Chapter 68

Thud, thud….

From Ryuje’s large scythe, various colorful, sticky liquids dripped down.

With a calm gaze, she surveyed her surroundings.

Slashed, burned, and felled by artillery, the corpses of the Empire’s soldiers lay scattered.

Though numerous aliens had gathered in this arsenal, only a small number remained alive.

“…”

Ryuje’s gaze swiftly turned and headed toward the corner of the arsenal.

A small group of aliens, having turned their heads away from the remains of their dead compatriots, now trembled in fear.

They were the pilots who had disembarked from the shuttles upon Ryuje’s orders after the infantry had been wiped out.

There were also a few aliens who appeared to be of higher rank kneeling alongside them.

Ki-ying, ku-gu-guung….

As the situation was completely resolved and the scattered corpses of the Empire’s soldiers were pushed into the corner of the arsenal by a tripod, it slowly bowed its head to Ryuje and approached her.

Steam faintly rose as the tripod’s hatch opened, and soon after, Edu emerged riding on the back of an alien.

“President, you’ve worked hard.”

“Hmm, this extent is nothing at all.”

She replied thus, swinging her great scythe broadly to rid it of the alien blood clinging to its blade.

Though it was an action of no special meaning, perhaps because she was one of the parties responsible for this massacre, the alien who carried Edu and the aliens gathered to the side simultaneously flinched in fear.

“Then, since everything here is settled, shall we send down the shuttle and bring the people?”

“Yes, let’s do so.”

Replied Ryuje with a gentle voice toward Edu before approaching the group of aliens.

Her gaze fell upon the high-ranking aliens she had captured.

“Speak. Are there still more of your forces remaining on the ground?”

“…”

Ryuje’s question was met with the alien commanders exchanging glances and remaining silent.

Her gaze became colder upon seeing their reaction.

“It seems there’s some misunderstanding here.”

Clank—

The great scythe was slowly raised.

As the glinting blade pointed toward him, the alien commander tried to speak, but before he could say anything, the scythe was swung and severed his body.

“Kraaaaack!!”

His right hand.

“Khraaaaack!!”

His left ankle.

With every swing of her great scythe, pieces of the alien commander’s body were violently severed.

“I saw something unpleasant at the command bridge just now. Very unpleasant.”

As she said this, Ryuje continued to swing her scythe.

She soon picked up the commander’s remaining torso with one hand.

“You call us livestock, don’t you?”

Ryuje opened her mouth toward the alien’s neck, which looked about to collapse, her sharp fangs piercing through.

But she soon removed her mouth from the commander’s body.

Ptoo.

She spat out the alien’s blood she had swallowed onto the floor.

“The blood you offer isn’t even fit to wet my throat. It’s filthy. There’s no meaning in treating you as livestock.”

As she said this, she carelessly tossed the commander’s torso, which split in half mid-air.

A greenish-blue liquid showered down upon the other aliens.

Deep despair and fear settled into the eyes of the aliens.

“Do you understand? We’re not sparing you for any particular reason. Therefore, it would be wise for you to act thoughtfully.”

The remains of their compatriots who had been alive just moments ago, scattered before their very eyes.

With this chilling warning added, the aliens nodded furiously as if their heads were about to fall off.

“Then I’ll ask again. Are there any of your forces still left on the ground?”

“Uh, none remain. Most facilities on the ground use automated machinery, so we request personnel directly from the fleet for management.”

The alien officer quickly replied.

“Is that the truth?”

“Umm, it truly is!”

While looking at the officer who replied, Ryuje shifted her gaze to other officers.

But the other alien officers also furiously nodded their heads in agreement with his words.

“That’s good. You all there, go in the shuttle and bring back all of our people who remain in the city. Respectfully, I mean.”

“Ah, understood!”

The pilots rose to their feet at once.

Just as the aliens were about to rush toward the shuttles, Ryuze’s voice sounded again from behind them.

“Hold on.”

The pilots immediately stopped upon hearing that word.

As Ryuje approached them, she raised her left hand and tapped their heads with a gentle ‘cock.’

“…?”

An action that made no sense.

