First Light of a New Age

Chapter 36: The Archangels Unit

Austronesian Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Mindanao, Mount Apo

2000, 2, 1st Week, January

Up high in the sky, an object is floating through the dark confinement that is called space. The object is seen revolving around the entire planet where they were currently on, silently capturing pictures and gathering intelligence through the shadows of the sky. The object that was floating through the dark space is known as the "First Austronesian Third Eye" or FATE. It is a military satellite used for gathering information through its advanced camera and a strategic altitude that made it a formidable tool for surveillance.

One image that was taken by FATE was a haunting image of the battlefield in the streets of General Santos City. There are almost no recognisable structures and almost everything has been reduced to mere rubbles. At the heart of the battlefield with thousands of demons before him, was a creature with human-like limbs clad in a dark robe. What made the people through the satellite gasp is when the creature's gaze met with the camera of the satellite, smirking as if the creature was aware of every move being watched from above.

A hundred miles of what's left of General Santos City, lay a military base hidden within a large mountain known as Mount Apo, which is 20 kilometers away from Davao city. Inside the base's control room stood a man with a humble appearance of a military officer that was filled with twinkling medals that spoke of his service.

This man was Bagwis Alon Calag, a lieutenant general in the Austronesian Liberation Army, hailing from the Imperial State of Maharlika.

As of now he was commanding an army of 50,000 troops to liberate what was left of General Santos City after their failed previous offensive. What was once a cultural hotspot for Mindanao has now been reduced to ruins and ashes, with more than half a million inhabitants slaughtered by the demons.

"So, the demon lord's name is Andromalius, is it?" said Bagwis.

[Indeed,] chattered the voice on the television screen, sounding similar to the woman named Amelia whom Melian had spoken with earlier, [As it turns out, this demon lord had single-handedly wiped out an army of 10,000 troops we've deployed. But right now, we don't know why he didn't repeat like last time, but we've speculated that he's examining us, which explains why he isn't making a move.]

"Indeed, and it is still surprising that we had just gained a valuable ally in this world, if we help her of course," Bagwis continued, lowering his gaze and inspecting the countless notes he had received, which could be potentially valuable in this conflict.

In this world, there are various of them, but the most widely used is the one established by the Free Guild System. This system classifies individuals, monsters, and other hostiles by evaluating various variables such as Magicule Levels, Physical Strength, Defensive Capabilities, Speed, Skills, and Intelligence. Based on these variables, entities are assigned a tier ranging from Level 1 to Level 10.

Level 1 is assigned to those with Magicule Levels below 1,000. Threats in this tier can be easily handled by a normal soldier, with the most strongest creatures being comparable to a full-grown adult bear.

Level 2 to 3 are assigned to those with a Magicule Level between 1,000 and 3,000. These threats possess power enough to threaten a heavily armed soldier.

Level 4 to 6 are assigned to those with a Magicule Level between 3,000 and 6,000. At this level, that's where it gets serious as those types of threats had high resilience, making them resistant to normal bullets and difficult to penetrate even with smaller bombs such as grenades. Their formidable combat power is enough to threaten a fully armed squad, requiring a group of at least 5 to 15 soldiers to defeat.