The Great Rout

Takano Shōgo had been watching the battlefield with his nerves stretched taut. The moment he saw the Evil God Cthulhu Fhtagn move, he began issuing orders in horror.

"All armored vehicles and tanks, retreat!"

"Fighter jets, climb!"

"Do not approach the Evil God!"

The armored vehicles and tanks began withdrawing in orderly columns, while the aircraft climbed rapidly.

Seeing the Self-Defense Forces pull back safely, Takano Shōgo breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, two helicopters slammed into each other. They became twin bursts of brilliant fire in the sky and fell.

"What happened?"

Takano Shōgo's heart lurched.

The next moment, laughter from the pilots came through his headset.

"Haha! Chase me! Come and get me!"

"I'll hit you! I'll smash you! I'll smash you to death!"

"Haha! Hee-hee! This is so much fun!"

Under the Evil God's mental Corruption, the pilots shouted with the innocent excitement of children. They seemed to be treating their aircraft like bumper cars, chasing one another through the sky and crashing into each other.

Brilliant fireballs burst overhead, like fireworks at a grand celebration.

In the blink of an eye, only a few fighter jets remained of the Self-Defense Forces' air power, fleeing in terror.

"It's over. The air force is finished."

Takano Shōgo went cold all over.

More than two-thirds of the Self-Defense Forces' air power had gathered here for this operation—enough to fight a war that could destroy a nation. Yet the Evil God had barely moved, and that force was gone.

It had taken sixty-three years of sacrifice by the people of the Eastern Isles to build one of East Asia's three strongest air forces. Now it had been wiped out in a single day.

This is my fault.

Boom!

A shell streaked past Takano Shōgo and exploded to his left. He