The entire mountain was burning.
The green forests that once covered the slopes surrounding Chihaya Castle had become an ocean of fire and black smoke. Trees burst apart beneath showers of sparks while endless gunfire echoed through the cliffs.
The Bolcabuz roared.
Every shot illuminated the battlefield for a brief instant: screaming men, collapsing bodies, mud mixed with blood, and flames dragged by the wind.
At the top of the slanted walls, the imperial commissar raised a white flag marked with a red circle while speaking through the loudspeaker hanging from his neck.
—Hold the line, sons of the rising sun! Do not let the Akuma forces reach the summit!
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
—The Dai Nippon Teikoku shall never kneel before evil! The great Tennō watches this battle from the Chrysanthemum Throne itself! So keep firing!
—YEEEEEEEEES!!!
The collective roar shook the fortress.
Imperial soldiers pulled the triggers of their Bolcabuz rifles, heavy weapons whose explosive rounds tore through rotten flesh and sent pillars of scorched dirt into the air.
But the enemy kept advancing.
Moans.
Roars.
Bones snapping.
The dead marched uphill.
Some had half their torsos missing. Others dragged charred legs through the flames.
Still, they climbed.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Unstoppably.
Many carried stolen Bolcabuz rifles of their own. Their dead fingers fired wildly whenever fragments of memory briefly returned to their decayed minds.
It was a war of attrition.
Humans armed with elevation, discipline, tactics, and technology…
against corpses that knew neither fear nor pain.
And beneath the blazing midday sun, the Empire refused to fall.
—Tengu Commandos… now!
The order rang from the walls.
Then the sky exploded into fire.
Men and women leapt from the slanted battlements, jet packs roaring behind their backs. Blue flames erupted from their engines as they soared above the smoke-covered battlefield.
The Tengu Commandos.
From the air, they unleashed volleys from their plasma guns, burning glowing holes through the undead before crashing directly into the horde below.
Shock Naginatas ignited.
Every blade hummed with raw electricity.
Each swing severed limbs and charred rotten flesh instantly. Arms flew through the air. Heads rolled down the slope wrapped in sparks.
The balance of the battle began to shift.
Far behind the undead army, something watched.
A floating sphere of twisted flesh.
Human faces protruded from the pulsing mass, eyes opening and closing while stitched mouths whispered endlessly to one another.
The Zombie Devil.
—I thought they would fall faster…
Its voice sounded disappointed.
The corpses continued advancing, yet none reached the summit.
Then another voice spoke behind it.
—You're losing.
One of the eyes embedded in the back of the creature slowly turned.
It saw her.
Blonde hair with dark roots.
Red eyes slit like a serpent's.
Sawatari Akane.
The young woman stood motionless, calmly observing the battle. The Zombie Devil recognized her presence… and the scent of the demonic contract she carried.
—I want more strength, —the creature muttered.— More weapons. More troops.
Akane remained silent for several seconds.
Forty thousand undead apparently were not enough.
Not even with the Bolcabuz weapons born from the Gun Devil's power.
But eventually, she smiled.
Her employer wanted this creature to win.
And she would obey.
—Bring him.
Several hooded figures bowed before vanishing into the smoke.
They returned shortly afterward.
Dragging behind them was a coffin wrapped in chains and covered in cloth filled with sealing symbols.
Even the air itself grew heavier around it.
Akane and the Zombie Devil slowly removed the chains.
When the lid finally fell open…
a naked young man lay inside.
Blond.
Thin.
Asleep.
His body trembled beneath the heat of the battlefield.
Akane extended her hand toward him.
Then she grabbed the thread emerging from his chest.
And pulled.
An engine roared.
The boy's body arched violently.
His skin began tearing apart.
Flesh split open like a cocoon.
And something emerged from within.
Metal.
Steel.
Blood.
A two-meter-tall creature crawled out from the human shell while chains lined with black metallic teeth dangled from its arms. Three chainsaws screamed to life: one on each arm and another protruding from its head.
The stench of burning oil and fresh blood filled the air.
Akane immediately stepped backward.
Demons were never true allies.
Only tools.
And that thing…
that thing was terrifying.
The monster slowly lifted its head.
It did not understand where it was.
But it could smell everything.
Smoke.
Iron.
Meat.
Blood.
And above all else…
humans.
Thousands of them.
Their souls shined brightly.
Calling to it.
The Zombie Devil smiled.
Flesh tendrils burst from its body and lashed toward the steel creature.
They sought to corrupt it.
To turn it into another puppet.
But the demon roared.
The chainsaws screamed.
And the tendrils were shredded before they could even touch it.
The chains carved through rotten flesh in a storm of black gore.
Then came the scream.
A monstrous shriek echoed across the mountain.
And afterward…
silence.
The zombies continued marching, but there was no longer any will guiding them.
They wandered aimlessly.
Like sheep without a shepherd.
Imperial soldiers began to smile.
Hope.
For the first time in hours…
hope.
Then the hill trembled.
Something enormous moved through the flames.
The demon emerged.
It tore through entire groups of zombies like paper dolls. A Tengu Commando descended from the sky to intercept it…
and vanished.
The chainsaw on its left arm devoured him midair.
Blood exploded across the monster.
And it felt ecstasy.
For a moment, it became lighter.
Faster.
Stronger.
Addictive.
But the sensation faded quickly.
It needed more.
Much more.
It continued forward while hundreds of bullets struck its steel body like rain hammering a tin roof.
—Fire the Orochis!
The towers reacted instantly.
Massive eight-barreled cannons rotated from the walls and unleashed a deafening barrage.
The impacts did not pierce the demon's steel hide…
but they pushed it backward.
The monster dug its feet into the mud while its engines roared furiously, releasing endless black smoke.
—To think a great demon would appear here…
The commissar clenched his teeth.
Then came the worst moment.
—Reloading!
Five seconds.
Only five.
But it was enough.
The demon smashed through the slanted wall in a brutal collision.
Stone and steel exploded outward.
For the first time…
the Empire's first defensive line had fallen.
The soldiers tried to stop it with bayonet charges.
Useless.
The chainsaws tore them apart.
Imperial blood flooded the burning mud.
—Orochi batteries, fire!
No one responded.
Too many allies were near the creature.
Finally, one tower opened fire.
A crimson line of shells ripped through earth, zombies… and imperial soldiers alike.
Then another tower joined in.
The demon endured both attacks.
And kept advancing.
Straight ahead.
Unstoppable.
—Stop it!
Captain Furuno descended from the sky with his Shock Naginata crackling with electricity.
The first strike accomplished nothing.
The second left a mark.
Then the others arrived.
Thirty Tengu Commandos surrounded the creature, unleashing relentless electric strikes.
Steel groaned.
The demon felt pain.
And smiled.
An instant later…
half the Tengu no longer existed.
Furuno leapt backward in horror.
His right arm was gone.
He had not even noticed when he lost it.
Below, amid smoke and blood, the creature slowly raised its head toward him.
The chainsaws still spun.
Hungry.
Then the commissar spoke once more.
—Kobeni… your turn.
A trembling young woman stepped forward among the soldiers.
Higashiyama Kobeni.
The youngest of the Tengu Commandos.
The only Onmyōji in the battalion.
Sweat streamed down her face as she pointed nervously at herself with shaking fingers.
—I-I… m-me… me…