Chapter 1

While brainstorming ideas for other works, a thought suddenly came to me, so I'm posting it before I forget.

The title might change.

It's about 100,000 words. I plan to update irregularly.

Hello, new savior.

We are compiling information necessary for you, who will soon be heading to the battlefield as a mech pilot.

The following is a simplified timeline created to help those without prior knowledge understand the current situation.

This is general knowledge, so if you already know it, a quick read is fine, but if you don't, please read it thoroughly. It is general knowledge, after all.

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Timeline

1943. During World War II. The head of state of a European country, whose situation was becoming unfavorable, conducted a demonic summoning ritual using soldiers from both their own and enemy countries as sacrifices. The first successful summoning of a demon was achieved.

1943. The summoned demon gave its own factor to the survivors among the sacrificed humans and made them its followers. These are called demons. Additionally, the strange creatures controlled by demons and demon followers are called monsters.

1943. The demon, along with its followers, killed a large number of humans and used them as sacrifices to summon a new demon. The newly summoned demon killed the head of state who had conducted the first summoning, and the demon was freed from the contract. The chaos caused by these events temporarily halted the human conflict, and World War II ended without a clear victor.

1944. Following the end of the war, the Japanese army withdrew from the mainland.

1945. Manchuria, along with Li Dynasty Korea, merged with the support of the Republic of China and the Russian Republic (a constituent country of the Soviet Union) and declared independence from Japan. The Republic of Korea, which includes the Korean Peninsula and the northeastern part of the mainland, was born.

1945. In Europe, a negative chain reaction occurred where the summoned demon killed many more humans and summoned another demon. It is believed that over 40 demons were ultimately summoned. About half of them crossed to the North and South American continents, leading to a war between demons and humans there as well.

1946. European countries suffering from demon attacks and Middle Eastern and African countries experiencing sporadic demon attacks formed a military alliance.

195X. A demon named ■■■■, defeated in a power struggle among demons, defected to the human side and provided various technologies. Research on magic crystals and the development of mechs began. The First Savior Plan, a human counteroffensive, was launched.

195X. The first mech was completed. In Europe, it was called Kamael. Children with special factors, given through the Savior Plan, began to pilot these mechs on the battlefield.

195X. Amid the stalemate on the European front, the Republic of China, recognizing the potential of mechs capable of defeating demons and demon followers, developed human-targeted mechs and began an invasion war to bring neighboring countries under its control.

196X. In Japan, the mech Kunitami, designed to counter other mechs, was developed and exported to countries invaded by the Republic of China.

196X. The Republic of China, facing counterattacks from various countries and internal uprisings, disintegrated. It became the Chinese People's Federation, a federal parliamentary system consisting of six states: Yong, Yi, Jing, Ji, Yang, and You.

196X. The Chinese People's Federation was invaded by multiple demons from Europe. The three states of Yong, Yi, and Jing, classified as northwest, southwest, and central south, were occupied.

197X. Demons invaded Southeast Asia, turning almost the entire region into a battlefield, except for island countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor, Taiwan, Brunei, and Japan.

197X. Demons were also confirmed in island countries like Indonesia and the Philippines.

198X. Demons were confirmed in Taiwan and Japan.

199X. Demons were confirmed in Australia and New Zealand. As a result, the entire world became a hell where humans and demons fought.

199X. In Japan, the anti-Savior Plan, which aimed to coexist with demons, was attempted but failed due to the efforts of the National Defense Army. A young boy, who was nearly sacrificed in the anti-Savior Plan, offered to cooperate with the National Defense Army, leading to the launch of the Second Savior Plan in Japan.

200X. The Chinese People's Federation suffered a major defeat in the continental war, losing the North China and Northeast China regions.

201X. The first artificial magic crystal was developed in Japan.

202X. The first mech compatible with artificial magic crystals was developed. It was named Musubi.

202X. The First Counteroffensive Plan was launched. The Japanese army, including the Second Savior Plan pilots and Musubi, deployed to the Korean Peninsula and achieved a great victory. However, due to conflicts over maintaining the front line and gathering information versus reclaiming territory, the Japanese army decided to withdraw from the peninsula.

202X. The Republic of Korea was occupied by demon armies.

203X. Battles in Tsushima, Kyushu, and Okinawa intensified but were repelled by the National Defense Army.

203X. To support the Second Counteroffensive Plan, Musubi and its improved version, Kusanagi, were exported to Southeast Asian countries. However, due to a lack of pilots, they could not operate effectively, and while the front line was maintained, strategic goals were not achieved, leading to the failure of the operation.

