Chapter 492: The Day After the Apocalypse (1)
...pas!
A star twinkled in the sky, and then it was gone.
It flickered so briefly that most people didn't see it.
However, whether by coincidence, a good sense of vision, or simply because she was staring sadly into the night sky, tired of her miserable existence, only one defeated soldier saw it.
Major Janet, 1st Battalion, 207th Regiment, Allied Forces of Humanity.
She pursed her lips, which were stained with burns and sword marks.
"The guiding star is strange tonight."
Sergeant Miryamu, who was grilling bugs and lizards next to her, asked.
"Battalion Leader. Did you say something just now?"
"Ah, no. The guide star is a bit...."
"What? What's with the guiding star? It's the same as usual."
Then some of the soldiers looked up at the night sky.
They could see the seven guiding stars shining brightly.
But only Major Janet shook her head.
"That's strange. There were definitely eight just a moment ago."
"Hahaha – there are seven guiding stars, even a seven-year-old child knows that ...Well, now finding a seven-year-old child is like picking stars in the sky."
At Sergeant Miryamu's words, Major Janet smiled bitterly and tore her eyes away from the night sky.
The Age of Destruction.
As the rivers of blood dried up, the decades-long war between the human and demon realms seemed to be over.
But on that day, as the surviving humans celebrated their victory and carved their glory into stone.
The true apocalypse had begun.
One after another, horrors that would make the disasters of the past seem like child's play were revealed.
There were 62 demons, each with a power and evil that far surpasses Ten Corpses.
They turned the human world, which had been devastated by the long rainy season of fire and the great flood that swept through the world for 150 days, into hell once again.
'...I was happier when I was a soldier.'
Major Janet is reminiscing about the past.
"Battalion Leader, it's an air raid, monsters are coming!"
Captain Saladin could be heard shouting as he ran up the hill.
The orders shouted by superiors from afar also echo loudly.
Lieutenant General Kirk, Brigadier General White, Colonel Kuberin, and others..., veterans of countless crossfire, were gathering the last remaining survivors of the Human Alliance and preparing for the final battle.
"Battalion Leader, come on!"
"If this line of defense is breached, it's over! Behind us, the last remnants of humanity are... children...."
Captain Saladin and Sergeant Miryamu paced back and forth.
"Onya, I know. Take your positions!"
Major Janet donned her helmet and raised her sword and shield.
Behind her, Sergeant Miryamu stood with his spear.
She opened her mouth, her voice trembling.
"This is really going to be my last battle."
"...Probably for everyone here."
The two soldiers chatted as they watched the swarm of demons staining the horizon black.
It was like a brother and sister talking before bed.
Suddenly, Sergeant Miryamu asked.
"Battalion Leader, how is it that you are always so carefree?"
"Hmm?"
"You're always calm, never panicking, as if you're under some kind of protection."
Now that most of the priests have disappeared, divine protection has become an epic in a vain dream.
But Major Janet just smiled.
"God bless you. If it's a blessing, it's there. We all need a little faith to keep us going in this harsh world."
"Eh! You have a corner you trust? What is it?"
Major Janet smirked at the last man standing, Sergeant Miryamu, with whom she had grown close.
Then, eyeing the swarm of monsters now closing in on them, she spoke.
"A letter."
"...yes?"
"A letter. From my old boss."
Major Janet.
The contents of a letter she held close to her heart as a talisman had gotten her through this far.
It was a memory of a young junior officer she had met many years ago, when she had just joined the army, struggling to make ends meet.
"I think his last name was Baskerville, right?"
"What? Baskerville? You mean those crazy dogs over there on the front lines?"
"Yeah. He was a nice man, unlike the other Baskervilles, a good and reliable hunter, though he was falsely accused and executed in the middle of the war...."
Major Janet's face fell at the memory of the old days.
Sergeant Miryamu opened his mouth to speak, facing the swarm of monsters in front of him.
"You must have been quite the romantic, leaving all those letters."
"No, he wasn't much of a letter-writer... which, when I think about it, is very strange."
"Like what?"
"The letters. They arrived after he died."
"Well, what, the postman was lazy or something?"
"Hmm. It's been too many years for that. The letter didn't arrive until long after he was executed...."
But the conversation between the two soldiers went no further.
...Boom!
A giant-sized demon appeared at the front line.
The momentum it exuded was different from the other demons around it.
It had two arms, two legs, four wings, and a long tail.
It had curved horns, eyes that blazed like the sun, and dense muscles packed tightly throughout its body.
Major Janet had to swallow hard.
"...Demonic Dragon."
