Agneya, Armstrong's POV

The coordinates Zenith gave us pointed to the old North American continent, specifically within what was once known as the Sierra Nevada. The plan was for us to reach the location and drill into the mountain directly using our magitech drill core. Four rank A Magical Girls would operate the drill, while the others—including Issen and Stonewall—would guard them. Pink Heart would stay aboard Agneya to protect the ship. Once we reached the coordinates and located the gate, Agneya would fire its arcoplasma cannon to destroy it.

I was concerned about whether we would actually find the gate. The source of the intel was dubious. Did some rogue Guardian stumble across it? Issen and Pink Heart mentioned that a tracking device or skill had been implanted on the Behemoth before it teleported. However, such a device shouldn't have gone unnoticed, and sure enough, it was destroyed immediately upon the Behemoth's arrival. I worried whether the gate had been moved or if the signal had been deliberately obfuscated. The coordinates weren't precise, spanning a radius of about 40 kilometers and extending to a depth of 5 kilometers.

The search could take weeks or even months. That alone was fine, but there had been an SOS just a few hours ago—from the very person who likely provided us with these coordinates, Magical Girl Black Lily. She ventured into the Darklands alone and encountered someone who could enchant magical tools better than our own research team.

My fears that the gate was moved were unfounded. It didn't take long for the Anathema to attack us. When Agneya floated near the coast of Northern America two days later, they surged at us like nothing I had ever seen before. Thousands of flying Anathema headed directly for us from the coordinates, and ground-based Anathema specializing in artillery followed shortly after.

"Shall we test Agneya?" I muttered loud enough for the two non-humans beside me in the command room to hear. They were technically engineers, but I kept them close to show they were deserving of respect. My words were primarily directed at the two Zenith members responsible for our new gun—the purple-skinned elf and the lizardman. After a brief introduction, I learned the lizardman's name was something like a hissing noise, while the elf's name was an impossibly long string: Haneyanoyuyasisteniii.

"Haneya, Shish, do you think Agneya can eradicate these?" I asked, shortening their names.

"Stop shortening our names, Captain Almsstlong. My name is Tsisshitchishisesimiss. And you're pronouncing it wrong too," the lizardman said, irritated.

"Well, same to you. Let's be tolerant of each other. I forgive you for getting my name wrong, and so should you," I replied with a smile. They seemed to have trouble with pronouncing "R"—a case of rhotacism. "Just think of it as friendly greetings. Time is money, and time is precious. I could call you Agneya Officer A and B, but that would be too impersonal."

"We do precisely that in our military missions during combat—only in combat, though. We use our full names during leisure time," Haneya responded, apparently understanding the practicality of shortening names.

"We shorten names during leisure time too. Like Jim over there—we shortened it from Jimmy. Instead of Captain Armstrong, you could also simply call me Captain," I said, trying to make small talk. "So, about the enemies?"

"We could eradicate them, yes, but remember you only have fifty rounds. There are likely more Anathema coming our way," Haneya cautioned.

"Is this how Zenith wages war?" I asked as I watched the screen. Our Magical Girls were engaging the hostiles. Those who could fly were tasked with clearing the Anathema below, while others shot at the flying ones. It was rare for Magical Guardians to face hundreds or thousands of enemies at once. They happened, but very rarely. Guardians have AOE spells. If the enemies are bunched together, annihilating them would be easier.

"Some Anathema favor quantity over quality, so mass attacks like this happen often. However, precautions must be taken. Some Anathema will be significantly higher level than the rest in a crowd. They aren't homogenous. The familiars will connect to Agneya's memory and assess whether the Anathema they're facing are high-level or not. We also have a miasma detector onboard, which will provide us with a rough estimate of an unknown Anathema's strength," Haneya explained.

"So, this is a common occurrence on other battlefronts?"

"Yes. We're entering the 'push' phase of Anathema's invasion. The invasion is generally divided into four phases: descent, push, usurpation, and finally, conquest."

"If we destroy the gate…"

"It will delay the push."

"Only delay it, huh…" I sighed.

"It will buy Zenith precious decades."

"Can we win? Has Zenith ever won against Anathema before?" I had asked this question countless times, and the answer was always the same. The Zenith Alliance currently has 50 systems bordering anathema worlds. Of those, three have successfully resisted the Anathema, while 25 have retreated. Anathema invasions can last centuries, sometimes even millennia. We've barely held on for 30 years—how could we possibly endure for hundreds more?

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"It won't be easy. But according to Zenith's records, there are civilizations that have withstood Anathema's conquest. And, by the way, you are part of Zenith too. Our world is called Umbra, and our civilization is known as the Lameyans."

"Sorry, but humanity always thought Zenith was some kind of friendly outsider."

"Zenith is an alliance formed to fight Anathema, an existential threat to all sentient beings. So technically, humanity is the newest member of Zenith."

"If we survive this…" I muttered.

"If humanity doesn't survive, there's always the Ark Project. Though I admit, humanity is in a tough spot."

"Don't ever mention that word again. We must survive. This is our home." I glared at Haneya. The very mention of the Ark Project sent chills down my spine. The Ark Project would send a mere one million humans to a Zenith world, leaving the rest to perish. Thankfully, the project was only known to Guardians and me.

If it leaked to the conglomerates, they'd undoubtedly betray humanity just to save themselves. Guardians agreed with me, and with Pink Heart's assistance, we convinced Zenith to make the project classified information.

