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No matter what kind of battle it was, as long as the defenders weren't too stupid, they would naturally have some advantage in terms of terrain and position. Of course, being 'better off' than the attackers did little to reduce the chance of a bullet to the head reaping the life of any of them.
Even Emilia didn't dare to be too conspicuous in the trenches, and even tied up her hair tightly to cover it with a helmet. After all, her shiny crimson locks would only be an open invitation for a bullet to the head, and she had no intention of testing whether or not she had the ability to heal from it.
'The best I can do is make sure that everyone in the trenches stays alive.'
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The true brutality of war can only be experienced in person. And for those who'd been through it once… few had the courage to ever dare face it again.
After all, dancing with death might sound exciting, but when it actually happened… the 'dance' generally only involved despair and desperation.
Broken limbs, torn flesh, and splattered blood painted the vast battlefield into a picture of despair and death as hundreds of thousands of empty eyes stared into the sky. And yet… the sound of bullets and aftershocks of grenades never stopped.
The commanders of the Federation's army kept urging their soldiers to continue pushing even as their numbers continuously declined at a terrifying rate, and they had no choice but to stay as low as they could and rush forward while firing blindly, hoping beyond hope that they could dive into the 'safety' of the enemy trenches somehow.
Under their desperation, the distance between the two armies continuously shrank from thousands of meters to five hundred, and from five hundred to one.
The sun had long since set over the horizon, and no artificial 'lights' could survive long amidst the rain of bullets and smoke in all directions of the battlefield.
Although the defenders were armed with plenty of night-vision equipment, the additional cover of the night still helped the attackers a lot.
And stepping over the sea of their dead comrades… the first few 'lucky ones' finally made it to the empire's trenches.
Only to be promptly skewered by the defenders.
"Kill anyone who enters!"
Obviously, such a thing didn't even need to be mentioned. Everyone knew what the consequences would be if a single enemy was allowed to open fire after getting in. But every time one of the soldiers had to turn around to kill someone who dove into the trenches… the number of guns firing at the enemy army was reduces by one, and the chances of someone else making to the end were increased ever so slightly.
It came to the point where even Emilia and Dixie had to abandon their previous plans and focus on getting rid of the invaders. They'd previously been focusing on just healing the injured, but realized that it would be quite futile if the intruders weren't stopped first.
Although their preparation could already be considered extremely meticulous given the rather short amount of time they'd had… Emilia couldn't help but regret that they hadn't installed some thick barbed wire to hinder their enemy's advance at this final level, though it was debatable how much that would have helped.
Naturally, even if they were outnumbered and at an extreme disadvantage, it was inevitable for a few attackers to get lucky eventually. And whenever they did… the consequences were disastrous for the empire.
No matter how miraculous Emilia's blood was… it couldn't heal the dead.
Her daggers slid through one neck after another as Emilia wove through the enemies like a phantom, while Dixie covered her back and crushed anyone who jumped in after her.
Naturally, with most of the defenders free to shoot in that area, it didn't take long before the enemies noticed something amiss.
Of course, due to the lack of information, they only assume that there must be a special unit of defenders at Emilia's position, and the commanders started redirecting their men to focus on other areas instead.
After all, only if they could break through and force the enemy to flee from the trenches could they have a chance to win.
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The battle only lasted for two days, but for everyone involved… it seemed to have stretched through eternity.
No one dared to catch even a wink of sleep despite every single minute feeling like hours, and the only rest anyone got was the type that had no end.
In the end, with their defender's advantage and tenacious will… the empire won, but it wasn't without cost.
Many in the empire celebrated as the leftover 'cowards' of the Federation finally retreated, but no one dared to cheer, or even speak, in front of the battle's 'champion' and their empress.
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Ever since she'd been 'reborn' with Cynthia's help, Emilia had always considered herself to be inexhaustible. At least, that was true as long as she got a few moments of rest every now and then.
But for the first time since her rebirth, Emilia realized that she was very, very wrong.
In fact, she could also get tired, and it felt much, much worse than anything she'd previously experienced in her mortal body.
It was a hundred times worse than when she'd been unable to take a single step forward as the muscles in her thighs and calves burned from being unable to run anymore when she'd decided to race with her horse, and a thousand times worse than how she felt after winning the 'armored marathon' she'd once been stupid enough to host.
After all, this exhaustion came from the very depths of her soul. And the feeling of her body being perfectly capable of doing what she wanted it to do, yet her own willpower being insufficient to actually make it move… was definitely not something Emilia imagined she would one day experience.
"Emily… we should leave…"
Of course, even though the battle had long since ended now, Dixie didn't dare to stray too far from her side as the crimson-haired girl knelt on the ground. "… Crystal should be waiting for us."
In front of them… were most of the dead bodies of their empire's soldiers. Some couldn't be recovered, unfortunately, but the dark-haired girl just hoped that Emilia wouldn't notice it.
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