The Golden Gravekeeper - 125 Chapter 125

After the meeting with the god and goddesses, I returned to my tent to sleep off the rest of the night. The reward from Mirriel wasn’t something I could carry along, and was instead granted to something else, so I left it to the rest of my army.

What? You were expecting me to reveal it here? Fat chance. I’m going to keep all the existences beyond the fourth wall in suspense. If I was feeling particularly cruel I could just drop the story here or go on a super-long hiatus because there were plenty of readers who stopped following this story or were giving me 0.5 ratings for the past two months. I was literally losing 10 readers a day and getting a daily 0.5 rating (yes, apparently one person per day thought my story was 0.5 standard). I was losing the motivation to take revenge on Kobayashi because of that. Maybe I should just drop off and disappear from the Internet.

Anyway, the next thing I knew, Jurgen was shaking me awake.

“Time to get up, boss.”

I sat up groggily and glanced around. Thanks to that bitch Evelyn, I didn’t get enough sleep because I had to entertain her nonsense. Stifling a yawn, I nodded wearily.

“All right, Jurgen. I’m up. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Very good, sir,” Jurgen replied in a phlegmatic tone. I stared at him.

“Why are you talking like that?”

“Because I’m named Jurgen, and I’m also your aide.”

“I’m not a Commissar, though?!”

“You’re a Colonel-Commissar now.”

“I’m just a Colonel!”

I gave up. Wait, didn’t this mean Jurgen actually read the Ciaphas Cain series too? That was awesome. I wondered how he managed to get his hand on that awesome bunch of novels. Then again, the Black Library existed in all realms.

After Jurgen left the tent, I washed up and took a swig of Sacra. No, my mistake. It was the bitter tanna tea that Jurgen brewed for me. Apparently it was a popular beverage in the icy village of his hometown of Valhalla, the domain that Lieutenant Daniel Dressia’s father, Baron Dressia, ruled over. Come to think of it, the tankers of Company T seemed to love tanna.

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“Atlantea-san? What are you doing here?”

I was astonished to see a civilian in the midst. She cocked her head, and then bowed slightly.

“My father and the rest of the male villagers have been safely escorted back to our village. Since we’ve arrived on shore, I thought I would drop by and properly express our thanks.”

“The people you should thank are my men…especially the soldiers on the Marrina Isles.”

As much as I wanted to point out that Company T and the armored squadron of tanks didn’t actually do anything to help with the naval battle, I didn’t want to embarrass my men or make them feel bad. My job as a commander was to keep morale up, but I knew they wouldn’t want credit for what they didn’t do anyway.

“We have already thanked them.” Atlantea smiled faintly. “I also heard that you received a blessing from our goddess, Mirriel-sama. Congratulations.”

So the news had spread pretty far by now. I rubbed my head, embarrassed and nodded.

“I’m sure it’ll be a massive help in the final battle against Kobayashi.” Raising my hand, I shouted to my men. “Death to the False Emperor!”

“Death to the False Emperor!” they echoed similarly. Atlantea raised an eyebrow at that.

“So you’re renegades and heretics now?”

“No, we’re demons. We’ve been tainted by the Warp.”

Atlantea laughed softly. “The sad thing is that, even if that’s true, you’ll still be much better than the nightmarish tyrant who proclaims himself as the Emperor of Humanity.”

Unlike the noble Imperium, whose atrocities were committed for the sake of preserving humanity and saving the million worlds under human dominion from extinction and fates far worse than death, Kobayashi was ruling over the human kingdoms for his own selfish greed and ambition. He reveled in death and suffering for the fun of it, because he enjoyed torturing people, and not out of necessity.

That made him a true evil.

Ironically enough, Atlantea had a great point. This story was getting ridiculous when demons had to save humans from their own tyrannical emperor. What kind of fucking isekai story had demons saving humans from their emperor instead of actually…you know, doing demonic things like conquering the world or pillaging villages or raping women or murdering men or something? In this weird, absurd universe, the humans had turned into some evil genocidal brainwashed villains and the demons became the good guys fighting for survival and to liberate the few good humans left resisting the tyrannical rule of the Emperor of Humanity.

The whole thing just boggled my mind.

“I’m also here to thank you for slaying that so-called hero, Mizuno Umi, and for ridding the ocean of the menace that was her Leviathan.”

Again, it was completely ludicrous that the humans were actually celebrating the demise of their supposed heroes. Actually, it was presposterous that the heroes were actually abusing the humans that they were supposed to save from the demon lord, and were in fact treating them worse than the demons ever did.

This was just so weird.

“Um, okay. You’re welcome. I didn’t do much, though. Again, most of the credit goes to my men, who fought valiantly…”

“Aw, give yourself some credit, boss!”

Jurgen interrupted me.

“We weren’t there! You’re the one who took out the Leviathan with that crazy dragon zombie of yours! And you’re the one who personally slew the Evelyn’s Chosen! Not us!”

“Uh, right. Okay then.”