However, Ryuju paid no mind and tapped another alien’s head on the side with the same gesture.

After tapping the heads of all the pilots in this manner, Ryuju finally began to speak.

“Did you feel a slight ache just now?”

The pilots nodded their heads in unison.

“Alright, that was me casting blood magic on you. If you betray my trust—”

Lifting her small hand and forming a fist, Ryuje then suddenly spread it wide in front of them.

It resembled the blooming of a flower, but also seemed like something was exploding.

However, given the situation, there was no way she was trying to express the blooming of a flower, so the aliens immediately understood the meaning of her gesture.

Their faces paled.

“There’s no need to explain further, is there?”

Though the figurative warning, the pilots frantically nodded their heads in terror.

“Good, then go and bring back my people. Not a single person should be left behind.”

“Ye, Yes!”

The alien pilots hurriedly rushed toward the shuttles.

As Ryuju watched their retreating backs, she pulled out a military communicator from the inner pocket of her coat.

“Nisia, do you hear me?”

[Yes, President. Loud and clear.]

“Tell the alien to open the arsenal.”

[Ah, understood! Just a moment…]

After a brief wait, a heavy sound of ‘ku-gong’ echoed. The steel hatch was pushed up, opening the arsenal.

The barriers that were closed within soon disappeared with a crackling noise.

Wooouuung—

One by one, the shuttles took off toward the ground as Edu approached Ryuju.

“Did you know you could use such a technique?”

Ryuje glanced briefly at the aliens with curiosity in Edu’s question.

Even at this distance, the sound wouldn’t reach them, but as a precaution, she whispered in a small voice.

“It’s a lie.”

“Huh?”

“It was merely intimidation usingmana. The aliens don’t know much about mana.”

“Ah.”

Edu seemed impressed by Ryuze’s explanation and nodded her head.

“Hmm. If they try to escape, we could intercept them using the ship. But isn’t it better to bring back as much as possible?”

“That’s true. You are deep-thinking indeed.”

“Am I the only one?”

The conversation flowed naturally.

Then Edu’s gaze fell upon the aliens tucked away in the corner of the ship.

“President. The pilots are fine, but why did you spare those guys?”

Edu asked.

Unlike the soldiers, the alien officers were impeccably dressed in formal uniforms.

However, now that the captain and vice-captain had been captured alive, Ryuze, too, knew well that their value was virtually nothing.

“There’s a purpose for everything.”

“Ah, really?”

“Yes, you’ll understand if you wait just a bit longer.”

“Understood.”

…

The sky of the city, slowly painted with the colors of the sunset.

A shuttle descends to the ground from the cruiser.

People naturally gather.

It wasn’t something they wanted to do voluntarily, but those in this colonial city had been “educated” not to have the option of choosing to act otherwise.

Resisting results in death.

Rebellion leads to death.

Certainly, if you obey well, you might be killed without any particular reason, but if you defy, it’s certain death.

Uncertain vs. certain death.

In front of such a simple choice, there was no fool who would opt for the latter.

Thus, they lower their heads and obediently follow the commands of their overlords.

Whoosh…

The shuttle landed, spewing smoke.

“You came.”

An awkward but formal bow greeted by a man.

Though he braced himself for the inevitable kick about to come, the alien did not curse at him or kick his body as they usually did.

“…?”

Sensing something strange, the man slowly lifted his head.

But the alien didn’t bother to look at his face, instead scanning the crowd with an uneasy glance.

“…Is this all of you?”

“Neh? Wha, what?”

“Your… your people, where are they? Is this all of them?”

“No.”

“Then go bring them, all of them.”

“…???”

Though puzzled by this uncommon order, resistance was not an option, so the man went off to gather others.

After some time, a crowd of people spilled out from between the buildings.

The majority consisted of children, women, and the elderly, but there were also quite a few men with injuries from beatings.

Although anxiety clouded the eyes of the people, gathering for the first time under unexpected circumstances, the eyes of their overseers also bore a similar sentiment.

“Everybody’s here.”

“Is this all?”

“Neh.”

After confirming the faces of the gathered people, the alien gave instructions in a low voice.

