation, only to be thwarted by just two people.
The Kingdom currently lacked the manpower to properly reinforce the front due to the high number of casualties. It had been an unreasonable demand to send only Lydia and Ray, but they had completed the mission successfully.
The war was far from over, but they had bought more than enough time.
"Ray. Let’s head back."
"Yes."
Lydia turned, her long, blood-stained golden hair fluttering behind her as they retraced their steps.
The battle that would first carve the name of Lydia Ainsworth into the hearts of the enemy as an object of pure dread thus came to a close.
"Einsworth. Well done."
"It was nothing more than my duty, Lieutenant Colonel."
When they returned to base, Henrick Fahrenheit was waiting for them. It appeared the evacuation of the wounded was nearly complete. Lydia had come to deliver the report alone.
She had told Ray to rest, and he was currently sleeping.
It was three in the morning. The long battle had finally subsided, at least for the moment.
"What is the status of the war?"
"...The damage isn't spreading as quickly as we feared. We managed to hold the line here, but it seems the fighting is intensifying in other regions."
"So we’re being deployed there next?"
"Most likely. Astral isn't a unit meant for base defense. We’ll probably be moving quite frequently from now on."
"Understood."
Lydia saluted, accepting the new orders. She had once been dismissed as someone who lived only for herself, but that person was gone.
Henrick could see that she had cast herself into this war with a firm sense of purpose and duty.
"In all honesty, I’m grateful to both you and Ray," Henrick said. "You achieve maximum results with minimal force. Without you, the withdrawal would have taken much longer, especially since we usually require heavy rear-guard support. By handling that role yourselves, you’ve ensured the retreat was a success. Now we just have to wait for reinforcements."
"I’m glad we could be of use, but..."
For some reason, a shadow crossed Lydia's face. Henrick noticed her hesitation.
"Is something the matter?"
"It’s Ray."
"Did something happen?"
"No. On the contrary, the problem is that nothing happened."
Lydia had been prepared to handle the entire mission alone if the burden became too heavy for Ray. Ray was supposed to be her support, and she had the confidence to repel the enemy single-handedly if necessary.
"To be honest, Ray's contributions in this battle were immense. It made it significantly easier for me to move."
"To have reached that level at his age... I truly wonder who that boy is."
Henrick looked up at the ceiling as if staring into the distance. No one yet knew the truth of Ray's existence.
"I don't know who he is either. However, Lieutenant Colonel, I ask that you leave Ray's supervision to me."
"...I intended to leave that to you from the start, Ainsworth. As things stand, Ray is the only one who can keep up with you anyway. It was always going to end up this way."
"Sir. Understood."
Lydia saluted once more and left the tent.
"Now then, how long will this war last...?"
Henrick's murmur was a lonely sound. He had a premonition—a flash of intuition—that this conflict would drag on far longer than expected. And more than that, he suspected there were dark agendas at play that they couldn't even begin to fathom.
Thus, the Special Selection Unit Astral prepared to throw themselves into the next battlefield.