Not one to contradict my men, I decided to leave it at that. Satisfied, Atlantea bowed one last time.

“I’m also here to assure you that when the time, the people of the Marrina Isles will take up arms and fight alongside you. Never again will we allow ourselves to be oppressed by the likes of so-called heroes. We will definitely repay this debt. When the time comes to strike at the self-proclaimed Emperor of Humanity, we will be there.”

“Okay. I’ll be counting on you. In fact, I already have your people manning the Marrina fleet and navy. You’ll certainly be a great help.”

Atlantea slammed a fist against her chest in some sort of Marrina salute and stood proudly.

“We’ll be honored to fight alongside you, Colonel!”

With that, she left the command tent. I glanced at my commanders and they all grinned.

“Not bad, Colonel.”

“You’re doing great, sir.”

“Congrats, boss.”

“…what the hell are you guys trying to say?”

I glared at them suspiciously, but they merely snickered. Well, if they thought this was going to be some sort of harem development, they were dead wrong. For one thing, I wasn’t going to suck ambrosia from the breasts of women to turn into a god-warrior or whatever Kai turned into. And for another, I probably wouldn’t see Atlantea again.

Shaking my head, I decided to return to topic.

“Anyway, what’s the news from Helsfort? How long till our reinforcements reach us?”

“They’ll be here within the hour, boss,” Jurgen told me.

“Thanks.” I adjusted my glasses and smiled to myself at the thought of an entire tank battalion under my command. I was finally able to play the armored army I always wanted to play in Warhammer 40,000. It did irk me that I wouldn’t be able to get many Command Points from using the Spearhead Detachment that comprised solely of Malthas tank squadrons and a single super-heavy auxiliary detachment containing the Hellblade, but I didn’t have any Stratagems to spend those Command Points on anyway. “Let’s make sure we’ll be there to greet them when they arrive.”

However, before that, I had an announcement to make. Before my officers could turn and leave the tent, I quickly gestured for them to remain seated.

“Before that, I need to tell you guys something.”

“What is it, sir?”

Daniel looked a little nervous while Jurgen seemed impatient.

“Don’t tell me you secretly got married without inviting us to your wedding, boss.”

I glared at him. That joke wasn’t funny. Shaking my head, I moved on.

“Ideally, I wanted to do this when everyone is here, but because of time restrictions and circumstances, I can’t. But I’ll just let you guys know. I’ve informed you yesterday about the reinforcements our battalion is receiving, right?”

“That’s right, sir.” Daniel nodded. Ever the serious and earnest officer. I knew I made the right choice.

Beaming, I pointed at him.

“You’re now Major Daniel Dressia.”

“Eh…what?”

Daniel stared at me blankly.

“I’ll have to make huge changes to the command structure, now that we’ve got additional reinforcements and companies. So you, Benjamin Burado and Elia Kratz will be promoted to majors. Jurgen, since you’re the commander of Savior of Moria, the only super-heavy tank in our company, you’re a Lieutenant. Sergeant Michael Marko will be 1st Warrant Officer Marko and he’ll be regimental sergeant major. I’m going to inform them of this through communication devices later, but that’s the gist of it. Since you guys are the senior commanders in this battalion, now that we’re expanding into a regiment, it’s only natural you’ll be promoted.”

“I…thank you, sir.”

Daniel was speechless. As for Jurgen, he had a sour expression on his face.

“I don’t want to be no officer, boss.”

I shrugged. “Well, you don’t have a choice, Jurgen. Not unless you want to give up commanding the Savior of Moria.”

Jurgen’s expression told me that he hated that option more, so he shut up and stuck with it.

“Anyway, I’ve notified his Excellency Emperor Regis, and he has given his approval. The promotions begin effectively today.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Okay, boss.”

One sounded enthusiastic and the other sounded sullen. Well, I couldn’t please everybody. My soldiers were just like readers. Some of them would utterly abhor the stuff that other readers loved, to the point they spammed 0.5 ratings.

More importantly, it was time to move out. After dismissing my tank commanders, I went about notifying Elia, Benjamin and the others of their new ranks. I savored their shock before switching off my smartphone and returning to my current duties.

The tank battalion will be here soon.

As Jurgen said, the tanks showed up within the hour, kicking up a cloud of dust as they drove toward us. Their plasma generators coughed out fumes of superheated steam that shrouded the armored squadrons in wisps of cover that would confuse the heat-tracking sensors of any anti-tank missile launcher. Now that was a cool feature.

“They’re here!”

Daniel Dressia was pretty excited. He, along with Jurgen, was waiting with me at the edge of the tent. As the senior officer of Company T and my current second-in-command now that Captain Elia Kratz was overseeing the situation in the Marrina Isles and helping quell rebellions and dissenters while Aoyama went about his work of removing the brainwashing effects of Kobayashi’s Kingly Disposition, he was obligated to welcome our fresh reinforcements.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

I let out a low whistle (or I attempted to whistle anyway, and failed miserably). Regis had kept his work. There were literally over a hundred Malthas tanks rolling toward us, making up the seven armored companies. Between the armored phalanx and rearguard was a small convoy of Cerberus APCs, which no doubt carried the soldiers of the two infantry battalions.

