Since ancient times, fire has been the symbol of civilization.

The world was full of gods, giants, and monsters. Among them, humans were far too weak. All they could do was be helplessly exploited.

Only a specific few chosen humans could resist external pressure, but most humans could not. Potential was given only to a few.

Humans are weak. Humans have neither outstanding physical strength, physical abilities, teeth, nor claws. They cannot even fight against a single wild beast in the forest.

The first thing given to such humans was fire.

Fire was brilliant, hot, and powerful. Though its destruction does not discriminate against its user, humans saw possibility in fire. Even if they themselves were to burn, they would survive with this.

Thus humans began to kindle fire, use fire, and handle fire.

They learned or stole methods of using fire from dwarves who handled iron with fire. By hunting monsters that breathed fire, they seized and mastered their fire.

Humans lit fires to boil water and turned turbines with that steam. More fire meant more energy. More energy meant a more brilliant civilization.

Fire became their weapon and the foundation of progress.

Though they say we now live in the age of steam, in truth, they are living in the age of fire just the same as they always have, from past to present.

And now the most destructive application of fire that humanity has mastered was unfolding in District 44.

KWAAAAANG!

The ground is dyed with flames from bombardment pouring down from the sky. Buildings exploded and debris scattered, red flames bloomed like a single flower. The intense heat caused building pillars and exteriors to melt and flow down limply, touching nearby gas pipes and causing chain explosions.

Debris scattered in all directions along with the shockwave. Citizens far away were swept up in the impact and collapsed like bowling pins.

"Ahhhhh! S-save me!"

"Th-they're crazy! They're trying to kill us all!"

Citizens fell into panic as the bombing began. Some couldn't speak properly. Beside them lay someone who had been moving with them just moments ago, now a corpse.

The corpse caught in the bombing had half its body burned black. Some couldn't even see their arms or legs, unable to withstand the explosion's shockwave.

No matter how much they were lower-class citizens who had lived in the harsh environment of Tirna, this was the first time they had seen such direct traces of destruction with their own eyes.

"S-save me! I don't want to die!"

"Y-you! You people! It's because of you! If only you weren't here!"

Some begged to be saved as usual, while others grabbed the Liberation Army by the collar and vented their resentment. The Liberation Army was equally flustered. They had launched bombing immediately without any warning while people were gathered like this.

[Report! B-34th street has collapsed from bombing!]

[We have multiple casualties here! Requesting support!]

[Shit! Shit! Jimmy's dead!]

Flames and smoke rose from everywhere. People's screams, shouts, and despair mixed together in chaos.

[Everyone snap to attention! Their attack hasn't stopped yet!]

Dominic's roar came through the radio. The Liberation Army immediately pulled themselves together. Those who had flowed into Tirna were already veterans who had experienced war multiple times.

"Everyone get your heads straight and move! If we stay here, we'll all die!"

"Take shelter underground! Find a sewer and get in!"

Some evacuated citizens while others aimed their respective weapons at the airships floating in the sky.

RATATATATANG!

Gun barrels spat fire and shot up retaliatory fire. Bullets shot from the ground aimed at the airships. Most bullets didn't reach the airships.

TITITITING!

Even the bullets that did reach bounced off without penetrating the airships' armor. Though called escort ships, they were military weapons with powerful firepower in themselves. With the Liberation Army's poor means of attack, even scratching them wasn't easy.

However, if they had been pushed back in just this situation, the Liberation Army wouldn't have gained their notorious reputation for nothing.

KWAAANG!

A huge explosion occurred on one escort ship. The crew members who had been intoxicated with overwhelming superiority panicked.

"What happened!"

"Counter-attack from the ground! Among them are those capable of high firepower, long-range projection!"

"So the Liberation Army is the Liberation Army after all. What's the aircraft's condition?"

"Cannons 13, 24, 25 unusable! Everything else is fine!"

"Calculate the direction the attack came from in reverse. Don't worry about the others, focus bombing on the dangerous ones."

The crew quickly carried out the captain's orders. Dominic, who had extended his prosthetic arm transformed into a cannon, gritted his teeth.

