With the arrival of reinforcements, the great Saint's safe return, and that stirring speech,
the fighting along the company's entire border front had passed its most difficult phase.
Some of the surviving soldiers raised both hands and roared in exhilaration.
Others bowed their heads and wept, mourning their fallen comrades.
Then they embraced one another, celebrating this hard-won victory.
Afterward, with help from the reinforcements and supplies arriving from the rear, all the surviving troops
held a victory celebration that was extremely modest yet deeply meaningful.
There was no lavish feast at this celebration, no spacious venue, no glamorous stars.
More than half the surviving soldiers were still confined to hospital beds.
And the celebratory dinner was nothing more than a boxed meal shipped from the rear, with a delicious steak added and a small pouch of liquor.
Yet the humble setting did nothing to dampen the soldiers' excitement and joy.
Everywhere, the survivors were in hospital wards, standing guard at the front, or resting in the rear.
Using the networked devices they had on hand, they uploaded their current appearances into a vast virtual space.
They wore battered Exoskeletons or Powered Armor covered in blood.
They held boxed meals in their left hands and pouches of liquor in their right.
Their exhausted, scarred faces now shone with incomparable smiles and joy.
In this desperate battle that would determine the fate of the entire company and the future of the entire Mountain River Star Sector,
they had not become deserters out of fear.
They had not become traitors out of greed.
They had fought with all their strength and pressed forward without hesitation.
The Goddess's blessing had allowed them to survive against the odds.
Following the great Saint's light and will, they had surpassed their limits and won their own