Cursed half-breeds, born of a dragon and a demon.
Eternal Diaspora.
It is a nasty and evil creature that takes out its anger on all other living things for not being treated properly by both dragons and demons.
[Kua-aaaaahhh!]
It roared like a demon and rushed toward the human camp.
Even the last of the humans was nervous before its overwhelming combat power, capable of tearing thousands of humans apart with a single blow.
"Damn it. What's he doing here, usually lurking in the depths of the Hell Tree, only to come out when it's time for the final battle?"
Major Janet gritted her teeth.
They can't back down from this. Humanity has already been pushed to the brink.
One more step backward and it would be over.
"Stop it! If the line is breached, the refugees behind it will be exterminated!"
Major Janet unleashed her aura to confront the Demonic Dragon.
Against such an absurdly strong opponent, she had only one chance.
A fatal blow!
Swinging with all her might, Major Janet's sword aimed for the gap left by the Demonic Dragon's fist.
But.
...Taang!
The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was wasted.
Major Janet's sword broke in half as soon as it touched the scales on the Demonic Dragon's body.
"...."
A shadow of despair crossed Major Janet's face.
Where she looked up, she saw the face of the Demonic Dragon, grinning from ear to ear.
And then. The Demonic Dragon's huge fist dropped like a meteorite.
If it hits, it'll kill her instantly, or at the very least, wipe out a dozen meters behind her.
And a lot of people will die again.
'...Is this the end?'
Major Janet is just about to resign herself to life.
"Battalion Leader!"
A hand grabbed her by the waist.
Sergeant Miryamu. He risked his life and leaped in, pushing Major Janet to the ground.
kwakwakwang!
Major Janet flew to the side.
She immediately jumped to her feet and screamed.
"Mi, Miryamu!"
But there was no answer from the dense dust.
No wonder.
"Aaaaah...."
Tears streamed from Major Janet's eyes.
Even she was surprised at how much moisture was still in her eyeballs, which she had thought had dried up and turned into a hard solid.
Miryamu. The one who had followed him so closely since he was a second lieutenant.
They'd fought together until he'd become a sergeant.
He'd only made it to sergeant over the years, even though it was easy for him to be promoted because his seniors were dying so quickly and in such large numbers.
He was always running away because he was too scared.
"...Such a coward saves me."
Major Janet gritted her teeth.
She must avenge her subordinate.
She bit down hard on her burst lip once more.
She summoned as much of her depleted mana as she could.
She gripped her broken sword tightly once more.
"Even if I have to die, I will take one of you with me."
Major Janet stared straight ahead with the last of her strength.
Suddenly, the dense dust settled, revealing a giant shadow.
The Demonic Dragon stared back.
For some reason, it stood still, defenseless.
'This is my chance!'
Major Janet knew instinctively that this was the last chance she had been miraculously granted.
And before she realized it, her body reacted.
"Aaaaaaah!"
She charged with all her might, her sword energized with mana.
Aim for the heart. A single stab!
Even as Major Janet leaped with all her might, the shadow of the Demonic Dragon, which had begun to reveal itself as the dust cleared, stood still.
As if he were giving the insignificant worm a favor.
"Your arrogance is your signature!"
Then, with all her might, Major Janet drove the broken sword into the Demonic Dragon's heart.
And in that moment, she once again realized she had failed.
...ttug! pagsag-
The broken sword broke once again.
There were too many cracks in the first place, so it didn't receive the full force.
The wound was quite large, but it didn't hit the heart at all.
"...ah."
Major Janet knew it was really, really over.
She had no mana, no strength.
There would be no excuse, no resistance if her head was crushed in that Demonic Dragon's grasp right now.
'I'm sorry.'
I could not avenge Sergeant Miryamu's death.
Also revenge for other comrades who died cruelly.
Major Janet closed her eyes tightly.
She waited for her death to come.
She hoped it would be a painless one.
....
... but.
No matter how long she waits, death never comes.
'What is it? Is it already over?'
Is death supposed to come without feeling like this?
Or did it happen instantly, with no time to feel shock or pain?
"...?"
Major Janet opened her closed eyes slightly, ever so slightly, in wonder.
And then she saw an incredible sight.
"...!"
Beyond the dust that had been cleared away, Major Janet still stood before the Demonic Dragon.
His chest was puffed out, showing off a body so hard and majestic that even a sword could not penetrate it.
... The problem was, his the shoulders of the Demonic Dragon were empty.
pusyug! pusyusyug!
Black blood gushes out from the severed neck.
Currently, Demonic Dragon has lost his head and is being held by someone.
