"This is an order from His Majesty the Emperor."
"Ask Vi Britannia, sixteenth in line to the throne of the Britannia Empire, has colluded with the Black Knights in an attempt to overthrow Britannia's rule."
"This operation is a purge."
"Eliminate all rebels at any cost, including the sixteenth prince, Ask Vi Britannia, dead or alive!"
"I repeat!"
"Dead or alive!"
Bang, bang, bang-!
Ranks of Sutherlands unleashed a volley of shells at the Tokyo Settlement.
This area had already been designated a "rebel stronghold." Everyone inside would be a target, whether they had anything to do with this "rebellion" or not.
Indiscriminate fire.
No prisoners. No surrender accepted.
All they needed was for this area to fall completely silent.
Boom, boom!
Boom-
Explosions rang out without end.
The naval forces stationed in Tokyo Bay blanketed the entire Tokyo Settlement with fire.
Compared to this, the rebellion launched by the Black Knights a year earlier had been child's play.
The sheer firepower was on an entirely different level.
High walls collapsed, and civilians died horrific deaths.
In little more than ten minutes, rivers of blood flowed.
Jeremiah rallied the troops and mounted a counterattack on the ground, but with the enemy fleet providing long-range suppressive fire, they could barely hold out.
Fortunately, the ground forces halted the enemy advance, keeping the shellfire from reaching Ashford Academy farther back.
Ask sent Origami to bring Milly aboard the Rhongomyniad.
As for the remaining students, they were none of Ask's concern.
Still, they would probably have rushed for shelter the moment they heard the shelling begin.
Ask sat in the Control Room, where the screen displayed a dense cluster of red dots-the detected signals of enemy Knightmares.
He asked someone beside him:
"Can we intercept the enemy's voice transmissions?"
"I'm sorry, Your Highness.