There was also a gigantic transport vehicle that was neither a tank nor an APC but just as heavily armored. It was shaking and rumbling loudly in the middle of the convoy, escorted by both armor and mechanized infantry.

That was most likely the surprise that Regis said he had in store for me. I wondered what it was. Well, I would find out soon. In the next hour or so, from the looks of it.

The tanks crawled to a stop in front of us, and a tank commander popped up in his cupola.

“Colonel Tanaka! 1,087th Magna Regiment, reporting for duty!”

I nodded and noted the stripes on his uniform.

“At ease, Captain. It’s been a long ride. Have your men all disembark and rest. I’ll get my tech-priest enginseer crews to tend to your vehicles.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Oh, right. And introductions are in order. As you probably know, I’m Colonel Tomoyuki Tanaka, the current commanding officer of the 1,087th Magna Regiment. This is my senior officer, Major Daniel Dressia. My second-in-command, Major Elia Kratz, and other senior officer, Major Benjamin Burado, are currently overseeing the situation in the Marrina Isles, but when conditions permit, I’ll properly introduce you to them.”

“Yes, sir! Captain Oskar Wulfe, reporting for duty! Overall commander of the 7th tank companies assigned to your regiment, sir!”

I smiled broadly. “Welcome, Captain Wulfe. Your men and you will be a very welcome addition to our uh…understaffed ranks.”

“It’s an honor to serve under you, Colonel.”

Wulfe bowed. And then he turned to thee huge armored transport in the center of the convoy and gestured for the crew to open.

“Um, sir, under orders from his Excellency Emperor Regis himself, we are to give this to you.”

“What’s that?”

I couldn’t help but stare expectantly at the transport, its hatches unfolding and slamming down to reveal the contents within. My jaw dropped when I swa what was inside.

“That’s…!”

It was a golem. Not just any golem, mind you. It was the Golem that was salvaged and brought back to Helsfort after I defeated Count Raum. It was the very Golem that Raum had piloted, now repaired and restored to its former glory.

“His excellency did say that you’ll be pleased.” Captain Wulfe grinned. “The tech-priests in the forges of Helsfort have finally repaired the Golem and it has been assigned to our regiment. The great Demon Lord said you’ll know how best to make use of it.”

“Praise the Emperor,” I mumbled, still in awe. Well, the Golem still had some ways to go when compared to my Matsukaze MKIII, but it outclassed any other vehicle or walker that both the human and demon armies possessed.

The Golem stepped off the transport gracefully, only to bend its knee and kneel to me. The cockpit open, and a masked pilot emerged. Bowing dramatically, he displayed an enigmatic smile.

“It’s an honor, Colonel Tanaka.” He raised his head. “Lieutenant Char Aznable, at your service. I received the privilege of being assigned as the pilot of this Golem.”

“Well met, Lieutenant.” I returned the greeting with a nod. “I’ll be relying on you from now on.”

…

Wait, what? Did the guy just say his name was Char Aznable?

Not only was he wearing a mask that concealed his eyes and half his face, he had long blond hair and a red uniform. That was just…

“Um, do you mind taking off your mask?”

“I’m afraid not.” Char maintained that enigmatic smile. “The mask exists to lend me an air of mystery, and unmasking me would ruin all that.”

“No, but if I can’t even see your face, how am I supposed to trust you?”

“…very well.”

Char removed his mask, revealing a handsome face underneath. He saluted again and waited a few seconds before putting his mask back on.

“Forgive him, Colonel. Lieutenant Aznable is a little…eccentric.”

“As long as he doesn’t turn out to be the real villain,” I muttered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Nothing.” I straightened my spine and cast my gaze over the men that had disembarked from their tanks. “All right, everyone. Rest up. Once repairs, refueling and maintenance have been done, we’ll be moving out tonight.”

“Where are we going?” one of the soldiers asked.

“To Zaft, the border of Legnica.”

That was where the garrison of Captain Dante Infernius’s regiment was located.

“We’ll be engaging a significant portion of enemy forces there in an armored battle to destroy them and to relieve our human allies. Then we’ll bring them along for the final battle. I know this might not sit well with all of you, but we have our orders. And…” I smiled. “We’re going to need every help we can get. I won’t ask you to trust the humans, but at least cooperate and work together with them until we defeat the so-called Emperor of Humanity.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Stepping back, I nodded to Jurgen, who came forward and planted the regimental standard of the 1,087th Magna Regiment into the ground. The banner unfurled and waved proudly in the beach air, fluttering gently in the wind and bearing our colors and crest.

“Death to the False Emperor!” I bellowed, drawing my sword and pointing it to the heavens. Spurred on, my men – both old and new – echoed the shout.

“DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR!”

I nodded and continued.

“And for Holy Morten and the Emperor of Demonkind!”