And at the feet of that, someone is Sergeant Miryamu, sitting there with a dazed expression on his face.
Major Janet didn't realize what had happened for a moment.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Four seconds. Five seconds. Six seconds. Seven seconds. And eight seconds.
The second hand moved as many times as the number of guiding stars she'd confused.
Only then did Major Janet dare to look into the face of the 'someone' who had slain the Demonic Dragon and saved Sergeant Miryamu.
He was.... He was....
"You're all alive, I see."
A voice that speaks in such a strange tone.
His attitude was as if he had just gone for a walk or a sightseeing trip somewhere far away.
Like a soldier returning from a long leave of absence, He glanced around the battlefield, his inner circle.
"Captain Kirk, Lieutenant White, Sergeant Kuberin, Sergeant Janet, Corporal Saladin, and Private Miryamu... Everyone was alive. The 1st Platoon of the 4th Company of the 207th Regiment is still alive and well."
The 'he' was clearly the face in Major Janet's memory. But at the same time, it was not the face he remembered at all.
It was a contradictory explanation, but there it was.
The burns and stab wounds that covered his face were gone, and he looked decades younger.
But.
"It's great. Well done."
The aura he exuded was still overwhelming, even more so than before.
Meanwhile.
"This, this guy. He fell from the sky, from a guide star."
Sergeant Miryamu, who was on the ground, pointed at the 'he' and the 'you from the star' with a dazed expression.
Then 'he' gave a faint smile.
"I see. Private Miryamu. You were too young then to remember my face."
"What, what, Private? Me? I'm the sergeant...."
Sergeant Miryamu looks confused.
But Major Janet's expression is completely different.
With tears in her eyes, she exclaimed in a joyful tone.
"Company Commander, you're alive!"
"...Do you recognize me?"
"Of course, I knew you were alive after all! Where have you been all this time, and why have you changed your appearance so much...?"
"You were alive? Did you not see my throat cut?"
"What? Oh, I did see it, but... Have you not sent any letters since then?"
Major Janet looked puzzled and then drew out the letter she had kept in her bosom.
It was a letter written on parchment, yellowed with age.
-I miss you, comrade. Are you at peace there?
Upon seeing it, 'he' looked blank for a moment, then muttered to himself.
"...Then that letter was real, I don't know what's going on."
At that moment, several soldiers from the Humanity Alliance side, who had seen the Demonic Dragon dead, rushed over.
They exchanged glances between Major Janet's face and 'his' face, then let out a cry of wonder.
"Company Commander, Company Commander, is that you?"
"Are you alive?"
"Where have you been, everyone has been waiting for you, Company Commander!"
"We knew you were alive after all! Everyone on the front lines said you couldn't be dead...!"
But. The reunion was short-lived. No, it had to be short.
kwakwakwang! ujijijijijig!
For there was a giant leg that emerged, crushing the Demonic Dragon's corpse like tofu.
A demonic beast with enormous hooves and a long mane appeared, crushing the body of the Demonic Dragon.
[Fuhahahahaha- I am Orobas, the Equestrian Prince of the Eternal Hell, ranked 55th in the hierarchy! Who is this who continues this futile resistance!?]
At the appearance of the giant demon, the expressions of all the humans are colored with despair.
"Off, it's over! Number 55 in the hierarchy has appeared!"
"Why is he here!"
"Wrong. With the descent of Demon Lord-level demon, everything is over...."
However. there was no time for the humans to despair.
...Flash! kwa-kwakwakwakwang!
Five pillars of light fell from the sky.
Burning Iron Skewers, Fierce Snipes, Holy Pillars of Light, Golden Fists, and Sharp Slashes slammed into the ground in a terrifying explosion.
[Kkeuaaaaagh-]
The demon that had appeared just a moment ago was instantly shattered into pieces and scattered.
"Ouch, my back, I'm getting motion sickness, yuck-"
"It's been a big start since you made your debut."
"Well, this is my first debut in the other world."
"I thought the second hand on my watch was drowning me out."
"The day after the apocalypse is no big deal."
Five women walk out of the pit where the demons are crushed to death.
All the demons and humans who had been fighting bloody on the battlefield a moment ago have stopped fighting.
They turn in unison, mouths agape.
And then.
ku-leuleuleuleuleug!
The storm of aura swirled black and swept away dozens of meters around.
A giant black dog with nine teeth appears in the middle of the battlefield.
....
Everyone gathered on the battlefield, both demons and humans, stood frozen and swallowed dry saliva.
And then.
Before all these eyes, 'he' said.
"Demon Kills."
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