Tyre! (III)

"Jackson's legion is finished."

Yushikin spoke the words in a trembling voice filled with uncontrollable grief.

Beside him, Alfred sighed softly and half-closed his eyes.

"This... must all be connected to Elena."

"Why... that witch!"

Yushikin's fists resting on the railing clenched at once, producing a creaking sound.

"I don't know much about Elena. I only know that both her parents immigrated to the Imperium from the New California Republic."

"Immigrants..."

"Her parents seem to have both come from a highly secretive organization—the Wanderers."

"You seem to have been watching her all along?"

Yushikin looked at Alfred, anger flashing in his eyes.

"But you never warned me."

"Because one cannot judge a person solely by their origins. Besides, I only said she was connected to it, not that she was the instigator. It is very possible that she, too, has become a tool used by someone—or some faction."

"Some faction... humans?"

"General, do you still not understand? This war is not merely a war between the Imperium and the Orks. Many forces that were previously lurking behind the scenes, eager to make their move, have gradually joined this war."

"But we stand alone and weak!"

They were in the outskirts thirty kilometers from Tyre, once a thriving industrial district that had been swiftly evacuated after the war began.

Ironically, while the factories had been relocated with such speed, the Imperium's attitude toward the refugees remained extremely ambiguous.

Yushikin had resolutely rejected the orders Diego had given him and instead led his troops back to Tyre.

Yet he had not brought all his forces with him. Instead, he ordered the main force of the Black Legion, including most of the troops withdrawn from Mount Mishil, to retreat to the assembly point at the isthmus east of Tyre, where they would reorganize