No matter how one looked at it, an explosion visible from over a hundred kilometers away was far too terrifying.
More reports soon came in. Based on the directions of the blast observed from several airships, the Faithguard Army drew tangents and easily calculated the explosion's location—but the news itself was anything but reassuring.
The scale of the explosion was practically approaching that of a nuclear bomb. Even if it had been caused by conventional weaponry, the yield was still unimaginably terrifying.
Only two self-propelled artillery vehicles from Gale Squad returned. Nora's vehicle had been behind the others when the explosion struck, absorbing a huge amount of the damage for them. When Nora was dug out, half her face had been burned into charred black.
She had now been sent to a hospital in Castel. Under the personal treatment of two legendary doctors, she was alive. She probably hadn't died.
The fighting between the Duchy of Tis and the Holy See, which had begun at night, continued to escalate. More than twenty self-propelled artillery vehicles were eventually drawn in, and double-digit numbers of Steam Tanks were deployed. Soldiers' blood stained an entire river red, and the battlefield had nearly become a meat grinder.
When Isabella came down from the battlefield, she was covered in blood, and more than half of the guards at her side had been killed or wounded.
This proud Empress had become much quieter as well. She suddenly realized that war had become something no one recognized anymore. Even as Tis's highest-ranking commander, she could only decide when a war began, not how it ended.
Both sides were struggling to adapt to these changes—whether in weaponry, tactics, organizations, or systems.
Mistakes had to be corrected immediately, and anything outdated had to be eliminated at once. Being even