"The Anathema's pressure has weakened, sir," one of my staff reported with a salute. Even though we had been chatting, my eyes never left the huge monitor on the bridge. With Pink Heart and Issen here, there was no way we could lose to a bunch of D or C rank Anathema. I hadn't issued any orders because I wanted our lower-level Magical Girls to grow. This was a rare opportunity. If everything went according to plan, we could upgrade over a thousand low-ranked Guardians to D rank or even C rank by the end of this operation.

"Alright! The coast is clear! Charge!" Issen leaped into the command room, ordering the advance. The staff glanced at me cautiously, and I nodded. We needed to reach the designated point as quickly as possible.

"Were there any wounded, Issen?" I asked. He was beside me, but his familiar should have more information than I did. Familiars are connected to all MG in this ship. Rather than looking at my monitor, it would be faster to ask a Guardian.

"Just a few reckless Guardians. A simple gum or magic from the blue boys and girls will patch them up. No need to worry," Issen replied dismissively, waving me off. I sighed.

Pink Heart returned an hour later, reporting that they had found some cursed seeds on the ground. After the other Magical Girls destroyed them, she returned to the ship.

"How could you order the ship to move without us? Some of the Magical Girls' flight abilities are slower than Agneya's, you know. Do you want me to waste mana picking them all up?" Pink Heart complained. As usual, she clashed with Issen like water and oil. I ignored them and left for lunch.

"General Armstrong!" Shining Arrow intercepted me, a sniper rifle strapped to her back. "I heard from Wan-nyan that you found Lily?"

"Yes. We received her coordinates through an SOS signal. She's about 200 kilometers from New Soil," I confirmed. This is why humanity often has trouble with Zenith—they frequently share unrelated information with other parties.

"I see. When will the rescue team reach her? Is she okay?"

"We'll rescue them after we destroy the gate. Sorry, but we can't spare the manpower right now," I replied.

"No way! How can you leave Lily there for weeks—maybe months? Can't we save her first?"

"She survived. And from the SOS she sent, she didn't seem to be in any immediate distress. I'm sorry, but the gate comes first. I also can't allow you to go after her alone. You'd need an A-rank Guardian to escort you for any pickup in the Darklands. There could be wandering aberrants there."

"Couldn't we pick them up stealthily? I remember that Yellow Ninja, um... Ah! Shadow of Light has unique skills, right?"

"No. I'm afraid the situation is more complicated than that. It might be possible if Black Lily was alone, but she's with fifteen other civilians. We need to save them all. If they get surrounded, the people Black Lily is trying to protect could be harmed."

"Wait, there are humans there? Did we miss someone from New Soil?" Shining Arrow looked at her sides. A unique gesture that usually meant she was conversing with her familiar.

"No, they're exiles from a long time ago. I plan to petition the UNH to pardon their crimes. We need to save their lives. Because of that, Lily will have to manage on her own for several weeks."

"No way..." Shining Arrow, realizing she couldn't get her way, finally relented. However, she sulked as she left. Afterward, Serene Night came in.

"Is this about Black Lily?" I asked.

"Yes."

"The gate comes first. Once we destroy it, this ship will pick her up, along with the fifteen exiles she's trying to save. I promise," I sighed.

"May I ask about these exiles? This is the first I've heard of them," Serene inquired.

"Hm? Exiles are criminals who've caused tremendous harm to us. The last time we exiled anyone was several years ago, against Salemni Corp. It'll likely happen again soon, given the hundreds of Guardians we lost at New Lake and New Hill," I sighed again. Even at this very moment, demonstrations are occurring in Eden and other sanctuary cities for the loss of New Lake and New Hill. The mayor and executives fled by themselves, leaving thousands and almost a hundred Guardians to die. An international and public court procession was already scheduled for this event.

With the failure of the frontier project, the only thing that can help us recover is this girl. I glanced at Serene and sighed once more. "You're still rank D, right, Serene? If... if you were to rank up a bit higher... maybe..."

"Hm?"

"Never mind. The gate comes first. You've worked hard. Return to your post or rest in your dormitory," I said as I walked away. My desire to save Lily had almost gotten the better of me. I was about to ask them to sneak onto a plane and rescue her. That was foolish. We need to save all fifteen of them. The only way to do that is by sending a sufficiently large aircraft, either powered by the magic of a Magical Girl or fuel that can be bought using gate points.

"We are under attack!" one of the staff reported the next day. We had reached the outer perimeter of the coordinates Zenith gave us. The floor rattled as we were hit by a sniping-type Anathema. Pink Heart, the workaholic she was, had already deployed. Through her familiar, I could see the monster attacking us. This time, the Anathema looked like a snake, with a charcoal-black body streaked with glowing red lines, like molten lava. Stonewall's familiar identified it as a level 125 Anathema, Spitfire.

"A rank B anathema, huh?" Stonewall muttered. "Pink Heart might be overkill for it. Do we have any flight-capable MGs that match its rank?"

"No time for that. We need to reach the coordinates." I looked out at the Sierra Nevada, its beauty unchanged despite the cataclysm that had befallen humanity. It was a shame we'd have to destroy part of it.

"Anathema sighted. Several rank D and E flying Anathema are in range," one of the staff reported.

"Call the MGs with level parity plus one. Let them farm points," I ordered. Level parity plus one meant we called all Magical Girls from C rank and below to engage the D and E rank Anathema.

"Sorry, girls, but it looks like you're working overtime," I muttered, turning my gaze back to the Sierra Nevada, searching for a suitable spot to set up our Magitech Drillcore.