203X. The Third Savior Plan, aimed at increasing the number of artificial magic crystal users, was conceived and approved to learn from the failure of the previous operation.

203X. The world's population fell below 500 million. Due to the high death toll and food shortages (since demons and demon followers would die without food, and demons would die if humans and demon followers were wiped out), large-scale wars became less likely.

204X. After a period of relative calm lasting about 10 years, the Third Counteroffensive Plan, initiated by the Southeast Asian Union, succeeded in liberating most of Taiwan and the Philippines.

204X. Victories in Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar expanded the human activity area.

2053. General Muroguchi of the Army, who advocated for the expansion of the front line following repeated victories, went rogue. His Third Division suffered a historic defeat in Imphal.

2054. A counteroffensive by demons and demon followers, following their victory in Imphal, turned Thailand and Myanmar into battlefields.

2054. To address the intensification of battles in Southeast Asia and the invasion of demons and demon followers from the Korean Peninsula, the military decided to significantly increase its forces.

2055 December. Up to the present.

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Have you memorized the timeline? You can always re-read the sections you have read, so if you forget, please review them.

Next, please read the summary of the Second Savior Plan. This is general knowledge, so not knowing it would be embarrassing. While it's up to you if you want to be embarrassed, we would be in trouble if people think those associated with us are foolish, so please read it.

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Summary of the Second Savior Plan

A few decades ago, a child was born to parents who were part of a group called the Coexistence Faction.

These parents decided to use their 6-year-old child as a sacrifice in a ritual to negotiate with a wise monster, i.e., a demon.

The child was implanted with a special stone called a magic crystal, which is believed to be dropped by a monster when it dies.

The ritual was considered successful if the child, once absorbed by the magic crystal, turned into a monster.

However, the parents and their group were interrupted by an opposing organization during the ritual. The child, who was desperately resisting being absorbed by the magic crystal, was left behind when the parents and their group were killed.

The child, who was suffering in the ritual, was rescued by the opposing organization.

Due to certain circumstances, the child had a strong life force. Normally, the child's body and mind would have been consumed by the magic crystal, turning the child into a monster, but instead, the child absorbed the magic crystal.

This surprised the superiors of the people who rescued the child, i.e., the upper echelons of the National Defense Army.

The child, who gained special powers from the magic crystal, began to cooperate with various experiments for the sake of the nation, and indeed, for the future of humanity, as a collaborator with the National Defense Army.

Over the next few years, thanks to the various data obtained from the child who cooperated with the experiments, the National Defense Army successfully developed a relatively safe magic crystal.

This was the greatest achievement of the Second Savior Plan.

Now, people who can use artificial magic crystals are the main force in national defense.

Those who can use magic crystals should remember to be grateful to the original child who provided the data.

The artificial magic crystals developed by the National Defense Army have two main effects.

One is a limited item box.

Although the mechanism is unclear, the magic crystal can retrieve items linked to the mech and its equipment.

If you load the mech with a box containing food and water, resupply becomes easier. In particular, water infused with magic can serve as fuel for the mech, making it very valuable.

However, once items are placed in the magic crystal, they are infused with the magic crystal's power. Only the person who placed the items can consume them, and they cannot be used as fuel in other mechs. This is to enhance the individual's combat capability, so please be aware of this.

Additionally, there are no weight or capacity limits for the pseudo-item box, but the weight is added to the user when storing items.

Specifically, the weight added is 1/1000th of the total weight of the stored items. For example, 10 tons would add 10 kilograms. Carrying too much weight will cause fatigue, so consider the weight when storing items in the magic crystal.

The other effect is that the magic crystal acts as a device key for the mech.

In principle, the mech, a decisive weapon against large monsters, is made from many parts of monsters.

However, since the mech is essentially a collection of dead bodies, the magic crystal hosted by the pilot is necessary to make it move.

Incidentally, the mech can move even without a pilot if it has a magic crystal, but in that case, it will move around wildly until it breaks down. Without a clear will, it's only natural that it would do so.

However, this can be an excellent method for sabotage from others. Therefore, keep others, including maintenance personnel, away from your mech.

This is the basic explanation of magic crystals and mechs that use them.

For more detailed information, please consult the responsible person in your organization.

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Finally, I sincerely hope that you, who have successfully adapted to the magic crystal and become one of humanity's saviors, will encounter a good battle.

Thank you for reading.