While Izumi continued expanding his territory step by step, he had no idea that Regalzeva had already dispatched a newly constructed Lugatium toward the corridor he was guarding.
Floating high in the air, Izumi looked out across the battlefield with satisfaction.
His forces had steadily pushed forward, and now only a wide plain separated them from the enemy.
On the opposite side—
Lay the territory of the EXE World.
Countless mechanical soldiers stood on alert, staring toward Izumi's camp as if facing a formidable enemy.
After observing the situation for a while, Izumi slowly descended back into the camp.
The enemy had already established a defensive network.
From time to time, flying mechanical creatures patrolled the skies, watching Izumi's side closely.
It was as if they feared that he might suddenly launch an all-out assault.
After all—
Izumi had expanded his territory right up to their doorstep.
It had clearly frightened them.
Back inside the camp, Izumi spoke to his secretary.
"Vigne, have people keep a close watch on the other side."
He folded his arms.
"I've got a feeling they're going to make some kind of move soon."
Vignette Tsukinose April nodded immediately.
"Understood, Izumi-sama."
"I'll arrange it right away."
With that, she quickly left to carry out the order.
Watching her departing figure, Izumi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
A secretary really is convenient.
There was a saying—
When something needs doing, let the secretary handle it.
When there's nothing to do…
Izumi's thoughts drifted in a rather dangerous direction.
"Cough—!"
He hurriedly shook those unreliable thoughts out of his mind.
Instead, he began observing the activity inside the camp.
Many Heroic Spirits were now active throughout the base.
Meanwhile, the students continued training relentlessly, learning various skills every day.
Their strength was steadily improving.
Seeing this, Izumi smiled with satisfaction.
"They might be weak," he murmured, "but at least they're hardworking."
At this point, he no longer needed to worry too much about the camp's operations.
Everything was progressing exactly according to plan.
All Izumi needed to do now was continue pressuring the EXE army—
Forcing them back toward the entrance to their world.
Once they were pushed all the way to that point, Izumi's forces would completely seal the corridor.
They would block the enemy at the gate of their own world.
That was Izumi's strategy.
Which was why he kept expanding his territory little by little, creating the current situation.
Of course, he had informed the other corridors about his plan.
Otherwise, if his front became easier while the others were overwhelmed—
That would be a disaster.
...
Time passed quickly.
Before they realized it, half a month had gone by.
Izumi and his forces had been guarding this corridor for fifteen days.
During that time, the EXE World launched several probing attacks.
But every one of them had been easily repelled.
However, those battles revealed something shocking.
Every time the enemy attacked—
It was the same batch of mechanical soldiers.
Even the transcendent mechanical dragons Izumi had destroyed several times appeared again in later assaults.
After analyzing one captured mechanical unit, Aiba Asagi managed to hack into its internal systems.
What she discovered stunned everyone.
"These mechanical soldiers are all from the same production line," Asagi explained during a report.
"Every time they reappear, their systems are slightly improved."
In other words—
They possessed a massive central database.
Even if Izumi completely destroyed their bodies, as long as the data remained intact—
They could simply be rebuilt.
Mechanical soldiers.
Mechanical dragons.
Everything could be recreated.
Unless Izumi destroyed their core database, eliminating them permanently was impossible.
When he heard this, Izumi could only curse under his breath.
"Damn it…"
This was truly disgusting.
It was practically a different form of immortality.
Aside from destroying the database, the only other option was to keep destroying their units until their resources ran dry.
Asagi had also explained that point.
"Even though basic soldiers don't cost much to produce," she said, "their resources still aren't infinite."
"If we keep destroying them repeatedly, they'll eventually run out."
And so—
The battle between Izumi's forces and the EXE World gradually turned into a stalemate.
As long as the EXE World itself remained intact, endless resources could be sent to the front lines.
Mechanical soldiers would be rebuilt again and again.
Even worse—
Every battle allowed them to collect combat data.
They would analyze their enemies and evolve.
Which meant that the next time they fought—
The disadvantage might shift to Izumi's side.
This combat method of mechanical lifeforms was incredibly troublesome.
...
Inside the command room of the camp—
Izumi sat in his chair, reviewing the latest report submitted by Katō Megumi.
Behind him, Vigne was reluctantly giving him a shoulder massage.
Her expression looked rather resentful.
After reading the report, Izumi sighed and leaned back slightly.
"Vigne… a little more pressure."
The moment he said that—
Vigne pinched his shoulder hard.
"Izumi-kun, don't push it!"
She glared at him.
"Even if you're my commander, that doesn't mean I have to do this!"
After spending so much time around him, she had grown familiar with Izumi's personality.
And the more familiar he became—
The more unreliable he seemed.
Whenever he had free time, he would tease her and ask her to do all sorts of things.
His excuse was always the same.
"As the commander, I'm under a lot of stress. Shouldn't a secretary help relieve her superior's pressure?"
The demon girl was practically being driven crazy by him.
He had her completely under control, and she hated that fact.
Izumi chuckled softly.
Then suddenly—
He reached back, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his arms.
Vigne's face instantly turned bright red.
Izumi leaned close to her ear and whispered softly.
"Vigne… do you know what a secretary is supposed to do for her boss?"
"Want me to teach you?"
Vigne's eyes widened in panic.
She struggled to escape—but found herself unable to break free.
Her body felt strangely weak.
"L-Let go of me!"
"What are you trying to do?!"
Back when she first became Izumi's secretary, she had studied countless books about assistant work.
Unfortunately…
Some questionable author had included all kinds of very strange advice in those guides.
One passage in particular described what a "good secretary" should do when her boss gave certain hints.
And right now—
Izumi was acting exactly like the example in the book.
I'm not ready for this yet!
Izumi smiled mischievously.
After all, he had long looked forward to teasing this pure-hearted demon girl.
What happened next—
Was hidden beneath the large command desk.
And outside the room—
The war between worlds continued silently.