"Damn it all."

His artificial eye clearly captured the escort ship's movements. He could see the escort ship's gun barrel aiming this way.

He had launched as strong an attack as possible, but instead it was like stirring up a hornet's nest. However, with this, he could concentrate the enemies' firepower here.

"Clara!"

When Dominic shouted, light flashed and a mutant girl with freckles and red hair appeared. As soon as she hugged Dominic, she activated her psychic ability and disappeared from the spot with spatial movement.

Immediately after, concentrated bombing poured down on the spot where Dominic had been.

KWAAAAANG!

The concentrated firepower caused a chain reaction and exploded. Black flames shooting high into the sky and a terrifying shockwave of heat spread out.

Dominic, who reappeared at maximum safe distance, felt his spine go cold.

"Clara. Please. We need to draw their attention. I know it's dangerous, but there's no one else I can ask besides you."

"...Alright. I'll give it a try. But you know, right? If things go wrong, I'm getting out first."

"Of course."

Dominic raised his prosthetic arm that had transformed into a cannon.

THWOOM! BANG!

An explosion occurred on one escort ship. His battle was just beginning.

KWAAANG! At the earth-shaking impact, Greta hugged her younger siblings.

"Sister."

"I-I'm scared."

"Don't worry, kids. Sister will protect you."

Though Greta said that, she couldn't help her trembling hands either.

"Kids, hurry this way!"

A Liberation Army member urged Greta and the children. He was in the middle of evacuating the children to a shelter at Lukai's request.

Greta tried to lead her siblings by the hand and hurry them to move. However, the siblings seemed frozen from the earlier bombing and wouldn't move.

"Kids, we have to move quickly! If we stay like this, we'll all die!"

The moment the Liberation Army member leading the way shouted that. SWIIING!

With a sound cutting through the air, an explosion occurred where the member had been standing. KWANG! With a blinding flash, heat waves spread in concentric circles. Debris from the shattered ground scattered in all directions. Greta unconsciously covered her face with both hands.

Her hat flew off from the shockwave, revealing her hair.

"Ah."

Greta was speechless. Where the Liberation Army member who had been guiding them stood, only black explosion marks and crimson flames remained.

"Ah, uh. A person died..."

Greta's lips trembled. She nearly collapsed as strength left her legs. A person had died before her eyes and without even leaving a trace.

The only thing that kept her going was the small warmth behind her back that was trembling even more severely than herself.

But what should she do? What could she do to escape from here?

'In the first place, is it even possible to survive?'

It didn't matter how many people were inside. Tirna City had abandoned them. They were full of thoughts to clean the entire district.

She had lived desperately to survive in the abandoned district. While looking at siblings in similar circumstances to herself, she had endured in this damn cesspit.

She had even met someone like a knight on a white horse from fairy tales. With his help, she thought they could escape this place and live at least like human beings.

'Aren't we even given such an opportunity?'

Tears seemed ready to overflow. Though she had tried to act strong until now, that mask was stripped away in an instant. But still, Greta didn't shed tears because her siblings were watching. Right now in this place, she was the only one who could protect her siblings.

KWAAANG!

Explosions occurred everywhere. Though the firepower and frequency had decreased compared to the initial volley, it was still threatening.

Some of those explosions even occurred nearby. There was an overwhelming fear that a shell might fall right here if things went slightly wrong.

Greta squeezed her eyes shut.

'Please, someone help us.'

She felt small hands gripping her clothes beside her. Greta opened her closed eyes and looked back at her siblings. The siblings who had been covered in tears were staring blankly in one direction.

Naturally, Greta's gaze also turned toward that place.

"Ah."

Greta unconsciously let out an exclamation. That was the only reaction someone who had seen the sun rising from the ground could show.

What had the brilliantly rising sun on its back was a knight. A knight in golden armor that inspired reverence just by looking at him reached his hand toward the sun.

SWOOSH.

The knight who drew a sword from the sun's ring threw it toward the escort ship in the sky. The process was as natural as flowing water.