“…Quickly, get on the shuttle.”

“Neh? What’s this shuttle?”

“…Get on this one, I say.”

While saying this, the alien pointed toward the shuttle he had descended from, but confusion spread among the people.

Why?

Is he planning something?

Why are we getting in there?

Anxiety, fear, and dread filled the air.

This deep distrust of the alien overlords and fear of the unknown stemmed from the prolonged abuse they endured.

So, the people couldn’t move. They were unable to move.

“What are you doing?”

The pilot’s frustration surged as he saw the people simply staring at the shuttle despite his commands.

“Just quickly—”

Just as he was about to raise his voice again as usual, his words suddenly ceased.

And the pilot recalled the one phrase that Ryuze had said to him.

“Respectfully, I mean.”

Respectfully.

The one thing the alien pilot was utterly certain of was:

Never go against Ryuze’s words.

So, subduing his anger instantly, he threw himself to the ground.

“…I humbly request, please, everyone, get on it.”

“???”

Confusion among the people upon seeing the alien’s low posture, one they’ve never seen before.

But whether it was from the desperate tone that stirred something in their hearts, or their ingrained experience that they must obey their words,

The assembled people finally boarded the shuttle with uneasy glances.

“Please…!”

“Get on the shuttle…”

Seeing this, other alien pilots also emerged with similar tones of voice and low posture, and that’s when the other people who had gathered finally boarded the shuttles as well.

With people filling them as much as safely possible, the shuttles took off one by one.

Even though they had transported the maximum number of people safely, there were so many in the city that the shuttles had to make several trips between the ground and the arsenal.

“Umm…?”

“Very big.”

The people who disembarked from the shuttles looked around the arsenal in awe.

Their wide-eyed gaze at this unprecedented sight quickly turned into momentary confusion.

Because in one corner of the arsenal, something caught their eyes.

A modest platform set up in one corner of the arsenal, it was a big machine that had been used by their alien overlords.

A killing machine, with extensions that resembled both a head and legs.

However, on top of the machine’s head, kneeling while trembling, stood the alien officers and a girl.

Her beautiful golden hair flowed naturally, and the pale girl with a black gown was holding in her small hands a massive scythe as large as her own body.

“Are all the people who are here?”

“Yes, yes. All have been transported.”

The alien pilots answered immediately, bowing their heads in response to Ryuze’s question.

With their submissive demeanor, a small stirring arose in the hearts of people who had long felt indifferent.

“Hem.”

Ryuze cleared her throat lightly.

And her cry echoed through the arsenal.

“My dear compatriots, can you hear me!!”

The force behind her voice was such that it seemed to come from someone much larger. Everyone in the arsenal was captivated by her presence.

“I thank you for your great endurance through long, arduous times. From this moment on, you are free!!”

As her massive scythe was raised once again,

the eyes of everyone widened.

Sliiing—

Without a single scream, the aliens’ heads were severed with a flashing light.

An alien beside her, another further away—head after head fell with the same swift motion.

An elegant dance of slashes.

In this manner, all alien officers kneeling atop the tripod had their heads severed from their bodies.

Splashes of colorful blood erupted.

But this violent scene ignited a fire of hope in the hearts of those who had lived in despair.

A single action that spoke volumes.

Everyone there understood that the small girl was on their side.

“Uh… uh…”

“Oh…”

The eyes, which they thought had dried up from too much pain and death, now filled with moisture.

Tears rolled down their cheeks.

But these were not the tears of despair and fear they had once known; they held within them a small seed of genuine hope.

“Uh… we… are free?”

“Let’s go, let’s go…”

The people talked, their words clumsy with emotion.

Some were slumped to the ground as the tension released from their bodies, while others embraced each other, crying.

“Thank you, thank you.”

People near Ryuze reached out with rough, dry hands to express their gratitude.

Ryuze took each hand gently, meeting the faces of her people in silence and nodding her head.

As she consoled them one by one, Edu carried by an alien approached her.

“Then, shall we return now? President?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

“Yes, then I’ll tell Nisia to move the ship closer to the forward base.”

…