Chapter 20 — Decisive Battle

As the barrage ploughed into the Imperial Fleet, a commander nervously suggested to Daiki.

[Your Greatness, their firepower seems a bit intense… Perhaps we should retreat before coming up with plans?]

Daiki snorted and with a wave of his hand, the commander's head exploded. His lifeless body slumped on the floor, spewing blood everywhere.

[We continue! It doesn't matter how many people die. I'll just turn the civilians of the country into more puppets! Haha!]

Millions of soldiers dismounted and started marching towards the Maginot Line, ignoring casualties. Daiki pulled out a stack of high-purity magic crystals and started using them to cast more magic missile spells. With his full concentration, he managed to intercept 80% of incoming projectiles.

[Damn, I'm getting annoyed at those ships. Just fucking stop shooting!]

From the giant speakers mounted on top of the battleships, a booming laughing voice came out.

[So, it looks like the great Daiki is nothing more than a coward! He just hides as his army gets slaughtered. If you're a real man come and fight me, I am the leader of the Third Reich, and I challenge you to a duel! Or is the great mage Daiki just a cowardly little kid with no balls?]

That statement struck a chord with Daiki. He instantly exploded with range. No one had ever called him a coward and lived. On a deeper level, it uncovered an uncomfortable truth that he had buried.

[Fuck you! Just wait there as I kill you! I'm going to enjoy your screams of pain!]

He burst through the roof of his extravagant ship.

[Master, please be careful!]

[Master, please don't hurt yourself!

Daiki turned a deaf ear and shot off like an electromagnetic gun, shooting through the air. His arrogant voice boomed through the air.

[Where are you?]

He was met with only rifle and cannon fire from the soldiers on the ground.

[Fine, if you won't come out, I'll destroy your army first!]

Daiki shot towards the Maginot line and smashed into the ground with a huge explosion. He continuously cast destructive spells, levelling all the defences and changing the geography of the land. He constantly dodged cannon and battleship fire, leaving a trail of death and destruction as he headed down the line. He was simply a walking weapon of mass destruction.

Invisibility spells made it impossible for the battleships to even locate his position. When they tried to shoot at him, they would just hit their own defences. His booming voice sounded again.

[This is too easy. Is there going to be a challenge?]

A soldier of the People's Army saw all his comrades get crushed by debris around him. Panicking, he threw away his gun and started running away. This fear spread through the whole army. The natives were not willing to fight an invincible enemy that they couldn't even see! The source soldiers and commanders tried to stabilise the situation, but by the time they had re-organised, the imperial army was upon them. Although they couldn't win by quality, they were trying to overpower them with sheer numbers. Daiki stopped his rampage and hovered in the air.

[Is that all you have? Don't mind if I destroy your Country!]

Soon a steady and calm reply boomed back.

[While you were having fun on your rampage, did you ever wonder what we were doing to your ship?]

Daiki was confused and looked back at his ship. He scanned it with an observation spell and his breathing stopped as he saw tons of explosives attached to the outside of it.

[Didn't you like your girls? Because that's the last time you'll ever see them]

[No! Don't you dare! We can talk!]

Daiki fell silent as his ship exploded in a ball of flame. He screamed and flew at super high speeds back towards it, not caring about how much mana he used. Luckily, his harem had been strengthened with his magic, but they were all severely injured. However, they were falling towards the ground at a rapid rate.

Daiki quickly flew to each one, trying to stabilise their condition as much as possible. He only realized how important something was to him when he lost it. He concentrated so hard that he didn't even notice the Dreadnought fleet that had hidden in the forest below.

The Dreadnought was a new ship that Konrad had designed. It was much larger than the battleships and had much bigger and more powerful cannons and armour. It was a moving weapon of mass destruction. And now, 10 of them had successfully hidden near Daiki's ship. Even though their speed was slow, that didn't matter since they were already in range.

From the forest, all 10 Dreadnoughts fire their cannons straight at Daiki. Oblivious to the attack, he was trying to cast healing magic on the girls floating in front of him when he reacted, too late.

[Noo-!]

Desperately trying to evade, he ended up facing the shells head-on. The hundreds of huge shells exploded in his face, sending him shooting into the ground. His mana shields broke, and his body was covered with injuries. He looked around and the only traces of his harem he found was a trickle of blood mist floating in the air. His face turned to one of unbridled fury and anger. Sensing his low mana, he cast a forbidden technique that would drain his lifespan in exchange for power.

He desperately tried to dodge the second volley as his mana field formed back around him, but his injuries slowed him down. It was too late; he was surrounded by the Dreadnoughts. Shells rained down on his position and depleted his mana. It didn't matter where he ran to, the dreadnoughts followed him and stuck to his position like a fly. Every time he tried to fly, he would just get hit back to the ground with an explosion. When he tried to run, the shells falling around him would just fling him around. His body rapidly aged as his lifespan burned to keep up his consumption.

[How could you! Why… This isn't fair! If I had spent a few more weeks training, you would all be dead! If I equipped my army with modern weapons, you would all be dead!]

[Why Why Why?!!]

Daiki screamed hysterically. It wasn't fair! If only he had tried a bit better. If only he had made one more spell. If only he had brought one more soldier.

He had tricked himself into thinking that he was better than everybody else. And he had forgotten his old self! In this new world, he had become a different person! He could kill, steal, rape, and nobody could do anything about it!

But at that moment, as he desperately tried to escape the bombardment, no, survive the bombardment, he felt like he had returned to what he was like on Earth. A weak, cowardly teenager who didn't even dare to stand up against a bully. For the first time since coming to this world, he felt alone, afraid, like all his secrets were laid out, exposed for everyone to see. As he felt his mana deplete and death approach, Daiki broke down and started crying. Had turned into a cowardly, blubbering mess as he felt his lifespan approach its end.

[Please, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I did, please don't kill me, I promise I'll be good, please d-]

A small nuclear warhead hidden in a shell detonated right in his face. His heavily damaged magic shield provided no resistance and collapsed in an instant as his body disintegrated under the nuclear fireball. In the final moments of his life, his mind went into overdrive as it slowed down his perception of time. In endless fear and still begging for mercy, he cast countless forbidden techniques, but it was no use. He was dead.