The K113 Defense Dome was subjected to an enemy invasion.

But it wasn’t by unmanned killing machines like the Murders.

Instead, it was carried out by Silhouettes belonging to the Stones.

「Just.... what the heck is that Silhouette....?」

An Underground Force military who was part of the Dome’s defense line muttered fearfully.

They were overrun by a jet-black Silhouette they’d never seen before.

「I-It’s too fast. Please help m....」

An ally in front of him fired his machine’s autocannons indiscriminately.

But in the blink of an eye, he was cut down with a greatsword.

The wreckage of many Silhouettes and armored cars were scattered all over the place.

They faced just a mere twelve Silhouettes but ended up almost completely annihilated.

The mercenary’s partner fired his Silhouette’s rifle. The rounds scored direct hits on an enemy Silhouette, but sparks went off on the surface of its armor, and it only suffered bullet marks.

「Don’t tell me they have the latest electromagnetic armor!?」

Their mobility also didn’t match the enemy Silhouette’s appearances.

Their feet all had grim-looking crow-like toes.

「N-No!」

The mercenary shouted as he attempted to help his partner, but the latter’s machine no longer had its upper body. It was cut off at the waist.

The enemy machines were both really fast and extraordinarily tough.

A warning siren rang out.

Their rear had been taken down.

「What the hell!?」

The pilot chuckled self-deprecatingly as he despaired about the difference in the mobility of his and the enemy’s machines.

Since his allies had fallen, there was already no hope for victory.

It was an overwhelming difference in mobility. Many of the enemy Silhouettes didn’t even use firearms and just defeated his allies with greatswords.

「This is checkmate, Mr. Mercenary. –If you surrender without resisting, I’d at least spare your life.」

A man called out for the mercenary’s surrender.

That man was Bardo.

「....I surrender.」

It seemed that a few of the mercenary’s allies were killed. Those who were haphazardly cut down but still had their MCS in one piece managed to survive though.

「Raven Corps, proceed with taking over the control center.」

「Sir!」

The jet-black machines behind him rushed out at Bardo’s command.

「You did it, captain.」

His vice-captain, Miles, called out to Bardo.

「This is the third Defense Dome we’ve managed to capture. And with a small force at that.」

「The Raven Corps really showed their stuff.」

The machines Miles and the rest were piloting were brand new.

They were renamed machines heavily based on Kurt’s Badb Catha. They had used the captured factories of Kurt Maschinenbau to manufacture them.

Most of the data stored in the factories was deleted.

However, Alberto managed to recover them in the end. Then he went on to reverse engineer the machine using a Huckebein captured in battle and the remaining prototype parts. He covered the rest with trial and error.

「Yeah. And this Corvus. It seems to be a just a recreation of the Huckebein, but its performance is still on another level.」

The machine Bardo was piloting was nearly a one-for-one copy of the Huckebein. Its performance was at least one level higher than the Ravens.

The envoy sent by the stones had actually managed to lift the technological seal that normally couldn’t be broken without an A-Class Development Engineer. It was a feat that they weren’t able to do in the past.

Even so, they merely recovered a number of parts combinations. Alberto and the rest still needed to handle manufacturing a usable unit.

In the end, they managed to succeed through the use of the Huckebein prototype’s remaining parts, but the resulting machine’s external appearance changed significantly. However, its performance was really close to the original. Alberto made full use of his genius to make the new machine even tougher than the original.

But he was still unsatisfied. Alberto desperately tried to replicate the original’s performance but was eventually forced to compromise.

Currently, they were proceeding into mass production by using a metallic hydrogen reactor provided by the demigods.

「The heavy tanks corps and siege vehicles should be arriving soon.」

「We really have to hand it to that artillery maniac. With those, we’ll break through the Defense Dome’s walls in no time.」

The mercenaries under the Stones have also strengthened themselves quite a bit through the use of technology they’ve plundered from the human side.

The metallic hydrogen reactor was particularly valuable. Bardo’s forces being handed twelve Ravens and the Corvus was exceptional treatment. He had managed to gain the trust of the Stones by engaging the enemy Development Engineer.

「We easily managed to break through their defense net. But there are also enemies who possess this kind of strength.」

「We’re working directly under the Stones and are treated much like a formal army. Are there really enemies who possess assets comparable to our own?」

「There are. It’s those Metal Iris guys.」

「I admit that we lost against them back then. But they had the assistance of Storm Hound at the time. And even if they actually merged together, can they really be on par with our forces?」

「More than just on par. After all, they have with them a Development Engineer who managed to pull out technology and know-how to produce something as great as this Corvus. Those guys are strong. They might even be swimming in funds.」

「Are you seriously saying that?」

Miles thought it was unusual for his captain to give an enemy force such credit.

After all, they eventually retreated back then. They must at least have been worn out by that battle, Miles surmised.

「I’m just saying what Old Man Alberto told me. But I do agree with him. We don’t know if they have a machine as capable as this Corvus.」

「Then they’re an enemy we wouldn’t want to fight if possible. I’d rather engage an easily conquered enemy like this one.」

「Don’t say that man. There’s no excitement in fighting easy battles like this one.」

「Oh c’mon, captain....」

「Oh, it looks like those guys already managed to bring down the control center. With this, we’ve managed to take over a human stronghold without using the Stones-sama’s prized Murders.」

Bardo muttered under his breath as he turned his gaze toward the control center towering in the distance.

He and his men now possessed overwhelming force.

「The mercenaries we captured agreed to join us.」

「Good. Money, food, women. Give them enough, and most wouldn’t be able to resist.」

It was faster to kill enemies, of course. But there’s also a need to increase the number of their troops.

The Stones are surely working on bolstering their forces even further as well.

「Let’s get in touch with the Areopagus Council. It looks like they’re still planning something nasty. We’ll be working our behinds off for a while.」

Bardo muttered happily.

There was another battlefield waiting for him. It was just perfect for their flock of carrion-eating crows.