FLASH! A golden flash shot up toward the sky, cutting through the night sky.

KWAAAANG! A golden explosion occurred in the sky. An escort ship caught in it was seen falling while spewing smoke. That spectacle was seen not only by Greta, but also by other Liberation Army members scattered throughout District 44.

"What is this...?"

Even Lukai, who had been evacuating citizens while giving orders, was momentarily speechless. Such a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.

An individual had shot down an escort ship. It was a feat that only high-ranking mages could perform.

Escort ships are the military's most important weapons. Naturally, they're loaded with all sorts of defensive elements to prepare for external attacks. Physical impact is naturally handled by sturdy armor, and anti-magic barriers also existed.

The solar straight sword that Osian threw broke through all those defensive elements and struck the warship directly.

"What happened! Report properly!"

"Escort ship 3 shot down! Altitude decreasing! Ground, interception from the ground!"

"Interception? The Liberation Army in District 44 has that? No, more than that, what happened to the escort ship's active defense system!" "A-all are constantly active! Despite that, shot down. Firepower sufficient to neutralize all defense systems!"

Chaos erupted in the escort ship command as well. One escort ship had been shot down with a single blow. The airship that Tirna City government and military had spent enormous sums to create falling in one strike was something that wounded pride beyond the physical.

The escort ship's exterior wasn't greatly damaged and casualties among the crew weren't severe. However, the systems were comprehensively broken, making withdrawal from the operation area inevitable.

"Whose doing was that attack just now? Find out immediately!"

There was no need for the commander to shout like that. In District 44 visible at a glance below, there was one area shining with bizarre brilliance.

Though fires had broken out everywhere from a single round of bombing, there was one light burning more intensely than such flames. Yes. It was like the sun.

"Center of District 44! Powerful heat source detected! Th-this is..."

The crew member who checked the data trembled.

"Same as the surface temperature of the sun!"

"What?"

Before the commander could ask what that meant.

"Intense energy generation from heat source!"

“Second attack. It's coming!"

"What? What are you doing! Evasion! Evade immediately!"

The commander's judgment was accurate. If they had tried to maximize defensive output here, they would have lost another warship.

SWIIIIING!

One golden beam of light cut through the night sky again. The escort ship that received evasion orders barely managed to escape from that trajectory. However, due to being grazed, part of the airship's external armor was glowing red hot.

WHIIIIING!

With warning sounds inside the airship, crew members moved with fire extinguishers.

The captain of that escort ship felt his spine go cold.

"Shield melted down! Estimated time for recovery: 4 hours 15 minutes!"

"All port cannons unusable! Fire has also broken out inside!"

Not even a direct hit but just grazed, and this was the result. They had nearly caused consequences the same as escort ship 3, or even more serious.

"This is Captain of Ship 5. Commander, continuing operations is currently difficult. Permission to withdraw."

[...Permission granted.]

Fortunately, the power source was intact, so escort ship 5 quickly withdrew from position. If they had tried to forcibly continue operations in this state, it was a dangerous situation where the explosives in the hangar might blow up in reverse.

Osian, who was watching that scene, clicked his tongue.

He wasn't satisfied with shooting down a warship with the first attack either, but he hadn't expected them to desperately try to evade the second attack.

In the case of the fortress, it was easy to target because it had no mobility whatsoever befitting its huge bulk, but escort ships were a different story.

Despite having that much firepower, their mobility was ridiculous, probably due to cutting-edge magical engineering being incorporated. The rapid lateral maneuver that shook the aircraft for a moment was probably thanks to magical power.

Because of that, shooting down the second target failed.

"Still, I succeeded in drawing attention."

He could feel their killing intent concentrating toward him. Though he would like to shoot down all of them, what he had to do was a defensive battle.

They're coming. Osian greatly enlarged the solar ring behind his back.

The solar ring spewed intense solar energy and surrounded the surrounding area with an intense high-heat barrier.

PUBUBUBUBANG!

The subsequent bombing that poured down collided with the power of the solar ring and decorated the sky like colorful fireworks.